A vibrational spectroscopic study of the phosphate mineral Wardite NaAl3(PO4)2(OH)4•2(H2O)

Three wardite mineral samples from different origins have been analysed by vibrational spectroscopy. The mineral is unusual in that it belongs to a unique symmetry class, namely the tetragonal-trapezohedral group. The structure of wardite contains layers of corner-linked –OH bridged MO6 octahedra stacked along the tetragonal C-axis in a four-layer sequence and linked by PO4 groups. Consequentially not all phosphate units are identical. Thus, two intense Raman bands observed at 995 and 1051 cm-1 are assigned to the ν1 PO43- symmetric stretching mode. Intense Raman bands are observed at 605 and 618 cm-1 with shoulders at 578 and 589 cm-1 are assigned to the ν4 out of plane bending modes of the PO43-. The observation of multiple bands supports the concept of non-equivalent phosphate units in the structure. Sharp infrared bands are observed at 3544 and 3611 cm-1 are attributed to the OH stretching vibrations of the hydroxyl units. Vibrational spectroscopy enables subtle details of the molecular structure of wardite to be determined.

Weighted LDA techniques for I-vector based speaker verification

This paper introduces the Weighted Linear Discriminant Analysis (WLDA) technique, based upon the weighted pairwise Fisher criterion, for the purposes of improving i-vector speaker verification in the presence of high intersession variability. By taking advantage of the speaker discriminative information that is available in the distances between pairs of speakers clustered in the development i-vector space, the WLDA technique is shown to provide an improvement in speaker verification performance over traditional Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA) approaches. A similar approach is also taken to extend the recently developed Source Normalised LDA (SNLDA) into Weighted SNLDA (WSNLDA) which, similarly, shows an improvement in speaker verification performance in both matched and mismatched enrolment/verification conditions. Based upon the results presented within this paper using the NIST 2008 Speaker Recognition Evaluation dataset, we believe that both WLDA and WSNLDA are viable as replacement techniques to improve the performance of LDA and SNLDA-based i-vector speaker verification.

Vibrational spectroscopic study of the minerals nekoite Ca3Si6O15•7H2O and okenite Ca10Si18O46•18H2O : implications for the molecular structure

Nekoite Ca3Si6O15•7H2O and okenite Ca10Si18O46•18H2O are both hydrated calcium silicates found respectively in contact metamorphosed limestone and in association with zeolites from the alteration of basalts. The minerals form two-Dimensional infinite sheets with other than six-membered rings with 3-, 4-, or 5-membered rings and 8-membered rings. The two minerals have been characterised by Raman, near-infrared and infrared spectroscopy. The Raman spectrum of nekoite is characterised by two sharp peaks at 1061 and 1092 cm-1 with bands of lesser intensity at 974, 994, 1023 and 1132 cm-1. The Raman spectrum of okenite shows an intense single Raman band at 1090 cm-1 with a shoulder band at 1075 cm-1.These bands are assigned to the SiO stretching vibrations of Si2O5 units. Raman water stretching bands of nekoite are observed at 3071, 3380, 3502 and 3567 cm-1. Raman spectrum of okenite shows water stretching bands at 3029, 3284, 3417, 3531 and 3607 cm-1. NIR spectra of the two minerals are subtly different inferring water with different hydrogen bond strengths. By using a Libowitzky empirical formula, hydrogen bond distances based upon these OH stretching vibrations. Two types of hydrogen bonds are distinguished: strong hydrogen bonds associated with structural water and weaker hydrogen bonds assigned to space filling water molecules.

