WorldWideScience

Sample records for varying noise conditions

  1. Leading-Edge Noise Prediction of General Airfoil Profiles with Spanwise-Varying Inflow Conditions

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Miotto, Renato Fuzaro; Wolf, William Roberto; De Santana, Leandro Dantas

    2018-01-01

    This paper presents a study of the leading-edge noise radiated by an airfoil undergoing a turbulent inflow. The noise prediction of generic airfoil profiles subjected to spanwise-varying inflow conditions is performed with the support of Amiet’s theory and the inverse strip technique. In the

  2. Leading-Edge Noise Prediction of General Airfoil Profiles with Spanwise-Varying Inflow Conditions

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Miotto, Renato Fuzaro; Wolf, William Roberto; De Santana, Leandro Dantas

    This paper presents a study of the leading-edge noise radiated by an airfoil undergoing a turbulent inflow. The noise prediction of generic airfoil profiles subjected to spanwise-varying inflow conditions is performed with the support of Amiet’s theory and the inverse strip technique. In the

  3. Performance of Traffic Noise Barriers with Varying Cross-Section

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sanja Grubeša

    2011-05-01

    Full Text Available The efficiency of noise barriers largely depends on their geometry. In this paper, the performance of noise barriers was simulated using the numerical Boundary Element Method (BEM. Traffic noise was particularly considered with its standardized noise spectrum adapted to human hearing. The cross-section of the barriers was varied with the goal of finding the optimum shape in comparison to classical rectangular barriers. The barrier performance was calculated at different receiver points for a fixed barrier height and source position. The magnitude of the insertion loss parameter was used to evaluate the performance change, both in one-third octave bands and as the broadband mean insertion loss value. The proposed barriers of varying cross-section were also compared with a typical T-shape barrier of the same height.

  4. Noise exposure under hyperbaric conditions

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1995-03-01

    Objective evidence exists that divers demonstrate a hearing deficit greater than would be expected from ageing effects alone. Deafness in divers may be caused by a number of factors other than exposure to excessive noise levels, eg barotrauma, ear infection etc. This review concentrates on the concern that exposure of commercial divers to noise while at work may cause a hearing deficit. Sound pressure levels recorded both underwater and in diving chambers often exceed those allowable to workers onshore. However, the sound perceived by the diver is modified both in amplitude and in frequency when he is either underwater or in pressurised chambers. Broadly the effect of this modification is to attenuate the sound and thus offer some protection from high noise levels. The degree of attentuation varies with the frequency of the sound, however it is also possible under specific conditions associated with gas density for the sensitivity to particular frequencies to be amplified above that for normal atmospheric air. The levels of sound observed from some underwater tools are of concern even after allowing for a significant de-sensitisation of the divers` hearing. Reports of tinnitus and temporary hearing loss following a dive are sure signs that the noise levels have been harmful. It is not possible at present to describe risk criteria for hearing damage due to noise exposure associated with diving. (author)

  5. Type of activity and order of experimental conditions affect noise annoyance by identifiable and unidentifiable transportation noise.

    Science.gov (United States)

    White, Kim; Bronkhorst, Adelbert W; Meeter, Martijn

    2018-04-01

    Previous studies have shown that identifiability of sound sources influence noise annoyance levels. The aim of the present experiment was to additionally study the effects of actively performing a task versus a less active pastime on noise annoyance. This was done by asking participants to perform a task (task condition) or read a magazine of their choice (no-task condition), while listening to identifiable and unidentifiable samples of transportation noise at varying sound exposure levels (55-85 ASEL). Annoyance was higher for identifiable samples (recordings) than for unidentifiable transformed samples (with equal spectral energy and envelope). Although there was no main effect of activity type on noise annoyance, for the transformed samples, an interaction was found between activity type and sound exposure levels: annoyance started lower in the no-task condition, but rose more steeply with ascending exposure levels than was the case during task performance (large effect). When assessing order effects, it was found that annoyance was higher when the task condition came first, especially for lower sound exposure levels (large effects). It is therefore concluded that the type of activity and the condition order do influence noise annoyance but in interaction with exposure levels, the type of noise and habituation.

  6. Personal noise dosimeters: Accuracy and reliability in varied settings

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sheri Lynn Cook-Cunningham

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available This study investigated the accuracy, reliability, and characteristics of three brands of personal noise dosimeters (N = 7 units in both pink noise (PN environments and natural environments (NEs through the acquisition of decibel readings, Leq readings and noise doses. Acquisition periods included repeated PN conditions, choir room rehearsals and participant (N = 3 Leq and noise dosages procured during a day in the life of a music student. Among primary results: (a All dosimeters exhibited very strong positive correlations for PN measurements across all instruments; (b all dosimeters were within the recommended American National Standard Institute (ANSI SI.25-1991 standard of ±2 dB (A of a reference measurement; and (c all dosimeters were within the recommended ANSI SI.25-1991 standard of ±2 dB (A when compared with each other. Results were discussed in terms of using personal noise dosimeters within hearing conservation and research contexts and recommendations for future research. Personal noise dosimeters were studied within the contexts of PN environments and NEs (choral classroom and the day in the life of collegiate music students. This quantitative study was a non-experimental correlation design. Three brands of personal noise dosimeters (Cirrus doseBadge, Quest Edge Eg5 and Etymotic ER200D were tested in two environments, a PN setting and a natural setting. There were two conditions within each environment. In the PN environment condition one, each dosimeter was tested individually in comparison with two reference measuring devices (Ivie and Easera while PN was generated by a Whites Instrument PN Tube. In condition two, the PN procedures were replicated for longer periods while all dosimeters measured the sound levels simultaneously. In the NE condition one, all dosimeters were placed side by side on a music stand and recorded sound levels of choir rehearsals over a 7-h rehearsal period. In NE, condition two noise levels were measured

  7. Noise level estimation in weakly nonlinear slowly time-varying systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Aerts, J R M; Dirckx, J J J; Lataire, J; Pintelon, R

    2008-01-01

    Recently, a method using multisine excitation was proposed for estimating the frequency response, the nonlinear distortions and the disturbing noise of weakly nonlinear time-invariant systems. This method has been demonstrated on the measurement of nonlinear distortions in the vibration of acoustically driven systems such as a latex membrane, which is a good example of a time-invariant system [1]. However, not all systems are perfectly time invariant, e.g. biomechanical systems. This time variation can be misinterpreted as an elevated noise floor, and the classical noise estimation method gives a wrong result. Two improved methods to retrieve the correct noise information from the measurements are presented. Both of them make use of multisine excitations. First, it is demonstrated that the improved methods give the same result as the classical noise estimation method when applied to a time-invariant system (high-quality microphone membrane). Next, it is demonstrated that the new methods clearly give an improved estimate of the noise level on time-varying systems. As an application example results for the vibration response of an eardrum are shown

  8. Benchmarking the Algorithms to Detect Seasonal Signals Under Different Noise Conditions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Klos, A.; Bogusz, J.; Bos, M. S.

    2017-12-01

    Global Positioning System (GPS) position time series contain seasonal signals. Among the others, annual and semi-annual are the most powerful. Widely, these oscillations are modelled as curves with constant amplitudes, using the Weighted Least-Squares (WLS) algorithm. However, in reality, the seasonal signatures vary over time, as their geophysical causes are not constant. Different algorithms have been already used to cover this time-variability, as Wavelet Decomposition (WD), Singular Spectrum Analysis (SSA), Chebyshev Polynomial (CP) or Kalman Filter (KF). In this research, we employed 376 globally distributed GPS stations which time series contributed to the newest International Terrestrial Reference Frame (ITRF2014). We show that for c.a. 20% of stations the amplitudes of seasonal signal varies over time of more than 1.0 mm. Then, we compare the WD, SSA, CP and KF algorithms for a set of synthetic time series to quantify them under different noise conditions. We show that when variations of seasonal signals are ignored, the power-law character is biased towards flicker noise. The most reliable estimates of the variations were found to be given by SSA and KF. These methods also perform the best for other noise levels while WD, and to a lesser extend also CP, have trouble in separating the seasonal signal from the noise which leads to an underestimation in the spectral index of power-law noise of around 0.1. For real ITRF2014 GPS data we discovered, that SSA and KF are capable to model 49-84% and 77-90% of the variance of the true varying seasonal signals, respectively.

  9. The effect of varying talker identity and listening conditions on gaze behavior during audiovisual speech perception.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Buchan, Julie N; Paré, Martin; Munhall, Kevin G

    2008-11-25

    During face-to-face conversation the face provides auditory and visual linguistic information, and also conveys information about the identity of the speaker. This study investigated behavioral strategies involved in gathering visual information while watching talking faces. The effects of varying talker identity and varying the intelligibility of speech (by adding acoustic noise) on gaze behavior were measured with an eyetracker. Varying the intelligibility of the speech by adding noise had a noticeable effect on the location and duration of fixations. When noise was present subjects adopted a vantage point that was more centralized on the face by reducing the frequency of the fixations on the eyes and mouth and lengthening the duration of their gaze fixations on the nose and mouth. Varying talker identity resulted in a more modest change in gaze behavior that was modulated by the intelligibility of the speech. Although subjects generally used similar strategies to extract visual information in both talker variability conditions, when noise was absent there were more fixations on the mouth when viewing a different talker every trial as opposed to the same talker every trial. These findings provide a useful baseline for studies examining gaze behavior during audiovisual speech perception and perception of dynamic faces.

  10. Event-Based $H_\\infty $ State Estimation for Time-Varying Stochastic Dynamical Networks With State- and Disturbance-Dependent Noises.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sheng, Li; Wang, Zidong; Zou, Lei; Alsaadi, Fuad E

    2017-10-01

    In this paper, the event-based finite-horizon H ∞ state estimation problem is investigated for a class of discrete time-varying stochastic dynamical networks with state- and disturbance-dependent noises [also called (x,v) -dependent noises]. An event-triggered scheme is proposed to decrease the frequency of the data transmission between the sensors and the estimator, where the signal is transmitted only when certain conditions are satisfied. The purpose of the problem addressed is to design a time-varying state estimator in order to estimate the network states through available output measurements. By employing the completing-the-square technique and the stochastic analysis approach, sufficient conditions are established to ensure that the error dynamics of the state estimation satisfies a prescribed H ∞ performance constraint over a finite horizon. The desired estimator parameters can be designed via solving coupled backward recursive Riccati difference equations. Finally, a numerical example is exploited to demonstrate the effectiveness of the developed state estimation scheme.

  11. Measurement of speech levels in the presence of time varying background noise

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pearsons, K. S.; Horonjeff, R.

    1982-01-01

    Short-term speech level measurements which could be used to note changes in vocal effort in a time varying noise environment were studied. Knowing the changes in speech level would in turn allow prediction of intelligibility in the presence of aircraft flyover noise. Tests indicated that it is possible to use two second samples of speech to estimate long term root mean square speech levels. Other tests were also performed in which people read out loud during aircraft flyover noise. Results of these tests indicate that people do indeed raise their voice during flyovers at a rate of about 3-1/2 dB for each 10 dB increase in background level. This finding is in agreement with other tests of speech levels in the presence of steady state background noise.

  12. Digital Generation of Noise-Signals with Arbitrary Constant or Time-Varying Spectra (A noise generation software package and its application)

    CERN Document Server

    Tückmantel, Joachim

    2008-01-01

    Artificial creation of arbitrary noise signals is used in accelerator physics to reproduce a measured perturbation spectrum for simulations but also to generate real-time shaped noise spectra for controlled emittance blow-up giving tailored properties to the final bunch shape. It is demonstrated here how one can produce numerically what is, for all practical purposes, an unlimited quantity of non-periodic noise data having any predefined spectral density. This spectral density may be constant or varying with time. The noise output never repeats and has excellent statistical properties, important for very long-term applications. It is difficult to obtain such flexibility and spectral cleanliness using analogue techniques. This algorithm was applied both in computer simulations of bunch behaviour in the presence of RF noise in the PS, SPS and LHC and also to generate real-time noise, tracking the synchrotron frequency change during the energy ramp of the SPS and producing controlled longitudinal emittance blow-...

  13. Active control of time-varying broadband noise and vibrations using a sliding-window Kalman filter

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van Ophem, S.; Berkhoff, Arthur P.; Sas, P.; Moens, D.; Denayer, H.

    2014-01-01

    Recently, a multiple-input/multiple-output Kalman filter technique was presented to control time-varying broadband noise and vibrations. By describing the feed-forward broadband active noise control problem in terms of a state estimation problem it was possible to achieve a faster rate of

  14. A study on the noise characteristics of polymer ball bearings under various lubrication conditions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dinç, S. K.; Temiz, V.; Kamburoǧlu, E.

    2013-12-01

    Polymer bearings are generally praised by the manufacturers for running silently. However such statements never go beyond qualitative assumptions. Therefore, studying polymer ball bearing noise would have been meaningful solely on the perspective of silent running machinery. On the other hand, the service life of a polymer ball bearing is unpredictable and there's no preventive maintenance practice that provides data regarding the condition of a polymer ball bearing. In this study, we assume that an investigation of their noise characteristics could also reveal clues concerning their performances. The main objective of this study is to determine the noise characteristics of polymer ball bearings lubricated with different lubricant greases of varying viscosity grades through experimental means. Sound pressure level measurements of SKF brand polymer bearings with polypropylene rings, polypropylene cage and glass balls were made with a 1/2 inch microphone in 1/3-octave bands, at frequencies up to 12.5 kHz, under various radial loads and rotational speeds. The bearings were mounted on a shaft driven by an AC motor with stepless speed control, adjustable between 0 - 1400 rpm. The ball bearings were running inside an acoustic chamber designed for the insulation of environmental noise and the noise of the motor at target frequencies. The resulting sound pressure level spectra were evaluated and the effects of the lubrication conditions on the noise of the ball bearing and possible diagnostic insight that could be gained through studying bearing noise characteristics were discussed.

  15. Some properties of zero power neutron noise in a time-varying medium with delayed neutrons

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kitamura, Y.; Pal, L.; Pazsit, I.; Yamamoto, A.; Yamane, Y.

    2008-01-01

    The temporal evolution of the distribution of the number of neutrons in a time-varying multiplying system, producing only prompt neutrons, was treated recently with the master equation technique by some of the present authors. Such a treatment gives account of both the so-called zero power reactor noise and the power reactor noise simultaneously. In particular, the first two moments of the neutron number, as well as the concept of criticality for time-varying systems, were investigated and discussed. The present paper extends these investigations to the case when delayed neutrons are also taken into account. Due to the complexity of the description, only the expectation of the neutron number is calculated. The concept of criticality of a time-varying system is also generalized to systems with delayed neutrons. The temporal behaviour of the expectation of the number of neutrons and its asymptotic properties are displayed and discussed

  16. Background noise can enhance cortical auditory evoked potentials under certain conditions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Papesh, Melissa A; Billings, Curtis J; Baltzell, Lucas S

    2015-07-01

    To use cortical auditory evoked potentials (CAEPs) to understand neural encoding in background noise and the conditions under which noise enhances CAEP responses. CAEPs from 16 normal-hearing listeners were recorded using the speech syllable/ba/presented in quiet and speech-shaped noise at signal-to-noise ratios of 10 and 30dB. The syllable was presented binaurally and monaurally at two presentation rates. The amplitudes of N1 and N2 peaks were often significantly enhanced in the presence of low-level background noise relative to quiet conditions, while P1 and P2 amplitudes were consistently reduced in noise. P1 and P2 amplitudes were significantly larger during binaural compared to monaural presentations, while N1 and N2 peaks were similar between binaural and monaural conditions. Methodological choices impact CAEP peaks in very different ways. Negative peaks can be enhanced by background noise in certain conditions, while positive peaks are generally enhanced by binaural presentations. Methodological choices significantly impact CAEPs acquired in quiet and in noise. If CAEPs are to be used as a tool to explore signal encoding in noise, scientists must be cognizant of how differences in acquisition and processing protocols selectively shape CAEP responses. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.

  17. Dipole moment and polarizability of impurity doped quantum dots under anisotropy, spatially-varying effective mass and dielectric screening function: Interplay with noise

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ghosh, Anuja; Ghosh, Manas

    2018-01-01

    Present work explores the profiles of polarizability (αp) and electric dipole moment (μ) of impurity doped GaAs quantum dot (QD) under the aegis of spatially-varying effective mass, spatially-varying dielectric constant and anisotropy of the system. Presence of noise has also been invoked to examine how its intervention further tunes αp and μ. Noise term maintains a Gaussian white feature and it has been incorporated to the system through two different roadways; additive and multiplicative. The various facets of influence of spatially-varying effective mass, spatially-varying dielectric constant and anisotropy on αp and μ depend quite delicately on presence/absence of noise and also on the mode through which noise has been administered. The outcomes of the study manifest viable routes to harness the dipole moment and polarizability of doped QD system through the interplay between noise, anisotropy and variable effective mass and dielectric constant of the system.

  18. Exponential synchronization of delayed neutral-type neural networks with Lévy noise under non-Lipschitz condition

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ma, Shuo; Kang, Yanmei

    2018-04-01

    In this paper, the exponential synchronization of stochastic neutral-type neural networks with time-varying delay and Lévy noise under non-Lipschitz condition is investigated for the first time. Using the general Itô's formula and the nonnegative semi-martingale convergence theorem, we derive general sufficient conditions of two kinds of exponential synchronization for the drive system and the response system with adaptive control. Numerical examples are presented to verify the effectiveness of the proposed criteria.

  19. The Protective Effect of Conditioning on Noise-Induced Hearing Loss Is Frequency-Dependent

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Akram Pourbakht

    2012-10-01

    Full Text Available We compared the extent of temporary threshold shift (TTS and hair cell loss following high level 4 kHz noise exposure with those preconditioned with moderate level 1 and 4 kHz octave band noise. Fifteen Male albino guinea pigs (300- 350 g in weight were randomly allocated into three groups: those exposed to 4 kHz octave band noise at 102 dB SPL (group 1, n=5; those conditioned with 1 kHz octave band noise at 85 dB SPL, 6 hours per day for 5 days, then exposed to noise (group 2, n=5; those conditioned with 4 kHz octave band noise at 85 dB SPL, then exposed to noise (group 3, n=5. An hour and one week after noise exposure, threshold shifts were evaluated by auditory-evoked brainstem response (ABR and then animals were euthanized for histological evaluation. We found that TTS and cochlear damage caused by noise exposure were significantly reduced by 1 kHz and 4 kHz conditioning (P<0.001. We also showed that 4 kHz protocol attenuates noise- induced TTS but no significant TTS reduction occurred by 1 kHz conditioning. Both protocol protected noise-induced cochlear damage. We concluded that lower tone conditioning could not protect against higher tone temporary noise-induced hearing loss, thus conditioning is a local acting and frequency-dependent phenomenon.

  20. Noise Optimization in Diesel Engines

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S. Narayan

    2014-04-01

    Full Text Available Euro 6 norms emphasize on reduction of emissions from the engines. New injection methods are being adopted for homogenous mixture formation in diesel engines. During steady state conditions homogenous combustion gave noise levels in lower frequencies. In this work noise produced in a 440 cc diesel engine has been investigated. The engine was run under various operating conditions varying various injection parameters.

  1. The Effects of Ambient Conditions on Helicopter Harmonic Noise Radiation: Theory and Experiment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Greenwood, Eric; Sim, Ben W.; Boyd, D. Douglas, Jr.

    2016-01-01

    The effects of ambient atmospheric conditions, air temperature and density, on rotor harmonic noise radiation are characterized using theoretical models and experimental measurements of helicopter noise collected at three different test sites at elevations ranging from sea level to 7000 ft above sea level. Significant changes in the thickness, loading, and blade-vortex interaction noise levels and radiation directions are observed across the different test sites for an AS350 helicopter flying at the same indicated airspeed and gross weight. However, the radiated noise is shown to scale with ambient pressure when the flight condition of the helicopter is defined in nondimensional terms. Although the effective tip Mach number is identified as the primary governing parameter for thickness noise, the nondimensional weight coefficient also impacts lower harmonic loading noise levels, which contribute strongly to low frequency harmonic noise radiation both in and out of the plane of the horizon. Strategies for maintaining the same nondimensional rotor operating condition under different ambient conditions are developed using an analytical model of single main rotor helicopter trim and confirmed using a CAMRAD II model of the AS350 helicopter. The ability of the Fundamental Rotorcraft Acoustics Modeling from Experiments (FRAME) technique to generalize noise measurements made under one set of ambient conditions to make accurate noise predictions under other ambient conditions is also validated.

  2. Phenomenon of entropic stochastic resonance with asymmetric dichotomous noise and white noise

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Guo, Feng; Li, Shao-Fu; Cheng, Xiao-Feng

    2012-01-01

    The entropic stochastic resonance (ESR) in a confined system subject to asymmetric dichotomous noise, white noise, and a periodic square-wave signal is investigated. Under the adiabatic approximation condition, by use of the properties of the dichotomous noise, we obtain the expression of the output signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) based on two-state theory. The SNR is shown to be a nonmonotonic function of the strength and asymmetry of the dichotomous noise, the intensity of the white noise, and the amplitude of the square-wave signal. The SNR varies non-monotonically with increases in the parameters of the confined structure. The influence of the correlation rate of the dichotomous noise and the frequency of the external constant force on the SNR is also discussed.

  3. Lack of protection against gentamicin ototoxicity by auditory conditioning with noise

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alex Strose

    2014-10-01

    Full Text Available INTRODUCTION: Auditory conditioning consists of the pre-exposure to low levels of a potential harmful agent to protect against a subsequent harmful presentation. OBJECTIVE: To confirm if conditioning with an agent different from the used to cause the trauma can also be effective. METHOD: Experimental study with 17 guinea pigs divided as follows: group Som: exposed to 85 dB broadband noise centered at 4 kHz, 30 minutes a day for 10 consecutive days; group Cont: intramuscular administration of gentamicin 160 mg/kg a day for 10 consecutive days; group Expt: conditioned with noise similarly to group Som and, after each noise presentation, received gentamicin similarly to group Cont. The animals were evaluated by distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAEs, brainstem auditory evoked potentials (BAEPs and scanning electron microscopy. RESULTS: The animals that were conditioned with noise did not show any protective effect compared to the ones that received only the ototoxic gentamicin administration. This lack of protection was observed functionally and morphologically. CONCLUSION: Conditioning with 85 dB broadband noise, 30 min a day for 10 consecutive days does not protect against an ototoxic gentamicin administration of 160 mg/kg a day for 10 consecutive days in the guinea pig.

  4. Analysis of noise emitted from diesel engines

    Science.gov (United States)

    Narayan, S.

    2015-12-01

    In this work combustion noise produced in diesel engines has been investigated. In order to reduce the exhaust emissions various injection parameters need to be studied and optimized. The noise has been investigated by mean of data obtained from cylinder pressure measurements using piezo electric transducers and microphones on a dual cylinder diesel engine test rig. The engine was run under various operating conditions varying various injection parameters to investigate the effects of noise emissions under various testing conditions.

  5. Modeling Random Telegraph Noise Under Switched Bias Conditions Using Cyclostationary RTS Noise

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van der Wel, A.P.; Klumperink, Eric A.M.; Vandamme, L.K.J.; Nauta, Bram

    In this paper, we present measurements and simulation of random telegraph signal (RTS) noise in n-channel MOSFETs under periodic large signal gate-source excitation (switched bias conditions). This is particularly relevant to analog CMOS circuit design where large signal swings occur and where LF

  6. The tradeoff between signal detection and recognition rules auditory sensitivity under variable background noise conditions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lugli, Marco

    2015-12-07

    Animal acoustic communication commonly takes place under masked conditions. For instance, sound signals relevant for mating and survival are very often masked by background noise, which makes their detection and recognition by organisms difficult. Ambient noise (AN) varies in level and shape among different habitats, but also remarkable variations in time and space occurs within the same habitat. Variable AN conditions mask hearing thresholds of the receiver in complex and unpredictable ways, thereby causing distortions in sound perception. When communication takes place in a noisy environment, a highly sensitive system might confer no advantage to the receiver compared to a less sensitive one. The effects of noise masking on auditory thresholds and hearing-related functions are well known, and the potential role of AN in the evolution of the species' auditory sensitivity has been recognized by few authors. The mechanism of the underlying selection process has never been explored, however. Here I present a simple fitness model that seeks for the best sensitivity of a hearing system performing the detection and recognition of the sound under variable AN conditions. The model predicts higher sensitivity (i.e. lower hearing thresholds) as best strategy for species living in quiet habitats and lower sensitivity (i.e. higher hearing thresholds) as best strategy for those living in noisy habitats provided the cost of incorrect recognition is not low. The tradeoff between detection and recognition of acoustic signals appears to be a key factor determining the best level of hearing sensitivity of a species when acoustic communication is corrupted by noise. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  7. Influence of Spanwise Boundary Conditions on Slat Noise Simulations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lockard, David P.; Choudhari, Meelan M.; Buning, Pieter G.

    2015-01-01

    The slat noise from the 30P/30N high-lift system is being investigated through computational fluid dynamics simulations with the OVERFLOW code in conjunction with a Ffowcs Williams-Hawkings acoustics solver. In the present study, two different spanwise grids are being used to investigate the effect of the spanwise extent and periodicity on the near-field unsteady structures and radiated noise. The baseline grid with periodic boundary conditions has a short span equal to 1/9th of the stowed chord, whereas the other, longer span grid adds stretched grids on both sides of the core, baseline grid to allow inviscid surface boundary conditions at both ends. The results indicate that the near-field mean statistics obtained using the two grids are similar to each other, as are the directivity and spectral shapes of the radiated noise. However, periodicity forces all acoustic waves with less than one wavelength across the span to be two-dimensional, without any variation in the span. The spanwise coherence of the acoustic waves is what is needed to make estimates of the noise that would be radiated from realistic span lengths. Simulations with periodic conditions need spans of at least six slat chords to allow spanwise variation in the low-frequencies associated with the peak of broadband slat noise. Even then, the full influence of the periodicity is unclear, so employing grids with a fine, central region and highly stretched meshes that go to slip walls may be a more efficient means of capturing the spanwise decorrelation of low-frequency acoustic phenomena.

  8. Real-time Kalman filter implementation for active feedforward control of time-varying broadband noise and vibrations

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Ophem, S. van; Berkhoff, A.P.

    2012-01-01

    Tracking behavior and the rate of convergence are critical properties in active noise control applications with time-varying disturbance spectra. As compared to the standard filtered-reference Least Mean Square (LMS) algorithm, improved convergence can be obtained with schemes based on

  9. Simulation of Broadband Noise Sources of an Axial Fan under Rotating Stall Conditions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lei Zhang

    2014-11-01

    Full Text Available Study on the influence of rotating stall on the aerodynamic noise of axial fan has important value to warn of the occurrence of stall through monitoring the noise variations. The present work is to analyze the aerodynamic noise before and after the phenomenon of rotating stall by solving Navier-Stokes equations, coupled with the throttle condition and the broadband noise sources model. The impeller exit rotational Mach number and rotational Reynolds number are separately 0.407 and 8.332 × 106. The results show that the aerodynamic noise source of the fan is mainly the rotation noise under the design condition. The vortex noise accounts for the major part of fan noise after the occurrence of stall, and the maximum acoustic power level of the fan appears in the rotor domains. In the evolution process from the stall inception to the stall cell, the high noise regions of the rotor develop along the radial, circumferential, and axial directions, and the area occupied by high noise regions increases from 33% to 46% impeller channels area. On rotating stall condition, the high noise regions occupying about 46% impeller channels area propagate with the stall cell along the circumferential direction at a half of rotor speed.

  10. Electrochemical noise measurements under pressurized water reactor conditions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Van Nieuwenhove, R.

    2000-01-01

    Electrochemical potential noise measurements on sensitized stainless steel pressure tubes under pressurized water reactor (PWR) conditions were performed for the first time. Very short potential spikes, believed to be associated to crack initiation events, were detected when stressing the sample above the yield strength and increased in magnitude until the sample broke. Sudden increases of plastic deformation, as induced by an increased tube pressure, resulted in slower, high-amplitude potential transients, often accompanied by a reduction in noise level

  11. Dynamical noise filter and conditional entropy analysis in chaos synchronization.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Jiao; Lai, C-H

    2006-06-01

    It is shown that, in a chaotic synchronization system whose driving signal is exposed to channel noise, the estimation of the drive system states can be greatly improved by applying the dynamical noise filtering to the response system states. If the noise is bounded in a certain range, the estimation errors, i.e., the difference between the filtered responding states and the driving states, can be made arbitrarily small. This property can be used in designing an alternative digital communication scheme. An analysis based on the conditional entropy justifies the application of dynamical noise filtering in generating quality synchronization.

  12. The Effect of Age and Type of Noise on Speech Perception under Conditions of Changing Context and Noise Levels.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Taitelbaum-Swead, Riki; Fostick, Leah

    2016-01-01

    Everyday life includes fluctuating noise levels, resulting in continuously changing speech intelligibility. The study aims were: (1) to quantify the amount of decrease in age-related speech perception, as a result of increasing noise level, and (2) to test the effect of age on context usage at the word level (smaller amount of contextual cues). A total of 24 young adults (age 20-30 years) and 20 older adults (age 60-75 years) were tested. Meaningful and nonsense one-syllable consonant-vowel-consonant words were presented with the background noise types of speech noise (SpN), babble noise (BN), and white noise (WN), with a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of 0 and -5 dB. Older adults had lower accuracy in SNR = 0, with WN being the most difficult condition for all participants. Measuring the change in speech perception when SNR decreased showed a reduction of 18.6-61.5% in intelligibility, with age effect only for BN. Both young and older adults used less phonemic context with WN, as compared to other conditions. Older adults are more affected by an increasing noise level of fluctuating informational noise as compared to steady-state noise. They also use less contextual cues when perceiving monosyllabic words. Further studies should take into consideration that when presenting the stimulus differently (change in noise level, less contextual cues), other perceptual and cognitive processes are involved. © 2016 S. Karger AG, Basel.

  13. Maintaining reduced noise levels in a resource-constrained neonatal intensive care unit by operant conditioning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ramesh, A; Denzil, S B; Linda, R; Josephine, P K; Nagapoornima, M; Suman Rao, P N; Swarna Rekha, A

    2013-03-01

    To evaluate the efficacy of operant conditioning in sustaining reduced noise levels in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Quasi-experimental study on quality of care. Level III NICU of a teaching hospital in south India. 26 staff employed in the NICU. (7 Doctors, 13 Nursing staff and 6 Nursing assistants). Operant conditioning of staff activity for 6 months. This method involves positive and negative reinforcement to condition the staff to modify noise generating activities. Comparing noise levels in decibel: A weighted [dB (A)] before conditioning with levels at 18 and 24 months after conditioning. Decibel: A weighted accounts for noise that is audible to human ears. Operant conditioning for 6 months sustains the reduced noise levels to within 62 dB in ventilator room 95% CI: 60.4 - 62.2 and isolation room (95% CI: 55.8 - 61.5). In the preterm room, noise can be maintained within 52 dB (95% CI: 50.8 - 52.6). This effect is statistically significant in all the rooms at 18 months (P = 0.001). At 24 months post conditioning there is a significant rebound of noise levels by 8.6, 6.7 and 9.9 dB in the ventilator, isolation and preterm room, respectively (P =0.001). Operant conditioning for 6 months was effective in sustaining reduced noise levels. At 18 months post conditioning, the noise levels were maintained within 62 dB (A), 60 dB (A) and 52 dB (A) in the ventilator, isolation and pre-term room, respectively. Conditioning needs to be repeated at 12 months in the ventilator room and at 18 months in the other rooms.

  14. The Effects of Ambient Conditions on Helicopter Rotor Source Noise Modeling

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schmitz, Frederic H.; Greenwood, Eric

    2011-01-01

    A new physics-based method called Fundamental Rotorcraft Acoustic Modeling from Experiments (FRAME) is used to demonstrate the change in rotor harmonic noise of a helicopter operating at different ambient conditions. FRAME is based upon a non-dimensional representation of the governing acoustic and performance equations of a single rotor helicopter. Measured external noise is used together with parameter identification techniques to develop a model of helicopter external noise that is a hybrid between theory and experiment. The FRAME method is used to evaluate the main rotor harmonic noise of a Bell 206B3 helicopter operating at different altitudes. The variation with altitude of Blade-Vortex Interaction (BVI) noise, known to be a strong function of the helicopter s advance ratio, is dependent upon which definition of airspeed is flown by the pilot. If normal flight procedures are followed and indicated airspeed (IAS) is held constant, the true airspeed (TAS) of the helicopter increases with altitude. This causes an increase in advance ratio and a decrease in the speed of sound which results in large changes to BVI noise levels. Results also show that thickness noise on this helicopter becomes more intense at high altitudes where advancing tip Mach number increases because the speed of sound is decreasing and advance ratio increasing for the same indicated airspeed. These results suggest that existing measurement-based empirically derived helicopter rotor noise source models may give incorrect noise estimates when they are used at conditions where data were not measured and may need to be corrected for mission land-use planning purposes.

  15. Study of Noise Canceling Performance of Feedforward Fuzzy-Based ANC System under Non-Causal Condition

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Mojallali, Hamed; Izadi-Zamanabadi, Roozbeh; Amini, Rouzbeh

    of noise canceling performance of feed-forward fuzzy-based ANC systems for ducts under non-causal condition is presented. For this purpose, we use fuzzy filtered-x algorithm as an adaptive filter and the results are compared with classical filteredx algorithm which is employed under the same conditions......Feed-forward active noise control (ANC) systems act as adaptive systems to control and cancel undesired signals and noises. If the delay in the noise canceling subsystems increases more than the delays in the primary path, non-causal condition will occur in these systems. In this paper, study....... Analysis shows that ANC systems using fuzzy algorithm has better efficiency for noise cancellation in non-causal condition....

  16. Measured Noise from Small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cabell, Randolph; McSwain, Robert; Grosveld, Ferdinand

    2016-01-01

    Proposed uses of small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), including home package delivery, have the potential to expose large portions of communities to a new noise source. This paper discusses results of flyover noise measurements of four small UAVs, including an internal combustion-powered model airplane and three battery-powered multicopters. Basic noise characteristics of these vehicles are discussed, including spectral properties and sound level metrics such as sound pressure level, effective perceived noise level, and sound exposure level. The size and aerodynamic characteristics of the multicopters in particular make their flight path susceptible to atmospheric disturbances such as wind gusts. These gusts, coupled with a flight control system that varies rotor speed to maintain vehicle stability, create an unsteady acoustic signature. The spectral variations resulting from this unsteadiness are explored, in both hover and flyover conditions for the multicopters. The time varying noise, which differs from the relatively steady noise generated by large transport aircraft, may complicate the prediction of human annoyance using conventional sound level metrics.

  17. Diurnally varying annoyance due to railway and road traffic noise; Laermbelaestigung durch Strassen- und Schienenverkehr zu unterschiedlichen Tageszeiten

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Schreckenberg, D. [Zentrum fuer Angewandte Psychologie, Umwelt- und Sozialforschung (ZEUS GmbH), Bochum (Germany); Guski, R. [Ruhr-Univ. Bochum, Fakultaet fuer Psychologie, Bochum (Germany)

    2005-07-01

    One of the most prominent non-auditory effects of noise influencing the life quality of human beings is the disturbance of activities (i.e. communicating, relaxing, working, sleeping). The disturbance of activities results in noise annoyance, and in the long run may lead to further health effects. Due to the fact that activities vary diurnally it is plausible to assume that peoples'' responses to noise differ depending on the times of day. The aim of the study, which is part of the German research network ''Quiet Traffic'' is to provide empirical data of dose-response relationships for different times of day (excluding the night). 1110 residents from four areas with dominant road traffic noise (683 subjects) and from two areas with dominant railway noise (427 subjects) have been asked in a face-to-face interview for contentment with house and living environment and noise reactions. 131 persons of the total sample took part in an additional study (experience-sampling study) in which the hourly noise annoyance was measured for three consecutive days using a handheld computer. For each subject individual source-specific immission noise level for each hour of the day has been calculated. There is higher annoyance due to road traffic noise in the late afternoon/evening from 4 pm to 7 pm. For railway noise higher annoyance is reported in the evening from 6 pm to 10 am. The reported differences in noise annoyance depending on the times of day are higher with increasing noise level. (orig.)

  18. Flow and Noise Characteristics of Centrifugal Fan under Different Stall Conditions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lei Zhang

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available An implicit, time-accurate 3D Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS solver is used to simulate the rotating stall phenomenon in a centrifugal fan. The goal of the present work is to shed light on the flow field and particularly the aerodynamic noise at different stall conditions. Aerodynamic characteristics, frequency domain characteristics, and the contours of sound power level under two different stall conditions are discussed in this paper. The results show that, with the decrease of valve opening, the amplitude of full pressure and flow fluctuations tends to be larger and the stall frequency remains the same. The flow field analysis indicates that the area occupied by stall cells expands with the decrease of flow rate. The noise calculation based on the simulation underlines the role of vortex noise after the occurrence of rotating stall, showing that the high noise area rotates along with the stall cell in the circumferential direction.

  19. A One-Dimensional Wave Equation with White Noise Boundary Condition

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, Jong Uhn

    2006-01-01

    We discuss the Cauchy problem for a one-dimensional wave equation with white noise boundary condition. We also establish the existence of an invariant measure when the noise is additive. Similar problems for parabolic equations were discussed by several authors. To our knowledge, there is only one work which investigated the initial-boundary value problem for a wave equation with random noise at the boundary. We handle a more general case by a different method. Our result on the existence of an invariant measure relies on the author's recent work on a certain class of stochastic evolution equations

  20. Relationship of core exit-temperature noise to thermal-hydraulic conditions in PWRs

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sweeney, F.J.; Upadhyaya, B.R.

    1983-01-01

    Core exit thermocouple temperature noise and neutron detector noise measurements were performed at the Loss of Fluid Test Facility (LOFT) reactor and a Westinghouse, 1148 MW(e) PWR to relate temperature noise to core thermal-hydraulic conditions. The noise analysis results show that the RMS of the temperature noise increases linearly with increasing core δT at LOFT and the commercial PWR. Out-of-core test loop temperature noise has shown similar behavior. The phase angle between core exit temperature noise and in-core or ex-core neutron noise is directly related to the core coolant flow velocity. However, if the thermocouple response time is slow, compared to the coolant transit time between the sensors, velocities inferred from the phase angle are lower than measured coolant flow velocities

  1. Data Assimilation by Conditioning of Driving Noise on Future Observations

    KAUST Repository

    Lee, Wonjung

    2014-08-01

    Conventional recursive filtering approaches, designed for quantifying the state of an evolving stochastic dynamical system with intermittent observations, use a sequence of i) an uncertainty propagation step followed by ii) a step where the associated data is assimilated using Bayes\\' rule. Alternatively, the order of the steps can be switched to i) one step ahead data assimilation followed by ii) uncertainty propagation. In this paper, we apply this smoothing-based sequential filter to systems driven by random noise, however with the conditioning on future observation not only to the system variable but to the driving noise. Our research reveals that, for the nonlinear filtering problem, the conditioned driving noise is biased by a nonzero mean and in turn pushes forward the filtering solution in time closer to the true state when it drives the system. As a result our proposed method can yield a more accurate approximate solution for the state estimation problem. © 1991-2012 IEEE.

  2. Noise sensitivity and reactions to noise and other environmental conditions

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Miedema, H.M.E.; Vos, H.

    2003-01-01

    This article integrates findings from the literature and new results regarding noise sensitivity. The new results are based on analyses of 28 combined datasets (N=23 038), and separate analyses of a large aircraft noise study (N=10939). Three topics regarding noise sensitivity are discussed, namely,

  3. The noise of ultrashort pulse mode-locked lasers beyond the slowly varying envelope approximation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Takushima, Y; Haus, H A; Kaertner, F X

    2004-01-01

    The zero-point fluctuations in an L-C circuit of finite Q are revisited. The zero-point energy is shown to approach the value of hbarω 0 /2 only in the limit of an infinite Q. A Fabry-Perot resonator, on the other hand, has bounded zero-point energies of its modes that are equal to hbarω n /2 for each resonance. Based on the Fabry-Perot resonator with broadband noise, we analyse the noise of an ultrafast mode-locked laser when the slowly varying envelope approximation (SVEA) is not valid. This is achieved by reinterpreting the quantized form of the master equation of mode locking as an equation of motion for the electric field rather than for the creation operator of a photon. It is found that in this formulation quantum correlations exist that are not present in the SVEA. The correlations become evident in the spectrum of the zero-point fluctuations and therefore in the background noise of the laser. This behaviour can be detected by homodyne detection of the laser output. The linewidth of the frequency comb generated by the mode-locked laser is not affected by these correlations and is given by the Schawlow-Townes linewidth of an equivalent continuous wave taking the additional intracavity loss due to the mode locking process into account

  4. Robust synchronization analysis in nonlinear stochastic cellular networks with time-varying delays, intracellular perturbations and intercellular noise.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Po-Wei; Chen, Bor-Sen

    2011-08-01

    Naturally, a cellular network consisted of a large amount of interacting cells is complex. These cells have to be synchronized in order to emerge their phenomena for some biological purposes. However, the inherently stochastic intra and intercellular interactions are noisy and delayed from biochemical processes. In this study, a robust synchronization scheme is proposed for a nonlinear stochastic time-delay coupled cellular network (TdCCN) in spite of the time-varying process delay and intracellular parameter perturbations. Furthermore, a nonlinear stochastic noise filtering ability is also investigated for this synchronized TdCCN against stochastic intercellular and environmental disturbances. Since it is very difficult to solve a robust synchronization problem with the Hamilton-Jacobi inequality (HJI) matrix, a linear matrix inequality (LMI) is employed to solve this problem via the help of a global linearization method. Through this robust synchronization analysis, we can gain a more systemic insight into not only the robust synchronizability but also the noise filtering ability of TdCCN under time-varying process delays, intracellular perturbations and intercellular disturbances. The measures of robustness and noise filtering ability of a synchronized TdCCN have potential application to the designs of neuron transmitters, on-time mass production of biochemical molecules, and synthetic biology. Finally, a benchmark of robust synchronization design in Escherichia coli repressilators is given to confirm the effectiveness of the proposed methods. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  5. Incipient Fault Detection for Rolling Element Bearings under Varying Speed Conditions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xue, Lang; Li, Naipeng; Lei, Yaguo; Li, Ningbo

    2017-06-20

    Varying speed conditions bring a huge challenge to incipient fault detection of rolling element bearings because both the change of speed and faults could lead to the amplitude fluctuation of vibration signals. Effective detection methods need to be developed to eliminate the influence of speed variation. This paper proposes an incipient fault detection method for bearings under varying speed conditions. Firstly, relative residual (RR) features are extracted, which are insensitive to the varying speed conditions and are able to reflect the degradation trend of bearings. Then, a health indicator named selected negative log-likelihood probability (SNLLP) is constructed to fuse a feature set including RR features and non-dimensional features. Finally, based on the constructed SNLLP health indicator, a novel alarm trigger mechanism is designed to detect the incipient fault. The proposed method is demonstrated using vibration signals from bearing tests and industrial wind turbines. The results verify the effectiveness of the proposed method for incipient fault detection of rolling element bearings under varying speed conditions.

  6. Computing Conditional VaR using Time-varying CopulasComputing Conditional VaR using Time-varying Copulas

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Beatriz Vaz de Melo Mendes

    2005-12-01

    Full Text Available It is now widespread the use of Value-at-Risk (VaR as a canonical measure at risk. Most accurate VaR measures make use of some volatility model such as GARCH-type models. However, the pattern of volatility dynamic of a portfolio follows from the (univariate behavior of the risk assets, as well as from the type and strength of the associations among them. Moreover, the dependence structure among the components may change conditionally t past observations. Some papers have attempted to model this characteristic by assuming a multivariate GARCH model, or by considering the conditional correlation coefficient, or by incorporating some possibility for switches in regimes. In this paper we address this problem using time-varying copulas. Our modeling strategy allows for the margins to follow some FIGARCH type model while the copula dependence structure changes over time.

  7. Assessment of rural soundscapes with high-speed train noise.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Pyoung Jik; Hong, Joo Young; Jeon, Jin Yong

    2014-06-01

    In the present study, rural soundscapes with high-speed train noise were assessed through laboratory experiments. A total of ten sites with varying landscape metrics were chosen for audio-visual recording. The acoustical characteristics of the high-speed train noise were analyzed using various noise level indices. Landscape metrics such as the percentage of natural features (NF) and Shannon's diversity index (SHDI) were adopted to evaluate the landscape features of the ten sites. Laboratory experiments were then performed with 20 well-trained listeners to investigate the perception of high-speed train noise in rural areas. The experiments consisted of three parts: 1) visual-only condition, 2) audio-only condition, and 3) combined audio-visual condition. The results showed that subjects' preference for visual images was significantly related to NF, the number of land types, and the A-weighted equivalent sound pressure level (LAeq). In addition, the visual images significantly influenced the noise annoyance, and LAeq and NF were the dominant factors affecting the annoyance from high-speed train noise in the combined audio-visual condition. In addition, Zwicker's loudness (N) was highly correlated with the annoyance from high-speed train noise in both the audio-only and audio-visual conditions. © 2013.

  8. When noise is beneficial for sensory encoding: Noise adaptation can improve face processing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Menzel, Claudia; Hayn-Leichsenring, Gregor U; Redies, Christoph; Németh, Kornél; Kovács, Gyula

    2017-10-01

    The presence of noise usually impairs the processing of a stimulus. Here, we studied the effects of noise on face processing and show, for the first time, that adaptation to noise patterns has beneficial effects on face perception. We used noiseless faces that were either surrounded by random noise or presented on a uniform background as stimuli. In addition, the faces were either preceded by noise adaptors or not. Moreover, we varied the statistics of the noise so that its spectral slope either matched that of the faces or it was steeper or shallower. Results of parallel ERP recordings showed that the background noise reduces the amplitude of the face-evoked N170, indicating less intensive face processing. Adaptation to a noise pattern, however, led to reduced P1 and enhanced N170 amplitudes as well as to a better behavioral performance in two of the three noise conditions. This effect was also augmented by the presence of background noise around the target stimuli. Additionally, the spectral slope of the noise pattern affected the size of the P1, N170 and P2 amplitudes. We reason that the observed effects are due to the selective adaptation of noise-sensitive neurons present in the face-processing cortical areas, which may enhance the signal-to-noise-ratio. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  9. Incipient Fault Detection for Rolling Element Bearings under Varying Speed Conditions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lang Xue

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available Varying speed conditions bring a huge challenge to incipient fault detection of rolling element bearings because both the change of speed and faults could lead to the amplitude fluctuation of vibration signals. Effective detection methods need to be developed to eliminate the influence of speed variation. This paper proposes an incipient fault detection method for bearings under varying speed conditions. Firstly, relative residual (RR features are extracted, which are insensitive to the varying speed conditions and are able to reflect the degradation trend of bearings. Then, a health indicator named selected negative log-likelihood probability (SNLLP is constructed to fuse a feature set including RR features and non-dimensional features. Finally, based on the constructed SNLLP health indicator, a novel alarm trigger mechanism is designed to detect the incipient fault. The proposed method is demonstrated using vibration signals from bearing tests and industrial wind turbines. The results verify the effectiveness of the proposed method for incipient fault detection of rolling element bearings under varying speed conditions.

  10. Humans, Fish, and Whales: How Right Whales Modify Calling Behavior in Response to Shifting Background Noise Conditions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Parks, Susan E; Groch, Karina; Flores, Paulo; Sousa-Lima, Renata; Urazghildiiev, Ildar R

    2016-01-01

    This study investigates the role of behavioral plasticity in the variation of sound production of southern right whales (Eubalaena australis) in response to changes in the ambient background noise conditions. Data were collected from southern right whales in Brazilian waters in October and November 2011. The goal of this study was to quantify differences in right whale vocalizations recorded in low background noise as a control, fish chorus noise, and vessel noise. Variation in call parameters were detected among the three background noise conditions and have implications for future studies of noise effects on whale sound production.

  11. An Experimental Study on the Radiation Noise Characteristics of a Centrifugal Pump with Various Working Conditions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chang Guo

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available To investigate the radiation noise characteristics of a centrifugal pump under various working conditions, a noise measurement system is established; afterwards, the distribution of different points and intervals, as well as the overall level of noise, are studied. The total sound pressure level distribution for different points manifests the dipole and asymmetric directivity characteristics. Additionally, the acoustic energy is introduced to compare the noise of different intervals to reveal the asymmetric characteristics, and it is found that variation in working conditions has little impact on the acoustic energy distribution, and the ratio of the acoustic energy in the direction facing the tongue, as well as that in the direction against the tongue, to total acoustic energy fluctuate around 0.410 and 0.160, respectively, under various working conditions. Also, the A-weighted average sound pressure level (LpA is applied to describe the overall level of noise, and LpA increases gradually with the growth of rotational speed, but the growth slope decreases. While in the operation of throttling regulation, LpA shows the trend that first increases, then remains stable, and increases again with the growth of flow rate. This study could provide guidance for optimizing the operating conditions and noise control of centrifugal pumps.

  12. External noise distinguishes attention mechanisms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lu, Z L; Dosher, B A

    1998-05-01

    We developed and tested a powerful method for identifying and characterizing the effect of attention on performance in visual tasks as due to signal enhancement, distractor exclusion, or internal noise suppression. Based on a noisy Perceptual Template Model (PTM) of a human observer, the method adds increasing amounts of external noise (white gaussian random noise) to the visual stimulus and observes the effect on performance of a perceptual task for attended and unattended stimuli. The three mechanisms of attention yield three "signature" patterns of performance. The general framework for characterizing the mechanisms of attention is used here to investigate the attentional mechanisms in a concurrent location-cued orientation discrimination task. Test stimuli--Gabor patches tilted slightly to the right or left--always appeared on both the left and the right of fixation, and varied independently. Observers were cued on each trial to attend to the left, the right, or evenly to both stimuli, and decide the direction of tilt of both test stimuli. For eight levels of added external noise and three attention conditions (attended, unattended, and equal), subjects' contrast threshold levels were determined. At low levels of external noise, attention affected threshold contrast: threshold contrasts for non-attended stimuli were systematically higher than for equal attention stimuli, which were, in turn, higher than for attended stimuli. Specifically, when the rms contrast of the external noise is below 10%, there is a consistent 17% elevation of contrast threshold from attended to unattended condition across all three subjects. For higher levels of external noise, attention conditions did not affect threshold contrast values at all. These strong results are characteristic of a signal enhancement, or equivalently, an internal additive noise reduction mechanism of attention.

  13. Cardiovascular conditions, hearing difficulty, and occupational noise exposure within US industries and occupations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kerns, Ellen; Masterson, Elizabeth A; Themann, Christa L; Calvert, Geoffrey M

    2018-03-14

    The purpose of this study was to estimate the prevalence of occupational noise exposure, hearing difficulty and cardiovascular conditions within US industries and occupations, and to examine any associations of these outcomes with occupational noise exposure. National Health Interview Survey data from 2014 were examined. Weighted prevalence and adjusted prevalence ratios of self-reported hearing difficulty, hypertension, elevated cholesterol, and coronary heart disease or stroke were estimated by level of occupational noise exposure, industry, and occupation. Twenty-five percent of current workers had a history of occupational noise exposure (14% exposed in the last year), 12% had hearing difficulty, 24% had hypertension, 28% had elevated cholesterol; 58%, 14%, and 9% of these cases can be attributed to occupational noise exposure, respectively. Hypertension, elevated cholesterol, and hearing difficulty are more prevalent among noise-exposed workers. Reducing workplace noise levels is critical. Workplace-based health and wellness programs should also be considered. Published 2018. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.

  14. Maximizing noise energy for noise-masking studies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jules Étienne, Cédric; Arleo, Angelo; Allard, Rémy

    2017-08-01

    Noise-masking experiments are widely used to investigate visual functions. To be useful, noise generally needs to be strong enough to noticeably impair performance, but under some conditions, noise does not impair performance even when its contrast approaches the maximal displayable limit of 100 %. To extend the usefulness of noise-masking paradigms over a wider range of conditions, the present study developed a noise with great masking strength. There are two typical ways of increasing masking strength without exceeding the limited contrast range: use binary noise instead of Gaussian noise or filter out frequencies that are not relevant to the task (i.e., which can be removed without affecting performance). The present study combined these two approaches to further increase masking strength. We show that binarizing the noise after the filtering process substantially increases the energy at frequencies within the pass-band of the filter given equated total contrast ranges. A validation experiment showed that similar performances were obtained using binarized-filtered noise and filtered noise (given equated noise energy at the frequencies within the pass-band) suggesting that the binarization operation, which substantially reduced the contrast range, had no significant impact on performance. We conclude that binarized-filtered noise (and more generally, truncated-filtered noise) can substantially increase the energy of the noise at frequencies within the pass-band. Thus, given a limited contrast range, binarized-filtered noise can display higher energy levels than Gaussian noise and thereby widen the range of conditions over which noise-masking paradigms can be useful.

  15. Modelling and Control of Ionic Electroactive Polymer Actuators under Varying Humidity Conditions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S. Sunjai Nakshatharan

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available In this work, we address the problem of position control of ionic electroactive polymer soft actuators under varying relative humidity conditions. The impact of humidity on the actuation performance of ionic actuators is studied through frequency response and impedance spectroscopy analysis. Considering the uncertain performance of the actuator under varying humidity conditions, an adaptable model using the neural network method is developed. The model uses relative humidity magnitude as one of the model parameters, making it robust to different environmental conditions. Utilizing the model, a closed-loop controller based on the model predictive controller is developed for position control of the actuator. The developed model and controller are experimentally verified and found to be capable of predicting and controlling the actuators with excellent tracking accuracy under relative humidity conditions varying in the range of 10–90%.

  16. The noise factor in railway locomotives.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rotter, T

    1982-09-01

    This article concerns the problem of acoustic work conditions on railway locomotives. The objective results of sonometric surveys in locomotive cabins are compared with subject data received from locomotive crews obtained by means of a specific questionnaire 'The Subjective Estimation of Noise'. The analysis touched 9 type of locomotives; steam, diesel and electric engines. We asked drivers of different age groups and with varying lengths of professional service for their opinions The aim of the investigation was to determine the following points: 1. to analyse the drivers' subjective estimation of the noise in the locomotive cabins; 2. to define length of time for which the driver remains under the influence of the noise after finishing work; 3. to investigate the question of perception and understanding of sounds and vocal signals used in the locomotive. These problems are a small part of the general plan to improve work conditions on the Polish National Railways.

  17. Quantum Capacity under Adversarial Quantum Noise: Arbitrarily Varying Quantum Channels

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ahlswede, Rudolf; Bjelaković, Igor; Boche, Holger; Nötzel, Janis

    2013-01-01

    We investigate entanglement transmission over an unknown channel in the presence of a third party (called the adversary), which is enabled to choose the channel from a given set of memoryless but non-stationary channels without informing the legitimate sender and receiver about the particular choice that he made. This channel model is called an arbitrarily varying quantum channel (AVQC). We derive a quantum version of Ahlswede's dichotomy for classical arbitrarily varying channels. This includes a regularized formula for the common randomness-assisted capacity for entanglement transmission of an AVQC. Quite surprisingly and in contrast to the classical analog of the problem involving the maximal and average error probability, we find that the capacity for entanglement transmission of an AVQC always equals its strong subspace transmission capacity. These results are accompanied by different notions of symmetrizability (zero-capacity conditions) as well as by conditions for an AVQC to have a capacity described by a single-letter formula. In the final part of the paper the capacity of the erasure-AVQC is computed and some light shed on the connection between AVQCs and zero-error capacities. Additionally, we show by entirely elementary and operational arguments motivated by the theory of AVQCs that the quantum, classical, and entanglement-assisted zero-error capacities of quantum channels are generically zero and are discontinuous at every positivity point.

  18. Noise Reduction, Atmospheric Pressure Admittance Estimation and Long-Period Component Extraction in Time-Varying Gravity Signals Using Ensemble Empirical Mode Decomposition

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Linsong Wang

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Time-varying gravity signals, with their nonlinear, non-stationary and multi-scale characteristics, record the physical responses of various geodynamic processes and consist of a blend of signals with various periods and amplitudes, corresponding to numerous phenomena. Superconducting gravimeter (SG records are processed in this study using a multi-scale analytical method and corrected for known effects to reduce noise, to study geodynamic phenomena using their gravimetric signatures. Continuous SG (GWR-C032 gravity and barometric data are decomposed into a series of intrinsic mode functions (IMFs using the ensemble empirical mode decomposition (EEMD method, which is proposed to alleviate some unresolved issues (the mode mixing problem and the end effect of the empirical mode decomposition (EMD. Further analysis of the variously scaled signals is based on a dyadic filter bank of the IMFs. The results indicate that removing the high-frequency IMFs can reduce the natural and man-made noise in the data, which are caused by electronic device noise, Earth background noise and the residual effects of pre-processing. The atmospheric admittances based on frequency changes are estimated from the gravity and the atmospheric pressure IMFs in various frequency bands. These time- and frequency-dependent admittance values can be used effectively to improve the atmospheric correction. Using the EEMD method as a filter, the long-period IMFs are extracted from the SG time-varying gravity signals spanning 7 years. The resulting gravity residuals are well correlated with the gravity effect caused by the _ polar motion after correcting for atmospheric effects.

  19. Does red noise increase or decrease extinction risk? Single extreme events versus series of unfavorable conditions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schwager, Monika; Johst, Karin; Jeltsch, Florian

    2006-06-01

    Recent theoretical studies have shown contrasting effects of temporal correlation of environmental fluctuations (red noise) on the risk of population extinction. It is still debated whether and under which conditions red noise increases or decreases extinction risk compared with uncorrelated (white) noise. Here, we explain the opposing effects by introducing two features of red noise time series. On the one hand, positive autocorrelation increases the probability of series of poor environmental conditions, implying increasing extinction risk. On the other hand, for a given time period, the probability of at least one extremely bad year ("catastrophe") is reduced compared with white noise, implying decreasing extinction risk. Which of these two features determines extinction risk depends on the strength of environmental fluctuations and the sensitivity of population dynamics to these fluctuations. If extreme (catastrophic) events can occur (strong noise) or sensitivity is high (overcompensatory density dependence), then temporal correlation decreases extinction risk; otherwise, it increases it. Thus, our results provide a simple explanation for the contrasting previous findings and are a crucial step toward a general understanding of the effect of noise color on extinction risk.

  20. Contact Dynamics of EHL Contacts under Time Varying Conditions

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Venner, Cornelis H.; Popovici, G.; Wijnant, Ysbrand H.; Dalmaz, G.; Lubrecht, A.A.; Priest, M

    2004-01-01

    By means of numerical simulations of two situations with time varying operating conditions it is shown that the dynamic behaviour of Elasto-Hydrodynamically Lubricated contacts in terms of vibrations can be characterized as: Changes in the mutual approach lead to film thickness changes in the inlet

  1. Noise sensitivity of portfolio selection in constant conditional correlation GARCH models

    Science.gov (United States)

    Varga-Haszonits, I.; Kondor, I.

    2007-11-01

    This paper investigates the efficiency of minimum variance portfolio optimization for stock price movements following the Constant Conditional Correlation GARCH process proposed by Bollerslev. Simulations show that the quality of portfolio selection can be improved substantially by computing optimal portfolio weights from conditional covariances instead of unconditional ones. Measurement noise can be further reduced by applying some filtering method on the conditional correlation matrix (such as Random Matrix Theory based filtering). As an empirical support for the simulation results, the analysis is also carried out for a time series of S&P500 stock prices.

  2. Experimental quantum verification in the presence of temporally correlated noise

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mavadia, S.; Edmunds, C. L.; Hempel, C.; Ball, H.; Roy, F.; Stace, T. M.; Biercuk, M. J.

    2018-02-01

    Growth in the capabilities of quantum information hardware mandates access to techniques for performance verification that function under realistic laboratory conditions. Here we experimentally characterise the impact of common temporally correlated noise processes on both randomised benchmarking (RB) and gate-set tomography (GST). Our analysis highlights the role of sequence structure in enhancing or suppressing the sensitivity of quantum verification protocols to either slowly or rapidly varying noise, which we treat in the limiting cases of quasi-DC miscalibration and white noise power spectra. We perform experiments with a single trapped 171Yb+ ion-qubit and inject engineered noise (" separators="∝σ^ z ) to probe protocol performance. Experiments on RB validate predictions that measured fidelities over sequences are described by a gamma distribution varying between approximately Gaussian, and a broad, highly skewed distribution for rapidly and slowly varying noise, respectively. Similarly we find a strong gate set dependence of default experimental GST procedures in the presence of correlated errors, leading to significant deviations between estimated and calculated diamond distances in the presence of correlated σ^ z errors. Numerical simulations demonstrate that expansion of the gate set to include negative rotations can suppress these discrepancies and increase reported diamond distances by orders of magnitude for the same error processes. Similar effects do not occur for correlated σ^ x or σ^ y errors or depolarising noise processes, highlighting the impact of the critical interplay of selected gate set and the gauge optimisation process on the meaning of the reported diamond norm in correlated noise environments.

  3. Modelling Conditional and Unconditional Heteroskedasticity with Smoothly Time-Varying Structure

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Amado, Christina; Teräsvirta, Timo

    multiplier type misspecification tests. Finite-sample properties of these procedures and tests are examined by simulation. An empirical application to daily stock returns and another one to daily exchange rate returns illustrate the functioning and properties of our modelling strategy in practice......In this paper, we propose two parametric alternatives to the standard GARCH model. They allow the conditional variance to have a smooth time-varying structure of either ad- ditive or multiplicative type. The suggested parameterizations describe both nonlinearity and structural change...... in the conditional and unconditional variances where the transition between regimes over time is smooth. A modelling strategy for these new time-varying parameter GARCH models is developed. It relies on a sequence of Lagrange multiplier tests, and the adequacy of the estimated models is investigated by Lagrange...

  4. Applicability of models to estimate traffic noise for urban roads.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Melo, Ricardo A; Pimentel, Roberto L; Lacerda, Diego M; Silva, Wekisley M

    2015-01-01

    Traffic noise is a highly relevant environmental impact in cities. Models to estimate traffic noise, in turn, can be useful tools to guide mitigation measures. In this paper, the applicability of models to estimate noise levels produced by a continuous flow of vehicles on urban roads is investigated. The aim is to identify which models are more appropriate to estimate traffic noise in urban areas since several models available were conceived to estimate noise from highway traffic. First, measurements of traffic noise, vehicle count and speed were carried out in five arterial urban roads of a brazilian city. Together with geometric measurements of width of lanes and distance from noise meter to lanes, these data were input in several models to estimate traffic noise. The predicted noise levels were then compared to the respective measured counterparts for each road investigated. In addition, a chart showing mean differences in noise between estimations and measurements is presented, to evaluate the overall performance of the models. Measured Leq values varied from 69 to 79 dB(A) for traffic flows varying from 1618 to 5220 vehicles/h. Mean noise level differences between estimations and measurements for all urban roads investigated ranged from -3.5 to 5.5 dB(A). According to the results, deficiencies of some models are discussed while other models are identified as applicable to noise estimations on urban roads in a condition of continuous flow. Key issues to apply such models to urban roads are highlighted.

