Electromyogram-Based Lip-Reading via Unobtrusive Dry Electrodes and Machine Learning Methods (Small 17/2023)

Lip-reading provides an effective speech communication interface for people with voice disorders and for intuitive human–machine interactions. Existing systems are generally challenged by bulkiness, obtrusiveness, and poor robustness against environmental interferences. The lack of a truly natural and unobtrusive system for converting lip movements to speech precludes the continuous use and wide-scale deployment of such devices. Here, the design of a hardware–software architecture to capture, analyze, and interpret lip movements associated with either normal or silent speech is presented. The system can recognize different and similar visemes. It is robust in a noisy or dark environment. Self-adhesive, skin-conformable, and semi-transparent dry electrodes are developed to track high-fidelity speech-relevant electromyogram signals without impeding daily activities. The resulting skin-like sensors can form seamless contact with the curvilinear and dynamic surfaces of the skin, which is crucial for a high signal-to-noise ratio and minimal interference. Machine learning algorithms are employed to decode electromyogram signals and convert them to spoken words. Finally, the applications of the developed lip-reading system in augmented reality and medical service are demonstrated, which illustrate the great potential in immersive interaction and healthcare applications.     

Performance Analysis of Transmission Visible Watermarked Image over Zero Boresight Double Ricean Turbulence Channel

Journal of Communications Technology and Electronics - In this paper we have analyzed transmission of visible watermarked image over zero-boresight/double-Ricean turbulence channel. First, we have...     

Super‐macroporous dextran cryogels via UV‐induced crosslinking: synthesis and characterization

Cryogenic treatment and UV irradiation were exploited for the preparation of super‐macroporous cryogels from non‐modified high‐molar‐mass dextran. The photo‐crosslinking process was initiated by (4‐benzoylbenzyl)trimethylammonium chloride and N,N′‐methylenebisacrylamide (BAAm) was used as a crosslinking agent. Gel fraction yield and degree of swelling of the dextran cryogels were determined gravimetrically. Cryogel morphology and mechanical properties were studied using environmental scanning electron microscopy and dynamic rheological measurements, respectively. The effects of dextran concentration in the initial polymer solution, polymer molar mass and BAAm content on the crosslinking efficacy, physico‐mechanical properties and morphology of the cryogels were evaluated. The dextran cryogels were assessed as carriers of the model water‐soluble drug metoprolol. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry     

Effective linearization technique for amplifiers operating close to saturation

The linearization technique that uses simultaneous injection of the second harmonics into the amplifier input and their feedforwarding to the amplifier output is suggested. This technique reduces the third‐order intermodulation products in multichannel amplifiers when amplifiers operate closer to saturation. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J RF and Microwave CAE, 2007.     

Evaluation of the energy saving opportunities for palm oil refining process: Sahabat Oil Products (SOP) in Lahad Datu,Malaysia

Palm Oil industry is one of the major contributors to Malaysia’s economic activity. Accounting for 39 % of the world palm oil production and 44 % of world exports, Malaysia holds an important niche in fulfiling the growing global needs for oils and fats sustainably. This industry has high potential for further improvements especially in terms of energy saving as a major contributor to cost and emission reduction. An analysis of the refining process of palm oil in Sahabat Oil Products, Lahad Datu has been performed and presented in this paper for scoping potential energy and cost savings using heat integration. A first stage optimisation of the minimum temperature difference, ?T _min, of a heat exchanger network (HEN) has been performed. The goal has been to evaluate the maximal possible heat recovery as well as the appropriate placement of utilities. The HEN design is presented in both grid diagram and shifted retrofit thermodynamic grid diagram (SRTGD). SRTGD representation has been illustrated in this paper as a useful tool for guiding eventual future retrofit. The capital-energy trade-off of the heat recovery targets indicates optimum ?T _min of 12.3 °C. The hot and cold utility targets at ?T _min = 12.3 °C are 1419 and 1649 kW, indicating potential saving of 3.5 and 3.1 % as compared to the existing utility consumption and emissions. Future work could proceed further to seek potentially viable retrofit of the existing heat recovery network.     

Robust nonlinear control of systems with input unmodeled dynamics

We consider systems with unmodeled dynamics appearing at the input, and present a redesign that preserves global asymptotic stability. The admissible unmodeled dynamics are relative degree zero and minimum phase. The redesign is illustrated on an analytical example.     

Adaptive control of systems with unknown non-smooth non-linearities

In this paper we unify our recent results in adaptive control of systems with unknown non-smooth non-linearities such as dead-zone, backlash and hysteresis characteristics at the input or output of a linear dynamics. Our adaptive inverse approach employs an adaptive controller structure consisting of an adaptive inverse for cancelling the effect of an unknown non-linearity and a fixed (or adaptive) linear control law for a known (or unknown) linear dynamics. Despite the bilinear dependence on the unknown parameters, a linearly parametrized error system is constructed which enables us to design robust adaptive laws for updating the controller parameters to ensure closed loop signal boundedness and improve system tracking performance. © 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Influence of an antimicrobial treatment on the strength properties of polyamide/elastane weft‐knitted fabric

Polyamide/elastane weft‐knitted fabric, as a suitable compression material, was treated with gentamicin sulfate and a natural antimicrobial preparation of the autochthonous essential oil of Picea abies. The antimicrobial bioactivity of the treated fabric in vitro was tested for different groups of bacteria and a fungus (Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Klabsiella, and Candida albicans). The results of the experiment showed that the antimicrobial‐treated knitted fabric expressed a wide range of bactericidal, fungicidal, and bacteriostatic activity versus the various groups of microorganisms. The influence of the antimicrobial treatments on the tensile strength and elongation, tear strength and elongation, stiffness, and elasticity of the chosen test material was also examined. These properties of the fabric were changed after the antimicrobial treatments. Both the tensile strength and tear strength increased about 14% after the treatment. The scope of the experiment also included the testing of the compression distribution at the skin/knitted fabric interface on the legs of human test subjects. Pressure generated by the application of the knitted fabric on the leg surface increased in correlation with a decrease in the leg circumference. On the basis of these observations, it was concluded that the knitted fabric could be used as a compression textile before and after the treatment. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 103: 4012–4019, 2007     

A direct method for BBD matrix inversion

Published in Kibernetika i Sistemnyi Analiz, No. 2, pp. 51–64, March–April, 1994.