WorldWideScience

Sample records for resistivity sounding studies

  1. Electrical resistivity sounding to study water content distribution in heterogeneous soils

    Science.gov (United States)

    Electrical resistivity (ER) sounding is increasingly being used as non-invasive technique to reveal and map soil heterogeneity. The objective of this work was to assess ER sounding applicability to study soil water distribution in spatially heterogeneous soils. The 30x30-m study plot was located at ...

  2. Metagenomic profiling of microbial composition and antibiotic resistance determinants in Puget Sound.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Port, Jesse A; Wallace, James C; Griffith, William C; Faustman, Elaine M

    2012-01-01

    Human-health relevant impacts on marine ecosystems are increasing on both spatial and temporal scales. Traditional indicators for environmental health monitoring and microbial risk assessment have relied primarily on single species analyses and have provided only limited spatial and temporal information. More high-throughput, broad-scale approaches to evaluate these impacts are therefore needed to provide a platform for informing public health. This study uses shotgun metagenomics to survey the taxonomic composition and antibiotic resistance determinant content of surface water bacterial communities in the Puget Sound estuary. Metagenomic DNA was collected at six sites in Puget Sound in addition to one wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) that discharges into the Sound and pyrosequenced. A total of ~550 Mbp (1.4 million reads) were obtained, 22 Mbp of which could be assembled into contigs. While the taxonomic and resistance determinant profiles across the open Sound samples were similar, unique signatures were identified when comparing these profiles across the open Sound, a nearshore marina and WWTP effluent. The open Sound was dominated by α-Proteobacteria (in particular Rhodobacterales sp.), γ-Proteobacteria and Bacteroidetes while the marina and effluent had increased abundances of Actinobacteria, β-Proteobacteria and Firmicutes. There was a significant increase in the antibiotic resistance gene signal from the open Sound to marina to WWTP effluent, suggestive of a potential link to human impacts. Mobile genetic elements associated with environmental and pathogenic bacteria were also differentially abundant across the samples. This study is the first comparative metagenomic survey of Puget Sound and provides baseline data for further assessments of community composition and antibiotic resistance determinants in the environment using next generation sequencing technologies. In addition, these genomic signals of potential human impact can be used to guide initial

  3. Metagenomic profiling of microbial composition and antibiotic resistance determinants in Puget Sound.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jesse A Port

    Full Text Available Human-health relevant impacts on marine ecosystems are increasing on both spatial and temporal scales. Traditional indicators for environmental health monitoring and microbial risk assessment have relied primarily on single species analyses and have provided only limited spatial and temporal information. More high-throughput, broad-scale approaches to evaluate these impacts are therefore needed to provide a platform for informing public health. This study uses shotgun metagenomics to survey the taxonomic composition and antibiotic resistance determinant content of surface water bacterial communities in the Puget Sound estuary. Metagenomic DNA was collected at six sites in Puget Sound in addition to one wastewater treatment plant (WWTP that discharges into the Sound and pyrosequenced. A total of ~550 Mbp (1.4 million reads were obtained, 22 Mbp of which could be assembled into contigs. While the taxonomic and resistance determinant profiles across the open Sound samples were similar, unique signatures were identified when comparing these profiles across the open Sound, a nearshore marina and WWTP effluent. The open Sound was dominated by α-Proteobacteria (in particular Rhodobacterales sp., γ-Proteobacteria and Bacteroidetes while the marina and effluent had increased abundances of Actinobacteria, β-Proteobacteria and Firmicutes. There was a significant increase in the antibiotic resistance gene signal from the open Sound to marina to WWTP effluent, suggestive of a potential link to human impacts. Mobile genetic elements associated with environmental and pathogenic bacteria were also differentially abundant across the samples. This study is the first comparative metagenomic survey of Puget Sound and provides baseline data for further assessments of community composition and antibiotic resistance determinants in the environment using next generation sequencing technologies. In addition, these genomic signals of potential human impact can be used

  4. Environmental Sciences Electrical resistivity soundings to determine ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Wood, leaves, newspaper, cloth, polythene bags, plastics, glass and metal refuse interspersed with soil exhibited resistivity of 11.6 ohm-m and layer thickness of 0.7 m as obtained from the inversion of the sounding. The unsaturated layer has a resistivity of 6.8 ohm-m and thickness of 0.6 m while leachate-saturated is ...

  5. Effects of resistive bodies on DC electrical soundings

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    L. Alfano

    1996-06-01

    Full Text Available Some deep DC electrical soundings, performed in alpine and apenninic areas with the continuous polar dipole-dipole spread, show apparent resistivity curves with positive slopes. Measured values of apparent resistivity reach 30000 Wm. Applying the "surface charges" method we developed three dimensional mathematical models, by means of which we can state simple rules for determining the minimum extensions of the deep resistive bodies, fundamental information for a more precise interpretation of the field results.

  6. Measured anisotropic air flow resistivity and sound attenuation of glass wool

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Tarnow, Viggo

    2002-01-01

    Department of Mechanical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, Bygning 358, DK 2800 Lyngby, Denmark The air flow resistivity of glass wool has been measured in different directions. The glass wool was delivered from the manufacturer as slabs measuring 100×600×900 mm3, where the surface 600...... 7.75 kPa s m**2. A formula for prediction of resistivity for other densities is given. By comparing measured values of sound attenuation with results calculated from resistivity data, it is demonstrated that the measured attenuation can be predicted in a simple manner. ©2002 Acoustical Society...

  7. [Comparative study of the fracture resistance of sound upper premolars and upper premolars restored with bonded amalgam].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Minto, André Marcelo Peruchi; Dinelli, Welingtom; Nonaka, Tomio; Thome, Luis Henrique de Camargo

    2002-01-01

    The purpose of this in vitro study was to determine the fracture resistance of upper premolars which had received class II preparations (conservative and extensive) and were restored with bonded amalgam, with two different adhesive systems. Seventy teeth were divided in four groups: group 1 (control), with ten sound teeth; group 2, with twenty prepared teeth (10 teeth received conservative cavities and 10, extensive cavities) restored with amalgam without any kind of liner; groups 3 and 4, similar to group 2, though with linings of glass ionomer cement (Vitrebond - 3M) (group 3) and dental adhesive (Scotchbond Multi-Purpose Plus - 3M) (group 4). The teeth were previously fixed in PVC cylinders with acrylic resin. After being restored and thermocycled, the test specimens were submitted to fracture by means of compression in an EMIC-MEM 2000 universal testing machine. After the application of the analysis of variance and complementary Tukey's test, we concluded that the utilized adhesive systems produced an increase of the fracture resistance of teeth presenting with conventional cavities; the teeth presenting with conservative cavities were more resistant in all experimental situations.

  8. The paleorelief baseboard study by electrical soundings in the anomaly of Magnolia - Tacuarembo - Uruguay

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Perrin, J.; Bernard, J.

    1982-08-01

    This work is about the paleorelief baseboard study by electrical soundings in the anomaly of Magnolia - Tacuarembo - Uruguay. But not all electrical soundings allowed a good prevision of coating thickness.The difficulties found in the determination of the depth of the electrical resistant baseboard are explained by discontinuities levels and lateral variations in resistivities. Moreover, the re modeling of the results according to the data of drilling led to a relatively coherent interpretation that provides a basis for all future intervention in the same type of formation

  9. Teaching Validity and Soundness of Arguments Using the Board Game: "The Resistance"

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thompson, Derek

    2015-01-01

    The primary goal of this paper is to highlight the possibilities and benefits of incorporating games into college mathematics classrooms. This is illustrated through the personal success of using the board game "The Resistance" to teach validity and soundness of arguments in a discrete mathematics course. Along the way, we will give some…

  10. Delineating The Subsurface Structures Using Electrical Resistivity Sounding In Some Part Of Willeton Perth Western Australia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Okan Evans Onojasun

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Geophysical survey using electrical resistivity methods has been carried out within the industrial area of Willeton Perth Western Australia with the view to delineate the geoelectric characteristics of the basement complex and evaluate the groundwater potential in the area. Vertical electrical sounding with ABEM SAS 3000 Terrameter and Schlumberger electrode configuration were employed for data acquisition. Apparent resistivity values obtained from the field measurements were plotted against half current electrodes spacing on a log-log graph while a model was suggested to fit the resistivity distribution presented in the sounding. The results from the modelling were finally iterated to the lowest Root Mean Square RMS percentage error using computer software A 7 point filter derived by Guptasarma to calculate a forward model. Analysis of the results showed that the study area has fairly homogenous subsurface stratification with four distinct subsurface layers above the depth of 37m. The four subsurface layers comprises top soil mainly of unconsolidated and sand containing organic matter unsaturated sand layer with consolidated and highly resistive water saturated sand layer with highly water saturated soil and the sub-stratum layer consisting of clay material. The aquifer performance is best at about 32m hence it is suggested that boreholes for sustainable water supply in this area should be drilled to about 32 m to hit prolific aquifer.

  11. Use Of Vertical Electrical Sounding Survey For Study Groundwater In NISSAH Region, SAUDI ARABIA

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alhenaki, Bander; Alsoma, Ali

    2015-04-01

    The aim of this research is to investigate groundwater depth in desert and dry environmental conditions area . The study site located in Wadi Nisah-eastern part of Najd province (east-central of Saudi Arabia), Generally, the study site is underlain by Phanerozoic sedimentary rocks of the western edge of the Arabian platform, which rests on Proterozoic basement at depths ranged between 5-8km. Another key objective of this research is to assess the water-table and identify the bearing layers structures study area by using Vertical Electrical Sounding (VES) 1D imaging technique. We have been implemented and acquired a sections of 315 meter vertical electrical soundings using Schlumberger field arrangements . These dataset were conducted along 9 profiles. The resistivity Schlumberger sounding was carried with half-spacing in the range 500 . The VES survey intend to cover several locations where existing wells information may be used for correlations. also location along the valley using the device Syscal R2 The results of this study concluded that there are at least three sedimentary layers to a depth of 130 meter. First layer, extending from the surface to a depth of about 3 meter characterized by dry sandy layer and high resistivity value. The second layer, underlain the first layer to a depth of 70 meter. This layer has less resistant compare to the first layer. Last layer, has low resistivity values of 20 ohm .m to a depth of 130 meter blow ground surface. We have observed a complex pattern of groundwater depth (ranging from 80 meter to 120 meter) which may reflect the lateral heterogeneity of study site. The outcomes of this research has been used to locate the suitable drilling locations.

  12. Sounding the field: recent works in sound studies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boon, Tim

    2015-09-01

    For sound studies, the publication of a 593-page handbook, not to mention the establishment of at least one society - the European Sound Studies Association - might seem to signify the emergence of a new academic discipline. Certainly, the books under consideration here, alongside many others, testify to an intensification of concern with the aural dimensions of culture. Some of this work comes from HPS and STS, some from musicology and cultural studies. But all of it should concern members of our disciplines, as it represents a long-overdue foregrounding of the aural in how we think about the intersections of science, technology and culture.

  13. Time-domain electromagnetic soundings collected in Dawson County, Nebraska, 2007-09

    Science.gov (United States)

    Payne, Jason; Teeple, Andrew

    2011-01-01

    Between April 2007 and November 2009, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Central Platte Natural Resources District, collected time-domain electro-magnetic (TDEM) soundings at 14 locations in Dawson County, Nebraska. The TDEM soundings provide information pertaining to the hydrogeology at each of 23 sites at the 14 locations; 30 TDEM surface geophysical soundings were collected at the 14 locations to develop smooth and layered-earth resistivity models of the subsurface at each site. The soundings yield estimates of subsurface electrical resistivity; variations in subsurface electrical resistivity can be correlated with hydrogeologic and stratigraphic units. Results from each sounding were used to calculate resistivity to depths of approximately 90-130 meters (depending on loop size) below the land surface. Geonics Protem 47 and 57 systems, as well as the Alpha Geoscience TerraTEM, were used to collect the TDEM soundings (voltage data from which resistivity is calculated). For each sounding, voltage data were averaged and evaluated statistically before inversion (inverse modeling). Inverse modeling is the process of creating an estimate of the true distribution of subsurface resistivity from the mea-sured apparent resistivity obtained from TDEM soundings. Smooth and layered-earth models were generated for each sounding. A smooth model is a vertical delineation of calculated apparent resistivity that represents a non-unique estimate of the true resistivity. Ridge regression (Interpex Limited, 1996) was used by the inversion software in a series of iterations to create a smooth model consisting of 24-30 layers for each sounding site. Layered-earth models were then generated based on results of smooth modeling. The layered-earth models are simplified (generally 1 to 6 layers) to represent geologic units with depth. Throughout the area, the layered-earth models range from 2 to 4 layers, depending on observed inflections in the raw data and smooth model

  14. Study Of Land Cover And Condition Catchment Area Groundwater Aquifer In Tanah Merah North Samarinda District Using Resistivity Geoelectric Sounding

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Djayus

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available Land cover is a biophysical cover that maintains land conditions in water balance. The purpose of this research is to know the condition of land cover water catchment groundwater aquifer and correlation. This research begins by collecting data on land cover soil type rainfall slopes and groundwaterinformation. Field activities include observation and data collection of land cover geological conditions community wells and geoelectric sounding. Land cover data is classified according to circumstances and conditions. Geoelectric sounding data was analyzed with IP2WIN software interpretation of lithologic variation of rocks and depth based on resistivity value. Plot the position of each lithology sounding with Surfer software obtained kontour rock field boundary and 3D model of the aquifer position.The results showed that the land cover consisted of vegetated areas forests 27221 Ha 4032 and agricultural land 18336 Ha 2716 non-vegetation area 9880 Ha 1464 constructed land Open land 116.33 Ha 17.23 and water body 4.35 Ha 0.64 The condition of land cover in this water catchment area has decreased 6838 Ha 1014 from the previous condition 34059 Ha 5046 to 27221 Ha 4032. Referring to Permenhut RI No. 32 in 2009 total score catchment area 33 including the somewhat critical condition. Groundwater aquifers based on 3D sounding geolistrik modeling consist of a free aquifer for shallow groundwater depth of water level between 2-30 m with thickness 2-65 m and a distorted aquifer for groundwaterin depth of water between 75-150 m With thickness 75-125 m depth of community well 10-45 m. The transfer of land into open pit mines resulted in the destruction of the balance and water system the decreasing decreasing the discharge of the well water of the community drill the failure and the lack of new water discharge of the new wells the loss of groundwaterin several dug wells landslides and mud floods on the farmland

  15. Light aircraft sound transmission studies - Noise reduction model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Atwal, Mahabir S.; Heitman, Karen E.; Crocker, Malcolm J.

    1987-01-01

    Experimental tests conducted on the fuselage of a single-engine Piper Cherokee light aircraft suggest that the cabin interior noise can be reduced by increasing the transmission loss of the dominant sound transmission paths and/or by increasing the cabin interior sound absorption. The validity of using a simple room equation model to predict the cabin interior sound-pressure level for different fuselage and exterior sound field conditions is also presented. The room equation model is based on the sound power flow balance for the cabin space and utilizes the measured transmitted sound intensity data. The room equation model predictions were considered good enough to be used for preliminary acoustical design studies.

  16. Foley Sounds vs Real Sounds

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Trento, Stefano; Götzen, Amalia De

    2011-01-01

    This paper is an initial attempt to study the world of sound effects for motion pictures, also known as Foley sounds. Throughout several audio and audio-video tests we have compared both Foley and real sounds originated by an identical action. The main purpose was to evaluate if sound effects...

  17. Sound engineering for diesel engines; Sound Engineering an Dieselmotoren

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Enderich, A.; Fischer, R. [MAHLE Filtersysteme GmbH, Stuttgart (Germany)

    2006-07-01

    The strong acceptance for vehicles powered by turbo-charged diesel engines encourages several manufacturers to think about sportive diesel concepts. The approach of suppressing unpleasant noise by the application of distinctive insulation steps is not adequate to satisfy sportive needs. The acoustics cannot follow the engine's performance. This report documents, that it is possible to give diesel-powered vehicles a sportive sound characteristic by using an advanced MAHLE motor-sound-system with a pressure-resistant membrane and an integrated load controlled flap. With this the specific acoustic disadvantages of the diesel engine, like the ''diesel knock'' or a rough engine running can be masked. However, by the application of a motor-sound-system you must not negate the original character of the diesel engine concept, but accentuate its strong torque characteristic in the middle engine speed range. (orig.)

  18. Experiments on second-sound shock waves in superfluid helium

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cummings, J.C.; Schmidt, D.W.; Wagner, W.J.

    1978-01-01

    The waveform and velocity of second-sound waves in superfluid helium have been studied experimentally using superconducting, thin-film probes. The second-sound waves were generated with electrical pulses through a resistive film. Variations in pulse power, pulse duration, and bath temperature were examined. As predicted theoretically, the formation of a shock was observed at the leading or trailing edge of the waves depending on bath temperature. Breakdown of the theoretical model was observed for large pulse powers. Accurate data for the acoustic second-sound speed were derived from the measurements of shock-wave velocities and are compared with previous results

  19. Second sound scattering in superfluid helium

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rosgen, T.

    1985-01-01

    Focusing cavities are used to study the scattering of second sound in liquid helium II. The special geometries reduce wall interference effects and allow measurements in very small test volumes. In a first experiment, a double elliptical cavity is used to focus a second sound wave onto a small wire target. A thin film bolometer measures the side scattered wave component. The agreement with a theoretical estimate is reasonable, although some problems arise from the small measurement volume and associated alignment requirements. A second cavity is based on confocal parabolas, thus enabling the use of large planar sensors. A cylindrical heater produces again a focused second sound wave. Three sensors monitor the transmitted wave component as well as the side scatter in two different directions. The side looking sensors have very high sensitivities due to their large size and resistance. Specially developed cryogenic amplifers are used to match them to the signal cables. In one case, a second auxiliary heater is used to set up a strong counterflow in the focal region. The second sound wave then scatters from the induced fluid disturbances

  20. Variability in metagenomic samples from the Puget Sound: Relationship to temporal and anthropogenic impacts.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    James C Wallace

    Full Text Available Whole-metagenome sequencing (WMS has emerged as a powerful tool to assess potential public health risks in marine environments by measuring changes in microbial community structure and function in uncultured bacteria. In addition to monitoring public health risks such as antibiotic resistance determinants, it is essential to measure predictors of microbial variation in order to identify natural versus anthropogenic factors as well as to evaluate reproducibility of metagenomic measurements.This study expands our previous metagenomic characterization of Puget Sound by sampling new nearshore environments including the Duwamish River, an EPA superfund site, and the Hood Canal, an area characterized by highly variable oxygen levels. We also resampled a wastewater treatment plant, nearshore and open ocean sites introducing a longitudinal component measuring seasonal and locational variations and establishing metagenomics sampling reproducibility. Microbial composition from samples collected in the open sound were highly similar within the same season and location across different years, while nearshore samples revealed multi-fold seasonal variation in microbial composition and diversity. Comparisons with recently sequenced predominant marine bacterial genomes helped provide much greater species level taxonomic detail compared to our previous study. Antibiotic resistance determinants and pollution and detoxification indicators largely grouped by location showing minor seasonal differences. Metal resistance, oxidative stress and detoxification systems showed no increase in samples proximal to an EPA superfund site indicating a lack of ecosystem adaptation to anthropogenic impacts. Taxonomic analysis of common sewage influent families showed a surprising similarity between wastewater treatment plant and open sound samples suggesting a low-level but pervasive sewage influent signature in Puget Sound surface waters. Our study shows reproducibility of

  1. Geoelectric sounding for the determination of groundwater ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    High apparent resistivity contrasts between the saturated freshwater zones and apparent low resistivity of the saturated seawater intrusion were measured on eleven vertical electrical soundings field curves using the Schlumberger electrode array in Iwaya area of Lagos. The field measurements were inverted to subsurface ...

  2. Results of time-domain electromagnetic soundings in Miami-Dade and southern Broward Counties, Florida

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fitterman, David V.; Prinos, Scott T.

    2011-01-01

    Time-domain electromagnetic (TEM) soundings were made in Miami-Dade and southern Broward Counties to aid in mapping the landward extent of saltwater in the Biscayne aquifer. A total of 79 soundings were collected in settings ranging from urban to undeveloped land, with some of the former posing problems of land access and interference from anthropogenic features. TEM soundings combined with monitoring-well data were used to determine if the saltwater front had moved since the last time it was mapped, to provide additional spatial coverage where existing monitoring wells were insufficient, and to help interpret a previously collected helicopter electromagnetic (HEM) survey flown in the southernmost portion of the study area. TEM soundings were interpreted as layered resistivity-depth models. Using information from well logs and water-quality data, the resistivity of the freshwater saturated Biscayne aquifer is expected to be above 30 ohm-meters, and the saltwater-saturated aquifer will have resistivities of less than 10 ohm-meters allowing determination of water quality from the TEM interpretations. TEM models from 29 soundings were compared to electromagnetic induction logs collected in nearby monitoring wells. In general, the agreement of these results was very good, giving confidence in the use of the TEM data for mapping saltwater encroachment.

  3. Problems in nonlinear acoustics: Scattering of sound by sound, parametric receiving arrays, nonlinear effects in asymmetric sound beams and pulsed finite amplitude sound beams

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hamilton, Mark F.

    1989-08-01

    Four projects are discussed in this annual summary report, all of which involve basic research in nonlinear acoustics: Scattering of Sound by Sound, a theoretical study of two nonconlinear Gaussian beams which interact to produce sum and difference frequency sound; Parametric Receiving Arrays, a theoretical study of parametric reception in a reverberant environment; Nonlinear Effects in Asymmetric Sound Beams, a numerical study of two dimensional finite amplitude sound fields; and Pulsed Finite Amplitude Sound Beams, a numerical time domain solution of the KZK equation.

  4. (VLF-EM) and electrical resistivity survey for evaluation

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    ENSEMBLES

    2016-05-26

    May 26, 2016 ... The VES data were presented as depth sounding curves and .... Base map of the study area. ... resistivity data are presented as sounding curves (Figure ..... occasion of water Africa exhibition Nigeria (2006) at Ikoyi hotels and.

  5. [Courtship behavior, communicative sound production and resistance to stress in Drosophila mutants with defective agnostic gene, coding for LIMK1].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Popov, A V; Kaminskaia, A N; Savvateeva-Popova, E V

    2009-01-01

    To elucidate the role of one of the main elements of signal cascade of actin remodeling--LIM-kinase 1 (LIMK1)--in the control of animal behavior we studied the characteristics of courtship behavior, parameters of acoustic communicative signals and their resistance to heat shock (HS, 37 degrees C, 30 min) in Drosophila melanogaster males from the strain with mutation in locus agnostic (agn(ts3)) containing gene CG1848 for LIMK1. The data obtained was compared with the results of our previous similar investigation on wild type CS males (Popov et al., 2006). Flies were divided into 4 groups. The males of control groups were not subjected to heat shock. The rest of males were subjected to heat shock either at the beginning of larval development when predominantly mushroom body neuroblasts are dividing (groups HS1), or at the prepupal stage when the brain central complex is developing (groups HS2), or at the imago stage one hour before the test (groups HS3). All males were tested at the age of 5 days. Virgin and fertilized CS females were used as courtship objects. Comparison of control groups of the two strains--CS and agnostic--have shown that the mutation agn(ts3) has no influence on the main parameters of courtship behavior of intact (not subjected to HS) males (courtship latency, the rapidity of achieving copulation, courtship efficiency) but leads to lowering of their sexual activity, increase of duration of sound trains in the songs and to slight increase of rate and stability of working of singing pacemakers. Agnostic males in comparison to wild type males are more resistant to HS given 1 hour before the test. After HS their courtship intensity does not decrease and the main parameters of their courtship behavior and communicative sound signals in comparison tu wild type males either do not change, or appear to be even better stabilized. The frequency of distorted sound pulses (an indicator of frequency of impairments in the activity pattern of neuro

  6. Sound

    CERN Document Server

    Robertson, William C

    2003-01-01

    Muddled about what makes music? Stuck on the study of harmonics? Dumbfounded by how sound gets around? Now you no longer have to struggle to teach concepts you really don t grasp yourself. Sound takes an intentionally light touch to help out all those adults science teachers, parents wanting to help with homework, home-schoolers seeking necessary scientific background to teach middle school physics with confidence. The book introduces sound waves and uses that model to explain sound-related occurrences. Starting with the basics of what causes sound and how it travels, you'll learn how musical instruments work, how sound waves add and subtract, how the human ear works, and even why you can sound like a Munchkin when you inhale helium. Sound is the fourth book in the award-winning Stop Faking It! Series, published by NSTA Press. Like the other popular volumes, it is written by irreverent educator Bill Robertson, who offers this Sound recommendation: One of the coolest activities is whacking a spinning metal rod...

  7. Sound and sound sources

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Larsen, Ole Næsbye; Wahlberg, Magnus

    2017-01-01

    There is no difference in principle between the infrasonic and ultrasonic sounds, which are inaudible to humans (or other animals) and the sounds that we can hear. In all cases, sound is a wave of pressure and particle oscillations propagating through an elastic medium, such as air. This chapter...... is about the physical laws that govern how animals produce sound signals and how physical principles determine the signals’ frequency content and sound level, the nature of the sound field (sound pressure versus particle vibrations) as well as directional properties of the emitted signal. Many...... of these properties are dictated by simple physical relationships between the size of the sound emitter and the wavelength of emitted sound. The wavelengths of the signals need to be sufficiently short in relation to the size of the emitter to allow for the efficient production of propagating sound pressure waves...

  8. Resistivity Study of Shallow Aquifers in theParts of Southern Ukanafun Local Government Area, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    N. J. George

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available A resistivity study by vertical electrical sounding (VES employing the Schlumberger electrode configuration has been used to delineate shallow aquifers in some villages in Southern Ukanafun Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State, Southern Nigeria. The information realized from the resistivity data and nearby logged boreholes show that the depths penetrated by currents were all sandy formations with various thicknesses. However, the main aquifers comprise within the maximum current penetration, very coarse – grained (gravelly sand and fine sand with resistivity in the ranges of 4680-30700 Ωm and 207-2530 Ωm and thickness in the ranges of 43-63 m and 18-40 m respectively. The aquifers with minor hydraulic gradient are separated by thin beds of clay according to lithology logs and these beds were masked in the sounding data due to the principle of suppression.

  9. An Electric Resistivity Study of the Chelungpu Fault in the Taichung Area, Taiwan

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ping-Hu Cheng

    2008-01-01

    Full Text Available We conducted an electric resistivity survey consisting of six resistivity image profilings and several resistivity measurements on outcrops of strata in the Taichung area to investigate the subsurface structures of the Chelungpu fault. Three magnetotelluric sounding results are added to infer rock formations at depth. Based on the resistivity measurements on outcrops of the strata and the correlations between the interpretative resistivity structures and the rock formations recognized from drilling cores and the outcrops of the strata, the resistivity spectra of rock formations are obtained, and the geological structures are deduced.