  5. The Impact of Listening Condition on Background Noise Acceptance for Young Adults with Normal Hearing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gordon-Hickey, Susan; Moore, Robert E.; Estis, Julie M.

    2012-01-01

    Purpose: To evaluate the effect of different speech conditions on background noise acceptance. A total of 23 stimulus pairings, differing in primary talker gender (female, male, conventional), number of background talkers (1, 4, 12), and gender composition of the background noise (female, male, mixed) were used to evaluate background noise…

  6. Influence of tip clearance on flow behavior and noise generation of centrifugal compressors in near-surge conditions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Galindo, J.; Tiseira, A.; Navarro, R.; López, M.A.

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • Centrifugal compressor aeroacoustics sensitivity to tip clearance is investigated. • 3 different clearance ratios are set in accordance to expected operating values. • Pressure spectra do not depend on tip clearance ratio in near-surge conditions. • DES performs better than URANS in predicting compressor acoustic signature. • Flow field observation reveals that tip clearance is immersed in rotating backflow. - Abstract: CFD has become an essential tool for researchers to analyze centrifugal compressors. Tip leakage flow is usually considered one of the main mechanisms that dictate compressor flow field and stability. However, it is a common practice to rely on CAD tip clearance, even though the gap between blades and shroud changes when compressor is running. In this paper, sensitivity of centrifugal compressor flow field and noise prediction to tip clearance ratio is investigated. 3D CFD simulations are performed with three different tip clearance ratios in accordance to expected operating values, extracted from shaft motion measurements and FEM predictions of temperature and rotational deformation. Near-surge operating conditions are simulated with URANS and DES. DES shows superior performance for acoustic predictions. Cases with reduced tip clearance present higher pressure ratio and isentropic efficiency, but no significant changes in compressor acoustic signature are found when varying clearance. In this working point, tip clearance is immersed in a region of strongly swirling backflow. Therefore, tip leakage cannot establish any coherent noise source mechanism

  7. Vibration condition monitoring of planetary gearbox under varying external load

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bartelmus, W.; Zimroz, R. [Wroclaw University of Technology, Wroclaw (Poland)

    2009-01-15

    The paper shows that for condition monitoring of planetary gearboxes it is important to identify the external varying load condition. In the paper, systematic consideration has been taken of the influence of many factors on the vibration signals generated by a system in which a planetary gearbox is included. These considerations give the basis for vibration signal interpretation, development of the means of condition monitoring, and for the scenario of the degradation of the planetary gearbox. Real measured vibration signals obtained in the industrial environment are processed. The signals are recorded during normal operation of the diagnosed objects, namely planetary gearboxes, which are a part of the driving system used in a bucket wheel excavator, used in lignite mines. It has been found that the most important factor of the proper planetary gearbox condition is connected with perturbation of arm rotation, where an arm rotation gives rise to a specific vibration signal whose properties are depicted by a short-time Fourier transform (STFT) and Wigner-Ville distribution presented as a time-frequency map. The paper gives evidence that there are two dominant low-frequency causes that influence vibration signal modulation, i.e. the varying load, which comes from the nature of the bucket wheel digging process, and the arm/carrier rotation. These two causes determine the condition of the planetary gearboxes considered.

  8. Practical Ranges of Loudness Levels of Various Types of Environmental Noise, Including Traffic Noise, Aircraft Noise, and Industrial Noise

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sabine A. Janssen

    2011-05-01

    Full Text Available In environmental noise control one commonly employs the A-weighted sound level as an approximate measure of the effect of noise on people. A measure that is more closely related to direct human perception of noise is the loudness level. At constant A-weighted sound level, the loudness level of a noise signal varies considerably with the shape of the frequency spectrum of the noise signal. In particular the bandwidth of the spectrum has a large effect on the loudness level, due to the effect of critical bands in the human hearing system. The low-frequency content of the spectrum also has an effect on the loudness level. In this note the relation between loudness level and A-weighted sound level is analyzed for various environmental noise spectra, including spectra of traffic noise, aircraft noise, and industrial noise. From loudness levels calculated for these environmental noise spectra, diagrams are constructed that show the relation between loudness level, A‑weighted sound level, and shape of the spectrum. The diagrams show that the upper limits of the loudness level for broadband environmental noise spectra are about 20 to 40 phon higher than the lower limits for narrowband spectra, which correspond to the loudness levels of pure tones. The diagrams are useful for assessing limitations and potential improvements of environmental noise control methods and policy based on A-weighted sound levels.

  9. Remaining useful life estimation for deteriorating systems with time-varying operational conditions and condition-specific failure zones

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Li Qi

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available Dynamic time-varying operational conditions pose great challenge to the estimation of system remaining useful life (RUL for the deteriorating systems. This paper presents a method based on probabilistic and stochastic approaches to estimate system RUL for periodically monitored degradation processes with dynamic time-varying operational conditions and condition-specific failure zones. The method assumes that the degradation rate is influenced by specific operational condition and moreover, the transition between different operational conditions plays the most important role in affecting the degradation process. These operational conditions are assumed to evolve as a discrete-time Markov chain (DTMC. The failure thresholds are also determined by specific operational conditions and described as different failure zones. The 2008 PHM Conference Challenge Data is utilized to illustrate our method, which contains mass sensory signals related to the degradation process of a commercial turbofan engine. The RUL estimation method using the sensor measurements of a single sensor was first developed, and then multiple vital sensors were selected through a particular optimization procedure in order to increase the prediction accuracy. The effectiveness and advantages of the proposed method are presented in a comparison with existing methods for the same dataset.

  10. Conditional CAPM: Time-varying Betas in the Brazilian Market

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Frances Fischberg Blank

    2014-10-01

    Full Text Available The conditional CAPM is characterized by time-varying market beta. Based on state-space models approach, beta behavior can be modeled as a stochastic process dependent on conditioning variables related to business cycle and estimated using Kalman filter. This paper studies alternative models for portfolios sorted by size and book-to-market ratio in the Brazilian stock market and compares their adjustment to data. Asset pricing tests based on time-series and cross-sectional approaches are also implemented. A random walk process combined with conditioning variables is the preferred model, reducing pricing errors compared to unconditional CAPM, but the errors are still significant. Cross-sectional test show that book-to-market ratio becomes less relevant, but past returns still capture cross-section variation

  11. Presenting and processing information in background noise: A combined speaker-listener perspective.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bockstael, Annelies; Samyn, Laurie; Corthals, Paul; Botteldooren, Dick

    2018-01-01

    Transferring information orally in background noise is challenging, for both speaker and listener. Successful transfer depends on complex interaction between characteristics related to listener, speaker, task, background noise, and context. To fully assess the underlying real-life mechanisms, experimental design has to mimic this complex reality. In the current study, the effects of different types of background noise have been studied in an ecologically valid test design. Documentary-style information had to be presented by the speaker and simultaneously acquired by the listener in four conditions: quiet, unintelligible multitalker babble, fluctuating city street noise, and little varying highway noise. For both speaker and listener, the primary task was to focus on the content that had to be transferred. In addition, for the speakers, the occurrence of hesitation phenomena was assessed. The listener had to perform an additional secondary task to address listening effort. For the listener the condition with the most eventful background noise, i.e., fluctuating city street noise, appeared to be the most difficult with markedly longer duration of the secondary task. In the same fluctuating background noise, speech appeared to be less disfluent, suggesting a higher level of concentration from the speaker's side.

  12. Noise analysis of a digital radiography system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Arnold, B.A.; Scheibe, P.O.

    1984-01-01

    The sources of noise in a digital video subtraction angiography system were identified and analyzed. Signal-to-noise ratios of digital radiography systems were measured using the digital image data recorded in the computer. The major sources of noise include quantum noise, TV camera electronic noise, quantization noise from the analog-to-digital converter, time jitter, structure noise in the image intensifier, and video recorder electronic noise. A new noise source was identified, which results from the interplay of fixed pattern noise and the lack of image registration. This type of noise may result from image-intensifier structure noise in combination with TV camera time jitter or recorder time jitter. A similar noise source is generated from the interplay of patient absorption inhomogeneities and patient motion or image re-registration. Signal-to-noise ratios were measured for a variety of experimental conditions using subtracted digital images. Image-intensifier structure noise was shown to be a dominant noise source in unsubtracted images at medium to high radiation exposure levels. A total-system signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of 750:1 was measured for an input exposure of 1 mR/frame at the image intensifier input. The effect of scattered radiation on subtracted image SNR was found to be greater than previously reported. The detail SNR was found to vary approximately as one plus the scatter degradation factor. Quantization error noise with 8-bit image processors (signal-to-noise ratio of 890:1) was shown to be of increased importance after recent improvements in TV cameras. The results of the analysis are useful both in the design of future digital radiography systems and the selection of optimum clinical techniques

  13. The effects of varying contextual demands on age-related positive gaze preferences.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Noh, Soo Rim; Isaacowitz, Derek M

    2015-06-01

    Despite many studies on the age-related positivity effect and its role in visual attention, discrepancies remain regarding whether full attention is required for age-related differences to emerge. The present study took a new approach to this question by varying the contextual demands of emotion processing. This was done by adding perceptual distractions, such as visual and auditory noise, that could disrupt attentional control. Younger and older participants viewed pairs of happy-neutral and fearful-neutral faces while their eye movements were recorded. Facial stimuli were shown either without noise, embedded in a background of visual noise (low, medium, or high), or with simultaneous auditory babble. Older adults showed positive gaze preferences, looking toward happy faces and away from fearful faces; however, their gaze preferences tended to be influenced by the level of visual noise. Specifically, the tendency to look away from fearful faces was not present in conditions with low and medium levels of visual noise but was present when there were high levels of visual noise. It is important to note, however, that in the high-visual-noise condition, external cues were present to facilitate the processing of emotional information. In addition, older adults' positive gaze preferences disappeared or were reduced when they first viewed emotional faces within a distracting context. The current results indicate that positive gaze preferences may be less likely to occur in distracting contexts that disrupt control of visual attention. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved.

  14. Governing conditions of repeatable Barkhausen noise response

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stupakov, O.; Pal'a, J.; Takagi, T.; Uchimoto, T.

    2009-01-01

    The paper is devoted to the establishment of experimental conditions, which ensure the repeatability of magnetic Barkhausen noise testing in practice. For this task, the measurements were performed on open flat samples using different experimental configurations, including: different magnetization frequencies, sampling rates, and filter cut-off frequencies; using a sample-wrapped coil and using attached pick-up coils of various dimensions, with different lift-offs of a single yoke magnet and of the attached coil. The sample magnetization was controlled by a vertical array of three Hall sensors; their readings were extrapolated to the sample surface to precisely define its field. After analysis of the results, a scheme for an optimized sensor with a controlled field waveform was suggested to improve the measurement repeatability. The important issues of signal processing and parameter applicability were also discussed in detail.

  15. A Method for Simulation of Rotorcraft Fly-In Noise for Human Response Studies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rizzi, Stephen A.; Christian, Andrew

    2015-01-01

    The low frequency content of rotorcraft noise allows it to be heard over great distances. This factor contributes to the disruption of natural quiet in national parks and wilderness areas, and can lead to annoyance in populated areas. Further, it can result in detection at greater distances compared to higher altitude fixed wing aircraft operations. Human response studies conducted in the field are made difficult since test conditions are difficult to control. Specifically, compared to fixed wing aircraft, the source noise itself may significantly vary over time even for nominally steady flight conditions, and the propagation of that noise is more variable due to low altitude meteorological conditions. However, it is possible to create the salient features of rotorcraft fly-in noise in a more controlled laboratory setting through recent advancements made in source noise synthesis, propagation modeling and reproduction. This paper concentrates on the first two of these. In particular, the rotorcraft source noise pressure time history is generated using single blade passage signatures from the main and tail rotors. These may be obtained from either acoustic source noise predictions or back-propagation of ground-based measurements. Propagation effects include atmospheric absorption, spreading loss, Doppler shift, and ground plane reflections.

  16. A Comparative Analysis of Pitch Detection Methods Under the Influence of Different Noise Conditions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sukhostat, Lyudmila; Imamverdiyev, Yadigar

    2015-07-01

    Pitch is one of the most important components in various speech processing systems. The aim of this study was to evaluate different pitch detection methods in terms of various noise conditions. Prospective study. For evaluation of pitch detection algorithms, time-domain, frequency-domain, and hybrid methods were considered by using Keele and CSTR speech databases. Each of them has its own advantages and disadvantages. Experiments have shown that BaNa method achieves the highest pitch detection accuracy. The development of methods for pitch detection, which are robust to additive noise at different signal-to-noise ratio, is an important field of research with many opportunities for enhancement the modern methods. Copyright © 2015 The Voice Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  17. One-dimensional radionuclide transport under time-varying conditions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gelbard, F.; Olague, N.E.; Longsine, D.E.

    1990-01-01

    This paper discusses new analytical and numerical solutions presented for one-dimensional radionuclide transport under time-varying fluid-flow conditions including radioactive decay. The analytical solution assumes that all radionuclides have identical retardation factors, and is limited to instantaneous releases. The numerical solution does not have these limitations, but is tested against the limiting case given for the analytical solution. Reasonable agreement between the two solutions was found. Examples are given for the transport of a three-member radionuclide chain transported over distances and flow rates comparable to those reported for Yucca Mountain, the proposed disposal site for high-level nuclear waste

  18. Noise-induced annoyance from transportation noise: short-term responses to a single noise source in a laboratory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Jaehwan; Lim, Changwoo; Hong, Jiyoung; Lee, Soogab

    2010-02-01

    An experimental study was performed to compare the annoyances from civil-aircraft noise, military-aircraft noise, railway noise, and road-traffic noise. Two-way within-subjects designs were applied in this research. Fifty-two subjects, who were naive listeners, were given various stimuli with varying levels through a headphone in an anechoic chamber. Regardless of the frequency weighting network, even under the same average energy level, civil-aircraft noise was the most annoying, followed by military-aircraft noise, railway noise, and road-traffic noise. In particular, penalties in the time-averaged, A-weighted sound level (TAL) of about 8, 5, and 5 dB, respectively, were found in the civil-aircraft, military-aircraft, and railway noises. The reason could be clarified through the high-frequency component and the variability in the level. When people were exposed to sounds with the same maximum A-weighted level, a railway bonus of about 3 dB was found. However, transportation noise has been evaluated by the time-averaged A-weighted level in most countries. Therefore, in the present situation, the railway bonus is not acceptable for railway vehicles with diesel-electric engines.

  19. Effects of background noise on total noise annoyance

    Science.gov (United States)

    Willshire, K. F.

    1987-01-01

    Two experiments were conducted to assess the effects of combined community noise sources on annoyance. The first experiment baseline relationships between annoyance and noise level for three community noise sources (jet aircraft flyovers, traffic and air conditioners) presented individually. Forty eight subjects evaluated the annoyance of each noise source presented at four different noise levels. Results indicated the slope of the linear relationship between annoyance and noise level for the traffic noise was significantly different from that of aircraft and of air conditioner noise, which had equal slopes. The second experiment investigated annoyance response to combined noise sources, with aircraft noise defined as the major noise source and traffic and air conditioner noise as background noise sources. Effects on annoyance of noise level differences between aircraft and background noise for three total noise levels and for both background noise sources were determined. A total of 216 subjects were required to make either total or source specific annoyance judgements, or a combination of the two, for a wide range of combined noise conditions.

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

    Science.gov (United States)

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

    2015-01-01

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

  1. Exploring DC-Kerr effect of impurity doped quantum dots under the aegis of noise

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arif, Sk. Md.; Bera, Aindrila; Ghosh, Anuja; Ghosh, Manas

    2018-02-01

    Present study performs an extensive exploration of the profiles of DC-Kerr effect (DCKE) of doped GaAs quantum dot (QD) under the control of Gaussian white noise. A large number of important physical parameters have been varied over a range and the resultant changes in the DCKE profiles have been thoroughly analyzed. The said physical parameters comprise of electric field, magnetic field, confinement potential, dopant location, dopant potential, noise strength, aluminium concentration (only for Alx Ga1 - x As alloy QD), carrier density, relaxation time, position-dependent effective mass (PDEM), position-dependent dielectric screening function (PDDSF), anisotropy, hydrostatic pressure (HP) and temperature. The particular physical quantity being varied, presence of noise and its pathway of application, in combination, lead to emergence of diverse features in the DCKE profiles. As a technologically significant aspect we often find maximization of DCKE for some typical combinations as mentioned above. Presence of multiplicative noise, in general, causes greater shift and greater augmentation of DCKE profiles from a noise-free condition than its additive counterpart. The outcomes of the study indicate ample scope of tailoring DCKE of doped QD systems in presence of noise by minute adjustment of several control parameters.

  2. Study of electromagnetic noise influence on quench detection system under different discharge conditions for EAST

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hu, Yanlan; Li, Jiangang; Shen, Biao; Lv, Huanyu; Xiao, Y.Z.

    2013-01-01

    Highlights: ► Reliable quench detection in EAST is a key issue for steady-state operation. ► The electromagnet noise interference associated with detection signals under different discharge conditions are evaluated. ► The effective measures have been realized on detection systems. ► Recently upgrade work has been done, especially for the optimization of ACS and false FSDS were reduced greatly. -- Abstract: EAST is the first Tokamak device whose toroidal and poloidal magnet are superconducting. The enormous magnetic field energy stored in the magnet system will transfer into thermal energy and cause the damage of superconducting magnet, if a quench happened. Therefore, reliable quench detection is a key issue for steady-state operation. In addition to electromagnetic noise from poloidal magnet fields and plasma current which will experience fast current ramp rate, radio frequency noise from heating system also have some interference on quench detection system to a certain degree. The most difficult point for quench detection system is required to have more detail evaluation on electromagnetic noise interference. Recently experiments have been carried out successfully in EAST device. The steady-state operation with 1 MA of plasma current and more than 100-s plasma duration has been obtained. In the paper, the electromagnetic noise interference on quench detection system under different discharge conditions are analyzed and relative process methods are also introduced. The technological experience and experimental data are significant for the constructing ITER and similar superconducting device have been mentioned which will supply significant technological experience and experimental data for constructing ITER and similar superconducting device

  3. Empirical Evidence on Time-Varying Hedging Effectiveness of Emissions Allowances under Departures from the Cost-of-Carry Theory

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kai Chang

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Under departures from the cost-of-carry theory, traded spot prices and conditional volatility disturbed from futures market have significant impacts on futures price of emissions allowances, and then we propose time-varying hedge ratios and hedging effectiveness estimation using ECM-GARCH model. Our empirical results show that conditional variance, conditional covariance, and their correlation between between spot and futures prices exhibit time-varying trends. Conditional volatility of spot prices, conditional volatility disturbed from futures market, and conditional correlation of market noises implied from spot and futures markets have significant effects on time-varying hedge ratios and hedging effectiveness. In the immature emissions allowances market, market participants optimize portfolio sizes between spot and futures assets using historical market information and then achieve higher risk reduction of assets portfolio revenues; accordingly, we can obtain better hedging effectiveness through time-varying hedge ratios with departures from the cost-of-carry theory.

  4. Internal noise sources limiting contrast sensitivity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Silvestre, Daphné; Arleo, Angelo; Allard, Rémy

    2018-02-07

    Contrast sensitivity varies substantially as a function of spatial frequency and luminance intensity. The variation as a function of luminance intensity is well known and characterized by three laws that can be attributed to the impact of three internal noise sources: early spontaneous neural activity limiting contrast sensitivity at low luminance intensities (i.e. early noise responsible for the linear law), probabilistic photon absorption at intermediate luminance intensities (i.e. photon noise responsible for de Vries-Rose law) and late spontaneous neural activity at high luminance intensities (i.e. late noise responsible for Weber's law). The aim of this study was to characterize how the impact of these three internal noise sources vary with spatial frequency and determine which one is limiting contrast sensitivity as a function of luminance intensity and spatial frequency. To estimate the impact of the different internal noise sources, the current study used an external noise paradigm to factorize contrast sensitivity into equivalent input noise and calculation efficiency over a wide range of luminance intensities and spatial frequencies. The impact of early and late noise was found to drop linearly with spatial frequency, whereas the impact of photon noise rose with spatial frequency due to ocular factors.

  5. A survey of acoustic conditions and noise levels in secondary school classrooms in England.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shield, Bridget; Conetta, Robert; Dockrell, Julie; Connolly, Daniel; Cox, Trevor; Mydlarz, Charles

    2015-01-01

    An acoustic survey of secondary schools in England has been undertaken. Room acoustic parameters and background noise levels were measured in 185 unoccupied spaces in 13 schools to provide information on the typical acoustic environment of secondary schools. The unoccupied acoustic and noise data were correlated with various physical characteristics of the spaces. Room height and the amount of glazing were related to the unoccupied reverberation time and therefore need to be controlled to reduce reverberation to suitable levels for teaching and learning. Further analysis of the unoccupied data showed that the introduction of legislation relating to school acoustics in England and Wales in 2003 approximately doubled the number of school spaces complying with current standards. Noise levels were also measured during 274 lessons to examine typical levels generated during teaching activities in secondary schools and to investigate the influence of acoustic design on working noise levels in the classroom. Comparison of unoccupied and occupied data showed that unoccupied acoustic conditions affect the noise levels occurring during lessons. They were also related to the time spent in disruption to the lessons (e.g., students talking or shouting) and so may also have an impact upon student behavior in the classroom.

  6. Noise suppression in duct

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ahmed, A.; Barfeh, M.A.G.

    2001-01-01

    In air-conditioning system the noise generated by supply fan is carried by conditioned air through the ductwork. The noise created in ductwork run may be transmission, regenerative and ductborne. Transmission noise is fan noise, regenerative noise is due to turbulence in flow and ductborne noise is the noise radiating from duct to surroundings. Some noise is attenuated in ducts also but if noise level is high then it needs to be attenuated. A simple mitre bend can attenuate-noise. This principle is extended to V and M-shape ducts with inside lining of fibreglass, which gave maximum attenuation of 77 dB and 62 dB respectively corresponding to 8 kHz frequency as compared to mitre, bend giving maximum 18 dB attenuation. Sound level meter measured sound levels with octave band filter and tests were conducted in anechoic room. A V-shape attenuator can be used at fan outlet and high frequency noise can be minimized greatly. (author)

  7. Structural Parameters of Star Clusters: Signal to Noise Effects

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Narbutis D.

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available We study the impact of photometric signal to noise on the accuracy of derived structural parameters of unresolved star clusters using MCMC model fitting techniques. Star cluster images were simulated as a smooth surface brightness distribution following a King profile convolved with a point spread function. The simulation grid was constructed by varying the levels of sky background and adjusting the cluster’s flux to a specified signal to noise. Poisson noise was introduced to a set of cluster images with the same input parameters at each node of the grid. Model fitting was performed using “emcee” algorithm. The presented posterior distributions of the parameters illustrate their uncertainty and degeneracies as a function of signal to noise. By defining the photometric aperture containing 80% of the cluster’s flux, we find that in all realistic sky background level conditions a signal to noise ratio of ~50 is necessary to constrain the cluster’s half-light radius to an accuracy better than ~20%. The presented technique can be applied to synthetic images simulating various observations of extragalactic star clusters.

  8. The impact of crowd noise on officiating in muay thai: achieving external validity in an experimental setting.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Myers, Tony; Balmer, Nigel

    2012-01-01

    Numerous factors have been proposed to explain the home advantage in sport. Several authors have suggested that a partisan home crowd enhances home advantage and that this is at least in part a consequence of their influence on officiating. However, while experimental studies examining this phenomenon have high levels of internal validity (since only the "crowd noise" intervention is allowed to vary), they suffer from a lack of external validity, with decision-making in a laboratory setting typically bearing little resemblance to decision-making in live sports settings. Conversely, observational and quasi-experimental studies with high levels of external validity suffer from low levels of internal validity as countless factors besides crowd noise vary. The present study provides a unique opportunity to address these criticisms, by conducting a controlled experiment on the impact of crowd noise on officiating in a live tournament setting. Seventeen qualified judges officiated on thirty Thai boxing bouts in a live international tournament setting featuring "home" and "away" boxers. In each bout, judges were randomized into a "noise" (live sound) or "no crowd noise" (noise-canceling headphones and white noise) condition, resulting in 59 judgments in the "no crowd noise" and 61 in the "crowd noise" condition. The results provide the first experimental evidence of the impact of live crowd noise on officials in sport. A cross-classified statistical model indicated that crowd noise had a statistically significant impact, equating to just over half a point per bout (in the context of five round bouts with the "10-point must" scoring system shared with professional boxing). The practical significance of the findings, their implications for officiating and for the future conduct of crowd noise studies are discussed.

  9. Masking potency and whiteness of noise at various noise check sizes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kukkonen, H; Rovamo, J; Näsänen, R

    1995-02-01

    The masking effect of spatial noise can be increased by increasing either the rms contrast or check size of noise. In this study, the authors investigated the largest noise check size that still mimics the effect of white noise in grating detection and how it depends on the bandwidth and spatial frequency of a grating. The authors measured contrast energy thresholds, E, for vertical cosine gratings at various spatial frequencies and bandwidths. Gratings were embedded in two-dimensional spatial noise. The side length of the square noise checks was varied in the experiments. The spectral density, N(0,0), of white spatial noise at zero frequency was calculated by multiplying the noise check area by the rms contrast of noise squared. The physical signal-to-noise ratio at threshold [E/N(0,0)]0.5 was initially constant but then started to decrease. The largest noise check that still produced a constant physical signal-to-noise ratio at threshold was directly proportional to the spatial frequency. When expressed as a fraction of grating cycle, the largest noise check size depended only on stimulus bandwidth. The smallest number of noise checks per grating cycle needed to mimic the effect of white noise decreased from 4.2 to 2.6 when the number of grating cycles increased from 1 to 64. Spatial noise can be regarded as white in grating detection if there are at least four square noise checks per grating cycle at all spatial frequencies.

  10. 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.

  11. Risk factor noise - otological aspects

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Haas, E

    1984-06-11

    After a short review of the anatomy and physiology of the inner ear the pathogenesis of chronic noise-induced hearing loss is discussed. The exposure to noise results first in a temporary but reversible threshold shift. But if the exposure to noise was exceedingly high or if the rest period would have required further noise reduction, a state of so-called auditory fatigue develops, finally leading to noise-induced hearing loss, a state which is considered irreversible. The noise-perception varies greatly among individuals and thus it is impossible to determine a certain noise intensity above which noise leasions will to be expected. It is generally accepted, that longterm exposure to noise above 85 dB (A) may lead to hearing loss in a portion of the exposed persons.

  12. Development of a wind farm noise propagation prediction model - project progress to date

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Robinson, P.; Bullmore, A.; Bass, J.; Sloth, E.

    1998-01-01

    This paper describes a twelve month measurement campaign which is part of a European project (CEC Project JOR3-CT95-0051) with the aim to substantially reduce the uncertainties involved in predicting environmentally radiated noise levels from wind farms (1). This will be achieved by comparing noise levels measure at varying distances from single and multiple sources over differing complexities of terrain with those predicted using a number of currently adopted sound propagation models. Specific objectives within the project are to: establish the important parameters controlling the propagation of wind farm noise to the far field; develop a planning tool for predicting wind farm noise emission levels under practically encountered conditions; place confidence limits on the upper and lower bounds of the noise levels predicted, thus enabling developers to quantify the risk whether noise emission from wind farms will cause nuisance to nearby residents. (Author)

  13. Noise in the passenger cars of high-speed trains.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hong, Joo Young; Cha, Yongwon; Jeon, Jin Yong

    2015-12-01

    The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of both room acoustic conditions and spectral characteristics of noises on acoustic discomfort in a high-speed train's passenger car. Measurement of interior noises in a high-speed train was performed when the train was operating at speeds of 100 km/h and 300 km/h. Acoustic discomfort caused by interior noises was evaluated by paired comparison methods based on the variation of reverberation time (RT) in a passenger car and the spectral differences in interior noises. The effect of RT on acoustic discomfort was not significant, whereas acoustic discomfort significantly varied depending on spectral differences in noise. Acoustic discomfort increased with increment of the sound pressure level (SPL) ratio at high frequencies, and variation in high-frequency noise components were described using sharpness. Just noticeable differences of SPL with low- and high-frequency components were determined to be 3.7 and 2.9 dB, respectively. This indicates that subjects were more sensitive to differences in SPLs at the high-frequency range than differences at the low-frequency range. These results support that, for interior noises, reduction in SPLs at high frequencies would significantly contribute to improved acoustic quality in passenger cars of high-speed trains.

  14. Visual signal detection in structured backgrounds. II. Effects of contrast gain control, background variations, and white noise

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eckstein, M. P.; Ahumada, A. J. Jr; Watson, A. B.

    1997-01-01

    Studies of visual detection of a signal superimposed on one of two identical backgrounds show performance degradation when the background has high contrast and is similar in spatial frequency and/or orientation to the signal. To account for this finding, models include a contrast gain control mechanism that pools activity across spatial frequency, orientation and space to inhibit (divisively) the response of the receptor sensitive to the signal. In tasks in which the observer has to detect a known signal added to one of M different backgrounds grounds due to added visual noise, the main sources of degradation are the stochastic noise in the image and the suboptimal visual processing. We investigate how these two sources of degradation (contrast gain control and variations in the background) interact in a task in which the signal is embedded in one of M locations in a complex spatially varying background (structured background). We use backgrounds extracted from patient digital medical images. To isolate effects of the fixed deterministic background (the contrast gain control) from the effects of the background variations, we conduct detection experiments with three different background conditions: (1) uniform background, (2) a repeated sample of structured background, and (3) different samples of structured background. Results show that human visual detection degrades from the uniform background condition to the repeated background condition and degrades even further in the different backgrounds condition. These results suggest that both the contrast gain control mechanism and the background random variations degrade human performance in detection of a signal in a complex, spatially varying background. A filter model and added white noise are used to generate estimates of sampling efficiencies, an equivalent internal noise, an equivalent contrast-gain-control-induced noise, and an equivalent noise due to the variations in the structured background.

  15. Atmospheric particle formation in spatially and temporally varying conditions

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lauros, J.

    2011-07-01

    Atmospheric particles affect the radiation balance of the Earth and thus the climate. New particle formation from nucleation has been observed in diverse atmospheric conditions but the actual formation path is still unknown. The prevailing conditions can be exploited to evaluate proposed formation mechanisms. This study aims to improve our understanding of new particle formation from the view of atmospheric conditions. The role of atmospheric conditions on particle formation was studied by atmospheric measurements, theoretical model simulations and simulations based on observations. Two separate column models were further developed for aerosol and chemical simulations. Model simulations allowed us to expand the study from local conditions to varying conditions in the atmospheric boundary layer, while the long-term measurements described especially characteristic mean conditions associated with new particle formation. The observations show statistically significant difference in meteorological and back-ground aerosol conditions between observed event and non-event days. New particle formation above boreal forest is associated with strong convective activity, low humidity and low condensation sink. The probability of a particle formation event is predicted by an equation formulated for upper boundary layer conditions. The model simulations call into question if kinetic sulphuric acid induced nucleation is the primary particle formation mechanism in the presence of organic vapours. Simultaneously the simulations show that ignoring spatial and temporal variation in new particle formation studies may lead to faulty conclusions. On the other hand, the theoretical simulations indicate that short-scale variations in temperature and humidity unlikely have a significant effect on mean binary water sulphuric acid nucleation rate. The study emphasizes the significance of mixing and fluxes in particle formation studies, especially in the atmospheric boundary layer. The further

  16. Experimental study of tyre/road contact forces in rolling conditions for noise prediction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cesbron, Julien; Anfosso-Lédée, Fabienne; Duhamel, Denis; Ping Yin, Hai; Le Houédec, Donatien

    2009-02-01

    This paper deals with the experimental study of dynamical tyre/road contact for noise prediction. In situ measurements of contact forces and close proximity noise levels were carried out for a slick tyre rolling on six different road surfaces between 30 and 50 km/h. Additional texture profiles of the tested surfaces were taken on the wheel track. Normal contact stresses were measured at a sampling frequency of 10752 Hz using a line of pressure sensitive cells placed both along and perpendicular to the rolling direction. The contact areas obtained during rolling were smaller than in static conditions. This is mainly explained by the dynamical properties of tyre compounds, like the viscoelastic behaviour of the rubber. Additionally the root-mean-square of the resultant contact forces at various speeds was in the same order for a given road surface, while their spectra were quite different. This is certainly due to a spectral influence of bending waves propagating in the tyre during rolling, especially when the wavelength is small in comparison with the size of the contact patch. Finally, the levels of contact forces and close proximity noise measured at 30 km/h were correlated. Additional correlations with texture levels were performed. The results show that the macro-texture generates contact forces linearly around 800 Hz and consequently noise levels between 500 and 1000 Hz via the vibrations transmitted to the tyre.

  17. Effects of Vehicle Weight and True Versus Indicated Airspeed on BVI Noise During Steady Descending Flight

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stephenson, James H.; Greenwood, Eric

    2015-01-01

    Blade-vortex interaction noise measurements are analyzed for an AS350B helicopter operated at 7000 ft elevation above sea level. Blade-vortex interaction (BVI) noise from four, 6 degree descent conditions are investigated with descents flown at 80 knot true and indicated airspeed, as well as 4400 and 3915 pound take-off weights. BVI noise is extracted from the acquired acoustic signals by way of a previously developed time-frequency analysis technique. The BVI extraction technique is shown to provide a better localization of BVI noise, compared to the standard Fourier transform integration method. Using this technique, it was discovered that large changes in BVI noise amplitude occurred due to changes in vehicle gross weight. Changes in BVI noise amplitude were too large to be due solely to changes in the vortex strength caused by varying vehicle weight. Instead, it is suggested that vehicle weight modifies the tip-path-plane angle of attack, as well as induced inflow, resulting in large variations of BVI noise. It was also shown that defining flight conditions by true airspeed, rather than indicated airspeed, provides more consistent BVI noise signals.

  18. Occupational Noise Reduction in CNC Striping Process

    Science.gov (United States)

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

    2018-03-01

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

  19. Investigations of internal noise levels for different target sizes, contrasts, and noise structures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Han, Minah; Choi, Shinkook; Baek, Jongduk

    2014-03-01

    To describe internal noise levels for different target sizes, contrasts, and noise structures, Gaussian targets with four different sizes (i.e., standard deviation of 2,4,6 and 8) and three different noise structures(i.e., white, low-pass, and highpass) were generated. The generated noise images were scaled to have standard deviation of 0.15. For each noise type, target contrasts were adjusted to have the same detectability based on NPW, and the detectability of CHO was calculated accordingly. For human observer study, 3 trained observers performed 2AFC detection tasks, and correction rate, Pc, was calculated for each task. By adding proper internal noise level to numerical observer (i.e., NPW and CHO), detectability of human observer was matched with that of numerical observers. Even though target contrasts were adjusted to have the same detectability of NPW observer, detectability of human observer decreases as the target size increases. The internal noise level varies for different target sizes, contrasts, and noise structures, demonstrating different internal noise levels should be considered in numerical observer to predict the detection performance of human observer.

  20. Comparison of Speech Perception in Background Noise with Acceptance of Background Noise in Aided and Unaided Conditions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nabelek, Anna K.; Tampas, Joanna W.; Burchfield, Samuel B.

    2004-01-01

    l, speech perception in noiseBackground noise is a significant factor influencing hearing-aid satisfaction and is a major reason for rejection of hearing aids. Attempts have been made by previous researchers to relate the use of hearing aids to speech perception in noise (SPIN), with an expectation of improved speech perception followed by an…

  1. Blocking-state influence on shot noise and conductance in quantum dots

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harabula, M.-C.; Ranjan, V.; Haller, R.; Fülöp, G.; Schönenberger, C.

    2018-03-01

    Quantum dots (QDs) investigated through electron transport measurements often exhibit varying, state-dependent tunnel couplings to the leads. Under specific conditions, weakly coupled states can result in a strong suppression of the electrical current, and they are correspondingly called blocking states. Using the combination of conductance and shot noise measurements, we investigate blocking states in carbon nanotube (CNT) QDs. We report negative differential conductance and super-Poissonian noise. The enhanced noise is the signature of electron bunching, which originates from random switches between the strongly and weakly conducting states of the QD. Negative differential conductance appears here when the blocking state is an excited state. In this case, at the threshold voltage where the blocking state becomes populated, the current is reduced. Using a master equation approach, we provide numerical simulations reproducing both the conductance and the shot noise pattern observed in our measurements.

  2. Drone noise

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tinney, Charles; Sirohi, Jayant; University of Texas at Austin Team

    2017-11-01

    A basic understanding of the noise produced by single and multirotor drones operating at static thrust conditions is presented. This work acts as an extension to previous efforts conducted at The University of Texas at Austin (Tinney et al. 2017, AHS Forum 73). Propeller diameters ranging from 8 inch to 12 inch are examined for configurations comprising an isolated rotor, a quadcopter configuration and a hexacopter configuration, and with a constant drone pitch of 2.25. An azimuthal array of half-inch microphones, placed between 2 and 3 hub-center diameters from the drone center, are used to assess the acoustic near-field. Thrust levels, acquired using a six degree-of-freedom load cell, are then used to correlate acoustic noise levels to aerodynamic performance for each drone configuration. The findings reveal a nearly logarithmic increase in noise with increasing thrust. However, for the same thrust condition, considerable noise reduction is achieved by increasing the number of propeller blades thereby reducing the blade passage frequency and both the thickness and loading noise sources that accompany it.

  3. From indoor to outdoor: Behavioural response of fish to noise exposure of different temporal structures

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yik Yaw Neo

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available Human activities, such as shipping and pile driving, produce substantial amounts of man-made noise underwater. The noise may negatively affect fish, causing physical injuries, hearing loss, physiological stress, acoustic masking and behavioural changes. Among these effects, behavioural changes are most problematic, but are understudied, especially under well-controlled field conditions. Moreover, man-made noise varies widely in terms of acoustic characteristics. The influence of temporal patterns of noise on the impacts is largely unknown. We exposed groups of European seabass to sound treatments of different temporal patterns, varying in intermittency, interval regularity and presence of amplitude 'ramp-up'. The study took place in a large octagonal floating pen (⌀ = ~12.5m in Oosterschelde, a marine inlet in the Netherlands. We tracked the fish swimming trajectories with an acoustic 3D telemetry system and looked into the behavioural changes and recovery. Upon noise exposure, the fish swam to greater depths in tighter shoals, similar to previous studies conducted in a basin. Moreover, the fish swam away from the noise source, suggesting avoidance behaviour. The different temporal patterns seemed to differ in their impact strengths although the results were not significant. These findings may carry important scientific and management implications.

  4. Improving occupational conditions in coal preparation plants considering noise factor. [USSR

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zhurbinskii, L.F.; Shabel' nikova, E.V.; Sidorov, E.G.

    1985-11-01

    Three research institutes (IOTT, UkrNIIugleobogashchenie and KuzNIIugleobogashchenie) investigated health hazards associated with noise in coal preparation plants in the Donbass, Kuzbass and Karaganda basins. Investigations showed that there is a close correlation of noise pollution with rate of illness (heart diseases, nervous system diseases, alimentary duct diseases, respiratory diseases and diseases of the auditory organs). An equation which describes the correlation is derived. Correlation coefficient (ranging from 0.75 to 0.94) for each of 4 types of diseases was determined. Analyses showed that reducing noise level from 95 to 85 dB caused a decrease in rate of illness ranging from 2.5 to 3.0 times. Absenteeism due to illness decreased 1.5 to 2.0 times. Investigations also showed that accident rate is influenced by noise level. About 30% of accidents fell on working places with increased noise level. About 10% of accidents fell on working places with noise level of about 85 dB and from 3 to 4% accidents on working places with noise level of about 70 dB. Methods for noise pollution control in coal preparation plants in the USSR are evaluated. Effects of coal transport and handling on noise pollution in coal preparation plants are analyzed.

  5. Effects of Noise on English Listening Comprehension among Chinese College Students with Different Learning Styles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Xiaohu; Jiang, Meng; Zhao, Yong

    2017-01-01

    This study was intended to determine whether the effects of noise on English listening comprehension would vary among Chinese college students with different learning styles. A total of 89 participants with different learning styles measured using Kolb’s (1985) Learning Style Inventory finished English listening comprehension tests in quiet and in white noise, Chinese two-talker babble, and English two-talker babble respectively. The results showed that the participants in general had significantly poorer performance in the two babble conditions than in quiet and white noise. However, the participants with assimilative and divergent learning styles performed relatively better in Chinese babble, and exhibited stable performance across the three noisy conditions, while the participants with convergent and accommodative learning styles had more impaired performance in both Chinese babble and English babble than in white noise. Moreover, of Kolb’s four learning modes, reflective observation had a facilitative effect on listening performance in Chinese babble and English babble. These findings suggest that differences in learning style might lead to differential performance in foreign language listening comprehension in noise. PMID:29085317

  6. Effects of Noise on English Listening Comprehension among Chinese College Students with Different Learning Styles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Xiaohu; Jiang, Meng; Zhao, Yong

    2017-01-01

    This study was intended to determine whether the effects of noise on English listening comprehension would vary among Chinese college students with different learning styles. A total of 89 participants with different learning styles measured using Kolb's (1985) Learning Style Inventory finished English listening comprehension tests in quiet and in white noise, Chinese two-talker babble, and English two-talker babble respectively. The results showed that the participants in general had significantly poorer performance in the two babble conditions than in quiet and white noise. However, the participants with assimilative and divergent learning styles performed relatively better in Chinese babble, and exhibited stable performance across the three noisy conditions, while the participants with convergent and accommodative learning styles had more impaired performance in both Chinese babble and English babble than in white noise. Moreover, of Kolb's four learning modes, reflective observation had a facilitative effect on listening performance in Chinese babble and English babble. These findings suggest that differences in learning style might lead to differential performance in foreign language listening comprehension in noise.

  7. Sex differences in in-group cooperation vary dynamically with competitive conditions and outcomes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bailey, Drew H; Winegard, Benjamin; Oxford, Jon; Geary, David C

    2012-03-18

    Men's but not women's investment in a public goods game varied dynamically with the presence or absence of a perceived out-group. Three hundred fifty-four (167 male) young adults participated in multiple iterations of a public goods game under intergroup and individual competition conditions. Participants received feedback about whether their investments in the group were sufficient to earn a bonus to be shared among all in-group members. Results for the first trial confirm previous research in which men's but not women's investments were higher when there was a competing out-group. We extended these findings by showing that men's investment in the in-group varied dynamically by condition depending on the outcome of the previous trial: In the group condition, men, but not women, decreased spending following a win (i.e., earning an in-group bonus). In the individual condition, men, but not women, increased spending following a win. We hypothesize that these patterns reflect a male bias to calibrate their level of in-group investment such that they sacrifice only what is necessary for their group to successfully compete against a rival group.

  8. Sex Differences in In-Group Cooperation Vary Dynamically with Competitive Conditions and Outcomes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Drew H. Bailey

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Men's but not women's investment in a public goods game varied dynamically with the presence or absence of a perceived out-group. Three hundred fifty-four (167 male young adults participated in multiple iterations of a public goods game under intergroup and individual competition conditions. Participants received feedback about whether their investments in the group were sufficient to earn a bonus to be shared among all in-group members. Results for the first trial confirm previous research in which men's but not women's investments were higher when there was a competing out-group. We extended these findings by showing that men's investment in the in-group varied dynamically by condition depending on the outcome of the previous trial: In the group condition, men, but not women, decreased spending following a win (i.e., earning an in-group bonus. In the individual condition, men, but not women, increased spending following a win. We hypothesize that these patterns reflect a male bias to calibrate their level of in-group investment such that they sacrifice only what is necessary for their group to successfully compete against a rival group.

  9. Dynamic properties of micro-magnetic noise in soft ferromagnetic materials

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stupakov, A.; Perevertov, A.

    2018-06-01

    Dynamic response of magnetic hysteresis, magnetic Barkhausen noise and magneto-acoustic emission in a soft ribbon and electrical steels was studied comprehensively. The measurements were performed under controllable magnetization conditions: sinusoidal/triangular waveforms of the magnetic induction and a triangular waveform of the magnetic field. Magnetizing frequency was varied in a wide range: fmag = 0.5 - 500 and 0.5-100 Hz for the ribbon and the electrical steels, respectively. Magnetization amplitude was fixed on a near-saturation level Hmax ≃ 100 A/m. Barkhausen noise signal was detected by a sample-wrapping/surface-mounted coil and differently filtered. It was found that intensity of the Barkhausen noise rises approximately as a square root function of the magnetizing frequency. Whereas, level of the magneto-acoustic emission follows the hysteresis loss trend with an additional linear term (classical loss component).

  10. 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

  11. Loading Effect on Tire Noise Radiation

    OpenAIRE

    Cao, Rui; Bolton, J Stuart

    2016-01-01

    Noise radiated by tires is a prominent noise pollution source and it is affected by many different parameters. Here, the effect of static load on tire noise radiation in a laboratory environment was investigated. The measurement was conducted by using the Tire Pavement Testing Apparatus (TPTA), on which a loaded tire can be run at speeds up to 50 km/hr; the tire noise was measured using a nearfield microphone method. The tire loading was varied from 500 to 900 pounds, and several different co...

  12. High internal noise and poor external noise filtering characterize perception in autism spectrum disorder.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Park, Woon Ju; Schauder, Kimberly B; Zhang, Ruyuan; Bennetto, Loisa; Tadin, Duje

    2017-12-14

    An emerging hypothesis postulates that internal noise is a key factor influencing perceptual abilities in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Given fundamental and inescapable effects of noise on nearly all aspects of neural processing, this could be a critical abnormality with broad implications for perception, behavior, and cognition. However, this proposal has been challenged by both theoretical and empirical studies. A crucial question is whether and how internal noise limits perception in ASD, independently from other sources of perceptual inefficiency, such as the ability to filter out external noise. Here, we separately estimated internal noise and external noise filtering in ASD. In children and adolescents with and without ASD, we computationally modeled individuals' visual orientation discrimination in the presence of varying levels of external noise. The results revealed increased internal noise and worse external noise filtering in individuals with ASD. For both factors, we also observed high inter-individual variability in ASD, with only the internal noise estimates significantly correlating with severity of ASD symptoms. We provide evidence for reduced perceptual efficiency in ASD that is due to both increased internal noise and worse external noise filtering, while highlighting internal noise as a possible contributing factor to variability in ASD symptoms.

  13. A thermal model for photovoltaic panels under varying atmospheric conditions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Armstrong, S.; Hurley, W.G.

    2010-01-01

    The response of the photovoltaic (PV) panel temperature is dynamic with respect to the changes in the incoming solar radiation. During periods of rapidly changing conditions, a steady state model of the operating temperature cannot be justified because the response time of the PV panel temperature becomes significant due to its large thermal mass. Therefore, it is of interest to determine the thermal response time of the PV panel. Previous attempts to determine the thermal response time have used indoor measurements, controlling the wind flow over the surface of the panel with fans or conducting the experiments in darkness to avoid radiative heat loss effects. In real operating conditions, the effective PV panel temperature is subjected to randomly varying ambient temperature and fluctuating wind speeds and directions; parameters that are not replicated in controlled, indoor experiments. A new thermal model is proposed that incorporates atmospheric conditions; effects of PV panel material composition and mounting structure. Experimental results are presented which verify the thermal behaviour of a photovoltaic panel for low to strong winds.

  14. Impact of environmental colored noise in single-species population dynamics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Spanio, Tommaso; Hidalgo, Jorge; Muñoz, Miguel A.

    2017-10-01

    Variability on external conditions has important consequences for the dynamics and the organization of biological systems. In many cases, the characteristic timescale of environmental changes as well as their correlations play a fundamental role in the way living systems adapt and respond to it. A proper mathematical approach to understand population dynamics, thus, requires approaches more refined than, e.g., simple white-noise approximations. To shed further light onto this problem, in this paper we propose a unifying framework based on different analytical and numerical tools available to deal with "colored" environmental noise. In particular, we employ a "unified colored noise approximation" to map the original problem into an effective one with white noise, and then we apply a standard path integral approach to gain analytical understanding. For the sake of specificity, we present our approach using as a guideline a variation of the contact process—which can also be seen as a birth-death process of the Malthus-Verhulst class—where the propagation or birth rate varies stochastically in time. Our approach allows us to tackle in a systematic manner some of the relevant questions concerning population dynamics under environmental variability, such as determining the stationary population density, establishing the conditions under which a population may become extinct, and estimating extinction times. We focus on the emerging phase diagram and its possible phase transitions, underlying how these are affected by the presence of environmental noise time-correlations.

  15. Model of aircraft noise adaptation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dempsey, T. K.; Coates, G. D.; Cawthorn, J. M.

    1977-01-01

    Development of an aircraft noise adaptation model, which would account for much of the variability in the responses of subjects participating in human response to noise experiments, was studied. A description of the model development is presented. The principal concept of the model, was the determination of an aircraft adaptation level which represents an annoyance calibration for each individual. Results showed a direct correlation between noise level of the stimuli and annoyance reactions. Attitude-personality variables were found to account for varying annoyance judgements.

  16. Improved Noise Minimum Statistics Estimation Algorithm for Using in a Speech-Passing Noise-Rejecting Headset

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Seyedtabaee Saeed

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper deals with configuration of an algorithm to be used in a speech-passing angle grinder noise-canceling headset. Angle grinder noise is annoying and interrupts ordinary oral communication. Meaning that, low SNR noisy condition is ahead. Since variation in angle grinder working condition changes noise statistics, the noise will be nonstationary with possible jumps in its power. Studies are conducted for picking an appropriate algorithm. A modified version of the well-known spectral subtraction shows superior performance against alternate methods. Noise estimation is calculated through a multi-band fast adapting scheme. The algorithm is adapted very quickly to the non-stationary noise environment while inflecting minimum musical noise and speech distortion on the processed signal. Objective and subjective measures illustrating the performance of the proposed method are introduced.

  17. Performance, fatigue and stress in open-plan offices: The effects of noise and restoration on hearing impaired and normal hearing individuals

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Helena Jahncke

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Hearing impaired and normal hearing individuals were compared in two within-participant office noise conditions (high noise: 60 L Aeq and low noise: 30 L Aeq . Performance, subjective fatigue, and physiological stress were tested during working on a simulated open-plan office. We also tested two between-participants restoration conditions following the work period with high noise (nature movie or continued office noise. Participants with a hearing impairment (N = 20 were matched with normal hearing participants (N = 18 and undertook one practice session and two counterbalanced experimental sessions. In each experimental session they worked for two hours with basic memory and attention tasks. We also measured physiological stress indicators (cortisol and catecholamines and self-reports of mood and fatigue. The hearing impaired participants were more affected by high noise than the normal hearing participants, as shown by impaired performance for tasks that involve recall of semantic information. The hearing impaired participants were also more fatigued by high noise exposure than participants with normal hearing, and they tended to have higher stress hormone levels during the high noise compared to the low noise condition. Restoration with a movie increased performance and motivation for the normal hearing participants, while rest with continued noise did not. For the hearing impaired participants, continued noise during rest increased motivation and performance, while the movie did not. In summary, the impact of noise and restorative conditions varied with the hearing characteristics of the participants. The small sample size does however encourage caution when interpreting the results.

  18. Effects of noise and audiovisual cues on speech processing in adults with and without ADHD.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Michalek, Anne M P; Watson, Silvana M; Ash, Ivan; Ringleb, Stacie; Raymer, Anastasia

    2014-03-01

    This study examined the interplay among internal (e.g. attention, working memory abilities) and external (e.g. background noise, visual information) factors in individuals with and without ADHD. A 2 × 2 × 6 mixed design with correlational analyses was used to compare participant results on a standardized listening in noise sentence repetition task (QuickSin; Killion et al, 2004 ), presented in an auditory and an audiovisual condition as signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) varied from 25-0 dB and to determine individual differences in working memory capacity and short-term recall. Thirty-eight young adults without ADHD and twenty-five young adults with ADHD. Diagnosis, modality, and signal-to-noise ratio all affected the ability to process speech in noise. The interaction between the diagnosis of ADHD, the presence of visual cues, and the level of noise had an effect on a person's ability to process speech in noise. conclusion: Young adults with ADHD benefited less from visual information during noise than young adults without ADHD, an effect influenced by working memory abilities.

  19. Towards artificial intelligence based diesel engine performance control under varying operating conditions using support vector regression

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Naradasu Kumar Ravi

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Diesel engine designers are constantly on the look-out for performance enhancement through efficient control of operating parameters. In this paper, the concept of an intelligent engine control system is proposed that seeks to ensure optimized performance under varying operating conditions. The concept is based on arriving at the optimum engine operating parameters to ensure the desired output in terms of efficiency. In addition, a Support Vector Machines based prediction model has been developed to predict the engine performance under varying operating conditions. Experiments were carried out at varying loads, compression ratios and amounts of exhaust gas recirculation using a variable compression ratio diesel engine for data acquisition. It was observed that the SVM model was able to predict the engine performance accurately.

  20. Noise correlations in cosmic microwave background experiments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dodelson, Scott; Kosowsky, Arthur; Myers, Steven T.

    1995-01-01

    Many analysis of microwave background experiments neglect the correlation of noise in different frequency of polarization channels. We show that these correlations, should they be present, can lead to serve misinterpretation of an experiment. In particular, correlated noise arising from either electronics or atmosphere may mimic a cosmic signal. We quantify how the likelihood function for a given experiment varies with noise correlation, using both simple analytic models and actual data. For a typical microwave background anisotropy experiment, noise correlations at the level of 1% of the overall noise can seriously reduce the significance of a given detection.

  1. Applied Chaos Level Test for Validation of Signal Conditions Underlying Optimal Performance of Voice Classification Methods

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Boquan; Polce, Evan; Sprott, Julien C.; Jiang, Jack J.

    2018-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this study is to introduce a chaos level test to evaluate linear and nonlinear voice type classification method performances under varying signal chaos conditions without subjective impression. Study Design: Voice signals were constructed with differing degrees of noise to model signal chaos. Within each noise power, 100…

  2. Noise from wind turbines

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Andersen, B.; Jakobsen, J.

    1992-11-01

    Based on a previous project concerning the calculation of the amount of noise emanating from wind turbine arrays, this one examines the subject further by investigating whether there could be significant differences in the amount of noise made by individual wind turbines in an array, and whether the noise is transmitted in varying directions - so that when it is carried in the same direction as the wind blows it would appear to be louder. The aim was also to determine whether the previously used method of calculation lacked precision. It was found that differences in noise niveaux related to individual wind turbines were insignificant and that noise was not so loud when it was not borne in the direction of the wind. It was necessary to change the method of calculation as reckoning should include the influence of the terrain, wind velocity and distance. The measuring and calculation methods are exemplified and the resulting measurements are presented in detail. (AB)

  3. Research into Noise Generated by Domestic Appliances in the Anechoic Chamber

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Agnė Žukauskienė

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available Loud noise has a negative impact on the entire body, especially on listening. We can hear daily noise everywhere – in the street, at work or at home. The Department of Environmental Protection of Vilnius Gediminas Technical University has adjusted an anechoic chamber adapted for suppressing sound. Under the above introduced conditions, 15 appliances (5 vacuum cleaners, 5 hair dryers and 5 shaving machines have been tested. Equivalent sound pressure level of the vacuum cleaner has varied from 66 dBA to 83 dBA, that of the hair dryer has made from 64 dBA to 70 dBA and for the shaving machine – from 39 to 56 dBA.Article in Lithuanian

  4. The impact of crowd noise on officiating in Muay Thai: achieving external validity in an experimental setting

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tony D Myers

    2012-09-01

    Full Text Available Numerous factors have been proposed to explain the home advantage in sport. Several authors have suggested that a partisan home crowd enhances home advantage and that this is at least in part a consequence of their influence on officiating. However, while experimental studies examining this phenomenon have high levels of internal validity (since only the ‘crowd noise’ intervention is allowed to vary, they suffer from a lack of external validity, with decision-making in a laboratory setting typically bearing little resemblance to decision-making in live sports settings. Conversely, observational and quasi-experimental studies with high levels of external validity suffer from low levels of internal validity as countless factors besides crowd noise vary. The present study provides a unique opportunity to address these criticisms, by conducting a controlled experiment on the impact of crowd noise on officiating in a live tournament setting. Seventeen qualified judges officiated on thirty Thai boxing bouts in a live international tournament setting featuring ‘home’ and ‘away’ boxers. In each bout, judges were randomised into a ‘noise’ (live sound or ‘no crowd noise’ (noise cancelling headphones and white noise condition, resulting in 59 judgements in the ‘no crowd noise’ and 61 in the ‘crowd noise’ condition. The results provide the first experimental evidence of the impact of live crowd noise on officials in sport. A cross-classified statistical model indicated that crowd noise had a statistically significant impact, equating to just over half a point per bout (in the context of five round bouts with the ‘ten point must’ scoring system shared with professional boxing. The practical significance of the findings, their implications for officiating and for the future conduct of crowd noise studies are discussed.

  5. Total annoyance from an industrial noise source with a main spectral component combined with a background noise.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alayrac, M; Marquis-Favre, C; Viollon, S

    2011-07-01

    When living close to an industrial plant, people are exposed to a combination of industrial noise sources and a background noise composed of all the other noise sources in the environment. As a first step, noise annoyance indicators in laboratory conditions are proposed for a single exposure to an industrial noise source. The second step detailed in this paper involves determining total annoyance indicators in laboratory conditions for ambient noises composed of an industrial noise source and a background noise. Two types of steady and permanent industrial noise sources are studied: low frequency noises with a main spectral component at 100 Hz, and noises with a main spectral component in middle frequencies. Five background noises are assessed so as to take into account different sound environments which can usually be heard by people living around an industrial plant. One main conclusion of this study is that two different analyses are necessary to determine total annoyance indicators for this type of ambient noise, depending on the industrial noise source composing it. Therefore, two total annoyance indicators adapted to the ambient noises studied are proposed. © 2011 Acoustical Society of America

  6. Quantum capacity under adversarial quantum noise: arbitrarily varying quantum channels

    OpenAIRE

    Ahlswede, Rudolf; Bjelakovic, Igor; Boche, Holger; Noetzel, Janis

    2010-01-01

    We investigate entanglement transmission over an unknown channel in the presence of a third party (called the adversary), which is enabled to choose the channel from a given set of memoryless but non-stationary channels without informing the legitimate sender and receiver about the particular choice that he made. This channel model is called arbitrarily varying quantum channel (AVQC). We derive a quantum version of Ahlswede's dichotomy for classical arbitrarily varying channels. This includes...

  7. Applicability of common stomatal conductance models in maize under varying soil moisture conditions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Qiuling; He, Qijin; Zhou, Guangsheng

    2018-07-01

    In the context of climate warming, the varying soil moisture caused by precipitation pattern change will affect the applicability of stomatal conductance models, thereby affecting the simulation accuracy of carbon-nitrogen-water cycles in ecosystems. We studied the applicability of four common stomatal conductance models including Jarvis, Ball-Woodrow-Berry (BWB), Ball-Berry-Leuning (BBL) and unified stomatal optimization (USO) models based on summer maize leaf gas exchange data from a soil moisture consecutive decrease manipulation experiment. The results showed that the USO model performed best, followed by the BBL model, BWB model, and the Jarvis model performed worst under varying soil moisture conditions. The effects of soil moisture made a difference in the relative performance among the models. By introducing a water response function, the performance of the Jarvis, BWB, and USO models improved, which decreased the normalized root mean square error (NRMSE) by 15.7%, 16.6% and 3.9%, respectively; however, the performance of the BBL model was negative, which increased the NRMSE by 5.3%. It was observed that the models of Jarvis, BWB, BBL and USO were applicable within different ranges of soil relative water content (i.e., 55%-65%, 56%-67%, 37%-79% and 37%-95%, respectively) based on the 95% confidence limits. Moreover, introducing a water response function, the applicability of the Jarvis and BWB models improved. The USO model performed best with or without introducing the water response function and was applicable under varying soil moisture conditions. Our results provide a basis for selecting appropriate stomatal conductance models under drought conditions. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  8. 34. Meeting of Experts. Noise immission

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2001-01-01

    dependent immission limit and is therefore an advantage for these turbines. Another idea was to relate the noise level to the electric power instead of the wind speed. It would also be easier for the owners to know how much electric power they can produce at different wind speeds. This will however require information from the manufacturer of how the noise changes with electric power. When dual speed turbines change their RPM there is a risk of high noise levels. The atmospheric absorption can be calculated if the temperature, the pressure and the relative humidity of the atmosphere is known. In complex terrain the emission from the same kind of wind turbine will vary much depending on the surroundings. In complex terrain there are vertical movements of the air and quite often turbulence that cause sound generation around the wind turbine blades. When measuring noise immission the wind speed is often only measured at 10 m height, which does not give enough information to predict these effects. One of the worst cases is if a wind power plant is standing near a slope, then there can be a difference in the noise emission up to 5-6 dB(A) compared with data from the manufacturer. This is due to that the wind flow hits the blades with an angle, which generates more sound than if it hits the blades perpendicularly. This will also create vibrations in the turbine making it not only a noise problem but a structural one as well. It seems however that there is no good model to calculate these effects accurately. There have be efforts trying to relate the noise emission to the wind shear but with no success. The wind power industry seems to think that noise is not a problem for offshore wind turbines but the fact is that we don't have enough knowledge in this area yet. There is an example of offshore wind turbines being heard as far as 100 km from the site at certain weather conditions. The noise immission level was in this case about 30 dB. When sound is propagated over water in

  9. Understanding and simulating vibrations of plain bridge cables under varying meteorological conditions

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Matteoni, Giulia

    amplitude peak to peak amplitudes, occurred. This latter behaviour was likely to be associated to dry inclined galloping. Passive dynamic wind tunnel tests were finally undertaken in presence of rain, using the same cable model as adopted in the dry state. The tests served to improve the current......The dissertation investigates the phenomenon of wind induced vibration of bridge cables under varying meteorological conditions. A twin research approach is adopted, where wind tunnel investigation of full-scale bridge cable section models is paralleled with theoretical modelling. A literature......-scale monitoring, wind tunnel testing and theoretical modelling. An extensive wind tunnel test campaign was then undertaken in order to further understand the onset conditions and characteristics of instability in the different climatic conditions described in the literature. Tests were separated into two...

  10. Variations in voice level and fundamental frequency with changing background noise level and talker-to-listener distance while wearing hearing protectors: A pilot study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bouserhal, Rachel E; Macdonald, Ewen N; Falk, Tiago H; Voix, Jérémie

    2016-01-01

    Speech production in noise with varying talker-to-listener distance has been well studied for the open ear condition. However, occluding the ear canal can affect the auditory feedback and cause deviations from the models presented for the open-ear condition. Communication is a main concern for people wearing hearing protection devices (HPD). Although practical, radio communication is cumbersome, as it does not distinguish designated receivers. A smarter radio communication protocol must be developed to alleviate this problem. Thus, it is necessary to model speech production in noise while wearing HPDs. Such a model opens the door to radio communication systems that distinguish receivers and offer more efficient communication between persons wearing HPDs. This paper presents the results of a pilot study aimed to investigate the effects of occluding the ear on changes in voice level and fundamental frequency in noise and with varying talker-to-listener distance. Twelve participants with a mean age of 28 participated in this study. Compared to existing data, results show a trend similar to the open ear condition with the exception of the occluded quiet condition. This implies that a model can be developed to better understand speech production for the occluded ear.

