Audio Feature Engineering for Occupancy and Activity Estimation in Smart Buildings

The occupancy and activity estimation are fields that have been severally researched in the past few years. However, the different techniques used include a mixture of atmospheric features such as humidity and temperature, many devices such as cameras and audio sensors, or they are limited to speech recognition. In this work is proposed that the occupancy and activity can be estimated only from the audio information using an automatic approach of audio feature engineering to extract, analyze and select descriptors/variables. This scheme of extraction of audio descriptors is used to determine the occupation and activity in specific smart environments, such that our approach can differentiate between academic, administrative or commercial environments. Our approach from the audio feature engineering is compared to previous similar works on occupancy estimation and/or activity estimation in smart buildings (most of them including other features, such as atmospherics and visuals). In general, the results obtained are very encouraging compared to previous studies.

Pharmacognostical, Phytochemical and Gas Chromatography Mass Spectroscopy Profiling of Stenosiphonium russellianum Nees

Stenosiphonium russellianum Nees. is rarely known species belongs to the family Acanthaceae and it is a shrub, found above 500m on slopes of mountain. It was traditionally used for wound healing in and as blood purifier. The current study designed to provide the requisite pharmacognostical and phytochemical properties of Stenosiphonium russellianum. Pharmacognostical studies like microscopic and macroscopic analysis of the leaves were carried out. Physiochemical parameter and preliminary phytochemical screening for secondary metabolite were also performed. Extracts were taken from nonpolar to polar solvants like hexane, diethyl ether, ethyl acetate, alcohol and water. Their extractive values are calculated. GCMS analysis of hexane, diethyl ether, ethyl acetate and ethanol extract of the leaves of Stenosiphonium russellianum were studied. Preliminary phytochemical evaluation showed the presence of alkaloids, phytosterols and glycosides. GCMS analysis revealed the presence compounds like lupeol, gamma sitosterol and stigmasterols. In conclusion, the information obtained from these studies can be used as markers in the identification and standardization of this plant as an herbal remedy and also towards further pharmacological activity estimation.

Bayesian Activity Estimation and Uncertainty Quantification of Spent Nuclear Fuel Using Passive Gamma Emission Tomography

In this paper, we address the problem of activity estimation in passive gamma emission tomography (PGET) of spent nuclear fuel. Two different noise models are considered and compared, namely, the isotropic Gaussian and the Poisson noise models. The problem is formulated within a Bayesian framework as a linear inverse problem and prior distributions are assigned to the unknown model parameters. In particular, a Bernoulli-truncated Gaussian prior model is considered to promote sparse pin configurations. A Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) method, based on a split and augmented Gibbs sampler, is then used to sample the posterior distribution of the unknown parameters. The proposed algorithm is first validated by simulations conducted using synthetic data, generated using the nominal models. We then consider more realistic data simulated using a bespoke simulator, whose forward model is non-linear and not available analytically. In that case, the linear models used are mis-specified and we analyse their robustness for activity estimation. The results demonstrate superior performance of the proposed approach in estimating the pin activities in different assembly patterns, in addition to being able to quantify their uncertainty measures, in comparison with existing methods.

Synthesis, characterization and catalytic activity estimation of WO3/MeO2 (Me: Zr, Ti, Si) oxides for fructose conversion reaction into 5-hydroxymethylfurfural

Series of WO3/MeO2(Me: Zr, Ti, Si) oxides were synthesized by impregnationmethod with 1:9 atomic ration of W:Me.The oxides were characterized by various techniques such as XRD, IR. The XRD patterns showed the crystalline structure of ZrO2, TiO2,WO3 and amorphous of SiO2. They were formed in tetragonal, anatase, monoclinic phase structure. All oxide and mixed oxides were estimated its catalytic activity through fructose conversion into 5-hydroxymethylfurfural in DMSO solvent. The results indicated that all mixed oxides owned good catalytic activity for the reaction in comparison with case of only presence DMSO solvent. Especially, The oxide WO3/ZrO2 showed the best HMF yield, 81,6%, at experimental conditions. This property could be due to the well dispersionand acidity of nano cluster WO3 on the surface s of oxides MeO2.