  10. Cross-Modal Associations between Sounds and Drink Tastes/Textures: A Study with Spontaneous Production of Sound-Symbolic Words.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sakamoto, Maki; Watanabe, Junji

    2016-03-01

    Many languages have a word class whose speech sounds are linked to sensory experiences. Several recent studies have demonstrated cross-modal associations (or correspondences) between sounds and gustatory sensations by asking participants to match predefined sound-symbolic words (e.g., "maluma/takete") with the taste/texture of foods. Here, we further explore cross-modal associations using the spontaneous production of words and semantic ratings of sensations. In the experiment, after drinking liquids, participants were asked to express their taste/texture using Japanese sound-symbolic words, and at the same time, to evaluate it in terms of criteria expressed by adjectives. Because the Japanese language has a large vocabulary of sound-symbolic words, and Japanese people frequently use them to describe taste/texture, analyzing a variety of Japanese sound-symbolic words spontaneously produced to express taste/textures might enable us to explore the mechanism of taste/texture categorization. A hierarchical cluster analysis based on the relationship between linguistic sounds and taste/texture evaluations revealed the structure of sensation categories. The results indicate that an emotional evaluation like pleasant/unpleasant is the primary cluster in gustation. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  11. PREFACE: Aerodynamic sound Aerodynamic sound

    Science.gov (United States)

    Akishita, Sadao

    2010-02-01

    The modern theory of aerodynamic sound originates from Lighthill's two papers in 1952 and 1954, as is well known. I have heard that Lighthill was motivated in writing the papers by the jet-noise emitted by the newly commercialized jet-engined airplanes at that time. The technology of aerodynamic sound is destined for environmental problems. Therefore the theory should always be applied to newly emerged public nuisances. This issue of Fluid Dynamics Research (FDR) reflects problems of environmental sound in present Japanese technology. The Japanese community studying aerodynamic sound has held an annual symposium since 29 years ago when the late Professor S Kotake and Professor S Kaji of Teikyo University organized the symposium. Most of the Japanese authors in this issue are members of the annual symposium. I should note the contribution of the two professors cited above in establishing the Japanese community of aerodynamic sound research. It is my pleasure to present the publication in this issue of ten papers discussed at the annual symposium. I would like to express many thanks to the Editorial Board of FDR for giving us the chance to contribute these papers. We have a review paper by T Suzuki on the study of jet noise, which continues to be important nowadays, and is expected to reform the theoretical model of generating mechanisms. Professor M S Howe and R S McGowan contribute an analytical paper, a valuable study in today's fluid dynamics research. They apply hydrodynamics to solve the compressible flow generated in the vocal cords of the human body. Experimental study continues to be the main methodology in aerodynamic sound, and it is expected to explore new horizons. H Fujita's study on the Aeolian tone provides a new viewpoint on major, longstanding sound problems. The paper by M Nishimura and T Goto on textile fabrics describes new technology for the effective reduction of bluff-body noise. The paper by T Sueki et al also reports new technology for the

  12. Low frequency sounds in dwellings : A case control study

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van den Berg, Frits (G P)

    2000-01-01

    The purpose of this study is to systematically assess the level and spectral distribution of low frequency (LF) sounds in dwellings. Measurements of broad and narrow hand sound levels have been made in 36 Dutch dwellings in 1998. In 19 dwellings there were complaints about LF noise, in 17 others no

  13. Improving Sound Systems by Electrical Means

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Schneider, Henrik

    to intelligent control and protection functionality and so on. In this work different strategies towards improvements of sound systems by electrical means was investigated considering the interfaces between each component and the performance of the full system. The strategies can be categorized by improvements...... reduction in the best case. This technology is very promising since it compensates for most distortion mechanisms of the transducer such as non-linearities, production variation, wear-n-tear, temperature changes and so on. Furthermore the accelerometer output can be used for protection purposes. The only...... of the bended copper foils to optimize the DC resistance. The DC resistance was reduced by 30 % compared to the starting point for a 10 turn toroidal inductor using this method. The combined work indicate that large sound system improvements are in reach by use of electrical means. Innovative solutions have...

  14. Effect of different sound atmospheres on SnO2:Sb thin films prepared by dip coating technique

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kocyigit, Adem; Ozturk, Erhan; Ejderha, Kadir; Turgut, Guven

    2017-11-01

    Different sound atmosphere effects were investigated on SnO2:Sb thin films, which were deposited with dip coating technique. Two sound atmospheres were used in this study; one of them was nay sound atmosphere for soft sound, another was metallic sound for hard sound. X-ray diffraction (XRD) graphs have indicated that the films have different orientations and structural parameters in quiet room, metallic and soft sound atmospheres. It could be seen from UV-Vis spectrometer measurements that films have different band gaps and optical transmittances with changing sound atmospheres. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) and AFM images of the films have been pointed out that surfaces of films have been affected with changing sound atmospheres. The electrical measurements have shown that films have different I-V plots and different sheet resistances with changing sound atmospheres. These sound effects may be used to manage atoms in nano dimensions.

  15. Effects of spectral complexity and sound duration on automatic complex-sound pitch processing in humans - a mismatch negativity study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tervaniemi, M; Schröger, E; Saher, M; Näätänen, R

    2000-08-18

    The pitch of a spectrally rich sound is known to be more easily perceived than that of a sinusoidal tone. The present study compared the importance of spectral complexity and sound duration in facilitated pitch discrimination. The mismatch negativity (MMN), which reflects automatic neural discrimination, was recorded to a 2. 5% pitch change in pure tones with only one sinusoidal frequency component (500 Hz) and in spectrally rich tones with three (500-1500 Hz) and five (500-2500 Hz) harmonic partials. During the recordings, subjects concentrated on watching a silent movie. In separate blocks, stimuli were of 100 and 250 ms in duration. The MMN amplitude was enhanced with both spectrally rich sounds when compared with pure tones. The prolonged sound duration did not significantly enhance the MMN. This suggests that increased spectral rather than temporal information facilitates pitch processing of spectrally rich sounds.

  16. Environmental Sound Perception: Metadescription and Modeling Based on Independent Primary Studies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Stephen McAdams

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available The aim of the study is to transpose and extend to a set of environmental sounds the notion of sound descriptors usually used for musical sounds. Four separate primary studies dealing with interior car sounds, air-conditioning units, car horns, and closing car doors are considered collectively. The corpus formed by these initial stimuli is submitted to new experimental studies and analyses, both for revealing metacategories and for defining more precisely the limits of each of the resulting categories. In a second step, the new structure is modeled: common and specific dimensions within each category are derived from the initial results and new investigations of audio features are performed. Furthermore, an automatic classifier based on two audio descriptors and a multinomial logistic regression procedure is implemented and validated with the corpus.

  17. Interpretation of electromagnetic Sampo monitoring soundings of Olkiluoto

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Korhonen, K.

    2010-04-01

    The Geological Survey of Finland (GTK) has carried out electromagnetic Sampo soundings at Olkiluoto annually since 2004 commissioned by Posiva. The soundings have been carried out at the same measurement stations every year. The goal of the soundings is to detect any changes in the electrical conditions of the bedrock surrounding the ONKALO underground research facility. This study aims to detect possible changes in the groundwater conditions using modelling. The sensitivity of the Sampo method to changes in the electrical properties and the level of groundwater were investigated as part of this study. The results of the sensitivity investigation indicate that the Sampo method is capable of detecting changes occurring even quite deep in the bedrock. Thus, the usage of the Sampo method to monitor the groundwater conditions is warranted. The plots of apparent resistivity as a function of depth indicate that the area directly above the ONKALO facility is very disturbed electromagnetically. However, most of the soundings to the east and west of ONKALO are of better quality and were interpreted. The results indicate possible changes in the groundwater conditions. The level of saline groundwater may be sinking in the eastern part while it may be rising on the western part. (orig.)

  18. First- and Second-level Bayesian Inference of Flow Resistivity of Sound Absorber and Room’s Influence

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Choi, Sang-Hyeon; Lee, Ikjin; Jeong, Cheol-Ho

    2016-01-01

    Sabine absorption coefficient is a widely used one deduced from reverberation time measurements via the Sabine equation. First- and second-level Bayesian analysis are used to estimate the flow resistivity of a sound absorber and the influences of the test chambers from Sabine absorption...... coefficients measured in 13 different reverberation chambers. The first-level Bayesian analysis is more general than the second-level Bayesian analysis. Sharper posterior distribution can be acquired by the second-level Bayesian analysis than the one by the first-level Bayesian analysis because more data...... are used to set more reliable prior distribution. The estimated room’s influences by the first- and the second-level Bayesian analyses are similar to the estimated results by the mean absolute error minimization....

  19. Sound absorption study on acoustic panel from kapok fiber and egg tray

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kaamin, Masiri; Mahir, Nurul Syazwani Mohd; Kadir, Aslila Abd; Hamid, Nor Baizura; Mokhtar, Mardiha; Ngadiman, Norhayati

    2017-12-01

    Noise also known as a sound, especially one that is loud or unpleasant or that causes disruption. The level of noise can be reduced by using sound absorption panel. Currently, the market produces sound absorption panel, which use synthetic fibers that can cause harmful effects to the health of consumers. An awareness of using natural fibers from natural materials gets attention of some parties to use it as a sound absorbing material. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate the potential of sound absorption panel using egg trays and kapok fibers. The test involved in this study was impedance tube test which aims to get sound absorption coefficient (SAC). The results showed that there was good sound absorption at low frequency from 0 Hz up to 900 Hz where the maximum absorption coefficient was 0.950 while the maximum absorption at high frequencies was 0.799. Through the noise reduction coefficient (NRC), the material produced NRC of 0.57 indicates that the materials are very absorbing. In addition, the reverberation room test was carried out to get the value of reverberation time (RT) in unit seconds. Overall this panel showed good results at low frequencies between 0 Hz up to 1500 Hz. In that range of frequency, the maximum reverberation time for the panel was 3.784 seconds compared to the maximum reverberation time for an empty room was 5.798 seconds. This study indicated that kapok fiber and egg tray as the material of absorption panel has a potential as environmental and cheap products in absorbing sound at low frequency.

  20. Measurement of sound propagation in glass wool

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Tarnow, Viggo

    1995-01-01

    A new acoustic method for directly measuring the flow resistance, and the compressibility of fibrous materials such as glass wool, is given. Measured results for monochromatic sound in glass wool are presented and compared with theoretically calculated results. The agreement between experimental...

  1. 78 FR 13869 - Puget Sound Energy, Inc.; Puget Sound Energy, Inc.; Puget Sound Energy, Inc.; Puget Sound Energy...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-03-01

    ...-123-LNG; 12-128-NG; 12-148-NG; 12- 158-NG] Puget Sound Energy, Inc.; Puget Sound Energy, Inc.; Puget Sound Energy, Inc.; Puget Sound Energy, Inc.; Puget Sound Energy, Inc.; CE FLNG, LLC; Consolidated...-NG Puget Sound Energy, Inc Order granting long- term authority to import/export natural gas from/to...

  2. An Antropologist of Sound

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Groth, Sanne Krogh

    2015-01-01

    PROFESSOR PORTRAIT: Sanne Krogh Groth met Holger Schulze, newly appointed professor in Musicology at the Department for Arts and Cultural Studies, University of Copenhagen, to a talk about anthropology of sound, sound studies, musical canons and ideology.......PROFESSOR PORTRAIT: Sanne Krogh Groth met Holger Schulze, newly appointed professor in Musicology at the Department for Arts and Cultural Studies, University of Copenhagen, to a talk about anthropology of sound, sound studies, musical canons and ideology....

  3. Interpretation of time-domain electromagnetic soundings in the Calico Hills area, Nevada Test Site, Nye County, Nevada

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kauahikaua, J.

    A controlled source, time domain electromagnetic (TDEM) sounding survey was conducted in the Calico Hills area of the Nevada Test Site (NTS). The geoelectric structure was determined as an aid in the evaluation of the site for possible future storage of spent nuclear fuel or high level nuclear waste. The data were initially interpreted with a simple scheme that produces an apparent resistivity versus depth curve from the vertical magnetic field data. These curves are qualitatively interpreted much like standard Schlumberger resistivity sounding curves. Final interpretation made use of a layered earth Marquardt inversion computer program. The results combined with those from a set of Schlumberger soundings in the area show that there is a moderately resistive basement at a depth no greater than 800 meters. The basement resistivity is greater than 100 ohm meters.

  4. A soundscape study: What kinds of sounds can elderly people affected by dementia recollect?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nagahata, K; Fukushima, T; Ishibashi, N; Takahashi, Y; Moriyama, M

    2004-01-01

    In this study, the kinds of sounds recollected by elderly people with dementia were investigated as a first step towards improving their sound environment. Onomatopoeias were presented to elderly people as keys to recollecting sounds, and they told what they imagined from each onomatopoeia. The results are summarized as follows. (1) Generally speaking, sounds from nature, such as the songs of birds and the sound of rain were recollected easily from onomatopoeias, regardless of gender. (2) Sounds of kitchen work were recollected by women only. (3) Sounds from old routines were recollected clearly. (4) Sounds that elicited feelings of nostalgia were also recollected intensely from onomatopoeias. These results show that elderly people suffering from dementia are able to recollect the sounds that had once occupied very important parts of their lives. However, these sounds in themselves are not unusual sounds in their daily lives. This suggests the importance of soundscape design in daily life.

  5. The sound manifesto

    Science.gov (United States)

    O'Donnell, Michael J.; Bisnovatyi, Ilia

    2000-11-01

    Computing practice today depends on visual output to drive almost all user interaction. Other senses, such as audition, may be totally neglected, or used tangentially, or used in highly restricted specialized ways. We have excellent audio rendering through D-A conversion, but we lack rich general facilities for modeling and manipulating sound comparable in quality and flexibility to graphics. We need coordinated research in several disciplines to improve the use of sound as an interactive information channel. Incremental and separate improvements in synthesis, analysis, speech processing, audiology, acoustics, music, etc. will not alone produce the radical progress that we seek in sonic practice. We also need to create a new central topic of study in digital audio research. The new topic will assimilate the contributions of different disciplines on a common foundation. The key central concept that we lack is sound as a general-purpose information channel. We must investigate the structure of this information channel, which is driven by the cooperative development of auditory perception and physical sound production. Particular audible encodings, such as speech and music, illuminate sonic information by example, but they are no more sufficient for a characterization than typography is sufficient for characterization of visual information. To develop this new conceptual topic of sonic information structure, we need to integrate insights from a number of different disciplines that deal with sound. In particular, we need to coordinate central and foundational studies of the representational models of sound with specific applications that illuminate the good and bad qualities of these models. Each natural or artificial process that generates informative sound, and each perceptual mechanism that derives information from sound, will teach us something about the right structure to attribute to the sound itself. The new Sound topic will combine the work of computer

  6. Numerical Model on Sound-Solid Coupling in Human Ear and Study on Sound Pressure of Tympanic Membrane

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yao Wen-juan

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available Establishment of three-dimensional finite-element model of the whole auditory system includes external ear, middle ear, and inner ear. The sound-solid-liquid coupling frequency response analysis of the model was carried out. The correctness of the FE model was verified by comparing the vibration modes of tympanic membrane and stapes footplate with the experimental data. According to calculation results of the model, we make use of the least squares method to fit out the distribution of sound pressure of external auditory canal and obtain the sound pressure function on the tympanic membrane which varies with frequency. Using the sound pressure function, the pressure distribution on the tympanic membrane can be directly derived from the sound pressure at the external auditory canal opening. The sound pressure function can make the boundary conditions of the middle ear structure more accurate in the mechanical research and improve the previous boundary treatment which only applied uniform pressure acting to the tympanic membrane.

  7. Compressive strength and failure types of cusp replacing direct resin composite restorations in previously amalgam-filled premolars versus sound teeth

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Scholtanus, Johannes Durk; Zaia, John; Oezcan, Mutlu

    2017-01-01

    This study evaluated the fracture resistance of cusp replacing direct resin composite restorations (DCR) in premolars that had been previously filled with amalgam mesial-occlusal-distal (MOD) restorations and compared their fracture resistance with those made on sound dentin and intact teeth.

  8. Effectiveness of sound therapy in patients with tinnitus resistant to previous treatments: importance of adjustments

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Flavia Alencar de Barros Suzuki

    Full Text Available ABSTRACT INTRODUCTION: The difficulty in choosing the appropriate therapy for chronic tinnitus relates to the variable impact on the quality of life of affected patients and, thus, requires individualization of treatment. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effectiveness of using sound generators with individual adjustments to relieve tinnitus in patients unresponsive to previous treatments. METHODS: A prospective study of 10 patients with chronic tinnitus who were unresponsive to previous drug treatments, five males and five females, with ages ranging from 41 to 78 years. Bilateral sound generators (Reach 62 or Mind 9 models were used daily for at least 6 h during 18 months. The patients were evaluated at the beginning, after 1 month and at each 3 months until 18 months through acuphenometry, minimum masking level, the Tinnitus Handicap Inventory, visual analog scale, and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. The sound generators were adjusted at each visit. RESULTS: There was a reduction of Tinnitus Handicap Inventory in nine patients using a protocol with a customized approach, independent of psychoacoustic characteristics of tinnitus. The best response to treatment occurred in those with whistle-type tinnitus. A correlation among the adjustments and tinnitus loudness and minimum masking level was found. Only one patient, who had indication of depression by Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, did not respond to sound therapy. CONCLUSION: There was improvement in quality of life (Tinnitus Handicap Inventory, with good response to sound therapy using customized settings in patients who did not respond to previous treatments for tinnitus.

  9. Vulnerability to the Irrelevant Sound Effect in Adult ADHD.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pelletier, Marie-France; Hodgetts, Helen M; Lafleur, Martin F; Vincent, Annick; Tremblay, Sébastien

    2016-04-01

    An ecologically valid adaptation of the irrelevant sound effect paradigm was employed to examine the relative roles of short-term memory, selective attention, and sustained attention in ADHD. In all, 32 adults with ADHD and 32 control participants completed a serial recall task in silence or while ignoring irrelevant background sound. Serial recall performance in adults with ADHD was reduced relative to controls in both conditions. The degree of interference due to irrelevant sound was greater for adults with ADHD. Furthermore, a positive correlation was observed between task performance under conditions of irrelevant sound and the extent of attentional problems reported by patients on a clinical symptom scale. The results demonstrate that adults with ADHD exhibit impaired short-term memory and a low resistance to distraction; however, their capacity for sustained attention is preserved as the impact of irrelevant sound diminished over the course of the task. © The Author(s) 2013.

  10. Parallel-plate third sound waveguides with fixed and variable plate spacings for the study of fifth sound in superfluid helium

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jelatis, G.J.

    1983-01-01

    Third sound in superfluid helium four films has been investigated using two parallel-plate waveguides. These investigations led to the observation of fifth sound, a new mode of sound propagation. Both waveguides consisted of two parallel pieces of vitreous quartz. The sound speed was obtained by measuring the time-of-flight of pulsed third sound over a known distance. Investigations from 1.0-1.7K were possible with the use of superconducting bolometers, which measure the temperature component of the third sound wave. Observations were initially made with a waveguide having a plate separation fixed at five microns. Adiabatic third sound was measured in the geometry. Isothermal third sound was also observed, using the usual, single-substrate technique. Fifth sound speeds, calculated from the two-fluid theory of helium and the speeds of the two forms of third sound, agreed in size and temperature dependence with theoretical predictions. Nevertheless, only equivocal observations of fifth sound were made. As a result, the film-substrate interaction was examined, and estimates of the Kapitza conductance were made. Assuming the dominance of the effects of this conductance over those due to the ECEs led to a new expression for fifth sound. A reanalysis of the initial data was made, which contained no adjustable parameters. The observation of fifth sound was seen to be consistent with the existence of an anomalously low boundary conductance

  11. Why Do People Like Loud Sound? A Qualitative Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Welch, David; Fremaux, Guy

    2017-08-11

    Many people choose to expose themselves to potentially dangerous sounds such as loud music, either via speakers, personal audio systems, or at clubs. The Conditioning, Adaptation and Acculturation to Loud Music (CAALM) Model has proposed a theoretical basis for this behaviour. To compare the model to data, we interviewed a group of people who were either regular nightclub-goers or who controlled the sound levels in nightclubs (bar managers, musicians, DJs, and sound engineers) about loud sound. Results showed four main themes relating to the enjoyment of loud sound: arousal/excitement, facilitation of socialisation, masking of both external sound and unwanted thoughts, and an emphasis and enhancement of personal identity. Furthermore, an interesting incidental finding was that sound levels appeared to increase gradually over the course of the evening until they plateaued at approximately 97 dBA Leq around midnight. Consideration of the data generated by the analysis revealed a complex of influential factors that support people in wanting exposure to loud sound. Findings were considered in terms of the CAALM Model and could be explained in terms of its principles. From a health promotion perspective, the Social Ecological Model was applied to consider how the themes identified might influence behaviour. They were shown to influence people on multiple levels, providing a powerful system which health promotion approaches struggle to address.

  12. Deep electromagnetic sounding of the moon with Lunokhod 2 data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vanyan, L. L.; Yegorov, I. V.; Faynberg, E. B.

    1977-01-01

    Results of electromagnetic sounding distinguished an outer high resistance shell about 200 km thick in the moon's structure. A preliminary petrological interpretation of the moon's layers indicated their origin as a consequence of differentiation of the initial peridotite material. Upon melting, 20% to 40% of the material melts and is removed to form a high resistance basaltic shell underlain by a layer of spinal peridotites enriched in divalent iron oxides and having a reduced resistance.

  13. Interpretation of time-domain electromagnetic soundings in the Calico Hills area, Nevada Test Site, Nye County, Nevada

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kauahikaua, J.

    1981-01-01

    A controlled source, time-domain electromagnetic (TDEM) sounding survey was conducted in the Calico Hills area of the Nevada Test Site (NTS). The goal of this survey was the determination of the geoelectric structure as an aid in the evaluation of the site for possible future storage of spent nuclear fuel or high-level nuclear waste. The data were initially interpreted with a simple scheme that produces an apparent resistivity versus depth curve from the vertical magnetic field data. These curves can be qualitatively interpreted much like standard Schlumberger resistivity sounding curves. Final interpretation made use of a layered-earth Marquardt inversion computer program (Kauahikaua, 1980). The results combined with those from a set of Schlumberger soundings in the area show that there is a moderately resistive basement at a depth no greater than 800 meters. The basement resistivity is greater than 100 ohm-meters

  14. Evaluation of electrical resistivity anisotropy in geological mapping ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    user

    Key words: Electrical resistivity anisotropy, radial vertical electrical sounding, anisotropy polygons. INTRODUCTION ... electrical resistivity survey in the geological interpretation ... resistivity and other electrical or electromagnetic based.

  15. Dissonance: scientific paradigms underpinning the study of sound in geography

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Daniel Paiva

    2018-05-01

    Full Text Available The objective of this article is to approach the different conceptions of sound – and its relations to the underlying scientific paradigms – that emerged throughout the history of geography. There has been a growing interest among geographers in understanding the spatialities of sound, and geographies of sound have become an emerging subfield of the discipline. For this reason, it is the right time to address how the discipline has approached sound throughout its history. Several theoretical perspectives influenced geography in the twentieth century, changing its methodologies and how its subjects were conceived. Sound, like other subjects, has been conceived very differently by geographers of competing paradigms. Concepts such as noise, soundscape, or sound as affect, among others, have dominated geographies of sound at specific periods. Due to the marginality of the subject in the discipline, assessments of these conceptual shifts are rare. I tackle this issue in this article as I provide a first attempt of writing a history of sound in geography. The article reviews debates regarding the name of the subfield, and the conceptions of sound in the successive and competing scientific paradigms in geography.

  16. An approximate inversion method of geoelectrical sounding data using linear and bayesian statistical approaches. Examples of Tritrivakely volcanic lake and Mahitsy area (central part of Madagascar)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ranaivo Nomenjanahary, F.; Rakoto, H.; Ratsimbazafy, J.B.

    1994-08-01

    This paper is concerned with resistivity sounding measurements performed from single site (vertical sounding) or from several sites (profiles) within a bounded area. The objective is to present an accurate information about the study area and to estimate the likelihood of the produced quantitative models. The achievement of this objective obviously requires quite relevant data and processing methods. It also requires interpretation methods which should take into account the probable effect of an heterogeneous structure. In front of such difficulties, the interpretation of resistivity sounding data inevitably involves the use of inversion methods. We suggest starting the interpretation in simple situation (1-D approximation), and using the rough but correct model obtained as an a-priori model for any more refined interpretation. Related to this point of view, special attention should be paid for the inverse problem applied to the resistivity sounding data. This inverse problem is nonlinear, while linearity inherent in the functional response used to describe the physical experiment. Two different approaches are used to build an approximate but higher dimensional inversion of geoelectrical data: the linear approach and the bayesian statistical approach. Some illustrations of their application in resistivity sounding data acquired at Tritrivakely volcanic lake (single site) and at Mahitsy area (several sites) will be given. (author). 28 refs, 7 figs

  17. Early Sound Symbolism for Vowel Sounds

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ferrinne Spector

    2013-06-01

    Full Text Available Children and adults consistently match some words (e.g., kiki to jagged shapes and other words (e.g., bouba to rounded shapes, providing evidence for non-arbitrary sound–shape mapping. In this study, we investigated the influence of vowels on sound–shape matching in toddlers, using four contrasting pairs of nonsense words differing in vowel sound (/i/ as in feet vs. /o/ as in boat and four rounded–jagged shape pairs. Crucially, we used reduplicated syllables (e.g., kiki vs. koko rather than confounding vowel sound with consonant context and syllable variability (e.g., kiki vs. bouba. Toddlers consistently matched words with /o/ to rounded shapes and words with /i/ to jagged shapes (p < 0.01. The results suggest that there may be naturally biased correspondences between vowel sound and shape.

  18. Time-domain electromagnetic soundings at the Nevada Test Site, Nevada

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Frischknecht, F.C.; Raab, P.V.

    1984-01-01

    Structural discontinuities and variations in the resistivity of near-surface rocks often seriously distort dc resistivity and frequency-domain electromagnetic (FDEM) depth sounding curves. Reliable interpretation of such curves using one-dimensional (1-D) models is difficult or impossible. Short-offset time-domain electromagnetic (TDEM) sounding methods offer a number of advantages over other common geoelectrical sounding methods when working in laterally heterogeneous areas. In order to test the TDEM method in a geologically complex region, measurements were made on the east flank of Yucca Mountain at the Nevada Test Site (NTS). Coincident, offset coincident, single, and central loop configurations with square transmitting loops, either 305 or 152 m on a side, were used. Measured transient voltages were transformed into apparent resistivity values and then inverted in terms of 1-D models. Good fits to all of the offset coincident and single loop data were obtained using three-layer models. In most of the area, two well-defined interfaces were mapped, one which corresponds closely to a contact between stratigraphic units at a depth of about 400 m and another which corresponds to a transition from relatively unaltered to altered volcanic rocks at a depth of about 1000 m. In comparison with the results of a dipole-dipole resistivity survey, the results of the TDEM survey emphasize changes in the geoelectrical section with depth. Nonetheless, discontinuities in the layering mapped with the TDEM method delineated major faults or fault zones along the survey traverse. 5 refs., 10 figs., 1 tab

  19. Control of Toxic Chemicals in Puget Sound, Phase 3: Study of Atmospheric Deposition of Air Toxics to the Surface of Puget Sound

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Brandenberger, Jill M.; Louchouarn, Patrick; Kuo, Li-Jung; Crecelius, Eric A.; Cullinan, Valerie I.; Gill, Gary A.; Garland, Charity R.; Williamson, J. B.; Dhammapala, R.

