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Sample records for acoustics temporal patterns

  1. Long Term Memory for Noise: Evidence of Robust Encoding of Very Short Temporal Acoustic Patterns.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Viswanathan, Jayalakshmi; Rémy, Florence; Bacon-Macé, Nadège; Thorpe, Simon J

    2016-01-01

    Recent research has demonstrated that humans are able to implicitly encode and retain repeating patterns in meaningless auditory noise. Our study aimed at testing the robustness of long-term implicit recognition memory for these learned patterns. Participants performed a cyclic/non-cyclic discrimination task, during which they were presented with either 1-s cyclic noises (CNs) (the two halves of the noise were identical) or 1-s plain random noises (Ns). Among CNs and Ns presented once, target CNs were implicitly presented multiple times within a block, and implicit recognition of these target CNs was tested 4 weeks later using a similar cyclic/non-cyclic discrimination task. Furthermore, robustness of implicit recognition memory was tested by presenting participants with looped (shifting the origin) and scrambled (chopping sounds into 10- and 20-ms bits before shuffling) versions of the target CNs. We found that participants had robust implicit recognition memory for learned noise patterns after 4 weeks, right from the first presentation. Additionally, this memory was remarkably resistant to acoustic transformations, such as looping and scrambling of the sounds. Finally, implicit recognition of sounds was dependent on participant's discrimination performance during learning. Our findings suggest that meaningless temporal features as short as 10 ms can be implicitly stored in long-term auditory memory. Moreover, successful encoding and storage of such fine features may vary between participants, possibly depending on individual attention and auditory discrimination abilities. Significance Statement Meaningless auditory patterns could be implicitly encoded and stored in long-term memory.Acoustic transformations of learned meaningless patterns could be implicitly recognized after 4 weeks.Implicit long-term memories can be formed for meaningless auditory features as short as 10 ms.Successful encoding and long-term implicit recognition of meaningless patterns may

  2. In-situ optical and acoustical measurements of the buoyant cyanobacterium p. Rubescens: spatial and temporal distribution patterns.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hilmar Hofmann

    Full Text Available Optical (fluorescence and acoustic in-situ techniques were tested in their ability to measure the spatial and temporal distribution of plankton in freshwater ecosystems with special emphasis on the harmful and buoyant cyanobacterium P. rubescens. Fluorescence was measured with the multi-spectral FluoroProbe (Moldaenke FluoroProbe, MFP and a Seapoint Chlorophyll Fluorometer (SCF. In-situ measurements of the acoustic backscatter strength (ABS were conducted with three different acoustic devices covering multiple acoustic frequencies (614 kHz ADCP, 2 MHz ADP, and 6 MHz ADV. The MFP provides a fast and reliable technique to measure fluorescence at different wavelengths in situ, which allows discriminating between P. rubescens and other phytoplankton species. All three acoustic devices are sensitive to P. rubescens even if other scatterers, e.g., zooplankton or suspended sediment, are present in the water column, because P. rubescens containing gas vesicles has a strong density difference and hence acoustic contrast to the ambient water and other scatterers. After calibration, the combination of optical and acoustical measurements not only allows qualitative and quantitative observation of P. rubescens, but also distinction between P. rubescens, other phytoplankton, and zooplankton. As the measuring devices can sample in situ at high rates they enable assessment of plankton distributions at high temporal (minutes and spatial (decimeters resolution or covering large temporal (seasonal and spatial (basin scale scales.

  3. Acoustic and temporal partitioning of cicada assemblages in city and mountain environments.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bao-Sen Shieh

    Full Text Available Comparing adaptations to noisy city environments with those to natural mountain environments on the community level can provide significant insights that allow an understanding of the impact of anthropogenic noise on invertebrates that employ loud calling songs for mate attraction, especially when each species has its distinct song, as in the case of cicadas. In this study, we investigated the partitioning strategy of cicada assemblages in city and mountain environments by comparing the acoustic features and calling activity patterns of each species, recorded using automated digital recording systems. Our comparison of activity patterns of seasonal and diel calling revealed that there was no significant temporal partitioning of cicada assemblages in either environment. In addition, there was no correlation between the acoustic distance based on spectral features and temporal segregation. Heterospecific spectral overlap was low in both city and mountain environments, although city and mountain cicada assemblages were subject to significantly different levels of anthropogenic or interspecific noise. Furthermore, for the common species found in both environments, the calling activity patterns at both seasonal and diel time scales were significantly consistent across sites and across environments. We suggest that the temporal calling activity is constrained by endogenous factors for each species and is less flexible in response to external factors, such as anthropogenic noise. As a result, cicada assemblages in city environments with low species diversity do not demonstrate a more significant temporal partitioning than those in mountain environments with high species diversity.

  4. Discrimination of acoustic communication signals by grasshoppers (Chorthippus biguttulus): temporal resolution, temporal integration, and the impact of intrinsic noise.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ronacher, Bernhard; Wohlgemuth, Sandra; Vogel, Astrid; Krahe, Rüdiger

    2008-08-01

    A characteristic feature of hearing systems is their ability to resolve both fast and subtle amplitude modulations of acoustic signals. This applies also to grasshoppers, which for mate identification rely mainly on the characteristic temporal patterns of their communication signals. Usually the signals arriving at a receiver are contaminated by various kinds of noise. In addition to extrinsic noise, intrinsic noise caused by stochastic processes within the nervous system contributes to making signal recognition a difficult task. The authors asked to what degree intrinsic noise affects temporal resolution and, particularly, the discrimination of similar acoustic signals. This study aims at exploring the neuronal basis for sexual selection, which depends on exploiting subtle differences between basically similar signals. Applying a metric, by which the similarities of spike trains can be assessed, the authors investigated how well the communication signals of different individuals of the same species could be discriminated and correctly classified based on the responses of auditory neurons. This spike train metric yields clues to the optimal temporal resolution with which spike trains should be evaluated. (c) 2008 APA, all rights reserved

  5. Long term memory for noise: evidence of robust encoding of very short temporal acoustic patterns.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jayalakshmi Viswanathan

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available Recent research has demonstrated that humans are able to implicitly encode and retain repeating patterns in meaningless auditory noise. Our study aimed at testing the robustness of long-term implicit recognition memory for these learned patterns. Participants performed a cyclic/non-cyclic discrimination task, during which they were presented with either 1-s cyclic noises (CNs (the two halves of the noise were identical or 1-s plain random noises (Ns. Among CNs and Ns presented once, target CNs were implicitly presented multiple times within a block, and implicit recognition of these target CNs was tested 4 weeks later using a similar cyclic/non-cyclic discrimination task. Furthermore, robustness of implicit recognition memory was tested by presenting participants with looped (shifting the origin and scrambled (chopping sounds into 10- and 20-ms bits before shuffling versions of the target CNs. We found that participants had robust implicit recognition memory for learned noise patterns after 4 weeks, right from the first presentation. Additionally, this memory was remarkably resistant to acoustic transformations, such as looping and scrambling of the sounds. Finally, implicit recognition of sounds was dependent on participant’s discrimination performance during learning. Our findings suggest that meaningless temporal features as short as 10 ms can be implicitly stored in long-term auditory memory. Moreover, successful encoding and storage of such fine features may vary between participants, possibly depending on individual attention and auditory discrimination abilities.

  6. Habitat-associated and temporal patterns of bat activity in a diverse forest landscape of southern New England, USA

    Science.gov (United States)

    Robert T. Brooks

    2009-01-01

    The development and use of acoustic recording technology, surveys have revealed the composition, relative levels of activity, and preliminary habitat use of bat communities of various forest locations. However, detailed examinations of acoustic surveys results to investigate temporal patterns of bat activity are rare. Initial active acoustic surveys of bat activity on...

  7. Writing magnetic patterns with surface acoustic waves

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Li, Weiyang; Buford, Benjamin; Jander, Albrecht; Dhagat, Pallavi, E-mail: dhagat@eecs.oregonstate.edu [School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon 97331 (United States)

    2014-05-07

    A novel patterning technique that creates magnetization patterns in a continuous magnetostrictive film with surface acoustic waves is demonstrated. Patterns of 10 μm wide stripes of alternating magnetization and a 3 μm dot of reversed magnetization are written using standing and focusing acoustic waves, respectively. The magnetization pattern is size-tunable, erasable, and rewritable by changing the magnetic field and acoustic power. This versatility, along with its solid-state implementation (no moving parts) and electronic control, renders it as a promising technique for application in magnetic recording, magnonic signal processing, magnetic particle manipulation, and spatial magneto-optical modulation.

  8. Acoustic tweezers: patterning cells and microparticles using standing surface acoustic waves (SSAW).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shi, Jinjie; Ahmed, Daniel; Mao, Xiaole; Lin, Sz-Chin Steven; Lawit, Aitan; Huang, Tony Jun

    2009-10-21

    Here we present an active patterning technique named "acoustic tweezers" that utilizes standing surface acoustic wave (SSAW) to manipulate and pattern cells and microparticles. This technique is capable of patterning cells and microparticles regardless of shape, size, charge or polarity. Its power intensity, approximately 5x10(5) times lower than that of optical tweezers, compares favorably with those of other active patterning methods. Flow cytometry studies have revealed it to be non-invasive. The aforementioned advantages, along with this technique's simple design and ability to be miniaturized, render the "acoustic tweezers" technique a promising tool for various applications in biology, chemistry, engineering, and materials science.

  9. Pattern recognition methods for acoustic emission analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Doctor, P.G.; Harrington, T.P.; Hutton, P.H.

    1979-07-01

    Models have been developed that relate the rate of acoustic emissions to structural integrity. The implementation of these techniques in the field has been hindered by the noisy environment in which the data must be taken. Acoustic emissions from noncritical sources are recorded in addition to those produced by critical sources, such as flaws. A technique is discussed for prescreening acoustic events and filtering out those that are produced by noncritical sources. The methodology that was investigated is pattern recognition. Three different pattern recognition techniques were applied to a data set that consisted of acoustic emissions caused by crack growth and acoustic signals caused by extraneous noise sources. Examination of the acoustic emission data presented has uncovered several features of the data that can provide a reasonable filter. Two of the most valuable features are the frequency of maximum response and the autocorrelation coefficient at Lag 13. When these two features and several others were combined with a least squares decision algorithm, 90% of the acoustic emissions in the data set were correctly classified. It appears possible to design filters that eliminate extraneous noise sources from flaw-growth acoustic emissions using pattern recognition techniques

  10. Acoustic Pattern Recognition on Android Devices

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Møller, Maiken Bjerg; Gaarsdal, Jesper; Steen, Kim Arild

    2013-01-01

    an Android application developed for acoustic pattern recognition of bird species. The acoustic data is recorded using a built-in microphone, and pattern recognition is performed on the device, requiring no network connection. The algorithm is implemented in C++ as a native Android module and the Open......CV library is used for signal processing. We conclude that the approach presented here is a viable solution to pattern recognition problems. Since it requires no network connection, it shows promise in fields such as wildlife research....

  11. Investigation into the Effect of Acoustic Radiation Force and Acoustic Streaming on Particle Patterning in Acoustic Standing Wave Fields

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shilei Liu

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available Acoustic standing waves have been widely used in trapping, patterning, and manipulating particles, whereas one barrier remains: the lack of understanding of force conditions on particles which mainly include acoustic radiation force (ARF and acoustic streaming (AS. In this paper, force conditions on micrometer size polystyrene microspheres in acoustic standing wave fields were investigated. The COMSOL® Mutiphysics particle tracing module was used to numerically simulate force conditions on various particles as a function of time. The velocity of particle movement was experimentally measured using particle imaging velocimetry (PIV. Through experimental and numerical simulation, the functions of ARF and AS in trapping and patterning were analyzed. It is shown that ARF is dominant in trapping and patterning large particles while the impact of AS increases rapidly with decreasing particle size. The combination of using both ARF and AS for medium size particles can obtain different patterns with only using ARF. Findings of the present study will aid the design of acoustic-driven microfluidic devices to increase the diversity of particle patterning.

  12. Investigation into the Effect of Acoustic Radiation Force and Acoustic Streaming on Particle Patterning in Acoustic Standing Wave Fields

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Yanye; Ni, Zhengyang; Guo, Xiasheng; Luo, Linjiao; Tu, Juan; Zhang, Dong

    2017-01-01

    Acoustic standing waves have been widely used in trapping, patterning, and manipulating particles, whereas one barrier remains: the lack of understanding of force conditions on particles which mainly include acoustic radiation force (ARF) and acoustic streaming (AS). In this paper, force conditions on micrometer size polystyrene microspheres in acoustic standing wave fields were investigated. The COMSOL® Mutiphysics particle tracing module was used to numerically simulate force conditions on various particles as a function of time. The velocity of particle movement was experimentally measured using particle imaging velocimetry (PIV). Through experimental and numerical simulation, the functions of ARF and AS in trapping and patterning were analyzed. It is shown that ARF is dominant in trapping and patterning large particles while the impact of AS increases rapidly with decreasing particle size. The combination of using both ARF and AS for medium size particles can obtain different patterns with only using ARF. Findings of the present study will aid the design of acoustic-driven microfluidic devices to increase the diversity of particle patterning. PMID:28753955

  13. Basic principles of thermo-acoustic energy and temporal profile detection of microwave pulses

    CERN Document Server

    Andreev, V G; Vdovin, V A

    2001-01-01

    Basic principles of a thermo-acoustic method developed for the detection of powerful microwave pulses of nanosecond duration are discussed.A proposed method is based on the registration of acoustic pulse profile originated from the thermal expansion of the volume where microwave energy was absorbed.The amplitude of excited acoustic transient is proportional to absorbed microwave energy and its temporal profile resembles one of a microwave pulse when certain conditions are satisfied.The optimal regimes of microwave pulse energy detection and sensitivity of acoustic transient registration with piezo-transducer are discussed.It was demonstrated that profile of a microwave pulse could be detected with temporal resolution of 1 - 3 nanosecond.

  14. The Interaction of Temporal and Spectral Acoustic Information with Word Predictability on Speech Intelligibility

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shahsavarani, Somayeh Bahar

    High-level, top-down information such as linguistic knowledge is a salient cortical resource that influences speech perception under most listening conditions. But, are all listeners able to exploit these resources for speech facilitation to the same extent? It was found that children with cochlear implants showed different patterns of benefit from contextual information in speech perception compared with their normal-haring peers. Previous studies have discussed the role of non-acoustic factors such as linguistic and cognitive capabilities to account for this discrepancy. Given the fact that the amount of acoustic information encoded and processed by auditory nerves of listeners with cochlear implants differs from normal-hearing listeners and even varies across individuals with cochlear implants, it is important to study the interaction of specific acoustic properties of the speech signal with contextual cues. This relationship has been mostly neglected in previous research. In this dissertation, we aimed to explore how different acoustic dimensions interact to affect listeners' abilities to combine top-down information with bottom-up information in speech perception beyond the known effects of linguistic and cognitive capacities shown previously. Specifically, the present study investigated whether there were any distinct context effects based on the resolution of spectral versus slowly-varying temporal information in perception of spectrally impoverished speech. To that end, two experiments were conducted. In both experiments, a noise-vocoded technique was adopted to generate spectrally-degraded speech to approximate acoustic cues delivered to listeners with cochlear implants. The frequency resolution was manipulated by varying the number of frequency channels. The temporal resolution was manipulated by low-pass filtering of amplitude envelope with varying low-pass cutoff frequencies. The stimuli were presented to normal-hearing native speakers of American

  15. Directional radiation pattern in structural-acoustic coupled system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Seo, Hee-Seon; Kim, Yang-Hann

    2005-07-01

    In this paper we demonstrate the possibility of designing a radiator using structural-acoustic interaction by predicting the pressure distribution and radiation pattern of a structural-acoustic coupling system that is composed by a wall and two spaces. If a wall separates spaces, then the wall's role in transporting the acoustic characteristics of the spaces is important. The spaces can be categorized as bounded finite space and unbounded infinite space. The wall considered in this study composes two plates and an opening, and the wall separates one space that is highly reverberant and the other that is unbounded without any reflection. This rather hypothetical circumstance is selected to study the general coupling problem between the finite and infinite acoustic domains. We developed an equation that predicts the energy distribution and energy flow in the two spaces separated by a wall, and its computational examples are presented. Three typical radiation patterns that include steered, focused, and omnidirected are presented. A designed radiation pattern is also presented by using the optimal design algorithm.

  16. Applying acoustic telemetry to understand contaminant exposure and bioaccumulation patterns in mobile fishes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Taylor, Matthew D; van der Meulen, Dylan E; Brodie, Stephanie; Cadiou, Gwenaël; Knott, Nathan A

    2018-06-01

    Contamination in urbanised estuaries presents a risk to human health, and to the viability of populations of exploited species. Assessing animal movements in relation to contaminated areas may help to explain patterns in bioaccumulation, and assist in the effective management of health risks associated with consumption of exploited species. Using polychlorinated dibenzodioxin and polychlorinated dibenzofuran (PCDD/Fs) contamination in Sydney Harbour estuary as a case study, we present a study that links movement patterns resolved using acoustic telemetry to the accumulation of contaminants in mobile fish on a multi-species basis. Fifty-four individuals across six exploited species (Sea Mullet Mugil cephalus; Luderick Girella tricuspidata; Yellowfin Bream Acanthopagrus australis; Silver Trevally Pseudocaranx georgianus; Mulloway Argyrosomus japonicus; Yellowtail Kingfish Seriola lalandi) were tagged with acoustic transmitters, and their movements tracked for up to 3years. There was substantial inter-specific variation in fish distribution along the estuary. The proportion of distribution that overlapped with contaminated areas explained 84-98% of the inter-specific variation in lipid-standardised biota PCDD/F concentration. There was some seasonal variation in distribution along the estuary, but movement patterns indicated that Sea Mullet, Yellowfin Bream, Silver Trevally, and Mulloway were likely to be exposed to contaminated areas during the period of gonadal maturation. Acoustic telemetry allows examination of spatial and temporal patterns in exposure to contamination. When used alongside biota sampling and testing, this offers a powerful approach to assess exposure, bioaccumulation, and potential risks faced by different species, as well as human health risks associated with their consumption. Crown Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  17. Acoustic and temporal analysis of speech: A potential biomarker for schizophrenia.

    LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

    Rapcan, Viliam

    2010-11-01

    Currently, there are no established objective biomarkers for the diagnosis or monitoring of schizophrenia. It has been previously reported that there are notable qualitative differences in the speech of schizophrenics. The objective of this study was to determine whether a quantitative acoustic and temporal analysis of speech may be a potential biomarker for schizophrenia. In this study, 39 schizophrenic patients and 18 controls were digitally recorded reading aloud an emotionally neutral text passage from a children\\'s story. Temporal, energy and vocal pitch features were automatically extracted from the recordings. A classifier based on linear discriminant analysis was employed to differentiate between controls and schizophrenic subjects. Processing the recordings with the algorithm developed demonstrated that it is possible to differentiate schizophrenic patients and controls with a classification accuracy of 79.4% (specificity=83.6%, sensitivity=75.2%) based on speech pause related parameters extracted from recordings carried out in standard office (non-studio) environments. Acoustic and temporal analysis of speech may represent a potential tool for the objective analysis in schizophrenia.

  18. Effects of subsampling of passive acoustic recordings on acoustic metrics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thomisch, Karolin; Boebel, Olaf; Zitterbart, Daniel P; Samaran, Flore; Van Parijs, Sofie; Van Opzeeland, Ilse

    2015-07-01

    Passive acoustic monitoring is an important tool in marine mammal studies. However, logistics and finances frequently constrain the number and servicing schedules of acoustic recorders, requiring a trade-off between deployment periods and sampling continuity, i.e., the implementation of a subsampling scheme. Optimizing such schemes to each project's specific research questions is desirable. This study investigates the impact of subsampling on the accuracy of two common metrics, acoustic presence and call rate, for different vocalization patterns (regimes) of baleen whales: (1) variable vocal activity, (2) vocalizations organized in song bouts, and (3) vocal activity with diel patterns. To this end, above metrics are compared for continuous and subsampled data subject to different sampling strategies, covering duty cycles between 50% and 2%. The results show that a reduction of the duty cycle impacts negatively on the accuracy of both acoustic presence and call rate estimates. For a given duty cycle, frequent short listening periods improve accuracy of daily acoustic presence estimates over few long listening periods. Overall, subsampling effects are most pronounced for low and/or temporally clustered vocal activity. These findings illustrate the importance of informed decisions when applying subsampling strategies to passive acoustic recordings or analyses for a given target species.

  19. Spatio-temporal databases complex motion pattern queries

    CERN Document Server

    Vieira, Marcos R

    2013-01-01

    This brief presents several new query processing techniques, called complex motion pattern queries, specifically designed for very large spatio-temporal databases of moving objects. The brief begins with the definition of flexible pattern queries, which are powerful because of the integration of variables and motion patterns. This is followed by a summary of the expressive power of patterns and flexibility of pattern queries. The brief then present the Spatio-Temporal Pattern System (STPS) and density-based pattern queries. STPS databases contain millions of records with information about mobi

  20. Time-warp invariant pattern detection with bursting neurons

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gollisch, Tim

    2008-01-01

    Sound patterns are defined by the temporal relations of their constituents, individual acoustic cues. Auditory systems need to extract these temporal relations to detect or classify sounds. In various cases, ranging from human speech to communication signals of grasshoppers, this pattern detection has been found to display invariance to temporal stretching or compression of the sound signal ('linear time-warp invariance'). In this work, a four-neuron network model is introduced, designed to solve such a detection task for the example of grasshopper courtship songs. As an essential ingredient, the network contains neurons with intrinsic bursting dynamics, which allow them to encode durations between acoustic events in short, rapid sequences of spikes. As shown by analytical calculations and computer simulations, these neuronal dynamics result in a powerful mechanism for temporal integration. Finally, the network reads out the encoded temporal information by detecting equal activity of two such bursting neurons. This leads to the recognition of rhythmic patterns independent of temporal stretching or compression

  1. The Curious Acoustic Behavior of Estuarine Snapping Shrimp: Temporal Patterns of Snapping Shrimp Sound in Sub-Tidal Oyster Reef Habitat.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    DelWayne R Bohnenstiehl

    Full Text Available Ocean soundscapes convey important sensory information to marine life. Like many mid-to-low latitude coastal areas worldwide, the high-frequency (>1.5 kHz soundscape of oyster reef habitat within the West Bay Marine Reserve (36°N, 76°W is dominated by the impulsive, short-duration signals generated by snapping shrimp. Between June 2011 and July 2012, a single hydrophone deployed within West Bay was programmed to record 60 or 30 seconds of acoustic data every 15 or 30 minutes. Envelope correlation and amplitude information were then used to count shrimp snaps within these recordings. The observed snap rates vary from 1500-2000 snaps per minute during summer to <100 snaps per minute during winter. Sound pressure levels are positively correlated with snap rate (r = 0.71-0.92 and vary seasonally by ~15 decibels in the 1.5-20 kHz range. Snap rates are positively correlated with water temperatures (r = 0.81-0.93, as well as potentially influenced by climate-driven changes in water quality. Light availability modulates snap rate on diurnal time scales, with most days exhibiting a significant preference for either nighttime or daytime snapping, and many showing additional crepuscular increases. During mid-summer, the number of snaps occurring at night is 5-10% more than predicted by a random model; however, this pattern is reversed between August and April, with an excess of up to 25% more snaps recorded during the day in the mid-winter. Diurnal variability in sound pressure levels is largest in the mid-winter, when the overall rate of snapping is at its lowest, and the percentage difference between daytime and nighttime activity is at its highest. This work highlights our lack of knowledge regarding the ecology and acoustic behavior of one of the most dominant soniforous invertebrate species in coastal systems. It also underscores the necessity of long-duration, high-temporal-resolution sampling in efforts to understand the bioacoustics of animal

  2. Spectro-temporal modulation masking patterns reveal frequency selectivity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oetjen, Arne; Verhey, Jesko L

    2015-02-01

    The present study investigated the possibility that the human auditory system demonstrates frequency selectivity to spectro-temporal amplitude modulations. Threshold modulation depth for detecting sinusoidal spectro-temporal modulations was measured using a generalized masked threshold pattern paradigm with narrowband masker modulations. Four target spectro-temporal modulations were examined, differing in their temporal and spectral modulation frequencies: a temporal modulation of -8, 8, or 16 Hz combined with a spectral modulation of 1 cycle/octave and a temporal modulation of 4 Hz combined with a spectral modulation of 0.5 cycles/octave. The temporal center frequencies of the masker modulation ranged from 0.25 to 4 times the target temporal modulation. The spectral masker-modulation center-frequencies were 0, 0.5, 1, 1.5, and 2 times the target spectral modulation. For all target modulations, the pattern of average thresholds for the eight normal-hearing listeners was consistent with the hypothesis of a spectro-temporal modulation filter. Such a pattern of modulation-frequency sensitivity was predicted on the basis of psychoacoustical data for purely temporal amplitude modulations and purely spectral amplitude modulations. An analysis of separability indicates that, for the present data set, selectivity in the spectro-temporal modulation domain can be described by a combination of a purely spectral and a purely temporal modulation filter function.

  3. Spatio-temporal patterns of coral recruitment at Vamizi Island ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Spatio-temporal patterns of coral recruitment at Vamizi Island, Quirimbas Archipelago, Mozambique. ... Spatial and temporal patterns of recruitment of reef corals were assessed for the first time in Mozambique ... AJOL African Journals Online.

  4. Clinical significance of temporal bone CT with regard to hearing preservation in acoustic neurinoma removal

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Umezu, Hiromichi; Seki, Yojirou; Aiba, Tadashi

    1988-02-01

    Since Rand and Kurze discussed the possibility of the anatomic preservation of the cochlear nerve via the posterior fossa transmeatal approach for the acoustic neurinoma, there have been increasingly many reports on the preservation of cochlear nerve function. With recent advances in diagnostic tools, today's neurosurgeon is able to make an earlier and more precise diagnosis of acoustic neurinomas even when the patient has good hearing. If useful hearing is to be kept, the cochlear nerve and blood supply of the labyrinth have to be preserved. In addition, surgical entry into the labyrinth, upon the removal of the posterior wall of the internal auditory canal, must be avoided, since it is likely to result in permanent hearing loss. Because of its superior contrast and spatial resolution, thin-section and high-resolution computed tomography of the temporal bone has the great advantage of demonstrating the exact relationship of the internal auditory canal to the posterior semicircular canal, the vestibule, and the common crus. In this study, thin-section, high-resolution computed tomography of the temporal bone was performed in 11 cases of acoustic neurinoma pre- and postoperatively. At operation, the lateral limit of the bone removal of the posterior internal auditory canal was determined on the basis of preoperative computed tomography of the temporal bone. As a result, inadvertent entry into the labyrinth was avoided, and useful hearing was preserved in 8 cases. In order to preserve useful hearing following total tumor removal, it is essential to plan the operative strategy meticulously on the basis of the findings of the preoperative investigation, Including temporal bone CT.

  5. Acoustic processing of temporally modulated sounds in infants: evidence from a combined near-infrared spectroscopy and EEG study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Silke eTelkemeyer

    2011-04-01

    Full Text Available Speech perception requires rapid extraction of the linguistic content from the acoustic signal. The ability to efficiently process rapid changes in auditory information is important for decoding speech and thereby crucial during language acquisition. Investigating functional networks of speech perception in infancy might elucidate neuronal ensembles supporting perceptual abilities that gate language acquisition. Interhemispheric specializations for language have been demonstrated in infants. How these asymmetries are shaped by basic temporal acoustic properties is under debate. We recently provided evidence that newborns process non-linguistic sounds sharing temporal features with language in a differential and lateralized fashion. The present study used the same material while measuring brain responses of 6 and 3 month old infants using simultaneous recordings of electroencephalography (EEG and near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS. NIRS reveals that the lateralization observed in newborns remains constant over the first months of life. While fast acoustic modulations elicit bilateral neuronal activations, slow modulations lead to right-lateralized responses. Additionally, auditory evoked potentials and oscillatory EEG responses show differential responses for fast and slow modulations indicating a sensitivity for temporal acoustic variations. Oscillatory responses reveal an effect of development, that is, 6 but not 3 month old infants show stronger theta-band desynchronization for slowly modulated sounds. Whether this developmental effect is due to increasing fine-grained perception for spectrotemporal sounds in general remains speculative. Our findings support the notion that a more general specialization for acoustic properties can be considered the basis for lateralization of speech perception. The results show that concurrent assessment of vascular based imaging and electrophysiological responses have great potential in the research on language

  6. The clinical significance of temporal bone CT with regard to hearing preservation in acoustic neurinoma removal

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Umezu, Hiromichi; Seki, Yojirou; Aiba, Tadashi

    1988-01-01

    Since Rand and Kurze discussed the possibility of the anatomic preservation of the cochlear nerve via the posterior fossa transmeatal approach for the acoustic neurinoma, there have been increasingly many reports on the preservation of cochlear nerve function. With recent advances in diagnostic tools, today's neurosurgeon is able to make an earlier and more precise diagnosis of acoustic neurinomas even when the patient has good hearing. If useful hearing is to be kept, the cochlear nerve and blood supply of the labyrinth have to be preserved. In addition, surgical entry into the labyrinth, upon the removal of the posterior wall of the internal auditory canal, must be avoided, since it is likely to result in permanent hearing loss. Because of its superior contrast and spatial resolution, thin-section and high-resolution computed tomography of the temporal bone has the great advantage of demonstrating the exact relationship of the internal auditory canal to the posterior semicircular canal, the vestibule, and the common crus. In this study, thin-section, high-resolution computed tomography of the temporal bone was performed in 11 cases of acoustic neurinoma pre- and postoperatively. At operation, the lateral limit of the bone removal of the posterior internal auditory canal was determined on the basis of preoperative computed tomography of the temporal bone. As a result, inadvertent entry into the labyrinth was avoided, and useful hearing was preserved in 8 cases. In order to preserve useful hearing following total tumor removal, it is essential to plan the operative strategy meticulously on the basis of the findings of the preoperative investigation, Including temporal bone CT. (author)

  7. Mining Temporal Patterns to Improve Agents Behavior: Two Case Studies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fournier-Viger, Philippe; Nkambou, Roger; Faghihi, Usef; Nguifo, Engelbert Mephu

    We propose two mechanisms for agent learning based on the idea of mining temporal patterns from agent behavior. The first one consists of extracting temporal patterns from the perceived behavior of other agents accomplishing a task, to learn the task. The second learning mechanism consists in extracting temporal patterns from an agent's own behavior. In this case, the agent then reuses patterns that brought self-satisfaction. In both cases, no assumption is made on how the observed agents' behavior is internally generated. A case study with a real application is presented to illustrate each learning mechanism.

  8. Correlation between temporal pole MRI abnormalities and surface ictal EEG patterns in patients with unilateral mesial temporal lobe epilepsy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Caboclo, Luís Otávio S F; Garzon, Eliana; Oliveira, Pedro A L; Carrete, Henrique; Centeno, Ricardo S; Bianchin, Marino M; Yacubian, Elza Márcia T; Sakamoto, Américo C

    2007-01-01

    The objective of this retrospective study is to analyze ictal patterns observed during continuous Video-EEG monitoring in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) due to unilateral hippocampal sclerosis (HS), and to correlate these EEG patterns to temporal pole abnormalities observed on magnetic resonance imaging exams. We analyzed 147 seizures from 35 patients with TLE and unilateral HS. Ictal patterns were classified and correlated to signal abnormalities and volumetric measures of the temporal poles. Volume differences over 10% were considered abnormal. The most frequent type of ictal pattern was rhythmic theta activity (RTA), encountered in 65.5% of the seizures. Rhythmic beta activity (RBA) was observed in 11% of the seizures, localized attenuation in 8%, interruption of epileptiform discharges in 6%, repetitive discharges in 5.5%, and rhythmic delta activity (RDA) in 4%. Sixty-six percent of the patients presented signal abnormalities in the temporal pole that were always ipsilateral to the HS. Sixty percent presented significant asymmetry of the temporal poles consisting of reduced volume that was also always ipsilateral to HS. Although patients with RTA as the predominant ictal pattern tended to present asymmetry of temporal poles (p=0.305), the ictal EEG pattern did not correlate with temporal pole asymmetry or signal abnormalities. RTA is the most frequent initial ictal pattern in patients with TLE due to unilateral HS. Temporal pole signal changes and volumetric reduction were commonly found in this group of patients, both abnormalities appearing always ipsilateral to the HS. However, neither temporal pole volume reduction nor signal abnormalities correlated with the predominant ictal pattern, suggesting that the temporal poles are not crucially involved in the process of epileptogenesis.

  9. Spatio-temporal patterns in simple models of marine systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Feudel, U.; Baurmann, M.; Gross, T.

    2009-04-01

    Spatio-temporal patterns in marine systems are a result of the interaction of population dynamics with physical transport processes. These physical transport processes can be either diffusion processes in marine sediments or in the water column. We study the dynamics of one population of bacteria and its nutrient in in a simplified model of a marine sediments, taking into account that the considered bacteria possess an active as well as an inactive state, where activation is processed by signal molecules. Furthermore the nutrients are transported actively by bioirrigation and passively by diffusion. It is shown that under certain conditions Turing patterns can occur which yield heterogeneous spatial patterns of the species. The influence of bioirrigation on Turing patterns leads to the emergence of ''hot spots``, i.e. localized regions of enhanced bacterial activity. All obtained patterns fit quite well to observed patterns in laboratory experiments. Spatio-temporal patterns appear in a predator-prey model, used to describe plankton dynamics. These patterns appear due to the simultaneous emergence of Turing patterns and oscillations in the species abundance in the neighborhood of a Turing-Hopf bifurcation. We observe a large variety of different patterns where i) stationary heterogeneous patterns (e.g. hot and cold spots) compete with spatio-temporal patterns ii) slowly moving patterns are embedded in an oscillatory background iii) moving fronts and spiral waves appear.

  10. Marine ecosystem acoustics (MEA): Quantifying processes in the sea at the spatio-temporal scales on which they occur

    KAUST Repository

    Godøl, Olav Rune

    2014-07-22

    Sustainable management of fisheries resources requires quantitative knowledge and understanding of species distribution, abundance, and productivity-determining processes. Conventional sampling by physical capture is inconsistent with the spatial and temporal scales on which many of these processes occur. In contrast, acoustic observations can be obtained on spatial scales from centimetres to ocean basins, and temporal scales from seconds to seasons. The concept of marine ecosystem acoustics (MEA) is founded on the basic capability of acoustics to detect, classify, and quantify organisms and biological and physical heterogeneities in the water column. Acoustics observations integrate operational technologies, platforms, and models and can generate information by taxon at the relevant scales. The gaps between single-species assessment and ecosystem-based management, as well as between fisheries oceanography and ecology, are thereby bridged. The MEA concept combines state-of-the-art acoustic technology with advanced operational capabilities and tailored modelling integrated into a flexible tool for ecosystem research and monitoring. Case studies are presented to illustrate application of the MEA concept in quantification of biophysical coupling, patchiness of organisms, predator-prey interactions, and fish stock recruitment processes. Widespread implementation of MEA will have a large impact on marine monitoring and assessment practices and it is to be hoped that they also promote and facilitate interaction among disciplines within the marine sciences.

  11. Temporal coherence of the acoustic field forward propagated through a continental shelf with random internal waves.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gong, Zheng; Chen, Tianrun; Ratilal, Purnima; Makris, Nicholas C

    2013-11-01

    An analytical model derived from normal mode theory for the accumulated effects of range-dependent multiple forward scattering is applied to estimate the temporal coherence of the acoustic field forward propagated through a continental-shelf waveguide containing random three-dimensional internal waves. The modeled coherence time scale of narrow band low-frequency acoustic field fluctuations after propagating through a continental-shelf waveguide is shown to decay with a power-law of range to the -1/2 beyond roughly 1 km, decrease with increasing internal wave energy, to be consistent with measured acoustic coherence time scales. The model should provide a useful prediction of the acoustic coherence time scale as a function of internal wave energy in continental-shelf environments. The acoustic coherence time scale is an important parameter in remote sensing applications because it determines (i) the time window within which standard coherent processing such as matched filtering may be conducted, and (ii) the number of statistically independent fluctuations in a given measurement period that determines the variance reduction possible by stationary averaging.

  12. Temporal fringe pattern analysis with parallel computing

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tuck Wah Ng; Kar Tien Ang; Argentini, Gianluca

    2005-01-01

    Temporal fringe pattern analysis is invaluable in transient phenomena studies but necessitates long processing times. Here we describe a parallel computing strategy based on the single-program multiple-data model and hyperthreading processor technology to reduce the execution time. In a two-node cluster workstation configuration we found that execution periods were reduced by 1.6 times when four virtual processors were used. To allow even lower execution times with an increasing number of processors, the time allocated for data transfer, data read, and waiting should be minimized. Parallel computing is found here to present a feasible approach to reduce execution times in temporal fringe pattern analysis

  13. From indoor to outdoor: Behavioural response of fish to noise exposure of different temporal structures

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yik Yaw Neo

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available Human activities, such as shipping and pile driving, produce substantial amounts of man-made noise underwater. The noise may negatively affect fish, causing physical injuries, hearing loss, physiological stress, acoustic masking and behavioural changes. Among these effects, behavioural changes are most problematic, but are understudied, especially under well-controlled field conditions. Moreover, man-made noise varies widely in terms of acoustic characteristics. The influence of temporal patterns of noise on the impacts is largely unknown. We exposed groups of European seabass to sound treatments of different temporal patterns, varying in intermittency, interval regularity and presence of amplitude 'ramp-up'. The study took place in a large octagonal floating pen (⌀ = ~12.5m in Oosterschelde, a marine inlet in the Netherlands. We tracked the fish swimming trajectories with an acoustic 3D telemetry system and looked into the behavioural changes and recovery. Upon noise exposure, the fish swam to greater depths in tighter shoals, similar to previous studies conducted in a basin. Moreover, the fish swam away from the noise source, suggesting avoidance behaviour. The different temporal patterns seemed to differ in their impact strengths although the results were not significant. These findings may carry important scientific and management implications.

  14. Acoustic beam steering by light refraction: illustration with directivity patterns of a tilted volume photoacoustic source.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Raetz, Samuel; Dehoux, Thomas; Perton, Mathieu; Audoin, Bertrand

    2013-12-01

    The symmetry of a thermoelastic source resulting from laser absorption can be broken when the direction of light propagation in an elastic half-space is inclined relatively to the surface. This leads to an asymmetry of the directivity patterns of both compressional and shear acoustic waves. In contrast to classical surface acoustic sources, the tunable volume source allows one to take advantage of the mode conversion at the surface to control the directivity of specific modes. Physical interpretations of the evolution of the directivity patterns with the increasing light angle of incidence and of the relations between the preferential directions of compressional- and shear-wave emission are proposed. In order to compare calculated directivity patterns with measurements of normal displacement amplitudes performed on plates, a procedure is proposed to transform the directivity patterns into pseudo-directivity patterns representative of the experimental conditions. The comparison of the theoretical with measured pseudo-directivity patterns demonstrates the ability to enhance bulk-wave amplitudes and to steer specific bulk acoustic modes by adequately tuning light refraction.

  15. Incremental temporal pattern mining using efficient batch-free stream clustering

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Lu, Y.; Hassani, M.; Seidl, T.

    2017-01-01

    This paper address the problem of temporal pattern mining from multiple data streams containing temporal events. Temporal events are considered as real world events aligned with comprehensive starting and ending timing information rather than simple integer timestamps. Predefined relations, such as

  16. A model for optimizing file access patterns using spatio-temporal parallelism

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Boonthanome, Nouanesengsy [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Patchett, John [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Geveci, Berk [Kitware Inc., Clifton Park, NY (United States); Ahrens, James [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Bauer, Andy [Kitware Inc., Clifton Park, NY (United States); Chaudhary, Aashish [Kitware Inc., Clifton Park, NY (United States); Miller, Ross G. [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Shipman, Galen M. [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Williams, Dean N. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)

    2013-01-01

    For many years now, I/O read time has been recognized as the primary bottleneck for parallel visualization and analysis of large-scale data. In this paper, we introduce a model that can estimate the read time for a file stored in a parallel filesystem when given the file access pattern. Read times ultimately depend on how the file is stored and the access pattern used to read the file. The file access pattern will be dictated by the type of parallel decomposition used. We employ spatio-temporal parallelism, which combines both spatial and temporal parallelism, to provide greater flexibility to possible file access patterns. Using our model, we were able to configure the spatio-temporal parallelism to design optimized read access patterns that resulted in a speedup factor of approximately 400 over traditional file access patterns.

  17. Temporal sleep patterns in adults using actigraph

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lia Matuzaki

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available The aim of the present study was to characterize the temporal patterns of sleep and wakefulness in a sample of the adult subjects from São Paulo city. All subjects filled the Morningness/Eveningness Questionnaire (MEQ and wore an actigraph for at least three consecutive days. A total of 359 subjects were considered for the analyses. The mean age was 43±14 years, the mean body mass index was 26.7±5.7 kg/m2, and 60% were female. The mean MEQ score was 58.0±10.7. The sleep pattern evaluated by the actigraphic analyses showed that 92% had a monophasic sleep pattern, 7% biphasic, and 1% polyphasic sleep pattern. Cluster analysis, based on time to sleep onset, sleep efficiency, sleep latency, and total sleep time, was able to identify three different groups denominated: morning type, evening type, and undefined type. Morning type subjects were more frequent, older, and had higher MEQ scores than evening type subjects. Our results showed that the actigraph objectively assessed the sleep-wake cycle and was able to discriminate between morning and evening type individuals. These findings suggest that the actigraph could be a valuable tool for assessing temporal sleep patterns, including the circadian preferences.

  18. Invasive Ductal Carcinoma of Breast : Correlation between Sonographic Posterior Acoustic Patterns with Histopathology

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cho, Hyun Cheol; Lee, Yong Woo; Hwang, Mi Soo; Cho, Kil Ho; Chang, Jae Chun; Kim, Dong Sug; Bae, Young Kyung

    1996-01-01

    To evaluate the frequency of posterior sonic attenuation and enhancement in invasive ductal carcinoma of breast on ultrasound, and to compare with histo-pathologic findings. Sonographic findings of 26 histologically proven invasive ductal carcinomas were retrospectively reviewed in point of posterior echo pattern regardless other ultrasonic features. They were classified in two groups according to posterior echo pattern such as enhancement or shadowing, and compared with various internal histologic characteristics such as amount of connective tissue, degree of elastosis, necrosis, gross circumscription,harboring inflammation, histologic differentiation, nuclear pleomorphism, and mitotic index. The acoustic shadowing was seen in 34.6%, whereas posterior sonic enhancement was seen in 65.4% of cases. The acoustic shadowing group had more connective tissue, elastosis, and poor demarcated margin than the sonic enhancement group(p < 0.05). But no significant differences were seen in other histopathologic findings representing malignancy between two groups. A close relationship between posterior echo pattern and amount of connective tissue or elastosis is found in invasive ductal carcinoma of breast. The acoustic shadowing known as a characteristic ultrasonographic finding of malignant breast mass does not represent the degree of malignancy

  19. Acoustical Survey of Methane Plumes on North Hydrate Ridge: Constraining Temporal and Spatial Characteristics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kannberg, P. K.; Trehu, A. M.

    2008-12-01

    While methane plumes associated with hydrate formations have been acoustically imaged before, little is known about their temporal characteristics. Previous acoustic surveys have focused on determining plume location, but as far as we know, multiple, repeated surveys of the same plume have not been done prior to the survey presented here. In July 2008, we acquired sixteen identical surveys within 19 hours over the northern summit of Hydrate Ridge in the Cascadia accretionary complex using the onboard 3.5 and 12 kHz echosounders. As in previous studies, the plumes were invisible to the 3.5 kHz echosounder and clearly imaged with 12 kHz. Seafloor depth in this region is ~600 m. Three distinct plumes were detected close to where plumes were located by Heeschen et al. (2003) a decade ago. Two of the plumes disappeared at ~520 m water depth, which is the depth of the top of the gas hydrate stability as determined from CTD casts obtained during the cruise. This supports the conclusion of Heeschen et al. (2003) that the bubbles are armored by gas hydrate and that they dissolve in the water column when they leave the hydrate stability zone. One of the plumes near the northern summit, however, extended through this boundary to at least 400 m (the shallowest depth recorded). A similar phenomenon was observed in methane plumes in the Gulf of Mexico, where the methane was found to be armored by an oil skin. In addition to the steady plumes, two discrete "burps" were observed. One "burp" occurred approximately 600 m to the SSW of the northern summit. This was followed by a second strong event 300m to the north an hour later. To evaluate temporal and spatial patterns, we summed the power of the backscattered signal in different depth windows for each survey. We present the results as a movie in which the backscatter power is shown in map view as a function of time. The surveys encompassed two complete tidal cycles, but no correlation between plume location or intensity and tides

  20. Acoustic-Emergent Phonology in the Amplitude Envelope of Child-Directed Speech.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Victoria Leong

    Full Text Available When acquiring language, young children may use acoustic spectro-temporal patterns in speech to derive phonological units in spoken language (e.g., prosodic stress patterns, syllables, phonemes. Children appear to learn acoustic-phonological mappings rapidly, without direct instruction, yet the underlying developmental mechanisms remain unclear. Across different languages, a relationship between amplitude envelope sensitivity and phonological development has been found, suggesting that children may make use of amplitude modulation (AM patterns within the envelope to develop a phonological system. Here we present the Spectral Amplitude Modulation Phase Hierarchy (S-AMPH model, a set of algorithms for deriving the dominant AM patterns in child-directed speech (CDS. Using Principal Components Analysis, we show that rhythmic CDS contains an AM hierarchy comprising 3 core modulation timescales. These timescales correspond to key phonological units: prosodic stress (Stress AM, ~2 Hz, syllables (Syllable AM, ~5 Hz and onset-rime units (Phoneme AM, ~20 Hz. We argue that these AM patterns could in principle be used by naïve listeners to compute acoustic-phonological mappings without lexical knowledge. We then demonstrate that the modulation statistics within this AM hierarchy indeed parse the speech signal into a primitive hierarchically-organised phonological system comprising stress feet (proto-words, syllables and onset-rime units. We apply the S-AMPH model to two other CDS corpora, one spontaneous and one deliberately-timed. The model accurately identified 72-82% (freely-read CDS and 90-98% (rhythmically-regular CDS stress patterns, syllables and onset-rime units. This in-principle demonstration that primitive phonology can be extracted from speech AMs is termed Acoustic-Emergent Phonology (AEP theory. AEP theory provides a set of methods for examining how early phonological development is shaped by the temporal modulation structure of speech across

  1. A SIMPLE HETERODYNE TEMPORAL SPECKLE-PATTERN INTERFEROMETER

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wong, W. O.; Gao, Z.; Lu, J.

    2010-01-01

    A common light path design of heterodyne speckle pattern interferometer based on temporal speckle pattern interferometry is proposed for non-contact, full-field and real-time continuous displacement measurement. Double frequency laser is produced by rotating a half wave plate. An experiment was carried out to measure the dynamic displacement of a cantilever plate for testing the proposed common path heterodyne speckle pattern interferometer. The accuracy of displacement measurement was checked by measuring the motion at the mid-point of the plate with a point displacement sensor.

  2. 1988 Wet deposition temporal and spatial patterns in North America

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Simpson, J.C.; Olsen, A.R.; Bittner, E.A.

    1992-03-01

    The focus of this report is on North American wet deposition temporal patterns from 1979 to 1988 and spatial patterns for 1988. It is the third in a series of reports that investigate the patterns of annual precipitation-weighted average concentration and annual deposition for nine ion species: hydrogen, sulfate, nitrate, ammonium, calcium, chloride, sodium, potassium, and magnesium. Mosaic maps, based on surface estimation using kriging, display concentration and deposition spatial patterns of pH, hydrogen, sulfate, nitrate, ammonium, and calcium ion species for 1988 annual, winter, and summer periods. Temporal pattern analyses use a subset of 35 sites over a 10-year (1979--1988) period and an expanded subset of 137 sites, with greater spatial coverage, over a 7-year (1982--1988) period. The 10-year period represents the longest period with wet deposition monitoring data available that has a sufficient number of sites with data of known quality to allow a descriptive summary of annual temporal patterns. Sen's median trend estimate and Kendall's seasonal tau (KST) test are calculated for each ion species concentration and deposition at each site in both subsets.

  3. 1988 Wet deposition temporal and spatial patterns in North America

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Simpson, J.C.; Olsen, A.R.; Bittner, E.A.

    1992-03-01

    The focus of this report is on North American wet deposition temporal patterns from 1979 to 1988 and spatial patterns for 1988. It is the third in a series of reports that investigate the patterns of annual precipitation-weighted average concentration and annual deposition for nine ion species: hydrogen, sulfate, nitrate, ammonium, calcium, chloride, sodium, potassium, and magnesium. Mosaic maps, based on surface estimation using kriging, display concentration and deposition spatial patterns of pH, hydrogen, sulfate, nitrate, ammonium, and calcium ion species for 1988 annual, winter, and summer periods. Temporal pattern analyses use a subset of 35 sites over a 10-year (1979--1988) period and an expanded subset of 137 sites, with greater spatial coverage, over a 7-year (1982--1988) period. The 10-year period represents the longest period with wet deposition monitoring data available that has a sufficient number of sites with data of known quality to allow a descriptive summary of annual temporal patterns. Sen`s median trend estimate and Kendall`s seasonal tau (KST) test are calculated for each ion species concentration and deposition at each site in both subsets.

  4. An improved genetic algorithm for designing optimal temporal patterns of neural stimulation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cassar, Isaac R.; Titus, Nathan D.; Grill, Warren M.

    2017-12-01

    Objective. Electrical neuromodulation therapies typically apply constant frequency stimulation, but non-regular temporal patterns of stimulation may be more effective and more efficient. However, the design space for temporal patterns is exceedingly large, and model-based optimization is required for pattern design. We designed and implemented a modified genetic algorithm (GA) intended for design optimal temporal patterns of electrical neuromodulation. Approach. We tested and modified standard GA methods for application to designing temporal patterns of neural stimulation. We evaluated each modification individually and all modifications collectively by comparing performance to the standard GA across three test functions and two biophysically-based models of neural stimulation. Main results. The proposed modifications of the GA significantly improved performance across the test functions and performed best when all were used collectively. The standard GA found patterns that outperformed fixed-frequency, clinically-standard patterns in biophysically-based models of neural stimulation, but the modified GA, in many fewer iterations, consistently converged to higher-scoring, non-regular patterns of stimulation. Significance. The proposed improvements to standard GA methodology reduced the number of iterations required for convergence and identified superior solutions.

  5. Climate drives temporal replacement and nested-resultant richness patterns of Scottish coastal vegetation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lewis, Rob; Marrs, Rob H.; Pakeman, Robin J.

    2016-01-01

    Beta diversity quantifies spatial and/or temporal variation in species composition. It is comprised of two distinct components, species replacement and nestedness, which derive from opposing ecological processes. Using Scotland as a case study and a β-diversity partitioning framework, we......) investigate whether patterns from one β-diversity component can mask observable patterns in the other. We summarised key aspects of climate driven macro-ecological variation as measures of variance, long-term trends, between-year similarity and extremes, for three important climatic predictors (minimum...... contribution of each on temporal replacement and nestedness patterns. Temporal β-diversity patterns were reasonably well explained by climate change but weakly explained by changes in landscape-scale heterogeneity. Climate was shown to have a greater influence on temporal nestedness than replacement patterns...

  6. Discovery of spatio-temporal patterns from location-based social networks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Béjar, J.; Álvarez, S.; García, D.; Gómez, I.; Oliva, L.; Tejeda, A.; Vázquez-Salceda, J.

    2016-03-01

    Location-based social networks (LBSNs) such as Twitter or Instagram are a good source for user spatio-temporal behaviour. These networks collect data from users in such a way that they can be seen as a set of collective and distributed sensors of a geographical area. A low rate sampling of user's location information can be obtained during large intervals of time that can be used to discover complex patterns, including mobility profiles, points of interest or unusual events. These patterns can be used as the elements of a knowledge base for different applications in different domains such as mobility route planning, touristic recommendation systems or city planning. The aim of this paper is twofold, first to analyse the frequent spatio-temporal patterns that users share when living and visiting a city. This behaviour is studied by means of frequent itemsets algorithms in order to establish some associations among visits that can be interpreted as interesting routes or spatio-temporal connections. Second, to analyse how the spatio-temporal behaviour of a large number of users can be segmented in different profiles. These behavioural profiles are obtained by means of clustering algorithms that show the different patterns of behaviour of visitors and citizens. The data analysed were obtained from the public data feeds of Twitter and Instagram within an area surrounding the cities of Barcelona and Milan for a period of several months. The analysis of these data shows that these kinds of algorithms can be successfully applied to data from any city (or general area) to discover useful patterns that can be interpreted on terms of singular places and areas and their temporal relationships.

  7. Temporal acoustic measures distinguish primary progressive apraxia of speech from primary progressive aphasia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Duffy, Joseph R; Hanley, Holly; Utianski, Rene; Clark, Heather; Strand, Edythe; Josephs, Keith A; Whitwell, Jennifer L

    2017-05-01

    The purpose of this study was to determine if acoustic measures of duration and syllable rate during word and sentence repetition, and a measure of within-word lexical stress, distinguish speakers with primary progressive apraxia of speech (PPAOS) from nonapraxic speakers with the agrammatic or logopenic variants of primary progressive aphasia (PPA), and control speakers. Results revealed that the PPAOS group had longer durations and reduced rate of syllable production for most words and sentences, and the measure of lexical stress. Sensitivity and specificity indices for the PPAOS versus the other groups were highest for longer multisyllabic words and sentences. For the PPAOS group, correlations between acoustic measures and perceptual ratings of AOS were moderately high to high. Several temporal measures used in this study may aid differential diagnosis and help quantify features of PPAOS that are distinct from those associated with PPA in which AOS is not present. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  8. Behavioral and Single-Neuron Sensitivity to Millisecond Variations in Temporally Patterned Communication Signals.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baker, Christa A; Ma, Lisa; Casareale, Chelsea R; Carlson, Bruce A

    2016-08-24

    In many sensory pathways, central neurons serve as temporal filters for timing patterns in communication signals. However, how a population of neurons with diverse temporal filtering properties codes for natural variation in communication signals is unknown. Here we addressed this question in the weakly electric fish Brienomyrus brachyistius, which varies the time intervals between successive electric organ discharges to communicate. These fish produce an individually stereotyped signal called a scallop, which consists of a distinctive temporal pattern of ∼8-12 electric pulses. We manipulated the temporal structure of natural scallops during behavioral playback and in vivo electrophysiology experiments to probe the temporal sensitivity of scallop encoding and recognition. We found that presenting time-reversed, randomized, or jittered scallops increased behavioral response thresholds, demonstrating that fish's electric signaling behavior was sensitive to the precise temporal structure of scallops. Next, using in vivo intracellular recordings and discriminant function analysis, we found that the responses of interval-selective midbrain neurons were also sensitive to the precise temporal structure of scallops. Subthreshold changes in membrane potential recorded from single neurons discriminated natural scallops from time-reversed, randomized, and jittered sequences. Pooling the responses of multiple neurons improved the discriminability of natural sequences from temporally manipulated sequences. Finally, we found that single-neuron responses were sensitive to interindividual variation in scallop sequences, raising the question of whether fish may analyze scallop structure to gain information about the sender. Collectively, these results demonstrate that a population of interval-selective neurons can encode behaviorally relevant temporal patterns with millisecond precision. The timing patterns of action potentials, or spikes, play important roles in representing

  9. Temporal Processing in Audition: Insights from Music.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rajendran, Vani G; Teki, Sundeep; Schnupp, Jan W H

    2017-11-03

    Music is a curious example of a temporally patterned acoustic stimulus, and a compelling pan-cultural phenomenon. This review strives to bring some insights from decades of music psychology and sensorimotor synchronization (SMS) literature into the mainstream auditory domain, arguing that musical rhythm perception is shaped in important ways by temporal processing mechanisms in the brain. The feature that unites these disparate disciplines is an appreciation of the central importance of timing, sequencing, and anticipation. Perception of musical rhythms relies on an ability to form temporal predictions, a general feature of temporal processing that is equally relevant to auditory scene analysis, pattern detection, and speech perception. By bringing together findings from the music and auditory literature, we hope to inspire researchers to look beyond the conventions of their respective fields and consider the cross-disciplinary implications of studying auditory temporal sequence processing. We begin by highlighting music as an interesting sound stimulus that may provide clues to how temporal patterning in sound drives perception. Next, we review the SMS literature and discuss possible neural substrates for the perception of, and synchronization to, musical beat. We then move away from music to explore the perceptual effects of rhythmic timing in pattern detection, auditory scene analysis, and speech perception. Finally, we review the neurophysiology of general timing processes that may underlie aspects of the perception of rhythmic patterns. We conclude with a brief summary and outlook for future research. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

  10. Dynamical Properties of Transient Spatio-Temporal Patterns in Bacterial Colony of Proteus mirabilis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Watanabe, Kazuhiko; Wakita, Jun-ichi; Itoh, Hiroto; Shimada, Hirotoshi; Kurosu, Sayuri; Ikeda, Takemasa; Yamazaki, Yoshihiro; Matsuyama, Tohey; Matsushita, Mitsugu

    2002-02-01

    Spatio-temporal patterns emerged inside a colony of bacterial species Proteus mirabilis on the surface of nutrient-rich semisolid agar medium have been investigated. We observed various patterns composed of the following basic types: propagating stripe, propagating stripe with fixed dislocation, expanding and shrinking target, and rotating spiral. The remarkable point is that the pattern changes immediately when we alter the position for observation, but it returns to the original if we restore the observing position within a few minutes. We further investigated mesoscopic and microscopic properties of the spatio-temporal patterns. It turned out that whenever the spatio-temporal patterns are observed in a colony, the areas are composed of two superimposed monolayers of elongated bacterial cells. In each area they are aligned almost parallel with each other like a two-dimensional nematic liquid crystal, and move collectively and independently of another layer. It has been found that the observed spatio-temporal patterns are explained as the moiré effect.

  11. Pattern-formation under acoustic driving forces

    Science.gov (United States)

    Valverde, Jose Manuel

    2015-07-01

    Chemical and metallurgical processes enhanced by high intensity acoustic waves, thermoacoustic engines and refrigerators, fuel rods in nuclear reactors, heat exchanger tubes, offshore and vibrating structures, solar thermal collectors, acoustic levitators, microfluidic devices, cycling, musical acoustics, blood flow through veins/arteries, hearing in the mammalian ear, carbon nanotube loudspeakers, etc. The evolution of a myriad of processes involving the oscillation of viscous fluids in the presence of solid boundaries is up to a certain extent influenced by acoustic streaming. In addition to the sound field, viscous energy dissipation at the fluid-solid boundary causes a time-independent fluid circulation, which can lead to a significant enhancement of heat, mass and momentum transfer at large oscillation amplitudes. A particularly relevant phenomenon that can be notably affected by acoustic streaming is the promotion of sound waves by temperature gradients or viceversa (thermoacoustics), which is at the basis of potentially efficient and environmental friendly engines and refrigerators that have attracted a renewed interest in the last years. In the present manuscript, historical developments and the underlying basic physics behind acoustic streaming and thermoacoustics are reviewed from an unifying perspective.

  12. Acoustic tweezers via sub-time-of-flight regime surface acoustic waves.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Collins, David J; Devendran, Citsabehsan; Ma, Zhichao; Ng, Jia Wei; Neild, Adrian; Ai, Ye

    2016-07-01

    Micrometer-scale acoustic waves are highly useful for refined optomechanical and acoustofluidic manipulation, where these fields are spatially localized along the transducer aperture but not along the acoustic propagation direction. In the case of acoustic tweezers, such a conventional acoustic standing wave results in particle and cell patterning across the entire width of a microfluidic channel, preventing selective trapping. We demonstrate the use of nanosecond-scale pulsed surface acoustic waves (SAWs) with a pulse period that is less than the time of flight between opposing transducers to generate localized time-averaged patterning regions while using conventional electrode structures. These nodal positions can be readily and arbitrarily positioned in two dimensions and within the patterning region itself through the imposition of pulse delays, frequency modulation, and phase shifts. This straightforward concept adds new spatial dimensions to which acoustic fields can be localized in SAW applications in a manner analogous to optical tweezers, including spatially selective acoustic tweezers and optical waveguides.

  13. Left hemisphere lateralization for lexical and acoustic pitch processing in Cantonese speakers as revealed by mismatch negativity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gu, Feng; Zhang, Caicai; Hu, Axu; Zhao, Guoping

    2013-12-01

    For nontonal language speakers, speech processing is lateralized to the left hemisphere and musical processing is lateralized to the right hemisphere (i.e., function-dependent brain asymmetry). On the other hand, acoustic temporal processing is lateralized to the left hemisphere and spectral/pitch processing is lateralized to the right hemisphere (i.e., acoustic-dependent brain asymmetry). In this study, we examine whether the hemispheric lateralization of lexical pitch and acoustic pitch processing in tonal language speakers is consistent with the patterns of function- and acoustic-dependent brain asymmetry in nontonal language speakers. Pitch contrast in both speech stimuli (syllable /ji/ in Experiment 1) and nonspeech stimuli (harmonic tone in Experiment 1; pure tone in Experiment 2) was presented to native Cantonese speakers in passive oddball paradigms. We found that the mismatch negativity (MMN) elicited by lexical pitch contrast was lateralized to the left hemisphere, which is consistent with the pattern of function-dependent brain asymmetry (i.e., left hemisphere lateralization for speech processing) in nontonal language speakers. However, the MMN elicited by acoustic pitch contrast was also left hemisphere lateralized (harmonic tone in Experiment 1) or showed a tendency for left hemisphere lateralization (pure tone in Experiment 2), which is inconsistent with the pattern of acoustic-dependent brain asymmetry (i.e., right hemisphere lateralization for acoustic pitch processing) in nontonal language speakers. The consistent pattern of function-dependent brain asymmetry and the inconsistent pattern of acoustic-dependent brain asymmetry between tonal and nontonal language speakers can be explained by the hypothesis that the acoustic-dependent brain asymmetry is the consequence of a carryover effect from function-dependent brain asymmetry. Potential evolutionary implication of this hypothesis is discussed. © 2013.

  14. A new definition for acoustic dose

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Duck, F A

    2011-01-01

    This paper discusses a recent proposal for definitions of acoustic dose and acoustic dose-rate. Acoustic dose is defined as the energy deposited by absorption of an acoustic wave per unit mass of the medium supporting the wave. Its time-derivative, acoustic dose-rate, Q m , in W kg -1 is central to the prediction of both rate of temperature rise and radiation force. These quantities have spatial and temporal dependency, depending on the local field parameters (acoustic pressure, particle velocity, intensity) and local material properties (absorption coefficient, α a , and mass density, ρ 0 ). Spatial and/or temporal averaging can be applied where appropriate. For plane-wave monochromatic conditions in a homogeneous medium, Q m =2α a I/ρ 0 , (I is the time-averaged intensity), a simple expression which may also incorporate frequency dependencies of energy deposition. Acoustic dose and acoustic does-rate are exact analogues for Specific Absorption and Specific Absorption Rate (SAR), quantities central to radiofrequency (RF) and microwave dosimetry. Acoustic dosimetry in the presence of tissue/gas interfaces remains a considerable challenge.

  15. Suppressed Alpha Oscillations Predict Intelligibility of Speech and its Acoustic Details

    Science.gov (United States)

    Weisz, Nathan

    2012-01-01

    Modulations of human alpha oscillations (8–13 Hz) accompany many cognitive processes, but their functional role in auditory perception has proven elusive: Do oscillatory dynamics of alpha reflect acoustic details of the speech signal and are they indicative of comprehension success? Acoustically presented words were degraded in acoustic envelope and spectrum in an orthogonal design, and electroencephalogram responses in the frequency domain were analyzed in 24 participants, who rated word comprehensibility after each trial. First, the alpha power suppression during and after a degraded word depended monotonically on spectral and, to a lesser extent, envelope detail. The magnitude of this alpha suppression exhibited an additional and independent influence on later comprehension ratings. Second, source localization of alpha suppression yielded superior parietal, prefrontal, as well as anterior temporal brain areas. Third, multivariate classification of the time–frequency pattern across participants showed that patterns of late posterior alpha power allowed best for above-chance classification of word intelligibility. Results suggest that both magnitude and topography of late alpha suppression in response to single words can indicate a listener's sensitivity to acoustic features and the ability to comprehend speech under adverse listening conditions. PMID:22100354

  16. Voice acoustic patterns of patients diagnosed with vibroacoustic disease

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ana Mendes

    2006-07-01

    Full Text Available Background: Long-term low frequency noise exposure (LFN (≤ 500 Hz, including infrasound may lead to the development of vibroacoustic disease (VAD, a systemic pathology characterized by the abnormal growth of extra-cellular matrices. The respiratory system is a target for LFN. Fibrosis of the respiratory tract epithelia was observed in VAD patients through biopsy, and confirmed in animal models exposed to LFN. Voice acoustic analysis can detect vocal fold variations of mass, tension, muscular and neural activity. Frequency perturbation (jitter, amplitude perturbation (shimmer and harmonicto- noise ratio (HNR are used in the evaluation of the vocal function, and can be indicators of the presence and degree of severity of vocal pathology. Since the respiratory system is the energy source of the phonation process, this raises questions about the effects of VAD on voice production. The purpose of this study was to determine if voice acoustic parameters of VAD patients are different from normative data. Methods: Nine individuals (5 males and 4 females diagnosed with VAD were recorded performing spoken and sung tasks. The spoken tasks included sustaining vowels and fricatives. The sung tasks consisted of maximum phonational frequency range (MPFR. Voice acoustic parameters analysed were: fundamental frequency (F0, jitter, shimmer, HNR and temporal measures. Results: Compared with normative data, both males and females diagnosed with VAD exhibited increased F0, shimmer and HNR. Jitter, MPFR and one temporal measure were reduced. Conclusions: VAD individuals presented voice acoustic parameter differences in spectral, temporal and perturbation measures, which may be indicative of small morphological changes in the phonatory system. Resumo: Enquadramento: A exposição crónica ao ruído de baixa frequência (RBF (≤ 500 Hz, incluindo infra-sons pode conduzir ao desenvolvimento da doença vibroacústica (VAD

  17. Acoustic cue weighting in the singleton vs geminate contrast in Lebanese Arabic: The case of fricative consonants.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Al-Tamimi, Jalal; Khattab, Ghada

    2015-07-01

    This paper is the first reported investigation of the role of non-temporal acoustic cues in the singleton-geminate contrast in Lebanese Arabic, alongside the more frequently reported temporal cues. The aim is to explore the extent to which singleton and geminate consonants show qualitative differences in a language where phonological length is prominent and where moraic structure governs segment timing and syllable weight. Twenty speakers (ten male, ten female) were recorded producing trochaic disyllables with medial singleton and geminate fricatives preceded by phonologically short and long vowels. The following acoustic measures were applied on the medial fricative and surrounding vowels: absolute duration; intensity; fundamental frequency; spectral peak and shape, dynamic amplitude, and voicing patterns of medial fricatives; and vowel quality and voice quality correlates of surrounding vowels. Discriminant analysis and receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curves were used to assess each acoustic cue's contribution to the singleton-geminate contrast. Classification rates of 89% and ROC curves with an area under the curve rate of 96% confirmed the major role played by temporal cues, with non-temporal cues contributing to the contrast but to a much lesser extent. These results confirm that the underlying contrast for gemination in Arabic is temporal, but highlight [+tense] (fortis) as a secondary feature.

  18. Temporal and spatial patterns of micropollutants in urban receiving waters

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Musolff, Andreas, E-mail: andreas.musolff@ufz.d [UFZ - Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Department of Hydrogeology, Permoserstr. 15, 04318 Leipzig (Germany); Leschik, Sebastian, E-mail: sebastian.leschik@ufz.d [UFZ - Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Department of Hydrogeology, Permoserstr. 15, 04318 Leipzig (Germany); Moeder, Monika, E-mail: monika.moeder@ufz.d [UFZ - Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Department of Analytical Chemistry, Permoserstr. 15, 04318 Leipzig (Germany); Strauch, Gerhard, E-mail: gerhard.strauch@ufz.d [UFZ - Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Department of Hydrogeology, Permoserstr. 15, 04318 Leipzig (Germany); Reinstorf, Frido, E-mail: frido.reinstorf@hs-magdeburg.d [University of Applied Sciences Magdeburg-Stendal, Department of Water and Waste Management, Breitscheidstr. 2, 39114 Magdeburg (Germany); Schirmer, Mario, E-mail: mario.schirmer@eawag.c [Eawag, The Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, Department of Water Resources and Drinking Water, Ueberlandstr. 133, 8600 Duebendorf (Switzerland)

    2009-11-15

    Based on a monitoring program over the course of a year, we characterize the temporal and spatial distribution of selected micropollutants in an urban watershed within the city of Leipzig, Germany. Micropollutants revealed a ubiquitous presence in untreated and treated wastewater, surface water and groundwater. The loads of 4-nonylphenol in the effluents of the municipal wastewater treatment plant followed a seasonal trend, whereas the loads of all other micropollutants were highly variable and not correlated to seasons. In the surface water, load seasonality of caffeine, galaxolide and tonalide resulted from a rapid removal with increased water temperature. The loads of 4-nonylphenol and of caffeine in the colder months increased when rainfall occurred. In the groundwater, complex spatial and temporal patterns were apparent and were related to varying input, retardation and removal processes. As a consequence, an assessment of micropollutants in urban waters should consider different micropollutants' temporal and spatial variability. - Micropollutants in urban receiving waters are characterized by variable temporal and spatial concentration and load patterns that have to be considered in risk assessments.

  19. Optimized temporal pattern of brain stimulation designed by computational evolution.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brocker, David T; Swan, Brandon D; So, Rosa Q; Turner, Dennis A; Gross, Robert E; Grill, Warren M

    2017-01-04

    Brain stimulation is a promising therapy for several neurological disorders, including Parkinson's disease. Stimulation parameters are selected empirically and are limited to the frequency and intensity of stimulation. We varied the temporal pattern of deep brain stimulation to ameliorate symptoms in a parkinsonian animal model and in humans with Parkinson's disease. We used model-based computational evolution to optimize the stimulation pattern. The optimized pattern produced symptom relief comparable to that from standard high-frequency stimulation (a constant rate of 130 or 185 Hz) and outperformed frequency-matched standard stimulation in a parkinsonian rat model and in patients. Both optimized and standard high-frequency stimulation suppressed abnormal oscillatory activity in the basal ganglia of rats and humans. The results illustrate the utility of model-based computational evolution of temporal patterns to increase the efficiency of brain stimulation in treating Parkinson's disease and thereby reduce the energy required for successful treatment below that of current brain stimulation paradigms. Copyright © 2017, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

  20. Temporal-pattern recognition by single neurons in a sensory pathway devoted to social communication behavior.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carlson, Bruce A

    2009-07-29

    Sensory systems often encode stimulus information into the temporal pattern of action potential activity. However, little is known about how the information contained within these patterns is extracted by postsynaptic neurons. Similar to temporal coding by sensory neurons, social information in mormyrid fish is encoded into the temporal patterning of an electric organ discharge. In the current study, sensitivity to temporal patterns of electrosensory stimuli was found to arise within the midbrain posterior exterolateral nucleus (ELp). Whole-cell patch recordings from ELp neurons in vivo revealed three patterns of interpulse interval (IPI) tuning: low-pass neurons tuned to long intervals, high-pass neurons tuned to short intervals, and bandpass neurons tuned to intermediate intervals. Many neurons within each class also responded preferentially to either increasing or decreasing IPIs. Playback of electric signaling patterns recorded from freely behaving fish revealed that the IPI and direction tuning of ELp neurons resulted in selective responses to particular social communication displays characterized by distinct IPI patterns. The postsynaptic potential responses of many neurons indicated a combination of excitatory and inhibitory synaptic input, and the IPI tuning of ELp neurons was directly related to rate-dependent changes in the direction and amplitude of postsynaptic potentials. These results suggest that differences in the dynamics of short-term synaptic plasticity in excitatory and inhibitory pathways may tune central sensory neurons to particular temporal patterns of presynaptic activity. This may represent a general mechanism for the processing of behaviorally relevant stimulus information encoded into temporal patterns of activity by sensory neurons.

  1. Boundary-induced pattern formation from uniform temporal oscillation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kohsokabe, Takahiro; Kaneko, Kunihiko

    2018-04-01

    Pattern dynamics triggered by fixing a boundary is investigated. By considering a reaction-diffusion equation that has a unique spatially uniform and limit cycle attractor under a periodic or Neumann boundary condition, and then by choosing a fixed boundary condition, we found three novel phases depending on the ratio of diffusion constants of activator to inhibitor: transformation of temporally periodic oscillation into a spatially periodic fixed pattern, travelling wave emitted from the boundary, and aperiodic spatiotemporal dynamics. The transformation into a fixed, periodic pattern is analyzed by crossing of local nullclines at each spatial point, shifted by diffusion terms, as is analyzed by using recursive equations, to obtain the spatial pattern as an attractor. The generality of the boundary-induced pattern formation as well as its relevance to biological morphogenesis is discussed.

