| 1. |
- Andersson, M. G., et al.
(författare)
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Separated by a common language : Awareness of term usage differences between languages and disciplines in biopreparedness
- 2013
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Ingår i: Biosecurity and bioterrorism. - : Mary Ann Liebert Inc. - 1538-7135 .- 1557-850X. ; 11:SUPPL. 1, s. S276-S285
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Preparedness for bioterrorism is based on communication between people in organizations who are educated and trained in several disciplines, including law enforcement, health, and science. Various backgrounds, cultures, and vocabularies generate difficulties in understanding and interpretating terms and concepts, which may impair communication. This is especially true in emergency situations, in which the need for clarity and consistency is vital. The EU project AniBioThreat initiated methods and made a rough estimate of the terms and concepts that are crucial for an incident, and a pilot database with key terms and definitions has been constructed. Analysis of collected terms and sources has shown that many of the participating organizations use various international standards in their area of expertise. The same term often represents different concepts in the standards from different sectors, or, alternatively, different terms were used to represent the same or similar concepts. The use of conflicting terminology can be problematic for decision makers and communicators in planning and prevention or when handling an incident. Since the CBRN area has roots in multiple disciplines, each with its own evolving terminology, it may not be realistic to achieve unequivocal communication through a standardized vocabulary and joint definitions for words from common language. We suggest that a communication strategy should include awareness of alternative definitions and ontologies and the ability to talk and write without relying on the implicit knowledge underlying specialized jargon. Consequently, cross-disciplinary communication skills should be part of training of personnel in the CBRN field. In addition, a searchable repository of terms and definitions from relevant organizations and authorities would be a valuable addition to existing glossaries for improving awareness concerning bioterrorism prevention planning. © 2013, Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.
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| 2. |
- Eneman, K., et al.
(författare)
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Evaluation of signal enhancement algorithms for hearing instruments
- 2008
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- In the frame of the HearCom1 project five promising signal enhancement algorithms are validated for future use in hearing instrument devices. To assess the algorithm performance solely based on simulation experiments, a number of physical evaluation measures have been proposed that incorporate basic aspects of normal and impaired human hearing. Additionally, each of the algorithms has been implemented on a common real-time hardware/software platform, which facilitates a profound subjective validation of the algorithm performance. Recently, a multicenter study has been set up across five different test centers in Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and Switzerland to perceptually evaluate the selected signal enhancement approaches with normally hearing and hearing impaired listeners.
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| 4. |
- Behravan, G., et al.
(författare)
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THE INTERACTION OF ELLIPTICINE DERIVATIVES WITH NUCLEIC-ACIDS STUDIED BY OPTICAL AND H-1-NMR SPECTROSCOPY - EFFECT OF SIZE OF THE HETEROCYCLIC RING
- 1994
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Ingår i: Biopolymers. - : Wiley. - 0006-3525 .- 1097-0282. ; 34:5, s. 599-609
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The DNA interaction of derivatives of ellipticine with heterocyclic ring systems with three, four, or five rings and a dimethylaminoethyl side chain was studied. Optical spectroscopy of drug complexes with calf thymus DNA, poly [(dA-dT).(dA-dT)], or poly [(dG-dC).(dG-dC)] showed a 10 nm bathochromic shift of the light absorption bands of the pentacyclic and tetracyclic compounds upon binding to the nucleic acids, which indicates binding by intercalation. For the tricyclic compound a smaller shift of 1-3 nm was observed upon binding to the nucleic acids. Flow linear dichroism studies show that the geometry of all complexes is consistent with intercalation of the ring system, except for the DNA and poly [(dG-dC).(dG-dC)] complexes of the tricyclic compound, where the average angle between the drug molecular plane and the DNA helix axis was found to be 65 degrees. One-dimensional H-1-nmr spectroscopy was used to study complexes between d(CGCGATCGCG)(2) and the tricyclic and pentacyclic compounds. The results on the pentacyclic compound show nonselective broadening due to intermediate chemical exchange of most oligonucleotide resonances upon drug binding. The imino proton resonances are in slow chemical exchange, and new resonances with upheld shifts approaching 1 ppm appear upon drug binding, which supports intercalative binding of the pentacyclic compound. The results on the tricyclic compound show more rapid binding kinetics and very selective broadening of resonances. The data suggest that the tricyclic compound is in an equilibrium between intercalation and minor groove binding, with a preference to bind close to the AT base pairs with the side chain residing in the minor groove. (C) 1994 John Wiley and Sons, Inc.