    2010-07-05

    The results of the Phase 1 Toxics Loading study suggested that runoff from the land surface and atmospheric deposition directly to marine waters have resulted in considerable loads of contaminants to Puget Sound (Hart Crowser et al. 2007). The limited data available for atmospheric deposition fluxes throughout Puget Sound was recognized as a significant data gap. Therefore, this study provided more recent or first reported atmospheric deposition fluxes of PAHs, PBDEs, and select trace elements for Puget Sound. Samples representing bulk atmospheric deposition were collected during 2008 and 2009 at seven stations around Puget Sound spanning from Padilla Bay south to Nisqually River including Hood Canal and the Straits of Juan de Fuca. Revised annual loading estimates for atmospheric deposition to the waters of Puget Sound were calculated for each of the toxics and demonstrated an overall decrease in the atmospheric loading estimates except for polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and total mercury (THg). The median atmospheric deposition flux of total PBDE (7.0 ng/m2/d) was higher than that of the Hart Crowser (2007) Phase 1 estimate (2.0 ng/m2/d). The THg was not significantly different from the original estimates. The median atmospheric deposition flux for pyrogenic PAHs (34.2 ng/m2/d; without TCB) shows a relatively narrow range across all stations (interquartile range: 21.2- 61.1 ng/m2/d) and shows no influence of season. The highest median fluxes for all parameters were measured at the industrial location in Tacoma and the lowest were recorded at the rural sites in Hood Canal and Sequim Bay. Finally, a semi-quantitative apportionment study permitted a first-order characterization of source inputs to the atmosphere of the Puget Sound. Both biomarker ratios and a principal component analysis confirmed regional data from the Puget Sound and Straits of Georgia region and pointed to the predominance of biomass and fossil fuel (mostly liquid petroleum products such

  20. Localizing semantic interference from distractor sounds in picture naming: A dual-task study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mädebach, Andreas; Kieseler, Marie-Luise; Jescheniak, Jörg D

    2017-10-13

    In this study we explored the locus of semantic interference in a novel picture-sound interference task in which participants name pictures while ignoring environmental distractor sounds. In a previous study using this task (Mädebach, Wöhner, Kieseler, & Jescheniak, in Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 43, 1629-1646, 2017), we showed that semantically related distractor sounds (e.g., BARKING dog ) interfere with a picture-naming response (e.g., "horse") more strongly than unrelated distractor sounds do (e.g., DRUMMING drum ). In the experiment reported here, we employed the psychological refractory period (PRP) approach to explore the locus of this effect. We combined a geometric form classification task (square vs. circle; Task 1) with the picture-sound interference task (Task 2). The stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) between the tasks was systematically varied (0 vs. 500 ms). There were three central findings. First, the semantic interference effect from distractor sounds was replicated. Second, picture naming (in Task 2) was slower with the short than with the long task SOA. Third, both effects were additive-that is, the semantic interference effects were of similar magnitude at both task SOAs. This suggests that the interference arises during response selection or later stages, not during early perceptual processing. This finding corroborates the theory that semantic interference from distractor sounds reflects a competitive selection mechanism in word production.

  1. Sound Insulation between Dwellings

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rasmussen, Birgit

    2011-01-01

    Regulatory sound insulation requirements for dwellings exist in more than 30 countries in Europe. In some countries, requirements have existed since the 1950s. Findings from comparative studies show that sound insulation descriptors and requirements represent a high degree of diversity...... and initiate – where needed – improvement of sound insulation of new and existing dwellings in Europe to the benefit of the inhabitants and the society. A European COST Action TU0901 "Integrating and Harmonizing Sound Insulation Aspects in Sustainable Urban Housing Constructions", has been established and runs...... 2009-2013. The main objectives of TU0901 are to prepare proposals for harmonized sound insulation descriptors and for a European sound classification scheme with a number of quality classes for dwellings. Findings from the studies provide input for the discussions in COST TU0901. Data collected from 24...

  2. Letter-Sound Reading: Teaching Preschool Children Print-to-Sound Processing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wolf, Gail Marie

    2016-01-01

    This intervention study investigated the growth of letter sound reading and growth of consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) word decoding abilities for a representative sample of 41 US children in preschool settings. Specifically, the study evaluated the effectiveness of a 3-step letter-sound teaching intervention in teaching preschool children to…

  3. Sound Art Situations

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Krogh Groth, Sanne; Samson, Kristine

    2017-01-01

    and combine theories from several fields. Aspects of sound art studies, performance studies and contemporary art studies are presented in order to theoretically explore the very diverse dimensions of the two sound art pieces: Visual, auditory, performative, social, spatial and durational dimensions become......This article is an analysis of two sound art performances that took place June 2015 in outdoor public spaces in the social housing area Urbanplanen in Copenhagen, Denmark. The two performances were On the production of a poor acoustics by Brandon LaBelle and Green Interactive Biofeedback...... Environments (GIBE) by Jeremy Woodruff. In order to investigate the complex situation that arises when sound art is staged in such contexts, the authors of this article suggest exploring the events through approaching them as ‘situations’ (Doherty 2009). With this approach it becomes possible to engage...

  4. ABOUT SOUNDS IN VIDEO GAMES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Denikin Anton A.

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available The article considers the aesthetical and practical possibilities for sounds (sound design in video games and interactive applications. Outlines the key features of the game sound, such as simulation, representativeness, interactivity, immersion, randomization, and audio-visuality. The author defines the basic terminology in study of game audio, as well as identifies significant aesthetic differences between film sounds and sounds in video game projects. It is an attempt to determine the techniques of art analysis for the approaches in study of video games including aesthetics of their sounds. The article offers a range of research methods, considering the video game scoring as a contemporary creative practice.

  5. Mapping groundwater reserves in northwestern Cambodia with the combined use of data from lithologs and time-domain-electromagnetic and magnetic-resonance soundings

    Science.gov (United States)

    Valois, Remi; Vouillamoz, Jean-Michel; Lun, Sambo; Arnout, Ludovic

    2018-01-01

    Lack of access to water is the primary constraint to development in rural areas of northwestern Cambodia. Communities lack water for both domestic and irrigation purposes. To provide access to drinking water, governmental and aid agencies have focused on drilling shallow boreholes but they have not had a clear understanding of groundwater potential. The goal of this study has been to improve hydrogeological knowledge of two districts in Oddar Meanchey Province by analyzing borehole lithologs and geophysical data sets. The comparison of 55 time-domain electromagnetic (TEM) soundings and lithologs, as well as 66 magnetic-resonance soundings (MRS) with TEM soundings, allows a better understanding of the links between geology, electrical resistivity and hydrogeological parameters such as the specific yield (S y) derived from MRS. The main findings are that water inflow and S y are more related to electrical resistivity and elevation than to the litholog description. Indeed, conductive media are associated with a null value of S y, whereas resistive rocks at low elevation are always linked to strictly positive S y. A new methodology was developed to create maps of groundwater reserves based on 612 TEM soundings and the observed relationship between resistivity and S y. TEM soundings were inverted using a quasi-3D modeling approach called `spatially constrained inversion'. Such maps will, no doubt, be very useful for borehole siting and in the economic development of the province because they clearly distinguish areas of high groundwater-reserves potential from areas that lack reserves.

  6. Study on The Effectiveness of Egg Tray and Coir Fibre as A Sound Absorber

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kaamin, Masiri; Farah Atiqah Ahmad, Nor; Ngadiman, Norhayati; Kadir, Aslila Abdul; Razali, Siti Nooraiin Mohd; Mokhtar, Mardiha; Sahat, Suhaila

    2018-03-01

    Sound or noise pollution has become one major issues to the community especially those who lived in the urban areas. It does affect the activity of human life. This excessive noise is mainly caused by machines, traffic, motor vehicles and also any unwanted sounds that coming from outside and even from the inside of the building. Such as a loud music. Therefore, the installation of sound absorption panel is one way to reduce the noise pollution inside a building. The selected material must be a porous and hollow in order to absorb high frequency sound. This study was conducted to evaluate the potential of egg tray and coir fibre as a sound absorption panel. The coir fibre has a good coefficient value which make it suitable as a sound absorption material and can replace the traditional material; syntactic and wooden material. The combination of pyramid shape of egg tray can provide a large surface for uniform sound reflection. This study was conducted by using a panel with size 1 m x 1 m with a thickness of 6 mm. This panel consist of egg tray layer, coir fibre layer and a fabric as a wrapping for the aesthetic value. Room reverberation test has been carried to find the loss of reverberation time (RT). Result shows that, a reverberation time reading is on low frequency, which is 125 Hz to 1600 Hz. Within these frequencies, this panel can shorten the reverberation time of 5.63s to 3.60s. Hence, from this study, it can be concluded that the selected materials have the potential as a good sound absorption panel. The comparison is made with the previous research that used egg tray and kapok as a sound absorption panel.

  7. Study on The Effectiveness of Egg Tray and Coir Fibre as A Sound Absorber

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kaamin Masiri

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Sound or noise pollution has become one major issues to the community especially those who lived in the urban areas. It does affect the activity of human life. This excessive noise is mainly caused by machines, traffic, motor vehicles and also any unwanted sounds that coming from outside and even from the inside of the building. Such as a loud music. Therefore, the installation of sound absorption panel is one way to reduce the noise pollution inside a building. The selected material must be a porous and hollow in order to absorb high frequency sound. This study was conducted to evaluate the potential of egg tray and coir fibre as a sound absorption panel. The coir fibre has a good coefficient value which make it suitable as a sound absorption material and can replace the traditional material; syntactic and wooden material. The combination of pyramid shape of egg tray can provide a large surface for uniform sound reflection. This study was conducted by using a panel with size 1 m x 1 m with a thickness of 6 mm. This panel consist of egg tray layer, coir fibre layer and a fabric as a wrapping for the aesthetic value. Room reverberation test has been carried to find the loss of reverberation time (RT. Result shows that, a reverberation time reading is on low frequency, which is 125 Hz to 1600 Hz. Within these frequencies, this panel can shorten the reverberation time of 5.63s to 3.60s. Hence, from this study, it can be concluded that the selected materials have the potential as a good sound absorption panel. The comparison is made with the previous research that used egg tray and kapok as a sound absorption panel.

  8. A comparative study of wood highway sound barriers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stefan Grgurevich; Thomas Boothby; Harvey Manbeck; Courtney Burroughs; Stephen Cegelka; Craig Bernecker; Michael A. Ritter

    2002-01-01

    Prototype designs for wood highway sound barriers meeting the multiple criteria of structural integrity, acoustic effectiveness, durability, and potential for public acceptance have been developed. Existing installations of wood sound barriers were reviewed and measurements conducted in the field to estimate acoustic insertion losses. A complete matrix of design...

  9. Study of physical and sound absorbing property of epoxy blended coir dust biocomposite

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nath, G.; Mishra, S. P.

    2016-09-01

    Reinforcement biocomposite has gained more attention recently due to its low cost, abundantly availability, low density, specific properties, easy method of separation, enhanced energy recovery, CO2 neutrality, biodegradability and recyclable in nature. As a waste product of coconut fruit, the coconut coir dust (CCD) obtained from the coconut husk. The biocomposite material prepared from the CCD modified with the proper blended solution with the help of ultrasonic technique. The study of adiabatic compressibility of acetone / water (70/30) worth its blending property for bleaching of CCD. The biocomposite material of CCD was prepared with epoxy resin. The different physical properties such as sound absorption coefficient, thermal conductivity and electrical conductivity were measured. The morphological study of biocomposite and measurement of sound absorption coefficient shows good evidence of sound absorbing characteristics of biocomposite of CCD. The sound absorption property of composite material shows a significant result where as the thermal conductivity and electrical conductivity executes a weak result. Thus biocomposite of CCD can acts as a good sound absorber and band conductor of heat and electric current.

  10. Mississippi Sound Remote Sensing Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Atwell, B. H.

    1973-01-01

    The Mississippi Sound Remote Sensing Study was initiated as part of the research program of the NASA Earth Resources Laboratory. The objective of this study is development of remote sensing techniques to study near-shore marine waters. Included within this general objective are the following: (1) evaluate existing techniques and instruments used for remote measurement of parameters of interest within these waters; (2) develop methods for interpretation of state-of-the-art remote sensing data which are most meaningful to an understanding of processes taking place within near-shore waters; (3) define hardware development requirements and/or system specifications; (4) develop a system combining data from remote and surface measurements which will most efficiently assess conditions in near-shore waters; (5) conduct projects in coordination with appropriate operating agencies to demonstrate applicability of this research to environmental and economic problems.

  11. Preliminary seismic hazard assessment, shallow seismic refraction and resistivity sounding studies for future urban planning at the Gebel Umm Baraqa area, Egypt

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Khalil, Mohamed H; Hanafy, Sherif M; Gamal, Mohamed A

    2008-01-01

    Gebel Umm Baraqa Fan, west Gulf of Aqaba, Sinai, is one of the most important tourism areas in Egypt. However, it is located on the active Dead Sea-Gulf of Aqaba Levant transform fault system. Geophysical studies, including fresh water aquifer delineation, shallow seismic refraction, soil characterization and preliminary seismic hazard assessment, were conducted to help in future city planning. A total of 11 vertical electrical soundings (1000–3000 m maximum AB/2) and three bore-holes were drilled in the site for the analysis of ground water, total dissolved solids (TDS) and fresh water aquifer properties. The interpretation of the one-dimensional (1D) inversion of the resistivity data delineated the fresh water aquifer and determined its hydro-geologic parameters. Eleven shallow seismic refraction profiles (125 m in length) have been collected and interpreted using the generalized reciprocal method, and the resulting depth–velocity models were verified using an advanced finite difference (FD) technique. Shallow seismic refraction effectively delineates two subsurface layers (VP ∼ 450 m s −1 and VP ∼ 1000 m s −1 ). A preliminary seismic hazard assessment in Umm Baraqa has produced an estimate of the probabilistic peak ground acceleration hazard in the study area. A recent and historical earthquake catalog for the time period 2200 BC to 2006 has been compiled for the area. New accurate seismic source zoning is considered because such details affect the degree of hazard in the city. The estimated amount of PGA reveals values ranging from 250 to 260 cm s −2 in the bedrock of the Umm Baraqa area during a 100 year interval (a suitable time window for buildings). Recommendations as to suitable types of buildings, considering the amount of shaking and the aquifer properties given in this study, are expected to be helpful for the Umm Baraqa area

  12. Elecromagnetic Sampo monitoring soundings at Olkiluoto in 2013 with updated interpretations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Korhonen, K.

    2014-10-01

    The Geological Survey of Finland (GTK) has carried out electromagnetic depth soundings annually at fixed stations in Olkiluoto since 2004 as part of a monitoring program. The goal of the monitoring program is to detect and monitor changes in the electrical properties of the bedrock in the vicinity of the ONKALO underground research facility which will constitute a part of the final nuclear waste repository. A new Sampo monitoring survey was carried out by GTK in October 2013. The survey consists of 37 soundings performed at 17 measurement stations. The nominal coil separations of 200, 400, 500, 600 and 800 metres were used depending on the station. Layer-model interpretations of soundings at eight selected stations were updated with the new data. The interpretations indicate consistent annual changes. Resistivities be-low stations to the East of the ONKALO facility appear to increase annually. In contrast, resistivities below stations to the West of the ONKALO facility appear to decrease annually. However, these changes need to be considered keeping in mind the uncertainties associated with the data and their interpretations. (orig.)

  13. Hybrid local piezoelectric and conductive functions for high performance airborne sound absorption

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rahimabady, Mojtaba; Statharas, Eleftherios Christos; Yao, Kui; Sharifzadeh Mirshekarloo, Meysam; Chen, Shuting; Tay, Francis Eng Hock

    2017-12-01

    A concept of hybrid local piezoelectric and electrical conductive functions for improving airborne sound absorption is proposed and demonstrated in composite foam made of porous polar polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) mixed with conductive single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT). According to our hybrid material function design, the local piezoelectric effect in the PVDF matrix with the polar structure and the electrical resistive loss of SWCNT enhanced sound energy conversion to electrical energy and subsequently to thermal energy, respectively, in addition to the other known sound absorption mechanisms in a porous material. It is found that the overall energy conversion and hence the sound absorption performance are maximized when the concentration of the SWCNT is around the conductivity percolation threshold. For the optimal composition of PVDF/5 wt. % SWCNT, a sound reduction coefficient of larger than 0.58 has been obtained, with a high sound absorption coefficient higher than 50% at 600 Hz, showing their great values for passive noise mitigation even at a low frequency.

  14. Remembering that big things sound big: Sound symbolism and associative memory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Preziosi, Melissa A; Coane, Jennifer H

    2017-01-01

    According to sound symbolism theory, individual sounds or clusters of sounds can convey meaning. To examine the role of sound symbolic effects on processing and memory for nonwords, we developed a novel set of 100 nonwords to convey largeness (nonwords containing plosive consonants and back vowels) and smallness (nonwords containing fricative consonants and front vowels). In Experiments 1A and 1B, participants rated the size of the 100 nonwords and provided definitions to them as if they were products. Nonwords composed of fricative/front vowels were rated as smaller than those composed of plosive/back vowels. In Experiment 2, participants studied sound symbolic congruent and incongruent nonword and participant-generated definition pairings. Definitions paired with nonwords that matched the size and participant-generated meanings were recalled better than those that did not match. When the participant-generated definitions were re-paired with other nonwords, this mnemonic advantage was reduced, although still reliable. In a final free association study, the possibility that plosive/back vowel and fricative/front vowel nonwords elicit sound symbolic size effects due to mediation from word neighbors was ruled out. Together, these results suggest that definitions that are sound symbolically congruent with a nonword are more memorable than incongruent definition-nonword pairings. This work has implications for the creation of brand names and how to create brand names that not only convey desired product characteristics, but also are memorable for consumers.

  15. Aspirating and Nonaspirating Swallow Sounds in Children: A Pilot Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Frakking, Thuy; Chang, Anne; O'Grady, Kerry; David, Michael; Weir, Kelly

    2016-12-01

    Cervical auscultation (CA) may be used to complement feeding/swallowing evaluations when assessing for aspiration. There are no published pediatric studies that compare the properties of sounds between aspirating and nonaspirating swallows. To establish acoustic and perceptual profiles of aspirating and nonaspirating swallow sounds and determine if a difference exists between these 2 swallowing types. Aspiration sound clips were obtained from recordings using CA simultaneously undertaken with videofluoroscopic swallow study. Aspiration was determined using the Penetration-Aspiration Scale. The presence of perceptual swallow/breath parameters was rated by 2 speech pathologists who were blinded to the type of swallow. Acoustic data between groups were compared using Mann Whitney U-tests, while perceptual differences were determined by a test of 2 proportions. Combinations of perceptual parameters of 50 swallows (27 aspiration, 23 no aspiration) from 47 children (57% male) were statistically analyzed using area under a receiver operating characteristic (aROC), sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values to determine predictors of aspirating swallows. The combination of post-swallow presence of wet breathing and wheeze and absence of GRS and normal breathing was the best predictor of aspiration (aROC = 0.82, 95% CI, 0.70-0.94). There were no significant differences between these 2 swallow types for peak frequency, duration, and peak amplitude. Our pilot study has shown that certain characteristics of swallow obtained using CA may be useful in the prediction of aspiration. However, further research comparing the acoustic swallowing sound profiles of normal children to children with dysphagia (who are aspirating) on a larger scale is required. © The Author(s) 2016.

  16. Sound algorithms

    OpenAIRE

    De Götzen , Amalia; Mion , Luca; Tache , Olivier

    2007-01-01

    International audience; We call sound algorithms the categories of algorithms that deal with digital sound signal. Sound algorithms appeared in the very infancy of computer. Sound algorithms present strong specificities that are the consequence of two dual considerations: the properties of the digital sound signal itself and its uses, and the properties of auditory perception.

  17. Joint application of Geoelectrical Resistivity and Ground Penetrating Radar techniques for the study of hyper-saturated zones. Case study in Egypt

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hany S. Mesbah

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents the results of the application of the Geoelectrical Resistivity Sounding (GRS and Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR for outlining and investigating of surface springing out (flow of groundwater to the base of an service building site, and determining the reason(s for the zone of maximum degree of saturation; in addition to provide stratigraphic information for this site. The studied economic building is constructed lower than the ground surface by about 7 m. A Vertical Electrical Sounding (VES survey was performed at 12 points around the studied building in order to investigate the vertical and lateral extent of the subsurface sequence, three VES's were conducted at each side of the building at discrete distances. And a total of 9 GPR profiles with 100- and 200-MHz antennae were conducted, with the objective of evaluating the depth and the degree of saturation of the subsurface layers. The qualitative and quantitative interpretation of the acquired VES's showed easily the levels of saturations close to and around the studied building. From the interpretation of GPR profiles, it was possible to locate and determine the saturated layers. The radar signals are penetrated and enabled the identification of the subsurface reflectors. The results of GPR and VES showed a good agreement and the integrated interpretations were supported by local geology. Finally, the new constructed geoelectrical resistivity cross-sections (in contoured-form, are easily clarifying the direction of groundwater flow toward the studied building.

  18. 46 CFR 7.20 - Nantucket Sound, Vineyard Sound, Buzzards Bay, Narragansett Bay, MA, Block Island Sound and...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 46 Shipping 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Nantucket Sound, Vineyard Sound, Buzzards Bay, Narragansett Bay, MA, Block Island Sound and easterly entrance to Long Island Sound, NY. 7.20 Section 7.20... Atlantic Coast § 7.20 Nantucket Sound, Vineyard Sound, Buzzards Bay, Narragansett Bay, MA, Block Island...

  19. A Comparative Study of Sound Speed in Air at Room Temperature between a Pressure Sensor and a Sound Sensor

    Science.gov (United States)

    Amrani, D.

    2013-01-01

    This paper deals with the comparison of sound speed measurements in air using two types of sensor that are widely employed in physics and engineering education, namely a pressure sensor and a sound sensor. A computer-based laboratory with pressure and sound sensors was used to carry out measurements of air through a 60 ml syringe. The fast Fourier…

  20. Sound Insulation Property Study on Nylon 66 Scrim Reinforced PVF Laminated Membranes and their Composite Sound Proof Structure

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Lihe; Chen, Zhaofeng; Zhang, Xinyang; Wang, Weiwei

    2018-01-01

    In this paper, we investigated the sound insulation property of nylon 66 scrim reinforced PVF laminated membranes and their corresponding composite structures with glass fiber felt and carbon fiber board. Sound transmission loss (STL) was measured by standing wave tube method. The results show that, with the decrease of nylon 66 gridlines spacing, STL of nylon 66 scrim reinforced PVF laminated membranes was improved. The sound insulation performance of laminated membranes with gridlines spacing of 3mm is the best, whose STL was up to 10dB at 6.3 kHz. Besides, STL was improved effectively as air layers were embedded into the composite sound proof construction consist of laminated membrane, glass fiber felt and carbon fiber board.

  1. Differential Intracochlear Sound Pressure Measurements in Normal Human Temporal Bones

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nakajima, Hideko Heidi; Dong, Wei; Olson, Elizabeth S.; Merchant, Saumil N.; Ravicz, Michael E.; Rosowski, John J.

    2009-02-01

    We present the first simultaneous sound pressure measurements in scala vestibuli and scala tympani of the cochlea in human cadaveric temporal bones. Micro-scale fiberoptic pressure sensors enabled the study of differential sound pressure at the cochlear base. This differential pressure is the input to the cochlear partition, driving cochlear waves and auditory transduction. Results showed that: pressure of scala vestibuli was much greater than scala tympani except at low and high frequencies where scala tympani pressure affects the input to the cochlea; the differential pressure proved to be an excellent measure of normal ossicular transduction of sound (shown to decrease 30-50 dB with ossicular disarticulation, whereas the individual scala pressures were significantly affected by non-ossicular conduction of sound at high frequencies); the middle-ear gain and differential pressure were generally bandpass in frequency dependence; and the middle-ear delay in the human was over twice that of the gerbil. Concurrent stapes velocity measurements allowed determination of the differential impedance across the partition and round-window impedance. The differential impedance was generally resistive, while the round-window impedance was consistent with a compliance in conjunction with distributed inertia and damping. Our techniques can be used to study inner-ear conductive pathologies (e.g., semicircular dehiscence), as well as non-ossicular cochlear stimulation (e.g., round-window stimulation) - situations that cannot be completely quantified by measurements of stapes velocity or scala-vestibuli pressure by themselves.

  2. Can road traffic mask sound from wind turbines? Response to wind turbine sound at different levels of road traffic sound

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pedersen, Eja; Berg, Frits van den; Bakker, Roel; Bouma, Jelte

    2010-01-01

    Wind turbines are favoured in the switch-over to renewable energy. Suitable sites for further developments could be difficult to find as the sound emitted from the rotor blades calls for a sufficient distance to residents to avoid negative effects. The aim of this study was to explore if road traffic sound could mask wind turbine sound or, in contrast, increases annoyance due to wind turbine noise. Annoyance of road traffic and wind turbine noise was measured in the WINDFARMperception survey in the Netherlands in 2007 (n=725) and related to calculated levels of sound. The presence of road traffic sound did not in general decrease annoyance with wind turbine noise, except when levels of wind turbine sound were moderate (35-40 dB(A) Lden) and road traffic sound level exceeded that level with at least 20 dB(A). Annoyance with both noises was intercorrelated but this correlation was probably due to the influence of individual factors. Furthermore, visibility and attitude towards wind turbines were significantly related to noise annoyance of modern wind turbines. The results can be used for the selection of suitable sites, possibly favouring already noise exposed areas if wind turbine sound levels are sufficiently low.

  3. Sound Symbolism in Basic Vocabulary

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Søren Wichmann

    2010-04-01

    Full Text Available The relationship between meanings of words and their sound shapes is to a large extent arbitrary, but it is well known that languages exhibit sound symbolism effects violating arbitrariness. Evidence for sound symbolism is typically anecdotal, however. Here we present a systematic approach. Using a selection of basic vocabulary in nearly one half of the world’s languages we find commonalities among sound shapes for words referring to same concepts. These are interpreted as due to sound symbolism. Studying the effects of sound symbolism cross-linguistically is of key importance for the understanding of language evolution.

  4. Sound transmission through double cylindrical shells lined with porous material under turbulent boundary layer excitation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhou, Jie; Bhaskar, Atul; Zhang, Xin

    2015-11-01

    This paper investigates sound transmission through double-walled cylindrical shell lined with poroelastic material in the core, excited by pressure fluctuations due to the exterior turbulent boundary layer (TBL). Biot's model is used to describe the sound wave propagating in the porous material. Three types of constructions, bonded-bonded, bonded-unbonded and unbonded-unbonded, are considered in this study. The power spectral density (PSD) of the inner shell kinetic energy is predicted for two turbulent boundary layer models, different air gap depths and three types of polyimide foams, respectively. The peaks of the inner shell kinetic energy due to shell resonance, hydrodynamic coincidence and acoustic coincidence are discussed. The results show that if the frequency band over the ring frequency is of interest, an air gap, even if very thin, should exist between the two elastic shells for better sound insulation. And if small density foam has a high flow resistance, a superior sound insulation can still be maintained.

  5. Experimental study on the sound absorption characteristics of continuously graded phononic crystals

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    X. H. Zhang

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available Novel three-dimensional (3D continuously graded phononic crystals (CGPCs have been designed, and fabricated by 3D printing. Each of the CGPCs is an entity instead of a combination of several other samples, and the porosity distribution of the CGPC along the incident direction is nearly linear. The sound absorption characteristics of CGPCs were experimentally investigated and compared with those of uniform phononic crystals (UPCs and discretely stepped phononic crystals (DSPCs. Experimental results show that CGPCs demonstrate excellent sound absorption performance because of their continuously graded structures. CGPCs have higher sound absorption coefficients in the large frequency range and more sound absorption coefficient peaks in a specific frequency range than UPCs and DSPCs. In particular, the sound absorption coefficients of the CGPC with a porosity of 0.6 and thickness of 30 mm are higher than 0.56 when the frequency is 1350–6300 Hz and are all higher than 0.2 in the studied frequency range (1000–6300 Hz. CGPCs are expected to have potential application in noise control, especially in the broad frequency and low-frequency ranges.

  6. Study of the Acoustic Effects of Hydrokinetic Tidal Turbines in Admiralty Inlet, Puget Sound

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Brian Polagye; Jim Thomson; Chris Bassett; Jason Wood; Dom Tollit; Robert Cavagnaro; Andrea Copping

    2012-03-30

    Hydrokinetic turbines will be a source of noise in the marine environment - both during operation and during installation/removal. High intensity sound can cause injury or behavioral changes in marine mammals and may also affect fish and invertebrates. These noise effects are, however, highly dependent on the individual marine animals; the intensity, frequency, and duration of the sound; and context in which the sound is received. In other words, production of sound is a necessary, but not sufficient, condition for an environmental impact. At a workshop on the environmental effects of tidal energy development, experts identified sound produced by turbines as an area of potentially significant impact, but also high uncertainty. The overall objectives of this project are to improve our understanding of the potential acoustic effects of tidal turbines by: (1) Characterizing sources of existing underwater noise; (2) Assessing the effectiveness of monitoring technologies to characterize underwater noise and marine mammal responsiveness to noise; (3) Evaluating the sound profile of an operating tidal turbine; and (4) Studying the effect of turbine sound on surrogate species in a laboratory environment. This study focuses on a specific case study for tidal energy development in Admiralty Inlet, Puget Sound, Washington (USA), but the methodologies and results are applicable to other turbine technologies and geographic locations. The project succeeded in achieving the above objectives and, in doing so, substantially contributed to the body of knowledge around the acoustic effects of tidal energy development in several ways: (1) Through collection of data from Admiralty Inlet, established the sources of sound generated by strong currents (mobilizations of sediment and gravel) and determined that low-frequency sound recorded during periods of strong currents is non-propagating pseudo-sound. This helped to advance the debate within the marine and hydrokinetics acoustic

  7. Effect of bitumen emulsion on setting, strength, soundness and ...

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    Unknown

    Effect of bitumen emulsion on setting, strength, soundness and moisture resistance of oxychloride cement. M P S CHANDRAWAT†, T N OJHA and R N YADAV*. Department of Chemistry, R N Ruia Government College, Ramgarh-Shekhawati (Sikar) 331 024, India. †Department of Chemistry, R R Government College, ...