  11. Dynamic visual noise reduces confidence in short-term memory for visual information.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kemps, Eva; Andrade, Jackie

    2012-05-01

    Previous research has shown effects of the visual interference technique, dynamic visual noise (DVN), on visual imagery, but not on visual short-term memory, unless retention of precise visual detail is required. This study tested the prediction that DVN does also affect retention of gross visual information, specifically by reducing confidence. Participants performed a matrix pattern memory task with three retention interval interference conditions (DVN, static visual noise and no interference control) that varied from trial to trial. At recall, participants indicated whether or not they were sure of their responses. As in previous research, DVN did not impair recall accuracy or latency on the task, but it did reduce recall confidence relative to static visual noise and no interference. We conclude that DVN does distort visual representations in short-term memory, but standard coarse-grained recall measures are insensitive to these distortions.

  12. An in vitro experimental study of flow past aortic valve under varied pulsatile conditions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Ruihang; Zhang, Yan

    2017-11-01

    Flow past aortic valve represents a complex fluid-structure interaction phenomenon that involves pulsatile, vortical, and turbulent conditions. The flow characteristics immediately downstream of the valve, such as the variation of pulsatile flow velocity, formation of vortices, distribution of shear stresses, are of particular interest to further elucidate the role of hemodynamics in various aortic diseases. However, the fluid dynamics of a realistic aortic valve is not fully understood. Particularly, it is unclear how the flow fields downstream of the aortic valve would change under varied pulsatile inlet boundary conditions. In this study, an in vitro experiment has been conducted to investigate the flow fields downstream of a silicone aortic valve model within a cardiovascular flow simulator. Phased-locked Particle Image Velocimetry measurements were performed to map the velocity fields and Reynolds normal and shear stresses at different phases in a cardiac cycle. Temporal variations of pressure across the valve model were measured using high frequency transducers. Results have been compared for different pulsatile inlet conditions, including varied frequencies (heart rates), magnitudes (stroke volumes), and cardiac contractile functions (shapes of waveforms).

  13. A SVDD and K-Means Based Early Warning Method for Dual-Rotor Equipment under Time-Varying Operating Conditions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zhinong Jiang

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Under frequently time-varying operating conditions, equipment with dual rotors like gas turbines is influenced by two rotors with different rotating speeds. Alarm methods of fixed threshold are unable to consider the influences of time-varying operating conditions. Hence, those methods are not suitable for monitoring dual-rotor equipment. An early warning method for dual-rotor equipment under time-varying operating conditions is proposed in this paper. The influences of time-varying rotating speeds of dual rotors on alarm thresholds have been considered. Firstly, the operating conditions are divided into several limited intervals according to rotating speeds of dual rotors. Secondly, the train data within each interval is processed by SVDD and the allowable ranges (i.e., the alarm threshold of the vibration are determined. The alarm threshold of each interval of operating conditions is obtained. The alarm threshold can be expressed as a sphere, whose controlling parameters are the coordinate of the center and the radius. Then, the cluster center of the test data, whose alarm state is to be judged, can be extracted through K-means. Finally, the alarm state can be obtained by comparing the cluster center with the corresponding sphere. Experiments are conducted to validate the proposed method.

  14. Environmental impact assessment - baseline noise survey and noise impact assessment for Aurora Mine

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yee, S.

    1996-01-01

    A noise impact assessment was conducted at Syncrude's proposed Aurora Mine site to comply with Alberta Energy and Utilities Board (AEUB) Noise Control Directive ID 94-4. Noise assessments were conducted near a major noise source, i.e. the hydraulic and electric shovels. Noise levels at 50 meters away from the source varied from 72.3 to 79.7 dBA. The worst case noise level was 75 dBA measured at 100 meters away from a hydraulic shovel. This assessment was used to calculate the predicted design sound level from a noise source at the nearest or most impacted occupied dwelling. Two cabins located near the access road and along Kearl Lake respectively, were identified as the most impacted and nearest dwellings to the mine site. The predicted sound level at one cabin was 43 dBA, and 55 dBA at the other. Fort McKay was also assessed because it is the nearest community to the mine site. The sound level at Fort McKay was predicted to be 34 dBA. These results indicate that the sound level from Aurora Mine is not in compliance with the AEUB Noise Control Directive. Attenuation measures are required to reduce the noise to acceptable level at Cabin A and B. Predicted sound level at Fort McKay is lower than the permitted sound level

  15. Magnetic Barkhausen noise at different magnetization conditions

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Stupakov, Alexandr; Perevertov, Oleksiy; Neslušan, M.

    2015-01-01

    Roč. 66, č. 7 (2015), s. 10-13 ISSN 1335-3632 R&D Projects: GA ČR GA13-18993S Institutional support: RVO:68378271 Keywords : Barkhausen noise * surface magnetic field * magnetization control * magnetic hysteresis * digital feedback loop Subject RIV: JB - Sensors, Measurment, Regulation Impact factor: 0.407, year: 2015

  16. Adaptive noise cancellation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Akram, N.

    1999-01-01

    In this report we describe the concept of adaptive noise canceling, an alternative method of estimating signals corrupted by additive noise of interference. The method uses 'primary' input containing the corrupted signal and a 'reference' input containing noise correlated in some unknown way with the primary noise, the reference input is adaptively filtered and subtracted from the primary input to obtain the signal estimate. Adaptive filtering before subtraction allows the treatment of inputs that are deterministic or stochastic, stationary or time variable. When the reference input is free of signal and certain other conditions are met then noise in the primary input can be essentially eliminated without signal distortion. It is further shown that the adaptive filter also acts as notch filter. Simulated results illustrate the usefulness of the adaptive noise canceling technique. (author)

  17. Using the effect of alcohol as a comparison to illustrate the detrimental effects of noise on performance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Brett R.C Molesworth

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available The aim of the present research is to provide a user-friendly index of the relative impairment associated with noise in the aircraft cabin. As such, the relative effect of noise, at a level typical of an aircraft cabin was compared with varying levels of alcohol intoxication in the same subjects. Since the detrimental effect of noise is more pronounced on non-native speakers, both native English and non-native English speakers featured in the study. Noise cancelling headphones were also tested as a simple countermeasure to mitigate the effect of noise on performance. A total of 32 participants, half of which were non-native English speakers, completed a cued recall task in two alcohol conditions (blood alcohol concentration 0.05 and 0.10 and two audio conditions (audio played through the speaker and noise cancelling headphones. The results revealed that aircraft noise at 65 dB (A negatively affected performance to a level comparable to alcohol intoxication of 0.10. The results also supported previous research that reflects positively on the benefits of noise cancelling headphones in reducing the effects of noise on performance especially for non-native English speakers. These findings provide for personnel involved in the aviation industry, a user-friendly index of the relative impairment associated with noise in the aircraft cabin as compared with the effects of alcohol. They also highlight the benefits of a simple countermeasure such as noise cancelling headphones in mitigating some of the detrimental effects of noise on performance.

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

    Science.gov (United States)

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

    1996-01-01

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

  19. Acoustical conditions for speech communication in active elementary school classrooms

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sato, Hiroshi; Bradley, John

    2005-04-01

    Detailed acoustical measurements were made in 34 active elementary school classrooms with typical rectangular room shape in schools near Ottawa, Canada. There was an average of 21 students in classrooms. The measurements were made to obtain accurate indications of the acoustical quality of conditions for speech communication during actual teaching activities. Mean speech and noise levels were determined from the distribution of recorded sound levels and the average speech-to-noise ratio was 11 dBA. Measured mid-frequency reverberation times (RT) during the same occupied conditions varied from 0.3 to 0.6 s, and were a little less than for the unoccupied rooms. RT values were not related to noise levels. Octave band speech and noise levels, useful-to-detrimental ratios, and Speech Transmission Index values were also determined. Key results included: (1) The average vocal effort of teachers corresponded to louder than Pearsons Raised voice level; (2) teachers increase their voice level to overcome ambient noise; (3) effective speech levels can be enhanced by up to 5 dB by early reflection energy; and (4) student activity is seen to be the dominant noise source, increasing average noise levels by up to 10 dBA during teaching activities. [Work supported by CLLRnet.

  20. Extraction of Overt Verbal Response from the Acoustic Noise in a Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Scan by Use of Segmented Active Noise Cancellation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jung, Kwan-Jin; Prasad, Parikshit; Qin, Yulin; Anderson, John R.

    2013-01-01

    A method to extract the subject's overt verbal response from the obscuring acoustic noise in an fMRI scan is developed by applying active noise cancellation with a conventional MRI microphone. Since the EPI scanning and its accompanying acoustic noise in fMRI are repetitive, the acoustic noise in one time segment was used as a reference noise in suppressing the acoustic noise in subsequent segments. However, the acoustic noise from the scanner was affected by the subject's movements, so the reference noise was adaptively adjusted as the scanner's acoustic properties varied in time. This method was successfully applied to a cognitive fMRI experiment with overt verbal responses. PMID:15723385

  1. A study on optimal scan conditions of big bore multi-slice computed tomography based on radiation dose and image noise

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, J. S.; Ye, S. J.; Kim, E. H.

    2011-01-01

    The newly introduced Big Bore computed tomography (CT) has a possibility to increase the tube current product scan time (mA s) for compensation of image degradation due to larger gentry opening without sound guideline. The objective of this paper is to derive optimal scan conditions for Big Bore CT scanner, mainly relating to the dose of diagnostic CT. The weighted CT dose index (CTDI w ) was estimated at five typical protocols, such as head and neck, brain, paediatric, chest and abdomen. Noises were analysed in a circle of 1 or 2 cm of diameter in CT image slice. The results showed that measured CTDI w values generally follow the theoretical rule at all scanning conditions of every protocol. Although image noises decrease with increment of mA s, analysed image noises do follow the theoretical rule, but only in specific protocols. This phenomenon is presumed to result from the photon energy spectra arriving at the detection system of the Big Bore scanner. (authors)

  2. Optimizing CT technique to reduce radiation dose: effect of changes in kVp, iterative reconstruction, and noise index on dose and noise in a human cadaver.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chang, Kevin J; Collins, Scott; Li, Baojun; Mayo-Smith, William W

    2017-06-01

    For assessment of the effect of varying the peak kilovoltage (kVp), the adaptive statistical iterative reconstruction technique (ASiR), and automatic dose modulation on radiation dose and image noise in a human cadaver, a cadaver torso underwent CT scanning at 80, 100, 120 and 140 kVp, each at ASiR settings of 0, 30 and 50 %, and noise indices (NIs) of 5.5, 11 and 22. The volume CT dose index (CTDI vol ), image noise, and attenuation values of liver and fat were analyzed for 20 data sets. Size-specific dose estimates (SSDEs) and liver-to-fat contrast-to-noise ratios (CNRs) were calculated. Values for different combinations of kVp, ASiR, and NI were compared. The CTDI vol varied by a power of 2 with kVp values between 80 and 140 without ASiR. Increasing ASiR levels allowed a larger decrease in CTDI vol and SSDE at higher kVp than at lower kVp while image noise was held constant. In addition, CTDI vol and SSDE decreased with increasing NI at each kVp, but the decrease was greater at higher kVp than at lower kVp. Image noise increased with decreasing kVp despite a fixed NI; however, this noise could be offset with the use of ASiR. The CT number of the liver remained unchanged whereas that of fat decreased as the kVp decreased. Image noise and dose vary in a complicated manner when the kVp, ASiR, and NI are varied in a human cadaver. Optimization of CT protocols will require balancing of the effects of each of these parameters to maximize image quality while minimizing dose.

  3. The role of periodicity in perceiving speech in quiet and in background noise.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Steinmetzger, Kurt; Rosen, Stuart

    2015-12-01

    The ability of normal-hearing listeners to perceive sentences in quiet and in background noise was investigated in a variety of conditions mixing the presence and absence of periodicity (i.e., voicing) in both target and masker. Experiment 1 showed that in quiet, aperiodic noise-vocoded speech and speech with a natural amount of periodicity were equally intelligible, while fully periodic speech was much harder to understand. In Experiments 2 and 3, speech reception thresholds for these targets were measured in the presence of four different maskers: speech-shaped noise, harmonic complexes with a dynamically varying F0 contour, and 10 Hz amplitude-modulated versions of both. For experiment 2, results of experiment 1 were used to identify conditions with equal intelligibility in quiet, while in experiment 3 target intelligibility in quiet was near ceiling. In the presence of a masker, periodicity in the target speech mattered little, but listeners strongly benefited from periodicity in the masker. Substantial fluctuating-masker benefits required the target speech to be almost perfectly intelligible in quiet. In summary, results suggest that the ability to exploit periodicity cues may be an even more important factor when attempting to understand speech embedded in noise than the ability to benefit from masker fluctuations.

  4. Impact of Background Noise and Sentence Complexity on Processing Demands during Sentence Comprehension.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wendt, Dorothea; Dau, Torsten; Hjortkjær, Jens

    2016-01-01

    Speech comprehension in adverse listening conditions can be effortful even when speech is fully intelligible. Acoustical distortions typically make speech comprehension more effortful, but effort also depends on linguistic aspects of the speech signal, such as its syntactic complexity. In the present study, pupil dilations, and subjective effort ratings were recorded in 20 normal-hearing participants while performing a sentence comprehension task. The sentences were either syntactically simple (subject-first sentence structure) or complex (object-first sentence structure) and were presented in two levels of background noise both corresponding to high intelligibility. A digit span and a reading span test were used to assess individual differences in the participants' working memory capacity (WMC). The results showed that the subjectively rated effort was mostly affected by the noise level and less by syntactic complexity. Conversely, pupil dilations increased with syntactic complexity but only showed a small effect of the noise level. Participants with higher WMC showed increased pupil responses in the higher-level noise condition but rated sentence comprehension as being less effortful compared to participants with lower WMC. Overall, the results demonstrate that pupil dilations and subjectively rated effort represent different aspects of effort. Furthermore, the results indicate that effort can vary in situations with high speech intelligibility.

  5. Impact of background noise and sentence complexity on processing demands during sentence comprehension

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dorothea eWendt

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available Speech comprehension in adverse listening conditions can be effortful even when speech is fully intelligible. Acoustical distortions typically make speech comprehension more effortful, but effort also depends on linguistic aspects of the speech signal, such as its syntactic complexity. In the present study, pupil dilations and subjective effort ratings were recorded in 20 normal-hearing participants while performing a sentence comprehension task. The sentences were either syntactically simple (subject-first sentence structure or complex (object-first sentence structure and were presented in two levels of background noise both corresponding to high intelligibility. A digit span and a reading span test were used to assess individual differences in the participants' working memory capacity. The results showed that the subjectively rated effort was mostly affected by the noise level and less by syntactic complexity. Conversely, pupil dilations increased with syntactic complexity but only showed a small effect of the noise level. Participants with higher working memory capacity showed increased pupil responses in the higher-level noise condition but rated sentence comprehension as being less effortful compared to participants with lower working memory capacity. Overall, the results demonstrate that pupil dilations and subjectively rated effort represent different aspects of effort. Furthermore, the results indicate that effort can vary in situations with high speech intelligibility.

  6. Background Noise Degrades Central Auditory Processing in Toddlers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Niemitalo-Haapola, Elina; Haapala, Sini; Jansson-Verkasalo, Eira; Kujala, Teija

    2015-01-01

    Noise, as an unwanted sound, has become one of modern society's environmental conundrums, and many children are exposed to higher noise levels than previously assumed. However, the effects of background noise on central auditory processing of toddlers, who are still acquiring language skills, have so far not been determined. The authors evaluated the effects of background noise on toddlers' speech-sound processing by recording event-related brain potentials. The hypothesis was that background noise modulates neural speech-sound encoding and degrades speech-sound discrimination. Obligatory P1 and N2 responses for standard syllables and the mismatch negativity (MMN) response for five different syllable deviants presented in a linguistic multifeature paradigm were recorded in silent and background noise conditions. The participants were 18 typically developing 22- to 26-month-old monolingual children with healthy ears. The results showed that the P1 amplitude was smaller and the N2 amplitude larger in the noisy conditions compared with the silent conditions. In the noisy condition, the MMN was absent for the intensity and vowel changes and diminished for the consonant, frequency, and vowel duration changes embedded in speech syllables. Furthermore, the frontal MMN component was attenuated in the noisy condition. However, noise had no effect on P1, N2, or MMN latencies. The results from this study suggest multiple effects of background noise on the central auditory processing of toddlers. It modulates the early stages of sound encoding and dampens neural discrimination vital for accurate speech perception. These results imply that speech processing of toddlers, who may spend long periods of daytime in noisy conditions, is vulnerable to background noise. In noisy conditions, toddlers' neural representations of some speech sounds might be weakened. Thus, special attention should be paid to acoustic conditions and background noise levels in children's daily environments

  7. Globally exponential stability condition of a class of neural networks with time-varying delays

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liao, T.-L.; Yan, J.-J.; Cheng, C.-J.; Hwang, C.-C.

    2005-01-01

    In this Letter, the globally exponential stability for a class of neural networks including Hopfield neural networks and cellular neural networks with time-varying delays is investigated. Based on the Lyapunov stability method, a novel and less conservative exponential stability condition is derived. The condition is delay-dependent and easily applied only by checking the Hamiltonian matrix with no eigenvalues on the imaginary axis instead of directly solving an algebraic Riccati equation. Furthermore, the exponential stability degree is more easily assigned than those reported in the literature. Some examples are given to demonstrate validity and excellence of the presented stability condition herein

  8. Noise evaluation of automotive A/C compressor

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Metwally, Sameh M.; Khalil, Mohamed I.; Abouel-seoud, Shawki A. [Automotive and Tractors Dept., Faculty of Engineering, Helwan University, Cairo (Egypt)

    2011-07-01

    Passenger compartment's interior noise and thermal performance are essential criteria for the driving comfort of vehicles. The air-conditioning system influences both field of comfort. It creates comfortable thermal conditions. On the other hand, the noise radiation of the air-condition system's components can be annoying. The blower, the air distribution ducts and the registers affect air rush noise. In some cases, the refrigerant flow creates hissing noise. Such noise has a great influence on vehicle acoustical comfort and on overall quality perception of a vehicle Therefore, the acoustic performance of air-condition compressors become more important for passenger comfort. At engine idling and at extreme temperatures the air-condition compressor can be audible as the significant sound source. However, the aim of this paper is to quantify air-borne noise characteristics of vehicle air-condition compressor. A simulated experimental model comprises a small wooden box with dimensions of 0.5 x 0.5 x 0.5 m represented the principle of hemi-anechoic room was designed and acoustic characteristics of the sound field inside the box were determined. The air-condition compressor characteristics parameters considered in this paper are fan position and electric motor speed. In addition, a single number of the air column natural frequency is calculated. The results indicate that significant information can be obtained in order to investigate the vehicle air-condition compressor and consequently improve the vehicle interior quietness.

  9. Noise and room acoustic conditions in a tertiary referral hospital in Seoul, Korea

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jeong, Cheol-Ho; Cho, Wan-Ho; Chang, Ji-ho

    2018-01-01

    Noise levels and room acoustic parameters at a tertiary referral hospital, Seoul National University Hospital in Korea, are investigated. Through a questionnaire, acoustically problematic rooms are identified. Noise levels in emergency rooms (ERs) and intensive care units (ICUs) are measured over...... level for the first night was 66 dBA, which came down to 56 dBA for the next day. The reason for the higher noise level for the first night in the ICU was frequent alarm sound and treatment noise related to a critical patient. The noise level in the measured ERs is about 10 dB lower than those measured...... about three days. Acoustically critical and problematic rooms in the otolaryngology department are measured: examination rooms, operating rooms, nurse stations, patient rooms, and audiometric rooms. The equivalent A-weighted noise level, LAeq, ranges from 54 to 56 dBA in two ERs. In an ICU, the noise...

  10. Noise Enhanced Stability

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Spagnolo, B.; Agudov, N.V.; Dubkov, A.A.

    2004-01-01

    The noise can stabilize a fluctuating or a periodically driven metastable state in such a way that the system remains in this state for a longer time than in the absence of white noise. This is the noise enhanced stability phenomenon, observed experimentally and numerically in different physical systems. After shortly reviewing all the physical systems where the phenomenon was observed, the theoretical approaches used to explain the effect are presented. Specifically the conditions to observe the effect in systems: (a) with periodical driving force, and (b) with random dichotomous driving force, are discussed. In case (b) we review the analytical results concerning the mean first passage time and the nonlinear relaxation time as a function of the white noise intensity, the parameters of the potential barrier, and of the dichotomous noise. (author)

  11. The effect of audiovisual and binaural listening on the acceptable noise level (ANL): establishing an ANL conceptual model.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Yu-Hsiang; Stangl, Elizabeth; Pang, Carol; Zhang, Xuyang

    2014-02-01

    Little is known regarding the acoustic features of a stimulus used by listeners to determine the acceptable noise level (ANL). Features suggested by previous research include speech intelligibility (noise is unacceptable when it degrades speech intelligibility to a certain degree; the intelligibility hypothesis) and loudness (noise is unacceptable when the speech-to-noise loudness ratio is poorer than a certain level; the loudness hypothesis). The purpose of the study was to investigate if speech intelligibility or loudness is the criterion feature that determines ANL. To achieve this, test conditions were chosen so that the intelligibility and loudness hypotheses would predict different results. In Experiment 1, the effect of audiovisual (AV) and binaural listening on ANL was investigated; in Experiment 2, the effect of interaural correlation (ρ) on ANL was examined. A single-blinded, repeated-measures design was used. Thirty-two and twenty-five younger adults with normal hearing participated in Experiments 1 and 2, respectively. In Experiment 1, both ANL and speech recognition performance were measured using the AV version of the Connected Speech Test (CST) in three conditions: AV-binaural, auditory only (AO)-binaural, and AO-monaural. Lipreading skill was assessed using the Utley lipreading test. In Experiment 2, ANL and speech recognition performance were measured using the Hearing in Noise Test (HINT) in three binaural conditions, wherein the interaural correlation of noise was varied: ρ = 1 (N(o)S(o) [a listening condition wherein both speech and noise signals are identical across two ears]), -1 (NπS(o) [a listening condition wherein speech signals are identical across two ears whereas the noise signals of two ears are 180 degrees out of phase]), and 0 (N(u)S(o) [a listening condition wherein speech signals are identical across two ears whereas noise signals are uncorrelated across ears]). The results were compared to the predictions made based on the

  12. Noise tolerant dendritic lattice associative memories

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ritter, Gerhard X.; Schmalz, Mark S.; Hayden, Eric; Tucker, Marc

    2011-09-01

    Linear classifiers based on computation over the real numbers R (e.g., with operations of addition and multiplication) denoted by (R, +, x), have been represented extensively in the literature of pattern recognition. However, a different approach to pattern classification involves the use of addition, maximum, and minimum operations over the reals in the algebra (R, +, maximum, minimum) These pattern classifiers, based on lattice algebra, have been shown to exhibit superior information storage capacity, fast training and short convergence times, high pattern classification accuracy, and low computational cost. Such attributes are not always found, for example, in classical neural nets based on the linear inner product. In a special type of lattice associative memory (LAM), called a dendritic LAM or DLAM, it is possible to achieve noise-tolerant pattern classification by varying the design of noise or error acceptance bounds. This paper presents theory and algorithmic approaches for the computation of noise-tolerant lattice associative memories (LAMs) under a variety of input constraints. Of particular interest are the classification of nonergodic data in noise regimes with time-varying statistics. DLAMs, which are a specialization of LAMs derived from concepts of biological neural networks, have successfully been applied to pattern classification from hyperspectral remote sensing data, as well as spatial object recognition from digital imagery. The authors' recent research in the development of DLAMs is overviewed, with experimental results that show utility for a wide variety of pattern classification applications. Performance results are presented in terms of measured computational cost, noise tolerance, classification accuracy, and throughput for a variety of input data and noise levels.

  13. Landing gear noise attenuation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moe, Jeffrey W. (Inventor); Whitmire, Julia (Inventor); Kwan, Hwa-Wan (Inventor); Abeysinghe, Amal (Inventor)

    2011-01-01

    A landing gear noise attenuator mitigates noise generated by airframe deployable landing gear. The noise attenuator can have a first position when the landing gear is in its deployed or down position, and a second position when the landing gear is in its up or stowed position. The noise attenuator may be an inflatable fairing that does not compromise limited space constraints associated with landing gear retraction and stowage. A truck fairing mounted under a truck beam can have a compliant edge to allow for non-destructive impingement of a deflected fire during certain conditions.

  14. Assessment of capabilities of lidar systems in day-and night-time under different atmospheric and internal-noise conditions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Agishev, Ravil; Comerón, Adolfo

    2018-04-01

    As an application of the dimensionless parameterization concept proposed earlier for the characterization of lidar systems, the universal assessment of lidar capabilities in day and night conditions is considered. The dimensionless parameters encapsulate the atmospheric conditions, the lidar optical and optoelectronic characteristics, including the photodetector internal noise, and the sky background radiation. Approaches to ensure immunity of the lidar system to external background radiation are discussed.

  15. Modeling the time-varying and level-dependent effects of the medial olivocochlear reflex in auditory nerve responses.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smalt, Christopher J; Heinz, Michael G; Strickland, Elizabeth A

    2014-04-01

    The medial olivocochlear reflex (MOCR) has been hypothesized to provide benefit for listening in noisy environments. This advantage can be attributed to a feedback mechanism that suppresses auditory nerve (AN) firing in continuous background noise, resulting in increased sensitivity to a tone or speech. MOC neurons synapse on outer hair cells (OHCs), and their activity effectively reduces cochlear gain. The computational model developed in this study implements the time-varying, characteristic frequency (CF) and level-dependent effects of the MOCR within the framework of a well-established model for normal and hearing-impaired AN responses. A second-order linear system was used to model the time-course of the MOCR using physiological data in humans. The stimulus-level-dependent parameters of the efferent pathway were estimated by fitting AN sensitivity derived from responses in decerebrate cats using a tone-in-noise paradigm. The resulting model uses a binaural, time-varying, CF-dependent, level-dependent OHC gain reduction for both ipsilateral and contralateral stimuli that improves detection of a tone in noise, similarly to recorded AN responses. The MOCR may be important for speech recognition in continuous background noise as well as for protection from acoustic trauma. Further study of this model and its efferent feedback loop may improve our understanding of the effects of sensorineural hearing loss in noisy situations, a condition in which hearing aids currently struggle to restore normal speech perception.

  16. Influence of Noise Resulting From the Location and Conditions of Classrooms and Schools in Upper Egypt on Teachers' Voices.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Phadke, Ketaki Vasant; Abo-Hasseba, Ahmed; Švec, Jan G; Geneid, Ahmed

    2018-05-03

    Teachers are professional voice users, always at high risk of developing voice disorders due to high vocal demand and unfavorable environmental conditions. This study aimed at identifying possible correlations between teachers' voice symptoms and their perception of noise, the location of schools, as well as the location and conditions of their classrooms. One hundred forty teachers (ages 21-56) from schools in Upper Egypt participated in this study. They filled out a questionnaire including questions about the severity and frequency of their voice symptoms, noise perception, and the location and conditions of their schools and classrooms. Questionnaire responses were statistically analyzed to identify possible correlations. There were significant correlations (P Egyptian schools. This study may help future studies that focus on developing guidelines for the better planning of Egyptian schools in terms of improved infrastructure and architecture, thus considering the general and vocal health of teachers. Copyright © 2018 The Voice Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  17. Robust Stability of Scaled-Four-Channel Teleoperation with Internet Time-Varying Delays

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Emma Delgado

    2016-04-01

    Full Text Available We describe the application of a generic stability framework for a teleoperation system under time-varying delay conditions, as addressed in a previous work, to a scaled-four-channel (γ-4C control scheme. Described is how varying delays are dealt with by means of dynamic encapsulation, giving rise to mu-test conditions for robust stability and offering an appealing frequency technique to deal with the stability robustness of the architecture. We discuss ideal transparency problems and we adapt classical solutions so that controllers are proper, without single or double differentiators, and thus avoid the negative effects of noise. The control scheme was fine-tuned and tested for complete stability to zero of the whole state, while seeking a practical solution to the trade-off between stability and transparency in the Internet-based teleoperation. These ideas were tested on an Internet-based application with two Omni devices at remote laboratory locations via simulations and real remote experiments that achieved robust stability, while performing well in terms of position synchronization and force transparency.

  18. Robust Stability of Scaled-Four-Channel Teleoperation with Internet Time-Varying Delays.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Delgado, Emma; Barreiro, Antonio; Falcón, Pablo; Díaz-Cacho, Miguel

    2016-04-26

    We describe the application of a generic stability framework for a teleoperation system under time-varying delay conditions, as addressed in a previous work, to a scaled-four-channel (γ-4C) control scheme. Described is how varying delays are dealt with by means of dynamic encapsulation, giving rise to mu-test conditions for robust stability and offering an appealing frequency technique to deal with the stability robustness of the architecture. We discuss ideal transparency problems and we adapt classical solutions so that controllers are proper, without single or double differentiators, and thus avoid the negative effects of noise. The control scheme was fine-tuned and tested for complete stability to zero of the whole state, while seeking a practical solution to the trade-off between stability and transparency in the Internet-based teleoperation. These ideas were tested on an Internet-based application with two Omni devices at remote laboratory locations via simulations and real remote experiments that achieved robust stability, while performing well in terms of position synchronization and force transparency.

  19. Noise and noise disturbances from wind power plants - Tests with interactive control of sound parameters for more comfortable and less perceptible sounds

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Persson-Waye, K.; Oehrstroem, E.; Bjoerkman, M.; Agge, A.

    2001-12-01

    In experimental pilot studies, a methodology has been worked out for interactively varying sound parameters in wind power plants. In the tests, 24 persons varied the center frequency of different band-widths, the frequency of a sinus-tone and the amplitude-modulation of a sinus-tone in order to create as comfortable a sound as possible. The variations build on the noise from the two wind turbines Bonus and Wind World. The variations were performed with a constant dba level. The results showed that the majority preferred a low-frequency tone (94 Hz and 115 Hz for Wind World and Bonus, respectively). The mean of the most comfortable amplitude-modulation varied between 18 and 22 Hz, depending on the ground frequency. The mean of the center-frequency for the different band-widths varied from 785 to 1104 Hz. In order to study the influence of the wind velocity on the acoustic character of the noise, a long-time measurement program has been performed. A remotely controlled system has been developed, where wind velocity, wind direction, temperature and humidity are registered simultaneously with the noise. Long-time registrations have been performed for four different wing turbines

  20. Noise, buildings and people

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Croome, D J

    1977-01-01

    This book covers the physics of acoustics necessary to understand the analytical aspects of acoustical design and noise control in buildings. The major part is devoted to the problems of noise and man, and other chapters cover features of noise control in and around buildings. In an introduction, building environmental engineering is dealth with in general terms of architecture, creativity, systms design, etc. Aspects of the acoustical environment, noise sources in buildings, control of airborne and structure-borne noise and acoustical design techniques are covered in Part II. Items include: comfort, physiological response to noise and vibrations, noise criteria, human performance, speech communication, landscaped offices, sound generation by air-conditioning and heating equipment, building structure and noise attenuation, acoustical design. Part III gives some fundamentals of acoustics; mechanical vibration, wave motion, propagation of sound, structure-borne sound, behavior of sound in rooms, transmission of sound through structure. References include lists of British standards and booklets on health and safety at work.

  1. ''1/f noise'' in music: Music from 1/f noise

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Voss, R.F.; Clarke, J.

    1978-01-01

    The spectral density of fluctuations in the audio power of many musical selections and of English speech varies approximately as 1/f (f is the frequency) down to a frequency of 5 x 10/sup -4/ Hz. This result implies that the audio-power fluctuations are correlated over all times in the same manner as ''1/f noise'' in electronic components. The frequency fluctuations of music also have a 1/f spectral density at frequencies down to the inverse of the length of the piece of music. The frequency fluctuations of English speech have a quite different behavior, with a single characteristic time of about 0.1 s, the average length of a syllable. The observations on music suggest that 1/f noise is a good choice for stochastic composition. Compositions in which the frequency and duration of each note were determined by 1/f noise sources sounded pleasing. Those generated by white-noise sources sounded too random, while those generated by 1/f/sup 2/ noise sounded too correlated.

  2. [Noise level in a care and teaching hospital institution].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mendoza-Sánchez, R S; Roque-Sánchez, R H; Moncada-González, B

    1996-01-01

    Noise in the environment is increasing over the years. Disturbances produced by noise are varied, some lead to serious health consequences. Noise level was registered in a teaching hospital. Levels in the wards were between 50 and 59 dB. In the Intensive Care Unit, main hallways and outpatients department levels were higher than 59 dB. Isolated peaks up to 90.0 dB (Pediatrics) were detected. The noise level recommended for a hospital is under 50.0 dB. We found that the principal source of noise came from the medical and nursing staff.

  3. Relationship between noise and job stress at a private thread spinning company

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andi Mursali

    2009-04-01

    Full Text Available Noise exposure is one of the major occupational hazards in many places, and has several health effects, including hearing loss and psychological effects such as sleep disturbances and mental stress. The objective of this research was to determine the relationship between noise and stress and other risk factors that affect job stress. A cross-sectional comparative design involved a total of 326 workers consisting of 220 workers in high noise conditions and 106 workers in low noise conditions. The data were collected directly from the respondents by filling out the questionnaire on worker characteristics, the stress diagnostic questionnaire, and the symptom checklist 90, through discussions with company management, and by measurement of noise levels. The job stress prevalence in workers in high noise conditions was 55% and in those in low noise conditions 24.5%. The results showed that risk factors such as gender of workers, noise conditions, habitual use of ear plugs, shift work, and work stressors had a significant relationship with job stress. Multivariate analysis indicated that the habit of using earplugs was a dominant risk factor causing job stress. The prevalence of job stress in high noise conditions was higher than that in workers in low noise conditions. Noise conditions have a significant relationship with job stress (OR=2.46; 95% CI 1.33 - 4.55. Workers in high noise conditions who did not always use or never had used ear plugs had a higher chance of experiencing stress than those in low noise conditions who did not need ear plugs (OR=21.76; 95% CI 8.09 - 58.52. This study supported that noise exerts its health effect via stress, since noise often raise stress in various ways.

  4. Improving Delay-Range-Dependent Stability Condition for Systems with Interval Time-Varying Delay

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wei Qian

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper discusses the delay-range-dependent stability for systems with interval time-varying delay. Through defining the new Lyapunov-Krasovskii functional and estimating the derivative of the LKF by introducing new vectors, using free matrices and reciprocally convex approach, the new delay-range-dependent stability conditions are obtained. Two well-known examples are given to illustrate the less conservatism of the proposed theoretical results.

  5. Bioventing of gasoline-contaminated soil under varied laboratory conditions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hallman, M.; Shewfelt, K.; Lee, H.; Zytner, R.G.

    2002-01-01

    Bioventing is becoming a popular in situ soil remediation technology for the treatment of hydrocarbon-contaminated soil. Bioventing relies on enhancing the growth of indigenous microorganisms, which can mineralize the contaminant in the presence of sufficient nutrients. Although bioventing is currently being used as a remediation technology, there are some important questions that remain to be answered in order to optimize the process. These questions include the optimum soil moisture content, type and amount of nutrients necessary, and the best means of producing these conditions in the field. To address these questions, two distinct phases of experiments were conducted. The first experimental phase was designed to determine the optimum moisture content, C:N ratio and form of nitrogen supply for this soil. Using approximately 200g of contaminated soil in each of a series of sealed respirometers, microbial degradation of gasoline under bioventing conditions was quantified for C:N ratios of 5, 10 and 20:1, using varying mixtures of NH 4 + - and NO 3 - -N. The results of the studies indicated that the optimum soil moisture content was 15 wt%, with a C:N ratio of 10:1, using a 100% ammonium application. Using the results of the first phase, a second phase of laboratory research was initiated. Five mesoscale reactors have been developed to simulate the bioventing process that takes place in the field. These reactors are filled with approximately 4kg of gasoline-contaminated soil. The initial results are favourable. (author)

  6. Stochastic resonance in a time-delayed mono-stable system with correlated multiplicative and additive white noise

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhou Yu-Rong

    2011-01-01

    This paper considers the stochastic resonance for a time-delayed mono-stable system, driven by correlated multiplicative and additive white noise. It finds that the output signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) varies non-monotonically with the delayed times. The SNR varies non-monotonically with the increase of the intensities of the multiplicative and additive noise, with the increase of the correlation strength between the two noises, as well as with the system parameter. (general)

  7. Occupational Hearing Loss from Non-Gaussian Noise.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Suter, Alice H

    2017-08-01

    Noise levels are truly continuous in relatively few occupations, with some degree of intermittency the most common condition. The sound levels of intermittent noise are often referred to as non-Gaussian in that they are not normally distributed in the time domain. In some conditions, intermittent noise affects the ear differently from continuous noise, and it is this assumption that underlies the selection of the 5-dB exchange rate (ER). The scientific and professional communities have debated this assumption over recent decades. This monograph explores the effect of non-Gaussian noise on the auditory system. It begins by summarizing an earlier report by the same author concentrating on the subject of the ER. The conclusions of the earlier report supported the more conservative 3-dB ER with possible adjustments to the permissible exposure limit for certain working conditions. The current document has expanded on the earlier report in light of the relevant research accomplished in the intervening decades. Although some of the animal research has supported the mitigating effect of intermittency, a closer look at many of these studies reveals certain weaknesses, along with the fact that these noise exposures were not usually representative of the conditions under which people actually work. The more recent animal research on complex noise shows that intermittencies do not protect the cochlea and that many of the previous assumptions about the ameliorative effect of intermittencies are no longer valid, lending further support to the 3-dB ER. The neurologic effects of noise on hearing have gained increasing attention in recent years because of improvements in microscopy and immunostaining techniques. Animal experiments showing damage to auditory synapses from noise exposures previously considered harmless may signify the need for a more conservative approach to the assessment of noise-induced hearing loss and consequently the practice of hearing conservation programs.

  8. Entropic noises-induced resonance in a geometrically confined system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zeng, Chunhua; Gong, Ailing; Wang, Hua

    2012-01-01

    We consider the motion of Brownian particles through a narrow tube of varying cross-section in a geometrically confined system subjected to a sinusoidal oscillating force. The varying cross-section of the confinement results in an effective purely entropic potential in reduced dimension. Besides an additive Langevin force, one external additive and another multiplicative noise are acting along the x-direction. We demonstrate that the presence of a periodic input may give rise to a maximum and a minimum of the spectral amplification at corresponding optimal values of the noise strength, and therefore to the appearance of the purely entropic stochastic resonance and reverse-resonance phenomena. Furthermore, we show that the cross-correlation between two noises leads to a decrease of the spectral amplification, i.e., we observe the cross-correlation between two noises weakening the resonance. Mechanisms for the cross-correlation weakening the resonance are explained from the point of view of the effective purely entropic potential. (paper)

  9. Adaptive Active Noise Suppression Using Multiple Model Switching Strategy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Quanzhen Huang

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Active noise suppression for applications where the system response varies with time is a difficult problem. The computation burden for the existing control algorithms with online identification is heavy and easy to cause control system instability. A new active noise control algorithm is proposed in this paper by employing multiple model switching strategy for secondary path varying. The computation is significantly reduced. Firstly, a noise control system modeling method is proposed for duct-like applications. Then a multiple model adaptive control algorithm is proposed with a new multiple model switching strategy based on filter-u least mean square (FULMS algorithm. Finally, the proposed algorithm was implemented on Texas Instruments digital signal processor (DSP TMS320F28335 and real time experiments were done to test the proposed algorithm and FULMS algorithm with online identification. Experimental verification tests show that the proposed algorithm is effective with good noise suppression performance.

  10. Cogeneration plant noise: Environmental impacts and abatement

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    De Renzio, M.; Ciocca, B.

    1991-01-01

    In Italy, ever increasing attention to environmental problems has led to legislation requiring cogeneration plant owners to perform environmental impact assessments in order to determine plant conformity with pollution laws. This paper, based on an in-depth analysis of physics fundamentals relevant to the nature and effects of noise, examines the principal sources of noise in industrial cogeneration plants and the intensity and range of the effects of this noise on the local environment. A review is then made of the different methods of noise pollution abatement (e.g., heat and corrosion resistant silencers for gas turbines, varying types and thicknesses of acoustic insulation placed in specific locations) that can be effectively applied to cogeneration plant equipment and housing

  11. Noise study in laboratories with exhaust fans

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shaikh, G.H.; Hashmi, R.; Shareef, A.

    2005-01-01

    Noise study has been carried out in 25 laboratories fitted with exhaust fans. We have studied A- Weighted equivalent sound pressure levels (dB(A) LAeJ and equivalent octave band sound pressure levels (dB L/sub eq/ in each of the laboratories surveyed. The data collected has been analyzed for Preferred Speech Interference Levels (PSIL). The results show that the interior noise levels in these laboratories vary from 59.6 to 72.2 dB(A) L/sub Aeq/, which are very high and much beyond the interior noise limits recommended for laboratories. Some ways and means to limit emission of high-level noise from exhaust fans are also discussed. (author)

  12. Brownian motion with multiplicative noises revisited

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kuroiwa, T; Miyazaki, K

    2014-01-01

    The Langevin equation with multiplicative noise and a state-dependent transport coefficient should always complemented with the proper interpretation rule of the noise, such as the Itô and Stratonovich conventions. Although the mathematical relationship between the different rules and how to translate from one rule to another are well established, the subject of which is a more physically natural rule still remains controversial. In this communication, we derive the overdamped Langevin equation with multiplicative noise for Brownian particles, by systematically eliminating the fast degrees of freedom of the underdamped Langevin equation. The Langevin equations obtained here vary depending on the choice of the noise conventions but they are different representations for an identical phenomenon. The results apply to multi-variable, nonequilibrium, non-stationary systems, and other general settings. (fast track communication)

  13. Marginalized adaptive particle filtering for nonlinear models with unknown time-varying noise parameters

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Ökzan, E.; Šmídl, Václav; Saha, S.; Lundquist, C.; Gustafsson, F.

    2013-01-01

    Roč. 49, č. 6 (2013), s. 1566-1575 ISSN 0005-1098 R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GAP102/11/0437 Keywords : Unknown Noise Statistics * Adaptive Filtering * Marginalized Particle Filter * Bayesian Conjugate prior Subject RIV: BC - Control Systems Theory Impact factor: 3.132, year: 2013 http://library.utia.cas.cz/separaty/2013/AS/smidl-0393047.pdf

  14. Noise analysis for CCD-based ultraviolet and visible spectrophotometry.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Davenport, John J; Hodgkinson, Jane; Saffell, John R; Tatam, Ralph P

    2015-09-20

    We present the results of a detailed analysis of the noise behavior of two CCD spectrometers in common use, an AvaSpec-3648 CCD UV spectrometer and an Ocean Optics S2000 Vis spectrometer. Light sources used include a deuterium UV/Vis lamp and UV and visible LEDs. Common noise phenomena include source fluctuation noise, photoresponse nonuniformity, dark current noise, fixed pattern noise, and read noise. These were identified and characterized by varying light source, spectrometer settings, or temperature. A number of noise-limiting techniques are proposed, demonstrating a best-case spectroscopic noise equivalent absorbance of 3.5×10(-4)  AU for the AvaSpec-3648 and 5.6×10(-4)  AU for the Ocean Optics S2000 over a 30 s integration period. These techniques can be used on other CCD spectrometers to optimize performance.

  15. Assessment of a surface-layer parameterization scheme in an atmospheric model for varying meteorological conditions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    T. J. Anurose

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available The performance of a surface-layer parameterization scheme in a high-resolution regional model (HRM is carried out by comparing the model-simulated sensible heat flux (H with the concurrent in situ measurements recorded at Thiruvananthapuram (8.5° N, 76.9° E, a coastal station in India. With a view to examining the role of atmospheric stability in conjunction with the roughness lengths in the determination of heat exchange coefficient (CH and H for varying meteorological conditions, the model simulations are repeated by assigning different values to the ratio of momentum and thermal roughness lengths (i.e. z0m/z0h in three distinct configurations of the surface-layer scheme designed for the present study. These three configurations resulted in differential behaviour for the varying meteorological conditions, which is attributed to the sensitivity of CH to the bulk Richardson number (RiB under extremely unstable, near-neutral and stable stratification of the atmosphere.

  16. Spatial variation in environmental noise and air pollution in New York City.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kheirbek, Iyad; Ito, Kazuhiko; Neitzel, Richard; Kim, Jung; Johnson, Sarah; Ross, Zev; Eisl, Holger; Matte, Thomas

    2014-06-01

    Exposure to environmental noise from traffic is common in urban areas and has been linked to increased risks of adverse health effects including cardiovascular disease. Because traffic sources also produce air pollutants that increase the risk of cardiovascular morbidity, associations between traffic exposures and health outcomes may involve confounding and/or synergisms between air pollution and noise. While prior studies have characterized intraurban spatial variation in air pollution in New York City (NYC), limited data exists on the levels and spatial variation in noise levels. We measured 1-week equivalent continuous sound pressure levels (Leq) at 56 sites during the fall of 2012 across NYC locations with varying traffic intensity and building density that are routinely monitored for combustion-related air pollutants. We evaluated correlations among several noise metrics used to characterize noise exposures, including Leq during different time periods (night, day, weekday, weekend), Ldn (day-night noise), and measures of intermittent noise defined as the ratio of peak levels to median and background levels. We also examined correlations between sound pressure levels and co-located simultaneous measures of nitric oxide (NO), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), fine particulate matter (PM2.5), and black carbon (BC) as well as estimates of traffic and building density around the monitoring sites. Noise levels varied widely across the 56 monitoring sites; 1-week Leq varied by 21.6 dBA (range 59.1-80.7 dBA) with the highest levels observed during the weekday, daytime hours. Indices of average noise were well correlated with each other (r > 0.83), while indices of intermittent noise were not well correlated with average noise levels (r noise levels and traffic intensity within 100 m of the monitoring sites (r = 0.58). The high levels of noise observed in NYC often exceed recommended guidelines for outdoor and personal exposures, suggesting unhealthy levels in many locations

  17. Assessing noise from wind farm developments in Ireland: A consideration of critical wind speeds and turbine choice

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    King, E.A.; Pilla, F.; Mahon, J.

    2012-01-01

    Wind farms are becoming increasingly popular in Ireland in an effort to increase the production of green energy within the state. As with any infrastructural development, wind farms must consider potential environmental impacts prior to construction. One particular issue that must be examined is the emission of noise from the development. In Ireland wind farm developments must adhere to planning conditions that usually outline permissible noise levels for both the construction and operational phases of the development. The critical wind speed is often cited as the wind speed at which these limits apply. This paper examines how the critical wind speed is determined and investigates its relationship with background noise levels and turbine choice. The study consisted of ten one-week monitoring periods during which meteorological conditions and background noise levels were simultaneously recorded. It was found that the critical wind speed is non-transferable, i.e. it depends on both the turbine choice and background noise environment and is specific to that particular turbine/site combination. Furthermore the critical wind speed during the night-time is often different to the overall critical wind speed suggesting that future noise studies should consider a range of critical wind speeds, particularly for night-time noise assessments. - Highlights: ► This paper considers the use of the critical wind speed when assessing noise impacts from wind farms. ► It was found that the critical wind speed could vary depending on the time of the day. ► The critical wind speed was found to be a non-transferable value. ► Noise assessments for wind farms should be developed over a range of critical wind speeds.

  18. Listen to the noise: noise is beneficial for cognitive performance in ADHD.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Söderlund, Göran; Sikström, Sverker; Smart, Andrew

    2007-08-01

    Noise is typically conceived of as being detrimental to cognitive performance. However, given the mechanism of stochastic resonance, a certain amount of noise can benefit performance. We investigate cognitive performance in noisy environments in relation to a neurocomputational model of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and dopamine. The Moderate Brain Arousal model (MBA; Sikström & Söderlund, 2007) suggests that dopamine levels modulate how much noise is required for optimal cognitive performance. We experimentally examine how ADHD and control children respond to different encoding conditions, providing different levels of environmental stimulation. Participants carried out self-performed mini tasks (SPT), as a high memory performance task, and a verbal task (VT), as a low memory task. These tasks were performed in the presence, or absence, of auditory white noise. Noise exerted a positive effect on cognitive performance for the ADHD group and deteriorated performance for the control group, indicating that ADHD subjects need more noise than controls for optimal cognitive performance. The positive effect of white noise is explained by the phenomenon of stochastic resonance (SR), i.e., the phenomenon that moderate noise facilitates cognitive performance. The MBA model suggests that noise in the environment, introduces internal noise into the neural system through the perceptual system. This noise induces SR in the neurotransmitter systems and makes this noise beneficial for cognitive performance. In particular, the peak of the SR curve depends on the dopamine level, so that participants with low dopamine levels (ADHD) require more noise for optimal cognitive performance compared to controls.

  19. How to deal with the high condition number of the noise covariance matrix of gravity field functionals synthesised from a satellite-only global gravity field model?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Klees, R.; Slobbe, D. C.; Farahani, H. H.

    2018-03-01

    The posed question arises for instance in regional gravity field modelling using weighted least-squares techniques if the gravity field functionals are synthesised from the spherical harmonic coefficients of a satellite-only global gravity model (GGM), and are used as one of the noisy datasets. The associated noise covariance matrix, appeared to be extremely ill-conditioned with a singular value spectrum that decayed gradually to zero without any noticeable gap. We analysed three methods to deal with the ill-conditioned noise covariance matrix: Tihonov regularisation of the noise covariance matrix in combination with the standard formula for the weighted least-squares estimator, a formula of the weighted least-squares estimator, which does not involve the inverse noise covariance matrix, and an estimator based on Rao's unified theory of least-squares. Our analysis was based on a numerical experiment involving a set of height anomalies synthesised from the GGM GOCO05s, which is provided with a full noise covariance matrix. We showed that the three estimators perform similar, provided that the two regularisation parameters each method knows were chosen properly. As standard regularisation parameter choice rules do not apply here, we suggested a new parameter choice rule, and demonstrated its performance. Using this rule, we found that the differences between the three least-squares estimates were within noise. For the standard formulation of the weighted least-squares estimator with regularised noise covariance matrix, this required an exceptionally strong regularisation, much larger than one expected from the condition number of the noise covariance matrix. The preferred method is the inversion-free formulation of the weighted least-squares estimator, because of its simplicity with respect to the choice of the two regularisation parameters.

  20. The relationship between occupational noise and vibration exposure and headache/eyestrain, based on the fourth Korean Working Condition Survey (KWCS).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Jihyun; Lee, Wanhyung; Won, Jong-Uk; Yoon, Jin-Ha; Seok, Hongdeok; Kim, Yeong-Kwang; Lee, Seunghyun; Roh, Jaehoon

    2017-01-01

    The individual and combined effect of occupational noise and vibration exposures, on workers' health has not been thoroughly investigated. In order to find better ways to prevent and manage workers' headache, this study aimed to investigate the effects of occupational noise and vibration exposure on headache/eyestrain. We used data from the fourth Korean Working Condition Survey (2014). After applying inclusion and exclusion criteria, 25,751 workers were included. Occupational noise and vibration exposure and the prevalence of headache/eyestrain were investigated by self-reported survey. Chi-square tests were used to compare differences in baseline characteristics between the group with headache/eyestrain and the group without. Odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals were estimated using a logistic regression model adjusted for several covariates. Area under the receiver operating characteristics curve (AUROC) analysis was used to evaluate the effect of occupational noise and/or vibration exposure. Among the 25,751 study subjects, 4,903 had experienced headache/eyestrain in the preceding year. There were significant differences in age, education level, household income, occupational classification, shift work, occupational vibration exposure, and occupational noise exposure between the two groups (all pheadache/eyestrain increased proportionally with the level of exposure, increasing from 1.08 to 1.26 with increasing vibration exposure, and from 1.25 to 1.41 with increasing noise exposure. According to the AUROC analysis, the predictive power of each exposure was significant, and increased when the two exposures were considered in combination. The findings of this study show that both occupational noise and vibration exposures are associated with headache/eyestrain; noise exposure more strongly so. However, when the two exposures are considered in combination, the explanatory power for headache/eyestrain is increased. Therefore, efforts aimed at reducing and

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

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, Jae Joon

    2003-01-01

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

  2. The sign rule and beyond: boundary effects, flexibility, and noise correlations in neural population codes.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yu Hu

    2014-02-01

    Full Text Available Over repeat presentations of the same stimulus, sensory neurons show variable responses. This "noise" is typically correlated between pairs of cells, and a question with rich history in neuroscience is how these noise correlations impact the population's ability to encode the stimulus. Here, we consider a very general setting for population coding, investigating how information varies as a function of noise correlations, with all other aspects of the problem - neural tuning curves, etc. - held fixed. This work yields unifying insights into the role of noise correlations. These are summarized in the form of theorems, and illustrated with numerical examples involving neurons with diverse tuning curves. Our main contributions are as follows. (1 We generalize previous results to prove a sign rule (SR - if noise correlations between pairs of neurons have opposite signs vs. their signal correlations, then coding performance will improve compared to the independent case. This holds for three different metrics of coding performance, and for arbitrary tuning curves and levels of heterogeneity. This generality is true for our other results as well. (2 As also pointed out in the literature, the SR does not provide a necessary condition for good coding. We show that a diverse set of correlation structures can improve coding. Many of these violate the SR, as do experimentally observed correlations. There is structure to this diversity: we prove that the optimal correlation structures must lie on boundaries of the possible set of noise correlations. (3 We provide a novel set of necessary and sufficient conditions, under which the coding performance (in the presence of noise will be as good as it would be if there were no noise present at all.

  3. The Impact of Concurrent Noise on Visual Search in Children With ADHD.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Allen, Rosemary; Pammer, Kristen

    2015-09-22

    The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of a concurrent "white noise" stimulus on selective attention in children with ADHD. Participants were 33 children aged 7 to 14 years, who had been previously diagnosed with ADHD. All children completed a computer-based conjunction search task under two noise conditions: a classroom noise condition and a classroom noise + white noise condition. The white noise stimulus was sounds of rain, administered using an iPhone application called Sleep Machine. There were no overall differences between conditions for target detection accuracy, mean reaction time (RT), or reaction time variability (SD). The impact of white noise on visual search depended on children's medication status. White noise may improve task engagement for non-medicated children. White noise may be beneficial for task performance when used as an adjunct to medication. © The Author(s) 2015.

  4. Mobile Communication Devices, Ambient Noise, and Acoustic Voice Measures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maryn, Youri; Ysenbaert, Femke; Zarowski, Andrzej; Vanspauwen, Robby

    2017-03-01

    The ability to move with mobile communication devices (MCDs; ie, smartphones and tablet computers) may induce differences in microphone-to-mouth positioning and use in noise-packed environments, and thus influence reliability of acoustic voice measurements. This study investigated differences in various acoustic voice measures between six recording equipments in backgrounds with low and increasing noise levels. One chain of continuous speech and sustained vowel from 50 subjects with voice disorders (all separated by silence intervals) was radiated and re-recorded in an anechoic chamber with five MCDs and one high-quality recording system. These recordings were acquired in one condition without ambient noise and in four conditions with increased ambient noise. A total of 10 acoustic voice markers were obtained in the program Praat. Differences between MCDs and noise condition were assessed with Friedman repeated-measures test and posthoc Wilcoxon signed-rank tests, both for related samples, after Bonferroni correction. (1) Except median fundamental frequency and seven nonsignificant differences, MCD samples have significantly higher acoustic markers than clinical reference samples in minimal environmental noise. (2) Except median fundamental frequency, jitter local, and jitter rap, all acoustic measures on samples recorded with the reference system experienced significant influence from room noise levels. Fundamental frequency is resistant to recording system, environmental noise, and their combination. All other measures, however, were impacted by both recording system and noise condition, and especially by their combination, often already in the reference/baseline condition without added ambient noise. Caution is therefore warranted regarding implementation of MCDs as clinical recording tools, particularly when applied for treatment outcomes assessments. Copyright © 2017 The Voice Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  5. A study of 1/f noise in InP grown by CBE

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Chen, X.Y.; Leijs, M.R.

    1996-01-01

    The origin of low-frequency noise in InP was studied experimentally by measuring the noise of InP layers grown by chemical beam epitaxy (CBE). Such InP layers are unintentionally doped, but of varying purity and always of n-type conductivity. We performed noise measurements at temperatures from 77

  6. Aircraft noise: effects on macro- and microstructure of sleep.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Basner, Mathias; Glatz, Christian; Griefahn, Barbara; Penzel, Thomas; Samel, Alexander

    2008-05-01

    The effects of aircraft noise on sleep macrostructure (Rechtschaffen and Kales) and microstructure (American Sleep Disorders Association [ASDA] arousal criteria) were investigated. For each of 10 subjects (mean age 35.3 years, 5 males), a baseline night without aircraft noise (control), and two nights with exposure to 64 noise events with a maximum sound pressure level (SPL) of either 45 or 65 dBA were chosen. Spontaneous and noise-induced alterations during sleep classified as arousals (ARS), changes to lighter sleep stages (CSS), awakenings including changes to sleep stage 1 (AS1), and awakenings (AWR) were analyzed. The number of events per night increased in the order AWR, AS1, CSS, and ARS under control conditions as well as under the two noise conditions. Furthermore, probabilities for sleep disruptions increased with increasing noise level. ARS were observed about fourfold compared to AWR, irrespective of control or noise condition. Under the conditions investigated, different sleep parameters show different sensitivities, but also different specificities for noise-induced sleep disturbances. We conclude that most information on sleep disturbances can be achieved by investigating robust classic parameters like AWR or AS1, although ASDA electroencephalographic (EEG) arousals might add relevant information in situations with low maximum SPLs, chronic sleep deprivation or chronic exposure.

  7. Estimation of thermal sensation during varied air temperature conditions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Katsuura, T; Tabuchi, R; Iwanaga, K; Harada, H; Kikuchi, Y

    1998-03-01

    Seven male students were exposed to four varied air temperature environments: hot (37 degrees C) to neutral (27 degrees C) (HN), neutral to hot (NH), cool (17 degrees C) to neutral (CN), and neutral to cool (NC). The air temperature was maintained at the first condition for 20 min, then was changed to the second condition after 15 min and was held there for 20 min. Each subject wore a T-shirt, briefs, trunks, and socks. Each sat on a chair and was continuously evaluated for thermal sensation, thermal comfort, and air velocity sensation. Some physiological and thermal parameters were also measured every 5 s during the experiment. The correlation between thermal sensation and skin temperature at 15 sites was found to be poor. The subjects felt much warmer during the rising phase of the air temperature (CN, NH) than during the descending phase (HN, NC) at a given mean skin temperature. However, thermal sensation at the same heat flux or at the same value of the difference between skin and air temperature (delta(Tsk - Ta)) was not so different among the four experimental conditions, and the correlation between thermal sensation and heat flux or delta(Tsk - Ta) was fairly good. The multiple regression equation of the thermal sensation (TS) on 15 sites of skin temperature (Tsk; degrees C) was calculated and the coefficient of determination (R*2) was found to be 0.656. Higher coefficients of determination were found in the equations of thermal sensation for the heat flux (H; kcal.m-2.h-1) at the right and left thighs of the subjects and on delta(Tsk - Ta) (degrees C) at 4 sites. They were as follows: TS = 2.04 - 0.016 Hright - 0.036 Hleft; R*2 = 0.717, TS = 1.649 + 0.013 delta(Tsk - Ta)UpperArm - 0.036 delta(Tsk - Ta)Chest - 0.223 delta(Tsk - Ta)Thigh-0.083 delta(Tsk - Ta)LowerLeg; R*2 = 0.752, respectively.

  8. Noise pollution in Lahore and the solution

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ahmad, K.

    1999-01-01

    The main objective of the study is to know the current status of noise levels in Lahore as compared to NEQS . Sound Level Meter model 211 FS Quest Electronics with a 50-120 dBA selectable range was used in the current investigation. Study relates to road traffic noise, aircraft noise at city airports, rail traffic noise, noise levels in urban centers and occupational noise. Investigation revealed that nine main commercial centers, six public hospital and ten educational institution of Lahore had values higher than NEQS (85 dBA). Maximum noise producing vehicles on Lahore roads are scooter producing a noise of 90, 86 and 87 dBA. There are forty airports in operation in the country and the aircraft being used has higher noise level varying from 16 to 120 dBA. Based on age and length of service permanent hearing damage has been observed in skilled industrial workers. Risk from hearing damage of industrial workers can be reduced by the use of some form of ear protection. Ear plugs can reduce noise levels by 15 to 35 dBA according to their design and fit. Industrial noise from heavy machinery can be reduced by anti-vibration mountings. Noisy work area in industry should be either isolated or surrounded by baffles. The most appealing approach to reduce noise problems in communities due to aircraft operation is reduction of the noise generated by the aircraft and land use planning. (author)

  9. Comprehensive quantification of signal-to-noise ratio and g-factor for image-based and k-space-based parallel imaging reconstructions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Robson, Philip M; Grant, Aaron K; Madhuranthakam, Ananth J; Lattanzi, Riccardo; Sodickson, Daniel K; McKenzie, Charles A

    2008-10-01

    Parallel imaging reconstructions result in spatially varying noise amplification characterized by the g-factor, precluding conventional measurements of noise from the final image. A simple Monte Carlo based method is proposed for all linear image reconstruction algorithms, which allows measurement of signal-to-noise ratio and g-factor and is demonstrated for SENSE and GRAPPA reconstructions for accelerated acquisitions that have not previously been amenable to such assessment. Only a simple "prescan" measurement of noise amplitude and correlation in the phased-array receiver, and a single accelerated image acquisition are required, allowing robust assessment of signal-to-noise ratio and g-factor. The "pseudo multiple replica" method has been rigorously validated in phantoms and in vivo, showing excellent agreement with true multiple replica and analytical methods. This method is universally applicable to the parallel imaging reconstruction techniques used in clinical applications and will allow pixel-by-pixel image noise measurements for all parallel imaging strategies, allowing quantitative comparison between arbitrary k-space trajectories, image reconstruction, or noise conditioning techniques. (c) 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

  10. Sea Ice Deformation State From Synthetic Aperture Radar Imagery - Part II: Effects of Spatial Resolution and Noise Level

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Dierking, Wolfgang; Dall, Jørgen

    2008-01-01

    C- and L-band airborne synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery acquired at like- and cross-polarization over sea ice under winter conditions is examined with the objective to study the discrimination between level ice and ice deformation features. High-resolution low-noise data were analysed...... in the first paper. In this second paper, the main topics are the effects of spatial resolution and signal-to-noise ratio. Airborne, high-resolution SAR scenes are used to generate a sequence of images with increasingly coarser spatial resolution from 5 m to 25 m, keeping the number of looks constant....... The signal-to-noise ratio is varied between typical noise levels for airborne imagery and satellite data. Areal fraction of deformed ice and average deformation distance are determined for each image product. At L-band, the retrieved values of the areal fraction get larger as the image resolution is degraded...

