Dummy-heads are often used for standardized measurements where modeling of the human head and torso is relevant. Monaural Head-Related Transfer Functions of a Brüel & Kjaer dummy were measured in the horizontal plane in one-degree spatial resolution. Evaluation is made by plotting the peak-valley structure in frequency. Special frequency and spatial domains can be determined based on the variations of the HRTFs that are relevant to understand physical properties of the dummy -head in measurements and processes of human directional hearing. Symmetries and similarities of measured HRTFs help to scrutinize the perception of directional information in the monaural and binaural evaluation, the "noisy domain" in frequency and space where shadowing of the head occur as well as the filtering effect of the pinna.

In accurate and repeatable measurements dummy -heads are often used to model the average human head and body. They are suited for standardized measurements and for investigating the human spatial hearing and localization performance. The monaural Head-Related Transfer Functions (HRTFs) of the dummy-head can be used for various investigations. This paper uses the HRTF-set of a Brüel & Kjaer head and torso simulator focusing on the so called monaural head-shadow area, where one of the ears is shadowed by the head itself. Based on long-term measurements using the bare torso as well as other accessories (glasses, clothing etc.) on it, the extent of the head-shadow area will be presented in frequency and space. The head-shadow area is investigated in connection with the overall SNR of the measurement and sensitivity domains of the ears. Conclusions are drawn for binaural recognition in human spatial hearing using low-frequency 'bright spots' and high-frequency information during lateral-contralateral evaluation.

The vibrations coming from the drive system of the railway vehicle induces damages to the car-body of the vehicle. The aims of the current test were to come into the position of determining the causes of these vibrations, to explore the reduction possibilities, to point out the loci of resonance, to speed up the recognition of failures and the renewal purpose repair processes of the vehicles.

A configurable Artificial Neuron Network that is capable of establishing both the emulated digital Cellular Neural Network (CNN) and the Hopfield Network is described. The configurable neural network is designed with the method of modularity where each module is a three weighted input neuron. The network can be optionally large limited only by the gate number available on a chip. Also, the network is reconfigurable during operation. © 2006 IEEE.

Background: Lower respiratory infections (LRIs) remain the world's leading infectious cause of death. This analysis from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2023 provides global, regional, and national estimates of LRI incidence, mortality, and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs), with attribution to 26 pathogens, including 11 newly modelled pathogens, across 204 countries and territories from 1990 to 2023. With new data and revised modelling techniques, these estimates serve as an update and expansion to GBD 2021. Through these estimates, we also aimed to assess progress towards the 2025 Global Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Pneumonia and Diarrhoea (GAPPD) target for pneumonia mortality in children younger than 5 years. Methods: Mortality from LRIs, defined as physician-diagnosed pneumonia or bronchiolitis, was estimated using the Cause of Death Ensemble model with data from vital registration, verbal autopsy, surveillance, and minimally invasive tissue sampling. The Bayesian meta-regression tool DisMod-MR 2.1 was used to model overall morbidity due to LRIs. DALYs were calculated as the sum of years of life lost (YLLs) and years lived with disability (YLDs) for all locations, years, age groups, and sexes. We modelled pathogen-specific case-fatality ratios (CFRs) for each age group and location using splined binomial regression to create internally consistent estimates of incidence and mortality proportions attributable to viral, fungal, parasitic, and bacterial pathogens. Progress was assessed towards the GAPPD target of less than three deaths from pneumonia per 1000 livebirths, which is roughly equivalent to a mortality rate of less than 60 deaths per 100 000 children younger than 5 years. Findings: In 2023, LRIs were responsible for 2·50 million (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 2·24–2·81) deaths and 98·7 million (87·7–112) DALYs, with children younger than 5 years and adults aged 70 years and older carrying the highest burden. LRI mortality in children younger than 5 years fell by 33·4% (10·4–47·4) since 2010, with a global mortality rate of 94·8 (75·6–116·4) per 100 000 person-years in 2023. Among adults aged 70 years and older, the burden remained substantial with only marginal declines since 2010. A mortality rate of less than 60 deaths per 100 000 for children younger than 5 years was met by 129 of the 204 modelled countries in 2023. At a super-regional level, sub-Saharan Africa had an aggregate mortality rate in children younger than 5 years (hereafter referred to as under-5 mortality rate) furthest from the GAPPD target. Streptococcus pneumoniae continued to account for the largest number of LRI deaths globally (634 000 [95% UI 565 000–721 000] deaths or 25·3% [24·5–26·1] of all LRI deaths), followed by Staphylococcus aureus (271 000 [243 000–298 000] deaths or 10·9% [10·3–11·3]), and Klebsiella pneumoniae (228 000 [204 000–261 000] deaths or 9·1% [8·8–9·5]). Among pathogens newly modelled in this study, non-tuberculous mycobacteria (responsible for 177 000 [95% UI 155 000–201 000] deaths) and Aspergillus spp (responsible for 67 800 [59 900–75 900] deaths) emerged as important contributors. Altogether, the 11 newly modelled pathogens accounted for approximately 22% of LRI deaths. Interpretation: This comprehensive analysis underscores both the gains achieved through vaccination and the challenges that remain in controlling the LRI burden globally. Furthermore, it demonstrates persistent disparities in disease burden, with the highest mortality rates concentrated in countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Globally, as well as in these high-burden locations, the under-5 LRI mortality rate remains well above the GAPPD target. Progress towards this target requires equitable access to vaccines and preventive therapies—including newer interventions such as respiratory syncytial virus monoclonal antibodies—and health systems capable of early diagnosis and treatment. Expanding surveillance of emerging pathogens, strengthening adult immunisation programmes, and combating vaccine hesitancy are also crucial. As the global population ages, the dual challenge of sustaining gains in child survival while addressing the rising vulnerability in older adults will shape future pneumonia control strategies. Funding: Gates Foundation.