  8. Sound post production in advertising and in the film, case study of Studio Beep s.r.o.

    OpenAIRE

    Struhařová, Michaela

    2012-01-01

    Main topic of this thesis is description of sound post production in advertising and in the film film industry and making case study of company Studio Beep s.r.o. First aim of this thesis is describe as clearly as possible the theory of sound and sound post production in advertising and in film industry and also show specifics accompanying production of sound in each discipline. The theoretical part contains basic overview about history of sound, sound dramaturgy and about general principles ...

  9. A study on the sound quality evaluation model of mechanical air-cleaners

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ih, Jeong-Guon; Jang, Su-Won; Jeong, Cheol-Ho

    2009-01-01

    In operating the air-cleaner for a long time, people in a quiet enclosed space expect low sound at low operational levels for a routine cleaning of air. However, in the condition of high operational levels of the cleaner, a powerful yet nonannoying sound is desired, which is connected to a feeling...... of an immediate cleaning of pollutants. In this context, it is important to evaluate and design the air-cleaner noise to satisfy such contradictory expectations from the customers. In this study, a model for evaluating the sound quality of air-cleaners of mechanical type was developed based on objective...... and subjective analyses. Sound signals from various aircleaners were recorded and they were edited by increasing or decreasing the loudness at three wide specific-loudness bands: 20-400 Hz (0-3.8 barks), 400-1250 Hz (3.8-10 barks), and 1.25- 12.5 kHz bands (10-22.8 barks). Subjective tests using the edited...

  10. Sound specificity effects in spoken word recognition: The effect of integrality between words and sounds

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Strori, Dorina; Zaar, Johannes; Cooke, Martin

    2017-01-01

    Recent evidence has shown that nonlinguistic sounds co-occurring with spoken words may be retained in memory and affect later retrieval of the words. This sound-specificity effect shares many characteristics with the classic voice-specificity effect. In this study, we argue that the sound......-specificity effect is conditional upon the context in which the word and sound coexist. Specifically, we argue that, besides co-occurrence, integrality between words and sounds is a crucial factor in the emergence of the effect. In two recognition-memory experiments, we compared the emergence of voice and sound...... from a mere co-occurrence context effect by removing the intensity modulation. The absence of integrality led to the disappearance of the sound-specificity effect. Taken together, the results suggest that the assimilation of background sounds into memory cannot be reduced to a simple context effect...

  11. Transient Electromagnetic Soundings Near Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve, San Luis Valley, Colorado (2006 Field Season)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fitterman, David V.; de Sozua Filho, Oderson A.

    2009-01-01

    Time-domain electromagnetic (TEM) soundings were made near Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve in the San Luis Valley of southern Colorado to obtain subsurface information of use to hydrologic modeling. Seventeen soundings were made to the east and north of the sand dunes. Using a small loop TEM system, maximum exploration depths of about 75 to 150 m were obtained. In general, layered earth interpretations of the data found that resistivity decreases with depth. Comparison of soundings with geologic logs from nearby wells found that zones logged as having increased clay content usually corresponded with a significant resistivity decrease in the TEM determined model. This result supports the use of TEM soundings to map the location of the top of the clay unit deposited at the bottom of the ancient Lake Alamosa that filled the San Luis Valley from Pliocene to middle Pleistocene time.

  12. Sonic mediations: body, sound, technology

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Birdsall, C.; Enns, A.

    2008-01-01

    Sonic Mediations: Body, Sound, Technology is a collection of original essays that represents an invaluable contribution to the burgeoning field of sound studies. While sound is often posited as having a bridging function, as a passive in-between, this volume invites readers to rethink the concept of

  13. The Sound Quality of Cochlear Implants: Studies With Single-sided Deaf Patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dorman, Michael F; Natale, Sarah Cook; Butts, Austin M; Zeitler, Daniel M; Carlson, Matthew L

    2017-09-01

    The goal of the present study was to assess the sound quality of a cochlear implant for single-sided deaf (SSD) patients fit with a cochlear implant (CI). One of the fundamental, unanswered questions in CI research is "what does an implant sound like?" Conventional CI patients must use the memory of a clean signal, often decades old, to judge the sound quality of their CIs. In contrast, SSD-CI patients can rate the similarity of a clean signal presented to the CI ear and candidate, CI-like signals presented to the ear with normal hearing. For Experiment 1 four types of stimuli were created for presentation to the normal hearing ear: noise vocoded signals, sine vocoded signals, frequency shifted, sine vocoded signals and band-pass filtered, natural speech signals. Listeners rated the similarity of these signals to unmodified signals sent to the CI on a scale of 0 to 10 with 10 being a complete match to the CI signal. For Experiment 2 multitrack signal mixing was used to create natural speech signals that varied along multiple dimensions. In Experiment 1 for eight adult SSD-CI listeners, the best median similarity rating to the sound of the CI for noise vocoded signals was 1.9; for sine vocoded signals 2.9; for frequency upshifted signals, 1.9; and for band pass filtered signals, 5.5. In Experiment 2 for three young listeners, combinations of band pass filtering and spectral smearing lead to ratings of 10. The sound quality of noise and sine vocoders does not generally correspond to the sound quality of cochlear implants fit to SSD patients. Our preliminary conclusion is that natural speech signals that have been muffled to one degree or another by band pass filtering and/or spectral smearing provide a close, but incomplete, match to CI sound quality for some patients.

  14. Material sound source localization through headphones

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dunai, Larisa; Peris-Fajarnes, Guillermo; Lengua, Ismael Lengua; Montaña, Ignacio Tortajada

    2012-09-01

    In the present paper a study of sound localization is carried out, considering two different sounds emitted from different hit materials (wood and bongo) as well as a Delta sound. The motivation of this research is to study how humans localize sounds coming from different materials, with the purpose of a future implementation of the acoustic sounds with better localization features in navigation aid systems or training audio-games suited for blind people. Wood and bongo sounds are recorded after hitting two objects made of these materials. Afterwards, they are analysed and processed. On the other hand, the Delta sound (click) is generated by using the Adobe Audition software, considering a frequency of 44.1 kHz. All sounds are analysed and convolved with previously measured non-individual Head-Related Transfer Functions both for an anechoic environment and for an environment with reverberation. The First Choice method is used in this experiment. Subjects are asked to localize the source position of the sound listened through the headphones, by using a graphic user interface. The analyses of the recorded data reveal that no significant differences are obtained either when considering the nature of the sounds (wood, bongo, Delta) or their environmental context (with or without reverberation). The localization accuracies for the anechoic sounds are: wood 90.19%, bongo 92.96% and Delta sound 89.59%, whereas for the sounds with reverberation the results are: wood 90.59%, bongo 92.63% and Delta sound 90.91%. According to these data, we can conclude that even when considering the reverberation effect, the localization accuracy does not significantly increase.

  15. Fluid Sounds

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Explorations and analysis of soundscapes have, since Canadian R. Murray Schafer's work during the early 1970's, developed into various established research - and artistic disciplines. The interest in sonic environments is today present within a broad range of contemporary art projects and in arch......Explorations and analysis of soundscapes have, since Canadian R. Murray Schafer's work during the early 1970's, developed into various established research - and artistic disciplines. The interest in sonic environments is today present within a broad range of contemporary art projects...... and in architectural design. Aesthetics, psychoacoustics, perception, and cognition are all present in this expanding field embracing such categories as soundscape composition, sound art, sonic art, sound design, sound studies and auditory culture. Of greatest significance to the overall field is the investigation...

  16. Letter-Sound Knowledge: Exploring Gender Differences in Children When They Start School Regarding Knowledge of Large Letters, Small Letters, Sound Large Letters, and Sound Small Letters

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hermundur Sigmundsson

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available This study explored whether there is a gender difference in letter-sound knowledge when children start at school. 485 children aged 5–6 years completed assessment of letter-sound knowledge, i.e., large letters; sound of large letters; small letters; sound of small letters. The findings indicate a significant difference between girls and boys in all four factors tested in this study in favor of the girls. There are still no clear explanations to the basis of a presumed gender difference in letter-sound knowledge. That the findings have origin in neuro-biological factors cannot be excluded, however, the fact that girls probably have been exposed to more language experience/stimulation compared to boys, lends support to explanations derived from environmental aspects.

  17. Can joint sound assess soft and hard endpoints of the Lachman test?: A preliminary study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hattori, Koji; Ogawa, Munehiro; Tanaka, Kazunori; Matsuya, Ayako; Uematsu, Kota; Tanaka, Yasuhito

    2016-05-12

    The Lachman test is considered to be a reliable physical examination for anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury. Patients with a damaged ACL demonstrate a soft endpoint feeling. However, examiners judge the soft and hard endpoints subjectively. The purpose of our study was to confirm objective performance of the Lachman test using joint auscultation. Human and porcine knee joints were examined. Knee joint sound during the Lachman test (Lachman sound) was analyzed by fast Fourier transformation. As quantitative indices of Lachman sound, the peak sound as the maximum relative amplitude (acoustic pressure) and its frequency were used. The mean Lachman peak sound for healthy volunteer knees was 86.9 ± 12.9 Hz in frequency and -40 ± 2.5 dB in acoustic pressure. The mean Lachman peak sound for intact porcine knees was 84.1 ± 9.4 Hz and -40.5 ± 1.7 dB. Porcine knees with ACL deficiency had a soft endpoint feeling during the Lachman test. The Lachman peak sounds of porcine knees with ACL deficiency were dispersed into four distinct groups, with center frequencies of around 40, 160, 450, and 1600. The Lachman peak sound was capable of assessing soft and hard endpoints of the Lachman test objectively.

  18. Electrical Resistivity Studies Between Subarnarekha And Kansabati Rivers, Paschim Medinipur (W.B.), India: Implication To Groundwater Problems In The Area.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Panda, K. P.; Jha, M. K.; Sharma, S. P.

    2017-12-01

    Various parts of the world face acute shortage of groundwater. To solve groundwater problems various approaches are followed. Interlinking of the river is one of the approaches. The southern part of the West Bengal province of India receives huge amount of rainfall (annual 1200mm). Instead of huge amount of rainfall some parts of the area are problematic for groundwater occurrence. Characterization of aquifer in this area is very important for sustainable development of water supply and artificial recharge schemes. Electrical resistivity survey was performed at regular interval from Kharagpur (north) to Subarnrekha River (south) to map the lithological variations in this area. It covers around 25 kilometers distance from Kharagpur with latitude and longitude (22°19'7.3"N 87°18'40"E) to Subarnrekha River (22°15'49.4" N 87°16'45.1" E). To locating a suitable area for artificial recharge and for the characterization of aquifers vertical electrical sounding is a robust method. Resistivity soundings were carried out with an interval of 2 to 3 kilometers. Subsurface resistivity distribution has been interpreted by using very fast simulated annealing (VFSA) global optimization technique. The study reveals that northern part of the area is problematic and does not have suitable aquifer systems. Resistivity distribution is suitable in the southern part of area and corresponds to clayey sand. Interpreted resistivity in the northern part of the area is relatively high and reveals impervious laterite layer. In southern part of the area resistivity varies between 5-10 Ohm-m at depth below 80 m. Based on the resistivity model different types of geologic units are classified and the zone of interests for aquifer has been demarcated.

  19. Determining the speed of sound in the air by sound wave interference

    Science.gov (United States)

    Silva, Abel A.

    2017-07-01

    Mechanical waves propagate through material media. Sound is an example of a mechanical wave. In fluids like air, sound waves propagate through successive longitudinal perturbations of compression and decompression. Audible sound frequencies for human ears range from 20 to 20 000 Hz. In this study, the speed of sound v in the air is determined using the identification of maxima of interference from two synchronous waves at frequency f. The values of v were correct to 0 °C. The experimental average value of {\\bar{ν }}\\exp =336 +/- 4 {{m}} {{{s}}}-1 was found. It is 1.5% larger than the reference value. The standard deviation of 4 m s-1 (1.2% of {\\bar{ν }}\\exp ) is an improved value by the use of the concept of the central limit theorem. The proposed procedure to determine the speed of sound in the air aims to be an academic activity for physics classes of scientific and technological courses in college.

  20. Gefinex 400S (SAMPO) EM-soundings at Olkiluoto 2009

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jokinen, T.; Lehtimaeki, J.; Korhonen, K.

    2009-09-01

    In the beginning of June 2009 Geological Survey of Finland (GTK) carried out electromagnetic (EM) frequency soundings with Gefinex 400S equipment (Sampo) in the vicinity of ONKALO at the Olkiluoto site investigation area. The EM-monitoring sounding program started in 2004 and has been repeated since yearly in the same season. The aim of the study is to monitor the variations of the groundwater properties down to 500 m depth by the changes of the electric conductivity of the earth at ONKALO and repository area. The original measurement grid was based on two 1400 m long broadside profiles, which have 200 m mutual distance and 200 m station separation. The receiver and transmitter sites are marked with stakes and the profiles were measured using 200, 500, and 800 m coil separations. The measurement program was revised in 2007 and then again in 2009. Now 15 noisy soundings were removed from the program and 3 new points were selected from the area to the east from ONKALO. The new receiver/transmitter sites, called ABC-points were marked with stakes and the points were measured using transmitter-receiver separations 200, 400 and 800 meters. In 2009 the new EM-Sampo monitoring program included 28+9 soundings. The numerous power lines and cables in the area generate local disturbances on the sounding curves, but the SN (signal to noise) ratio and the repeatability of the results is reasonably good even with long coil separations. However, most suitable for monitoring purposes are the sites without strong shallow 3D effects. Comparison of the new results to old 2004-2008 surveys shows differences on some ARD (apparent resistivity-depth) curves. Those are mainly results of the modified shallow structures. The changes in groundwater conditions based on the monitoring results seem insignificant. (orig.)

  1. Fracture resistance of class IV fiber-reinforced composite resin restorations: An in vitro study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    P S Praveen Kumar

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate fracture resistance of incisal edge fractures (Class IV restored with a Glass Fiber-reinforced Composite (FRC. Materials and Methods: Twenty-four extracted sound maxillary central incisors were randomly divided into two groups. Group I (control contained untreated teeth. Samples in experimental groups II were prepared by cutting the incisal (one-third part of the crown horizontally and was subjected to enamel preparations, then restored with a Glass FRC. Fracture resistance was evaluated as Newton's for samples tested in a Hounsfield universal testing machine. Failure modes were examined microscopically. Results: Mean peak failure load (Newton's observed in Glass Fiber-reinforced Nanocomposite was 863.50 ± 76.12. The experimental group showed similar types of failure modes with the majority occurring as cohesive and mixed type. 58% of the teeth in Glass FRC group fractured below the cementoenamel junction. Conclusion: Using Fiber reinforced composite substructure under conventional composites in Class IV restorations, the fracture resistance of the restored incisal edge could be increased.

  2. Imagining Sound

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Grimshaw, Mark; Garner, Tom Alexander

    2014-01-01

    We make the case in this essay that sound that is imagined is both a perception and as much a sound as that perceived through external stimulation. To argue this, we look at the evidence from auditory science, neuroscience, and philosophy, briefly present some new conceptual thinking on sound...... that accounts for this view, and then use this to look at what the future might hold in the context of imagining sound and developing technology....

  3. Sound localization and occupational noise

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pedro de Lemos Menezes

    2014-02-01

    Full Text Available OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to determine the effects of occupational noise on sound localization in different spatial planes and frequencies among normal hearing firefighters. METHOD: A total of 29 adults with pure-tone hearing thresholds below 25 dB took part in the study. The participants were divided into a group of 19 firefighters exposed to occupational noise and a control group of 10 adults who were not exposed to such noise. All subjects were assigned a sound localization task involving 117 stimuli from 13 sound sources that were spatially distributed in horizontal, vertical, midsagittal and transverse planes. The three stimuli, which were square waves with fundamental frequencies of 500, 2,000 and 4,000 Hz, were presented at a sound level of 70 dB and were randomly repeated three times from each sound source. The angle between the speaker's axis in the same plane was 45°, and the distance to the subject was 1 m. RESULT: The results demonstrate that the sound localization ability of the firefighters was significantly lower (p<0.01 than that of the control group. CONCLUSION: Exposure to occupational noise, even when not resulting in hearing loss, may lead to a diminished ability to locate a sound source.

  4. Heart Sound Localization and Reduction in Tracheal Sounds by Gabor Time-Frequency Masking

    OpenAIRE

    SAATCI, Esra; Akan, Aydın

    2018-01-01

    Background and aim: Respiratorysounds, i.e. tracheal and lung sounds, have been of great interest due to theirdiagnostic values as well as the potential of their use in the estimation ofthe respiratory dynamics (mainly airflow). Thus the aim of the study is topresent a new method to filter the heart sound interference from the trachealsounds. Materials and methods: Trachealsounds and airflow signals were collected by using an accelerometer from 10 healthysubjects. Tracheal sounds were then pr...

  5. Selective attention to sound location or pitch studied with fMRI.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Degerman, Alexander; Rinne, Teemu; Salmi, Juha; Salonen, Oili; Alho, Kimmo

    2006-03-10

    We used 3-T functional magnetic resonance imaging to compare the brain mechanisms underlying selective attention to sound location and pitch. In different tasks, the subjects (N = 10) attended to a designated sound location or pitch or to pictures presented on the screen. In the Attend Location conditions, the sound location varied randomly (left or right), while the pitch was kept constant (high or low). In the Attend Pitch conditions, sounds of randomly varying pitch (high or low) were presented at a constant location (left or right). Both attention to location and attention to pitch produced enhanced activity (in comparison with activation caused by the same sounds when attention was focused on the pictures) in widespread areas of the superior temporal cortex. Attention to either sound feature also activated prefrontal and inferior parietal cortical regions. These activations were stronger during attention to location than during attention to pitch. Attention to location but not to pitch produced a significant increase of activation in the premotor/supplementary motor cortices of both hemispheres and in the right prefrontal cortex, while no area showed activity specifically related to attention to pitch. The present results suggest some differences in the attentional selection of sounds on the basis of their location and pitch consistent with the suggested auditory "what" and "where" processing streams.

  6. Sound as Popular Culture

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    The wide-ranging texts in this book take as their premise the idea that sound is a subject through which popular culture can be analyzed in an innovative way. From an infant’s gurgles over a baby monitor to the roar of the crowd in a stadium to the sub-bass frequencies produced by sound systems...... in the disco era, sound—not necessarily aestheticized as music—is inextricably part of the many domains of popular culture. Expanding the view taken by many scholars of cultural studies, the contributors consider cultural practices concerning sound not merely as semiotic or signifying processes but as material......, physical, perceptual, and sensory processes that integrate a multitude of cultural traditions and forms of knowledge. The chapters discuss conceptual issues as well as terminologies and research methods; analyze historical and contemporary case studies of listening in various sound cultures; and consider...

  7. Design of Efficient Sound Systems for Low Voltage Battery Driven Applications

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Iversen, Niels Elkjær; Oortgiesen, Rien; Knott, Arnold

    2016-01-01

    The efficiency of portable battery driven sound systems is crucial as it relates to both the playback time and cost of the system. This paper presents design considerations when designing such systems. This include loudspeaker and amplifier design. Using a low resistance voice coil realized...

  8. Comment on ''On the upconversion of ion sound to Langmuir turbulence,'' By L. Vlahos and K. Papadopoulos

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kuijpers, J.

    1980-01-01

    It is shown that the production of Langmuir waves from ion sound by the turbulent Bremsstrahlung mechanism can be more effective than the destruction of the Langmuir waves by the Dawson-Oberman resistivity. Previous conclusions to the contrary are in error owing to the neglect of the wave-number dependence of the ion-sound waves

  9. Sound Stuff? Naïve materialism in middle-school students' conceptions of sound

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eshach, Haim; Schwartz, Judah L.

    2006-06-01

    Few studies have dealt with students’ preconceptions of sounds. The current research employs Reiner et al. (2000) substance schema to reveal new insights about students’ difficulties in understanding this fundamental topic. It aims not only to detect whether the substance schema is present in middle school students’ thinking, but also examines how students use the schema’s properties. It asks, moreover, whether the substance schema properties are used as islands of local consistency or whether one can identify more global coherent consistencies among the properties that the students use to explain the sound phenomena. In-depth standardized open-ended interviews were conducted with ten middle school students. Consistent with the substance schema, sound was perceived by our participants as being pushable, frictional, containable, or transitional. However, sound was also viewed as a substance different from the ordinary with respect to its stability, corpuscular nature, additive properties, and inertial characteristics. In other words, students’ conceptions of sound do not seem to fit Reiner et al.’s schema in all respects. Our results also indicate that students’ conceptualization of sound lack internal consistency. Analyzing our results with respect to local and global coherence, we found students’ conception of sound is close to diSessa’s “loosely connected, fragmented collection of ideas.” The notion that sound is perceived only as a “sort of a material,” we believe, requires some revision of the substance schema as it applies to sound. The article closes with a discussion concerning the implications of the results for instruction.

  10. Sound Velocity in Soap Foams

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wu Gong-Tao; Lü Yong-Jun; Liu Peng-Fei; Li Yi-Ning; Shi Qing-Fan

    2012-01-01

    The velocity of sound in soap foams at high gas volume fractions is experimentally studied by using the time difference method. It is found that the sound velocities increase with increasing bubble diameter, and asymptotically approach to the value in air when the diameter is larger than 12.5 mm. We propose a simple theoretical model for the sound propagation in a disordered foam. In this model, the attenuation of a sound wave due to the scattering of the bubble wall is equivalently described as the effect of an additional length. This simplicity reasonably reproduces the sound velocity in foams and the predicted results are in good agreement with the experiments. Further measurements indicate that the increase of frequency markedly slows down the sound velocity, whereas the latter does not display a strong dependence on the solution concentration

  11. Sound-by-sound thalamic stimulation modulates midbrain auditory excitability and relative binaural sensitivity in frogs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ponnath, Abhilash; Farris, Hamilton E

    2014-01-01

    Descending circuitry can modulate auditory processing, biasing sensitivity to particular stimulus parameters and locations. Using awake in vivo single unit recordings, this study tested whether electrical stimulation of the thalamus modulates auditory excitability and relative binaural sensitivity in neurons of the amphibian midbrain. In addition, by using electrical stimuli that were either longer than the acoustic stimuli (i.e., seconds) or presented on a sound-by-sound basis (ms), experiments addressed whether the form of modulation depended on the temporal structure of the electrical stimulus. Following long duration electrical stimulation (3-10 s of 20 Hz square pulses), excitability (spikes/acoustic stimulus) to free-field noise stimuli decreased by 32%, but returned over 600 s. In contrast, sound-by-sound electrical stimulation using a single 2 ms duration electrical pulse 25 ms before each noise stimulus caused faster and varied forms of modulation: modulation lasted sound-by-sound electrical stimulation varied between different acoustic stimuli, including for different male calls, suggesting modulation is specific to certain stimulus attributes. For binaural units, modulation depended on the ear of input, as sound-by-sound electrical stimulation preceding dichotic acoustic stimulation caused asymmetric modulatory effects: sensitivity shifted for sounds at only one ear, or by different relative amounts for both ears. This caused a change in the relative difference in binaural sensitivity. Thus, sound-by-sound electrical stimulation revealed fast and ear-specific (i.e., lateralized) auditory modulation that is potentially suited to shifts in auditory attention during sound segregation in the auditory scene.

  12. Sound specificity effects in spoken word recognition: The effect of integrality between words and sounds.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Strori, Dorina; Zaar, Johannes; Cooke, Martin; Mattys, Sven L

    2018-01-01

    Recent evidence has shown that nonlinguistic sounds co-occurring with spoken words may be retained in memory and affect later retrieval of the words. This sound-specificity effect shares many characteristics with the classic voice-specificity effect. In this study, we argue that the sound-specificity effect is conditional upon the context in which the word and sound coexist. Specifically, we argue that, besides co-occurrence, integrality between words and sounds is a crucial factor in the emergence of the effect. In two recognition-memory experiments, we compared the emergence of voice and sound specificity effects. In Experiment 1 , we examined two conditions where integrality is high. Namely, the classic voice-specificity effect (Exp. 1a) was compared with a condition in which the intensity envelope of a background sound was modulated along the intensity envelope of the accompanying spoken word (Exp. 1b). Results revealed a robust voice-specificity effect and, critically, a comparable sound-specificity effect: A change in the paired sound from exposure to test led to a decrease in word-recognition performance. In the second experiment, we sought to disentangle the contribution of integrality from a mere co-occurrence context effect by removing the intensity modulation. The absence of integrality led to the disappearance of the sound-specificity effect. Taken together, the results suggest that the assimilation of background sounds into memory cannot be reduced to a simple context effect. Rather, it is conditioned by the extent to which words and sounds are perceived as integral as opposed to distinct auditory objects.

  13. Depth study of insular shelf electric sounding Adelaida anomaly (Rivera)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cicalese, H.

    1983-01-01

    In the framework of the Uranium prospecting programme, the DINAMIGE geophysical equipment have made a study. It was about the depth of insular shelf electric sounding on the anomalies zone of Adelaida. This equipment carried out a study of the following subjects: geographical location, geologic framework, geophysical intervention, developed works, methods and material and results

  14. Sounding-rocket experiments for detailed studies of magnetospheric substorm phenomena

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stuedemann, W.; Wilhelm, K.

    1975-01-01

    Many of the substorm effects occur at or near the auroral oval in the upper atmosphere and can thus be studied by sounding-rocket experiments. As emphasis should be laid on understanding the physical processes, close co-ordination with other study programmes is of great importance. This co-ordination can best be accomplished within the framework of the ''International Magnetospheric Study 1976-1978''

  15. Sound radiation contrast in MR phase images. Method for the representation of elasticity, sound damping, and sound impedance changes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Radicke, Marcus

    2009-01-01

    The method presented in this thesis combines ultrasound techniques with the magnetic-resonance tomography (MRT). An ultrasonic wave generates in absorbing media a static force in sound-propagation direction. The force leads at sound intensities of some W/cm 2 and a sound frequency in the lower MHz range to a tissue shift in the micrometer range. This tissue shift depends on the sound power, the sound frequency, the sound absorption, and the elastic properties of the tissue. A MRT sequence of the Siemens Healthcare AG was modified so that it measures (indirectly) the tissue shift, codes as grey values, and presents as 2D picture. By means of the grey values the sound-beam slope in the tissue can be visualized, and so additionally sound obstacles (changes of the sound impedance) can be detected. By the MRT images token up spatial changes of the tissue parameters sound absorption and elasticity can be detected. In this thesis measurements are presented, which show the feasibility and future chances of this method especially for the mammary-cancer diagnostics. [de

  16. The Keyimage Method of Learning Sound-Symbol Correspondences: A Case Study of Learning Written Khmer

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Elizabeth Lavolette

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available I documented my strategies for learning sound-symbol correspondences during a Khmer course. I used a mnemonic strategy that I call the keyimage method. In this method, a character evokes an image (the keyimage, which evokes the corresponding sound. For example, the keyimage for the character 2 could be a swan with its head tucked in. This evokes the sound "kaw" that a swan makes, which sounds similar to the Khmer sound corresponding to 2. The method has some similarities to the keyword method. Considering the results of keyword studies, I hypothesize that the keyimage method is more effective than rote learning and that peer-generated keyimages are more effective than researcher- or teacher-generated keyimages, which are more effective than learner-generated ones. In Dr. Andrew Cohen's plenary presentation at the Hawaii TESOL 2007 conference, he mentioned that more case studies are needed on learning strategies (LSs. One reason to study LSs is that what learners do with input to produce output is unclear, and knowing what strategies learners use may help us understand that process (Dornyei, 2005, p. 170. Hopefully, we can use that knowledge to improve language learning, perhaps by teaching learners to use the strategies that we find. With that in mind, I have examined the LSs that I used in studying Khmer as a foreign language, focusing on learning the syllabic alphabet.