  11. On common noise-induced synchronization in complex networks with state-dependent noise diffusion processes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Russo, Giovanni; Shorten, Robert

    2018-04-01

    This paper is concerned with the study of common noise-induced synchronization phenomena in complex networks of diffusively coupled nonlinear systems. We consider the case where common noise propagation depends on the network state and, as a result, the noise diffusion process at the nodes depends on the state of the network. For such networks, we present an algebraic sufficient condition for the onset of synchronization, which depends on the network topology, the dynamics at the nodes, the coupling strength and the noise diffusion. Our result explicitly shows that certain noise diffusion processes can drive an unsynchronized network towards synchronization. In order to illustrate the effectiveness of our result, we consider two applications: collective decision processes and synchronization of chaotic systems. We explicitly show that, in the former application, a sufficiently large noise can drive a population towards a common decision, while, in the latter, we show how common noise can synchronize a network of Lorentz chaotic systems.

  12. Environmental Noise, Genetic Diversity and the Evolution of Evolvability and Robustness in Model Gene Networks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Steiner, Christopher F.

    2012-01-01

    The ability of organisms to adapt and persist in the face of environmental change is accepted as a fundamental feature of natural systems. More contentious is whether the capacity of organisms to adapt (or “evolvability”) can itself evolve and the mechanisms underlying such responses. Using model gene networks, I provide evidence that evolvability emerges more readily when populations experience positively autocorrelated environmental noise (red noise) compared to populations in stable or randomly varying (white noise) environments. Evolvability was correlated with increasing genetic robustness to effects on network viability and decreasing robustness to effects on phenotypic expression; populations whose networks displayed greater viability robustness and lower phenotypic robustness produced more additive genetic variation and adapted more rapidly in novel environments. Patterns of selection for robustness varied antagonistically with epistatic effects of mutations on viability and phenotypic expression, suggesting that trade-offs between these properties may constrain their evolutionary responses. Evolution of evolvability and robustness was stronger in sexual populations compared to asexual populations indicating that enhanced genetic variation under fluctuating selection combined with recombination load is a primary driver of the emergence of evolvability. These results provide insight into the mechanisms potentially underlying rapid adaptation as well as the environmental conditions that drive the evolution of genetic interactions. PMID:23284934

  13. A Comparison of seismic instrument noise coherence analysis techniques

    Science.gov (United States)

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

    2011-01-01

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

  14. The noise generated by wind turbines

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anon.

    2012-01-01

    Sound propagation damps down with distance and varies according to different parameters like wind direction and temperature. This article begins by recalling the basic physics of sound wave propagation and gives a list of common noises and corresponding decibels. The habitual noise of wind turbines 500 m away is 35 decibels which ranks it between a quiet bedroom (30 decibels) and a calm office (40 decibels). The question about whether wind turbines are a noise nuisance is all the more difficult as the feeling of a nuisance is so objective and personal. Any project of wind turbines requires a thorough study of its estimated acoustic impact. This study is a 3 step approach: first the initial noise environment is measured, secondly the propagation of the sound generated by the wind turbine farm is modelled and adequate mitigation measures are proposed to comply the law. The law stipulates that the increase of noise must be less than 5 db during daylight and less than 3 db during night. (A.C.)

  15. Superlinearly scalable noise robustness of redundant coupled dynamical systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kohar, Vivek; Kia, Behnam; Lindner, John F; Ditto, William L

    2016-03-01

    We illustrate through theory and numerical simulations that redundant coupled dynamical systems can be extremely robust against local noise in comparison to uncoupled dynamical systems evolving in the same noisy environment. Previous studies have shown that the noise robustness of redundant coupled dynamical systems is linearly scalable and deviations due to noise can be minimized by increasing the number of coupled units. Here, we demonstrate that the noise robustness can actually be scaled superlinearly if some conditions are met and very high noise robustness can be realized with very few coupled units. We discuss these conditions and show that this superlinear scalability depends on the nonlinearity of the individual dynamical units. The phenomenon is demonstrated in discrete as well as continuous dynamical systems. This superlinear scalability not only provides us an opportunity to exploit the nonlinearity of physical systems without being bogged down by noise but may also help us in understanding the functional role of coupled redundancy found in many biological systems. Moreover, engineers can exploit superlinear noise suppression by starting a coupled system near (not necessarily at) the appropriate initial condition.

  16. Berry phase and shot noise for spin-polarized and entangled electrons

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang Pei; Tang Weihua; Lu Dinghui; Jiang Lixia; Zhao Xuean

    2007-01-01

    Shot noise for entangled and spin-polarized states in a four-probe geometric setup has been studied by adding two rotating magnetic fields in an incoming channel. Our results show that the noise power oscillates as the magnetic fields vary. The singlet, entangled triplet and polarized states can be distinguished by adjusting the magnetic fields. The Berry phase can be derived by measuring the shot noise power

  17. The Effects of Syntactic Complexity on Processing Sentences in Noise

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carroll, Rebecca; Ruigendijk, Esther

    2013-01-01

    This paper discusses the influence of stationary (non-fluctuating) noise on processing and understanding of sentences, which vary in their syntactic complexity (with the factors canonicity, embedding, ambiguity). It presents data from two RT-studies with 44 participants testing processing of German sentences in silence and in noise. Results show a…

  18. Automated pattern recognition system for noise analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sides, W.H. Jr.; Piety, K.R.

    1980-01-01

    A pattern recognition system was developed at ORNL for on-line monitoring of noise signals from sensors in a nuclear power plant. The system continuousy measures the power spectral density (PSD) values of the signals and the statistical characteristics of the PSDs in unattended operation. Through statistical comparison of current with past PSDs (pattern recognition), the system detects changes in the noise signals. Because the noise signals contain information about the current operational condition of the plant, a change in these signals could indicate a change, either normal or abnormal, in the operational condition

  19. Binaural speech discrimination under noise in hearing-impaired listeners

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kumar, K. V.; Rao, A. B.

    1988-01-01

    This paper presents the results of an assessment of speech discrimination by hearing-impaired listeners (sensori-neural, conductive, and mixed groups) under binaural free-field listening in the presence of background noise. Subjects with pure-tone thresholds greater than 20 dB in 0.5, 1.0 and 2.0 kHz were presented with a version of the W-22 list of phonetically balanced words under three conditions: (1) 'quiet', with the chamber noise below 28 dB and speech at 60 dB; (2) at a constant S/N ratio of +10 dB, and with a background white noise at 70 dB; and (3) same as condition (2), but with the background noise at 80 dB. The mean speech discrimination scores decreased significantly with noise in all groups. However, the decrease in binaural speech discrimination scores with an increase in hearing impairment was less for material presented under the noise conditions than for the material presented in quiet.

  20. Can classical noise enhance quantum transmission?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wilde, Mark M

    2009-01-01

    A modified quantum teleportation protocol broadens the scope of the classical forbidden-interval theorems for stochastic resonance. The fidelity measures performance of quantum communication. The sender encodes the two classical bits for quantum teleportation as weak bipolar subthreshold signals and sends them over a noisy classical channel. Two forbidden-interval theorems provide a necessary and sufficient condition for the occurrence of the nonmonotone stochastic resonance effect in the fidelity of quantum teleportation. The condition is that the noise mean must fall outside a forbidden interval related to the detection threshold and signal value. An optimal amount of classical noise benefits quantum communication when the sender transmits weak signals, the receiver detects with a high threshold and the noise mean lies outside the forbidden interval. Theorems and simulations demonstrate that both finite-variance and infinite-variance noise benefit the fidelity of quantum teleportation.

  1. The relationship between occupational noise and vibration exposure and headache/eyestrain, based on the fourth Korean Working Condition Survey (KWCS.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jihyun Kim

    Full Text Available The individual and combined effect of occupational noise and vibration exposures, on workers' health has not been thoroughly investigated. In order to find better ways to prevent and manage workers' headache, this study aimed to investigate the effects of occupational noise and vibration exposure on headache/eyestrain.We used data from the fourth Korean Working Condition Survey (2014. After applying inclusion and exclusion criteria, 25,751 workers were included. Occupational noise and vibration exposure and the prevalence of headache/eyestrain were investigated by self-reported survey. Chi-square tests were used to compare differences in baseline characteristics between the group with headache/eyestrain and the group without. Odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals were estimated using a logistic regression model adjusted for several covariates. Area under the receiver operating characteristics curve (AUROC analysis was used to evaluate the effect of occupational noise and/or vibration exposure.Among the 25,751 study subjects, 4,903 had experienced headache/eyestrain in the preceding year. There were significant differences in age, education level, household income, occupational classification, shift work, occupational vibration exposure, and occupational noise exposure between the two groups (all p<0.05. The odds ratios between each exposure and headache/eyestrain increased proportionally with the level of exposure, increasing from 1.08 to 1.26 with increasing vibration exposure, and from 1.25 to 1.41 with increasing noise exposure. According to the AUROC analysis, the predictive power of each exposure was significant, and increased when the two exposures were considered in combination.The findings of this study show that both occupational noise and vibration exposures are associated with headache/eyestrain; noise exposure more strongly so. However, when the two exposures are considered in combination, the explanatory power for headache

  2. Creep rupture properties under varying load/temperature conditions on a nickel-base heat-resistant alloy strengthened by boron addition

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tsuji, Hirokazu; Tanabe, Tatsuhiko; Nakajima, Hajime

    1994-01-01

    A series of constant load and temperature creep rupture tests and varying load and temperature creep rupture tests was carried out on Hastelloy XR whose boron content level is 60 mass ppm at 900 and 1000 C in order to examine the behavior of the alloy under varying load and temperature conditions. The life fraction rule completely fails in the prediction of the creep rupture life under varying load and temperature conditions though the rule shows good applicability for Hastelloy XR whose boron content level is below 10 mass ppm. The modified life fraction rule has been proposed based on the dependence of the creep rupture strength on the boron content level of the alloy. The modified rule successfully predicts the creep rupture life under the test conditions from 1000 to 900 C. The trend observed in the tests from 900 to 1000 C can be qualitatively explained by the mechanism that the oxide film which is formed during the prior exposure to 900 C plays the role of the protective barrier against the boron dissipation into the environment. (orig.)

  3. Noise immission from wind turbines

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1999-01-01

    The project has dealt with practical ways to reduce the influence of background noise caused by wind acting on the measuring microphones. The uncertainty of measured noise emission (source strength) has been investigated. The main activity was a Round Robin Test involving measurements by five laboratories at the same wind turbine. Each laboratory brought its own instrumentation and performed the measurements and analyses according to their interpretation. The tonality of wind turbine noise is an essential component of the noise impact on the environment. In the present project the uncertainty in the newest existing methods for assessing tonality was investigated. The project included noise propagation measurements in different weather conditions around wind turbines situated in different types of terrain. The results were used to validate a noise propagation model developed in the project. Finally, the project also included a study with listeners evaluating recordings of wind turbine noise. The results are intended as guidance for wind turbine manufacturers in identifying the aspects of wind turbine noise most important to annoyance. (author)

  4. Prediction and analysis of infra and low-frequency noise of upwind horizontal axis wind turbine using statistical wind speed model

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lee, Gwang-Se; Cheong, Cheolung, E-mail: ccheong@pusan.ac.kr [School of Mechanical Engineering, Pusan National University, Busan, 609-745, Rep. of Korea (Korea, Republic of)

    2014-12-15

    Despite increasing concern about low-frequency noise of modern large horizontal-axis wind turbines (HAWTs), few studies have focused on its origin or its prediction methods. In this paper, infra- and low-frequency (the ILF) wind turbine noise are closely examined and an efficient method is developed for its prediction. Although most previous studies have assumed that the ILF noise consists primarily of blade passing frequency (BPF) noise components, these tonal noise components are seldom identified in the measured noise spectrum, except for the case of downwind wind turbines. In reality, since modern HAWTs are very large, during rotation, a single blade of the turbine experiences inflow with variation in wind speed in time as well as in space, breaking periodic perturbations of the BPF. Consequently, this transforms acoustic contributions at the BPF harmonics into broadband noise components. In this study, the ILF noise of wind turbines is predicted by combining Lowson’s acoustic analogy with the stochastic wind model, which is employed to reproduce realistic wind speed conditions. In order to predict the effects of these wind conditions on pressure variation on the blade surface, unsteadiness in the incident wind speed is incorporated into the XFOIL code by varying incident flow velocities on each blade section, which depend on the azimuthal locations of the rotating blade. The calculated surface pressure distribution is subsequently used to predict acoustic pressure at an observing location by using Lowson’s analogy. These predictions are compared with measured data, which ensures that the present method can reproduce the broadband characteristics of the measured low-frequency noise spectrum. Further investigations are carried out to characterize the IFL noise in terms of pressure loading on blade surface, narrow-band noise spectrum and noise maps around the turbine.

  5. Prediction and analysis of infra and low-frequency noise of upwind horizontal axis wind turbine using statistical wind speed model

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gwang-Se Lee

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available Despite increasing concern about low-frequency noise of modern large horizontal-axis wind turbines (HAWTs, few studies have focused on its origin or its prediction methods. In this paper, infra- and low-frequency (the ILF wind turbine noise are closely examined and an efficient method is developed for its prediction. Although most previous studies have assumed that the ILF noise consists primarily of blade passing frequency (BPF noise components, these tonal noise components are seldom identified in the measured noise spectrum, except for the case of downwind wind turbines. In reality, since modern HAWTs are very large, during rotation, a single blade of the turbine experiences inflow with variation in wind speed in time as well as in space, breaking periodic perturbations of the BPF. Consequently, this transforms acoustic contributions at the BPF harmonics into broadband noise components. In this study, the ILF noise of wind turbines is predicted by combining Lowson’s acoustic analogy with the stochastic wind model, which is employed to reproduce realistic wind speed conditions. In order to predict the effects of these wind conditions on pressure variation on the blade surface, unsteadiness in the incident wind speed is incorporated into the XFOIL code by varying incident flow velocities on each blade section, which depend on the azimuthal locations of the rotating blade. The calculated surface pressure distribution is subsequently used to predict acoustic pressure at an observing location by using Lowson’s analogy. These predictions are compared with measured data, which ensures that the present method can reproduce the broadband characteristics of the measured low-frequency noise spectrum. Further investigations are carried out to characterize the IFL noise in terms of pressure loading on blade surface, narrow-band noise spectrum and noise maps around the turbine.

  6. Neutron fluctuations in a medium randomly varying in time

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lenard, Pal; Imre, Pazsit

    2005-01-01

    The master equation approach, which has traditionally been used for the calculation of neutron fluctuations in zero power systems with constant parameters, is extended to a case when the parameters of the system change randomly in time. We consider a forward type master equation for the probability distribution of the number of particles in a multiplying system whose properties jump randomly between two discrete states, both with and without an external source. The first two factorial moments are calculated, including the covariance. This model can be considered the unification of stochastic methods that were used either in a constant multiplying medium via the master equation technique, or in a fluctuating medium via the Langevin technique. In contrast to these methods, the one presented here can calculate the inherent noise in time-varying systems. The results obtained show a much richer characteristics of the zero power noise than that in constant systems. Even the concept of criticality has to be given a probabilistic interpretation. The asymptotic behaviour of the variance will be also qualitatively different from that in constant systems. The covariance of the neutron number in a subcritical system with a source, and the corresponding power spectrum, shows both the inherent and parametrically induced noise components. The results are relevant in medium power subcritical systems where the zero power noise is still significant, but they also have a bearing on all types of branching processes, such as evolution of biological systems, spreading of epidemics etc., which are set in a time-varying environment. (authors)

  7. Neutron fluctuations in a medium randomly varying in time

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lenard, Pal [KFKI Atomic Energy Research Institute, Budapest (Hungary); Imre, Pazsit [Chalmers Univ. of Technology, Dept. of Nuclear Engineering, SE, Goteborg (Sweden)

    2005-07-01

    The master equation approach, which has traditionally been used for the calculation of neutron fluctuations in zero power systems with constant parameters, is extended to a case when the parameters of the system change randomly in time. We consider a forward type master equation for the probability distribution of the number of particles in a multiplying system whose properties jump randomly between two discrete states, both with and without an external source. The first two factorial moments are calculated, including the covariance. This model can be considered the unification of stochastic methods that were used either in a constant multiplying medium via the master equation technique, or in a fluctuating medium via the Langevin technique. In contrast to these methods, the one presented here can calculate the inherent noise in time-varying systems. The results obtained show a much richer characteristics of the zero power noise than that in constant systems. Even the concept of criticality has to be given a probabilistic interpretation. The asymptotic behaviour of the variance will be also qualitatively different from that in constant systems. The covariance of the neutron number in a subcritical system with a source, and the corresponding power spectrum, shows both the inherent and parametrically induced noise components. The results are relevant in medium power subcritical systems where the zero power noise is still significant, but they also have a bearing on all types of branching processes, such as evolution of biological systems, spreading of epidemics etc., which are set in a time-varying environment. (authors)

  8. Road Traffic Noise Exposure in Gothenburg 1975-2010.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mikael Ögren

    Full Text Available Traffic noise exposure within a city varies over time and space. In this study, we developed a modified noise calculation method and used this method together with population and traffic data to estimate the time trend of noise exposure for the population in Gothenburg, Sweden, from 1975 to 2010. The noise calculation method was based on the standard Nordic method for road traffic noise with modifications using area-level statistics for population and building structures instead of precise geocoding of each inhabitant. Noise emission per vehicle was assumed to be constant over the period. The results show an increase in noise exposure over time. The number of inhabitants exposed at an equivalent level above 55 dB increased from 93000 to 146000 inhabitants between 1975 and 2010, and the percentage of the population exposed at this level increased from 22% to 29% over the same period. Traffic increase (1.4% per year and population increase/concentration (0.50% per year were approximately equally important factors behind this increase in exposure.

  9. Noise masking of S-cone increments and decrements.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Quanhong; Richters, David P; Eskew, Rhea T

    2014-11-12

    S-cone increment and decrement detection thresholds were measured in the presence of bipolar, dynamic noise masks. Noise chromaticities were the L-, M-, and S-cone directions, as well as L-M, L+M, and achromatic (L+M+S) directions. Noise contrast power was varied to measure threshold Energy versus Noise (EvN) functions. S+ and S- thresholds were similarly, and weakly, raised by achromatic noise. However, S+ thresholds were much more elevated by S, L+M, L-M, L- and M-cone noises than were S- thresholds, even though the noises consisted of two symmetric chromatic polarities of equal contrast power. A linear cone combination model accounts for the overall pattern of masking of a single test polarity well. L and M cones have opposite signs in their effects upon raising S+ and S- thresholds. The results strongly indicate that the psychophysical mechanisms responsible for S+ and S- detection, presumably based on S-ON and S-OFF pathways, are distinct, unipolar mechanisms, and that they have different spatiotemporal sampling characteristics, or contrast gains, or both. © 2014 ARVO.

  10. Stochastic memory: getting memory out of noise

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stotland, Alexander; di Ventra, Massimiliano

    2011-03-01

    Memory circuit elements, namely memristors, memcapacitors and meminductors, can store information without the need of a power source. These systems are generally defined in terms of deterministic equations of motion for the state variables that are responsible for memory. However, in real systems noise sources can never be eliminated completely. One would then expect noise to be detrimental for memory. Here, we show that under specific conditions on the noise intensity memory can actually be enhanced. We illustrate this phenomenon using a physical model of a memristor in which the addition of white noise into the state variable equation improves the memory and helps the operation of the system. We discuss under which conditions this effect can be realized experimentally, discuss its implications on existing memory systems discussed in the literature, and also analyze the effects of colored noise. Work supported in part by NSF.

  11. Theory and Measurement of Signal-to-Noise Ratio in Continuous-Wave Noise Radar.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stec, Bronisław; Susek, Waldemar

    2018-05-06

    Determination of the signal power-to-noise power ratio on the input and output of reception systems is essential to the estimation of their quality and signal reception capability. This issue is especially important in the case when both signal and noise have the same characteristic as Gaussian white noise. This article considers the problem of how a signal-to-noise ratio is changed as a result of signal processing in the correlation receiver of a noise radar in order to determine the ability to detect weak features in the presence of strong clutter-type interference. These studies concern both theoretical analysis and practical measurements of a noise radar with a digital correlation receiver for 9.2 GHz bandwidth. Firstly, signals participating individually in the correlation process are defined and the terms signal and interference are ascribed to them. Further studies show that it is possible to distinguish a signal and a noise on the input and output of a correlation receiver, respectively, when all the considered noises are in the form of white noise. Considering the above, a measurement system is designed in which it is possible to represent the actual conditions of noise radar operation and power measurement of a useful noise signal and interference noise signals—in particular the power of an internal leakage signal between a transmitter and a receiver of the noise radar. The proposed measurement stands and the obtained results show that it is possible to optimize with the use of the equipment and not with the complex processing of a noise signal. The radar parameters depend on its prospective application, such as short- and medium-range radar, ground-penetrating radar, and through-the-wall detection radar.

  12. Noise-invariant Neurons in the Avian Auditory Cortex: Hearing the Song in Noise

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moore, R. Channing; Lee, Tyler; Theunissen, Frédéric E.

    2013-01-01

    Given the extraordinary ability of humans and animals to recognize communication signals over a background of noise, describing noise invariant neural responses is critical not only to pinpoint the brain regions that are mediating our robust perceptions but also to understand the neural computations that are performing these tasks and the underlying circuitry. Although invariant neural responses, such as rotation-invariant face cells, are well described in the visual system, high-level auditory neurons that can represent the same behaviorally relevant signal in a range of listening conditions have yet to be discovered. Here we found neurons in a secondary area of the avian auditory cortex that exhibit noise-invariant responses in the sense that they responded with similar spike patterns to song stimuli presented in silence and over a background of naturalistic noise. By characterizing the neurons' tuning in terms of their responses to modulations in the temporal and spectral envelope of the sound, we then show that noise invariance is partly achieved by selectively responding to long sounds with sharp spectral structure. Finally, to demonstrate that such computations could explain noise invariance, we designed a biologically inspired noise-filtering algorithm that can be used to separate song or speech from noise. This novel noise-filtering method performs as well as other state-of-the-art de-noising algorithms and could be used in clinical or consumer oriented applications. Our biologically inspired model also shows how high-level noise-invariant responses could be created from neural responses typically found in primary auditory cortex. PMID:23505354

  13. Noise-invariant neurons in the avian auditory cortex: hearing the song in noise.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moore, R Channing; Lee, Tyler; Theunissen, Frédéric E

    2013-01-01

    Given the extraordinary ability of humans and animals to recognize communication signals over a background of noise, describing noise invariant neural responses is critical not only to pinpoint the brain regions that are mediating our robust perceptions but also to understand the neural computations that are performing these tasks and the underlying circuitry. Although invariant neural responses, such as rotation-invariant face cells, are well described in the visual system, high-level auditory neurons that can represent the same behaviorally relevant signal in a range of listening conditions have yet to be discovered. Here we found neurons in a secondary area of the avian auditory cortex that exhibit noise-invariant responses in the sense that they responded with similar spike patterns to song stimuli presented in silence and over a background of naturalistic noise. By characterizing the neurons' tuning in terms of their responses to modulations in the temporal and spectral envelope of the sound, we then show that noise invariance is partly achieved by selectively responding to long sounds with sharp spectral structure. Finally, to demonstrate that such computations could explain noise invariance, we designed a biologically inspired noise-filtering algorithm that can be used to separate song or speech from noise. This novel noise-filtering method performs as well as other state-of-the-art de-noising algorithms and could be used in clinical or consumer oriented applications. Our biologically inspired model also shows how high-level noise-invariant responses could be created from neural responses typically found in primary auditory cortex.

  14. Noise-invariant neurons in the avian auditory cortex: hearing the song in noise.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    R Channing Moore

    Full Text Available Given the extraordinary ability of humans and animals to recognize communication signals over a background of noise, describing noise invariant neural responses is critical not only to pinpoint the brain regions that are mediating our robust perceptions but also to understand the neural computations that are performing these tasks and the underlying circuitry. Although invariant neural responses, such as rotation-invariant face cells, are well described in the visual system, high-level auditory neurons that can represent the same behaviorally relevant signal in a range of listening conditions have yet to be discovered. Here we found neurons in a secondary area of the avian auditory cortex that exhibit noise-invariant responses in the sense that they responded with similar spike patterns to song stimuli presented in silence and over a background of naturalistic noise. By characterizing the neurons' tuning in terms of their responses to modulations in the temporal and spectral envelope of the sound, we then show that noise invariance is partly achieved by selectively responding to long sounds with sharp spectral structure. Finally, to demonstrate that such computations could explain noise invariance, we designed a biologically inspired noise-filtering algorithm that can be used to separate song or speech from noise. This novel noise-filtering method performs as well as other state-of-the-art de-noising algorithms and could be used in clinical or consumer oriented applications. Our biologically inspired model also shows how high-level noise-invariant responses could be created from neural responses typically found in primary auditory cortex.

  15. Analysis of a Shock-Associated Noise Prediction Model Using Measured Jet Far-Field Noise Data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dahl, Milo D.; Sharpe, Jacob A.

    2014-01-01

    A code for predicting supersonic jet broadband shock-associated noise was assessed using a database containing noise measurements of a jet issuing from a convergent nozzle. The jet was operated at 24 conditions covering six fully expanded Mach numbers with four total temperature ratios. To enable comparisons of the predicted shock-associated noise component spectra with data, the measured total jet noise spectra were separated into mixing noise and shock-associated noise component spectra. Comparisons between predicted and measured shock-associated noise component spectra were used to identify deficiencies in the prediction model. Proposed revisions to the model, based on a study of the overall sound pressure levels for the shock-associated noise component of the measured data, a sensitivity analysis of the model parameters with emphasis on the definition of the convection velocity parameter, and a least-squares fit of the predicted to the measured shock-associated noise component spectra, resulted in a new definition for the source strength spectrum in the model. An error analysis showed that the average error in the predicted spectra was reduced by as much as 3.5 dB for the revised model relative to the average error for the original model.

  16. Noise Considerations in Resistance Bridges

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Diamond, Joseph M.

    1963-01-01

    A signal-to-noise analysis is made of the Wheatstone bridge, where the unknown and standard resistors may be at different temperatures, a situation which occurs in resistance thermometry. The limiting condition is assumed to be dissipation in the unknown resistor. It is shown that the ratio arms...... thermometry, where the noise in the unknown resistor will predominate strongly. An impedance step-up device (transformer or tuned circuit) is valuable in raising the bridge signal and noise level above the noise of the first amplifier tube. However, as the step-up ratio is increased, two counterfactors appear....... With certain assumptions about the noise and grid current of the first tube it is found that the equivalent temperature of a unity ratio (Mueller) bridge used for liquid helium measurements may be 400°K....

  17. Estimation of time-varying reactivity by the H∞ optimal linear filter

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Suzuki, Katsuo; Shimazaki, Junya; Watanabe, Koiti

    1995-01-01

    The problem of estimating the time-varying net reactivity from flux measurements is solved for a point reactor kinetics model using a linear filtering technique in an H ∞ settings. In order to sue this technique, an appropriate dynamical model of the reactivity is constructed that can be embedded into the reactor model as one of its variables. A filter, which minimizes the H ∞ norm of the estimation error power spectrum, operates on neutron density measurements corrupted by noise and provides an estimate of the dynamic net reactivity. Computer simulations are performed to reveal the basic characteristics of the H ∞ optimal filter. The results of the simulation indicate that the filter can be used to determine the time-varying reactivity from neutron density measurements that have been corrupted by noise

  18. Acoustics of fish shelters: background noise and signal-to-noise ratio.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lugli, Marco

    2014-12-01

    Fish shelters (flat stones, shells, artificial covers, etc., with a hollow beneath) increase the sound pressure levels of low frequency sounds (noise ratio (SNR) in the nest. Background noise amplification by the shelter was examined under both laboratory (stones and shells) and field (stones) conditions, and the SNR of tones inside the nest cavity was measured by performing acoustic tests on stones in the stream. Stone and shell shelters amplify the background noise pressure levels inside the cavity with comparable gains and at similar frequencies of an active sound source. Inside the cavity of stream stones, the mean SNR of tones increased significantly below 125 Hz and peaked at 65 Hz (+10 dB). Implications for fish acoustic communication inside nest enclosures are discussed.

  19. A Denoising Scheme for Randomly Clustered Noise Removal in ICCD Sensing Image

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fei Wang

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available An Intensified Charge-Coupled Device (ICCD image is captured by the ICCD image sensor in extremely low-light conditions. Its noise has two distinctive characteristics. (a Different from the independent identically distributed (i.i.d. noise in natural image, the noise in the ICCD sensing image is spatially clustered, which induces unexpected structure information; (b The pattern of the clustered noise is formed randomly. In this paper, we propose a denoising scheme to remove the randomly clustered noise in the ICCD sensing image. First, we decompose the image into non-overlapped patches and classify them into flat patches and structure patches according to if real structure information is included. Then, two denoising algorithms are designed for them, respectively. For each flat patch, we simulate multiple similar patches for it in pseudo-time domain and remove its noise by averaging all the simulated patches, considering that the structure information induced by the noise varies randomly over time. For each structure patch, we design a structure-preserved sparse coding algorithm to reconstruct the real structure information. It reconstructs each patch by describing it as a weighted summation of its neighboring patches and incorporating the weights into the sparse representation of the current patch. Based on all the reconstructed patches, we generate a reconstructed image. After that, we repeat the whole process by changing relevant parameters, considering that blocking artifacts exist in a single reconstructed image. Finally, we obtain the reconstructed image by merging all the generated images into one. Experiments are conducted on an ICCD sensing image dataset, which verifies its subjective performance in removing the randomly clustered noise and preserving the real structure information in the ICCD sensing image.

  20. 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

  1. In-plant noise as occupational risk factor at petrochemical plants

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A.D. Volgareva

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available The article summarizes the data obtained in long-term research on working conditions estimates and studying damages to hearing organs in workers employed at petrochemical plants. We chose workers employed at five basic organic synthesis productions as an object of our study; these productions include ethylene-propylene, ethylbenzene-styrene, organic alcohols production (butanol and 2-ethylhexanol, phthalic anhydride. We detected that heating furnaces, compressors, and pumps were the main noise sources at the examined productions. Our research revealed that noise levels at the examined productions varied from 60 to 99 decibel, and calculated equivalent noise levels reached the 3 hazard class with 1st and 2nd hazard degree. Audiometric research showed that signs of impacts exerted by noise on hearing organs of workers belonging to basic occupational groups (processing machine operators and pumps and compressor operators occurred authentically more frequently than in case of control equipment mechanics and automatic equipment operators (comparison group (<0,001. The highest risk of occupational hearing loss was detected for drivers while the same pathology evolved 1.5–2.0 times less frequently in processing machines operators. Frequency of hearing organs damage in all basic occupational groups authentically increased as working period grew. Signs of such damage increased dramatically in processing machines operators' group after 10 years of work but still the overall level was slightly lower than in drivers' group. It is shown that the most efficient measures of collective protection aimed at noise reduction are application of low-noise technological equipment, acoustic protection (sound insulation and sound absorption, etc, remote control, as well as rational labor and leisure regime. Medical care and vocational rehabilitation of people with occupational hearing loss also contribute significantly into sensory deafness prevention.

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

    Science.gov (United States)

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

    2011-01-01

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

  3. Cavitation noise studies on marine propellers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sharma, S. D.; Mani, K.; Arakeri, V. H.

    1990-04-01

    Experimental observations are described of cavitation inception and noise from five model propellers, three basic and two modified, tested in the open jet section of the Indian Institute of Science high-speed water tunnel facility. Extensive experiments on the three basic propellers of different design, which included visualization of cavitation and measurements of noise, showed that the dominant type of cavitation was in the form of tip vortex cavitation, accompanied by leading edge suction side sheet cavitation in its close vicinity, and the resultant noise depended on parameters such as the advance coefficient, the cavitation number, and the propeller geometry. Of these, advance coefficient was found to have the maximum influence not only on cavitation noise but also on the inception of cavitation. Noise levels and frequencies of spectra obtained from all the three basic propellers at conditions near inception and different advance coefficient values, when plotted in the normalized form as suggested by Blake, resulted in a universal spectrum which would be useful for predicting cavitation noise at prototype scales when a limited extent of cavitation is expected in the same form as observed on the present models. In an attempt to delay the onset of tip vortex cavitation, the blades of two of the three basic propellers were modified by drilling small holes in the tip and leading edge areas. Studies on the modified propellers showed that the effectiveness of the blade modification was apparently stronger at low advance coefficient values and depended on the blade sectional profile. Measurements of cavitation noise indicated that the modification also improved the acoustic performance of the propellers as it resulted in a complete attenuation of the low-frequency spectral peaks, which were prominent with the basic propellers. In addition to the above studies, which were conducted under uniform flow conditions, one of the basic propellers was tested in the simulated

  4. Detection and classification of alarm threshold violations in condition monitoring systems working in highly varying operational conditions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Strączkiewicz, M.; Barszcz, T.; Jabłoński, A.

    2015-07-01

    All commonly used condition monitoring systems (CMS) enable defining alarm thresholds that enhance efficient surveillance and maintenance of dynamic state of machinery. The thresholds are imposed on the measured values such as vibration-based indicators, temperature, pressure, etc. For complex machinery such as wind turbine (WT) the total number of thresholds might be counted in hundreds multiplied by the number of operational states. All the parameters vary not only due to possible machinery malfunctions, but also due to changes in operating conditions and these changes are typically much stronger than the former ones. Very often, such a behavior may lead to hundreds of false alarms. Therefore, authors propose a novel approach based on parameterized description of the threshold violation. For this purpose the novelty and severity factors are introduced. The first parameter refers to the time of violation occurrence while the second one describes the impact of the indicator-increase to the entire machine. Such approach increases reliability of the CMS by providing the operator with the most useful information of the system events. The idea of the procedure is presented on a simulated data similar to those from a wind turbine.

  5. Detection and classification of alarm threshold violations in condition monitoring systems working in highly varying operational conditions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Strączkiewicz, M; Barszcz, T; Jabłoński, A

    2015-01-01

    All commonly used condition monitoring systems (CMS) enable defining alarm thresholds that enhance efficient surveillance and maintenance of dynamic state of machinery. The thresholds are imposed on the measured values such as vibration-based indicators, temperature, pressure, etc. For complex machinery such as wind turbine (WT) the total number of thresholds might be counted in hundreds multiplied by the number of operational states. All the parameters vary not only due to possible machinery malfunctions, but also due to changes in operating conditions and these changes are typically much stronger than the former ones. Very often, such a behavior may lead to hundreds of false alarms. Therefore, authors propose a novel approach based on parameterized description of the threshold violation. For this purpose the novelty and severity factors are introduced. The first parameter refers to the time of violation occurrence while the second one describes the impact of the indicator-increase to the entire machine. Such approach increases reliability of the CMS by providing the operator with the most useful information of the system events. The idea of the procedure is presented on a simulated data similar to those from a wind turbine. (paper)

  6. The influence of night-flight noise on sleep and catecholamine secretion. Der Einfluss von Nachtfluglaerm auf den Schlaf und die Katecholaminausscheidung

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Maschke, C; Breinl, S [Technische Univ. Berlin (Germany). Inst. fuer Technische Akustik; Grimm, R; Ising, H [BGA, Berlin (Germany). Inst. fuer Wasser-, Boden- und Lufthygiene

    1992-03-01

    The influence of noise from night flying on electro-bioligical reactions and on the secretion of catecholamines (adrenaline and noradrenaline) was studied in eight healthy adults whose place of residence exposes them to day-time aircraft noise. The inter-relationships were then analysed, with daytime noise exposure, personality traits and general day-to-day condition reflected in control variables. The subjects were each observed during five nights without noise exposure (Leq=dB(A)) and five nights with noise exposure (Leq=36 to 56 dB(A)), when the following factors were varied: frequency of nocturnal flights; and sound level. All these flights were transmitted via a sound system between the third and sixth hour of the night. In the case of adrenaline, the original data already showed a significant increase with noise exposure. Taking various day-time exposures into account, significant mean value differences between noisy and peaceful nights were assessed in 8-hour collected urine for both catecholamines. Furthermore, catecholamine concentration increases with sound level. (orig.).

  7. Pavement noise measurements in Poland

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zofka, Ewa; Zofka, Adam; Mechowski, Tomasz

    2017-09-01

    The objective of this study is to investigate the feasibility of the On-Board Sound Intensity (OBSI) system to measure tire-pavement noise in Poland. In general, sources of noise emitted by the modern vehicles are the propulsion noise, aerodynamic resistance and noise generated at the tire-pavement interface. In order to capture tire-pavement noise, the OBSI system uses a noise intensity probe installed in the close proximity of that interface. In this study, OBSI measurements were performed at different types of pavement surfaces such as stone mastic asphalt (SMA), regular asphalt concrete (HMA) as well as Portland cement concrete (PCC). The influence of several necessary OBSI measurement conditions were recognized as: testing speed, air temperature, tire pressure and tire type. The results of this study demonstrate that the OBSI system is a viable and robust tool that can be used for the quality evaluation of newly built asphalt pavements in Poland. It can be also applied to generate reliable input parameters for the noise propagation models that are used to assess the environmental impact of new and existing highway corridors.

  8. Cavitation noise from butterfly valves

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rahmeyer, W.J.

    1982-01-01

    Cavitation in valves can produce levels of intense noise. It is possible to mathematically express a limit for a design level of cavitation noise in terms of the cavitation parameter sigma. Using the cavitation parameter or limit, it is then possible to calculate the flow conditions at which a design level of cavitation noise will occur. However, the intensity of cavitation increases with the upstream pressure and valve size at a constant sigma. Therefore, it is necessary to derive equations to correct or scale the cavitation limit for the effects of different upstream pressures and valve sizes. The following paper discusses and presents experimental data for the caviation noise limit as well as the cavitation limits of incipient, critical, incipient damage, and choking cavitation for butterfly valves. The main emphasis is on the design limit of caviation noise, and a noise level of 85 decibels was selected as the noise limit. Tables of data and scaling exponents are included for applying the design limits for the effects of upstream pressure and valve size. (orig.)

  9. Differences in displayed pump flow compared to measured flow under varying conditions during simulated cardiopulmonary bypass.

    LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

    Hargrove, M

    2008-07-01

    Errors in blood flow delivery due to shunting have been reported to reduce flow by, potentially, up to 40-83% during cardiopulmonary bypass. The standard roller-pump measures revolutions per minute and a calibration factor for different tubing sizes calculates and displays flow accordingly. We compared displayed roller-pump flow with ultrasonically measured flow to ascertain if measured flow correlated with the heart-lung pump flow reading. Comparison of flows was measured under varying conditions of pump run duration, temperature, viscosity, varying arterial\\/venous loops, occlusiveness, outlet pressure, use of silicone or polyvinyl chloride (PVC) in the roller race, different tubing diameters, and use of a venous vacuum-drainage device.

  10. Creep rupture properties under varying load/temperature conditions on a nickel-base heat-resistant alloy strengthened by boron addition

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tsuji, Hirokazu; Nakajima, Hajime; Tanabe, Tatsuhiko.

    1993-09-01

    A series of constant load and temperature creep rupture tests and varying load and temperature creep rupture tests was carried out on Hastelloy XR whose boron content level is 60 mass ppm at 900 and 1000degC in order to examine the behavior of the alloy under varying load and temperature conditions. The life fraction rule completely fails in the prediction of the creep rupture life under varying load and temperature conditions though the rule shows good applicability for Hastelloy XR whose boron content level is below 10 mass ppm. The modified life fraction rule has been proposed based on the dependence of the creep rupture strength on the born content level of the alloy. The modified rule successfully predicts the creep rupture life under the test conditions from 1000degC to 900degC. The trend observed in the tests from 900degC to 1000degC can be qualitatively explained by the mechanism that the oxide film which is formed during the prior exposure to 900degC plays the role of the protective barrier against the boron dissipation into the environment. (author)

  11. Noise effects on reproduction— animal experiments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Takigawa, H.; Sakamoto, H.; Murata, M.; Matsumura, Y.

    1988-12-01

    Noise effects on fetal development were observed in animals. While the copulatory function was not affected, birth rate decreased when the animals were exposed to noise. An increased number of stunted fetuses was observed when the animals were intermittently exposed. However, malformations in the fetuses increased with exposure to both intermittent and continuous noise. Two phases of hormonal change were observed in connection with noise exposure. One is the initial response phase, characterized by the increment of 11-OHCS in the adrenal gland. The other is the end phenomena phase, characterized by a disorder in central control. It is discussed that the disturbance of fetal development by exposure to noise is related to these changes in the hormonal condition.

  12. Can intrinsic noise induce various resonant peaks?

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Torres, J J; Marro, J; Mejias, J F, E-mail: jtorres@ugr.es [Institute Carlos I for Theoretical and Computational Physics and Departamento de Electromagnetismo y Fisica de la Materia, University of Granada, Granada (Spain)

    2011-05-15

    We theoretically describe how weak signals may be efficiently transmitted throughout more than one frequency range in noisy excitable media by a sort of stochastic multiresonance. This helps us to reinterpret recent experiments in neuroscience and to suggest that many other systems in nature might be able to exhibit several resonances. In fact, the observed behavior happens in our model as a result of competition between (i) changes in the transmitted signals as if the units were varying their activation threshold, and (ii) adaptive noise realized in the model as rapid activity-dependent fluctuations of the connection intensities. These two conditions are indeed known to characterize heterogeneously networked systems of excitable units, e.g. sets of neurons and synapses in the brain. Our results may find application also in the design of detector devices.

  13. Can intrinsic noise induce various resonant peaks?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Torres, J J; Marro, J; Mejias, J F

    2011-01-01

    We theoretically describe how weak signals may be efficiently transmitted throughout more than one frequency range in noisy excitable media by a sort of stochastic multiresonance. This helps us to reinterpret recent experiments in neuroscience and to suggest that many other systems in nature might be able to exhibit several resonances. In fact, the observed behavior happens in our model as a result of competition between (i) changes in the transmitted signals as if the units were varying their activation threshold, and (ii) adaptive noise realized in the model as rapid activity-dependent fluctuations of the connection intensities. These two conditions are indeed known to characterize heterogeneously networked systems of excitable units, e.g. sets of neurons and synapses in the brain. Our results may find application also in the design of detector devices.

  14. Traffic Noise Assessment at Residential Areas in Skudai, Johor

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sulaiman, F. S.; Darus, N.; Mashros, N.; Haron, Z.; Yahya, K.

    2018-03-01

    Vehicles passing by on roadways in residential areas may produce unpleasant traffic noise that affects the residents. This paper presents the traffic noise assessment of three selected residential areas located in Skudai, Johor. The objectives of this study are to evaluate traffic characteristics at selected residential areas, determine related noise indices, and assess impact of traffic noise. Traffic characteristics such as daily traffic volume and vehicle speed were evaluated using automatic traffic counter (ATC). Meanwhile, noise indices like equivalent continuous sound pressure level (LAeq), noise level exceeded 10% (L10) and 90% (L90) of measurement time were determined using sound level meter (SLM). Besides that, traffic noise index (TNI) and noise pollution level (LNP) were calculated based on the measured noise indices. The results showed an increase in noise level of 60 to 70 dBA maximum due to increase in traffic volume. There was also a significant change in noise level of more than 70 dBA even though average vehicle speed did not vary significantly. Nevertheless, LAeq, TNI, and LNP values for all sites during daytime were lower than the maximum recommended levels. Thus, residents in the three studied areas were not affected in terms of quality of life and health.

  15. Effect of drain current on appearance probability and amplitude of random telegraph noise in low-noise CMOS image sensors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ichino, Shinya; Mawaki, Takezo; Teramoto, Akinobu; Kuroda, Rihito; Park, Hyeonwoo; Wakashima, Shunichi; Goto, Tetsuya; Suwa, Tomoyuki; Sugawa, Shigetoshi

    2018-04-01

    Random telegraph noise (RTN), which occurs in in-pixel source follower (SF) transistors, has become one of the most critical problems in high-sensitivity CMOS image sensors (CIS) because it is a limiting factor of dark random noise. In this paper, the behaviors of RTN toward changes in SF drain current conditions were analyzed using a low-noise array test circuit measurement system with a floor noise of 35 µV rms. In addition to statistical analysis by measuring a large number of transistors (18048 transistors), we also analyzed the behaviors of RTN parameters such as amplitude and time constants in the individual transistors. It is demonstrated that the appearance probability of RTN becomes small under a small drain current condition, although large-amplitude RTN tends to appear in a very small number of cells.

  16. Measurement and control of occupational noise

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Elammari, Muftah Faraj

    2007-01-01

    High level of environmental and occupational noise remain a problem all over the world. As problems and complaints increased dramatically by the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries focusing on the problem was intensified. In this thesis occupational noise levels at different places were measured and compared with the international permissible levels using the integrating sound level meter (Quest 2800). The calibration of the instrument was carried out before and after each measurement using the acoustic calibrator (Quest CA-12B calibrator). The method which was followed was measuring the sound pressure level of the different noise sources over a broad frequency band covering the audible frequency range using the (octave band filter, model OB-100), disregrading variation with time. Since the human ear is most sensitive in the 2-5 khz range of frequencies and least sensitive at extremely high and low frequencies the instrument was adjusted on the A weighting net work which varies with frequencies in a very similar way as that of the human ear. From the obtained results, some noise levels which were recorded were within the permissible levels i.e. below 90 dba and some noise levels were higher than the permissible limit as in janzour textile factory (95 dba), The welding workshop (120 dba), Benghazi Macaroni factory (100 dba), and near the air blowers at Zletin cement factory, Benghazi cement factory (97-10-dba) in these cases suggestions were made to minimize the problem. Concerning the noise control, four methods of noise control were tested, these methods were: reducing noise by sound absorbing material at Sirt local broadcasting radio, reducing noise by keeping a distance from the noise source, at the Boilers hall at REWDC, reducing noise by enclosures, at the compressors room at Zletin cement factory, and finally reducing noise by performing regular maintenance at Garabolli photo development centre. The percentage of noise reduction was 21%, 12

  17. Study of noise sources of image for optimization of radiation doses in skull computerized tomography; Estudo das fontes de ruido da imagem para fins de otimizacao das doses na tomografia computadorizada de cranio

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Medeiros, R.B.; Garos, K.A.C. [UNIFESP - Universidade Federal de Sao Paulo, SP (Brazil)]. E-mail: rbitelli@cfrh.epm.br

    2001-07-01

    Our goal was to evaluate the exposure factors that can change the image noise of head CT in different slices thicknesses. We have evaluated the images noise at several mAs varying from 50 to 800 mAs for 100, 120 and 140 kVp as tension values. The images uniformity were determined for all technical exposure conditions. We did not observed any important noise reduction for values up 200 mAs which can justify the increase of radiation doses through the increase of mAs. (author)

  18. Noise from wind turbines

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Fegeant, Olivier [Royal Inst. of Tech., Stockholm (Sweden). Dept. of Building Sciences

    2002-02-01

    A rapid growth of installed wind power capacity is expected in the next few years. However, the siting of wind turbines on a large scale raises concerns about their environmental impact, notably with respect to noise. To this end, variable speed wind turbines offer a promising solution for applications in densely populated areas like the European countries, as this design would enable an efficient utilisation of the masking effect due to ambient noise. In rural and recreational areas where wind turbines are sited, the ambient noise originates from the action of wind on the vegetation and about the listener's ear (pseudo-noise). It shows a wind speed dependence similar to that of the noise from a variable speed wind turbine and can therefore mask the latter for a wide range of conditions. However, a problem inherent to the design of these machines is their proclivity to pure tone generation, because of the enhanced difficulty of avoiding structural resonances in the mechanical parts. Pure tones are deemed highly annoying and are severely regulated by most noise policies. In relation to this problem, the vibration transmission of structure-borne sound to the tower of the turbine is investigated, in particular when the tower is stiffened at its upper end. Furthermore, since noise annoyance due to wind turbine is mostly a masking issue, the wind-related sources of ambient noise are studied and their masking potentials assessed. With this aim, prediction models for wind-induced vegetation noise and pseudo-noise have been developed. Finally, closely related to the effect of masking, is the difficulty, regularly encountered by local authorities and wind farm developers, to measure noise immission from wind turbines. A new measurement technique has thus been developed in the course of this work. Through improving the signal-to-noise ratio between wind turbine noise and ambient noise, the new technique yields more accurate measurement results.

  19. 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...

  20. Speech production in amplitude-modulated noise

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Macdonald, Ewen N; Raufer, Stefan

    2013-01-01

    The Lombard effect refers to the phenomenon where talkers automatically increase their level of speech in a noisy environment. While many studies have characterized how the Lombard effect influences different measures of speech production (e.g., F0, spectral tilt, etc.), few have investigated...... the consequences of temporally fluctuating noise. In the present study, 20 talkers produced speech in a variety of noise conditions, including both steady-state and amplitude-modulated white noise. While listening to noise over headphones, talkers produced randomly generated five word sentences. Similar...... of noisy environments and will alter their speech accordingly....

  1. Noise suppression by noise

    OpenAIRE

    Vilar, J. M. G. (José M. G.), 1972-; Rubí Capaceti, José Miguel

    2001-01-01

    We have analyzed the interplay between an externally added noise and the intrinsic noise of systems that relax fast towards a stationary state, and found that increasing the intensity of the external noise can reduce the total noise of the system. We have established a general criterion for the appearance of this phenomenon and discussed two examples in detail.

  2. Development of fault diagnostic technique using reactor noise analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

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

    1999-04-01

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

  3. Development of fault diagnostic technique using reactor noise analysis

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

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

    1999-04-01

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

  4. Core Noise Diagnostics of Turbofan Engine Noise Using Correlation and Coherence Functions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miles, Jeffrey H.

    2009-01-01

    Cross-correlation and coherence functions are used to look for periodic acoustic components in turbofan engine combustor time histories, to investigate direct and indirect combustion noise source separation based on signal propagation time delays, and to provide information on combustor acoustics. Using the cross-correlation function, time delays were identified in all cases, clearly indicating the combustor is the source of the noise. In addition, unfiltered and low-pass filtered at 400 Hz signals had a cross-correlation time delay near 90 ms, while the low-pass filtered at less than 400 Hz signals had a cross-correlation time delay longer than 90 ms. Low-pass filtering at frequencies less than 400 Hz partially removes the direct combustion noise signals. The remainder includes the indirect combustion noise signal, which travels more slowly because of the dependence on the entropy convection velocity in the combustor. Source separation of direct and indirect combustion noise is demonstrated by proper use of low-pass filters with the cross-correlation function for a range of operating conditions. The results may lead to a better idea about the acoustics in the combustor and may help develop and validate improved reduced-order physics-based methods for predicting direct and indirect combustion noise.

  5. Effects of noise on the performance of a memory decision response task

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lawton, B. W.

    1972-01-01

    An investigation has been made to determine the effects of noise on human performance. Fourteen subjects performed a memory-decision-response task in relative quiet and while listening to tape recorded noises. Analysis of the data obtained indicates that performance was degraded in the presence of noise. Significant increases in problem solution times were found for impulsive noise conditions as compared with times found for the no-noise condition. Performance accuracy was also degraded. Significantly more error responses occurred at higher noise levels; a direct or positive relation was found between error responses and noise level experienced by the subjects.

  6. Absolute negative mobility induced by white Poissonian noise

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Spiechowicz, J; Łuczka, J; Hänggi, P

    2013-01-01

    We study the transport properties of inertial Brownian particles which move in a symmetric periodic potential and are subjected to both a symmetric, unbiased time-periodic external force and a biased Poissonian white shot noise (of non-zero average F) which is composed of a random sequence of δ-shaped pulses with random amplitudes. Upon varying the parameters of the white shot noise, one can conveniently manipulate the transport direction and the overall nonlinear response behavior. We find that within tailored parameter regimes the response is opposite to the applied average bias F of such white shot noise. This particular transport characteristic thus mimics that of a nonlinear absolute negative mobility (ANM) regime. Moreover, such white shot noise driven ANM is robust with respect to the statistics of the shot noise spikes. Our findings can be checked and corroborated experimentally by the use of a setup that consists of a single resistively and capacitively shunted Josephson junction device. (paper)

  7. Audience noise in concert halls during musical performances

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jeong, Cheol-Ho; Marie, Pierre; Brunskog, Jonas

    2012-01-01

    functions of the sound pressure levels were obtained in octave bands, which were fitted with three Gaussian distribution curves. The Gaussian distribution curve with the lowest mean value corresponds to a mixture of the technical background noise and audience generated noise, which is named the mixed...... background noise. Finally, the audience noise distribution is extracted by energy subtraction of the technical background noise levels measured in an empty condition from the mixed background noise levels. As a single index, L-90 of the audience noise distribution is named the audience noise level. Empirical...... prediction models were made using the four orchestra concert halls, revealing that the audience noise level is significantly correlated with the technical background noise level. It is therefore concluded that a relaxation of the current background noise recommendations for concert halls is not recommended...

  8. Audience noise in concert halls during musical performances

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Marie, Pierre; Jeong, Cheol-Ho; Brunskog, Jonas

    2012-01-01

    functions of the sound pressure levels were obtained in octave bands, which were fitted with three Gaussian distribution curves. The Gaussian distribution curve with the lowest mean value corresponds to a mixture of the technical background noise and audience generated noise, which is named the mixed...... background noise. Finally, the audience noise distribution is extracted by energy subtraction of the technical background noise levels measured in an empty condition from the mixed background noise levels. As a single index, L90 of the audience noise distribution is named the audience noise level. Empirical...... prediction models were made using the four orchestra concert halls, revealing that the audience noise level is significantly correlated with the technical background noise level. It is therefore concluded that a relaxation of the current background noise recommendations for concert halls is not recommended....

  9. Comparison of creep behavior under varying load/temperature conditions between Hastelloy XR alloys with different boron content levels

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tsuji, Hirokazu; Nakajima, Hajime; Shindo, Masami; Tanabe, Tatsuhiko; Nakasone, Yuji.

    1996-01-01

    In the design of the high-temperature components, it is often required to predict the creep rupture life under the conditions in which the stress and/or temperature may vary by using the data obtained with the constant load and temperature creep rupture tests. Some conventional creep damage rules have been proposed to meet the above-mentioned requirement. Currently only limited data are available on the behavior of Hastelloy XR, which is a developed alloy as the structural material for high-temperature components of the High-Temperature Engineering Test Reactor (HTTR), under varying stress and/or temperature creep conditions. Hence a series of constant load and temperature creep rupture tests as well as varying load and temperature creep rupture tests was carried out on two kinds of Hastelloy XR alloys whose boron content levels are different, i.e., below 10 and 60 mass ppm. The life fraction rule completely fails in the prediction of the creep rupture life of Hastelloy XR with 60 mass ppm boron under varying load and temperature conditions though the rule shows good applicability for Hastelloy XR with below 10 mass ppm boron. The change of boron content level of the material during the tests is the most probable source of impairing the applicability of the life fraction rule to Hastelloy XR whose boron content level is 60 mass ppm. The modified life fraction rule has been proposed based on the dependence of the creep rupture strength on the boron content level of the alloy. The modified rule successfully predicts the creep rupture life under the two stage creep test conditions from 1000 to 900degC. The trend observed in the two stage creep tests from 900 to 1000degC can be qualitatively explained by the mechanism that the oxide film which is formed during the prior exposure to 900degC plays the role of the protective barrier against the boron dissipation into the environment. (J.P.N.)

  10. Preconditioner-free Wiener filtering with a dense noise matrix

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huffenberger, Kevin M.

    2018-05-01

    This work extends the Elsner & Wandelt (2013) iterative method for efficient, preconditioner-free Wiener filtering to cases in which the noise covariance matrix is dense, but can be decomposed into a sum whose parts are sparse in convenient bases. The new method, which uses multiple messenger fields, reproduces Wiener-filter solutions for test problems, and we apply it to a case beyond the reach of the Elsner & Wandelt (2013) method. We compute the Wiener-filter solution for a simulated Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) map that contains spatially varying, uncorrelated noise, isotropic 1/f noise, and large-scale horizontal stripes (like those caused by atmospheric noise). We discuss simple extensions that can filter contaminated modes or inverse-noise-filter the data. These techniques help to address complications in the noise properties of maps from current and future generations of ground-based Microwave Background experiments, like Advanced ACTPol, Simons Observatory, and CMB-S4.

  11. General mechanism for the 1 /f noise

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yadav, Avinash Chand; Ramaswamy, Ramakrishna; Dhar, Deepak

    2017-08-01

    We consider the response of a memoryless nonlinear device that acts instantaneously, converting an input signal ξ (t ) into an output η (t ) at the same time t . For input Gaussian noise with power-spectrum 1 /fα , the nonlinearity can modify the spectral index of the output to give a spectrum that varies as 1 /fα ' with α'≠α . We show that the value of α' depends on the nonlinear transformation and can be tuned continuously. This provides a general mechanism for the ubiquitous 1 /f noise found in nature.

  12. 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.

  13. Variations in voice level and fundamental frequency with changing background noise level and talker-to-listener distance while wearing hearing protectors: A pilot study

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bouserhal, Rachel E.; MacDonald, Ewen; Falk, Tiago H.

    2016-01-01

    in voice level and fundamental frequency in noise and with varying talker-to-listener distance. Study sample: Twelve participants with a mean age of 28 participated in this study. Results: Compared to existing data, results show a trend similar to the open ear condition with the exception of the occluded...

  14. Study of noise in offices with window-type room air-conditioners

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shaikh, G.H.; Hashmi, R.; Shareef, A.

    2005-01-01

    A Study of Noise has been carried out in 17 private offices, with window-type room air-conditioners, to assess noise levels in these offices. A-Weighted equivalent sound-pressure levels (dB(A) LAeq) and equivalent octave-band sound-pressure levels (dB Leq) were measured in each office, and Preferred Speech Interference Levels (PSIL) evaluated. The results show that the interior noise-levels in these offices vary from 59.6 to 72.2 dB(A) LAeq. which are very high and much above the interior noise limits, recommended for offices by some individual workers. Some ways and means to limit its emission of high level of noise from the air conditioners are also discussed. (author)

  15. A comparison of high-frequency noise levels on Cascadia Initiative ocean-bottom seismometers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hilmo, R.; Wilcock, W. S. D.; Roland, E. C.; Bodin, P.; Connolly, J.

    2017-12-01

    The Cascadia Initiative (CI) included a four-year deployment of 70 ocean bottom seismometers (OBSs) on the Cascadia subduction zone and the Juan de Fuca plate for the purposes of characterizing seismicity and imaging the Earth's interior. The Cascadia subduction zone megathrust exhibits very low rates of seismicity relative to most other subduction zones, and there is great motivation to understand deformation on the megathrust because of its potential to produce a catastrophic M9 earthquake. An understanding of earthquake detectability of the CI network, based on knowledge of noise levels, could contribute to the interpretation of earthquake catalogs derived from the experiment and aid in the design of future networks. This project is aimed at estimating these thresholds of local earthquake detectability and how they change across the array both geographically and temporally. We characterize background noise levels recorded from 0.1 to 20 Hz with an emphasis on the frequency band used to detect local seismicity ( 3-15 Hz) to understand how noise levels depend on instrument design and environmental parameters including seafloor depth, season and oceanographic conditions. Our initial analysis of 3 weeks of vertical channel data in September, January, and May 2012-2013 shows that noise increase significantly moving from the continental shelf to deeper water. Noise levels at a given depth vary with instrument type but further analysis is required to determine whether this reflects variations in instrumental noise and ground coupling noise or errors in the scaling of the instrument response. There is also a strong seasonality in recorded noise levels at some frequencies, with winter noise levels exceeding spring and fall noise levels by up to 10 decibels in both the microseism band and in the fin whale calling band (15-20 Hz). In contrast, the seasonal noise level in the local seismicity band for a given instrument type and location shows smaller noise variation

  16. The Effect of Noise on Human Performance: A Clinical Trial

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    P Nassiri

    2013-04-01

    Full Text Available Background: Noise is defined as unwanted or meaningless sound that apart from auditory adverse health effects may distract attention from cues that are important for task performance. Human performance is influenced by many job-related factors and workplace conditions including noise level. Objective: To study the effect of noise on human performance. Methods: The participants included 40 healthy male university students. The experimental design consisted of 3 (sound pressure level x 3 (noise schedule x 2 (noise type factors. To investigate occupational skill performance, some specific test batteries were used: 1 steadiness test, 2 Minnesota manual dexterity test, 3 hand tool dexterity test, and 4 two-arm coordination test. Time duration of test completion was measured as speed response; to determine error response, the time taken during committing an error by participants while performing a task was measured. Results: Speed response obtained from the 4 tests in combined conditions of noise schedule, harmonic index, and sound pressure level was highest for (intermittent, treble, 95 dB, (continuous, treble, 95 dB, (continuous, treble, 85 dB and (intermittent, treble, 95 dB, respectively. Conclusion: Treble noise was found significant in reducing human performance; also, intermittent noise, especially at high pressure levels, was responsible for worsening environmental conditions during performing a task.

  17. Nonlinear systems time-varying parameter estimation: Application to induction motors

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kenne, Godpromesse [Laboratoire d' Automatique et d' Informatique Appliquee (LAIA), Departement de Genie Electrique, IUT FOTSO Victor, Universite de Dschang, B.P. 134 Bandjoun (Cameroon); Ahmed-Ali, Tarek [Ecole Nationale Superieure des Ingenieurs des Etudes et Techniques d' Armement (ENSIETA), 2 Rue Francois Verny, 29806 Brest Cedex 9 (France); Lamnabhi-Lagarrigue, F. [Laboratoire des Signaux et Systemes (L2S), C.N.R.S-SUPELEC, Universite Paris XI, 3 Rue Joliot Curie, 91192 Gif-sur-Yvette (France); Arzande, Amir [Departement Energie, Ecole Superieure d' Electricite-SUPELEC, 3 Rue Joliot Curie, 91192 Gif-sur-Yvette (France)

    2008-11-15

    In this paper, an algorithm for time-varying parameter estimation for a large class of nonlinear systems is presented. The proof of the convergence of the estimates to their true values is achieved using Lyapunov theories and does not require that the classical persistent excitation condition be satisfied by the input signal. Since the induction motor (IM) is widely used in several industrial sectors, the algorithm developed is potentially useful for adjusting the controller parameters of variable speed drives. The method proposed is simple and easily implementable in real-time. The application of this approach to on-line estimation of the rotor resistance of IM shows a rapidly converging estimate in spite of measurement noise, discretization effects, parameter uncertainties (e.g. inaccuracies on motor inductance values) and modeling inaccuracies. The robustness analysis for this IM application also revealed that the proposed scheme is insensitive to the stator resistance variations within a wide range. The merits of the proposed algorithm in the case of on-line time-varying rotor resistance estimation are demonstrated via experimental results in various operating conditions of the induction motor. The experimental results obtained demonstrate that the application of the proposed algorithm to update on-line the parameters of an adaptive controller (e.g. IM and synchronous machines adaptive control) can improve the efficiency of the industrial process. The other interesting features of the proposed method include fault detection/estimation and adaptive control of IM and synchronous machines. (author)

  18. Basic regulatory principles of Escherichia coli's electron transport chain for varying oxygen conditions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Henkel, Sebastian G; Ter Beek, Alexander; Steinsiek, Sonja; Stagge, Stefan; Bettenbrock, Katja; de Mattos, M Joost Teixeira; Sauter, Thomas; Sawodny, Oliver; Ederer, Michael

    2014-01-01

    For adaptation between anaerobic, micro-aerobic and aerobic conditions Escherichia coli's metabolism and in particular its electron transport chain (ETC) is highly regulated. Although it is known that the global transcriptional regulators FNR and ArcA are involved in oxygen response it is unclear how they interplay in the regulation of ETC enzymes under micro-aerobic chemostat conditions. Also, there are diverse results which and how quinones (oxidised/reduced, ubiquinone/other quinones) are controlling the ArcBA two-component system. In the following a mathematical model of the E. coli ETC linked to basic modules for substrate uptake, fermentation product excretion and biomass formation is introduced. The kinetic modelling focusses on regulatory principles of the ETC for varying oxygen conditions in glucose-limited continuous cultures. The model is based on the balance of electron donation (glucose) and acceptance (oxygen or other acceptors). Also, it is able to account for different chemostat conditions due to changed substrate concentrations and dilution rates. The parameter identification process is divided into an estimation and a validation step based on previously published and new experimental data. The model shows that experimentally observed, qualitatively different behaviour of the ubiquinone redox state and the ArcA activity profile in the micro-aerobic range for different experimental conditions can emerge from a single network structure. The network structure features a strong feed-forward effect from the FNR regulatory system to the ArcBA regulatory system via a common control of the dehydrogenases of the ETC. The model supports the hypothesis that ubiquinone but not ubiquinol plays a key role in determining the activity of ArcBA in a glucose-limited chemostat at micro-aerobic conditions.

