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This paper is devoted to the problem of pauses detection in English speech signals. The aim of the current study is to create a new method of speech pauses detection that has no drawbacks other algorithms suffer from. The analysis of it suggests the opportunity to use the graphical method in real-time applications. The article provides a new vision and a new solution of pauses detection problem. The result of the study - the graphical method - may be applied to real-time signal processing, text-to-speech synthesis or used to enrich knowledge about the specified problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the problem of determining the stabilizing proportional-integral-derivative controller regions for a general linear system with or without time delay in unity output feedback configuration. When such a problem is solved in the 3D space by a graphical method, it brings in the visualizing difficulties. This paper proposes a new method by projecting the stability boundary in the 3D to the parameterized stability boundary band in the 2D plane of (Kp,Ki) while Kd varies in an interval. The boundary band divides the plane to the regions for which simple and effective stability test is developed and the complete stabilizing regions in the 2D plane of (Kp,Ki) are determined for any given interval on Kd. The rules are presented to find conditionally stable band portions, within which the corresponding stabilizing sub-interval for Kd can be obtained from an analytical formula for the case of no band intersections and from the root locus on Kd for the case of the band intersections. Several examples are designed to cover different cases and illustrate the method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 19th century graphic method of Eddy-Lévy is analyzed and proposed in an analytical form as an assessment tool for masonry domes. The method determines the neutral hoop that separates the upper part of the dome that behaves as a compressed membrane from and the bottom that behaves as independent arches, due to the presence of vertical cracks. This method allows determining a no-tension equilibrated solution, accounting for the natural behavior of masonry domes of fracturing along meridian planes. Six case studies were investigated, considering spherical and pointed dome, complete, with hole and with hole and lantern. A modified version has been studied to model the biaxial stress of upper part properly through the membrane theory, and compared to the solution obtained by a numeric discrete block model. Limit thickness-to-radius ratio was identified, and a parametric analysis was carried out to investigate the extension of meridian fracture varying dome shape and thickness. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Industrialized closing systems appear as rational solutions in steel-structured construction. These closing systems, consisting of multi-layered panels, have been applied in projects where it is intended to obtain a high sound transmission loss without raising the cost and without using a lot of mass. However, acoustic isolation depends on several factors, including the type of connection between the panels, requiring a preliminary study of the acoustic performance of the closing system to prevent future interventions. This paper uses a simplified graphical method to evaluate the influence of the type of connection (line-line, line-punctual or punctual-punctual) of industrialized closing panels on the estimation of the sound transmission loss that occurs across the wall constituted by these panels. The panels are combined, forming multi-layered closings interleaved by a layer of air, either without or with a sound-absorbing material between them. The results show that it is necessary to check the effectiveness of each type of fastening of the closing systems because, for example, for the frequency range between 500 and 2,000 Hz, the sound transmission loss of a closing system consisting of cementitious plate with glass wool and line-punctual and punctual-punctual connections exceeds in 6.25% the sound transmission loss of the same system with line-line fastening. For a system composed of expanded polystyrene with glass wool, the sound transmission loss provided by line-line fastening exceeds in 7.0% the sound transmission loss of the same closing system with line-punctual and punctual-punctual fastenings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we propose a method based on the surfaces enveloping theory developed as a vertical application in the CATIA graphical design environment. This method is created for profiling tools intended to generate cylindrical helical surfaces with constant pitch. The devised method is applicable for the profiling of disc tools which are bounded by a primary peripheral surface of revolution. A few examples for the determination of the tool's 3D primary peripheral surface are presented such as helical flutes of cutting tools, worms with wide pitches, and gear involute flanks. The results are presented in both graphical and tabular form for completeness. Screen snapshots of the CATIA-based vertical application are also shown. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The process capability index Cpk is widely used when measuring the capability of a manufacturing process. A process is defined to be capable if the capability index exceeds a stated threshold value, e.g. Cpk>4/3. This inequality can be expressed graphically using a process capability plot, which is a plot in the plane defined by the process mean and the process standard deviation, showing the region for a capable process. In the process capability plot, a safety region can be plotted to obtain a simple graphical decision rule to assess process capability at a given significance level. We consider safety regions to be used for the index Cpk. Under the assumption of normality, we derive elliptical safety regions so that, using a random sample, conclusions about the process capability can be drawn at a given significance level. This simple graphical tool is helpful when trying to understand whether it is the variability, the deviation from target, or both that need to be reduced to improve the capability. Furthermore, using safety regions, several characteristics with different specification limits and different sample sizes can be monitored in the same plot. The proposed graphical decision rule is also investigated with respect to power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A pulse test is one of the simplest identification tests. Here a simple graphical method that uses the integral of pulse response and identifies a first order plus time delay (FOPTD) model is proposed. It can be effectively applied to noisy pulse responses because the integral of the pulse response is used. It can also be applied to noisy step responses, improving the previously developed area method. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