For designing and developing products/services it is vital to know the relevancy of the performance generated by each technical attribute and how they can increase customer satisfaction. Improving the parameters of technical attributes requires financial resources, and the budgets are generally limited. Thus the optimum target can be the achievement of the minimum overall cost for a given satisfaction level. Kano's quality model classifies the relationships between customer satisfaction and attribute-level performance and indicates that some of the attributes have a non-linear relationship to satisfaction, rather power-function should be used. For the customers' subjective evaluation these relationships are not deterministic and are uncertain. Also the cost function are uncertain, where the loss aversion of decision makers should be considered as well. This paper proposes a method for fuzzy extension of Kano's model and presents numerical examples. © 2011 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.

Modelling of vehicle deformational processes plays an important role in car body design and accident analysis. It is a difficult task and usually carried out applying a kind of finite element method. Determination of the absorbed energy by the deformation and the corresponding energy equivalent speed (EES) can be of great importance. Exact determination or measuring of these quantities is almost impossible, so one could estimate them. In this paper we introduce a modeling technique and a model for describing the deformation process. A short description of the main idea: let we have a 3-dimensional rectangular grid on the vehicle body (or on something else). The partition is determined by taking into consideration the energy absorbing properties of the parts of the vehicle, so each cell is approximately homogenous. The cells could be identified as the entries of a tensor of order 3. We concentrate on the energy absorbed by the cells, but not on the physical coordinates of the cells. Energy absorption property (rate of the input and the absorbed energy) of a certain cell could change during the deformational process, so the absorbed energy is calculated using a monotonous decreasing function. These functions can be defined for each possible orthogonal direction of the possible impact. Instead of the original impact we deal with its orthogonal components and the result will be the sum of the particular results. The rectangular grid allows us to compute from level to level. These computations can be realized applying tensor products, the model has low complexity which can be more decreased by complexity reducing methods known from linear algebra.

The paper investigates how workflows can be communicated and shared through linguistic descriptions, digital content and technological tools. We focus primarily on the content and digital tools of e-learning and VR learning. However, the results of the paper can be applied to collaborative workflows in general. The paper compares the effectiveness of three techniques, ranging from well-known to radically new: classical e-mail/ attachment based sharing, sharing through web interfaces (through a Moodle frontend), and sharing through a VR interface provided by a recently developed VR engine called MaxWhere. To this end, the paper introduces new methods and a new set of concepts for the purposes of benchmarking digital capabilities and user effectiveness within the domain of workflow sharing. The paper applies these concepts and methods to compare the use of the above listed technologies with the participation of 379 test subjects. Tests show that the users were able to complete the required workflow at least 50% faster in the MaxWhere 3D environment than in all other competing cases. The paper also proves that 3D environments are capable of providing users with a much higher level of comprehension when it comes to sharing and interpreting digital workflows.

In this work we demonstrate that carbon nanotube junctions with an optional number, type (zigzag and/or armchair) and diameter of tubes can exist. We show a method for geometric construction of their models.