  19. 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

  20. MEG source localization using invariance of noise space.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Junpeng Zhang

    Full Text Available We propose INvariance of Noise (INN space as a novel method for source localization of magnetoencephalography (MEG data. The method is based on the fact that modulations of source strengths across time change the energy in signal subspace but leave the noise subspace invariant. We compare INN with classical MUSIC, RAP-MUSIC, and beamformer approaches using simulated data while varying signal-to-noise ratios as well as distance and temporal correlation between two sources. We also demonstrate the utility of INN with actual auditory evoked MEG responses in eight subjects. In all cases, INN performed well, especially when the sources were closely spaced, highly correlated, or one source was considerably stronger than the other.

  1. Impact of noise on molecular network inference.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Radhakrishnan Nagarajan

    Full Text Available Molecular entities work in concert as a system and mediate phenotypic outcomes and disease states. There has been recent interest in modelling the associations between molecular entities from their observed expression profiles as networks using a battery of algorithms. These networks have proven to be useful abstractions of the underlying pathways and signalling mechanisms. Noise is ubiquitous in molecular data and can have a pronounced effect on the inferred network. Noise can be an outcome of several factors including: inherent stochastic mechanisms at the molecular level, variation in the abundance of molecules, heterogeneity, sensitivity of the biological assay or measurement artefacts prevalent especially in high-throughput settings. The present study investigates the impact of discrepancies in noise variance on pair-wise dependencies, conditional dependencies and constraint-based Bayesian network structure learning algorithms that incorporate conditional independence tests as a part of the learning process. Popular network motifs and fundamental connections, namely: (a common-effect, (b three-chain, and (c coherent type-I feed-forward loop (FFL are investigated. The choice of these elementary networks can be attributed to their prevalence across more complex networks. Analytical expressions elucidating the impact of discrepancies in noise variance on pairwise dependencies and conditional dependencies for special cases of these motifs are presented. Subsequently, the impact of noise on two popular constraint-based Bayesian network structure learning algorithms such as Grow-Shrink (GS and Incremental Association Markov Blanket (IAMB that implicitly incorporate tests for conditional independence is investigated. Finally, the impact of noise on networks inferred from publicly available single cell molecular expression profiles is investigated. While discrepancies in noise variance are overlooked in routine molecular network inference, the

  2. Noise and vibration analysis system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Johnsen, J.R.; Williams, R.L.

    1985-01-01

    The analysis of noise and vibration data from an operating nuclear plant can provide valuable information that can identify and characterize abnormal conditions. Existing plant monitoring equipment, such as loose parts monitoring systems (LPMS) and neutron flux detectors, may be capable of gathering noise data, but may lack the analytical capability to extract useful meanings hidden in the noise. By analyzing neutron noise signals, the structural motion and integrity of core components can be assessed. Computer analysis makes trending of frequency spectra within a fuel cycle and from one cycle to another a practical means of core internals monitoring. The Babcock and Wilcox Noise and Vibration Analysis System (NVAS) is a powerful, compact system that can automatically perform complex data analysis. The system can acquire, process, and store data, then produce report-quality plots of the important parameter. Software to perform neutron noise analysis and loose parts analysis operates on the same hardware package. Since the system is compact, inexpensive, and easy to operate, it allows utilities to perform more frequency analyses without incurring high costs and provides immediate results

  3. Local intensity area descriptor for facial recognition in ideal and noise conditions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tran, Chi-Kien; Tseng, Chin-Dar; Chao, Pei-Ju; Ting, Hui-Min; Chang, Liyun; Huang, Yu-Jie; Lee, Tsair-Fwu

    2017-03-01

    We propose a local texture descriptor, local intensity area descriptor (LIAD), which is applied for human facial recognition in ideal and noisy conditions. Each facial image is divided into small regions from which LIAD histograms are extracted and concatenated into a single feature vector to represent the facial image. The recognition is performed using a nearest neighbor classifier with histogram intersection and chi-square statistics as dissimilarity measures. Experiments were conducted with LIAD using the ORL database of faces (Olivetti Research Laboratory, Cambridge), the Face94 face database, the Georgia Tech face database, and the FERET database. The results demonstrated the improvement in accuracy of our proposed descriptor compared to conventional descriptors [local binary pattern (LBP), uniform LBP, local ternary pattern, histogram of oriented gradients, and local directional pattern]. Moreover, the proposed descriptor was less sensitive to noise and had low histogram dimensionality. Thus, it is expected to be a powerful texture descriptor that can be used for various computer vision problems.

  4. Impact of environmental noise on growth and neuropsychological development of newborn rats.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zheng, Yanyan; Meng, Meng; Zhao, Congmin; Liao, Wei; Zhang, Yuping; Wang, Liyan; Wen, Enyi

    2014-05-01

    We aimed to investigate the effects of environmental noise exposure on the growth and neuropsychological development in neonatal rats. Twenty-four postnatal 7-day-old Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly assigned into control, high-noise and reduced noise groups. The rats in the high-noise group were exposed to 90 dB white noise, and those in the control group were grown under standard condition, while those in the reduced noise group were exposed to standard condition with sound-absorbing cotton. Ten, 15, and 20 days post noise exposure, both the body weight and length of the rats in high-noise group were lower than those in the control and reduced noise groups, respectively. The secretion of growth hormone was significantly decreased in the rats exposed to high noise environment, compared to those exposed to standard condition and reduced noise. More interestingly, the swimming distance was apparently increased and the swimming speed was significantly decreased in high-noise group compared with those in control and reduced noise groups. Importantly, the mRNA and protein levels of SYP in the rats hippocampus were significantly decreased in high-noise group compare with those in control and reduced noise groups. Similarly, the positive expression of SYP in the CA1 region of hippocampus was also significantly decreased in the high noise group rats. In conclusion, our results demonstrated that high noise exposure could decrease the production of growth hormone and SYP in neonatal rats, which may retard the growth of weight and length and the capability of learning and memory. Copyright © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  5. A Novel Recurrent Neural Network for Manipulator Control With Improved Noise Tolerance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Shuai; Wang, Huanqing; Rafique, Muhammad Usman

    2017-04-12

    In this paper, we propose a novel recurrent neural network to resolve the redundancy of manipulators for efficient kinematic control in the presence of noises in a polynomial type. Leveraging the high-order derivative properties of polynomial noises, a deliberately devised neural network is proposed to eliminate the impact of noises and recover the accurate tracking of desired trajectories in workspace. Rigorous analysis shows that the proposed neural law stabilizes the system dynamics and the position tracking error converges to zero in the presence of noises. Extensive simulations verify the theoretical results. Numerical comparisons show that existing dual neural solutions lose stability when exposed to large constant noises or time-varying noises. In contrast, the proposed approach works well and has a low tracking error comparable to noise-free situations.

  6. Analysis of grain filling process to the varied meteorological conditions in winter wheat [Triticum aestivum] cultivars

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Inoue, K.; Nakazono, K.; Wakiyama, Y.

    2005-01-01

    This paper describes effects of varied meteorological conditions on the grain filling periods, stabilities of yield and quality of winter wheat cultivars with different maturity characteristics (cv. Ayahikari, Norin61, Bandowase, and Tsurupikari). In the field experiments, the meteorological treatments were made during the first heading time on 17 April 2001 and the middle heading time on 24 April 2000. Air temperature, global solar radiation and soil moisture were controlled using a rain shelter, cheesecloth and irrigation system. The growth speed and growth period of wheat grains varied among four winter wheat cultivars, depending on meteorological conditions. The growth speed increased within 1 8.4 deg C of mean air temperature over the 30 days after the anthesis. On the other hand, it was found that the growth speed of wheat grains and the maximum number of wheat grains (Ymax) decreased greatly with the 44.4% interception of global solar radiation. Logistic functions were fitted to the relationship between the relative thousand-kernel-weight (Y/Ymax) and the total integrated temperature (sigmaTa) after heading for all treatment conditions. The maximum weight of grains (Ymax) achieved at the harvest time varied somewhat clearly among four winter wheat cultivars and meteorological conditions. Multiple regression analysis showed that the grain yield (Ymax) of four wheat cultivars correlated positively with daily mean solar radiation. It was also found that the cultivar Ayahikari had a highly significant negative correlation between its grain weight and soil moisture. Namely, the grain weight of high soil moisture plot with pF=1.5 was lower by about 9% than that of a control plot with pF=3.5. On the other hand, the grain yield of cultivar Norin61 responded inversely to a wet environment, indicating that its grain weight was higher for high soil moisture and high wet-bulb temperature than for a dry environment. The grain yield of early varieties of Bandowase and

  7. Chaos Noise on Phase of Van Der Pol Oscillator

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xian He Huang

    2010-12-01

    Full Text Available Phase noise is the most important parameter in many oscillators. In this paper, based on nonlinear stochastic differential equation for phase noise analysis approach is proposed. And then discusses and compares the influence of two different sources of noise in the Van Der Pol oscillator adopted this method. One source of noise is a white noise process, which is a genuinely stochastic process; the other source of noise is actually a deterministic system, which exhibits chaotic behavior in some regions. The behavior of the oscillator under different conditions is investigated numerically. It is shown that the phase noise of the oscillator is affected more by noise arising from chaos than by noise arising from the genuine stochastic process at the same noise intensity.

  8. Effect of flow parameters on flare stack generator noise

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dinn, T.S.

    1998-01-01

    The SoundPLAN Computer Noise Model was used to determine the general effect of flare noise in a community adjacent to a petrochemical plant. Tests were conducted to determine the effect of process flow conditions and the pulsating flame on the flare stack generator noise from both a refinery flare and process flare. Flaring under normal plant operations, the flaring of fuel gas and the flaring of hydrogen were the three conditions that were tested. It was shown that the steam flow rate was the determining factor in the flare stack generated noise. Variations in the water seal level in the flare line surge tank increased or decreased the gas flowrate, which resulted in a pulsating flame. The period and amplitude of the pulsating noise from the flare stacks was determined by measuring several parameters. Flare stack noise oscillations were found to be greater for the process flare than for the refinery flare stack. It was suggested that minimizing the amount of steam fed to the flare and improving the burner design would minimize noise. 2 tabs., 6 figs

  9. 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.

  10. Exploring the Relationship Between Working Memory, Compressor Speed, and Background Noise Characteristics

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ohlenforst, Barbara; Souza, Pamela E.; MacDonald, Ewen

    2016-01-01

    grouped by high or low working memory according to their performance on a reading span test. Speech intelligibility was measured for low-context sentences presented in background noise, where the noise varied in the extent of amplitude modulation. Simulated fast- or slowacting compression amplification...... on the number of talkers in the background noise. The presented signal to noise ratios were not a significant factor on the measured intelligibility performance. Conclusion: In agreement with earlier research, high working memory allowed better speech intelligibility when fast compression was applied......Objectives: Previous work has shown that individuals with lower working memory demonstrate reduced intelligibility for speech processed with fast-acting compression amplification. This relationship has been noted in fluctuating noise, but the extent of noise modulation that must be present...

  11. Noise caused by semiconductor lasers in high-speed fiber-optic links

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Olsen, C. M.; Stubkjær, Kristian; Olesen, H.

    1989-01-01

    Theoretical and experimental results are presented for the signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio caused by mode partition noise, intensity noise, and reflection-induced noise in optical data links. Under given conditions an additional noise source with a S /N ratio of 20 dB will cause a power penalty of 1 d...

  12. Robust audio-visual speech recognition under noisy audio-video conditions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stewart, Darryl; Seymour, Rowan; Pass, Adrian; Ming, Ji

    2014-02-01

    This paper presents the maximum weighted stream posterior (MWSP) model as a robust and efficient stream integration method for audio-visual speech recognition in environments, where the audio or video streams may be subjected to unknown and time-varying corruption. A significant advantage of MWSP is that it does not require any specific measurements of the signal in either stream to calculate appropriate stream weights during recognition, and as such it is modality-independent. This also means that MWSP complements and can be used alongside many of the other approaches that have been proposed in the literature for this problem. For evaluation we used the large XM2VTS database for speaker-independent audio-visual speech recognition. The extensive tests include both clean and corrupted utterances with corruption added in either/both the video and audio streams using a variety of types (e.g., MPEG-4 video compression) and levels of noise. The experiments show that this approach gives excellent performance in comparison to another well-known dynamic stream weighting approach and also compared to any fixed-weighted integration approach in both clean conditions or when noise is added to either stream. Furthermore, our experiments show that the MWSP approach dynamically selects suitable integration weights on a frame-by-frame basis according to the level of noise in the streams and also according to the naturally fluctuating relative reliability of the modalities even in clean conditions. The MWSP approach is shown to maintain robust recognition performance in all tested conditions, while requiring no prior knowledge about the type or level of noise.

  13. 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

  14. The Variation of Slat Noise with Mach and Reynolds Numbers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lockard, David P.; Choudhari, Meelan M.

    2011-01-01

    The slat noise from the 30P30N high-lift system has been computed using a computational fluid dynamics code in conjunction with a Ffowcs Williams-Hawkings solver. By varying the Mach number from 0.13 to 0.25, the noise was found to vary roughly with the 5th power of the speed. Slight changes in the behavior with directivity angle could easily account for the different speed dependencies reported in the literature. Varying the Reynolds number from 1.4 to 2.4 million resulted in almost no differences, and primarily served to demonstrate the repeatability of the results. However, changing the underlying hybrid Reynolds-averaged-Navier-Stokes/Large-Eddy-Simulation turbulence model significantly altered the mean flow because of changes in the flap separation. However, the general trends observed in both the acoustics and near-field fluctuations were similar for both models.

  15. 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.

  16. The effects of background white noise on memory performance in inattentive school children

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sikström Sverker

    2010-09-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Noise is typically conceived of as being detrimental for cognitive performance; however, a recent computational model based on the concepts of stochastic resonance and dopamine related internal noise postulates that a moderate amount of auditive noise benefit individuals in hypodopaminergic states. On the basis of this model we predicted that inattentive children would be enhanced by adding background white noise while attentive children's performance would deteriorate. Methods Fifty-one secondary school pupils carried out an episodic verbal free recall test in two noise conditions. In the high noise condition, verb-noun sentences were presented during auditory background noise (white noise, 78 dB, and in the low noise condition sentences were presented without noise. Results Exposure to background noise improved performance for inattentive children and worsened performance for attentive children and eliminated episodic memory differences between attentive and inattentive school children. Conclusions Consistent with the model, our data show that cognitive performance can be moderated by external background white noise stimulation in a non-clinical group of inattentive participants. This finding needs replicating in a larger sample using more noise levels but if replicated has great practical applications by offering a non-invasive way to improve school results in children with attentional problems.

  17. The effects of background white noise on memory performance in inattentive school children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Söderlund, Göran B W; Sikström, Sverker; Loftesnes, Jan M; Sonuga-Barke, Edmund J

    2010-09-29

    Noise is typically conceived of as being detrimental for cognitive performance; however, a recent computational model based on the concepts of stochastic resonance and dopamine related internal noise postulates that a moderate amount of auditive noise benefit individuals in hypodopaminergic states. On the basis of this model we predicted that inattentive children would be enhanced by adding background white noise while attentive children's performance would deteriorate. Fifty-one secondary school pupils carried out an episodic verbal free recall test in two noise conditions. In the high noise condition, verb-noun sentences were presented during auditory background noise (white noise, 78 dB), and in the low noise condition sentences were presented without noise. Exposure to background noise improved performance for inattentive children and worsened performance for attentive children and eliminated episodic memory differences between attentive and inattentive school children. Consistent with the model, our data show that cognitive performance can be moderated by external background white noise stimulation in a non-clinical group of inattentive participants. This finding needs replicating in a larger sample using more noise levels but if replicated has great practical applications by offering a non-invasive way to improve school results in children with attentional problems.

  18. Effects of noise and task loading on a communication task loading on a communication task

    Science.gov (United States)

    Orrell, Dean H., II

    Previous research had shown the effect of noise on a single communication task. This research has been criticized as not being representative of a real world situation since subjects allocated all of their attention to only one task. In the present study, the effect of adding a loading task to a standard noise-communication paradigm was investigated. Subjects performed both a communication task (Modified Rhyme Test; House et al. 1965) and a short term memory task (Sternberg, 1969) in simulated levels of aircraft noise (95, 105 and 115 dB overall sound pressure level (OASPL)). Task loading was varied with Sternberg's task by requiring subjects to memorize one, four, or six alphanumeric characters. Simulated aircraft noise was varied between levels of 95, 105 and 115 dB OASPL using a pink noise source. Results show that the addition of Sternberg's task and little effect on the intelligibility of the communication task while response time for the communication task increased.

  19. Noise, impulse noise, and other physical factors: combined effects on hearing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pekkarinen, J

    1995-01-01

    In most of the epidemiologic studies conducted during the last 20 years, impulse noise caused increased risk of hearing loss in comparison to continuous noise with the same acoustical energy. The interaction between noise exposure (broadband at 100 dB(A)) and hand-arm vibration (125 Hz at 2 ms-2 acceleration level) has been proven for people having vibration-induced white finger symptoms. This interaction is evidenced as a permanent hearing loss. However, why the interaction is seen only in people with VWF is not known. The mechanisms may be related to individual susceptibility, and hypotheses are given on the role of the autonomous nervous system regulating the peripheral vascular reaction. Whole-body vibration (2-10 Hz, at 10 ms-2 level) seems to increase the TTS when noise (broadband at 90 dB(A)) is present. This effect is more pronounced at higher temperatures. The hypothermia protects hearing against the effects of noise in animal studies. The interaction between noise and temperature decrease seems obvious in animal studies. Exercise has both increased and decreased the TTS during noise exposure. The effects have been successfully explained as the depression of the stapedius reflex. Thus, less protection against noise is provided for the inner ear in exercise conditions. The increase of the blood temperature also has been suggested to increase noise-induced TTS during exercise. Electromagnetic fields have been found to cause acoustical interactions in the inner ear. Animal studies and human studies have given contradictory results on the effects of magnetic coil devices on hearing. The MR imaging devices produce noise levels of 82-93 dB, which is not sufficient to produce the risk of permanent hearing loss when short exposure durations are taken into consideration. More systematic research is needed with accurately defined electromagnetic characteristics to reveal the potential interactions. The interactions seem to exist, but relatively high levels and

  20. Stark shift of impurity doped quantum dots: Role of noise

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arif, Sk. Md.; Bera, Aindrila; Ghosh, Anuja; Ghosh, Manas

    2018-02-01

    Present study makes a punctilious investigation of the profiles of Stark shift (SS) of doped GaAs quantum dot (QD) under the supervision of Gaussian white noise. A few physical parameters have been varied and the consequent variations in the SS profiles have been monitored. The said physical parameters comprise of magnetic field, confinement potential, dopant location, dopant potential, noise strength, aluminium concentration (only for AlxGa1-x As alloy QD), position-dependent effective mass (PDEM), position-dependent dielectric screening function (PDDSF), anisotropy, hydrostatic pressure (HP) and temperature. The SS profiles unfurl interesting features that heavily depend upon the particular physical quantity concerned, presence/absence of noise and the manner (additive/multiplicative) noise enters the system. The study highlights feasible means of maximizing SS of doped QD in presence of noise by suitable adjustment of several control parameters. The study deems importance in view of technological applications of QD devices where noise plays some prominent role.

  1. [Exposure of schoolchildren and teachers to noise at school].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Koszarny, Z; Goryński, P

    1990-01-01

    The factor of decisive influence on the acoustic climate in rooms is the inner noise, which is dependent in schools on the activity of children, overcrowding of classes and inadequate use of technical protective means. The inappropriate location of schools, although also important from the standpoint of acoustics, is a much lower source of noise than it is generally assumed. Particularly unfavourable acoustic conditions are in elementary schools with over 300 children in one shift. The spaces with the highest noise level include corridors, especially during recesses between lessons. The noise level in them is in the range of an equivalent sound A 60-95 dB, and the most frequent noise level is 80 dB. In a large part of schools the acoustic conditions in the corridors during recesses approach the critical values accepted for hearing protection in industrial plants, in some schools they are even exceeded. The situation is also unfavourable in other rooms such as doctor's office, director's room, reading rooms, rooms for teachers. These rooms are situated usually without taking into consideration of the acoustic conditions. This is particularly true of teachers' rooms which should give the teachers the possibility of resting before the next lesson. During lessons the noise level decreases in all rooms. However, the noisiest among them, corridors, classes situated near the hall for physical exercises and day-room, have still up to about 65 dB noise level. Generally speaking, in about 60% of rooms the acoustic conditions are below the recommended standard. The main cause, apart from overcrowding of schools, is low acoustic absorption ability of school rooms, and poor acoustic insulation ability of the doors in schools.

  2. Broadband Shock Noise in Internally-Mixed Dual-Stream Jets

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bridges, James E.

    2009-01-01

    Broadband shock noise (BBSN) has been studied in some detail in single-flow jets and recently in dual-stream jets with separate flow exhaust systems. Shock noise is of great concern in these latter cases because of the noise created for the aircraft cabin by the underexpanded nozzle flow at cruise. Another case where shock noise is of concern is in the case of future supersonic aircraft that are expected to have bypass ratios small enough to justify internally mixed exhaust systems, and whose mission will push cycles to the point of imperfectly expanded flows. Dual-stream jets with internally mixed plume have some simplifying aspects relative to the separate flow jets, having a single shock structure given by the common nozzle pressure. This is used to separate the contribution of the turbulent shear layer to the broadband shock noise. Shock structure is held constant while the geometry and strength of the inner and merged shear layers are varying by changing splitter area ratio and core stream temperature. Flow and noise measurements are presented which document the efforts at separating the contribution of the inner shear layer to the broadband shock noise.

  3. Positive and negative variations in capacitive images for given defects under varying experimental conditions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Chen; Yin, Xiaokang; Li, Zhen; Li, Wei; Chen, Guoming

    2018-04-01

    Capacitive imaging (CI) technique is a novel electromagnetic NDE technique. The Quasi-static electromagnetic field from the carefully designed electrode pair will vary when the electrical properties of the sample change, leading to the possibility of imaging. It is observed that for a given specimen, the targeted features appear as different variations in capacitive images under different experimental conditions. In some cases, even opposite variations occur, which brings confusion to indication interpretation. It is thus thought interesting to embark on investigations into the cause and effects of the negative variation phenomenon. In this work, the positive and negative variations were first explained from the measurement sensitivity distribution perspective. This was then followed by a detailed analysis using finite element models in COMSOL. A parametric experimental study on a glass fiber composite plate with artificial defects was then carried out to investigate how the experimental conditions affect the variation.

  4. Benefit of the UltraZoom beamforming technology in noise in cochlear implant users.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mosnier, Isabelle; Mathias, Nathalie; Flament, Jonathan; Amar, Dorith; Liagre-Callies, Amelie; Borel, Stephanie; Ambert-Dahan, Emmanuèle; Sterkers, Olivier; Bernardeschi, Daniele

    2017-09-01

    The objectives of the study were to demonstrate the audiological and subjective benefits of the adaptive UltraZoom beamforming technology available in the Naída CI Q70 sound processor, in cochlear-implanted adults upgraded from a previous generation sound processor. Thirty-four adults aged between 21 and 89 years (mean 53 ± 19) were prospectively included. Nine subjects were unilaterally implanted, 11 bilaterally and 14 were bimodal users. The mean duration of cochlear implant use was 7 years (range 5-15 years). Subjects were tested in quiet with monosyllabic words and in noise with the adaptive French Matrix test in the best-aided conditions. The test setup contained a signal source in front of the subject and three noise sources at +/-90° and 180°. The noise was presented at a fixed level of 65 dB SPL and the level of speech signal was varied to obtain the speech reception threshold (SRT). During the upgrade visit, subjects were tested with the Harmony and with the Naída CI sound processors in omnidirectional microphone configuration. After a take-home phase of 2 months, tests were repeated with the Naída CI processor with and without UltraZoom. Subjective assessment of the sound quality in daily environments was recorded using the APHAB questionnaire. No difference in performance was observed in quiet between the two processors. The Matrix test in noise was possible in the 21 subjects with the better performance. No difference was observed between the two processors for performance in noise when using the omnidirectional microphone. At the follow-up session, the median SRT with the Naída CI processor with UltraZoom was -4 dB compared to -0.45 dB without UltraZoom. The use of UltraZoom improved the median SRT by 3.6 dB (p noise and for speech understanding in noise (p noise. The use of UltraZoom beamforming technology, available on the new sound processor Naída CI, improves speech performance in difficult and realistic noisy conditions when the

  5. The impact of different background noises on the Production Effect.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mama, Yaniv; Fostick, Leah; Icht, Michal

    2018-04-01

    The presence of background noise has been previously shown to disrupt cognitive performance, especially memory. The amount of interference is derived from the acoustic characteristics of the noise; energetic vs. informational, steady-state vs. fluctuating. However, the literature is inconsistent concerning the effects of different types of noise on long-term memory free recall. In the present study, we tested the impact of different noises on recall of items that were learned under two conditions - silent or aloud reading, a Production Effect (PE) paradigm. As the PE represents enhanced memory for words read aloud relative to words read silently during study, we focused on the effect of noise on this robust memory phenomenon. The results showed that (a) steady-state energetic noise did not affect memory, with a recall advantage for aloud words (PE), comparable to a no-noise condition, (b) fluctuating-energetic noise and fluctuating-informational (eight-talkers babble) noise eliminated the PE, with similar recall for aloud and silent items. These results are discussed in light of their theoretical implications, stressing the role of attention in the PE. Ecological implications regarding studying in noisy environments are suggested. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  6. Moderators of noise-induced cognitive change in healthy adults.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wright, Bernice Al; Peters, Emmanuelle R; Ettinger, Ulrich; Kuipers, Elizabeth; Kumari, Veena

    2016-01-01

    Environmental noise causes cognitive impairment, particularly in executive function and episodic memory domains, in healthy populations. However, the possible moderating influences on this relationship are less clear. This study assessed 54 healthy participants (24 men) on a cognitive battery (measuring psychomotor speed, attention, executive function, working memory, and verbal learning and memory) under three (quiet, urban, and social) noise conditions. IQ, subjective noise sensitivity, sleep, personality, paranoia, depression, anxiety, stress, and schizotypy were assessed on a single occasion. We found significantly slower psychomotor speed (urban), reduced working memory and episodic memory (urban and social), and more cautious decision-making (executive function, urban) under noise conditions. There was no effect of sex. Variance in urban noise-induced changes in psychomotor speed, attention, Trail Making B-A (executive function), and immediate recall and social noise-induced changes in verbal fluency (executive function) and immediate recall were explained by a combination of baseline cognition and paranoia, noise sensitivity, sleep, or cognitive disorganization. Higher baseline cognition (but not IQ) predicted greater impairment under urban and social noise for most cognitive variables. Paranoia predicted psychomotor speed, attention, and executive function impairment. Subjective noise sensitivity predicted executive function and memory impairment. Poor sleep quality predicted less memory impairment. Finally, lower levels of cognitive disorganization predicted slower psychomotor speed and greater memory impairment. The identified moderators should be considered in studies aiming to reduce the detrimental effects of occupational and residential noise. These results highlight the importance of studying noise effects in clinical populations characterized by high levels of the paranoia, sleep disturbances, noise sensitivity, and cognitive disorganization.

  7. Identification of time-varying nonlinear systems using differential evolution algorithm

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Perisic, Nevena; Green, Peter L; Worden, Keith

    2013-01-01

    (DE) algorithm for the identification of time-varying systems. DE is an evolutionary optimisation method developed to perform direct search in a continuous space without requiring any derivative estimation. DE is modified so that the objective function changes with time to account for the continuing......, thus identification of time-varying systems with nonlinearities can be a very challenging task. In order to avoid conventional least squares and gradient identification methods which require uni-modal and double differentiable objective functions, this work proposes a modified differential evolution...... inclusion of new data within an error metric. This paper presents results of identification of a time-varying SDOF system with Coulomb friction using simulated noise-free and noisy data for the case of time-varying friction coefficient, stiffness and damping. The obtained results are promising and the focus...

  8. 3D shape optimization of fan vanes for multiple operating regimes subject to efficiency and noise-related excellence criteria and constraints

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ivo Marinić-Kragić

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Fully generic 3D shapes of centrifugal roof fan vanes are explored based on a custom-developed numerical workflow with the ability to vary the vane 3D shape by manipulating the control points of parametric surfaces and change the number of vanes and rotation speed. An excellence formulation is based on design flow efficiency, multi-regime operational conditions and noise criteria for various cases, including multi-objective optimization. Multiple cases of optimization demonstrate the suitability of customized and individualized fan designs for specific working environments according to the selected excellence criteria. Noise analysis is considered as an additional decision-making tool for cases where multiple solutions of equal efficiency are generated and as an additional criteria for multi-objective optimization. The 3D vane shape enables further gains in efficiency compared to 2D shape optimization, while multi-objective optimization with noise as an additional criterion shows potential to greatly reduce the roof fan noise with only small losses in efficiency. The developed workflow which comprises (i a 3D parametric shape modeler, (ii an evolutionary optimizer and (iii a computational fluid dynamics (CFD simulator can be viewed as an integral tool for optimizing the designs of roof fans under custom conditions.

  9. 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.

  10. Delay-distribution-dependent H∞ state estimation for delayed neural networks with (x,v)-dependent noises and fading channels.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sheng, Li; Wang, Zidong; Tian, Engang; Alsaadi, Fuad E

    2016-12-01

    This paper deals with the H ∞ state estimation problem for a class of discrete-time neural networks with stochastic delays subject to state- and disturbance-dependent noises (also called (x,v)-dependent noises) and fading channels. The time-varying stochastic delay takes values on certain intervals with known probability distributions. The system measurement is transmitted through fading channels described by the Rice fading model. The aim of the addressed problem is to design a state estimator such that the estimation performance is guaranteed in the mean-square sense against admissible stochastic time-delays, stochastic noises as well as stochastic fading signals. By employing the stochastic analysis approach combined with the Kronecker product, several delay-distribution-dependent conditions are derived to ensure that the error dynamics of the neuron states is stochastically stable with prescribed H ∞ performance. Finally, a numerical example is provided to illustrate the effectiveness of the obtained results. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  11. P3a from white noise.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Frank, David W; Yee, Ryan B; Polich, John

    2012-08-01

    P3a and P3b event-related brain potentials (ERPs) were elicited with an auditory three-stimulus (target, distracter, and standard) discrimination task in which subjects responded only to the target. Distracter stimuli consisted of white noise or novel sounds with stimulus characteristics perceptually matched. Target/standard discrimination difficulty was manipulated by varying target/standard pitch differences to produce relatively easy, medium, and hard tasks. Error rate and response time increased with increases in task difficulty. P3a was larger for the white noise compared to novel sounds, maximum over the central/parietal recording sites, and did not differ in size across difficulty levels. P3b was unaffected by distracter type, decreased as task difficulty increased, and maximum over the parietal recording sites. The findings indicate that P3a from white noise is robust and should be useful for applied studies as it removes stimulus novelty variability. Theoretical perspectives are discussed. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  12. Molecular Electronic Angular Motion Transducer Broad Band Self-Noise

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zaitsev, Dmitry; Agafonov, Vadim; Egorov, Egor; Antonov, Alexander; Shabalina, Anna

    2015-01-01

    Modern molecular electronic transfer (MET) angular motion sensors combine high technical characteristics with low cost. Self-noise is one of the key characteristics which determine applications for MET sensors. However, until the present there has not been a model describing the sensor noise in the complete operating frequency range. The present work reports the results of an experimental study of the self-noise level of such sensors in the frequency range of 0.01–200 Hz. Based on the experimental data, a theoretical model is developed. According to the model, self-noise is conditioned by thermal hydrodynamic fluctuations of the operating fluid flow in the frequency range of 0.01–2 Hz. At the frequency range of 2–100 Hz, the noise power spectral density has a specific inversely proportional dependence of the power spectral density on the frequency that could be attributed to convective processes. In the high frequency range of 100–200 Hz, the noise is conditioned by the voltage noise of the electronics module input stage operational amplifiers and is heavily reliant to the sensor electrical impedance. The presented results allow a deeper understanding of the molecular electronic sensor noise nature to suggest the ways to reduce it. PMID:26610502

  13. Transient threshold shift after gunshot noise exposure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saedi, B; Ghasemi, M; Motiee, M; Mojtahed, M; Safavi, A

    2013-01-01

    Many people, such as soldiers, are routinely exposed to gunshot noise during target practice. It is suspected that this high-intensity noise may affect audition through repeated Transient Threshold Shifts (TTS); it can also mechanically alter auditory components such as waves. This study investigates the scope of gunshot noise from the AK-47 rifle (Kalashnikov) and the impact on the shooters' audition. Forty soldiers (80 ears) were recruited in this study. They were all young and being exposed to gunshot noise for the first time. Gunshot characteristics were measured before exposure. The soldiers underwent auditory evaluation with Pure Tone Audiometry (PTA) and Oto-Acoustic Emission (OAE) once before exposure and immediately (less than one hour) after exposure. The AK-47 gunshot noise pressure level varied between L(AIm) = 73.7 dBA to L(AIm) = 111.4 dBA. Fourteen participants had subclinical hearing impairment in their pre-exposure evaluation; this number increased to 16 after the exposure. Six months post-exposure and later, the number of cases with impairment had fallen to eight (improvement in 50%). Both pre- and post-exposure OAE results were within normal values, while PTA results indicated a significant threshold alteration only at 6 kHz. The results of this study confirm that exposure to gunshot noise with no ear protection can represent a significant hazard for auditory function, especially at higher frequencies.

  14. 'Pipetron' beam dynamics with noise

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shiltsev, V.D.

    1996-10-01

    Extra-large hadron collider, ''Pipetron'', at 100 TeV energy is currently under consideration. In this article we study the Pipetron transverse and longitudinal beam dynamics under influence of external noises. The major effects are growths of transverse and longitudinal emittances of the beam caused by noisy forces which vary over the revolution period or synchrotron oscillation period, respectively; and closed orbit distortions induced by slow drift of magnet positions. Based on analytical consideration of these phenomena, we estimate tolerable levels of these noises and compare them with available experimental data. Although it is concluded that transverse and, probably, longitudinal feedback systems are necessary for the emittance's preservation, and sophisticated beam-based orbit correction methods should be used at the Pipetron, we observe no unreasonable requirements which present and impenetrable barrier to the project

  15. Fast, low noise transimpedance preamplifier

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Parlakyan, L.K.

    1995-01-01

    A single-channel transimpedance preamplifier for fast dielectric detectors is described. The main specifications of the preamplifier are: rise time is 1,5 ns; gain is 3,5 mV/μ A (with two section- 210 mV/μ A); r.m.s input noise is 30 n A; power consumption is 22 m W. Depending on supply voltage, the parameters may vary in a wide range. 5 refs

  16. Power Adaptive Feedback Communication over an Additive Individual Noise Sequence Channel

    OpenAIRE

    Lomnitz, Yuval; Feder, Meir

    2009-01-01

    We consider a real-valued additive channel with an individual unknown noise sequence. We present a simple sequential communication scheme based on the celebrated Schalkwijk-Kailath scheme, which varies the transmit power according to the power of the sequence, so that asymptotically the relation between the SNR and the rate matches the Gaussian channel capacity 1/2 log(1+SNR)for almost every noise sequence.

  17. Sound quality prediction for engine-radiated noise

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Hai; Zhang, Junhong; Guo, Peng; Bi, Fengrong; Yu, Hanzhengnan; Ni, Guangjian

    2015-05-01

    Diesel engine-radiated noise quality prediction is an important topic because engine noise has a significant impact on the overall vehicle noise. Sound quality prediction is based on subjective and objective evaluation of engine noise. The integrated satisfaction index (ISI) is proposed as a criterion for differentiate noise quality in the subjective evaluation, and five psychoacoustic parameters are selected for characterizing and analyzing the noise quality of the diesel engine objectively. The combination of support vector machines (SVM) and genetic algorithm (GA) is proposed in order to establish a model for predicting the diesel engine-radiated noise quality for all operation conditions. The performance of the GA-SVM model is compared with the BP neural network model, and the results show that the mean relative error of the GA-SVM model is smaller than the BP neural network model. The importance rank of the sound quality metrics to the ISI is indicated by the non-parametric correlation analysis. This study suggests that the GA-SVM model is very useful for accurately predicting the diesel engine-radiated noise quality.

  18. Flicker (1/f) noise in tunnel junction DC SQUIDS

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Koch, R.H.; Clarke, J.; Goubau, W.M.; Martinis, J.M.; Pegrum, C.M.; Van Harlingen, D.J.

    1983-01-01

    We have measured the spectral density of the 1/f voltage noise in current-biased resistively shunted Josephson tunnel junctions and dc SQUIDs. A theory in which fluctuations in the temperature give rise to fluctuations in the critical current and hence in the voltage predicts the magnitude of the noise quite accurately for junctions with areas of about 2 x 10 4 μm 2 , but significantly overestimates the noise for junctions with areas of about 6 μm 2 . DC SQUIDs fabricated from these two types of junctions exhibit substantially more 1/f voltage noise than would be predicted from a model in which the noise arises from critical current fluctuations in the junctions. This result was confirmed by an experiment involving two different bias current and flux modulation schemes, which demonstrated that the predominant 1/f voltage noise arises not from critical current fluctuations, but from some unknown source that can be regarded as an apparent 1/f flux noise. Measurements on five different configurations of dc SQUIDs fabricated with thin-film tunnel junctions and with widely varying areas, inductances, and junction capacitances show that the spectral density of the 1/f equivalent flux noise is roughtly constant, within a factor of three of (10 -10 /f)phi 2 0 Hz -1 . It is emphasized that 1/f flux noise may not be the predominant source of 1/f noise in SQUIDS fabricated with other technologies

  19. Response-only modal identification using random decrement algorithm with time-varying threshold level

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lin, Chang Sheng; Tseng, Tse Chuan

    2014-01-01

    Modal Identification from response data only is studied for structural systems under nonstationary ambient vibration. The topic of this paper is the estimation of modal parameters from nonstationary ambient vibration data by applying the random decrement algorithm with time-varying threshold level. In the conventional random decrement algorithm, the threshold level for evaluating random dec signatures is defined as the standard deviation value of response data of the reference channel. The distortion of random dec signatures may be, however, induced by the error involved in noise from the original response data in practice. To improve the accuracy of identification, a modification of the sampling procedure in random decrement algorithm is proposed for modal-parameter identification from the nonstationary ambient response data. The time-varying threshold level is presented for the acquisition of available sample time history to perform averaging analysis, and defined as the temporal root-mean-square function of structural response, which can appropriately describe a wide variety of nonstationary behaviors in reality, such as the time-varying amplitude (variance) of a nonstationary process in a seismic record. Numerical simulations confirm the validity and robustness of the proposed modal-identification method from nonstationary ambient response data under noisy conditions.

  20. A high speed digital noise generator

    Science.gov (United States)

    Obrien, J.; Gaffney, B.; Liu, B.

    In testing of digital signal processing hardware, a high speed pseudo-random noise generator is often required to simulate an input noise source to the hardware. This allows the hardware to be exercised in a manner analogous to actual operating conditions. In certain radar and communication environments, a noise generator operating at speeds in excess of 60 MHz may be required. In this paper, a method of generating high speed pseudo-random numbers from an arbitrarily specified distribution (Gaussian, Log-Normal, etc.) using a transformation from a uniform noise source is described. A noise generator operating at 80 MHz has been constructed. Different distributions can be readily obtained by simply changing the ROM set. The hardware and test results will be described. Using this approach, the generation of pseudo-random sequences with arbitrary distributions at word rates in excess of 200 MHz can be readily achieved.

  1. Neutron noise in nuclear reactors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Blaquiere, A.; Pachowska, R.

    1961-06-01

    The power of a nuclear reactor, in the operating conditions, presents fluctuations due to various causes. This random behaviour can be included in the study of 'noises'. Among other sources of noise, we analyse hereafter the fluctuations due: a) to the discontinuous emissions of neutrons from an independent source; b) to the multiplication of neutrons inside the reactor. The method which we present makes use of the analogies between the rules governing a nuclear reactor in operation and a number of radio-electrical systems, in particular the feed-back loops. The reactor can be characterized by its 'passing band' and is described as a system submitted to a sequence of random pulses. In non linear operating condition, the effect of neutron noise is defined by means of a non-linear functional, this theory is thus related to previous works the references of which are given at the end of the present report. This leads us in particular in the case of nuclear reactors to some results given by A. Blaquiere in the case of radio-electrical loops. (author) [fr

  2. Influence of background noise on the performance in the odor sensitivity task: effects of noise type and extraversion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Seo, Han-Seok; Hähner, Antje; Gudziol, Volker; Scheibe, Mandy; Hummel, Thomas

    2012-10-01

    Recent research demonstrated that background noise relative to silence impaired subjects' performance in a cognitively driven odor discrimination test. The current study aimed to investigate whether the background noise can also modulate performance in an odor sensitivity task that is less cognitively loaded. Previous studies have shown that the effect of background noise on task performance can be different in relation to degree of extraversion and/or type of noise. Accordingly, we wanted to examine whether the influence of background noise on the odor sensitivity task can be altered as a function of the type of background noise (i.e., nonverbal vs. verbal noise) and the degree of extraversion (i.e., introvert vs. extrovert group). Subjects were asked to conduct an odor sensitivity task in the presence of either nonverbal noise (e.g., party sound) or verbal noise (e.g., audio book), or silence. Overall, the subjects' mean performance in the odor sensitivity task was not significantly different across three auditory conditions. However, with regard to the odor sensitivity task, a significant interaction emerged between the type of background noise and the degree of extraversion. Specifically, verbal noise relative to silence significantly impaired or improved the performance of the odor sensitivity task in the introvert or extrovert group, respectively; the differential effect of introversion/extraversion was not observed in the nonverbal noise-induced task performance. In conclusion, our findings provide new empirical evidence that type of background noise and degree of extraversion play an important role in modulating the effect of background noise on subjects' performance in an odor sensitivity task.

  3. Moderators of noise-induced cognitive change in healthy adults

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bernice AL Wright

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Environmental noise causes cognitive impairment, particularly in executive function and episodic memory domains, in healthy populations. However, the possible moderating influences on this relationship are less clear. This study assessed 54 healthy participants (24 men on a cognitive battery (measuring psychomotor speed, attention, executive function, working memory, and verbal learning and memory under three (quiet, urban, and social noise conditions. IQ, subjective noise sensitivity, sleep, personality, paranoia, depression, anxiety, stress, and schizotypy were assessed on a single occasion. We found significantly slower psychomotor speed (urban, reduced working memory and episodic memory (urban and social, and more cautious decision-making (executive function, urban under noise conditions. There was no effect of sex. Variance in urban noise-induced changes in psychomotor speed, attention, Trail Making B-A (executive function, and immediate recall and social noise-induced changes in verbal fluency (executive function and immediate recall were explained by a combination of baseline cognition and paranoia, noise sensitivity, sleep, or cognitive disorganization. Higher baseline cognition (but not IQ predicted greater impairment under urban and social noise for most cognitive variables. Paranoia predicted psychomotor speed, attention, and executive function impairment. Subjective noise sensitivity predicted executive function and memory impairment. Poor sleep quality predicted less memory impairment. Finally, lower levels of cognitive disorganization predicted slower psychomotor speed and greater memory impairment. The identified moderators should be considered in studies aiming to reduce the detrimental effects of occupational and residential noise. These results highlight the importance of studying noise effects in clinical populations characterized by high levels of the paranoia, sleep disturbances, noise sensitivity, and cognitive

  4. Tracer Studies to Characterize the Effects of Roadside Noise Barriers on Near-Road Pollutant Dispersion under Varying Atmospheric Stability Conditions

    Science.gov (United States)

    A roadway toxics dispersion study was conducted by the Field Research Division (FRD) of NOAA at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) near Idaho Falls, ID to document the effects on concentrations of roadway emissions behind a roadside sound barrier in various conditions of atmosph...

  5. Mechanisms of attention for appetitive and aversive outcomes in Pavlovian conditioning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Austin, A J; Duka, T

    2010-11-12

    Different mechanisms of attention controlling learning have been proposed in appetitive and aversive conditioning. The aim of the present study was to compare attention and learning in a Pavlovian conditioning paradigm using visual stimuli of varying predictive value of either monetary reward (appetitive conditioning; 10p or 50p) or blast of white noise (aversive conditioning; 97 dB or 102 dB). Outcome values were matched across the two conditions with regard to their emotional significance. Sixty-four participants were allocated to one of the four conditions matched for age and gender. All participants underwent a discriminative learning task using pairs of visual stimuli that signalled a 100%, 50%, or 0% probability of receiving an outcome. Learning was measured using a 9-point Likert scale of expectancy of the outcome, while attention using an eyetracker device. Arousal and emotional conditioning were also evaluated. Dwell time was greatest for the full predictor in the noise groups, while in the money groups attention was greatest for the partial predictor over the other two predictors. The progression of learning was the same for both groups. These findings suggest that in aversive conditioning attention is driven by the predictive salience of the stimulus while in appetitive conditioning attention is error-driven, when emotional value of the outcome is comparable. (c) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  6. Generalised shot noise Cox processes

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Møller, Jesper; Torrisi, Giovanni Luca

    We introduce a new class of Cox cluster processes called generalised shot-noise processes (GSNCPs), which extends the definition of shot noise Cox processes (SNCPs) in two directions: the point process which drives the shot noise is not necessarily Poisson, and the kernel of the shot noise can...... be random. Thereby a very large class of models for aggregated or clustered point patterns is obtained. Due to the structure of GSNCPs, a number of useful results can be established. We focus first on deriving summary statistics for GSNCPs and next on how to make simulation for GSNCPs. Particularly, results...... for first and second order moment measures, reduced Palm distributions, the -function, simulation with or without edge effects, and conditional simulation of the intensity function driving a GSNCP are given. Our results are exemplified for special important cases of GSNCPs, and we discuss the relation...

  7. Firefighters' noise exposure: A literature review

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Taxini, Carla Linhares

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Aim: To review the literature about the effects of environmental noise on the hearing ability of firefighters. Method: The PubMed and Scielo databases were searched and studies from 2002 to 2012 that included the keywords firefighters, noise, and hearing loss were identified. Initially, 24 studies were selected, but only 10 met the inclusion criteria of investigating the effects of occupational noise on firefighters. Results: Only 2 (20% studies quantified levels of sound pressure and performed audiological tests to identify associations with noise intensity and 3 (30% questionnaire-based studies reported that these professionals are more susceptible to hearing loss. Four (50% studies found that noise exposure damages the auditory system in this population. Discussion: These findings indicate that there is a necessity for preventive measures to be adopted by this population since it is considered to be at risk. Conclusion: In recent years, there have been few studies of firefighters' exposure to occupational noise, but our findings show the importance of new studies that include proper means of quantifying their exposure to noise in different work environments, in order to identify possible adverse conditions as well as to aid in the diagnosis of hearing loss.

  8. A continuous wavelet transform approach for harmonic parameters estimation in the presence of impulsive noise

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dai, Yu; Xue, Yuan; Zhang, Jianxun

    2016-01-01

    Impulsive noise caused by some random events has the main character of short rise-time and wide frequency spectrum range, so it has the potential to degrade the performance and reliability of the harmonic estimation. This paper focuses on the harmonic estimation procedure based on continuous wavelet transform (CWT) when the analyzed signal is corrupted by the impulsive noise. The digital CWT of both the time-varying sinusoidal signal and the impulsive noise are analyzed, and there are two cross ridges in the time-frequency plane of CWT, which are generated by the signal and the noise separately. In consideration of the amplitude of the noise and the number of the spike event, two inequalities are derived to provide limitations on the wavelet parameters. Based on the amplitude distribution of the noise, the optimal wavelet parameters determined by solving these inequalities are used to suppress the contamination of the noise, as well as increase the amplitude of the ridge corresponding to the signal, so the parameters of each harmonic component can be estimated accurately. The proposed procedure is applied to a numerical simulation and a bone vibration signal test giving satisfactory results of stationary and time-varying harmonic parameter estimation.

  9. Noise of screen-film systems: origins and components

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kuhn, H

    1983-01-01

    When using the more sensitive rare-earth intensifying screens in radiography applying the screen-film system, one has to cope with an increase in quantum noise. Measurement of Wiener spectra will help to determine the noise of the film. With an appropriate apparatus, the noise spectra of screen-film systems of different sensitivity have been ascertained and compared with theoretical assessments. The integral noise made up of the components film noise, screen noise and quantum noise have been thoroughly analysed. Adequate choice of radiographic conditions (such as modification of film exposure time via the screen, change of tube voltage) will affect the number of absorbed X-ray quanta in the luminous substance and thus the quantum noise which, as was found out, largely contributes to the integral noise together with another factor, graininess of the film. The study shows that although quantum noise has to be cut back, this should not be done at any price, and due regard must be paid to other factors influencing the image quality of the system, such as contrast and MTF.

  10. Vowel and tone recognition in quiet and in noise among Mandarin-speaking amusics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tang, Wei; Wang, Xi-Jian; Li, Jia-Qi; Liu, Chang; Dong, Qi; Nan, Yun

    2018-03-06

    Music and language are two intricately linked communication modalities in humans. A deficit in music pitch processing as manifested in the condition of congenital amusia has been related to difficulties in lexical tone processing for both tone and non-tonal languages. However, it is still unclear whether amusia also affects the perception of vowel phonemes in quiet and in noise. In this study, we examined vowel-plus-tone identification in quiet and noise conditions among Mandarin-speaking amusics with and without speech tone difficulties (tone agnosics and pure amusics, respectively), and IQ- and age-matched controls. Overall, pure amusics showed vowel and tone identification comparable to the controls in both quiet and noise conditions. Compared to pure amusics and controls, tone agnosics showed deficits in tone perception in both quiet and noise conditions. More importantly, their vowel perception was lower than pure amusics and controls in noise conditions, e.g., at a signal-to-noise ratio of -4 dB, although they showed normal-like performance in quiet and at a signal-to-noise ratio of -8 dB. These results suggest that when amusia affected speech tone processing (e.g., tone agnosics), it could also compromise vowel processing in noise. However, amusia alone does not affect tone or vowel perception in Mandarin Chinese either in quiet or in noise. Overall, the current study highlights the necessity of taking heterogeneity within the amusic group into account when considering the related speech deficits in this group. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  11. Interaction of Working Memory, Compressor Speed and Background Noise Characteristics

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ohlenforst, Barbara; MacDonald, Ewen; Souza, Pamela

    Previous studies have shown that individuals with poor working memory perform worse in speech recognition tests when fast compression release time is applied. However, it is not clear why this effect occurs only when modulations are present in the background noise. This study explored...... was varied. Results suggest that the combined effect of short compression release times, a low working memory capacity and glimpsing due to presence of amplitude modulation results in poor speech recognition performance. There was no interaction between working memory and different noise backgrounds...... the relationship between working memory capacity, compression release time and characteristics of the background noise. This relationship is important to understand because the majority of everyday listening situations involve modulated noise. The investigation was carried out by testing two groups of older adults...

  12. How hearing aids, background noise, and visual cues influence objective listening effort.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Picou, Erin M; Ricketts, Todd A; Hornsby, Benjamin W Y

    2013-09-01

    The purpose of this article was to evaluate factors that influence the listening effort experienced when processing speech for people with hearing loss. Specifically, the change in listening effort resulting from introducing hearing aids, visual cues, and background noise was evaluated. An additional exploratory aim was to investigate the possible relationships between the magnitude of listening effort change and individual listeners' working memory capacity, verbal processing speed, or lipreading skill. Twenty-seven participants with bilateral sensorineural hearing loss were fitted with linear behind-the-ear hearing aids and tested using a dual-task paradigm designed to evaluate listening effort. The primary task was monosyllable word recognition and the secondary task was a visual reaction time task. The test conditions varied by hearing aids (unaided, aided), visual cues (auditory-only, auditory-visual), and background noise (present, absent). For all participants, the signal to noise ratio was set individually so that speech recognition performance in noise was approximately 60% in both the auditory-only and auditory-visual conditions. In addition to measures of listening effort, working memory capacity, verbal processing speed, and lipreading ability were measured using the Automated Operational Span Task, a Lexical Decision Task, and the Revised Shortened Utley Lipreading Test, respectively. In general, the effects measured using the objective measure of listening effort were small (~10 msec). Results indicated that background noise increased listening effort, and hearing aids reduced listening effort, while visual cues did not influence listening effort. With regard to the individual variables, verbal processing speed was negatively correlated with hearing aid benefit for listening effort; faster processors were less likely to derive benefit. Working memory capacity, verbal processing speed, and lipreading ability were related to benefit from visual cues. No

  13. Low-Arousal Speech Noise Improves Performance in N-Back Task: An ERP Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Dandan; Jin, Yi; Luo, Yuejia

    2013-01-01

    The relationship between noise and human performance is a crucial topic in ergonomic research. However, the brain dynamics of the emotional arousal effects of background noises are still unclear. The current study employed meaningless speech noises in the n-back working memory task to explore the changes of event-related potentials (ERPs) elicited by the noises with low arousal level vs. high arousal level. We found that the memory performance in low arousal condition were improved compared with the silent and the high arousal conditions; participants responded more quickly and had larger P2 and P3 amplitudes in low arousal condition while the performance and ERP components showed no significant difference between high arousal and silent conditions. These findings suggested that the emotional arousal dimension of background noises had a significant influence on human working memory performance, and that this effect was independent of the acoustic characteristics of noises (e.g., intensity) and the meaning of speech materials. The current findings improve our understanding of background noise effects on human performance and lay the ground for the investigation of patients with attention deficits. PMID:24204607

  14. Low-arousal speech noise improves performance in N-back task: an ERP study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Han, Longzhu; Liu, Yunzhe; Zhang, Dandan; Jin, Yi; Luo, Yuejia

    2013-01-01

    The relationship between noise and human performance is a crucial topic in ergonomic research. However, the brain dynamics of the emotional arousal effects of background noises are still unclear. The current study employed meaningless speech noises in the n-back working memory task to explore the changes of event-related potentials (ERPs) elicited by the noises with low arousal level vs. high arousal level. We found that the memory performance in low arousal condition were improved compared with the silent and the high arousal conditions; participants responded more quickly and had larger P2 and P3 amplitudes in low arousal condition while the performance and ERP components showed no significant difference between high arousal and silent conditions. These findings suggested that the emotional arousal dimension of background noises had a significant influence on human working memory performance, and that this effect was independent of the acoustic characteristics of noises (e.g., intensity) and the meaning of speech materials. The current findings improve our understanding of background noise effects on human performance and lay the ground for the investigation of patients with attention deficits.

  15. Low-arousal speech noise improves performance in N-back task: an ERP study.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Longzhu Han

    Full Text Available The relationship between noise and human performance is a crucial topic in ergonomic research. However, the brain dynamics of the emotional arousal effects of background noises are still unclear. The current study employed meaningless speech noises in the n-back working memory task to explore the changes of event-related potentials (ERPs elicited by the noises with low arousal level vs. high arousal level. We found that the memory performance in low arousal condition were improved compared with the silent and the high arousal conditions; participants responded more quickly and had larger P2 and P3 amplitudes in low arousal condition while the performance and ERP components showed no significant difference between high arousal and silent conditions. These findings suggested that the emotional arousal dimension of background noises had a significant influence on human working memory performance, and that this effect was independent of the acoustic characteristics of noises (e.g., intensity and the meaning of speech materials. The current findings improve our understanding of background noise effects on human performance and lay the ground for the investigation of patients with attention deficits.

  16. Acoustic noise in functional magnetic resonance imaging reduces pain unpleasantness ratings.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boyle, Y; Bentley, D E; Watson, A; Jones, A K P

    2006-07-01

    Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is increasingly used in cognitive studies. Unfortunately, the scanner produces acoustic noise during the image acquisition process. Interference from acoustic noise is known to affect auditory, visual and motor processing, raising the possibility that acoustic interference may also modulate processing of other sensory modalities such as pain. With the increasing use of fMRI in the investigation of the mechanisms of pain perception, particularly in relation to attention, this issue has become highly relevant. Pain is a complex experience, composed of sensory-discriminative, affective-motivational and cognitive-evaluative components. The aim of this experiment was to assess the effect of MRI scanner noise, compared to white noise, on the affective (unpleasantness) and the sensory-discriminative (localisation) components of pain. Painful radiant heat from a CO(2) laser was delivered to the skin of the right forearm in 24 healthy volunteers. The volunteers attended to either pain location or pain unpleasantness during three conditions: i) no noise, ii) exposure to MRI scanner noise (85 dB) or iii) exposure to white noise (85 dB). Both MRI scanner noise and white noise significantly reduced unpleasantness ratings (from 5.1 +/- 1.6 in the control condition to 4.7 +/- 1.5 (P = 0.002) and 4.6 +/- 1.6 (P white noise respectively), whereas the ability to localise pain was not significantly affected (from 85.4 +/- 9.2% correct in the control condition to 83.1 +/- 10.3% (P = 0.06) and 83.9 +/- 9.5% (P = 0.27) with MRI scanner and white noise respectively). This phenomenon should be taken into account in the design of fMRI studies into human pain perception.

  17. Updating working memory in aircraft noise and speech noise causes different fMRI activations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saetrevik, Bjørn; Sörqvist, Patrik

    2015-02-01

    The present study used fMRI/BOLD neuroimaging to investigate how visual-verbal working memory is updated when exposed to three different background-noise conditions: speech noise, aircraft noise and silence. The number-updating task that was used can distinguish between "substitution processes," which involve adding new items to the working memory representation and suppressing old items, and "exclusion processes," which involve rejecting new items and maintaining an intact memory set. The current findings supported the findings of a previous study by showing that substitution activated the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, the posterior medial frontal cortex and the parietal lobes, whereas exclusion activated the anterior medial frontal cortex. Moreover, the prefrontal cortex was activated more by substitution processes when exposed to background speech than when exposed to aircraft noise. These results indicate that (a) the prefrontal cortex plays a special role when task-irrelevant materials should be denied access to working memory and (b) that, when compensating for different types of noise, either different cognitive mechanisms are involved or those cognitive mechanisms that are involved are involved to different degrees. © 2014 The Authors. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology published by Scandinavian Psychological Associations and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  18. Low-frequency flux noise in YBCO dc SQUIDs cooled in static magnetic fields

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sager, M.P.; Bindslev Hansen, J.; Petersen, P.R.E.; Holst, T.; Shen, Y.Q.

    1999-01-01

    The low-frequency flux noise in bicrystal and step-edge YBa 2 Cu 3 O x dc SQUIDs has been investigated. The width, w, of the superconducting strips forming the SQUID frame was varied from 4 to 42 μm. The SQUIDs were cooled in static magnetic fields up to 150 μT. Two types of low-frequency noise dominated, namely 1/f-like noise and random telegraph noise giving a Lorentzian frequency spectrum. The 1/f noise performance of the w = 4, 6 and 7 μm SQUIDs was almost identical, while the SQUIDs with w = 22 and 42 μm showed an order of magnitude higher noise level. Our analysis of the data suggests an exponential increase of the 1/f noise versus the cooling field, exhibiting a characteristic magnetic field around 40 μT. (author)

  19. Enhancement of high-order harmonic generation in the presence of noise

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yavuz, I; Altun, Z [Department of Physics, Marmara University, 34722 Ziverbey, Istanbul (Turkey); Topcu, T, E-mail: ilhan.yavuz@marmara.edu.tr [Department of Physics, Auburn University, AL 36849-5311 (United States)

    2011-07-14

    We report on our simulations of the generation of high-order harmonics from atoms driven by an intense femtosecond laser field in the presence of noise. We numerically solve the non-perturbative stochastic time-dependent Schroedinger equation and observe how varying noise levels affect the frequency components of the high harmonic spectrum. Our calculations show that when an optimum amount of noise is present in the driving laser field, roughly a factor of 45 net enhancement can be achieved in high-order harmonic yield, especially, around the cut-off region. We observe that, for a relatively weak noise, the enhancement mechanism is sensitive to the carrier-envelope phase. We also investigate the possibility of generating ultra-short intense attosecond pulses by combining the laser field and noise and observe that a roughly four orders of magnitude enhanced isolated attosecond burst can be generated.

  20. Enhancement of high-order harmonic generation in the presence of noise

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yavuz, I; Altun, Z; Topcu, T

    2011-01-01

    We report on our simulations of the generation of high-order harmonics from atoms driven by an intense femtosecond laser field in the presence of noise. We numerically solve the non-perturbative stochastic time-dependent Schroedinger equation and observe how varying noise levels affect the frequency components of the high harmonic spectrum. Our calculations show that when an optimum amount of noise is present in the driving laser field, roughly a factor of 45 net enhancement can be achieved in high-order harmonic yield, especially, around the cut-off region. We observe that, for a relatively weak noise, the enhancement mechanism is sensitive to the carrier-envelope phase. We also investigate the possibility of generating ultra-short intense attosecond pulses by combining the laser field and noise and observe that a roughly four orders of magnitude enhanced isolated attosecond burst can be generated.

  1. The influence of Room Acoustic Aspects on the Noise Exposure of Symphonic Orchestra Musicians

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Wenmaekers, R.H.C.; Hak, C.C.J.M.; Luxemburg, van L.C.J.