  17. Sound propagation in cities

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Salomons, E.; Polinder, H.; Lohman, W.; Zhou, H.; Borst, H.

    2009-01-01

    A new engineering model for sound propagation in cities is presented. The model is based on numerical and experimental studies of sound propagation between street canyons. Multiple reflections in the source canyon and the receiver canyon are taken into account in an efficient way, while weak

  18. [Study of biometric identification of heart sound base on Mel-Frequency cepstrum coefficient].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Wei; Zhao, Yihua; Lei, Sheng; Zhao, Zikai; Pan, Min

    2012-12-01

    Heart sound is a physiological parameter with individual characteristics generated by heart beat. To do the individual classification and recognition, in this paper, we present our study of using wavelet transform in the signal denoising, with the Mel-Frequency cepstrum coefficients (MFCC) as the feature parameters, and propose a research of reducing the dimensionality through principal components analysis (PCA). We have done the preliminary study to test the feasibility of biometric identification method using heart sound. The results showed that under the selected experimental conditions, the system could reach a 90% recognition rate. This study can provide a reference for further research.

  19. Estudo comparativo da resistência à fratura de pré-molares superiores íntegros e restaurados com amálgama aderido Comparative study of the fracture resistance of sound upper premolars and upper premolars restored with bonded amalgam

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    André Marcelo Peruchi Minto

    2002-06-01

    Full Text Available No presente estudo avaliou-se, in vitro, a resistência à fratura de pré-molares superiores preparados com cavidades de classe II compostas (conservadoras e extensas restauradas com amálgama aderido a dois tipos diferentes de sistemas adesivos. Setenta dentes foram divididos em 4 grupos: grupo 1 ou controle com 10 dentes íntegros; grupo 2 com 20 dentes, sendo 10 cavidades conservadoras e 10 extensas restauradas com amálgama sem qualquer tipo de forramento. O grupo 3 e o grupo 4 foram compostos da mesma forma que o grupo 2, sendo que o primeiro recebeu cimento de ionômero de vidro (Vitrebond - 3M e o segundo, adesivo dental (Scotchbond Multi-Purpose Plus - 3M, antes de serem restaurados. Os dentes haviam sido incluídos anteriormente em cilindros de PVC e fixados com resina acrílica. Após serem restaurados e termociclados, foram submetidos à fratura por força de compressão em uma máquina universal de testes EMIC-MEM 2000. Após análise de variância e aplicação do teste complementar de Tukey, concluiu-se que os sistemas adesivos utilizados condicionaram o aumento da resistência à fratura da estrutura dental nas cavidades convencionais, sendo os dentes com cavidades conservadoras mais resistentes em qualquer condição experimental.The purpose of this in vitro study was to determine the fracture resistance of upper premolars which had received class II preparations (conservative and extensive and were restored with bonded amalgam, with two different adhesive systems. Seventy teeth were divided in four groups: group 1 (control, with ten sound teeth; group 2, with twenty prepared teeth (10 teeth received conservative cavities and 10, extensive cavities restored with amalgam without any kind of liner; groups 3 and 4, similar to group 2, though with linings of glass ionomer cement (Vitrebond - 3M (group 3 and dental adhesive (Scotchbond Multi-Purpose Plus - 3M (group 4. The teeth were previously fixed in PVC cylinders with acrylic

  20. Phonemic versus allophonic status modulates early brain responses to language sounds: an MEG/ERF study

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nielsen, Andreas Højlund; Gebauer, Line; Mcgregor, William

    allophonic sound contrasts. So far this has only been attested between languages. In the present study we wished to investigate this effect within the same language: Does the same sound contrast that is phonemic in one environment, but allophonic in another, elicit different MMNm responses in native...... ‘that’). This allowed us to manipulate the phonemic/allophonic status of exactly the same sound contrast (/t/-/d/) by presenting it in different immediate phonetic contexts (preceding a vowel (CV) versus following a vowel (VC)), in order to investigate the auditory event-related fields of native Danish...... listeners to a sound contrast that is both phonemic and allophonic within Danish. Methods: Relevant syllables were recorded by a male native Danish speaker. The stimuli were then created by cross-splicing the sounds so that the same vowel [æ] was used for all syllables, and the same [t] and [d] were used...

  1. Development of Prediction Tool for Sound Absorption and Sound Insulation for Sound Proof Properties

    OpenAIRE

    Yoshio Kurosawa; Takao Yamaguchi

    2015-01-01

    High frequency automotive interior noise above 500 Hz considerably affects automotive passenger comfort. To reduce this noise, sound insulation material is often laminated on body panels or interior trim panels. For a more effective noise reduction, the sound reduction properties of this laminated structure need to be estimated. We have developed a new calculate tool that can roughly calculate the sound absorption and insulation properties of laminate structure and handy ...

  2. The influence of environmental sound training on the perception of spectrally degraded speech and environmental sounds.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shafiro, Valeriy; Sheft, Stanley; Gygi, Brian; Ho, Kim Thien N

    2012-06-01

    Perceptual training with spectrally degraded environmental sounds results in improved environmental sound identification, with benefits shown to extend to untrained speech perception as well. The present study extended those findings to examine longer-term training effects as well as effects of mere repeated exposure to sounds over time. Participants received two pretests (1 week apart) prior to a week-long environmental sound training regimen, which was followed by two posttest sessions, separated by another week without training. Spectrally degraded stimuli, processed with a four-channel vocoder, consisted of a 160-item environmental sound test, word and sentence tests, and a battery of basic auditory abilities and cognitive tests. Results indicated significant improvements in all speech and environmental sound scores between the initial pretest and the last posttest with performance increments following both exposure and training. For environmental sounds (the stimulus class that was trained), the magnitude of positive change that accompanied training was much greater than that due to exposure alone, with improvement for untrained sounds roughly comparable to the speech benefit from exposure. Additional tests of auditory and cognitive abilities showed that speech and environmental sound performance were differentially correlated with tests of spectral and temporal-fine-structure processing, whereas working memory and executive function were correlated with speech, but not environmental sound perception. These findings indicate generalizability of environmental sound training and provide a basis for implementing environmental sound training programs for cochlear implant (CI) patients.

  3. Parameterizing Sound: Design Considerations for an Environmental Sound Database

    Science.gov (United States)

    2015-04-01

    associated with, or produced by, a physical event or human activity and 2) sound sources that are common in the environment. Reproductions or sound...Rogers S. Confrontation naming of environmental sounds. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology . 2000;22(6):830–864. 14 VanDerveer NJ

  4. Stage separation study of Nike-Black Brant V Sounding Rocket System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ferragut, N. J.

    1976-01-01

    A new Sounding Rocket System has been developed. It consists of a Nike Booster and a Black Brant V Sustainer with slanted fins which extend beyond its nozzle exit plane. A cursory look was taken at different factors which must be considered when studying a passive separation system. That is, one separation system without mechanical constraints in the axial direction and which will allow separation due to drag differential accelerations between the Booster and the Sustainer. The equations of motion were derived for rigid body motions and exact solutions were obtained. The analysis developed could be applied to any other staging problem of a Sounding Rocket System.

  5. Making fictions sound real - On film sound, perceptual realism and genre

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Birger Langkjær

    2010-05-01

    Full Text Available This article examines the role that sound plays in making fictions perceptually real to film audiences, whether these fictions are realist or non-realist in content and narrative form. I will argue that some aspects of film sound practices and the kind of experiences they trigger are related to basic rules of human perception, whereas others are more properly explained in relation to how aesthetic devices, including sound, are used to characterise the fiction and thereby make it perceptually real to its audience. Finally, I will argue that not all genres can be defined by a simple taxonomy of sounds. Apart from an account of the kinds of sounds that typically appear in a specific genre, a genre analysis of sound may also benefit from a functionalist approach that focuses on how sounds can make both realist and non-realist aspects of genres sound real to audiences.

  6. Making fictions sound real - On film sound, perceptual realism and genre

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Birger Langkjær

    2009-09-01

    Full Text Available This article examines the role that sound plays in making fictions perceptually real to film audiences, whether these fictions are realist or non-realist in content and narrative form. I will argue that some aspects of film sound practices and the kind of experiences they trigger are related to basic rules of human perception, whereas others are more properly explained in relation to how aesthetic devices, including sound, are used to characterise the fiction and thereby make it perceptually real to its audience. Finally, I will argue that not all genres can be defined by a simple taxonomy of sounds. Apart from an account of the kinds of sounds that typically appear in a specific genre, a genre analysis of sound may also benefit from a functionalist approach that focuses on how sounds can make both realist and non-realist aspects of genres sound real to audiences.

  7. Electromagnetic SAMPO monitoring soundings at Olkiluoto 2011 with updated interpretations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Korhonen, K.

    2013-11-01

    The Geological Survey of Finland (GTK) has carried out electromagnetic depth soundings annually at fixed stations in Olkiluoto since 2004 as part of a monitoring programme. The goal of the programme is to detect and monitor changes in the electrical properties of the bedrock above and in the vicinity of the underground nuclear waste disposal facility. A new Sampo monitoring survey was carried out during September-October 2011. The survey resulted in 39 soundings at 17 measurement stations. The nominal coil separations of 200, 400, 500, 600 and 800 meters were used. Eight stations were selected for detailed annual layer-model interpretation. The layer models were based on prior geological and geophysical knowledge of the area. The thicknesses of the layer-model layers were kept fixed whereas their resistivities were solved for each subsequent year independent of each other. Many time series indicate clear trends in electrical resistivity. However, even though the data was carefully corrected and edited, the time series display a fairly large amount of variability increasing the uncertainty of the calculated trends. (orig.)

  8. Sound Absorbers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fuchs, H. V.; Möser, M.

    Sound absorption indicates the transformation of sound energy into heat. It is, for instance, employed to design the acoustics in rooms. The noise emitted by machinery and plants shall be reduced before arriving at a workplace; auditoria such as lecture rooms or concert halls require a certain reverberation time. Such design goals are realised by installing absorbing components at the walls with well-defined absorption characteristics, which are adjusted for corresponding demands. Sound absorbers also play an important role in acoustic capsules, ducts and screens to avoid sound immission from noise intensive environments into the neighbourhood.

  9. Vocal Imitations of Non-Vocal Sounds

    Science.gov (United States)

    Houix, Olivier; Voisin, Frédéric; Misdariis, Nicolas; Susini, Patrick

    2016-01-01

    Imitative behaviors are widespread in humans, in particular whenever two persons communicate and interact. Several tokens of spoken languages (onomatopoeias, ideophones, and phonesthemes) also display different degrees of iconicity between the sound of a word and what it refers to. Thus, it probably comes at no surprise that human speakers use a lot of imitative vocalizations and gestures when they communicate about sounds, as sounds are notably difficult to describe. What is more surprising is that vocal imitations of non-vocal everyday sounds (e.g. the sound of a car passing by) are in practice very effective: listeners identify sounds better with vocal imitations than with verbal descriptions, despite the fact that vocal imitations are inaccurate reproductions of a sound created by a particular mechanical system (e.g. a car driving by) through a different system (the voice apparatus). The present study investigated the semantic representations evoked by vocal imitations of sounds by experimentally quantifying how well listeners could match sounds to category labels. The experiment used three different types of sounds: recordings of easily identifiable sounds (sounds of human actions and manufactured products), human vocal imitations, and computational “auditory sketches” (created by algorithmic computations). The results show that performance with the best vocal imitations was similar to the best auditory sketches for most categories of sounds, and even to the referent sounds themselves in some cases. More detailed analyses showed that the acoustic distance between a vocal imitation and a referent sound is not sufficient to account for such performance. Analyses suggested that instead of trying to reproduce the referent sound as accurately as vocally possible, vocal imitations focus on a few important features, which depend on each particular sound category. These results offer perspectives for understanding how human listeners store and access long

  10. The influence of ski helmets on sound perception and sound localisation on the ski slope

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lana Ružić

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available Objectives: The aim of the study was to investigate whether a ski helmet interferes with the sound localization and the time of sound perception in the frontal plane. Material and Methods: Twenty-three participants (age 30.7±10.2 were tested on the slope in 2 conditions, with and without wearing the ski helmet, by 6 different spatially distributed sound stimuli per each condition. Each of the subjects had to react when hearing the sound as soon as possible and to signalize the correct side of the sound arrival. Results: The results showed a significant difference in the ability to localize the specific ski sounds; 72.5±15.6% of correct answers without a helmet vs. 61.3±16.2% with a helmet (p < 0.01. However, the performance on this test did not depend on whether they were used to wearing a helmet (p = 0.89. In identifying the timing, at which the sound was firstly perceived, the results were also in favor of the subjects not wearing a helmet. The subjects reported hearing the ski sound clues at 73.4±5.56 m without a helmet vs. 60.29±6.34 m with a helmet (p < 0.001. In that case the results did depend on previously used helmets (p < 0.05, meaning that that regular usage of helmets might help to diminish the attenuation of the sound identification that occurs because of the helmets. Conclusions: Ski helmets might limit the ability of a skier to localize the direction of the sounds of danger and might interfere with the moment, in which the sound is firstly heard.

  11. Design of UAV-Embedded Microphone Array System for Sound Source Localization in Outdoor Environments

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kotaro Hoshiba

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available In search and rescue activities, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV should exploit sound information to compensate for poor visual information. This paper describes the design and implementation of a UAV-embedded microphone array system for sound source localization in outdoor environments. Four critical development problems included water-resistance of the microphone array, efficiency in assembling, reliability of wireless communication, and sufficiency of visualization tools for operators. To solve these problems, we developed a spherical microphone array system (SMAS consisting of a microphone array, a stable wireless network communication system, and intuitive visualization tools. The performance of SMAS was evaluated with simulated data and a demonstration in the field. Results confirmed that the SMAS provides highly accurate localization, water resistance, prompt assembly, stable wireless communication, and intuitive information for observers and operators.

  12. Design of UAV-Embedded Microphone Array System for Sound Source Localization in Outdoor Environments.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hoshiba, Kotaro; Washizaki, Kai; Wakabayashi, Mizuho; Ishiki, Takahiro; Kumon, Makoto; Bando, Yoshiaki; Gabriel, Daniel; Nakadai, Kazuhiro; Okuno, Hiroshi G

    2017-11-03

    In search and rescue activities, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) should exploit sound information to compensate for poor visual information. This paper describes the design and implementation of a UAV-embedded microphone array system for sound source localization in outdoor environments. Four critical development problems included water-resistance of the microphone array, efficiency in assembling, reliability of wireless communication, and sufficiency of visualization tools for operators. To solve these problems, we developed a spherical microphone array system (SMAS) consisting of a microphone array, a stable wireless network communication system, and intuitive visualization tools. The performance of SMAS was evaluated with simulated data and a demonstration in the field. Results confirmed that the SMAS provides highly accurate localization, water resistance, prompt assembly, stable wireless communication, and intuitive information for observers and operators.

  13. A study on heat resistance of high temperature resistant coating

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zhang, Liping; Wang, Xueying; Zhang, Qibin; Qin, Yanlong; Lin, Zhu [Research Institute of Engineering Technology of CNPC, Tianjin (China)

    2005-04-15

    A high temperature resistant coating has been developed, which is mainly for heavy oil production pipes deserved the serious corrosion. The coating has excellent physical and mechanical performance and corrosion resistance at room and high temperature. In order to simulate the underground working condition of heavy oil pipes,the heat resistance of the high temperature resistant coating has been studied. The development and a study on the heat resistance of the DHT high temperature resistance coating have been introduced in this paper

  14. A study on heat resistance of high temperature resistant coating

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang, Liping; Wang, Xueying; Zhang, Qibin; Qin, Yanlong; Lin, Zhu

    2005-01-01

    A high temperature resistant coating has been developed, which is mainly for heavy oil production pipes deserved the serious corrosion. The coating has excellent physical and mechanical performance and corrosion resistance at room and high temperature. In order to simulate the underground working condition of heavy oil pipes,the heat resistance of the high temperature resistant coating has been studied. The development and a study on the heat resistance of the DHT high temperature resistance coating have been introduced in this paper

  15. A Lexical Analysis of Environmental Sound Categories

    Science.gov (United States)

    Houix, Olivier; Lemaitre, Guillaume; Misdariis, Nicolas; Susini, Patrick; Urdapilleta, Isabel

    2012-01-01

    In this article we report on listener categorization of meaningful environmental sounds. A starting point for this study was the phenomenological taxonomy proposed by Gaver (1993b). In the first experimental study, 15 participants classified 60 environmental sounds and indicated the properties shared by the sounds in each class. In a second…

  16. Sound-Symbolism Boosts Novel Word Learning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lockwood, Gwilym; Dingemanse, Mark; Hagoort, Peter

    2016-01-01

    The existence of sound-symbolism (or a non-arbitrary link between form and meaning) is well-attested. However, sound-symbolism has mostly been investigated with nonwords in forced choice tasks, neither of which are representative of natural language. This study uses ideophones, which are naturally occurring sound-symbolic words that depict sensory…

  17. Making Sound Connections

    Science.gov (United States)

    Deal, Walter F., III

    2007-01-01

    Sound provides and offers amazing insights into the world. Sound waves may be defined as mechanical energy that moves through air or other medium as a longitudinal wave and consists of pressure fluctuations. Humans and animals alike use sound as a means of communication and a tool for survival. Mammals, such as bats, use ultrasonic sound waves to…

  18. Medical education of attention: A qualitative study of learning to listen to sound.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harris, Anna; Flynn, Eleanor

    2017-01-01

    There has been little qualitative research examining how physical examination skills are learned, particularly the sensory and subjective aspects of learning. The authors set out to study how medical students are taught and learn the skills of listening to sound. As part of an ethnographic study in Melbourne, 15 semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with students and teachers as a way to reflect explicitly on their learning and teaching. From these interviews, we found that learning the skills of listening to lung sounds was frequently difficult for students, with many experiencing awkwardness, uncertainty, pressure, and intimidation. However not everyone found this process difficult. Often those who had studied music reported finding it easier to be attentive to the frequency and rhythm of body sounds and find ways to describe them. By incorporating, distinctively in medical education, theoretical insights into "attentiveness" from anthropology and science and technology studies, the article suggests that musical education provides medical students with skills in sensory awareness. Training the senses is a critical aspect of diagnosis that needs to be better addressed in medical education. Practical approaches for improving students' education of attention are proposed.

  19. Third sound resonance studies of 3He-4He mixture films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Heinrichs, R.M.

    1985-01-01

    Third sound velocity and dissipation measurements were performed on 3 He- 4 He mixture films of 3.6 and 5.3 layers 4 He and up to 3 added layers 3 He in the temperature range 0.05-0.3 K using third sound resonance techniques. The 3 He concentration dependence of the velocity was in excellent agreement with a simple layered film model down to the lowest concentrations studied. At the higher 3 He concentrations, the velocity began to deviate from the model, rising above it. The concentration dependence of the dissipation showed some unique structure with a maximum at 0.3-0.5 layers added 3 He for both 4 He coverages. The third sound velocity in the low concentration mixture films had very little temperature dependence in the range studied. The dissipation, however, had some definite temperature dependent structure that evolved with concentration. This evolution was most pronounced at concentrations near the dissipation maximum and eventually became exponential at the higher coverages. Fitting these exponentials produced estimates of the difference in binding energy for the 3 He states in and on the film. In this higher 3 He concentration regime, a temperature dependence of the velocity was observed that began as a small peak at about 0.15 K and eventually became a step at the highest concentrations studied. The exponential nature of the dissipation became clouded when the velocity evolved into this last behavior

  20. Mobile sound: media art in hybrid spaces

    OpenAIRE

    Behrendt, Frauke

    2010-01-01

    The thesis explores the relationships between sound and mobility through an examination\\ud of sound art. The research engages with the intersection of sound, mobility and\\ud art through original empirical work and theoretically through a critical engagement with\\ud sound studies. In dialogue with the work of De Certeau, Lefebvre, Huhtamo and Habermas\\ud in terms of the poetics of walking, rhythms, media archeology and questions of\\ud publicness, I understand sound art as an experimental mobil...

  1. Using tensorial electrical resistivity survey to locate fault systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Monteiro Santos, Fernando A; Plancha, João P; Marques, Jorge; Perea, Hector; Cabral, João; Massoud, Usama

    2009-01-01

    This paper deals with the use of the tensorial resistivity method for fault orientation and macroanisotropy characterization. The rotational properties of the apparent resistivity tensor are presented using 3D synthetic models representing structures with a dominant direction of low resistivity and vertical discontinuities. It is demonstrated that polar diagrams of the elements of the tensor are effective in delineating those structures. As the apparent resistivity tensor shows great inefficacy in investigating the depth of the structures, it is advised to accomplish tensorial surveys with the application of other geophysical methods. An experimental example, including tensorial, dipole–dipole and time domain surveys, is presented to illustrate the potentiality of the method. The dipole–dipole model shows high-resistivity contrasts which were interpreted as corresponding to faults crossing the area. The results from the time domain electromagnetic (TEM) sounding show high-resistivity values till depths of 40–60 m at the north part of the area. In the southern part of the survey area the soundings show an upper layer with low-resistivity values (around 30 Ω m) followed by a more resistive bedrock (resistivity >100 Ω m) at a depth ranging from 15 to 30 m. The soundings in the central part of the survey area show more variability. A thin conductive overburden is followed by a more resistive layer with resistivity in the range of 80–1800 Ω m. The north and south limits of the central part of the area as revealed by TEM survey are roughly E–W oriented and coincident with the north fault scarp and the southernmost fault detected by the dipole–dipole survey. The pattern of the polar diagrams calculated from tensorial resistivity data clearly indicates the presence of a contact between two blocks at south of the survey area with the low-resistivity block located southwards. The presence of other two faults is not so clear from the polar diagram patterns, but

  2. Abnormal sound detection device

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yamada, Izumi; Matsui, Yuji.

    1995-01-01

    Only components synchronized with rotation of pumps are sampled from detected acoustic sounds, to judge the presence or absence of abnormality based on the magnitude of the synchronized components. A synchronized component sampling means can remove resonance sounds and other acoustic sounds generated at a synchronously with the rotation based on the knowledge that generated acoustic components in a normal state are a sort of resonance sounds and are not precisely synchronized with the number of rotation. On the other hand, abnormal sounds of a rotating body are often caused by compulsory force accompanying the rotation as a generation source, and the abnormal sounds can be detected by extracting only the rotation-synchronized components. Since components of normal acoustic sounds generated at present are discriminated from the detected sounds, reduction of the abnormal sounds due to a signal processing can be avoided and, as a result, abnormal sound detection sensitivity can be improved. Further, since it is adapted to discriminate the occurrence of the abnormal sound from the actually detected sounds, the other frequency components which are forecast but not generated actually are not removed, so that it is further effective for the improvement of detection sensitivity. (N.H.)

  3. Sounds of Web Advertising

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jessen, Iben Bredahl; Graakjær, Nicolai Jørgensgaard

    2010-01-01

    Sound seems to be a neglected issue in the study of web ads. Web advertising is predominantly regarded as visual phenomena–commercial messages, as for instance banner ads that we watch, read, and eventually click on–but only rarely as something that we listen to. The present chapter presents...... an overview of the auditory dimensions in web advertising: Which kinds of sounds do we hear in web ads? What are the conditions and functions of sound in web ads? Moreover, the chapter proposes a theoretical framework in order to analyse the communicative functions of sound in web advertising. The main...... argument is that an understanding of the auditory dimensions in web advertising must include a reflection on the hypertextual settings of the web ad as well as a perspective on how users engage with web content....

  4. Sound radiation modes of cylindrical surfaces and their application to vibro-acoustics analysis of cylindrical shells

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sun, Yao; Yang, Tiejun; Chen, Yuehua

    2018-06-01

    In this paper, sound radiation modes of baffled cylinders have been derived by constructing the radiation resistance matrix analytically. By examining the characteristics of sound radiation modes, it is found that radiation coefficient of each radiation mode increases gradually with the increase of frequency while modal shapes of sound radiation modes of cylindrical shells show a weak dependence upon frequency. Based on understandings on sound radiation modes, vibro-acoustics behaviors of cylindrical shells have been analyzed. The vibration responses of cylindrical shells are described by modified Fourier series expansions and solved by Rayleigh-Ritz method involving Flügge shell theory. Then radiation efficiency of a resonance has been determined by examining whether the vibration pattern is in correspondence with a sound radiation mode possessing great radiation efficiency. Furthermore, effects of thickness and boundary conditions on sound radiation of cylindrical shells have been investigated. It is found that radiation efficiency of thicker shells is greater than thinner shells while shells with a clamped boundary constraint radiate sound more efficiently than simply supported shells under thin shell assumption.

  5. Effects of selective attention on the electrophysiological representation of concurrent sounds in the human auditory cortex.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bidet-Caulet, Aurélie; Fischer, Catherine; Besle, Julien; Aguera, Pierre-Emmanuel; Giard, Marie-Helene; Bertrand, Olivier

    2007-08-29

    In noisy environments, we use auditory selective attention to actively ignore distracting sounds and select relevant information, as during a cocktail party to follow one particular conversation. The present electrophysiological study aims at deciphering the spatiotemporal organization of the effect of selective attention on the representation of concurrent sounds in the human auditory cortex. Sound onset asynchrony was manipulated to induce the segregation of two concurrent auditory streams. Each stream consisted of amplitude modulated tones at different carrier and modulation frequencies. Electrophysiological recordings were performed in epileptic patients with pharmacologically resistant partial epilepsy, implanted with depth electrodes in the temporal cortex. Patients were presented with the stimuli while they either performed an auditory distracting task or actively selected one of the two concurrent streams. Selective attention was found to affect steady-state responses in the primary auditory cortex, and transient and sustained evoked responses in secondary auditory areas. The results provide new insights on the neural mechanisms of auditory selective attention: stream selection during sound rivalry would be facilitated not only by enhancing the neural representation of relevant sounds, but also by reducing the representation of irrelevant information in the auditory cortex. Finally, they suggest a specialization of the left hemisphere in the attentional selection of fine-grained acoustic information.

  6. Preparation and Sound Absorption Properties of a Barium Titanate/Nitrile Butadiene Rubber–Polyurethane Foam Composite with Multilayered Structure

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jiang, Xueliang; Yang, Zhen; Wang, Zhijie; Zhang, Fuqing; You, Feng

    2018-01-01

    Barium titanate/nitrile butadiene rubber (BT/NBR) and polyurethane (PU) foam were combined to prepare a sound-absorbing material with an alternating multilayered structure. The effects of the cell size of PU foam and the alternating unit number on the sound absorption property of the material were investigated. The results show that the sound absorption efficiency at a low frequency increased when decreasing the cell size of PU foam layer. With the increasing of the alternating unit number, the material shows the sound absorption effect in a wider bandwidth of frequency. The BT/NBR-PU foam composites with alternating multilayered structure have an excellent sound absorption property at low frequency due to the organic combination of airflow resistivity, resonance absorption, and interface dissipation. PMID:29565321

  7. Preparation and Sound Absorption Properties of a Barium Titanate/Nitrile Butadiene Rubber–Polyurethane Foam Composite with Multilayered Structure

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xueliang Jiang

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available Barium titanate/nitrile butadiene rubber (BT/NBR and polyurethane (PU foam were combined to prepare a sound-absorbing material with an alternating multilayered structure. The effects of the cell size of PU foam and the alternating unit number on the sound absorption property of the material were investigated. The results show that the sound absorption efficiency at a low frequency increased when decreasing the cell size of PU foam layer. With the increasing of the alternating unit number, the material shows the sound absorption effect in a wider bandwidth of frequency. The BT/NBR-PU foam composites with alternating multilayered structure have an excellent sound absorption property at low frequency due to the organic combination of airflow resistivity, resonance absorption, and interface dissipation.