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| 8. |
- Doe, T.W., et al.
(författare)
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Results and conclusions of stress measurements at Stripa
- 1983
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper describes the results of stress measurements at Stripa, compares the results obtained by different techniques, and recommends a stress measurement program for a hard rock repository site. The state of stress at the Stripa Mine has been measured both in a 381-m-deep hole drilled from the surface and in holes drilled from the drifts underground. Hydraulic fracturing and several overcoring methods have been used (Lulea triaxial gauge, CSIRO gauge, USBM gauge, Swedish State Power Board deep-hole Leeman triaxial gauge). The results of overcoring and hydraulic fracturing agree well, particularly for the magnitude and orientation of the greatest stress. A recommended program for stress measurement at a repository site would include hydraulic fracturing and deep-hole overcoring in a deep hole drilled from surface, and overcoring (Lulea gauge and USBM gauge) and hydraulic fracturing from holes drilled from underground openings when access is available. Propagation of the hydraulic fractures should be monitored acoustically to determine their location and orientation.
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| 12. |
- Leijon, Arne, et al.
(författare)
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Analysis of data from the International Outcome Inventory for Hearing Aids (IOI-HA) using Bayesian Item Response Theory
- 2020
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Ingår i: International Journal of Audiology. - : Taylor & Francis. - 1499-2027 .- 1708-8186.
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Objective: IOI-HA response data are conventionally analysed assuming that the ordinal responses have interval-scale properties. This study critically considers this assumption and compares the conventional approach with a method using Item Response Theory (IRT). Design: A Bayesian IRT analysis model was implemented and applied to several IOI-HA data sets. Study sample: Anonymised IOI-HA responses from 13273 adult users of one or two hearing aids in 11 data sets using the Australian English, Dutch, German and Swedish versions of the IOI-HA. Results: The raw ordinal responses to IOI-HA items do not represent values on interval scales. Using the conventional rating sum as an overall score introduces a scale error corresponding to about 10 − 15% of the true standard deviation in the population. Some interesting and statistically credible differences were demonstrated among the included data sets. Conclusions: It is questionable to apply conventional statistical measures like mean, variance, t-tests, etc., on the raw IOI-HA ratings. It is recommended to apply only nonparametric statistical test methods for comparisons of IOI-HA results between groups. The scale error can sometimes cause incorrect conclusions when individual results are compared. The IRT approach is recommended for analysis of individual results.
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| 16. |
- Molin, Elisabet, et al.
(författare)
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Spectro-temporal discrimination in cochlear implant users
- 2005
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Ingår i: 2005 IEEE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ACOUSTICS, SPEECH, AND SIGNAL PROCESSING. ; , s. 25-28
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- A novel test method was designed to measure the spectro-temporal discrimination ability of cochlear implant (CI) users. The test signals are bandpass filtered, speech weighted noise, with the long term spectrum of speech. The goal of the test is to measure the amplitude difference between spectral bands in two presented signals which is required for the listener to just discriminate between the two sounds. Twenty Cl users were tested with the spectro-temporal discrimination test and a conventional speech recognition test. For test stimuli differing in only two spectral bands Cl and normal hearing users show nearly equally good results on the spectro-temporal test. For spectra with four and more bands the spread in the Cl users' results is great.
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| 17. |
- Morrow, E. H., et al.