  2. Characterizing the Spatio-Temporal Pattern of Land Surface Temperature through Time Series Clustering: Based on the Latent Pattern and Morphology

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Huimin Liu

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available Land Surface Temperature (LST is a critical component to understand the impact of urbanization on the urban thermal environment. Previous studies were inclined to apply only one snapshot to analyze the pattern and dynamics of LST without considering the non-stationarity in the temporal domain, or focus on the diurnal, seasonal, and annual pattern analysis of LST which has limited support for the understanding of how LST varies with the advancing of urbanization. This paper presents a workflow to extract the spatio-temporal pattern of LST through time series clustering by focusing on the LST of Wuhan, China, from 2002 to 2017 with a 3-year time interval with 8-day MODerate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS satellite image products. The Latent pattern of LST (LLST generated by non-parametric Multi-Task Gaussian Process Modeling (MTGP and the Multi-Scale Shape Index (MSSI which characterizes the morphology of LLST are coupled for pattern recognition. Specifically, spatio-temporal patterns are discovered after the extraction of spatial patterns conducted by the incorporation of k -means and the Back-Propagation neural networks (BP-Net. The spatial patterns of the 6 years form a basic understanding about the corresponding temporal variances. For spatio-temporal pattern recognition, LLSTs and MSSIs of the 6 years are regarded as geo-referenced time series. Multiple algorithms including traditional k -means with Euclidean Distance (ED, shape-based k -means with the constrained Dynamic Time Warping ( c DTW distance measure, and the Dynamic Time Warping Barycenter Averaging (DBA centroid computation method ( k - c DBA and k -shape are applied. Ten external indexes are employed to evaluate the performance of the three algorithms and reveal k - c DBA as the optimal time series clustering algorithm for our study. The study area is divided into 17 geographical time series clusters which respectively illustrate heterogeneous temporal dynamics of LST

  3. Effects of dynamic-range compression on temporal acuity

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Wiinberg, Alan; Jepsen, Morten Løve; Epp, Bastian

    2016-01-01

    Some of the challenges that hearing-aid listeners experience with speech perception in complex acoustic environments may originate from limitations in the temporal processing of sounds. To systematically investigate the influence of hearing impairment and hearing-aid signal processing on temporal...... processing, temporal modulation transfer functions (TMTFs) and “supra-threshold” modulation-depth discrimination (MDD) thresholds were obtained in normal-hearing (NH) and hearing-impaired (HI) listeners with and without wide-dynamic range compression (WDRC). The TMTFs were obtained using tonal carriers of 1...... with the physical compression of the modulation depth due to the WDRC. Indications of reduced temporal resolution in the HI listeners were observed in the TMTF patterns for the 5 kHz carrier. Significantly higher MDD thresholds were found for the HI group relative to the NH group. No relationship was found between...

  4. A neural circuit transforming temporal periodicity information into a rate-based representation in the mammalian auditory system

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Dicke, Ulrike; Ewert, Stephan D.; Dau, Torsten

    2007-01-01

    Periodic amplitude modulations AMs of an acoustic stimulus are presumed to be encoded in temporal activity patterns of neurons in the cochlear nucleus. Physiological recordings indicate that this temporal AM code is transformed into a rate-based periodicity code along the ascending auditory pathw...... accounts for the encoding of AM depth over a large dynamic range and for modulation frequency selective processing of complex sounds....

  5. Spatio-temporal patterns of Cu contamination in mosses using geostatistical estimation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Martins, Anabela; Figueira, Rui; Sousa, António Jorge; Sérgio, Cecília

    2012-01-01

    Several recent studies have reported temporal trends in metal contamination in mosses, but such assessments did not evaluate uncertainty in temporal changes, therefore providing weak statistical support for time comparisons. Furthermore, levels of contaminants in the environment change in both space and time, requiring space-time modelling methods for map estimation. We propose an indicator of spatial and temporal variation based on space-time estimation by indicator kriging, where uncertainty at each location is estimated from the local distribution function, thereby calculating variability intervals for comparison between several biomonitoring dates. This approach was exemplified using copper concentrations in mosses from four Portuguese surveys (1992, 1997, 2002 and 2006). Using this approach, we identified a general decrease in copper contamination, but spatial patterns were not uniform, and from the uncertainty intervals, changes could not be considered significant in the majority of the study area. - Highlights: ► We estimated copper contamination in mosses by spatio-temporal kriging between 1992 and 2006. ► We determined local distribution functions to define variation intervals at each location. ► Significance of temporal changes is assessed using an indicator based on uncertainty interval. ► There is general decrease in copper contamination, but spatial patterns are not uniform. - The contamination of copper in mosses was estimated by spatio-temporal kriging, with determination of uncertainty classes in the temporal variation.

  6. An intelligent temporal pattern classification system using fuzzy ...

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    In this paper, we propose a new pattern classification system by combining Temporal features with Fuzzy Min–Max (TFMM) neural network based classifier for effective decision support in medical diagnosis. Moreover, a Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithm based rule extractor is also proposed in this work for ...

  7. Temporal contrast enhancement and parametric imaging for the visualisation of time patterns in dynamic scintigraphic imaging

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Deconinck, F.; Bossuyt, A.; Lepoudre, R.

    1982-01-01

    Image contrast, photon noise and sampling frequency limit the visual extraction of relevant temporal information in scintigraphic image series. When the Unitation is mainly due to low temporal contrast, temporal contrast enhancement will strongly improve the perceptibility of time patterns in the series. When the limitation is due to photon noise and limited temporal sampling, parametric imaging by means of the Hadamard transform can visualise temporal patterns. (WU)

  8. How females of chirping and trilling field crickets integrate the 'what' and 'where' of male acoustic signals during decision making.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gabel, Eileen; Gray, David A; Matthias Hennig, R

    2016-11-01

    In crickets acoustic communication serves mate selection. Female crickets have to perceive and integrate male cues relevant for mate choice while confronted with several different signals in an acoustically diverse background. Overall female decisions are based on the attractiveness of the temporal pattern (informative about the 'what') and on signal intensity (informative about the 'where') of male calling songs. Here, we investigated how the relevant cues for mate choice are integrated during the decision process by females of five different species of chirping and trilling field crickets. Using a behavioral design, female preferences in no-choice and choice situations for male calling songs differing in pulse rate, modulation depth, intensities, chirp/trill arrangements and temporal shifts were examined. Sensory processing underlying decisions in female field crickets is rather similar as combined evidence suggested that incoming song patterns were analyzed separately by bilaterally paired networks for pattern attractiveness and pattern intensity. A downstream gain control mechanism leads to a weighting of the intensity cue by pattern attractiveness. While remarkable differences between species were observed with respect to specific processing steps, closely related species exhibited more similar preferences than did more distantly related species.

  9. 1987 wet deposition temporal and spatial patterns in North America

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Simpson, J.C.; Olsen, A.R.

    1990-03-01

    The focus of this report is on North American wet deposition temporal patterns from 1979 to 1987 and spatial patterns for 1987. The report investigates the patterns of annual precipitation-weighted average concentration and annual deposition for nine ion species: hydrogen, sulfate, nitrate, ammonium, calcium, chloride, sodium, potassium, and magnesium. Data are from the Acid Deposition System (ADS) for the statistical reporting of North American deposition data which includes the National Atmospheric Deposition Program/National Trends Network (NADP/NTN), the MAP3S precipitation chemistry network, the Utility Acid Precipitation Study Program (UAPSP), the Canadian Precipitation Monitoring Network (CAPMoN), and the daily and 4-weekly Acidic Precipitation in Ontario Study (APIOS-D and APIOS-C). Mosaic maps, based on surface estimation using kriging, display concentration and deposition spatial patterns of pH, hydrogen, sulfate, nitrate, ammonium, and calcium ion species for 1987 annual, winter, and summer periods. The temporal pattern analyses use a subset of 39 sites over a 9-year (1979--1987) period and an expanded subset of 140 sites with greater spatial coverage over a 6-year (1982--1987) period. 68 refs., 15 figs., 15 tabs.

  10. Spatio-Temporal Patterns in Colonies of Rod-Shaped Bacteria

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kitsunezaki, S.

    In incubation experiments of bacterial colonies of Proteus Mirabilis, macroscopic spatio-temporal patterns, such as turbulent and unidirectional spiral patterns, appear in colonies. Considering only kinetic propeties of rod-shaped bacteria, we propose a phenomenological model for the directional and positional distributions. As the average density increases, homogeneous states bifurcate sub-critically into nonuniform states exhibiting localized collective motion, and spiral patterns appear for sufficiently large density. These patterns result from interactions between the local bacteria densities and the order parameter representing collective motion. Our model can be described by reduced equations using a perturbative method for large density. The unidirectionality of sprial rotation is also discussed.

  11. Temporal lobe epilepsy subtypes, differential patterns of cerebral perfusion on ictal SPECT

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Ho, SS; Berkovic, SF; McKay, WJ; Kalnins, RM; Bladin, PF

    Purpose: We studied cerebral perfusion patterns in the various subtypes of TLE, as determined by pathology and good outcome after temporal lobectomy (as confirmation of temporal origin). Methods: We studied clinical features and ictal technetium 99m hexamethyl-propyleneamineoxime (Tc-99m-HMPAO)

  12. Temporal Patterns in Fine Particulate Matter Time Series in Beijing: A Calendar View

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Jianzheng; Li, Jie; Li, Weifeng

    2016-08-01

    Extremely high fine particulate matter (PM2.5) concentration has become synonymous to Beijing, the capital of China, posing critical challenges to its sustainable development and leading to major public health concerns. In order to formulate mitigation measures and policies, knowledge on PM2.5 variation patterns should be obtained. While previous studies are limited either because of availability of data, or because of problematic a priori assumptions that PM2.5 concentration follows subjective seasonal, monthly, or weekly patterns, our study aims to reveal the data on a daily basis through visualization rather than imposing subjective periodic patterns upon the data. To achieve this, we conduct two time-series cluster analyses on full-year PM2.5 data in Beijing in 2014, and provide an innovative calendar visualization of PM2.5 measurements throughout the year. Insights from the analysis on temporal variation of PM2.5 concentration show that there are three diurnal patterns and no weekly patterns; seasonal patterns exist but they do not follow a strict temporal division. These findings advance current understanding on temporal patterns in PM2.5 data and offer a different perspective which can help with policy formulation on PM2.5 mitigation.

  13. Characteristics of Spatial Structural Patterns and Temporal Variability of Annual Precipitation in Ningxia

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    2011-01-01

    [Objective] The aim was to study the characteristics of the spatial structural patterns and temporal variability of annual precipitation in Ningxia.[Method] Using rotated empirical orthogonal function,the precipitation concentration index,wavelet analysis and Mann-Kendall rank statistic method,the characteristics of precipitation on the spatial-temporal variability and trend were analyzed by the monthly precipitation series in Ningxia during 1951-2008.[Result] In Ningxia,the spatial structural patterns of a...

  14. Temporal feeding pattern may influence reproduction efficiency, the example of breeding mares.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Haifa Benhajali

    Full Text Available Discomfort in farm animals may be induced by inappropriate types or timing of food supplies. Thus, time restriction of meals and lack of roughage have been shown to be one source of emergence of oral stereotypies and abnormal behaviour in horses which have evolved to eat high-fibre diets in small amounts over long periods of time. This feeding pattern is often altered in domestic environment where horses are often fed low fibre meals that can be rapidly consumed. This study aimed at determining the effect of the temporal pattern of feeding on reproductive efficiency of breeding mares, One hundred Arab breeding mares were divided into two groups that differed only in the temporal pattern of roughage availability: only at night for the standard feeding pattern group (SFP mares, night and day for the "continuous feeding" group (CF mares. The total amount of roughage provided was the same as the CF mares received half of the hay during the day while in paddock (haynets. Mares were tested for oestrus detection by teasing with one stallion and were then examined clinically by rectal palpations and ultrasound before being mated naturally or inseminated by fresh or frozen semen. Multivariate logistic regression was used to analyse data. The treatment affected significantly the reproductive efficiency of the mares with fewer oestrus abnormalities (p = 0.0002 and more fertility (p = 0.024 in CF mares (conception rate = 81% versus 55% in SFP mares. Ensuring semi-continous feeding by providing roughage may be a way of fulfilling the basic physiological needs of the horses' digestive system, reducing stress and associated inhibitors of reproduction. To our knowledge, this study provides the first evidence of an impact of temporal feeding patterns on reproductive success in a Mammal. Temporal patterns of feeding may be a major and underestimated factor in breeding.

  15. Recurrent coupling improves discrimination of temporal spike patterns

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chun-Wei eYuan

    2012-05-01

    Full Text Available Despite the ubiquitous presence of recurrent synaptic connections insensory neuronal systems, their general functional purpose is not wellunderstood. A recent conceptual advance has been achieved by theoriesof reservoir computing in which recurrent networks have been proposedto generate short-term memory as well as to improve neuronalrepresentation of the sensory input for subsequent computations.Here, we present a numerical study on the distinct effects ofinhibitory and excitatory recurrence in a canonical linearclassification task. It is found that both types of coupling improvethe ability to discriminate temporal spike patterns as compared to apurely feed-forward system, although in different ways. For a largeclass of inhibitory networks, the network's performance is optimal aslong as a fraction of roughly 50% of neurons per stimulus is activein the resulting population code. Thereby the contribution of inactiveneurons to the neural code is found to be even more informative thanthat of the active neurons, generating an inherent robustness ofclassification performance against temporal jitter of the inputspikes. Excitatory couplings are found to not only produce ashort-term memory buffer but also to improve linear separability ofthe population patterns by evoking more irregular firing as comparedto the purely inhibitory case. As the excitatory connectivity becomesmore sparse, firing becomes more variable and pattern separabilityimproves. We argue that the proposed paradigm is particularlywell-suited as a conceptual framework for processing of sensoryinformation in the auditory pathway.

  16. Analyzing Local Spatio-Temporal Patterns of Police Calls-for-Service Using Bayesian Integrated Nested Laplace Approximation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hui Luan

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available This research investigates spatio-temporal patterns of police calls-for-service in the Region of Waterloo, Canada, at a fine spatial and temporal resolution. Modeling was implemented via Bayesian Integrated Nested Laplace Approximation (INLA. Temporal patterns for two-hour time periods, spatial patterns at the small-area scale, and space-time interaction (i.e., unusual departures from overall spatial and temporal patterns were estimated. Temporally, calls-for-service were found to be lowest in the early morning (02:00–03:59 and highest in the evening (20:00–21:59, while high levels of calls-for-service were spatially located in central business areas and in areas characterized by major roadways, universities, and shopping centres. Space-time interaction was observed to be geographically dispersed during daytime hours but concentrated in central business areas during evening hours. Interpreted through the routine activity theory, results are discussed with respect to law enforcement resource demand and allocation, and the advantages of modeling spatio-temporal datasets with Bayesian INLA methods are highlighted.

  17. Sensitivity of peak flow to the change of rainfall temporal pattern due to warmer climate

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fadhel, Sherien; Rico-Ramirez, Miguel Angel; Han, Dawei

    2018-05-01

    The widely used design storms in urban drainage networks has different drawbacks. One of them is that the shape of the rainfall temporal pattern is fixed regardless of climate change. However, previous studies have shown that the temporal pattern may scale with temperature due to climate change, which consequently affects peak flow. Thus, in addition to the scaling of the rainfall volume, the scaling relationship for the rainfall temporal pattern with temperature needs to be investigated by deriving the scaling values for each fraction within storm events, which is lacking in many parts of the world including the UK. Therefore, this study analysed rainfall data from 28 gauges close to the study area with a 15-min resolution as well as the daily temperature data. It was found that, at warmer temperatures, the rainfall temporal pattern becomes less uniform, with more intensive peak rainfall during higher intensive times and weaker rainfall during less intensive times. This is the case for storms with and without seasonal separations. In addition, the scaling values for both the rainfall volume and the rainfall fractions (i.e. each segment of rainfall temporal pattern) for the summer season were found to be higher than the corresponding results for the winter season. Applying the derived scaling values for the temporal pattern of the summer season in a hydrodynamic sewer network model produced high percentage change of peak flow between the current and future climate. This study on the scaling of rainfall fractions is the first in the UK, and its findings are of importance to modellers and designers of sewer systems because it can provide more robust scenarios for flooding mitigation in urban areas.

  18. Spatial and temporal patterns in preterm birth in the United States.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Byrnes, John; Mahoney, Richard; Quaintance, Cele; Gould, Jeffrey B; Carmichael, Suzan; Shaw, Gary M; Showen, Amy; Phibbs, Ciaran; Stevenson, David K; Wise, Paul H

    2015-06-01

    Despite years of research, the etiologies of preterm birth remain unclear. In order to help generate new research hypotheses, this study explored spatial and temporal patterns of preterm birth in a large, total-population dataset. Data on 145 million US births in 3,000 counties from the Natality Files of the National Center for Health Statistics for 1971-2011 were examined. State trends in early (birth rates were compared. K-means cluster analyses were conducted to identify gestational age distribution patterns for all US counties over time. A weak association was observed between state trends in birth rates and the initial absolute birth rate. Significant associations were observed between trends in birth rates and between white and African American births. Periodicity was observed in county-level trends in birth rates. Cluster analyses identified periods of significant heterogeneity and homogeneity in gestational age distributional trends for US counties. The observed geographic and temporal patterns suggest periodicity and complex, shared influences among preterm birth rates in the United States. These patterns could provide insight into promising hypotheses for further research.

  19. Acoustic holograms of active regions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chou, Dean-Yi

    2008-01-01

    We propose a method to study solar magnetic regions in the solar interior with the principle of optical holography. A magnetic region in the solar interior scatters the solar background acoustic waves. The scattered waves and background waves could form an interference pattern on the solar surface. We investigate the feasibility of detecting this interference pattern on the solar surface, and using it to construct the three-dimensional scattered wave from the magnetic region with the principle of optical holography. In solar acoustic holography, the background acoustic waves play the role of reference wave; the magnetic region plays the role of the target object; the interference pattern, acoustic power map, on the solar surface plays the role of the hologram.

  20. Acoustic holograms of active regions

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Chou, Dean-Yi [Physics Department, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, 30013, Taiwan (China)], E-mail: chou@phys.nthu.edu.tw

    2008-10-15

    We propose a method to study solar magnetic regions in the solar interior with the principle of optical holography. A magnetic region in the solar interior scatters the solar background acoustic waves. The scattered waves and background waves could form an interference pattern on the solar surface. We investigate the feasibility of detecting this interference pattern on the solar surface, and using it to construct the three-dimensional scattered wave from the magnetic region with the principle of optical holography. In solar acoustic holography, the background acoustic waves play the role of reference wave; the magnetic region plays the role of the target object; the interference pattern, acoustic power map, on the solar surface plays the role of the hologram.

  1. Spatial pattern and temporal trend of mortality due to tuberculosis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ana Angélica Rêgo de Queiroz

    2018-05-01

    Full Text Available ABSTRACT Objectives: To describe the epidemiological profile of mortality due to tuberculosis (TB, to analyze the spatial pattern of these deaths and to investigate the temporal trend in mortality due to tuberculosis in Northeast Brazil. Methods: An ecological study based on secondary mortality data. Deaths due to TB were included in the study. Descriptive statistics were calculated and gross mortality rates were estimated and smoothed by the Local Empirical Bayesian Method. Prais-Winsten’s regression was used to analyze the temporal trend in the TB mortality coefficients. The Kernel density technique was used to analyze the spatial distribution of TB mortality. Results: Tuberculosis was implicated in 236 deaths. The burden of tuberculosis deaths was higher amongst males, single people and people of mixed ethnicity, and the mean age at death was 51 years. TB deaths were clustered in the East, West and North health districts, and the tuberculosis mortality coefficient remained stable throughout the study period. Conclusions: Analyses of the spatial pattern and temporal trend in mortality revealed that certain areas have higher TB mortality rates, and should therefore be prioritized in public health interventions targeting the disease.

  2. Spatio-Temporal Diffusion Pattern and Hotspot Detection of Dengue in Chachoengsao Province, Thailand

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Phaisarn Jeefoo

    2010-12-01

    Full Text Available In recent years, dengue has become a major international public health concern. In Thailand it is also an important concern as several dengue outbreaks were reported in last decade. This paper presents a GIS approach to analyze the spatial and temporal dynamics of dengue epidemics. The major objective of this study was to examine spatial diffusion patterns and hotspot identification for reported dengue cases. Geospatial diffusion pattern of the 2007 dengue outbreak was investigated. Map of daily cases was generated for the 153 days of the outbreak. Epidemiological data from Chachoengsao province, Thailand (reported dengue cases for the years 1999–2007 was used for this study. To analyze the dynamic space-time pattern of dengue outbreaks, all cases were positioned in space at a village level. After a general statistical analysis (by gender and age group, data was subsequently analyzed for temporal patterns and correlation with climatic data (especially rainfall, spatial patterns and cluster analysis, and spatio-temporal patterns of hotspots during epidemics. The results revealed spatial diffusion patterns during the years 1999–2007 representing spatially clustered patterns with significant differences by village. Villages on the urban fringe reported higher incidences. The space and time of the cases showed outbreak movement and spread patterns that could be related to entomologic and epidemiologic factors. The hotspots showed the spatial trend of dengue diffusion. This study presents useful information related to the dengue outbreak patterns in space and time and may help public health departments to plan strategies to control the spread of disease. The methodology is general for space-time analysis and can be applied for other infectious diseases as well.

  3. Efeito da estimulação acústica nas habilidades do processamento temporal em idosos antes e após a protetização auditiva Acoustic stimulation effect on temporal processing skills in elderly subjects before and after hearing aid fitting

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maria Madalena Canina Pinheiro

    2012-08-01

    and of discrimination of the duration pattern in relation to when they were only potential users. CONCLUSION: There was a deterioration in temporal processing skills, regardless of hearing loss degrees. Thus, the effect of acoustic stimulation by the use of a hearing aid improved resolution and temporal ordering.

  4. The selective control of glycolysis, gluconeogenesis and glycogenesis by temporal insulin patterns.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Noguchi, Rei; Kubota, Hiroyuki; Yugi, Katsuyuki; Toyoshima, Yu; Komori, Yasunori; Soga, Tomoyoshi; Kuroda, Shinya

    2013-05-14

    Insulin governs systemic glucose metabolism, including glycolysis, gluconeogenesis and glycogenesis, through temporal change and absolute concentration. However, how insulin-signalling pathway selectively regulates glycolysis, gluconeogenesis and glycogenesis remains to be elucidated. To address this issue, we experimentally measured metabolites in glucose metabolism in response to insulin. Step stimulation of insulin induced transient response of glycolysis and glycogenesis, and sustained response of gluconeogenesis and extracellular glucose concentration (GLC(ex)). Based on the experimental results, we constructed a simple computational model that characterises response of insulin-signalling-dependent glucose metabolism. The model revealed that the network motifs of glycolysis and glycogenesis pathways constitute a feedforward (FF) with substrate depletion and incoherent feedforward loop (iFFL), respectively, enabling glycolysis and glycogenesis responsive to temporal changes of insulin rather than its absolute concentration. In contrast, the network motifs of gluconeogenesis pathway constituted a FF inhibition, enabling gluconeogenesis responsive to absolute concentration of insulin regardless of its temporal patterns. GLC(ex) was regulated by gluconeogenesis and glycolysis. These results demonstrate the selective control mechanism of glucose metabolism by temporal patterns of insulin.

  5. Patterns of urban violent injury: a spatio-temporal analysis.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Michael Cusimano

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available Injury related to violent acts is a problem in every society. Although some authors have examined the geography of violent crime, few have focused on the spatio-temporal patterns of violent injury and none have used an ambulance dataset to explore the spatial characteristics of injury. The purpose of this study was to describe the combined spatial and temporal characteristics of violent injury in a large urban centre.Using a geomatics framework and geographic information systems software, we studied 4,587 ambulance dispatches and 10,693 emergency room admissions for violent injury occurrences among adults (aged 18-64 in Toronto, Canada, during 2002 and 2004, using population-based datasets. We created kernel density and choropleth maps for 24-hour periods and four-hour daily time periods and compared location of ambulance dispatches and patient residences with local land use and socioeconomic characteristics. We used multivariate regressions to control for confounding factors. We found the locations of violent injury and the residence locations of those injured were both closely related to each other and clearly clustered in certain parts of the city characterised by high numbers of bars, social housing units, and homeless shelters, as well as lower household incomes. The night and early morning showed a distinctive peak in injuries and a shift in the location of injuries to a "nightlife" district. The locational pattern of patient residences remained unchanged during those times.Our results demonstrate that there is a distinctive spatio-temporal pattern in violent injury reflected in the ambulance data. People injured in this urban centre more commonly live in areas of social deprivation. During the day, locations of injury and locations of residences are similar. However, later at night, the injury location of highest density shifts to a "nightlife" district, whereas the residence locations of those most at risk of injury do not change.

  6. Memory for Random Time Patterns in Audition, Touch, and Vision.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kang, HiJee; Lancelin, Denis; Pressnitzer, Daniel

    2018-03-22

    Perception deals with temporal sequences of events, like series of phonemes for audition, dynamic changes in pressure for touch textures, or moving objects for vision. Memory processes are thus needed to make sense of the temporal patterning of sensory information. Recently, we have shown that auditory temporal patterns could be learned rapidly and incidentally with repeated exposure [Kang et al., 2017]. Here, we tested whether rapid incidental learning of temporal patterns was specific to audition, or if it was a more general property of sensory systems. We used a same behavioral task in three modalities: audition, touch, and vision, for stimuli having identical temporal statistics. Participants were presented with sequences of acoustic pulses for audition, motion pulses to the fingertips for touch, or light pulses for vision. Pulses were randomly and irregularly spaced, with all inter-pulse intervals in the sub-second range and all constrained to be longer than the temporal acuity in any modality. This led to pulse sequences with an average inter-pulse interval of 166 ms, a minimum inter-pulse interval of 60 ms, and a total duration of 1.2 s. Results showed that, if a random temporal pattern re-occurred at random times during an experimental block, it was rapidly learned, whatever the sensory modality. Moreover, patterns first learned in the auditory modality displayed transfer of learning to either touch or vision. This suggests that sensory systems may be exquisitely tuned to incidentally learn re-occurring temporal patterns, with possible cross-talk between the senses. Copyright © 2018 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  7. Temporal Patterns of Road Traffic Injuries in Iran

    Science.gov (United States)

    Khorshidi, Ali; Ainy, Elaheh; Hashemi Nazari, Seyed Saeed; Soori, Hamid

    2016-01-01

    Background Road traffic injuries (RTIs) are the main causes of death and disability in Iran. However, very few studies about the temporal variations of RTIs have been published to date. Objectives This study was conducted to investigate the temporal pattern of RTIs in Iran in 2012. Materials and Methods All road traffic accidents (RTAs) reported to traffic police during a one-year period (March 21, 2012 through March 21, 2013) were investigated after obtaining permission from the law enforcement force of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Distributions of RTAs were obtained for season, month, week, and hour scales, and for long holidays (more than one day) and the day prior to long holidays (DPLH). The final analysis was carried out using the Poisson regression model to calculate incidence rate ratios for RTIs. All analyses were conducted using STATA 13.1 and Excel software; statistical significance was set at P accidents was 219 per 10,000 registered vehicles, or 595 per 100,000 people. About 28% of all RTAs, and more than one third of fatal RTAs, occurred during the summer months. The incidence rate for all traffic accidents on DPLH was 1.20, compared to workdays as a reference category, and it was 1.40 for fatal crashes. The rate of fatal road traffic accidents in outer cities was 3.2 times higher than in inner ones. Conclusions Our findings reveal that there are temporal variations in traffic accidents, and long holidays significantly influence accident rates. Traffic injuries have different patterns on outer/inner city roads, based on weekday and holiday status. Thus, these findings could be used to create effective initiatives aimed at traffic management. PMID:27703958

  8. Pattern selection and spatio-temporal transition to chaos in Ginzburg-Landau equation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Nozaki, K; Bekki, N

    1983-07-01

    It is shown that a modulationally unstable pattern is selected and propagates into an initially unstable motionless state in the 1-D generalized Ginzburg-Landau equation. A further spatio-temporal transition occurs with a sharp interface from the selected unstable pattern to a stabilized pattern or a chaotic state. The distinct transition makes a coherent structure to coexist with a chaotic state. 12 refs., 4 figs.

  9. Temporal and spatial variation in harbor seal (Phoca vitulina L.) roar calls from southern Scandinavia

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sabinsky, Puk Faxe; Larsen, Ole Næsbye; Wahlberg, Magnus

    2017-01-01

    Male harbor seals gather around breeding sites for competitive mating displays. Here, they produce underwater vocalizations possibly to attract females and/or scare off other males. These calls offer prospects for passive acoustic monitoring. Acoustic monitoring requires a good understanding...... of natural variation in calling behavior both temporally and among geographically separate sites. Such variation in call structure and calling patterns were studied in harbor seal vocalizations recorded at three locations in Danish and Swedish waters. There was a strong seasonality in the calls from end...... biological differences when comparing harbor seal roars among recording sites and between years....

  10. A numerical study on acoustic behavior in gas turbine combustor with acoustic resonator

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Park, I Sun; Sohn, Chae Hoon

    2005-01-01

    Acoustic behavior in gas turbine combustor with acoustic resonator is investigated numerically by adopting linear acoustic analysis. Helmholtz-type resonator is employed as acoustic resonator to suppress acoustic instability passively. The tuning frequency of acoustic resonator is adjusted by varying its length. Through harmonic analysis, acoustic-pressure responses of chamber to acoustic excitation are obtained and the resonant acoustic modes are identified. Acoustic damping effect of acoustic resonator is quantified by damping factor. As the tuning frequency of acoustic resonator approaches the target frequency of the resonant mode to be suppressed, mode split from the original resonant mode to lower and upper modes appears and thereby complex patterns of acoustic responses show up. Considering mode split and damping effect as a function of tuning frequency, it is desirable to make acoustic resonator tuned to broad-band frequencies near the maximum frequency of those of the possible upper modes

  11. Characteristics of spectro-temporal modulation frequency selectivity in humans.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oetjen, Arne; Verhey, Jesko L

    2017-03-01

    There is increasing evidence that the auditory system shows frequency selectivity for spectro-temporal modulations. A recent study of the authors has shown spectro-temporal modulation masking patterns that were in agreement with the hypothesis of spectro-temporal modulation filters in the human auditory system [Oetjen and Verhey (2015). J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 137(2), 714-723]. In the present study, that experimental data and additional data were used to model this spectro-temporal frequency selectivity. The additional data were collected to investigate to what extent the spectro-temporal modulation-frequency selectivity results from a combination of a purely temporal amplitude-modulation filter and a purely spectral amplitude-modulation filter. In contrast to the previous study, thresholds were measured for masker and target modulations with opposite directions, i.e., an upward pointing target modulation and a downward pointing masker modulation. The comparison of this data set with previous corresponding data with the same direction from target and masker modulations indicate that a specific spectro-temporal modulation filter is required to simulate all aspects of spectro-temporal modulation frequency selectivity. A model using a modified Gabor filter with a purely temporal and a purely spectral filter predicts the spectro-temporal modulation masking data.

  12. Speech pattern recognition for forensic acoustic purposes

    OpenAIRE

    Herrera Martínez, Marcelo; Aldana Blanco, Andrea Lorena; Guzmán Palacios, Ana María

    2014-01-01

    The present paper describes the development of a software for analysis of acoustic voice parameters (APAVOIX), which can be used for forensic acoustic purposes, based on the speaker recognition and identification. This software enables to observe in a clear manner, the parameters which are sufficient and necessary when performing a comparison between two voice signals, the suspicious and the original one. These parameters are used according to the classic method, generally used by state entit...

  13. Detecting and Sonifying Temporal Patterns of Body Segments When Batting

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Akemi Kobayashi

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available To improve skill in sport activities it is essential to discern the temporal patterns of one’s own movements. Our previous motion capture experiment involving elite female softball players identified key differences in the temporal body movements between the top players and young players against fastballs/change-ups. In this paper, we found that key features could be extracted from the rotation of the pelvis and we developed a sonification feedback system with two nine-axes inertial sensors. Rotation patterns are converted into two synthesized sounds to represent the time at peak trunk rotation speed and impact time. We conducted a pilot experiment with this feedback proposal using expert and novice batters, male and female whether the participants can pace of the rotational motion in batting. As a result, this feedback approach may allow the user to alter the time of peak trunk rotation speed to more closely match the cue provided by the training sound.

  14. Primary progressive apraxia of speech: clinical features and acoustic and neurologic correlates.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Duffy, Joseph R; Strand, Edythe A; Clark, Heather; Machulda, Mary; Whitwell, Jennifer L; Josephs, Keith A

    2015-05-01

    This study summarizes 2 illustrative cases of a neurodegenerative speech disorder, primary progressive apraxia of speech (AOS), as a vehicle for providing an overview of the disorder and an approach to describing and quantifying its perceptual features and some of its temporal acoustic attributes. Two individuals with primary progressive AOS underwent speech-language and neurologic evaluations on 2 occasions, ranging from 2.0 to 7.5 years postonset. Performance on several tests, tasks, and rating scales, as well as several acoustic measures, were compared over time within and between cases. Acoustic measures were compared with performance of control speakers. Both patients initially presented with AOS as the only or predominant sign of disease and without aphasia or dysarthria. The presenting features and temporal progression were captured in an AOS Rating Scale, an Articulation Error Score, and temporal acoustic measures of utterance duration, syllable rates per second, rates of speechlike alternating motion and sequential motion, and a pairwise variability index measure. AOS can be the predominant manifestation of neurodegenerative disease. Clinical ratings of its attributes and acoustic measures of some of its temporal characteristics can support its diagnosis and help quantify its salient characteristics and progression over time.

  15. Self-Organization of Spatio-Temporal Hierarchy via Learning of Dynamic Visual Image Patterns on Action Sequences.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jung, Minju; Hwang, Jungsik; Tani, Jun

    2015-01-01

    It is well known that the visual cortex efficiently processes high-dimensional spatial information by using a hierarchical structure. Recently, computational models that were inspired by the spatial hierarchy of the visual cortex have shown remarkable performance in image recognition. Up to now, however, most biological and computational modeling studies have mainly focused on the spatial domain and do not discuss temporal domain processing of the visual cortex. Several studies on the visual cortex and other brain areas associated with motor control support that the brain also uses its hierarchical structure as a processing mechanism for temporal information. Based on the success of previous computational models using spatial hierarchy and temporal hierarchy observed in the brain, the current report introduces a novel neural network model for the recognition of dynamic visual image patterns based solely on the learning of exemplars. This model is characterized by the application of both spatial and temporal constraints on local neural activities, resulting in the self-organization of a spatio-temporal hierarchy necessary for the recognition of complex dynamic visual image patterns. The evaluation with the Weizmann dataset in recognition of a set of prototypical human movement patterns showed that the proposed model is significantly robust in recognizing dynamically occluded visual patterns compared to other baseline models. Furthermore, an evaluation test for the recognition of concatenated sequences of those prototypical movement patterns indicated that the model is endowed with a remarkable capability for the contextual recognition of long-range dynamic visual image patterns.

  16. Spatial and temporal patterns of human Puumala virus (PUUV infections in Germany

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sarah Cunze

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available Background Worldwide, the number of recorded human hantavirus infections as well as the number of affected countries is on the rise. In Europe, most human hantavirus infections are caused by the Puumala virus (PUUV, with bank voles (Myodes glareolus as reservoir hosts. Generally, infection outbreaks have been related to environmental conditions, particularly climatic conditions, food supply for the reservoir species and land use. However, although attempts have been made, the insufficient availability of environmental data is often hampering accurate temporal and spatially explicit models of human hantavirus infections. Methods In the present study, dynamics of human PUUV infections between 2001 and 2015 were explored using ArcGIS in order to identify spatio-temporal patterns. Results Percentage cover of forest area was identified as an important factor for the spatial pattern, whereas beech mast was found explaining temporal patterns of human PUUV infections in Germany. High numbers of infections were recorded in 2007, 2010 and 2012 and areas with highest records were located in Baden-Wuerttemberg (southwest Germany and North Rhine-Westphalia (western Germany. Conclusion More reliable data on reservoir host distribution, pathogen verification as well as an increased awareness of physicians are some of the factors that should improve future human infection risk assessments in Germany.

  17. Mesoscale variations in acoustic signals induced by atmospheric gravity waves.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chunchuzov, Igor; Kulichkov, Sergey; Perepelkin, Vitaly; Ziemann, Astrid; Arnold, Klaus; Kniffka, Anke

    2009-02-01

    The results of acoustic tomographic monitoring of the coherent structures in the lower atmosphere and the effects of these structures on acoustic signal parameters are analyzed in the present study. From the measurements of acoustic travel time fluctuations (periods 1 min-1 h) with distant receivers, the temporal fluctuations of the effective sound speed and wind speed are retrieved along different ray paths connecting an acoustic pulse source and several receivers. By using a coherence analysis of the fluctuations near spatially distanced ray turning points, the internal wave-associated fluctuations are filtered and their spatial characteristics (coherences, horizontal phase velocities, and spatial scales) are estimated. The capability of acoustic tomography in estimating wind shear near ground is shown. A possible mechanism describing the temporal modulation of the near-ground wind field by ducted internal waves in the troposphere is proposed.

  18. Acoustic Cluster Therapy: In Vitro and Ex Vivo Measurement of Activated Bubble Size Distribution and Temporal Dynamics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Healey, Andrew John; Sontum, Per Christian; Kvåle, Svein; Eriksen, Morten; Bendiksen, Ragnar; Tornes, Audun; Østensen, Jonny

    2016-05-01

    Acoustic cluster technology (ACT) is a two-component, microparticle formulation platform being developed for ultrasound-mediated drug delivery. Sonazoid microbubbles, which have a negative surface charge, are mixed with micron-sized perfluoromethylcyclopentane droplets stabilized with a positively charged surface membrane to form microbubble/microdroplet clusters. On exposure to ultrasound, the oil undergoes a phase change to the gaseous state, generating 20- to 40-μm ACT bubbles. An acoustic transmission technique is used to measure absorption and velocity dispersion of the ACT bubbles. An inversion technique computes bubble size population with temporal resolution of seconds. Bubble populations are measured both in vitro and in vivo after activation within the cardiac chambers of a dog model, with catheter-based flow through an extracorporeal measurement flow chamber. Volume-weighted mean diameter in arterial blood after activation in the left ventricle was 22 μm, with no bubbles >44 μm in diameter. After intravenous administration, 24.4% of the oil is activated in the cardiac chambers. Copyright © 2016 World Federation for Ultrasound in Medicine & Biology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  19. Effect of acoustic similarity on short-term auditory memory in the monkey.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scott, Brian H; Mishkin, Mortimer; Yin, Pingbo

    2013-04-01

    Recent evidence suggests that the monkey's short-term memory in audition depends on a passively retained sensory trace as opposed to a trace reactivated from long-term memory for use in working memory. Reliance on a passive sensory trace could render memory particularly susceptible to confusion between sounds that are similar in some acoustic dimension. If so, then in delayed matching-to-sample, the monkey's performance should be predicted by the similarity in the salient acoustic dimension between the sample and subsequent test stimulus, even at very short delays. To test this prediction and isolate the acoustic features relevant to short-term memory, we examined the pattern of errors made by two rhesus monkeys performing a serial, auditory delayed match-to-sample task with interstimulus intervals of 1 s. The analysis revealed that false-alarm errors did indeed result from similarity-based confusion between the sample and the subsequent nonmatch stimuli. Manipulation of the stimuli showed that removal of spectral cues was more disruptive to matching behavior than removal of temporal cues. In addition, the effect of acoustic similarity on false-alarm response was stronger at the first nonmatch stimulus than at the second one. This pattern of errors would be expected if the first nonmatch stimulus overwrote the sample's trace, and suggests that the passively retained trace is not only vulnerable to similarity-based confusion but is also highly susceptible to overwriting. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  20. Continuous sheathless microparticle and cell patterning using CL-SSAWs (conductive liquid-based standing surface acoustic waves

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jeonghun Nam

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available We present continuous, sheathless microparticle patterning using conductive liquid (CL-based standing surface acoustic waves (SSAWs. Conventional metal electrodes patterned on a piezoelectric substrate were replaced with electrode channels filled with a CL. The device performance was evaluated with 5-μm fluorescent polystyrene particles at different flow rate and via phase shifting. In addition, our device was further applied to continuous concentration of malaria parasites at the sidewalls of the fluidic channel.

  1. The spatial and temporal distributions of arthropods in forest canopies: uniting disparate patterns with hypotheses for specialisation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wardhaugh, Carl W

    2014-11-01

    Arguably the majority of species on Earth utilise tropical rainforest canopies, and much progress has been made in describing arboreal assemblages, especially for arthropods. The most commonly described patterns for tropical rainforest insect communities are host specificity, spatial specialisation (predominantly vertical stratification), and temporal changes in abundance (seasonality and circadian rhythms). Here I review the recurrent results with respect to each of these patterns and discuss the evolutionary selective forces that have generated them in an attempt to unite these patterns in a holistic evolutionary framework. I propose that species can be quantified along a generalist-specialist scale not only with respect to host specificity, but also other spatial and temporal distribution patterns, where specialisation is a function of the extent of activity across space and time for particular species. When all of these distribution patterns are viewed through the paradigm of specialisation, hypotheses that have been proposed to explain the evolution of host specificity can also be applied to explain the generation and maintenance of other spatial and temporal distribution patterns. The main driver for most spatial and temporal distribution patterns is resource availability. Generally, the distribution of insects follows that of the resources they exploit, which are spatially stratified and vary temporally in availability. Physiological adaptations are primarily important for host specificity, where nutritional and chemical variation among host plants in particular, but also certain prey species and fungi, influence host range. Physiological tolerances of abiotic conditions are also important for explaining the spatial and temporal distributions of some insect species, especially in drier forest environments where desiccation is an ever-present threat. However, it is likely that for most species in moist tropical rainforests, abiotic conditions are valuable

  2. Increase in flood risk resulting from climate change in a developed urban watershed - the role of storm temporal patterns

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hettiarachchi, Suresh; Wasko, Conrad; Sharma, Ashish

    2018-03-01

    The effects of climate change are causing more frequent extreme rainfall events and an increased risk of flooding in developed areas. Quantifying this increased risk is of critical importance for the protection of life and property as well as for infrastructure planning and design. The updated National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Atlas 14 intensity-duration-frequency (IDF) relationships and temporal patterns are widely used in hydrologic and hydraulic modeling for design and planning in the United States. Current literature shows that rising temperatures as a result of climate change will result in an intensification of rainfall. These impacts are not explicitly included in the NOAA temporal patterns, which can have consequences on the design and planning of adaptation and flood mitigation measures. In addition there is a lack of detailed hydraulic modeling when assessing climate change impacts on flooding. The study presented in this paper uses a comprehensive hydrologic and hydraulic model of a fully developed urban/suburban catchment to explore two primary questions related to climate change impacts on flood risk. (1) How do climate change effects on storm temporal patterns and rainfall volumes impact flooding in a developed complex watershed? (2) Is the storm temporal pattern as critical as the total volume of rainfall when evaluating urban flood risk? We use the NOAA Atlas 14 temporal patterns, along with the expected increase in temperature for the RCP8.5 scenario for 2081-2100, to project temporal patterns and rainfall volumes to reflect future climatic change. The model results show that different rainfall patterns cause variability in flood depths during a storm event. The changes in the projected temporal patterns alone increase the risk of flood magnitude up to 35 %, with the cumulative impacts of temperature rise on temporal patterns and the storm volume increasing flood risk from 10 to 170 %. The results also show that regional

  3. Are temporal patterns of sitting associated with obesity among blue-collar workers? A cross sectional study using accelerometers

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gupta, Nidhi; Hallman, David M; Mathiassen, Svend Erik

    2016-01-01

    Background: Little is known about associations of temporal patterns of sitting (i.e., distribution of sitting across time) with obesity. We aimed investigating the association between temporal patterns of sitting (long, moderate and brief uninterrupted bouts) and obesity indicators (body mass ind...

  4. TOOLS FOR PRESENTING SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL PATTERNS OF ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING DATA

    Science.gov (United States)

    The EPA Health Effects Research Laboratory has developed this data presentation tool for use with a variety of types of data which may contain spatial and temporal patterns of interest. he technology links mainframe computing power to the new generation of "desktop publishing" ha...

  5. Spatio-Temporal Analysis of Urban Acoustic Environments with Binaural Psycho-Acoustical Considerations for IoT-Based Applications.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Segura-Garcia, Jaume; Navarro-Ruiz, Juan Miguel; Perez-Solano, Juan J; Montoya-Belmonte, Jose; Felici-Castell, Santiago; Cobos, Maximo; Torres-Aranda, Ana M

    2018-02-26

    Sound pleasantness or annoyance perceived in urban soundscapes is a major concern in environmental acoustics. Binaural psychoacoustic parameters are helpful to describe generic acoustic environments, as it is stated within the ISO 12913 framework. In this paper, the application of a Wireless Acoustic Sensor Network (WASN) to evaluate the spatial distribution and the evolution of urban acoustic environments is described. Two experiments are presented using an indoor and an outdoor deployment of a WASN with several nodes using an Internet of Things (IoT) environment to collect audio data and calculate meaningful parameters such as the sound pressure level, binaural loudness and binaural sharpness. A chunk of audio is recorded in each node periodically with a microphone array and the binaural rendering is conducted by exploiting the estimated directional characteristics of the incoming sound by means of DOA estimation. Each node computes the parameters in a different location and sends the values to a cloud-based broker structure that allows spatial statistical analysis through Kriging techniques. A cross-validation analysis is also performed to confirm the usefulness of the proposed system.

  6. Detecting the Community Structure and Activity Patterns of Temporal Networks: A Non-Negative Tensor Factorization Approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gauvin, Laetitia; Panisson, André; Cattuto, Ciro

    2014-01-01

    The increasing availability of temporal network data is calling for more research on extracting and characterizing mesoscopic structures in temporal networks and on relating such structure to specific functions or properties of the system. An outstanding challenge is the extension of the results achieved for static networks to time-varying networks, where the topological structure of the system and the temporal activity patterns of its components are intertwined. Here we investigate the use of a latent factor decomposition technique, non-negative tensor factorization, to extract the community-activity structure of temporal networks. The method is intrinsically temporal and allows to simultaneously identify communities and to track their activity over time. We represent the time-varying adjacency matrix of a temporal network as a three-way tensor and approximate this tensor as a sum of terms that can be interpreted as communities of nodes with an associated activity time series. We summarize known computational techniques for tensor decomposition and discuss some quality metrics that can be used to tune the complexity of the factorized representation. We subsequently apply tensor factorization to a temporal network for which a ground truth is available for both the community structure and the temporal activity patterns. The data we use describe the social interactions of students in a school, the associations between students and school classes, and the spatio-temporal trajectories of students over time. We show that non-negative tensor factorization is capable of recovering the class structure with high accuracy. In particular, the extracted tensor components can be validated either as known school classes, or in terms of correlated activity patterns, i.e., of spatial and temporal coincidences that are determined by the known school activity schedule. PMID:24497935

  7. Spatio-Temporal Patterns of Barmah Forest Virus Disease in Queensland, Australia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Naish, Suchithra; Hu, Wenbiao; Mengersen, Kerrie; Tong, Shilu

    2011-01-01

    Background Barmah Forest virus (BFV) disease is a common and wide-spread mosquito-borne disease in Australia. This study investigated the spatio-temporal patterns of BFV disease in Queensland, Australia using geographical information system (GIS) tools and geostatistical analysis. Methods/Principal Findings We calculated the incidence rates and standardised incidence rates of BFV disease. Moran's I statistic was used to assess the spatial autocorrelation of BFV incidences. Spatial dynamics of BFV disease was examined using semi-variogram analysis. Interpolation techniques were applied to visualise and display the spatial distribution of BFV disease in statistical local areas (SLAs) throughout Queensland. Mapping of BFV disease by SLAs reveals the presence of substantial spatio-temporal variation over time. Statistically significant differences in BFV incidence rates were identified among age groups (χ2 = 7587, df = 7327,pQueensland using GIS and geostatistics. The BFV transmission varied with age and gender, which may be due to exposure rates or behavioural risk factors. There are differences in the spatio-temporal patterns of BFV disease which may be related to local socio-ecological and environmental factors. These research findings may have implications in the BFV disease control and prevention programs in Queensland. PMID:22022430

  8. Optimization of the temporal pattern of applied dose for a single fraction of radiation: Implications for radiation therapy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Altman, Michael B.

    The increasing prevalence of intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) as a treatment modality has led to a renewed interest in the potential for interaction between prolonged treatment time, as frequently associated with IMRT, and the underlying radiobiology of the irradiated tissue. A particularly relevant aspect of radiobiology is cell repair capacity, which influences cell survival, and thus directly relates to the ability to control tumors and spare normal tissues. For a single fraction of radiation, the linear quadratic (LQ) model is commonly used to relate the radiation dose to the fraction of cells surviving. The LQ model implies a dependence on two time-related factors which correlate to radiobiological effects: the duration of radiation application, and the functional form of how the dose is applied over that time (the "temporal pattern of applied dose"). Although the former has been well studied, the latter has not. Thus, the goal of this research is to investigate the impact of the temporal pattern of applied dose on the survival of human cells and to explore how the manipulation of this temporal dose pattern may be incorporated into an IMRT-based radiation therapy treatment planning scheme. The hypothesis is that the temporal pattern of applied dose in a single fraction of radiation can be optimized to maximize or minimize cell kill. Furthermore, techniques which utilize this effect could have clinical ramifications. In situations where increased cell kill is desirable, such as tumor control, or limiting the degree of cell kill is important, such as the sparing of normal tissue, temporal sequences of dose which maximize or minimize cell kill (temporally "optimized" sequences) may provide greater benefit than current clinically used radiation patterns. In the first part of this work, an LQ-based modeling analysis of effects of the temporal pattern of dose on cell kill is performed. Through this, patterns are identified for maximizing cell kill for a

  9. Acoustic rainbow trapping by coiling up space

    KAUST Repository

    Ni, Xu

    2014-11-13

    We numerically realize the acoustic rainbow trapping effect by tapping an air waveguide with space-coiling metamaterials. Due to the high refractive-index of the space-coiling metamaterials, our device is more compact compared to the reported trapped-rainbow devices. A numerical model utilizing effective parameters is also calculated, whose results are consistent well with the direct numerical simulation of space-coiling structure. Moreover, such device with the capability of dropping different frequency components of a broadband incident temporal acoustic signal into different channels can function as an acoustic wavelength division de-multiplexer. These results may have potential applications in acoustic device design such as an acoustic filter and an artificial cochlea.

  10. Acoustic rainbow trapping by coiling up space

    KAUST Repository

    Ni, Xu; Wu, Ying; Chen, Ze-Guo; Zheng, Li-Yang; Xu, Ye-Long; Nayar, Priyanka; Liu, Xiao-Ping; Lu, Ming-Hui; Chen, Yan-Feng

    2014-01-01

    We numerically realize the acoustic rainbow trapping effect by tapping an air waveguide with space-coiling metamaterials. Due to the high refractive-index of the space-coiling metamaterials, our device is more compact compared to the reported trapped-rainbow devices. A numerical model utilizing effective parameters is also calculated, whose results are consistent well with the direct numerical simulation of space-coiling structure. Moreover, such device with the capability of dropping different frequency components of a broadband incident temporal acoustic signal into different channels can function as an acoustic wavelength division de-multiplexer. These results may have potential applications in acoustic device design such as an acoustic filter and an artificial cochlea.

  11. Prediction of Human Activity by Discovering Temporal Sequence Patterns.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Kang; Fu, Yun

    2014-08-01

    Early prediction of ongoing human activity has become more valuable in a large variety of time-critical applications. To build an effective representation for prediction, human activities can be characterized by a complex temporal composition of constituent simple actions and interacting objects. Different from early detection on short-duration simple actions, we propose a novel framework for long -duration complex activity prediction by discovering three key aspects of activity: Causality, Context-cue, and Predictability. The major contributions of our work include: (1) a general framework is proposed to systematically address the problem of complex activity prediction by mining temporal sequence patterns; (2) probabilistic suffix tree (PST) is introduced to model causal relationships between constituent actions, where both large and small order Markov dependencies between action units are captured; (3) the context-cue, especially interactive objects information, is modeled through sequential pattern mining (SPM), where a series of action and object co-occurrence are encoded as a complex symbolic sequence; (4) we also present a predictive accumulative function (PAF) to depict the predictability of each kind of activity. The effectiveness of our approach is evaluated on two experimental scenarios with two data sets for each: action-only prediction and context-aware prediction. Our method achieves superior performance for predicting global activity classes and local action units.

  12. Spatio-temporal flow maps for visualizing movement and contact patterns

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bing Ni

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available The advanced telecom technologies and massive volumes of intelligent mobile phone users have yielded a huge amount of real-time data of people’s all-in-one telecommunication records, which we call telco big data. With telco data and the domain knowledge of an urban city, we are now able to analyze the movement and contact patterns of humans in an unprecedented scale. Flow map is widely used to display the movements of humans from one single source to multiple destinations by representing locations as nodes and movements as edges. However, it fails the task of visualizing both movement and contact data. In addition, analysts often need to compare and examine the patterns side by side, and do various quantitative analysis. In this work, we propose a novel spatio-temporal flow map layout to visualize when and where people from different locations move into the same places and make contact. We also propose integrating the spatiotemporal flow maps into existing spatiotemporal visualization techniques to form a suite of techniques for visualizing the movement and contact patterns. We report a potential application the proposed techniques can be applied to. The results show that our design and techniques properly unveil hidden information, while analysis can be achieved efficiently. Keywords: Spatio-temporal data, Flow map, Urban mobility

  13. Exploring Temporal Patterns of Stress in Adolescent Girls with Headache.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Björling, Elin A; Singh, Narayan

    2017-02-01

    As part of a larger study on perceived stress and headaches in 2009, momentary perceived stress, head pain levels and stress-related symptom data were collected. This paper explores a temporal analysis of the patterns of stress, as well as an analysis of momentary and retrospective stress-related symptoms compared by level of headache activity. Adolescent girls (N = 31) ages 14-18 were randomly cued by electronic diaries 7 times per day over a 21-day period responding to momentary questions about level of head pain, perceived stress and stress-related symptoms. Multivariate general linear modelling was used to determine significant differences among headache groups in relation to temporal patterns of stress. Significant headache group differences were found on retrospective and momentary stress-related symptom measures. A total of 2841 diary responses captured stress levels, head pain and related symptoms. The chronic headache (CH) group reported the highest levels of hourly and daily stress, followed by the moderate headache (MH) and low headache (LH) groups. Patterns of stress for the three headache groups were statistically distinct, illustrating increased stress in girls with more frequent head pain. This evidence suggests that because of increased stress, girls with recurrent head pain are likely a vulnerable population who may benefit from stress-reducing interventions. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  14. Investigating univariate temporal patterns for intrinsic connectivity networks based on complexity and low-frequency oscillation: a test-retest reliability study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, X; Jiao, Y; Tang, T; Wang, H; Lu, Z

    2013-12-19

    Intrinsic connectivity networks (ICNs) are composed of spatial components and time courses. The spatial components of ICNs were discovered with moderate-to-high reliability. So far as we know, few studies focused on the reliability of the temporal patterns for ICNs based their individual time courses. The goals of this study were twofold: to investigate the test-retest reliability of temporal patterns for ICNs, and to analyze these informative univariate metrics. Additionally, a correlation analysis was performed to enhance interpretability. Our study included three datasets: (a) short- and long-term scans, (b) multi-band echo-planar imaging (mEPI), and (c) eyes open or closed. Using dual regression, we obtained the time courses of ICNs for each subject. To produce temporal patterns for ICNs, we applied two categories of univariate metrics: network-wise complexity and network-wise low-frequency oscillation. Furthermore, we validated the test-retest reliability for each metric. The network-wise temporal patterns for most ICNs (especially for default mode network, DMN) exhibited moderate-to-high reliability and reproducibility under different scan conditions. Network-wise complexity for DMN exhibited fair reliability (ICC<0.5) based on eyes-closed sessions. Specially, our results supported that mEPI could be a useful method with high reliability and reproducibility. In addition, these temporal patterns were with physiological meanings, and certain temporal patterns were correlated to the node strength of the corresponding ICN. Overall, network-wise temporal patterns of ICNs were reliable and informative and could be complementary to spatial patterns of ICNs for further study. Copyright © 2013 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  15. Acoustic Tweezing and Patterning of Concentration Fields in Microfluidics

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Karlsen, Jonas Tobias; Bruus, Henrik

    2017-01-01

    that weakly perturb the fluid density and speed of sound is presented and applied to study manipulation of concentration fields in rectangular-channel acoustic eigenmodes and in Bessel-function acoustic vortices. In the first example, methods to obtain horizontal and vertical multilayer stratification...

  16. Increase in flood risk resulting from climate change in a developed urban watershed – the role of storm temporal patterns

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S. Hettiarachchi

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available The effects of climate change are causing more frequent extreme rainfall events and an increased risk of flooding in developed areas. Quantifying this increased risk is of critical importance for the protection of life and property as well as for infrastructure planning and design. The updated National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA Atlas 14 intensity–duration–frequency (IDF relationships and temporal patterns are widely used in hydrologic and hydraulic modeling for design and planning in the United States. Current literature shows that rising temperatures as a result of climate change will result in an intensification of rainfall. These impacts are not explicitly included in the NOAA temporal patterns, which can have consequences on the design and planning of adaptation and flood mitigation measures. In addition there is a lack of detailed hydraulic modeling when assessing climate change impacts on flooding. The study presented in this paper uses a comprehensive hydrologic and hydraulic model of a fully developed urban/suburban catchment to explore two primary questions related to climate change impacts on flood risk. (1 How do climate change effects on storm temporal patterns and rainfall volumes impact flooding in a developed complex watershed? (2 Is the storm temporal pattern as critical as the total volume of rainfall when evaluating urban flood risk? We use the NOAA Atlas 14 temporal patterns, along with the expected increase in temperature for the RCP8.5 scenario for 2081–2100, to project temporal patterns and rainfall volumes to reflect future climatic change. The model results show that different rainfall patterns cause variability in flood depths during a storm event. The changes in the projected temporal patterns alone increase the risk of flood magnitude up to 35 %, with the cumulative impacts of temperature rise on temporal patterns and the storm volume increasing flood risk from 10 to 170 %. The results

  17. Spatial and Temporal Patterns In Ecohydrological Separation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jarvis, S. K.; Barnard, H. R.; Singha, K.; Harmon, R. E.; Szutu, D.

    2017-12-01

    The model of ecohydrological separation suggests that trees source water from a different subsurface pool than what is contributing to stream flow during dry periods, however diel fluctuations in stream flow and transpiration are tightly coupled. To better understand the mechanism of this coupling, this study examines spatiotemporal patterns in water isotopic relationships between tree, soil, and stream water. Preliminary analysis of data collected in 2015 show a trend in δ18O enrichment in xylem water, suggesting an increased reliance on enriched soil water not flowing to the stream as the growing season progresses, while xylem samples from 2016, a particularly wet year, do not have this trend. Variations in these temporal trends are explored with regard to distance from stream, aspect of hillslope, position in the watershed, size of the tree, and soil depth. Additionally, a near-stream site is examined at high resolution using water isotope data, sap flow, and electrical resistivity surveying to examine soil moisture and water use patterns across the riparian-hillslope transition.

  18. Spatial and temporal patterns of cloud cover and fog inundation in coastal California: Ecological implications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rastogi, Bharat; Williams, A. Park; Fischer, Douglas T.; Iacobellis, Sam F.; McEachern, A. Kathryn; Carvalho, Leila; Jones, Charles Leslie; Baguskas, Sara A.; Still, Christopher J.

    2016-01-01

    The presence of low-lying stratocumulus clouds and fog has been known to modify biophysical and ecological properties in coastal California where forests are frequently shaded by low-lying clouds or immersed in fog during otherwise warm and dry summer months. Summer fog and stratus can ameliorate summer drought stress and enhance soil water budgets, and often have different spatial and temporal patterns. Here we use remote sensing datasets to characterize the spatial and temporal patterns of cloud cover over California’s northern Channel Islands. We found marine stratus to be persistent from May through September across the years 2001-2012. Stratus clouds were both most frequent and had the greatest spatial extent in July. Clouds typically formed in the evening, and dissipated by the following early afternoon. We present a novel method to downscale satellite imagery using atmospheric observations and discriminate patterns of fog from those of stratus and help explain patterns of fog deposition previously studied on the islands. The outcomes of this study contribute significantly to our ability to quantify the occurrence of coastal fog at biologically meaningful spatial and temporal scales that can improve our understanding of cloud-ecosystem interactions, species distributions and coastal ecohydrology.

  19. Spatio-Temporal Analysis of Urban Acoustic Environments with Binaural Psycho-Acoustical Considerations for IoT-Based Applications

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jaume Segura-Garcia

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available Sound pleasantness or annoyance perceived in urban soundscapes is a major concern in environmental acoustics. Binaural psychoacoustic parameters are helpful to describe generic acoustic environments, as it is stated within the ISO 12913 framework. In this paper, the application of a Wireless Acoustic Sensor Network (WASN to evaluate the spatial distribution and the evolution of urban acoustic environments is described. Two experiments are presented using an indoor and an outdoor deployment of a WASN with several nodes using an Internet of Things (IoT environment to collect audio data and calculate meaningful parameters such as the sound pressure level, binaural loudness and binaural sharpness. A chunk of audio is recorded in each node periodically with a microphone array and the binaural rendering is conducted by exploiting the estimated directional characteristics of the incoming sound by means of DOA estimation. Each node computes the parameters in a different location and sends the values to a cloud-based broker structure that allows spatial statistical analysis through Kriging techniques. A cross-validation analysis is also performed to confirm the usefulness of the proposed system.

  20. Temporal symmetry of individual filaments in different spatial symmetry filaments pattern in a dielectric barrier discharge

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dong, L. F.; Xiao, H.; Fan, W. L.; Yin, Z. Q.; Zhao, H. T.

    2010-01-01

    The temporal behavior of individual filament in different spatial symmetry filaments patterns in dielectric barrier discharge is investigated by using an optical method. A series of return maps of the discharge moments of individual filaments is given. It is found that the temporal symmetry of individual filament changes with the change of the spatial symmetry of filaments pattern as the applied voltage increases. The role of wall charges for this phenomenon is analyzed.

  1. Temporal components of the motor patterns expressed by the human spinal cord reflect foot kinematics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ivanenko, Yuri P; Grasso, Renato; Zago, Myrka; Molinari, Marco; Scivoletto, Giorgio; Castellano, Vincenzo; Macellari, Velio; Lacquaniti, Francesco

    2003-11-01

    What are the building blocks with which the human spinal cord constructs the motor patterns of locomotion? In principle, they could correspond to each individual activity pattern in dozens of different muscles. Alternatively, there could exist a small set of constituent temporal components that are common to all activation patterns and reflect global kinematic goals. To address this issue, we studied patients with spinal injury trained to step on a treadmill with body weight support. Patients learned to produce foot kinematics similar to that of healthy subjects but with activity patterns of individual muscles generally different from the control group. Hidden in the muscle patterns, we found a basic set of five temporal components, whose flexible combination accounted for the wide range of muscle patterns recorded in both controls and patients. Furthermore, two of the components were systematically related to foot kinematics across different stepping speeds and loading conditions. We suggest that the components are related to control signals output by spinal pattern generators, normally under the influence of descending and afferent inputs.

  2. A sequence identification measurement model to investigate the implicit learning of metrical temporal patterns.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Benjamin G Schultz

    Full Text Available Implicit learning (IL occurs unconsciously and without intention. Perceptual fluency is the ease of processing elicited by previous exposure to a stimulus. It has been assumed that perceptual fluency is associated with IL. However, the role of perceptual fluency following IL has not been investigated in temporal pattern learning. Two experiments by Schultz, Stevens, Keller, and Tillmann demonstrated the IL of auditory temporal patterns using a serial reaction-time task and a generation task based on the process dissociation procedure. The generation task demonstrated that learning was implicit in both experiments via motor fluency, that is, the inability to suppress learned information. With the aim to disentangle conscious and unconscious processes, we analyze unreported recognition data associated with the Schultz et al. experiments using the sequence identification measurement model. The model assumes that perceptual fluency reflects unconscious processes and IL. For Experiment 1, the model indicated that conscious and unconscious processes contributed to recognition of temporal patterns, but that unconscious processes had a greater influence on recognition than conscious processes. In the model implementation of Experiment 2, there was equal contribution of conscious and unconscious processes in the recognition of temporal patterns. As Schultz et al. demonstrated IL in both experiments using a generation task, and the conditions reported here in Experiments 1 and 2 were identical, two explanations are offered for the discrepancy in model and behavioral results based on the two tasks: 1 perceptual fluency may not be necessary to infer IL, or 2 conscious control over implicitly learned information may vary as a function of perceptual fluency and motor fluency.

  3. Acoustic agglomeration methods and apparatus

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barmatz, M. B. (Inventor)

    1984-01-01

    Methods are described for using acoustic energy to agglomerate fine particles on the order of one micron diameter that are suspended in gas, to provide agglomerates large enough for efficient removal by other techniques. The gas with suspended particles, is passed through the length of a chamber while acoustic energy at a resonant chamber mode is applied to set up one or more acoustic standing wave patterns that vibrate the suspended particles to bring them together so they agglomerate. Several widely different frequencies can be applied to efficiently vibrate particles of widely differing sizes. The standing wave pattern can be applied along directions transversed to the flow of the gas. The particles can be made to move in circles by applying acoustic energy in perpendicular directions with the energy in both directions being of the same wavelength but 90 deg out of phase.

  4. Spatio-temporal scaling effects on longshore sediment transport pattern along the nearshore zone

    Science.gov (United States)

    Khorram, Saeed; Ergil, Mustafa

    2018-03-01

    A measure of uncertainties, entropy has been employed in such different applications as coastal engineering probability inferences. Entropy sediment transport integration theories present novel visions in coastal analyses/modeling the application and development of which are still far-reaching. Effort has been made in the present paper to propose a method that needs an entropy-power index for spatio-temporal patterns analyses. Results have shown that the index is suitable for marine/hydrological ecosystem components analyses based on a beach area case study. The method makes use of six Makran Coastal monthly data (1970-2015) and studies variables such as spatio-temporal patterns, LSTR (long-shore sediment transport rate), wind speed, and wave height all of which are time-dependent and play considerable roles in terrestrial coastal investigations; the mentioned variables show meaningful spatio-temporal variability most of the time, but explanation of their combined performance is not easy. Accordingly, the use of an entropy-power index can show considerable signals that facilitate the evaluation of water resources and will provide an insight regarding hydrological parameters' interactions at scales as large as beach areas. Results have revealed that an STDDPI (entropy based spatio-temporal disorder dynamics power index) can simulate wave, long-shore sediment transport rate, and wind when granulometry, concentration, and flow conditions vary.

  5. Response Pattern Based on the Amplitude of Ear Canal Recorded Cochlear Microphonic Waveforms across Acoustic Frequencies in Normal Hearing Subjects

    OpenAIRE

    Zhang, Ming

    2012-01-01

    Low-frequency otoacoustic emissions (OAEs) are often concealed by acoustic background noise such as those from a patient’s breathing and from the environment during recording in clinics. When using electrocochleaography (ECochG or ECoG), such as cochlear microphonics (CMs), acoustic background noise do not contaminate the recordings. Our objective is to study the response pattern of CM waveforms (CMWs) to explore an alternative approach in assessing cochlear functions. In response to a 14-mse...

  6. Non-verbal auditory cognition in patients with temporal epilepsy before and after anterior temporal lobectomy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aurélie Bidet-Caulet

    2009-11-01

    Full Text Available For patients with pharmaco-resistant temporal epilepsy, unilateral anterior temporal lobectomy (ATL - i.e. the surgical resection of the hippocampus, the amygdala, the temporal pole and the most anterior part of the temporal gyri - is an efficient treatment. There is growing evidence that anterior regions of the temporal lobe are involved in the integration and short-term memorization of object-related sound properties. However, non-verbal auditory processing in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE has raised little attention. To assess non-verbal auditory cognition in patients with temporal epilepsy both before and after unilateral ATL, we developed a set of non-verbal auditory tests, including environmental sounds. We could evaluate auditory semantic identification, acoustic and object-related short-term memory, and sound extraction from a sound mixture. The performances of 26 TLE patients before and/or after ATL were compared to those of 18 healthy subjects. Patients before and after ATL were found to present with similar deficits in pitch retention, and in identification and short-term memorisation of environmental sounds, whereas not being impaired in basic acoustic processing compared to healthy subjects. It is most likely that the deficits observed before and after ATL are related to epileptic neuropathological processes. Therefore, in patients with drug-resistant TLE, ATL seems to significantly improve seizure control without producing additional auditory deficits.

  7. Temporal Patterns of In-Hospital Falls of Elderly Patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    López-Soto, Pablo J; Smolensky, Michael H; Sackett-Lundeen, Linda L; De Giorgi, Alfredo; Rodríguez-Borrego, María A; Manfredini, Roberto; Pelati, Cristiano; Fabbian, Fabio

    A potentially important factor yet to receive adequate study is the time when hospital falls occur. A prior study conducted before the system-wide introduction of preventive measures revealed a biphasic 24-hour pattern of hospital falls with major peak in the morning. The purpose was to identify the temporal patterning of falls among elderly patients in hospitals with comprehensive fall prevention programs in place. A 4-year observational study was conducted by the local health authority in the five nonteaching public hospitals located in the province of Ferrara, Italy. Fall records involving patients of ages ≥65 years hospitalized in the general medical departments were used. Single- and multiple-component cosinor (time series) analyses were used to explore 24-hour, weekly, and annual patterns of falls. A total of 763 falls were experienced by 709 different elderly hospitalized patients. Falls typically took place in the patient's hospital room (72%) and bathroom (23%). Major causes were patient instability (32%) and accident (13%), and most occurred when not wearing footwear (45%) or wearing inappropriate sling-back open-toe shoes (39%). Falls happened while standing (39%), while seated (21%), and while getting into, out of, or laying in bed (32%)-either with the bed rails raised or lowered. Fall outcome usually involved no injury (58%) or slight injury (35%), but some (7%) were disabling. Fall occurrence was higher during the night (46%) compared to either the morning (30%) or afternoon (24%) shift. Patterns across 24 hours were characterized by a single major and one or more minor peaks that seemed to be associated with a variety of scheduled patient, hospital, and nursing activities. Multiple-component cosinor analysis identified significant (p footwear. Falls were more frequent, but not significantly so, on Fridays, Sundays, and Mondays compared with Tuesdays, and were more frequent in winter and spring (p = .003). Documentation by cause and circumstance of

  8. Spectral identification of sperm whales from Littoral Acoustic Demonstration Center passive acoustic recordings

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sidorovskaia, Natalia A.; Richard, Blake; Ioup, George E.; Ioup, Juliette W.

    2005-09-01

    The Littoral Acoustic Demonstration Center (LADC) made a series of passive broadband acoustic recordings in the Gulf of Mexico and Ligurian Sea to study noise and marine mammal phonations. The collected data contain a large amount of various types of sperm whale phonations, such as isolated clicks and communication codas. It was previously reported that the spectrograms of the extracted clicks and codas contain well-defined null patterns that seem to be unique for individuals. The null pattern is formed due to individual features of the sound production organs of an animal. These observations motivated the present studies of adapting human speech identification techniques for deep-diving marine mammal phonations. A three-state trained hidden Markov model (HMM) was used with the phonation spectra of sperm whales. The HHM-algorithm gave 75% accuracy in identifying individuals when it had been initially tested for the acoustic data set correlated with visual observations of sperm whales. A comparison of the identification accuracy based on null-pattern similarity analysis and the HMM-algorithm is presented. The results can establish the foundation for developing an acoustic identification database for sperm whales and possibly other deep-diving marine mammals that would be difficult to observe visually. [Research supported by ONR.

  9. Acoustic noise and pattern recognition studies at ORNL

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sides, W.H.

    1976-01-01

    Experiments in acoustic detection of boiling in sodium were performed in the Fuel Failure Mockup (FFM) Facility at ORNL under the Liquid-Metal Fast Breeder Reactor (LMFBR) Safety and Core Systems Program. The FFM is a sodium flow facility that has the capability of simulating LMFBR fuel subassemblies using 19 electric cartridge heaters having prototypic configuration, power density, pressure, specific flow, and temperature. The sodium boiling experiments were performed to measure the transient temperatures throughout the bundle to the start of boiling and to generate an acoustic signal for tests of the boiling detection system

  10. Training spiking neural networks to associate spatio-temporal input-output spike patterns

    OpenAIRE

    Mohemmed, A; Schliebs, S; Matsuda, S; Kasabov, N

    2013-01-01

    In a previous work (Mohemmed et al., Method for training a spiking neuron to associate input–output spike trains) [1] we have proposed a supervised learning algorithm based on temporal coding to train a spiking neuron to associate input spatiotemporal spike patterns to desired output spike patterns. The algorithm is based on the conversion of spike trains into analogue signals and the application of the Widrow–Hoff learning rule. In this paper we present a mathematical formulation of the prop...

  11. Spatio-Temporal Patterns of the International Merger and Acquisition Network.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dueñas, Marco; Mastrandrea, Rossana; Barigozzi, Matteo; Fagiolo, Giorgio

    2017-09-07

    This paper analyses the world web of mergers and acquisitions (M&As) using a complex network approach. We use data of M&As to build a temporal sequence of binary and weighted-directed networks for the period 1995-2010 and 224 countries (nodes) connected according to their M&As flows (links). We study different geographical and temporal aspects of the international M&A network (IMAN), building sequences of filtered sub-networks whose links belong to specific intervals of distance or time. Given that M&As and trade are complementary ways of reaching foreign markets, we perform our analysis using statistics employed for the study of the international trade network (ITN), highlighting the similarities and differences between the ITN and the IMAN. In contrast to the ITN, the IMAN is a low density network characterized by a persistent giant component with many external nodes and low reciprocity. Clustering patterns are very heterogeneous and dynamic. High-income economies are the main acquirers and are characterized by high connectivity, implying that most countries are targets of a few acquirers. Like in the ITN, geographical distance strongly impacts the structure of the IMAN: link-weights and node degrees have a non-linear relation with distance, and an assortative pattern is present at short distances.

  12. Dynamic patterns in a supported lipid bilayer driven by standing surface acoustic waves.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hennig, Martin; Neumann, Jürgen; Wixforth, Achim; Rädler, Joachim O; Schneider, Matthias F

    2009-11-07

    In the past decades supported lipid bilayers (SLBs) have been an important tool in order to study the physical properties of biological membranes and cells. So far, controlled manipulation of SLBs is very limited. Here we present a new technology to create lateral patterns in lipid membranes controllable in both space and time. Surface acoustic waves (SAWs) are used to generate lateral standing waves on a piezoelectric substrate which create local "traps" in the lipid bilayer and lead to a lateral modulation in lipid concentration. We demonstrate that pattern formation is reversible and does not affect the integrity of the lipid bilayer as shown by extracting the diffusion constant of fluid membranes. The described method could possibly be used to design switchable interfaces for the lateral transport and organization of membrane bound macromolecules to create dynamic bioarrays and control biofilm formation.