  8. Preparation and Sound Absorption Properties of a Barium Titanate/Nitrile Butadiene Rubber-Polyurethane Foam Composite with Multilayered Structure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jiang, Xueliang; Yang, Zhen; Wang, Zhijie; Zhang, Fuqing; You, Feng; Yao, Chu

    2018-03-22

    Barium titanate/nitrile butadiene rubber (BT/NBR) and polyurethane (PU) foam were combined to prepare a sound-absorbing material with an alternating multilayered structure. The effects of the cell size of PU foam and the alternating unit number on the sound absorption property of the material were investigated. The results show that the sound absorption efficiency at a low frequency increased when decreasing the cell size of PU foam layer. With the increasing of the alternating unit number, the material shows the sound absorption effect in a wider bandwidth of frequency. The BT/NBR-PU foam composites with alternating multilayered structure have an excellent sound absorption property at low frequency due to the organic combination of airflow resistivity, resonance absorption, and interface dissipation.

  9. Sound Search Engine Concept

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    2006-01-01

    Sound search is provided by the major search engines, however, indexing is text based, not sound based. We will establish a dedicated sound search services with based on sound feature indexing. The current demo shows the concept of the sound search engine. The first engine will be realased June...

  10. Unsound Sound

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Knakkergaard, Martin

    2016-01-01

    This article discusses the change in premise that digitally produced sound brings about and how digital technologies more generally have changed our relationship to the musical artifact, not simply in degree but in kind. It demonstrates how our acoustical conceptions are thoroughly challenged...... by the digital production of sound and, by questioning the ontological basis for digital sound, turns our understanding of the core term substance upside down....

  11. Neural Correlates of Phonological Processing in Speech Sound Disorder: A Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tkach, Jean A.; Chen, Xu; Freebairn, Lisa A.; Schmithorst, Vincent J.; Holland, Scott K.; Lewis, Barbara A.

    2011-01-01

    Speech sound disorders (SSD) are the largest group of communication disorders observed in children. One explanation for these disorders is that children with SSD fail to form stable phonological representations when acquiring the speech sound system of their language due to poor phonological memory (PM). The goal of this study was to examine PM in…

  12. Electrical Resistivity Imaging for environmental applications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Leite, O.; Bernard, J.; Vermeersch, F.

    2007-01-01

    For a few years, the evolution of measuring equipment and of interpretation software have permitted to develop a new electrical resistivity technique called resistivity imaging where the equipment, which includes a large number of electrodes located along a line at the same time, carries out an automatic switching of these electrodes for acquiring profiling data. The apparent resistivity pseudo sections measured with such a technique are processed by an inversion software which gives interpreted resistivity and depth values for the anomalies detected along the profile. The multi-electrode resistivity technique consists in using a multi-core cable with as many conductors (24, 48, 72, 96) as electrodes plugged into the ground at a fixed spacing, every 5m for instance. In the resistivitymeter itself are located the relays which ensure the switching of those electrodes according to a sequence of readings predefined and stored in the internal memory of the equipment. The various combinations of transmitting (A,B) and receiving (M,N) pairs of electrodes construct the mixed sounding / profiling section, with a maximum investigation depth which mainly depends on the total length of the cable. The 2D resistivity images obtained with such a multi-electrode technique are used for studying the shallow stuctures of the underground located a few tens of metres down to about one hundred metres depth; these images supply an information which complements the one obtained with the more traditionnal Vertical Electrical Sounding (VES) technique, which mainly aims at determining the depths of horizontal 1D structures from the surface down to several hundreds metres depths. Several examples are presented for various types of applications: groundwater (intrusion of salt water in fresh water), geotechnics (detection of a fault in a granitic area), environment (delineation of a waste disposal area) and archaeology (discovery of an ancient tomb)

  13. Problems in nonlinear acoustics: Pulsed finite amplitude sound beams, nonlinear acoustic wave propagation in a liquid layer, nonlinear effects in asymmetric cylindrical sound beams, effects of absorption on the interaction of sound beams, and parametric receiving arrays

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hamilton, Mark F.

    1990-12-01

    This report discusses five projects all of which involve basic theoretical research in nonlinear acoustics: (1) pulsed finite amplitude sound beams are studied with a recently developed time domain computer algorithm that solves the KZK nonlinear parabolic wave equation; (2) nonlinear acoustic wave propagation in a liquid layer is a study of harmonic generation and acoustic soliton information in a liquid between a rigid and a free surface; (3) nonlinear effects in asymmetric cylindrical sound beams is a study of source asymmetries and scattering of sound by sound at high intensity; (4) effects of absorption on the interaction of sound beams is a completed study of the role of absorption in second harmonic generation and scattering of sound by sound; and (5) parametric receiving arrays is a completed study of parametric reception in a reverberant environment.

  14. Sound Art and Spatial Practices: Situating Sound Installation Art Since 1958

    OpenAIRE

    Ouzounian, Gascia

    2008-01-01

    This dissertation examines the emergence and development ofsound installation art, an under-recognized tradition that hasdeveloped between music, architecture, and media art practicessince the late 1950s. Unlike many musical works, which are concernedwith organizing sounds in time, sound installations organize sounds inspace; they thus necessitate new theoretical and analytical modelsthat take into consideration the spatial situated-ness of sound. Existingdiscourses on “spatial sound” privile...

  15. Evaluative conditioning induces changes in sound valence

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anna C. Bolders

    2012-04-01

    Full Text Available Evaluative Conditioning (EC has hardly been tested in the auditory domain, but it is a potentially valuable research tool. In Experiment 1 we investigated whether the affective evaluation of short environmental sounds can be changed using affective words as unconditioned stimuli (US. Congruence effects on an affective priming task (APT for conditioned sounds demonstrated successful EC. Subjective ratings for sounds paired with negative words changed accordingly. In Experiment 2 we investigated whether the acquired valence remains stable after repeated presentation of the conditioned sound without the US or whether extinction occurs. The acquired affective value remained present, albeit weaker, even after 40 extinction trials. These results warrant the use of EC to study processing of short environmental sounds with acquired valence, even if this requires repeated stimulus presentations. This paves the way for studying processing of affective environmental sounds while effectively controlling low level-stimulus properties.

  16. Development of leak detection system using high temperature-resistant microphones

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Morishita, Yoshitsugu; Mochizuki, Hiroyasu; Watanabe, Kenshiu; Nakamura, Takahisa; Nakazima, Yoshiaki; Yamauchi, Tatsuya

    1995-01-01

    This report describes the development and testing of a coolant leak detection system for an inlet feeder pipe of an advanced thermal reactor (ATR) using high temperature-resistant microphones. Such microphones must be resistant to both high temperatures and high radiation doses. Leakage sound characteristics, attenuation of the sound level in a heat insulating box for the inlet feeder pipes, and background noise were investigated using the experimental facility and the prototype ATR 'FUGEN'. The optimum frequency ranges for the microphone were then determined based on the observed leakage sound and background noise. The ability of the microphone to discriminate between leaks and other burst-type noises was also investigated by statistical analyses. Finally, it was confirmed that the present method could detect a leak within a couple of seconds. (author)

  17. Electromagnetic SAMPO monitoring soundings at OLKILUOTO in 2012 with updated interpretations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Korhonen, K.

    2013-11-01

    The Geological Survey of Finland (GTK) has carried out electromagnetic depth soundings annually at fixed stations at Olkiluoto since 2004 as part of a monitoring programme. The goal of the programme is to detect and monitor changes in the electrical properties of the bedrock above and in the vicinity of the ONKALO tunnel which will serve as a part of the future underground nuclear waste disposal facility. A new Sampo monitoring survey was carried out during October 2012. The survey plan of 2011 was slightly modified and 36 soundings at 16 measurement stations were carried out. The nominal coil separations of 200, 400, 500, 600 and 800 meters were used. Interpretations at eight selected stations were updated with the new data. The interpretations indicate consistent statistically significant changes. Annual increases in resistivity were detected at stations to the East of ONKALO while annual decreases in resistivity were detected to the West of ONKALO. However, these changes need to be considered keeping in mind the high degree of uncertainty associated with the data and their interpretations. (orig.)

  18. Measurement of the resistivity of porous materials with an alternating air-flow method.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dragonetti, Raffaele; Ianniello, Carmine; Romano, Rosario A

    2011-02-01

    Air-flow resistivity is a main parameter governing the acoustic behavior of porous materials for sound absorption. The international standard ISO 9053 specifies two different methods to measure the air-flow resistivity, namely a steady-state air-flow method and an alternating air-flow method. The latter is realized by the measurement of the sound pressure at 2 Hz in a small rigid volume closed partially by the test sample. This cavity is excited with a known volume-velocity sound source implemented often with a motor-driven piston oscillating with prescribed area and displacement magnitude. Measurements at 2 Hz require special instrumentation and care. The authors suggest an alternating air-flow method based on the ratio of sound pressures measured at frequencies higher than 2 Hz inside two cavities coupled through a conventional loudspeaker. The basic method showed that the imaginary part of the sound pressure ratio is useful for the evaluation of the air-flow resistance. Criteria are discussed about the choice of a frequency range suitable to perform simplified calculations with respect to the basic method. These criteria depend on the sample thickness, its nonacoustic parameters, and the measurement apparatus as well. The proposed measurement method was tested successfully with various types of acoustic materials.

  19. A feasibility study of predictable and unpredictable surf-like sounds for tinnitus therapy using personal music players.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Durai, Mithila; Kobayashi, Kei; Searchfield, Grant D

    2018-05-28

    To evaluate the feasibility of predictable or unpredictable amplitude-modulated sounds for tinnitus therapy. The study consisted of two parts. (1) An adaptation experiment. Loudness level matches and rating scales (10-point) for loudness and distress were obtained at a silent baseline and at the end of three counterbalanced 30-min exposures (silence, predictable and unpredictable). (2) A qualitative 2-week sound therapy feasibility trial. Participants took home a personal music player (PMP). Part 1: 23 individuals with chronic tinnitus and part 2: seven individuals randomly selected from Part 1. Self-reported tinnitus loudness and annoyance were significantly lower than baseline ratings after acute unpredictable sound exposure. Tinnitus annoyance ratings were also significantly lower than the baseline but the effect was small. The feasibility trial identified that participant preferences for sounds varied. Three participants did not obtain any benefit from either sound. Three participants preferred unpredictable compared to predictable sounds. Some participants had difficulty using the PMP, the average self-report hours of use were low (less <1 h/day). Unpredictable surf-like sounds played using a PMP is a feasible tinnitus treatment. Further work is required to improve the acceptance of the sound and ease of PMP use.

  20. Design of UAV-Embedded Microphone Array System for Sound Source Localization in Outdoor Environments †

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hoshiba, Kotaro; Washizaki, Kai; Wakabayashi, Mizuho; Ishiki, Takahiro; Bando, Yoshiaki; Gabriel, Daniel; Nakadai, Kazuhiro; Okuno, Hiroshi G.

    2017-01-01

    In search and rescue activities, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) should exploit sound information to compensate for poor visual information. This paper describes the design and implementation of a UAV-embedded microphone array system for sound source localization in outdoor environments. Four critical development problems included water-resistance of the microphone array, efficiency in assembling, reliability of wireless communication, and sufficiency of visualization tools for operators. To solve these problems, we developed a spherical microphone array system (SMAS) consisting of a microphone array, a stable wireless network communication system, and intuitive visualization tools. The performance of SMAS was evaluated with simulated data and a demonstration in the field. Results confirmed that the SMAS provides highly accurate localization, water resistance, prompt assembly, stable wireless communication, and intuitive information for observers and operators. PMID:29099790

  1. Sound a very short introduction

    CERN Document Server

    Goldsmith, Mike

    2015-01-01

    Sound is integral to how we experience the world, in the form of noise as well as music. But what is sound? What is the physical basis of pitch and harmony? And how are sound waves exploited in musical instruments? Sound: A Very Short Introduction looks at the science of sound and the behaviour of sound waves with their different frequencies. It also explores sound in different contexts, covering the audible and inaudible, sound underground and underwater, acoustic and electronic sound, and hearing in humans and animals. It concludes with the problem of sound out of place—noise and its reduction.

  2. Interactively Evolving Compositional Sound Synthesis Networks

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jónsson, Björn Þór; Hoover, Amy K.; Risi, Sebastian

    2015-01-01

    the space of potential sounds that can be generated through such compositional sound synthesis networks (CSSNs). To study the effect of evolution on subjective appreciation, participants in a listener study ranked evolved timbres by personal preference, resulting in preferences skewed toward the first......While the success of electronic music often relies on the uniqueness and quality of selected timbres, many musicians struggle with complicated and expensive equipment and techniques to create their desired sounds. Instead, this paper presents a technique for producing novel timbres that are evolved...

  3. Electric structure of the Copahue Volcano (Neuquén Province, Argentina), from magnetotelluric soundings: 1D and 2D modellings

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mamaní, M. J.; Borzotta, E.; Venencia, J. E.; Maidana, A.; Moyano, C. E.; Castiglione, B.

    2000-05-01

    Four magnetotelluric soundings were carried out in 1993 in the region of the Copahue active volcano located at the border between Chile and Argentina (37°45'S, 71°18'W). Three soundings were located inside the caldera of the ancient stratovolcano (east of Copahue) and the fourth outside it. The soundings inside the caldera were situated at about 6, 11, and 14 km from the volcano. Digital data were obtained covering the range of periods from 1 sec to 10,000 sec using induction coils and a flux-gate magnetometer to obtain the magnetic data and Cu-SO 4Cu electrodes for electric field measurements. The apparent resistivity curves corresponding to principal directions were analyzed in conjunction with the geological background in order to eliminate distortion — which is very important in this hot volcanic region. Then, 1D modellings were performed using the "normal" curves — i.e., curves without distortions. Using the apparent resistivity curves with distortions, 2D modelling was also performed along a profile perpendicular to the regional tectonic trend suggested by MT soundings into the caldera. Results show low resistivity values of about 3-15 Ωm between 9 km to 20 km depth in the crust, suggesting high temperatures, with minimum values of about 700°C with partially melted zones in the upper crust between 9 km to 20 km depth under the caldera. The presence of a possible sulphide-carbonaceous layer (SC layer) in the upper basement could play an important role in lowering the electrical resistivities because of its high electronic conductivity.

  4. Electromagnetic sounding of the Earth's interior

    CERN Document Server

    Spichak, Viacheslav V

    2015-01-01

    Electromagnetic Sounding of the Earth's Interior 2nd edition provides a comprehensive up-to-date collection of contributions, covering methodological, computational and practical aspects of Electromagnetic sounding of the Earth by different techniques at global, regional and local scales. Moreover, it contains new developments such as the concept of self-consistent tasks of geophysics and , 3-D interpretation of the TEM sounding which, so far, have not all been covered by one book. Electromagnetic Sounding of the Earth's Interior 2nd edition consists of three parts: I- EM sounding methods, II- Forward modelling and inversion techniques, and III - Data processing, analysis, modelling and interpretation. The new edition includes brand new chapters on Pulse and frequency electromagnetic sounding for hydrocarbon offshore exploration. Additionally all other chapters have been extensively updated to include new developments. Presents recently developed methodological findings of the earth's study, including seism...

  5. By the sound of it. An ERP investigation of human action sound processing in 7-month-old infants

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Elena Geangu

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available Recent evidence suggests that human adults perceive human action sounds as a distinct category from human vocalizations, environmental, and mechanical sounds, activating different neural networks (Engel et al., 2009; Lewis et al., 2011. Yet, little is known about the development of such specialization. Using event-related potentials (ERP, this study investigated neural correlates of 7-month-olds’ processing of human action (HA sounds in comparison to human vocalizations (HV, environmental (ENV, and mechanical (MEC sounds. Relative to the other categories, HA sounds led to increased positive amplitudes between 470 and 570 ms post-stimulus onset at left anterior temporal locations, while HV led to increased negative amplitudes at the more posterior temporal locations in both hemispheres. Collectively, human produced sounds (HA + HV led to significantly different response profiles compared to non-living sound sources (ENV + MEC at parietal and frontal locations in both hemispheres. Overall, by 7 months of age human action sounds are being differentially processed in the brain, consistent with a dichotomy for processing living versus non-living things. This provides novel evidence regarding the typical categorical processing of socially relevant sounds.

  6. Non-Wovens as Sound Reducers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Belakova, D.; Seile, A.; Kukle, S.; Plamus, T.

    2018-04-01

    Within the present study, the effect of hemp (40 wt%) and polyactide (60 wt%), non-woven surface density, thickness and number of fibre web layers on the sound absorption coefficient and the sound transmission loss in the frequency range from 50 to 5000 Hz is analysed. The sound insulation properties of the experimental samples have been determined, compared to the ones in practical use, and the possible use of material has been defined. Non-woven materials are ideally suited for use in acoustic insulation products because the arrangement of fibres produces a porous material structure, which leads to a greater interaction between sound waves and fibre structure. Of all the tested samples (A, B and D), the non-woven variant B exceeded the surface density of sample A by 1.22 times and 1.15 times that of sample D. By placing non-wovens one above the other in 2 layers, it is possible to increase the absorption coefficient of the material, which depending on the frequency corresponds to C, D, and E sound absorption classes. Sample A demonstrates the best sound absorption of all the three samples in the frequency range from 250 to 2000 Hz. In the test frequency range from 50 to 5000 Hz, the sound transmission loss varies from 0.76 (Sample D at 63 Hz) to 3.90 (Sample B at 5000 Hz).

  7. What is Sound?

    OpenAIRE

    Nelson, Peter

    2014-01-01

    What is sound? This question is posed in contradiction to the every-day understanding that sound is a phenomenon apart from us, to be heard, made, shaped and organised. Thinking through the history of computer music, and considering the current configuration of digital communi-cations, sound is reconfigured as a type of network. This network is envisaged as non-hierarchical, in keeping with currents of thought that refuse to prioritise the human in the world. The relationship of sound to musi...

  8. Broadcast sound technology

    CERN Document Server

    Talbot-Smith, Michael

    1990-01-01

    Broadcast Sound Technology provides an explanation of the underlying principles of modern audio technology. Organized into 21 chapters, the book first describes the basic sound; behavior of sound waves; aspects of hearing, harming, and charming the ear; room acoustics; reverberation; microphones; phantom power; loudspeakers; basic stereo; and monitoring of audio signal. Subsequent chapters explore the processing of audio signal, sockets, sound desks, and digital audio. Analogue and digital tape recording and reproduction, as well as noise reduction, are also explained.

  9. Propagation of sound

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Wahlberg, Magnus; Larsen, Ole Næsbye

    2017-01-01

    properties can be modified by sound absorption, refraction, and interference from multi paths caused by reflections.The path from the source to the receiver may be bent due to refraction. Besides geometrical attenuation, the ground effect and turbulence are the most important mechanisms to influence...... communication sounds for airborne acoustics and bottom and surface effects for underwater sounds. Refraction becomes very important close to shadow zones. For echolocation signals, geometric attenuation and sound absorption have the largest effects on the signals....

  10. Making fictions sound real

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Langkjær, Birger

    2010-01-01

    This article examines the role that sound plays in making fictions perceptually real to film audiences, whether these fictions are realist or non-realist in content and narrative form. I will argue that some aspects of film sound practices and the kind of experiences they trigger are related...... to basic rules of human perception, whereas others are more properly explained in relation to how aesthetic devices, including sound, are used to characterise the fiction and thereby make it perceptually real to its audience. Finally, I will argue that not all genres can be defined by a simple taxonomy...... of sounds. Apart from an account of the kinds of sounds that typically appear in a specific genre, a genre analysis of sound may also benefit from a functionalist approach that focuses on how sounds can make both realist and non-realist aspects of genres sound real to audiences....

  11. Sound source measurement by using a passive sound insulation and a statistical approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dragonetti, Raffaele; Di Filippo, Sabato; Mercogliano, Francesco; Romano, Rosario A.

    2015-10-01

    This paper describes a measurement technique developed by the authors that allows carrying out acoustic measurements inside noisy environments reducing background noise effects. The proposed method is based on the integration of a traditional passive noise insulation system with a statistical approach. The latter is applied to signals picked up by usual sensors (microphones and accelerometers) equipping the passive sound insulation system. The statistical approach allows improving of the sound insulation given only by the passive sound insulation system at low frequency. The developed measurement technique has been validated by means of numerical simulations and measurements carried out inside a real noisy environment. For the case-studies here reported, an average improvement of about 10 dB has been obtained in a frequency range up to about 250 Hz. Considerations on the lower sound pressure level that can be measured by applying the proposed method and the measurement error related to its application are reported as well.

  12. Beacons of Sound

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Knakkergaard, Martin

    2018-01-01

    The chapter discusses expectations and imaginations vis-à-vis the concert hall of the twenty-first century. It outlines some of the central historical implications of western culture’s haven for sounding music. Based on the author’s study of the Icelandic concert-house Harpa, the chapter considers...... how these implications, together with the prime mover’s visions, have been transformed as private investors and politicians took over. The chapter furthermore investigates the objectives regarding musical sound and the far-reaching demands concerning acoustics that modern concert halls are required...

  13. Sound sensitivity of neurons in rat hippocampus during performance of a sound-guided task

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vinnik, Ekaterina; Honey, Christian; Schnupp, Jan; Diamond, Mathew E.

    2012-01-01

    To investigate how hippocampal neurons encode sound stimuli, and the conjunction of sound stimuli with the animal's position in space, we recorded from neurons in the CA1 region of hippocampus in rats while they performed a sound discrimination task. Four different sounds were used, two associated with water reward on the right side of the animal and the other two with water reward on the left side. This allowed us to separate neuronal activity related to sound identity from activity related to response direction. To test the effect of spatial context on sound coding, we trained rats to carry out the task on two identical testing platforms at different locations in the same room. Twenty-one percent of the recorded neurons exhibited sensitivity to sound identity, as quantified by the difference in firing rate for the two sounds associated with the same response direction. Sensitivity to sound identity was often observed on only one of the two testing platforms, indicating an effect of spatial context on sensory responses. Forty-three percent of the neurons were sensitive to response direction, and the probability that any one neuron was sensitive to response direction was statistically independent from its sensitivity to sound identity. There was no significant coding for sound identity when the rats heard the same sounds outside the behavioral task. These results suggest that CA1 neurons encode sound stimuli, but only when those sounds are associated with actions. PMID:22219030

  14. Effect of the three-dimensional microstructure on the sound absorption of foams: A parametric study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chevillotte, Fabien; Perrot, Camille

    2017-08-01

    The purpose of this work is to systematically study the effect of the throat and the pore sizes on the sound absorbing properties of open-cell foams. The three-dimensional idealized unit cell used in this work enables to mimic the acoustical macro-behavior of a large class of cellular solid foams. This study is carried out for a normal incidence and also for a diffuse field excitation, with a relatively large range of sample thicknesses. The transport and sound absorbing properties are numerically studied as a function of the throat size, the pore size, and the sample thickness. The resulting diagrams show the ranges of the specific throat sizes and pore sizes where the sound absorption grading is maximized due to the pore morphology as a function of the sample thickness, and how it correlates with the corresponding transport parameters. These charts demonstrate, together with typical examples, how the morphological characteristics of foam could be modified in order to increase the visco-thermal dissipation effects.

  15. Letter-sound processing deficits in children with developmental dyslexia: An ERP study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moll, Kristina; Hasko, Sandra; Groth, Katharina; Bartling, Jürgen; Schulte-Körne, Gerd

    2016-04-01

    The time course during letter-sound processing was investigated in children with developmental dyslexia (DD) and typically developing (TD) children using electroencephalography. Thirty-eight children with DD and 25 TD children participated in a visual-auditory oddball paradigm. Event-related potentials (ERPs) elicited by standard and deviant stimuli in an early (100-190 ms) and late (560-750 ms) time window were analysed. In the early time window, ERPs elicited by the deviant stimulus were delayed and less left lateralized over fronto-temporal electrodes for children with DD compared to TD children. In the late time window, children with DD showed higher amplitudes extending more over right frontal electrodes. Longer latencies in the early time window and stronger right hemispheric activation in the late time window were associated with slower reading and naming speed. Additionally, stronger right hemispheric activation in the late time window correlated with poorer phonological awareness skills. Deficits in early stages of letter-sound processing influence later more explicit cognitive processes during letter-sound processing. Identifying the neurophysiological correlates of letter-sound processing and their relation to reading related skills provides insight into the degree of automaticity during letter-sound processing beyond behavioural measures of letter-sound-knowledge. Copyright © 2016 International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  16. Memory for product sounds: the effect of sound and label type.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ozcan, Elif; van Egmond, René

    2007-11-01

    The (mnemonic) interactions between auditory, visual, and the semantic systems have been investigated using structurally complex auditory stimuli (i.e., product sounds). Six types of product sounds (air, alarm, cyclic, impact, liquid, mechanical) that vary in spectral-temporal structure were presented in four label type conditions: self-generated text, text, image, and pictogram. A memory paradigm that incorporated free recall, recognition, and matching tasks was employed. The results for the sound type suggest that the amount of spectral-temporal structure in a sound can be indicative for memory performance. Findings related to label type suggest that 'self' creates a strong bias for the retrieval and the recognition of sounds that were self-labeled; the density and the complexity of the visual information (i.e., pictograms) hinders the memory performance ('visual' overshadowing effect); and image labeling has an additive effect on the recall and matching tasks (dual coding). Thus, the findings suggest that the memory performances for product sounds are task-dependent.

  17. 33 CFR 167.1702 - In Prince William Sound: Prince William Sound Traffic Separation Scheme.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false In Prince William Sound: Prince William Sound Traffic Separation Scheme. 167.1702 Section 167.1702 Navigation and Navigable Waters COAST....1702 In Prince William Sound: Prince William Sound Traffic Separation Scheme. The Prince William Sound...

  18. Sounds Exaggerate Visual Shape

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sweeny, Timothy D.; Guzman-Martinez, Emmanuel; Ortega, Laura; Grabowecky, Marcia; Suzuki, Satoru

    2012-01-01

    While perceiving speech, people see mouth shapes that are systematically associated with sounds. In particular, a vertically stretched mouth produces a /woo/ sound, whereas a horizontally stretched mouth produces a /wee/ sound. We demonstrate that hearing these speech sounds alters how we see aspect ratio, a basic visual feature that contributes…

  19. A functional neuroimaging study of sound localization: visual cortex activity predicts performance in early-blind individuals.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Frédéric Gougoux

    2005-02-01

    Full Text Available Blind individuals often demonstrate enhanced nonvisual perceptual abilities. However, the neural substrate that underlies this improved performance remains to be fully understood. An earlier behavioral study demonstrated that some early-blind people localize sounds more accurately than sighted controls using monaural cues. In order to investigate the neural basis of these behavioral differences in humans, we carried out functional imaging studies using positron emission tomography and a speaker array that permitted pseudo-free-field presentations within the scanner. During binaural sound localization, a sighted control group showed decreased cerebral blood flow in the occipital lobe, which was not seen in early-blind individuals. During monaural sound localization (one ear plugged, the subgroup of early-blind subjects who were behaviorally superior at sound localization displayed two activation foci in the occipital cortex. This effect was not seen in blind persons who did not have superior monaural sound localization abilities, nor in sighted individuals. The degree of activation of one of these foci was strongly correlated with sound localization accuracy across the entire group of blind subjects. The results show that those blind persons who perform better than sighted persons recruit occipital areas to carry out auditory localization under monaural conditions. We therefore conclude that computations carried out in the occipital cortex specifically underlie the enhanced capacity to use monaural cues. Our findings shed light not only on intermodal compensatory mechanisms, but also on individual differences in these mechanisms and on inhibitory patterns that differ between sighted individuals and those deprived of vision early in life.