The scalability and the strategy for EMR database encryption techniques

EMR (Electronic Medical Record) is an emerging technology that is highly-blended between non-IT and IT area. One methodology is to link the non-IT and IT area is to construct databases. Nowadays, it supports before and after-treatment for patients and should satisfy all stakeholders such as practitioners, nurses, researchers, administrators and financial departments and so on. In accordance with the database maintenance, DAS (Data as Service) model is one solution for outsourcing. However, there are some scalability and strategy issues when we need to plan to use DAS model properly. We constructed three kinds of databases such as plan-text, MS built-in encryption which is in-house model and custom AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) - DAS model scaling from 5K to 2560K records. To perform custom AES-DAS better, we also devised Bucket Index using Bloom Filter. The simulation showed the response times arithmetically increased in the beginning but after a certain threshold, exponentially increased in the end. In conclusion, if the database model is close to in-house model, then vendor technology is a good way to perform and get query response times in a consistent manner. If the model is DAS model, it is easy to outsource the database, however, some techniques like Bucket Index enhances its utilization. To get faster query response times, designing database such as consideration of the field type is also important. This study suggests cloud computing would be a next DAS model to satisfy the scalability and the security issues.

Scalability of encryption techniques for electronic health record (EHR) retrieval

Electronic Health Record (EHR) retrieval processes are complex demanding Information Technology (IT) resources exponentially in particular memory usage. Database-as-a-service (DAS) model approach is proposed to meet the scalability factor of EHR retrieval processes. A simulation study using ranged of EHR records with DAS model was presented. The bucket-indexing model incorporated partitioning fields and bloom filters in a Singleton design pattern were used to implement custom database encryption system. It effectively provided faster responses in the range query compared to different types of queries used such as aggregation queries among the DAS, built-in encryption and the plain-text DBMS. The study also presented with constraints around the approach should consider for other practical applications.

Vibrational spectroscopic study of multianion mineral clinotyrolite Ca2Cu9[(As,S)O4]4(OH)10•10(H2O)

The molecular structure of the mixed anion mineral Clinotyrolite Ca2Cu9[(As,S)O4]4(OH)10•10(H2O) has been determined by the combination of Raman and infrared spectroscopy. Characteristic bands associated with arsenate, sulphate and hydroxyl units are identified. Broad bands in the OH stretching region are observed and are resolved into component bands. Estimates of hydrogen bond distances were made using a Libowitzky function and both short and long hydrogen bonds are identified. Two intense Raman bands at 842 and ~796 cm-1 are assigned to the ν1 (AsO4)3- symmetric stretching and ν3 (AsO4)3- antisymmetric stretching modes. The comparatively sharp Raman band at 980 cm-1 is assigned to the ν1 (SO4)2- symmetric stretching mode and a broad Raman spectral profile centred upon 1100 cm-1 is attributed to the ν3 (SO4)2- antisymmetric stretching mode.

Damage quantification techniques in acoustic emission monitoring

Acoustic emission (AE) analysis is one of the several diagnostic techniques available nowadays for structural health monitoring (SHM) of engineering structures. Some of its advantages over other techniques include high sensitivity to crack growth and capability of monitoring a structure in real time. The phenomenon of rapid release of energy within a material by crack initiation or growth in form of stress waves is known as acoustic emission (AE). In AE technique, these stress waves are recorded by means of suitable sensors placed on the surface of a structure. Recorded signals are subsequently analysed to gather information about the nature of the source. By enabling early detection of crack growth, AE technique helps in planning timely retrofitting or other maintenance jobs or even replacement of the structure if required. In spite of being a promising tool, some challenges do still exist behind the successful application of AE technique. Large amount of data is generated during AE testing, hence effective data analysis is necessary, especially for long term monitoring uses. Appropriate analysis of AE data for quantification of damage level is an area that has received considerable attention. Various approaches available for damage quantification for severity assessment are discussed in this paper, with special focus on civil infrastructure such as bridges. One method called improved b-value analysis is used to analyse data collected from laboratory testing.