  13. Discovery of temporal and disease association patterns in condition-specific hospital utilization rates.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Julian S Haimovich

    Full Text Available Identifying temporal variation in hospitalization rates may provide insights about disease patterns and thereby inform research, policy, and clinical care. However, the majority of medical conditions have not been studied for their potential seasonal variation. The objective of this study was to apply a data-driven approach to characterize temporal variation in condition-specific hospitalizations. Using a dataset of 34 million inpatient discharges gathered from hospitals in New York State from 2008-2011, we grouped all discharges into 263 clinical conditions based on the principal discharge diagnosis using Clinical Classification Software in order to mitigate the limitation that administrative claims data reflect clinical conditions to varying specificity. After applying Seasonal-Trend Decomposition by LOESS, we estimated the periodicity of the seasonal component using spectral analysis and applied harmonic regression to calculate the amplitude and phase of the condition's seasonal utilization pattern. We also introduced four new indices of temporal variation: mean oscillation width, seasonal coefficient, trend coefficient, and linearity of the trend. Finally, K-means clustering was used to group conditions across these four indices to identify common temporal variation patterns. Of all 263 clinical conditions considered, 164 demonstrated statistically significant seasonality. Notably, we identified conditions for which seasonal variation has not been previously described such as ovarian cancer, tuberculosis, and schizophrenia. Clustering analysis yielded three distinct groups of conditions based on multiple measures of seasonal variation. Our study was limited to New York State and results may not directly apply to other regions with distinct climates and health burden. A substantial proportion of medical conditions, larger than previously described, exhibit seasonal variation in hospital utilization. Moreover, the application of clustering

  14. Associative-memory representations emerge as shared spatial patterns of theta activity spanning the primate temporal cortex.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nakahara, Kiyoshi; Adachi, Ken; Kawasaki, Keisuke; Matsuo, Takeshi; Sawahata, Hirohito; Majima, Kei; Takeda, Masaki; Sugiyama, Sayaka; Nakata, Ryota; Iijima, Atsuhiko; Tanigawa, Hisashi; Suzuki, Takafumi; Kamitani, Yukiyasu; Hasegawa, Isao

    2016-06-10

    Highly localized neuronal spikes in primate temporal cortex can encode associative memory; however, whether memory formation involves area-wide reorganization of ensemble activity, which often accompanies rhythmicity, or just local microcircuit-level plasticity, remains elusive. Using high-density electrocorticography, we capture local-field potentials spanning the monkey temporal lobes, and show that the visual pair-association (PA) memory is encoded in spatial patterns of theta activity in areas TE, 36, and, partially, in the parahippocampal cortex, but not in the entorhinal cortex. The theta patterns elicited by learned paired associates are distinct between pairs, but similar within pairs. This pattern similarity, emerging through novel PA learning, allows a machine-learning decoder trained on theta patterns elicited by a particular visual item to correctly predict the identity of those elicited by its paired associate. Our results suggest that the formation and sharing of widespread cortical theta patterns via learning-induced reorganization are involved in the mechanisms of associative memory representation.

  15. Acoustic Metamaterials in Aeronautics

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Giorgio Palma

    2018-06-01

    Full Text Available Metamaterials, man-made composites that are scaled smaller than the wavelength, have demonstrated a huge potential for application in acoustics, allowing the production of sub-wavelength acoustic absorbers, acoustic invisibility, perfect acoustic mirrors and acoustic lenses for hyper focusing, and acoustic illusions and enabling new degrees of freedom in the control of the acoustic field. The zero, or even negative, refractive sound index of metamaterials offers possibilities for the control of acoustic patterns and sound at sub-wavelength scales. Despite the tremendous growth in research on acoustic metamaterials during the last decade, the potential of metamaterial-based technologies in aeronautics has still not been fully explored, and its utilization is still in its infancy. Thus, the principal concepts mentioned above could very well provide a means to develop devices that allow the mitigation of the impact of civil aviation noise on the community. This paper gives a review of the most relevant works on acoustic metamaterials, analyzing them for their potential applicability in aeronautics, and, in this process, identifying possible implementation areas and interesting metabehaviors. It also identifies some technical challenges and possible future directions for research with the goal of unveiling the potential of metamaterials technology in aeronautics.

  16. Acoustic emission

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Straus, A.; Lopez Pumarega, M.I.; Di Gaetano, J.O.; D'Atellis, C.E.; Ruzzante, J.E.

    1990-01-01

    This paper is related to our activities on acoustic emission (A.E.). The work is made with different materials: metals and fibre reinforced plastics. At present, acoustic emission transducers are being developed for low and high temperature. A test to detect electrical discharges in electrical transformers was performed. Our experience in industrial tests to detect cracks or failures in tanks or tubes is also described. The use of A.E. for leak detection is considered. Works on pattern recognition of A.E. signals are also being performed. (Author)

  17. Snapping shrimp sound production patterns on Caribbean coral reefs: relationships with celestial cycles and environmental variables

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lillis, Ashlee; Mooney, T. Aran

    2018-06-01

    The rich acoustic environment of coral reefs, including the sounds of a variety of fish and invertebrates, is a reflection of the structural complexity and biological diversity of these habitats. Emerging interest in applying passive acoustic monitoring and soundscape analysis to measure coral reef habitat characteristics and track ecological patterns is hindered by a poor understanding of the most common and abundant sound producers on reefs—the snapping shrimp. Here, we sought to address several basic biophysical drivers of reef sound by investigating acoustic activity patterns of snapping shrimp populations on two adjacent coral reefs using a detailed snap detection analysis routine to a high-resolution 2.5-month acoustic dataset from the US Virgin Islands. The reefs exhibited strong diel and lunar periodicity in snap rates and clear spatial differences in snapping levels. Snap rates peaked at dawn and dusk and were higher overall during daytime versus nighttime, a seldom-reported pattern in earlier descriptions of diel snapping shrimp acoustic activity. Small differences between the sites in snap rate rhythms were detected and illustrate how analyses of specific soundscape elements might reveal subtle between-reef variation. Snap rates were highly correlated with environmental variables, including water temperature and light, and were found to be sensitive to changes in oceanographic forcing. This study further establishes snapping shrimp as key players in the coral reef chorus and provides evidence that their acoustic output reflects a combination of environmental conditions, celestial influences, and spatial habitat variation. Effective application of passive acoustic monitoring in coral reef habitats using snap rates or snapping-influenced acoustic metrics will require a mechanistic understanding of the underlying spatial and temporal variation in snapping shrimp sound production across multiple scales.

  18. Theoretical study of time-dependent, ultrasound-induced acoustic streaming in microchannels

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Muller, Peter Barkholt; Bruus, Henrik

    2015-01-01

    Based on first- and second-order perturbation theory, we present a numerical study of the temporal buildup and decay of unsteady acoustic fields and acoustic streaming flows actuated by vibrating walls in the transverse cross-sectional plane of a long straight microchannel under adiabatic...

  19. Spatio-temporal patterns in the north-western Mediterranean from MERIS derived chlorophyll a concentration

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ana Gordoa

    2008-12-01

    Full Text Available We address the major surface signatures of chlorophyll a in the Catalan Sea within the context of the dynamics of the north-western Mediterranean basin. Monthly composites from MERIS measurements and CHL products for Case 1 waters were analysed from June 2002 to June 2005. Composite images of variability were used to identify surface dynamics. The results showed that coastal and open sea waters were separated by a belt of low variability, a permanent oligotrophic belt that is noticeable with respect to the bloom conditions of the surrounding areas. The width of this Catalan Oligotrophic Belt (COB located along the continental slope, varied between 17 and 30 km and became blurred in the southernmost area. The chlorophyll a temporal pattern over the shelf showed an almost steady increase from September to March. A similar behaviour but with lower concentrations was observed in oceanic waters. Both temporal patterns showed a disruption during January and/or February that coincided with the well known deep water formation event in the Gulf of Lions. In 2004, the convection was weaker and the offshore temporal trend was not disrupted; however, the opposite was observed in 2005. The spatial chlorophyll a distribution of oceanic waters presented a clear north-south decreasing trend, while the coastal distribution did not show any latitudinal patterns but rather peaks in the areas enriched by river runoff. The observed seasonality was similar to the one published from SeaWiFS data and slightly different from the seasonality shown by CZCS data. Nevertheless, we did not discard the possibility that some of the observed seasonal differences could be a true temporal shift in chlorophyll a production.

  20. Levitation of objects using acoustic energy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Whymark, R. R.

    1975-01-01

    Activated sound source establishes standing-wave pattern in gap between source and acoustic reflector. Solid or liquid material introduced in region will move to one of the low pressure areas produced at antinodes and remain suspended as long as acoustic signal is present.

  1. Temporal stability of Escherichia coli concentration patterns in two irrigation ponds in Maryland

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fecal contamination of water sources is an important water quality issue for agricultural irrigation ponds. Escherichia coli is a common microbial indicator used to evaluate recreational and irrigation water quality. We hypothesized that there is a temporally stable pattern of E.coli concentrations ...

  2. Lattice Boltzmann simulations of attenuation-driven acoustic streaming

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Haydock, David; Yeomans, J M

    2003-01-01

    We show that lattice Boltzmann simulations can be used to model the attenuation-driven acoustic streaming produced by a travelling wave. Comparisons are made to analytical results and to the streaming pattern produced by an imposed body force approximating the Reynolds stresses. We predict the streaming patterns around a porous material in an attenuating acoustic field

  3. Temporal Patterns of Lung Cancer Risk from Radon, Smoking and their Interaction

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tomasek, L.; Urban, S.; Kubik, A.; Zatloukal, P.

    2004-01-01

    Studies of uranium miners conducted since the late 1960s demonstrated that the risk depends on cumulated exposure in terms of working level months (WLM) integrating both duration of exposure and concentration of radon. It has been also demonstrated that the risk from radon decreases with time since exposure. The objective of the work is to study temporal patterns of lung cancer risk from occupational and residential radon and from smoking. The present analysis of temporal changes of relative risk is based on a model, where the total individual exposure is partitioned into components in dependence on time. Exposure to radon is studied in a cohort of 9411 Czech uranium miners with 766 cases of lung cancer and in a residential study of 1 803 inhabitants exposed to radon in houses with 218 cases. Temporal patterns of smoking are analyzed in a case-control study of patients from a major Prague hospital including 566 cases. for both carcinogens, the relative risk decreases with time since exposure. In comparison to period with exposure before 5-19 years, the risk from exposures before 20-34 years is 36% and 34% for smoking and randon, respectively. The effect of exposures from more distant periods 35-49 is only 5% for smoking and 14% for radon in comparison to 5-19 years. Combined effect of smoking and radon is studied by a nested case-control approach including 434 cases and 962 controls. Analyses of the joint effects of smoking and radon, conducted in the occupational and the residential studies, suggest a sub-multiplicative interaction. The relative risk from radon among non-smokers is higher by a factor of 2-3 in comparison to smokers, suggesting different patterns of lung deposition and clearance among smokers and non-smokers. (Author) 13 refs

  4. Temporal Patterns of Lung Cancer Risk from Radon, Smoking and their Interaction

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Tomasek, L.; Urban, S.; Kubik, A.; Zatloukal, P.

    2004-07-01

    Studies of uranium miners conducted since the late 1960s demonstrated that the risk depends on cumulated exposure in terms of working level months (WLM) integrating both duration of exposure and concentration of radon. It has been also demonstrated that the risk from radon decreases with time since exposure. The objective of the work is to study temporal patterns of lung cancer risk from occupational and residential radon and from smoking. The present analysis of temporal changes of relative risk is based on a model, where the total individual exposure is partitioned into components in dependence on time. Exposure to radon is studied in a cohort of 9411 Czech uranium miners with 766 cases of lung cancer and in a residential study of 1 803 inhabitants exposed to radon in houses with 218 cases. Temporal patterns of smoking are analyzed in a case-control study of patients from a major Prague hospital including 566 cases. for both carcinogens, the relative risk decreases with time since exposure. In comparison to period with exposure before 5-19 years, the risk from exposures before 20-34 years is 36% and 34% for smoking and randon, respectively. The effect of exposures from more distant periods 35-49 is only 5% for smoking and 14% for radon in comparison to 5-19 years. Combined effect of smoking and radon is studied by a nested case-control approach including 434 cases and 962 controls. Analyses of the joint effects of smoking and radon, conducted in the occupational and the residential studies, suggest a sub-multiplicative interaction. The relative risk from radon among non-smokers is higher by a factor of 2-3 in comparison to smokers, suggesting different patterns of lung deposition and clearance among smokers and non-smokers. (Author) 13 refs.

  5. Temporal changes of spatial soil moisture patterns: controlling factors explained with a multidisciplinary approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martini, Edoardo; Wollschläger, Ute; Kögler, Simon; Behrens, Thorsten; Dietrich, Peter; Reinstorf, Frido; Schmidt, Karsten; Weiler, Markus; Werban, Ulrike; Zacharias, Steffen

    2016-04-01

    Characterizing the spatial patterns of soil moisture is critical for hydrological and meteorological models, as soil moisture is a key variable that controls matter and energy fluxes and soil-vegetation-atmosphere exchange processes. Deriving detailed process understanding at the hillslope scale is not trivial, because of the temporal variability of local soil moisture dynamics. Nevertheless, it remains a challenge to provide adequate information on the temporal variability of soil moisture and its controlling factors. Recent advances in wireless sensor technology allow monitoring of soil moisture dynamics with high temporal resolution at varying scales. In addition, mobile geophysical methods such as electromagnetic induction (EMI) have been widely used for mapping soil water content at the field scale with high spatial resolution, as being related to soil apparent electrical conductivity (ECa). The objective of this study was to characterize the spatial and temporal pattern of soil moisture at the hillslope scale and to infer the controlling hydrological processes, integrating well established and innovative sensing techniques, as well as new statistical methods. We combined soil hydrological and pedological expertise with geophysical measurements and methods from digital soil mapping for designing a wireless soil moisture monitoring network. For a hillslope site within the Schäfertal catchment (Central Germany), soil water dynamics were observed during 14 months, and soil ECa was mapped on seven occasions whithin this period of time using an EM38-DD device. Using the Spearman rank correlation coefficient, we described the temporal persistence of a dry and a wet characteristic state of soil moisture as well as the switching mechanisms, inferring the local properties that control the observed spatial patterns and the hydrological processes driving the transitions. Based on this, we evaluated the use of EMI for mapping the spatial pattern of soil moisture under

  6. Spatial and temporal air quality pattern recognition using environmetric techniques: a case study in Malaysia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Syed Abdul Mutalib, Sharifah Norsukhairin; Juahir, Hafizan; Azid, Azman; Mohd Sharif, Sharifah; Latif, Mohd Talib; Aris, Ahmad Zaharin; Zain, Sharifuddin M; Dominick, Doreena

    2013-09-01

    The objective of this study is to identify spatial and temporal patterns in the air quality at three selected Malaysian air monitoring stations based on an eleven-year database (January 2000-December 2010). Four statistical methods, Discriminant Analysis (DA), Hierarchical Agglomerative Cluster Analysis (HACA), Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs), were selected to analyze the datasets of five air quality parameters, namely: SO2, NO2, O3, CO and particulate matter with a diameter size of below 10 μm (PM10). The three selected air monitoring stations share the characteristic of being located in highly urbanized areas and are surrounded by a number of industries. The DA results show that spatial characterizations allow successful discrimination between the three stations, while HACA shows the temporal pattern from the monthly and yearly factor analysis which correlates with severe haze episodes that have happened in this country at certain periods of time. The PCA results show that the major source of air pollution is mostly due to the combustion of fossil fuel in motor vehicles and industrial activities. The spatial pattern recognition (S-ANN) results show a better prediction performance in discriminating between the regions, with an excellent percentage of correct classification compared to DA. This study presents the necessity and usefulness of environmetric techniques for the interpretation of large datasets aiming to obtain better information about air quality patterns based on spatial and temporal characterizations at the selected air monitoring stations.

  7. The role of temporal coherence in auditory stream segregation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Christiansen, Simon Krogholt

    The ability to perceptually segregate concurrent sound sources and focus one’s attention on a single source at a time is essential for the ability to use acoustic information. While perceptual experiments have determined a range of acoustic cues that help facilitate auditory stream segregation......, it is not clear how the auditory system realizes the task. This thesis presents a study of the mechanisms involved in auditory stream segregation. Through a combination of psychoacoustic experiments, designed to characterize the influence of acoustic cues on auditory stream formation, and computational models...... of auditory processing, the role of auditory preprocessing and temporal coherence in auditory stream formation was evaluated. The computational model presented in this study assumes that auditory stream segregation occurs when sounds stimulate non-overlapping neural populations in a temporally incoherent...

  8. Understanding spatial and temporal patterning of astrocyte calcium transients via interactions between network transport and extracellular diffusion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shtrahman, E.; Maruyama, D.; Olariu, E.; Fink, C. G.; Zochowski, M.

    2017-02-01

    Astrocytes form interconnected networks in the brain and communicate via calcium signaling. We investigate how modes of coupling between astrocytes influence the spatio-temporal patterns of calcium signaling within astrocyte networks and specifically how these network interactions promote coordination within this group of cells. To investigate these complex phenomena, we study reduced cultured networks of astrocytes and neurons. We image the spatial temporal patterns of astrocyte calcium activity and quantify how perturbing the coupling between astrocytes influences astrocyte activity patterns. To gain insight into the pattern formation observed in these cultured networks, we compare the experimentally observed calcium activity patterns to the patterns produced by a reduced computational model, where we represent astrocytes as simple units that integrate input through two mechanisms: gap junction coupling (network transport) and chemical release (extracellular diffusion). We examine the activity patterns in the simulated astrocyte network and their dependence upon these two coupling mechanisms. We find that gap junctions and extracellular chemical release interact in astrocyte networks to modulate the spatiotemporal patterns of their calcium dynamics. We show agreement between the computational and experimental findings, which suggests that the complex global patterns can be understood as a result of simple local coupling mechanisms.

  9. Acoustic richness modulates the neural networks supporting intelligible speech processing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Yune-Sang; Min, Nam Eun; Wingfield, Arthur; Grossman, Murray; Peelle, Jonathan E

    2016-03-01

    The information contained in a sensory signal plays a critical role in determining what neural processes are engaged. Here we used interleaved silent steady-state (ISSS) functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to explore how human listeners cope with different degrees of acoustic richness during auditory sentence comprehension. Twenty-six healthy young adults underwent scanning while hearing sentences that varied in acoustic richness (high vs. low spectral detail) and syntactic complexity (subject-relative vs. object-relative center-embedded clause structures). We manipulated acoustic richness by presenting the stimuli as unprocessed full-spectrum speech, or noise-vocoded with 24 channels. Importantly, although the vocoded sentences were spectrally impoverished, all sentences were highly intelligible. These manipulations allowed us to test how intelligible speech processing was affected by orthogonal linguistic and acoustic demands. Acoustically rich speech showed stronger activation than acoustically less-detailed speech in a bilateral temporoparietal network with more pronounced activity in the right hemisphere. By contrast, listening to sentences with greater syntactic complexity resulted in increased activation of a left-lateralized network including left posterior lateral temporal cortex, left inferior frontal gyrus, and left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Significant interactions between acoustic richness and syntactic complexity occurred in left supramarginal gyrus, right superior temporal gyrus, and right inferior frontal gyrus, indicating that the regions recruited for syntactic challenge differed as a function of acoustic properties of the speech. Our findings suggest that the neural systems involved in speech perception are finely tuned to the type of information available, and that reducing the richness of the acoustic signal dramatically alters the brain's response to spoken language, even when intelligibility is high. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier

  10. Temporal coherence among tropical coastal lagoons: a search for patterns and mechanisms

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. Caliman

    Full Text Available Temporal coherence (i.e., the degree of synchronicity of a given variable among ecological units within a predefined space has been shown for several limnological features among temperate lakes, allowing predictions about the structure and function of ecosystems. However, there is little evidence of temporal coherence among tropical aquatic systems, where the climatic variability among seasons is less pronounced. Here, we used data from long-term monitoring of physical, chemical and biological variables to test the degree of temporal coherence among 18 tropical coastal lagoons. The water temperature and chlorophyll-a concentration had the highest and lowest temporal coherence among the lagoons, respectively, whereas the salinity and water colour had intermediate temporal coherence. The regional climactic factors were the main factors responsible for the coherence patterns in the water temperature and water colour, whereas the landscape position and morphometric characteristics explained much of the variation of the salinity and water colour among the lagoons. These results indicate that both local (lagoon morphometry and regional (precipitation, air temperature factors regulate the physical and chemical conditions of coastal lagoons by adjusting the terrestrial and marine subsidies at a landscape-scale. On the other hand, the chlorophyll-a concentration appears to be primarily regulated by specific local conditions resulting in a weak temporal coherence among the ecosystems. We concluded that temporal coherence in tropical ecosystems is possible, at least for some environmental features, and should be evaluated for other tropical ecosystems. Our results also reinforce that aquatic ecosystems should be studied more broadly to accomplish a full understanding of their structure and function.

  11. Passive Acoustic Monitoring the Diel, Lunar, Seasonal and Tidal Patterns in the Biosonar Activity of the Indo-Pacific Humpback Dolphins (Sousa chinensis) in the Pearl River Estuary, China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Zhi-Tao; Nachtigall, Paul E; Akamatsu, Tomonari; Wang, Ke-Xiong; Wu, Yu-Ping; Liu, Jian-Chang; Duan, Guo-Qin; Cao, Han-Jiang; Wang, Ding

    2015-01-01

    A growing demand for sustainable energy has led to an increase in construction of offshore windfarms. Guishan windmill farm will be constructed in the Pearl River Estuary, China, which sustains the world's largest known population of Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins (Sousa chinensis). Dolphin conservation is an urgent issue in this region. By using passive acoustic monitoring, a baseline distribution of data on this species in the Pearl River Estuary during pre-construction period had been collected. Dolphin biosonar detection and its diel, lunar, seasonal and tidal patterns were examined using a Generalized Linear Model. Significant higher echolocation detections at night than during the day, in winter-spring than in summer-autumn, at high tide than at flood tide were recognized. Significant higher echolocation detections during the new moon were recognized at night time. The diel, lunar and seasonal patterns for the echolocation encounter duration also significantly varied. These patterns could be due to the spatial-temporal variability of dolphin prey and illumination conditions. The baseline information will be useful for driving further effective action on the conservation of this species and in facilitating later assessments of the effects of the offshore windfarm on the dolphins by comparing the baseline to post construction and post mitigation efforts.

  12. Passive Acoustic Monitoring the Diel, Lunar, Seasonal and Tidal Patterns in the Biosonar Activity of the Indo-Pacific Humpback Dolphins (Sousa chinensis in the Pearl River Estuary, China.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zhi-Tao Wang

    Full Text Available A growing demand for sustainable energy has led to an increase in construction of offshore windfarms. Guishan windmill farm will be constructed in the Pearl River Estuary, China, which sustains the world's largest known population of Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins (Sousa chinensis. Dolphin conservation is an urgent issue in this region. By using passive acoustic monitoring, a baseline distribution of data on this species in the Pearl River Estuary during pre-construction period had been collected. Dolphin biosonar detection and its diel, lunar, seasonal and tidal patterns were examined using a Generalized Linear Model. Significant higher echolocation detections at night than during the day, in winter-spring than in summer-autumn, at high tide than at flood tide were recognized. Significant higher echolocation detections during the new moon were recognized at night time. The diel, lunar and seasonal patterns for the echolocation encounter duration also significantly varied. These patterns could be due to the spatial-temporal variability of dolphin prey and illumination conditions. The baseline information will be useful for driving further effective action on the conservation of this species and in facilitating later assessments of the effects of the offshore windfarm on the dolphins by comparing the baseline to post construction and post mitigation efforts.

  13. Passive Acoustic Monitoring the Diel, Lunar, Seasonal and Tidal Patterns in the Biosonar Activity of the Indo-Pacific Humpback Dolphins (Sousa chinensis) in the Pearl River Estuary, China

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Zhi-Tao; Nachtigall, Paul E.; Akamatsu, Tomonari; Wang, Ke-Xiong; Wu, Yu-Ping; Liu, Jian-Chang; Duan, Guo-Qin; Cao, Han-Jiang; Wang, Ding

    2015-01-01

    A growing demand for sustainable energy has led to an increase in construction of offshore windfarms. Guishan windmill farm will be constructed in the Pearl River Estuary, China, which sustains the world’s largest known population of Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins (Sousa chinensis). Dolphin conservation is an urgent issue in this region. By using passive acoustic monitoring, a baseline distribution of data on this species in the Pearl River Estuary during pre-construction period had been collected. Dolphin biosonar detection and its diel, lunar, seasonal and tidal patterns were examined using a Generalized Linear Model. Significant higher echolocation detections at night than during the day, in winter-spring than in summer-autumn, at high tide than at flood tide were recognized. Significant higher echolocation detections during the new moon were recognized at night time. The diel, lunar and seasonal patterns for the echolocation encounter duration also significantly varied. These patterns could be due to the spatial-temporal variability of dolphin prey and illumination conditions. The baseline information will be useful for driving further effective action on the conservation of this species and in facilitating later assessments of the effects of the offshore windfarm on the dolphins by comparing the baseline to post construction and post mitigation efforts. PMID:26580966

  14. Topography and biological noise determine acoustic detectability on coral reefs

    KAUST Repository

    Cagua, Edgar F.; Berumen, Michael L.; Tyler, Elizabeth

    2013-01-01

    Acoustic telemetry is an increasingly common tool for studying the movement patterns, behavior and site fidelity of marine organisms, but to accurately interpret acoustic data, the variability, periodicity and range of detectability between acoustic

  15. Neuromolecular Imaging Shows Temporal Synchrony Patterns between Serotonin and Movement within Neuronal Motor Circuits in the Brain

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Patricia A. Broderick

    2013-06-01

    Full Text Available The present discourse links the electrical and chemical properties of the brain with neurotransmitters and movement behaviors to further elucidate strategies to diagnose and treat brain disease. Neuromolecular imaging (NMI, based on electrochemical principles, is used to detect serotonin in nerve terminals (dorsal and ventral striata and somatodendrites (ventral tegmentum of reward/motor mesocorticolimbic and nigrostriatal brain circuits. Neuronal release of serotonin is detected at the same time and in the same animal, freely moving and unrestrained, while open-field behaviors are monitored via infrared photobeams. The purpose is to emphasize the unique ability of NMI and the BRODERICK PROBE® biosensors to empirically image a pattern of temporal synchrony, previously reported, for example, in Aplysia using central pattern generators (CPGs, serotonin and cerebral peptide-2. Temporal synchrony is reviewed within the context of the literature on central pattern generators, neurotransmitters and movement disorders. Specifically, temporal synchrony data are derived from studies on psychostimulant behavior with and without cocaine while at the same time and continuously, serotonin release in motor neurons within basal ganglia, is detected. The results show that temporal synchrony between the neurotransmitter, serotonin and natural movement occurs when the brain is NOT injured via, e.g., trauma, addictive drugs or psychiatric illness. In striking contrast, in the case of serotonin and cocaine-induced psychostimulant behavior, a different form of synchrony and also asynchrony can occur. Thus, the known dysfunctional movement behavior produced by cocaine may well be related to the loss of temporal synchrony, the loss of the ability to match serotonin in brain with motor activity. The empirical study of temporal synchrony patterns in humans and animals may be more relevant to the dynamics of motor circuits and movement behaviors than are studies of

  16. Neuromolecular Imaging Shows Temporal Synchrony Patterns between Serotonin and Movement within Neuronal Motor Circuits in the Brain.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Broderick, Patricia A

    2013-06-21

    The present discourse links the electrical and chemical properties of the brain with neurotransmitters and movement behaviors to further elucidate strategies to diagnose and treat brain disease. Neuromolecular imaging (NMI), based on electrochemical principles, is used to detect serotonin in nerve terminals (dorsal and ventral striata) and somatodendrites (ventral tegmentum) of reward/motor mesocorticolimbic and nigrostriatal brain circuits. Neuronal release of serotonin is detected at the same time and in the same animal, freely moving and unrestrained, while open-field behaviors are monitored via infrared photobeams. The purpose is to emphasize the unique ability of NMI and the BRODERICK PROBE® biosensors to empirically image a pattern of temporal synchrony, previously reported, for example, in Aplysia using central pattern generators (CPGs), serotonin and cerebral peptide-2. Temporal synchrony is reviewed within the context of the literature on central pattern generators, neurotransmitters and movement disorders. Specifically, temporal synchrony data are derived from studies on psychostimulant behavior with and without cocaine while at the same time and continuously, serotonin release in motor neurons within basal ganglia, is detected. The results show that temporal synchrony between the neurotransmitter, serotonin and natural movement occurs when the brain is NOT injured via, e.g., trauma, addictive drugs or psychiatric illness. In striking contrast, in the case of serotonin and cocaine-induced psychostimulant behavior, a different form of synchrony and also asynchrony can occur. Thus, the known dysfunctional movement behavior produced by cocaine may well be related to the loss of temporal synchrony, the loss of the ability to match serotonin in brain with motor activity. The empirical study of temporal synchrony patterns in humans and animals may be more relevant to the dynamics of motor circuits and movement behaviors than are studies of static parameters

  17. Precise Manipulation and Patterning of Protein Crystals for Macromolecular Crystallography Using Surface Acoustic Waves.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guo, Feng; Zhou, Weijie; Li, Peng; Mao, Zhangming; Yennawar, Neela H; French, Jarrod B; Huang, Tony Jun

    2015-06-01

    Advances in modern X-ray sources and detector technology have made it possible for crystallographers to collect usable data on crystals of only a few micrometers or less in size. Despite these developments, sample handling techniques have significantly lagged behind and often prevent the full realization of current beamline capabilities. In order to address this shortcoming, a surface acoustic wave-based method for manipulating and patterning crystals is developed. This method, which does not damage the fragile protein crystals, can precisely manipulate and pattern micrometer and submicrometer-sized crystals for data collection and screening. The technique is robust, inexpensive, and easy to implement. This method not only promises to significantly increase efficiency and throughput of both conventional and serial crystallography experiments, but will also make it possible to collect data on samples that were previously intractable. © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  18. Proton beam characterization by proton-induced acoustic emission: simulation studies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jones, K C; Witztum, A; Avery, S; Sehgal, C M

    2014-01-01

    Due to their Bragg peak, proton beams are capable of delivering a targeted dose of radiation to a narrow volume, but range uncertainties currently limit their accuracy. One promising beam characterization technique, protoacoustic range verification, measures the acoustic emission generated by the proton beam. We simulated the pressure waves generated by proton radiation passing through water. We observed that the proton-induced acoustic signal consists of two peaks, labeled α and γ, with two originating sources. The α acoustic peak is generated by the pre-Bragg peak heated region whereas the source of the γ acoustic peak is the proton Bragg peak. The arrival time of the α and γ peaks at a transducer reveals the distance from the beam propagation axis and Bragg peak center, respectively. The maximum pressure is not observed directly above the Bragg peak due to interference of the acoustic signals. Range verification based on the arrival times is shown to be more effective than determining the Bragg peak position based on pressure amplitudes. The temporal width of the α and γ peaks are linearly proportional to the beam diameter and Bragg peak width, respectively. The temporal separation between compression and rarefaction peaks is proportional to the spill time width. The pressure wave expected from a spread out Bragg peak dose is characterized. The simulations also show that acoustic monitoring can verify the proton beam dose distribution and range by characterizing the Bragg peak position to within ∼1 mm. (paper)

  19. Long-term acoustical observations of the mesopelagic fish Maurolicus muelleri reveal novel and varied vertical migration patterns

    KAUST Repository

    Staby, A

    2011-11-15

    We studied the temporal dynamics in the vertical distribution of Maurolicus muelleri scattering layers (SL) by examining continuous acoustic recordings over a 15 mo period in Masfjorden, Norway, complemented by intermittent sampling campaigns. The data revealed known patterns as normal diel vertical migration (DVM), midnight sinking between dusk and dawn, and periods without migrations, as well as novel behaviours consisting of early morning ascents, reverse diel vertical migrations, and interrupted ascents in the evening. During the first autumn of the study, adult fish modified their normal DVM behaviour by suspending their migration in the evening, yet ascending toward the surface in the later part of the night to reach upper layers during dawn. This behaviour was not observed during the second autumn of the study. By mid- to end of November (1st autumn), adult fish had suspended the nocturnal ascent entirely, and in the subsequent period until the end of January, a fraction of the population rather performed limited reverse migrations, slightly shifting their vertical distribution upwards during the first part of the day. From January to March 2008, fish interrupted their evening ascent at apparently random intervals and returned to deeper waters, instead of completing a full ascent to the surface. Our study underlines the value of long-term recordings, with the results suggesting that M. muelleri has the capability of changing its behaviour in response to ontogeny and internal state (satiation and hunger) as well as to external stimuli.

  20. Temporal coding of brain patterns for direct limb control in humans

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gernot Mueller-Putz

    2010-06-01

    Full Text Available For individuals with a high spinal cord injury (SCI not only the lower limbs, but also the upper extremities are paralyzed. A neuroprosthesis can be used to restore the lost hand and arm function in those tetraplegics. The main problem for this group of individuals, however, is the reduced ability to voluntarily operate device controllers. A Brain-Computer Interface provides a non-manual alternative to conventional input devices by translating brain activity patterns into control commands. We show that the temporal coding of individual mental imagery pattern can be used to control two independent degrees of freedom – grasp and elbow function - of an artificial robotic arm by utilizing a minimum number of EEG scalp electrodes. We describe the procedure from the initial screening to the final application. From eight naïve subjects participating on-line feedback experiments, four were able to voluntarily control an artificial arm by inducing one motor imagery pattern derived from one EEG derivation only.

  1. Patterns of acoustical activity of bats prior to and following White-nose Syndrome occurrence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ford, W. Mark; Britzke, Eric R.; Dobony, Christopher A.; Rodrigue, Jane L.; Johnson, Joshua B.

    2011-01-01

    White-nose Syndrome (WNS), a wildlife health concern that has decimated cave-hibernating bat populations in eastern North America since 2006, began affecting source-caves for summer bat populations at Fort Drum, a U.S. Army installation in New York in the winter of 2007–2008. As regional die-offs of bats became evident, and Fort Drum's known populations began showing declines, we examined whether WNS-induced change in abundance patterns and seasonal timing of bat activity could be quantified using acoustical surveys, 2003–2010, at structurally uncluttered riparian–water habitats (i.e., streams, ponds, and wet meadows). As predicted, we observed significant declines in overall summer activity between pre-WNS and post-WNS years for little brown bats Myotis lucifugus, northern bats M. septentrionalis, and Indiana bats M. sodalis. We did not observe any significant change in activity patterns between pre-WNS and post-WNS years for big brown bats Eptesicus fuscus, eastern red bats Lasiurus borealis, or the small number of tri-colored bats Perimyotis subflavus. Activity of silver-haired bats Lasionycteris noctivagans increased from pre-WNS to post-WNS years. Activity levels of hoary bats Lasiurus cinereus significantly declined between pre- and post-WNS years. As a nonhibernating, migratory species, hoary bat declines might be correlated with wind-energy development impacts occurring in the same time frame rather than WNS. Intraseason activity patterns also were affected by WNS, though the results were highly variable among species. Little brown bats showed an overall increase in activity from early to late summer pre-WNS, presumably due to detections of newly volant young added to the local population. However, the opposite occurred post-WNS, indicating that reproduction among surviving little brown bats may be declining. Our data suggest that acoustical monitoring during the summer season can provide insights into species' relative abundance on the

  2. Osteoradionecrosis of the temporal bone

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fujimori, Masato; Koyama, Yukiko; Enomoto, Fuyuki; Ichikawa, Ginichiro

    2002-01-01

    We report a case of temporal bone necrosis that emerged after radiotherapy for epipharyngeal carcinoma performed 13 years ago. The patient was a 51-year-old male. His major complaint was left facial swelling. The patient underwent chemotherapy and radiotherapy (Co 60, 6120 rad), as the treatment of that period, for epipharyngeal carcinoma from September 30, 1986 to January 31, 1987. He also underwent lobectomy of the left temporal lobe in brain surgery for left temporal lobe necrosis in August, 1989. After that operation, we saw constriction in his left external acoustic meatus and continued the follow-up. On October 22, 1999 he felt a left facial swelling. We found skin defects and ulcer formation in the front part of his left ear. Although we administered an antiseptic and antibiotic to the diseased area, his condition did not improve. He was hospitalized for the purpose of undergoing medical treatment on January 6, 2000. We found extensive skin necrosis and defects in his left auricular area. The corrupted temporal bone reached the zygomatic, the bone department external acoustic meatus and the mastoid process was exposing. We performed debridement of the diseased area on January 19, 2000. On February 23, we performed reconstruction by left trapezius muscle flap after debridement once again. One year after the operation, the flap was completely incorporated. (author)

  3. Osteoradionecrosis of the temporal bone

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Fujimori, Masato; Koyama, Yukiko; Enomoto, Fuyuki; Ichikawa, Ginichiro [Juntendo Univ., Tokyo (Japan). School of Medicine

    2002-08-01

    We report a case of temporal bone necrosis that emerged after radiotherapy for epipharyngeal carcinoma performed 13 years ago. The patient was a 51-year-old male. His major complaint was left facial swelling. The patient underwent chemotherapy and radiotherapy (Co 60, 6120 rad), as the treatment of that period, for epipharyngeal carcinoma from September 30, 1986 to January 31, 1987. He also underwent lobectomy of the left temporal lobe in brain surgery for left temporal lobe necrosis in August, 1989. After that operation, we saw constriction in his left external acoustic meatus and continued the follow-up. On October 22, 1999 he felt a left facial swelling. We found skin defects and ulcer formation in the front part of his left ear. Although we administered an antiseptic and antibiotic to the diseased area, his condition did not improve. He was hospitalized for the purpose of undergoing medical treatment on January 6, 2000. We found extensive skin necrosis and defects in his left auricular area. The corrupted temporal bone reached the zygomatic, the bone department external acoustic meatus and the mastoid process was exposing. We performed debridement of the diseased area on January 19, 2000. On February 23, we performed reconstruction by left trapezius muscle flap after debridement once again. One year after the operation, the flap was completely incorporated. (author)

  4. Seasonal and temporal patterns of NDMA formation potentials in surface waters.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Uzun, Habibullah; Kim, Daekyun; Karanfil, Tanju

    2015-02-01

    The seasonal and temporal patterns of N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) formation potentials (FPs) were examined with water samples collected monthly for 21 month period in 12 surface waters. This long term study allowed monitoring the patterns of NDMA FPs under dynamic weather conditions (e.g., rainy and dry periods) covering several seasons. Anthropogenically impacted waters which were determined by high sucralose levels (>100 ng/L) had higher NDMA FPs than limited impacted sources (NDMA FP showed more variability in spring months, while seasonal mean values remained relatively consistent. The study also showed that watershed characteristics played an important role in the seasonal and temporal patterns. In the two dam-controlled river systems (SW A and G), the NDMA FP levels at the downstream sampling locations were controlled by the NDMA levels in the dams independent of either the increases in discharge rates due to water releases from the dams prior to or during the heavy rain events or intermittent high NDMA FP levels observed at the upstream of dams. The large reservoirs and impoundments on rivers examined in this study appeared serving as an equalization basin for NDMA precursors. On the other hand, in a river without an upstream reservoir (SW E), the NDMA levels were influenced by the ratio of an upstream wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluent discharge to the river discharge rate. The impact of WWTP effluent decreased during the high river flow periods due to rain events. Linear regression with independent variables DOC, DON, and sucralose yielded poor correlations with NDMA FP (R(2) NDMA FP (R(2) = 0.53). Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  5. Streaming and particle motion in acoustically-actuated leaky systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nama, Nitesh; Barnkob, Rune; Jun Huang, Tony; Kahler, Christian; Costanzo, Francesco

    2017-11-01

    The integration of acoustics with microfluidics has shown great promise for applications within biology, chemistry, and medicine. A commonly employed system to achieve this integration consists of a fluid-filled, polymer-walled microchannel that is acoustically actuated via standing surface acoustic waves. However, despite significant experimental advancements, the precise physical understanding of such systems remains a work in progress. In this work, we investigate the nature of acoustic fields that are setup inside the microchannel as well as the fundamental driving mechanism governing the fluid and particle motion in these systems. We provide an experimental benchmark using state-of-art 3D measurements of fluid and particle motion and present a Lagrangian velocity based temporal multiscale numerical framework to explain the experimental observations. Following verification and validation, we employ our numerical model to reveal the presence of a pseudo-standing acoustic wave that drives the acoustic streaming and particle motion in these systems.

  6. Hierarchical Bayesian modeling of spatio-temporal patterns of lung cancer incidence risk in Georgia, USA: 2000-2007

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yin, Ping; Mu, Lan; Madden, Marguerite; Vena, John E.

    2014-10-01

    Lung cancer is the second most commonly diagnosed cancer in both men and women in Georgia, USA. However, the spatio-temporal patterns of lung cancer risk in Georgia have not been fully studied. Hierarchical Bayesian models are used here to explore the spatio-temporal patterns of lung cancer incidence risk by race and gender in Georgia for the period of 2000-2007. With the census tract level as the spatial scale and the 2-year period aggregation as the temporal scale, we compare a total of seven Bayesian spatio-temporal models including two under a separate modeling framework and five under a joint modeling framework. One joint model outperforms others based on the deviance information criterion. Results show that the northwest region of Georgia has consistently high lung cancer incidence risk for all population groups during the study period. In addition, there are inverse relationships between the socioeconomic status and the lung cancer incidence risk among all Georgian population groups, and the relationships in males are stronger than those in females. By mapping more reliable variations in lung cancer incidence risk at a relatively fine spatio-temporal scale for different Georgian population groups, our study aims to better support healthcare performance assessment, etiological hypothesis generation, and health policy making.

  7. Temporal and spatial patterns of habitat use by juveniles of a small coastal shark (Mustelus lenticulatus in an estuarine nursery.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Malcolm P Francis

    Full Text Available Juvenile rig (Mustelus lenticulatus were internally tagged with acoustic transmitters and tracked with acoustic receivers deployed throughout two arms of Porirua Harbour, a small (7 km(2 estuary in New Zealand. Ten rig were tracked for up to four months during summer-autumn to determine their spatial and temporal use of the habitat. The overall goal was to estimate the size of Marine Protected Areas required to protect rig nursery areas from direct human impacts. Rig showed clear site preferences, but those preferences varied among rig and over time. They spent most of their time in large basins and on shallow sand and mud flats around the margins, and avoided deep channels. Habitat range increased during autumn for many of the rig. Only one shark spent time in both harbour arms, indicating that there was little movement between the two. Rig home ranges were 2-7 km(2, suggesting that an effective MPA would need to cover the entire Porirua Harbour. They moved to outer harbour sites following some high river flow rates, and most left the harbour permanently during or soon after a river spike, suggesting that they were avoiding low salinity water. Rig showed strong diel movements during summer, although the diel pattern weakened in autumn. Persistent use of the same day and night sites indicates that diel movements are directed rather than random. Further research is required to determine the sizes of rig home ranges in larger harbours where nursery habitat is more extensive. Marine Protected Areas do not control land-based impacts such as accelerated sedimentation and heavy metal pollution, so integration of marine and terrestrial management tools across a range of government agencies is essential to fully protect nursery areas.

  8. Temporal and spatial patterns of habitat use by juveniles of a small coastal shark (Mustelus lenticulatus) in an estuarine nursery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Francis, Malcolm P

    2013-01-01

    Juvenile rig (Mustelus lenticulatus) were internally tagged with acoustic transmitters and tracked with acoustic receivers deployed throughout two arms of Porirua Harbour, a small (7 km(2)) estuary in New Zealand. Ten rig were tracked for up to four months during summer-autumn to determine their spatial and temporal use of the habitat. The overall goal was to estimate the size of Marine Protected Areas required to protect rig nursery areas from direct human impacts. Rig showed clear site preferences, but those preferences varied among rig and over time. They spent most of their time in large basins and on shallow sand and mud flats around the margins, and avoided deep channels. Habitat range increased during autumn for many of the rig. Only one shark spent time in both harbour arms, indicating that there was little movement between the two. Rig home ranges were 2-7 km(2), suggesting that an effective MPA would need to cover the entire Porirua Harbour. They moved to outer harbour sites following some high river flow rates, and most left the harbour permanently during or soon after a river spike, suggesting that they were avoiding low salinity water. Rig showed strong diel movements during summer, although the diel pattern weakened in autumn. Persistent use of the same day and night sites indicates that diel movements are directed rather than random. Further research is required to determine the sizes of rig home ranges in larger harbours where nursery habitat is more extensive. Marine Protected Areas do not control land-based impacts such as accelerated sedimentation and heavy metal pollution, so integration of marine and terrestrial management tools across a range of government agencies is essential to fully protect nursery areas.

  9. Understanding spatio-temporal mobility patterns for seniors, child/student and adult using smart card data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, X.; Tan, J.

    2014-11-01

    Commutes in urban areas create interesting travel patterns that are often stored in regional transportation databases. These patterns can vary based on the day of the week, the time of the day, and commuter type. This study proposes methods to detect underlying spatio-temporal variability among three groups of commuters (senior citizens, child/students, and adults) using data mining and spatial analytics. Data from over 36 million individual trip records collected over one week (March 2012) on the Singapore bus and Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system by the fare collection system were used. Analyses of such data are important for transportation and landuse designers and contribute to a better understanding of urban dynamics. Specifically, descriptive statistics, network analysis, and spatial analysis methods are presented. Descriptive variables were proposed such as density and duration to detect temporal features of people. A directed weighted graph G ≡ (N , L, W) was defined to analyze the global network properties of every pair of the transportation link in the city during an average workday for all three categories. Besides, spatial interpolation and spatial statistic tools were used to transform the discrete network nodes into structured human movement landscape to understand the role of transportation systems in urban areas. The travel behaviour of the three categories follows a certain degree of temporal and spatial universality but also displays unique patterns within their own specialties. Each category is characterized by their different peak hours, commute distances, and specific locations for travel on weekdays.

  10. Geographic Variation in Daily Temporal Activity Patterns of a Neotropical Marsupial (Gracilinanus agilis.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Emerson M Vieira

    Full Text Available The temporal activity of animals is an outcome of both biotic and abiotic factors, which may vary along the geographic range of the species. Therefore, studies conducted with a species in different localities with distinct features could elucidate how animals deal with such factors. In this study, we used live traps equipped with timing devices to investigate the temporal activity patterns of the didelphid Gracilinanus agilis in two dry-woodland areas of the Brazilian savanna (Cerrado. These areas were located about 660 km apart, one in Central Brazil and the other in Southeastern Brazil. We compared such patterns considering both reproductive and non-reproductive periods, and how it varies as a function of temperature on a seasonal basis. In Central Brazil, we found a constant, and temperature-independent activity during the night in both reproductive and non-reproductive periods. On the other hand, in Southeastern Brazil, we detected a constant activity during the reproductive period, but in the non-reproductive period G. agilis presented a peak of activity between two and four hours after sunset. Moreover, in this latter we found a relation between temporal activity and temperature during the autumn and spring. These differences in temporal activity between areas, observed during the non-reproductive period, might be associated with the higher seasonal variability in temperature, and lower mean temperatures in the Southeastern site in comparison to the Central one. In Southeastern Brazil, the decrease in temperature during the non-reproductive season possibly forced G. agilis to be active only at certain hours of the night. However, likely due to the reproductive activities (intensive foraging and searching for mates this marsupial showed constant, temperature-independent activity during the night in the reproductive period at both sites.

  11. Acoustic emission leak monitoring system LMS-96

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liska, J.; Cvrcek, M.; Mueller, L.

    1997-01-01

    On-line acoustic emission leak monitoring under industrial conditions of nuclear power plants is a problem with specific features setting specific demands on the leak monitoring system. The paper briefly reviews those problems (attenuation pattern of a real structure, acoustic background, alarm system, etc.) and the solution of some of them is discussed. Information is presented on the Acoustic Emission Leak Monitoring System LMS-96 by SKODA NUCLEAR MACHINERY and the system's function is briefly described. (author)

  12. Acoustic non-diffracting Airy beam

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lin, Zhou; Guo, Xiasheng; Tu, Juan; Ma, Qingyu; Wu, Junru; Zhang, Dong

    2015-01-01

    The acoustic non-diffracting Airy beam as its optical counterpart has unique features of self-bending and self-healing. The complexity of most current designs handicaps its applications. A simple design of an acoustic source capable of generating multi-frequency and broad-band acoustic Airy beam has been theoretically demonstrated by numerical simulations. In the design, a piston transducer is corrugated to induce spatial phase variation for transducing the Airy function. The piston's surface is grooved in a pattern that the width of each groove corresponds to the half wavelength of Airy function. The resulted frequency characteristics and its dependence on the size of the piston source are also discussed. This simple design may promote the wide applications of acoustic Airy beam particularly in the field of medical ultrasound

  13. Uncovering Urban Temporal Patterns from Geo-Tagged Photography.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Silvia Paldino

    Full Text Available We live in a world where digital trails of different forms of human activities compose big urban data, allowing us to detect many aspects of how people experience the city in which they live or come to visit. In this study we propose to enhance urban planning by taking into a consideration individual preferences using information from an unconventional big data source: dataset of geo-tagged photographs that people take in cities which we then use as a measure of urban attractiveness. We discover and compare a temporal behavior of residents and visitors in ten most photographed cities in the world. Looking at the periodicity in urban attractiveness, the results show that the strongest periodic patterns for visitors are usually weekly or monthly. Moreover, by dividing cities into two groups based on which continent they belong to (i.e., North America or Europe, it can be concluded that unlike European cities, behavior of visitors in the US cities in general is similar to the behavior of their residents. Finally, we apply two indices, called "dilatation attractiveness index" and "dilatation index", to our dataset which tell us the spatial and temporal attractiveness pulsations in the city. The proposed methodology is not only important for urban planning, but also does support various business and public stakeholder decision processes, concentrated for example around the question how to attract more visitors to the city or estimate the impact of special events organized there.

  14. Uncovering Urban Temporal Patterns from Geo-Tagged Photography.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Paldino, Silvia; Kondor, Dániel; Bojic, Iva; Sobolevsky, Stanislav; González, Marta C; Ratti, Carlo

    2016-01-01

    We live in a world where digital trails of different forms of human activities compose big urban data, allowing us to detect many aspects of how people experience the city in which they live or come to visit. In this study we propose to enhance urban planning by taking into a consideration individual preferences using information from an unconventional big data source: dataset of geo-tagged photographs that people take in cities which we then use as a measure of urban attractiveness. We discover and compare a temporal behavior of residents and visitors in ten most photographed cities in the world. Looking at the periodicity in urban attractiveness, the results show that the strongest periodic patterns for visitors are usually weekly or monthly. Moreover, by dividing cities into two groups based on which continent they belong to (i.e., North America or Europe), it can be concluded that unlike European cities, behavior of visitors in the US cities in general is similar to the behavior of their residents. Finally, we apply two indices, called "dilatation attractiveness index" and "dilatation index", to our dataset which tell us the spatial and temporal attractiveness pulsations in the city. The proposed methodology is not only important for urban planning, but also does support various business and public stakeholder decision processes, concentrated for example around the question how to attract more visitors to the city or estimate the impact of special events organized there.

  15. Uncovering Urban Temporal Patterns from Geo-Tagged Photography

    Science.gov (United States)

    Paldino, Silvia; Kondor, Dániel; Sobolevsky, Stanislav; González, Marta C.; Ratti, Carlo

    2016-01-01

    We live in a world where digital trails of different forms of human activities compose big urban data, allowing us to detect many aspects of how people experience the city in which they live or come to visit. In this study we propose to enhance urban planning by taking into a consideration individual preferences using information from an unconventional big data source: dataset of geo-tagged photographs that people take in cities which we then use as a measure of urban attractiveness. We discover and compare a temporal behavior of residents and visitors in ten most photographed cities in the world. Looking at the periodicity in urban attractiveness, the results show that the strongest periodic patterns for visitors are usually weekly or monthly. Moreover, by dividing cities into two groups based on which continent they belong to (i.e., North America or Europe), it can be concluded that unlike European cities, behavior of visitors in the US cities in general is similar to the behavior of their residents. Finally, we apply two indices, called “dilatation attractiveness index” and “dilatation index”, to our dataset which tell us the spatial and temporal attractiveness pulsations in the city. The proposed methodology is not only important for urban planning, but also does support various business and public stakeholder decision processes, concentrated for example around the question how to attract more visitors to the city or estimate the impact of special events organized there. PMID:27935979

  16. Estimating Activity Patterns Using Spatio-temporal Data of Cellphone Networks

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zahedi Seyedmostafa

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The tendency towards using activity-based models to predict trip demand has increased dramatically over recent years, but these models have suffered insufficient data for calibration. This paper discusses ways to process the cellphone spatio-temporal data in a manner that makes it comprehensible for traffic interpretations and proposes methods on how to infer urban mobility and activity patterns from the aforementioned data. Movements of each subscriber is described by a sequence of stays and trips and each stay is labeled by an activity. The type of activities are estimated using features such as land use, duration of stay, frequency of visit, arrival time to that activity and its distance from home. Finally, the chains of trips are identified and different patterns that citizens follow to participate in activities are determined. The data comprises 144 million records of the location of 300,000 citizens of Shiraz at five-minute intervals.

  17. Spatial and Temporal Variations in the Occurrence and Foraging Activity of Coastal Dolphins in Menai Bay, Zanzibar, Tanzania.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andrew J Temple

    Full Text Available Understanding temporal patterns in distribution, occurrence and behaviour is vital for the effective conservation of cetaceans. This study used cetacean click detectors (C-PODs to investigate spatial and temporal variation in occurrence and foraging activity of the Indo-Pacific bottlenose (Tursiops aduncus and Indian Ocean humpback (Sousa plumbea dolphins resident in the Menai Bay Conservation Area (MBCA, Zanzibar, Tanzania. Occurrence was measured using detection positive minutes. Inter-click intervals were used to identify terminal buzz vocalisations, allowing for analysis of foraging activity. Data were analysed in relation to spatial (location and temporal (monsoon season, diel phase and tidal phase variables. Results showed significantly increased occurrence and foraging activity of dolphins in southern areas and during hours of darkness. Higher occurrence at night was not explained by diel variation in echolocation rate and so were considered representative of occurrence patterns. Both tidal phase and monsoon season influenced occurrence but results varied among sites, with no general patterns found. Foraging activity was greatest during hours of darkness, High water and Flood tidal phases. Comparisons of echolocation data among sites suggested differences in the broadband click spectra of MBCA dolphins, possibly indicative of species differences. These dolphin populations are threatened by unsustainable fisheries bycatch and tourism activities. The spatial and temporal patterns identified in this study have implications for future conservation and management actions with regards to these two threats. Further, the results indicate future potential for using passive acoustics to identify and monitor the occurrence of these two species in areas where they co-exist.

  18. Spatial-temporal evolution of self-organized loop-patterns on a water surface and a diffuse discharge in the gap

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Xuechen; Geng, Jinling; Jia, Pengying; Zhang, Panpan; Zhang, Qi; Li, Yaru

    2017-11-01

    Excited by an alternating current voltage, a patterned discharge and a diffuse discharge are generated in a needle to liquid configuration. Using an intensified charge-coupled device (ICCD), temporal evolution of the discharge between the two electrodes is investigated for the diffuse mode and the patterned mode, respectively. For the diffuse mode, the positive discharge is in a glow regime, and the negative discharge is in a Townsend discharge regime. For the patterned mode, the discharge always belongs to the Townsend discharge regime. Moreover, in the patterned mode, various patterns including the single loop, single loop with the surrounding corona, triple loops, and concentric loops with a central spot are observed on the water surface with the increasing positive peak-value of the applied voltage (Upp). Temporally resolved images of the loop-patterns are captured on the water surface. From the electrical measurements and the ICCD imaging, it is found that the loop pattern emerges after the discharge bridges the two electrodes. Then, it begins to evolve and finally degenerates with the decrease in the discharge current. The pattern does not disappear until the discharge quenches. Formation of the loop-patterns is attributed to the role of negative ions.

  19. Can intraoperative electrocorticography patterns predict surgical outcome in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy secondary to unilateral mesial temporal sclerosis?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oliveira, Pedro A L; Garzon, Eliana; Caboclo, Luís O S F; Sousa, Patrícia S; Carrete, Henrique; Centeno, Ricardo S; Costa, José M P; Machado, Hélio R; Yacubian, Elza M T; Bianchin, Marino M; Sakamoto, Américo C

    2006-10-01

    Intraoperative electrocorticography (ECoG) can be performed in cases of temporal lobe epilepsy due to hippocampal sclerosis (TLE-HS). However, its significance and correlation with surgical outcome are still controversial. To analyze the electrophysiological characteristics of temporal lobe structures during ECoG of patients with TLE-HS, with emphasis on the comparison between pre- and post-resection recordings and surgical outcome. Seventeen patients with refractory TLE-HS submitted to corticoamigdalohipocampectomy were included in the study. Clinical variables included age at the onset, duration of epilepsy and seizure outcome. The post-operative follow-up ranged from 24 to 36 months. According to outcome subjects were divided in two subgroups: (A) individuals free of seizures (Engel 1A), and (B) individuals not-free of seizures (Engel 1B-IV). Four patterns of ECoG findings were identified: isolated discharges; high frequency spikes (HFS); continuous discharges; combination of isolated discharges and HFS. According to predominant topography ECoG was classified as mediobasal, lateral (or neocortical), mediobasal and lateral. The progressive removal of the temporal pole and the hippocampus was associated with significant decrease of neocortical spikes. No correlation between clinical variables and seizure outcome was observed. Patients who only had isolated spikes on intraoperative ECoG presented a statistical trend for excellent surgical control. Patients who presented temporal pole blurring on MRI also had better post-surgical seizure outcome. This study showed that out of diverse clinical and laboratory variables, only isolated discharges on intraoperative ECoG and temporal pole blurring on MRI predicted excellent post-surgical seizure outcome. However, other studies with larger number of patients are still necessary to confirm these findings.

  20. The acoustic features of human laughter

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bachorowski, Jo-Anne; Owren, Michael J.

    2002-05-01

    Remarkably little is known about the acoustic features of laughter, despite laughter's ubiquitous role in human vocal communication. Outcomes are described for 1024 naturally produced laugh bouts recorded from 97 young adults. Acoustic analysis focused on temporal characteristics, production modes, source- and filter-related effects, and indexical cues to laugher sex and individual identity. The results indicate that laughter is a remarkably complex vocal signal, with evident diversity in both production modes and fundamental frequency characteristics. Also of interest was finding a consistent lack of articulation effects in supralaryngeal filtering. Outcomes are compared to previously advanced hypotheses and conjectures about this species-typical vocal signal.

  1. Exploring Spatio-temporal Dynamics of Cellular Automata for Pattern Recognition in Networks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miranda, Gisele Helena Barboni; Machicao, Jeaneth; Bruno, Odemir Martinez

    2016-11-01

    Network science is an interdisciplinary field which provides an integrative approach for the study of complex systems. In recent years, network modeling has been used for the study of emergent phenomena in many real-world applications. Pattern recognition in networks has been drawing attention to the importance of network characterization, which may lead to understanding the topological properties that are related to the network model. In this paper, the Life-Like Network Automata (LLNA) method is introduced, which was designed for pattern recognition in networks. LLNA uses the network topology as a tessellation of Cellular Automata (CA), whose dynamics produces a spatio-temporal pattern used to extract the feature vector for network characterization. The method was evaluated using synthetic and real-world networks. In the latter, three pattern recognition applications were used: (i) identifying organisms from distinct domains of life through their metabolic networks, (ii) identifying online social networks and (iii) classifying stomata distribution patterns varying according to different lighting conditions. LLNA was compared to structural measurements and surpasses them in real-world applications, achieving improvement in the classification rate as high as 23%, 4% and 7% respectively. Therefore, the proposed method is a good choice for pattern recognition applications using networks and demonstrates potential for general applicability.

  2. Deciphering principles of morphogenesis from temporal and spatial patterns on the integument

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Ang; Lai, Yung-Chih; Figueroa, Seth; Yang, Tian; Widelitz, Randall B; Kobielak, Krzysztof; Nie, Qing; Chuong, Cheng Ming

    2015-01-01

    How tissue patterns form in development and regeneration is a fundamental issue remaining to be fully understood. The integument often forms repetitive units in space (periodic patterning) and time (cyclic renewal), such as feathers and hairs. Integument patterns are visible and experimentally manipulatable, helping us reveal pattern formative processes. Variability is seen in regional phenotypic specificities and temporal cycling at different physiological stages. Here we show some cellular / molecular bases revealed by analyzing integument patterns. 1) Localized cellular activity (proliferation, rearrangement, apoptosis, differentiation) transforms prototypic organ primordia into specific shapes. Combinatorial positioning of different localized activity zones generates diverse and complex organ forms. 2) Competitive equilibrium between activators and inhibitors regulates stem cells through cyclic quiescence and activation. Dynamic interactions between stem cells and their adjacent niche regulate regenerative behavior, modulated by multi-layers of macro-environmental factors (dermis, body hormone status and external environment). Genomics studies may reveal how positional information of localized cellular activity is stored. In vivo skin imaging and lineage tracing unveils new insights into stem cell plasticity. Principles of self-assembly obtained from the integumentary organ model can be applied to help restore damaged patterns during regenerative wound healing and for tissue engineering to rebuild tissues. PMID:25858668

  3. Research on the Spatial-Temporal Distribution Pattern of the Network Attention of Fog and Haze in China

    Science.gov (United States)

    Weng, Lingyan; Han, Xugao

    2018-01-01

    Understanding the spatial-temporal distribution pattern of fog and haze is the base to deal with them by adjusting measures to local conditions. Taking 31 provinces in China mainland as the research areas, this paper collected data from Baidu index on the network attention of fog and haze in relevant areas from 2011 to 2016, and conducted an analysis of their spatial-temporal distribution pattern by using autocorrelation analysis. The results show that the network attention of fog and haze has an overall spatial distribution pattern of “higher in the eastern and central, lower in the western China”. There are regional differences in different provinces in terms of network attention. Network attention of fog and haze indicates an obvious geographical agglomeration phenomenon, which is a gradual enlargement of the agglomeration area of higher value with a slight shrinking of those lower value agglomeration areas.

  4. General asymmetric neutral networks and structure design by genetic algorithms: A learning rule for temporal patterns

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bornholdt, S. [Heidelberg Univ., (Germany). Inst., fuer Theoretische Physik; Graudenz, D. [Lawrence Berkeley Lab., CA (United States)

    1993-07-01

    A learning algorithm based on genetic algorithms for asymmetric neural networks with an arbitrary structure is presented. It is suited for the learning of temporal patterns and leads to stable neural networks with feedback.

  5. General asymmetric neutral networks and structure design by genetic algorithms: A learning rule for temporal patterns

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bornholdt, S.

    1993-07-01

    A learning algorithm based on genetic algorithms for asymmetric neural networks with an arbitrary structure is presented. It is suited for the learning of temporal patterns and leads to stable neural networks with feedback

  6. Identification of neural firing patterns, frequency and temporal coding mechanisms in individual aortic baroreceptors

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Huaguang eGu

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available In rabbit depressor nerve fibers, an on-off firing pattern, period-1 firing, and integer multiple firing with quiescent state were observed as the static pressure level was increased. A bursting pattern with bursts at the systolic phase of blood pressure, continuous firing, and bursting with burst at diastolic phase and quiescent state at systolic phase were observed as the mean level of the dynamic blood pressure was increased. For both static and dynamic pressures, the firing frequency of the first two firing patterns increased and of the last firing pattern decreased due to the quiescent state. If the quiescent state is disregarded, the spike frequency becomes an increasing trend. The instantaneous spike frequency of the systolic phase bursting, continuous firing, and diastolic phase bursting can reflect the temporal process of the systolic phase, whole procedure, and diastolic phase of the dynamic blood pressure signal, respectively. With increasing the static current corresponding to pressure level, the deterministic Hodgkin-Huxley (HH model manifests a process from a resting state first to period-1 firing via a subcritical Hopf bifurcation and then to a resting state via a supercritical Hopf bifurcation, and the firing frequency increases. The on-off firing and integer multiple firing were here identified as noise-induced firing patterns near the subcritical and supercritical Hopf bifurcation points, respectively, using the stochastic HH model. The systolic phase bursting and diastolic phase bursting were identified as pressure-induced firings near the subcritical and supercritical Hopf bifurcation points, respectively, using an HH model with a dynamic signal. The firing, spike frequency, and instantaneous spike frequency observed in the experiment were simulated and explained using HH models. The results illustrate the dynamics of different firing patterns and the frequency and temporal coding mechanisms of aortic baroreceptor.

  7. Multiagent-Based Simulation of Temporal-Spatial Characteristics of Activity-Travel Patterns Using Interactive Reinforcement Learning

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Min Yang

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available We propose a multiagent-based reinforcement learning algorithm, in which the interactions between travelers and the environment are considered to simulate temporal-spatial characteristics of activity-travel patterns in a city. Road congestion degree is added to the reinforcement learning algorithm as a medium that passes the influence of one traveler’s decision to others. Meanwhile, the agents used in the algorithm are initialized from typical activity patterns extracted from the travel survey diary data of Shangyu city in China. In the simulation, both macroscopic activity-travel characteristics such as traffic flow spatial-temporal distribution and microscopic characteristics such as activity-travel schedules of each agent are obtained. Comparing the simulation results with the survey data, we find that deviation of the peak-hour traffic flow is less than 5%, while the correlation of the simulated versus survey location choice distribution is over 0.9.

  8. Temporal patterns in habitat use by small cetaceans at an oceanographically dynamic marine renewable energy test site in the Celtic Sea

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cox, S. L.; Witt, M. J.; Embling, C. B.; Godley, B. J.; Hosegood, P. J.; Miller, P. I.; Votier, S. C.; Ingram, S. N.

    2017-07-01

    Shelf-seas are highly dynamic and oceanographically complex environments, which likely influences the spatio-temporal distributions of marine megafauna such as marine mammals. As such, understanding natural patterns in habitat use by these animals is essential when attempting to ascertain and assess the impacts of anthropogenically induced disturbances, such as those associated with marine renewable energy installations (MREIs). This study uses a five year (2009-2013) passive acoustics (C-POD) dataset to examine the use of an oceanographically dynamic marine renewable energy test site by small cetaceans, dolphins (unspecified delphinids) and harbour porpoises Phocoena phocoena, in the southern Celtic Sea. To examine how temporal patterns in habitat use across the site related to oceanographic changes occurring over broad seasonal scales as well as those driven by fine scale (bi-weekly) localised processes (that may be masked by seasonal trends), separate analyses were conducted using (1) all daily animal detection rates spanning the entire five year dataset and (2) daily animal detection rates taken only during the summer months (defined as mid-June to mid-October) of 2010 (when continuous monitoring was carried out at multiple discrete locations across the site). In both instances, generalised additive mixed effects models (GAMMs) were used to link detection rates to a suite of environmental variables representative of the oceanography of the region. We show that increased harbour porpoise detection rates in the late winter/early spring (January-March) are associated with low sea surface temperatures (SST), whilst peaks in dolphin detection rates in the summer (July-September) coincide with increased SSTs and the presence of a tidal-mixing front. Moreover, across the summer months of 2010, dolphin detection rates were found to respond to small scale changes in SST and position in the spring-neap cycle, possibly reflective of a preference for the stratified waters

  9. Mobile acoustic transects miss rare bat species: implications of survey method and spatio-temporal sampling for monitoring bats

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Elizabeth C. Braun de Torrez

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available Due to increasing threats facing bats, long-term monitoring protocols are needed to inform conservation strategies. Effective monitoring should be easily repeatable while capturing spatio-temporal variation. Mobile acoustic driving transect surveys (‘mobile transects’ have been touted as a robust, cost-effective method to monitor bats; however, it is not clear how well mobile transects represent dynamic bat communities, especially when used as the sole survey approach. To assist biologists who must select a single survey method due to resource limitations, we assessed the effectiveness of three acoustic survey methods at detecting species richness in a vast protected area (Everglades National Park: (1 mobile transects, (2 stationary surveys that were strategically located by sources of open water and (3 stationary surveys that were replicated spatially across the landscape. We found that mobile transects underrepresented bat species richness compared to stationary surveys across all major vegetation communities and in two distinct seasons (dry/cool and wet/warm. Most critically, mobile transects failed to detect three rare bat species, one of which is federally endangered. Spatially replicated stationary surveys did not estimate higher species richness than strategically located stationary surveys, but increased the rate at which species were detected in one vegetation community. The survey strategy that detected maximum species richness and the highest mean nightly species richness with minimal effort was a strategically located stationary detector in each of two major vegetation communities during the wet/warm season.

  10. Mobile acoustic transects miss rare bat species: implications of survey method and spatio-temporal sampling for monitoring bats.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Braun de Torrez, Elizabeth C; Wallrichs, Megan A; Ober, Holly K; McCleery, Robert A

    2017-01-01

    Due to increasing threats facing bats, long-term monitoring protocols are needed to inform conservation strategies. Effective monitoring should be easily repeatable while capturing spatio-temporal variation. Mobile acoustic driving transect surveys ('mobile transects') have been touted as a robust, cost-effective method to monitor bats; however, it is not clear how well mobile transects represent dynamic bat communities, especially when used as the sole survey approach. To assist biologists who must select a single survey method due to resource limitations, we assessed the effectiveness of three acoustic survey methods at detecting species richness in a vast protected area (Everglades National Park): (1) mobile transects, (2) stationary surveys that were strategically located by sources of open water and (3) stationary surveys that were replicated spatially across the landscape. We found that mobile transects underrepresented bat species richness compared to stationary surveys across all major vegetation communities and in two distinct seasons (dry/cool and wet/warm). Most critically, mobile transects failed to detect three rare bat species, one of which is federally endangered. Spatially replicated stationary surveys did not estimate higher species richness than strategically located stationary surveys, but increased the rate at which species were detected in one vegetation community. The survey strategy that detected maximum species richness and the highest mean nightly species richness with minimal effort was a strategically located stationary detector in each of two major vegetation communities during the wet/warm season.

  11. Acoustic streaming in the transducer plane in ultrasonic particle manipulation devices.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lei, Junjun; Glynne-Jones, Peter; Hill, Martyn

    2013-06-07

    In acoustofluidic manipulation and sorting devices, Rayleigh streaming flows are typically found in addition to the acoustic radiation forces. However, experimental work from various groups has described acoustic streaming that occurs in planar devices in a plane parallel to the transducer face. This is typically a four-quadrant streaming pattern with the circulation parallel to the transducer. Understanding its origins is essential for creating designs that limit or control this phenomenon. The cause of this kind of streaming pattern has not been previously explained as it is different from the well-known classical streaming patterns such as Rayleigh streaming and Eckart streaming, whose circulation planes are generally perpendicular to the face of the acoustic transducer. In order to gain insight into these patterns we present a numerical method based on Nyborg's limiting velocity boundary condition that includes terms ignored in the Rayleigh analysis, and verify its predictions against experimental PIV results in a simple device. The results show that the modelled particle trajectories match those found experimentally. Analysis of the dominant terms in the driving equations shows that the origin of this kind of streaming pattern is related to the circulation of the acoustic intensity.

  12. Use of soil moisture dynamics and patterns at different spatio-temporal scales for the investigation of subsurface flow processes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    T. Blume

    2009-07-01

    Full Text Available Spatial patterns as well as temporal dynamics of soil moisture have a major influence on runoff generation. The investigation of these dynamics and patterns can thus yield valuable information on hydrological processes, especially in data scarce or previously ungauged catchments. The combination of spatially scarce but temporally high resolution soil moisture profiles with episodic and thus temporally scarce moisture profiles at additional locations provides information on spatial as well as temporal patterns of soil moisture at the hillslope transect scale. This approach is better suited to difficult terrain (dense forest, steep slopes than geophysical techniques and at the same time less cost-intensive than a high resolution grid of continuously measuring sensors. Rainfall simulation experiments with dye tracers while continuously monitoring soil moisture response allows for visualization of flow processes in the unsaturated zone at these locations. Data was analyzed at different spacio-temporal scales using various graphical methods, such as space-time colour maps (for the event and plot scale and binary indicator maps (for the long-term and hillslope scale. Annual dynamics of soil moisture and decimeter-scale variability were also investigated. The proposed approach proved to be successful in the investigation of flow processes in the unsaturated zone and showed the importance of preferential flow in the Malalcahuello Catchment, a data-scarce catchment in the Andes of Southern Chile. Fast response times of stream flow indicate that preferential flow observed at the plot scale might also be of importance at the hillslope or catchment scale. Flow patterns were highly variable in space but persistent in time. The most likely explanation for preferential flow in this catchment is a combination of hydrophobicity, small scale heterogeneity in rainfall due to redistribution in the canopy and strong gradients in unsaturated conductivities leading to

  13. Acoustic reciprocity: An extension to spherical harmonics domain.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Samarasinghe, Prasanga; Abhayapala, Thushara D; Kellermann, Walter

    2017-10-01

    Acoustic reciprocity is a fundamental property of acoustic wavefields that is commonly used to simplify the measurement process of many practical applications. Traditionally, the reciprocity theorem is defined between a monopole point source and a point receiver. Intuitively, it must apply to more complex transducers than monopoles. In this paper, the authors formulate the acoustic reciprocity theory in the spherical harmonics domain for directional sources and directional receivers with higher order directivity patterns.

