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Poster: Speech Signal Enhancement in Cocktail Party Scenarios by Deep Learning based Virtual Sensing of Head Mounted Microphones

BackgroundRespiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection in older adults is recognised as an important health issue. We aimed to assess the community burden of RSV in Europe in older adults aged ≥60 years.MethodsThis international, prospective, observational cohort study is part of work by the REspiratory Syncytial virus Consortium in EUrope (RESCEU). Participants were recruited through general practitioners' (GPs) offices before two independent RSV seasons. Participants reported weekly about symptoms of acute respiratory tract infection (ARTI) during one RSV season. ARTI patients were tested for RSV during home visits and completed a daily symptom diary. RSV illness included PCR-confirmed ARTI and those showing seroconversion over the season. RSV ARTI was based on PCR alone (ClinicalTrials.gov,NCT03621930).ResultsWe recruited 1040 participants (527 in season 2017–2018 and 513 in season 2018–2019) with a median age of 75 years (range 60–100 years). Of these, 1023 (99%) lived independently at home at baseline. RSV illness incidence was 22 out of 527 (4.2%) and 37 out of 513 (7.2%) in the respective seasons. RSV illness did not affect frailty or cardiopulmonary status during the course of the study. No patients were hospitalised or died from RSV illness. In the 36 patients with PCR confirmed RSV ARTI, symptom duration averaged 19 days, while a doctor's visit took place in 11 out of 36 cases (31%). RSV ARTI could not be differentiated clinically from all other ARTIs based on symptoms.ConclusionThis European study showed that RSV is prevalent in community-dwelling older adults and rarely causes severe disease. This suggests that watchful waiting, using a continuity of care approach to identify those who do need more intensive care, is often justified when RSV is suspected in family practice.

Between early 2018 and late 2019 the STIMTEC hydraulic stimulation experiment was performed at ca.~130 m below surface at the Reiche Zeche underground research laboratory in Freiberg, Saxony/Germany. The project aimed at gaining insight into the creation and growth of fractures in anisotropic and heterogeneous metamorphic gneiss, to develop and optimise hydraulic stimulation techniques and to control the associated induced seismicity under in situ conditions at the mine-scale. These aspects of failure and associated seismicity are important for the development of enhanced geothermal energy systems. A combined seismic network consisted of 12 single-component acoustic emission sensors (sensitivity 1-100 kHz) and three single-component Wilcoxon accelerometers (sensitivity 50 Hz-25 kHz) were installed in boreholes drilled into the test volume, surrounding the stimulation site (Figure 1). A stimulation borehole with 63 m length was drilled with 15° northward inclination. This data set of 314 active ultrasonic transmission (UT) measurements is supplementary to Boese et al. (2021), which introduces the STIMTEC experiment and its active measurement campaigns. This data set was used to derive an anisotropic velocity model for the STIMTEC rock volume. The active seismic data provided here are from six boreholes (BH09, BH10, BH12, BH15, BH16, BH17) as shown in Figure 1. of the associated data description. There are three tables provided as metadata that contain the STIMTEC sensor coordinates, event information of the 314 UT measurements and the UT picks. The UT measurements were recorded with a sampling rate of 1 MHz and results from an automatic stack of 1024 UT pulses generated by the ultrasonic transmitter and recorded by the STIMTEC sensors. The UT measurements are saved in binary file format (fsf file format). Fsf-files can be processed with FOCI software: https://www.induced.pl/software/foci. Each fsf file contains 32768 samples, which corresponds to 0.032768 seconds. All UT event files were manual inspected and phase arrivals identified. These are stored in the fsf-file header as well as in the table STIMTEC_UT_picks.csv.

In order to gauge the role that active galactic nuclei play in the evolution of galaxies via the effect of kinetic feedback in nearby QSO 2’s (z ∼ 0.3), we observed eight such objects with bolometric luminosities Lbol∼1046ergs−1 using Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph-integral field units. The emission lines were fitted with at least two Gaussian curves, the broadest of which we attributed to gas kinetically disturbed by an outflow. We found that the maximum extent of the outflow ranges from ∼1 to 8 kpc, being ∼0.5±0.3 times the extent of the [OIII] ionized gas region. Our ‘default’ assumptions for the gas density (obtained from the [SII] doublet) and outflow velocities resulted in peak mass outflow rates of M˙defout∼ 3–30 M⊙yr−1 and outflow power of E˙defout∼1041–1043ergs−1⁠. The corresponding kinetic coupling efficiencies are εdeff=E˙defout/Lbol∼7×10−4–0.5 per cent, with the average efficiency being only 0.06 per cent (0.01 per cent median), implying little feedback powers from ionized gas outflows in the host galaxies. We investigated the effects of varying assumptions and calculations on M˙out and E˙out regarding the ionized gas densities, velocities, masses, and inclinations of the outflow relative to the plane of the sky, resulting in average uncertainties of 1 dex. In particular, we found that better indicators of the [OIII] emitting gas density than the default [SII] line ratio, such as the [ArIV] λλ4711,40 line ratio, result in almost an order of magnitude decrease in the εf. Peerreview