The Effects of Mismatch between SPECT and CT Images on Quantitative Activity Estimation – A Simulation Study

Background: Quantitative activity estimation is essential in targeted radionuclide therapy dosimetry. Misregistration between SPECT and CT images at the same imaging time point due to patient movement degrades accuracy. This work aims to study the mismatch effects between CT and SPECT data on attenuation correction (AC), volume-of-interest (VOI) delineation and registration for activity estimation.Methods: Nine 4D XCAT phantoms were generated at 1, 24, and 144 hrs post In-111 Zevalin injection, varying in activity distributions, body and organ sizes. Realistic noisy SPECT projections were generated by an analytical projection and reconstructed with quantitative OS-EM method. CT images were shifted from -5 to 5 voxels as well as according to clinical reference corresponding to SPECT images at each time point. For AC effect, mismatched CT images were used for AC in SPECT reconstruction while VOIs were mapped out from matched CTs. For VOI effect, target organs were mapped out using mismatched CTs with matched CTs for AC. For registration effect, non-rigid registrations were performed on sequential mismatched CTs to align corresponding SPECT images, with no AC and VOI mismatch. Bi-exponential curve fitting was performed to obtain time-integrated activity (TIA). Organ activity errors (%OAE) and TIA errors (%TIAE) were calculated.Results: According to clinical reference, %OAE was larger for organs near ribs for AC effect, e.g., -2.58%±0.81% for liver. For VOI effect, %OAE was larger for small and low uptake organs, e.g., -11.94%±10.34% for spleen. %OAE was proportional to mismatch magnitude, e.g., 4.77%±1.41%, 12.01%±3.97% and 42.81%±6.38% for 1-, 2-, and 5-voxel mismatch for lungs. For registration effect, %TIAE were larger when mismatch existed in more numbers of SPECT/CT images, while no substantial difference was observed when using mismatched CT at different time points for registration reference. %TIAE was highest for VOI, followed by registration and AC, e.g., 37.61%±5.08%, 14.25%±7.07% and 1.13%±0.90% respectively for kidneys.Conclusions: The mismatch between CT and SPECT images poses a significant impact on accuracy of quantitative activity estimation in dosimetry, attributed particularly from VOI delineation errors. It is recommended to perform registration between emission and transmission images at the same time point to ensure dosimetric accuracy.

Antioxidant Potential of Aqueous Dispersions of Fullerenes C60, C70, and Gd@C82

The antioxidant potential (capacity and activity) of aqueous fullerene dispersions (AFD) of non-functionalized C60, C70, and Gd@C82 endofullerene (in micromolar concentration range) was estimated based on chemiluminescence measurements of the model of luminol and generation of organic radicals by 2,2′-azobis(2-amidinopropane) dihydrochloride (ABAP). The antioxidant capacity was estimated by the TRAP method, from the concentration of half-suppression, and from the suppression area in the initial period. All three approaches agree and show that the antioxidant capacity of AFDs increased in the order Gd@C82 < C70 < C60. Mathematical modeling of the long-term kinetics data was used for antioxidant activity estimation. The effect of C60 and C70 is found to be quenching of the excited product of luminol with ABAP-generated radical and not an actual antioxidant effect; quenching constants differ insignificantly. Apart from quenching with a similar constant, the AFD of Gd@C82 exhibits actual antioxidant action. The antioxidant activity in Gd@C82 is 300-fold higher than quenching constants.

Pimenta dioica and Pimenta racemosa: GC-based metabolomics for the assessment of seasonal and organs variation in their volatile components, in silico and in vitro cytotoxic activity estimation

Volatile constituents isolated from stems (S) and leaves (L) of Pimenta dioica (PD) and Pimenta racemosa (PR) during the four seasons were analyzed using GLC/FID (Gas liquid chromatography – flame...