  14. Hits to the left, flops to the right: different emotions during listening to music are reflected in cortical lateralisation patterns.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Altenmüller, Eckart; Schürmann, Kristian; Lim, Vanessa K; Parlitz, Dietrich

    2002-01-01

    In order to investigate the neurobiological mechanisms accompanying emotional valence judgements during listening to complex auditory stimuli, cortical direct current (dc)-electroencephalography (EEG) activation patterns were recorded from 16 right-handed students. Students listened to 160 short sequences taken from the repertoires of jazz, rock-pop, classical music and environmental sounds (each n=40). Emotional valence of the perceived stimuli were rated on a 5-step scale after each sequence. Brain activation patterns during listening revealed widespread bilateral fronto-temporal activation, but a highly significant lateralisation effect: positive emotional attributions were accompanied by an increase in left temporal activation, negative by a more bilateral pattern with preponderance of the right fronto-temporal cortex. Female participants demonstrated greater valence-related differences than males. No differences related to the four stimulus categories could be detected, suggesting that the actual auditory brain activation patterns were more determined by their affective emotional valence than by differences in acoustical "fine" structure. The results are consistent with a model of hemispheric specialisation concerning perceived positive or negative emotions proposed by Heilman [Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience 9 (1997) 439].

  15. Stability Switches, Hopf Bifurcations, and Spatio-temporal Patterns in a Delayed Neural Model with Bidirectional Coupling

    Science.gov (United States)

    Song, Yongli; Zhang, Tonghua; Tadé, Moses O.

    2009-12-01

    The dynamical behavior of a delayed neural network with bi-directional coupling is investigated by taking the delay as the bifurcating parameter. Some parameter regions are given for conditional/absolute stability and Hopf bifurcations by using the theory of functional differential equations. As the propagation time delay in the coupling varies, stability switches for the trivial solution are found. Conditions ensuring the stability and direction of the Hopf bifurcation are determined by applying the normal form theory and the center manifold theorem. We also discuss the spatio-temporal patterns of bifurcating periodic oscillations by using the symmetric bifurcation theory of delay differential equations combined with representation theory of Lie groups. In particular, we obtain that the spatio-temporal patterns of bifurcating periodic oscillations will alternate according to the change of the propagation time delay in the coupling, i.e., different ranges of delays correspond to different patterns of neural activities. Numerical simulations are given to illustrate the obtained results and show the existence of bursts in some interval of the time for large enough delay.

  16. Multivariate data-driven modelling and pattern recognition for damage detection and identification for acoustic emission and acousto-ultrasonics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Torres-Arredondo, M-A; Fritzen, C-P; Tibaduiza, D-A; Mujica, L E; Rodellar, J; McGugan, M; Toftegaard, H; Borum, K-K

    2013-01-01

    Different methods are commonly used for non-destructive testing in structures; among others, acoustic emission and ultrasonic inspections are widely used to assess structures. The research presented in this paper is motivated by the need to improve the inspection capabilities and reliability of structural health monitoring (SHM) systems based on ultrasonic guided waves with focus on the acoustic emission and acousto-ultrasonics techniques. The use of a guided wave based approach is driven by the fact that these waves are able to propagate over relatively long distances, and interact sensitively and uniquely with different types of defect. Special attention is paid here to the development of efficient SHM methodologies. This requires robust signal processing techniques for the correct interpretation of the complex ultrasonic waves. Therefore, a variety of existing algorithms for signal processing and pattern recognition are evaluated and integrated into the different proposed methodologies. As a contribution to solve the problem, this paper presents results in damage detection and classification using a methodology based on hierarchical nonlinear principal component analysis, square prediction measurements and self-organizing maps, which are applied to data from acoustic emission tests and acousto-ultrasonic inspections. At the end, the efficiency of these methodologies is experimentally evaluated in diverse anisotropic composite structures. (paper)

  17. Acoustic tweezing of particles using decaying opposing travelling surface acoustic waves (DOTSAW).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ng, Jia Wei; Devendran, Citsabehsan; Neild, Adrian

    2017-10-11

    Surface acoustic waves offer a versatile and biocompatible method of manipulating the location of suspended particles or cells within microfluidic systems. The most common approach uses the interference of identical frequency, counter propagating travelling waves to generate a standing surface acoustic wave, in which particles migrate a distance less than half the acoustic wavelength to their nearest pressure node. The result is the formation of a periodic pattern of particles. Subsequent displacement of this pattern, the prerequisite for tweezing, can be achieved by translation of the standing wave, and with it the pressure nodes; this requires changing either the frequency of the pair of waves, or their relative phase. Here, in contrast, we examine the use of two counterpropagating traveling waves of different frequency. The non-linearity of the acoustic forces used to manipulate particles, means that a small frequency difference between the two waves creates a substantially different force field, which offers significant advantages. Firstly, this approach creates a much longer range force field, in which migration takes place across multiple wavelengths, and causes particles to be gathered together in a single trapping site. Secondly, the location of this single trapping site can be controlled by the relative amplitude of the two waves, requiring simply an attenuation of one of the electrical drive signals. Using this approach, we show that by controlling the powers of the opposing incoherent waves, 5 μm particles can be migrated laterally across a fluid flow to defined locations with an accuracy of ±10 μm.

  18. Competition of Spatial and Temporal Instabilities under Time Delay near Codimension-Two Turing-Hopf Bifurcations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang Huijuan; Ren Zhi

    2011-01-01

    Competition of spatial and temporal instabilities under time delay near the codimension-two Turing-Hopf bifurcations is studied in a reaction-diffusion equation. The time delay changes remarkably the oscillation frequency, the intrinsic wave vector, and the intensities of both Turing and Hopf modes. The application of appropriate time delay can control the competition between the Turing and Hopf modes. Analysis shows that individual or both feedbacks can realize the control of the transformation between the Turing and Hopf patterns. Two-dimensional numerical simulations validate the analytical results. (electromagnetism, optics, acoustics, heat transfer, classical mechanics, and fluid dynamics)

  19. Seasonal and diel patterns in cetacean use and foraging at a potential marine renewable energy site.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nuuttila, Hanna K; Bertelli, Chiara M; Mendzil, Anouska; Dearle, Nessa

    2018-04-01

    Marine renewable energy (MRE) developments often coincide with sites frequented by small cetaceans. To understand habitat use and assess potential impact from development, echolocation clicks were recorded with acoustic click loggers (C-PODs) in Swansea Bay, Wales (UK). General Additive Models (GAMs) were applied to assess the effects of covariates including month, hour, tidal range and temperature. Analysis of inter-click intervals allowed the identification of potential foraging events as well as patterns of presence and absence. Data revealed year-round presence of porpoise, with distinct seasonal and diel patterns. Occasional acoustic encounters of dolphins were also recorded. This study provides further evidence of the need for assessing temporal trends in cetacean presence and habitat use in areas considered for development. These findings could assist MRE companies to monitor and mitigate against disturbance from construction, operation and decommissioning activities by avoiding times when porpoise presence and foraging activity is highest in the area. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  20. Recognition of music in long-term memory: are melodic and temporal patterns equal partners?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hébert, S; Peretz, I

    1997-07-01

    The notion that the melody (i.e., pitch structure) of familiar music is more recognizable than its accompanying rhythm (i.e., temporal structure) was examined with the same set of nameable musical excerpts in three experiments. In Experiment 1, the excerpts were modified so as to keep either their original pitch variations, whereas durations were set to isochrony (melodic condition) or their original temporal pattern while played on a single constant pitch (rhythmic condition). The subjects, who were selected without regard to musical training, were found to name more tunes and to rate their feeling of knowing the musical excerpts far higher in the melodic condition than in the rhythmic condition. These results were replicated in Experiment 2, wherein the melodic and rhythmic patterns of the musical excerpts were interchanged to create chimeric mismatched tunes. The difference in saliency of the melodic pattern and the rhythmic pattern also emerged with a music-title-verification task in Experiment 3, hence discarding response selection as the main source of the discrepancy. The lesser effectiveness of rhythmic structure appears to be related to its lesser encoding distinctiveness relative to melodic structure. In general, rhythm was found to be a poor cue for the musical representations that are stored in long-term memory. Nevertheless, in all three experiments, the most effective cue for music identification involved the proper combination of pitches and durations. Therefore, the optimal code of access to long-term memory for music resides in a combination of rhythm and melody, of which the latter would be the most informative.

  1. [Temporal pattern of walking on various training facilities under the conditions of the earth's and simulated lunar gravity].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Panfilov, V E; Gurfinkel', V S

    2009-01-01

    Eight test-subjects participated in 120 treadmill tests (drive power of 10 and 85 kW) aimed to compare the walking patterns at 1 and reduced gravity. The temporal pattern of steps was noted to change significantly on the low-power treadmill. On the strength of convergence of calculated and experimental data the suggestion has been made that the leg transfer movement follows the pattern of spontaneous oscillations.

  2. Soil water content evaluation considering time-invariant spatial pattern and space-variant temporal change

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hu, W.; Si, B. C.

    2013-10-01

    Soil water content (SWC) varies in space and time. The objective of this study was to evaluate soil water content distribution using a statistical model. The model divides spatial SWC series into time-invariant spatial patterns, space-invariant temporal changes, and space- and time-dependent redistribution terms. The redistribution term is responsible for the temporal changes in spatial patterns of SWC. An empirical orthogonal function was used to separate the total variations of redistribution terms into the sum of the product of spatial structures (EOFs) and temporally-varying coefficients (ECs). Model performance was evaluated using SWC data of near-surface (0-0.2 m) and root-zone (0-1.0 m) from a Canadian Prairie landscape. Three significant EOFs were identified for redistribution term for both soil layers. EOF1 dominated the variations of redistribution terms and it resulted in more changes (recharge or discharge) in SWC at wetter locations. Depth to CaCO3 layer and organic carbon were the two most important controlling factors of EOF1, and together, they explained over 80% of the variations in EOF1. Weak correlation existed between either EOF2 or EOF3 and the observed factors. A reasonable prediction of SWC distribution was obtained with this model using cross validation. The model performed better in the root zone than in the near surface, and it outperformed conventional EOF method in case soil moisture deviated from the average conditions.

  3. Temporal Dietary Patterns Derived among the Adult Participants of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1999-2004 Are Associated with Diet Quality.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eicher-Miller, Heather A; Khanna, Nitin; Boushey, Carol J; Gelfand, Saul B; Delp, Edward J

    2016-02-01

    Temporal dietary patterns, the distribution of energy or nutrient intakes observed over a period of time, is an emerging area of dietary patterns research that incorporates time of dietary intake with frequency and amount of intake to determine population clusters that may have similar characteristics or outcomes related to diet quality. We examined whether differences in diet quality were present between clusters of individuals with similar daily temporal dietary patterns. The first-day 24-hour dietary recall data from the cross-sectional National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1999-2004, were used to determine proportional energy intake, time of intake, frequency of intake occasions, and mean diet quality. Data from 9,326 US adults aged 20 to 65 years were included. The mean diet quality, classified by the Healthy Eating Index-2005, of participant clusters with similar temporal dietary patterns derived on the basis of individual proportional energy intake, time of intake, and frequency of intake, were inferentially compared using multiple linear regression that controlled for potential confounders and other covariates (PDiet quality differences were present between US population clusters exhibiting similar daily temporal dietary patterns (Pdiet quality, demonstrating that elements beyond food and nutrient intake, such as time, can be incorporated with dietary patterns to determine links to diet quality that enhance knowledge of the complicated interplay of time and dietary patterns. Copyright © 2016 Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  4. Acoustic Characterization of Mesoscale Objects

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Chinn, D; Huber, R; Chambers, D; Cole, G; Balogun, O; Spicer, J; Murray, T

    2007-03-13

    This report describes the science and engineering performed to provide state-of-the-art acoustic capabilities for nondestructively characterizing mesoscale (millimeter-sized) objects--allowing micrometer resolution over the objects entire volume. Materials and structures used in mesoscale objects necessitate the use of (1) GHz acoustic frequencies and (2) non-contacting laser generation and detection of acoustic waves. This effort demonstrated that acoustic methods at gigahertz frequencies have the necessary penetration depth and spatial resolution to effectively detect density discontinuities, gaps, and delaminations. A prototype laser-based ultrasonic system was designed and built. The system uses a micro-chip laser for excitation of broadband ultrasonic waves with frequency components reaching 1.0 GHz, and a path-stabilized Michelson interferometer for detection. The proof-of-concept for mesoscale characterization is demonstrated by imaging a micro-fabricated etched pattern in a 70 {micro}m thick silicon wafer.

  5. ANALYSIS OF SPATIO-TEMPORAL TRAFFIC PATTERNS BASED ON PEDESTRIAN TRAJECTORIES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S. Busch

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available For driver assistance and autonomous driving systems, it is essential to predict the behaviour of other traffic participants. Usually, standard filter approaches are used to this end, however, in many cases, these are not sufficient. For example, pedestrians are able to change their speed or direction instantly. Also, there may be not enough observation data to determine the state of an object reliably, e.g. in case of occlusions. In those cases, it is very useful if a prior model exists, which suggests certain outcomes. For example, it is useful to know that pedestrians are usually crossing the road at a certain location and at certain times. This information can then be stored in a map which then can be used as a prior in scene analysis, or in practical terms to reduce the speed of a vehicle in advance in order to minimize critical situations. In this paper, we present an approach to derive such a spatio-temporal map automatically from the observed behaviour of traffic participants in everyday traffic situations. In our experiments, we use one stationary camera to observe a complex junction, where cars, public transportation and pedestrians interact. We concentrate on the pedestrians trajectories to map traffic patterns. In the first step, we extract trajectory segments from the video data. These segments are then clustered in order to derive a spatial model of the scene, in terms of a spatially embedded graph. In the second step, we analyse the temporal patterns of pedestrian movement on this graph. We are able to derive traffic light sequences as well as the timetables of nearby public transportation. To evaluate our approach, we used a 4 hour video sequence. We show that we are able to derive traffic light sequences as well as time tables of nearby public transportation.

  6. Analysis of Spatio-Temporal Traffic Patterns Based on Pedestrian Trajectories

    Science.gov (United States)

    Busch, S.; Schindler, T.; Klinger, T.; Brenner, C.

    2016-06-01

    For driver assistance and autonomous driving systems, it is essential to predict the behaviour of other traffic participants. Usually, standard filter approaches are used to this end, however, in many cases, these are not sufficient. For example, pedestrians are able to change their speed or direction instantly. Also, there may be not enough observation data to determine the state of an object reliably, e.g. in case of occlusions. In those cases, it is very useful if a prior model exists, which suggests certain outcomes. For example, it is useful to know that pedestrians are usually crossing the road at a certain location and at certain times. This information can then be stored in a map which then can be used as a prior in scene analysis, or in practical terms to reduce the speed of a vehicle in advance in order to minimize critical situations. In this paper, we present an approach to derive such a spatio-temporal map automatically from the observed behaviour of traffic participants in everyday traffic situations. In our experiments, we use one stationary camera to observe a complex junction, where cars, public transportation and pedestrians interact. We concentrate on the pedestrians trajectories to map traffic patterns. In the first step, we extract trajectory segments from the video data. These segments are then clustered in order to derive a spatial model of the scene, in terms of a spatially embedded graph. In the second step, we analyse the temporal patterns of pedestrian movement on this graph. We are able to derive traffic light sequences as well as the timetables of nearby public transportation. To evaluate our approach, we used a 4 hour video sequence. We show that we are able to derive traffic light sequences as well as time tables of nearby public transportation.

  7. Relationship between Spatio-Temporal Travel Patterns Derived from Smart-Card Data and Local Environmental Characteristics of Seoul, Korea

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mi-Kyeong Kim

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available With the incorporation of an automated fare-collection system into the management of public transportation, not only can the quality of transportation services be improved but also that of the data collected from users when coupled with smart-card technology. The data collected from smart cards provide opportunities for researchers to analyze big data sets and draw meaningful information out of them. This study aims to identify the relationship between travel patterns derived from smart-card data and urban characteristics. Using seven-day transit smart-card data from the public-transportation system in Seoul, the capital city of the Republic of Korea, we investigated the temporal and spatial boarding and alighting patterns of the users. The major travel patterns, classified into five clusters, were identified by utilizing the K-Spectral Centroid clustering method. We found that the temporal pattern of urban mobility reflects daily activities in the urban area and that the spatial pattern of the five clusters classified by travel patterns was closely related to urban structure and urban function; that is, local environmental characteristics extracted from land-use and census data. This study confirmed that the travel patterns at the citywide level can be used to understand the dynamics of the urban population and the urban spatial structure. We believe that this study will provide valuable information about general patterns, which represent the possibility of finding travel patterns from individuals and urban spatial traits.

  8. Temporal evolution of stimulated Brillouin backscatter

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hinkel, D.E.; Williams, E.A.; Berger, R.L.

    1994-01-01

    A qualitative understanding of the time dependence of stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) provides estimates of the amount of temporal growth that occurs in current inertial confinement fusion and short laser pulse interaction experiments when the growth is limited by the length of the experiment or by motion of the ''hot spots'' of the laser intensity pattern induced by beam smoothing. In the weak coupling limit, the instantaneous growth rate depends upon the plasma initial conditions early in time, is proportional to t -1/2 later in time, and asymptotically approaches the absolute growth rate (in the absence of damping). When the instability is strongly coupled, the growth rate depends upon the plasma initial conditions early in time but is proportional to t -1/3 later in time. When the growth rate drops to a value comparable to that of the ion acoustic frequency, the instability becomes effectively weakly coupled. The effects of damping are also discussed

  9. Machine learning methods reveal the temporal pattern of dengue incidence using meteorological factors in metropolitan Manila, Philippines.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carvajal, Thaddeus M; Viacrusis, Katherine M; Hernandez, Lara Fides T; Ho, Howell T; Amalin, Divina M; Watanabe, Kozo

    2018-04-17

    Several studies have applied ecological factors such as meteorological variables to develop models and accurately predict the temporal pattern of dengue incidence or occurrence. With the vast amount of studies that investigated this premise, the modeling approaches differ from each study and only use a single statistical technique. It raises the question of whether which technique would be robust and reliable. Hence, our study aims to compare the predictive accuracy of the temporal pattern of Dengue incidence in Metropolitan Manila as influenced by meteorological factors from four modeling techniques, (a) General Additive Modeling, (b) Seasonal Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average with exogenous variables (c) Random Forest and (d) Gradient Boosting. Dengue incidence and meteorological data (flood, precipitation, temperature, southern oscillation index, relative humidity, wind speed and direction) of Metropolitan Manila from January 1, 2009 - December 31, 2013 were obtained from respective government agencies. Two types of datasets were used in the analysis; observed meteorological factors (MF) and its corresponding delayed or lagged effect (LG). After which, these datasets were subjected to the four modeling techniques. The predictive accuracy and variable importance of each modeling technique were calculated and evaluated. Among the statistical modeling techniques, Random Forest showed the best predictive accuracy. Moreover, the delayed or lag effects of the meteorological variables was shown to be the best dataset to use for such purpose. Thus, the model of Random Forest with delayed meteorological effects (RF-LG) was deemed the best among all assessed models. Relative humidity was shown to be the top-most important meteorological factor in the best model. The study exhibited that there are indeed different predictive outcomes generated from each statistical modeling technique and it further revealed that the Random forest model with delayed meteorological

  10. Hierarchical organization in the temporal structure of infant-direct speech and song.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Falk, Simone; Kello, Christopher T

    2017-06-01

    Caregivers alter the temporal structure of their utterances when talking and singing to infants compared with adult communication. The present study tested whether temporal variability in infant-directed registers serves to emphasize the hierarchical temporal structure of speech. Fifteen German-speaking mothers sang a play song and told a story to their 6-months-old infants, or to an adult. Recordings were analyzed using a recently developed method that determines the degree of nested clustering of temporal events in speech. Events were defined as peaks in the amplitude envelope, and clusters of various sizes related to periods of acoustic speech energy at varying timescales. Infant-directed speech and song clearly showed greater event clustering compared with adult-directed registers, at multiple timescales of hundreds of milliseconds to tens of seconds. We discuss the relation of this newly discovered acoustic property to temporal variability in linguistic units and its potential implications for parent-infant communication and infants learning the hierarchical structures of speech and language. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  11. Experimental demonstration of topologically protected efficient sound propagation in an acoustic waveguide network

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wei, Qi; Tian, Ye; Zuo, Shu-Yu; Cheng, Ying; Liu, Xiao-Jun

    2017-03-01

    Acoustic topological states support sound propagation along the boundary in a one-way direction with inherent robustness against defects and disorders, leading to the revolution of the manipulation on acoustic waves. A variety of acoustic topological states relying on circulating fluid, chiral coupling, or temporal modulation have been proposed theoretically. However, experimental demonstration has so far remained a significant challenge, due to the critical limitations such as structural complexity and high losses. Here, we experimentally demonstrate an acoustic anomalous Floquet topological insulator in a waveguide network. The acoustic gapless edge states can be found in the band gap when the waveguides are strongly coupled. The scheme features simple structure and high-energy throughput, leading to the experimental demonstration of efficient and robust topologically protected sound propagation along the boundary. The proposal may offer a unique, promising application for design of acoustic devices in acoustic guiding, switching, isolating, filtering, etc.

  12. Different Temporal Patterns of Specific and General Autobiographical Memories across the Lifespan in Alzheimer's Disease.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Philippi, Nathalie; Rousseau, François; Noblet, Vincent; Botzung, Anne; Després, Olivier; Cretin, Benjamin; Kremer, Stéphane; Blanc, Frédéric; Manning, Liliann

    2015-01-01

    We compared specific (i.e., associated with a unique time and space) and general (i.e., extended or repeated events) autobiographical memories (AbM) in Alzheimer's disease (AD). The comparison aims at investigating the relationship between these two components of AbM across the lifespan and the volume of cerebral regions of interest within the temporal lobe. We hypothesized that the ability to elicit specific memories would correlate with hippocampal volume, whereas evoking general memories would be related to lateral temporal lobe. AbM was assessed using the modified Crovitz test in 18 patients with early AD and 18 matched controls. The proportions of total memories-supposed to reflect the ability to produce general memories-and specific memories retrieved were compared between AD patients and controls. Correlations to MRI volumes of temporal cortex were tested. We found different temporal patterns for specific and general memories in AD patients, with (i) relatively spared general memories, according to a temporal gradient that preserved remote memories, predominantly associated with right lateral temporal cortex volume. (ii) Conversely, the retrieval of specific AbMs was impaired for all life periods and correlated with bilateral hippocampal volumes. Our results highlight a shift from an initially episodic to a semantic nature of AbMs during AD, where the abstracted form of memories remains.

  13. Passive acoustic monitoring of bed load for fluvial applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    The sediment transported as bed load in streams and rivers is notoriously difficult to monitor cheaply and accurately. Passive acoustic methods are relatively simple, inexpensive, and provide spatial integration along with high temporal resolution. In 1963 work began on monitoring emissions from par...

  14. Spatio-temporal pattern of vestibular information processing after brief caloric stimulation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Marcelli, Vincenzo; Esposito, Fabrizio; Aragri, Adriana; Furia, Teresa; Riccardi, Pasquale; Tosetti, Michela; Biagi, Laura; Marciano, Elio; Di Salle, Francesco

    2009-01-01

    Processing of vestibular information at the cortical and subcortical level is essential for head and body orientation in space and self-motion perception, but little is known about the neural dynamics of the brain regions of the vestibular system involved in this task. Neuroimaging studies using both galvanic and caloric stimulation have shown that several distinct cortical and subcortical structures can be activated during vestibular information processing. The insular cortex has been often targeted and presented as the central hub of the vestibular cortical system. Since very short pulses of cold water ear irrigation can generate a strong and prolonged vestibular response and a nystagmus, we explored the effects of this type of caloric stimulation for assessing the blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) dynamics of neural vestibular processing in a whole-brain event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) experiment. We evaluated the spatial layout and the temporal dynamics of the activated cortical and subcortical regions in time-locking with the instant of injection and were able to extract a robust pattern of neural activity involving the contra-lateral insular cortex, the thalamus, the brainstem and the cerebellum. No significant correlation with the temporal envelope of the nystagmus was found. The temporal analysis of the activation profiles highlighted a significantly longer duration of the evoked BOLD activity in the brainstem compared to the insular cortex suggesting a functional de-coupling between cortical and subcortical activity during the vestibular response.

  15. Generation of intensity duration frequency curves and intensity temporal variability pattern of intense rainfall for Lages/SC

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Célio Orli Cardoso

    2014-04-01

    Full Text Available The objective of this work was to analyze the frequency distribution and intensity temporal variability of intense rainfall for Lages/SC from diary pluviograph data. Data on annual series of maximum rainfalls from rain gauges of the CAV-UDESC Weather Station in Lages/SC were used from 2000 to 2009. Gumbel statistic distribution was applied in order to obtain the rainfall height and intensity in the following return periods: 2, 5, 10, 15 and 20 years. Results showed intensity-duration-frequency curves (I-D-F for those return periods, as well as I-D-F equations: i=2050.Tr0,20.(t+30-0,89, where i was the intensity, Tr was the rainfall return periods and t was the rainfall duration. For the intensity of temporal variability pattern along of the rainfall duration time, the convective, or advanced pattern was the predominant, with larger precipitate rainfalls in the first half of the duration. The same pattern presented larger occurrences in the spring and summer stations.

  16. T-pattern analysis for the study of temporal structure of animal and human behavior: a comprehensive review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Casarrubea, M; Jonsson, G K; Faulisi, F; Sorbera, F; Di Giovanni, G; Benigno, A; Crescimanno, G; Magnusson, M S

    2015-01-15

    A basic tenet in the realm of modern behavioral sciences is that behavior consists of patterns in time. For this reason, investigations of behavior deal with sequences that are not easily perceivable by the unaided observer. This problem calls for improved means of detection, data handling and analysis. This review focuses on the analysis of the temporal structure of behavior carried out by means of a multivariate approach known as T-pattern analysis. Using this technique, recurring sequences of behavioral events, usually hard to detect, can be unveiled and carefully described. T-pattern analysis has been successfully applied in the study of various aspects of human or animal behavior such as behavioral modifications in neuro-psychiatric diseases, route-tracing stereotypy in mice, interaction between human subjects and animal or artificial agents, hormonal-behavioral interactions, patterns of behavior associated with emesis and, in our laboratories, exploration and anxiety-related behaviors in rodents. After describing the theory and concepts of T-pattern analysis, this review will focus on the application of the analysis to the study of the temporal characteristics of behavior in different species from rodents to human beings. This work could represent a useful background for researchers who intend to employ such a refined multivariate approach to the study of behavior. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  17. Gravity enhanced acoustic levitation method and apparatus

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barmatz, M. B.; Allen, J. L.; Granett, D. (Inventor)

    1985-01-01

    An acoustic levitation system is provided for acoustically levitating an object by applying a single frequency from a transducer into a resonant chamber surrounding the object. The chamber includes a stabilizer location along its height, where the side walls of the chamber are angled so they converge in an upward direction. When an acoustic standing wave pattern is applied between the top and bottom of the chamber, a levitation surface within the stabilizer does not lie on a horizontal plane, but instead is curved with a lowermost portion near the vertical axis of the chamber. As a result, an acoustically levitated object is urged by gravity towards the lowermost location on the levitation surface, so the object is kept away from the side walls of the chamber.

  18. Variability in Regularity: Mining Temporal Mobility Patterns in London, Singapore and Beijing Using Smart-Card Data.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhong, Chen; Batty, Michael; Manley, Ed; Wang, Jiaqiu; Wang, Zijia; Chen, Feng; Schmitt, Gerhard

    2016-01-01

    To discover regularities in human mobility is of fundamental importance to our understanding of urban dynamics, and essential to city and transport planning, urban management and policymaking. Previous research has revealed universal regularities at mainly aggregated spatio-temporal scales but when we zoom into finer scales, considerable heterogeneity and diversity is observed instead. The fundamental question we address in this paper is at what scales are the regularities we detect stable, explicable, and sustainable. This paper thus proposes a basic measure of variability to assess the stability of such regularities focusing mainly on changes over a range of temporal scales. We demonstrate this by comparing regularities in the urban mobility patterns in three world cities, namely London, Singapore and Beijing using one-week of smart-card data. The results show that variations in regularity scale as non-linear functions of the temporal resolution, which we measure over a scale from 1 minute to 24 hours thus reflecting the diurnal cycle of human mobility. A particularly dramatic increase in variability occurs up to the temporal scale of about 15 minutes in all three cities and this implies that limits exist when we look forward or backward with respect to making short-term predictions. The degree of regularity varies in fact from city to city with Beijing and Singapore showing higher regularity in comparison to London across all temporal scales. A detailed discussion is provided, which relates the analysis to various characteristics of the three cities. In summary, this work contributes to a deeper understanding of regularities in patterns of transit use from variations in volumes of travellers entering subway stations, it establishes a generic analytical framework for comparative studies using urban mobility data, and it provides key points for the management of variability by policy-makers intent on for making the travel experience more amenable.

  19. Variability in Regularity: Mining Temporal Mobility Patterns in London, Singapore and Beijing Using Smart-Card Data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhong, Chen; Batty, Michael; Manley, Ed; Wang, Jiaqiu; Wang, Zijia; Chen, Feng; Schmitt, Gerhard

    2016-01-01

    To discover regularities in human mobility is of fundamental importance to our understanding of urban dynamics, and essential to city and transport planning, urban management and policymaking. Previous research has revealed universal regularities at mainly aggregated spatio-temporal scales but when we zoom into finer scales, considerable heterogeneity and diversity is observed instead. The fundamental question we address in this paper is at what scales are the regularities we detect stable, explicable, and sustainable. This paper thus proposes a basic measure of variability to assess the stability of such regularities focusing mainly on changes over a range of temporal scales. We demonstrate this by comparing regularities in the urban mobility patterns in three world cities, namely London, Singapore and Beijing using one-week of smart-card data. The results show that variations in regularity scale as non-linear functions of the temporal resolution, which we measure over a scale from 1 minute to 24 hours thus reflecting the diurnal cycle of human mobility. A particularly dramatic increase in variability occurs up to the temporal scale of about 15 minutes in all three cities and this implies that limits exist when we look forward or backward with respect to making short-term predictions. The degree of regularity varies in fact from city to city with Beijing and Singapore showing higher regularity in comparison to London across all temporal scales. A detailed discussion is provided, which relates the analysis to various characteristics of the three cities. In summary, this work contributes to a deeper understanding of regularities in patterns of transit use from variations in volumes of travellers entering subway stations, it establishes a generic analytical framework for comparative studies using urban mobility data, and it provides key points for the management of variability by policy-makers intent on for making the travel experience more amenable. PMID:26872333

  20. Variability in Regularity: Mining Temporal Mobility Patterns in London, Singapore and Beijing Using Smart-Card Data.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chen Zhong

    Full Text Available To discover regularities in human mobility is of fundamental importance to our understanding of urban dynamics, and essential to city and transport planning, urban management and policymaking. Previous research has revealed universal regularities at mainly aggregated spatio-temporal scales but when we zoom into finer scales, considerable heterogeneity and diversity is observed instead. The fundamental question we address in this paper is at what scales are the regularities we detect stable, explicable, and sustainable. This paper thus proposes a basic measure of variability to assess the stability of such regularities focusing mainly on changes over a range of temporal scales. We demonstrate this by comparing regularities in the urban mobility patterns in three world cities, namely London, Singapore and Beijing using one-week of smart-card data. The results show that variations in regularity scale as non-linear functions of the temporal resolution, which we measure over a scale from 1 minute to 24 hours thus reflecting the diurnal cycle of human mobility. A particularly dramatic increase in variability occurs up to the temporal scale of about 15 minutes in all three cities and this implies that limits exist when we look forward or backward with respect to making short-term predictions. The degree of regularity varies in fact from city to city with Beijing and Singapore showing higher regularity in comparison to London across all temporal scales. A detailed discussion is provided, which relates the analysis to various characteristics of the three cities. In summary, this work contributes to a deeper understanding of regularities in patterns of transit use from variations in volumes of travellers entering subway stations, it establishes a generic analytical framework for comparative studies using urban mobility data, and it provides key points for the management of variability by policy-makers intent on for making the travel experience more

  1. Spatial and temporal patterns of land surface fluxes from remotely sensed surface temperatures within an uncertainty modelling framework

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. F. McCabe

    2005-01-01

    Full Text Available Characterising the development of evapotranspiration through time is a difficult task, particularly when utilising remote sensing data, because retrieved information is often spatially dense, but temporally sparse. Techniques to expand these essentially instantaneous measures are not only limited, they are restricted by the general paucity of information describing the spatial distribution and temporal evolution of evaporative patterns. In a novel approach, temporal changes in land surface temperatures, derived from NOAA-AVHRR imagery and a generalised split-window algorithm, are used as a calibration variable in a simple land surface scheme (TOPUP and combined within the Generalised Likelihood Uncertainty Estimation (GLUE methodology to provide estimates of areal evapotranspiration at the pixel scale. Such an approach offers an innovative means of transcending the patch or landscape scale of SVAT type models, to spatially distributed estimates of model output. The resulting spatial and temporal patterns of land surface fluxes and surface resistance are used to more fully understand the hydro-ecological trends observed across a study catchment in eastern Australia. The modelling approach is assessed by comparing predicted cumulative evapotranspiration values with surface fluxes determined from Bowen ratio systems and using auxiliary information such as in-situ soil moisture measurements and depth to groundwater to corroborate observed responses.

  2. Spatio-temporal transmission patterns of black-band disease in a coral community.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Assaf Zvuloni

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Transmission mechanisms of black-band disease (BBD in coral reefs are poorly understood, although this disease is considered to be one of the most widespread and destructive coral infectious diseases. The major objective of this study was to assess transmission mechanisms of BBD in the field based on the spatio-temporal patterns of the disease. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: 3,175 susceptible and infected corals were mapped over an area of 10x10 m in Eilat (northern Gulf of Aqaba, Red Sea and the distribution of the disease was examined monthly throughout almost two full disease cycles (June 2006-December 2007. Spatial and spatio-temporal analyses were applied to infer the transmission pattern of the disease and to calculate key epidemiological parameters such as (basic reproduction number. We show that the prevalence of the disease is strongly associated with high water temperature. When water temperatures rise and disease prevalence increases, infected corals exhibit aggregated distributions on small spatial scales of up to 1.9 m. Additionally, newly-infected corals clearly appear in proximity to existing infected corals and in a few cases in direct contact with them. We also present and test a model of water-borne infection, indicating that the likelihood of a susceptible coral becoming infected is defined by its spatial location and by the relative spatial distribution of nearby infected corals found in the site. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our results provide evidence that local transmission, but not necessarily by direct contact, is likely to be an important factor in the spread of the disease over the tested spatial scale. In the absence of potential disease vectors with limited mobility (e.g., snails, fireworms in the studied site, water-borne infection is likely to be a significant transmission mechanism of BBD. Our suggested model of water-borne transmission supports this hypothesis. The spatio-temporal analysis also points

  3. Spatio-temporal patterns of key exploited marine species in the Northwestern Mediterranean Sea.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marie Morfin

    Full Text Available This study analyzes the temporal variability/stability of the spatial distributions of key exploited species in the Gulf of Lions (Northwestern Mediterranean Sea. To do so, we analyzed data from the MEDITS bottom-trawl scientific surveys from 1994 to 2010 at 66 fixed stations and selected 12 key exploited species. We proposed a geostatistical approach to handle zero-inflated and non-stationary distributions and to test for the temporal stability of the spatial structures. Empirical Orthogonal Functions and other descriptors were then applied to investigate the temporal persistence and the characteristics of the spatial patterns. The spatial structure of the distribution (i.e. the pattern of spatial autocorrelation of the 12 key species studied remained highly stable over the time period sampled. The spatial distributions of all species obtained through kriging also appeared to be stable over time, while each species displayed a specific spatial distribution. Furthermore, adults were generally more densely concentrated than juveniles and occupied areas included in the distribution of juveniles. Despite the strong persistence of spatial distributions, we also observed that the area occupied by each species was correlated to its abundance: the more abundant the species, the larger the occupation area. Such a result tends to support MacCall's basin theory, according to which density-dependence responses would drive the expansion of those 12 key species in the Gulf of Lions. Further analyses showed that these species never saturated their habitats, suggesting that they are below their carrying capacity; an assumption in agreement with the overexploitation of several of these species. Finally, the stability of their spatial distributions over time and their potential ability to diffuse outside their main habitats give support to Marine Protected Areas as a potential pertinent management tool.

  4. Temporal lobe sulcal pattern and the bony impressions in the middle cranial fossa: the case of the el Sidrón (Spain) neandertal sample.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rosas, Antonio; Peña-Melián, Angel; García-Tabernero, Antonio; Bastir, Markus; De La Rasilla, Marco

    2014-12-01

    Correspondence between temporal lobe sulcal pattern and bony impressions on the middle cranial fossae (MCF) was analyzed. MCF bone remains (SD-359, SD-315, and SD-1219) from the El Sidrón (Spain) neandertal site are analyzed in this context. Direct comparison of the soft and hard tissues from the same individual was studied by means of: 1) dissection of two human heads; 2) optic (white light) surface scans; 3) computed tomography and magnetic resonance of the same head. The inferior temporal sulcus and gyrus are the features most strongly influencing MCF bone surface. The Superior temporal sulcus and middle temporal and fusiform gyri also leave imprints. Temporal lobe form differs between Homo sapiens and neandertals. A wider and larger post-arcuate fossa (posterior limit of Brodmann area 20 and the anterior portion of area 37) is present in modern humans as compared to neandertals. However other traits of the MCF surface are similar in these two large-brained human groups. A conspicuous variation is appreciated in the more vertical location of the inferior temporal gyrus in H. sapiens. In parallel, structures of the lower surface of the temporal lobe are more sagittally orientated. Grooves accommodating the fusiform and the lower temporal sulci become grossly parallel to the temporal squama. These differences can be understood within the context of a supero-lateral deployment of the lobe in H. sapiens, a pattern previously identified (Bastir et al., Nat Commun 2 (2011) 588-595). Regarding dural sinus pattern, a higher incidence of petrosquamous sinus is detected in neandertal samples. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  5. Resection planning for robotic acoustic neuroma surgery

    Science.gov (United States)

    McBrayer, Kepra L.; Wanna, George B.; Dawant, Benoit M.; Balachandran, Ramya; Labadie, Robert F.; Noble, Jack H.

    2016-03-01

    Acoustic neuroma surgery is a procedure in which a benign mass is removed from the Internal Auditory Canal (IAC). Currently this surgical procedure requires manual drilling of the temporal bone followed by exposure and removal of the acoustic neuroma. This procedure is physically and mentally taxing to the surgeon. Our group is working to develop an Acoustic Neuroma Surgery Robot (ANSR) to perform the initial drilling procedure. Planning the ANSR's drilling region using pre-operative CT requires expertise and around 35 minutes' time. We propose an approach for automatically producing a resection plan for the ANSR that would avoid damage to sensitive ear structures and require minimal editing by the surgeon. We first compute an atlas-based segmentation of the mastoid section of the temporal bone, refine it based on the position of anatomical landmarks, and apply a safety margin to the result to produce the automatic resection plan. In experiments with CTs from 9 subjects, our automated process resulted in a resection plan that was verified to be safe in every case. Approximately 2 minutes were required in each case for the surgeon to verify and edit the plan to permit functional access to the IAC. We measured a mean Dice coefficient of 0.99 and surface error of 0.08 mm between the final and automatically proposed plans. These preliminary results indicate that our approach is a viable method for resection planning for the ANSR and drastically reduces the surgeon's planning effort.

  6. An Unconditionally Stable Method for Solving the Acoustic Wave Equation

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    Zhi-Kai Fu

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available An unconditionally stable method for solving the time-domain acoustic wave equation using Associated Hermit orthogonal functions is proposed. The second-order time derivatives in acoustic wave equation are expanded by these orthogonal basis functions. By applying Galerkin temporal testing procedure, the time variable can be eliminated from the calculations. The restriction of Courant-Friedrichs-Levy (CFL condition in selecting time step for analyzing thin layer can be avoided. Numerical results show the accuracy and the efficiency of the proposed method.

  7. Psychological distress through immigration: the two-phase temporal pattern?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ritsner, M; Ponizovsky, A

    1999-01-01

    A large community sample, cross-sectional and in part longitudinal design, and comparison groups was used to determine the timing of psychological distress among immigrants. A total of 2,378 adult immigrants from the former Soviet Union to Israel completed the self-administered questionnaire Talbieh Brief Distress Inventory. The aggregate levels of distress and six psychological symptoms--obsessiveness, hostility, interpersonal sensitivity, depression, anxiety, and paranoid ideation--were compared at 20 intervals covering 1 to 60 months after resettlement. The level of psychological distress was significantly higher in the immigrants than that of Israeli natives but not in the potential immigrant controls. A two-phase temporal pattern of development of psychological distress was revealed consisting of escalation and reduction phases. The escalation phase was characterized by an increase in distress levels until the 27th month after arrival (a peak) and the reduction phase led to a decline returning to normal levels. The 1-month prevalence rate was 15.6% for the total sample, and for highly distressed subjects it reached 24% at the 27th month after arrival, and it declined to 4% at the 44th month. The time pattern of distress shared males and females, married and divorced/widowed (but not singles), as well as subjects of all age groups (except for immigrants in their forties). The two-phase pattern of distress obtained according to cross-sectional data was indirectly confirmed through a longitudinal way. Claims of early euphoric or distress-free period followed by mental health crisis frequently referred to in the literature on migration was not supported by this study.

  8. Acoustic cloaking and transformation acoustics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chen Huanyang; Chan, C T

    2010-01-01

    In this review, we give a brief introduction to the application of the new technique of transformation acoustics, which draws on a correspondence between coordinate transformation and material properties. The technique is formulated for both acoustic waves and linear liquid surface waves. Some interesting conceptual devices can be designed for manipulating acoustic waves. For example, we can design acoustic cloaks that make an object invisible to acoustic waves, and the cloak can either encompass or lie outside the object to be concealed. Transformation acoustics, as an analog of transformation optics, can go beyond invisibility cloaking. As an illustration for manipulating linear liquid surface waves, we show that a liquid wave rotator can be designed and fabricated to rotate the wave front. The acoustic transformation media require acoustic materials which are anisotropic and inhomogeneous. Such materials are difficult to find in nature. However, composite materials with embedded sub-wavelength resonators can in principle be made and such 'acoustic metamaterials' can exhibit nearly arbitrary values of effective density and modulus tensors to satisfy the demanding material requirements in transformation acoustics. We introduce resonant sonic materials and Helmholtz resonators as examples of acoustic metamaterials that exhibit resonant behaviour in effective density and effective modulus. (topical review)

  9. Validation and Simulation of Ares I Scale Model Acoustic Test - 2 - Simulations at 5 Foot Elevation for Evaluation of Launch Mount Effects

    Science.gov (United States)

    Strutzenberg, Louise L.; Putman, Gabriel C.

    2011-01-01

    The Ares I Scale Model Acoustics Test (ASMAT) is a series of live-fire tests of scaled rocket motors meant to simulate the conditions of the Ares I launch configuration. These tests have provided a well documented set of high fidelity measurements useful for validation including data taken over a range of test conditions and containing phenomena like Ignition Over-Pressure and water suppression of acoustics. Expanding from initial simulations of the ASMAT setup in a held down configuration, simulations have been performed using the Loci/CHEM computational fluid dynamics software for ASMAT tests of the vehicle at 5 ft. elevation (100 ft. real vehicle elevation) with worst case drift in the direction of the launch tower. These tests have been performed without water suppression and have compared the acoustic emissions for launch structures with and without launch mounts. In addition, simulation results have also been compared to acoustic and imagery data collected from similar live-fire tests to assess the accuracy of the simulations. Simulations have shown a marked change in the pattern of emissions after removal of the launch mount with a reduction in the overall acoustic environment experienced by the vehicle and the formation of highly directed acoustic waves moving across the platform deck. Comparisons of simulation results to live-fire test data showed good amplitude and temporal correlation and imagery comparisons over the visible and infrared wavelengths showed qualitative capture of all plume and pressure wave evolution features.

  10. Temporal modulations in speech and music.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ding, Nai; Patel, Aniruddh D; Chen, Lin; Butler, Henry; Luo, Cheng; Poeppel, David

    2017-10-01

    Speech and music have structured rhythms. Here we discuss a major acoustic correlate of spoken and musical rhythms, the slow (0.25-32Hz) temporal modulations in sound intensity and compare the modulation properties of speech and music. We analyze these modulations using over 25h of speech and over 39h of recordings of Western music. We show that the speech modulation spectrum is highly consistent across 9 languages (including languages with typologically different rhythmic characteristics). A different, but similarly consistent modulation spectrum is observed for music, including classical music played by single instruments of different types, symphonic, jazz, and rock. The temporal modulations of speech and music show broad but well-separated peaks around 5 and 2Hz, respectively. These acoustically dominant time scales may be intrinsic features of speech and music, a possibility which should be investigated using more culturally diverse samples in each domain. Distinct modulation timescales for speech and music could facilitate their perceptual analysis and its neural processing. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  11. Dynamic perfusion patterns in temporal lobe epilepsy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dupont, Patrick; Paesschen, Wim van; Zaknun, John J.; Maes, Alex; Tepmongkol, Supatporn; Locharernkul, Chaichon; Vasquez, Silvia; Carpintiero, Silvina; Bal, C.S.; Dondi, Maurizio

    2009-01-01

    To investigate dynamic ictal perfusion changes during temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). We investigated 37 patients with TLE by ictal and interictal SPECT. All ictal injections were performed within 60 s of seizure onset. Statistical parametric mapping was used to analyse brain perfusion changes and temporal relationships with injection time and seizure duration as covariates. The analysis revealed significant ictal hyperperfusion in the ipsilateral temporal lobe extending to subcortical regions. Hypoperfusion was observed in large extratemporal areas. There were also significant dynamic changes in several extratemporal regions: ipsilateral orbitofrontal and bilateral superior frontal gyri and the contralateral cerebellum and ipsilateral striatum. The study demonstrated early dynamic perfusion changes in extratemporal regions probably involved in both propagation of epileptic activity and initiation of inhibitory mechanisms. (orig.)

  12. Dynamic perfusion patterns in temporal lobe epilepsy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dupont, Patrick; Paesschen, Wim van [KU Leuven/UZ Gasthuisberg, Nuclear Medicine, Medical Imaging Center and Neurology, Leuven (Belgium); Zaknun, John J. [International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Nuclear Medicine Section, Division of Human Health, Wagramer Strasse 5, PO BOX 200, Vienna (Austria); University Hospital of Innsbruck, Department of Nuclear Medicine, Innsbruck (Austria); Maes, Alex [KU Leuven/UZ Gasthuisberg, Nuclear Medicine, Medical Imaging Center and Neurology, Leuven (Belgium); AZ Groeninge, Nuclear Medicine, Kortrijk (Belgium); Tepmongkol, Supatporn; Locharernkul, Chaichon [Chulalongkorn University, Nuclear Medicine and Neurology, Bangkok (Thailand); Vasquez, Silvia; Carpintiero, Silvina [Fleni Instituto de Investigaciones Neurologicas, Nuclear Medicine, Buenos Aires (Argentina); Bal, C.S. [All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Nuclear Medicine, New Delhi (India); Dondi, Maurizio [International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Nuclear Medicine Section, Division of Human Health, Wagramer Strasse 5, PO BOX 200, Vienna (Austria); Ospedale Maggiore, Nuclear Medicine, Bologna (Italy)

    2009-05-15

    To investigate dynamic ictal perfusion changes during temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). We investigated 37 patients with TLE by ictal and interictal SPECT. All ictal injections were performed within 60 s of seizure onset. Statistical parametric mapping was used to analyse brain perfusion changes and temporal relationships with injection time and seizure duration as covariates. The analysis revealed significant ictal hyperperfusion in the ipsilateral temporal lobe extending to subcortical regions. Hypoperfusion was observed in large extratemporal areas. There were also significant dynamic changes in several extratemporal regions: ipsilateral orbitofrontal and bilateral superior frontal gyri and the contralateral cerebellum and ipsilateral striatum. The study demonstrated early dynamic perfusion changes in extratemporal regions probably involved in both propagation of epileptic activity and initiation of inhibitory mechanisms. (orig.)

  13. Spatial and temporal patterns of carbon storage in forest ecosystems on Hainan island, southern China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ren, Hai; Li, Linjun; Liu, Qiang; Wang, Xu; Li, Yide; Hui, Dafeng; Jian, Shuguang; Wang, Jun; Yang, Huai; Lu, Hongfang; Zhou, Guoyi; Tang, Xuli; Zhang, Qianmei; Wang, Dong; Yuan, Lianlian; Chen, Xubing

    2014-01-01

    Spatial and temporal patterns of carbon (C) storage in forest ecosystems significantly affect the terrestrial C budget, but such patterns are unclear in the forests in Hainan Province, the largest tropical island in China. Here, we estimated the spatial and temporal patterns of C storage from 1993-2008 in Hainan's forest ecosystems by combining our measured data with four consecutive national forest inventories data. Forest coverage increased from 20.7% in the 1950s to 56.4% in the 2010s. The average C density of 163.7 Mg C/ha in Hainan's forest ecosystems in this study was slightly higher than that of China's mainland forests, but was remarkably lower than that in the tropical forests worldwide. Total forest ecosystem C storage in Hainan increased from 109.51 Tg in 1993 to 279.17 Tg in 2008. Soil C accounted for more than 70% of total forest ecosystem C. The spatial distribution of forest C storage in Hainan was uneven, reflecting differences in land use change and forest management. The potential carbon sequestration of forest ecosystems was 77.3 Tg C if all forested lands were restored to natural tropical forests. To increase the C sequestration potential on Hainan Island, future forest management should focus on the conservation of natural forests, selection of tree species, planting of understory species, and implementation of sustainable practices.

  14. The chronotron: a neuron that learns to fire temporally precise spike patterns.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Răzvan V Florian

    Full Text Available In many cases, neurons process information carried by the precise timings of spikes. Here we show how neurons can learn to generate specific temporally precise output spikes in response to input patterns of spikes having precise timings, thus processing and memorizing information that is entirely temporally coded, both as input and as output. We introduce two new supervised learning rules for spiking neurons with temporal coding of information (chronotrons, one that provides high memory capacity (E-learning, and one that has a higher biological plausibility (I-learning. With I-learning, the neuron learns to fire the target spike trains through synaptic changes that are proportional to the synaptic currents at the timings of real and target output spikes. We study these learning rules in computer simulations where we train integrate-and-fire neurons. Both learning rules allow neurons to fire at the desired timings, with sub-millisecond precision. We show how chronotrons can learn to classify their inputs, by firing identical, temporally precise spike trains for different inputs belonging to the same class. When the input is noisy, the classification also leads to noise reduction. We compute lower bounds for the memory capacity of chronotrons and explore the influence of various parameters on chronotrons' performance. The chronotrons can model neurons that encode information in the time of the first spike relative to the onset of salient stimuli or neurons in oscillatory networks that encode information in the phases of spikes relative to the background oscillation. Our results show that firing one spike per cycle optimizes memory capacity in neurons encoding information in the phase of firing relative to a background rhythm.

  15. Temporal patterns of caffeine intake in the United States.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martyn, Danika; Lau, Annette; Richardson, Philip; Roberts, Ashley

    2018-01-01

    To investigate whether caffeine intake among adolescents and adults in the U.S. varies across the week or throughout the day, data from a 7-day online beverage consumption survey (2010-2011) were analyzed. Mean (206.8-213.0 mg/day) and 90th percentile (437.4-452.6 mg/day) daily caffeine intakes among consumers 13 years and older were relatively constant across the week with no marked difference among weekdays versus weekend days. Percent consumers of caffeinated beverages likewise remained stable across the week. Mean daily caffeine intake for coffee and energy drink consumers 13 years and older was higher than contributions for tea and carbonated soft drink consumers. Caffeinated beverage consumers (13 + yrs) consumed most of their caffeine in the morning (61% versus 21% and 18% in the afternoon and evening) which was driven by coffee. Caffeinated beverage consumption patterns among adolescents (13-17 yrs) - who typically consume less daily caffeine - were more evenly distributed throughout the day. These findings provide insight into U.S. temporal caffeine consumption patterns among specific caffeinated beverage consumers and different age brackets. These data suggest that while caffeine intakes do not vary from day-to-day, mornings generally drive the daily caffeine intake of adults and is predominantly attributed to coffee. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

  16. Evaluation of CT-scanning of the temporal bone in the diagnosis of ear diseases

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Murata, Kiyotaka; Isono, Michio; Nishimae, Tadahide; Tamaki, Katsuhiko; Hosoi, Hiroshi; Ohta, Fumihiko

    1983-01-01

    CT-scanning of 96 temporal bones was carried out to reveal the extension of cholesteatoma, periossicular drainage, fracture lines, enlarged internal acoustic meatus and anomalies of labyrinthine capsules and ossicles. The clinical aspects of CT-scanning of the temporal bone (CTTB) were as follows: 1) Inner ear anomalies were observed in 17 temporal bones of unilateral deafness, high tone loss from unknown origin and fluctuant hearing loss. CTTB may explain the pathology of deafness from unknown origin. 2) Inner ear anomalies may be classified into more detailed groups than before. 3) The extension of cholesteatoma, localization and size of labyrinthine fistula can be estimated prior to surgery. 4) Cholesteatoma in a mastoidectomy cavity may be detected. 5) The malleus and incus may be visualized, although the stapes can hardly be found. 6) Fracture lines of a temporal bone, destruction of the internal acoustic meatus may be clearly detected. (author)

  17. Observation of topological edge states of acoustic metamaterials at subwavelength scale

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dai, Hongqing; Jiao, Junrui; Xia, Baizhan; Liu, Tingting; Zheng, Shengjie; Yu, Dejie

    2018-05-01

    Topological states are of key importance for acoustic wave systems owing to their unique transport properties. In this study, we develop a hexagonal array of hexagonal columns with Helmholtz resonators to obtain subwavelength Dirac cones. Rotation operations are performed to open the Dirac cones and obtain acoustic valley vortex states. In addition, we calculate the angular-dependent frequencies for the band edges at the K-point. Through a topological phase transition, the topological phase of pattern A can change into that of pattern B. The calculations for the bulk dispersion curves show that the acoustic metamaterials exhibit BA-type and AB-type topological edge states. Experimental results demonstrate that a sound wave can transmit well along the topological path. This study could reveal a simple approach to create acoustic topological edge states at the subwavelength scale.

  18. Medio-Frontal and Anterior Temporal abnormalities in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD during an acoustic antisaccade task as revealed by electro-cortical source reconstruction

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rockstroh Brigitte

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD is one of the most prevalent disorders in children and adolescence. Impulsivity is one of three core symptoms and likely associated with inhibition difficulties. To date the neural correlate of the antisaccade task, a test of response inhibition, has not been studied in children with (or without ADHD. Methods Antisaccade responses to visual and acoustic cues were examined in nine unmedicated boys with ADHD (mean age 122.44 ± 20.81 months and 14 healthy control children (mean age 115.64 ± 22.87 months, three girls while an electroencephalogram (EEG was recorded. Brain activity before saccade onset was reconstructed using a 23-source-montage. Results When cues were acoustic, children with ADHD had a higher source activity than control children in Medio-Frontal Cortex (MFC between -230 and -120 ms and in the left-hemispheric Temporal Anterior Cortex (TAC between -112 and 0 ms before saccade onset, despite both groups performing similarly behaviourally (antisaccades errors and saccade latency. When visual cues were used EEG-activity preceding antisaccades did not differ between groups. Conclusion Children with ADHD exhibit altered functioning of the TAC and MFC during an antisaccade task elicited by acoustic cues. Children with ADHD need more source activation to reach the same behavioural level as control children.

  19. Listening in on Friction: Stick-Slip Acoustical Signatures in Velcro

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hurtado Parra, Sebastian; Morrow, Leslie; Radziwanowski, Miles; Angiolillo, Paul

    2013-03-01

    The onset of kinetic friction and the possible resulting stick-slip motion remain mysterious phenomena. Moreover, stick-slip dynamics are typically accompanied by acoustic bursts that occur temporally with the slip event. The dry sliding dynamics of the hook-and-loop system, as exemplified by Velcro, manifest stick-slip behavior along with audible bursts that are easily micrphonically collected. Synchronized measurements of the friction force and acoustic emissions were collected as hooked Velcro was driven at constant velocity over a bed of looped Velcro in an anechoic chamber. Not surprising, the envelope of the acoustic bursts maps well onto the slip events of the friction force time series and the intensity of the bursts trends with the magnitude of the difference of the friction force during a stick-slip event. However, the analysis of the acoustic emission can serve as a sensitive tool for revealing some of the hidden details of the evolution of the transition from static to kinetic friction. For instance, small acoustic bursts are seen prior to the Amontons-Coulomb threshold, signaling precursor events prior to the onset of macroscopically observed motion. Preliminary spectral analysis of the acoustic emissions including intensity-frequency data will be presented.

  20. Improved acoustic levitation apparatus

    Science.gov (United States)

    Berge, L. H.; Johnson, J. L.; Oran, W. A.; Reiss, D. A.

    1980-01-01

    Concave driver and reflector enhance and shape levitation forces in acoustic resonance system. Single-mode standing-wave pattern is focused by ring element situated between driver and reflector. Concave surfaces increase levitating forces up to factor of 6 as opposed to conventional flat surfaces, making it possible to suspend heavier objects.

  1. Spatio-temporal patterns of attacks on human and economic losses from wildlife in Chitwan National Park, Nepal

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Lamichhaen, B.R.; Persoon, G.A.; Leirs, H.; Poudel, S.; Subedi, N.; Pokheral, C.P.; Bhattarai, S.; Thapalia, B.P.; Iongh, de H.H.

    2018-01-01

    Wildlife attacks on humans and economic losses often result in reduced support of local communities for wildlife conservation. Information on spatial and temporal patterns of such losses in the highly affected areas contribute in designing and implementing effective mitigation measures. We analyzed

  2. Spatio-temporal dynamics of the white-eye square superlattice pattern in dielectric barrier discharge

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wei, Lingyan; Dong, Lifang; Feng, Jianyu; Liu, Weibo; Fan, Weili; Pan, Yuyang

    2016-01-01

    We report on the first investigation of the white-eye square superlattice pattern (WESSP) in a dielectric barrier discharge system. The evolution of patterns with increasing voltage is given. A phase diagram of WESSP as functions of gas pressure p and argon concentration φ is presented. The spatio-temporal dynamics of the WESSP is studied by using an intensified charge-coupled device camera and photomultipliers. Results show that the WESSP consists of four different transient sublattices, whose discharge sequence is small spots—spots on the line—halos—central spots in each half voltage cycle. The discharge moment and position of each sublattice are dependent upon the field of the wall charges produced by all sublattices discharged previously. (paper)

  3. Effects of food web structure and resource subsidies on the patterns and mechanisms of temporal coherence in a tropical coastal lagoon: an experimental mesocosm approach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Luciana Silva Carneiro

    Full Text Available AIM: The study of the patterns and mechanisms of temporal coherence of ecological variables among lakes has become an important area of limnology. However, no study to date has experimentally tested whether and how resource subsidies and food web configuration affect the patterns and mechanisms of temporal coherence of limnological variables. We conducted a field mesocosm experiment to test the following hypotheses: (i nutrient enrichment would reduce the temporal coherence of system variables; (ii fish predation would enhance the temporal coherence of system variables; and (iii the strength of temporal coherence decreases from physical (water transparency, to chemical (dissolved oxygen concentration [DO] to biological variables (total zooplankton biomass. METHODS: For 11 weeks, we manipulated fish presence and nutrient (N and P concentration in a 2 × 2 factorial design in sixteen within-lake enclosures installed in a tropical coastal lagoon. Coherence was estimated by pair-to-pair Pearson's moment correlations of the temporal trajectories of each response variable among enclosures of the same treatment. RESULTS: Fish presence only enhanced the temporal coherence of zooplankton biomass, whereas contrary to our expectations, nutrient addition enhanced the temporal coherence of [DO]. The strength of the individual effects of fish and nutrients on temporal coherence was affected by variable identity, but this variation did not occur in a consistent pattern across variables. However, the interactive effects of fish and nutrients on the temporal coherence of the three variables monitored were not statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate that local factors, such as fish presence and nutrient availability, may affect the temporal coherence of several system variables, but these effects are better predicted by the strength of direct interactions between the local factor and the variable than by the identity of the variable itself

  4. Wavelet-based ground vehicle recognition using acoustic signals

    Science.gov (United States)

    Choe, Howard C.; Karlsen, Robert E.; Gerhart, Grant R.; Meitzler, Thomas J.

    1996-03-01

    We present, in this paper, a wavelet-based acoustic signal analysis to remotely recognize military vehicles using their sound intercepted by acoustic sensors. Since expedited signal recognition is imperative in many military and industrial situations, we developed an algorithm that provides an automated, fast signal recognition once implemented in a real-time hardware system. This algorithm consists of wavelet preprocessing, feature extraction and compact signal representation, and a simple but effective statistical pattern matching. The current status of the algorithm does not require any training. The training is replaced by human selection of reference signals (e.g., squeak or engine exhaust sound) distinctive to each individual vehicle based on human perception. This allows a fast archiving of any new vehicle type in the database once the signal is collected. The wavelet preprocessing provides time-frequency multiresolution analysis using discrete wavelet transform (DWT). Within each resolution level, feature vectors are generated from statistical parameters and energy content of the wavelet coefficients. After applying our algorithm on the intercepted acoustic signals, the resultant feature vectors are compared with the reference vehicle feature vectors in the database using statistical pattern matching to determine the type of vehicle from where the signal originated. Certainly, statistical pattern matching can be replaced by an artificial neural network (ANN); however, the ANN would require training data sets and time to train the net. Unfortunately, this is not always possible for many real world situations, especially collecting data sets from unfriendly ground vehicles to train the ANN. Our methodology using wavelet preprocessing and statistical pattern matching provides robust acoustic signal recognition. We also present an example of vehicle recognition using acoustic signals collected from two different military ground vehicles. In this paper, we will

  5. The use of census migration data to approximate human movement patterns across temporal scales.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wesolowski, Amy; Buckee, Caroline O; Pindolia, Deepa K; Eagle, Nathan; Smith, David L; Garcia, Andres J; Tatem, Andrew J

    2013-01-01

    Human movement plays a key role in economies and development, the delivery of services, and the spread of infectious diseases. However, it remains poorly quantified partly because reliable data are often lacking, particularly for low-income countries. The most widely available are migration data from human population censuses, which provide valuable information on relatively long timescale relocations across countries, but do not capture the shorter-scale patterns, trips less than a year, that make up the bulk of human movement. Census-derived migration data may provide valuable proxies for shorter-term movements however, as substantial migration between regions can be indicative of well connected places exhibiting high levels of movement at finer time scales, but this has never been examined in detail. Here, an extensive mobile phone usage data set for Kenya was processed to extract movements between counties in 2009 on weekly, monthly, and annual time scales and compared to data on change in residence from the national census conducted during the same time period. We find that the relative ordering across Kenyan counties for incoming, outgoing and between-county movements shows strong correlations. Moreover, the distributions of trip durations from both sources of data are similar, and a spatial interaction model fit to the data reveals the relationships of different parameters over a range of movement time scales. Significant relationships between census migration data and fine temporal scale movement patterns exist, and results suggest that census data can be used to approximate certain features of movement patterns across multiple temporal scales, extending the utility of census-derived migration data.

  6. Optimization of Classification Strategies of Acetowhite Temporal Patterns towards Improving Diagnostic Performance of Colposcopy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Karina Gutiérrez-Fragoso

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Efforts have been being made to improve the diagnostic performance of colposcopy, trying to help better diagnose cervical cancer, particularly in developing countries. However, improvements in a number of areas are still necessary, such as the time it takes to process the full digital image of the cervix, the performance of the computing systems used to identify different kinds of tissues, and biopsy sampling. In this paper, we explore three different, well-known automatic classification methods (k-Nearest Neighbors, Naïve Bayes, and C4.5, in addition to different data models that take full advantage of this information and improve the diagnostic performance of colposcopy based on acetowhite temporal patterns. Based on the ROC and PRC area scores, the k-Nearest Neighbors and discrete PLA representation performed better than other methods. The values of sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy reached using this method were 60% (95% CI 50–70, 79% (95% CI 71–86, and 70% (95% CI 60–80, respectively. The acetowhitening phenomenon is not exclusive to high-grade lesions, and we have found acetowhite temporal patterns of epithelial changes that are not precancerous lesions but that are similar to positive ones. These findings need to be considered when developing more robust computing systems in the future.

  7. Flow-excited acoustic resonance excitation mechanism, design guidelines, and counter measures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ziada, Samir; Lafon, Philippe

    2014-01-01

    The excitation mechanism of acoustic resonances has long been recognized, but the industry continues to be plagued by its undesirable consequences, manifested in severe vibration and noise problems in a wide range of industrial applications. This paper focuses on the nature of the excitation mechanism of acoustic resonances in piping systems containing impinging shear flows, such as flow over shallow and deep cavities. Since this feedback mechanism is caused by the coupling between acoustic resonators and shear flow instabilities, attention is focused first on the nature of various types of acoustic resonance modes and then on the aero-acoustic sound sources, which result from the interaction of the inherently unstable shear flow with the sound field generated by the resonant acoustic modes. Various flow-sound interaction patterns are discussed, in which the resonant sound field can be predominantly parallel or normal to the mean flow direction and the acoustic wavelength can be an order of magnitude longer than the length scale of the separated shear flow or as short as the cavity length scale. Since the state of knowledge in this field has been recently reviewed by Tonon et al. (2011, 'Aero-acoustics of Pipe Systems With Closed Branches', Int. J. Aeroacoust., 10(2), pp. 201-276), this article focuses on the more practical aspects of the phenomenon, including various flow sound interaction patterns and the resulting aero-acoustic sources, which are relevant to industrial applications. A general design guide proposal and practical means to alleviate the excitation mechanism are also presented. These are demonstrated by two examples of recent industrial case histories dealing with acoustic fatigue failure of the steam dryer in a boiling water reactor (BWR) due to acoustic resonance in the main steam piping and acoustic resonances in the roll posts of the Short Take-Off and Vertical Lift Joint Strike Fighter (JSF). (authors)

  8. Statistical analysis of acoustic characteristics of Tibetan Lhasa dialect speech emotion

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Guo Dandan

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The paper makes a quantitative analysis and comparison on the continuous speech emotion of Lhasa Tibetan in the four basic emotional patterns (happy, surprise, sad, neutral pitch, energy and time length by experimental phonetics and the linear statistical research methods, found that there is a positive correlation between the Lhasa Tibetan emotional speech and pitch, energy and duration, etc. And the pitch, energy and duration of negative emotion acoustic parameters are bigger than positive emotion, on this basis, drawing the Lhasa Tibetan speech emotion acoustic feature patterns. Compared with the Chinese language and the Tibetan, even though both have the tone prosodic features, they also have significant differences in the acoustic characteristics of the speech emotion.

  9. Temporal changes in spatial patterns of submersed macrophytes in two impounded reaches of the Upper Mississippi River, USA, 1998-2009

    Science.gov (United States)

    De Jager, Nathan R.; Yin, Yao

    2011-01-01

    We examined temporal changes in spatial patterns of submersed aquatic macrophytes during a recent three-fold increase in macrophyte abundance and in response to the cumulative effects of management actions (island construction and water level management) and changes in regional environmental conditions (turbidity) in two navigation pools of the Upper Mississippi River, Pool 8 (managed) and Pool 13 (unmanaged). We used cross-correlograms to quantify changes in the degree and range of spatial correlation between submersed macrophytes and depth across the impounded portions of the two pools from 1998-2009. Along with increases in abundance, we observed gradual expansion of submersed macrophytes into deeper water in both pools. However, we detected no temporal change in spatial patterns in Pool 13, where the range of spatial correlation was ~ 1500-2500 m in length in the downriver direction and ~ 500-1000 m in length in the crossriver direction. We initially detected similar ranges of spatial correlation in Pool 8, but over time the range of correlation in the cross river direction increased from ~ 500 m in 1998 to ~ 2000 m by 2009. Thus, the expansion of submersed macrophytes into deeper water areas in Pool 8 appears to have occurred in the cross-river direction and led to increases in patch size and a more symmetrical patch configuration. Hence, very similar temporal changes in submersed macrophyte abundance corresponded with different diffusion dynamics and spatial patterns in the two pools. We hypothesize that management actions altered spatial patterns of depth, water flow and/or wind fetch and led to the differences in spatial patterns reported here.

  10. Spatial and Temporal Microbial Patterns in a Tropical Macrotidal Estuary Subject to Urbanization

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mirjam Kaestli

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available Darwin Harbour in northern Australia is an estuary in the wet-dry tropics subject to increasing urbanization with localized water quality degradation due to increased nutrient loads from urban runoff and treated sewage effluent. Tropical estuaries are poorly studied compared to temperate systems and little is known about the microbial community-level response to nutrients. We aimed to examine the spatial and temporal patterns of the bacterial community and its association with abiotic factors. Since Darwin Harbour is macrotidal with strong seasonal patterns and mixing, we sought to determine if a human impact signal was discernible in the microbiota despite the strong hydrodynamic forces. Adopting a single impact–double reference design, we investigated the bacterial community using next-generation sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene from water and sediment from reference creeks and creeks affected by effluent and urban runoff. Samples were collected over two years during neap and spring tides, in the dry and wet seasons. Temporal drivers, namely seasons and tides had the strongest relationship to the water microbiota, reflecting the macrotidal nature of the estuary and its location in the wet-dry tropics. The neap-tide water microbiota provided the clearest spatial resolution while the sediment microbiota reflected current and past water conditions. Differences in patterns of the microbiota between different parts of the harbor reflected the harbor's complex hydrodynamics and bathymetry. Despite these variations, a microbial signature was discernible relating to specific effluent sources and urban runoff, and the composite of nutrient levels accounted for the major part of the explained variation in the microbiota followed by salinity. Our results confirm an overall good water quality but they also reflect the extent of some hypereutrophic areas. Our results show that the microbiota is a sensitive indicator to assess ecosystem health even in this

  11. The internal auditory clock: what can evoked potentials reveal about the analysis of temporal sound patterns, and abnormal states of consciousness?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jones, S J

    2002-09-01

    Whereas in vision a large amount of information may in theory be extracted from instantaneous images, sound exists only in its temporal extent, and most of its information is contained in the pattern of changes over time. The "echoic memory" is a pre-attentive auditory sensory store in which sounds are apparently retained in full temporal detail for a period of a few seconds. From the long-latency auditory evoked potentials to spectro-temporal modulation of complex harmonic tones, at least two automatic sound analysis processes can be identified whose time constants suggest participation of the echoic memory. When a steady tone changes its pitch or timbre, "change-type" CP1, CN1 and CP2 potentials are maximally recorded near the vertex. These potentials appear to reflect a process concerned with the distribution of sound energy across the frequency spectrum. When, on the other hand, changes occur in the temporal pattern of tones (in which individual pitch changes are occurring at a rate sufficiently rapid for the C-potentials to be refractory), a large mismatch negativity (or MN1) and following positivity (MP2) are generated. The amplitude of these potentials is influenced by the degree of regularity of the pattern, larger responses being generated to a "deviant" tone when the pitch and time of occurrence of the "standards" are fully specified by the preceding pattern. At the sudden cessation of changes, on resumption of a steady pitch, a mismatch response is generated whose latency is determined with high precision (in the order of a few milliseconds) by the anticipated time of the next change, which did not in fact occur. The mismatch process, therefore, functions as spectro-temporal auditory pattern analyser, whose consequences are manifested each time the pattern changes. Since calibration of the passage of time is essential for all conscious and subconscious behaviour, is it possible that some states of unconsciousness may be directly due to disruption of

  12. Dynamic evolving spiking neural networks for on-line spatio- and spectro-temporal pattern recognition.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kasabov, Nikola; Dhoble, Kshitij; Nuntalid, Nuttapod; Indiveri, Giacomo

    2013-05-01

    On-line learning and recognition of spatio- and spectro-temporal data (SSTD) is a very challenging task and an important one for the future development of autonomous machine learning systems with broad applications. Models based on spiking neural networks (SNN) have already proved their potential in capturing spatial and temporal data. One class of them, the evolving SNN (eSNN), uses a one-pass rank-order learning mechanism and a strategy to evolve a new spiking neuron and new connections to learn new patterns from incoming data. So far these networks have been mainly used for fast image and speech frame-based recognition. Alternative spike-time learning methods, such as Spike-Timing Dependent Plasticity (STDP) and its variant Spike Driven Synaptic Plasticity (SDSP), can also be used to learn spatio-temporal representations, but they usually require many iterations in an unsupervised or semi-supervised mode of learning. This paper introduces a new class of eSNN, dynamic eSNN, that utilise both rank-order learning and dynamic synapses to learn SSTD in a fast, on-line mode. The paper also introduces a new model called deSNN, that utilises rank-order learning and SDSP spike-time learning in unsupervised, supervised, or semi-supervised modes. The SDSP learning is used to evolve dynamically the network changing connection weights that capture spatio-temporal spike data clusters both during training and during recall. The new deSNN model is first illustrated on simple examples and then applied on two case study applications: (1) moving object recognition using address-event representation (AER) with data collected using a silicon retina device; (2) EEG SSTD recognition for brain-computer interfaces. The deSNN models resulted in a superior performance in terms of accuracy and speed when compared with other SNN models that use either rank-order or STDP learning. The reason is that the deSNN makes use of both the information contained in the order of the first input spikes

  13. Spatio-temporal and species-specific variation in PBDE levels/patterns in British Columbia's coastal waters

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ikonomou, Michael G.; Fernandez, Marc P.; Hickman, Zachary L.