    2011-01-01

    Musicians in a symphonic orchestra are exposed to the noise of a large number of different sound sources. The noise exposure can vary largely and has many aspects of influence. One group of aspects are musical aspects, like the orchestra size and composition, the musical piece and its interpretation

  2. Spatio-Temporal Audio Enhancement Based on IAA Noise Covariance Matrix Estimates

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nørholm, Sidsel Marie; Jensen, Jesper Rindom; Christensen, Mads Græsbøll

    2014-01-01

    A method for estimating the noise covariance matrix in a mul- tichannel setup is proposed. The method is based on the iter- ative adaptive approach (IAA), which only needs short seg- ments of data to estimate the covariance matrix. Therefore, the method can be used for fast varying signals....... The method is based on an assumption of the desired signal being harmonic, which is used for estimating the noise covariance matrix from the covariance matrix of the observed signal. The noise co- variance estimate is used in the linearly constrained minimum variance (LCMV) filter and compared...

  3. External noise when using biofuel

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kotaleski, J.

    1994-08-01

    The aim of this study has been to cover sources of noise dealing with all steps in a biofuel chain; producing, transporting, storing and firing the biofuel. When the availability of relevant test results from noise surveys is not so good and mostly badly documented, the study has been concentrated on estimation of external noise for planning and design purposes, from a prospective biofuel-fired plant. A synoptic tabulation of estimated acoustic power levels from different noise sources, has been done. The results from measurements of external noise from different existing combined power and heating plants are tabulated. The Nordic model for simulation of external noise has been used for a prospective plant - VEGA - designed by Vattenfall. The aim has been to estimate its noise pollutions at critical points at the nearest residential area (250 m from the fenced industry area). The software - ILYD - is easy to handle, but knowledge about the model is necessary. A requisite for the reliability is the access to measurements or estimations of different sources of noise, at different levels of octaves from 63 to 8000 Hz. The degree of accuracy increases with the number of broad band sources, that are integrated. Using ILYD with available data, a night limit of 40 dB(A) should be possible to fulfill with good degree of accuracy at VEGA, between 10 pm and 7 am, with good planning and under normal operation conditions. A demand for 35 dB(A) as a limit can be harder to fulfill, especially at mornings from 6 to 7. Noise from heavy vehicles within the plant area is classified as industrial noise and not as road traffic noise. This type of noise depends very much on the way of driving and assumed acceleration. Concerning wheel-mounted loaders, they may then only be used during daytime. The simulations show, that even at daytime from 7 to 6 pm, it would be possible to use an acoustically damped chipping machine, inside the power industry area. 31 refs, 13 figs, tabs, 8

  4. An Integrated Real-Time Beamforming and Postfiltering System for Nonstationary Noise Environments

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gannot Sharon

    2003-01-01

    Full Text Available We present a novel approach for real-time multichannel speech enhancement in environments of nonstationary noise and time-varying acoustical transfer functions (ATFs. The proposed system integrates adaptive beamforming, ATF identification, soft signal detection, and multichannel postfiltering. The noise canceller branch of the beamformer and the ATF identification are adaptively updated online, based on hypothesis test results. The noise canceller is updated only during stationary noise frames, and the ATF identification is carried out only when desired source components have been detected. The hypothesis testing is based on the nonstationarity of the signals and the transient power ratio between the beamformer primary output and its reference noise signals. Following the beamforming and the hypothesis testing, estimates for the signal presence probability and for the noise power spectral density are derived. Subsequently, an optimal spectral gain function that minimizes the mean square error of the log-spectral amplitude (LSA is applied. Experimental results demonstrate the usefulness of the proposed system in nonstationary noise environments.

  5. Effects of Aircraft Noise and Sonic Booms on Domestic Animals and Wildlife: Bibliographic Abstracts

    Science.gov (United States)

    1988-06-01

    However, noise-exposed mice experienceda longer time interval between litters and lower weight gain of young, compared to the controls. Busnel, R.G., and...effects of sounds of varying intensities. Poult. Sci. 37:776-779. Broiler chickens were exposed to recorded airfield noise and aircraft flyovers from the...pen of broilers is more likely to occur from an isolated low-level flyover than from continuous noise resulting from close proximity to an airfield

  6. Occupational noise exposure, psychosocial working conditions and the risk of tinnitus

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Frederiksen, Thomas Winther; Ramlau-Hansen, Cecilia Høst; Stokholm, Zara Ann

    2017-01-01

    PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the influence of occupational noise (current and cumulative doses) and psychosocial work factors (psychological demands and decision latitude) on tinnitus occurrence among workers, using objective and non-self-reported exposure measures to preven...

  7. Synchronizing the noise-perturbed Lue chaotic system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang Yan; Chen Shihua; Zhou Hong

    2009-01-01

    In this paper, synchronization between unidirectionally coupled Lue chaotic systems with noise perturbation is investigated theoretically and numerically. Sufficient conditions of synchronization between these noise-perturbed systems are established by means of the so-called sliding mode control method. Some numerical simulations are also included to visualize the effectiveness and the feasibility of the developed approach.

  8. The Influence of Visibility Conditions in Horizontal Road Curves on the Efficiency of Noise Protection Barriers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Džambas Tamara

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available Ensuring sufficient visibility on planned roads by sight distance testing is an integral part of every project, but problems with visibility can emerge when noise barriers are erected on existing roads. Namely, in order to provide sufficient noise protection, high noise barriers are often placed at minimum distance from the carriageway edge, and additional visibility testing in most cases is not carried out.

  9. Significance of shock structure on supersonic jet mixing noise of axisymmetric nozzles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Chan M.; Krejsa, Eugene A.; Khavaran, Abbas

    1994-09-01

    One of the key technical elements in NASA's high speed research program is reducing the noise level to meet the federal noise regulation. The dominant noise source is associated with the supersonic jet discharged from the engine exhaust system. Whereas the turbulence mixing is largely responsible for the generation of the jet noise, a broadband shock-associated noise is also generated when the nozzle operates at conditions other than its design. For both mixing and shock noise components, because the source of the noise is embedded in the jet plume, one can expect that jet noise can be predicted from the jet flowfield computation. Mani et al. developed a unified aerodynamic/acoustic prediction scheme by applying an extension of Reichardt's aerodynamic model to compute turbulent shear stresses which are utilized in estimating the strength of the noise source. Although this method produces a fast and practical estimate of the jet noise, a modification by Khavaran et al. has led to an improvement in aerodynamic solution. The most notable feature in this work is that Reichardt's model is replaced with the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) solution of Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations. The major advantage of this work is that the essential, noise-related flow quantities such as turbulence intensity and shock strength can be better predicted. The predictions were limited to a shock-free design condition and the effect of shock structure on the jet mixing noise was not addressed. The present work is aimed at investigating this issue. Under imperfectly expanded conditions the existence of the shock cell structure and its interaction with the convecting turbulence structure may not only generate a broadband shock-associated noise but also change the turbulence structure, and thus the strength of the mixing noise source. Failure in capturing shock structures properly could lead to incorrect aeroacoustic predictions.

  10. Complaints about noise from windmills

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1992-10-01

    With the aim of examining the subject of noise made by windmills and discovering the characteristics that are commonly found with regard to complaints in this respect, 10 cases were selected from a total of 40 in order to carry out a critical examination of the matter. The chosen cases were concerned with both small and medium-sized wind turbines located in groups or standing alone. The authors of the complaints lived within a distance of 160-166 meters from the cited windmills which could be described as producing an average amount of noise in relation to their size. It was clear from available material (including telephone interviews) that noise was experienced as being the most disturbing, although light-flashing from turbine blades, shadowing and aesthetic considerations related to scenic location were also named. In most cases the noise was so distressing that it influenced people's decisions on whether, or where, to go outside their homes and whether or not to open their windows. Most complaints were about machine noise and other audible tones, and about half of them concerned the swish of turning blades. Most people were especially bothered when the wind did not blow so hard (so that the wind in the trees etc. was not so loud). The persistancy of the noise generated was considered to contribute most to the depreciation of life quality. It was found that the amount of irritation coincided with noise loads of L r at a wind velocity of 5 or 8 m/s. A table is presented to illustrate registered noise conditions. (AB)

  11. Data-driven adaptive fractional order PI control for PMSM servo system with measurement noise and data dropouts.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xie, Yuanlong; Tang, Xiaoqi; Song, Bao; Zhou, Xiangdong; Guo, Yixuan

    2018-04-01

    In this paper, data-driven adaptive fractional order proportional integral (AFOPI) control is presented for permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM) servo system perturbed by measurement noise and data dropouts. The proposed method directly exploits the closed-loop process data for the AFOPI controller design under unknown noise distribution and data missing probability. Firstly, the proposed method constructs the AFOPI controller tuning problem as a parameter identification problem using the modified l p norm virtual reference feedback tuning (VRFT). Then, iteratively reweighted least squares is integrated into the l p norm VRFT to give a consistent compensation solution for the AFOPI controller. The measurement noise and data dropouts are estimated and eliminated by feedback compensation periodically, so that the AFOPI controller is updated online to accommodate the time-varying operating conditions. Moreover, the convergence and stability are guaranteed by mathematical analysis. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed method is demonstrated both on simulations and experiments implemented on a practical PMSM servo system. Copyright © 2018 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  12. Visibility of wavelet quantization noise

    Science.gov (United States)

    Watson, A. B.; Yang, G. Y.; Solomon, J. A.; Villasenor, J.

    1997-01-01

    The discrete wavelet transform (DWT) decomposes an image into bands that vary in spatial frequency and orientation. It is widely used for image compression. Measures of the visibility of DWT quantization errors are required to achieve optimal compression. Uniform quantization of a single band of coefficients results in an artifact that we call DWT uniform quantization noise; it is the sum of a lattice of random amplitude basis functions of the corresponding DWT synthesis filter. We measured visual detection thresholds for samples of DWT uniform quantization noise in Y, Cb, and Cr color channels. The spatial frequency of a wavelet is r 2-lambda, where r is display visual resolution in pixels/degree, and lambda is the wavelet level. Thresholds increase rapidly with wavelet spatial frequency. Thresholds also increase from Y to Cr to Cb, and with orientation from lowpass to horizontal/vertical to diagonal. We construct a mathematical model for DWT noise detection thresholds that is a function of level, orientation, and display visual resolution. This allows calculation of a "perceptually lossless" quantization matrix for which all errors are in theory below the visual threshold. The model may also be used as the basis for adaptive quantization schemes.

  13. Temperature noise characteristics of pressurized water reactors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sweeney, F.J.; Upadhyaya, B.R.

    1984-01-01

    The core exit temperature noise RMS is linearly related to the core ΔT at a commercial PWR and LOFT. Test loop observations indicate that this linear behavior becomes nonlinear with blockages, boiling, or power skews. The linear neutron flux to temperature noise phase behavior is indicative of a pure time delay process, which has been shown to be related to coolant flow velocity in the core. Therefore, temperature noise could provide a valuable diagnostic tool for the detection of coolant blockages, boiling, and sensor malfunction under both normal and accident conditions in a PWR

  14. Removing Noise From Pyrosequenced Amplicons

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Davenport Russell J

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background In many environmental genomics applications a homologous region of DNA from a diverse sample is first amplified by PCR and then sequenced. The next generation sequencing technology, 454 pyrosequencing, has allowed much larger read numbers from PCR amplicons than ever before. This has revolutionised the study of microbial diversity as it is now possible to sequence a substantial fraction of the 16S rRNA genes in a community. However, there is a growing realisation that because of the large read numbers and the lack of consensus sequences it is vital to distinguish noise from true sequence diversity in this data. Otherwise this leads to inflated estimates of the number of types or operational taxonomic units (OTUs present. Three sources of error are important: sequencing error, PCR single base substitutions and PCR chimeras. We present AmpliconNoise, a development of the PyroNoise algorithm that is capable of separately removing 454 sequencing errors and PCR single base errors. We also introduce a novel chimera removal program, Perseus, that exploits the sequence abundances associated with pyrosequencing data. We use data sets where samples of known diversity have been amplified and sequenced to quantify the effect of each of the sources of error on OTU inflation and to validate these algorithms. Results AmpliconNoise outperforms alternative algorithms substantially reducing per base error rates for both the GS FLX and latest Titanium protocol. All three sources of error lead to inflation of diversity estimates. In particular, chimera formation has a hitherto unrealised importance which varies according to amplification protocol. We show that AmpliconNoise allows accurate estimates of OTU number. Just as importantly AmpliconNoise generates the right OTUs even at low sequence differences. We demonstrate that Perseus has very high sensitivity, able to find 99% of chimeras, which is critical when these are present at high

  15. Environmental propagation of noise in mines and nearby villages: A study through noise mapping

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Veena D Manwar

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Background: Noise mapping being an established practice in Europe is hardly practiced for noise management in India although it is mandatory in Indian mines as per guidelines of the Directorate General of Mines Safety (DGMS. As a pilot study, noise mapping was conducted in an opencast mine with three different models; one based on the baseline operating conditions in two shifts (Situation A, and two other virtual situations where either production targets were enhanced by extending working hours to three shifts (Situation B or only by increased mechanization and not changing the duration of work (Situation C. Methods: Noise sources were categorized as point, line, area, and moving sources. Considering measured power of the sources, specific meteorological and geographical parameters, noise maps were generated using Predictor LimA software. Results: In all three situations, Lden values were 95 dB(A and 70–80 dB(A near drill machine and haul roads, respectively. Noise contours were wider in Situation C due to increase in frequency of dumpers. Lden values near Shovel 1 and Shovel 2 under Situation B increased by 5 dB and 3 dB, respectively due to expansion of working hours. In Situation C, noise levels were >82 dB(A around shovels. Noise levels on both sides of conveyor belts were in the range of 80–85 dB(A in Situations A and C whereas it was 85–90 dB(A in Situation B. Near crusher plants, it ranged from 80 to 90 dB(A in Situations A and C and between 85 and 95 dB(A in Situation B. In all situations, noise levels near residential areas exceeded the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB limits, i.e., 55 dB(A. Conclusions: For all situations, predicted noise levels exceeded CPCB limits within the mine and nearby residential area. Residential areas near the crusher plants are vulnerable to increased noise propagation. It is recommended to put an acoustic barrier near the crusher plant to attenuate the noise propagation.

  16. How to encourage road noise abatement in Nordic municipalities

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sørensen, Claus Hedegaard

    2008-01-01

    Road noise nuisance is a huge problem in the Nordic countries, and it seems diffi cult for Nordic countries to meet national targets for its reduction. One reason for this is the lack of municipal activities in the fi eld. Th us the research question that this article seeks to answer in relation...... to already existing residential areas and roads is: which conditions in the municipal organisation and its institutional environment contribute to making municipalities provide and implement noise abatement measures? Th e assumption is that three factors infl uence how the municipalities prioritize among...... political issues: the municipal organisation itself, the local institutional environment (citizens, business and NGOs), and the state and trans-municipal networks. A study of the anatomy of municipal road noise abatement policy shows that conditions for implementing road noise abatement in existing...

  17. Human observer detection experiments with mammograms and power-law noise

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Burgess, Arthur E.; Jacobson, Francine L.; Judy, Philip F.

    2001-01-01

    We determined contrast thresholds for lesion detection as a function of lesion size in both mammograms and filtered noise backgrounds with the same average power spectrum, P(f )=B/f 3 . Experiments were done using hybrid images with digital images of tumors added to digitized normal backgrounds, displayed on a monochrome monitor. Four tumors were extracted from digitized specimen radiographs. The lesion sizes were varied by digital rescaling to cover the range from 0.5 to 16 mm. Amplitudes were varied to determine the value required for 92% correct detection in two-alternative forced-choice (2AFC) and 90% for search experiments. Three observers participated, two physicists and a radiologist. The 2AFC mammographic results demonstrated a novel contrast-detail (CD) diagram with threshold amplitudes that increased steadily (with slope of 0.3) with increasing size for lesions larger than 1 mm. The slopes for prewhitening model observers were about 0.4. Human efficiency relative to these models was as high as 90%. The CD diagram slopes for the 2AFC experiments with filtered noise were 0.44 for humans and 0.5 for models. Human efficiency relative to the ideal observer was about 40%. The difference in efficiencies for the two types of backgrounds indicates that breast structure cannot be considered to be pure random noise for 2AFC experiments. Instead, 2AFC human detection with mammographic backgrounds is limited by a combination of noise and deterministic masking effects. The search experiments also gave thresholds that increased with lesion size. However, there was no difference in human results for mammographic and filtered noise backgrounds, suggesting that breast structure can be considered to be pure random noise for this task. Our conclusion is that, in spite of the fact that mammographic backgrounds have nonstationary statistics, models based on statistical decision theory can still be applied successfully to estimate human performance

  18. Contralateral Noise Stimulation Delays P300 Latency in School-Aged Children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ubiali, Thalita; Sanfins, Milaine Dominici; Borges, Leticia Reis; Colella-Santos, Maria Francisca

    2016-01-01

    The auditory cortex modulates auditory afferents through the olivocochlear system, which innervates the outer hair cells and the afferent neurons under the inner hair cells in the cochlea. Most of the studies that investigated the efferent activity in humans focused on evaluating the suppression of the otoacoustic emissions by stimulating the contralateral ear with noise, which assesses the activation of the medial olivocochlear bundle. The neurophysiology and the mechanisms involving efferent activity on higher regions of the auditory pathway, however, are still unknown. Also, the lack of studies investigating the effects of noise on human auditory cortex, especially in peadiatric population, points to the need for recording the late auditory potentials in noise conditions. Assessing the auditory efferents in schoolaged children is highly important due to some of its attributed functions such as selective attention and signal detection in noise, which are important abilities related to the development of language and academic skills. For this reason, the aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of noise on P300 responses of children with normal hearing. P300 was recorded in 27 children aged from 8 to 14 years with normal hearing in two conditions: with and whitout contralateral white noise stimulation. P300 latencies were significantly longer at the presence of contralateral noise. No significant changes were observed for the amplitude values. Contralateral white noise stimulation delayed P300 latency in a group of school-aged children with normal hearing. These results suggest a possible influence of the medial olivocochlear activation on P300 responses under noise condition.

  19. Introduction to noise-resilient computing

    CERN Document Server

    Yanushkevich, Svetlana N; Tangim, Golam

    2013-01-01

    Noise abatement is the key problem of small-scaled circuit design. New computational paradigms are needed -- as these circuits shrink, they become very vulnerable to noise and soft errors. In this lecture, we present a probabilistic computation framework for improving the resiliency of logic gates and circuits under random conditions induced by voltage or current fluctuation. Among many probabilistic techniques for modeling such devices, only a few models satisfy the requirements of efficient hardware implementation -- specifically, Boltzman machines and Markov Random Field (MRF) models. These

  20. Global noise studies for CMS Tracker upgrade

    CERN Document Server

    Arteche, F; Echevarria, I; Iglesias, M; Rivetta, C; Vila, I; 10.1088/1748-0221/5/12/C12029

    2010-01-01

    The characterization of the noise emissions of DC-DC converters at system level is critical to optimize the design of the detector and define rules for the integration strategy. This paper presents the impedance effects on the noise emissions of DC-DC converters at system level. Conducted and radiated noise emissions at the input and at the output from DC-DC converters have been simulated for different types of power network and FEE impedances. System aspects as granularity, stray capacitances of the system and different working conditions of the DC-DC converters are presented too. This study has been carried out using simulation models of noise emissions of DC-DC converters in the real scenario. The results of these studies show important recommendations and criteria to be applied to integrate the DC-DC converters and decrease the system noise level

  1. Moderators of noise-induced cognitive change in healthy adults

    OpenAIRE

    Wright, Bernice AL; Peters, Emmanuelle R; Ettinger, Ulrich; Kuipers, Elizabeth; Kumari, Veena

    2016-01-01

    Environmental noise causes cognitive impairment, particularly in executive function and episodic memory domains, in healthy populations. However, the possible moderating influences on this relationship are less clear. This study assessed 54 healthy participants (24 men) on a cognitive battery (measuring psychomotor speed, attention, executive function, working memory, and verbal learning and memory) under three (quiet, urban, and social) noise conditions. IQ, subjective noise sensitivity, sle...

  2. Listening to Sentences in Noise: Revealing Binaural Hearing Challenges in Patients with Schizophrenia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abdul Wahab, Noor Alaudin; Zakaria, Mohd Normani; Abdul Rahman, Abdul Hamid; Sidek, Dinsuhaimi; Wahab, Suzaily

    2017-11-01

    The present, case-control, study investigates binaural hearing performance in schizophrenia patients towards sentences presented in quiet and noise. Participants were twenty-one healthy controls and sixteen schizophrenia patients with normal peripheral auditory functions. The binaural hearing was examined in four listening conditions by using the Malay version of hearing in noise test. The syntactically and semantically correct sentences were presented via headphones to the randomly selected subjects. In each condition, the adaptively obtained reception thresholds for speech (RTS) were used to determine RTS noise composite and spatial release from masking. Schizophrenia patients demonstrated significantly higher mean RTS value relative to healthy controls (p=0.018). The large effect size found in three listening conditions, i.e., in quiet (d=1.07), noise right (d=0.88) and noise composite (d=0.90) indicates statistically significant difference between the groups. However, noise front and noise left conditions show medium (d=0.61) and small (d=0.50) effect size respectively. No statistical difference between groups was noted in regards to spatial release from masking on right (p=0.305) and left (p=0.970) ear. The present findings suggest an abnormal unilateral auditory processing in central auditory pathway in schizophrenia patients. Future studies to explore the role of binaural and spatial auditory processing were recommended.

  3. Lexical and age effects on word recognition in noise in normal-hearing children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ren, Cuncun; Liu, Sha; Liu, Haihong; Kong, Ying; Liu, Xin; Li, Shujing

    2015-12-01

    The purposes of the present study were (1) to examine the lexical and age effects on word recognition of normal-hearing (NH) children in noise, and (2) to compare the word-recognition performance in noise to that in quiet listening conditions. Participants were 213 NH children (age ranged between 3 and 6 years old). Eighty-nine and 124 of the participants were tested in noise and quiet listening conditions, respectively. The Standard-Chinese Lexical Neighborhood Test, which contains lists of words in four lexical categories (i.e., dissyllablic easy (DE), dissyllablic hard (DH), monosyllable easy (ME), and monosyllable hard (MH)) was used to evaluate the Mandarin Chinese word recognition in speech spectrum-shaped noise (SSN) with a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of 0dB. A two-way repeated-measures analysis of variance was conducted to examine the lexical effects with syllable length and difficulty level as the main factors on word recognition in the quiet and noise listening conditions. The effects of age on word-recognition performance were examined using a regression model. The word-recognition performance in noise was significantly poorer than that in quiet and the individual variations in performance in noise were much greater than those in quiet. Word recognition scores showed that the lexical effects were significant in the SSN. Children scored higher with dissyllabic words than with monosyllabic words; "easy" words scored higher than "hard" words in the noise condition. The scores of the NH children in the SSN (SNR=0dB) for the DE, DH, ME, and MH words were 85.4, 65.9, 71.7, and 46.2% correct, respectively. The word-recognition performance also increased with age in each lexical category for the NH children tested in noise. Both age and lexical characteristics of words had significant influences on the performance of Mandarin-Chinese word recognition in noise. The lexical effects were more obvious under noise listening conditions than in quiet. The word

  4. Working Memory and Speech Recognition in Noise under Ecologically Relevant Listening Conditions: Effects of Visual Cues and Noise Type among Adults with Hearing Loss

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miller, Christi W.; Stewart, Erin K.; Wu, Yu-Hsiang; Bishop, Christopher; Bentler, Ruth A.; Tremblay, Kelly

    2017-01-01

    Purpose: This study evaluated the relationship between working memory (WM) and speech recognition in noise with different noise types as well as in the presence of visual cues. Method: Seventy-six adults with bilateral, mild to moderately severe sensorineural hearing loss (mean age: 69 years) participated. Using a cross-sectional design, 2…

  5. Real-time corrosion monitoring of steel influenced by microbial activity (SRB) under controlled seawater injection conditions

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kane, Russell D. [InterCorr International, Inc., 14503 Bammel N. Houston Road, Suite 300, Houston, TX 77019 (United States); Campbell, Scott [Commercial Microbiology Inc., 10400 Westoffice Drive Suite 107, Houston, TX 77042 (United States)

    2004-07-01

    An experimental study of microbiologically influenced corrosion (MIC) was conducted involving online, real-time monitoring of a bio-film loop under controlled conditions simulating oil field water handling and injection. Bio-film growth, MIC and biocide efficacy were monitored using an automated, multi-technique monitoring system including linear polarization resistance, electrochemical noise and harmonic distortion analysis. This data was correlated with conventional off-line methods to differentiate conditions of varying MIC activity in real-time to facilitate quick assessment and operator intervention. (authors)

  6. Road traffic noise: self-reported noise annoyance versus GIS modelled road traffic noise exposure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Birk, Matthias; Ivina, Olga; von Klot, Stephanie; Babisch, Wolfgang; Heinrich, Joachim

    2011-11-01

    self-reported road traffic noise annoyance is commonly used in epidemiological studies for assessment of potential health effects. Alternatively, some studies have used geographic information system (GIS) modelled exposure to road traffic noise as an objective parameter. The aim of this study was to analyse the association between noise exposure due to neighbouring road traffic and the noise annoyance of adults, taking other determinants into consideration. parents of 951 Munich children from the two German birth cohorts GINIplus and LISAplus reported their annoyance due to road traffic noise at home. GIS modelled road traffic noise exposure (L(den), maximum within a 50 m buffer) from the noise map of the city of Munich was available for all families. GIS-based calculated distance to the closest major road (≥10,000 vehicles per day) and questionnaire based-information about family income, parental education and the type of the street of residence were explored for their potential influence. An ordered logit regression model was applied. The noise levels (L(den)) and the reported noise annoyance were compared with an established exposure-response function. the correlation between noise annoyance and noise exposure (L(den)) was fair (Spearman correlation r(s) = 0.37). The distance to a major road and the type of street were strong predictors for the noise annoyance. The annoyance modelled by the established exposure-response function and that estimated by the ordered logit model were moderately associated (Pearson's correlation r(p) = 0.50). road traffic noise annoyance was associated with GIS modelled neighbouring road traffic noise exposure (L(den)). The distance to a major road and the type of street were additional explanatory factors of the noise annoyance appraisal.

  7. Rotary Compressor Noise Analysis Using Mechanisms and Electromagnetics Coupled Approach

    OpenAIRE

    Chung, Jinah; Lee, Uiyoon; Lee, Jeongbae; Lee, Unseop; Han, Eunsil; Yoon, Jinhwan

    2016-01-01

    This research is conducted to investigate noise source and design low noise compressors. For improving energy efficiency, the rotary compressor with variable speed brushless DC motor is increasingly adopted for appliances. However brushless DC motor makes more compressor vibration than constant speed motor compressor at high speed operating condition. Therefore it is necessary to reduce noise and vibration for improving air conditioner quality. In this study, compressor’s noise and vibrat...

  8. Noise-induced chaos and basin erosion in softening Duffing oscillator

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gan Chunbiao

    2005-01-01

    It is common for many dynamical systems to have two or more attractors coexist and in such cases the basin boundary is fractal. The purpose of this paper is to study the noise-induced chaos and discuss the effect of noises on erosion of safe basin in the softening Duffing oscillator. The Melnikov approach is used to obtain the necessary condition for the rising of chaos, and the largest Lyapunov exponent is computed to identify the chaotic nature of the sample time series from the system. According to the Melnikov condition, the safe basins are simulated for both the deterministic and the stochastic cases of the system. It is shown that the external Gaussian white noise excitation is robust for inducing the chaos, while the external bounded noise is weak. Moreover, the erosion of the safe basin can be aggravated by both the Gaussian white and the bounded noise excitations, and fractal boundary can appear when the system is only excited by the random processes, which means noise-induced chaotic response is induced

  9. Risky behavior and its effect on survival: snowshoe hare behavior under varying moonlight conditions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gigliotti, Laura C.; Diefenbach, Duane R.

    2018-01-01

    Predation and predation risk can exert strong influences on the behavior of prey species. However, risk avoidance behaviors may vary among populations of the same species. We studied a population of snowshoe hares (Lepus americanus) near the southern edge of their range, in Pennsylvania. This population occupies different habitat types, experiences different environmental conditions, and are exposed to different predator species and densities than northern hare populations; therefore, they might exhibit differences in risk avoidance behaviors. We analyzed hare survival, movement rates, and habitat use under different levels of predation risk, as indexed by moonlight. Similar to previous work, we found snowshoe hare survival decreased with increased moon illumination during the winter, but we found differences in behavioral responses to increased predation risk. We found that snowshoe hares did not reduce movement rates during high‐risk nights, but instead found that hares selected areas with denser canopy cover, compared to low‐risk nights. We suggest that behavioral plasticity in response to predation risk allows populations of the same species to respond to localized conditions.

  10. Judgments of aircraft noise in a traffic noise background

    Science.gov (United States)

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

    1975-01-01

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

  11. Noise emission from wind turbines in wake. Project report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dam Madsen, K.; Plovsing, B. (DELTA, Hoersholm (Denmark)); Soerensen, Thomas (EMD International A/S, Aalborg (Denmark)); Aagaard Madsen, H.; Bertagnolio, F. (Technical Univ. of Denmark, Risoe National Lab. for Sustainable Energy, Roskilde (Denmark))

    2011-03-15

    When installing wind turbines in clusters or wind farms the inflow conditions to the wind turbines can be disturbed due to wake effects from other wind turbines. The effect of wake on noise generation from wind turbines are described in this report. The work is based on measurements carried out on a M80 2 MW wind turbine. To investigate the relationship between the far field noise levels and the surface pressure and inflow angles measured by sensors on an instrumented wind turbine blade, a parabolic measurement system (PMMS) was designed and tested as part of this project. Based on the measurement results obtained with surface pressure sensors and results from the far field measurements using the PMMS it is concluded that: The variance of surface pressure at the trailing edge (TE) agrees with the theory with regard to variation of pressure spectra with varying inflow angle (AoA) to the blade. Low frequency TE surface pressure increases with increased AoA and high frequency surface pressure decreases with increased AoA. It seems that the TE surface pressure remains almost unaltered during wake operation. Results from the surface transducers at the leading edge (LE) and the inflow angles determined from the pitot tube indicates that the inflow at LE is more turbulent in wake for the same AoA and with a low frequency characteristic, thereby giving rise to more low frequency noise generated during wake operation. The far field measurements supports that on one hand there will be produced relative more low frequency noise due to a turbulent inflow to the blade and on the other hand there will be produced less noise in the broader frequency range/high frequency range due to a lower inflow angle caused by the wind deficit in the wake. The net effect of wake on the total noise level is unresolved. As a secondary result it is seen that noise observed from a position on the ground is related to directional effects of the noise radiated from the wind turbine blade. For an

  12. [HYGIENIC ASSESSMENT OF NOISE FACTOR OF THE LARGE CITY].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chubirko, M L; Stepkin, Yu I; Seredenko, O V

    2015-01-01

    The article is devoted to the problem of the negative impact of traffic noise on the health and living conditions of the population in conditions of the large city. Every day on the streets there are appeared more and more different modes of transport, and to date almost all transportation network has reached his traffic performance. The increase in traffic noise certainly has an impact on the human body. The most common and intense noise is caused by the traffic of urban automobile and electric transport. This is explained by the existence of the heavy traffic (2-3 thousand crews/h) on almost all main roads in historically emerged parts of the city. In addition, sources of external noise in the city can be a railway running in residential zone, access roads, industrial enterprises, located in close proximity to residential areas and on the borders of residential zones, planes of military and civil aviation. For the evaluation of the different noises sound levels were measured with the use of sound level meters. The most common parameter for the assessment ofthe noise generatedfrom motor vehicles on residential areas and usedfor the noise characteristics of the traffic flows, is the equivalent sound level/A EQ dB. This parameter is used in the majority of normative-technical documentation as hygienic noise standard. With the aim of the assessment of noise exposure there were selected 122 control points at intersections of roads of different traffic performance where there were made instrumental measurements the equivalent sound level, followed by its comparison with permissible levels.

  13. [Evaluation of a transient noise reduction strategy on the loudness perception and sound quality].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Haihong; Zhang, Hua; Chen, Xueqing; Wu, Yanjun; Kong, Ying; Wang, Shuo; Li, Jing

    2010-10-01

    A current technology for detecting and controlling transient noise in hearing aids (AntiShock) was evaluated. The objective was to evaluate AntiShock on loudness control and whether results in negative changes in sound quality of speech, transient noise and environmental noise and provide implications for hearing aid fitting. Twenty-four subjects with sensorineural hearing loss participated in the study. In a single-blinded paradigm, the subjects were asked to rate loudness of transient noise and distortion of speech, transient noise and environmental noise with the AntiShock in both on and off conditions. (1) The percentage of the transient noise rated as soft, comfortable, loud, too loud was 3.0%, 72.7%, 22.9% and 1.4%, respectively. There were significant differences in mean scores of loudness perception among listening conditions and between genders by a Two-Way ANOVA, the P values were 0.009 and 0.001, respectively. (2) The percentage of the speech rated as mild distorted, understandable, clear and very clear was 2.5%, 30.6%, 32.9% and 34.0%, respectively. There were significant differences in mean scores of speech distortion under different listening conditions by an One-Way ANOVA (P 0.05). (4) The percentage of the environmental noise rated as mild distorted, clear but soft, clear and natural was 0.4%, 0.8% and 98.8%, respectively. No significant differences in mean scores of nature of environmental noise was found between different listening conditions by an Independent-Samples T Test (P > 0.05). AntiShock showed positive effects on the loudness control of the transient noise. Quality of speech, transient noise and environmental noise were not impacted by AntiShock.

  14. Laser line shape and spectral density of frequency noise

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stephan, G.M.; Blin, S.; Besnard, P.; Tam, T.T.; Tetu, M.

    2005-01-01

    Published experimental results show that single-mode laser light is characterized in the microwave range by a frequency noise which essentially includes a white part and a 1/f (flicker) part. We theoretically show that the spectral density (the line shape) which is compatible with these results is a Voigt profile whose Lorentzian part or homogeneous component is linked to the white noise and the Gaussian part to the 1/f noise. We measure semiconductor laser line profiles and verify that they can be fit with Voigt functions. It is also verified that the width of the Lorentzian part varies like 1/P where P is the laser power while the width of the Gaussian part is more of a constant. Finally, we theoretically show from first principles that laser line shapes are also described by Voigt functions where the Lorentzian part is the laser Airy function and the Gaussian part originates from population noise

  15. Measurement of luminance noise and chromaticity noise of LCDs with a colorimeter and a color camera

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roehrig, H.; Dallas, W. J.; Krupinski, E. A.; Redford, Gary R.

    2007-09-01

    This communication focuses on physical evaluation of image quality of displays for applications in medical imaging. In particular we were interested in luminance noise as well as chromaticity noise of LCDs. Luminance noise has been encountered in the study of monochrome LCDs for some time, but chromaticity noise is a new type of noise which has been encountered first when monochrome and color LCDs were compared in an ROC study. In this present study one color and one monochrome 3 M-pixel LCDs were studied. Both were DICOM calibrated with equal dynamic range. We used a Konica Minolta Chroma Meter CS-200 as well as a Foveon color camera to estimate luminance and chrominance variations of the displays. We also used a simulation experiment to estimate luminance noise. The measurements with the colorimeter were consistent. The measurements with the Foveon color camera were very preliminary as color cameras had never been used for image quality measurements. However they were extremely promising. The measurements with the colorimeter and the simulation results showed that the luminance and chromaticity noise of the color LCD were larger than that of the monochrome LCD. Under the condition that an adequate calibration method and image QA/QC program for color displays are available, we expect color LCDs may be ready for radiology in very near future.

  16. Power reactor noise studies and applications

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Arzhanov, V

    2002-03-01

    needs to redefine such common methods in reactor physics as point kinetic and adiabatic approximations because various functions involved have different regions of definition. The thesis presents one possible line of developing the general theory of linear kinetics as applied to systems with varying size. It also develops further the Green's function technique in two ways. First, the Green's function method is used to obtain an analytical solution for the one-group model with constant parameters. Mathematically, the model is described by an equation with inhomogeneous boundary condition. In addition, the absorber model is proposed, which happens to be very useful in deriving, for example, the point reactor and adiabatic approximation for the neutron noise due to oscillating boundaries. Second, the Green's function method is developed to derive another analytical solution for the general multigroup model with space-dependent parameters. This leads further to the generalised multi-group absorber model, which, in turn, gives a generalisation of the point reactor and adiabatic approximation for the multi-group model. Moreover, the general absorber model allows to develop further the adjoint function method to represent the neutron noise induced by fluctuating boundaries in the multi-group diffusion theory. Finally, the thesis investigates monotonicity properties of the effective multiplication factor, k{sub eff}, in particular it gives a formal proof to the nesting hypothesis, which states that k{sub eff} can only increase (or stay constant) in case of nesting, i.e. when adding extra volume to the system.

  17. Power reactor noise studies and applications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Arzhanov, V.

    2002-03-01

    needs to redefine such common methods in reactor physics as point kinetic and adiabatic approximations because various functions involved have different regions of definition. The thesis presents one possible line of developing the general theory of linear kinetics as applied to systems with varying size. It also develops further the Green's function technique in two ways. First, the Green's function method is used to obtain an analytical solution for the one-group model with constant parameters. Mathematically, the model is described by an equation with inhomogeneous boundary condition. In addition, the absorber model is proposed, which happens to be very useful in deriving, for example, the point reactor and adiabatic approximation for the neutron noise due to oscillating boundaries. Second, the Green's function method is developed to derive another analytical solution for the general multigroup model with space-dependent parameters. This leads further to the generalised multi-group absorber model, which, in turn, gives a generalisation of the point reactor and adiabatic approximation for the multi-group model. Moreover, the general absorber model allows to develop further the adjoint function method to represent the neutron noise induced by fluctuating boundaries in the multi-group diffusion theory. Finally, the thesis investigates monotonicity properties of the effective multiplication factor, k eff , in particular it gives a formal proof to the nesting hypothesis, which states that k eff can only increase (or stay constant) in case of nesting, i.e. when adding extra volume to the system

  18. 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.

  19. Shinkansen noise: Research and achievements in countermeasures for Shinkansen noise

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kikuchi, I.

    1988-01-01

    In 1982, the Tohoku and Joetsu Shinkansen lines were opened. The result is the present Shinkansen network that runs through Japan from north to south, leading to a remarkable improvement in railway services, together with the provision of new, efficient connections with conventional lines. Since the opening of the Tokaido Shinkansen, the high utility of the Shinkansen as a high speed, large volume, and safe mode of transport has been gaining a high reputation. On the other hand, social demands for environmental preservation increased in strength with the advent of the period of Japan's high economic growth. Such demands were posed in the form of complaints about air and water pollution and noise from transportation. The problems of noise and vibration from Shinkansen train operation were posed mainly in relation to railway viaducts in urban areas. The Japanese National Railways (JNR) has made all-out efforts in technical development for noise reduction, obtained many achievements, and put them into practical use one by one on the Shinkansen lines. In the early stage of studies, there were many virgin areas for JNR staff, such as measurement technology, estimation methods, and noise alleviation technology. With the start of full-scale testing at a general test center in 1975, various studies and the development of effective measures made a great step forward. In March 1985, the maximum speed on the Tohoku Shinkansen was increased to 240 km/h, enhancing the Shinkansen reputation and resulting in a considerable growth of traffic. As a matter of course, new measures for noise reduction were taken for this line. In view of the history and results of voluminous studies over many years on the Shinkansen noise problem, and also of the roles and surrounding conditions of the Shinkansen as a mode of transport, however, new tasks are being posed concerning such aspects as how to accomplish environmental preservation in the future.

  20. Training to Improve Hearing Speech in Noise: Biological Mechanisms

    Science.gov (United States)

    Song, Judy H.; Skoe, Erika; Banai, Karen

    2012-01-01

    We investigated training-related improvements in listening in noise and the biological mechanisms mediating these improvements. Training-related malleability was examined using a program that incorporates cognitively based listening exercises to improve speech-in-noise perception. Before and after training, auditory brainstem responses to a speech syllable were recorded in quiet and multitalker noise from adults who ranged in their speech-in-noise perceptual ability. Controls did not undergo training but were tested at intervals equivalent to the trained subjects. Trained subjects exhibited significant improvements in speech-in-noise perception that were retained 6 months later. Subcortical responses in noise demonstrated training-related enhancements in the encoding of pitch-related cues (the fundamental frequency and the second harmonic), particularly for the time-varying portion of the syllable that is most vulnerable to perceptual disruption (the formant transition region). Subjects with the largest strength of pitch encoding at pretest showed the greatest perceptual improvement. Controls exhibited neither neurophysiological nor perceptual changes. We provide the first demonstration that short-term training can improve the neural representation of cues important for speech-in-noise perception. These results implicate and delineate biological mechanisms contributing to learning success, and they provide a conceptual advance to our understanding of the kind of training experiences that can influence sensory processing in adulthood. PMID:21799207

  1. An intervention for noise control of blast furnace in steel industry.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Golmohammadi, Rostam; Giahi, Omid; Aliabadi, Mohsen; Darvishi, Ebrahim

    2014-01-01

    Noise pollution is currently a major health risk factor for workers in industries. The aim of this study was to investigate noise pollution and implement a control intervention plan for blast furnace in a steel industry. The measurement of sound pressure level (SPL) along with frequency analysis was done with the sound-level-meter Cell-450. Personal noise exposure was performed using dosimeter TES-1345 calibrated with CEL-282. Before planning noise controls, acoustic insulation properties of the furnace control unit and workers' rest room were assessed. Control room and workers' rest room were redesigned in order to improve acoustical condition. The SPL before intervention around the Blast Furnace was 90.3 dB (L) and its dominant frequency was 4000 Hz. Besides, noise transmission loss of the control and rest rooms were 10.3 dB and 4.2 dB, respectively. After intervention, noise reduction rates in the control and rest rooms were 27.4 dB and 27.7 dB, respectively. The workers' noise dose before and after the intervention was 240% and less than 100%, respectively. Improvement the workroom acoustic conditions through noise insulation can be considered effective method for preventing workers exposure to harmful noise.

  2. Noise measurements of YBa2Cu3O7 thin film high-temperature superconductors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hall, J.J.

    1992-01-01

    The characteristics of thin-film YBa2Cu3O7 superconductors were studied from the superconducting region through the transition region and into the normal region. The properties studied included the resistance-temperature, current-voltage, and electrical noise with concentration of measurements in the transition region. The resistance vs. temperature measurements show a zero resistance followed by a small rise in magnitude at the onset of resistance followed by a sharp increase until the resistance tapers off in the fully normal region. The a-axis films had a larger normal resistivity, a lower critical temperature, and a broader transition than the similar c-axis films. The current(I) - voltage(V) measurements were concentrated in the transition region. A power relation between I and V was found to be V varies as I a(T) where a(T) is temperature dependent starting high the onset of vortex formation, approaches 3 at the vortex unbinding temperature, and goes to 1 when fully normal. This behavior was predicted by the Kosterlitz-Thouless theory and was found experimentally in all four films measured. The current-induced electrical noise characteristics were measured for four samples varying in thickness and axis orientation. Each film exhibited a widely varying magnitude of the noise voltage spectral density (S V ) in the transition region with a leveling off when fully normal. The normalized noise (S V /V squared) showed a sharp decrease in magnitude from the onset of measurable noise continually decreasing until flattening out when fully normal. The a-axis films exhibited S V /V squared over 3 order of magnitude larger than the c-axis films in the transition and normal regions. The normalized temperature coefficient of resistance (beta) was plotted against S V /V squared on a log-log scale to see if the noise generated was due to temperature fluctuations (slope = 2)

  3. Characterizing transient noise in the LIGO detectors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nuttall, L. K.

    2018-05-01

    Data from the LIGO detectors typically contain many non-Gaussian noise transients which arise due to instrumental and environmental conditions. These non-Gaussian transients can be an issue for the modelled and unmodelled transient gravitational-wave searches, as they can mask or mimic a true signal. Data quality can change quite rapidly, making it imperative to track and find new sources of transient noise so that data are minimally contaminated. Several examples of transient noise and the tools used to track them are presented. These instances serve to highlight the diverse range of noise sources present at the LIGO detectors during their second observing run. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue `The promises of gravitational-wave astronomy'.

  4. Effects of varying environmental conditions on emissivity spectra of bulk lunar soils: Application to Diviner thermal infrared observations of the Moon

    Science.gov (United States)

    Donaldson Hanna, K. L.; Greenhagen, B. T.; Patterson, W. R.; Pieters, C. M.; Mustard, J. F.; Bowles, N. E.; Paige, D. A.; Glotch, T. D.; Thompson, C.

    2017-02-01

    Currently, few thermal infrared measurements exist of fine particulate (samples (e.g. minerals, mineral mixtures, rocks, meteorites, and lunar soils) measured under simulated lunar conditions. Such measurements are fundamental for interpreting thermal infrared (TIR) observations by the Diviner Lunar Radiometer Experiment (Diviner) onboard NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter as well as future TIR observations of the Moon and other airless bodies. In this work, we present thermal infrared emissivity measurements of a suite of well-characterized Apollo lunar soils and a fine particulate (sample as we systematically vary parameters that control the near-surface environment in our vacuum chamber (atmospheric pressure, incident solar-like radiation, and sample cup temperature). The atmospheric pressure is varied between ambient (1000 mbar) and vacuum (radiation is varied between 52 and 146 mW/cm2, and the sample cup temperature is varied between 325 and 405 K. Spectral changes are characterized as each parameter is varied, which highlight the sensitivity of thermal infrared emissivity spectra to the atmospheric pressure and the incident solar-like radiation. Finally spectral measurements of Apollo 15 and 16 bulk lunar soils are compared with Diviner thermal infrared observations of the Apollo 15 and 16 sampling sites. This comparison allows us to constrain the temperature and pressure conditions that best simulate the near-surface environment of the Moon for future laboratory measurements and to better interpret lunar surface compositions as observed by Diviner.

  5. Speech recognition in natural background noise.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Julien Meyer

    Full Text Available In the real world, human speech recognition nearly always involves listening in background noise. The impact of such noise on speech signals and on intelligibility performance increases with the separation of the listener from the speaker. The present behavioral experiment provides an overview of the effects of such acoustic disturbances on speech perception in conditions approaching ecologically valid contexts. We analysed the intelligibility loss in spoken word lists with increasing listener-to-speaker distance in a typical low-level natural background noise. The noise was combined with the simple spherical amplitude attenuation due to distance, basically changing the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR. Therefore, our study draws attention to some of the most basic environmental constraints that have pervaded spoken communication throughout human history. We evaluated the ability of native French participants to recognize French monosyllabic words (spoken at 65.3 dB(A, reference at 1 meter at distances between 11 to 33 meters, which corresponded to the SNRs most revealing of the progressive effect of the selected natural noise (-8.8 dB to -18.4 dB. Our results showed that in such conditions, identity of vowels is mostly preserved, with the striking peculiarity of the absence of confusion in vowels. The results also confirmed the functional role of consonants during lexical identification. The extensive analysis of recognition scores, confusion patterns and associated acoustic cues revealed that sonorant, sibilant and burst properties were the most important parameters influencing phoneme recognition. . Altogether these analyses allowed us to extract a resistance scale from consonant recognition scores. We also identified specific perceptual consonant confusion groups depending of the place in the words (onset vs. coda. Finally our data suggested that listeners may access some acoustic cues of the CV transition, opening interesting perspectives for

  6. Speech recognition in natural background noise.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meyer, Julien; Dentel, Laure; Meunier, Fanny

    2013-01-01

    In the real world, human speech recognition nearly always involves listening in background noise. The impact of such noise on speech signals and on intelligibility performance increases with the separation of the listener from the speaker. The present behavioral experiment provides an overview of the effects of such acoustic disturbances on speech perception in conditions approaching ecologically valid contexts. We analysed the intelligibility loss in spoken word lists with increasing listener-to-speaker distance in a typical low-level natural background noise. The noise was combined with the simple spherical amplitude attenuation due to distance, basically changing the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). Therefore, our study draws attention to some of the most basic environmental constraints that have pervaded spoken communication throughout human history. We evaluated the ability of native French participants to recognize French monosyllabic words (spoken at 65.3 dB(A), reference at 1 meter) at distances between 11 to 33 meters, which corresponded to the SNRs most revealing of the progressive effect of the selected natural noise (-8.8 dB to -18.4 dB). Our results showed that in such conditions, identity of vowels is mostly preserved, with the striking peculiarity of the absence of confusion in vowels. The results also confirmed the functional role of consonants during lexical identification. The extensive analysis of recognition scores, confusion patterns and associated acoustic cues revealed that sonorant, sibilant and burst properties were the most important parameters influencing phoneme recognition. . Altogether these analyses allowed us to extract a resistance scale from consonant recognition scores. We also identified specific perceptual consonant confusion groups depending of the place in the words (onset vs. coda). Finally our data suggested that listeners may access some acoustic cues of the CV transition, opening interesting perspectives for future studies.

  7. Mapping and simulating systematics due to spatially varying observing conditions in DES science verification data

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Leistedt, B.; Peiris, H. V.; Elsner, F.; Benoit-Lévy, A.; Amara, A.

    2016-01-01

    Spatially varying depth and the characteristics of observing conditions, such as seeing, airmass, or sky background, are major sources of systematic uncertainties in modern galaxy survey analyses, particularly in deep multi-epoch surveys. We present a framework to extract and project these sources of systematics onto the sky, and apply it to the Dark Energy Survey (DES) to map the observing conditions of the Science Verification (SV) data. The resulting distributions and maps of sources of systematics are used in several analyses of DES–SV to perform detailed null tests with the data, and also to incorporate systematics in survey simulations. We illustrate the complementary nature of these two approaches by comparing the SV data with BCC-UFig, a synthetic sky catalog generated by forward-modeling of the DES–SV images. We analyze the BCC-UFig simulation to construct galaxy samples mimicking those used in SV galaxy clustering studies. We show that the spatially varying survey depth imprinted in the observed galaxy densities and the redshift distributions of the SV data are successfully reproduced by the simulation and are well-captured by the maps of observing conditions. The combined use of the maps, the SV data, and the BCC-UFig simulation allows us to quantify the impact of spatial systematics on N(z), the redshift distributions inferred using photometric redshifts. We conclude that spatial systematics in the SV data are mainly due to seeing fluctuations and are under control in current clustering and weak-lensing analyses. However, they will need to be carefully characterized in upcoming phases of DES in order to avoid biasing the inferred cosmological results. Finally, the framework presented here is relevant to all multi-epoch surveys and will be essential for exploiting future surveys such as the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, which will require detailed null tests and realistic end-to-end image simulations to correctly interpret the deep, high

  8. Stochastic bounded consensus tracking of leader-follower multi-agent systems with measurement noises based on sampled data with general sampling delay

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wu Zhi-Hai; Peng Li; Xie Lin-Bo; Wen Ji-Wei

    2013-01-01

    In this paper we provide a unified framework for consensus tracking of leader-follower multi-agent systems with measurement noises based on sampled data with a general sampling delay. First, a stochastic bounded consensus tracking protocol based on sampled data with a general sampling delay is presented by employing the delay decomposition technique. Then, necessary and sufficient conditions are derived for guaranteeing leader-follower multi-agent systems with measurement noises and a time-varying reference state to achieve mean square bounded consensus tracking. The obtained results cover no sampling delay, a small sampling delay and a large sampling delay as three special cases. Last, simulations are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the theoretical results. (interdisciplinary physics and related areas of science and technology)

  9. Prosody perception in simulated cochlear implant listening in modulated and stationary noise

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Morris, David Jackson

    2012-01-01

    Cochlear Implant (CI) listeners can do well when attending to speech in quiet, yet challenging listening situations are more problematic. Previous studies have shown that fluctuations in the noise do not yield better speech recognition scores for CI listeners as they can do for normal hearing (NH...... derived from non-scripted Danish speech. The F0 temporal midpoint of the initial syllable was varied stepwise in semitones. Competing signals of modulated white noise and speech shaped noise at 0 dB and 12 dB SNR, were added to the tokens prior to 8-channel noiseexcited vocoder processing. Stimuli were...

  10. Contralateral Noise Stimulation Delays P300 Latency in School-Aged Children.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Thalita Ubiali

    Full Text Available The auditory cortex modulates auditory afferents through the olivocochlear system, which innervates the outer hair cells and the afferent neurons under the inner hair cells in the cochlea. Most of the studies that investigated the efferent activity in humans focused on evaluating the suppression of the otoacoustic emissions by stimulating the contralateral ear with noise, which assesses the activation of the medial olivocochlear bundle. The neurophysiology and the mechanisms involving efferent activity on higher regions of the auditory pathway, however, are still unknown. Also, the lack of studies investigating the effects of noise on human auditory cortex, especially in peadiatric population, points to the need for recording the late auditory potentials in noise conditions. Assessing the auditory efferents in schoolaged children is highly important due to some of its attributed functions such as selective attention and signal detection in noise, which are important abilities related to the development of language and academic skills. For this reason, the aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of noise on P300 responses of children with normal hearing.P300 was recorded in 27 children aged from 8 to 14 years with normal hearing in two conditions: with and whitout contralateral white noise stimulation.P300 latencies were significantly longer at the presence of contralateral noise. No significant changes were observed for the amplitude values.Contralateral white noise stimulation delayed P300 latency in a group of school-aged children with normal hearing. These results suggest a possible influence of the medial olivocochlear activation on P300 responses under noise condition.

  11. Jet Noise Shielding Provided by a Hybrid Wing Body Aircraft

    Science.gov (United States)

    Doty, Michael J.; Brooks, Thomas F.; Burley, Casey L.; Bahr, Christopher J.; Pope, Dennis S.

    2014-01-01

    One approach toward achieving NASA's aggressive N+2 noise goal of 42 EPNdB cumulative margin below Stage 4 is through the use of novel vehicle configurations like the Hybrid Wing Body (HWB). Jet noise measurements from an HWB acoustic test in NASA Langley's 14- by 22-Foot Subsonic Tunnel are described. Two dual-stream, heated Compact Jet Engine Simulator (CJES) units are mounted underneath the inverted HWB model on a traversable support to permit measurement of varying levels of shielding provided by the fuselage. Both an axisymmetric and low noise chevron nozzle set are investigated in the context of shielding. The unshielded chevron nozzle set shows 1 to 2 dB of source noise reduction (relative to the unshielded axisymmetric nozzle set) with some penalties at higher frequencies. Shielding of the axisymmetric nozzles shows up to 6.5 dB of reduction at high frequency. The combination of shielding and low noise chevrons shows benefits beyond the expected additive benefits of the two, up to 10 dB, due to the effective migration of the jet source peak noise location upstream for increased shielding effectiveness. Jet noise source maps from phased array results processed with the Deconvolution Approach for the Mapping of Acoustic Sources (DAMAS) algorithm reinforce these observations.

  12. Noise-Induced Sleep Disturbance in Residences Near Two Civil Airports

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fidell, Sanford; Howe, Richard R.; Tabachnick, Barbara G.; Pearsons, Karl S.; Sneddon, Matthew D.

    1995-01-01

    A large-scale field study of noise-induced sleep disturbance was conducted in the vicinities of Stapleton International Airport (DEN) and Denver International Airport (DIA) in anticipation of the closure of the former and opening of the latter. Both indoor and outdoor measurements of aircraft and other nighttime noises were made during four time periods. Measurements were made in 57 homes located as close as feasible to the runway ends of the two airports. Sleep disturbance was measured by several indices of behaviorally confirmed awakening (button pushes upon awakening) and body movement (as measured with wrist-worn actimeters). A total of 2717 subject-nights of observations were made over the course of the study. Although average noise event levels measured outdoors decreased markedly at DEN after closure of the airport and increased slightly at DIA after its opening, indoor noise event levels varied much less in homes near both airports. No large differences were observed in noise-induced sleep disturbance at either airport. Indoor sound exposure levels of noise events were, however, closely related to and good predictors of actimetrically defined motility and arousal.

  13. Effect of Traffic Noise and Relaxations Sounds on Pedestrian Walking Speed

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marek Franěk

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available Exposure to noise in everyday urban life is considered to be an environmental stressor. A specific outcome of reactions to environmental stress is a fast pace of life that also includes a faster pedestrian walking speed. The present study examined the effect of listening to annoying acoustical stimuli (traffic noise compared with relaxation sounds (forest birdsong on walking speed in a real outdoor urban environment. The participants (N = 83 walked along an urban route of 1.8 km. They listened to either traffic noise or forest birdsong, or they walked without listening to any acoustical stimuli in the control condition. The results showed that participants listening to traffic noise walked significantly faster on the route than both the participants listening to forest birdsong sounds and the participants in the control condition. Participants who listened to forest birdsong walked slightly slower than those under control conditions; however, this difference was not significant. Analysis of the walk experience showed that participants who listened to forest birdsong during the walk liked the route more than those who listened to traffic sounds. The study demonstrated that exposure to traffic noise led to an immediate increase in walking speed. It was also shown that exposure to noise may influence participants’ perception of an environment. The same environment may be more liked in the absence of noise or in the presence of relaxation sounds. The study also documented the positive effect of listening to various kinds of relaxation sounds while walking in an outdoor environment with traffic noise.

  14. The Harmonoise/IMAGINE model for traction noise of powered railway vehicles

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Dittrich, M.G.; Zhang, X.

    2006-01-01

    Traction noise is one of the noise sources of powered railway vehicles such as locomotives, electric- and diesel-powered multiple unit trains and high-speed trains. Especially at speeds below 60 km/h and at idling, but also at acceleration conditions for a wide range of speeds, traction noise can be

  15. Understanding noise suppression in heterojunction field-effect transistors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Green, F.

    1996-01-01

    Full text: The enhanced transport properties displayed by quantum-well-confined, two-dimensional, electron systems underpin the success of heterojunction, field-effect transistors. At cryogenic temperatures, these devices exhibit impressive mobilities and, as a result, high signal gain and low noise. Conventional wisdom has it that the same favourable conditions also hold for normal room-temperature operation. In that case, however, high mobilities are precluded by abundant electron-phonon scattering. Our recent study of nonequilibrium current noise shows that quantum confinement, not high mobility, is the principal source of noise in these devices; this opens up new and exciting opportunities in low-noise transistor design. As trends in millimetre-wave technology push frequencies beyond 100 GHz, it is essential to develop a genuine understanding of noise processes in heterojunction devices

  16. Noise-assisted morphing of memory and logic function

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kohar, Vivek; Sinha, Sudeshna

    2012-01-01

    We demonstrate how noise allows a bistable system to behave as a memory device, as well as a logic gate. Namely, in some optimal range of noise, the system can operate flexibly, both as a NAND/AND gate and a Set–Reset latch, by varying an asymmetrizing bias. Thus we show how this system implements memory, even for sub-threshold input signals, using noise constructively to store information. This can lead to the development of reconfigurable devices, that can switch efficiently between memory tasks and logic operations. -- Highlights: ► We consider a nonlinear system in a noisy environment. ► We show that the system can function as a robust memory element. ► Further, the response of the system can be easily morphed from memory to logic operations. ► Such systems can potentially act as building blocks of “smart” computing devices.

  17. Modeling the Unites States government's economic cost of noise-induced hearing loss for a military population.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tufts, Jennifer B; Weathersby, Paul K; Rodriguez, Francisco A

    2010-05-01

    The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the feasibility and utility of developing economic cost models for noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL). First, we outline an economic model of NIHL for a population of US Navy sailors with an "industrial"-type noise exposure. Next, we describe the effect on NIHL-related cost of varying the two central model inputs--the noise-exposure level and the duration of exposure. Such an analysis can help prioritize promising areas, to which limited resources to reduce NIHL-related costs should be devoted. NIHL-related costs borne by the US government were computed on a yearly basis using a finite element approach that took into account varying levels of susceptibility to NIHL. Predicted hearing thresholds for the population were computed with ANSI S3.44-1996 and then used as the basis for the calculation of NIHL-related costs. Annual and cumulative costs were tracked. Noise-exposure level and duration were systematically varied to determine their effects on the expected lifetime NIHL-related cost of a specific US Navy sailor population. Our nominal noise-exposure case [93 dB(A) for six years] yielded a total expected lifetime cost of US $13,472 per sailor, with plausible lower and upper bounds of US $2,500 and US $26,000. Starting with the nominal case, a decrease of 50% in exposure level or duration would yield cost savings of approximately 23% and 19%, respectively. We concluded that a reduction in noise level would be more somewhat more cost-effective than the same percentage reduction in years of exposure. Our economic cost model can be used to estimate the changes in NIHL-related costs that would result from changes in noise-exposure level and/or duration for a single military population. Although the model is limited at present, suggestions are provided for adapting it to civilian populations.

  18. a Universal De-Noising Algorithm for Ground-Based LIDAR Signal

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ma, Xin; Xiang, Chengzhi; Gong, Wei

    2016-06-01

    Ground-based lidar, working as an effective remote sensing tool, plays an irreplaceable role in the study of atmosphere, since it has the ability to provide the atmospheric vertical profile. However, the appearance of noise in a lidar signal is unavoidable, which leads to difficulties and complexities when searching for more information. Every de-noising method has its own characteristic but with a certain limitation, since the lidar signal will vary with the atmosphere changes. In this paper, a universal de-noising algorithm is proposed to enhance the SNR of a ground-based lidar signal, which is based on signal segmentation and reconstruction. The signal segmentation serving as the keystone of the algorithm, segments the lidar signal into three different parts, which are processed by different de-noising method according to their own characteristics. The signal reconstruction is a relatively simple procedure that is to splice the signal sections end to end. Finally, a series of simulation signal tests and real dual field-of-view lidar signal shows the feasibility of the universal de-noising algorithm.

  19. Blind deblurring of spiral CT images - comparative studies on edge-to-noise ratios

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jiang Ming; Wan Ge; Skinner, Margaret W.; Rubinstein, Jay T.; Vannier, Michael W.

    2002-01-01

    A recently developed blind deblurring algorithm based on the edge-to-noise ratio has been applied to improve the quality of spiral CT images. Since the discrepancy measure used to quantify the edge and noise effects is not symmetric, there are several ways to formulate the edge-to-noise ratio. This article is to investigate the performance of those ratios with phantom and patient data. In the phantom study, it is shown that all the ratios share similar properties, validating the blind deblurring algorithm. The image fidelity improvement varies from 29% to 33% for different ratios, according to the root mean square error (RMSE) criterion; the optimal iteration number determined for each ratio varies from 25 to 35. Those ratios that are associated with most satisfactory performance are singled out for the image fidelity improvement of about 33% in the numerical simulation. After automatic blind deblurring with the selected ratios, the spatial resolution of CT is substantially refined in all the cases tested

  20. Objective approach for analysis of noise source characteristics and acoustic conditions in noisy computerized embroidery workrooms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aliabadi, Mohsen; Golmohammadi, Rostam; Mansoorizadeh, Muharram

    2014-03-01

    It is highly important to analyze the acoustic properties of workrooms in order to identify best noise control measures from the standpoint of noise exposure limits. Due to the fact that sound pressure is dependent upon environments, it cannot be a suitable parameter for determining the share of workroom acoustic characteristics in producing noise pollution. This paper aims to empirically analyze noise source characteristics and acoustic properties of noisy embroidery workrooms based on special parameters. In this regard, reverberation time as the special room acoustic parameter in 30 workrooms was measured based on ISO 3382-2. Sound power quantity of embroidery machines was also determined based on ISO 9614-3. Multiple linear regression was employed for predicting reverberation time based on acoustic features of the workrooms using MATLAB software. The results showed that the measured reverberation times in most of the workrooms were approximately within the ranges recommended by ISO 11690-1. Similarity between reverberation time values calculated by the Sabine formula and measured values was relatively poor (R (2) = 0.39). This can be due to the inaccurate estimation of the acoustic influence of furniture and formula preconditions. Therefore, this value cannot be considered representative of an actual acoustic room. However, the prediction performance of the regression method with root mean square error (RMSE) = 0.23 s and R (2) = 0.69 is relatively acceptable. Because the sound power of the embroidery machines was relatively high, these sources get the highest priority when it comes to applying noise controls. Finally, an objective approach for the determination of the share of workroom acoustic characteristics in producing noise could facilitate the identification of cost-effective noise controls.