  20. Sound Zones

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Møller, Martin Bo; Olsen, Martin

    2017-01-01

    Sound zones, i.e. spatially confined regions of individual audio content, can be created by appropriate filtering of the desired audio signals reproduced by an array of loudspeakers. The challenge of designing filters for sound zones is twofold: First, the filtered responses should generate...... an acoustic separation between the control regions. Secondly, the pre- and post-ringing as well as spectral deterioration introduced by the filters should be minimized. The tradeoff between acoustic separation and filter ringing is the focus of this paper. A weighted L2-norm penalty is introduced in the sound...

  1. Application of the resistivity method to study ground water potentialities on a part of the entrance of wadi el-assiuti, Eastern desert, Egypt

    OpenAIRE

    Bekheit, A. A. [ابو ضيف عبلا العال بخيت; Senosy, M. A.; Riad, S.; Omran, A. A.; Ibrahim, H. A.

    1993-01-01

    Wadi El-Assiuti is located east of Assiut city and extends in almost northeast direction. The entrance of the wadi is suitable site for reclamation and city planning projects. Consequently, it is very important to study the groundwater potentialities of this part of Assiut governorate. Electrical resistivity measurements included 29 vertical electrical sounding (VES) applying Schlumberger layout were carried out. The obtained VES-curves were quantitatively interpreted to deduce the correspond...

  2. Students' Learning of a Generalized Theory of Sound Transmission from a Teaching-Learning Sequence about Sound, Hearing and Health

    Science.gov (United States)

    West, Eva; Wallin, Anita

    2013-04-01

    Learning abstract concepts such as sound often involves an ontological shift because to conceptualize sound transmission as a process of motion demands abandoning sound transmission as a transfer of matter. Thus, for students to be able to grasp and use a generalized model of sound transmission poses great challenges for them. This study involved 199 students aged 10-14. Their views about sound transmission were investigated before and after teaching by comparing their written answers about sound transfer in different media. The teaching was built on a research-based teaching-learning sequence (TLS), which was developed within a framework of design research. The analysis involved interpreting students' underlying theories of sound transmission, including the different conceptual categories that were found in their answers. The results indicated a shift in students' understandings from the use of a theory of matter before the intervention to embracing a theory of process afterwards. The described pattern was found in all groups of students irrespective of age. Thus, teaching about sound and sound transmission is fruitful already at the ages of 10-11. However, the older the students, the more advanced is their understanding of the process of motion. In conclusion, the use of a TLS about sound, hearing and auditory health promotes students' conceptualization of sound transmission as a process in all grades. The results also imply some crucial points in teaching and learning about the scientific content of sound.

  3. Conditioned sounds enhance visual processing.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fabrizio Leo

    Full Text Available This psychophysics study investigated whether prior auditory conditioning influences how a sound interacts with visual perception. In the conditioning phase, subjects were presented with three pure tones ( =  conditioned stimuli, CS that were paired with positive, negative or neutral unconditioned stimuli. As unconditioned reinforcers we employed pictures (highly pleasant, unpleasant and neutral or monetary outcomes (+50 euro cents, -50 cents, 0 cents. In the subsequent visual selective attention paradigm, subjects were presented with near-threshold Gabors displayed in their left or right hemifield. Critically, the Gabors were presented in synchrony with one of the conditioned sounds. Subjects discriminated whether the Gabors were presented in their left or right hemifields. Participants determined the location more accurately when the Gabors were presented in synchrony with positive relative to neutral sounds irrespective of reinforcer type. Thus, previously rewarded relative to neutral sounds increased the bottom-up salience of the visual Gabors. Our results are the first demonstration that prior auditory conditioning is a potent mechanism to modulate the effect of sounds on visual perception.

  4. Structure-borne sound structural vibrations and sound radiation at audio frequencies

    CERN Document Server

    Cremer, L; Petersson, Björn AT

    2005-01-01

    Structure-Borne Sound"" is a thorough introduction to structural vibrations with emphasis on audio frequencies and the associated radiation of sound. The book presents in-depth discussions of fundamental principles and basic problems, in order to enable the reader to understand and solve his own problems. It includes chapters dealing with measurement and generation of vibrations and sound, various types of structural wave motion, structural damping and its effects, impedances and vibration responses of the important types of structures, as well as with attenuation of vibrations, and sound radi

  5. Airborne sound insulation of new composite wall structures

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ivanova Yonka

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Protection against noise is one of the essential requirements of the European Construction Product directive. In buildings, airborne sound insulation is used to define the acoustical quality between rooms. In order to develop wall structures with optimal sound insulation, an understanding of the physical origins of sound transmission is necessary. To develop a kind of knowledge that is applicable to the improvement of real walls and room barriers is the motive behind this study. The purpose of the work is to study the sound insulation of new composite wall structure.

  6. InfoSound

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sonnenwald, Diane H.; Gopinath, B.; Haberman, Gary O.

    1990-01-01

    The authors explore ways to enhance users' comprehension of complex applications using music and sound effects to present application-program events that are difficult to detect visually. A prototype system, Infosound, allows developers to create and store musical sequences and sound effects with...

  7. The Sound of Science

    Science.gov (United States)

    Merwade, Venkatesh; Eichinger, David; Harriger, Bradley; Doherty, Erin; Habben, Ryan

    2014-01-01

    While the science of sound can be taught by explaining the concept of sound waves and vibrations, the authors of this article focused their efforts on creating a more engaging way to teach the science of sound--through engineering design. In this article they share the experience of teaching sound to third graders through an engineering challenge…

  8. Opponent Coding of Sound Location (Azimuth) in Planum Temporale is Robust to Sound-Level Variations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Derey, Kiki; Valente, Giancarlo; de Gelder, Beatrice; Formisano, Elia

    2016-01-01

    Coding of sound location in auditory cortex (AC) is only partially understood. Recent electrophysiological research suggests that neurons in mammalian auditory cortex are characterized by broad spatial tuning and a preference for the contralateral hemifield, that is, a nonuniform sampling of sound azimuth. Additionally, spatial selectivity decreases with increasing sound intensity. To accommodate these findings, it has been proposed that sound location is encoded by the integrated activity of neuronal populations with opposite hemifield tuning ("opponent channel model"). In this study, we investigated the validity of such a model in human AC with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and a phase-encoding paradigm employing binaural stimuli recorded individually for each participant. In all subjects, we observed preferential fMRI responses to contralateral azimuth positions. Additionally, in most AC locations, spatial tuning was broad and not level invariant. We derived an opponent channel model of the fMRI responses by subtracting the activity of contralaterally tuned regions in bilateral planum temporale. This resulted in accurate decoding of sound azimuth location, which was unaffected by changes in sound level. Our data thus support opponent channel coding as a neural mechanism for representing acoustic azimuth in human AC. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press.

  9. Gefinex 400S (Sampo) EM-soundings at Olkiluoto 2008

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jokinen, T.; Lehtimaeki, J.

    2008-09-01

    In the beginning of June 2008 Geological Survey of Finland (GTK) carried out electromagnetic frequency soundings with Gefinex 400S equipment (Sampo) in the vicinity of ONKALO at the Olkiluoto site investigation area. The same soundings sites were first time measured and marked in 2004 and has been repeated after it yearly in the same season. The aim of the measurements is to monitor the changes of groundwater conditions by the changes of the electric conductivity of the earth at ONKALO and repository area. The measurements form two 1400 m long broadside profiles, which have 200 m mutual distance and 200 m station separation. The profiles have been measured using 200, 500, and 800 m coil separations. Because of the strong electromagnetic noise all planned sites (48) could not be measured. In 2008 the measurements were performed at the sites that were successful in 2007 (43 soundings). The numerous power lines and cables in the area generate local disturbances on the sounding curves, but the signal/noise also with long coil separations and the repeatability of the results is reasonably good. However, most suitable for monitoring purposes are the sites without strong surficial 3D effects. Comparison of the results of 2004 to 2008 surveys shows differences on some ARD (Apparent resistivity-depth) curves. Those are mainly results of the modified man-made structures. The effects of changes in groundwater conditions are obviously slight. (orig.)

  10. Assessment and improvement of sound quality in cochlear implant users.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Caldwell, Meredith T; Jiam, Nicole T; Limb, Charles J

    2017-06-01

    Cochlear implants (CIs) have successfully provided speech perception to individuals with sensorineural hearing loss. Recent research has focused on more challenging acoustic stimuli such as music and voice emotion. The purpose of this review is to evaluate and describe sound quality in CI users with the purposes of summarizing novel findings and crucial information about how CI users experience complex sounds. Here we review the existing literature on PubMed and Scopus to present what is known about perceptual sound quality in CI users, discuss existing measures of sound quality, explore how sound quality may be effectively studied, and examine potential strategies of improving sound quality in the CI population. Sound quality, defined here as the perceived richness of an auditory stimulus, is an attribute of implant-mediated listening that remains poorly studied. Sound quality is distinct from appraisal, which is generally defined as the subjective likability or pleasantness of a sound. Existing studies suggest that sound quality perception in the CI population is limited by a range of factors, most notably pitch distortion and dynamic range compression. Although there are currently very few objective measures of sound quality, the CI-MUSHRA has been used as a means of evaluating sound quality. There exist a number of promising strategies to improve sound quality perception in the CI population including apical cochlear stimulation, pitch tuning, and noise reduction processing strategies. In the published literature, sound quality perception is severely limited among CI users. Future research should focus on developing systematic, objective, and quantitative sound quality metrics and designing therapies to mitigate poor sound quality perception in CI users. NA.

  11. Introducing the Oxford Vocal (OxVoc Sounds Database: A validated set of non-acted affective sounds from human infants, adults and domestic animals

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Christine eParsons

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available Sound moves us. Nowhere is this more apparent than in our responses to genuine emotional vocalisations, be they heartfelt distress cries or raucous laughter. Here, we present perceptual ratings and a description of a freely available, large database of natural affective vocal sounds from human infants, adults and domestic animals, the Oxford Vocal (OxVoc Sounds database. This database consists of 173 non-verbal sounds expressing a range of happy, sad and neutral emotional states. Ratings are presented for the sounds on a range of dimensions from a number of independent participant samples. Perceptions related to valence, including distress, vocaliser mood, and listener mood are presented in Study 1. Perceptions of the arousal of the sound, listener motivation to respond and valence (positive, negative are presented in Study 2. Perceptions of the emotional content of the stimuli in both Study 1 and Study 2 were consistent with the predefined categories (e.g., laugh stimuli perceived as positive. While the adult vocalisations received more extreme valence ratings, rated motivation to respond to the sounds was highest for the infant sounds. The major advantages of this database are the inclusion of vocalisations from naturalistic situations, which represent genuine expressions of emotion, and the inclusion of vocalisations from animals and infants, providing comparison stimuli for use in cross-species and developmental studies. The associated website provides a detailed description of the physical properties of the each sound stimulus along with cross-category descriptions.

  12. A Study of Memory and Forgetting in The Sound of One Hand Clapping

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    杨炤宇

    2011-01-01

    The Sound of One Hand Clapping is a 1997 novel by Australian author Richard Flanagan. Richard Flanagan was born in 1961 in Tasmania. He left school at 16, later winning a Rhodes scholarship to Oxford, where he took a Master of Letters degree. He later worked as a labourer and river guide. The Sound of One Hand Clapping (1998) is his second novel which tells the story of Slovenian immigrants; Richard Flanagan also wrote and directed the film version of The Sound of One Hand Clapping, which was re- leased in 1998, and world premiered at the 1998 Berlin Film Festival, where it was nominated for Golden Bear for Best film. The novel, The Sound of One Hand Clapping (1998), examines the Tasmanian immigrant experience. It asks us not to ignore the existence of the soul and the spirit, not to sublimate all to a blind rationality, Flanagan also suggests that healing is not only possible but that it should be looked for. Original, poetic and compelling, this novel comes highly recommended,?As the novel is formed largely by means of memory and forgetting. So the author of this paper intends to give a tentative study of memory as well as forgetting, Wing to figure out the reasons and influences that memory and forgetting brings on different characters.

  13. Acoustic analysis of snoring sounds recorded with a smartphone according to obstruction site in OSAS patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Koo, Soo Kweon; Kwon, Soon Bok; Kim, Yang Jae; Moon, J I Seung; Kim, Young Jun; Jung, Sung Hoon

    2017-03-01

    Snoring is a sign of increased upper airway resistance and is the most common symptom suggestive of obstructive sleep apnea. Acoustic analysis of snoring sounds is a non-invasive diagnostic technique and may provide a screening test that can determine the location of obstruction sites. We recorded snoring sounds according to obstruction level, measured by DISE, using a smartphone and focused on the analysis of formant frequencies. The study group comprised 32 male patients (mean age 42.9 years). The spectrogram pattern, intensity (dB), fundamental frequencies (F 0 ), and formant frequencies (F 1 , F 2 , and F 3 ) of the snoring sounds were analyzed for each subject. On spectrographic analysis, retropalatal level obstruction tended to produce sharp and regular peaks, while retrolingual level obstruction tended to show peaks with a gradual onset and decay. On formant frequency analysis, F 1 (retropalatal level vs. retrolingual level: 488.1 ± 125.8 vs. 634.7 ± 196.6 Hz) and F 2 (retropalatal level vs. retrolingual level: 1267.3 ± 306.6 vs. 1723.7 ± 550.0 Hz) of retrolingual level obstructions showed significantly higher values than retropalatal level obstruction (p smartphone can be effective for recording snoring sounds.

  14. Infra-sound cancellation and mitigation in wind turbines

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boretti, Albert; Ordys, Andrew; Al Zubaidy, Sarim

    2018-03-01

    The infra-sound spectra recorded inside homes located even several kilometres far from wind turbine installations is characterized by large pressure fluctuation in the low frequency range. There is a significant body of literature suggesting inaudible sounds at low frequency are sensed by humans and affect the wellbeing through different mechanisms. These mechanisms include amplitude modulation of heard sounds, stimulating subconscious pathways, causing endolymphatic hydrops, and possibly potentiating noise-induced hearing loss. We suggest the study of infra-sound active cancellation and mitigation to address the low frequency noise issues. Loudspeakers generate pressure wave components of same amplitude and frequency but opposite phase of the recorded infra sound. They also produce pressure wave components within the audible range reducing the perception of the infra-sound to minimize the sensing of the residual infra sound.

  15. Light and Sound

    CERN Document Server

    Karam, P Andrew

    2010-01-01

    Our world is largely defined by what we see and hear-but our uses for light and sound go far beyond simply seeing a photo or hearing a song. A concentrated beam of light, lasers are powerful tools used in industry, research, and medicine, as well as in everyday electronics like DVD and CD players. Ultrasound, sound emitted at a high frequency, helps create images of a developing baby, cleans teeth, and much more. Light and Sound teaches how light and sound work, how they are used in our day-to-day lives, and how they can be used to learn about the universe at large.

  16. Effects of sounds of locomotion on speech perception

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Matz Larsson

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Human locomotion typically creates noise, a possible consequence of which is the masking of sound signals originating in the surroundings. When walking side by side, people often subconsciously synchronize their steps. The neurophysiological and evolutionary background of this behavior is unclear. The present study investigated the potential of sound created by walking to mask perception of speech and compared the masking produced by walking in step with that produced by unsynchronized walking. The masking sound (footsteps on gravel and the target sound (speech were presented through the same speaker to 15 normal-hearing subjects. The original recorded walking sound was modified to mimic the sound of two individuals walking in pace or walking out of synchrony. The participants were instructed to adjust the sound level of the target sound until they could just comprehend the speech signal ("just follow conversation" or JFC level when presented simultaneously with synchronized or unsynchronized walking sound at 40 dBA, 50 dBA, 60 dBA, or 70 dBA. Synchronized walking sounds produced slightly less masking of speech than did unsynchronized sound. The median JFC threshold in the synchronized condition was 38.5 dBA, while the corresponding value for the unsynchronized condition was 41.2 dBA. Combined results at all sound pressure levels showed an improvement in the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR for synchronized footsteps; the median difference was 2.7 dB and the mean difference was 1.2 dB [P < 0.001, repeated-measures analysis of variance (RM-ANOVA]. The difference was significant for masker levels of 50 dBA and 60 dBA, but not for 40 dBA or 70 dBA. This study provides evidence that synchronized walking may reduce the masking potential of footsteps.

  17. The Textile Form of Sound

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bendixen, Cecilie

    Sound is a part of architecture, and sound is complex. Upon this, sound is invisible. How is it then possible to design visual objects that interact with the sound? This paper addresses the problem of how to get access to the complexity of sound and how to make textile material revealing the form...... goemetry by analysing the sound pattern at a specific spot. This analysis is done theoretically with algorithmic systems and practical with waves in water. The paper describes the experiments and the findings, and explains how an analysis of sound can be catched in a textile form....

  18. Reduction of heart sound interference from lung sound signals using empirical mode decomposition technique.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mondal, Ashok; Bhattacharya, P S; Saha, Goutam

    2011-01-01

    During the recording time of lung sound (LS) signals from the chest wall of a subject, there is always heart sound (HS) signal interfering with it. This obscures the features of lung sound signals and creates confusion on pathological states, if any, of the lungs. A novel method based on empirical mode decomposition (EMD) technique is proposed in this paper for reducing the undesired heart sound interference from the desired lung sound signals. In this, the mixed signal is split into several components. Some of these components contain larger proportions of interfering signals like heart sound, environmental noise etc. and are filtered out. Experiments have been conducted on simulated and real-time recorded mixed signals of heart sound and lung sound. The proposed method is found to be superior in terms of time domain, frequency domain, and time-frequency domain representations and also in listening test performed by pulmonologist.

  19. Sound-symbolism boosts novel word learning

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Lockwood, G.F.; Dingemanse, M.; Hagoort, P.

    2016-01-01

    The existence of sound-symbolism (or a non-arbitrary link between form and meaning) is well-attested. However, sound-symbolism has mostly been investigated with nonwords in forced choice tasks, neither of which are representative of natural language. This study uses ideophones, which are naturally

  20. Sound generator

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Berkhoff, Arthur P.

    2008-01-01

    A sound generator, particularly a loudspeaker, configured to emit sound, comprising a rigid element (2) enclosing a plurality of air compartments (3), wherein the rigid element (2) has a back side (B) comprising apertures (4), and a front side (F) that is closed, wherein the generator is provided

  1. Sound generator

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Berkhoff, Arthur P.

    2010-01-01

    A sound generator, particularly a loudspeaker, configured to emit sound, comprising a rigid element (2) enclosing a plurality of air compartments (3), wherein the rigid element (2) has a back side (B) comprising apertures (4), and a front side (F) that is closed, wherein the generator is provided

  2. Sound generator

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Berkhoff, Arthur P.

    2007-01-01

    A sound generator, particularly a loudspeaker, configured to emit sound, comprising a rigid element (2) enclosing a plurality of air compartments (3), wherein the rigid element (2) has a back side (B) comprising apertures (4), and a front side (F) that is closed, wherein the generator is provided

  3. Depth study of insular shelf electric sounding in the Las Mercedes anomaly (Tacuarembo)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cicalese, H.

    1983-01-01

    In the framework of Uranium prospecting Programme the geophysics team composed by BRGM and DINAMIGE workers were carried out an study about insular shelf electric sounding on the Mercedes area.They were studied the following topics: geographical location, geologic framework, methods, materials and some results

  4. NASA Space Sounds API

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — NASA has released a series of space sounds via sound cloud. We have abstracted away some of the hassle in accessing these sounds, so that developers can play with...

  5. electrical resistivity investigation of the groundwater potential in ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The VES data generated were processed and interpreted using partial curve matching ... electrical sounding, a technique of electrical resistivity method in identifying viable .... Geoelectric/Electromagnetic VLF Survey for. Groundwater in a ...

  6. Neural mechanisms underlying sound-induced visual motion perception: An fMRI study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hidaka, Souta; Higuchi, Satomi; Teramoto, Wataru; Sugita, Yoichi

    2017-07-01

    Studies of crossmodal interactions in motion perception have reported activation in several brain areas, including those related to motion processing and/or sensory association, in response to multimodal (e.g., visual and auditory) stimuli that were both in motion. Recent studies have demonstrated that sounds can trigger illusory visual apparent motion to static visual stimuli (sound-induced visual motion: SIVM): A visual stimulus blinking at a fixed location is perceived to be moving laterally when an alternating left-right sound is also present. Here, we investigated brain activity related to the perception of SIVM using a 7T functional magnetic resonance imaging technique. Specifically, we focused on the patterns of neural activities in SIVM and visually induced visual apparent motion (VIVM). We observed shared activations in the middle occipital area (V5/hMT), which is thought to be involved in visual motion processing, for SIVM and VIVM. Moreover, as compared to VIVM, SIVM resulted in greater activation in the superior temporal area and dominant functional connectivity between the V5/hMT area and the areas related to auditory and crossmodal motion processing. These findings indicate that similar but partially different neural mechanisms could be involved in auditory-induced and visually-induced motion perception, and neural signals in auditory, visual, and, crossmodal motion processing areas closely and directly interact in the perception of SIVM. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  7. Magnetotelluric soundings on the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory facility, Idaho

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stanley, W.D.

    1982-01-01

    The magnetotelluric (MT) method was used as one of several geophysical tools to study part of the Idaho Engineering Laboratory (INEL) facility. The purpose of the geophysical study on INEL was to investigate the facility for a possible site to drill a geothermal exploration well. The initial interpretation of the MT sounding data was done with one-dimensional models consisting of four or five layers, the minimum number required to fit the data. After the test well (INEL-1) was completed, the electric log was used to guide an improved one-dimensional ID interpretation of the MT sounding data. Profile models derived from the well log provided good agreement with velocity models derived from refraction seismic data. A resolution study using generalized inverse techniques shows that the resolution of resistive layers in the lower part of the MT models is poor, as is the definition of a shallow, altered basalt unit. The only major structure observed on the MT data was the faulted contact between the SNRP and basin and range structures on the west. Modeling of the data near this structure with a two-dimensional computer program showed that the MT data near the fault require a model similar to the seismic refraction models and that structure on a deep crustal conductor is also required

  8. Urban sound energy reduction by means of sound barriers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Iordache, Vlad; Ionita, Mihai Vlad

    2018-02-01

    In urban environment, various heating ventilation and air conditioning appliances designed to maintain indoor comfort become urban acoustic pollution vectors due to the sound energy produced by these equipment. The acoustic barriers are the recommended method for the sound energy reduction in urban environment. The current sizing method of these acoustic barriers is too difficult and it is not practical for any 3D location of the noisy equipment and reception point. In this study we will develop based on the same method a new simplified tool for acoustic barriers sizing, maintaining the same precision characteristic to the classical method. Abacuses for acoustic barriers sizing are built that can be used for different 3D locations of the source and the reception points, for several frequencies and several acoustic barrier heights. The study case presented in the article represents a confirmation for the rapidity and ease of use of these abacuses in the design of the acoustic barriers.

  9. Urban sound energy reduction by means of sound barriers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Iordache Vlad

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available In urban environment, various heating ventilation and air conditioning appliances designed to maintain indoor comfort become urban acoustic pollution vectors due to the sound energy produced by these equipment. The acoustic barriers are the recommended method for the sound energy reduction in urban environment. The current sizing method of these acoustic barriers is too difficult and it is not practical for any 3D location of the noisy equipment and reception point. In this study we will develop based on the same method a new simplified tool for acoustic barriers sizing, maintaining the same precision characteristic to the classical method. Abacuses for acoustic barriers sizing are built that can be used for different 3D locations of the source and the reception points, for several frequencies and several acoustic barrier heights. The study case presented in the article represents a confirmation for the rapidity and ease of use of these abacuses in the design of the acoustic barriers.

  10. A level switch with a sound tube

    OpenAIRE

    赤池, 誠規

    2017-01-01

    Level switches are sensor with an electrical contact output at a specific liquid, powder or bulk level. Most of traditional level switches are not suitable for harsh environments. The level switch in this study connects a loudspeaker on top end of the sound tube. When liquid, powder or bulk closes bottom end of the sound tube, the level switch turns on. The level switch is suitable for harsh environments and easy to install. The aim of this study is to propose a level switch with a sound tube...

  11. Delineating Potential Karst Water-Bearing Structures based on Resistivity Anomalies and Microtremor Analyses-A Case Study in Yunnan Province, China

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gan, F.; Su, C.; Liu, W.; Zhao, W.

    2016-12-01

    Heterogeneity, anisotropy and rugged landforms become challenges for geophysicists to locate drilling site by water-bearing structure profiling in Karst region. If only one geophysical method is used to achieve this objective, low resistivity anomalies deduced to be water-rich zones could actually be zones rich in marl and shale. In this study, integrated geophysical methods were used to locate a favorable drilling position for the provision of karst water to Juede village, which had been experiencing severe water shortages over a prolonged period. According to site conditions and hydrogeological data, appropriate geophysical profiles were conducted, approximately perpendicular to the direction of groundwater flow. In general, significant changes in resistivity occur between water-filled caves/ fractures and competent rocks. Thus, electrical and electromagnetic methods have been widely applied to search for karst groundwater indirectly. First, electrical resistivity tomography was carried out to discern shallow resistivity distributions within the profile where the low resistivity anomalies were of most interest. Second, one short profile of audio-frequency magnetotelluric survey was used to ascertain the vertical and horizontal extent of these low resistivity anomalies. Third, the microtremor H/V spectral ratio method was applied to identify potential water-bearing structures from low resistivity anomalies and to differentiate these from the interference of marl and shale with low resistivity. Finally, anomalous depths were estimated by interpreting Schlumberger sounding data to determine an optimal drilling site. The study shows that karst hydrogeology and geophysical methods can be effectively integrated for the purposes of karst groundwater exploration.

  12. Dissipation in vibrating superleak second sound transducers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Giordano, N.

    1985-01-01

    We have performed an experimental study of the generation and detection of second sound in 4 He using vibrating superleak second sound transducers. At temperatures well below T/sub lambda/ and for low driving amplitudes, the magnitude of the generated second sound wave is proportional to the drive amplitude. However, near T/sub lambda/ and for high drive amplitudes this is no longer the case--instead, the second sound amplitude saturates. In this regime we also find that overtones of the drive frequency are generated. Our results suggest that this behavior is due to critical velocity effects in the pores of the superleak in the generator transducer. This type of measurement may prove to be a useful way in which to study critical velocity effects in confined geometries

  13. Language Experience Affects Grouping of Musical Instrument Sounds

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bhatara, Anjali; Boll-Avetisyan, Natalie; Agus, Trevor; Höhle, Barbara; Nazzi, Thierry

    2016-01-01

    Language experience clearly affects the perception of speech, but little is known about whether these differences in perception extend to non-speech sounds. In this study, we investigated rhythmic perception of non-linguistic sounds in speakers of French and German using a grouping task, in which complexity (variability in sounds, presence of…

  14. Resistance of Bonded Composite Restorations on Fractures of Endodontically Treated Teeth

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    AR Daneshkazemi

    2005-01-01

    Full Text Available Introduction: This study was performed to evaluate the effect of dentine bonding agents and Glass Ionomer cement beneath composite restorations and its resistance on fractures of endodontically treated teeth. Material and Methods: Forty sound maxillary teeth were selected; ten of them for positive control, and on the rest, RCT and MOD cavity preparations were done with standard methods. Then, the teeth were divided to four groups: 1-Sound teeth for positive control. 2-Prepared without any restoration for negative control. 3-Prepared and restored with Vitrabond(3M, USA, Single bond(3M, USA and Z100(3M, USA resin composite. 4-Prepared and restored by Single bond and Z100 resin composite. Specimens were subjected to compressive load by Instron 8502 until fracture occurred. Results: Group 1 showed the highest resistance to compressive forces followed by group 4,3&2 respectively. ANOVA, t test and Chi-square tests indicated significant difference between all the groups. Conclusion: Use of dentine bonding agents and resin composite increases resistance of endodontically treated teeth to fractures more than teeth restored with sandwich of glass ionomer cements, dentine bonding agents and resin composite.

  15. Directional sound radiation from substation transformers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Maybee, N.