38th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition; 611-618, The metallization scheme of the back-junction back-contact “ZEBRA” cell, which is a configuration based on several metallization and insulation paste layouts, having all busbars located at rear side [1], require only process adaptation at already existing automated mass production interconnection equipment, as well as comprehensive qualification. By means of that, also based on previous research [2], two interconnection technologies were considered for investigation: soldering and gluing with electrically conductive adhesive for PV (ECA), whereby one is epoxy- and the other one acrylic-based, both with silver particle fillers. For these contacting media available industrial equipment was used, a teamtechnik TT2100 stringer for soldering process, with a new interdigitated back contact cell (IBC) process and a teamtechnik TT1600ECA stringer for gluing process, also with process adaptation for IBC cell type. Both these new processes implied trials and several characterization techniques for identification of capability and for optimization. For testing long-term reliability of the joints, a setup for investigation of interconnection susceptibility to ageing factors (UV, temperature cycling and damp heat) was defined for unprotected samples (strings) and for samples protected by encapsulation (laminated). A suitable testing tool for our approach was the peel force measurement, which is a direct measure for the quality of the joint. Main target was to identify the optimal characterization and features specific for an industrial ready process for the IBC “ZEBRA” cells.

Im Zuge der weltweiten Bestrebung nach Klimaneutralität rückt die Entwicklung neuer, klimaneutraler und umweltschonender Produkte weiter in den Fokus der Forschung und Entwicklung. Eine Möglichkeit, dem steigenden CO2 Ausstoß entgegen zu wirken, ist einerseits die Applikationsoptimierung herkömmlicher Werkstoffe, andererseits die Kombination mehrerer unterschiedlicher Werkstoffklassen, um hybride Materialien zu entwickeln, welche die positiven Materialeigenschaften der unterschiedlichen Werkstoffe vereinen. In der hier vorgestellten Arbeit wird ein Sandwichmaterial aus faserverstärktem Kunststoff (Halbzeug) und Metall [fibre metal laminate (FML)] untersucht und hinsichtlich seiner Feuchtigkeitsaufnahme und den damit verbundenen Änderungen der mechanischen Eigenschaften charakterisiert. Hierbei wird vertieft auf die Wasseraufnahme sowie die interlaminare Scherfestigkeit (ILSS) der Kernmaterialien Polyamid und glasfaserverstärktes Polyamid, sowie auf die im einstufigen Herstellungsverfahren hergestellten Sandwich Proben Metall/Polyamid/Metall und Metall/glasfaserverstärktes Polyamid/Metall eingegangen. Die Untersuchungen dienen als Grundstein für den aspirierten Einsatz im Automobil- und Transportsektor sowie dem Behälterbau und können als Basis weiterführender Untersuchungen genutzt werden.

International audience; How much nitrogen and light noble gases are recycled in modern subduction zones is unclear. Fumaroles act as a means for passive degassing in arcs. They receive variable contributions of volatiles from arc magmas, themselves sourced from the mantle wedge. The gas compositions reflect the extent of volatile enrichment in sub-arc mantle sources and constrain slab dehydration. However, contributions from atmospheric components in fumaroles are unavoidable. For N2, neon and argon, the atmospheric components are challenging to discern from slab-derived components. Here, we report 15N15N measurements from eight fumaroles and seven bubbling springs, along the Central American arc. Our new 15N15N data are coupled with noble gases measurements and show that air-derived components in volcanic gas discharges can easily be underestimated, in both fumaroles and springs, using conventional stable isotope or noble gases methods. We show that, in the absence of 15N15N data, previously used tracers for air (e.g., δ26 15N N, N2/Ar, N2/He, among others) may lead to erroneous conclusions regarding the origin of volatiles in mixed gases. In contrast, 15N15N data provide quantitative constraints on the nature and contributions of both atmospheric and magmatic components. Most springs are heavily dominated by air-derived N2, while fumaroles show substantial contributions of volcanic endmembers. Based on the fumarole data, we show that magma sources beneath the central American arc are enriched in all volatiles relative to 3He, by two to three orders of magnitude compared to the MORB source. We use new 15N15N data to obtain source N2/3He, 3He/36Ar and 3He/22Ne ratios which we then use to compute volcanic N2, Ar and Ne degassing fluxes. Using this approach, we show that outgassing fluxes appear to match subduction fluxes in the Central America subduction zone. We determine an N2 outgassing flux of between 4.0 x 10^8 and 1.0 x10^9 mol N2/y, comparable to the subduction flux of 5.7 x 108 mol N2/yr determined previously. We obtain a similar conclusion for 22Ne and 38 36Ar. 39 Overall, the volatile fluxes in the central American subduction zone no longer seem to 40 require net transfer of N2, Ar, and Ne, to the deep mantle

Human respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a major cause of lower respiratory tract infection in young children globally, but little is known about within-host RSV diversity. Here, we characterised within-host RSV populations using deep-sequencing data from 319 nasopharyngeal swabs collected during 2017–2020. RSV-B had lower consensus diversity than RSV-A at the population level, while exhibiting greater within-host diversity. Two RSV-B consensus sequences had an amino acid alteration (K68N) in the fusion (F) protein, which has been associated with reduced susceptibility to nirsevimab (MEDI8897), a novel RSV monoclonal antibody under development. In addition, several minor variants were identified in the antigenic sites of the F protein, one of which may confer resistance to palivizumab, the only licensed RSV monoclonal antibody. The differences in within-host virus populations emphasise the importance of monitoring for vaccine efficacy and may help to explain the different prevalences of monoclonal antibody-escape mutants between the two subgroups., Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a common infection in children and older adults but little is known about within-host viral population diversity. Here, the authors perform deep sequencing and find that RSV subgroup B exhibited more diversity than subgroup A, with implications for development of therapeutics and vaccines.