    2006-01-01

    Congener-specific levels of PBDEs were measured in the livers and some muscle tissues of Dungeness crab (Cancer magister), English sole (Pleuronectes vetulus) and spiny dogfish (Squalus acanthias). Highest concentrations (1200-560 ng/g lipid) were found in crab collected near heavily urbanized areas (pop. ∼0.3-1.8 million), followed by moderate levels at pulp/paper mills sites (∼150 ng/g), and lowest levels occurred in areas that were somewhat removed from industrial/populated areas (<24 ng/g). Temporal increases in total PBDEs and particularly in BDE-47 for Dungeness crab collected near pulp and paper and urbanized areas between 1994 and 2000 were observed. These correspond to Canadian and worldwide trends seen for PBDEs in biota. English sole and dogfish showed a pattern similar to that of the Columbia River whitefish samples, which corresponded closely to the patterns in the 'penta' commercial mixture. Conversely, Dungeness crab were enriched in lower chlorinated PBDEs, particularly BDE-47 and BDE-49, compared to the fish and shark species from BC. - PBDEs in biota and sediments from the West Coast of Canada reflect temporal, species-specific and geographic distributions

  14. Perception of words and pitch patterns in song and speech

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Julia eMerrill

    2012-03-01

    Full Text Available This fMRI study examines shared and distinct cortical areas involved in the auditory perception of song and speech at the level of their underlying constituents: words, pitch and rhythm. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed on the brain activity patterns of six conditions, arranged in a subtractive hierarchy: sung sentences including words, pitch and rhythm; hummed speech prosody and song melody containing only pitch patterns and rhythm; as well as the pure musical or speech rhythm.Systematic contrasts between these balanced conditions following their hierarchical organization showed a great overlap between song and speech at all levels in the bilateral temporal lobe, but suggested a differential role of the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG and intraparietal sulcus (IPS in processing song and speech. The left IFG was involved in word- and pitch-related processing in speech, the right IFG in processing pitch in song.Furthermore, the IPS showed sensitivity to discrete pitch relations in song as opposed to the gliding pitch in speech. Finally, the superior temporal gyrus and premotor cortex coded for general differences between words and pitch patterns, irrespective of whether they were sung or spoken. Thus, song and speech share many features which are reflected in a fundamental similarity of brain areas involved in their perception. However, fine-grained acoustic differences on word and pitch level are reflected in the activity of IFG and IPS.

  15. Sediment acoustic index method for computing continuous suspended-sediment concentrations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Landers, Mark N.; Straub, Timothy D.; Wood, Molly S.; Domanski, Marian M.

    2016-07-11

    Suspended-sediment characteristics can be computed using acoustic indices derived from acoustic Doppler velocity meter (ADVM) backscatter data. The sediment acoustic index method applied in these types of studies can be used to more accurately and cost-effectively provide time-series estimates of suspended-sediment concentration and load, which is essential for informed solutions to many sediment-related environmental, engineering, and agricultural concerns. Advantages of this approach over other sediment surrogate methods include: (1) better representation of cross-sectional conditions from large measurement volumes, compared to other surrogate instruments that measure data at a single point; (2) high temporal resolution of collected data; (3) data integrity when biofouling is present; and (4) less rating curve hysteresis compared to streamflow as a surrogate. An additional advantage of this technique is the potential expansion of monitoring suspended-sediment concentrations at sites with existing ADVMs used in streamflow velocity monitoring. This report provides much-needed standard techniques for sediment acoustic index methods to help ensure accurate and comparable documented results.

  16. Diversity of acoustic streaming in a rectangular acoustofluidic field.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tang, Qiang; Hu, Junhui

    2015-04-01

    Diversity of acoustic streaming field in a 2D rectangular chamber with a traveling wave and using water as the acoustic medium is numerically investigated by the finite element method. It is found that the working frequency, the vibration excitation source length, and the distance and phase difference between two separated symmetric vibration excitation sources can cause the diversity in the acoustic streaming pattern. It is also found that a small object in the acoustic field results in an additional eddy, and affects the eddy size in the acoustic streaming field. In addition, the computation results show that with an increase of the acoustic medium's temperature, the speed of the main acoustic streaming decreases first and then increases, and the angular velocity of the corner eddies increases monotonously, which can be clearly explained by the change of the acoustic dissipation factor and shearing viscosity of the acoustic medium with temperature. Commercialized FEM software COMSOL Multiphysics is used to implement the computation tasks, which makes our method very easy to use. And the computation method is partially verified by an established analytical solution. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  17. Robust Sensing of Approaching Vehicles Relying on Acoustic Cues

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mitsunori Mizumachi

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available The latest developments in automobile design have allowed them to be equipped with various sensing devices. Multiple sensors such as cameras and radar systems can be simultaneously used for active safety systems in order to overcome blind spots of individual sensors. This paper proposes a novel sensing technique for catching up and tracking an approaching vehicle relying on an acoustic cue. First, it is necessary to extract a robust spatial feature from noisy acoustical observations. In this paper, the spatio-temporal gradient method is employed for the feature extraction. Then, the spatial feature is filtered out through sequential state estimation. A particle filter is employed to cope with a highly non-linear problem. Feasibility of the proposed method has been confirmed with real acoustical observations, which are obtained by microphones outside a cruising vehicle.

  18. Relationship between musical characteristics and temporal breathing pattern in piano performance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yutaka Sakaguchi

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available Although there is growing evidence that breathing is modulated by various motor and cognitive activities, the nature of breathing in musical performance has been little explored. The present study examined the temporal breath pattern in piano performance, aiming to elucidate how breath timing is related to musical organization/events and performance. In the experiments, the respiration of 15 professional and amateur pianists, playing 10 music excerpts in total (from four-octave C major scale, Hanon’s exercise, J. S. Bach’s Invention, Mozart’s Sonatas, and Debussy’s Clair de lune, was monitored by capnography. The relationship between breathing and musical characteristics was analyzed. Five major results were obtained. 1 Mean breath interval was shortened for excerpts in faster tempi. 2 Fluctuation of breath intervals was reduced for the pieces for finger exercise and those in faster tempi. Pianists showing large within-trial fluctuation also exhibited large inter-excerpt difference. 3 Inter-trial consistency of the breath patterns depended on the excerpts. Consistency was generally reduced for the excerpts that could be performed mechanically (i.e., pieces for finger exercise, but interestingly, one third of the participant showed consistent patterns for the simple scale, correlated with the ascending/descending sequences. 4 Pianists tended to exhale just after the music onsets, inhale at the rests, and inhibit inhale during the slur parts. There was correlation between breathing pattern and two-voice polyphonic structure for several participants. 5 Respiratory patterns were notably different among the pianists. Every pianist showed his or her own characteristic features commonly for various musical works. These findings suggest that breathing in piano performance depends not only on musical parameters and organization written in the score but also some pianist-dependent factors which might be ingrained to individual pianists.

  19. Relationship between Musical Characteristics and Temporal Breathing Pattern in Piano Performance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sakaguchi, Yutaka; Aiba, Eriko

    2016-01-01

    Although there is growing evidence that breathing is modulated by various motor and cognitive activities, the nature of breathing in musical performance has been little explored. The present study examined the temporal breath pattern in piano performance, aiming to elucidate how breath timing is related to musical organization/events and performance. In the experiments, the respiration of 15 professional and amateur pianists, playing 10 music excerpts in total (from four-octave C major scale, Hanon's exercise, J. S. Bach's Invention, Mozart's Sonatas, and Debussy's Clair de lune), was monitored by capnography. The relationship between breathing and musical characteristics was analyzed. Five major results were obtained. (1) Mean breath interval was shortened for excerpts in faster tempi. (2) Fluctuation of breath intervals was reduced for the pieces for finger exercise and those in faster tempi. Pianists showing large within-trial fluctuation also exhibited large inter-excerpt difference. (3) Inter-trial consistency of the breath patterns depended on the excerpts. Consistency was generally reduced for the excerpts that could be performed mechanically (i.e., pieces for finger exercise), but interestingly, one third of the participant showed consistent patterns for the simple scale, correlated with the ascending/descending sequences. (4) Pianists tended to exhale just after the music onsets, inhale at the rests, and inhibit inhale during the slur parts. There was correlation between breathing pattern and two-voice polyphonic structure for several participants. (5) Respiratory patterns were notably different among the pianists. Every pianist showed his or her own characteristic features commonly for various musical works. These findings suggest that breathing in piano performance depends not only on musical parameters and organization written in the score but also some pianist-dependent factors which might be ingrained to individual pianists.

  20. Picosecond ultrasonic study of surface acoustic waves on periodically patterned layered nanostructures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Colletta, Michael; Gachuhi, Wanjiru; Gartenstein, Samuel A; James, Molly M; Szwed, Erik A; Daly, Brian C; Cui, Weili; Antonelli, George A

    2018-07-01

    We have used the ultrafast pump-probe technique known as picosecond ultrasonics to generate and detect surface acoustic waves on a structure consisting of nanoscale Al lines on SiO 2 on Si. We report results from ten samples with varying pitch (1000-140 nm) and SiO 2 film thickness (112 nm or 60 nm), and compare our results to an isotropic elastic calculation and a coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulation. In all cases we are able to detect and identify a Rayleigh-like surface acoustic wave with wavelength equal to the pitch of the lines and frequency in the range of 5-24 GHz. In some samples, we are able to detect additional, higher frequency surface acoustic waves or independent modes of the Al lines with frequencies close to 50 GHz. We also describe the effects of probe beam polarization on the measurement's sensitivity to the different surface modes. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  1. Fatigue level estimation of monetary bills based on frequency band acoustic signals with feature selection by supervised SOM

    Science.gov (United States)

    Teranishi, Masaru; Omatu, Sigeru; Kosaka, Toshihisa

    Fatigued monetary bills adversely affect the daily operation of automated teller machines (ATMs). In order to make the classification of fatigued bills more efficient, the development of an automatic fatigued monetary bill classification method is desirable. We propose a new method by which to estimate the fatigue level of monetary bills from the feature-selected frequency band acoustic energy pattern of banking machines. By using a supervised self-organizing map (SOM), we effectively estimate the fatigue level using only the feature-selected frequency band acoustic energy pattern. Furthermore, the feature-selected frequency band acoustic energy pattern improves the estimation accuracy of the fatigue level of monetary bills by adding frequency domain information to the acoustic energy pattern. The experimental results with real monetary bill samples reveal the effectiveness of the proposed method.

  2. Real-time temperature field measurement based on acoustic tomography

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bao, Yong; Jia, Jiabin; Polydorides, Nick

    2017-01-01

    Acoustic tomography can be used to measure the temperature field from the time-of-flight (TOF). In order to capture real-time temperature field changes and accurately yield quantitative temperature images, two improvements to the conventional acoustic tomography system are studied: simultaneous acoustic transmission and TOF collection along multiple ray paths, and an offline iteration reconstruction algorithm. During system operation, all the acoustic transceivers send modulated and filtered wideband Kasami sequences simultaneously to facilitate fast and accurate TOF measurements using cross-correlation detection. For image reconstruction, the iteration process is separated and executed offline beforehand to shorten computation time for online temperature field reconstruction. The feasibility and effectiveness of the developed methods are validated in the simulation study. The simulation results demonstrate that the proposed method can reduce the processing time per frame from 160 ms to 20 ms, while the reconstruction error remains less than 5%. Hence, the proposed method has great potential in the measurement of rapid temperature change with good temporal and spatial resolution. (paper)

  3. MODELING SPECTRAL AND TEMPORAL MASKING IN THE HUMAN AUDITORY SYSTEM

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Dau, Torsten; Jepsen, Morten Løve; Ewert, Stephan D.

    2007-01-01

    An auditory signal processing model is presented that simulates psychoacoustical data from a large variety of experimental conditions related to spectral and temporal masking. The model is based on the modulation filterbank model by Dau et al. [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 102, 2892-2905 (1997)] but inclu......An auditory signal processing model is presented that simulates psychoacoustical data from a large variety of experimental conditions related to spectral and temporal masking. The model is based on the modulation filterbank model by Dau et al. [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 102, 2892-2905 (1997...... was tested in conditions of tone-in-noise masking, intensity discrimination, spectral masking with tones and narrowband noises, forward masking with (on- and off-frequency) noise- and pure-tone maskers, and amplitude modulation detection using different noise carrier bandwidths. One of the key properties...

  4. The use of census migration data to approximate human movement patterns across temporal scales.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Amy Wesolowski

    Full Text Available Human movement plays a key role in economies and development, the delivery of services, and the spread of infectious diseases. However, it remains poorly quantified partly because reliable data are often lacking, particularly for low-income countries. The most widely available are migration data from human population censuses, which provide valuable information on relatively long timescale relocations across countries, but do not capture the shorter-scale patterns, trips less than a year, that make up the bulk of human movement. Census-derived migration data may provide valuable proxies for shorter-term movements however, as substantial migration between regions can be indicative of well connected places exhibiting high levels of movement at finer time scales, but this has never been examined in detail. Here, an extensive mobile phone usage data set for Kenya was processed to extract movements between counties in 2009 on weekly, monthly, and annual time scales and compared to data on change in residence from the national census conducted during the same time period. We find that the relative ordering across Kenyan counties for incoming, outgoing and between-county movements shows strong correlations. Moreover, the distributions of trip durations from both sources of data are similar, and a spatial interaction model fit to the data reveals the relationships of different parameters over a range of movement time scales. Significant relationships between census migration data and fine temporal scale movement patterns exist, and results suggest that census data can be used to approximate certain features of movement patterns across multiple temporal scales, extending the utility of census-derived migration data.

  5. Nonlinear generation of non-acoustic modes by low-frequency sound in a vibrationally relaxing gas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Perelomova, A.

    2010-01-01

    Two dynamic equations referring to a weakly nonlinear and weakly dispersive flow of a gas in which molecular vibrational relaxation takes place, are derived. The first one governs an excess temperature associated with the thermal mode, and the second one describes variations in vibrational energy. Both quantities refer to non-wave types of gas motion. These variations are caused by the nonlinear transfer of acoustic energy into thermal mode and internal vibrational degrees of freedom of a relaxing gas. The final dynamic equations are instantaneous; they include a quadratic nonlinear acoustic source, reflecting the nonlinear character of interaction of low-frequency acoustic and non-acoustic motions of the fluid. All types of sound, periodic or aperiodic, may serve as an acoustic source of both phenomena. The low-frequency sound is considered in this study. Some conclusions about temporal behavior of non-acoustic modes caused by periodic and aperiodic sound are made. Under certain conditions, acoustic cooling takes place instead of heating. (author)

  6. Soundscapes from a Tropical Eastern Pacific reef and a Caribbean Sea reef

    Science.gov (United States)

    Staaterman, E.; Rice, A. N.; Mann, D. A.; Paris, C. B.

    2013-06-01

    Underwater soundscapes vary due to the abiotic and biological components of the habitat. We quantitatively characterized the acoustic environments of two coral reef habitats, one in the Tropical Eastern Pacific (Panama) and one in the Caribbean (Florida Keys), over 2-day recording durations in July 2011. We examined the frequency distribution, temporal variability, and biological patterns of sound production and found clear differences. The Pacific reef exhibited clear biological patterns and high temporal variability, such as the onset of snapping shrimp noise at night, as well as a 400-Hz daytime band likely produced by damselfish. In contrast, the Caribbean reef had high sound levels in the lowest frequencies, but lacked clear temporal patterns. We suggest that acoustic measures are an important element to include in reef monitoring programs, as the acoustic environment plays an important role in the ecology of reef organisms at multiple life-history stages.

  7. Detection and Evaluation of Spatio-Temporal Spike Patterns in Massively Parallel Spike Train Data with SPADE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pietro Quaglio

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available Repeated, precise sequences of spikes are largely considered a signature of activation of cell assemblies. These repeated sequences are commonly known under the name of spatio-temporal patterns (STPs. STPs are hypothesized to play a role in the communication of information in the computational process operated by the cerebral cortex. A variety of statistical methods for the detection of STPs have been developed and applied to electrophysiological recordings, but such methods scale poorly with the current size of available parallel spike train recordings (more than 100 neurons. In this work, we introduce a novel method capable of overcoming the computational and statistical limits of existing analysis techniques in detecting repeating STPs within massively parallel spike trains (MPST. We employ advanced data mining techniques to efficiently extract repeating sequences of spikes from the data. Then, we introduce and compare two alternative approaches to distinguish statistically significant patterns from chance sequences. The first approach uses a measure known as conceptual stability, of which we investigate a computationally cheap approximation for applications to such large data sets. The second approach is based on the evaluation of pattern statistical significance. In particular, we provide an extension to STPs of a method we recently introduced for the evaluation of statistical significance of synchronous spike patterns. The performance of the two approaches is evaluated in terms of computational load and statistical power on a variety of artificial data sets that replicate specific features of experimental data. Both methods provide an effective and robust procedure for detection of STPs in MPST data. The method based on significance evaluation shows the best overall performance, although at a higher computational cost. We name the novel procedure the spatio-temporal Spike PAttern Detection and Evaluation (SPADE analysis.

  8. Spontaneous generalization of abstract multimodal patterns in young domestic chicks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Versace, Elisabetta; Spierings, Michelle J; Caffini, Matteo; Ten Cate, Carel; Vallortigara, Giorgio

    2017-05-01

    From the early stages of life, learning the regularities associated with specific objects is crucial for making sense of experiences. Through filial imprinting, young precocial birds quickly learn the features of their social partners by mere exposure. It is not clear though to what extent chicks can extract abstract patterns of the visual and acoustic stimuli present in the imprinting object, and how they combine them. To investigate this issue, we exposed chicks (Gallus gallus) to three days of visual and acoustic imprinting, using either patterns with two identical items or patterns with two different items, presented visually, acoustically or in both modalities. Next, chicks were given a choice between the familiar and the unfamiliar pattern, present in either the multimodal, visual or acoustic modality. The responses to the novel stimuli were affected by their imprinting experience, and the effect was stronger for chicks imprinted with multimodal patterns than for the other groups. Interestingly, males and females adopted a different strategy, with males more attracted by unfamiliar patterns and females more attracted by familiar patterns. Our data show that chicks can generalize abstract patterns by mere exposure through filial imprinting and that multimodal stimulation is more effective than unimodal stimulation for pattern learning.

  9. Electric-acoustic interactions in the hearing cochlea: single fiber recordings.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tillein, J; Hartmann, R; Kral, A

    2015-04-01

    The present study investigates interactions of simultaneous electric and acoustic stimulation in single auditory nerve fibers in normal hearing cats. First, the auditory nerve was accessed with a microelectrode and response areas of single nerve fibers were determined for acoustic stimulation. Second, response thresholds to extracochlear sinusoidal electric stimulation using ball electrodes positioned at the round window were measured. Third, interactions that occurred with combined electric-acoustic stimulation were investigated in two areas: (1) the spectral domain (frequency response areas) and (2) the temporal domain (phase-locking to each stimulus) at moderate stimulus intensities (electric: 6 dB re threshold, acoustic: 20-40 dB re threshold at the characteristic frequency, CF). For fibers responding to both modalities responses to both electric and acoustic stimulation could be clearly identified. CFs, thresholds, and bandwidth (Q10dB) of acoustic responses were not significantly affected by simultaneous electric stimulation. Phase-locking of electric responses decreased in the presence of acoustic stimulation. Indication for electric stimulation of inner hair cells with 125 and 250 Hz were observed. However, these did not disturb the acoustic receptive fields of auditory nerve fibers. There was a trade-off between these responses when the intensities of the stimulation were varied: Relatively more intense stimulation dominated less intense stimulation. The scarcity of interaction between the different stimulus modalities demonstrates the ability of electric-acoustic stimulation to transfer useful information through both stimulation channels at the same time despite cochlear electrophonic effects. Application of 30 Hz electric stimulation resulted in a strong suppression of acoustic activity in the anodic phase of the stimulus. An electric stimulation like this might thus be used to control acoustic responses. This article is part of a Special Issue

  10. Aberrant topological patterns of brain structural network in temporal lobe epilepsy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yasuda, Clarissa Lin; Chen, Zhang; Beltramini, Guilherme Coco; Coan, Ana Carolina; Morita, Marcia Elisabete; Kubota, Bruno; Bergo, Felipe; Beaulieu, Christian; Cendes, Fernando; Gross, Donald William

    2015-12-01

    Although altered large-scale brain network organization in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) has been shown using morphologic measurements such as cortical thickness, these studies, have not included critical subcortical structures (such as hippocampus and amygdala) and have had relatively small sample sizes. Here, we investigated differences in topological organization of the brain volumetric networks between patients with right TLE (RTLE) and left TLE (LTLE) with unilateral hippocampal atrophy. We performed a cross-sectional analysis of 86 LTLE patients, 70 RTLE patients, and 116 controls. RTLE and LTLE groups were balanced for gender (p = 0.64), seizure frequency (Mann-Whitney U test, p = 0.94), age (p = 0.39), age of seizure onset (p = 0.21), and duration of disease (p = 0.69). Brain networks were constructed by thresholding correlation matrices of volumes from 80 cortical/subcortical regions (parcellated with Freesurfer v5.3 https://surfer.nmr.mgh.harvard.edu/) that were then analyzed using graph theoretical approaches. We identified reduced cortical/subcortical connectivity including bilateral hippocampus in both TLE groups, with the most significant interregional correlation increases occurring within the limbic system in LTLE and contralateral hemisphere in RTLE. Both TLE groups demonstrated less optimal topological organization, with decreased global efficiency and increased local efficiency and clustering coefficient. LTLE also displayed a more pronounced network disruption. Contrary to controls, hub nodes in both TLE groups were not distributed across whole brain, but rather found primarily in the paralimbic/limbic and temporal association cortices. Regions with increased centrality were concentrated in occipital lobes for LTLE and contralateral limbic/temporal areas for RTLE. These findings provide first evidence of altered topological organization of the whole brain volumetric network in TLE, with disruption of the coordinated patterns of

  11. Effects of Temporal Sequencing and Auditory Discrimination on Children's Memory Patterns for Tones, Numbers, and Nonsense Words

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gromko, Joyce Eastlund; Hansen, Dee; Tortora, Anne Halloran; Higgins, Daniel; Boccia, Eric

    2009-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to determine whether children's recall of tones, numbers, and words was supported by a common temporal sequencing mechanism; whether children's patterns of memory for tones, numbers, and nonsense words were the same despite differences in symbol systems; and whether children's recall of tones, numbers, and nonsense…

  12. Restoration of Central Programmed Movement Pattern by Temporal Electrical Stimulation-Assisted Training in Patients with Spinal Cerebellar Atrophy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, Ying-Zu; Chang, Yao-Shun; Hsu, Miao-Ju; Wong, Alice M K; Chang, Ya-Ju

    2015-01-01

    Disrupted triphasic electromyography (EMG) patterns of agonist and antagonist muscle pairs during fast goal-directed movements have been found in patients with hypermetria. Since peripheral electrical stimulation (ES) and motor training may modulate motor cortical excitability through plasticity mechanisms, we aimed to investigate whether temporal ES-assisted movement training could influence premovement cortical excitability and alleviate hypermetria in patients with spinal cerebellar ataxia (SCA). The EMG of the agonist extensor carpi radialis muscle and antagonist flexor carpi radialis muscle, premovement motor evoked potentials (MEPs) of the flexor carpi radialis muscle, and the constant and variable errors of movements were assessed before and after 4 weeks of ES-assisted fast goal-directed wrist extension training in the training group and of general health education in the control group. After training, the premovement MEPs of the antagonist muscle were facilitated at 50 ms before the onset of movement. In addition, the EMG onset latency of the antagonist muscle shifted earlier and the constant error decreased significantly. In summary, temporal ES-assisted training alleviated hypermetria by restoring antagonist premovement and temporal triphasic EMG patterns in SCA patients. This technique may be applied to treat hypermetria in cerebellar disorders. (This trial is registered with NCT01983670.).

  13. Unravelling spatio-temporal evapotranspiration patterns in topographically complex landscapes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Metzen, Daniel; Sheridan, Gary; Nyman, Petter; Lane, Patrick

    2016-04-01

    Vegetation co-evolves with soils and topography under a given long-term climatic forcing. Previous studies demonstrated a strong eco-hydrologic feedback between topography, vegetation and energy and water fluxes. Slope orientation (aspect and gradient) alter the magnitude of incoming solar radiation resulting in larger evaporative losses and less water availability on equator-facing slopes. Furthermore, non-local water inputs from upslope areas potentially contribute to available water at downslope positions. The combined effect of slope orientation and drainage position creates complex spatial patterns in biological productivity and pedogenesis, which in turn alter the local hydrology. In complex upland landscapes, topographic alteration of incoming radiation can cause substantial aridity index (ratio of potential evapotranspiration to precipitation) variations over small spatial extents. Most of the upland forests in south-east Australia are located in an aridity index (AI) range of 1-2, around the energy limited to water limited boundary, where forested systems are expected to be most sensitive to AI changes. In this research we aim to improve the fundamental understanding of spatio-temporal evolution of evapotranspiration (ET) patterns in complex terrain, accounting for local topographic effects on system properties (e.g. soil depth, sapwood area, leaf area) and variation in energy and water exchange processes due to slope orientation and drainage position. Six measurement plots were set-up in a mixed species eucalypt forest on a polar and equatorial-facing hillslope (AI ˜1.3 vs. 1.8) at varying drainage position (ridge, mid-slope, gully), while minimizing variations in other factors, e.g. geology and weather patterns. Sap flow, soil water content, incoming solar radiation and throughfall were continuously monitored at field sites spanning a wide range of soil depth (0.5 - >3m), maximum tree heights (17 - 51m) and LAI (1.2 - 4.6). Site-specific response curves

  14. Clonal mobility and its implications for spatio-temporal patterns of plant communities: what do we need to know next?

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Zobel, M.; Moora, M.; Herben, Tomáš

    2010-01-01

    Roč. 119, č. 5 (2010), s. 802-806 ISSN 0030-1299 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z60050516 Keywords : clonal mobility * spatio-temporal patterns * plant communities Subject RIV: EF - Botanics Impact factor: 3.393, year: 2010

  15. Temporal patterns of charcoal burning suicides among the working age population in Hong Kong SAR: the influence of economic activity status and sex

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Law Chi-kin

    2012-07-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Charcoal burning in a sealed room has recently emerged as the second most common suicide means in Hong Kong, causing approximately 200 deaths each year. As charcoal burning suicide victims have a unique sociodemographic profile (i.e., predominantly economically active men, they may commit suicide at specific times. However, little is known about the temporal patterns of charcoal burning suicides. Methods Suicide data from 2001 to 2008 on victims of usual working age (20–59 were obtained from the registered death files of the Census and Statistics Department of Hong Kong. A total of 1649 cases of charcoal burning suicide were analyzed using a two-step procedure, which first examined the temporal asymmetries in the incidence of suicide, and second investigated whether these asymmetries were influenced by sex and/or economic activity status. Poisson regression analyses were employed to model the monthly and daily patterns of suicide by economic activity status and sex. Results Our findings revealed pronounced monthly and daily temporal variations in the pattern of charcoal burning suicides in Hong Kong. Consistent with previous findings on overall suicide deaths, there was an overall spring peak in April, and Monday was the common high risk day for all groups. Although sex determined the pattern of variation in charcoal burning suicides, the magnitude of the variation was influenced by the economic activity status of the victims. Conclusion The traditional classification of suicide methods as either violent or nonviolent tends to elide the temporal variations of specific methods. The interaction between sex and economic activity status observed in the present study indicates that sex should be taken into consideration when investigating the influence of economic activity status on temporal variations of suicide. This finding also suggests that suicide prevention efforts should be both time- and subgroup-specific.

  16. Temporal patterns of charcoal burning suicides among the working age population in Hong Kong SAR: the influence of economic activity status and sex.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Law, Chi-kin; Leung, Candi M C

    2012-07-06

    Charcoal burning in a sealed room has recently emerged as the second most common suicide means in Hong Kong, causing approximately 200 deaths each year. As charcoal burning suicide victims have a unique sociodemographic profile (i.e., predominantly economically active men), they may commit suicide at specific times. However, little is known about the temporal patterns of charcoal burning suicides. Suicide data from 2001 to 2008 on victims of usual working age (20-59) were obtained from the registered death files of the Census and Statistics Department of Hong Kong. A total of 1649 cases of charcoal burning suicide were analyzed using a two-step procedure, which first examined the temporal asymmetries in the incidence of suicide, and second investigated whether these asymmetries were influenced by sex and/or economic activity status. Poisson regression analyses were employed to model the monthly and daily patterns of suicide by economic activity status and sex. Our findings revealed pronounced monthly and daily temporal variations in the pattern of charcoal burning suicides in Hong Kong. Consistent with previous findings on overall suicide deaths, there was an overall spring peak in April, and Monday was the common high risk day for all groups. Although sex determined the pattern of variation in charcoal burning suicides, the magnitude of the variation was influenced by the economic activity status of the victims. The traditional classification of suicide methods as either violent or nonviolent tends to elide the temporal variations of specific methods. The interaction between sex and economic activity status observed in the present study indicates that sex should be taken into consideration when investigating the influence of economic activity status on temporal variations of suicide. This finding also suggests that suicide prevention efforts should be both time- and subgroup-specific.

  17. Temporal patterns of charcoal burning suicides among the working age population in Hong Kong SAR: the influence of economic activity status and sex

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-01-01

    Background Charcoal burning in a sealed room has recently emerged as the second most common suicide means in Hong Kong, causing approximately 200 deaths each year. As charcoal burning suicide victims have a unique sociodemographic profile (i.e., predominantly economically active men), they may commit suicide at specific times. However, little is known about the temporal patterns of charcoal burning suicides. Methods Suicide data from 2001 to 2008 on victims of usual working age (20–59) were obtained from the registered death files of the Census and Statistics Department of Hong Kong. A total of 1649 cases of charcoal burning suicide were analyzed using a two-step procedure, which first examined the temporal asymmetries in the incidence of suicide, and second investigated whether these asymmetries were influenced by sex and/or economic activity status. Poisson regression analyses were employed to model the monthly and daily patterns of suicide by economic activity status and sex. Results Our findings revealed pronounced monthly and daily temporal variations in the pattern of charcoal burning suicides in Hong Kong. Consistent with previous findings on overall suicide deaths, there was an overall spring peak in April, and Monday was the common high risk day for all groups. Although sex determined the pattern of variation in charcoal burning suicides, the magnitude of the variation was influenced by the economic activity status of the victims. Conclusion The traditional classification of suicide methods as either violent or nonviolent tends to elide the temporal variations of specific methods. The interaction between sex and economic activity status observed in the present study indicates that sex should be taken into consideration when investigating the influence of economic activity status on temporal variations of suicide. This finding also suggests that suicide prevention efforts should be both time- and subgroup-specific. PMID:22770504

  18. Large-Scale Spatio-Temporal Patterns of Mediterranean Cephalopod Diversity.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Stefanie Keller

    Full Text Available Species diversity is widely recognized as an important trait of ecosystems' functioning and resilience. Understanding the causes of diversity patterns and their interaction with the environmental conditions is essential in order to effectively assess and preserve existing diversity. While diversity patterns of most recurrent groups such as fish are commonly studied, other important taxa such as cephalopods have received less attention. In this work we present spatio-temporal trends of cephalopod diversity across the entire Mediterranean Sea during the last 19 years, analysing data from the annual bottom trawl survey MEDITS conducted by 5 different Mediterranean countries using standardized gears and sampling protocols. The influence of local and regional environmental variability in different Mediterranean regions is analysed applying generalized additive models, using species richness and the Shannon Wiener index as diversity descriptors. While the western basin showed a high diversity, our analyses do not support a steady eastward decrease of diversity as proposed in some previous studies. Instead, high Shannon diversity was also found in the Adriatic and Aegean Seas, and high species richness in the eastern Ionian Sea. Overall diversity did not show any consistent trend over the last two decades. Except in the Adriatic Sea, diversity showed a hump-shaped trend with depth in all regions, being highest between 200-400 m depth. Our results indicate that high Chlorophyll a concentrations and warmer temperatures seem to enhance species diversity, and the influence of these parameters is stronger for richness than for Shannon diversity.

  19. Spatial Patterns of Inshore Marine Soundscapes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McWilliam, Jamie

    2016-01-01

    Passive acoustic monitoring was employed to investigate spatial patterns of soundscapes within a marine reserve. High energy level broadband snaps dominated nearly all habitat soundscapes. Snaps, the principal acoustic feature of soundscapes, were primarily responsible for the observed spatial patterns, and soundscapes appeared to retain a level of compositional and configurational stability. In the presence of high-level broadband snaps, soundscape composition was more influenced by geographic location than habitat type. Future research should focus on investigating the spatial patterns of soundscapes across a wider range of coastal and offshore seascapes containing a variety of distinct ecosystems and habitats.

  20. PsyAcoustX: A flexible MATLAB® package for psychoacoustics research

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gavin M. Bidelman

    2015-10-01

    Full Text Available The demands of modern psychophysical studies require precise stimulus delivery and flexible platforms for experimental control. Here, we describe PsyAcoustX, a new, freely available suite of software tools written in the MATLAB® environment to conduct psychoacoustics research on a standard PC. PsyAcoustX provides a flexible platform to generate and present auditory stimuli in real time and record users’ behavioral responses. Data are automatically logged by stimulus condition and aggregated in an exported spreadsheet for offline analysis. Detection thresholds can be measured adaptively under basic and complex auditory masking tasks and other paradigms (e.g., amplitude modulation detection within minutes. The flexibility of the module offers experimenters access to nearly every conceivable combination of stimulus parameters (e.g., probe-masker relations. Example behavioral applications are highlighted including the measurement of audiometric thresholds, basic simultaneous and non-simultaneous (i.e., forward and backward masking paradigms, gap detection, and amplitude modulation detection. Examples of these measurements are provided including the psychoacoustic phenomena of temporal overshoot, psychophysical tuning curves and temporal modulation transfer functions. Importantly, the core design of PsyAcoustX is easily modifiable, allowing users the ability to easily adapt its basic structure and create additional modules for measuring discrimination/detection thresholds for other auditory attributes (e.g., pitch, intensity, etc. or binaural paradigms.

  1. UNDERSTANDING THE SPATIO-TEMPORAL PATTERN OF FIRE DISTURBANCE IN THE EASTERN MONGOLIA USING MODIS PRODUCT

    OpenAIRE

    Wurihan; Zhang, H.; Zhang, Z.; Guo, X.; Zhao, J.; Duwala; Shan, Y.; Hongying

    2018-01-01

    Fire disturbance plays an important role in maintaining ecological balance, biodiversity and self-renewal. In this paper, the spatio-temporal pattern of fire disturbances in eastern Mongolia are studied by using the ArcGIS spatial analysis method, using the MCD45A1 data of MODIS fire products with long time series. It provides scientific basis and reference for the regional ecological environment security construction and international ecological security. Research indicates: (1) The fire dis...

  2. Can you hear me now? Range-testing a submerged passive acoustic receiver array in a Caribbean coral reef habitat

    Science.gov (United States)

    Selby, Thomas H.; Hart, Kristen M.; Fujisaki, Ikuko; Smith, Brian J.; Pollock, Clayton J; Hillis-Star, Zandy M; Lundgren, Ian; Oli, Madan K.

    2016-01-01

    Submerged passive acoustic technology allows researchers to investigate spatial and temporal movement patterns of many marine and freshwater species. The technology uses receivers to detect and record acoustic transmissions emitted from tags attached to an individual. Acoustic signal strength naturally attenuates over distance, but numerous environmental variables also affect the probability a tag is detected. Knowledge of receiver range is crucial for designing acoustic arrays and analyzing telemetry data. Here, we present a method for testing a relatively large-scale receiver array in a dynamic Caribbean coastal environment intended for long-term monitoring of multiple species. The U.S. Geological Survey and several academic institutions in collaboration with resource management at Buck Island Reef National Monument (BIRNM), off the coast of St. Croix, recently deployed a 52 passive acoustic receiver array. We targeted 19 array-representative receivers for range-testing by submersing fixed delay interval range-testing tags at various distance intervals in each cardinal direction from a receiver for a minimum of an hour. Using a generalized linear mixed model (GLMM), we estimated the probability of detection across the array and assessed the effect of water depth, habitat, wind, temperature, and time of day on the probability of detection. The predicted probability of detection across the entire array at 100 m distance from a receiver was 58.2% (95% CI: 44.0–73.0%) and dropped to 26.0% (95% CI: 11.4–39.3%) 200 m from a receiver indicating a somewhat constrained effective detection range. Detection probability varied across habitat classes with the greatest effective detection range occurring in homogenous sand substrate and the smallest in high rugosity reef. Predicted probability of detection across BIRNM highlights potential gaps in coverage using the current array as well as limitations of passive acoustic technology within a complex coral reef

  3. Aplicação dos testes de padrão temporal em crianças com gagueira desenvolvimental persistente Application of temporal pattern tests in children with persistent developmental stuttering

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rosimeire da Silva

    2011-10-01

    Full Text Available OBJETIVO: caracterizar e comparar o desempenho das crianças com diagnóstico de gagueira nos testes de padrão temporal, com crianças sem queixas e/ou sinais de transtornos psiquiátricos ou neurológicos, dificuldades de fala, audição, linguagem e/ou aprendizagem. MÉTODO: participaram 30 crianças entre 9 e 12 anos de idade, de ambos os gêneros, divididas em dois grupos: GI - 15 crianças com gagueira desenvolvimental persistente; GII - 15 crianças sem queixas e/ou sinais de transtornos psiquiátricos ou neurológicos, dificuldades de fala, audição, linguagem e/ou aprendizagem. Para avaliação do processamento auditivo temporal, foi aplicado os Testes Tonais de Padrão de Frequência (PPS-Pitch Pattern Sequence Test e Testes Tonais de Padrão de Duração (DPS - Duration Pattern Sequence Test. RESULTADOS: o grupo II apresentou desempenho superior no teste de padrão de frequência e de padrão de duração quando comparado ao grupo I. Os resultados indicaram que houve diferença estatisticamente significante entre os grupos estudados. CONCLUSÃO: os participantes do grupo I apresentaram desempenho alterado nos testes de padrão temporal, o que indica que existe relação entre a gagueira e o transtorno do processamento auditivo.PURPOSE: to characterize and compare the performance of children with diagnosis of stuttering under temporal pattern tests with the performance of children without complaints. METHOD: we evaluated 30 children between 9 and 12-year old, both genders, divided in two groups: GI - 15 children with persistent development stuttering; GII - 15 children without complaints and/or signals of psychiatric or neurological upheavals, speech, hearing, language and/or learning difficulties. To evaluate the auditory processing we applied Pitch Pattern Sequence Test (PPS and Duration Pattern Sequence Test (DPS. RESULTS: group II showed a better performance on PPS and DPS tests when compared with group I. The results indicated

  4. a Three-Step Spatial-Temporal Clustering Method for Human Activity Pattern Analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, W.; Li, S.; Xu, S.

    2016-06-01

    How people move in cities and what they do in various locations at different times form human activity patterns. Human activity pattern plays a key role in in urban planning, traffic forecasting, public health and safety, emergency response, friend recommendation, and so on. Therefore, scholars from different fields, such as social science, geography, transportation, physics and computer science, have made great efforts in modelling and analysing human activity patterns or human mobility patterns. One of the essential tasks in such studies is to find the locations or places where individuals stay to perform some kind of activities before further activity pattern analysis. In the era of Big Data, the emerging of social media along with wearable devices enables human activity data to be collected more easily and efficiently. Furthermore, the dimension of the accessible human activity data has been extended from two to three (space or space-time) to four dimensions (space, time and semantics). More specifically, not only a location and time that people stay and spend are collected, but also what people "say" for in a location at a time can be obtained. The characteristics of these datasets shed new light on the analysis of human mobility, where some of new methodologies should be accordingly developed to handle them. Traditional methods such as neural networks, statistics and clustering have been applied to study human activity patterns using geosocial media data. Among them, clustering methods have been widely used to analyse spatiotemporal patterns. However, to our best knowledge, few of clustering algorithms are specifically developed for handling the datasets that contain spatial, temporal and semantic aspects all together. In this work, we propose a three-step human activity clustering method based on space, time and semantics to fill this gap. One-year Twitter data, posted in Toronto, Canada, is used to test the clustering-based method. The results show that the

  5. Acoustic Tomography in the Canary Basin: Meddies and Tides

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dushaw, Brian D.; Gaillard, Fabienne; Terre, Thierry

    2017-11-01

    An acoustic propagation experiment over 308 km range conducted in the Canary Basin in 1997-1998 was used to assess the ability of ocean acoustic tomography to measure the flux of Mediterranean water and Meddies. Instruments on a mooring adjacent to the acoustic path measured the southwestward passage of a strong Meddy in temperature, salinity, and current. Over 9 months of transmissions, the acoustic arrival pattern was an initial broad stochastic pulse varying in duration by 250-500 ms, followed eight stable, identified-ray arrivals. Small-scale sound speed fluctuations from Mediterranean water parcels littered around the sound channel axis caused acoustic scattering. Internal waves contributed more modest acoustic scattering. Based on simulations, the main effect of a Meddy passing across the acoustic path is the formation of many early-arriving, near-axis rays, but these rays are thoroughly scattered by the small-scale Mediterranean-water fluctuations. A Meddy decreases the deep-turning ray travel times by 10-30 ms. The dominant acoustic signature of a Meddy is therefore the expansion of the width of the initial stochastic pulse. While this signature appears inseparable from the other effects of Mediterranean water in this region, the acoustic time series indicates the steady passage of Mediterranean water across the acoustic path. Tidal variations caused by the mode-1 internal tides were measured by the acoustic travel times. The observed internal tides were partly predicted using a recent global model for such tides derived from satellite altimetry.

  6. Pulsed TV holography measurement and digital reconstruction of compression acoustic wave fields: application to nondestructive testing of thick metallic samples

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Trillo, C; Doval, A F; Deán-Ben, X L; López-Vázquez, J C; Fernández, J L; Hernández-Montes, S

    2011-01-01

    This paper describes a technique that numerically reconstructs the complex acoustic amplitude (i.e. the acoustic amplitude and phase) of a compression acoustic wave in the interior volume of a specimen from a set of full-field optical measurements of the instantaneous displacement of the surface. The volume of a thick specimen is probed in transmission mode by short bursts of narrowband compression acoustic waves generated at one of its faces. The temporal evolution of the displacement field induced by the bursts emerging at the opposite surface is measured by pulsed digital holographic interferometry (pulsed TV holography). A spatio-temporal 3D Fourier transform processing of the measured data yields the complex acoustic amplitude at the plane of the surface as a sequence of 2D complex-valued maps. Finally, a numerical implementation of the Rayleigh–Sommerfeld diffraction formula is employed to reconstruct the complex acoustic amplitude at other planes in the interior volume of the specimen. The whole procedure can be regarded as a combination of optical digital holography and acoustical holography methods. The technique was successfully tested on aluminium specimens with and without an internal artificial defect and sample results are presented. In particular, information about the shape and position of the defect was retrieved in the experiment performed on the flawed specimen, which indicates the potential applicability of the technique for the nondestructive testing of materials

  7. Phononic fluidics: acoustically activated droplet manipulations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reboud, Julien; Wilson, Rab; Bourquin, Yannyk; Zhang, Yi; Neale, Steven L.; Cooper, Jonathan M.

    2011-02-01

    Microfluidic systems have faced challenges in handling real samples and the chip interconnection to other instruments. Here we present a simple interface, where surface acoustic waves (SAWs) from a piezoelectric device are coupled into a disposable acoustically responsive microfluidic chip. By manipulating droplets, SAW technologies have already shown their potential in microfluidics, but it has been limited by the need to rely upon mixed signal generation at multiple interdigitated electrode transducers (IDTs) and the problematic resulting reflections, to allow complex fluid operations. Here, a silicon chip was patterned with phononic structures, engineering the acoustic field by using a full band-gap. It was simply coupled to a piezoelectric LiNbO3 wafer, propagating the SAW, via a thin film of water. Contrary to the use of unstructured superstrates, phononic metamaterials allowed precise spatial control of the acoustic energy and hence its interaction with the liquids placed on the surface of the chip, as demonstrated by simulations. We further show that the acoustic frequency influences the interaction between the SAW and the phononic lattice, providing a route to programme complex fluidic manipulation onto the disposable chip. The centrifugation of cells from a blood sample is presented as a more practical demonstration of the potential of phononic crystals to realize diagnostic systems.

  8. Mandarin speech perception in combined electric and acoustic stimulation.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yongxin Li

    Full Text Available For deaf individuals with residual low-frequency acoustic hearing, combined use of a cochlear implant (CI and hearing aid (HA typically provides better speech understanding than with either device alone. Because of coarse spectral resolution, CIs do not provide fundamental frequency (F0 information that contributes to understanding of tonal languages such as Mandarin Chinese. The HA can provide good representation of F0 and, depending on the range of aided acoustic hearing, first and second formant (F1 and F2 information. In this study, Mandarin tone, vowel, and consonant recognition in quiet and noise was measured in 12 adult Mandarin-speaking bimodal listeners with the CI-only and with the CI+HA. Tone recognition was significantly better with the CI+HA in noise, but not in quiet. Vowel recognition was significantly better with the CI+HA in quiet, but not in noise. There was no significant difference in consonant recognition between the CI-only and the CI+HA in quiet or in noise. There was a wide range in bimodal benefit, with improvements often greater than 20 percentage points in some tests and conditions. The bimodal benefit was compared to CI subjects' HA-aided pure-tone average (PTA thresholds between 250 and 2000 Hz; subjects were divided into two groups: "better" PTA (50 dB HL. The bimodal benefit differed significantly between groups only for consonant recognition. The bimodal benefit for tone recognition in quiet was significantly correlated with CI experience, suggesting that bimodal CI users learn to better combine low-frequency spectro-temporal information from acoustic hearing with temporal envelope information from electric hearing. Given the small number of subjects in this study (n = 12, further research with Chinese bimodal listeners may provide more information regarding the contribution of acoustic and electric hearing to tonal language perception.

  9. A Survey of Sound Source Localization Methods in Wireless Acoustic Sensor Networks

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maximo Cobos

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Wireless acoustic sensor networks (WASNs are formed by a distributed group of acoustic-sensing devices featuring audio playing and recording capabilities. Current mobile computing platforms offer great possibilities for the design of audio-related applications involving acoustic-sensing nodes. In this context, acoustic source localization is one of the application domains that have attracted the most attention of the research community along the last decades. In general terms, the localization of acoustic sources can be achieved by studying energy and temporal and/or directional features from the incoming sound at different microphones and using a suitable model that relates those features with the spatial location of the source (or sources of interest. This paper reviews common approaches for source localization in WASNs that are focused on different types of acoustic features, namely, the energy of the incoming signals, their time of arrival (TOA or time difference of arrival (TDOA, the direction of arrival (DOA, and the steered response power (SRP resulting from combining multiple microphone signals. Additionally, we discuss methods not only aimed at localizing acoustic sources but also designed to locate the nodes themselves in the network. Finally, we discuss current challenges and frontiers in this field.

  10. Spatio-temporal pattern formation in predator-prey systems with fitness taxis

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Heilmann, Irene T.; Thygesen, Uffe Høgsbro; Sørensen, Mads Peter

    2018-01-01

    We pose a spatial predator–prey model in which the movement of animals is not purely diffusive, but also contains a drift term in the direction of higher specific growth rates. We refer to this as fitness taxis. We conduct a linear stability analysis of the resulting coupled reaction–advection–di......We pose a spatial predator–prey model in which the movement of animals is not purely diffusive, but also contains a drift term in the direction of higher specific growth rates. We refer to this as fitness taxis. We conduct a linear stability analysis of the resulting coupled reaction...... of diffusive motion, is ecologically plausible, and provides an alternative mechanism for formation of patterns in spatially explicit ecosystem models, with emphasis on non-stationary spatio-temporal dynamics....

  11. Temporal lobe epilepsy with mesial temporal sclerosis: hippocampal neuronal loss as a predictor of surgical outcome.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jardim, Anaclara Prada; Neves, Rafael Scarpa da Costa; Caboclo, Luís Otávio Sales Ferreira; Lancellotti, Carmen Lucia Penteado; Marinho, Murilo Martinez; Centeno, Ricardo Silva; Cavalheiro, Esper Abrão; Scorza, Carla Alessandra; Yacubian, Elza Márcia Targas

    2012-05-01

    To analyze retrospectively a series of patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) and mesial temporal sclerosis (MTS), and the association of patterns of hippocampal sclerosis with clinical data and surgical prognosis. Sixty-six patients with medically refractory TLE with unilateral MTS after anterior temporal lobectomy were included. Quantitative neuropathological evaluation was performed on NeuN-stained hippocampal sections. Patient's clinical data and surgical outcome were reviewed. Occurrence of initial precipitating insult (IPI), as well as better postoperative seizure control (i.e. Engel class 1), were associated with classical and severe patterns of hippocampal sclerosis (MTS type 1a and 1b, respectively). Quantitative evaluation of hippocampal neuronal loss patterns predicts surgical outcome in patients with TLE-MTS.

  12. CHROMOSPHERIC HEATING BY ACOUSTIC WAVES COMPARED TO RADIATIVE COOLING

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sobotka, M.; Heinzel, P.; Švanda, M.; Jurčák, J. [Astronomical Institute, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic (v.v.i.), Fričova 298, 25165 Ondřejov (Czech Republic); Del Moro, D.; Berrilli, F. [Department of Physics, University of Roma Tor Vergata, Via della Ricerca Scientifica 1, I-00133 Rome (Italy)

    2016-07-20

    Acoustic and magnetoacoustic waves are among the possible candidate mechanisms that heat the upper layers of the solar atmosphere. A weak chromospheric plage near the large solar pore NOAA 11005 was observed on 2008 October 15, in the Fe i 617.3 nm and Ca ii 853.2 nm lines of the Interferometric Bidimemsional Spectrometer attached to the Dunn Solar Telescope. In analyzing the Ca ii observations (with spatial and temporal resolutions of 0.″4 and 52 s) the energy deposited by acoustic waves is compared to that released by radiative losses. The deposited acoustic flux is estimated from the power spectra of Doppler oscillations measured in the Ca ii line core. The radiative losses are calculated using a grid of seven one-dimensional hydrostatic semi-empirical model atmospheres. The comparison shows that the spatial correlation of the maps of radiative losses and acoustic flux is 72%. In a quiet chromosphere, the contribution of acoustic energy flux to radiative losses is small, only about 15%. In active areas with a photospheric magnetic-field strength between 300 and 1300 G and an inclination of 20°–60°, the contribution increases from 23% (chromospheric network) to 54% (a plage). However, these values have to be considered as lower limits and it might be possible that the acoustic energy flux is the main contributor to the heating of bright chromospheric network and plages.

  13. Temporal prediction of epidemic patterns in community networks

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Peng, Xiao-Long; Xu, Xin-Jian; Fu, Xinchu; Small, Michael

    2013-01-01

    Most previous studies of epidemic dynamics on complex networks suppose that the disease will eventually stabilize at either a disease-free state or an endemic one. In reality, however, some epidemics always exhibit sporadic and recurrent behaviour in one region because of the invasion from an endemic population elsewhere. In this paper we address this issue and study a susceptible–infected–susceptible epidemiological model on a network consisting of two communities, where the disease is endemic in one community but alternates between outbreaks and extinctions in the other. We provide a detailed characterization of the temporal dynamics of epidemic patterns in the latter community. In particular, we investigate the time duration of both outbreak and extinction, and the time interval between two consecutive inter-community infections, as well as their frequency distributions. Based on the mean-field theory, we theoretically analyse these three timescales and their dependence on the average node degree of each community, the transmission parameters and the number of inter-community links, which are in good agreement with simulations, except when the probability of overlaps between successive outbreaks is too large. These findings aid us in better understanding the bursty nature of disease spreading in a local community, and thereby suggesting effective time-dependent control strategies. (paper)

  14. Application of the pattern recognition technique to fast reactor acoustic monitoring

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Brunet, M.; Val, M.

    1981-10-01

    The early detection of operating anomalies is an aim involving the safety of fast reactors. The most likely accident is the complete or partial blocking up of an assembly, one of the signs of which is the boiling of the sodium contained in it. This boiling is accompanied by the production of acoustic waves, the detection of which by appropriate sensors appears to be an efficient way of monitoring the core. For a number of years the CEA has been conducting an experimental programme for studying the detection of boiling by acoustic means. The text presents the various different experiments undertaken and then draws a parallel between the results obtained by conventional processing procedures and those obtained by applying the shape recognition method to the same basic data [fr

  15. Temporal patterns of physical activity and sedentary behavior in 10-14 year-old children on weekdays.

    Science.gov (United States)

    De Baere, Stijn; Lefevre, Johan; De Martelaer, Kristine; Philippaerts, Renaat; Seghers, Jan

    2015-08-19

    An important but often ignored aspect of physical activity (PA) and sedentary behavior (SB) is the chronological succession of activities, or temporal pattern. The main purposes of this study were (1) to investigate when certain types of PA and SB compete against each other during the course of the day and (2) compare intensity- and domain-specific activity levels during different day-segments. The study sample consists of 211 children aged 10-14, recruited from 15 primary and 15 secondary schools. PA was assessed combining the SenseWear Mini Armband (SWM) with an electronic activity diary. The intensity- and domain-specific temporal patterns were plotted and PA differences between different day-segments (i.e., morning, school, early evening and late evening) were examined using repeated-measures ANCOVA models. Physical activity level (PAL) was highest during the early evening (2.51 METSWM) and school hours (2.49 METSWM); the late evening segment was significantly less active (2.21 METSWM) and showed the highest proportion of sedentary time (54 % of total time-use). Throughout the different day-segments, several domains of PA and SB competed with each other. During the critical early-evening segment, screentime (12 % of time-use) and homework (10 %) were dominant compared to activity domains of sports (4 %) and active leisure (3 %). The domain of active travel competed directly with motor travel during the morning (5 % and 6 % respectively) and early-evening segment (both 8 %). Throughout the day, different aspects of PA and SB go in competition with each other, especially during the time period immediately after school. Detailed information on the temporal patterns of PA and SB of children could help health professionals to develop more effective PA interventions and promotion strategies. By making adaptations to the typical day schedule of children (e.g., through the introduction of extra-curricular PA after school hours), their daily activity levels might

  16. Bayesian Ising approximation for learning dictionaries of multispike timing patterns in premotor neurons

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hernandez Lahme, Damian; Sober, Samuel; Nemenman, Ilya

    Important questions in computational neuroscience are whether, how much, and how information is encoded in the precise timing of neural action potentials. We recently demonstrated that, in the premotor cortex during vocal control in songbirds, spike timing is far more informative about upcoming behavior than is spike rate (Tang et al, 2014). However, identification of complete dictionaries that relate spike timing patterns with the controled behavior remains an elusive problem. Here we present a computational approach to deciphering such codes for individual neurons in the songbird premotor area RA, an analog of mammalian primary motor cortex. Specifically, we analyze which multispike patterns of neural activity predict features of the upcoming vocalization, and hence are important codewords. We use a recently introduced Bayesian Ising Approximation, which properly accounts for the fact that many codewords overlap and hence are not independent. Our results show which complex, temporally precise multispike combinations are used by individual neurons to control acoustic features of the produced song, and that these code words are different across individual neurons and across different acoustic features. This work was supported, in part, by JSMF Grant 220020321, NSF Grant 1208126, NIH Grant NS084844 and NIH Grant 1 R01 EB022872.

  17. Flow profiling of a surface-acoustic-wave nanopump

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guttenberg, Z.; Rathgeber, A.; Keller, S.; Rädler, J. O.; Wixforth, A.; Kostur, M.; Schindler, M.; Talkner, P.

    2004-11-01

    The flow profile in a capillary gap and the pumping efficiency of an acoustic micropump employing surface acoustic waves is investigated both experimentally and theoretically. Ultrasonic surface waves on a piezoelectric substrate strongly couple to a thin liquid layer and generate a quadrupolar streaming pattern within the fluid. We use fluorescence correlation spectroscopy and fluorescence microscopy as complementary tools to investigate the resulting flow profile. The velocity was found to depend on the applied power approximately linearly and to decrease with the inverse third power of the distance from the ultrasound generator on the chip. The found properties reveal acoustic streaming as a promising tool for the controlled agitation during microarray hybridization.

  18. A framework for the assessment of the spatial and temporal patterns of threatened coastal delphinids.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Jingzhen; Yang, Yingting; Yang, Feng; Li, Yuelin; Li, Lianjie; Lin, Derun; He, Tangtian; Liang, Bo; Zhang, Tao; Lin, Yao; Li, Ping; Liu, Wenhua

    2016-01-25

    The massively accelerated biodiversity loss rate in the Anthropocene calls for an efficient and effective way to identify the spatial and temporal dynamics of endangered species. To this end, we developed a useful identification framework based on a case study of locally endangered Sousa chinensis by combining both LEK (local ecological knowledge) evaluation and regional boat-based survey methods. Our study investigated the basic ecological information of Sousa chinensis in the estuaries of eastern Guangdong that had previously been neglected, which could guide the future study and conservation. Based on the statistical testing of reported spatial and temporal dolphins sighting data from fishermen and the ecological monitoring analyses, including sighting rate, site fidelity and residence time estimations, some of the current Sousa chinensis units are likely to be geographically isolated and critically endangered, which calls for much greater conservation efforts. Given the accelerated population extinction rate and increasing budgetary constraints, our survey pattern can be applied in a timely and economically acceptable manner to the spatial and temporal assessment of other threatened coastal delphinids, particularly when population distributions are on a large scale and traditional sampling methods are difficult to implement.

  19. The monaural temporal window based on masking period pattern data in school-aged children and adults.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Buss, Emily; He, Shuman; Grose, John H; Hall, Joseph W

    2013-03-01

    Several lines of evidence indicate that auditory temporal resolution improves over childhood, whereas other data implicate the development of processing efficiency. The present study used the masking period pattern paradigm to examine the maturation of temporal processing in normal-hearing children (4.8 to 10.7 yrs) compared to adults. Thresholds for a brief tone were measured at 6 temporal positions relative to the period of a 5-Hz quasi-square-wave masker envelope, with a 20-dB modulation depth, as well as in 2 steady maskers. The signal was a pure tone at either 1000 or 6500 Hz, and the masker was a band of noise, either spectrally wide or narrow (21.3 and 1.4 equivalent rectangular bandwidths, respectively). Masker modulation improved thresholds more for wide than narrow bandwidths, and adults tended to receive more benefit from modulation than young children. Fits to data for the wide maskers indicated a change in window symmetry with development, reflecting relatively greater backward masking for the youngest listeners. Data for children >6.5 yrs of age appeared more adult-like for the 6500- than the 1000-Hz signal. Differences in temporal window asymmetry with listener age cannot be entirely explained as a consequence of a higher criterion for detection in children, a form of inefficiency.

  20. Multivariate temporal pattern analysis applied to the study of rat behavior in the elevated plus maze: methodological and conceptual highlights.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Casarrubea, M; Magnusson, M S; Roy, V; Arabo, A; Sorbera, F; Santangelo, A; Faulisi, F; Crescimanno, G

    2014-08-30

    Aim of this article is to illustrate the application of a multivariate approach known as t-pattern analysis in the study of rat behavior in elevated plus maze. By means of this multivariate approach, significant relationships among behavioral events in the course of time can be described. Both quantitative and t-pattern analyses were utilized to analyze data obtained from fifteen male Wistar rats following a trial 1-trial 2 protocol. In trial 2, in comparison with the initial exposure, mean occurrences of behavioral elements performed in protected zones of the maze showed a significant increase counterbalanced by a significant decrease of mean occurrences of behavioral elements in unprotected zones. Multivariate t-pattern analysis, in trial 1, revealed the presence of 134 t-patterns of different composition. In trial 2, the temporal structure of behavior become more simple, being present only 32 different t-patterns. Behavioral strings and stripes (i.e. graphical representation of each t-pattern onset) of all t-patterns were presented both for trial 1 and trial 2 as well. Finally, percent distributions in the three zones of the maze show a clear-cut increase of t-patterns in closed arm and a significant reduction in the remaining zones. Results show that previous experience deeply modifies the temporal structure of rat behavior in the elevated plus maze. In addition, this article, by highlighting several conceptual, methodological and illustrative aspects on the utilization of t-pattern analysis, could represent a useful background to employ such a refined approach in the study of rat behavior in elevated plus maze. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  1. Time-resolved measurement of global synchronization in the dust acoustic wave

    Science.gov (United States)

    Williams, J. D.

    2014-10-01

    A spatially and temporally resolved measurement of the synchronization of the naturally occurring dust acoustic wave to an external drive and the relaxation from the driven wave mode back to the naturally occuring wave mode is presented. This measurement provides a time-resolved measurement of the synchronization of the self-excited dust acoustic wave with an external drive and the return to the self-excited mode. It is observed that the wave synchronizes to the external drive in a distinct time-dependent fashion, while there is an immediate loss of synchronization when the external modulation is discontinued.

  2. Obesity and chronic stress are able to desynchronize the temporal pattern of serum levels of leptin and triglycerides.

    Science.gov (United States)

    de Oliveira, Carla; Scarabelot, Vanessa Leal; de Souza, Andressa; de Oliveira, Cleverson Moraes; Medeiros, Liciane Fernandes; de Macedo, Isabel Cristina; Marques Filho, Paulo Ricardo; Cioato, Stefania Giotti; Caumo, Wolnei; Torres, Iraci L S

    2014-01-01

    Disruption of the circadian system can lead to metabolic dysfunction as a response to environmental alterations. This study assessed the effects of the association between obesity and chronic stress on the temporal pattern of serum levels of adipogenic markers and corticosterone in rats. We evaluated weekly weight, delta weight, Lee index, and weight fractions of adipose tissue (mesenteric, MAT; subcutaneous, SAT; and pericardial, PAT) to control for hypercaloric diet-induced obesity model efficacy. Wistar rats were divided into four groups: standard chow (C), hypercaloric diet (HD), stress plus standard chow (S), and stress plus hypercaloric diet (SHD), and analyzed at three time points: ZT0, ZT12, and ZT18. Stressed animals were subjected to chronic stress for 1h per day, 5 days per week, during 80 days. The chronic exposure to a hypercaloric diet was an effective model for the induction of obesity and metabolic syndrome, increasing delta weight, Lee index, weight fractions of adipose tissue, and triglycerides and leptin levels. We confirmed the presence of a temporal pattern in the release of triglycerides, corticosterone, leptin, and adiponectin in naïve animals. Chronic stress reduced delta weight, MAT weight, and levels of triglycerides, total cholesterol, and leptin. There were interactions between chronic stress and obesity and serum total cholesterol levels, between time points and obesity and adiponectin and corticosterone levels, and between time points and chronic stress and serum leptin levels. In conclusion, both parameters were able to desynchronize the temporal pattern of leptin and triglyceride release, which could contribute to the development of metabolic diseases such as obesity and metabolic syndrome. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  3. [Acoustic characteristics of adductor spasmodic dysphonia].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Yang; Wang, Li-Ping

    2008-06-01

    To explore the acoustic characteristics of adductor spasmodic dysphonia. The acoustic characteristics, including acoustic signal of recorded voice, three-dimensional sonogram patterns and subjective assessment of voice, between 10 patients (7 women, 3 men) with adductor spasmodic dysphonia and 10 healthy volunteers (5 women, 5 men), were compared. The main clinical manifestation of adductor spasmodic dysphonia included the disorders of sound quality, rhyme and fluency. It demonstrated the tension dysphonia when reading, acoustic jitter, momentary fluctuation of frequency and volume, voice squeezing, interruption, voice prolongation, and losing normal chime. Among 10 patients, there were 1 mild dysphonia (abnormal syllable number dysphonia (abnormal syllable number 25%-49%), 1 severe dysphonia (abnormal syllable number 50%-74%) and 2 extremely severe dysphonia (abnormal syllable number > or = 75%). The average reading time in 10 patients was 49 s, with reading time extension and aphasia area interruption in acoustic signals, whereas the average reading time in health control group was 30 s, without voice interruption. The aphasia ratio averaged 42%. The respective symptom syllable in different patients demonstrated in the three-dimensional sonogram. There were voice onset time prolongation, irregular, interrupted and even absent vowel formants. The consonant of symptom syllables displayed absence or prolongation of friction murmur in the block-friction murmur occasionally. The acoustic characteristics of adductor spasmodic dysphonia is the disorders of sound quality, rhyme and fluency. The three-dimensional sonogram of the symptom syllables show distinctive changes of proportional vowels or consonant phonemes.

  4. [Characteristics of temporal-spatial differentiation in landscape pattern vulnerability in Nansihu Lake wetland, China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liang, Jia Xin; Li, Xin Ju

    2018-02-01

    With remote sensing images from 1985, 2000 Lantsat 5 TM and 2015 Lantsat 8 OLI as data sources, we tried to select the suitable research scale and examine the temporal-spatial diffe-rentiation with such scale in the Nansihu Lake wetland by using landscape pattern vulnerability index constructed by sensitivity index and adaptability index, and combined with space statistics such as semivariogram and spatial autocorrelation. The results showed that 1 km × 1 km equidistant grid was the suitable research scale, which could eliminate the influence of spatial heterogeneity induced by random factors. From 1985 to 2015, the landscape pattern vulnerability in the Nansihu Lake wetland deteriorated gradually. The high-risk area of landscape pattern vulnerability dramatically expanded with time. The spatial heterogeneity of landscape pattern vulnerability increased, and the influence of non-structural factors on landscape pattern vulnerability strengthened. Spatial variability affected by spatial autocorrelation slightly weakened. Landscape pattern vulnerability had strong general spatial positive correlation, with the significant form of spatial agglomeration. The positive spatial autocorrelation continued to increase and the phenomenon of spatial concentration was more and more obvious over time. The local autocorrelation mainly based on high-high accumulation zone and low-low accumulation zone had stronger spatial autocorrelation among neighboring space units. The high-high accumulation areas showed the strongest level of significance, and the significant level of low-low accumulation zone increased with time. Natural factors, such as temperature and precipitation, affected water-level and landscape distribution, and thus changed the landscape patterns vulnerability of Nansihu Lake wetland. The dominant driver for the deterioration of landscape patterns vulnerability was human activities, including social economy activity and policy system.

  5. Developments in acoustic emission for application to nuclear reactor systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bentley, P.G.

    1982-01-01

    Developments in acoustic emission are summarised as they relate to the principal applications to nuclear reactors, and light water reactor pressure vessels in particular. Improvement in the understanding of acoustic emission has come from materials tests and these confirm the problems in applying the technique for in-service or periodic proof test monitoring of growing fatique cracks. Applications in LMFBR have confirmed that acoustic emission can be applied in the nuclear environment and the detection of stress corrosion cracking in both BWR and LMFBR seems possible. Some information is included on the developing interest in applying the techniques of acoustic emission for leak detection during shop hydro and in-service monitoring. Acoustic emission is also being developed for weld fabrication monitoring and recently introduced pattern recognition techniques are having a significant impact in this application. (author)

  6. Analysis of shallow water experimental acoustic data including normal mode model comparisons

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    McHugh, R.; Simons, D.G.

    2000-01-01

    Ss part of a propagation model validation exercise experimental acoustic and oceanographic data was collected from a shallow-water, long-range channel, off the west coast of Scotland. Temporal variability effects in this channel were assessed through visual inspection of stacked plots, each of which

  7. Online laboratory evaluation of seeding-machine application by an acoustic technique

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Karimi, H.; Navid, H.; Mahmoudi, A.

    2015-07-01

    Researchers and planter manufacturers have been working closely to develop an automated system for evaluating performance of seeding. In the present study, an innovative use of acoustic signal for laboratory evaluation of seeding-machine application is described. Seed detection technique of the proposed system was based on a rising voltage value that a microphone sensed in each impaction of seeds to a steel plate. Online determining of seed spacing was done with a script which was written in MATLAB software. To evaluate the acoustic system with desired seed spacing, a testing rig was designed. Seeds of wheat, corn and pelleted tomato were used as experimental material. Typical seed patterns were positioned manually on a belt stand with different spacing patterns. When the belt was running, the falling seeds from the end point of the belt impacted to the steel plate, and their acoustic signal was sensed by the microphone. In each impact, data was processed and spacing between the seeds was automatically obtained. Coefficient of determination of gathered data from the belt system and the corresponding seeds spacing measured with the acoustic system in all runs was about 0.98. This strong correlation indicates that the acoustic system worked well in determining the seeds spacing. (Author)

  8. Experimental and numerical investigations of resonant acoustic waves in near-critical carbon dioxide.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hasan, Nusair; Farouk, Bakhtier

    2015-10-01

    Flow and transport induced by resonant acoustic waves in a near-critical fluid filled cylindrical enclosure is investigated both experimentally and numerically. Supercritical carbon dioxide (near the critical or the pseudo-critical states) in a confined resonator is subjected to acoustic field created by an electro-mechanical acoustic transducer and the induced pressure waves are measured by a fast response pressure field microphone. The frequency of the acoustic transducer is chosen such that the lowest acoustic mode propagates along the enclosure. For numerical simulations, a real-fluid computational fluid dynamics model representing the thermo-physical and transport properties of the supercritical fluid is considered. The simulated acoustic field in the resonator is compared with measurements. The formation of acoustic streaming structures in the highly compressible medium is revealed by time-averaging the numerical solutions over a given period. Due to diverging thermo-physical properties of supercritical fluid near the critical point, large scale oscillations are generated even for small sound field intensity. The strength of the acoustic wave field is found to be in direct relation with the thermodynamic state of the fluid. The effects of near-critical property variations and the operating pressure on the formation process of the streaming structures are also investigated. Irregular streaming patterns with significantly higher streaming velocities are observed for near-pseudo-critical states at operating pressures close to the critical pressure. However, these structures quickly re-orient to the typical Rayleigh streaming patterns with the increase operating pressure.

  9. Radiological evaluation of acoustic neurinoma

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lee, Jong Tae; Park, Chang Yun; Choi, Byung So [Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

    1974-04-15

    All 25 patients surgically proven acoustic neurinoma was analysed clinically, radiographically at Severance Hospital of Yonsei Univ. The patients not proved surgically in spite of clinical diagnosis of acoustic neurinoma was excluded from this study. The results are summarized as follows; The clinical findings are; 1. The incidence of tumor in female was twice more frequent than in male and the range of age was 20-50 years peak of age at onset of symptom. 2. The clinical symptoms were variable from unilateral hearing impairment or less (100%), headache (84%) to tinnitus (60%) in order of frequency. 3. The tumor growth in the left cerebellopontine angle was twice more than in the right side with the radio of 16:8. However, in one case bilateral simultaneous growth of acoustic neurinoma was noted. The radiological findings are: The best radiographic method to study the shape and size of internal acoustic canal to demonstrate erosion or destruction of petrous pyramida was considered to be straight frontal view and tomography of the skull in our series. 1. The shape of internal acoustic canal in tumors were straight (in 2 cases), bulbous (in 12 cases), and flared (in 11 cases). Particularly there was erosion or destruction of petrous bone in all of the flared cases of canal. 2. The acoustic meatal erosion was mainly suprameatal in 14 cases of 17 which was noted definite erosion radiographically. 3. The difference of height (vertical diameter) of both side of acoustic canal were follows; 6 cases among 25 was in the range of 0-2 mm measurement, remainder was more than 2 mm. Hence the variation in greater than 1 mm in between both sides of canal in same patient should be regard as abnormal as of acoustic neurinoma. 4. The carotid angiogram shows hydrocephalic pattern in 12 cases among 17. 5. In the vertebral angiogram of 8 cases, anterolateral displacement of basilar artery (in 6 caes), the upward displacement of superior cerebellar artery (in 4 cases) was common findings

  10. Radiological evaluation of acoustic neurinoma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, Jong Tae; Park, Chang Yun; Choi, Byung So

    1974-01-01

    All 25 patients surgically proven acoustic neurinoma was analysed clinically, radiographically at Severance Hospital of Yonsei Univ. The patients not proved surgically in spite of clinical diagnosis of acoustic neurinoma was excluded from this study. The results are summarized as follows; The clinical findings are; 1. The incidence of tumor in female was twice more frequent than in male and the range of age was 20-50 years peak of age at onset of symptom. 2. The clinical symptoms were variable from unilateral hearing impairment or less (100%), headache (84%) to tinnitus (60%) in order of frequency. 3. The tumor growth in the left cerebellopontine angle was twice more than in the right side with the radio of 16:8. However, in one case bilateral simultaneous growth of acoustic neurinoma was noted. The radiological findings are: The best radiographic method to study the shape and size of internal acoustic canal to demonstrate erosion or destruction of petrous pyramida was considered to be straight frontal view and tomography of the skull in our series. 1. The shape of internal acoustic canal in tumors were straight (in 2 cases), bulbous (in 12 cases), and flared (in 11 cases). Particularly there was erosion or destruction of petrous bone in all of the flared cases of canal. 2. The acoustic meatal erosion was mainly suprameatal in 14 cases of 17 which was noted definite erosion radiographically. 3. The difference of height (vertical diameter) of both side of acoustic canal were follows; 6 cases among 25 was in the range of 0-2 mm measurement, remainder was more than 2 mm. Hence the variation in greater than 1 mm in between both sides of canal in same patient should be regard as abnormal as of acoustic neurinoma. 4. The carotid angiogram shows hydrocephalic pattern in 12 cases among 17. 5. In the vertebral angiogram of 8 cases, anterolateral displacement of basilar artery (in 6 caes), the upward displacement of superior cerebellar artery (in 4 cases) was common findings

  11. Global Incidence and Mortality for Prostate Cancer: Analysis of Temporal Patterns and Trends in 36 Countries.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wong, Martin C S; Goggins, William B; Wang, Harry H X; Fung, Franklin D H; Leung, Colette; Wong, Samuel Y S; Ng, Chi Fai; Sung, Joseph J Y

    2016-11-01

    Prostate cancer (PCa) is a leading cause of mortality and morbidity globally, but its specific geographic patterns and temporal trends are under-researched. To test the hypotheses that PCa incidence is higher and PCa mortality is lower in countries with higher socioeconomic development, and that temporal trends for PCa incidence have increased while mortality has decreased over time. Data on age-standardized incidence and mortality rates in 2012 were retrieved from the GLOBOCAN database. Temporal patterns were assessed for 36 countries using data obtained from Cancer incidence in five continents volumes I-X and the World Health Organization mortality database. Correlations between incidence or mortality rates and socioeconomic indicators (human development index [HDI] and gross domestic product [GDP]) were evaluated. The average annual percent change in PCa incidence and mortality in the most recent 10 yr according to join-point regression. Reported PCa incidence rates varied more than 25-fold worldwide in 2012, with the highest incidence rates observed in Micronesia/Polynesia, the USA, and European countries. Mortality rates paralleled the incidence rates except for Africa, where PCa mortality rates were the highest. Countries with higher HDI (r=0.58) and per capita GDP (r=0.62) reported greater incidence rates. According to the most recent 10-yr temporal data available, most countries experienced increases in incidence, with sharp rises in incidence rates in Asia and Northern and Western Europe. A substantial reduction in mortality rates was reported in most countries, except in some Asian countries and Eastern Europe, where mortality increased. Data in regional registries could be underestimated. PCa incidence has increased while PCa mortality has decreased in most countries. The reported incidence was higher in countries with higher socioeconomic development. The incidence of prostate cancer has shown high variations geographically and over time, with smaller

  12. Acoustic reflex measurements and the loudness function in sensorineural hearing loss

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sheila Uliel

    1980-11-01

    Full Text Available The suprathreshold acoustic reflex responses of forty two ears affected by sensorineural hearing loss of cochlear origin and fifty-eight ears demonstrating normal hearing, were recorded by means of an electro-acoustic impedance meter and attached X-Y recorder. The recordings were done in ascending and descending fashion,  at successively increasing and decreasing 5dB intensity levels from 90-120-90 dB HL respectively, for the individual pure-tone frequencies of 500, 1 000, 2 000 and 4 000 Hz. The contralateral mode of measurement was employed. Analysis of  these recordings indicated that the acoustic reflex  responses could be differentiated into five  characteristic patterns of  growth, which could be depicted upon a continuum of peaked, peaked-rounded, rounded, rounded-flat,  and flat  shapes. The peaked and peaked-rounded patterns were found  to predominate at all four pure-tone frequencies  in the normal ears, while the rounded-fiat  and flat  patterns were found  to predominate only at the higher pure-tone frequencies of 2 000 and 4 000 Hz in the ears affected  by sensorineural hearing loss. This latter relationship was also able to be applied to two disorders of  the loudness functio— loudness recruitment and hyperacusis. It was concluded that the flattened  acoustic reflex  patterns at the higher pure-tone frequencies  constituted a potential diagnostic cue related to the differential  diagnosis of sensorineural hearing loss, and to disorders of  the loudness function.

