Study of sub-word acoustical models for <Emphasis Type="Italic">Kannada</Emphasis> isolated word recognition system

The speech recognition system basically extracts the textual information present in the speech. In the present work, speaker independent isolated word recognition system for one of the south Indian language—Kannada has been developed. For European languages such as English, large amount of research has been carried out in the context of speech recognition. But, speech recognition in Indian languages such as Kannada reported significantly less amount of work and there are no standard speech corpus readily available. In the present study, speech database has been developed by recording the speech utterances of regional Kannada news corpus of different speakers. The speech recognition system has been implemented using the Hidden Markov Tool Kit. Two separate pronunciation dictionaries namely phone based and syllable based dictionaries are built in-order to design and evaluate the performances of phone-level and syllable-level sub-word acoustical models. Experiments have been carried out and results are analyzed by varying the number of Gaussian mixtures in each state of monophone Hidden Markov Model (HMM). Also, context dependent triphone HMM models have been built for the same Kannada speech corpus and the recognition accuracies are comparatively analyzed. Mel frequency cepstral coefficients along with their first and second derivative coefficients are used as feature vectors and are computed in acoustic front-end processing. The overall word recognition accuracy of 60.2 and 74.35 % respectively for monophone and triphone models have been obtained. The study shows a good improvement in the accuracy of isolated-word Kannada speech recognition system using triphone HMM models compared to that of monophone HMM models.     

Compromise ranking approach for sustainable concept selection in an Indian modular switches manufacturing organization

The modern manufacturing organizations are forced to adopt the principles of sustainability to sustain in the competitive market scenario. Sustainability paradigm stipulates that manufacturing organizations develop eco-friendly products coupled with economic and social dimensions. Sustainability concepts include life cycle impact assessment, environmental conscious quality function deployment, environmental impact assessment, life cycle assessment, and theory of inventive problem solving. The concept selection in the context of sustainability is the typical multicriteria decision-making problem (MCDM). MCDM method can be used to find out the best alternative among the given alternatives. In our study, we have utilized the compromise ranking method namely VlseKriterijumska Optimizacija I Kompromisno Resenje. This method focuses on ranking and selecting from a set of conflicting criteria based on the measure of closeness to the ideal solution. The best concept has been selected for implementation in the organization as stated by Opricovic and Tzeng (Eur J Oper Res 156:445–455, 2004).     

Thermal and electrical studies on mixed crystals of CuxZn1−x(HCOO)2·2H2O

The electrical properties of CuxZn1–x(HCOO)2·2H2O have been studied over a temperature range of 78–400 K. Results of the electrical conductivity, d.c., a.c., thermoelectric power, , relative permittivity, r, and dielectric loss factor, r, were reported. Anomalies in the physical properties have been observed at 220 K and at the vicinity of the decomposition temperature, and the mechanism of decomposition of solids has been studied. A random nucleation process (A3) was found to be the predominant decomposition mechanism for the system investigated. The effects of chemical composition and crystal structure on the physical properties are discussed.     

Speeding the diffusion of solar energy innovations

Solar energy innovations are likely to concern public and business policy makers in the decade ahead. Sooner or later, the focus of concern must move from the general to the specific, from the macro- to the micro-environment, from the national level to the regional and state levels. A diffusion of innovations framework is presented and discussed as an approach capable of explaining and increasing the market share of solar energy innovations. Solar domestic water heating systems serve as an illustrative example.     

Effect of γ-irradiation on granule structure and physicochemical properties of starch extracted from two types of potatoes grown in Jammu & Kashmir,India

In this study red and white potato starches were treated with γ-irradiation of 0, 5, 10 and 20 kGy. Physicochemical, pasting and morphological properties of the irradiated starches were investigated. Apparent amylose content, pH, moisture, swelling power and syneresis decreased; whereas carboxyl content, water absorption capacity and solubility increased with increasing irradiation dose. Pasting properties also decreased significantly (p ≤ 0.05) upon increasing the irradiation dose. Observation under scanning electron microscope (SEM) showed surface cracking of the starch granules by γ-irradiation which increased with increase in irradiation dose. X-ray diffraction pattern remained the same upon irradiation but a decrease in relative crystallinity was observed with increasing irradiation dose.     

Multiscale Effects on Spatial Variability Metrics in Global Water Resources Data

Spatial scales and methods for dealing with scale have been widely discussed in the water resources literature. Different spatial processes operate at different scales so interpretations based on data from one scale may not apply to another. Understanding the behavior of phenomena at multiple-scales of data aggregation is thus imperative to accurate integrations of data and models at different geographic resolutions. This study tests theoretical concepts of scale by presenting empirical results of multiscale GIS and statistical analyses on gridded water-availability, water use and population data for the Danube Basin in Europe, with results corroborated by similar tests in the Ganges (South Asia) and Missouri (North America) Basins. Fine-resolution datasets were aggregated to coarser grid sizes and standard statistical measures of spatial variability were computed. Statistical analysis of spatial variability demonstrated two distinctly different cases for unscaled and scaled variables. Results show that variance (and standard deviation) in unscaled variables like freshwater supply, use and population increases at coarser scales—contrary to the common assumption of decreasing variability as grid-cell size increases. On the other hand, a decreasing trend in variability with scale is noted for variables scaled to area or population (like population density, water availability per capita etc.). Moreover, relationships between variability and scale show strong non-linear trends. No mention of these relationships has been found in the water resources or socio-economic literature for scale and variability. Regression analyses suggest that power functions are the most appropriate model to fit trends in increasing variability at multiple scales. These results can be applied to interpretations of water-stress and water scarcity data and their locations relative to water sources or topographic barriers.     