For the Tuvalu Island group in the western Pacific, a simple graphical method is proposed as a means of forecasting whether rainfall totals for the next 1, 2,…,6 months will be below average. The method is based on scatter plots where the points are color-coded as above- or below-average rainfall, with the plot axes being lag-1 and lag-2 NINO4 sea surface temperatures. Within the scatter plots there are reasonably clear data fields with higher frequencies of below-average rainfalls associated with cooler precursor NINO4 temperatures. These data fields are defined by subjectively emplaced separation lines which bifurcate the scatter plots into ''predictable'' and ''unpredictable'' fields. If two precursor NINO4 temperature values define a point located in a predictable field then a warning would be issued for below-average rainfall over the next n-month period, depending on the time scale of the scatter plot. A long rainfall record at Funafuti in Tuvalu indicates that success in predictable-field forecasting of below-average rainfalls would range between 68% for 1-month rainfall totals and 89% for 6-month totals. The forecasting success derives from persistence of cooler NINO4 sea surface temperatures which are associated with lower rainfalls in Tuvalu. However, many dry periods are also located in the unpredictable field and cannot be forecast by this method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water system integration with regeneration recycling can reduce freshwater consumption and wastewater discharge to the maximum extent. In this paper, by analyzing the limiting composite curve of a single-contaminant water system, a method is proposed to construct the optimal water supply line for regeneration recycling. Accordingly the targets for regeneration recycling water systems are obtained. The targets in sequence are the minimum freshwater consumption (the minimum wastewater discharge), the minimum regenerated water flowrate, and the optimal regeneration concentration. The post-regeneration concentration is taken to be fixed in the sequential targeting procedure. The interactions of these targets are analyzed, and formulas for calculating these targets are proposed. The results show that for a single-contaminant regeneration recycling water system, the minimum freshwater consumption is determined by the shape of the limiting composite curve below the post-regeneration concentration. The optimal regeneration concentration is defined as the minimum regeneration concentration at the minimum freshwater consumption and the corresponding minimum regenerated water flowrate. The minimum regenerated water flowrate and the optimal regeneration concentration are both related to the geometrical features of the limiting composite curve of the water-using system and to the post-regeneration concentration. The optimal regeneration concentration has no direct relationship with the pinch concentration. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In this article we consider the problem of testing for parameter changes in ARIMA models based on the cusum test. The proposed test procedure is applicable to testing for the change from stationary models to non stationary models, and vice versa. The idea is to transform the time series via differencing to make the whole time series as a combination of stationary subseries. For this task, we propose a graphical method to identify the right order of differencing. Then the cusum test statistic proposed by Lee et al. (2003) is constructed based the differenced time series. Simulation study and real data analysis are provided for illustration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the stability criteria are used to graphically determine the startup of oscillation in a Smith chart. This approach is suitable for slightly unstable circuits near the resonated frequency. In practice, an available design of a microwave two-port oscillator is presented here. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 19: 144–149, 1998. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The spline smoothing approach to nonparametric regression is extended to cover the estimation of curves that branch at certain specified points in time. This extension is motivated and illustrated by data from an experiment on sunflowers. Apart from providing insight into this particular data-analytic problem, the work described demonstrates the power of the roughness penalty approach in coping with curve estimation of a nonstandard kind. Particularly in the context of certain experiments in horticulture and arboriculture, the experimental material may be treated identically to the control up to a certain known time part of the way through the experiment. To display and investigate the effect of treatments applied during growth it is of interest to estimate a branching curve. In the simplest case we want to study two growth curves that are common up to a certain known time and then diverge (or branch) after the application of a treatment to part of the experimental material. The spline-smoothing approach to nonparametric regression as discussed, for example, by Silverman (1985) can be extended to deal with branching curves by defining a roughness penalty that measures the local variation in all branches of the curve system. The usual residual sum of squares is penalized by the addition of a multiple of this roughness penalty, and the resulting penalized sum of squares can be minimized. The solution branching curve is made up of a number of cubic spline branches that fit together according to rules that are derived in the present article and that allow the curve system to be found by solving a set of sparse linear equations. A nonparametric approach to this curve estimation problem is virtually essential, because it is hard to contemplate extensions of the usual parametric growth curve models that allow for branching curves in any way that is not rather artificial.... [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]