Improving trust and securing data accessibility for e-health decision making by using data encryption techniques

In the medical and healthcare arena, patients‟ data is not just their own personal history but also a valuable large dataset for finding solutions for diseases. While electronic medical records are becoming popular and are used in healthcare work places like hospitals, as well as insurance companies, and by major stakeholders such as physicians and their patients, the accessibility of such information should be dealt with in a way that preserves privacy and security. Thus, finding the best way to keep the data secure has become an important issue in the area of database security. Sensitive medical data should be encrypted in databases. There are many encryption/ decryption techniques and algorithms with regard to preserving privacy and security. Currently their performance is an important factor while the medical data is being managed in databases. Another important factor is that the stakeholders should decide more cost-effective ways to reduce the total cost of ownership. As an alternative, DAS (Data as Service) is a popular outsourcing model to satisfy the cost-effectiveness but it takes a consideration that the encryption/ decryption modules needs to be handled by trustworthy stakeholders. This research project is focusing on the query response times in a DAS model (AES-DAS) and analyses the comparison between the outsourcing model and the in-house model which incorporates Microsoft built-in encryption scheme in a SQL Server. This research project includes building a prototype of medical database schemas. There are 2 types of simulations to carry out the project. The first stage includes 6 databases in order to carry out simulations to measure the performance between plain-text, Microsoft built-in encryption and AES-DAS (Data as Service). Particularly, the AES-DAS incorporates implementations of symmetric key encryption such as AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) and a Bucket indexing processor using Bloom filter. The results are categorised such as character type, numeric type, range queries, range queries using Bucket Index and aggregate queries. The second stage takes the scalability test from 5K to 2560K records. The main result of these simulations is that particularly as an outsourcing model, AES-DAS using the Bucket index shows around 3.32 times faster than a normal AES-DAS under the 70 partitions and 10K record-sized databases. Retrieving Numeric typed data takes shorter time than Character typed data in AES-DAS. The aggregation query response time in AES-DAS is not as consistent as that in MS built-in encryption scheme. The scalability test shows that the DBMS reaches in a certain threshold; the query response time becomes rapidly slower. However, there is more to investigate in order to bring about other outcomes and to construct a secured EMR (Electronic Medical Record) more efficiently from these simulations.

Vibrational spectroscopic study of the copper silicate mineral ajoite (K,Na)Cu7AlSi9O24(OH)6•3H2O

Ajoite (K,Na)Cu7AlSi9O24(OH)6•3H2O is a mineral named after the Ajo district of Arizona. Raman and infrared spectroscopy were used to characterise the molecular structure of ajoite. The structure of the mineral shows disorder which is reflected in the difficulty of obtaining quality Raman spectra. The Raman spectrum is characterised by a broad spectral profile with a band at 1048 cm-1 assigned to the ν1 (A1g) symmetric stretching vibration. Strong bands at 962, 1015 and 1139 cm-1 are assigned to the ν3 SiO4 antisymmetric stretching vibrations. Multiple ν4 SiO4 vibrational modes indicate strong distortion of the SiO4 tetrahedra. Multiple AlO and CuO stretching bands are observed. Raman spectroscopy and confirmed by infrared spectroscopy clearly shows that hydroxyl units are involved in the ajoite structure. Based upon the infrared spectra, water is involved in the ajoite structure, probably as zeolitic water.

PLDA based speaker verification with weighted LDA techniques

This paper investigates the use of the dimensionality-reduction techniques weighted linear discriminant analysis (WLDA), and weighted median fisher discriminant analysis (WMFD), before probabilistic linear discriminant analysis (PLDA) modeling for the purpose of improving speaker verification performance in the presence of high inter-session variability. Recently it was shown that WLDA techniques can provide improvement over traditional linear discriminant analysis (LDA) for channel compensation in i-vector based speaker verification systems. We show in this paper that the speaker discriminative information that is available in the distance between pair of speakers clustered in the development i-vector space can also be exploited in heavy-tailed PLDA modeling by using the weighted discriminant approaches prior to PLDA modeling. Based upon the results presented within this paper using the NIST 2008 Speaker Recognition Evaluation dataset, we believe that WLDA and WMFD projections before PLDA modeling can provide an improved approach when compared to uncompensated PLDA modeling for i-vector based speaker verification systems.

Vibrational spectroscopic study of the mineral creaseyite Cu2Pb2(Fe,Al)2(Si5O17)·6H2O – a zeolite mineral?