Decisions on risk

This paper describes some of the methods used to resolve decisions affecting plant safety in design. Traditional approaches such as codes and standards leave gaps. An alternative approach is to define safety goals for an overall design in terms of the effects of potential incidents and their estimated probability.

An example is taken from recent design work. A retrospective analysis was carried out of the potential effects and probability of a fire involving the separation train designed for a floating oil-processing unit. It showed that previous design decisions had been satisfactory but that minor engineering changes would greatly reduce the risk. The design decisions during the project involved significant discussion and could have been accelerated using the techniques which are discussed.     

Radiation synthesis of hydrogels based on carboxymethyl cellulose and its application in removal of pollutants from wastewater

Synthesis of carboxymethyl cellulose‐g‐methacrylic acid/acrylamide Poly(CMC/MAAc:AAm) hydrogel was carried out using direct radiation copolymerization technique at ambient temperature. The gel (%) increased with increasing the content of AAm till level off at Poly(CMC/MAAc:AAm) (1/50:50 wt%) hydrogel and the swelling behavior found to be increased with increasing MAAc content in the hydrogel composition up to Poly(CMC/MAAc:AAm) (1/60:40 wt%). The grafting yield, grafting ratio, swelling behavior, and the thermal stability of Poly(CMC/MAAc:AAm) binary system are higher than those reported in our previous study by the same author which described the individual grafting of acrylamide (AAm) and methacrylic acid (MAAc) with different concentration onto carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) using direct radiation grafting technique. The swelling kinetics and diffusion mechanism indicate that the water penetration obey non‐Fickian transport mechanism. The characterization of the prepared hydrogel was evaluated using Fourier transform infrared, X‐ray diffraction, thermogravimetric analysis, and scanning electron microscopy. The analyses by different analytical tools confirmed the successful grafting of both MAAc and AAm onto CMC. The adsorption capacity of Poly(CMC/MAAc:AAm) (1/60:40 wt%) hydrogel toward metal ions such as Cu⁺² and Co⁺², dyes such as acid blue dye and methyl green have been investigated. J. VINYL ADDIT. TECHNOL., 25:E35–E43, 2019. © 2017 Society of Plastics Engineers     

An Investigation into the Inactivation Kinetics of Hydrogen Peroxide Vapor Against Clostridium difficile Endospores

C. difficile spores are resistant to routine cleaning agents and are able to survive on inanimate surfaces for long periods of time. There is increasing evidence of the importance of the clinical environment as a reservoir for pathogenic agents and as a potential source of healthcare-associated infections (HCAIs). In this context, to reduce the risk of cross-transmission, terminal disinfection of hospital wards and isolation rooms using hydrogen peroxide vapor (HPV) is attracting attention. Spores of C. difficile (ribotype 027) were exposed to constant concentrations of HPV ranging between 11 and 92 mg m^?3 (ppm) for a range of exposure times in a specially designed chamber. The inactivation data thus obtained was fitted using the modified Chick–Watson inactivation model to obtain decimal reduction values (D values). D values ranged from 23 to 1.3 min at HPV concentrations of 11 and 92 ppm, respectively. We present a simple mathematical model based on the inactivation kinetic data obtained here to estimate the efficacy of commercial HPV processes used in healthcare environmental decontamination. C. difficile spores showed linear inactivation kinetics at steady HPV concentrations ranging between 10 and 90 ppm. The data obtained here was used to provide estimates of the inactivation efficacy of commercial HPV process cycles, which employ unsteady HPV concentrations during the decontamination process.     

High Dose trans-10,cis-12 CLA Increases Lean Body Mass in Hamsters, but Elevates Levels of Plasma Lipids and Liver Enzyme Biomarkers

The current study examined the efficacy of graded doses of c9,t11 and t10,c12 CLA isomers on body composition, energy expenditure, hepatic and serum lipid liver biomarkers in hamsters. Animals (n = 105) were randomized to seven treatments (control, 1, 2, 3% of c9,t11; 1, 2, 3% of t10,c12) for 28 days. After 28 days treatment, 1–3% of t10,c12 lowered (p < 0.05) body fat mass compared to the control group. The 1–3% t10,c12 and 3% c9,t11 fed groups showed higher (p < 0.05) lean mass compared to other groups. We observed unfavorable changes in plasma total cholesterol and non-HDL cholesterol levels in animals fed with 3% t10,c12 CLA isomers. The 2%, 3% t10,c12 groups presented elevated (p < 0.05) ALT levels. The present data suggest that a diet enriched with more than 2% t10, c12 led to liver malfunction and poses unfavorable changes on plasma lipid profiles. The 1% t10,c12 CLA lowered (p < 0.05) body fat mass and increased (p < 0.05) lean body mass. The c9,t11 CLA has less potent actions than t10,c12 CLA. We conclude that the actions of CLA on energy and lipid metabolism are form and dose dependent in the hamster model.