  13. Fish and phytoplankton exhibit contrasting temporal species abundance patterns in a dynamic north temperate lake.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gretchen J A Hansen

    Full Text Available Temporal patterns of species abundance, although less well-studied than spatial patterns, provide valuable insight to the processes governing community assembly. We compared temporal abundance distributions of two communities, phytoplankton and fish, in a north temperate lake. We used both 17 years of observed relative abundance data as well as resampled data from Monte Carlo simulations to account for the possible effects of non-detection of rare species. Similar to what has been found in other communities, phytoplankton and fish species that appeared more frequently were generally more abundant than rare species. However, neither community exhibited two distinct groups of "core" (common occurrence and high abundance and "occasional" (rare occurrence and low abundance species. Both observed and resampled data show that the phytoplankton community was dominated by occasional species appearing in only one year that exhibited large variation in their abundances, while the fish community was dominated by core species occurring in all 17 years at high abundances. We hypothesize that the life-history traits that enable phytoplankton to persist in highly dynamic environments may result in communities dominated by occasional species capable of reaching high abundances when conditions allow. Conversely, longer turnover times and broad environmental tolerances of fish may result in communities dominated by core species structured primarily by competitive interactions.

  14. Fish and Phytoplankton Exhibit Contrasting Temporal Species Abundance Patterns in a Dynamic North Temperate Lake

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hansen, Gretchen J. A.; Carey, Cayelan C.

    2015-01-01

    Temporal patterns of species abundance, although less well-studied than spatial patterns, provide valuable insight to the processes governing community assembly. We compared temporal abundance distributions of two communities, phytoplankton and fish, in a north temperate lake. We used both 17 years of observed relative abundance data as well as resampled data from Monte Carlo simulations to account for the possible effects of non-detection of rare species. Similar to what has been found in other communities, phytoplankton and fish species that appeared more frequently were generally more abundant than rare species. However, neither community exhibited two distinct groups of “core” (common occurrence and high abundance) and “occasional” (rare occurrence and low abundance) species. Both observed and resampled data show that the phytoplankton community was dominated by occasional species appearing in only one year that exhibited large variation in their abundances, while the fish community was dominated by core species occurring in all 17 years at high abundances. We hypothesize that the life-history traits that enable phytoplankton to persist in highly dynamic environments may result in communities dominated by occasional species capable of reaching high abundances when conditions allow. Conversely, longer turnover times and broad environmental tolerances of fish may result in communities dominated by core species structured primarily by competitive interactions. PMID:25651399

  15. Temporal Patterns in Diversity Change on Earth Over Time

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bambach, Richard

    2007-05-01

    Multi-celled animals and plants did not originate until about 600 million years ago. Since then the diversity of life has expanded greatly, but this has not been a monotonic increase. Diversity, as taxonomic variety or richness, is produced by the interaction of origination and extinction. Origination and extinction are almost equally balanced; it has taken 600 million years to accumulate 10 to 30 million living species. With most species life spans in the range of one to fifteen million years most species that have ever originated are extinct and global diversity has “turned over” many times. Paleontologists recognize about 18 short-term events of elevated extinction intensity and diversity loss of sufficient magnitude to warrant the term “mass extinction.” Interestingly, in only one instance, the end-Cretaceous extinction, is there a consensus for the triggering event, but the kill mechanism or mechanisms that caused the widespread death of lineages is not established. We know less about the cause-effect relationships for other events. Recently a 62 million-year periodicity in the fluctuation of diversity has been documented, expressed primarily in the variation of diversity of marine genera that survived 45 million years or less. Analysis of the pattern of diversity change at the finest temporal scale possible suggests that the short-term mass extinctions are superimposed on this regular pattern of diversity fluctuations, rather than causal of them. However, most mass extinctions (14 of 18) occurred during the intervals of general diversity loss. It remains to be seen how origination and extinction interact to produce the periodic fluctuation in diversity.

  16. Temporal lobe epilepsy with mesial temporal sclerosis: hippocampal neuronal loss as a predictor of surgical outcome

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anaclara Prada Jardim

    2012-05-01

    Full Text Available OBJECTIVE: To analyze retrospectively a series of patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE and mesial temporal sclerosis (MTS, and the association of patterns of hippocampal sclerosis with clinical data and surgical prognosis. METHOD: Sixty-six patients with medically refractory TLE with unilateral MTS after anterior temporal lobectomy were included. Quantitative neuropathological evaluation was performed on NeuN-stained hippocampal sections. Patient's clinical data and surgical outcome were reviewed. RESULTS: Occurrence of initial precipitating insult (IPI, as well as better postoperative seizure control (i.e. Engel class 1, were associated with classical and severe patterns of hippocampal sclerosis (MTS type 1a and 1b, respectively. CONCLUSION: Quantitative evaluation of hippocampal neuronal loss patterns predicts surgical outcome in patients with TLE-MTS.

  17. Shallow water acoustic backscatter and reverberation measurements using a 68-kHz cylindrical array

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gallaudet, Timothy Cole

    2001-10-01

    The characterization of high frequency, shallow water acoustic backscatter and reverberation is important because acoustic systems are used in many scientific, commercial, and military applications. The approach taken is to use data collected by the Toroidal Volume Search Sonar (TVSS), a 68 kHz multibeam sonar capable of 360° imaging in a vertical plane perpendicular to its direction of travel. With this unique capability, acoustic backscatter imagery of the seafloor, sea surface, and horizontal and vertical planes in the volume are constructed from data obtained in 200m deep waters in the Northeastern Gulf of Mexico when the TVSS was towed 78m below the surface, 735m astern of a towship. The processed imagery provide a quasi-synoptic characterization of the spatial and temporal structure of boundary and volume acoustic backscatter and reverberation. Diffraction, element patterns, and high sidelobe levels are shown to be the most serious problems affecting cylindrical arrays such as the TVSS, and an amplitude shading method is presented for reducing the peak sidelobe levels of irregular-line and non-coplanar arrays. Errors in the towfish's attitude and motion sensor, and irregularities in the TVSS's transmitted beampattern produce artifacts in the TVSS-derived bathymetry and seafloor acoustic backscatter imagery. Correction strategies for these problems are described, which are unique in that they use environmental information extracted from both ocean boundaries. Sea surface and volume acoustic backscatter imagery are used to explore and characterize the structure of near-surface bubble clouds, schooling fish, and zooplankton. The simultaneous horizontal and vertical coverage provided by the TVSS is shown to be a primary advantage, motivating further use of multibeam sonars in these applications. Whereas boundary backscatter fluctuations are well described by Weibull, K, and Rayleigh mixture probability distributions, those corresponding to volume backscatter are

  18. Particle separation by phase modulated surface acoustic waves.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Simon, Gergely; Andrade, Marco A B; Reboud, Julien; Marques-Hueso, Jose; Desmulliez, Marc P Y; Cooper, Jonathan M; Riehle, Mathis O; Bernassau, Anne L

    2017-09-01

    High efficiency isolation of cells or particles from a heterogeneous mixture is a critical processing step in lab-on-a-chip devices. Acoustic techniques offer contactless and label-free manipulation, preserve viability of biological cells, and provide versatility as the applied electrical signal can be adapted to various scenarios. Conventional acoustic separation methods use time-of-flight and achieve separation up to distances of quarter wavelength with limited separation power due to slow gradients in the force. The method proposed here allows separation by half of the wavelength and can be extended by repeating the modulation pattern and can ensure maximum force acting on the particles. In this work, we propose an optimised phase modulation scheme for particle separation in a surface acoustic wave microfluidic device. An expression for the acoustic radiation force arising from the interaction between acoustic waves in the fluid was derived. We demonstrated, for the first time, that the expression of the acoustic radiation force differs in surface acoustic wave and bulk devices, due to the presence of a geometric scaling factor. Two phase modulation schemes are investigated theoretically and experimentally. Theoretical findings were experimentally validated for different mixtures of polystyrene particles confirming that the method offers high selectivity. A Monte-Carlo simulation enabled us to assess performance in real situations, including the effects of particle size variation and non-uniform acoustic field on sorting efficiency and purity, validating the ability to separate particles with high purity and high resolution.

  19. Four-jet impingement: Noise characteristics and simplified acoustic model

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Brehm, C.; Housman, J.A.; Kiris, C.C.; Barad, M.F.; Hutcheson, F.V.

    2017-01-01

    Highlights: • Large eddy simulation of unique four jet impingement configuration. • Characterization of flow features using POD, FFT, and wavelet decomposition. • Noise source identification utilizing causality method. • Development of simplified acoustic model utilizing equivalent source method. • Comparison with experimental data from BENS experiment. - Abstract: The noise generation mechanisms for four directly impinging supersonic jets are investigated employing implicit large eddy simulations with a higher-order weighted essentially non-oscillatory scheme. Although these types of impinging jet configurations have been used in many experiments, a detailed investigation of the noise generation mechanisms has not been conducted before. The flow field is highly complex and contains a wide range of temporal and spatial scales relevant for noise generation. Proper orthogonal decomposition is utilized to characterize the unsteady nature of the flow field involving unsteady shock oscillations, large coherent turbulent flow structures, and the sporadic appearance of vortical flow structures in the center of the four-jet impingement region. The causality method based on Lighthills acoustic analogy is applied to link fluctuations of flow quantities inside the source region to the acoustic pressure in the far field. It will be demonstrated that the entropy fluctuation term plays a vital role in the noise generation process. Consequently, the understanding of the noise generation mechanisms is employed to develop a simplified acoustic model of the four-jet impingement device by utilizing the equivalent source method. Finally, three linear acoustic four-jet impingement models of the four-jet impingement device are used as broadband noise sources inside an engine nacelle and the acoustic scattering results are validated against far-field acoustic experimental data.

  20. Use of acoustic vortices in acoustic levitation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Cutanda Henriquez, Vicente; Santillan, Arturo Orozco; Juhl, Peter Møller

    2009-01-01

    Acoustic fields are known to exert forces on the surfaces of objects. These forces are noticeable if the sound pressure is sufficiently high. Two phenomena where acoustic forces are relevant are: i) acoustic levitation, where strong standing waves can hold small objects at certain positions......, counterbalancing their weight, and ii) acoustic vortices, spinning sound fields that can impinge angular momentum and cause rotation of objects. In this contribution, both force-creating sound fields are studied by means of numerical simulations. The Boundary Element Method is employed to this end. The simulation...... of acoustical vortices uses an efficient numerical implementation based on the superposition of two orthogonal sound fields with a delay of 90° between them. It is shown that acoustic levitation and the use of acoustic vortices can be combined to manipulate objects in an efficient and controlled manner without...

  1. Spatio-temporal patterns and climate variables controlling of biomass carbon stock of global grassland ecosystems from 1982 to 2006

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xia, Jiangzhou; Liu, Shuguang; Liang, Shunlin; Chen, Yang; Xu, Wenfang; Yuan, Wenping

    2014-01-01

    Grassland ecosystems play an important role in subsistence agriculture and the global carbon cycle. However, the global spatio-temporal patterns and environmental controls of grassland biomass are not well quantified and understood. The goal of this study was to estimate the spatial and temporal patterns of the global grassland biomass and analyze their driving forces using field measurements, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) time series from satellite data, climate reanalysis data, and a satellite-based statistical model. Results showed that the NDVI-based biomass carbon model developed from this study explained 60% of the variance across 38 sites globally. The global carbon stock in grassland aboveground live biomass was 1.05 Pg·C, averaged from 1982 to 2006, and increased at a rate of 2.43 Tg·C·y−1 during this period. Temporal change of the global biomass was significantly and positively correlated with temperature and precipitation. The distribution of biomass carbon density followed the precipitation gradient. The dynamics of regional grassland biomass showed various trends largely determined by regional climate variability, disturbances, and management practices (such as grazing for meat production). The methods and results from this study can be used to monitor the dynamics of grassland aboveground biomass and evaluate grassland susceptibility to climate variability and change, disturbances, and management.

  2. Reverberation impairs brainstem temporal representations of voiced vowel sounds: challenging periodicity-tagged segregation of competing speech in rooms

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mark eSayles

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available The auditory system typically processes information from concurrently active sound sources (e.g., two voices speaking at once, in the presence of multiple delayed, attenuated and distorted sound-wave reflections (reverberation. Brainstem circuits help segregate these complex acoustic mixtures into auditory objects. Psychophysical studies demonstrate a strong interaction between reverberation and fundamental-frequency (F0 modulation, leading to impaired segregation of competing vowels when segregation is on the basis of F0 differences. Neurophysiological studies of complex-sound segregation have concentrated on sounds with steady F0s, in anechoic environments. However, F0 modulation and reverberation are quasi-ubiquitous.We examine the ability of 129 single units in the ventral cochlear nucleus of the anesthetized guinea pig to segregate the concurrent synthetic vowel sounds /a/ and /i/, based on temporal discharge patterns under closed-field conditions. We address the effects of added real-room reverberation, F0 modulation, and the interaction of these two factors, on brainstem neural segregation of voiced speech sounds. A firing-rate representation of single-vowels’ spectral envelopes is robust to the combination of F0 modulation and reverberation: local firing-rate maxima and minima across the tonotopic array code vowel-formant structure. However, single-vowel F0-related periodicity information in shuffled inter-spike interval distributions is significantly degraded in the combined presence of reverberation and F0 modulation. Hence, segregation of double-vowels’ spectral energy into two streams (corresponding to the two vowels, on the basis of temporal discharge patterns, is impaired by reverberation; specifically when F0 is modulated. All unit types (primary-like, chopper, onset are similarly affected. These results offer neurophysiological insights to perceptual organization of complex acoustic scenes under realistically challenging

  3. A polarized digital shearing speckle pattern interferometry system based on temporal wavelet transformation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Feng, Ziang; Gao, Zhan; Zhang, Xiaoqiong; Wang, Shengjia; Yang, Dong; Yuan, Hao; Qin, Jie

    2015-09-01

    Digital shearing speckle pattern interferometry (DSSPI) has been recognized as a practical tool in testing strain. The DSSPI system which is based on temporal analysis is attractive because of its ability to measure strain dynamically. In this paper, such a DSSPI system with Wollaston prism has been built. The principles and system arrangement are described and the preliminary experimental result of the displacement-derivative test of an aluminum plate is shown with the wavelet transformation method and the Fourier transformation method. The simulations have been conducted with the finite element method. The comparison of the results shows that quantitative measurement of displacement-derivative has been realized.

  4. Acoustic leak detection at complicated geometrical structures using fuzzy logic and neural networks

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hessel, G.; Schmitt, W.; Weiss, F.P.

    1993-10-01

    An acoustic method based on pattern recognition is being developed. During the learning phase, the localization classifier is trained with sound patterns that are generated with simulated leaks at all locations endangered by leak. The patterns are extracted from the signals of an appropriate sensor array. After training unknown leak positions can be recognized through comparison with the training patterns. The experimental part is performed at an acoustic 1:3 model of the reactor vessel and head and at an original VVER-440 reactor in the former NPP Greifswald. The leaks were simulated at the vessel head using mobile sound sources driven either by compressed air, a piezoelectric transmitter or by a thin metal blade excited through a jet of compressed air. The sound patterns of the simulated leaks are simultaneously detected with an AE-sensor array and with high frequency microphones measuring structure-borne sound and airborne sound, respectively. Pattern classifiers based on Fuzzy Pattern Classification (FPC) and Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) are currently tested for validation of the acoustic emission-sensor array (FPC), leak localization via structure-borne sound (FPC) and the leak localization using microphones (ANN). The initial results show the used classifiers principally to be capable of detecting and locating leaks, but they also show that further investigations are necessary to develop a reliable method applicable at NPPs. (orig./HP)

  5. Use of large-scale acoustic monitoring to assess anthropogenic pressures on Orthoptera communities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Penone, Caterina; Le Viol, Isabelle; Pellissier, Vincent; Julien, Jean-François; Bas, Yves; Kerbiriou, Christian

    2013-10-01

    Biodiversity monitoring at large spatial and temporal scales is greatly needed in the context of global changes. Although insects are a species-rich group and are important for ecosystem functioning, they have been largely neglected in conservation studies and policies, mainly due to technical and methodological constraints. Sound detection, a nondestructive method, is easily applied within a citizen-science framework and could be an interesting solution for insect monitoring. However, it has not yet been tested at a large scale. We assessed the value of a citizen-science program in which Orthoptera species (Tettigoniidae) were monitored acoustically along roads. We used Bayesian model-averaging analyses to test whether we could detect widely known patterns of anthropogenic effects on insects, such as the negative effects of urbanization or intensive agriculture on Orthoptera populations and communities. We also examined site-abundance correlations between years and estimated the biases in species detection to evaluate and improve the protocol. Urbanization and intensive agricultural landscapes negatively affected Orthoptera species richness, diversity, and abundance. This finding is consistent with results of previous studies of Orthoptera, vertebrates, carabids, and butterflies. The average mass of communities decreased as urbanization increased. The dispersal ability of communities increased as the percentage of agricultural land and, to a lesser extent, urban area increased. Despite changes in abundances over time, we found significant correlations between yearly abundances. We identified biases linked to the protocol (e.g., car speed or temperature) that can be accounted for ease in analyses. We argue that acoustic monitoring of Orthoptera along roads offers several advantages for assessing Orthoptera biodiversity at large spatial and temporal extents, particularly in a citizen science framework. © 2013 Society for Conservation Biology.

  6. Zebrafish: an exciting model for investigating the spatio-temporal pattern of enteric nervous system development.

    LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

    Doodnath, Reshma

    2012-02-01

    AIM: Recently, the zebrafish (Danio rerio) has been shown to be an excellent model for human paediatric research. Advantages over other models include its small size, externally visually accessible development and ease of experimental manipulation. The enteric nervous system (ENS) consists of neurons and enteric glia. Glial cells permit cell bodies and processes of neurons to be arranged and maintained in a proper spatial arrangement, and are essential in the maintenance of basic physiological functions of neurons. Glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) is expressed in astrocytes, but also expressed outside of the central nervous system. The aim of this study was to investigate the spatio-temporal pattern of GFAP expression in developing zebrafish ENS from 24 h post-fertilization (hpf), using transgenic fish that express green fluorescent protein (GFP). METHODS: Zebrafish embryos were collected from transgenic GFP Tg(GFAP:GFP)(mi2001) adult zebrafish from 24 to 120 hpf, fixed and processed for whole mount immunohistochemistry. Antibodies to Phox2b were used to identify enteric neurons. Specimens were mounted on slides and imaging was performed using a fluorescent laser confocal microscope. RESULTS: GFAP:GFP labelling outside the spinal cord was identified in embryos from 48 hpf. The patterning was intracellular and consisted of elongated profiles that appeared to migrate away from the spinal cord into the periphery. At 72 and 96 hpf, GFAP:GFP was expressed dorsally and ventrally to the intestinal tract. At 120 hpf, GFAP:GFP was expressed throughout the intestinal wall, and clusters of enteric neurons were identified using Phox2b immunofluorescence along the pathway of GFAP:GFP positive processes, indicative of a migratory pathway of ENS precursors from the spinal cord into the intestine. CONCLUSION: The pattern of migration of GFAP:GFP expressing cells outside the spinal cord suggests an organized, early developing migratory pathway to the ENS. This shows for the

  7. Acoustic emission

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nichols, R.W.

    1976-01-01

    The volume contains six papers which together provide an overall review of the inspection technique known as acoustic emission or stress wave emission. The titles are: a welder's introduction to acoustic emission technology; use of acoustic emission for detection of defects as they arise during fabrication; examples of laboratory application and assessment of acoustic emission in the United Kingdom; (Part I: acoustic emission behaviour of low alloy steels; Part II: fatigue crack assessment from proof testing and continuous monitoring); inspection of selected areas of engineering structures by acoustic emission; Japanese experience in laboratory and practical applications of acoustic emission to welded structures; and ASME acoustic emission code status. (U.K.)

  8. Spatio-temporal segregation of calling behavior at a multispecies fish spawning site in Little Cayman

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cameron, K. C.; Sirovic, A.; Jaffe, J. S.; Semmens, B.; Pattengill-Semmens, C.; Gibb, J.

    2016-02-01

    Fish spawning aggregation (FSA) sites are extremely vulnerable to over-exploitation. Accurate understanding of the spatial and temporal use of such sites is necessary for effective species management. The size of FSAs can be on the order of kilometers and peak spawning often occurs at night, posing challenges to visual observation. Passive acoustics are an alternative method for dealing with these challenges. An array of passive acoustic recorders and GoPro cameras were deployed during Nassau grouper (Epinephelus striatus) spawning from February 7th to 12th, 2015 at a multispecies spawning aggregation site in Little Cayman, Cayman Islands. In addition to Nassau grouper, at least 10 other species are known to spawn at this location including tiger grouper (Mycteroperca tigris), red hind (Epinephelus guttatus), black grouper (Mycteroperca bonaci), and yellowfin grouper (Mycteroperca venenosa). During 5 days of continuous recordings, over 21,000 fish calls were detected. These calls were classified into 15 common types. Species identification and behavioral context of unknown common call types were determined by coupling video recordings collected during this time with call localizations. There are distinct temporal patterns in call production of different species. For example, red hind and yellowfin grouper call predominately at night with yellowfin call rates increasing after midnight, and black grouper call primarily during dusk and dawn. In addition, localization methods were used to reveal how the FSA area was divided among species. These findings facilitate a better understanding of the behavior of these important reef fish species allowing policymakers to more effectively manage and protect them.

  9. Spatio-temporal and species-specific variation in PBDE levels/patterns in British Columbia's coastal waters

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ikonomou, Michael G. [Marine Environmental Quality, Institute of Ocean Sciences, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, 9860 W. Saanich Road, Sidney, British Columbia V8L 4B2 (Canada)]. E-mail: ikonomoum@dfo-mpo.gc.ca; Fernandez, Marc P. [Marine Environmental Quality, Institute of Ocean Sciences, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, 9860 W. Saanich Road, Sidney, British Columbia V8L 4B2 (Canada); Hickman, Zachary L. [College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, 630 West 168th Street, New York, NY 10032 (United States)

    2006-03-15

    Congener-specific levels of PBDEs were measured in the livers and some muscle tissues of Dungeness crab (Cancer magister), English sole (Pleuronectes vetulus) and spiny dogfish (Squalus acanthias). Highest concentrations (1200-560 ng/g lipid) were found in crab collected near heavily urbanized areas (pop. {approx}0.3-1.8 million), followed by moderate levels at pulp/paper mills sites ({approx}150 ng/g), and lowest levels occurred in areas that were somewhat removed from industrial/populated areas (<24 ng/g). Temporal increases in total PBDEs and particularly in BDE-47 for Dungeness crab collected near pulp and paper and urbanized areas between 1994 and 2000 were observed. These correspond to Canadian and worldwide trends seen for PBDEs in biota. English sole and dogfish showed a pattern similar to that of the Columbia River whitefish samples, which corresponded closely to the patterns in the 'penta' commercial mixture. Conversely, Dungeness crab were enriched in lower chlorinated PBDEs, particularly BDE-47 and BDE-49, compared to the fish and shark species from BC. - PBDEs in biota and sediments from the West Coast of Canada reflect temporal, species-specific and geographic distributions.

  10. Evidence for Neural Computations of Temporal Coherence in an Auditory Scene and Their Enhancement during Active Listening.

    Science.gov (United States)

    O'Sullivan, James A; Shamma, Shihab A; Lalor, Edmund C

    2015-05-06

    The human brain has evolved to operate effectively in highly complex acoustic environments, segregating multiple sound sources into perceptually distinct auditory objects. A recent theory seeks to explain this ability by arguing that stream segregation occurs primarily due to the temporal coherence of the neural populations that encode the various features of an individual acoustic source. This theory has received support from both psychoacoustic and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies that use stimuli which model complex acoustic environments. Termed stochastic figure-ground (SFG) stimuli, they are composed of a "figure" and background that overlap in spectrotemporal space, such that the only way to segregate the figure is by computing the coherence of its frequency components over time. Here, we extend these psychoacoustic and fMRI findings by using the greater temporal resolution of electroencephalography to investigate the neural computation of temporal coherence. We present subjects with modified SFG stimuli wherein the temporal coherence of the figure is modulated stochastically over time, which allows us to use linear regression methods to extract a signature of the neural processing of this temporal coherence. We do this under both active and passive listening conditions. Our findings show an early effect of coherence during passive listening, lasting from ∼115 to 185 ms post-stimulus. When subjects are actively listening to the stimuli, these responses are larger and last longer, up to ∼265 ms. These findings provide evidence for early and preattentive neural computations of temporal coherence that are enhanced by active analysis of an auditory scene. Copyright © 2015 the authors 0270-6474/15/357256-08$15.00/0.

  11. Effects of nitrogen on temporal and spatial patterns of nitrate in streams and soil solution of a central hardwood forest

    Science.gov (United States)

    Frank S. Gilliam; Mary Beth. Adams

    2011-01-01

    This study examined changes in stream and soil water NO3- and their relationship to temporal and spatial patterns of NO3- in soil solution of watersheds at the Fernow Experimental Forest, West Virginia. Following tenfold increases in stream NO3

  12. Wildlife in the Matrix: Spatio-Temporal Patterns of Herbivore Occurrence in Karnataka, India

    Science.gov (United States)

    Karanth, Krithi K.

    2016-01-01

    Wildlife reserves are becoming increasingly isolated from the surrounding human-dominated landscapes particularly in Asia. It is imperative to understand how species are distributed spatially and temporally in and outside reserves, and what factors influence their occurrence. This study surveyed 7500 km2 landscape surrounding five reserves in the Western Ghats to examine patterns of occurrence of five herbivores: elephant, gaur, sambar, chital, and pig. Species distributions are modeled spatio-temporally using an occupancy approach. Trained field teams conducted 3860 interview-based occupancy surveys in a 10-km buffer surrounding these five reserves in 2012. I found gaur and wild pig to be the least and most wide-ranging species, respectively. Elephant and chital exhibit seasonal differences in spatial distribution unlike the other three species. As predicted, distance to reserve, the reserve itself, and forest cover were associated with higher occupancy of all species, and higher densities of people negatively influenced occurrence of all species. Park management, species protection, and conflict mitigation efforts in this landscape need to incorporate temporal and spatial understanding of species distributions. All species are known crop raiders and conflict prone locations with resources (such as water and forage) have to be monitored and managed carefully. Wildlife reserves and adjacent areas are critical for long-term persistence and habitat use for all five herbivores and must be monitored to ensure wildlife can move freely. Such a large-scale approach to map and monitor species distributions can be adapted to other landscapes to identify and monitor critical habitats shared by people and wildlife.

  13. AFSC/NMML: Passive acoustic sonobuoy recordings from Bering, Chukchi, and Beaufort Seas in Alaska, 2007-2014

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — The National Marine Mammal Laboratory (NMML) has conducted passive acoustic monitoring in the Bering, Chukchi, and Western Beaufort Seas to determine spatio-temporal...

  14. Temporal bone radiography using the orthopantomograph

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tatezawa, T.

    1981-01-01

    Temporal bone radiographs obtained with an Orthopantomograph were compared with conventional radiographs. In acoustic neurinoma, cholesteatoma, otitis media, and middle fossa tumors, both methods demonstrated the abnormalities well. In two cases with lesions extending beyond the range of conventional projections, the broad orthopantomographic coverage was very valuable. Mastoid air cells, the mastoid process, petrous ridge, and internal auditory meatus were well demonstrated by both techniques. Orthopantomography was found to be superior in the demonstration of the petrous apex, while the superior semicircular canal was better demonstrated on the conventional views. Bilateral symmetry was particularly good and because of fewer films, radiation exposure was considerably less with orthopantomography. For many applications, orthopantomography is an adequate convenient substitute for conventional methods of examining the temporal bones

  15. Objective assessment of chromatic and achromatic pattern adaptation reveals the temporal response properties of different visual pathways.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Robson, Anthony G; Kulikowski, Janus J

    2012-11-01

    The aim was to investigate the temporal response properties of magnocellular, parvocellular, and koniocellular visual pathways using increment/decrement changes in contrast to elicit visual evoked potentials (VEPs). Static achromatic and isoluminant chromatic gratings were generated on a monitor. Chromatic gratings were modulated along red/green (R/G) or subject-specific tritanopic confusion axes, established using a minimum distinct border criterion. Isoluminance was determined using minimum flicker photometry. Achromatic and chromatic VEPs were recorded to contrast increments and decrements of 0.1 or 0.2 superimposed on the static gratings (masking contrast 0-0.6). Achromatic increment/decrement changes in contrast evoked a percept of apparent motion when the spatial frequency was low; VEPs to such stimuli were positive in polarity and largely unaffected by high levels of static contrast, consistent with transient response mechanisms. VEPs to finer achromatic gratings showed marked attenuation as static contrast was increased. Chromatic VEPs to R/G or tritan chromatic contrast increments were of negative polarity and showed progressive attenuation as static contrast was increased, in keeping with increasing desensitization of the sustained responses of the color-opponent visual pathways. Chromatic contrast decrement VEPs were of positive polarity and less sensitive to pattern adaptation. The relative contribution of sustained/transient mechanisms to achromatic processing is spatial frequency dependent. Chromatic contrast increment VEPs reflect the sustained temporal response properties of parvocellular and koniocellular pathways. Cortical VEPs can provide an objective measure of pattern adaptation and can be used to probe the temporal response characteristics of different visual pathways.

  16. Translational illusion of acoustic sources by transformation acoustics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sun, Fei; Li, Shichao; He, Sailing

    2017-09-01

    An acoustic illusion of creating a translated acoustic source is designed by utilizing transformation acoustics. An acoustic source shifter (ASS) composed of layered acoustic metamaterials is designed to achieve such an illusion. A practical example where the ASS is made with naturally available materials is also given. Numerical simulations verify the performance of the proposed device. The designed ASS may have some applications in, e.g., anti-sonar detection.

  17. Remote sensing captures varying temporal patterns of vegetation between human-altered and natural landscapes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leong, Misha; Roderick, George K

    2015-01-01

    Global change has led to shifts in phenology, potentially disrupting species interactions such as plant-pollinator relationships. Advances in remote sensing techniques allow one to detect vegetation phenological diversity between different land use types, but it is not clear how this translates to other communities in the ecosystem. Here, we investigated the phenological diversity of the vegetation across a human-altered landscape including urban, agricultural, and natural land use types. We found that the patterns of change in the vegetation indices (EVI and NDVI) of human-altered landscapes are out of synchronization with the phenology in neighboring natural California grassland habitat. Comparing these findings to a spatio-temporal pollinator distribution dataset, EVI and NDVI were significant predictors of total bee abundance, a relationship that improved with time lags. This evidence supports the importance of differences in temporal dynamics between land use types. These findings also highlight the potential to utilize remote sensing data to make predictions for components of biodiversity that have tight vegetation associations, such as pollinators.

  18. Impulsive sounds change European seabass swimming patterns: Influence of pulse repetition interval

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Neo, Y.Y.; Ufkes, E.; Kastelein, R.A.; Winter, H.V.; Cate, C. ten; Slabbekoorn, H.

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • We exposed impulsive sounds of different repetition intervals to European seabass. • Immediate behavioural changes mirrored previous indoor & outdoor studies. • Repetition intervals influenced the impacts differentially but not the recovery. • Sound temporal patterns may be more important than some standard metrics. - Abstract: Seismic shootings and offshore pile-driving are regularly performed, emitting significant amounts of noise that may negatively affect fish behaviour. The pulse repetition interval (PRI) of these impulsive sounds may vary considerably and influence the behavioural impact and recovery. Here, we tested the effect of four PRIs (0.5–4.0 s) on European seabass swimming patterns in an outdoor basin. At the onset of the sound exposures, the fish swam faster and dived deeper in tighter shoals. PRI affected the immediate and delayed behavioural changes but not the recovery time. Our study highlights that (1) the behavioural changes of captive European seabass were consistent with previous indoor and outdoor studies; (2) PRI could influence behavioural impact differentially, which may have management implications; (3) some acoustic metrics, e.g. SEL cum , may have limited predictive power to assess the strength of behavioural impacts of noise. Noise impact assessments need to consider the contribution of sound temporal structure

  19. User Activity Recognition in Smart Homes Using Pattern Clustering Applied to Temporal ANN Algorithm.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bourobou, Serge Thomas Mickala; Yoo, Younghwan

    2015-05-21

    This paper discusses the possibility of recognizing and predicting user activities in the IoT (Internet of Things) based smart environment. The activity recognition is usually done through two steps: activity pattern clustering and activity type decision. Although many related works have been suggested, they had some limited performance because they focused only on one part between the two steps. This paper tries to find the best combination of a pattern clustering method and an activity decision algorithm among various existing works. For the first step, in order to classify so varied and complex user activities, we use a relevant and efficient unsupervised learning method called the K-pattern clustering algorithm. In the second step, the training of smart environment for recognizing and predicting user activities inside his/her personal space is done by utilizing the artificial neural network based on the Allen's temporal relations. The experimental results show that our combined method provides the higher recognition accuracy for various activities, as compared with other data mining classification algorithms. Furthermore, it is more appropriate for a dynamic environment like an IoT based smart home.

  20. User Activity Recognition in Smart Homes Using Pattern Clustering Applied to Temporal ANN Algorithm

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Serge Thomas Mickala Bourobou

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available This paper discusses the possibility of recognizing and predicting user activities in the IoT (Internet of Things based smart environment. The activity recognition is usually done through two steps: activity pattern clustering and activity type decision. Although many related works have been suggested, they had some limited performance because they focused only on one part between the two steps. This paper tries to find the best combination of a pattern clustering method and an activity decision algorithm among various existing works. For the first step, in order to classify so varied and complex user activities, we use a relevant and efficient unsupervised learning method called the K-pattern clustering algorithm. In the second step, the training of smart environment for recognizing and predicting user activities inside his/her personal space is done by utilizing the artificial neural network based on the Allen’s temporal relations. The experimental results show that our combined method provides the higher recognition accuracy for various activities, as compared with other data mining classification algorithms. Furthermore, it is more appropriate for a dynamic environment like an IoT based smart home.

  1. Spatio-temporal patterns of soil erosion and suspended sediment dynamics in the Mekong River Basin.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Suif, Zuliziana; Fleifle, Amr; Yoshimura, Chihiro; Saavedra, Oliver

    2016-10-15

    Understanding of the distribution patterns of sediment erosion, concentration and transport in river basins is critically important as sediment plays a major role in river basin hydrophysical and ecological processes. In this study, we proposed an integrated framework for the assessment of sediment dynamics, including soil erosion (SE), suspended sediment load (SSL) and suspended sediment concentration (SSC), and applied this framework to the Mekong River Basin. The Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) model was adopted with a geographic information system to assess SE and was coupled with a sediment accumulation and a routing scheme to simulate SSL. This framework also analyzed Landsat imagery captured between 1987 and 2000 together with ground observations to interpolate spatio-temporal patterns of SSC. The simulated SSL results from 1987 to 2000 showed the relative root mean square error of 41% and coefficient of determination (R(2)) of 0.89. The polynomial relationship of the near infrared exoatmospheric reflectance and the band 4 wavelength (760-900nm) to the observed SSC at 9 sites demonstrated the good agreement (overall relative RMSE=5.2%, R(2)=0.87). The result found that the severe SE occurs in the upper (China and Lao PDR) and lower (western part of Vietnam) regions. The SSC in the rainy season (June-November) showed increasing and decreasing trends longitudinally in the upper (China and Lao PDR) and lower regions (Cambodia), respectively, while the longitudinal profile of SSL showed a fluctuating trend along the river in the early rainy season. Overall, the results described the unique spatio-temporal patterns of SE, SSL and SSC in the Mekong River Basin. Thus, the proposed integrated framework is useful for elucidating complex process of sediment generation and transport in the land and river systems of large river basins. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  2. Low frequency vibrations disrupt left-right patterning in the Xenopus embryo.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Laura N Vandenberg

    Full Text Available The development of consistent left-right (LR asymmetry across phyla is a fascinating question in biology. While many pharmacological and molecular approaches have been used to explore molecular mechanisms, it has proven difficult to exert precise temporal control over functional perturbations. Here, we took advantage of acoustical vibration to disrupt LR patterning in Xenopus embryos during tightly-circumscribed periods of development. Exposure to several low frequencies induced specific randomization of three internal organs (heterotaxia. Investigating one frequency (7 Hz, we found two discrete periods of sensitivity to vibration; during the first period, vibration affected the same LR pathway as nocodazole, while during the second period, vibration affected the integrity of the epithelial barrier; both are required for normal LR patterning. Our results indicate that low frequency vibrations disrupt two steps in the early LR pathway: the orientation of the LR axis with the other two axes, and the amplification/restriction of downstream LR signals to asymmetric organs.

  3. Detection of viruses and the spatial and temporal spread patterns of viral diseases of cucurbits (Cucurbitaceae spp.) in the coastal savannah zone of Ghana

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gyamena, A. E

    2013-07-01

    Cucurbits are susceptible to over 35 plant viruses; each of these viruses is capable of causing total crop failure in a poorly managed virus pathosystem. The objectives of this study were to detect the viruses that infect six cucurbit species in the coastal savannah zone of Ghana and to describe the spatial and temporal spread patterns of virus epidemics in zucchini squash (Cucurbita pepo L.) by the use of mathematical and geostatistical models. Cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.), watermelon (Citrullus lanatus Thunb.), zucchini squash (Cucurbita pepo L.), butternut squash (Cucurbita moschata Duchesne), egushi (Citrullus colocynthis L. Schrad.) and melon (Cucumis melo L.) were grown on an experimental field in the coastal savannah zone of Ghana and were monitored for the expression of virus and virus-like symptoms. The observed symptoms were further confirmed by Double Antibody Sandwich Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (DAS ELISA) and mechanical inoculation of indicator plants. The temporal spread patterns of virus disease in zucchini squash were analyzed by exponential logistic, monomolecular and gompertz mechanistic models. The spatial patterns of virus disease spread in zucchini squash field were analyzed by semivariograms and inverse distance weighing (IDW) methods. Cucumber, zucchini squash, melon and butternut squash were infected by both Cucumber mosaic virus (CMW) and Papaya ringspot virus (PRSV-W). Egushi was infected by CMW but not PRSV-W. None of the six cucurbit species were infected by Watermelon mosaic virus (WMV) or Zucchini yellow mosaic virus (ZYMV). The temporal pattern of disease incidence in the zucchini squash field followed the gompertz function with an average apparent infection rate of 0.026 per day. The temporal pattern of disease severity was best described by the exponential model with coefficient of determination of 94.38 % and rate of progress disease severity of 0.114 per day. As at 49 days after planting (DAP), disease incidence and

  4. A statistical-based approach for acoustic tomography of the atmosphere.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kolouri, Soheil; Azimi-Sadjadi, Mahmood R; Ziemann, Astrid

    2014-01-01

    Acoustic travel-time tomography of the atmosphere is a nonlinear inverse problem which attempts to reconstruct temperature and wind velocity fields in the atmospheric surface layer using the dependence of sound speed on temperature and wind velocity fields along the propagation path. This paper presents a statistical-based acoustic travel-time tomography algorithm based on dual state-parameter unscented Kalman filter (UKF) which is capable of reconstructing and tracking, in time, temperature, and wind velocity fields (state variables) as well as the dynamic model parameters within a specified investigation area. An adaptive 3-D spatial-temporal autoregressive model is used to capture the state evolution in the UKF. The observations used in the dual state-parameter UKF process consist of the acoustic time of arrivals measured for every pair of transmitter/receiver nodes deployed in the investigation area. The proposed method is then applied to the data set collected at the Meteorological Observatory Lindenberg, Germany, as part of the STINHO experiment, and the reconstruction results are presented.

  5. Efficacy of extracting indices from large-scale acoustic recordings to monitor biodiversity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Buxton, Rachel; McKenna, Megan F; Clapp, Mary; Meyer, Erik; Stabenau, Erik; Angeloni, Lisa M; Crooks, Kevin; Wittemyer, George

    2018-04-20

    Passive acoustic monitoring has the potential to be a powerful approach for assessing biodiversity across large spatial and temporal scales. However, extracting meaningful information from recordings can be prohibitively time consuming. Acoustic indices offer a relatively rapid method for processing acoustic data and are increasingly used to characterize biological communities. We examine the ability of acoustic indices to predict the diversity and abundance of biological sounds within recordings. First we reviewed the acoustic index literature and found that over 60 indices have been applied to a range of objectives with varying success. We then implemented a subset of the most successful indices on acoustic data collected at 43 sites in temperate terrestrial and tropical marine habitats across the continental U.S., developing a predictive model of the diversity of animal sounds observed in recordings. For terrestrial recordings, random forest models using a suite of acoustic indices as covariates predicted Shannon diversity, richness, and total number of biological sounds with high accuracy (R 2 > = 0.94, mean squared error MSE indices assessed, roughness, acoustic activity, and acoustic richness contributed most to the predictive ability of models. Performance of index models was negatively impacted by insect, weather, and anthropogenic sounds. For marine recordings, random forest models predicted Shannon diversity, richness, and total number of biological sounds with low accuracy (R 2 = 195), indicating that alternative methods are necessary in marine habitats. Our results suggest that using a combination of relevant indices in a flexible model can accurately predict the diversity of biological sounds in temperate terrestrial acoustic recordings. Thus, acoustic approaches could be an important contribution to biodiversity monitoring in some habitats in the face of accelerating human-caused ecological change. This article is protected by copyright. All rights

  6. Movement patterns of silvertip sharks ( Carcharhinus albimarginatus) on coral reefs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Espinoza, Mario; Heupel, Michelle. R.; Tobin, Andrew J.; Simpfendorfer, Colin A.

    2015-09-01

    Understanding how sharks use coral reefs is essential for assessing risk of exposure to fisheries, habitat loss, and climate change. Despite a wide Indo-Pacific distribution, little is known about the spatial ecology of silvertip sharks ( Carcharhinus albimarginatus), compromising the ability to effectively manage their populations. We examined the residency and movements of silvertip sharks in the central Great Barrier Reef (GBR). An array of 56 VR2W acoustic receivers was used to monitor shark movements on 17 semi-isolated reefs. Twenty-seven individuals tagged with acoustic transmitters were monitored from 70 to 731 d. Residency index to the study site ranged from 0.05 to 0.97, with a mean residency (±SD) of 0.57 ± 0.26, but most individuals were detected at or near their tagging reef. Clear seasonal patterns were apparent, with fewer individuals detected between September and February. A large proportion of the tagged population (>71 %) moved regularly between reefs. Silvertip sharks were detected less during daytime and exhibited a strong diel pattern in depth use, which may be a strategy for optimizing energetic budgets and foraging opportunities. This study provides the first detailed examination of the spatial ecology and behavior of silvertip sharks on coral reefs. Silvertip sharks remained resident at coral reef habitats over long periods, but our results also suggest this species may have more complex movement patterns and use larger areas of the GBR than common reef shark species. Our findings highlight the need to further understand the movement ecology of silvertip sharks at different spatial and temporal scales, which is critical for developing effective management approaches.

  7. Acoustic features of objects matched by an echolocating bottlenose dolphin.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Delong, Caroline M; Au, Whitlow W L; Lemonds, David W; Harley, Heidi E; Roitblat, Herbert L

    2006-03-01

    The focus of this study was to investigate how dolphins use acoustic features in returning echolocation signals to discriminate among objects. An echolocating dolphin performed a match-to-sample task with objects that varied in size, shape, material, and texture. After the task was completed, the features of the object echoes were measured (e.g., target strength, peak frequency). The dolphin's error patterns were examined in conjunction with the between-object variation in acoustic features to identify the acoustic features that the dolphin used to discriminate among the objects. The present study explored two hypotheses regarding the way dolphins use acoustic information in echoes: (1) use of a single feature, or (2) use of a linear combination of multiple features. The results suggested that dolphins do not use a single feature across all object sets or a linear combination of six echo features. Five features appeared to be important to the dolphin on four or more sets: the echo spectrum shape, the pattern of changes in target strength and number of highlights as a function of object orientation, and peak and center frequency. These data suggest that dolphins use multiple features and integrate information across echoes from a range of object orientations.

  8. A THREE-STEP SPATIAL-TEMPORAL-SEMANTIC CLUSTERING METHOD FOR HUMAN ACTIVITY PATTERN ANALYSIS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    W. Huang

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available How people move in cities and what they do in various locations at different times form human activity patterns. Human activity pattern plays a key role in in urban planning, traffic forecasting, public health and safety, emergency response, friend recommendation, and so on. Therefore, scholars from different fields, such as social science, geography, transportation, physics and computer science, have made great efforts in modelling and analysing human activity patterns or human mobility patterns. One of the essential tasks in such studies is to find the locations or places where individuals stay to perform some kind of activities before further activity pattern analysis. In the era of Big Data, the emerging of social media along with wearable devices enables human activity data to be collected more easily and efficiently. Furthermore, the dimension of the accessible human activity data has been extended from two to three (space or space-time to four dimensions (space, time and semantics. More specifically, not only a location and time that people stay and spend are collected, but also what people “say” for in a location at a time can be obtained. The characteristics of these datasets shed new light on the analysis of human mobility, where some of new methodologies should be accordingly developed to handle them. Traditional methods such as neural networks, statistics and clustering have been applied to study human activity patterns using geosocial media data. Among them, clustering methods have been widely used to analyse spatiotemporal patterns. However, to our best knowledge, few of clustering algorithms are specifically developed for handling the datasets that contain spatial, temporal and semantic aspects all together. In this work, we propose a three-step human activity clustering method based on space, time and semantics to fill this gap. One-year Twitter data, posted in Toronto, Canada, is used to test the clustering-based method. The

  9. A Pattern Recognition Approach to Acoustic Emission Data Originating from Fatigue of Wind Turbine Blades

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jialin Tang

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available The identification of particular types of damage in wind turbine blades using acoustic emission (AE techniques is a significant emerging field. In this work, a 45.7-m turbine blade was subjected to flap-wise fatigue loading for 21 days, during which AE was measured by internally mounted piezoelectric sensors. This paper focuses on using unsupervised pattern recognition methods to characterize different AE activities corresponding to different fracture mechanisms. A sequential feature selection method based on a k-means clustering algorithm is used to achieve a fine classification accuracy. The visualization of clusters in peak frequency−frequency centroid features is used to correlate the clustering results with failure modes. The positions of these clusters in time domain features, average frequency−MARSE, and average frequency−peak amplitude are also presented in this paper (where MARSE represents the Measured Area under Rectified Signal Envelope. The results show that these parameters are representative for the classification of the failure modes.

  10. A Pattern Recognition Approach to Acoustic Emission Data Originating from Fatigue of Wind Turbine Blades.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tang, Jialin; Soua, Slim; Mares, Cristinel; Gan, Tat-Hean

    2017-11-01

    The identification of particular types of damage in wind turbine blades using acoustic emission (AE) techniques is a significant emerging field. In this work, a 45.7-m turbine blade was subjected to flap-wise fatigue loading for 21 days, during which AE was measured by internally mounted piezoelectric sensors. This paper focuses on using unsupervised pattern recognition methods to characterize different AE activities corresponding to different fracture mechanisms. A sequential feature selection method based on a k-means clustering algorithm is used to achieve a fine classification accuracy. The visualization of clusters in peak frequency-frequency centroid features is used to correlate the clustering results with failure modes. The positions of these clusters in time domain features, average frequency-MARSE, and average frequency-peak amplitude are also presented in this paper (where MARSE represents the Measured Area under Rectified Signal Envelope). The results show that these parameters are representative for the classification of the failure modes.

  11. Vertical distribution, composition and migratory patterns of acoustic scattering layers in the Canary Islands

    KAUST Repository

    Ariza, A.

    2016-01-21

    Diel vertical migration (DVM) facilitates biogeochemical exchanges between shallow waters and the deep ocean. An effective way of monitoring the migrant biota is by acoustic observations although the interpretation of the scattering layers poses challenges. Here we combine results from acoustic observations at 18 and 38 kHz with limited net sampling in order to unveil the origin of acoustic phenomena around the Canary Islands, subtropical northeast Atlantic Ocean. Trawling data revealed a high diversity of fishes, decapods and cephalopods (152 species), although few dominant species likely were responsible for most of the sound scattering in the region. We identified four different acoustic scattering layers in the mesopelagic realm: (1) at 400–500 m depth, a swimbladder resonance phenomenon at 18 kHz produced by gas-bearing migrant fish such as Vinciguerria spp. and Lobianchia dofleini, (2) at 500–600 m depth, a dense 38 kHz layer resulting primarily from the gas-bearing and non-migrant fish Cyclothone braueri, and to a lesser extent, from fluid-like migrant fauna also inhabiting these depths, (3) between 600 and 800 m depth, a weak signal at both 18 and 38 kHz ascribed either to migrant fish or decapods, and (4) below 800 m depth, a weak non-migrant layer at 18 kHz which was not sampled. All the dielly migrating layers reached the epipelagic zone at night, with the shorter-range migrations moving at 4.6 ± 2.6 cm s − 1 and the long-range ones at 11.5 ± 3.8 cm s − 1. This work reduces uncertainties interpreting standard frequencies in mesopelagic studies, while enhances the potential of acoustics for future research and monitoring of the deep pelagic fauna in the Canary Islands.

  12. Vertical distribution, composition and migratory patterns of acoustic scattering layers in the Canary Islands

    KAUST Repository

    Ariza, A.; Landeira, J.M.; Escá nez, A.; Wienerroither, R.; Aguilar de Soto, N.; Rø stad, Anders; Kaartvedt, S.; Herná ndez-Leó n, S.

    2016-01-01

    Diel vertical migration (DVM) facilitates biogeochemical exchanges between shallow waters and the deep ocean. An effective way of monitoring the migrant biota is by acoustic observations although the interpretation of the scattering layers poses challenges. Here we combine results from acoustic observations at 18 and 38 kHz with limited net sampling in order to unveil the origin of acoustic phenomena around the Canary Islands, subtropical northeast Atlantic Ocean. Trawling data revealed a high diversity of fishes, decapods and cephalopods (152 species), although few dominant species likely were responsible for most of the sound scattering in the region. We identified four different acoustic scattering layers in the mesopelagic realm: (1) at 400–500 m depth, a swimbladder resonance phenomenon at 18 kHz produced by gas-bearing migrant fish such as Vinciguerria spp. and Lobianchia dofleini, (2) at 500–600 m depth, a dense 38 kHz layer resulting primarily from the gas-bearing and non-migrant fish Cyclothone braueri, and to a lesser extent, from fluid-like migrant fauna also inhabiting these depths, (3) between 600 and 800 m depth, a weak signal at both 18 and 38 kHz ascribed either to migrant fish or decapods, and (4) below 800 m depth, a weak non-migrant layer at 18 kHz which was not sampled. All the dielly migrating layers reached the epipelagic zone at night, with the shorter-range migrations moving at 4.6 ± 2.6 cm s − 1 and the long-range ones at 11.5 ± 3.8 cm s − 1. This work reduces uncertainties interpreting standard frequencies in mesopelagic studies, while enhances the potential of acoustics for future research and monitoring of the deep pelagic fauna in the Canary Islands.

  13. Cylindrical acoustic levitator/concentrator having non-circular cross-section

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kaduchak, Gregory; Sinha, Dipen N.

    2003-11-11

    A low-power, inexpensive acoustic apparatus for levitation and/or concentration of aerosols and small liquid/solid samples having particulates up to several millimeters in diameter in air or other fluids is described. It is constructed from a commercially available, hollow piezoelectric crystal which has been formed with a cylindrical cross-section to tune the resonance frequency of the breathing mode resonance of the crystal to that of the interior cavity of the cylinder. When the resonance frequency of the interior cylindrical cavity is matched to the breathing mode resonance of the cylindrical piezoelectric transducer, the acoustic efficiency for establishing a standing wave pattern in the cavity is high. By deforming the circular cross-section of the transducer, the acoustic force is concentrated along axial regions parallel to the axis of the transducer. The cylinder does not require accurate alignment of a resonant cavity. The concentrated regions of acoustic force cause particles in the fluid to concentrate within the regions of acoustic force for separation from the fluid.

  14. Distributed temperature and distributed acoustic sensing for remote and harsh environments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mondanos, Michael; Parker, Tom; Milne, Craig H.; Yeo, Jackson; Coleman, Thomas; Farhadiroushan, Mahmoud

    2015-05-01

    Advances in opto-electronics and associated signal processing have enabled the development of Distributed Acoustic and Temperature Sensors. Unlike systems relying on discrete optical sensors a distributed system does not rely upon manufactured sensors but utilises passive custom optical fibre cables resistant to harsh environments, including high temperature applications (600°C). The principle of distributed sensing is well known from the distributed temperature sensor (DTS) which uses the interaction of the source light with thermal vibrations (Raman scattering) to determine the temperature at all points along the fibre. Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) uses a novel digital optical detection technique to precisely capture the true full acoustic field (amplitude, frequency and phase) over a wide dynamic range at every point simultaneously. A number of signal processing techniques have been developed to process a large array of acoustic signals to quantify the coherent temporal and spatial characteristics of the acoustic waves. Predominantly these systems have been developed for the oil and gas industry to assist reservoir engineers in optimising the well lifetime. Nowadays these systems find a wide variety of applications as integrity monitoring tools in process vessels, storage tanks and piping systems offering the operator tools to schedule maintenance programs and maximize service life.

  15. Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin occurrence north of Lantau Island, Hong Kong, based on year-round passive acoustic monitoring.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Munger, Lisa; Lammers, Marc O; Cifuentes, Mattie; Würsig, Bernd; Jefferson, Thomas A; Hung, Samuel K

    2016-10-01

    Long-term passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) was conducted to study Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins, Sousa chinensis, as part of environmental impact assessments for several major coastal development projects in Hong Kong waters north of Lantau Island. Ecological acoustic recorders obtained 2711 days of recording at 13 sites from December 2012 to December 2014. Humpback dolphin sounds were manually detected on more than half of days with recordings at 12 sites, 8 of which were within proposed reclamation areas. Dolphin detection rates were greatest at Lung Kwu Chau, with other high-occurrence locations northeast of the Hong Kong International Airport and within the Lung Kwu Tan and Siu Ho Wan regions. Dolphin detection rates were greatest in summer and autumn (June-November) and were significantly reduced in spring (March-May) compared to other times of year. Click detection rates were significantly higher at night than during daylight hours. These findings suggest high use of many of the proposed reclamation/development areas by humpback dolphins, particularly at night, and demonstrate the value of long-term PAM for documenting spatial and temporal patterns in dolphin occurrence to help inform management decisions.

  16. Interpreting behavioural data from Radio-Acoustic Positioning ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    To detect behavioural patterns of individually tagged squid Loligo vulgaris reynaudii in a Radio-Acoustic Positioning Telemetry (RAPT) buoy array, trajectories reflecting the four dimensions of latitude, longitude, depth and time were plotted from data collected during field experiments in South Africa. Finding a continuous ...

  17. Influence of viscoelastic property on laser-generated surface acoustic waves in coating-substrate systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sun Hongxiang; Zhang Shuyi; Xu Baiqiang

    2011-01-01

    Taking account of the viscoelasticity of materials, the pulsed laser generation of surface acoustic waves in coating-substrate systems has been investigated quantitatively by using the finite element method. The displacement spectra of the surface acoustic waves have been calculated in frequency domain for different coating-substrate systems, in which the viscoelastic properties of the coatings and substrates are considered separately. Meanwhile, the temporal displacement waveforms have been obtained by applying inverse fast Fourier transforms. The numerical results of the normal surface displacements are presented for different configurations: a single plate, a slow coating on a fast substrate, and a fast coating on a slow substrate. The influences of the viscoelastic properties of the coating and the substrate on the attenuation of the surface acoustic waves have been studied. In addition, the influence of the coating thickness on the attenuation of the surface acoustic waves has been also investigated in detail.

  18. Spatio-Temporal Analysis of Urban Crime Pattern and its Implication for Abuja Municipal Area Council, Nigeria

    OpenAIRE

    Taiye Oluwafemi Adewuyi; Patrick Ali Eneji; Anthonia Silas Baduku; Emmanuel Ajayi Olofin

    2017-01-01

    This study examined the spatio-temporal analysis of urban crime pattern and its implication for Abuja Municipal Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory of Nigeria; it has the aim of using Geographical Information System to improve criminal justice system. The aim was achieved by establishing crime incident spots, types of crime committed, the time it occurred and factors responsible for prevailing crime. The methods for data collection involved Geoinformatics through the use of remote s...

  19. Heart rate responses induced by acoustic tempo and its interaction with basal heart rate.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Watanabe, Ken; Ooishi, Yuuki; Kashino, Makio

    2017-03-07

    Many studies have revealed the influences of music on the autonomic nervous system (ANS). Since previous studies focused on the effects of acoustic tempo on the ANS, and humans have their own physiological oscillations such as the heart rate (HR), the effects of acoustic tempo might depend on the HR. Here we show the relationship between HR elevation induced by acoustic tempo and individual basal HR. Since high tempo-induced HR elevation requires fast respiration, which is based on sympatho-respiratory coupling, we controlled the participants' respiration at a faster rate (20 CPM) than usual (15 CPM). We found that sound stimuli with a faster tempo than the individual basal HR increased the HR. However, the HR increased following a gradual increase in the acoustic tempo only when the extent of the gradual increase in tempo was within a specific range (around + 2%/min). The HR did not follow the increase in acoustic tempo when the rate of the increase in the acoustic tempo exceeded 3% per minute. These results suggest that the effect of the sympatho-respiratory coupling underlying the HR elevation caused by a high acoustic tempo depends on the basal HR, and the strength and the temporal dynamics of the tempo.

  20. The role of the temporal pole in modulating primitive auditory memory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Zhiliang; Wang, Qian; You, Yu; Yin, Peng; Ding, Hu; Bao, Xiaohan; Yang, Pengcheng; Lu, Hao; Gao, Yayue; Li, Liang

    2016-04-21

    Primitive auditory memory (PAM), which is recognized as the early point in the chain of the transient auditory memory system, faithfully maintains raw acoustic fine-structure signals for up to 20-30 milliseconds. The neural mechanisms underlying PAM have not been reported in the literature. Previous anatomical, brain-imaging, and neurophysiological studies have suggested that the temporal pole (TP), part of the parahippocampal region in the transitional area between perirhinal cortex and superior/inferior temporal gyri, is involved in auditory memories. This study investigated whether the TP plays a role in mediating/modulating PAM. The longest interaural interval (the interaural-delay threshold) for detecting a break in interaural correlation (BIC) embedded in interaurally correlated wideband noises was used to indicate the temporal preservation of PAM and examined in both healthy listeners and patients receiving unilateral anterior temporal lobectomy (ATL, centered on the TP) for treating their temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). The results showed that patients with ATL were still able to detect the BIC even when an interaural interval was introduced, regardless of which ear was the leading one. However, in patient participants, the group-mean interaural-delay threshold for detecting the BIC under the contralateral-ear-leading (relative to the side of ATL) condition was significantly shorter than that under the ipsilateral-ear-leading condition. The results suggest that although the TP is not essential for integrating binaural signals and mediating the PAM, it plays a role in top-down modulating the PAM of raw acoustic fine-structure signals from the contralateral ear. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  1. Temporally selective attention supports speech processing in 3- to 5-year-old children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Astheimer, Lori B; Sanders, Lisa D

    2012-01-01

    Recent event-related potential (ERP) evidence demonstrates that adults employ temporally selective attention to preferentially process the initial portions of words in continuous speech. Doing so is an effective listening strategy since word-initial segments are highly informative. Although the development of this process remains unexplored, directing attention to word onsets may be important for speech processing in young children who would otherwise be overwhelmed by the rapidly changing acoustic signals that constitute speech. We examined the use of temporally selective attention in 3- to 5-year-old children listening to stories by comparing ERPs elicited by attention probes presented at four acoustically matched times relative to word onsets: concurrently with a word onset, 100 ms before, 100 ms after, and at random control times. By 80 ms, probes presented at and after word onsets elicited a larger negativity than probes presented before word onsets or at control times. The latency and distribution of this effect is similar to temporally and spatially selective attention effects measured in adults and, despite differences in polarity, spatially selective attention effects measured in children. These results indicate that, like adults, preschool aged children modulate temporally selective attention to preferentially process the initial portions of words in continuous speech. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  2. Clinical and acoustical variability in hypokinetic dysarthria

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Metter, E.J.; Hanson, W.R.

    1986-01-01

    Ten male patients with parkinsonism secondary to Parkinson's disease or progressive supranuclear palsy had clinical neurological, speech, and acoustical speech evaluations. In addition, seven of the patients were evaluated by x-ray computed tomography (CT) and (F-18)-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET). Extensive variability of speech features, both clinical and acoustical, were found and seemed to be independent of the severity of any parkinsonian sign, CT, or FDG PET. In addition, little relationship existed between the variability across each measured speech feature. What appeared to be important for the appearance of abnormal acoustic measures was the degree of overall severity of the dysarthria. These observations suggest that a better understanding of hypokinetic dysarthria may result from more extensive examination of the variability between patients. Emphasizing a specific feature such as rapid speaking rate in characterizing hypokinetic dysarthria focuses on a single and inconstant finding in a complex speech pattern

  3. Cylindrical acoustic levitator/concentrator

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kaduchak, Gregory; Sinha, Dipen N.

    2002-01-01

    A low-power, inexpensive acoustic apparatus for levitation and/or concentration of aerosols and small liquid/solid samples having particulates up to several millimeters in diameter in air or other fluids is described. It is constructed from a commercially available, hollow cylindrical piezoelectric crystal which has been modified to tune the resonance frequency of the breathing mode resonance of the crystal to that of the interior cavity of the cylinder. When the resonance frequency of the interior cylindrical cavity is matched to the breathing mode resonance of the cylindrical piezoelectric transducer, the acoustic efficiency for establishing a standing wave pattern in the cavity is high. The cylinder does not require accurate alignment of a resonant cavity. Water droplets having diameters greater than 1 mm have been levitated against the force of gravity using; less than 1 W of input electrical power. Concentration of aerosol particles in air is also demonstrated.

  4. Acoustic methods for cavitation mapping in biomedical applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wan, M.; Xu, S.; Ding, T.; Hu, H.; Liu, R.; Bai, C.; Lu, S.

    2015-12-01

    In recent years, cavitation is increasingly utilized in a wide range of applications in biomedical field. Monitoring the spatial-temporal evolution of cavitation bubbles is of great significance for efficiency and safety in biomedical applications. In this paper, several acoustic methods for cavitation mapping proposed or modified on the basis of existing work will be presented. The proposed novel ultrasound line-by-line/plane-by-plane method can depict cavitation bubbles distribution with high spatial and temporal resolution and may be developed as a potential standard 2D/3D cavitation field mapping method. The modified ultrafast active cavitation mapping based upon plane wave transmission and reception as well as bubble wavelet and pulse inversion technique can apparently enhance the cavitation to tissue ratio in tissue and further assist in monitoring the cavitation mediated therapy with good spatial and temporal resolution. The methods presented in this paper will be a foundation to promote the research and development of cavitation imaging in non-transparent medium.

  5. Auditory temporal processing in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lavasani, Azam Navaei; Mohammadkhani, Ghassem; Motamedi, Mahmoud; Karimi, Leyla Jalilvand; Jalaei, Shohreh; Shojaei, Fereshteh Sadat; Danesh, Ali; Azimi, Hadi

    2016-07-01

    Auditory temporal processing is the main feature of speech processing ability. Patients with temporal lobe epilepsy, despite their normal hearing sensitivity, may present speech recognition disorders. The present study was carried out to evaluate the auditory temporal processing in patients with unilateral TLE. The present study was carried out on 25 patients with epilepsy: 11 patients with right temporal lobe epilepsy and 14 with left temporal lobe epilepsy with a mean age of 31.1years and 18 control participants with a mean age of 29.4years. The two experimental and control groups were evaluated via gap-in-noise and duration pattern sequence tests. One-way ANOVA was run to analyze the data. The mean of the threshold of the GIN test in the control group was observed to be better than that in participants with LTLE and RTLE. Also, it was observed that the percentage of correct responses on the DPS test in the control group and in participants with RTLE was better than that in participants with LTLE. Patients with TLE have difficulties in temporal processing. Difficulties are more significant in patients with LTLE, likely because the left temporal lobe is specialized for the processing of temporal information. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  6. Fundamentals of Acoustics. Psychoacoustics and Hearing. Acoustical Measurements

    Science.gov (United States)

    Begault, Durand R.; Ahumada, Al (Technical Monitor)

    1997-01-01

    These are 3 chapters that will appear in a book titled "Building Acoustical Design", edited by Charles Salter. They are designed to introduce the reader to fundamental concepts of acoustics, particularly as they relate to the built environment. "Fundamentals of Acoustics" reviews basic concepts of sound waveform frequency, pressure, and phase. "Psychoacoustics and Hearing" discusses the human interpretation sound pressure as loudness, particularly as a function of frequency. "Acoustic Measurements" gives a simple overview of the time and frequency weightings for sound pressure measurements that are used in acoustical work.

  7. Communication Acoustics

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Blauert, Jens

    Communication Acoustics deals with the fundamentals of those areas of acoustics which are related to modern communication technologies. Due to the advent of digital signal processing and recording in acoustics, these areas have enjoyed an enormous upswing during the last 4 decades. The book...... the book a source of valuable information for those who want to improve or refresh their knowledge in the field of communication acoustics - and to work their way deeper into it. Due to its interdisciplinary character Communication Acoustics is bound to attract readers from many different areas, such as......: acoustics, cognitive science, speech science, and communication technology....

  8. Sensorimotor Representations in Cerebellar Granule Cells in Larval Zebrafish Are Dense, Spatially Organized, and Non-temporally Patterned.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Knogler, Laura D; Markov, Daniil A; Dragomir, Elena I; Štih, Vilim; Portugues, Ruben

    2017-05-08

    A fundamental question in neurobiology is how animals integrate external sensory information from their environment with self-generated motor and sensory signals in order to guide motor behavior and adaptation. The cerebellum is a vertebrate hindbrain region where all of these signals converge and that has been implicated in the acquisition, coordination, and calibration of motor activity. Theories of cerebellar function postulate that granule cells encode a variety of sensorimotor signals in the cerebellar input layer. These models suggest that representations should be high-dimensional, sparse, and temporally patterned. However, in vivo physiological recordings addressing these points have been limited and in particular have been unable to measure the spatiotemporal dynamics of population-wide activity. In this study, we use both calcium imaging and electrophysiology in the awake larval zebrafish to investigate how cerebellar granule cells encode three types of sensory stimuli as well as stimulus-evoked motor behaviors. We find that a large fraction of all granule cells are active in response to these stimuli, such that representations are not sparse at the population level. We find instead that most responses belong to only one of a small number of distinct activity profiles, which are temporally homogeneous and anatomically clustered. We furthermore identify granule cells that are active during swimming behaviors and others that are multimodal for sensory and motor variables. When we pharmacologically change the threshold of a stimulus-evoked behavior, we observe correlated changes in these representations. Finally, electrophysiological data show no evidence for temporal patterning in the coding of different stimulus durations. Copyright © 2017 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

  9. Spatio-temporal seasonal drought patterns in Europe from 1950 to 2015

    Science.gov (United States)

    Spinoni, Jonathan; Naumann, Gustavo; Vogt, Jürgen

    2016-04-01

    Drought is one of the natural disasters with severe impacts in Europe, not only in areas which frequently experience water scarcity such as the Mediterranean, but also in temperate or continental climates such as Central and Eastern Europe and even in cold regions such as Scandinavia and Iceland. In this study the spatio-temporal patterns of seasonal meteorological droughts in Europe between 1950 and 2015 are investigated using the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) and the Standardized Precipitation-Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI). Since the focus is on the analysis of seasonal drought trends, indicators were calculated for 3 monthly accumulation periods. The input variables of precipitation and temperature were derived from E-OBS grids (v11-v12) at a spatial resolution of 0.25°x0.25°. Seasonal trends of drought frequency and severity were analyzed for moderate (SPI or SPEI 2.0) events during the periods 1950-2015 and 1981-2015. For the moderate events, results of the SPI analysis (precipitation driven) demonstrate a significant tendency towards less frequent and severe droughts in Northern Europe and Russia, especially in winter and spring; oppositely, an increasing trend is visible in Southern Europe, mainly in spring and summer. According to the SPEI analysis (precipitation and temperature driven) Northern Europe shows wetting patterns, while Southern and Eastern Europe show a more remarkable drying tendency, especially in summer and autumn for drought frequency and in every season for drought severity. The evolution towards drier conditions is more relevant from 1981 onwards, both in terms of frequency and severity. This is especially true for Central Europe in spring, for the Mediterranean in summer, and for Eastern Europe in autumn. Extreme events follow similar patterns, but in autumn no spatially coherent trend can be found.

  10. Acoustics and sociolinguistics: Patterns of communication in hearing impairing classrooms

    Science.gov (United States)

    McKellin, William; Shahin, Kimary; Jamieson, Janet; Hodgson, Murray; Pichora-Fuller, Kathleen

    2005-04-01

    In elementary school classes, noise during student led activities is often taken as evidence of successful interaction and learning. In this complex social environment of elementary school classrooms, acquisition of complex language and social skills-the focus of activities in early education-is expected to take place in hearing-hostile environments. Communication and language processing in these contexts requires interactive strategies, discourse forms, and syntactic structures different from the educationally desired forms used in acoustically advantageous environments. Recordings were made of the interaction of groups of students in grades 1-3, 5, and 7 during collaborative group work in their regular classrooms. Each student wore microphones at the ear level and head-mounted video cameras. Each group as a whole was also audio- and videotaped and noise level readings were recorded. Analysis of the acoustical and phonological properties of language heard by each student has demonstrated that the language variety used in these noisy and reverberant settings is similar to that of individuals with hearing impairments. This paper reports similarities between the syntactic structures and pragmatic strategies used by hearing impaired children and normally hearing children in noisy contexts. [Work supported by Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies, University of British Columbia.

  11. Biodiversity sampling using a global acoustic approach: contrasting sites with microendemics in New Caledonia.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Amandine Gasc

    Full Text Available New Caledonia is a Pacific island with a unique biodiversity showing an extreme microendemism. Many species distributions observed on this island are extremely restricted, localized to mountains or rivers making biodiversity evaluation and conservation a difficult task. A rapid biodiversity assessment method based on acoustics was recently proposed. This method could help to document the unique spatial structure observed in New Caledonia. Here, this method was applied in an attempt to reveal differences among three mountain sites (Mandjélia, Koghis and Aoupinié with similar ecological features and species richness level, but with high beta diversity according to different microendemic assemblages. In each site, several local acoustic communities were sampled with audio recorders. An automatic acoustic sampling was run on these three sites for a period of 82 successive days. Acoustic properties of animal communities were analysed without any species identification. A frequency spectral complexity index (NP was used as an estimate of the level of acoustic activity and a frequency spectral dissimilarity index (Df assessed acoustic differences between pairs of recordings. As expected, the index NP did not reveal significant differences in the acoustic activity level between the three sites. However, the acoustic variability estimated by the index Df , could first be explained by changes in the acoustic communities along the 24-hour cycle and second by acoustic dissimilarities between the three sites. The results support the hypothesis that global acoustic analyses can detect acoustic differences between sites with similar species richness and similar ecological context, but with different species assemblages. This study also demonstrates that global acoustic methods applied at broad spatial and temporal scales could help to assess local biodiversity in the challenging context of microendemism. The method could be deployed over large areas, and

  12. Acoustic source for generating an acoustic beam

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vu, Cung Khac; Sinha, Dipen N.; Pantea, Cristian

    2016-05-31

    An acoustic source for generating an acoustic beam includes a housing; a plurality of spaced apart piezo-electric layers disposed within the housing; and a non-linear medium filling between the plurality of layers. Each of the plurality of piezoelectric layers is configured to generate an acoustic wave. The non-linear medium and the plurality of piezo-electric material layers have a matching impedance so as to enhance a transmission of the acoustic wave generated by each of plurality of layers through the remaining plurality of layers.