Vibrational spectroscopy has been used to characterise the mineral creaseyite Cu2Pb2(Fe,Al)2(Si5O17)·6H2O. The mineral is found in the oxidised zone of base metal deposits and interestingly is associated with copper silicate minerals including ajoite, kinoite, chrysocolla as well as wulfenite, willemite, mimetite and wickenburgite. Creaseyite is a mineral with zeolitic properties. A Raman band at 998 cm−1 is assigned to the SiO stretching vibration of SiO3 units. The Raman band at 1071 cm−1 is assigned to the SiO stretching vibrations of the Si2O5 units. Raman bands are found at 2750, 2902, 3162, 3470 and 3525 cm−1. The band at 3525 cm−1 is attributed to zeolitic water. Other bands are assigned to water coordinated to the metal cations. Vibrational spectroscopy enables aspects of the molecular structure of creaseyite to be determined.

Vibrational spectroscopic study of the minerals cavansite and pentagonite Ca(V4+O)Si4O10.4H2O

The bright blue minerals cavansite and pentagonite, a calcium vanadium silicate Ca(V4+O)Si4O10.4H2O, have been studied by UV–Visible, Raman and infrared spectroscopy. Cavansite shows an open porous structure with very small micron sized holes. Strong UV–Visible absorption bands are observed at around 403, 614 and 789 nm for cavansite and pentagonite. The Raman spectrum of cavansite is dominated by an intense band at 981 cm -1 and pentagonite by a band at 971 cm-1 attributed to the stretching vibrations of (SiO3)n units. Cavansite is characterised by two intense bands at 574 and 672 cm-1 whereas pentagonite by a single band at 651 cm-1. The Raman spectrum of cavansite in the hydroxyl stretching region shows bands at 3504, 3546, 3577, 3604 and 3654 cm-1 whereas pentagonite is a single band at 3532 cm_1. These bands are attributed to water coordinated to calcium and vanadium. XPS studies show that bond energy of oxygen in oxides is 530 eV, and in hydroxides -531.5 eV and for water -533.5 eV. XPS studies show a strong peak at 531.5 eV for cavansite, indicating some OH units in the structure of cavansite.

Navigational safety in port waters: Techniques for modeling collision risk

Navigational collisions are one of the major safety concerns for many seaports. Continuing growth of shipping traffic in number and sizes is likely to result in increased number of traffic movements, which consequently could result higher risk of collisions in these restricted waters. This continually increasing safety concern warrants a comprehensive technique for modeling collision risk in port waters, particularly for modeling the probability of collision events and the associated consequences (i.e., injuries and fatalities). A number of techniques have been utilized for modeling the risk qualitatively, semi-quantitatively and quantitatively. These traditional techniques mostly rely on historical collision data, often in conjunction with expert judgments. However, these techniques are hampered by several shortcomings, such as randomness and rarity of collision occurrence leading to obtaining insufficient number of collision counts for a sound statistical analysis, insufficiency in explaining collision causation, and reactive approach to safety. A promising alternative approach that overcomes these shortcomings is the navigational traffic conflict technique (NTCT), which uses traffic conflicts as an alternative to the collisions for modeling the probability of collision events quantitatively. This article explores the existing techniques for modeling collision risk in port waters. In particular, it identifies the advantages and limitations of the traditional techniques and highlights the potentials of the NTCT in overcoming the limitations. In view of the principles of the NTCT, a structured method for managing collision risk is proposed. This risk management method allows safety analysts to diagnose safety deficiencies in a proactive manner, which consequently has great potential for managing collision risk in a fast, reliable and efficient manner.

Through the viewfinder : using multimedia techniques to engage Latino youth in community planning

This chapter reviews common barriers to community engagement for Latino youth and suggests ways to move beyond those barriers by empowering them to communicate their experiences, address the challenges they face, and develop recommendations for making their community more youth-friendly. As a case study, this chapter describes a program called Youth FACE IT (Youth Fostering Active Community Engagement for Integration and Transformation)in Boulder County, Colorado. The program enables Latino youth to engage in critical dialogue and participate in a community-based initiative. The chapter concludes by explaining specific strategies that planners can use to support active community engagement and develop a future generation of planners and engaged community members that reflects emerging demographics.