  1. The impact of traffic noise on mental performance considering complexity of activities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    I. Alimohammadi

    2015-12-01

      Conclusion: One of the most significant findings emerged from this study is that traffic noise seems to have no effect on the mentioned variables under simple activity condition. However, traffic noise has devastating effects on median reaction time, number of appeared stimuli and reactions under complex activity condition.

  2. Noise and Vibrations Measurements. External noise and vibrations measurements for offshore SODAR application

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ormel, F.T.; Eecen, P.J.; Herman, S.A.

    2003-10-01

    The partners in the WISE project investigate whether application of the SODAR (sonic detection and ranging) measurement technique in wind energy experimental work is feasible as a replacement for cup anemometers, wind direction sensors and tall meteorological masts. In Work Package 2 of the WISE project extensive controlled experiments with the SODAR are performed. For example SODAR measurements are compared with measurements from nearby masts and different brands of SODARs are compared. Part of the work package is the measurement of vibration and noise on an offshore SODAR system. The results of these measurements are presented in this report. ECN performed measurements at an offshore location to investigate the influence of noise and vibrations on the performance of a MiniSODAR measurement system. The aim of the measurements is to quantify the effect of these external noise and vibrations disturbances on the MiniSODAR's performance. Measurements on an identical SODAR system onshore are carried out to compare the disturbances of offshore and onshore external conditions. The effect of background noise on SODAR operation has clearly been established in literature. Therefore, measurements have been performed only to establish the absolute sound pressure levels. This is done at the Measuring Platform Noordwijk (MPN) located in the North Sea, nine kilometres out of the coast at Noordwijk, The Netherlands, and at two locations onshore. At the MPN-platform, the SODAR has been moved from the middle deck to the upper deck to diminish the influence of the diesel generator needed for the electric powering of the island. Although the absolute sound pressure level became higher at the new location, this level became lower at the most important frequencies inside the SODAR, due to the use of absorbing foam. With regards to the sound pressure level the move improved the situation. The sound pressure levels measured offshore were 6 to 15 dB higher than for the two locations

  3. Passenger comfort on high-speed trains: effect of tunnel noise on the subjective assessment of pressure variations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sanok, Sandra; Mendolia, Franco; Wittkowski, Martin; Rooney, Daniel; Putzke, Matthias; Aeschbach, Daniel

    2015-01-01

    When passing through a tunnel, aerodynamic effects on high-speed trains may impair passenger comfort. These variations in atmospheric pressure are accompanied by transient increases in sound pressure level. To date, it is unclear whether the latter influences the perceived discomfort associated with the variations in atmospheric pressure. In a pressure chamber of the DLR-Institute of Aerospace Medicine, 71 participants (M = 28.3 years ± 8.1 SD) rated randomised pressure changes during two conditions according to a crossover design. The pressure changes were presented together with tunnel noise such that the sound pressure level was transiently elevated by either +6 dB (low noise condition) or +12 dB (high noise condition) above background noise level (65 dB(A)). Data were combined with those of a recent study, in which identical pressure changes were presented without tunnel noise (Schwanitz et al., 2013, 'Pressure Variations on a Train - Where is the Threshold to Railway Passenger Discomfort?' Applied Ergonomics 44 (2): 200-209). Exposure-response relationships for the combined data set comprising all three noise conditions show that pressure discomfort increases with the magnitude and speed of the pressure changes but decreases with increasing tunnel noise. Practitioner Summary: In a pressure chamber, we systematically examined how pressure discomfort, as it may be experienced by railway passengers, is affected by the presence of tunnel noise during pressure changes. It is shown that across three conditions (no noise, low noise (+6 dB), high noise (+12 dB)) pressure discomfort decreases with increasing tunnel noise.

  4. Modelling of the diffusion of pollutants in the atmosphere under varying conditions in large cultivated regions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wueneke, C.D.; Schultz, H.

    1975-01-01

    The most important routines of a numerical code based on the particle-in-cell-method for calculating the transport and the turbulent dispersion of inert and radio-active pollutants in the atmosphere have been programmed and have been tested successfully on the CDC computer CYBER 73/76 of the Regional Computer Centre for Niedersachsen in Hanover. Compared to the Gaussian plume model such a numerical code based on the particle-in-cell-method offers several advantages for the computation of the diffusion under varying conditions in large cultivated regions. (orig.) [de

  5. Does ambient noise or hypobaric atmosphere influence olfactory and gustatory function?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rahne, Torsten; Köppke, Robert; Nehring, Michael; Plontke, Stefan K; Fischer, Hans-Georg

    2018-01-01

    Multidimensional food perception is based mainly on gustatory and olfactory function. Recent research has demonstrated that hypobaric pressure impairs gustatory function and that background noise or distracting auditory stimulation impairs olfactory function. Using a hypobaric chamber, the odor identification, discrimination, and thresholds as well as taste identification and threshold scores were measured in 16 healthy male volunteers under normal and hypobaric (6380 ft) conditions using clinically validated tests. In both conditions, background noise was either canceled out or replaced by white noise presentation (70 dB sound pressure level). Olfactory sensitivity for n-butanol and gustatory sensitivity were impaired in a hypobaric atmosphere. White noise did not influence the odor test results. White noise stimulation impaired sensitivity for sour and sweet but not for bitter or salty tastants. We conclude that hypobaric or noisy environments could impair gustatory and olfactory sensitivity selectively for particular tastants and odorants.

  6. Direct-reading dial for noise temperature and noise resistance

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Diamond, J.M.

    1967-01-01

    An attenuator arrangement for a noise generator is described. The scheme permits direct reading of both noise resistance and noise temperature¿the latter with a choice of source resistance.......An attenuator arrangement for a noise generator is described. The scheme permits direct reading of both noise resistance and noise temperature¿the latter with a choice of source resistance....

  7. Capture dynamics of hot electrons on quantum dots in RTDs studied by noise measurement

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hees, S S; Kardynal, B E; Shields, A J; Farrer, I; Ritchie, D A

    2008-01-01

    We investigate the noise in quantum dot resonant tunnelling diodes (QDRTDs), where the quantum dots (QDs) placed in the collector experience electric fields that vary in a wide range. The trapping/detrapping of electrons on the QDs dominated the measured electrical noise. The model that we derived for the noise explains the experimental data well. The QD capture cross-section is one to two orders of magnitude smaller than the physical size of the QDs due to the reduced probability of capturing a hot electron on the QD. The model is a powerful tool to design the noise characteristics of QDRTD single photon-detectors

  8. Robust extended Kalman filter of discrete-time Markovian jump nonlinear system under uncertain noise

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhu, Jin; Park, Jun Hong; Lee, Kwan Soo; Spiryagin, Maksym

    2008-01-01

    This paper examines the problem of robust extended Kalman filter design for discrete -time Markovian jump nonlinear systems with noise uncertainty. Because of the existence of stochastic Markovian switching, the state and measurement equations of underlying system are subject to uncertain noise whose covariance matrices are time-varying or un-measurable instead of stationary. First, based on the expression of filtering performance deviation, admissible uncertainty of noise covariance matrix is given. Secondly, two forms of noise uncertainty are taken into account: Non- Structural and Structural. It is proved by applying game theory that this filter design is a robust mini-max filter. A numerical example shows the validity of the method

  9. The continuing Exposure to Noise in Workers in the Society and Living Environment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shahrokh Ehtesham zadeh

    1999-03-01

    Full Text Available As the industry develops in the societies, human being is more likely to exposed to high level of noises and be at risk of hearing loss. Urbanism and working in the situation which are not in accordance with the personal nature make people even more susceptible to risk factors of hearing loss. Exposure of workers to industrial noise has been the subject to several studies and it seems that reconsidering the situations in both society and nature can be a key to change environment for decreasing noise in the society.For example in Tehran, geographically, the slope of the earth from north to south is 5-10% which is a main factor contributing in noise pollution.Moreover, the source of most outdoor noise worldwide is mainly construction and transportation systems including motor vehicles, air craft noises and rail noises. Poor urban planning may give rise to noise pollution, since side-by-side industrial and residential buildings can result in noise pollution in the residential area.In the current article we have examined both conditions in the hearing condition of workers with high levels of noise exposure.

  10. Noise frame duration, masking potency and whiteness of temporal noise.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kukkonen, Heljä; Rovamo, Jyrki; Donner, Kristian; Tammikallio, Marja; Raninen, Antti

    2002-09-01

    Because of the limited contrast range, increasing the duration of the noise frame is often the only option for increasing the masking potency of external, white temporal noise. This, however, reduces the high-frequency cutoff beyond which noise is no longer white. This study was conducted to determine the longest noise frame duration that produces the strongest masking effect and still mimics white noise on the detection of sinusoidal flicker. Contrast energy thresholds (E(th)) were measured for flicker at 1.25 to 20 Hz in strong, purely temporal (spatially uniform), additive, external noise. The masking power of white external noise, characterized by its spectral density at zero frequency N0, increases with the duration of the noise frame. For short noise frame durations, E(th) increased in direct proportion to N0, keeping the nominal signal-to-noise ratio [SNR = (E(th)/N0)(0.5)] constant at threshold. The masking effect thus increased with the duration of the noise frame and the noise mimicked white noise. When noise frame duration and N0 increased further, the nominal SNR at threshold started to decrease, indicating that noise no longer mimicked white noise. The minimum number of noise frames per flicker cycle needed to mimic white noise decreased with increasing flicker frequency from 8.3 at 1.25 Hz to 1.6 at 20 Hz. The critical high-frequency cutoff of detection-limiting temporal noise in terms of noise frames per signal cycle depends on the temporal frequency of the signal. This is opposite to the situation in the spatial domain and must be taken into consideration when temporal signals are masked with temporal noise.

  11. 40 CFR 201.23 - Test site, weather conditions and background noise criteria for measurement at a 30 meter (100...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... background noise criteria for measurement at a 30 meter (100 feet) distance of the noise from locomotive and... and background noise criteria for measurement at a 30 meter (100 feet) distance of the noise from... meters (4 feet) above the ground at the microphone location, except as provided in paragraph (c) of this...

  12. Air Traffic Controllers’ Long-Term Speech-in-Noise Training Effects: A Control Group Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zaballos, María T.P.; Plasencia, Daniel P.; González, María L.Z.; de Miguel, Angel R.; Macías, Ángel R.

    2016-01-01

    Introduction: Speech perception in noise relies on the capacity of the auditory system to process complex sounds using sensory and cognitive skills. The possibility that these can be trained during adulthood is of special interest in auditory disorders, where speech in noise perception becomes compromised. Air traffic controllers (ATC) are constantly exposed to radio communication, a situation that seems to produce auditory learning. The objective of this study has been to quantify this effect. Subjects and Methods: 19 ATC and 19 normal hearing individuals underwent a speech in noise test with three signal to noise ratios: 5, 0 and −5 dB. Noise and speech were presented through two different loudspeakers in azimuth position. Speech tokes were presented at 65 dB SPL, while white noise files were at 60, 65 and 70 dB respectively. Results: Air traffic controllers outperform the control group in all conditions [P<0.05 in ANOVA and Mann-Whitney U tests]. Group differences were largest in the most difficult condition, SNR=−5 dB. However, no correlation between experience and performance were found for any of the conditions tested. The reason might be that ceiling performance is achieved much faster than the minimum experience time recorded, 5 years, although intrinsic cognitive abilities cannot be disregarded. Discussion: ATC demonstrated enhanced ability to hear speech in challenging listening environments. This study provides evidence that long-term auditory training is indeed useful in achieving better speech-in-noise understanding even in adverse conditions, although good cognitive qualities are likely to be a basic requirement for this training to be effective. Conclusion: Our results show that ATC outperform the control group in all conditions. Thus, this study provides evidence that long-term auditory training is indeed useful in achieving better speech-in-noise understanding even in adverse conditions. PMID:27991470

  13. Air traffic controllers' long-term speech-in-noise training effects: A control group study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zaballos, Maria T P; Plasencia, Daniel P; González, María L Z; de Miguel, Angel R; Macías, Ángel R

    2016-01-01

    Speech perception in noise relies on the capacity of the auditory system to process complex sounds using sensory and cognitive skills. The possibility that these can be trained during adulthood is of special interest in auditory disorders, where speech in noise perception becomes compromised. Air traffic controllers (ATC) are constantly exposed to radio communication, a situation that seems to produce auditory learning. The objective of this study has been to quantify this effect. 19 ATC and 19 normal hearing individuals underwent a speech in noise test with three signal to noise ratios: 5, 0 and -5 dB. Noise and speech were presented through two different loudspeakers in azimuth position. Speech tokes were presented at 65 dB SPL, while white noise files were at 60, 65 and 70 dB respectively. Air traffic controllers outperform the control group in all conditions [P<0.05 in ANOVA and Mann-Whitney U tests]. Group differences were largest in the most difficult condition, SNR=-5 dB. However, no correlation between experience and performance were found for any of the conditions tested. The reason might be that ceiling performance is achieved much faster than the minimum experience time recorded, 5 years, although intrinsic cognitive abilities cannot be disregarded. ATC demonstrated enhanced ability to hear speech in challenging listening environments. This study provides evidence that long-term auditory training is indeed useful in achieving better speech-in-noise understanding even in adverse conditions, although good cognitive qualities are likely to be a basic requirement for this training to be effective. Our results show that ATC outperform the control group in all conditions. Thus, this study provides evidence that long-term auditory training is indeed useful in achieving better speech-in-noise understanding even in adverse conditions.

  14. Soundscape elaboration from anthrophonic adaptation of community noise

    Science.gov (United States)

    Teddy Badai Samodra, FX

    2018-03-01

    Under the situation of an urban environment, noise has been a critical issue in affecting the indoor environment. A reliable approach is required for evaluation of the community noise as one factor of anthrophonic in the urban environment. This research investigates the level of noise exposure from different community noise sources and elaborates the advantage of the noise disadvantages for soundscape innovation. Integrated building element design as a protector for noise control and speech intelligibility compliance using field experiment and MATLAB programming and modeling are also carried out. Meanwhile, for simulation analysis and building acoustic optimization, Sound Reduction-Speech Intelligibility and Reverberation Time are the main parameters for identifying tropical building model as case study object. The results show that the noise control should consider its integration with the other critical issue, thermal control, in an urban environment. The 1.1 second of reverberation time for speech activities and noise reduction more than 28.66 dBA for critical frequency (20 Hz), the speech intelligibility index could be reached more than fair assessment, 0.45. Furthermore, the environmental psychology adaptation result “Close The Opening” as the best method in high noise condition and personal adjustment as the easiest and the most adaptable way.

  15. A study of riders' noise exposure on Bay Area Rapid Transit trains.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dinno, Alexis; Powell, Cynthia; King, Margaret Mary

    2011-02-01

    Excessive noise exposure may present a hazard to hearing, cardiovascular, and psychosomatic health. Mass transit systems, such as the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system, are potential sources of excessive noise. The purpose of this study was to characterize transit noise and riders' exposure to noise on the BART system using three dosimetry metrics. We made 268 dosimetry measurements on a convenience sample of 51 line segments. Dosimetry measures were modeled using linear and nonlinear multiple regression as functions of average velocity, tunnel enclosure, flooring, and wet weather conditions and presented visually on a map of the BART system. This study provides evidence of levels of hazardous levels of noise exposure in all three dosimetry metrics. L(eq) and L(max) measures indicate exposures well above ranges associated with increased cardiovascular and psychosomatic health risks in the published literature. L(peak) indicate acute exposures hazardous to adult hearing on about 1% of line segment rides and acute exposures hazardous to child hearing on about 2% of such rides. The noise to which passengers are exposed may be due to train-specific conditions (velocity and flooring), but also to rail conditions (velocity and tunnels). These findings may point at possible remediation (revised speed limits on longer segments and those segments enclosed by tunnels). The findings also suggest that specific rail segments could be improved for noise.

  16. Low frequency noise in semiconductor detectors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stojanovic, M.; Marjanovic, N.

    1998-01-01

    Noise characteristics of surface-barrier detectors based on Au contacts on n-Si were measured and analyzed. The metal layers were deposited by evaporation to 40-100 nm thickness. Standard surface-barrier detectors based on Au/Si structures are known to have favorable characteristics, but they tend to degrade with aging and under severe working conditions. Degradation is particularly related to the increase in noise level, leakage current and the reduction of detector efficiency and resolution. Therefore, practical applications of surface-barrier detectors demand their constant upgrading. Improvements of detector properties are concentrated mainly on the front surface and front (rectifying) contact. The aim was to improve the noise characteristics of the surface-barrier structures and retain the favorable detector properties of the Au/Si system. (authors)

  17. Spectral characteristics of seismic noise using data of Kazakhstan monitoring stations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mikhajlova, N.N.; Komarov, I.I.

    2006-01-01

    Spectral specifications of seismic noise research for PS23-Makanchi, Karatau, Akbulak, AS057-Borovoye and new three-component station AS059-Aktyubinsk was done. Spectral noise density models were obtained for day and night time and spectral density values variation. Noise close to low-level universal noise model is peculiar for all stations, which provides their high efficiency while seismic monitoring. Noise parameters dependence on seismic receivers installation conditions was investigated separately. Based on three stations (Makanchi, Borovoye, and Aktyubinsk), spectral density change features are shown after borehole equipment installation. (author)

  18. RESULTS of the "ELIMINATING NOISE" campaign

    CERN Multimedia

    SC Unit

    2008-01-01

    From 4 to 6 August, CERN’s nurses conducted a screening campaign entitled "Eliminating noise". This campaign was especially aimed at young people exposed to noise during their leisure hours (playing in a band, listening to MP3 players, attending concerts, etc.). In all, 166 people attended the Infirmary, where they were able to receive personalised advice, documentation and, above all, a hearing test (audiogram). While the high attendance of people in the younger age category (18-30) was a success, their audiogram data were a cause for concern, with 24.5% showing abnormal results, hearing deficiencies which, we should remind you, are irreversible. It should be noted that such conditions are almost exclusively caused by noise exposure in a non-professional environment (leisure activities, music, etc.). This latest campaign confirms the harmful effects of noise on people’s hearing due to the absence or insufficiency of protective equipment during music-related activities; this further unde...

  19. RESULTS of the "ELIMINATING NOISE" campaign

    CERN Multimedia

    SC Unit

    2008-01-01

    From 4 to 6 August, CERN’s nurses conducted a screening campaign entitled "Eliminating noise". This campaign was especially aimed at young people exposed to noise during their leisure hours (playing in a band, listening to MP3 players, attending concerts, etc.). In all, 166 people attended the infirmary, where they were able to receive personalised advice, documentation and, above all, a hearing test (audiogram). While the high attendance of people in the younger age category (18-30) was a success, their audiogram data were a cause for concern, with 24.5% showing abnormal results, hearing deficiencies which, we should remind you, are irreversible. It should be noted that such conditions are almost exclusively caused by noise exposure in a non-professional environment (leisure activities, music, etc.). This latest campaign confirms the harmful effects of noise on people’s hearing due to the absence or insufficiency of protective equipment during music-related activities; this further unde...

  20. Varying the agglomeration position of particles in a micro-channel using Acoustic Radiation Force beyond the resonance condition.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dron, Olivier; Aider, Jean-Luc

    2013-09-01

    It is well-known that particles can be focused at mid-height of a micro-channel using Acoustic Radiation Force (ARF) tuned at the resonance frequency (h=λ/2). The resonance condition is a strong limitation to the use of acoustophoresis (particles manipulation using acoustic force) in many applications. In this study we show that it is possible to focus the particles anywhere along the height of a micro-channel just by varying the acoustic frequency, in contradiction with the resonance condition. This result has been thoroughly checked experimentally. The different physical properties as well as wall materials have been changed. The wall materials is finally the only critical parameters. One of the specificity of the micro-channel is the thickness of the carrier and reflector layer. A preliminary analysis of the experimental results suggests that the acoustic focusing beyond the classic resonance condition can be explained in the framework of the multilayered resonator proposed by Hill [1]. Nevertheless, further numerical studies are needed in order to confirm and fully understand how the acoustic pressure node can be moved over the entire height of the micro channel by varying the acoustic frequency. Despite some uncertainties about the origin of the phenomenon, it is robust and can be used for improved acoustic sorting or manipulation of particles or biological cells in confined set-ups. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  1. Noise from cooling towers of power parks

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zakaria, J.; Moore, F.K.

    1975-01-01

    A study is presented of the noise pollution problem for large power parks proposed for the future. Such parks might have an area of about 75 sq. miles, and a generating capacity up to 48000 MW. A comparative analysis has been done for natural and mechanical-draft wet towers as the major sources of acoustic power. Noise radiation from single isolated towers as well as from a dispersed array of towers has been considered for both types of cooling systems. Major noise attenuation effects considered are due to the atmospheric absorption and A-weighting. Conditions of 60F and 70 percent relative humidity in a still atmosphere have been assumed

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

    Science.gov (United States)

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

    2017-09-01

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

  3. Hearing loss impacts neural alpha oscillations under adverse listening conditions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Eline Borch Petersen

    2015-02-01

    Full Text Available Degradations in external, acoustic stimulation have long been suspected to increase the load on working memory. One neural signature of working memory load is enhanced power of alpha oscillations (6 ‒ 12 Hz. However, it is unknown to what extent common internal, auditory degradation, that is, hearing impairment, affects the neural mechanisms of working memory when audibility has been ensured via amplification. Using an adapted auditory Sternberg paradigm, we varied the orthogonal factors memory load and background noise level, while the electroencephalogram (EEG was recorded. In each trial, participants were presented with 2, 4, or 6 spoken digits embedded in one of three different levels of background noise. After a stimulus-free delay interval, participants indicated whether a probe digit had appeared in the sequence of digits. Participants were healthy older adults (62 – 86 years, with normal to moderately impaired hearing. Importantly, the background noise levels were individually adjusted and participants were wearing hearing aids to equalize audibility across participants. Irrespective of hearing loss, behavioral performance improved with lower memory load and also with lower levels of background noise. Interestingly, the alpha power in the stimulus-free delay interval was dependent on the interplay between task demands (memory load and noise level and hearing loss; while alpha power increased with hearing loss during low and intermediate levels of memory load and background noise, it dropped for participants with the relatively most severe hearing loss under the highest memory load and background noise level. These findings suggest that adaptive neural mechanisms for coping with adverse listening conditions break down for higher degrees of hearing loss, even when adequate hearing aid amplification is in place.

  4. Modular Engine Noise Component Prediction System (MCP) Program Users' Guide

    Science.gov (United States)

    Golub, Robert A. (Technical Monitor); Herkes, William H.; Reed, David H.

    2004-01-01

    This is a user's manual for Modular Engine Noise Component Prediction System (MCP). This computer code allows the user to predict turbofan engine noise estimates. The program is based on an empirical procedure that has evolved over many years at The Boeing Company. The data used to develop the procedure include both full-scale engine data and small-scale model data, and include testing done by Boeing, by the engine manufacturers, and by NASA. In order to generate a noise estimate, the user specifies the appropriate engine properties (including both geometry and performance parameters), the microphone locations, the atmospheric conditions, and certain data processing options. The version of the program described here allows the user to predict three components: inlet-radiated fan noise, aft-radiated fan noise, and jet noise. MCP predicts one-third octave band noise levels over the frequency range of 50 to 10,000 Hertz. It also calculates overall sound pressure levels and certain subjective noise metrics (e.g., perceived noise levels).

  5. Environmental noise management in the area of opencast mines

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lilić Nikola

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Environmental noise constitutes a threat regarding disturbance and deterioration of quality of living. There are numerous sources of environmental noise, among others mine objects, traffic roads etc. In Serbian practice open cast mines are commonly in vicinity of residential areas, which is the case of the Field C open cast coal mine and the Barosevac settlement. More complexity is added to noise management in such conditions through additional noise sources, not directly linked to mine objects and activities, such as local or regional roads. This paper describes an approach to noise management for the purpose of environmental noise impact reduction, from both traffic and industrial sources, related to the project Environmental Improvement Project in Kolubara Mine Basin in Barosevac settlement, as a part of acquisition of new Excavator-belt Conveyor-Stacker (ECS system.

  6. Integrated low noise low power interface for neural bio-potentials recording and conditioning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bottino, Emanuele; Martinoia, Sergio; Valle, Maurizio

    2005-06-01

    The recent progress in both neurobiology and microelectronics suggests the creation of new, powerful tools to investigate the basic mechanisms of brain functionality. In particular, a lot of efforts are spent by scientific community to define new frameworks devoted to the analysis of in-vitro cultured neurons. One possible approach is recording their spiking activity to monitor the coordinated cellular behaviour and get insights about neural plasticity. Due to the nature of neurons action-potentials, when considering the design of an integrated microelectronic-based recording system, a number of problems arise. First, one would desire to have a high number of recording sites (i.e. several hundreds): this poses constraints on silicon area and power consumption. In this regard, our aim is to integrate-through on-chip post-processing techniques-hundreds of bio-compatible microsensors together with CMOS standard-process low-power (i.e. some tenths of uW per channel) conditioning electronics. Each recording channel is provided with sampling electronics to insure synchronous recording so that, for example, cross-correlation between signals coming from different sites can be performed. Extra-cellular potentials are in the range of [50-150] uV, so a comparison in terms of noise-efficiency was carried out among different architectures and very low-noise pre-amplification electronics (i.e. less than 5 uVrms) was designed. As spikes measurements are made with respect to the voltage of a reference electrode, we opted for an AC-coupled differential-input preamplifier provided with band-pass filtering capability. To achieve this, we implemented large time-constant (up to seconds) integrated components in the preamp feedback path. Thus, we got rid also of random slow-drifting DC-offsets and common mode signals. The paper will present our achievements in the design and implementation of a fully integrated bio-abio interface to record neural spiking activity. In particular

  7. The impact of musicianship on the cortical mechanisms related to separating speech from background noise.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zendel, Benjamin Rich; Tremblay, Charles-David; Belleville, Sylvie; Peretz, Isabelle

    2015-05-01

    Musicians have enhanced auditory processing abilities. In some studies, these abilities are paralleled by an improved understanding of speech in noisy environments, partially due to more robust encoding of speech signals in noise at the level of the brainstem. Little is known about the impact of musicianship on attention-dependent cortical activity related to lexical access during a speech-in-noise task. To address this issue, we presented musicians and nonmusicians with single words mixed with three levels of background noise, across two conditions, while monitoring electrical brain activity. In the active condition, listeners repeated the words aloud, and in the passive condition, they ignored the words and watched a silent film. When background noise was most intense, musicians repeated more words correctly compared with nonmusicians. Auditory evoked responses were attenuated and delayed with the addition of background noise. In musicians, P1 amplitude was marginally enhanced during active listening and was related to task performance in the most difficult listening condition. By comparing ERPs from the active and passive conditions, we isolated an N400 related to lexical access. The amplitude of the N400 was not influenced by the level of background noise in musicians, whereas N400 amplitude increased with the level of background noise in nonmusicians. In nonmusicians, the increase in N400 amplitude was related to a reduction in task performance. In musicians only, there was a rightward shift of the sources contributing to the N400 as the level of background noise increased. This pattern of results supports the hypothesis that encoding of speech in noise is more robust in musicians and suggests that this facilitates lexical access. Moreover, the shift in sources suggests that musicians, to a greater extent than nonmusicians, may increasingly rely on acoustic cues to understand speech in noise.

  8. High temperature measurement by noise thermometry

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Decreton, M.C.

    1982-06-01

    Noise thermometry has received a lot of attention for measurements of temperatures in the high range around 1000-2000 deg. K. For these measurements, laboratory type experiments have been mostly performed. These have shown the interest of the technique when long term stability, high precision and insensibility to external conditions are concerned. This is particularly true for measurements in nuclear reactors where important drifts due to irradiation effects are experienced with other measurement techniques, as thermocouple for instance. Industrial noise thermometer experiments have not been performed extensively up to now. The subject of the present study is the development of a 1800 deg. K noise thermometer for nuclear applications. The measurement method is based on a generalized noise power approach. The rms noise voltage (Vsub(s)) and noise current (Isub(s)) are successively measured on the resistive sensor. The same quantities are also measured on a dummy short circuited probe (Vsub(d) and Isub(d)). The temperature is then deduced from these measured values by the following formula: cTsub(s) = (Vsub(s) 2 - Vsub(d) 2 )(Vsub(s)/Isub(s) - Vsub(d)/Isub(d)) - 1 , where c is a constant and Tsub(s) the absolute temperature of the sensor. This approach has the particular advantage of greatly reducing the sensibility to environmental perturbations on the leads and to the influence of amplifier noise sources. It also eliminates the necessity of resistance measurement and keeps the electronic circuits as simple as possible

  9. Noise considerations in the development of coalbed methane

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    DeGagne, D.C. [Noise Solutions Inc., Calgary, AB (Canada); Burke, D. [Energy Resources Conservation Board, Calgary, AB (Canada)

    2009-07-01

    Since coalbed methane (CBM) development remains a secure option for meeting energy demands, industry will need to deal effectively with noise to reduce landowner concerns. This paper presented lessons learned and case histories for the successful approach to noise solutions accepted by regulatory agencies and industry clients. The complexities of acoustical engineering practices were discussed along with the most significant points to meeting regulatory requirements for environmental noise as stated in the Energy Resources Conservation Board (ERCB) Directive 038. The focus of the paper was on the management of environmental noise that will affect nearby residents. Noise is generally viewed as one of a number of general biological stressors. Although there is no health risk from short term exposure to noise, excessive exposure to noise might be considered a health risk as noise may contribute to the development of stress related conditions. Sleep disturbance is the most significant contributor to a stress response due to annoyance from industrial noise. This presentation demonstrated that environmental noise can be managed efficiently and in a cost effective manner. Noise control technology allows companies to meet nearly any level of noise control necessary to be in compliance with regulations. The following are commonly used in CBM operations: noise impact assessments; engine exhaust silencers; cooler silencers; acoustical buildings; building ventilation; and landscape friendly buildings. It was concluded that companies that invest in state of the art noise control combined with a stakeholder consultation program that respects the community's needs and concerns will be able to operate harmoniously with both regulators and community residents. 49 refs., 3 tabs., 4 figs.

  10. Coloured-noise-induced transitions in nonlinear structures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mankin, R.; Laas, T.; Soika, E.; Sauga, A.; Rekker, A.; Ainsaar, A.; Ugaste, Ue.

    2008-01-01

    In a stochastic framework, macroscopic approaches are sought to describe microscopic interaction between different species. Coloured-noise-induced transitions in stochastic N-species Lotka-Volterra systems are considered analytically as an appropriate model expendable to many natural and nano-technological processes. All the results discussed are computed by means of a dynamical mean-field approximation. It is demonstrated that interplay of coloured noise and interaction intensities of species can generate a variety of cooperation effects, such as discontinuous transitions of the mean population density, noise-induced Hopf bifurcations and relaxation oscillation. The necessary conditions for the cooperation effects are also discussed. Particularly, it is established that, in the case of the Beddington functional response, in certain parameter regions of the model an increase in noise correlation time can cause multiple transitions (more than two) between relaxation oscillatory regimes and equilibrium states. (authors)

  11. Bias in mean velocities and noise in variances and covariances measured using a multistatic acoustic profiler: the Nortek Vectrino Profiler

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thomas, R. E.; Schindfessel, L.; McLelland, S. J.; Creëlle, S.; De Mulder, T.

    2017-07-01

    This paper compiles the technical characteristics and operating principles of the Nortek Vectrino Profiler and reviews previously reported user experiences. A series of experiments are then presented that investigate instrument behaviour and performance, with a particular focus on variations within the profile. First, controlled tests investigate the sensitivity of acoustic amplitude (and Signal-to-Noise Ratio, SNR) and pulse-to-pulse correlation coefficient, R 2, to seeding concentration and cell geometry. Second, a novel methodology that systematically shifts profiling cells through a single absolute vertical position investigates the sensitivity of mean velocities, SNR and noise to: (a) emitted sound intensity and the presence (or absence) of acoustic seeding; and (b) varying flow rates under ideal acoustic seeding conditions. A new solution is derived to quantify the noise affecting the two perpendicular tristatic systems of the Vectrino Profiler and its contribution to components of the Reynolds stress tensor. Results suggest that for the Vectrino Profiler: 1. optimum acoustic seeding concentrations are ~3000 to 6000 mg L-1 2. mean velocity magnitudes are biased by variable amounts in proximal cells but are consistently underestimated in distal cells; 3. noise varies parabolically with a minimum around the ‘sweet spot’, 50 mm below the transceiver; 4. the receiver beams only intersect at the sweet spot and diverge nearer to and further from the transceiver. This divergence significantly reduces the size of the sampled area away from the sweet spot, reducing data quality; 5. the most reliable velocity data will normally be collected in the region between approximately 43 and 61 mm below the transceiver.

  12. Bias in mean velocities and noise in variances and covariances measured using a multistatic acoustic profiler: the Nortek Vectrino Profiler

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Thomas, R E; Schindfessel, L; Creëlle, S; De Mulder, T; McLelland, S J

    2017-01-01

    This paper compiles the technical characteristics and operating principles of the Nortek Vectrino Profiler and reviews previously reported user experiences. A series of experiments are then presented that investigate instrument behaviour and performance, with a particular focus on variations within the profile. First, controlled tests investigate the sensitivity of acoustic amplitude (and Signal-to-Noise Ratio, SNR) and pulse-to-pulse correlation coefficient, R 2 , to seeding concentration and cell geometry. Second, a novel methodology that systematically shifts profiling cells through a single absolute vertical position investigates the sensitivity of mean velocities, SNR and noise to: (a) emitted sound intensity and the presence (or absence) of acoustic seeding; and (b) varying flow rates under ideal acoustic seeding conditions. A new solution is derived to quantify the noise affecting the two perpendicular tristatic systems of the Vectrino Profiler and its contribution to components of the Reynolds stress tensor. Results suggest that for the Vectrino Profiler: 1. optimum acoustic seeding concentrations are ∼3000 to 6000 mg L −1 ; 2. mean velocity magnitudes are biased by variable amounts in proximal cells but are consistently underestimated in distal cells; 3. noise varies parabolically with a minimum around the ‘sweet spot’, 50 mm below the transceiver; 4. the receiver beams only intersect at the sweet spot and diverge nearer to and further from the transceiver. This divergence significantly reduces the size of the sampled area away from the sweet spot, reducing data quality; 5. the most reliable velocity data will normally be collected in the region between approximately 43 and 61 mm below the transceiver. (paper)

  13. Noise and noise disturbances from wind power plants - Tests with interactive control of sound parameters for more comfortable and less perceptible sounds; Buller och bullerstoerningar fraan vindkraftverk - Foersoek med interaktiv styrning av ljudparametrar foer behagligare och mindre maerkbara ljud

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Persson-Waye, K.; Oehrstroem, E.; Bjoerkman, M.; Agge, A. [Goeteborg Univ. (Sweden). Dept. of Environmental Medicine

    2001-12-01

    In experimental pilot studies, a methodology has been worked out for interactively varying sound parameters in wind power plants. In the tests, 24 persons varied the center frequency of different band-widths, the frequency of a sinus-tone and the amplitude-modulation of a sinus-tone in order to create as comfortable a sound as possible. The variations build on the noise from the two wind turbines Bonus and Wind World. The variations were performed with a constant dba level. The results showed that the majority preferred a low-frequency tone (94 Hz and 115 Hz for Wind World and Bonus, respectively). The mean of the most comfortable amplitude-modulation varied between 18 and 22 Hz, depending on the ground frequency. The mean of the center-frequency for the different band-widths varied from 785 to 1104 Hz. In order to study the influence of the wind velocity on the acoustic character of the noise, a long-time measurement program has been performed. A remotely controlled system has been developed, where wind velocity, wind direction, temperature and humidity are registered simultaneously with the noise. Long-time registrations have been performed for four different wing turbines.

  14. Sounds and Noises. A Position Paper on Noise Pollution.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chapman, Thomas L.

    This position paper focuses on noise pollution and the problems and solutions associated with this form of pollution. The paper is divided into the following five sections: Noise and the Ear, Noise Measurement, III Effects of Noise, Acoustics and Action, and Programs and Activities. The first section identifies noise and sound, the beginnings of…

  15. Synchronisation of networked Kuramoto oscillators under stable Lévy noise

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kalloniatis, Alexander C.; Roberts, Dale O.

    2017-01-01

    We study the Kuramoto model on several classes of network topologies examining the dynamics under the influence of Lévy noise. Such noise exhibits heavier tails than Gaussian and allows us to understand how 'shocks' influence the individual oscillator and collective system behaviour. Skewed α-stable Lévy noise, equivalent to fractional diffusion perturbations, are considered. We perform numerical simulations for Erdős-Rényi (ER) and Barabási-Albert (BA) scale free networks of size N = 1000 while varying the Lévy index α for the noise. We find that synchrony now assumes a surprising variety of forms, not seen for Gaussian-type noise, and changing with α: a noise-generated drift, a smooth α dependence of the point of cross-over of ER and BA networks in the degree of synchronisation, and a severe loss of synchronisation at low values of α. We also show that this robustness of the BA network across most values of α can also be understood as a consequence of the Laplacian of the graph working within the fractional Fokker-Planck equation of the linearised system, close to synchrony, with both eigenvalues and eigenvectors alternately contributing in different regimes of α.

  16. Wavelet-based de-noising algorithm for images acquired with parallel magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Delakis, Ioannis; Hammad, Omer; Kitney, Richard I

    2007-01-01

    Wavelet-based de-noising has been shown to improve image signal-to-noise ratio in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) while maintaining spatial resolution. Wavelet-based de-noising techniques typically implemented in MRI require that noise displays uniform spatial distribution. However, images acquired with parallel MRI have spatially varying noise levels. In this work, a new algorithm for filtering images with parallel MRI is presented. The proposed algorithm extracts the edges from the original image and then generates a noise map from the wavelet coefficients at finer scales. The noise map is zeroed at locations where edges have been detected and directional analysis is also used to calculate noise in regions of low-contrast edges that may not have been detected. The new methodology was applied on phantom and brain images and compared with other applicable de-noising techniques. The performance of the proposed algorithm was shown to be comparable with other techniques in central areas of the images, where noise levels are high. In addition, finer details and edges were maintained in peripheral areas, where noise levels are low. The proposed methodology is fully automated and can be applied on final reconstructed images without requiring sensitivity profiles or noise matrices of the receiver coils, therefore making it suitable for implementation in a clinical MRI setting

  17. Cortical activity patterns predict robust speech discrimination ability in noise

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shetake, Jai A.; Wolf, Jordan T.; Cheung, Ryan J.; Engineer, Crystal T.; Ram, Satyananda K.; Kilgard, Michael P.

    2012-01-01

    The neural mechanisms that support speech discrimination in noisy conditions are poorly understood. In quiet conditions, spike timing information appears to be used in the discrimination of speech sounds. In this study, we evaluated the hypothesis that spike timing is also used to distinguish between speech sounds in noisy conditions that significantly degrade neural responses to speech sounds. We tested speech sound discrimination in rats and recorded primary auditory cortex (A1) responses to speech sounds in background noise of different intensities and spectral compositions. Our behavioral results indicate that rats, like humans, are able to accurately discriminate consonant sounds even in the presence of background noise that is as loud as the speech signal. Our neural recordings confirm that speech sounds evoke degraded but detectable responses in noise. Finally, we developed a novel neural classifier that mimics behavioral discrimination. The classifier discriminates between speech sounds by comparing the A1 spatiotemporal activity patterns evoked on single trials with the average spatiotemporal patterns evoked by known sounds. Unlike classifiers in most previous studies, this classifier is not provided with the stimulus onset time. Neural activity analyzed with the use of relative spike timing was well correlated with behavioral speech discrimination in quiet and in noise. Spike timing information integrated over longer intervals was required to accurately predict rat behavioral speech discrimination in noisy conditions. The similarity of neural and behavioral discrimination of speech in noise suggests that humans and rats may employ similar brain mechanisms to solve this problem. PMID:22098331

  18. 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.

  19. Convergent Time-Varying Regression Models for Data Streams: Tracking Concept Drift by the Recursive Parzen-Based Generalized Regression Neural Networks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Duda, Piotr; Jaworski, Maciej; Rutkowski, Leszek

    2018-03-01

    One of the greatest challenges in data mining is related to processing and analysis of massive data streams. Contrary to traditional static data mining problems, data streams require that each element is processed only once, the amount of allocated memory is constant and the models incorporate changes of investigated streams. A vast majority of available methods have been developed for data stream classification and only a few of them attempted to solve regression problems, using various heuristic approaches. In this paper, we develop mathematically justified regression models working in a time-varying environment. More specifically, we study incremental versions of generalized regression neural networks, called IGRNNs, and we prove their tracking properties - weak (in probability) and strong (with probability one) convergence assuming various concept drift scenarios. First, we present the IGRNNs, based on the Parzen kernels, for modeling stationary systems under nonstationary noise. Next, we extend our approach to modeling time-varying systems under nonstationary noise. We present several types of concept drifts to be handled by our approach in such a way that weak and strong convergence holds under certain conditions. Finally, in the series of simulations, we compare our method with commonly used heuristic approaches, based on forgetting mechanism or sliding windows, to deal with concept drift. Finally, we apply our concept in a real life scenario solving the problem of currency exchange rates prediction.

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

    Science.gov (United States)

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

    2010-01-01

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

  1. Time-varying singular value decomposition for periodic transient identification in bearing fault diagnosis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Shangbin; Lu, Siliang; He, Qingbo; Kong, Fanrang

    2016-09-01

    For rotating machines, the defective faults of bearings generally are represented as periodic transient impulses in acquired signals. The extraction of transient features from signals has been a key issue for fault diagnosis. However, the background noise reduces identification performance of periodic faults in practice. This paper proposes a time-varying singular value decomposition (TSVD) method to enhance the identification of periodic faults. The proposed method is inspired by the sliding window method. By applying singular value decomposition (SVD) to the signal under a sliding window, we can obtain a time-varying singular value matrix (TSVM). Each column in the TSVM is occupied by the singular values of the corresponding sliding window, and each row represents the intrinsic structure of the raw signal, namely time-singular-value-sequence (TSVS). Theoretical and experimental analyses show that the frequency of TSVS is exactly twice that of the corresponding intrinsic structure. Moreover, the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of TSVS is improved significantly in comparison with the raw signal. The proposed method takes advantages of the TSVS in noise suppression and feature extraction to enhance fault frequency for diagnosis. The effectiveness of the TSVD is verified by means of simulation studies and applications to diagnosis of bearing faults. Results indicate that the proposed method is superior to traditional methods for bearing fault diagnosis.

  2. Modeling speech intelligibility based on the signal-to-noise envelope power ratio

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jørgensen, Søren

    of modulation frequency selectivity in the auditory processing of sound with a decision metric for intelligibility that is based on the signal-to-noise envelope power ratio (SNRenv). The proposed speech-based envelope power spectrum model (sEPSM) is demonstrated to account for the effects of stationary...... through three commercially available mobile phones. The model successfully accounts for the performance across the phones in conditions with a stationary speech-shaped background noise, whereas deviations were observed in conditions with “Traffic” and “Pub” noise. Overall, the results of this thesis...

  3. Development of Trivia Game for speech understanding in background noise.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schwartz, Kathryn; Ringleb, Stacie I; Sandberg, Hilary; Raymer, Anastasia; Watson, Ginger S

    2015-01-01

    Listening in noise is an everyday activity and poses a challenge for many people. To improve the ability to understand speech in noise, a computerized auditory rehabilitation game was developed. In Trivia Game players are challenged to answer trivia questions spoken aloud. As players progress through the game, the level of background noise increases. A study using Trivia Game was conducted as a proof-of-concept investigation in healthy participants. College students with normal hearing were randomly assigned to a control (n = 13) or a treatment (n = 14) group. Treatment participants played Trivia Game 12 times over a 4-week period. All participants completed objective (auditory-only and audiovisual formats) and subjective listening in noise measures at baseline and 4 weeks later. There were no statistical differences between the groups at baseline. At post-test, the treatment group significantly improved their overall speech understanding in noise in the audiovisual condition and reported significant benefits in their functional listening abilities. Playing Trivia Game improved speech understanding in noise in healthy listeners. Significant findings for the audiovisual condition suggest that participants improved face-reading abilities. Trivia Game may be a platform for investigating changes in speech understanding in individuals with sensory, linguistic and cognitive impairments.

  4. Talker and background noise specificity in spoken word recognition memory

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Angela Cooper

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available Prior research has demonstrated that listeners are sensitive to changes in the indexical (talker-specific characteristics of speech input, suggesting that these signal-intrinsic features are integrally encoded in memory for spoken words. Given that listeners frequently must contend with concurrent environmental noise, to what extent do they also encode signal-extrinsic details? Native English listeners’ explicit memory for spoken English monosyllabic and disyllabic words was assessed as a function of consistency versus variation in the talker’s voice (talker condition and background noise (noise condition using a delayed recognition memory paradigm. The speech and noise signals were spectrally-separated, such that changes in a simultaneously presented non-speech signal (background noise from exposure to test would not be accompanied by concomitant changes in the target speech signal. The results revealed that listeners can encode both signal-intrinsic talker and signal-extrinsic noise information into integrated cognitive representations, critically even when the two auditory streams are spectrally non-overlapping. However, the extent to which extra-linguistic episodic information is encoded alongside linguistic information appears to be modulated by syllabic characteristics, with specificity effects found only for monosyllabic items. These findings suggest that encoding and retrieval of episodic information during spoken word processing may be modulated by lexical characteristics.

  5. The effect of human activity noise on the acoustic quality in open plan office

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Dehlbæk, Tania Stenholt; Jeong, Cheol-Ho; Brunskog, Jonas

    2016-01-01

    A disadvantage of open plan offices is the noise annoyance. Noise problems in open plan offices have been dealt with in several studies, and standards have been set up. Still, what has not been taken into account is the effect of human activity noise on acoustic conditions. In this study......, measurements of the general office noise levels and the room acoustic conditions according to ISO 3382-3 have been carried out in five open plan offices. Probability density functions of the sound pressure level have been obtained, and the human activity noise has been identified. Results showed a decrease...... in STI-values including the human activity noise compared to STI-values including only technical background noise as the standard recommends. Furthermore, at 500 Hz a regression analysis showed that the density of people in an room, absorption area, reverberation time as well as the ISO 3382-3 parameter...

  6. Annoyance due to noise and air pollution to the residents of heavily frequented streets

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wanner, H. U.; Wehrli, B.; Nemecek, J.; Turrian, V.

    1980-01-01

    The residents of different streets with varying traffic density and building density were questioned about annoyance due to traffic noise and air pollution. Results show that annoyance felt is dependent not only on the measured noise levels and/or air pollution concentrations, but that there do exist interactions between the residential quarters and annoyance. These interactions should be considered when fixing the limits and standards.

  7. Annoyance, detection and recognition of wind turbine noise.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Van Renterghem, Timothy; Bockstael, Annelies; De Weirt, Valentine; Botteldooren, Dick

    2013-07-01

    Annoyance, recognition and detection of noise from a single wind turbine were studied by means of a two-stage listening experiment with 50 participants with normal hearing abilities. In-situ recordings made at close distance from a 1.8-MW wind turbine operating at 22 rpm were mixed with road traffic noise, and processed to simulate indoor sound pressure levels at LAeq 40 dBA. In a first part, where people were unaware of the true purpose of the experiment, samples were played during a quiet leisure activity. Under these conditions, pure wind turbine noise gave very similar annoyance ratings as unmixed highway noise at the same equivalent level, while annoyance by local road traffic noise was significantly higher. In a second experiment, listeners were asked to identify the sample containing wind turbine noise in a paired comparison test. The detection limit of wind turbine noise in presence of highway noise was estimated to be as low as a signal-to-noise ratio of -23 dBA. When mixed with local road traffic, such a detection limit could not be determined. These findings support that noticing the sound could be an important aspect of wind turbine noise annoyance at the low equivalent levels typically observed indoors in practice. Participants that easily recognized wind-turbine(-like) sounds could detect wind turbine noise better when submersed in road traffic noise. Recognition of wind turbine sounds is also linked to higher annoyance. Awareness of the source is therefore a relevant aspect of wind turbine noise perception which is consistent with previous research. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  8. Background noise exerts diverse effects on the cortical encoding of foreground sounds.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Malone, B J; Heiser, Marc A; Beitel, Ralph E; Schreiner, Christoph E

    2017-08-01

    In natural listening conditions, many sounds must be detected and identified in the context of competing sound sources, which function as background noise. Traditionally, noise is thought to degrade the cortical representation of sounds by suppressing responses and increasing response variability. However, recent studies of neural network models and brain slices have shown that background synaptic noise can improve the detection of signals. Because acoustic noise affects the synaptic background activity of cortical networks, it may improve the cortical responses to signals. We used spike train decoding techniques to determine the functional effects of a continuous white noise background on the responses of clusters of neurons in auditory cortex to foreground signals, specifically frequency-modulated sweeps (FMs) of different velocities, directions, and amplitudes. Whereas the addition of noise progressively suppressed the FM responses of some cortical sites in the core fields with decreasing signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs), the stimulus representation remained robust or was even significantly enhanced at specific SNRs in many others. Even though the background noise level was typically not explicitly encoded in cortical responses, significant information about noise context could be decoded from cortical responses on the basis of how the neural representation of the foreground sweeps was affected. These findings demonstrate significant diversity in signal in noise processing even within the core auditory fields that could support noise-robust hearing across a wide range of listening conditions. NEW & NOTEWORTHY The ability to detect and discriminate sounds in background noise is critical for our ability to communicate. The neural basis of robust perceptual performance in noise is not well understood. We identified neuronal populations in core auditory cortex of squirrel monkeys that differ in how they process foreground signals in background noise and that may

  9. A high-resolution ambient seismic noise model for Europe

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kraft, Toni

    2014-05-01

    In the past several years, geological energy technologies receive growing attention and have been initiated in or close to urban areas. Some of these technologies involve injecting fluids into the subsurface (e.g., oil and gas development, waste disposal, and geothermal energy development) and have been found or suspected to cause small to moderate sized earthquakes. These earthquakes, which may have gone unnoticed in the past when they occurred in remote sparsely populated areas, are now posing a considerable risk for the public acceptance of these technologies in urban areas. The permanent termination of the EGS project in Basel, Switzerland after a number of induced ML~3 (minor) earthquakes in 2006 is one prominent example. It is therefore essential to the future development and success of these geological energy technologies to develop strategies for managing induced seismicity and keeping the size of induced earthquake at a level that is acceptable to all stakeholders. Most guidelines and recommendations on induced seismicity published since the 1970ies conclude that an indispensable component of such a strategy is the establishment of seismic monitoring in an early stage of a project. This is because an appropriate seismic monitoring is the only way to detect and locate induced microearthquakes with sufficient certainty to develop an understanding of the seismic and geomechanical response of the reservoir to the geotechnical operation. In addition, seismic monitoring lays the foundation for the establishment of advanced traffic light systems and is therefore an important confidence building measure towards the local population and authorities. Due to this development an increasing number of seismic monitoring networks are being installed in densely populated areas with strongly heterogeneous, and unfavorable ambient noise conditions. This poses a major challenge on the network design process, which aims to find the sensor geometry that optimizes the

  10. Quantifying the Effects of Noise on Diffuse Interface Models: Cahn-Hilliard-Cook equations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pfeifer, Spencer; Ganapathysubramanian, Baskar

    2015-03-01

    We present an investigation into the dynamics of phase separation through numerical simulations of the Cahn-Hilliard-Cook (CHC) equation. This model is an extension of the well-known Cahn- Hilliard equation, perturbed by an additive white noise. Studies have shown that random fluctuations are critical for proper resolution of physical phenomena. This is especially true for phase critical systems. We explore the transient behavior of the solution space for varying levels of noise. This is enabled by our massively scalable finite element-based numerical framework. We briefly examine the interplay between noise level and discretization (spatial and temporal) in obtaining statistically consistent solutions. We show that the added noise accelerates progress towards phase separation, but retards dynamics throughout subsequent coarsening. We identify a scaling exponent relating morphology metrics with the level of noise. We observe a very clear scaling effect of finite domain size, which is observed to be offset by increasing levels of noise. Domain scaling reveals a clear microstructural asymmetry at various stages of the evolution for lower noise levels. In contrast, higher noise levels tend to produce more uniform morphologies.

  11. Numerical modeling of wind turbine aerodynamic noise in the time domain.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Seunghoon; Lee, Seungmin; Lee, Soogab

    2013-02-01

    Aerodynamic noise from a wind turbine is numerically modeled in the time domain. An analytic trailing edge noise model is used to determine the unsteady pressure on the blade surface. The far-field noise due to the unsteady pressure is calculated using the acoustic analogy theory. By using a strip theory approach, the two-dimensional noise model is applied to rotating wind turbine blades. The numerical results indicate that, although the operating and atmospheric conditions are identical, the acoustical characteristics of wind turbine noise can be quite different with respect to the distance and direction from the wind turbine.

  12. Environmental condition assessment of US military installations using GIS based spatial multi-criteria decision analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Singer, Steve; Wang, Guangxing; Howard, Heidi; Anderson, Alan

    2012-08-01

    Environment functions in various aspects including soil and water conservation, biodiversity and habitats, and landscape aesthetics. Comprehensive assessment of environmental condition is thus a great challenge. The issues include how to assess individual environmental components such as landscape aesthetics and integrate them into an indicator that can comprehensively quantify environmental condition. In this study, a geographic information systems based spatial multi-criteria decision analysis was used to integrate environmental variables and create the indicator. This approach was applied to Fort Riley Military installation in which land condition and its dynamics due to military training activities were assessed. The indicator was derived by integrating soil erosion, water quality, landscape fragmentation, landscape aesthetics, and noise based on the weights from the experts by assessing and ranking the environmental variables in terms of their importance. The results showed that landscape level indicator well quantified the overall environmental condition and its dynamics, while the indicator at level of patch that is defined as a homogeneous area that is different from its surroundings detailed the spatiotemporal variability of environmental condition. The environmental condition was mostly determined by soil erosion, then landscape fragmentation, water quality, landscape aesthetics, and noise. Overall, environmental condition at both landscape and patch levels greatly varied depending on the degree of ground and canopy disturbance and their spatial patterns due to military training activities and being related to slope. It was also determined the environment itself could be recovered quickly once military training was halt or reduced. Thus, this study provided an effective tool for the army land managers to monitor environmental dynamics and plan military training activities. Its limitation lies at that the obtained values of the indicator vary and are

  13. Notched audiograms and noise exposure history in older adults.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nondahl, David M; Shi, Xiaoyu; Cruickshanks, Karen J; Dalton, Dayna S; Tweed, Ted S; Wiley, Terry L; Carmichael, Lakeesha L

    2009-12-01

    Using data from a population-based cohort study, we compared four published algorithms for identifying notched audiograms and compared their resulting classifications with noise exposure history. Four algorithms: (1) , (2) , (3) , and (4) were used to identify notched audiograms. Audiometric evaluations were collected as a part of the 10-yr follow-up examinations of the Epidemiology of Hearing Loss Study, in Beaver Dam, WI (2003-2005, N = 2395). Detailed noise exposure histories were collected by interview at the baseline examination (1993-1995) and updated at subsequent visits. An extensive history of occupational noise exposure, participation in noisy hobbies, and firearm usage was used to evaluate consistency of the notch classifications with the history of noise exposure. The prevalence of notched audiograms varied greatly by definition (31.7, 25.9, 47.2, and 11.7% for methods 1, 2, 3, and 4, respectively). In this cohort, a history of noise exposure was common (56.2% for occupational noise, 71.7% for noisy hobbies, 13.4% for firearms, and 81.2% for any of these three sources). Among participants with a notched audiogram, almost one-third did not have a history of occupational noise exposure (31.4, 33.0, 32.5, and 28.1% for methods 1, 2, 3, and 4, respectively), and approximately 11% did not have a history of exposure to any of the three sources of noise (11.5, 13.6, 10.3, and 7.6%). Discordance was greater in women than in men. These results suggest that there is a poor agreement across existing algorithms for audiometric notches. In addition, notches can occur in the absence of a positive noise history. In the absence of an objective consensus definition of a notched audiogram and in light of the degree of discordance in women between noise history and notches by each of these algorithms, researchers should be cautious about classifying noise-induced hearing loss by notched audiograms.

  14. Improving the accuracy of smart devices to measure noise exposure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roberts, Benjamin; Kardous, Chucri; Neitzel, Richard

    2016-11-01

    Occupational noise exposure is one of the most frequent hazards present in the workplace; up to 22 million workers have potentially hazardous noise exposures in the U.S. As a result, noise-induced hearing loss is one of the most common occupational injuries in the U.S. Workers in manufacturing, construction, and the military are at the highest risk for hearing loss. Despite the large number of people exposed to high levels of noise at work, many occupations have not been adequately evaluated for noise exposure. The objective of this experiment was to investigate whether or not iOS smartphones and other smart devices (Apple iPhones and iPods) could be used as reliable instruments to measure noise exposures. For this experiment three different types of microphones were tested with a single model of iPod and three generations of iPhones: the internal microphones on the device, a low-end lapel microphone, and a high-end lapel microphone marketed as being compliant with the International Electrotechnical Commission's (IEC) standard for a Class 2-microphone. All possible combinations of microphones and noise measurement applications were tested in a controlled environment using several different levels of pink noise ranging from 60-100 dBA. Results were compared to simultaneous measurements made using a Type 1 sound level measurement system. Analysis of variance and Tukey's honest significant difference (HSD) test were used to determine if the results differed by microphone or noise measurement application. Levels measured with external microphones combined with certain noise measurement applications did not differ significantly from levels measured with the Type 1 sound measurement system. Results showed that it may be possible to use iOS smartphones and smart devices, with specific combinations of measurement applications and calibrated external microphones, to collect reliable, occupational noise exposure data under certain conditions and within the limitations of the

  15. Seismic Background Noise Analysis of BRTR (PS-43) Array

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ezgi Bakir, Mahmure; Meral Ozel, Nurcan; Umut Semin, Korhan

    2015-04-01

    The seismic background noise variation of BRTR array, composed of two sub arrays located in Ankara and in Ankara-Keskin, has been investigated by calculating Power Spectral Density and Probability Density Functions for seasonal and diurnal noise variations between 2005 and 2011. PSDs were computed within the frequency range of 100 s - 10 Hz. The results show us a little change in noise conditions in terms of time and location. Especially, noise level changes were observed at 3-5 Hz in diurnal variations at Keskin array and there is a 5-7 dB difference in day and night time in cultural noise band (1-10 Hz). On the other hand, noise levels of medium period array is high in 1-2 Hz frequency rather than short period array. High noise levels were observed in daily working times when we compare it to night-time in cultural noise band. The seasonal background noise variation at both sites also shows very similar properties to each other. Since these stations are borehole instruments and away from the coasts, we saw a small change in noise levels caused by microseism. Comparison between Keskin short period array and Ankara medium period array show us Keskin array is quiter than Ankara array.

  16. Noise Radiation Of A Strongly Pulsating Tailpipe Exhaust

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peizi, Li; Genhua, Dai; Zhichi, Zhu

    1993-11-01

    The method of characteristics is used to solve the problem of the propagation of a strongly pulsating flow in an exhaust system tailpipe. For a strongly pulsating exhaust, the flow may shock at the pipe's open end at some point in a pulsating where the flow pressure exceeds its critical value. The method fails if one insists on setting the flow pressure equal to the atmospheric pressure as the pipe end boundary condition. To solve the problem, we set the Mach number equal to 1 as the boundary condition when the flow pressure exceeds its critical value. For a strongly pulsating flow, the fluctuations of flow variables may be much higher than their respective time averages. Therefore, the acoustic radiation method would fail in the computation of the noise radiation from the pipe's open end. We simulate the exhaust flow out of the open end as a simple sound source to compute the noise radiation, which has been successfully applied in reference [1]. The simple sound source strength is proportional to the volume acceleration of exhaust gas. Also computed is the noise radiation from the turbulence of the exhaust flow, as was done in reference [1]. Noise from a reciprocating valve simulator has been treated in detail. The radiation efficiency is very low for the pressure range considered and is about 10 -5. The radiation efficiency coefficient increases with the square of the frequency. Computation of the pipe length dependence of the noise radiation and mass flux allows us to design a suitable length for an aerodynamic noise generator or a reciprocating internal combustion engine. For the former, powerful noise radiation is preferable. For the latter, maximum mass flux is desired because a freer exhaust is preferable.

  17. Pattern formation in individual-based systems with time-varying parameters

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ashcroft, Peter; Galla, Tobias

    2013-12-01

    We study the patterns generated in finite-time sweeps across symmetry-breaking bifurcations in individual-based models. Similar to the well-known Kibble-Zurek scenario of defect formation, large-scale patterns are generated when model parameters are varied slowly, whereas fast sweeps produce a large number of small domains. The symmetry breaking is triggered by intrinsic noise, originating from the discrete dynamics at the microlevel. Based on a linear-noise approximation, we calculate the characteristic length scale of these patterns. We demonstrate the applicability of this approach in a simple model of opinion dynamics, a model in evolutionary game theory with a time-dependent fitness structure, and a model of cell differentiation. Our theoretical estimates are confirmed in simulations. In further numerical work, we observe a similar phenomenon when the symmetry-breaking bifurcation is triggered by population growth.

  18. Advanced Trailing Edge Blowing Concepts for Fan Noise Control

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cezar RIZEA

    2012-03-01

    Full Text Available This study documents trailing edge blowing research performed to reduce rotor / stator interaction noise in turbofan engines. The existing technique of filling every velocity deficit requires a large amount of air and is therefore impractical. The purpose of this research is to investigate new blowing configurations in order to achieve noise reduction with lesser amounts of air. Using the new configurations air is not injected into every fan blade, but is instead varied circumferentially. For example, blowing air may be applied to alternating fan blades. This type of blowing configuration both reduces the amount of air used and changes the spectral shape of the tonal interaction noise. The original tones at the blade passing frequency and its harmonics are reduced and new tones are introduced between them. This change in the tonal spectral shape increases the performance of acoustic liners used in conjunction with trailing edge blowing.