  13. Plant Species Rather Than Climate Greatly Alters the Temporal Pattern of Litter Chemical Composition During Long-Term Decomposition

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Yongfu; Chen, Na; Harmon, Mark E.; Li, Yuan; Cao, Xiaoyan; Chappell, Mark A.; Mao, Jingdong

    2015-10-01

    A feedback between decomposition and litter chemical composition occurs with decomposition altering composition that in turn influences the decomposition rate. Elucidating the temporal pattern of chemical composition is vital to understand this feedback, but the effects of plant species and climate on chemical changes remain poorly understood, especially over multiple years. In a 10-year decomposition experiment with litter of four species (Acer saccharum, Drypetes glauca, Pinus resinosa, and Thuja plicata) from four sites that range from the arctic to tropics, we determined the abundance of 11 litter chemical constituents that were grouped into waxes, carbohydrates, lignin/tannins, and proteins/peptides using advanced 13C solid-state NMR techniques. Decomposition generally led to an enrichment of waxes and a depletion of carbohydrates, whereas the changes of other chemical constituents were inconsistent. Inconsistent convergence in chemical compositions during decomposition was observed among different litter species across a range of site conditions, whereas one litter species converged under different climate conditions. Our data clearly demonstrate that plant species rather than climate greatly alters the temporal pattern of litter chemical composition, suggesting the decomposition-chemistry feedback varies among different plant species.

  14. Response of the human tympanic membrane to transient acoustic and mechanical stimuli: Preliminary results

    Science.gov (United States)

    Razavi, Payam; Ravicz, Michael E.; Dobrev, Ivo; Cheng, Jeffrey Tao; Furlong, Cosme; Rosowski, John J.

    2016-01-01

    The response of the tympanic membrane (TM) to transient environmental sounds and the contributions of different parts of the TM to middle-ear sound transmission were investigated by measuring the TM response to global transients (acoustic clicks) and to local transients (mechanical impulses) applied to the umbo and various locations on the TM. A lightly-fixed human temporal bone was prepared by removing the ear canal, inner ear, and stapes, leaving the incus, malleus, and TM intact. Motion of nearly the entire TM was measured by a digital holography system with a high speed camera at a rate of 42 000 frames per second, giving a temporal resolution of <24 μs for the duration of the TM response. The entire TM responded nearly instantaneously to acoustic transient stimuli, though the peak displacement and decay time constant varied with location. With local mechanical transients, the TM responded first locally at the site of stimulation, and the response spread approximately symmetrically and circumferentially around the umbo and manubrium. Acoustic and mechanical transients provide distinct and complementary stimuli for the study of TM response. Spatial variations in decay and rate of spread of response imply local variations in TM stiffness, mass, and damping. PMID:26880098

  15. Using dynamic Brownian bridge movement modelling to measure temporal patterns of habitat selection.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Byrne, Michael E; Clint McCoy, J; Hinton, Joseph W; Chamberlain, Michael J; Collier, Bret A

    2014-09-01

    Accurately describing animal space use is vital to understanding how wildlife use habitat. Improvements in GPS technology continue to facilitate collection of telemetry data at high spatial and temporal resolutions. Application of the recently introduced dynamic Brownian bridge movement model (dBBMM) to such data is promising as the method explicitly incorporates the behavioural heterogeneity of a movement path into the estimated utilization distribution (UD). Utilization distributions defining space use are normally estimated for time-scales ranging from weeks to months, obscuring much of the fine-scale information available from high-volume GPS data sets. By accounting for movement heterogeneity, the dBBMM provides a rigorous, behaviourally based estimate of space use between each set of relocations. Focusing on UDs generated between individual sets of locations allows us to quantify fine-scale circadian variation in habitat use. We used the dBBMM to estimate UDs bounding individual time steps for three terrestrial species with different life histories to illustrate how the method can be used to identify fine-scale variations in habitat use. We also demonstrate how dBBMMs can be used to characterize circadian patterns of habitat selection and link fine-scale patterns of habitat use to behaviour. We observed circadian patterns of habitat use that varied seasonally for a white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) and coyote (Canis latrans). We found seasonal patterns in selection by the white-tailed deer and were able to link use of conifer forests and agricultural fields to behavioural state of the coyote. Additionally, we were able to quantify the date in which a Rio Grande wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo intermedia) initiated laying as well as when during the day, she was most likely to visit the nest site to deposit eggs. The ability to quantify circadian patterns of habitat use may have important implications for research and management of wildlife

  16. Directional and dynamic modulation of the optical emission of an individual GaAs nanowire using surface acoustic waves.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kinzel, Jörg B; Rudolph, Daniel; Bichler, Max; Abstreiter, Gerhard; Finley, Jonathan J; Koblmüller, Gregor; Wixforth, Achim; Krenner, Hubert J

    2011-04-13

    We report on optical experiments performed on individual GaAs nanowires and the manipulation of their temporal emission characteristics using a surface acoustic wave. We find a pronounced, characteristic suppression of the emission intensity for the surface acoustic wave propagation aligned with the axis of the nanowire. Furthermore, we demonstrate that this quenching is dynamical as it shows a pronounced modulation as the local phase of the surface acoustic wave is tuned. These effects are strongly reduced for a surface acoustic wave applied in the direction perpendicular to the axis of the nanowire due to their inherent one-dimensional geometry. We resolve a fully dynamic modulation of the nanowire emission up to 678 MHz not limited by the physical properties of the nanowires.

  17. Acoustic calibration apparatus for calibrating plethysmographic acoustic pressure sensors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zuckerwar, Allan J. (Inventor); Davis, David C. (Inventor)

    1995-01-01

    An apparatus for calibrating an acoustic sensor is described. The apparatus includes a transmission material having an acoustic impedance approximately matching the acoustic impedance of the actual acoustic medium existing when the acoustic sensor is applied in actual in-service conditions. An elastic container holds the transmission material. A first sensor is coupled to the container at a first location on the container and a second sensor coupled to the container at a second location on the container, the second location being different from the first location. A sound producing device is coupled to the container and transmits acoustic signals inside the container.

  18. Acoustic Monitoring of a Previously Unstudied Whale Shark Aggregation in the Red Sea

    KAUST Repository

    Cochran, Jesse

    2012-01-01

    The whale shark (Rhincodon, typus), is a large, pelagic, filter feeder for which the available information is limited. The Red Sea populations in particular are practically unstudied. An aggregation site was recently discovered off the western coast of Saudi Arabia. We report the use of passive acoustic monitoring to assess the spatial and temporal behavior patterns of whale sharks in this new site. The aggregation occurs in the spring and peaks in April/ May. Whale sharks showed a preference for a single near shore reef and even a specific area within it. There is no evidence of sexual segregation as the genders were present in roughly equal proportion and used the same habitat at similar times. This information can be used to guide future studies in the area and to inform local management. Continued study will add to the collective knowledge on Red Sea whale sharks, including the population dynamics within the region and how they interact with the global whale shark community.

  19. Using mobile phones as acoustic sensors for high-throughput mosquito surveillance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mukundarajan, Haripriya; Hol, Felix Jan Hein; Castillo, Erica Araceli; Newby, Cooper; Prakash, Manu

    2017-10-31

    The direct monitoring of mosquito populations in field settings is a crucial input for shaping appropriate and timely control measures for mosquito-borne diseases. Here, we demonstrate that commercially available mobile phones are a powerful tool for acoustically mapping mosquito species distributions worldwide. We show that even low-cost mobile phones with very basic functionality are capable of sensitively acquiring acoustic data on species-specific mosquito wingbeat sounds, while simultaneously recording the time and location of the human-mosquito encounter. We survey a wide range of medically important mosquito species, to quantitatively demonstrate how acoustic recordings supported by spatio-temporal metadata enable rapid, non-invasive species identification. As proof-of-concept, we carry out field demonstrations where minimally-trained users map local mosquitoes using their personal phones. Thus, we establish a new paradigm for mosquito surveillance that takes advantage of the existing global mobile network infrastructure, to enable continuous and large-scale data acquisition in resource-constrained areas.

  20. Transparent model of temporal bone and vestibulocochlear organ made by 3D printing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Suzuki, Ryoji; Taniguchi, Naoto; Uchida, Fujio; Ishizawa, Akimitsu; Kanatsu, Yoshinori; Zhou, Ming; Funakoshi, Kodai; Akashi, Hideo; Abe, Hiroshi

    2018-01-01

    The vestibulocochlear organ is composed of tiny complex structures embedded in the petrous part of the temporal bone. Landmarks on the temporal bone surface provide the only orientation guide for dissection, but these need to be removed during the course of dissection, making it difficult to grasp the underlying three-dimensional structures, especially for beginners during gross anatomy classes. We report herein an attempt to produce a transparent three-dimensional-printed model of the human ear. En bloc samples of the temporal bone from donated cadavers were subjected to computed tomography (CT) scanning, and on the basis of the data, the surface temporal bone was reconstructed with transparent resin and the vestibulocochlear organ with white resin to create a 1:1.5 scale model. The carotid canal was stuffed with red cotton, and the sigmoid sinus and internal jugular vein were filled with blue clay. In the inner ear, the internal acoustic meatus, cochlea, and semicircular canals were well reconstructed in detail with white resin. The three-dimensional relationships of the semicircular canals, spiral turns of the cochlea, and internal acoustic meatus were well recognizable from every direction through the transparent surface resin. The anterior semicircular canal was obvious immediately beneath the arcuate eminence, and the topographical relationships of the vestibulocochlear organ and adjacent great vessels were easily discernible. We consider that this transparent temporal bone model will be a very useful aid for better understanding of the gross anatomy of the vestibulocochlear organ.

  1. Spatial and temporal patterns in trace element deposition to lakes in the Athabasca oil sands region (Alberta, Canada)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cooke, Colin A.; Kirk, Jane L.; Muir, Derek C. G.; Wiklund, Johan A.; Wang, Xiaowa; Gleason, Amber; Evans, Marlene S.

    2017-12-01

    The mining and processing of the Athabasca oil sands (Alberta, Canada) has been occurring for decades; however, a lack of consistent regional monitoring has obscured the long-term environmental impact. Here, we present sediment core results to reconstruct spatial and temporal patterns in trace element deposition to lakes in the Athabasca oil sands region. Early mining operations (during the 1970s and 1980s) led to elevated V and Pb inputs to lakes located quality guidelines, and no spatial or temporal trends were observed in the frequency of guideline exceedence. Our results demonstrate that early mining efforts had an even greater impact on trace element cycling than has been appreciated previously, placing recent monitoring efforts in a critical long-term context.

  2. Temporal patterns of diversification across global cichlid biodiversity (Acanthomorpha: Cichlidae.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Caleb D McMahan

    Full Text Available The contrasting distribution of species diversity across the major lineages of cichlids makes them an ideal group for investigating macroevolutionary processes. In this study, we investigate whether different rates of diversification may explain the disparity in species richness across cichlid lineages globally. We present the most taxonomically robust time-calibrated hypothesis of cichlid evolutionary relationships to date. We then utilize this temporal framework to investigate whether both species-rich and depauperate lineages are associated with rapid shifts in diversification rates and if exceptional species richness can be explained by clade age alone. A single significant rapid rate shift increase is detected within the evolutionary history of the African subfamily Pseudocrenilabrinae, which includes the haplochromins of the East African Great Lakes. Several lineages from the subfamilies Pseudocrenilabrinae (Australotilapiini, Oreochromini and Cichlinae (Heroini exhibit exceptional species richness given their clade age, a net rate of diversification, and relative rates of extinction, indicating that clade age alone is not a sufficient explanation for their increased diversity. Our results indicate that the Neotropical Cichlinae includes lineages that have not experienced a significant rapid burst in diversification when compared to certain African lineages (rift lake. Neotropical cichlids have remained comparatively understudied with regard to macroevolutionary patterns relative to African lineages, and our results indicate that of Neotropical lineages, the tribe Heroini may have an elevated rate of diversification in contrast to other Neotropical cichlids. These findings provide insight into our understanding of the diversification patterns across taxonomically disparate lineages in this diverse clade of freshwater fishes and one of the most species-rich families of vertebrates.

  3. Acoustically Induced Vibration of Structures: Reverberant Vs. Direct Acoustic Testing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kolaini, Ali R.; O'Connell, Michael R.; Tsoi, Wan B.

    2009-01-01

    Large reverberant chambers have been used for several decades in the aerospace industry to test larger structures such as solar arrays and reflectors to qualify and to detect faults in the design and fabrication of spacecraft and satellites. In the past decade some companies have begun using direct near field acoustic testing, employing speakers, for qualifying larger structures. A limited test data set obtained from recent acoustic tests of the same hardware exposed to both direct and reverberant acoustic field testing has indicated some differences in the resulting structural responses. In reverberant acoustic testing, higher vibration responses were observed at lower frequencies when compared with the direct acoustic testing. In the case of direct near field acoustic testing higher vibration responses appeared to occur at higher frequencies as well. In reverberant chamber testing and direct acoustic testing, standing acoustic modes of the reverberant chamber or the speakers and spacecraft parallel surfaces can strongly couple with the fundamental structural modes of the test hardware. In this paper data from recent acoustic testing of flight hardware, that yielded evidence of acoustic standing wave coupling with structural responses, are discussed in some detail. Convincing evidence of the acoustic standing wave/structural coupling phenomenon will be discussed, citing observations from acoustic testing of a simple aluminum plate. The implications of such acoustic coupling to testing of sensitive flight hardware will be discussed. The results discussed in this paper reveal issues with over or under testing of flight hardware that could pose unanticipated structural and flight qualification issues. Therefore, it is of paramount importance to understand the structural modal coupling with standing acoustic waves that has been observed in both methods of acoustic testing. This study will assist the community to choose an appropriate testing method and test setup in

  4. Negative refraction imaging of acoustic metamaterial lens in the supersonic range

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jianning Han

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available Acoustic metamaterials with negative refraction index is the most promising method to overcome the diffraction limit of acoustic imaging to achieve ultrahigh resolution. In this paper, we use localized resonant phononic crystal as the unit cell to construct the acoustic negative refraction lens. Based on the vibration model of the phononic crystal, negative quality parameters of the lens are obtained while excited near the system resonance frequency. Simulation results show that negative refraction of the acoustic lens can be achieved when a sound wave transmiting through the phononic crystal plate. The patterns of the imaging field agree well with that of the incident wave, while the dispersion is very weak. The unit cell size in the simulation is 0.0005 m and the wavelength of the sound source is 0.02 m, from which we show that acoustic signal can be manipulated through structures with dimensions much smaller than the wavelength of incident wave.

  5. Electrophysiological evidence for a defect in the processing of temporal sound patterns in multiple sclerosis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jones, S J; Sprague, L; Vaz Pato, M

    2002-11-01

    To assess the processing of spectrotemporal sound patterns in multiple sclerosis by using auditory evoked potentials (AEPs) to complex harmonic tones. 22 patients with definite multiple sclerosis but mild disability and no auditory complaints were compared with 15 normal controls. Short latency AEPs were recorded using standard methods. Long latency AEPs were recorded to synthesised musical instrument tones, at onset every two seconds, at abrupt frequency changes every two seconds, and at the end of a two second period of 16/s frequency changes. The subjects were inattentive but awake, reading irrelevant material. Short latency AEPs were abnormal in only 4 of 22 patients, whereas long latency AEPs were abnormal to one or more stimuli in 17 of 22. No significant latency prolongation was seen in response to onset and infrequent frequency changes (P1, N1, P2) but the potentials at the end of 16/s frequency modulations, particularly the P2 peaking approximately 200 ms after the next expected change, were significantly delayed. The delayed responses appear to be a mild disorder in the processing of change in temporal sound patterns. The delay may be conceived of as extra time taken to compare the incoming sound with the contents of a temporally ordered sensory memory store (the long auditory store or echoic memory), which generates a response when the next expected frequency change fails to occur. The defect cannot be ascribed to lesions of the afferent pathways and so may be due to disseminated brain lesions visible or invisible on magnetic resonance imaging.

  6. Separation of spatial-temporal patterns ('climatic modes') by combined analysis of really measured and generated numerically vector time series

    Science.gov (United States)

    Feigin, A. M.; Mukhin, D.; Volodin, E. M.; Gavrilov, A.; Loskutov, E. M.

    2013-12-01

    The new method of decomposition of the Earth's climate system into well separated spatial-temporal patterns ('climatic modes') is discussed. The method is based on: (i) generalization of the MSSA (Multichannel Singular Spectral Analysis) [1] for expanding vector (space-distributed) time series in basis of spatial-temporal empirical orthogonal functions (STEOF), which makes allowance delayed correlations of the processes recorded in spatially separated points; (ii) expanding both real SST data, and longer by several times SST data generated numerically, in STEOF basis; (iii) use of the numerically produced STEOF basis for exclusion of 'too slow' (and thus not represented correctly) processes from real data. The application of the method allows by means of vector time series generated numerically by the INM RAS Coupled Climate Model [2] to separate from real SST anomalies data [3] two climatic modes possessing by noticeably different time scales: 3-5 and 9-11 years. Relations of separated modes to ENSO and PDO are investigated. Possible applications of spatial-temporal climatic patterns concept to prognosis of climate system evolution is discussed. 1. Ghil, M., R. M. Allen, M. D. Dettinger, K. Ide, D. Kondrashov, et al. (2002) "Advanced spectral methods for climatic time series", Rev. Geophys. 40(1), 3.1-3.41. 2. http://83.149.207.89/GCM_DATA_PLOTTING/GCM_INM_DATA_XY_en.htm 3. http://iridl.ldeo.columbia.edu/SOURCES/.KAPLAN/.EXTENDED/.v2/.ssta/

  7. Interior acoustic cloak

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wael Akl

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available Acoustic cloaks have traditionally been intended to externally surround critical objects to render these objects acoustically invisible. However, in this paper, the emphasis is placed on investigating the application of the acoustic cloaks to the interior walls of acoustic cavities in an attempt to minimize the noise levels inside these cavities. In this manner, the acoustic cloaks can serve as a viable and efficient alternative to the conventional passive noise attenuation treatments which are invariably heavy and bulky. The transformation acoustics relationships that govern the operation of this class of interior acoustic cloaks are presented. Physical insights are given to relate these relationships to the reasons behind the effectiveness of the proposed interior acoustic cloaks. Finite element models are presented to demonstrate the characteristics of interior acoustic cloaks used in treating the interior walls of circular and square cavities both in the time and frequency domains. The obtained results emphasize the effectiveness of the proposed interior cloaks in eliminating the reflections of the acoustic waves from the walls of the treated cavities and thereby rendering these cavities acoustically quiet. It is important to note here that the proposed interior acoustic cloaks can find applications in acoustic cavities such as aircraft cabins and auditoriums as well as many other critical applications.

  8. A speech processing study using an acoustic model of a multiple-channel cochlear implant

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xu, Ying

    1998-10-01

    A cochlear implant is an electronic device designed to provide sound information for adults and children who have bilateral profound hearing loss. The task of representing speech signals as electrical stimuli is central to the design and performance of cochlear implants. Studies have shown that the current speech- processing strategies provide significant benefits to cochlear implant users. However, the evaluation and development of speech-processing strategies have been complicated by hardware limitations and large variability in user performance. To alleviate these problems, an acoustic model of a cochlear implant with the SPEAK strategy is implemented in this study, in which a set of acoustic stimuli whose psychophysical characteristics are as close as possible to those produced by a cochlear implant are presented on normal-hearing subjects. To test the effectiveness and feasibility of this acoustic model, a psychophysical experiment was conducted to match the performance of a normal-hearing listener using model- processed signals to that of a cochlear implant user. Good agreement was found between an implanted patient and an age-matched normal-hearing subject in a dynamic signal discrimination experiment, indicating that this acoustic model is a reasonably good approximation of a cochlear implant with the SPEAK strategy. The acoustic model was then used to examine the potential of the SPEAK strategy in terms of its temporal and frequency encoding of speech. It was hypothesized that better temporal and frequency encoding of speech can be accomplished by higher stimulation rates and a larger number of activated channels. Vowel and consonant recognition tests were conducted on normal-hearing subjects using speech tokens processed by the acoustic model, with different combinations of stimulation rate and number of activated channels. The results showed that vowel recognition was best at 600 pps and 8 activated channels, but further increases in stimulation rate and

  9. All-optical in-depth detection of the acoustic wave emitted by a single gold nanorod

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xu, Feng; Guillet, Yannick; Ravaine, Serge; Audoin, Bertrand

    2018-04-01

    A single gold nanorod dropped on the surface of a silica substrate is used as a transient optoacoustic source of gigahertz hypersounds. We demonstrate the all-optical detection of the as-generated acoustic wave front propagating in the silica substrate. For this purpose, time-resolved femtosecond pump-probe experiments are performed in a reflection configuration. The fundamental breathing mode of the nanorod is detected at 23 GHz by interferometry, and the longitudinal acoustic wave radiated in the silica substrate is detected by time-resolved Brillouin scattering. By tuning the optical probe wavelength from 750 to 900 nm, hypersounds with wavelengths of 260-315 nm are detected in the silica substrate, with corresponding acoustic frequencies in the range of 19-23 GHz. To confirm the origin of these hypersounds, we theoretically analyze the influence of the acoustic excitation spectrum on the temporal envelope of the transient reflectivity. This analysis proves that the acoustic wave detected in the silica substrate results from the excitation of the breathing mode of the nanorod. These results pave the way for performing local in-depth elastic nanoscopy.

  10. Acoustic streaming enhanced electrodeposition of nickel

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jensen, Jens Dahl; Møller, Per

    2003-01-01

    Electrochemical deposition of Ni from a Watts-type electrolyte under the influence of high frequency ultrasound at both high (250 W) and low (5–10 W) power sonication was investigated. An improvement in the material distribution of the deposited Ni in millimeter-sized groove-features on the catho......-patterns on the surface of the deposit and near-boundary acoustic streaming....

  11. Distributed acoustic cues for caller identity in macaque vocalization.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fukushima, Makoto; Doyle, Alex M; Mullarkey, Matthew P; Mishkin, Mortimer; Averbeck, Bruno B

    2015-12-01

    Individual primates can be identified by the sound of their voice. Macaques have demonstrated an ability to discern conspecific identity from a harmonically structured 'coo' call. Voice recognition presumably requires the integrated perception of multiple acoustic features. However, it is unclear how this is achieved, given considerable variability across utterances. Specifically, the extent to which information about caller identity is distributed across multiple features remains elusive. We examined these issues by recording and analysing a large sample of calls from eight macaques. Single acoustic features, including fundamental frequency, duration and Weiner entropy, were informative but unreliable for the statistical classification of caller identity. A combination of multiple features, however, allowed for highly accurate caller identification. A regularized classifier that learned to identify callers from the modulation power spectrum of calls found that specific regions of spectral-temporal modulation were informative for caller identification. These ranges are related to acoustic features such as the call's fundamental frequency and FM sweep direction. We further found that the low-frequency spectrotemporal modulation component contained an indexical cue of the caller body size. Thus, cues for caller identity are distributed across identifiable spectrotemporal components corresponding to laryngeal and supralaryngeal components of vocalizations, and the integration of those cues can enable highly reliable caller identification. Our results demonstrate a clear acoustic basis by which individual macaque vocalizations can be recognized.

  12. Relationship between optical coherence tomography, pattern electroretinogram and automated perimetry in eyes with temporal hemianopia from chiasmal compression.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Monteiro, Mário L R; Cunha, Leonardo P; Costa-Cunha, Luciana V F; Maia, Otacílio O; Oyamada, Maria K

    2009-08-01

    To evaluate the relationship between pattern electroretinogram (PERG) amplitude, macular and retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness by optical coherence tomography (OCT), and visual field (VF) loss on standard automated perimetry (SAP) in eyes with temporal hemianopia from chiasmal compression. Forty-one eyes from 41 patients with permanent temporal VF defects from chiasmal compression and 41 healthy subjects underwent transient full-field and hemifield (temporal or nasal) stimulation PERG, SAP and time domain-OCT macular and RNFL thickness measurements. Comparisons were made using Student's t-test. Deviation from normal VF sensitivity for the central 18 degrees of VF was expressed in 1/Lambert units. Correlations between measurements were verified by linear regression analysis. PERG and OCT measurements were significantly lower in eyes with temporal hemianopia than in normal eyes. A significant correlation was found between VF sensitivity loss and full-field or nasal, but not temporal, hemifield PERG amplitude. Likewise a significant correlation was found between VF sensitivity loss and most OCT parameters. No significant correlation was observed between OCT and PERG parameters, except for nasal hemifield amplitude. A significant correlation was observed between several macular and RNFL thickness parameters. In patients with chiasmal compression, PERG amplitude and OCT thickness measurements were significant related to VF loss, but not to each other. OCT and PERG quantify neuronal loss differently, but both technologies are useful in understanding structure-function relationship in patients with chiasmal compression. (ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00553761).

  13. Plant Water Use Strategy in Response to Spatial and Temporal Variation in Precipitation Patterns in China: A Stable Isotope Analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ying Zhao

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available Spatial and temporal variation in precipitation patterns can directly alter the survival and growth of plants, yet in China there is no comprehensive and systematic strategy for plant use based on the effects of precipitation patterns. Here, we examined information from 93 published papers (368 plant species on plant xylem water stable isotopes (δD and δ18O in China. The results showed that: (1 The slope of the local meteoric water line (LMWL gradually increased from inland areas to the coast, as a result of continental and seasonal effects. The correlation between δD and δ18O in plant stem water is also well fitted and the correlation coefficients range from 0.78 to 0.89. With respect to the soil water line, the δ18O values in relation to depth (0–100 cm varied over time; (2 Plants’ main water sources are largely affected by precipitation patterns. In general, plants prioritize the use of stable and continuous water sources, while they have a more variable water uptake strategy under drought conditions; (3 There are no spatial and temporal variations in the contribution of the main water source (p > 0.05 because plants maintain growth by shifting their use of water sources when resources are unreliable.

  14. Theoretical study of time-dependent, ultrasound-induced acoustic streaming in microchannels.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Muller, Peter Barkholt; Bruus, Henrik

    2015-12-01

    Based on first- and second-order perturbation theory, we present a numerical study of the temporal buildup and decay of unsteady acoustic fields and acoustic streaming flows actuated by vibrating walls in the transverse cross-sectional plane of a long straight microchannel under adiabatic conditions and assuming temperature-independent material parameters. The unsteady streaming flow is obtained by averaging the time-dependent velocity field over one oscillation period, and as time increases, it is shown to converge towards the well-known steady time-averaged solution calculated in the frequency domain. Scaling analysis reveals that the acoustic resonance builds up much faster than the acoustic streaming, implying that the radiation force may dominate over the drag force from streaming even for small particles. However, our numerical time-dependent analysis indicates that pulsed actuation does not reduce streaming significantly due to its slow decay. Our analysis also shows that for an acoustic resonance with a quality factor Q, the amplitude of the oscillating second-order velocity component is Q times larger than the usual second-order steady time-averaged velocity component. Consequently, the well-known criterion v(1)≪c(s) for the validity of the perturbation expansion is replaced by the more restrictive criterion v(1)≪c(s)/Q. Our numerical model is available as supplemental material in the form of comsol model files and matlab scripts.

  15. Impact of airborne particle size, acoustic airflow and breathing pattern on delivery of nebulized antibiotic into the maxillary sinuses using a realistic human nasal replica.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leclerc, Lara; Pourchez, Jérémie; Aubert, Gérald; Leguellec, Sandrine; Vecellio, Laurent; Cottier, Michèle; Durand, Marc

    2014-09-01

    Improvement of clinical outcome in patients with sinuses disorders involves targeting delivery of nebulized drug into the maxillary sinuses. We investigated the impact of nebulization conditions (with and without 100 Hz acoustic airflow), particle size (9.9 μm, 2.8 μm, 550 nm and 230 nm) and breathing pattern (nasal vs. no nasal breathing) on enhancement of aerosol delivery into the sinuses using a realistic nasal replica developed by our team. After segmentation of the airways by means of high-resolution computed tomography scans, a well-characterized nasal replica was created using a rapid prototyping technology. A total of 168 intrasinus aerosol depositions were performed with changes of aerosol particle size and breathing patterns under different nebulization conditions using gentamicin as a marker. The results demonstrate that the fraction of aerosol deposited in the maxillary sinuses is enhanced by use of submicrometric aerosols, e.g. 8.155 ± 1.476 mg/L of gentamicin in the left maxillary sinus for the 2.8 μm particles vs. 2.056 ± 0.0474 for the 550 nm particles. Utilization of 100-Hz acoustic airflow nebulization also produced a 2- to 3-fold increase in drug deposition in the maxillary sinuses (e.g. 8.155 ± 1.476 vs. 3.990 ± 1.690 for the 2.8 μm particles). Our study clearly shows that optimum deposition was achieved using submicrometric particles and 100-Hz acoustic airflow nebulization with no nasal breathing. It is hoped that our new respiratory nasal replica will greatly facilitate the development of more effective delivery systems in the future.

  16. Responsive acoustic surfaces

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Peters, Brady; Tamke, Martin; Nielsen, Stig Anton

    2011-01-01

    Acoustic performance is defined by the parameter of reverberation time; however, this does not capture the acoustic experience in some types of open plan spaces. As many working and learning activities now take place in open plan spaces, it is important to be able to understand and design...... for the acoustic conditions of these spaces. This paper describes an experimental research project that studied the design processes necessary to design for sound. A responsive acoustic surface was designed, fabricated and tested. This acoustic surface was designed to create specific sonic effects. The design...... was simulated using custom integrated acoustic software and also using Odeon acoustic analysis software. The research demonstrates a method for designing space- and sound-defining surfaces, defines the concept of acoustic subspace, and suggests some new parameters for defining acoustic subspaces....

  17. Flat acoustic lens by acoustic grating with curled slits

    KAUST Repository

    Peng, Pai

    2014-10-01

    We design a flat sub-wavelength lens that can focus acoustic wave. We analytically study the transmission through an acoustic grating with curled slits, which can serve as a material with tunable impedance and refractive index for acoustic waves. The effective parameters rely on the geometry of the slits and are independent of frequency. A flat acoustic focusing lens by such acoustic grating with gradient effective refractive index is designed. The focusing effect is clearly observed in simulations and well predicted by the theory. We demonstrate that despite the large impedance mismatch between the acoustic lens and the matrix, the intensity at the focal point is still high due to Fabry-Perot resonance.

  18. Parametric Room Acoustic workflows with real-time acoustic simulation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Parigi, Dario

    2017-01-01

    The paper investigates and assesses the opportunities that real-time acoustic simulation offer to engage in parametric acoustics workflow and to influence architectural designs from early design stages......The paper investigates and assesses the opportunities that real-time acoustic simulation offer to engage in parametric acoustics workflow and to influence architectural designs from early design stages...

  19. Materials of acoustic analysis: sustained vowel versus sentence.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moon, Kyung Ray; Chung, Sung Min; Park, Hae Sang; Kim, Han Su

    2012-09-01

    Sustained vowel is a widely used material of acoustic analysis. However, vowel phonation does not sufficiently demonstrate sentence-based real-life phonation, and biases may occur depending on the test subjects intent during pronunciation. The purpose of this study was to investigate the differences between the results of acoustic analysis using each material. An individual prospective study. Two hundred two individuals (87 men and 115 women) with normal findings in videostroboscopy were enrolled. Acoustic analysis was done using the speech pattern element acquisition and display program. Fundamental frequency (Fx), amplitude (Ax), contact quotient (Qx), jitter, and shimmer were measured with sustained vowel-based acoustic analysis. Average fundamental frequency (FxM), average amplitude (AxM), average contact quotient (QxM), Fx perturbation (CFx), and amplitude perturbation (CAx) were measured with sentence-based acoustic analysis. Corresponding data of the two methods were compared with each other. SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences, Version 12.0; SPSS, Inc., Chicago, IL) software was used for statistical analysis. FxM was higher than Fx in men (Fx, 124.45 Hz; FxM, 133.09 Hz; P=0.000). In women, FxM seemed to be lower than Fx, but the results were not statistically significant (Fx, 210.58 Hz; FxM, 208.34 Hz; P=0.065). There was no statistical significance between Ax and AxM in both the groups. QxM was higher than Qx in men and women. Jitter was lower in men, but CFx was lower in women. Both Shimmer and CAx were higher in men. Sustained vowel phonation could not be a complete substitute for real-time phonation in acoustic analysis. Characteristics of acoustic materials should be considered when choosing the material for acoustic analysis and interpreting the results. Copyright © 2012 The Voice Foundation. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

  20. The temporal patterns of disease severity and prevalence in schistosomiasis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ciddio, Manuela; Gatto, Marino; Casagrandi, Renato; Mari, Lorenzo; Rinaldo, Andrea

    2015-01-01

    Schistosomiasis is one of the most widespread public health problems in the world. In this work, we introduce an eco-epidemiological model for its transmission and dynamics with the purpose of explaining both intra- and inter-annual fluctuations of disease severity and prevalence. The model takes the form of a system of nonlinear differential equations that incorporate biological complexity associated with schistosome's life cycle, including a prepatent period in snails (i.e., the time between initial infection and onset of infectiousness). Nonlinear analysis is used to explore the parametric conditions that produce different temporal patterns (stationary, endemic, periodic, and chaotic). For the time-invariant model, we identify a transcritical and a Hopf bifurcation in the space of the human and snail infection parameters. The first corresponds to the occurrence of an endemic equilibrium, while the latter marks the transition to interannual periodic oscillations. We then investigate a more realistic time-varying model in which fertility of the intermediate host population is assumed to seasonally vary. We show that seasonality can give rise to a cascade of period-doubling bifurcations leading to chaos for larger, though realistic, values of the amplitude of the seasonal variation of fertility

  1. Domestic Temporalities: Sensual Patterning in Persian Migratory ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    In this paper, we argue that these intimate practices have references beyond their domestic dimensions, for they point to a worldly movement of life writ domestically small. It is via a sensory network that the spatially and temporally disparate worlds of homeland and new homes are remembered and forgotten, and where ...

  2. Acoustic measurement of suspensions of clay and silt particles using single frequency attenuation and backscatter

    Science.gov (United States)

    The use of ultrasonic acoustic technology to measure the concentration of fine suspended sediments has the potential to greatly increase the temporal and spatial resolution of sediment measurements while reducing the need for personnel to be present at gauging stations during storm events. The conv...

  3. Effect of weather on temporal pain patterns in patients with temporomandibular disorders and migraine.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cioffi, I; Farella, M; Chiodini, P; Ammendola, L; Capuozzo, R; Klain, C; Vollaro, S; Michelotti, A

    2017-05-01

    Patients with masticatory muscle pain and migraine typically report that the intensity of pain fluctuates over time and is affected by weather changes. Weather variables, such as ambient temperature and humidity, may vary significantly depending on whether the individual is outdoor or indoor. It is, therefore, important to assess these variables at the individual level using portable monitors, during everyday life. This study aimed to determine and compare the temporal patterns of pain in individuals affected with facial and head pain and to investigate its relation with weather changes. Eleven patients (27·3 ± 7·4 years) with chronic masticatory muscle pain (MP) and twenty (33·1 ± 8·7 years) with migraine headache (MH) were asked to report their current pain level on a visual analogue scale (VAS) every hour over fourteen consecutive days. The VAS scores were collected using portable data-loggers, which were also used to record temperature, atmospheric pressure and relative humidity. VAS scores varied markedly over time in both groups. Pain VAS scores fluctuate less in the MP group than in the MH group, but their mean, minimum and maximum values were higher than those of migraine patients (all P < 0·05). Pain scores <2 cm were more common in the MH than in the MP group (P < 0·001). Perceived intensity of pain was negatively associated with atmospheric pressure in the MP group and positively associated with temperature and atmospheric in the MH group. Our results reveal that patients with masticatory muscle pain and patients with migraine present typical temporal pain patterns that are influenced in a different way by weather changes. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  4. Temporal patterns of lung cancer risk from radon and smoking - consequences to remediation measures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tomasek, L.

    2004-01-01

    Studies of uranium miners conducted since the late 1960s demonstrated that the risk depends on cumulated exposure in terms of working level months (WLM) integrating both duration of exposure and concentration of radon. It has been also demonstrated that the risk from radon decreases with time since exposure. The present analysis of temporal changes of relative risk is based on a model where the total individual exposure is partitioned into components in dependence on time. Exposure to radon is studied in a cohort of 9411 Czech uranium miners with 766 cases of lung cancer and in a residential study of 11 803 inhabitants exposed to radon in houses with 218 cases. In addition, temporal patterns of the risk from smoking are analyzed in a case-control study of patients from a major Prague hospital including 566 cases. For both carcinogens, the relative risk decreases with time since exposure. The risk from exposures before 20-34 years is 36% and 34% in comparison to period 5-19 for smoking and radon, respectively. The effect of exposures from more distant periods 35-49 is only 5% for smoking and 14% for radon in comparison to 5-19 years. This substantial decrease of relative risk with time may contribute to a better evaluation of remediation measures taken in houses and in the cost effectiveness of remediation. Combined effect of smoking and radon is studied by a nested case-control approach including 434 cases and 962 controls. Analyses of the joint effects of smoking and radon, conducted in the occupational and the residential studies, suggest a sub-multiplicative interaction. The relative risk from radon among non-smokers is higher by a factor of 2-3 in comparison to smokers, suggesting different patterns of lung deposition and clearance among smokers and non-smokers. (author)

  5. A Model-Based Analysis of Chemical and Temporal Patterns of Cuticular Hydrocarbons in Male Drosophila melanogaster

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kent, Clement; Azanchi, Reza; Smith, Ben; Chu, Adrienne; Levine, Joel

    2007-01-01

    Drosophila Cuticular Hydrocarbons (CH) influence courtship behaviour, mating, aggregation, oviposition, and resistance to desiccation. We measured levels of 24 different CH compounds of individual male D. melanogaster hourly under a variety of environmental (LD/DD) conditions. Using a model-based analysis of CH variation, we developed an improved normalization method for CH data, and show that CH compounds have reproducible cyclic within-day temporal patterns of expression which differ between LD and DD conditions. Multivariate clustering of expression patterns identified 5 clusters of co-expressed compounds with common chemical characteristics. Turnover rate estimates suggest CH production may be a significant metabolic cost. Male cuticular hydrocarbon expression is a dynamic trait influenced by light and time of day; since abundant hydrocarbons affect male sexual behavior, males may present different pheromonal profiles at different times and under different conditions. PMID:17896002

  6. A model-based analysis of chemical and temporal patterns of cuticular hydrocarbons in male Drosophila melanogaster.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Clement Kent

    Full Text Available Drosophila Cuticular Hydrocarbons (CH influence courtship behaviour, mating, aggregation, oviposition, and resistance to desiccation. We measured levels of 24 different CH compounds of individual male D. melanogaster hourly under a variety of environmental (LD/DD conditions. Using a model-based analysis of CH variation, we developed an improved normalization method for CH data, and show that CH compounds have reproducible cyclic within-day temporal patterns of expression which differ between LD and DD conditions. Multivariate clustering of expression patterns identified 5 clusters of co-expressed compounds with common chemical characteristics. Turnover rate estimates suggest CH production may be a significant metabolic cost. Male cuticular hydrocarbon expression is a dynamic trait influenced by light and time of day; since abundant hydrocarbons affect male sexual behavior, males may present different pheromonal profiles at different times and under different conditions.

  7. The temporal pattern of vitellogenin synthesis in Drosophila grimshawi

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kambysellis, M.P.; Hatzopoulos, P.; Craddock, E.M.

    1989-01-01

    The temporal pattern of protein production and, in particular, vitellogenin protein synthesis during the sexual maturation of Drosophila grimshawi females has been studied in vivo by briefly feeding the flies with 35S-methionine and 3H-amino acids. The overall level of incorporation was very low in young flies; it then progressively increased to reach a maximum with the onset of sexual maturity at 13-15 days. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) analyses revealed three classes of proteins: those synthesized throughout the age spectrum, which constitute the majority of protein species; proteins synthesized primarily or only in young flies; and proteins synthesized only by the older flies. In this Drosophila species, the three vitellogenins (V1, V2, and V3) appeared to be synthesized in a two-phase pattern. In the first phase, small quantities of V1 and V2 were detected immunologically in the fat body and hemolymph of newly emerged and 1 day-old flies. These proteins did not accumulate in the hemolymph or the ovaries, apparently being unstable proteins. The second phase commenced in early vitellogenesis (7-9 days of age) with synthesis in the fat body of small quantities of V1 and V2, followed by V3 proteins. These proteins were secreted and accumulated in the hemolymph and 24 h later were found in the ovaries. Their quantities increased rapidly and a steady state of synthesis, release into the hemolymph, and uptake by the ovaries was reached by days 13-15. We have estimated that during the steady state of vitellogenin synthesis, a fly can synthesize in 24 h at least 152 micrograms of vitellogenins, which is more than 2% of its body weight, at an average rate of about 6.3 micrograms vitellogenins/h. About 2 micrograms of this are synthesized in the fat body, and about 4 micrograms in the ovaries

  8. Analysis of spatial temporal plantar pressure pattern during gait in Parkinson's disease.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Okuno, Ryuhei; Fujimoto, Satoshi; Akazawa, Jun; Yokoe, Masaru; Sakoda, Saburo; Akazawa, Kenzo

    2008-01-01

    Spatial temporal plantar pressure patterns measured with sheet-shaped pressure sensor were investigated to extract features of gait in Parkinson's disease. Both six subjects of Parkinson's disease (PD) and elderly fourteen normal control subjects were asked to execute usual walking on the pressure sensor sheets. Candidate features were step length, step time, gait velocity and transition of center of pressure to foot axis direction. The step length and gait velocity were smaller in PD subjects than those in normal subjects. Time of step cycle in three PD subjects were longer than that in normal subjects while the times of other PD subjects were similar to those of control subjects. The length from heel contact to toe off within one footprint was small in the subjects with short step length. Such possibility was indicated that Parkinson's disease in gait could be separated from normal subjects by these features.

  9. Continuous micro-vortex-based nanoparticle manipulation via focused surface acoustic waves.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Collins, David J; Ma, Zhichao; Han, Jongyoon; Ai, Ye

    2016-12-20

    Despite increasing demand in the manipulation of nanoscale objects for next generation biological and industrial processes, there is a lack of methods for reliable separation, concentration and purification of nanoscale objects. Acoustic methods have proven their utility in contactless manipulation of microscale objects mainly relying on the acoustic radiation effect, though the influence of acoustic streaming has typically prevented manipulation at smaller length scales. In this work, however, we explicitly take advantage of the strong acoustic streaming in the vicinity of a highly focused, high frequency surface acoustic wave (SAW) beam emanating from a series of focused 6 μm substrate wavelength interdigital transducers patterned on a piezoelectric lithium niobate substrate and actuated with a 633 MHz sinusoidal signal. This streaming field serves to focus fluid streamlines such that incoming particles interact with the acoustic field similarly regardless of their initial starting positions, and results in particle displacements that would not be possible with a travelling acoustic wave force alone. This streaming-induced manipulation of nanoscale particles is maximized with the formation of micro-vortices that extend the width of the microfluidic channel even with the imposition of a lateral flow, occurring when the streaming-induced flow velocities are an order of magnitude larger than the lateral one. We make use of this acoustic streaming to demonstrate the continuous and differential focusing of 100 nm, 300 nm and 500 nm particles.

  10. Acoustic and Perceptual Effects of Dysarthria in Greek with a Focus on Lexical Stress

    Science.gov (United States)

    Papakyritsis, Ioannis

    The field of motor speech disorders in Greek is substantially underresearched. Additionally, acoustic studies on lexical stress in dysarthria are generally very rare (Kim et al. 2010). This dissertation examined the acoustic and perceptual effects of Greek dysarthria focusing on lexical stress. Additional possibly deviant speech characteristics were acoustically analyzed. Data from three dysarthric participants and matched controls was analyzed using a case study design. The analysis of lexical stress was based on data drawn from a single word repetition task that included pairs of disyllabic words differentiated by stress location. This data was acoustically analyzed in terms of the use of the acoustic cues for Greek stress. The ability of the dysarthric participants to signal stress in single words was further assessed in a stress identification task carried out by 14 naive Greek listeners. Overall, the acoustic and perceptual data indicated that, although all three dysarthric speakers presented with some difficulty in the patterning of stressed and unstressed syllables, each had different underlying problems that gave rise to quite distinct patterns of deviant speech characteristics. The atypical use of lexical stress cues in Anna's data obscured the prominence relations of stressed and unstressed syllables to the extent that the position of lexical stress was usually not perceptually transparent. Chris and Maria on the other hand, did not have marked difficulties signaling lexical stress location, although listeners were not 100% successful in the stress identification task. For the most part, Chris' atypical phonation patterns and Maria's very slow rate of speech did not interfere with lexical stress signaling. The acoustic analysis of the lexical stress cues was generally in agreement with the participants' performance in the stress identification task. Interestingly, in all three dysarthric participants, but more so in Anna, targets stressed on the 1st

  11. Temporal motifs reveal collaboration patterns in online task-oriented networks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xuan, Qi; Fang, Huiting; Fu, Chenbo; Filkov, Vladimir

    2015-05-01

    Real networks feature layers of interactions and complexity. In them, different types of nodes can interact with each other via a variety of events. Examples of this complexity are task-oriented social networks (TOSNs), where teams of people share tasks towards creating a quality artifact, such as academic research papers or software development in commercial or open source environments. Accomplishing those tasks involves both work, e.g., writing the papers or code, and communication, to discuss and coordinate. Taking into account the different types of activities and how they alternate over time can result in much more precise understanding of the TOSNs behaviors and outcomes. That calls for modeling techniques that can accommodate both node and link heterogeneity as well as temporal change. In this paper, we report on methodology for finding temporal motifs in TOSNs, limited to a system of two people and an artifact. We apply the methods to publicly available data of TOSNs from 31 Open Source Software projects. We find that these temporal motifs are enriched in the observed data. When applied to software development outcome, temporal motifs reveal a distinct dependency between collaboration and communication in the code writing process. Moreover, we show that models based on temporal motifs can be used to more precisely relate both individual developer centrality and team cohesion to programmer productivity than models based on aggregated TOSNs.

  12. Knowledge acquisition for temporal abstraction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stein, A; Musen, M A; Shahar, Y

    1996-01-01

    Temporal abstraction is the task of detecting relevant patterns in data over time. The knowledge-based temporal-abstraction method uses knowledge about a clinical domain's contexts, external events, and parameters to create meaningful interval-based abstractions from raw time-stamped clinical data. In this paper, we describe the acquisition and maintenance of domain-specific temporal-abstraction knowledge. Using the PROTEGE-II framework, we have designed a graphical tool for acquiring temporal knowledge directly from expert physicians, maintaining the knowledge in a sharable form, and converting the knowledge into a suitable format for use by an appropriate problem-solving method. In initial tests, the tool offered significant gains in our ability to rapidly acquire temporal knowledge and to use that knowledge to perform automated temporal reasoning.

  13. On The Acoustics of Süleymaniye Mosque: From Past to Present

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zühre Sü GÜL

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available Süleymaniye Mosque, the central structure of one of the largest mosque complexes of the Ottoman Empire, has been and remains an inspirational edifice for many fields, including architectural acoustics and material science. Comprehensive studies are needed to assess the acoustic conditions of Süleymaniye Mosque in relation to its architectural elements, interior finish materials, and any changes which have occurred in acoustic comfort levels as a result of large-scale repairs the structure has been subjected to in its life time. In-situ acoustic tests were undertaken in 2013, immediately following final restoration work done between 2007-2011. These recent data were then compared to previously-published in-situ measurement data showing acoustic conditions in the Mosque after 1969 and 1980 restorations. Acoustic simulations were performed to represent and discuss activity patterns in the structure when full to capacity. As a result of architectural form-geometry and interior material factors, the acoustic field of the Mosque exhibited the presence of very high reverberation times in all field tests, especially at low frequencies. The Mosque was found to suffer from high background noise levels emanating from the mechanical systems introduced during the 2007-2011 restoration. This study also highlights the necessity for further investigations of the acoustic characteristics of burnt-clay pots and historical lime-based plasters. Both should be investigated further in order to scientifically prove their contribution to the acoustics of the Mosque and help to restore the structure’s original acoustic comfort conditions.

  14. Potential-well model in acoustic tweezers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kang, Shih-Tsung; Yeh, Chih-Kuang

    2010-06-01

    Standing-wave acoustic tweezers are popularly used for non-invasive and non-contact particle manipulation. Because of their good penetration in biological tissue, they also show promising prospects for in vivo applications. According to the concept of an optical vortex, we propose an acoustics-vortex- based trapping model of acoustic tweezers. A four-element 1-MHz planar transducer was used to generate 1-MHz sine waves at 1 MPa, with adjacent elements being driven with a pi/2-rad phase difference. Each element was a square with a side length of 5.08 mm, with kerfs initially set at 0.51 mm. An acoustic vortex constituting the spiral motion of an acoustic wave around the beam axis was created, with an axial null. Applying Gor'kov's theory in the Rayleigh regime yielded the potential energy and radiation force for use in subsequent analysis. In the transverse direction, the vortex structure behaved as a series of potential wells that tended to drive a suspended particle toward the beam axis. They were highly fragmented in the near field that is very close to the transducer where there was spiral interference, and well-constructed in the far field. We found that the significant trapping effect was only present between these two regions in the transverse direction--particles were free to move along the beam axis, and a repulsive force was observed in the outer acoustic vortex. Because the steepness of the potential gradient near an axial null dominates the trapping effect, the far field of the acoustic vortex is inappropriate for trapping. Particles too close to the transducer are not sufficiently trapped because of the fragmented potential pattern. We suggest that the ideal distance from the transducer for trapping particles is in front of one-fourth of the Rayleigh distance, based on the superposition of the wavefronts. The maximum trapping force acting on a 13-mum polystyrene sphere in the produced acoustic vortex was 50.0 pN, and it was possible to trap

  15. Fifty years of progress in acoustic phonetics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stevens, Kenneth N.

    2004-10-01

    Three events that occurred 50 or 60 years ago shaped the study of acoustic phonetics, and in the following few decades these events influenced research and applications in speech disorders, speech development, speech synthesis, speech recognition, and other subareas in speech communication. These events were: (1) the source-filter theory of speech production (Chiba and Kajiyama; Fant); (2) the development of the sound spectrograph and its interpretation (Potter, Kopp, and Green; Joos); and (3) the birth of research that related distinctive features to acoustic patterns (Jakobson, Fant, and Halle). Following these events there has been systematic exploration of the articulatory, acoustic, and perceptual bases of phonological categories, and some quantification of the sources of variability in the transformation of this phonological representation of speech into its acoustic manifestations. This effort has been enhanced by studies of how children acquire language in spite of this variability and by research on speech disorders. Gaps in our knowledge of this inherent variability in speech have limited the directions of applications such as synthesis and recognition of speech, and have led to the implementation of data-driven techniques rather than theoretical principles. Some examples of advances in our knowledge, and limitations of this knowledge, are reviewed.

  16. Long-term ground deformation patterns of Bucharest using multi-temporal InSAR and multivariate dynamic analyses: a possible transpressional system?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Armaş, Iuliana; Mendes, Diana A.; Popa, Răzvan-Gabriel; Gheorghe, Mihaela; Popovici, Diana

    2017-03-01

    The aim of this exploratory research is to capture spatial evolution patterns in the Bucharest metropolitan area using sets of single polarised synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite data and multi-temporal radar interferometry. Three sets of SAR data acquired during the years 1992-2010 from ERS-1/-2 and ENVISAT, and 2011-2014 from TerraSAR-X satellites were used in conjunction with the Small Baseline Subset (SBAS) and persistent scatterers (PS) high-resolution multi-temporal interferometry (InSAR) techniques to provide maps of line-of-sight displacements. The satellite-based remote sensing results were combined with results derived from classical methodologies (i.e., diachronic cartography) and field research to study possible trends in developments over former clay pits, landfill excavation sites, and industrial parks. The ground displacement trend patterns were analysed using several linear and nonlinear models, and techniques. Trends based on the estimated ground displacement are characterised by long-term memory, indicated by low noise Hurst exponents, which in the long-term form interesting attractors. We hypothesize these attractors to be tectonic stress fields generated by transpressional movements.

  17. Specific imbalance of excitatory/inhibitory signaling establishes seizure onset pattern in temporal lobe epilepsy

    Science.gov (United States)

    de Curtis, Marco; Gnatkovsky, Vadym; Gotman, Jean; Köhling, Rüdiger; Lévesque, Maxime; Manseau, Frédéric; Shiri, Zahra; Williams, Sylvain

    2016-01-01

    Low-voltage fast (LVF) and hypersynchronous (HYP) patterns are the seizure-onset patterns most frequently observed in intracranial EEG recordings from mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (MTLE) patients. Both patterns also occur in models of MTLE in vivo and in vitro, and these studies have highlighted the predominant involvement of distinct neuronal network/neurotransmitter receptor signaling in each of them. First, LVF-onset seizures in epileptic rodents can originate from several limbic structures, frequently spread, and are associated with high-frequency oscillations in the ripple band (80–200 Hz), whereas HYP onset seizures initiate in the hippocampus and tend to remain focal with predominant fast ripples (250–500 Hz). Second, in vitro intracellular recordings from principal cells in limbic areas indicate that pharmacologically induced seizure-like discharges with LVF onset are initiated by a synchronous inhibitory event or by a hyperpolarizing inhibitory postsynaptic potential barrage; in contrast, HYP onset is associated with a progressive impairment of inhibition and concomitant unrestrained enhancement of excitation. Finally, in vitro optogenetic experiments show that, under comparable experimental conditions (i.e., 4-aminopyridine application), the initiation of LVF- or HYP-onset seizures depends on the preponderant involvement of interneuronal or principal cell networks, respectively. Overall, these data may provide insight to delineate better therapeutic targets in the treatment of patients presenting with MTLE and, perhaps, with other epileptic disorders as well. PMID:27075542

  18. Span: spike pattern association neuron for learning spatio-temporal spike patterns.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mohemmed, Ammar; Schliebs, Stefan; Matsuda, Satoshi; Kasabov, Nikola

    2012-08-01

    Spiking Neural Networks (SNN) were shown to be suitable tools for the processing of spatio-temporal information. However, due to their inherent complexity, the formulation of efficient supervised learning algorithms for SNN is difficult and remains an important problem in the research area. This article presents SPAN - a spiking neuron that is able to learn associations of arbitrary spike trains in a supervised fashion allowing the processing of spatio-temporal information encoded in the precise timing of spikes. The idea of the proposed algorithm is to transform spike trains during the learning phase into analog signals so that common mathematical operations can be performed on them. Using this conversion, it is possible to apply the well-known Widrow-Hoff rule directly to the transformed spike trains in order to adjust the synaptic weights and to achieve a desired input/output spike behavior of the neuron. In the presented experimental analysis, the proposed learning algorithm is evaluated regarding its learning capabilities, its memory capacity, its robustness to noisy stimuli and its classification performance. Differences and similarities of SPAN regarding two related algorithms, ReSuMe and Chronotron, are discussed.

  19. Acoustical Imaging

    CERN Document Server

    Litniewski, Jerzy; Kujawska, Tamara; 31st International Symposium on Acoustical Imaging

    2012-01-01

    The International Symposium on Acoustical Imaging is a unique forum for advanced research, covering new technologies, developments, methods and theories in all areas of acoustics. This interdisciplinary Symposium has been taking place continuously since 1968. In the course of the years the proceedings volumes in the Acoustical Imaging Series have become a reference for cutting-edge research in the field. In 2011 the 31st International Symposium on Acoustical Imaging was held in Warsaw, Poland, April 10-13. Offering both a broad perspective on the state-of-the-art as well as  in-depth research contributions by the specialists in the field, this Volume 31 in the Series contains an excellent collection of papers in six major categories: Biological and Medical Imaging Physics and Mathematics of Acoustical Imaging Acoustic Microscopy Transducers and Arrays Nondestructive Evaluation and Industrial Applications Underwater Imaging

  20. Spatial And Temporal Patterns As Well As Major Influencing Factors Of Global And Diffuse Horizontal Irradiance Over China: 1960-2014

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, H.; Sun, F.

    2017-12-01

    Global Horizontal Irradiance (GHI) on Earth is a central element of climate systems. With changes in the climate and regional development, the patterns and influencing factors of GHI, in addition to presenting global consistency, are increasingly showing regional particularities. Based on data for GHI, Diffuse Horizontal Irradiance (DHI) and potential impact factors (geographical position, elevation, cloud cover, water vapor, and ground atmospheric transparency related variables) from 1960 to 2014 in China, we analyzed the pattern and major influencing factors of GHI and DHI. The results showed that the major influencing factors of the GHI spatial pattern were the total cloud cover (TCC) and relative humidity (RH) in China. Dividing all of China into two regions, the major factors were the water vapor pressure (WVP) in the northern region and TCC in the southern region. And we divided the GHI and DHI data into two periods (1960-1987 and 1988-2014) due to global dimming and brightening observed in China in the late 1980's. The temporal GHI showed that 31 of 58 decreased significantly with an average decreasing rate of 95 MJ.10yr-1 during the periods of 1960-2014 and 49 of 76 stations decreased significantly with an rate of 342 MJ.10yr-1 during 1960-1987, whereas 57 of 88 stations did not change and 24 stations increased significantly with an rate of 201 MJ.10yr-1 during the period of 1988-2014. The temporal DHI showed that 40 of 61sites did not change significantly from 1960 to 1987. The major influencing factors for temporal changes of GHI in nine typical cities from 1960 to 2013 were as follows: air quality-related variables in super cities, sandstorms and wind in desert oasis cities, clouds in cities with good air quality and a low cloud amount (LCA) and annual fog days (FD) in Chengdu. Overall, we identified characteristics of GHI and DHI based on global climate change and regional urban development and found that the spatial characteristics of GHI results for

  1. Spatio-temporal dynamics of global H5N1 outbreaks match bird migration patterns

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yali Si

    2009-11-01

    Full Text Available The global spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 in poultry, wild birds and humans, poses a significant pandemic threat and a serious public health risk. An efficient surveillance and disease control system relies on the understanding of the dispersion patterns and spreading mechanisms of the virus. A space-time cluster analysis of H5N1 outbreaks was used to identify spatio-temporal patterns at a global scale and over an extended period of time. Potential mechanisms explaining the spread of the H5N1 virus, and the role of wild birds, were analyzed. Between December 2003 and December 2006, three global epidemic phases of H5N1 influenza were identified. These H5N1 outbreaks showed a clear seasonal pattern, with a high density of outbreaks in winter and early spring (i.e., October to March. In phase I and II only the East Asia Australian flyway was affected. During phase III, the H5N1 viruses started to appear in four other flyways: the Central Asian flyway, the Black Sea Mediterranean flyway, the East Atlantic flyway and the East Africa West Asian flyway. Six disease cluster patterns along these flyways were found to be associated with the seasonal migration of wild birds. The spread of the H5N1 virus, as demonstrated by the space-time clusters, was associated with the patterns of migration of wild birds. Wild birds may therefore play an important role in the spread of H5N1 over long distances. Disease clusters were also detected at sites where wild birds are known to overwinter and at times when migratory birds were present. This leads to the suggestion that wild birds may also be involved in spreading the H5N1 virus over short distances.

  2. Influence of water-soaking time on the acoustic emission characteristics and spatial fractal dimensions of coal under uniaxial compression

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jia Zheqiang

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The water-soaking time affects the physical and mechanical properties of coals, and the temporal and spatial evolution of acoustic emissions reflects the fracture damage process of rock. This study conducted uniaxial compression acoustic emissions tests of coal samples with different water-soaking times to investigate the influence of water-soaking time on the acoustic emissions characteristics and spatial fractal dimensions during the deformation and failure process of coals. The results demonstrate that the acoustic emissions characteristics decrease with increases in the water-soaking time. The acoustic emissions spatial fractal dimension changes from a single dimensionality reduction model to a fluctuation dimensionality reduction model, and the stress level of the initial descending point of the fractal dimension increases. With increases in the water-soaking time, the destruction of coal transitions from continuous intense failure throughout the process to a lower release of energy concentrated near the peak strength.

  3. An Online Atlas for Exploring Spatio-Temporal Patterns of Cancer Mortality (1972-2011) and Incidence (1995-2008) in Taiwan.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ku, Wen-Yuan; Liaw, Yung-Po; Huang, Jing-Yang; Nfor, Oswald Ndi; Hsu, Shu-Yi; Ko, Pei-Chieh; Lee, Wen-Chung; Chen, Chien-Jen

    2016-05-01

    Public health mapping and Geographical Information Systems (GIS) are already being used to locate the geographical spread of diseases. This study describes the construction of an easy-to-use online atlas of cancer mortality (1972-2011) and incidence (1995-2008) in Taiwan.Two sets of color maps were made based on "age-adjusted mortality by rate" and "age-adjusted mortality by rank." AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML), JSON (JavaScript Object Notation), and SVG (Scaling Vector Graphic) were used to create the online atlas. Spatio-temporal patterns of cancer mortality and incidence in Taiwan over the period from 1972 to 2011 and from 1995 to 2008.The constructed online atlas contains information on cancer mortality and incidence (http://taiwancancermap.csmu-liawyp.tw/). The common GIS functions include zoom and pan and identity tools. Users can easily customize the maps to explore the spatio-temporal trends of cancer mortality and incidence using different devices (such as personal computers, mobile phone, or pad). This study suggests an easy- to-use, low-cost, and independent platform for exploring cancer incidence and mortality. It is expected to serve as a reference tool for cancer prevention and risk assessment.This online atlas is a cheap and fast tool that integrates various cancer maps. Therefore, it can serve as a powerful tool that allows users to examine and compare spatio-temporal patterns of various maps. Furthermore, it is an-easy-to use tool for updating data and assessing risk factors of cancer in Taiwan.

  4. Spatial patterns and temporal changes in atmospheric-mercury deposition for the midwestern USA, 2001–2016

    Science.gov (United States)

    Risch, Martin R.; Kenski, Donna M.

    2018-01-01

    Spatial patterns and temporal changes in atmospheric-mercury (Hg) deposition were examined in a five-state study area in the Midwestern USA where 32% of the stationary sources of anthropogenic Hg emissions in the continental USA were located. An extensive monitoring record for wet and dry Hg deposition was compiled for 2001–2016, including 4666 weekly precipitation samples at 13 sites and 27 annual litterfall-Hg samples at 7 sites. This study is the first to examine these Hg data for the Midwestern USA. The median annual precipitation-Hg deposition at the study sites was 10.4 micrograms per square meter per year (ug/m2/year) and ranged from 5.8 ug/m2/year to 15.0 ug/m2/year. The median annual Hg concentration was 9.4 ng/L. Annual litterfall-Hg deposition had a median of 16.1 ug/m2/year and ranged from 9.7 to 23.4 ug/m2/year. Isopleth maps of annual precipitation-Hg deposition indicated a recurring spatial pattern similar to one revealed by statistical analysis of weekly precipitation-Hg deposition. In that pattern, high Hg deposition in southeastern Indiana was present each year, frequently extending to southern Illinois. Most of central Indiana and central Illinois had similar Hg deposition. Areas with comparatively lower annual Hg deposition were observed in Michigan and Ohio for many years and frequently included part of northern Indiana. The area in southern Indiana where high Hg deposition predominated had the highest number of extreme episodes of weekly Hg deposition delivering up to 15% of the annual Hg load from precipitation in a single week. Modeled 48-h back trajectories indicated air masses for these episodes often arrived from the south and southwest, crossing numerous stationary sources of Hg emissions releasing from 23 to more than 300 kg Hg per year. This analysis suggests that local and regional, rather than exclusively continental or global Hg emissions were likely contributing to the extreme episodes and at least in part, to the spatial

  5. Detecting temporal changes in acoustic scenes: The variable benefit of selective attention.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Demany, Laurent; Bayle, Yann; Puginier, Emilie; Semal, Catherine

    2017-09-01

    Four experiments investigated change detection in acoustic scenes consisting of a sum of five amplitude-modulated pure tones. As the tones were about 0.7 octave apart and were amplitude-modulated with different frequencies (in the range 2-32 Hz), they were perceived as separate streams. Listeners had to detect a change in the frequency (experiments 1 and 2) or the shape (experiments 3 and 4) of the modulation of one of the five tones, in the presence of an informative cue orienting selective attention either before the scene (pre-cue) or after it (post-cue). The changes left intensity unchanged and were not detectable in the spectral (tonotopic) domain. Performance was much better with pre-cues than with post-cues. Thus, change deafness was manifest in the absence of an appropriate focusing of attention when the change occurred, even though the streams and the changes to be detected were acoustically very simple (in contrast to the conditions used in previous demonstrations of change deafness). In one case, the results were consistent with a model based on the assumption that change detection was possible if and only if attention was endogenously focused on a single tone. However, it was also found that changes resulting in a steepening of amplitude rises were to some extent able to draw attention exogenously. Change detection was not markedly facilitated when the change produced a discontinuity in the modulation domain, contrary to what could be expected from the perspective of predictive coding. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  6. Dynamic CRM occupancy reflects a temporal map of developmental progression.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wilczyński, Bartek; Furlong, Eileen E M

    2010-06-22

    Development is driven by tightly coordinated spatio-temporal patterns of gene expression, which are initiated through the action of transcription factors (TFs) binding to cis-regulatory modules (CRMs). Although many studies have investigated how spatial patterns arise, precise temporal control of gene expression is less well understood. Here, we show that dynamic changes in the timing of CRM occupancy is a prevalent feature common to all TFs examined in a developmental ChIP time course to date. CRMs exhibit complex binding patterns that cannot be explained by the sequence motifs or expression of the TFs themselves. The temporal changes in TF binding are highly correlated with dynamic patterns of target gene expression, which in turn reflect transitions in cellular function during different stages of development. Thus, it is not only the timing of a TF's expression, but also its temporal occupancy in refined time windows, which determines temporal gene expression. Systematic measurement of dynamic CRM occupancy may therefore serve as a powerful method to decode dynamic changes in gene expression driving developmental progression.

  7. Spatial and temporal fish diversity patterns from Santa Catarina Island, Brazil

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    André Cattani

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available The Santa Catarina Island has a mosaic of ecosystems, with great importance for the fishes. There is the presence of estuaries, lagoons, mangroves and sandy beaches in the same island. Thus, the objectives of this study were to evaluate the spatio and temporal fish diversity patterns in estuaries, lagoons and beach systems of Santa Catarina Island, Santa Catarina, Brazil. Fish data collected between 1983 to 2011 in the baía Norte, saco dos Limões, Itacorubi and Ratones mangroves, Conceição lagoon and Índio beach was analyzed. Fish were sampled with different gear techniques. In the North Bay and saco dos Limões individuals were caught by trawl, but in the mangroves and lagoon were used gillnets, cast nets and dip nets. In the Índio beach the fishes were collected using fyke nets. For each local, species accumulation curves were plotted to compare the observed pattern with modelled data, using first order Jackknife estimator. Species richness differences among locals and seasons were tested using PERMANOVA, followed by a canonical analysis of principal coordinates (CAP. To assess the taxonomic structures at each location, the average taxonomic distinctness (AvTD and the variation in taxonomic distinctness (VarTD were also used. Higher average species richness was found in the saco dos Limões (mean ± SE; 59.8 ± 2.5, followed by Índio Beach (55.7 ± 2.7, Conceição lagoon (52.3 ± 6.4, North bay (45.0 ± 2.5, mangrove Itacorubi (34.5 ± 3.2 and mangrove Ratones (30.8 ± 3.8. No significate differences for the taxonomic patterns were observed between seasons. Furthermore the hereby data suggest that the fish assemblages of the inner portion of the island of Santa Catarina are mainly formed by estuarine and marine fish, but differing in species richness among locals.

  8. Topological Acoustics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Zhaoju; Gao, Fei; Shi, Xihang; Lin, Xiao; Gao, Zhen; Chong, Yidong; Zhang, Baile

    2015-03-01

    The manipulation of acoustic wave propagation in fluids has numerous applications, including some in everyday life. Acoustic technologies frequently develop in tandem with optics, using shared concepts such as waveguiding and metamedia. It is thus noteworthy that an entirely novel class of electromagnetic waves, known as "topological edge states," has recently been demonstrated. These are inspired by the electronic edge states occurring in topological insulators, and possess a striking and technologically promising property: the ability to travel in a single direction along a surface without backscattering, regardless of the existence of defects or disorder. Here, we develop an analogous theory of topological fluid acoustics, and propose a scheme for realizing topological edge states in an acoustic structure containing circulating fluids. The phenomenon of disorder-free one-way sound propagation, which does not occur in ordinary acoustic devices, may have novel applications for acoustic isolators, modulators, and transducers.

  9. Characterization of human breast cancer by scanning acoustic microscopy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Di; Malyarenko, Eugene; Seviaryn, Fedar; Yuan, Ye; Sherman, Mark; Bandyopadhyay, Sudeshna; Gierach, Gretchen; Greenway, Christopher W.; Maeva, Elena; Strumban, Emil; Duric, Neb; Maev, Roman

    2013-03-01

    Objectives: The purpose of this study was to characterize human breast cancer tissues by the measurement of microacoustic properties. Methods: We investigated eight breast cancer patients using acoustic microscopy. For each patient, seven blocks of tumor tissue were collected from seven different positions around a tumor mass. Frozen sections (10 micrometer, μm) of human breast cancer tissues without staining and fixation were examined in a scanning acoustic microscope with focused transducers at 80 and 200 MHz. Hematoxylin and Eosin (H and E) stained sections from the same frozen breast cancer tissues were imaged by optical microscopy for comparison. Results: The results of acoustic imaging showed that acoustic attenuation and sound speed in cancer cell-rich tissue regions were significantly decreased compared with the surrounding tissue regions, where most components are normal cells/tissues, such as fibroblasts, connective tissue and lymphocytes. Our observation also showed that the ultrasonic properties were influenced by arrangements of cells and tissue patterns. Conclusions: Our data demonstrate that attenuation and sound speed imaging can provide biomechanical information of the tumor and normal tissues. The results also demonstrate the potential of acoustic microscopy as an auxiliary method for operative detection and localization of cancer affected regions.

  10. Amnesia, rehearsal, and temporal distinctiveness models of recall.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brown, Gordon D A; Della Sala, Sergio; Foster, Jonathan K; Vousden, Janet I

    2007-04-01

    Classical amnesia involves selective memory impairment for temporally distant items in free recall (impaired primacy) together with relative preservation of memory for recency items. This abnormal serial position curve is traditionally taken as evidence for a distinction between different memory processes, with amnesia being associated with selectively impaired long-term memory. However recent accounts of normal serial position curves have emphasized the importance of rehearsal processes in giving rise to primacy effects and have suggested that a single temporal distinctiveness mechanism can account for both primacy and recency effects when rehearsal is considered. Here we explore the pattern of strategic rehearsal in a patient with very severe amnesia. When the patient's rehearsal pattern is taken into account, a temporal distinctiveness model can account for the serial position curve in both amnesic and control free recall. The results are taken as consistent with temporal distinctiveness models of free recall, and they motivate an emphasis on rehearsal patterns in understanding amnesic deficits in free recall.

  11. Nonlinear ion-acoustic cnoidal waves in a dense relativistic degenerate magnetoplasma.

    Science.gov (United States)

    El-Shamy, E F

    2015-03-01

    The complex pattern and propagation characteristics of nonlinear periodic ion-acoustic waves, namely, ion-acoustic cnoidal waves, in a dense relativistic degenerate magnetoplasma consisting of relativistic degenerate electrons and nondegenerate cold ions are investigated. By means of the reductive perturbation method and appropriate boundary conditions for nonlinear periodic waves, a nonlinear modified Korteweg-de Vries (KdV) equation is derived and its cnoidal wave is analyzed. The various solutions of nonlinear ion-acoustic cnoidal and solitary waves are presented numerically with the Sagdeev potential approach. The analytical solution and numerical simulation of nonlinear ion-acoustic cnoidal waves of the nonlinear modified KdV equation are studied. Clearly, it is found that the features (amplitude and width) of nonlinear ion-acoustic cnoidal waves are proportional to plasma number density, ion cyclotron frequency, and direction cosines. The numerical results are applied to high density astrophysical situations, such as in superdense white dwarfs. This research will be helpful in understanding the properties of compact astrophysical objects containing cold ions with relativistic degenerate electrons.

  12. Human processing of short temporal intervals as revealed by an ERP waveform analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yoshitaka eNakajima

    2011-12-01

    Full Text Available To clarify the time course over which the human brain processes information about durations up to ~300 ms, we reanalyzed the data that were previously reported by Mitsudo et al. (2009 using a multivariate analysis method. Event-related potentials were recorded from 19 scalp electrodes on 11 (9 original and 2 additional participants while they judged whether two neighboring empty time intervals—called t1 and t2 and marked by three tone bursts—had equal durations. There was also a control condition in which the participants were presented the same temporal patterns but without a judgment task. In the present reanalysis, we sought to visualize how the temporal patterns were represented in the brain over time. A correlation matrix across channels was calculated for each temporal pattern. Geometric separations between the correlation matrices were calculated, and subjected to multidimensional scaling. We performed such analyses for a moving 100-ms time window after the t1 presentations. In the windows centered at < 100 ms after the t2 presentation, the analyses revealed the local maxima of categorical separation between temporal patterns of perceptually equal durations versus perceptually unequal durations, both in the judgment condition and in the control condition. Such categorization of the temporal patterns was prominent only in narrow temporal regions. The analysis indicated that the participants determined whether the two neighboring time intervals were of equal duration mostly within 100 ms after the presentation of the temporal patterns. A very fast brain activity was related to the perception of elementary temporal patterns without explicit judgments. This is consistent with the findings of Mitsudo et al., and it is in line with the processing time hypothesis proposed by Nakajima et al. (2004. The validity of the correlation matrix analyses turned out to be an effective tool to grasp the overall responses of the brain to temporal

  13. An acoustical bubble counter for superheated drop detectors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Taylor, C.; Montvila, D.; Flynn, D.; Brennan, C.; D'Errico, F.

