State-of-the-art solutions in ASR often rely on large amounts of expert prior knowledge, which is undesirable in some applications. In this paper, we consider a NMFbased framework that learns a small vocabulary of words directly from input data, without prior knowledge such as phone sets and dictionaries. In the context of this learning scheme, we compare several spectral representations of spe...

The well known ”beauty defect” of probabilistic neural networks is the biologically unnatural complete interconnection of neurons with all input variables. Despite of deep formal reasons of this undesirable property, it can be removed by a special subspace approach without leaving the exact framework of Bayesian decision-making. As shown in a recent paper the related structural optimization bas...

Technical efficiency has been widely studied in the literature, but in its pursuit, many of the inputs used can impact on the environment. Environmental effects can be modelled as undesirable output or, as has been the case in more recent studies, as conventional inputs. This paper examines the concept of environmental efficiency and how it can be used to evaluate the performance of Australian ...

In many cases, optimal operation for a plant is the same as maximum throughput. In this case a rigorous model for the plant is not necessary if we are able to identify the bottleneck. Optimal operation is the same as maximum throughput in the bottleneck. If the bottleneck does not move, this can be realized with singleloop controller from the throughput manipulator to the bottleneck. However, i...

In this article we examine the effects of undesirable outputs on the Malmquist TFP indices. Our empirical work uses an unbalanced panel which covers 796 utility and non-utility coal-fired power plants in China during 1996-2002. In order to meet the requirement of a balanced panel for calculating the Malmquist indices, an innovative fake unit approach has been introduced. Our final results show ...

By repairing and reselling used products, reuse centres aim at creating low-skill jobs while offering low-cost and environmentally beneficial products. However, due to a combination of decreased efficiency of wornout products and technological progress embodied in new products, lifetime extension of old products is sometimes not the most beneficial scenario from both an environmental and econom...

This paper proposes a sliding-mode control scheme for a class of nonlinear systems with multiple time delays, in the state variables and in the output signal. The unmeasured state of the system is estimated by an asymptotic observer for the zero dynamics and high-gain observers connected in cascade for a chain of integrators with a nonlinear input disturbance which compose the complete state. T...

This paper proposes a systematic method to design hierarchical, decentralized, stabilizing controllers for homogeneous hierarchical dynamical networks. Based on LQR approach with a properly chosen performance index including global and local objectives with control input penalty, an obtained optimal LQR feedback gain gives the closed-loop system a prescribed desirable hierarchical structure. In...

Introduction: Evaluation is a critical issue to achieve the goals of academic education. The aim of this study was to evaluate the achievement level of educational objectives in Babol dental school using the CIPP (content, input, process, and product) model based on the point of view of students. Materials &Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed using a researcher made questionnai...