  19. Dichotomous-noise-induced pattern formation in a reaction-diffusion system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Das, Debojyoti; Ray, Deb Shankar

    2013-06-01

    We consider a generic reaction-diffusion system in which one of the parameters is subjected to dichotomous noise by controlling the flow of one of the reacting species in a continuous-flow-stirred-tank reactor (CSTR) -membrane reactor. The linear stability analysis in an extended phase space is carried out by invoking Furutzu-Novikov procedure for exponentially correlated multiplicative noise to derive the instability condition in the plane of the noise parameters (correlation time and strength of the noise). We demonstrate that depending on the correlation time an optimal strength of noise governs the self-organization. Our theoretical analysis is corroborated by numerical simulations on pattern formation in a chlorine-dioxide-iodine-malonic acid reaction-diffusion system.

  20. Noise-induced hearing loss: a recreational noise perspective.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ivory, Robert; Kane, Rebecca; Diaz, Rodney C

    2014-10-01

    This review will discuss the real-world risk factors involved in noise-induced hearing loss as a result of common and popular recreational activities prone to mid and high levels of noise exposure. Although there are currently no interventional measures available to reverse or mitigate preexisting hearing loss from noise, we discuss the vital importance of hearing loss prevention from noise exposure avoidance and reduction. Despite a seeming understanding of the effects of noise exposure from various recreational activities and devices, a large percentage of the general public who is at risk of such noise-induced hearing loss still chooses to refrain from using hearing protection instruments. While occupational exposures pose the greatest traditional risk to hearing conservation in selected workers, recreational risk factors for noise-induced hearing loss may be more insidious in overall effect given the indifferent attitude of much of the general public and particularly our youths toward hearing protection during recreational activities. Active counseling regarding the consequences of excessive noise exposure and the potential benefits to hearing from usage of hearing protection instruments is critical to providing best possible care in the hearing health professions.

  1. Potential health effects of standing waves generated by low frequency noise

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Stanislav Ziaran

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available The main aim is to present the available updated knowledge regarding the potential health effects of standing waves generated by low frequency noise (LFN from an open window in a moving car where the negative effects of LFN induced by heating components and/or heating, ventilation and air-conditioning are assessed. Furthermore, the assessment of noise in chosen enclosed spaces, such as rooms, offices, and classrooms, or other LFN sources and their effect on the human being were investigated. These types of noise are responsible for disturbance during relaxation, sleep, mental work, education, and concentration, which may reflect negatively on the comfort and health of the population and on the mental state of people such as scientific staff and students. The assessment points out the most exposed areas, and analyzes the conditions of standing wave generation in these rooms caused by outdoor and/or indoor sources. Measurements were made for three different enclosed spaces (office, flat, and passenger car and sources (traffic specific noise at intersections, noise induced by pipe vibration, and aerodynamic noise and their operating conditions. For the detection of LFN, the A-weighted sound pressure level and vibration were measured and a fast Fourier transform analysis was used. The LFN sources are specified and the direct effects on the human are reported. Finally, this paper suggests the possibilities for the assessment of LFN and some possible measures that can be taken to prevent or reduce them.

  2. Urban tree species show the same hydraulic response to vapor pressure deficit across varying tree size and environmental conditions.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lixin Chen

    Full Text Available The functional convergence of tree transpiration has rarely been tested for tree species growing under urban conditions even though it is of significance to elucidate the relationship between functional convergence and species differences of urban trees for establishing sustainable urban forests in the context of forest water relations.We measured sap flux of four urban tree species including Cedrus deodara, Zelkova schneideriana, Euonymus bungeanus and Metasequoia glyptostroboides in an urban park by using thermal dissipation probes (TDP. The concurrent microclimate conditions and soil moisture content were also measured. Our objectives were to examine 1 the influence of tree species and size on transpiration, and 2 the hydraulic control of urban trees under different environmental conditions over the transpiration in response to VPD as represented by canopy conductance. The results showed that the functional convergence between tree diameter at breast height (DBH and tree canopy transpiration amount (E(c was not reliable to predict stand transpiration and there were species differences within same DBH class. Species differed in transpiration patterns to seasonal weather progression and soil water stress as a result of varied sensitivity to water availability. Species differences were also found in their potential maximum transpiration rate and reaction to light. However, a same theoretical hydraulic relationship between G(c at VPD = 1 kPa (G(cref and the G(c sensitivity to VPD (-dG(c/dlnVPD across studied species as well as under contrasting soil water and R(s conditions in the urban area.We concluded that urban trees show the same hydraulic regulation over response to VPD across varying tree size and environmental conditions and thus tree transpiration could be predicted with appropriate assessment of G(cref.

  3. Urban tree species show the same hydraulic response to vapor pressure deficit across varying tree size and environmental conditions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Lixin; Zhang, Zhiqiang; Ewers, Brent E

    2012-01-01

    The functional convergence of tree transpiration has rarely been tested for tree species growing under urban conditions even though it is of significance to elucidate the relationship between functional convergence and species differences of urban trees for establishing sustainable urban forests in the context of forest water relations. We measured sap flux of four urban tree species including Cedrus deodara, Zelkova schneideriana, Euonymus bungeanus and Metasequoia glyptostroboides in an urban park by using thermal dissipation probes (TDP). The concurrent microclimate conditions and soil moisture content were also measured. Our objectives were to examine 1) the influence of tree species and size on transpiration, and 2) the hydraulic control of urban trees under different environmental conditions over the transpiration in response to VPD as represented by canopy conductance. The results showed that the functional convergence between tree diameter at breast height (DBH) and tree canopy transpiration amount (E(c)) was not reliable to predict stand transpiration and there were species differences within same DBH class. Species differed in transpiration patterns to seasonal weather progression and soil water stress as a result of varied sensitivity to water availability. Species differences were also found in their potential maximum transpiration rate and reaction to light. However, a same theoretical hydraulic relationship between G(c) at VPD = 1 kPa (G(cref)) and the G(c) sensitivity to VPD (-dG(c)/dlnVPD) across studied species as well as under contrasting soil water and R(s) conditions in the urban area. We concluded that urban trees show the same hydraulic regulation over response to VPD across varying tree size and environmental conditions and thus tree transpiration could be predicted with appropriate assessment of G(cref).

  4. Origin and Reduction of 1 /f Magnetic Flux Noise in Superconducting Devices

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kumar, P.; Sendelbach, S.; Beck, M. A.; Freeland, J. W.; Wang, Zhe; Wang, Hui; Yu, Clare C.; Wu, R. Q.; Pappas, D. P.; McDermott, R.

    2016-10-01

    Magnetic flux noise is a dominant source of dephasing and energy relaxation in superconducting qubits. The noise power spectral density varies with frequency as 1 /fα, with α ≲1 , and spans 13 orders of magnitude. Recent work indicates that the noise is from unpaired magnetic defects on the surfaces of the superconducting devices. Here, we demonstrate that adsorbed molecular O2 is the dominant contributor to magnetism in superconducting thin films. We show that this magnetism can be reduced by appropriate surface treatment or improvement in the sample vacuum environment. We observe a suppression of static spin susceptibility by more than an order of magnitude and a suppression of 1 /f magnetic flux noise power spectral density of up to a factor of 5. These advances open the door to the realization of superconducting qubits with improved quantum coherence.

  5. Relative impact of key sources of systematic noise in Affymetrix and Illumina gene-expression microarray experiments

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kitchen Robert R

    2011-12-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Systematic processing noise, which includes batch effects, is very common in microarray experiments but is often ignored despite its potential to confound or compromise experimental results. Compromised results are most likely when re-analysing or integrating datasets from public repositories due to the different conditions under which each dataset is generated. To better understand the relative noise-contributions of various factors in experimental-design, we assessed several Illumina and Affymetrix datasets for technical variation between replicate hybridisations of Universal Human Reference (UHRR and individual or pooled breast-tumour RNA. Results A varying degree of systematic noise was observed in each of the datasets, however in all cases the relative amount of variation between standard control RNA replicates was found to be greatest at earlier points in the sample-preparation workflow. For example, 40.6% of the total variation in reported expressions were attributed to replicate extractions, compared to 13.9% due to amplification/labelling and 10.8% between replicate hybridisations. Deliberate probe-wise batch-correction methods were effective in reducing the magnitude of this variation, although the level of improvement was dependent on the sources of noise included in the model. Systematic noise introduced at the chip, run, and experiment levels of a combined Illumina dataset were found to be highly dependant upon the experimental design. Both UHRR and pools of RNA, which were derived from the samples of interest, modelled technical variation well although the pools were significantly better correlated (4% average improvement and better emulated the effects of systematic noise, over all probes, than the UHRRs. The effect of this noise was not uniform over all probes, with low GC-content probes found to be more vulnerable to batch variation than probes with a higher GC-content. Conclusions The magnitude of systematic

  6. Relative impact of key sources of systematic noise in Affymetrix and Illumina gene-expression microarray experiments.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kitchen, Robert R; Sabine, Vicky S; Simen, Arthur A; Dixon, J Michael; Bartlett, John M S; Sims, Andrew H

    2011-12-01

    Systematic processing noise, which includes batch effects, is very common in microarray experiments but is often ignored despite its potential to confound or compromise experimental results. Compromised results are most likely when re-analysing or integrating datasets from public repositories due to the different conditions under which each dataset is generated. To better understand the relative noise-contributions of various factors in experimental-design, we assessed several Illumina and Affymetrix datasets for technical variation between replicate hybridisations of Universal Human Reference (UHRR) and individual or pooled breast-tumour RNA. A varying degree of systematic noise was observed in each of the datasets, however in all cases the relative amount of variation between standard control RNA replicates was found to be greatest at earlier points in the sample-preparation workflow. For example, 40.6% of the total variation in reported expressions were attributed to replicate extractions, compared to 13.9% due to amplification/labelling and 10.8% between replicate hybridisations. Deliberate probe-wise batch-correction methods were effective in reducing the magnitude of this variation, although the level of improvement was dependent on the sources of noise included in the model. Systematic noise introduced at the chip, run, and experiment levels of a combined Illumina dataset were found to be highly dependent upon the experimental design. Both UHRR and pools of RNA, which were derived from the samples of interest, modelled technical variation well although the pools were significantly better correlated (4% average improvement) and better emulated the effects of systematic noise, over all probes, than the UHRRs. The effect of this noise was not uniform over all probes, with low GC-content probes found to be more vulnerable to batch variation than probes with a higher GC-content. The magnitude of systematic processing noise in a microarray experiment is variable

  7. A Parameter Identification Method for Helicopter Noise Source Identification and Physics-Based Semi-Empirical Modeling

    Science.gov (United States)

    Greenwood, Eric, II; Schmitz, Fredric H.

    2010-01-01

    A new physics-based parameter identification method for rotor harmonic noise sources is developed using an acoustic inverse simulation technique. This new method allows for the identification of individual rotor harmonic noise sources and allows them to be characterized in terms of their individual non-dimensional governing parameters. This new method is applied to both wind tunnel measurements and ground noise measurements of two-bladed rotors. The method is shown to match the parametric trends of main rotor Blade-Vortex Interaction (BVI) noise, allowing accurate estimates of BVI noise to be made for operating conditions based on a small number of measurements taken at different operating conditions.

  8. Practical ranges of loudness levels of various types of environmental noise, including traffic noise, aircraft noise, and industrial noise

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Salomons, E.M.; Janssen, S.A.

    2011-01-01

    In environmental noise control one commonly employs the A-weighted sound level as an approximate measure of the effect of noise on people. A measure that is more closely related to direct human perception of noise is the loudness level. At constant A-weighted sound level, the loudness level of a

  9. Background noise of acoustic emission signals in sodium piping loop

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mori, Y.; Aoki, K.; Kuribayashi, K.; Kishi, T.; Sakakibara, Y.

    1985-01-01

    Background noise measurement in the frequency range of acoustic emission (AE) signals was made on the sodium piping loops of a 50 MW steam generator test facility in the Power Reactor and Nuclear Fuel Development Corporation (PNC). During the dynamic characteristics test of the steam generator over a wide range of operating conditions, the background noise generated on the pipe surface was measured using wideband AE sensor externally mounted with waveguide. Data were obtained for the effect of power loads of steam generator on both amplitude and frequency spectra of background noise signals. Source and nature of background noise were established

  10. The Effects of Different Types of Environmental Noise on Academic Performance and Perceived Task Difficulty in Adolescents With ADHD.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Batho, Lauren P; Martinussen, Rhonda; Wiener, Judith

    2015-07-28

    To examine the effects of environmental noises (speech and white noise) relative to a no noise control condition on the performance and difficulty ratings of youth with ADHD (N = 52) on academic tasks. Reading performance was measured by an oral retell (reading accuracy) and the time spent reading. Writing performance was measured through the proportion of correct writing sequences (writing accuracy) and the total words written on an essay. Participants in the white noise condition took less time to read the passage and wrote more words on the essay compared with participants in the other conditions, though white noise did not improve academic accuracy. The participants in the babble condition rated the tasks as most difficult. Although white noise appears to improve reading time and writing fluency, the findings suggest that white noise does not improve performance accuracy. Educational implications are discussed. © 2015 SAGE Publications.

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

    Science.gov (United States)

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

    1974-01-01

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

  12. Evaluation of noise pollution in oil extracting region of Lavan and the effect of noise enclosure on noise abatement

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    F. Golbabaei

    2007-09-01

    Full Text Available Background and aims   Overexposure to industrial noise pollution induce hearing loss workers. Occupational hearing loss may cause interference whit oral communication, so it may  increase the risk of occupational accidents in workplace as well as affects whit social activities.  This study was conducted on Lavan Island, are of oil extracting regions in the south of Iran. The  object of this study was to evaluate noise pollution and determining the effect of noise enclosure  on noise abatement.   Methods   The noise sources were recognized and noise pressure level was measured by CEL- 440. Noise dose of the exposed workers in high level noise area were measured by CEL 272.   Results   Major noise sources were gas turbines, diesel generators, compressors, fans and gas containing pips, noise contour map revealers that noise level were higher than the recommended national exposure limit. The results of workers noise dose show that their noise exposure were  higher than the recommended value, (p<0.001. Finally, by using the results of noise frequency  analysis of different noise sources, the noise pressure level of each sources was determined in   terms of enclosing them.   Conclusion   By enclosing the noise sources, noise pressure levels can be lowered douse to  acceptable levels but limitation of applying enclosure should be regarded.  

  13. Noise cancellation properties of displacement noise free interferometer

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sato, Shuichi; Kawamura, Seiji; Nishizawa, Atsushi; Chen Yanbei

    2010-01-01

    We have demonstrated the practical feasibility of a displacement- and frequency-noise-free laser interferometer (DFI) by partially implementing a recently proposed optical configuration using bi-directional Mach-Zehnder interferometers (MZIs). The noise cancellation efficiency was evaluated by comparing the displacement noise spectrum of the MZIs and the DFI, demonstrating up to 50 dB of noise cancellation. In addition, the possible extension of DFI as QND device is explored.

  14. Effects of environmental noise on cognitive (dys)functions in schizophrenia: A pilot within-subjects experimental study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wright, Bernice; Peters, Emmanuelle; Ettinger, Ulrich; Kuipers, Elizabeth; Kumari, Veena

    2016-05-01

    Cognitive impairment, particularly in attention, memory and executive function domains, is commonly present and associated with poor functional outcomes in schizophrenia. In healthy adults, environmental noise adversely affects many cognitive domains, including those known to be compromised in schizophrenia. This pilot study examined whether environmental noise causes further cognitive deterioration in a small sample of people with schizophrenia. Eighteen outpatients with schizophrenia on stable doses of antipsychotics and 18 age and sex-matched healthy participants were assessed on a comprehensive cognitive battery including measures of psychomotor speed, attention, executive functioning, working memory, and verbal learning and memory under three different conditions [quiet: ~30dB(A); urban noise: building site noise, 68-78dB(A); and social noise: background babble and footsteps from a crowded hall without any discernible words, 68-78dB(A)], 7-14days apart, with counter-balanced presentation of noise conditions across participants of both groups. The results showed widespread cognitive impairment in patients under all conditions, and noise-induced impairments of equal magnitude on specific cognitive functions in both groups. Both patient and healthy participant groups showed significant disruption of delayed verbal recall and recognition by urban and social noise, and of working memory by social noise, relative to the quiet condition. Performance under urban and social noise did not differ significantly from each other for any cognitive measure in either group. We conclude that noise has adverse effects on the verbal and working memory domains in schizophrenia patients and healthy participants. This may be particularly problematic for patients as it worsens their pre-existing cognitive deficits. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  15. The influence of spatially and temporally varying oceanographic conditions on meroplanktonic metapopulations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Botsford, L. W.; Moloney, C. L.; Hastings, A.; Largier, J. L.; Powell, T. M.; Higgins, K.; Quinn, J. F.

    We synthesize the results of several modelling studies that address the influence of variability in larval transport and survival on the dynamics of marine metapopulations distributed along a coast. Two important benthic invertebrates in the California Current System (CCS), the Dungeness crab and the red sea urchin, are used as examples of the way in which physical oceanographic conditions can influence stability, synchrony and persistence of meroplanktonic metapopulations. We first explore population dynamics of subpopulations and metapopulations. Even without environmental forcing, isolated local subpopulations with density-dependence can vary on time scales roughly twice the generation time at high adult survival, shifting to annual time scales at low survivals. The high frequency behavior is not seen in models of the Dungeness crab, because of their high adult survival rates. Metapopulations with density-dependent recruitment and deterministic larval dispersal fluctuate in an asynchronous fashion. Along the coast, abundance varies on spatial scales which increase with dispersal distance. Coastwide, synchronous, random environmental variability tends to synchronize these metapopulations. Climate change could cause a long-term increase or decrease in mean larval survival, which in this model leads to greater synchrony or extinction respectively. Spatially managed metapopulations of red sea urchins go extinct when distances between harvest refugia become greater than the scale of larval dispersal. All assessments of population dynamics indicate that metapopulation behavior in general dependes critically on the temporal and spatial nature of larval dispersal, which is largely determined by physical oceanographic conditions. We therfore explore physical influences on larval dispersal patterns. Observed trends in temperature and salinity applied to laboratory-determined responses indicate that natural variability in temperature and salinity can lead to variability in

  16. Deep neural network and noise classification-based speech enhancement

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shi, Wenhua; Zhang, Xiongwei; Zou, Xia; Han, Wei

    2017-07-01

    In this paper, a speech enhancement method using noise classification and Deep Neural Network (DNN) was proposed. Gaussian mixture model (GMM) was employed to determine the noise type in speech-absent frames. DNN was used to model the relationship between noisy observation and clean speech. Once the noise type was determined, the corresponding DNN model was applied to enhance the noisy speech. GMM was trained with mel-frequency cepstrum coefficients (MFCC) and the parameters were estimated with an iterative expectation-maximization (EM) algorithm. Noise type was updated by spectrum entropy-based voice activity detection (VAD). Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method could achieve better objective speech quality and smaller distortion under stationary and non-stationary conditions.

  17. Optimal methylation noise for best chemotactic performance of E. coli

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dev, Subrata; Chatterjee, Sakuntala

    2018-03-01

    In response to a concentration gradient of chemoattractant, E. coli bacterium modulates the rotational bias of flagellar motors which control its run-and-tumble motion, to migrate towards regions of high chemoattractant concentration. Presence of stochastic noise in the biochemical pathway of the cell has important consequences on the switching mechanism of motor bias, which in turn affects the runs and tumbles of the cell in a significant way. We model the intracellular reaction network in terms of coupled time evolution of three stochastic variables—kinase activity, methylation level, and CheY-P protein level—and study the effect of methylation noise on the chemotactic performance of the cell. In presence of a spatially varying nutrient concentration profile, a good chemotactic performance allows the cell to climb up the concentration gradient quickly and localize in the nutrient-rich regions in the long time limit. Our simulations show that the best performance is obtained at an optimal noise strength. While it is expected that chemotaxis will be weaker for very large noise, it is counterintuitive that the performance worsens even when noise level falls below a certain value. We explain this striking result by detailed analysis of CheY-P protein level statistics for different noise strengths. We show that when the CheY-P level falls below a certain (noise-dependent) threshold the cell tends to move down the concentration gradient of the nutrient, which has a detrimental effect on its chemotactic response. This threshold value decreases as noise is increased, and this effect is responsible for noise-induced enhancement of chemotactic performance. In a harsh chemical environment, when the nutrient degrades with time, the amount of nutrient intercepted by the cell trajectory is an effective performance criterion. In this case also, depending on the nutrient lifetime, we find an optimum noise strength when the performance is at its best.

  18. 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...

  19. Traffic background level and signal duration effects on aircraft noise judgment

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Johnston, G W; Haasz, A A

    1977-04-22

    The effects of background traffic noise level and signal duration on perceived aircraft noise levels during a flyover event are investigated. Tapes of traffic noise at different levels on which aircraft flyover noise events of different durations were superimposed were played to groups of observers in a room simulating indoor conditions. It is found that the presence of steady background traffic noise reduces the perceived noisiness of aircraft flyovers provided that the duration of the flyover event is sufficiently short in relation to flyover time. For a given event level, a reduction of 21 dB(A) in background noise level leads to the perception of a 5.5 dB(A) increase in peak event level. Regressions of observer response with the noise pollution index show a lower correlation than those with variables based on background noise level and peak signal level, although the data are found to exhibit a number of significant trends associated with noise pollution index variations.

  20. Variational Bayesian labeled multi-Bernoulli filter with unknown sensor noise statistics

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Qiu Hao

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available It is difficult to build accurate model for measurement noise covariance in complex backgrounds. For the scenarios of unknown sensor noise variances, an adaptive multi-target tracking algorithm based on labeled random finite set and variational Bayesian (VB approximation is proposed. The variational approximation technique is introduced to the labeled multi-Bernoulli (LMB filter to jointly estimate the states of targets and sensor noise variances. Simulation results show that the proposed method can give unbiased estimation of cardinality and has better performance than the VB probability hypothesis density (VB-PHD filter and the VB cardinality balanced multi-target multi-Bernoulli (VB-CBMeMBer filter in harsh situations. The simulations also confirm the robustness of the proposed method against the time-varying noise variances. The computational complexity of proposed method is higher than the VB-PHD and VB-CBMeMBer in extreme cases, while the mean execution times of the three methods are close when targets are well separated.

  1. Number-counts slope estimation in the presence of Poisson noise

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schmitt, Juergen H. M. M.; Maccacaro, Tommaso

    1986-01-01

    The slope determination of a power-law number flux relationship in the case of photon-limited sampling. This case is important for high-sensitivity X-ray surveys with imaging telescopes, where the error in an individual source measurement depends on integrated flux and is Poisson, rather than Gaussian, distributed. A bias-free method of slope estimation is developed that takes into account the exact error distribution, the influence of background noise, and the effects of varying limiting sensitivities. It is shown that the resulting bias corrections are quite insensitive to the bias correction procedures applied, as long as only sources with signal-to-noise ratio five or greater are considered. However, if sources with signal-to-noise ratio five or less are included, the derived bias corrections depend sensitively on the shape of the error distribution.

  2. An adaptive and tacholess order analysis method based on enhanced empirical wavelet transform for fault detection of bearings with varying speeds

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hu, Yue; Tu, Xiaotong; Li, Fucai; Li, Hongguang; Meng, Guang

    2017-11-01

    The order tracking method based on time-frequency representation is regarded as an effective tool for fault detection of bearings with varying rotating speeds. In the traditional order tracking methods, a tachometer is required to obtain the instantaneous speed which is hardly satisfied in practice due to the technical and economical limitations. Some tacholess order tracking methods have been developed in recent years. In these methods, the instantaneous frequency ridge extraction is one of the most important parts. However, the current ridge extraction methods are sensitive to noise and may easily get trapped in a local optimum. Due to the presence of noise and other unrelated components of the signal, bearing fault features are difficult to be detected from the envelope spectrum or envelope order spectrum. To overcome the abovementioned drawbacks, an adaptive and tacholess order analysis method is proposed in this paper. In this method, a novel ridge extraction algorithm based on dynamic path optimization is adopted to estimate the instantaneous frequency. This algorithm can overcome the shortcomings of the current ridge extraction algorithms. Meanwhile, the enhanced empirical wavelet transform (EEWT) algorithm is applied to extract the bearing fault features. Both simulated and experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method is robust to noise and effective for bearing fault detection under variable speed conditions.

  3. Indoor Noise Loading in Residential Prefabricated Buildings

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kraus, Michal; Juhásová Šenitková, Ingrid

    2017-10-01

    Quality on indoor environment is among others also defined by an acoustic comfort and noise emissions. The indoor noise loading in the residential prefabricated buildings is specific problem related to structural design of these buildings. Problems with noise level of sanitary systems are mostly associated with hydraulic shock such as water distribution and sewage drainage. Another very common cause of excessive noise is also flushing the toilet or water fall on enamelled steel (bath or shower). This paper aims to analyse the acoustic properties in the residential prefabricated buildings. Sanitary core of the assessed apartment is in original condition without any alterations. The sanitary core is based on a formica (high-pressure laminate). The study discusses the maximum sound levels in the three assessed rooms for the three different noise sources. The values of maximum noise level are measured for the corridor, bedroom and living room. Sources of noise are common activities relating to the operation of sanitary core - the toilet flush in the toilet, falling water from the shower in the bathroom and the water falling on the bottom of the kitchen sink in the kitchen. Other sources of noise are eliminated or minimized during the experiment. The digital sound level meter Testo 815 is used for measurements. The measured values of maximum sound level LA,max [dB] are adjusted by the correction coefficient. The obtained values are compared with the hygienic limits for day and night period. Night hygienic limit (30 dB) is exceeded in all the rooms for all noise sources. This limit is exceeded from 17 to 73%. The values in the bedroom and the living room meet the daily hygienic limit (40 dB). The daily limit is exceeded only in the corridor. The highest values of noise are identified for the toilet flushing.

  4. Moment stability for a predator–prey model with parametric dichotomous noises

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jin Yan-Fei

    2015-01-01

    In this paper, we investigate the solution moment stability for a Harrison-type predator–prey model with parametric dichotomous noises. Using the Shapiro–Loginov formula, the equations for the first-order and second-order moments are obtained and the corresponding stable conditions are given. It is found that the solution moment stability depends on the noise intensity and correlation time of noise. The first-order and second-order moments become unstable with the decrease of correlation time. That is, the dichotomous noise can improve the solution moment stability with respect to Gaussian white noise. Finally, some numerical results are presented to verify the theoretical analyses. (paper)

  5. Non-Markovian noise

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fulinski, A.

    1994-01-01

    The properties of non-Markovian noises with exponentially correlated memory are discussed. Considered are dichotomic noise, white shot noise, Gaussian white noise, and Gaussian colored noise. The stationary correlation functions of the non-Markovian versions of these noises are given by linear combinations of two or three exponential functions (colored noises) or of the δ function and exponential function (white noises). The non-Markovian white noises are well defined only when the kernel of the non-Markovian master equation contains a nonzero admixture of a Markovian term. Approximate equations governing the probability densities for processes driven by such non-Markovian noises are derived, including non-Markovian versions of the Fokker-Planck equation and the telegrapher's equation. As an example, it is shown how the non-Markovian nature changes the behavior of the driven linear process

  6. Temporary threshold shift after impulse-noise during video game play: laboratory data.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Spankovich, C; Griffiths, S K; Lobariñas, E; Morgenstein, K E; de la Calle, S; Ledon, V; Guercio, D; Le Prell, C G

    2014-03-01

    Prevention of temporary threshold shift (TTS) after laboratory-based exposure to pure-tones, broadband noise, and narrowband noise signals has been achieved, but prevention of TTS under these experimental conditions may not accurately reflect protection against hearing loss following impulse noise. This study used a controlled laboratory-based TTS paradigm that incorporated impulsive stimuli into the exposure protocol; development of this model could provide a novel platform for assessing proposed therapeutics. Participants played a video game that delivered gunfire-like sound through headphones as part of a target practice game. Effects were measured using audiometric threshold evaluations and distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAEs). The sound level and number of impulses presented were sequentially increased throughout the study. Participants were normal-hearing students at the University of Florida who provided written informed consent prior to participation. TTS was not reliably induced by any of the exposure conditions assessed here. However, there was significant individual variability, and a subset of subjects showed TTS under some exposure conditions. A subset of participants demonstrated reliable threshold shifts under some conditions. Additional experiments are needed to better understand and optimize stimulus parameters that influence TTS after simulated impulse noise.

  7. Relationship Between Psychomotor Efficiency and Sensation Seeking of People Exposed to Noise and Low Frequency Vibration Stimuli

    Science.gov (United States)

    Korchut, Aleksander; Kowalska-Koczwara, Alicja; Romanska – Zapała, Anna; Stypula, Krzysztof

    2017-10-01

    At the workplace of the machine operator, low frequency whole body and hand- arm vibrations are observed. They occur together with noise. Whole body vibration in the range of 3-25 Hz are detrimental to the human body due to the location of the resonant frequency of large organs of the human body in this range. It can be assumed that for this reason people working every day in such conditions can have reduced working efficiency. The influence of low frequency vibration and noise on the human body leads to both physiological and functional changes. The result of the impact of noise and vibration stimuli depends largely on the specific characteristics of the objects, which include among other personality traits, temperament and emotional factor. The pilot study conducted in the laboratory was attended by 30 young men. The aim of the study was to look for correlations between the need for stimulation of the objects and their psychomotor efficiency in case of vibration exposure and vibration together with noise exposure in variable conditions task. The need for stimulation of the objects as defined in the study is based on theoretical assumptions of one dimensional model of temperament developed by Marvin Zuckerman. This theory defines the need for stimulation as the search for different, new, complex and intense sensations, as well as the willingness to take risks. The aim of research was to verify if from four factors such as: the search for adventure and horror, sensation seeking, disinhibition and susceptibility to boredom, we can choose the ones that in conjunction with varying operating conditions, may significantly determine the efficiency of the task situation. The objects performed the test evaluation of their motor skills which consisted in keeping the cursor controlled by a joystick through the path. The number of exceeds of the cursor beyond the path and its maximum deviation was recorded. The collected data were used to determine the correlation between the

  8. Genome-wide transcriptome analysis of soybean primary root under varying water-deficit conditions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Song, Li; Prince, Silvas; Valliyodan, Babu; Joshi, Trupti; Maldonado dos Santos, Joao V; Wang, Jiaojiao; Lin, Li; Wan, Jinrong; Wang, Yongqin; Xu, Dong; Nguyen, Henry T

    2016-01-15

    Soybean is a major crop that provides an important source of protein and oil to humans and animals, but its production can be dramatically decreased by the occurrence of drought stress. Soybeans can survive drought stress if there is a robust and deep root system at the early vegetative growth stage. However, little is known about the genome-wide molecular mechanisms contributing to soybean root system architecture. This study was performed to gain knowledge on transcriptome changes and related molecular mechanisms contributing to soybean root development under water limited conditions. The soybean Williams 82 genotype was subjected to very mild stress (VMS), mild stress (MS) and severe stress (SS) conditions, as well as recovery from the severe stress after re-watering (SR). In total, 6,609 genes in the roots showed differential expression patterns in response to different water-deficit stress levels. Genes involved in hormone (Auxin/Ethylene), carbohydrate, and cell wall-related metabolism (XTH/lipid/flavonoids/lignin) pathways were differentially regulated in the soybean root system. Several transcription factors (TFs) regulating root growth and responses under varying water-deficit conditions were identified and the expression patterns of six TFs were found to be common across the stress levels. Further analysis on the whole plant level led to the finding of tissue-specific or water-deficit levels specific regulation of transcription factors. Analysis of the over-represented motif of different gene groups revealed several new cis-elements associated with different levels of water deficit. The expression patterns of 18 genes were confirmed byquantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction method and demonstrated the accuracy and effectiveness of RNA-Seq. The primary root specific transcriptome in soybean can enable a better understanding of the root response to water deficit conditions. The genes detected in root tissues that were associated with

  9. Noise in NC-AFM measurements with significant tip–sample interaction

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jannis Lübbe

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available The frequency shift noise in non-contact atomic force microscopy (NC-AFM imaging and spectroscopy consists of thermal noise and detection system noise with an additional contribution from amplitude noise if there are significant tip–sample interactions. The total noise power spectral density DΔf(fm is, however, not just the sum of these noise contributions. Instead its magnitude and spectral characteristics are determined by the strongly non-linear tip–sample interaction, by the coupling between the amplitude and tip–sample distance control loops of the NC-AFM system as well as by the characteristics of the phase locked loop (PLL detector used for frequency demodulation. Here, we measure DΔf(fm for various NC-AFM parameter settings representing realistic measurement conditions and compare experimental data to simulations based on a model of the NC-AFM system that includes the tip–sample interaction. The good agreement between predicted and measured noise spectra confirms that the model covers the relevant noise contributions and interactions. Results yield a general understanding of noise generation and propagation in the NC-AFM and provide a quantitative prediction of noise for given experimental parameters. We derive strategies for noise-optimised imaging and spectroscopy and outline a full optimisation procedure for the instrumentation and control loops.

  10. Stochastic resonance for signal-modulated pump noise in a single-mode laser

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    Liangying Zhang; Li Cao; Fahui Zhu

    2006-01-01

    By adopting the gain-noise model of the single-mode laser in which with bias and periodical signals serve as inputs, combining with the effect of coloured pump noise, we use the linear approximation method to calculate the power spectrum and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the laser intensity under the condition of pump noise and quantum noise cross-related in the form of δ function. It is found that with the change of pump noise correlation time, both SNR and the output power will occur stochastic resonance (SR). If the bias signal α is very small, changing the intensities of pump noise and quantum noise respectively does not lead to the appearance of SR in the SNR; while α increases to a certain number, SR appears.

  11. Noise and pile-up in liquid sampling calorimeters

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Franzini, P.

    1988-01-01

    The design and construction of detectors for the SSC presents new challenges and requires electronics of priorly unavailable performance. Most detector elements produce minute signals which can be lost in the ever present noise from thermal fluctuation and the finite charge of the electron. The author presents in these notes a pedagogical introduction to noise and pile-up, as applicable to liquid sampling calorimeters, beginning with a brief, only descriptive, introduction to amplifiers and the physical origins of noise. He then studies the particular case of noise in charge measurements, in particular for calorimeters, where parallel noise is usually negligible. By a physical example he discusses optimal filtering, proving that gaussian filters are not optimal. The scaling laws of noise versus source capacitance and filter bandwidth or shaping time, are emphasized. An explicit example for pulse shapes peaking at 1 μs is computed and extrapolated to 0.1 μs, more appropriate for an SSC detector. Solutions for the several problems arising at short shaping times are discussed and the conditions for optimal preamp-detector matching (for minimum noise) are derived. He also briefly discusses pile-up and its scaling laws. Correlations between signal samples at different times are considered and computed for an example. Correlations are necessary to compute the noise in signals reconstructed from sampling

  12. Development of a perceptually calibrated objective metric of noise

    Science.gov (United States)

    Keelan, Brian W.; Jin, Elaine W.; Prokushkin, Sergey

    2011-01-01

    A system simulation model was used to create scene-dependent noise masks that reflect current performance of mobile phone cameras. Stimuli with different overall magnitudes of noise and with varying mixtures of red, green, blue, and luminance noises were included in the study. Eleven treatments in each of ten pictorial scenes were evaluated by twenty observers using the softcopy ruler method. In addition to determining the quality loss function in just noticeable differences (JNDs) for the average observer and scene, transformations for different combinations of observer sensitivity and scene susceptibility were derived. The psychophysical results were used to optimize an objective metric of isotropic noise based on system noise power spectra (NPS), which were integrated over a visual frequency weighting function to yield perceptually relevant variances and covariances in CIE L*a*b* space. Because the frequency weighting function is expressed in terms of cycles per degree at the retina, it accounts for display pixel size and viewing distance effects, so application-specific predictions can be made. Excellent results were obtained using only L* and a* variances and L*a* covariance, with relative weights of 100, 5, and 12, respectively. The positive a* weight suggests that the luminance (photopic) weighting is slightly narrow on the long wavelength side for predicting perceived noisiness. The L*a* covariance term, which is normally negative, reflects masking between L* and a* noise, as confirmed in informal evaluations. Test targets in linear sRGB and rendered L*a*b* spaces for each treatment are available at http://www.aptina.com/ImArch/ to enable other researchers to test metrics of their own design and calibrate them to JNDs of quality loss without performing additional observer experiments. Such JND-calibrated noise metrics are particularly valuable for comparing the impact of noise and other attributes, and for computing overall image quality.

  13. Modeling and Compensating Temperature-Dependent Non-Uniformity Noise in IR Microbolometer Cameras

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alejandro Wolf

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available Images rendered by uncooled microbolometer-based infrared (IR cameras are severely degraded by the spatial non-uniformity (NU noise. The NU noise imposes a fixed-pattern over the true images, and the intensity of the pattern changes with time due to the temperature instability of such cameras. In this paper, we present a novel model and a compensation algorithm for the spatial NU noise and its temperature-dependent variations. The model separates the NU noise into two components: a constant term, which corresponds to a set of NU parameters determining the spatial structure of the noise, and a dynamic term, which scales linearly with the fluctuations of the temperature surrounding the array of microbolometers. We use a black-body radiator and samples of the temperature surrounding the IR array to offline characterize both the constant and the temperature-dependent NU noise parameters. Next, the temperature-dependent variations are estimated online using both a spatially uniform Hammerstein-Wiener estimator and a pixelwise least mean squares (LMS estimator. We compensate for the NU noise in IR images from two long-wave IR cameras. Results show an excellent NU correction performance and a root mean square error of less than 0.25 ∘ C, when the array’s temperature varies by approximately 15 ∘ C.

  14. Noise Characterization and Filtering in the MicroBooNE Liquid Argon TPC

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Acciarri, R.; et al.

    2017-05-20

    The low-noise operation of readout electronics in a liquid argon time projection chamber (LArTPC) is critical to properly extract the distribution of ionization charge deposited on the wire planes of the TPC, especially for the induction planes. This paper describes the characteristics and mitigation of the observed noise in the MicroBooNE detector. The MicroBooNE's single-phase LArTPC comprises two induction planes and one collection sense wire plane with a total of 8256 wires. Current induced on each TPC wire is amplified and shaped by custom low-power, low-noise ASICs immersed in the liquid argon. The digitization of the signal waveform occurs outside the cryostat. Using data from the first year of MicroBooNE operations, several excess noise sources in the TPC were identified and mitigated. The residual equivalent noise charge (ENC) after noise filtering varies with wire length and is found to be below 400 electrons for the longest wires (4.7 m). The response is consistent with the cold electronics design expectations and is found to be stable with time and uniform over the functioning channels. This noise level is significantly lower than previous experiments utilizing warm front-end electronics.

  15. 1/f Noise Characterization in CMOS Transistors in 0.13μm Technology

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Citakovic, J.; Stenberg, L J; Andreani, Pietro

    2006-01-01

    Low-frequency noise has been studied on a set of n- and p-channel CMOS transistors fabricated in a 0.13μm technology. Noise measurements have been performed on transistors with different gate lengths operating under wide bias conditions, ranging from weak to strong inversion. Noise origin has been...

  16. Analysis and Optimal Condition of the Rear-Sound-Aided Control Source in Active Noise Control

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Karel Kreuter

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available An active noise control scenario of simple ducts is considered. The previously suggested technique of using an single loudspeaker and its rear sound to cancel the upstream sound is further examined and compared to the bidirectional solution in order to give theoretical proof of its advantage. Firstly, a model with a new approach for taking damping effects into account is derived based on the electrical transmission line theory. By comparison with the old model, the new approach is validated, and occurring differences are discussed. Moreover, a numerical application with the consideration of damping is implemented for confirmation. The influence of the rear sound strength on the feedback-path system is investigated, and the optimal condition is determined. Finally, it is proven that the proposed source has an advantage of an extended phase lag and a time delay in the feedback-path system by both frequency-response analysis and numerical calculation of the time response.

  17. The interpretation of neutron noise in boiling water reactors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    John, T.M.; Singh, O.P.

    1985-01-01

    Some qualitative results of neutron noise in a boiling water reactor (BWR) are reported. By using one-group theory, it has been shown that the neutron flux fluctuations caused by a distributed source in space, representative of the coolant boiling noise in BWRs, can be considered as made up of two components: The first one, having a global character, is a quickly varying function of frequency and follows the fundamental mode solution in space; the second, called nonglobal (local), follows the spatial variation of noise-source intensity distribution and is independent of frequency for ω γΣ, this component decreases with increasing frequency. The formulation indicates that the global component is quite sensitive to the neutron multiplication factor of the system and, for the local component, the medium behaves like a nonmultiplying one. The global effect is dominant at lower frequencies in a critical system, and the local effect is dominant at higher fre quencies

  18. Optimization of the GOES-1 Imagers radiometric accuracy: Drift and 1/f noise suppression

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bremer, J.C.; Comeyne, G.J. III

    1994-01-01

    The raw output of many scanning radiometers is a small, rapidly varying signal superimposed on a large background that varies more slowly, due to thermal drifts and 1/f noise. To isolate the signal, it is necessary to perform a differential measurement: measure a known reference and subtract it from each of the raw outputs, canceling the common-mode background. Calibration is also a differential measurement: the difference between two outputs is divided by the difference between the two known references that produced them to determine the gain. The GOES-I Imager views space as its background subtraction reference and a full-aperture blackbody as its second reference for calibration. The background suppression efficiency of a differential measurement algorithm depends on its timing. The Imager measures space references before and after each scan line and performs interpolated background subtraction: a unique, linearly weighted average of the two references is subtracted from each scene sample in that line, canceling both constant bias and linear drift. One model quantifies the Gaussian noise and 1/f noise terms in the noise equivalent bandwidth, which is minimized to optimize the algorithm. The authors have obtained excellent agreement between the analytical predictions and Monte Carlo computer simulations

  19. Estimating time-varying conditional correlations between stock and foreign exchange markets

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tastan, Hüseyin

    2006-02-01

    This study explores the dynamic interaction between stock market returns and changes in nominal exchange rates. Many financial variables are known to exhibit fat tails and autoregressive variance structure. It is well-known that unconditional covariance and correlation coefficients also vary significantly over time and multivariate generalized autoregressive model (MGARCH) is able to capture the time-varying variance-covariance matrix for stock market returns and changes in exchange rates. The model is applied to daily Euro-Dollar exchange rates and two stock market indexes from the US economy: Dow-Jones Industrial Average Index and S&P500 Index. The news impact surfaces are also drawn based on the model estimates to see the effects of idiosyncratic shocks in respective markets.

  20. Environmental noise and noise modelling-some aspects in Malaysian development

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Leong, Mohd Salman; Mohd Shafiek bin Hj Yaacob

    1994-01-01

    Environmental noise is of growing concern in Malaysia with the increasing awareness of the need for an environmental quality consistent with improved quality of life. While noise is one of the several elements in an Environmental Impact Assessment report, the degree of emphasis in the assessment is not as thorough as other aspects in the EIA study. The measurements, prediction (if at all any), and evaluation tended to be superficial. The paper presents a summary of correct noise descriptors and annoyance assessment parameters appropriate for the evaluation of environmental noise. The paper further highlights current inadequacies in the Environmental Quality Act for noise pollution, and annoyance assessment. Some examples of local noise pollution are presented. A discussion on environmental noise modelling is presented. Examples illustrating environmental noise modelling for a mining operation and a power station are given. It is the authors' recommendation that environmental noise modelling be made mandatory in all EIA studies such that a more definitive assessment could be realised

  1. Annoyance of low frequency noise and traffic noise

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Mortensen, F.R.; Poulsen, Torben

    2001-01-01

    The annoyance of different low frequency noise sources was determined and compared to the annoyance from traffic noise. Twenty-two subjects participated in laboratory listening tests. The sounds were presented by loudspeakers in a listening room and the spectra of the low frequency noises were...

  2. Passive coherent discriminator using phase diversity for the simultaneous measurement of frequency noise and intensity noise of a continuous-wave laser

    Science.gov (United States)

    Michaud-Belleau, V.; Bergeron, H.; Light, P. S.; Hébert, N. B.; Deschênes, J. D.; Luiten, A. N.; Genest, J.

    2016-10-01

    The frequency noise and intensity noise of a laser set the performance limits in many modern photonics applications and, consequently, must often be characterized. As lasers continue to improve, the measurement of these noises however becomes increasingly challenging. Current approaches for the characterization of very high-performance lasers often call for a second laser with equal or higher performance to the one that is to be measured, an incoherent interferometer having an extremely long delay-arm, or an interferometer that relies on an active device. These instrumental features can be impractical or problematic under certain experimental conditions. As an alternative, this paper presents an entirely passive coherent interferometer that employs an optical 90° hybrid coupler to perform in-phase and quadrature detection. We demonstrate the technique by measuring the frequency noise power spectral density of a highly-stable 192 THz (1560 nm) fiber laser over five frequency decades. Simultaneously, we are able to measure its relative intensity noise power spectral density and characterize the correlation between its amplitude noise and phase noise. We correct some common misconceptions through a detailed theoretical analysis and demonstrate the necessity to account for normal imperfections of the optical 90° hybrid coupler. We finally conclude that this passive coherent discriminator is suitable for reliable and simple noise characterization of highly-stable lasers, with bandwidth and dynamic range benefits but susceptibility to additive noise contamination.

  3. Mitigating Wind Induced Noise in Outdoor Microphone Signals Using a Singular Spectral Subspace Method

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Omar Eldwaik

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Wind induced noise is one of the major concerns of outdoor acoustic signal acquisition. It affects many field measurement and audio recording scenarios. Filtering such noise is known to be difficult due to its broadband and time varying nature. In this paper, a new method to mitigate wind induced noise in microphone signals is developed. Instead of applying filtering techniques, wind induced noise is statistically separated from wanted signals in a singular spectral subspace. The paper is presented in the context of handling microphone signals acquired outdoor for acoustic sensing and environmental noise monitoring or soundscapes sampling. The method includes two complementary stages, namely decomposition and reconstruction. The first stage decomposes mixed signals in eigen-subspaces, selects and groups the principal components according to their contributions to wind noise and wanted signals in the singular spectrum domain. The second stage reconstructs the signals in the time domain, resulting in the separation of wind noise and wanted signals. Results show that microphone wind noise is separable in the singular spectrum domain evidenced by the weighted correlation. The new method might be generalized to other outdoor sound acquisition applications.

  4. Exploration of dynamic dipole polarizability of impurity doped quantum dots in presence of noise

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ghosh, Anuja; Bera, Aindrila; Saha, Surajit; Arif, Sk. Md.; Ghosh, Manas

    2018-02-01

    Present study strives to perform a rigorous exploration of dynamic dipole polarizability (DDP) of GaAs quantum dot (QD) containing dopant with special reference to influence of Gaussian white noise. Several physical quantities have been varied over a range to observe the modulations of the DDP profiles. Aforesaid physical quantities include magnetic field, confinement potential, dopant location, dopant potential, noise strength, aluminium concentration (only for Alx Ga1 - x As alloy QD), position-dependent effective mass (PDEM), position-dependent dielectric screening function (PDDSF), anisotropy, hydrostatic pressure (HP) and temperature. The DDP profiles reveal noticeable characteristics governed by the particular physical quantity involved, presence/absence of noise, the manner (additive/multiplicative) noise is applied to the system and the incoming photon frequency. As a general observation we have found that additive noise causing greater deviation of the DDP profile from noise-free state than its multiplicative neighbor. The study highlights viable means of harnessing DDP of doped QD under the governance of noise by appropriate adjustment of several relevant factors. The study merits importance in the light of technological applications of QD-based devices where noise appears as an integral component.

  5. The Effects of Audiovisual Stimulation on the Acceptance of Background Noise.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Plyler, Patrick N; Lang, Rowan; Monroe, Amy L; Gaudiano, Paul

    2015-05-01

    Previous examinations of noise acceptance have been conducted using an auditory stimulus only; however, the effect of visual speech supplementation of the auditory stimulus on acceptance of noise remains limited. The purpose of the present study was to determine the effect of audiovisual stimulation on the acceptance of noise in listeners with normal and impaired hearing. A repeated measures design was utilized. A total of 92 adult participants were recruited for this experiment. Of these participants, 54 were listeners with normal hearing and 38 were listeners with sensorineural hearing impairment. Most comfortable levels and acceptable noise levels (ANL) were obtained using auditory and auditory-visual stimulation modes for the unaided listening condition for each participant and for the aided listening condition for 35 of the participants with impaired hearing that owned hearing aids. Speech reading ability was assessed using the Utley test for each participant. The addition of visual input did not impact the most comfortable level values for listeners in either group; however, visual input improved unaided ANL values for listeners with normal hearing and aided ANL values in listeners with impaired hearing. ANL benefit received from visual speech input was related to the auditory ANL in listeners in each group; however, it was not related to speech reading ability for either listener group in any experimental condition. Visual speech input can significantly impact measures of noise acceptance. The current ANL measure may not accurately reflect acceptance of noise values when in more realistic environments, where the signal of interest is both audible and visible to the listener. American Academy of Audiology.

  6. Variations in the microseismic noise level observed at the Bucovina Seismic Array (BURAR)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ghica, Daniela; Radulian, Mircea; Popa, Mihaela

    2005-01-01

    The microseismic noise level analysis for a seismic array is an essential step to accurately process the data recorded by the system. Basically, the observed background noise is a complex combination of natural and cultural sources as local geology, specific area activity (roads traffic, agricultural and industrial activities) or weather conditions.The understanding of the BURAR site noise characteristics is important for the array specific techniques (beamforming, f-k analysis), to apply the correct bandpass filtering, in order to obtain noise suppression and conservation of the 'true' seismic signal. The array monitoring potential of very small earthquakes and explosions will be enhanced, based on the best signal-to-noise ratio.The noise study at BURAR was carried out over one-year period, considering the noise power spectra in a 0.1 to 10 Hz frequency interval, for every 24 hours: 5 minutes during day and 5 minutes during night. Only short-period vertical sensors were considered. Systematic variations in the microseismic noise level at the BURAR site were observed:- diurnal: a decreasing of about 40% in night noise level at 1 Hz frequency; at 6 Hz frequency, the decreasing could reach 80-90% for 'non-winter' months (May to October); - seasonal: during the winter time, a lower noise level is observed, due to the restraining of the local specific activity (especially agriculture and farming) and of the road traffic. To summarize the level of microseismic noise observed at BURAR for one-year observations, a model curve for array noise level has been estimated, including upper and lower bounds of noise power density together with average spectrum. The BURAR noise model will be useful in the process of local site conditions estimation, by eliminating the noise contribution from the array recording. Also, the detection processing, phase identification and events location procedures will be significantly improved. (authors)

  7. Neuropsychological and neurophysiological benefits from white noise in children with and without ADHD.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baijot, Simon; Slama, Hichem; Söderlund, Göran; Dan, Bernard; Deltenre, Paul; Colin, Cécile; Deconinck, Nicolas

    2016-03-15

    Optimal stimulation theory and moderate brain arousal (MBA) model hypothesize that extra-task stimulation (e.g. white noise) could improve cognitive functions of children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). We investigate benefits of white noise on attention and inhibition in children with and without ADHD (7-12 years old), both at behavioral and at neurophysiological levels. Thirty children with and without ADHD performed a visual cued Go/Nogo task in two conditions (white noise or no-noise exposure), in which behavioral and P300 (mean amplitudes) data were analyzed. Spontaneous eye-blink rates were also recorded and participants went through neuropsychological assessment. Two separate analyses were conducted with each child separately assigned into two groups (1) ADHD or typically developing children (TDC), and (2) noise beneficiaries or non-beneficiaries according to the observed performance during the experiment. This latest categorization, based on a new index we called "Noise Benefits Index" (NBI), was proposed to determine a neuropsychological profile positively sensitive to noise. Noise exposure reduced omission rate in children with ADHD, who were no longer different from TDC. Eye-blink rate was higher in children with ADHD but was not modulated by white noise. NBI indicated a significant relationship between ADHD and noise benefit. Strong correlations were observed between noise benefit and neuropsychological weaknesses in vigilance and inhibition. Participants who benefited from noise had an increased Go P300 in the noise condition. The improvement of children with ADHD with white noise supports both optimal stimulation theory and MBA model. However, eye-blink rate results question the dopaminergic hypothesis in the latter. The NBI evidenced a profile positively sensitive to noise, related with ADHD, and associated with weaker cognitive control.

  8. Estimation of noise-free variance to measure heterogeneity.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tilo Winkler

    Full Text Available Variance is a statistical parameter used to characterize heterogeneity or variability in data sets. However, measurements commonly include noise, as random errors superimposed to the actual value, which may substantially increase the variance compared to a noise-free data set. Our aim was to develop and validate a method to estimate noise-free spatial heterogeneity of pulmonary perfusion using dynamic positron emission tomography (PET scans. On theoretical grounds, we demonstrate a linear relationship between the total variance of a data set derived from averages of n multiple measurements, and the reciprocal of n. Using multiple measurements with varying n yields estimates of the linear relationship including the noise-free variance as the constant parameter. In PET images, n is proportional to the number of registered decay events, and the variance of the image is typically normalized by the square of its mean value yielding a coefficient of variation squared (CV(2. The method was evaluated with a Jaszczak phantom as reference spatial heterogeneity (CV(r(2 for comparison with our estimate of noise-free or 'true' heterogeneity (CV(t(2. We found that CV(t(2 was only 5.4% higher than CV(r2. Additional evaluations were conducted on 38 PET scans of pulmonary perfusion using (13NN-saline injection. The mean CV(t(2 was 0.10 (range: 0.03-0.30, while the mean CV(2 including noise was 0.24 (range: 0.10-0.59. CV(t(2 was in average 41.5% of the CV(2 measured including noise (range: 17.8-71.2%. The reproducibility of CV(t(2 was evaluated using three repeated PET scans from five subjects. Individual CV(t(2 were within 16% of each subject's mean and paired t-tests revealed no difference among the results from the three consecutive PET scans. In conclusion, our method provides reliable noise-free estimates of CV(t(2 in PET scans, and may be useful for similar statistical problems in experimental data.

  9. CONDITION ASSESSMENT OF SUBJECTIVE COMFORT AND THE REACTIONS OF THE POPULATION IN THE URBAN CONTEXT OF EXPOSURE TO NOISE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    NICA-BADEA Delia

    2012-05-01

    Full Text Available The paper considers this issue matters as of interference noise of the ordinary activity of the population owing to its cause and its presence in all departments of life. Noise pollution is a major problem in all countries where we are witnessing a phenomenon of magnification levels of noise having effects more or less aggressive about comfort and even health. Are presented arguments relating to the characterization of noise as a risk factor in the induction of pathologies such as: auditory disorders, hypertension, ischemic heart disease aggravation, discomfort, sleep disorders and decreasing school performance in children. For the evaluation and management of ambient noise has developed a study aimed at assessing the state of comfort and subjective reactions of residents in order to fundamentarii measures for reducing the levels of exposure and prevention of the effects of population exposed to noise in the street. In areas with heavy traffic confirm the existence of risk perception of 56% of the people who accuse the discomfort caused by noise in homes during the day and during the night rate is 40%. The age groups most affected are 51-65 years and over 65 years old, because they spend most of the time period in the home.

  10. Interdependent processing and encoding of speech and concurrent background noise.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cooper, Angela; Brouwer, Susanne; Bradlow, Ann R

    2015-05-01

    Speech processing can often take place in adverse listening conditions that involve the mixing of speech and background noise. In this study, we investigated processing dependencies between background noise and indexical speech features, using a speeded classification paradigm (Garner, 1974; Exp. 1), and whether background noise is encoded and represented in memory for spoken words in a continuous recognition memory paradigm (Exp. 2). Whether or not the noise spectrally overlapped with the speech signal was also manipulated. The results of Experiment 1 indicated that background noise and indexical features of speech (gender, talker identity) cannot be completely segregated during processing, even when the two auditory streams are spectrally nonoverlapping. Perceptual interference was asymmetric, whereby irrelevant indexical feature variation in the speech signal slowed noise classification to a greater extent than irrelevant noise variation slowed speech classification. This asymmetry may stem from the fact that speech features have greater functional relevance to listeners, and are thus more difficult to selectively ignore than background noise. Experiment 2 revealed that a recognition cost for words embedded in different types of background noise on the first and second occurrences only emerged when the noise and the speech signal were spectrally overlapping. Together, these data suggest integral processing of speech and background noise, modulated by the level of processing and the spectral separation of the speech and noise.

  11. 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

  12. New Hybrid Variational Recovery Model for Blurred Images with Multiplicative Noise

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Dong, Yiqiu; Zeng, Tieyong

    2013-01-01

    A new hybrid variational model for recovering blurred images in the presence of multiplicative noise is proposed. Inspired by previous work on multiplicative noise removal, an I-divergence technique is used to build a strictly convex model under a condition that ensures the uniqueness...

  13. A Convex Variational Model for Restoring Blurred Images with Multiplicative Noise

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Dong, Yiqiu; Tieyong Zeng

    2013-01-01

    In this paper, a new variational model for restoring blurred images with multiplicative noise is proposed. Based on the statistical property of the noise, a quadratic penalty function technique is utilized in order to obtain a strictly convex model under a mild condition, which guarantees...

  14. Qualitative criteria and thresholds for low noise asphalt mixture design

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vaitkus, A.; Andriejauskas, T.; Gražulytė, J.; Šernas, O.; Vorobjovas, V.; Kleizienė, R.

    2018-05-01

    Low noise asphalt pavements are cost efficient and cost effective alternative for road traffic noise mitigation comparing with noise barriers, façade insulation and other known noise mitigation measures. However, design of low noise asphalt mixtures strongly depends on climate and traffic peculiarities of different regions. Severe climate regions face problems related with short durability of low noise asphalt mixtures in terms of considerable negative impact of harsh climate conditions (frost-thaw, large temperature fluctuations, hydrological behaviour, etc.) and traffic (traffic loads, traffic volumes, studded tyres, etc.). Thus there is a need to find balance between mechanical and acoustical durability as well as to ensure adequate pavement skid resistance for road safety purposes. Paper presents analysis of the qualitative criteria and design parameters thresholds of low noise asphalt mixtures. Different asphalt mixture composition materials (grading, aggregate, binder, additives, etc.) and relevant asphalt layer properties (air void content, texture, evenness, degree of compaction, etc.) were investigated and assessed according their suitability for durable and effective low noise pavements. Paper concluded with the overview of requirements, qualitative criteria and thresholds for low noise asphalt mixture design for severe climate regions.

  15. Assessing effects of military aircraft noise on residential property values near airbases

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fidell, Sanford; Tabachnick, Barbara; Silvati, Laura; Cook, Brenda

    The question, 'Does military aircraft noise exposure affect residential property values in the vicinity of Air Force bases?', can be asked and answered with varying degrees of generality and tolerable errors of inference. Definitive answers are difficult to develop because the question itself may not be meaningful in some circumstances: property values are affected by many factors other than aircraft noise which can fluctuate greatly in different areas and during different time periods; credible attribution of causality for changes in property values uniquely to aircraft noise requires many costly study design measures; and prior findings suggest that if a relationship exists, it is not a large or especially strong one. Thus, evidence of a simple geographic association between aircraft noise exposure and residential property values does not provide a conclusive answer to the question. In an effort to develop more compelling evidence, the US Air Force is planning to compare historical records of sale prices of properties in areas of differential aircraft noise exposure during specific time periods with predictions of sale prices derived from a validated statistical model of residential property values.

  16. Noise annoys: effects of noise on breeding great tits depend on personality but not on noise characteristics

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Naguib, M.; Van Oers, K.; Braakhuis, A.; Griffioen, M.; De Goede, P.; Waas, J.R.

    2013-01-01

    Anthropogenic noise can have serious implications for animals, especially when they communicate acoustically. Yet, the impacts of noise may depend not only on noise characteristics but also on an individual's coping style or personality. We tested whether noise is more disturbing if it masks

  17. A Bayes Formula for Nonlinear Filtering with Gaussian and Cox Noise

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vidyadhar Mandrekar

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available A Bayes-type formula is derived for the nonlinear filter where the observation contains both general Gaussian noise as well as Cox noise whose jump intensity depends on the signal. This formula extends the well-known Kallianpur-Striebel formula in the classical non-linear filter setting. We also discuss Zakai-type equations for both the unnormalized conditional distribution as well as unnormalized conditional density in case the signal is a Markovian jump diffusion.

  18. Linking source region and ocean wave parameters with the observed primary microseismic noise

    Science.gov (United States)

    Juretzek, C.; Hadziioannou, C.

    2017-12-01

    In previous studies, the contribution of Love waves to the primary microseismic noise field was found to be comparable to those of Rayleigh waves. However, so far only few studies analysed both wave types present in this microseismic noise band, which is known to be generated in shallow water and the theoretical understanding has mainly evolved for Rayleigh waves only. Here, we study the relevance of different source region parameters on the observed primary microseismic noise levels of Love and Rayleigh waves simultaneously. By means of beamforming and correlation of seismic noise amplitudes with ocean wave heights in the period band between 12 and 15 s, we analysed how source areas of both wave types compare with each other around Europe. The generation effectivity in different source regions was compared to ocean wave heights, peak ocean gravity wave propagation direction and bathymetry. Observed Love wave noise amplitudes correlate comparably well with near coastal ocean wave parameters as Rayleigh waves. Some coastal regions serve as especially effective sources for one or the other wave type. These coincide not only with locations of high wave heights but also with complex bathymetry. Further, Rayleigh and Love wave noise amplitudes seem to depend equally on the local ocean wave heights, which is an indication for a coupled variation with swell height during the generation of both wave types. However, the wave-type ratio varies directionally. This observation likely hints towards a spatially varying importance of different source mechanisms or structural influences. Further, the wave-type ratio is modulated depending on peak ocean wave propagation directions which could indicate a variation of different source mechanism strengths but also hints towards an imprint of an effective source radiation pattern. This emphasizes that the inclusion of both wave types may provide more constraints for the understanding of acting generation mechanisms.

  19. Higher songs of city birds may not be an individual response to noise.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zollinger, Sue Anne; Slater, Peter J B; Nemeth, Erwin; Brumm, Henrik

    2017-08-16

    It has been observed in many songbird species that populations in noisy urban areas sing with a higher minimum frequency than do matched populations in quieter, less developed areas. However, why and how this divergence occurs is not yet understood. We experimentally tested whether chronic noise exposure during vocal learning results in songs with higher minimum frequencies in great tits ( Parus major ), the first species for which a correlation between anthropogenic noise and song frequency was observed. We also tested vocal plasticity of adult great tits in response to changing background noise levels by measuring song frequency and amplitude as we changed noise conditions. We show that noise exposure during ontogeny did not result in songs with higher minimum frequencies. In addition, we found that adult birds did not make any frequency or song usage adjustments when their background noise conditions were changed after song crystallization. These results challenge the common view of vocal adjustments by city birds, as they suggest that either noise itself is not the causal force driving the divergence of song frequency between urban and forest populations, or that noise induces population-wide changes over a time scale of several generations rather than causing changes in individual behaviour. © 2017 The Author(s).

  20. 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.