    2006-01-01

    A new bubble counter has been developed based on the well-established approach of detecting vaporization events acoustically in superheated drop detectors (SDDs). This counter is called the Framework Scientific ABC 1260, and it represents a major improvement over prior versions of this technology. By utilizing advanced acoustic pattern recognition software, the bubble formation event can be differentiated from ambient background noise, as well as from other acoustic signatures. Additional structural design enhancements include a relocation of the electronic components to the bottom of the device; thus allowing for greater stability, easier access to vial SDDs without exposure to system electronics. Upgrades in the electronics permit an increase in the speed of bubble detection by almost 50%, compared with earlier versions of the counters. By positioning the vial on top of the device, temperature and sound insulation can be accommodated for extreme environments. Lead shells can also be utilized for an enhanced response to high-energy neutrons. (authors)

  14. An acoustical bubble counter for superheated drop detectors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Taylor, Chris; Montvila, Darius; Flynn, David; Brennan, Christopher; d'Errico, Francesco

    2006-01-01

    A new bubble counter has been developed based on the well-established approach of detecting vaporization events acoustically in superheated drop detectors (SDDs). This counter is called the Framework Scientific ABC 1260, and it represents a major improvement over prior versions of this technology. By utilizing advanced acoustic pattern recognition software, the bubble formation event can be differentiated from ambient background noise, as well as from other acoustic signatures. Additional structural design enhancements include a relocation of the electronic components to the bottom of the device; thus allowing for greater stability, easier access to vial SDDs without exposure to system electronics. Upgrades in the electronics permit an increase in the speed of bubble detection by almost 50%, compared with earlier versions of the counters. By positioning the vial on top of the device, temperature and sound insulation can be accommodated for extreme environments. Lead shells can also be utilized for an enhanced response to high-energy neutrons.

  15. Long-term effects of acoustic reafference training (ART).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pizzera, Alexandra; Hohmann, Tanja; Streese, Lukas; Habbig, Anja; Raab, Markus

    2017-11-01

    In sport visual feedback is often used to enhance performance, mostly neglecting the auditory modality. However, athletes produce natural sounds when they move (acoustic reafferences) which they perceive and use to control their movements. We examined the short- and long-term effects of a training intervention on a complex movement by using acoustic reafferences. Natural step sounds produced during hurdling were recorded and played back to the participants immediately before each trial, with an increase (fast group), decrease (slow group), or no manipulation (control group) in the tempo. All groups increased their hurdling performance regarding overall running time, with the slow group showing the best performance development. After a 10-week retention, the fast and slow group further increased performance, whereas the control group declined. The repeated experience with acoustic information associated with the rhythmic pattern of hurdling may have helped developing a cognitive representation of that movement, especially regarding long-term effects.

  16. High transmission acoustic focusing by impedance-matched acoustic meta-surfaces

    KAUST Repository

    Al Jahdali, Rasha

    2016-01-19

    Impedance is an important issue in the design of acoustic lenses because mismatched impedance is detrimental to real focusing applications. Here, we report two designs of acoustic lenses that focus acoustic waves in water and air, respectively. They are tailored by acoustic meta-surfaces, which are rigid thin plates decorated with periodically distributed sub-wavelength slits. Their respective building blocks are constructed from the coiling-up spaces in water and the layered structures in air. Analytic analysis based on coupled-mode theory and transfer matrix reveals that the impedances of the lenses are matched to those of the background media. With these impedance-matched acoustic lenses, we demonstrate the acoustic focusing effect by finite-element simulations.

  17. High transmission acoustic focusing by impedance-matched acoustic meta-surfaces

    KAUST Repository

    Al Jahdali, Rasha; Wu, Ying

    2016-01-01

    Impedance is an important issue in the design of acoustic lenses because mismatched impedance is detrimental to real focusing applications. Here, we report two designs of acoustic lenses that focus acoustic waves in water and air, respectively. They are tailored by acoustic meta-surfaces, which are rigid thin plates decorated with periodically distributed sub-wavelength slits. Their respective building blocks are constructed from the coiling-up spaces in water and the layered structures in air. Analytic analysis based on coupled-mode theory and transfer matrix reveals that the impedances of the lenses are matched to those of the background media. With these impedance-matched acoustic lenses, we demonstrate the acoustic focusing effect by finite-element simulations.

  18. Adaptation to an electropalatograph palate: acoustic, impressionistic, and perceptual data.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McLeod, Sharynne; Searl, Jeff

    2006-05-01

    The purpose of this study was to evaluate adaptation to the electropalatograph (EPG) from the perspective of consonant acoustics, listener perceptions, and speaker ratings. Seven adults with typical speech wore an EPG and pseudo-EPG palate over 2 days and produced syllables, read a passage, counted, and rated their adaptation to the palate. Consonant acoustics, listener ratings, and speaker ratings were analyzed. The spectral mean for the burst (/t/) and frication (/s/) was reduced for the first 60-120 min of wearing the pseudo-EPG palate. Temporal features (stop gap, frication, and syllable duration) were unaffected by wearing the pseudo-EPG palate. The EPG palate had a similar effect on consonant acoustics as the pseudo-EPG palate. Expert listener ratings indicated minimal to no change in speech naturalness or distortion from the pseudo-EPG or EPG palate. The sounds [see text] were most likely to be affected. Speaker self-ratings related to oral comfort, speech, tongue movement, appearance, and oral sensation were negatively affected by the presence of the palatal devices. Speakers detected a substantial difference when wearing a palatal device, but the effects on speech were minimal based on listener ratings. Spectral features of consonants were initially affected, although adaptation occurred. Wearing an EPG or pseudo-EPG palate for approximately 2 hr results in relatively normal-sounding speech with acoustic features similar to a no-palate condition.

  19. Spatio-Temporal Patterns and Climate Variables Controlling of Biomass Carbon Stock of Global Grassland Ecosystems from 1982 to 2006

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jiangzhou Xia

    2014-02-01

    Full Text Available Grassland ecosystems play an important role in subsistence agriculture and the global carbon cycle. However, the global spatio-temporal patterns and environmental controls of grassland biomass are not well quantified and understood. The goal of this study was to estimate the spatial and temporal patterns of the global grassland biomass and analyze their driving forces using field measurements, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI time series from satellite data, climate reanalysis data, and a satellite-based statistical model. Results showed that the NDVI-based biomass carbon model developed from this study explained 60% of the variance across 38 sites globally. The global carbon stock in grassland aboveground live biomass was 1.05 Pg·C, averaged from 1982 to 2006, and increased at a rate of 2.43 Tg·C·y−1 during this period. Temporal change of the global biomass was significantly and positively correlated with temperature and precipitation. The distribution of biomass carbon density followed the precipitation gradient. The dynamics of regional grassland biomass showed various trends largely determined by regional climate variability, disturbances, and management practices (such as grazing for meat production. The methods and results from this study can be used to monitor the dynamics of grassland aboveground biomass and evaluate grassland susceptibility to climate variability and change, disturbances, and management.

  20. Spatial and temporal patterns of nasopharyngeal carcinoma mortality in China, 1973-2005.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xia, Changfa; Yu, Xue Qin; Zheng, Rongshou; Zhang, Siwei; Zeng, Hongmei; Wang, Jinfeng; Liao, Yilan; Zou, Xiaonong; Zuo, Tingting; Yang, Zhixun; Chen, Wanqing

    2017-08-10

    We fitted generalized linear models using data from three national retrospective surveys on cause of death in China to explore the spatial and temporal patterns of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) mortality over the period 1973 to 2005. The results suggest that there was a significant decrease in NPC mortality in China over time (p China areas have an elevated risk of mortality from NPC compared to those living in North China across all three time periods, with the RR being 4.96 (95% CI: 4.31-5.70) in 1973-1975, 12.83 (95% CI: 10.73-15.34) in 1990-1992 and 15.20 (95% CI: 12.34-18.72) in 2004-2005. Although NPC mortality in most areas of China has reduced to very low levels, the widening geographical disparities in NPC mortality are still noteworthy. It may be necessary to target public health policies to address the widening geographical disparities in NPC mortality. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  1. Vibro-acoustics

    CERN Document Server

    Nilsson, Anders

    2015-01-01

    This three-volume book gives a thorough and comprehensive presentation of vibration and acoustic theories. Different from traditional textbooks which typically deal with some aspects of either acoustic or vibration problems, it is unique of this book to combine those two correlated subjects together. Moreover, it provides fundamental analysis and mathematical descriptions for several crucial phenomena of Vibro-Acoustics which are quite useful in noise reduction, including how structures are excited, energy flows from an excitation point to a sound radiating surface, and finally how a structure radiates noise to a surrounding fluid. Many measurement results included in the text make the reading interesting and informative. Problems/questions are listed at the end of each chapter and the solutions are provided. This will help the readers to understand the topics of Vibro-Acoustics more deeply. The book should be of interest to anyone interested in sound and vibration, vehicle acoustics, ship acoustics and inter...

  2. Acoustic scattering by multiple elliptical cylinders using collocation multipole method

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, Wei-Ming

    2012-01-01

    This paper presents the collocation multipole method for the acoustic scattering induced by multiple elliptical cylinders subjected to an incident plane sound wave. To satisfy the Helmholtz equation in the elliptical coordinate system, the scattered acoustic field is formulated in terms of angular and radial Mathieu functions which also satisfy the radiation condition at infinity. The sound-soft or sound-hard boundary condition is satisfied by uniformly collocating points on the boundaries. For the sound-hard or Neumann conditions, the normal derivative of the acoustic pressure is determined by using the appropriate directional derivative without requiring the addition theorem of Mathieu functions. By truncating the multipole expansion, a finite linear algebraic system is derived and the scattered field can then be determined according to the given incident acoustic wave. Once the total field is calculated as the sum of the incident field and the scattered field, the near field acoustic pressure along the scatterers and the far field scattering pattern can be determined. For the acoustic scattering of one elliptical cylinder, the proposed results match well with the analytical solutions. The proposed scattered fields induced by two and three elliptical–cylindrical scatterers are critically compared with those provided by the boundary element method to validate the present method. Finally, the effects of the convexity of an elliptical scatterer, the separation between scatterers and the incident wave number and angle on the acoustic scattering are investigated.

  3. Reproductive behaviour of Crocidosema (=Epinotia) aporema (Walsingham) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae): temporal pattern of female calling and mating

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Altesor, Paula; Arcia, Maria P.; Rossini, Carmen; Gonzalez, Andres; Horas, Vanusa R; Zarbin, Paulo H.G.

    2010-01-01

    Crocidosema aporema (Walsingham) is a major pest of legumes in the southern cone of Latin America. The mating behaviour of two allopatric populations (Uruguay and Brazil) of C. aporema kept in captivity was studied by observing the posture of calling females, the temporal pattern of pheromone emission and mating, and the response of males to calling females in olfactometer tests. Female calling and mating was observed during the scotophase, from the fi rst to the seventh night after adult emergence. Male response was evaluated at night using a single calling female in a Y-shaped olfactometer. Females adopted a characteristic calling posture, extruding the pheromone gland from the tip of the abdomen. Most females started calling during the second scotophase, and all females called from the third, between the fifth and seventh hours after the onset of the scotophase. Most of the couples mated once throughout the experiment, between the third and sixth night and during the middle of the dark phase. Males preferentially chose the female arm in olfactometer tests, considering both the fi rst arm chosen and the number of visits during the observation period. Our results describe for the fi rst time the temporal pattern associated to the reproductive behaviour of C. aporema. We also provide evidence that this tortricid is monoandrous, and that pheromones are used in intersexual communication for mate finding. Our data will be used to optimize the collection of female sex pheromones for chemical characterization in order to develop a monitoring tool for this pest. (author)

  4. Reproductive behaviour of Crocidosema (=Epinotia) aporema (Walsingham) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae): temporal pattern of female calling and mating

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Altesor, Paula; Arcia, Maria P.; Rossini, Carmen; Gonzalez, Andres, E-mail: paltesor@fq.edu.u, E-mail: mparcia@fq.edu.u, E-mail: crossini@fq.edu.u, E-mail: agonzal@fq.edu.u [Universidad de la Republica, Montevideo (Uruguay). Fac. de Quimica. Lab. de Ecologia Quimica; Horas, Vanusa R; Zarbin, Paulo H.G., E-mail: vanusa@quimica.ufpr.b, E-mail: pzarbin@quimica.ufpr.b [Universidade Federal do Parana (UFPR), Curitiba, PR (Brazil). Dept. de Quimica. Lab. de Semioquimicos

    2010-06-15

    Crocidosema aporema (Walsingham) is a major pest of legumes in the southern cone of Latin America. The mating behaviour of two allopatric populations (Uruguay and Brazil) of C. aporema kept in captivity was studied by observing the posture of calling females, the temporal pattern of pheromone emission and mating, and the response of males to calling females in olfactometer tests. Female calling and mating was observed during the scotophase, from the fi rst to the seventh night after adult emergence. Male response was evaluated at night using a single calling female in a Y-shaped olfactometer. Females adopted a characteristic calling posture, extruding the pheromone gland from the tip of the abdomen. Most females started calling during the second scotophase, and all females called from the third, between the fifth and seventh hours after the onset of the scotophase. Most of the couples mated once throughout the experiment, between the third and sixth night and during the middle of the dark phase. Males preferentially chose the female arm in olfactometer tests, considering both the fi rst arm chosen and the number of visits during the observation period. Our results describe for the fi rst time the temporal pattern associated to the reproductive behaviour of C. aporema. We also provide evidence that this tortricid is monoandrous, and that pheromones are used in intersexual communication for mate finding. Our data will be used to optimize the collection of female sex pheromones for chemical characterization in order to develop a monitoring tool for this pest. (author)

  5. Acoustics an introduction

    CERN Document Server

    Kuttruff, Heinrich

    2006-01-01

    This definitive textbook provides students with a comprehensive introduction to acoustics. Beginning with the basic physical ideas, Acoustics balances the fundamentals with engineering aspects, applications and electroacoustics, also covering music, speech and the properties of human hearing. The concepts of acoustics are exposed and applied in:room acousticssound insulation in buildingsnoise controlunderwater sound and ultrasoundScientifically thorough, but with mathematics kept to a minimum, Acoustics is the perfect introduction to acoustics for students at any level of mechanical, electrical or civil engineering courses and an accessible resource for architects, musicians or sound engineers requiring a technical understanding of acoustics and their applications.

  6. Principles of Temporal Processing Across the Cortical Hierarchy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Himberger, Kevin D; Chien, Hsiang-Yun; Honey, Christopher J

    2018-05-02

    The world is richly structured on multiple spatiotemporal scales. In order to represent spatial structure, many machine-learning models repeat a set of basic operations at each layer of a hierarchical architecture. These iterated spatial operations - including pooling, normalization and pattern completion - enable these systems to recognize and predict spatial structure, while robust to changes in the spatial scale, contrast and noisiness of the input signal. Because our brains also process temporal information that is rich and occurs across multiple time scales, might the brain employ an analogous set of operations for temporal information processing? Here we define a candidate set of temporal operations, and we review evidence that they are implemented in the mammalian cerebral cortex in a hierarchical manner. We conclude that multiple consecutive stages of cortical processing can be understood to perform temporal pooling, temporal normalization and temporal pattern completion. Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

  7. Validity and reliability of acoustic analysis of respiratory sounds in infants

    Science.gov (United States)

    Elphick, H; Lancaster, G; Solis, A; Majumdar, A; Gupta, R; Smyth, R

    2004-01-01

    Objective: To investigate the validity and reliability of computerised acoustic analysis in the detection of abnormal respiratory noises in infants. Methods: Blinded, prospective comparison of acoustic analysis with stethoscope examination. Validity and reliability of acoustic analysis were assessed by calculating the degree of observer agreement using the κ statistic with 95% confidence intervals (CI). Results: 102 infants under 18 months were recruited. Convergent validity for agreement between stethoscope examination and acoustic analysis was poor for wheeze (κ = 0.07 (95% CI, –0.13 to 0.26)) and rattles (κ = 0.11 (–0.05 to 0.27)) and fair for crackles (κ = 0.36 (0.18 to 0.54)). Both the stethoscope and acoustic analysis distinguished well between sounds (discriminant validity). Agreement between observers for the presence of wheeze was poor for both stethoscope examination and acoustic analysis. Agreement for rattles was moderate for the stethoscope but poor for acoustic analysis. Agreement for crackles was moderate using both techniques. Within-observer reliability for all sounds using acoustic analysis was moderate to good. Conclusions: The stethoscope is unreliable for assessing respiratory sounds in infants. This has important implications for its use as a diagnostic tool for lung disorders in infants, and confirms that it cannot be used as a gold standard. Because of the unreliability of the stethoscope, the validity of acoustic analysis could not be demonstrated, although it could discriminate between sounds well and showed good within-observer reliability. For acoustic analysis, targeted training and the development of computerised pattern recognition systems may improve reliability so that it can be used in clinical practice. PMID:15499065

  8. Interior acoustic cloak

    OpenAIRE

    Wael Akl; A. Baz

    2014-01-01

    Acoustic cloaks have traditionally been intended to externally surround critical objects to render these objects acoustically invisible. However, in this paper, the emphasis is placed on investigating the application of the acoustic cloaks to the interior walls of acoustic cavities in an attempt to minimize the noise levels inside these cavities. In this manner, the acoustic cloaks can serve as a viable and efficient alternative to the conventional passive noise attenuation treatments which a...

  9. Spatial, Temporal and Spatio-Temporal Patterns of Maritime Piracy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marchione, Elio; Johnson, Shane D

    2013-11-01

    To examine patterns in the timing and location of incidents of maritime piracy to see whether, like many urban crimes, attacks cluster in space and time. Data for all incidents of maritime piracy worldwide recorded by the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency are analyzed using time-series models and methods originally developed to detect disease contagion. At the macro level, analyses suggest that incidents of pirate attacks are concentrated in five subregions of the earth's oceans and that the time series for these different subregions differ. At the micro level, analyses suggest that for the last 16 years (or more), pirate attacks appear to cluster in space and time suggesting that patterns are not static but are also not random. Much like other types of crime, pirate attacks cluster in space, and following an attack at one location the risk of others at the same location or nearby is temporarily elevated. The identification of such regularities has implications for the understanding of maritime piracy and for predicting the future locations of attacks.

  10. Exploring the Ecological Coherence between the Spatial and Temporal Patterns of Bacterioplankton in Boreal Lakes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Juan Pablo Niño-García

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available One of the major contemporary challenges in microbial ecology has been to discriminate the reactive core from the random, unreactive components of bacterial communities. In previous work we used the spatial abundance distributions of bacterioplankton across boreal lakes of Québec to group taxa into four distinct categories that reflect either hydrology-mediated dispersal along the aquatic network or environmental selection mechanisms within lakes. Here, we test whether this categorization derived from the spatial distribution of taxa is maintained over time, by analyzing the temporal dynamics of the operational taxonomic units (OTUs within those spatially derived categories along an annual cycle in the oligotrophic lake Croche (Québec, Canada, and assessing the coherence in the patterns of abundance, occurrence, and environmental range of these OTUs over space and time. We report that the temporal dynamics of most taxa within a single lake are largely coherent with those derived from their spatial distribution over large spatial scales, suggesting that these properties must be intrinsic of particular taxa. We also identified a set of rare taxa cataloged as having a random occupancy based on their spatial distribution, but which showed clear seasonality and abundance peaks along the year, yet these comprised a very small fraction of the total rare OTUs. We conclude that the presence of most rare bacterioplankton taxa in boreal lakes is random, since both their temporal and spatial dynamics suggest links to passive downstream transport and persistence in freshwater networks, rather than environmental selection.

  11. Temporal-pattern similarity analysis reveals the beneficial and detrimental effects of context reinstatement on human memory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Staudigl, Tobias; Vollmar, Christian; Noachtar, Soheyl; Hanslmayr, Simon

    2015-04-01

    A powerful force in human memory is the context in which memories are encoded (Tulving and Thomson, 1973). Several studies suggest that the reinstatement of neural encoding patterns is beneficial for memory retrieval (Manning et al., 2011; Staresina et al., 2012; Jafarpour et al., 2014). However, reinstatement of the original encoding context is not always helpful, for instance, when retrieving a memory in a different contextual situation (Smith and Vela, 2001). It is an open question whether such context-dependent memory effects can be captured by the reinstatement of neural patterns. We investigated this question by applying temporal and spatial pattern similarity analysis in MEG and intracranial EEG in a context-match paradigm. Items (words) were tagged by individual dynamic context stimuli (movies). The results show that beta oscillatory phase in visual regions and the parahippocampal cortex tracks the incidental reinstatement of individual context trajectories on a single-trial level. Crucially, memory benefitted from reinstatement when the encoding and retrieval contexts matched but suffered from reinstatement when the contexts did not match. Copyright © 2015 the authors 0270-6474/15/355373-12$15.00/0.

  12. Controllable Solid Propulsion Combustion and Acoustic Knowledge Base Improvements

    Science.gov (United States)

    McCauley, Rachel; Fischbach, Sean; Fredrick, Robert

    2012-01-01

    Controllable solid propulsion systems have distinctive combustion and acoustic environments that require enhanced testing and analysis techniques to progress this new technology from development to production. In a hot gas valve actuating system, the movement of the pintle through the hot gas exhibits complex acoustic disturbances and flow characteristics that can amplify induced pressure loads that can damage or detonate the rocket motor. The geometry of a controllable solid propulsion gas chamber can set up unique unsteady flow which can feed acoustic oscillations patterns that require characterization. Research in this area aids in the understanding of how best to design, test, and analyze future controllable solid rocket motors using the lessons learned from past government programs as well as university research and testing. This survey paper will give the reader a better understanding of the potentially amplifying affects propagated by a controllable solid rocket motor system and the knowledge of the tools current available to address these acoustic disturbances in a preliminary design. Finally the paper will supply lessons learned from past experiences which will allow the reader to come away with understanding of what steps need to be taken when developing a controllable solid rocket propulsion system. The focus of this survey will be on testing and analysis work published by solid rocket programs and from combustion and acoustic books, conference papers, journal articles, and additionally from subject matter experts dealing currently with controllable solid rocket acoustic analysis.

  13. Gait recovery is not associated with changes in the temporal patterning of muscle activity during treadmill walking in patients with post-stroke hemiparesis.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Otter, A.R. den; Geurts, A.C.H.; Mulder, T.; Duysens, J.E.J.

    2006-01-01

    OBJECTIVE: To establish whether functional recovery of gait in patients with post-stroke hemiparesis coincides with changes in the temporal patterning of lower extremity muscle activity and coactivity during treadmill walking. METHODS: Electromyographic (EMG) data from both legs, maximum walking

  14. Gait recovery is not associated with changes in the temporal patterning of muscle activity during treadmill walking in patients with post-stroke hemiparesis

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Den Otter, AR; Mulder, T; Duysens, J

    Objective: To establish whether functional recovery of gait in patients with post-stroke hemiparesis coincides with changes in the temporal patterning of lower extremity muscle activity and coactivity during treadmill walking. Methods: Electromyographic (EMG) data from both legs, maximum walking

  15. Perception and the temporal properties of speech

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gordon, Peter C.

    1991-11-01

    Four experiments addressing the role of attention in phonetic perception are reported. The first experiment shows that the relative importance of two cues to the voicing distinction changes when subjects must perform an arithmetic distractor task at the same time as identifying a speech stimulus. The voice onset time cue loses phonetic significance when subjects are distracted, while the F0 onset frequency cue does not. The second experiment shows a similar pattern for two cues to the distinction between the vowels /i/ (as in 'beat') and /I/ (as in 'bit'). Together these experiments indicate that careful attention to speech perception is necessary for strong acoustic cues to achieve their full phonetic impact, while weaker acoustic cues achieve their full phonetic impact without close attention. Experiment 3 shows that this pattern is obtained when the distractor task places little demand on verbal short term memory. Experiment 4 provides a large data set for testing formal models of the role of attention in speech perception. Attention is shown to influence the signal to noise ratio in phonetic encoding. This principle is instantiated in a network model in which the role of attention is to reduce noise in the phonetic encoding of acoustic cues. Implications of this work for understanding speech perception and general theories of the role of attention in perception are discussed.

  16. Mapping turbidity patterns in the Po river prodelta using multi-temporal Landsat 8 imagery

    Science.gov (United States)

    Braga, Federica; Zaggia, Luca; Bellafiore, Debora; Bresciani, Mariano; Giardino, Claudia; Lorenzetti, Giuliano; Maicu, Francesco; Manzo, Ciro; Riminucci, Francesco; Ravaioli, Mariangela; Brando, Vittorio Ernesto

    2017-11-01

    Thirty-meters resolution turbidity maps derived from Landsat 8 (L8) images were used to investigate spatial and temporal variations of suspended matter patterns and distribution in the area of Po River prodelta (Italy) in the period from April 2013 to October 2015. The main focus of the work was the study of small and sub-mesoscale structures, linking them to the main forcings that control the fate of suspended sediments in the northern Adriatic Sea. A number of hydrologic and meteorological events of different extent and duration was captured by L8 data, quantifying how river discharge and meteo-marine conditions modulate the distribution of turbidity on- and off-shore. At sub-mesoscale, peculiar patterns and smaller structures, as multiple plumes and sand bars, were identified thanks to the unprecedented spatial and radiometric resolution of L8 sensor. The use of these satellite-derived products provides interesting information, particularly on turbidity distribution among the different delta distributaries in specific fluvial regimes that fills the knowledge gap of traditional studies based only on in situ data. A novel approach using satellite data within model implementation is then suggested.

  17. Are temporal patterns of sitting associated with obesity among blue-collar workers? A cross sectional study using accelerometers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nidhi Gupta

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Little is known about associations of temporal patterns of sitting (i.e., distribution of sitting across time with obesity. We aimed investigating the association between temporal patterns of sitting (long, moderate and brief uninterrupted bouts and obesity indicators (body mass index (BMI, waist circumference and fat percentage, independently from moderate-vigorous physical activity (MVPA and total sitting time among blue-collar workers. Methods Workers (n = 205 wore Actigraph GT3X+ accelerometers on the thigh and trunk for 1–4 working days. Using the validated Acti4 software, the total sitting time and time spent sitting in brief (≤5 mins, moderate (>5 and ≤30 mins, and long (>30mins bouts on working days were determined for the whole day, and for leisure and work separately. BMI (kg/m2, waist circumference (cm and fat percentage were objectively measured. Results Results of linear regression analysis adjusted for multiple confounders indicated that brief bouts of sitting was negatively associated with obesity for the whole day (BMI, P < 0.01; fat percentage, P < 0.01; waist circumference, P < 0.01 and work (BMI, P < 0.01; fat percentage, P < 0.01; waist circumference, P < 0.01, but not for leisure. Sitting time in long bouts was positively associated with obesity indicators for the whole day (waist circumference, P = 0.05 and work (waist circumference, P = 0.01; BMI, P = 0.04, but not leisure. Conclusions For the whole day as well as for work, brief bouts and long bouts of sitting showed opposite associations with obesity even after adjusting for MVPA and total sitting time, while sitting during leisure did not show these associations. Thus, the temporal distribution of sitting seems to influence the relationship between sitting and obesity.

  18. Complex temporal and spatial patterns in nonequilibrium processes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1992-01-01

    Dynamical systems methods have been used to study bifurcations and pattern formation in nonequilibrium systems. Accomplishments during this period include: information-theoretic methods for analyzing chaos, chemical reactors for studying sustained reaction-diffusion patterns, a reactor exploiting pattern formation to extract short- lived intermediate species, observation of bifurcation from periodic to quasiperiodic rotating chemical spiral patterns, observation of a Turing bifurcation (transition from uniform state to a stationary chemical pattern), method for extracting noise strength in ramped convection, self-similar fractal structure of Zn clusters in electrodeposition, and dynamical instability in crack propagation

  19. Acoustic energy harvesting based on a planar acoustic metamaterial

    Science.gov (United States)

    Qi, Shuibao; Oudich, Mourad; Li, Yong; Assouar, Badreddine

    2016-06-01

    We theoretically report on an innovative and practical acoustic energy harvester based on a defected acoustic metamaterial (AMM) with piezoelectric material. The idea is to create suitable resonant defects in an AMM to confine the strain energy originating from an acoustic incidence. This scavenged energy is converted into electrical energy by attaching a structured piezoelectric material into the defect area of the AMM. We show an acoustic energy harvester based on a meta-structure capable of producing electrical power from an acoustic pressure. Numerical simulations are provided to analyze and elucidate the principles and the performances of the proposed system. A maximum output voltage of 1.3 V and a power density of 0.54 μW/cm3 are obtained at a frequency of 2257.5 Hz. The proposed concept should have broad applications on energy harvesting as well as on low-frequency sound isolation, since this system acts as both acoustic insulator and energy harvester.

  20. Temporal patterns and geographic heterogeneity of Zika virus (ZIKV outbreaks in French Polynesia and Central America

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ying-Hen Hsieh

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available Background Zika virus (ZIKV transmission has been reported in 67 countries/territories in the Oceania region and the Americas since 2015, prompting the World Health Organization (WHO to declare ZIKV as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern in February 2016, due to its strong association with medical complications such as microcephaly and Guillain–Barré Syndrome (GBS. However, a substantial gap in knowledge still exists regarding differing temporal pattern and potential of transmission of ZIKV in different regions of the world. Methods We use a phenomenological model to ascertain the temporal patterns and transmission potential of ZIKV in various countries/territories, by fitting the model to Zika case data from Yap Island and French Polynesia in the Oceania region and 11 countries/territories with confirmed case data, namely, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Puerto Rico, Saint Martin, and Suriname, to pinpoint the waves of infections in each country/territory and to estimate the respective basic reproduction number R0. Results Six of these time series datasets resulted in statistically significant model fit of at least one wave of reported cases, namely that of French Polynesia, Colombia, Puerto Rico, Guatemala, Suriname and Saint Martin. However, only Colombia and Guatemala exhibited two waves of cases while the others had only one wave. Temporal patterns of the second wave in Colombia and the single wave in Suriname are very similar, with the respective turning points separated by merely a week. Moreover, the mean estimates of R0 for Colombia, Guatemala and Suriname, all land-based populations, range between 1.05 and 1.75, while the corresponding mean estimates for R0 of island populations in French Polynesia, Puerto Rico and Saint Martin are significantly lower with a range of 5.70–6.89. We also fit the Richards model to Zika case data from six main archipelagos in French

  1. Numerical simulation of 3D boundary-driven acoustic streaming in microfluidic devices.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lei, Junjun; Hill, Martyn; Glynne-Jones, Peter

    2014-02-07

    This article discusses three-dimensional (3D) boundary-driven streaming in acoustofluidic devices. Firstly, the 3D Rayleigh streaming pattern in a microchannel is simulated and its effect on the movement of microparticles of various sizes is demonstrated. The results obtained from this model show good comparisons with 3D experimental visualisations and demonstrate the fully 3D nature of the acoustic streaming field and the associated acoustophoretic motion of microparticles in acoustofluidic devices. This method is then applied to another acoustofluidic device in order to gain insights into an unusual in-plane streaming pattern. The origin of this streaming has not been fully described and its characteristics cannot be explained from the classical theory of Rayleigh streaming. The simulated in-plane streaming pattern was in good agreement with the experimental visualisation. The mechanism behind it is shown to be related to the active sound intensity field, which supports our previous findings on the mechanism of the in-plane acoustic streaming pattern visualised and modelled in a thin-layered capillary device.

  2. Characteristics of temporal patterns of cortisol and luteinizing hormone in primiparous, postpartum, anovular, suckled, beef cows exposed acutely to bulls

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tauck Shaun A

    2010-07-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The physiological mechanism by which bulls stimulate resumption of ovarian cycling activity in postpartum, anovular, suckled cows after calving may involve the concurrent activation of the hypothalamic-hypophyseal-ovarian (HPO axis and hypothalamic-hypophyseal-adrenal (HPA axis. Thus, the objectives of this experiment were to determine if characteristics of temporal patterns of cortisol and luteinizing hormone (LH in postpartum, anovular, beef cows are influenced by acute exposure to bulls. The null hypotheses were that daily, temporal characteristics of cortisol and LH concentration patterns do not differ between cows exposed acutely to bulls or steers. Methods Sixteen cows were assigned randomly 67 +/- 4 (+/- SE after calving to be exposed to bulls (EB, n = 8 or steers (ES, n = 8 5 h daily for 9 d (D 0 to 8. Blood samples were collected daily from each cow via jugular catheters at 15-min intervals for 6 h from 1000 to 1600 h each day. The 5-h exposure period began 1 h after the start of the intensive bleeding period. Characteristics of cortisol and LH concentration patterns (mean, baseline, pulse frequency, pulse amplitude, and pulse duration were identified by PULSAR analyses. Results Mean cortisol concentrations decreased (P 0.10 between EB and ES cows. The decrease in mean cortisol concentrations in EB and ES cows from D 0 to D 2 was attributed to cows acclimatizing to intensive blood sampling and handling procedures. Consequently, analyses for characteristics of cortisol and LH concentration patterns included D 2 through 8 only. Cortisol mean and baseline concentrations, and pulse amplitude did not differ (P > 0.10 between EB and ES cows. However, cortisol pulse duration tended to be longer (P = 0.09 and pulse frequency was lower (P = 0.05 in EB than ES cows. LH pulse frequency was greater (P = 0.06 in EB than ES cows. All other characteristics of LH concentration patterns did not differ (P > 0.10 between EB and ES cows

  3. Panel acoustic contribution analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Sean F; Natarajan, Logesh Kumar

    2013-02-01

    Formulations are derived to analyze the relative panel acoustic contributions of a vibrating structure. The essence of this analysis is to correlate the acoustic power flow from each panel to the radiated acoustic pressure at any field point. The acoustic power is obtained by integrating the normal component of the surface acoustic intensity, which is the product of the surface acoustic pressure and normal surface velocity reconstructed by using the Helmholtz equation least squares based nearfield acoustical holography, over each panel. The significance of this methodology is that it enables one to analyze and rank relative acoustic contributions of individual panels of a complex vibrating structure to acoustic radiation anywhere in the field based on a single set of the acoustic pressures measured in the near field. Moreover, this approach is valid for both interior and exterior regions. Examples of using this method to analyze and rank the relative acoustic contributions of a scaled vehicle cabin are demonstrated.

  4. Assessing signal-driven mechanism in neonates: brain responses to temporally and spectrally different sounds

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yasuyo eMinagawa-Kawai

    2011-06-01

    Full Text Available Past studies have found that in adults that acoustic properties of sound signals (such as fast vs. slow temporal features differentially activate the left and right hemispheres, and some have hypothesized that left-lateralization for speech processing may follow from left-lateralization to rapidly changing signals. Here, we tested whether newborns’ brains show some evidence of signal-specific lateralization responses using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS and auditory stimuli that elicits lateralized responses in adults, composed of segments that vary in duration and spectral diversity. We found significantly greater bilateral responses of oxygenated hemoglobin (oxy-Hb in the temporal areas for stimuli with a minimum segment duration of 21 ms, than stimuli with a minimum segment duration of 667 ms. However, we found no evidence for hemispheric asymmetries dependent on the stimulus characteristics. We hypothesize that acoustic-based functional brain asymmetries may develop throughout early infancy, and discuss their possible relationship with brain asymmetries for language.

  5. Listening to the Deep: live monitoring of ocean noise and cetacean acoustic signals.

    Science.gov (United States)

    André, M; van der Schaar, M; Zaugg, S; Houégnigan, L; Sánchez, A M; Castell, J V

    2011-01-01

    The development and broad use of passive acoustic monitoring techniques have the potential to help assessing the large-scale influence of artificial noise on marine organisms and ecosystems. Deep-sea observatories have the potential to play a key role in understanding these recent acoustic changes. LIDO (Listening to the Deep Ocean Environment) is an international project that is allowing the real-time long-term monitoring of marine ambient noise as well as marine mammal sounds at cabled and standalone observatories. Here, we present the overall development of the project and the use of passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) techniques to provide the scientific community with real-time data at large spatial and temporal scales. Special attention is given to the extraction and identification of high frequency cetacean echolocation signals given the relevance of detecting target species, e.g. beaked whales, in mitigation processes, e.g. during military exercises. Copyright © 2011. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  6. Monitoring, analyzing and simulating of spatial-temporal changes of landscape pattern over mining area

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Pei; Han, Ruimei; Wang, Shuangting

    2014-11-01

    According to the merits of remotely sensed data in depicting regional land cover and Land changes, multi- objective information processing is employed to remote sensing images to analyze and simulate land cover in mining areas. In this paper, multi-temporal remotely sensed data were selected to monitor the pattern, distri- bution and trend of LUCC and predict its impacts on ecological environment and human settlement in mining area. The monitor, analysis and simulation of LUCC in this coal mining areas are divided into five steps. The are information integration of optical and SAR data, LULC types extraction with SVM classifier, LULC trends simulation with CA Markov model, landscape temporal changes monitoring and analysis with confusion matrixes and landscape indices. The results demonstrate that the improved data fusion algorithm could make full use of information extracted from optical and SAR data; SVM classifier has an efficient and stable ability to obtain land cover maps, which could provide a good basis for both land cover change analysis and trend simulation; CA Markov model is able to predict LULC trends with good performance, and it is an effective way to integrate remotely sensed data with spatial-temporal model for analysis of land use / cover change and corresponding environmental impacts in mining area. Confusion matrixes are combined with landscape indices to evaluation and analysis show that, there was a sustained downward trend in agricultural land and bare land, but a continues growth trend tendency in water body, forest and other lands, and building area showing a wave like change, first increased and then decreased; mining landscape has undergone a from small to large and large to small process of fragmentation, agricultural land is the strongest influenced landscape type in this area, and human activities are the primary cause, so the problem should be pay more attentions by government and other organizations.

  7. Presbycusis: a human temporal bone study of individuals with downward sloping audiometric patterns of hearing loss and review of the literature.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nelson, Erik G; Hinojosa, Raul

    2006-09-01

    The purpose of this retrospective case review was to identify patterns of cochlear element degeneration in individuals with presbycusis exhibiting downward sloping audiometric patterns of hearing loss and to correlate these findings with those reported in the literature to clarify conflicting concepts regarding the association between hearing loss and morphologic abnormalities. Archival human temporal bones from individuals with presbycusis were selected on the basis of strict audiometric criteria for downward-sloping audiometric thresholds. Twenty-one temporal bones that met these criteria were identified and compared with 10 temporal bones from individuals with normal hearing. The stria vascularis volumes, spiral ganglion cell populations, inner hair cells, and outer hair cells were quantitatively evaluated. The relationship between the severity of hearing loss and the degeneration of cochlear elements was analyzed using univariate linear regression models. Outer hair cell loss and ganglion cell loss was observed in all individuals with presbycusis. Inner hair cell loss was observed in 18 of the 21 individuals with presbycusis and stria vascularis loss was observed in 10 of the 21 individuals with presbycusis. The extent of degeneration of all four of the cochlear elements evaluated was highly associated with the severity of hearing loss based on audiometric thresholds at 8,000 Hz and the pure-tone average at 500, 1,000, and 2,000 Hz. The extent of ganglion cell degeneration was associated with the slope of the audiogram. Individuals with downward-sloping audiometric patterns of presbycusis exhibit degeneration of the stria vascularis, spiral ganglion cells, inner hair cells, and outer hair cells that is associated with the severity of hearing loss. This association has not been previously reported in studies that did not use quantitative methodologies for evaluating the cochlear elements and strict audiometric criteria for selecting cases.

  8. Evaluation of the successive approximations method for acoustic streaming numerical simulations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Catarino, S O; Minas, G; Miranda, J M

    2016-05-01

    This work evaluates the successive approximations method commonly used to predict acoustic streaming by comparing it with a direct method. The successive approximations method solves both the acoustic wave propagation and acoustic streaming by solving the first and second order Navier-Stokes equations, ignoring the first order convective effects. This method was applied to acoustic streaming in a 2D domain and the results were compared with results from the direct simulation of the Navier-Stokes equations. The velocity results showed qualitative agreement between both methods, which indicates that the successive approximations method can describe the formation of flows with recirculation. However, a large quantitative deviation was observed between the two methods. Further analysis showed that the successive approximation method solution is sensitive to the initial flow field. The direct method showed that the instantaneous flow field changes significantly due to reflections and wave interference. It was also found that convective effects contribute significantly to the wave propagation pattern. These effects must be taken into account when solving the acoustic streaming problems, since it affects the global flow. By adequately calculating the initial condition for first order step, the acoustic streaming prediction by the successive approximations method can be improved significantly.

  9. Use of Acoustic Emission and Pattern Recognition for Crack Detection of a Large Carbide Anvil.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Bin; Wang, Yanan; Yan, Zhaoli

    2018-01-29

    Large-volume cubic high-pressure apparatus is commonly used to produce synthetic diamond. Due to the high pressure, high temperature and alternative stresses in practical production, cracks often occur in the carbide anvil, thereby resulting in significant economic losses or even casualties. Conventional methods are unsuitable for crack detection of the carbide anvil. This paper is concerned with acoustic emission-based crack detection of carbide anvils, regarded as a pattern recognition problem; this is achieved using a microphone, with methods including sound pulse detection, feature extraction, feature optimization and classifier design. Through analyzing the characteristics of background noise, the cracked sound pulses are separated accurately from the originally continuous signal. Subsequently, three different kinds of features including a zero-crossing rate, sound pressure levels, and linear prediction cepstrum coefficients are presented for characterizing the cracked sound pulses. The original high-dimensional features are adaptively optimized using principal component analysis. A hybrid framework of a support vector machine with k nearest neighbors is designed to recognize the cracked sound pulses. Finally, experiments are conducted in a practical diamond workshop to validate the feasibility and efficiency of the proposed method.

  10. Spatio-temporal encoding using narrow-band linear frequency modulated signals in synthetic aperture ultrasound imaging

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gran, Fredrik; Jensen, Jørgen Arendt

    2005-01-01

    In this paper a method for spatio-temporal encoding is presented for synthetic transmit aperture ultrasound imaging (STA). The purpose is to excite several transmitters at the same time in order to transmit more acoustic energy in every single transmission. When increasing the transmitted acousti...

  11. Broadband Acoustic Transmission Enhancement through a Structured Stiff Plate with Locally Resonant Elements

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Li Yong; Liang Bin; Zou Xin-Ye; Cheng Jian-Chun

    2012-01-01

    Broadband acoustic transmission enhancement (ATE) is realized for a periodically structured stiff plate without any opening that is conventionally thought to be only capable of supporting narrowband ATE, by introducing locally resonant (LR) elements. This exotic phenomenon is interpreted by analyzing the vibration pattern of the structure-induced LR modes, and is well modeled by a simple 'spring-mass' system which reveals the contribution of the LR effect to the important broadband performance. Our findings should help to better understand the physical mechanism of ATE and may have potential impact on ultrasonic applications such as broadband acoustic filters or compact acoustic devices in subwavelength scale

  12. Propellant injection strategy for suppressing acoustic combustion instability

    Science.gov (United States)

    Diao, Qina

    Shear-coaxial injector elements are often used in liquid-propellant-rocket thrust chambers, where combustion instabilities remain a significant problem. A conventional solution to the combustion instability problem relies on passive control techniques that use empirically-developed hardware such as acoustic baffles and tuned cavities. In addition to adding weight and decreasing engine performance, these devices are designed using trial-and-error methods, which do not provide the capability to predict the overall system stability characteristics in advance. In this thesis, two novel control strategies that are based on propellant fluid dynamics were investigated for mitigating acoustic instability involving shear-coaxial injector elements. The new control strategies would use a set of controlled injectors allowing local adjustment of propellant flow patterns for each operating condition, particularly when instability could become a problem. One strategy relies on reducing the oxidizer-fuel density gradient by blending heavier methane with the main fuel, hydrogen. Another strategy utilizes modifying the equivalence ratio to affect the acoustic impedance through mixing and reaction rate changes. The potential effectiveness of these strategies was assessed by conducting unit-physics experiments. Two different model combustors, one simulating a single-element injector test and the other a double-element injector test, were designed and tested for flame-acoustic interaction. For these experiments, the Reynolds number of the central oxygen jet was kept between 4700 and 5500 making the injector flames sufficiently turbulent. A compression driver, mounted on one side of the combustor wall, provided controlled acoustic excitation to the injector flames, simulating the initial phase of flame-acoustic interaction. Acoustic excitation was applied either as band-limited white noise forcing between 100 Hz and 5000 Hz or as single-frequency, fixed-amplitude forcing at 1150 Hz

  13. Springer Handbook of Acoustics

    CERN Document Server

    Rossing, Thomas D

    2007-01-01

    Acoustics, the science of sound, has developed into a broad interdisciplinary field encompassing the academic disciplines of physics, engineering, psychology, speech, audiology, music, architecture, physiology, neuroscience, and others. The Springer Handbook of Acoustics is an unparalleled modern handbook reflecting this richly interdisciplinary nature edited by one of the acknowledged masters in the field, Thomas Rossing. Researchers and students benefit from the comprehensive contents spanning: animal acoustics including infrasound and ultrasound, environmental noise control, music and human speech and singing, physiological and psychological acoustics, architectural acoustics, physical and engineering acoustics, signal processing, medical acoustics, and ocean acoustics. This handbook reviews the most important areas of acoustics, with emphasis on current research. The authors of the various chapters are all experts in their fields. Each chapter is richly illustrated with figures and tables. The latest rese...

  14. A comparison of auditory evoked potentials to acoustic beats and to binaural beats.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pratt, Hillel; Starr, Arnold; Michalewski, Henry J; Dimitrijevic, Andrew; Bleich, Naomi; Mittelman, Nomi

    2010-04-01

    The purpose of this study was to compare cortical brain responses evoked by amplitude modulated acoustic beats of 3 and 6 Hz in tones of 250 and 1000 Hz with those evoked by their binaural beats counterparts in unmodulated tones to indicate whether the cortical processes involved differ. Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded to 3- and 6-Hz acoustic and binaural beats in 2000 ms duration 250 and 1000 Hz tones presented with approximately 1 s intervals. Latency, amplitude and source current density estimates of ERP components to beats-evoked oscillations were determined and compared across beat types, beat frequencies and base (carrier) frequencies. All stimuli evoked tone-onset components followed by oscillations corresponding to the beat frequency, and a subsequent tone-offset complex. Beats-evoked oscillations were higher in amplitude in response to acoustic than to binaural beats, to 250 than to 1000 Hz base frequency and to 3 Hz than to 6 Hz beat frequency. Sources of the beats-evoked oscillations across all stimulus conditions located mostly to left temporal lobe areas. Differences between estimated sources of potentials to acoustic and binaural beats were not significant. The perceptions of binaural beats involve cortical activity that is not different than acoustic beats in distribution and in the effects of beat- and base frequency, indicating similar cortical processing. Copyright 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  15. Acoustic/seismic signal propagation and sensor performance modeling

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wilson, D. Keith; Marlin, David H.; Mackay, Sean

    2007-04-01

    Performance, optimal employment, and interpretation of data from acoustic and seismic sensors depend strongly and in complex ways on the environment in which they operate. Software tools for guiding non-expert users of acoustic and seismic sensors are therefore much needed. However, such tools require that many individual components be constructed and correctly connected together. These components include the source signature and directionality, representation of the atmospheric and terrain environment, calculation of the signal propagation, characterization of the sensor response, and mimicking of the data processing at the sensor. Selection of an appropriate signal propagation model is particularly important, as there are significant trade-offs between output fidelity and computation speed. Attenuation of signal energy, random fading, and (for array systems) variations in wavefront angle-of-arrival should all be considered. Characterization of the complex operational environment is often the weak link in sensor modeling: important issues for acoustic and seismic modeling activities include the temporal/spatial resolution of the atmospheric data, knowledge of the surface and subsurface terrain properties, and representation of ambient background noise and vibrations. Design of software tools that address these challenges is illustrated with two examples: a detailed target-to-sensor calculation application called the Sensor Performance Evaluator for Battlefield Environments (SPEBE) and a GIS-embedded approach called Battlefield Terrain Reasoning and Awareness (BTRA).

  16. Acoustic waveform of continuous bubbling in a non-Newtonian fluid.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vidal, Valérie; Ichihara, Mie; Ripepe, Maurizio; Kurita, Kei

    2009-12-01

    We study experimentally the acoustic signal associated with a continuous bubble bursting at the free surface of a non-Newtonian fluid. Due to the fluid rheological properties, the bubble shape is elongated, and, when bursting at the free surface, acts as a resonator. For a given fluid concentration, at constant flow rate, repetitive bubble bursting occurs at the surface. We report a modulation pattern of the acoustic waveform through time. Moreover, we point out the existence of a precursor acoustic signal, recorded on the microphone array, previous to each bursting. The time delay between this precursor and the bursting signal is well correlated with the bursting signal frequency content. Their joint modulation through time is driven by the fluid rheology, which strongly depends on the presence of small satellite bubbles trapped in the fluid due to the yield stress.

  17. Chirped or time modulated excitation compared to short pulses for photoacoustic imaging in acoustic attenuating media

    Science.gov (United States)

    Burgholzer, P.; Motz, C.; Lang, O.; Berer, T.; Huemer, M.

    2018-02-01

    In photoacoustic imaging, optically generated acoustic waves transport the information about embedded structures to the sample surface. Usually, short laser pulses are used for the acoustic excitation. Acoustic attenuation increases for higher frequencies, which reduces the bandwidth and limits the spatial resolution. One could think of more efficient waveforms than single short pulses, such as pseudo noise codes, chirped, or harmonic excitation, which could enable a higher information-transfer from the samples interior to its surface by acoustic waves. We used a linear state space model to discretize the wave equation, such as the Stoke's equation, but this method could be used for any other linear wave equation. Linear estimators and a non-linear function inversion were applied to the measured surface data, for onedimensional image reconstruction. The proposed estimation method allows optimizing the temporal modulation of the excitation laser such that the accuracy and spatial resolution of the reconstructed image is maximized. We have restricted ourselves to one-dimensional models, as for higher dimensions the one-dimensional reconstruction, which corresponds to the acoustic wave without attenuation, can be used as input for any ultrasound imaging method, such as back-projection or time-reversal method.

  18. Improving image-quality of interference fringes of out-of-plane vibration using temporal speckle pattern interferometry and standard deviation for piezoelectric plates.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chien-Ching Ma; Ching-Yuan Chang

    2013-07-01

    Interferometry provides a high degree of accuracy in the measurement of sub-micrometer deformations; however, the noise associated with experimental measurement undermines the integrity of interference fringes. This study proposes the use of standard deviation in the temporal domain to improve the image quality of patterns obtained from temporal speckle pattern interferometry. The proposed method combines the advantages of both mean and subtractive methods to remove background noise and ambient disturbance simultaneously, resulting in high-resolution images of excellent quality. The out-of-plane vibration of a thin piezoelectric plate is the main focus of this study, providing information useful to the development of energy harvesters. First, ten resonant states were measured using the proposed method, and both mode shape and resonant frequency were investigated. We then rebuilt the phase distribution of the first resonant mode based on the clear interference patterns obtained using the proposed method. This revealed instantaneous deformations in the dynamic characteristics of the resonant state. The proposed method also provides a frequency-sweeping function, facilitating its practical application in the precise measurement of resonant frequency. In addition, the mode shapes and resonant frequencies obtained using the proposed method were recorded and compared with results obtained using finite element method and laser Doppler vibrometery, which demonstrated close agreement.

  19. Perceptual and acoustic analysis of lexical stress in Greek speakers with dysarthria.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Papakyritsis, Ioannis; Müller, Nicole

    2014-01-01

    The study reported in this paper investigated the abilities of Greek speakers with dysarthria to signal lexical stress at the single word level. Three speakers with dysarthria and two unimpaired control participants were recorded completing a repetition task of a list of words consisting of minimal pairs of Greek disyllabic words contrasted by lexical stress location only. Fourteen listeners were asked to determine the attempted stress location for each word pair. Acoustic analyses of duration and intensity ratios, both within and across words, were undertaken to identify possible acoustic correlates of the listeners' judgments concerning stress location. Acoustic and perceptual data indicate that while each participant with dysarthria in this study had some difficulty in signaling stress unambiguously, the pattern of difficulty was different for each speaker. Further, it was found that the relationship between the listeners' judgments of stress location and the acoustic data was not conclusive.

  20. SPAN: spike pattern association neuron for learning spatio-temporal sequences

    OpenAIRE

    Mohemmed, A; Schliebs, S; Matsuda, S; Kasabov, N

    2012-01-01

    Spiking Neural Networks (SNN) were shown to be suitable tools for the processing of spatio-temporal information. However, due to their inherent complexity, the formulation of efficient supervised learning algorithms for SNN is difficult and remains an important problem in the research area. This article presents SPAN — a spiking neuron that is able to learn associations of arbitrary spike trains in a supervised fashion allowing the processing of spatio-temporal information encoded in the prec...

  1. Population ecology of Paepalanthus polyanthus (Bong. Kunth: temporal variation in the pattern of spatial distribution

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tânia Tarabini Castellani

    2004-11-01

    Full Text Available The temporal variation in density and pattern of spatial distribution of Paepalanthus polyanthus (BONG. Kunth (Eriocaulaceae were evaluated at a determinate sand dune. This study was carried out over a period of five years, at three permanent plots of 25m2 in a sand dune slack at Joaquina Beach, Florianópolis, SC, Brazil. There were strong density fluctuations throughout these years. In areas 1, 2 and 3, the densities changed from 10.4, 2.2 and 1.8 plants/m2 in December 1986 to 75.8, 11.4 and 45.6 plants/m2 in December 1991. Area 3, situated on an elevated site, presented greater variation in density, with no live plants in December 1989 and 102.2 plants/m2 at the recruitment observed in May 1990. Despite these density fluctuations, the pattern of spatial distribution was always aggregated (Id>1, P<0.05. The greatest Id values occurred in periods of low density and not in those of high density, associated with seedling recruitment. Factors such as high seed production with low dispersal, massive germination in moit years and a comparatively high death rate of seedlings at sites more subject to flooding or more distant from the water table proved themselves able to promote this aggregate pattern and increase it during plant development.

  2. Temporal and spatial variability in North Carolina piedmont stream temperature

    Science.gov (United States)

    J.L. Boggs; G. Sun; S.G. McNulty; W. Swartley; Treasure E.; W. Summer

    2009-01-01

    Understanding temporal and spatial patterns of in-stream temperature can provide useful information to managing future impacts of climate change on these systems. This study will compare temporal patterns and spatial variability of headwater in-stream temperature in six catchments in the piedmont of North Carolina in two different geological regions, Carolina slate...

  3. Spatio-temporal pattern analysis for evaluation of the spread of human infections with avian influenza A(H7N9) virus in China, 2013-2014.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dong, Wen; Yang, Kun; Xu, Quanli; Liu, Lin; Chen, Juan

    2017-10-24

    A large number (n = 460) of A(H7N9) human infections have been reported in China from March 2013 through December 2014, and H7N9 outbreaks in humans became an emerging issue for China health, which have caused numerous disease outbreaks in domestic poultry and wild bird populations, and threatened human health severely. The aims of this study were to investigate the directional trend of the epidemic and to identify the significant presence of spatial-temporal clustering of influenza A(H7N9) human cases between March 2013 and December 2014. Three distinct epidemic phases of A(H7N9) human infections were identified in this study. In each phase, standard deviational ellipse analysis was conducted to examine the directional trend of disease spreading, and retrospective space-time permutation scan statistic was then used to identify the spatio-temporal cluster patterns of H7N9 outbreaks in humans. The ever-changing location and the increasing size of the three identified standard deviational ellipses showed that the epidemic moved from east to southeast coast, and hence to some central regions, with a future epidemiological trend of continue dispersing to more central regions of China, and a few new human cases might also appear in parts of the western China. Furthermore, A(H7N9) human infections were clustering in space and time in the first two phases with five significant spatio-temporal clusters (p < 0.05), but there was no significant cluster identified in phase III. There was a new epidemiologic pattern that the decrease in significant spatio-temporal cluster of A(H7N9) human infections was accompanied with an obvious spatial expansion of the outbreaks during the study period, and identification of the spatio-temporal patterns of the epidemic can provide valuable insights for better understanding the spreading dynamics of the disease in China.

  4. The temporal structure of pollution levels in developed cities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barrigón Morillas, Juan Miguel; Ortiz-Caraballo, Carmen; Prieto Gajardo, Carlos

    2015-06-01

    Currently, the need for mobility can cause significant pollution levels in cities, with important effects on health and quality of life. Any approach to the study of urban pollution and its effects requires an analysis of spatial distribution and temporal variability. It is a crucial dilemma to obtain proven methodologies that allow an increase in the quality of the prediction and the saving of resources in the spatial and temporal sampling. This work proposes a new analytical methodology in the study of temporal structure. As a result, a model for estimating annual levels of urban traffic noise was proposed. The average errors are less than one decibel in all acoustics indicators. A new working methodology of urban noise has begun. Additionally, a general application can be found for the study of the impacts of pollution associated with traffic, with implications for urban design and possibly in economic and sociological aspects. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  5. The internal acoustic canal - another review area in paediatric sensorineural hearing loss

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chetcuti, Karen; Kumbla, Surekha

    2016-01-01

    Morphological abnormalities of the internal acoustic canal (IAC), albeit rare, are sometimes associated with hearing loss in children. We present an illustration of the spectrum of IAC abnormalities together with a brief review of the embryology and anatomy of the IAC and the techniques used when imaging the petrous temporal bone. This review focuses on morphological abnormalities of the IAC together with their clinical implications and impact on clinical management. (orig.)

  6. The internal acoustic canal - another review area in paediatric sensorineural hearing loss

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Chetcuti, Karen [The Royal Children' s Hospital, Department of Medical Imaging, Parkville, VIC (Australia); Kumbla, Surekha [The Royal Children' s Hospital, Department of Medical Imaging, Parkville, VIC (Australia); Monash Health, Clayton, VIC (Australia)

    2016-04-15

    Morphological abnormalities of the internal acoustic canal (IAC), albeit rare, are sometimes associated with hearing loss in children. We present an illustration of the spectrum of IAC abnormalities together with a brief review of the embryology and anatomy of the IAC and the techniques used when imaging the petrous temporal bone. This review focuses on morphological abnormalities of the IAC together with their clinical implications and impact on clinical management. (orig.)

  7. Acoustic, finite-difference, time-domain technique development

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kunz, K.

    1994-01-01

    A close analog exists between the behavior of sound waves in an ideal gas and the radiated waves of electromagnetics. This analog has been exploited to obtain an acoustic, finite-difference, time-domain (AFDTD) technique capable of treating small signal vibrations in elastic media, such as air, water, and metal, with the important feature of bending motion included in the behavior of the metal. This bending motion is particularly important when the metal is formed into sheets or plates. Bending motion does not have an analog in electromagnetics, but can be readily appended to the acoustic treatment since it appears as a single additional term in the force equation for plate motion, which is otherwise analogous to the electromagnetic wave equation. The AFDTD technique has been implemented in a code architecture that duplicates the electromagnetic, finite-difference, time-domain technique code. The main difference in the implementation is the form of the first-order coupled differential equations obtained from the wave equation. The gradient of pressure and divergence of velocity appear in these equations in the place of curls of the electric and magnetic fields. Other small changes exist as well, but the codes are essentially interchangeable. The pre- and post-processing for model construction and response-data evaluation of the electromagnetic code, in the form of the TSAR code at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, can be used for the acoustic version. A variety of applications is possible, pending validation of the bending phenomenon. The applications include acoustic-radiation-pattern predictions for a submerged object; mine detection analysis; structural noise analysis for cars; acoustic barrier analysis; and symphonic hall/auditorium predictions and speaker enclosure modeling

  8. Acoustic Neuroma Association

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... EVENTS DONATE NEWS Home Learn Back Learn about acoustic neuroma AN Facts What is acoustic neuroma? Diagnosing ... Brain Freeze ? READ MORE Read More What is acoustic neuroma? Identifying an AN Learn More Get Info ...

  9. Measurements of the power spectrum and dispersion relation of self-excited dust acoustic waves

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nosenko, V.; Zhdanov, S. K.; Kim, S.-H.; Heinrich, J.; Merlino, R. L.; Morfill, G. E.

    2009-12-01

    The spectrum of spontaneously excited dust acoustic waves was measured. The waves were observed with high temporal resolution using a fast video camera operating at 1000 frames per second. The experimental system was a suspension of micron-size kaolin particles in the anode region of a dc discharge in argon. Wave activity was found at frequencies as high as 450 Hz. At high wave numbers, the wave dispersion relation was acoustic-like (frequency proportional to wave number). At low wave numbers, the wave frequency did not tend to zero, but reached a cutoff frequency instead. The cutoff value declined with distance from the anode. We ascribe the observed cutoff to the particle confinement in this region.

  10. Development of ion-acoustic double layers through ion-acoustic fluctuations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sekar, A.N.; Saxena, Y.C.

    1985-01-01

    Experimental results on the formation of ion acoustic double layers resembling asymmetric ion-holes are presented. In a double plasma device, modified suitably to inject electron beam into the target plasma, modulation of the beam through step potential leads to excitation of ion-acoustic fluctuation. The ion-acoustic fluctuation, growing away from the grids separating source and target plasmas, developed into weak asymmetric ion-acoustic double layer. The observations are in qualitative agreement with theoretical models and computer simulations. (author)

  11. Brain Activation Patterns in Response to Conspecific and Heterospecific Social Acoustic Signals in Female Plainfin Midshipman Fish, Porichthys notatus.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mohr, Robert A; Chang, Yiran; Bhandiwad, Ashwin A; Forlano, Paul M; Sisneros, Joseph A

    2018-01-01

    While the peripheral auditory system of fish has been well studied, less is known about how the fish's brain and central auditory system process complex social acoustic signals. The plainfin midshipman fish, Porichthys notatus, has become a good species for investigating the neural basis of acoustic communication because the production and reception of acoustic signals is paramount for this species' reproductive success. Nesting males produce long-duration advertisement calls that females detect and localize among the noise in the intertidal zone to successfully find mates and spawn. How female midshipman are able to discriminate male advertisement calls from environmental noise and other acoustic stimuli is unknown. Using the immediate early gene product cFos as a marker for neural activity, we quantified neural activation of the ascending auditory pathway in female midshipman exposed to conspecific advertisement calls, heterospecific white seabass calls, or ambient environment noise. We hypothesized that auditory hindbrain nuclei would be activated by general acoustic stimuli (ambient noise and other biotic acoustic stimuli) whereas auditory neurons in the midbrain and forebrain would be selectively activated by conspecific advertisement calls. We show that neural activation in two regions of the auditory hindbrain, i.e., the rostral intermediate division of the descending octaval nucleus and the ventral division of the secondary octaval nucleus, did not differ via cFos immunoreactive (cFos-ir) activity when exposed to different acoustic stimuli. In contrast, female midshipman exposed to conspecific advertisement calls showed greater cFos-ir in the nucleus centralis of the midbrain torus semicircularis compared to fish exposed only to ambient noise. No difference in cFos-ir was observed in the torus semicircularis of animals exposed to conspecific versus heterospecific calls. However, cFos-ir was greater in two forebrain structures that receive auditory input, i

  12. An experimental device for characterizing degassing processes and related elastic fingerprints: Analog volcano seismo-acoustic observations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Spina, Laura; Morgavi, Daniele; Cannata, Andrea; Campeggi, Carlo; Perugini, Diego

    2018-05-01

    A challenging objective of modern volcanology is to quantitatively characterize eruptive/degassing regimes from geophysical signals (in particular seismic and infrasonic), for both research and monitoring purposes. However, the outcomes of the attempts made so far are still considered very uncertain because volcanoes remain inaccessible when deriving quantitative information on crucial parameters such as plumbing system geometry and magma viscosity. In order to improve our knowledge of volcanic systems, a novel experimental device, which is capable of mimicking volcanic degassing processes with different regimes and gas flow rates, and allowing for the investigation of the related seismo-acoustic emissions, was designed and developed. The benefits of integrating observations on real volcanoes with seismo-acoustic signals generated in laboratory are many and include (i) the possibility to fix the controlling parameters such as the geometry of the structure where the gas flows, the gas flow rate, and the fluid viscosity; (ii) the possibility of performing acoustic measurements at different azimuthal and zenithal angles around the opening of the analog conduit, hence constraining the radiation pattern of different acoustic sources; (iii) the possibility to measure micro-seismic signals in distinct points of the analog conduit; (iv) finally, thanks to the transparent structure, it is possible to directly observe the degassing pattern through the optically clear analog magma and define the degassing regime producing the seismo-acoustic radiations. The above-described device represents a step forward in the analog volcano seismo-acoustic measurements.

  13. Varying acoustic-phonemic ambiguity reveals that talker normalization is obligatory in speech processing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Choi, Ja Young; Hu, Elly R; Perrachione, Tyler K

    2018-04-01

    The nondeterministic relationship between speech acoustics and abstract phonemic representations imposes a challenge for listeners to maintain perceptual constancy despite the highly variable acoustic realization of speech. Talker normalization facilitates speech processing by reducing the degrees of freedom for mapping between encountered speech and phonemic representations. While this process has been proposed to facilitate the perception of ambiguous speech sounds, it is currently unknown whether talker normalization is affected by the degree of potential ambiguity in acoustic-phonemic mapping. We explored the effects of talker normalization on speech processing in a series of speeded classification paradigms, parametrically manipulating the potential for inconsistent acoustic-phonemic relationships across talkers for both consonants and vowels. Listeners identified words with varying potential acoustic-phonemic ambiguity across talkers (e.g., beet/boat vs. boot/boat) spoken by single or mixed talkers. Auditory categorization of words was always slower when listening to mixed talkers compared to a single talker, even when there was no potential acoustic ambiguity between target sounds. Moreover, the processing cost imposed by mixed talkers was greatest when words had the most potential acoustic-phonemic overlap across talkers. Models of acoustic dissimilarity between target speech sounds did not account for the pattern of results. These results suggest (a) that talker normalization incurs the greatest processing cost when disambiguating highly confusable sounds and (b) that talker normalization appears to be an obligatory component of speech perception, taking place even when the acoustic-phonemic relationships across sounds are unambiguous.

  14. Listening to sound patterns as a dynamic activity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jones, Mari Riess

    2003-04-01

    The act of listening to a series of sounds created by some natural event is described as involving an entrainmentlike process that transpires in real time. Some aspects of this dynamic process are suggested. In particular, real-time attending is described in terms of an adaptive synchronization activity that permits a listener to target attending energy to forthcoming elements within an acoustical pattern (e.g., music, speech, etc.). Also described are several experiments that illustrate features of this approach as it applies to attending to musiclike patterns. These involve listeners' responses to changes in either the timing or the pitch structure (or both) of various acoustical sequences.

  15. Spatial-Temporal Clustering of Tornadoes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Malamud, Bruce D.; Turcotte, Donald L.; Brooks, Harold E.

    2017-04-01

    The standard measure of the intensity of a tornado is the Enhanced Fujita scale, which is based qualitatively on the damage caused by a tornado. An alternative measure of tornado intensity is the tornado path length, L. Here we examine the spatial-temporal clustering of severe tornadoes, which we define as having path lengths L ≥ 10 km. Of particular concern are tornado outbreaks, when a large number of severe tornadoes occur in a day in a restricted region. We apply a spatial-temporal clustering analysis developed for earthquakes. We take all pairs of severe tornadoes in observed and modelled outbreaks, and for each pair plot the spatial lag (distance between touchdown points) against the temporal lag (time between touchdown points). We apply our spatial-temporal lag methodology to the intense tornado outbreaks in the central United States on 26 and 27 April 2011, which resulted in over 300 fatalities and produced 109 severe (L ≥ 10 km) tornadoes. The patterns of spatial-temporal lag correlations that we obtain for the 2 days are strikingly different. On 26 April 2011, there were 45 severe tornadoes and our clustering analysis is dominated by a complex sequence of linear features. We associate the linear patterns with the tornadoes generated in either a single cell thunderstorm or a closely spaced cluster of single cell thunderstorms moving at a near-constant velocity. Our study of a derecho tornado outbreak of six severe tornadoes on 4 April 2011 along with modelled outbreak scenarios confirms this association. On 27 April 2011, there were 64 severe tornadoes and our clustering analysis is predominantly random with virtually no embedded linear patterns. We associate this pattern with a large number of interacting supercell thunderstorms generating tornadoes randomly in space and time. In order to better understand these associations, we also applied our approach to the Great Plains tornado outbreak of 3 May 1999. Careful studies by others have associated

  16. Understanding flood-induced water chemistry variability extracting temporal patterns with the LDA method

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aubert, A. H.; Tavenard, R.; Emonet, R.; De Lavenne, A.; Malinowski, S.; Guyet, T.; Quiniou, R.; Odobez, J.; Merot, P.; Gascuel-odoux, C.

    2013-12-01

    Studying floods has been a major issue in hydrological research for years, both in quantitative and qualitative hydrology. Stream chemistry is a mix of solutes, often used as tracers, as they originate from various sources in the catchment and reach the stream by various flow pathways. Previous studies (for instance (1)) hypothesized that stream chemistry reaction to a rainfall event is not unique but varies seasonally, and according to the yearly meteorological conditions. Identifying a typology of flood temporal chemical patterns is a way to better understand catchment processes at the flood and seasonal time scale. We applied a probabilistic model (Latent Dirichlet Allocation or LDA (2)) mining recurrent sequential patterns from a dataset of floods. A set of 472 floods was automatically extracted from a daily 12-year long record of nitrate, dissolved organic carbon, sulfate and chloride concentrations. Rainfall, discharge, water table depth and temperature are also considered. Data comes from a long-term hydrological observatory (AgrHys, western France) located at Kervidy-Naizin. From each flood, a document has been generated that is made of a set of "hydrological words". Each hydrological word corresponds to a measurement: it is a triplet made of the considered variable, the time at which the measurement is made (relative to the beginning of the flood), and its magnitude (that can be low, medium or high). The documents and the number of pattern to be mined are used as input data to the LDA algorithm. LDA relies on spotting co-occurrences (as an alternative to the more traditional study of correlation) between words that appear within the flood documents. It has two nice properties that are its ability to easily deal with missing data and its additive property that allows a document to be seen as a mixture of several flood patterns. The output of LDA is a set of patterns easily represented in graphics. These patterns correspond to typical reactions to rainfall

  17. We'll meet again: revealing distributional and temporal patterns of social contact.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Thorsten Pachur

    Full Text Available What are the dynamics and regularities underlying social contact, and how can contact with the people in one's social network be predicted? In order to characterize distributional and temporal patterns underlying contact probability, we asked 40 participants to keep a diary of their social contacts for 100 consecutive days. Using a memory framework previously used to study environmental regularities, we predicted that the probability of future contact would follow in systematic ways from the frequency, recency, and spacing of previous contact. The distribution of contact probability across the members of a person's social network was highly skewed, following an exponential function. As predicted, it emerged that future contact scaled linearly with frequency of past contact, proportionally to a power function with recency of past contact, and differentially according to the spacing of past contact. These relations emerged across different contact media and irrespective of whether the participant initiated or received contact. We discuss how the identification of these regularities might inspire more realistic analyses of behavior in social networks (e.g., attitude formation, cooperation.

  18. Capturing spatial and temporal patterns of widespread, extreme flooding across Europe

    Science.gov (United States)

    Busby, Kathryn; Raven, Emma; Liu, Ye

    2013-04-01

    Statistical characterisation of physical hazards is an integral part of probabilistic catastrophe models used by the reinsurance industry to estimate losses from large scale events. Extreme flood events are not restricted by country boundaries which poses an issue for reinsurance companies as their exposures often extend beyond them. We discuss challenges and solutions that allow us to appropriately capture the spatial and temporal dependence of extreme hydrological events on a continental-scale, which in turn enables us to generate an industry-standard stochastic event set for estimating financial losses for widespread flooding. By presenting our event set methodology, we focus on explaining how extreme value theory (EVT) and dependence modelling are used to account for short, inconsistent hydrological data from different countries, and how to make appropriate statistical decisions that best characterise the nature of flooding across Europe. The consistency of input data is of vital importance when identifying historical flood patterns. Collating data from numerous sources inherently causes inconsistencies and we demonstrate our robust approach to assessing the data and refining it to compile a single consistent dataset. This dataset is then extrapolated using a parameterised EVT distribution to estimate extremes. Our method then captures the dependence of flood events across countries using an advanced multivariate extreme value model. Throughout, important statistical decisions are explored including: (1) distribution choice; (2) the threshold to apply for extracting extreme data points; (3) a regional analysis; (4) the definition of a flood event, which is often linked with reinsurance industry's hour's clause; and (5) handling of missing values. Finally, having modelled the historical patterns of flooding across Europe, we sample from this model to generate our stochastic event set comprising of thousands of events over thousands of years. We then briefly

  19. Acoustic textiles

    CERN Document Server

    Nayak, Rajkishore

    2016-01-01

    This book highlights the manufacturing and applications of acoustic textiles in various industries. It also includes examples from different industries in which acoustic textiles can be used to absorb noise and help reduce the impact of noise at the workplace. Given the importance of noise reduction in the working environment in several industries, the book offers a valuable guide for companies, educators and researchers involved with acoustic materials.

  20. Evaluation of spatial and temporal patterns of insect damage and aflatoxin level in the pre-harvest corn fields to improve management tactics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ni, Xinzhi; Wilson, Jeffrey P; Toews, Michael D; Buntin, G David; Lee, R Dewey; Li, Xin; Lei, Zhongren; He, Kanglai; Xu, Wenwei; Li, Xianchun; Huffaker, Alisa; Schmelz, Eric A

    2014-10-01

    Spatial and temporal patterns of insect damage in relation to aflatoxin contamination in a corn field with plants of uniform genetic background are not well understood. After previous examination of spatial patterns of insect damage and aflatoxin in pre-harvest corn fields, we further examined both spatial and temporal patterns of cob- and kernel-feeding insect damage, and aflatoxin level with two samplings at pre-harvest in 2008 and 2009. The feeding damage by each of the ear/kernel-feeding insects (i.e., corn earworm/fall armyworm damage on the silk/cob, and discoloration of corn kernels by stink bugs) and maize weevil population were assessed at each grid point with five ears. Sampling data showed a field edge effect in both insect damage and aflatoxin contamination in both years. Maize weevils tended toward an aggregated distribution more frequently than either corn earworm or stink bug damage in both years. The frequency of detecting aggregated distribution for aflatoxin level was less than any of the insect damage assessments. Stink bug damage and maize weevil number were more closely associated with aflatoxin level than was corn earworm damage. In addition, the indices of spatial-temporal association (χ) demonstrated that the number of maize weevils was associated between the first (4 weeks pre-harvest) and second (1 week pre-harvest) samplings in both years on all fields. In contrast, corn earworm damage between the first and second samplings from the field on the Belflower Farm, and aflatoxin level and corn earworm damage from the field on the Lang Farm were dissociated in 2009. Published 2012. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.