(författare)
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Hemiclonal analysis reveals significant genetic, environmental and genotype x environment effects on sperm size in Drosophila melanogaster
- 2008
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Ingår i: Journal of Evolutionary Biology. - : Wiley. - 1010-061X .- 1420-9101. ; 21:6, s. 1692-1702
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Spermatozoa are the most diverse of all animal cells. Variation in size alone is enormous and yet there are still no clear evolutionary explanations that can account for such diversity. The basic genetics of sperm form is also poorly understood, although sperm size is known to have a strong genetic component. Here, using hemiclonal analysis of Drosophila melanogaster, we demonstrate that there is not only a significant additive genetic component contributing to phenotypic variation in sperm length but also a significant environmental effect. Furthermore, the plasticity of sperm size has a significant genetic component to it (a genotype x environment interaction). A genotype x environment interaction could contribute to the maintenance of the substantial genetic variation in this trait and thereby explain the persistent inter-male differences in sperm size seen in numerous taxa. We suggest that the low conditional dependence and high heritability but low evolvability (the coefficient of additive genetic variation) of sperm length is more consistent with a history of stabilizing selection rather than either sexual selection or strong directional selection.
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| 19. |
- Smeds, Karolina, et al.
(författare)
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Preferred overall loudness. I : Sound field presentation in the laboratory
- 2006
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Ingår i: International Journal of Audiology. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1499-2027 .- 1708-8186. ; 45:1, s. 2-11
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This study questions the basic assumption that prescriptive methods for nonlinear, wide dynamic range compression (WDRC) hearing aids should restore overall loudness to normal. Fifteen normal-hearing listeners and twenty-four hearing-impaired listeners (with mild to moderate hearing loss, twelve with and twelve without hearing aid experience) participated in laboratory tests. The participants first watched and listened to video sequences and rated how loud and how interesting the situations were. For the hearing-impaired participants, gain was applied according to the NAL-NL1 prescription. Despite the fact that the NAL-NL1 prescription led to less than normal overall calculated loudness, according to the loudness model of Moore and Glasberg (1997), the hearing-impaired participants rated loudness higher than the normal-hearing participants. The participants then adjusted a volume control to preferred overall loudness. Both normal-hearing and hearing-impaired participants preferred less than normal overall calculated loudness. The results from the two groups of hearing-impaired listeners did not differ significantly.
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| 20. |
- Smeds, Karolina, et al.
(författare)
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Preferred overall loudness. II : Listening through hearing aids in field and laboratory tests
- 2006
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Ingår i: International Journal of Audiology. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1499-2027 .- 1708-8186. ; 45:1, s. 12-25
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In a laboratory study, we found that normal-hearing and hearing-impaired listeners preferred less than normal overall calculated loudness (according to a loudness model of Moore & Glasberg, 1997). The current study verified those results using a research hearing aid. Fifteen hearing-impaired and eight normal-hearing participants used the hearing aid in the Field and adjusted a volume control to give preferred loudness. The hearing aid logged the preferred volume control setting and the calculated loudness at that setting. The hearing-impaired participants preferred, in median, loudness levels of -14 phon re normal for input levels from 50 to 89 dB SPL. The normal-hearing participants preferred close to normal overall loudness. In subsequent laboratory tests, using the same hearing aid, both hearing-impaired and normal-hearing listeners preferred less than normal overall calculated loudness, and larger reductions for higher input levels. In summary, the hearing-impaired listeners preferred less than normal overall calculated loudness, whereas the results for the normal-hearing listeners were inconclusive.
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| 21. |
- Taal, Cees H., et al.
(författare)
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On Optimal Linear Filtering of Speech for Near-End Listening Enhancement
- 2013
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Ingår i: IEEE Signal Processing Letters. - 1070-9908 .- 1558-2361. ; 20:3, s. 225-228
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this letter the focus is on linear filtering of speech before degradation due to additive background noise. The goal is to design the filter such that the speech intelligibility index (SII) is maximized when the speech is played back in a known noisy environment. Moreover, a power constraint is taken into account to prevent uncomfortable playback levels and deal with loudspeaker constraints. Previous methods use linear approximations of the SII in order to find a closed-form solution. However, as we show, these linear approximations introduce errors in low SNR regions and are therefore suboptimal. In this work we propose a nonlinear approximation of the SII which is accurate for all SNRs. Experiments show large intelligibility improvements with the proposed method over the unprocessed noisy speech and better performance than one state-of-the art method.
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