    2009-01-01

    This paper presented the results of a study in which acoustical measurements at two substations were analyzed to investigate the directional behaviour of typical arrays having 2 or 3 transformers. Substation transformers produce a characteristic humming sound that is caused primarily by vibration of the core at twice the frequency of the power supply. The humming noise radiates predominantly from the tank enclosing the core. The main components of the sound are harmonics of 120 Hz. Sound pressure level data were obtained for various directions and distances from the arrays, ranging from 0.5 m to over 100 m. The measured sound pressure levels of the transformer tones displayed substantial positive and negative excursions from the calculated average values for many distances and directions. The results support the concept that the directional effects are associated with constructive and destructive interference of tonal sound waves emanating from different parts of the array. Significant variations in the directional sound pattern can occur in the near field of a single transformer or an array, and the extent of the near field is significantly larger than the scale of the array. Based on typical dimensions for substation sites, the distance to the far field may be much beyond the substation boundary and beyond typical setbacks to the closest dwellings. As such, the directional sound radiation produced by transformer arrays introduces additional uncertainty in the prediction of substation sound levels at dwellings within a few hundred meters of a substation site. 4 refs., 4 figs.

  16. Statistics of natural binaural sounds.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wiktor Młynarski

    Full Text Available Binaural sound localization is usually considered a discrimination task, where interaural phase (IPD and level (ILD disparities at narrowly tuned frequency channels are utilized to identify a position of a sound source. In natural conditions however, binaural circuits are exposed to a stimulation by sound waves originating from multiple, often moving and overlapping sources. Therefore statistics of binaural cues depend on acoustic properties and the spatial configuration of the environment. Distribution of cues encountered naturally and their dependence on physical properties of an auditory scene have not been studied before. In the present work we analyzed statistics of naturally encountered binaural sounds. We performed binaural recordings of three auditory scenes with varying spatial configuration and analyzed empirical cue distributions from each scene. We have found that certain properties such as the spread of IPD distributions as well as an overall shape of ILD distributions do not vary strongly between different auditory scenes. Moreover, we found that ILD distributions vary much weaker across frequency channels and IPDs often attain much higher values, than can be predicted from head filtering properties. In order to understand the complexity of the binaural hearing task in the natural environment, sound waveforms were analyzed by performing Independent Component Analysis (ICA. Properties of learned basis functions indicate that in natural conditions soundwaves in each ear are predominantly generated by independent sources. This implies that the real-world sound localization must rely on mechanisms more complex than a mere cue extraction.

  17. Statistics of natural binaural sounds.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Młynarski, Wiktor; Jost, Jürgen

    2014-01-01

    Binaural sound localization is usually considered a discrimination task, where interaural phase (IPD) and level (ILD) disparities at narrowly tuned frequency channels are utilized to identify a position of a sound source. In natural conditions however, binaural circuits are exposed to a stimulation by sound waves originating from multiple, often moving and overlapping sources. Therefore statistics of binaural cues depend on acoustic properties and the spatial configuration of the environment. Distribution of cues encountered naturally and their dependence on physical properties of an auditory scene have not been studied before. In the present work we analyzed statistics of naturally encountered binaural sounds. We performed binaural recordings of three auditory scenes with varying spatial configuration and analyzed empirical cue distributions from each scene. We have found that certain properties such as the spread of IPD distributions as well as an overall shape of ILD distributions do not vary strongly between different auditory scenes. Moreover, we found that ILD distributions vary much weaker across frequency channels and IPDs often attain much higher values, than can be predicted from head filtering properties. In order to understand the complexity of the binaural hearing task in the natural environment, sound waveforms were analyzed by performing Independent Component Analysis (ICA). Properties of learned basis functions indicate that in natural conditions soundwaves in each ear are predominantly generated by independent sources. This implies that the real-world sound localization must rely on mechanisms more complex than a mere cue extraction.

  18. Pacific and Atlantic herring produce burst pulse sounds.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wilson, Ben; Batty, Robert S; Dill, Lawrence M

    2004-02-07

    The commercial importance of Pacific and Atlantic herring (Clupea pallasii and Clupea harengus) has ensured that much of their biology has received attention. However, their sound production remains poorly studied. We describe the sounds made by captive wild-caught herring. Pacific herring produce distinctive bursts of pulses, termed Fast Repetitive Tick (FRT) sounds. These trains of broadband pulses (1.7-22 kHz) lasted between 0.6 s and 7.6 s. Most were produced at night; feeding regime did not affect their frequency, and fish produced FRT sounds without direct access to the air. Digestive gas or gulped air transfer to the swim bladder, therefore, do not appear to be responsible for FRT sound generation. Atlantic herring also produce FRT sounds, and video analysis showed an association with bubble expulsion from the anal duct region (i.e. from the gut or swim bladder). To the best of the authors' knowledge, sound production by such means has not previously been described. The function(s) of these sounds are unknown, but as the per capita rates of sound production by fish at higher densities were greater, social mediation appears likely. These sounds may have consequences for our understanding of herring behaviour and the effects of noise pollution.

  19. The irrelevant sound phenomenon revisited: what role for working memory capacity?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beaman, C Philip

    2004-09-01

    High-span individuals (as measured by the operation span [OSPAN] technique) are less likely than low-span individuals to notice their own names in an unattended auditory stream (A. R. A. Conway, N. Cowan, & M. F. Bunting, 2001). The possibility that OSPAN accounts for individual differences in auditory distraction on an immediate recall test was examined. There was no evidence that high-OSPAN participants were more resistant to the disruption caused by irrelevant speech in serial or in free recall. Low-OSPAN participants did, however, make more semantically related intrusion errors from the irrelevant sound stream in a free recall test (Experiment 4). Results suggest that OSPAN mediates semantic components of auditory distraction dissociable from other aspects of the irrelevant sound effect. ((c) 2004 APA, all rights reserved)

  20. Active sound reduction system and method

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    2016-01-01

    The present invention refers to an active sound reduction system and method for attenuation of sound emitted by a primary sound source, especially for attenuation of snoring sounds emitted by a human being. This system comprises a primary sound source, at least one speaker as a secondary sound

  1. Mapping localised freshwater anomalies in the brackish paleo-lake sediments of the Machile–Zambezi Basin with transient electromagnetic sounding, geoelectrical imaging and induced polarisation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Chongo, Mkhuzo; Christiansen, Anders Vest; Fiandaca, Gianluca

    2015-01-01

    A recent airborne TEM survey in the Machile–Zambezi Basin of south western Zambia revealed high electrical resistivity anomalies (around 100 Ωm) in a low electrical resistivity (below 13 Ωm) background. The near surface (0–40 m depth range) electrical resistivity distribution of these anomalies...... appeared to be coincident with superficial features related to surface water such as alluvial fans and flood plains. This paper describes the application of transient electromagnetic soundings (TEM) and continuous vertical electrical sounding (CVES) using geo-electrics and time domain induced polarisation...... thins out and deteriorates in water quality further inland. It is postulated that the freshwater lens originated as a result of interaction between the Zambezi River and the salty aquifer in a setting in which evapotranspiration is the net climatic stress. Similar high electrical resistivity bodies were...

  2. Development of a leak detection system using high temperature-resistant microphones

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Morishita, Yoshitsugu; Mochizuki, Hiroyasu; Watanabe, Kenshiu; Nakamura, Takahisa; Nakajima, Yoshiaki; Yamauchi, Tatsuya

    1991-01-01

    This report describes the development of a detection system of coolant leak from an inlet feeder pipe of an Advanced Thermal Reactor (ATR) with high temperature-resistant microphones. A microphone having resistance to both high temperature and high radiation dose has been developed at first. The characteristics with regard to leakage sound, attenuation of sound level in a heat insulating box for the inlet feeder pipes and background noise were clarified by laboratory experiments and measurements in the prototype ATR 'Fugen'. On the basis of these experimental findings, appropriate frequency ranges were surveyed to detect the leakage sound with a high S/N ratio under the background noise. Reliability of the system to a malfunction caused by burst-type noises observed in the plant was also investigated by statistical analyses. Finally, it was confirmed that the present method could detect a leak within a couple of seconds. (author)

  3. Constraints on decay of environmental sound memory in adult rats.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sakai, Masashi

    2006-11-27

    When adult rats are pretreated with a 48-h-long 'repetitive nonreinforced sound exposure', performance in two-sound discriminative operant conditioning transiently improves. We have already proven that this 'sound exposure-enhanced discrimination' is dependent upon enhancement of the perceptual capacity of the auditory cortex. This study investigated principles governing decay of sound exposure-enhanced discrimination decay. Sound exposure-enhanced discrimination disappeared within approximately 72 h if animals were deprived of environmental sounds after sound exposure, and that shortened to less than approximately 60 h if they were exposed to environmental sounds in the animal room. Sound-deprivation itself exerted no clear effects. These findings suggest that the memory of a passively exposed behaviorally irrelevant sound signal does not merely pass along the intrinsic lifetime but also gets deteriorated by other incoming signals.

  4. Studying Resistance: Some Cautionary Notes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dimitriadis, Greg

    2011-01-01

    The question of "resistance" has oriented the field of critical ethnography for several generations now. Indeed, the reproduction-resistance binary has animated much of the most important, critical work in educational studies over the last 30 years. Yet, this reproduction-resistance binary has perhaps calcified in recent years. Such work…

  5. Research and Implementation of Heart Sound Denoising

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Feng; Wang, Yutai; Wang, Yanxiang

    Heart sound is one of the most important signals. However, the process of getting heart sound signal can be interfered with many factors outside. Heart sound is weak electric signal and even weak external noise may lead to the misjudgment of pathological and physiological information in this signal, thus causing the misjudgment of disease diagnosis. As a result, it is a key to remove the noise which is mixed with heart sound. In this paper, a more systematic research and analysis which is involved in heart sound denoising based on matlab has been made. The study of heart sound denoising based on matlab firstly use the powerful image processing function of matlab to transform heart sound signals with noise into the wavelet domain through wavelet transform and decomposition these signals in muli-level. Then for the detail coefficient, soft thresholding is made using wavelet transform thresholding to eliminate noise, so that a signal denoising is significantly improved. The reconstructed signals are gained with stepwise coefficient reconstruction for the processed detail coefficient. Lastly, 50HZ power frequency and 35 Hz mechanical and electrical interference signals are eliminated using a notch filter.

  6. Sounding the Alarm: An Introduction to Ecological Sound Art

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jonathan Gilmurray

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available In recent years, a number of sound artists have begun engaging with ecological issues through their work, forming a growing movement of ˝ecological sound art˝. This paper traces its development, examines its influences, and provides examples of the artists whose work is currently defining this important and timely new field.

  7. Sound symbolism: the role of word sound in meaning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Svantesson, Jan-Olof

    2017-09-01

    The question whether there is a natural connection between sound and meaning or if they are related only by convention has been debated since antiquity. In linguistics, it is usually taken for granted that 'the linguistic sign is arbitrary,' and exceptions like onomatopoeia have been regarded as marginal phenomena. However, it is becoming more and more clear that motivated relations between sound and meaning are more common and important than has been thought. There is now a large and rapidly growing literature on subjects as ideophones (or expressives), words that describe how a speaker perceives a situation with the senses, and phonaesthemes, units like English gl-, which occur in many words that share a meaning component (in this case 'light': gleam, glitter, etc.). Furthermore, psychological experiments have shown that sound symbolism in one language can be understood by speakers of other languages, suggesting that some kinds of sound symbolism are universal. WIREs Cogn Sci 2017, 8:e1441. doi: 10.1002/wcs.1441 For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  8. In Search of the Golden Age Hip-Hop Sound (1986–1996

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ben Duinker

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available The notion of a musical repertoire's "sound" is frequently evoked in journalism and scholarship, but what parameters comprise such a sound? This question is addressed through a statistically-driven corpus analysis of hip-hop music released during the genre's Golden Age era. The first part of the paper presents a methodology for developing, transcribing, and analyzing a corpus of 100 hip-hop tracks released during the Golden Age. Eight categories of aurally salient musical and production parameters are analyzed: tempo, orchestration and texture, harmony, form, vocal and lyric profiles, global and local production effects, vocal doubling and backing, and loudness and compression. The second part of the paper organizes the analysis data into three trend categories: trends of change (parameters that change over time, trends of prevalence (parameters that remain generally constant across the corpus, and trends of similarity (parameters that are similar from song to song. These trends form a generalized model of the Golden Age hip-hop sound which considers both global (the whole corpus and local (unique songs within the corpus contexts. By operationalizing "sound" as the sum of musical and production parameters, aspects of popular music that are resistant to traditional music-analytical methods can be considered.

  9. Pre-attentive processing of spectrally complex sounds with asynchronous onsets: an event-related potential study with human subjects.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tervaniemi, M; Schröger, E; Näätänen, R

    1997-05-23

    Neuronal mechanisms involved in the processing of complex sounds with asynchronous onsets were studied in reading subjects. The sound onset asynchrony (SOA) between the leading partial and the remaining complex tone was varied between 0 and 360 ms. Infrequently occurring deviant sounds (in which one out of 10 harmonics was different in pitch relative to the frequently occurring standard sound) elicited the mismatch negativity (MMN), a change-specific cortical event-related potential (ERP) component. This indicates that the pitch of standard stimuli had been pre-attentively coded by sensory-memory traces. Moreover, when the complex-tone onset fell within temporal integration window initiated by the leading-partial onset, the deviants elicited the N2b component. This indexes that involuntary attention switch towards the sound change occurred. In summary, the present results support the existence of pre-perceptual integration mechanism of 100-200 ms duration and emphasize its importance in switching attention towards the stimulus change.

  10. Sound source localization and segregation with internally coupled ears

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bee, Mark A; Christensen-Dalsgaard, Jakob

    2016-01-01

    to their correct sources (sound source segregation). Here, we review anatomical, biophysical, neurophysiological, and behavioral studies aimed at identifying how the internally coupled ears of frogs contribute to sound source localization and segregation. Our review focuses on treefrogs in the genus Hyla......, as they are the most thoroughly studied frogs in terms of sound source localization and segregation. They also represent promising model systems for future work aimed at understanding better how internally coupled ears contribute to sound source localization and segregation. We conclude our review by enumerating...

  11. Analysis, Synthesis, and Perception of Musical Sounds The Sound of Music

    CERN Document Server

    Beauchamp, James W

    2007-01-01

    Analysis, Synthesis, and Perception of Musical Sounds contains a detailed treatment of basic methods for analysis and synthesis of musical sounds, including the phase vocoder method, the McAulay-Quatieri frequency-tracking method, the constant-Q transform, and methods for pitch tracking with several examples shown. Various aspects of musical sound spectra such as spectral envelope, spectral centroid, spectral flux, and spectral irregularity are defined and discussed. One chapter is devoted to the control and synthesis of spectral envelopes. Two advanced methods of analysis/synthesis are given: "Sines Plus Transients Plus Noise" and "Spectrotemporal Reassignment" are covered. Methods for timbre morphing are given. The last two chapters discuss the perception of musical sounds based on discrimination and multidimensional scaling timbre models.

  12. Michael Jackson's Sound Stages

    OpenAIRE

    Morten Michelsen

    2012-01-01

    In order to discuss analytically spatial aspects of recorded sound William Moylan’s concept of ‘sound stage’ is developed within a musicological framework as part of a sound paradigm which includes timbre, texture and sound stage. Two Michael Jackson songs (‘The Lady in My Life’ from 1982 and ‘Scream’ from 1995) are used to: a) demonstrate the value of such a conceptualisation, and b) demonstrate that the model has its limits, as record producers in the 1990s began ignoring the conventions of...

  13. Sound transmission properties of honeycomb panels and double-walled structures

    OpenAIRE

    Ramanathan, Sathish Kumar

    2012-01-01

    Sandwich panels with aluminium face sheets and honeycomb core material have certain advantages over panels made of wood. Some of the advantages of these constructions are low weight, good moisture properties, fire resistance and high stiffness to-weight ratio etc. As product development is carried out in a fast pace today, there is a strong need for validated prediction tools to assist during early design stages. In this thesis, tools are developed for predicting the sound transmission throug...

  14. Near-infrared-spectroscopic study on processing of sounds in the brain; a comparison between native and non-native speakers of Japanese.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tsunoda, Koichi; Sekimoto, Sotaro; Itoh, Kenji

    2016-06-01

    Conclusions The result suggested that mother tongue Japanese and non- mother tongue Japanese differ in their pattern of brain dominance when listening to sounds from the natural world-in particular, insect sounds. These results reveal significant support for previous findings from Tsunoda (in 1970). Objectives This study concentrates on listeners who show clear evidence of a 'speech' brain vs a 'music' brain and determines which side is most active in the processing of insect sounds, using with near-infrared spectroscopy. Methods The present study uses 2-channel Near Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS) to provide a more direct measure of left- and right-brain activity while participants listen to each of three types of sounds: Japanese speech, Western violin music, or insect sounds. Data were obtained from 33 participants who showed laterality on opposite sides for Japanese speech and Western music. Results Results showed that a majority (80%) of the MJ participants exhibited dominance for insect sounds on the side that was dominant for language, while a majority (62%) of the non-MJ participants exhibited dominance for insect sounds on the side that was dominant for music.

  15. Hydrocarbon studies in Puget Sound and off the Washington coast. Progress report, March 1978--February 1979

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Carpenter, R.; Fairhall, A.W.

    1979-01-01

    This report summarizes the past year's progress in our studies of the amounts, types, and probable origins of aliphatic, aromatic, S-, and N-containing hydrocarbons in sediments, organisms, and waters of Puget Sound and the Washington coast. We are trying to identify the relative importance of the various possible sources of these substances, the major pathways by which they are transferred through some parts of the marine food web, their rates of transfer, and their ultimate fates. We have found that changes in aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbon compositions are evident in 210 Pb-dated sediment cores from central Puget Sound. These changes are due both to natural diagenetic processes and to low-level inputs of fossil fuels from a variety of sources. We have found measurable amounts of both S- and N-containing compounds in these Puget Sound sediments. Our studies of the role of zooplankton fecal pellets in the cycling of trace chemicals in the sea have shown that fecal pellets are an important vertical transport agent for hydrocarbons in the sea. We now have defined the natural variations in 14 C and 13 C/ 12 C isotope ratios of the inorganic carbon in Puget Sound seawater. Carbon isotope abundances for organisms and sediments are also reported for selected sites

  16. Correlating hydrogeostratification with geostratification from nuclear logging and geoelectric sounding in water impregnated traps

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bardhan, M.

    1977-01-01

    Subsurface boundary conditions obtained through nuclear logging and geoelectric sounding were compared with the driller's log recorded in a number of boreholes drilled by employing modern down-the-hole hammer rig, to diagnose the relative merits of the methods and to portray the actual subsurface stratigraphic succession as well as hydrophysical conditions in saturated trap formations. It was observed that nuclear logging and resistivity sounding do not furnish the actual geostratigraphy due to lack of sufficient contrast in the relevant physical properties between successive lava flows, but reflects on the prevailing hydrostratigraphy. However, the informations thrown up by them are of immense technical value in guiding ground water development programme through sinking of wells in trappean terrians. It is shown that the horizontal correlation value of nuclear logging can be augmented by combining it with geoelectric sounding. This aids in enhancing the practical utility of nuclear logs in geohydrologic investigations. (author)

  17. Developing optimal search strategies for detecting clinically sound prognostic studies in MEDLINE: an analytic survey

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Haynes R Brian

    2004-06-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Clinical end users of MEDLINE have a difficult time retrieving articles that are both scientifically sound and directly relevant to clinical practice. Search filters have been developed to assist end users in increasing the success of their searches. Many filters have been developed for the literature on therapy and reviews but little has been done in the area of prognosis. The objective of this study is to determine how well various methodologic textwords, Medical Subject Headings, and their Boolean combinations retrieve methodologically sound literature on the prognosis of health disorders in MEDLINE. Methods An analytic survey was conducted, comparing hand searches of journals with retrievals from MEDLINE for candidate search terms and combinations. Six research assistants read all issues of 161 journals for the publishing year 2000. All articles were rated using purpose and quality indicators and categorized into clinically relevant original studies, review articles, general papers, or case reports. The original and review articles were then categorized as 'pass' or 'fail' for methodologic rigor in the areas of prognosis and other clinical topics. Candidate search strategies were developed for prognosis and run in MEDLINE – the retrievals being compared with the hand search data. The sensitivity, specificity, precision, and accuracy of the search strategies were calculated. Results 12% of studies classified as prognosis met basic criteria for scientific merit for testing clinical applications. Combinations of terms reached peak sensitivities of 90%. Compared with the best single term, multiple terms increased sensitivity for sound studies by 25.2% (absolute increase, and increased specificity, but by a much smaller amount (1.1% when sensitivity was maximized. Combining terms to optimize both sensitivity and specificity achieved sensitivities and specificities of approximately 83% for each. Conclusion Empirically derived

  18. An Experimental Study of the Electrical Contact Resistance in Resistance Welding

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Song, Quanfeng; Zhang, Wenqi; Bay, Niels

    2005-01-01

    Electrical contact resistance is of critical importance in resistance welding. In this article, the contact resistance is experimentally investigated for welding mild steel, stainless steel, and aluminum to themselves. A parametric study was carried out on a Gleeble® machine, investigating...

  19. Sound Exposure During Outdoor Music Festivals

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tronstad, Tron V.; Gelderblom, Femke B.

    2016-01-01

    Most countries have guidelines to regulate sound exposure at concerts and music festivals. These guidelines limit the allowed sound pressure levels and the concert/festival's duration. In Norway, where there is such a guideline, it is up to the local authorities to impose the regulations. The need to prevent hearing-loss among festival participants is self-explanatory, but knowledge of the actual dose received by visitors is extremely scarce. This study looks at two Norwegian music festivals where only one was regulated by the Norwegian guideline for concert and music festivals. At each festival the sound exposure of four participants was monitored with noise dose meters. This study compared the exposures experienced at the two festivals, and tested them against the Norwegian guideline and the World Health Organization's recommendations. Sound levels during the concerts were higher at the festival not regulated by any guideline, and levels there exceeded both the national and the Worlds Health Organization's recommendations. The results also show that front-of-house measurements reliably predict participant exposure. PMID:27569410

  20. Sound exposure during outdoor music festivals

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tron V Tronstad

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Most countries have guidelines to regulate sound exposure at concerts and music festivals. These guidelines limit the allowed sound pressure levels and the concert/festival’s duration. In Norway, where there is such a guideline, it is up to the local authorities to impose the regulations. The need to prevent hearing-loss among festival participants is self-explanatory, but knowledge of the actual dose received by visitors is extremely scarce. This study looks at two Norwegian music festivals where only one was regulated by the Norwegian guideline for concert and music festivals. At each festival the sound exposure of four participants was monitored with noise dose meters. This study compared the exposures experienced at the two festivals, and tested them against the Norwegian guideline and the World Health Organization’s recommendations. Sound levels during the concerts were higher at the festival not regulated by any guideline, and levels there exceeded both the national and the Worlds Health Organization’s recommendations. The results also show that front-of-house measurements reliably predict participant exposure.

  1. An experimental study on the sound and frequency of the Chinese ancient variable bell

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chen Dongsheng; Hu Haining; Xing Lirong; Liu Yongsheng

    2009-01-01

    This paper describes an interesting sound phenomenon from a modern copy of the Chinese ancient variable bell which can emit distinctly different sounds at different temperatures. By means of audition-spectrum analyser software-and PC, the sound signals of the variable bell are collected and the fundamental spectra are shown on the PC. The configuration is simple and cheap, suitable for demonstration and laboratory exercises

  2. An experimental study on the sound and frequency of the Chinese ancient variable bell

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Chen Dongsheng; Hu Haining; Xing Lirong; Liu Yongsheng [Department of Maths and Physics, Shanghai University of Electric Power, 200090 Shanghai (China)], E-mail: cds781@hotmail.com

    2009-05-15

    This paper describes an interesting sound phenomenon from a modern copy of the Chinese ancient variable bell which can emit distinctly different sounds at different temperatures. By means of audition-spectrum analyser software-and PC, the sound signals of the variable bell are collected and the fundamental spectra are shown on the PC. The configuration is simple and cheap, suitable for demonstration and laboratory exercises.

  3. Sound [signal] noise

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bjørnsten, Thomas

    2012-01-01

    The article discusses the intricate relationship between sound and signification through notions of noise. The emergence of new fields of sonic artistic practices has generated several questions of how to approach sound as aesthetic form and material. During the past decade an increased attention...... has been paid to, for instance, a category such as ‘sound art’ together with an equally strengthened interest in phenomena and concepts that fall outside the accepted aesthetic procedures and constructions of what we traditionally would term as musical sound – a recurring example being ‘noise’....

  4. Field study of sound exposure by personal stereo

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ordoñez, Rodrigo Pizarro; Reuter, Karen; Hammershøi, Dorte

    2006-01-01

    A number of large scale studies suggest that the exposure level used with personal stereo systems should raise concern. High levels can be produced by most commercially available mp3 players, and they are generally used in high background noise levels (i.e., while in a bus or rain). A field study...... on young people's habitual sound exposure to personal stereos has been carried out using a measurement method according to principles of ISO 11904-2:2004. Additionally the state of their hearing has also been assessed. This presentation deals with the methodological aspects relating to the quantification...... of habitual use, estimation of listening levels and exposure levels, and assessment of their state of hearing, by either threshold determination or OAE measurement, with a special view to the general validity of the results (uncertainty factors and their magnitude)....

  5. Beneath sci-fi sound: primer, science fiction sound design, and American independent cinema

    OpenAIRE

    Johnston, Nessa

    2012-01-01

    Primer is a very low budget science-fiction film that deals with the subject of time travel; however, it looks and sounds quite distinctively different from other films associated with the genre. While Hollywood blockbuster sci-fi relies on “sound spectacle” as a key attraction, in contrast Primer sounds “lo-fi” and screen-centred, mixed to two channel stereo rather than the now industry-standard 5.1 surround sound. Although this is partly a consequence of the economics of its production, the...

  6. Propagation of Sound in a Bose-Einstein Condensate

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Andrews, M.R.; Kurn, D.M.; Miesner, H.; Durfee, D.S.; Townsend, C.G.; Inouye, S.; Ketterle, W.

    1997-01-01

    Sound propagation has been studied in a magnetically trapped dilute Bose-Einstein condensate. Localized excitations were induced by suddenly modifying the trapping potential using the optical dipole force of a focused laser beam. The resulting propagation of sound was observed using a novel technique, rapid sequencing of nondestructive phase-contrast images. The speed of sound was determined as a function of density and found to be consistent with Bogoliubov theory. This method may generally be used to observe high-lying modes and perhaps second sound. copyright 1997 The American Physical Society

  7. Sound classification of dwellings

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rasmussen, Birgit

    2012-01-01

    National schemes for sound classification of dwellings exist in more than ten countries in Europe, typically published as national standards. The schemes define quality classes reflecting different levels of acoustical comfort. Main criteria concern airborne and impact sound insulation between...... dwellings, facade sound insulation and installation noise. The schemes have been developed, implemented and revised gradually since the early 1990s. However, due to lack of coordination between countries, there are significant discrepancies, and new standards and revisions continue to increase the diversity...... is needed, and a European COST Action TU0901 "Integrating and Harmonizing Sound Insulation Aspects in Sustainable Urban Housing Constructions", has been established and runs 2009-2013, one of the main objectives being to prepare a proposal for a European sound classification scheme with a number of quality...

  8. Sound-proof Sandwich Panel Design via Metamaterial Concept

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sui, Ni

    Sandwich panels consisting of hollow core cells and two face-sheets bonded on both sides have been widely used as lightweight and strong structures in practical engineering applications, but with poor acoustic performance especially at low frequency regime. Basic sound-proof methods for the sandwich panel design are spontaneously categorized as sound insulation and sound absorption. Motivated by metamaterial concept, this dissertation presents two sandwich panel designs without sacrificing weight or size penalty: A lightweight yet sound-proof honeycomb acoustic metamateiral can be used as core material for honeycomb sandwich panels to block sound and break the mass law to realize minimum sound transmission; the other sandwich panel design is based on coupled Helmholtz resonators and can achieve perfect sound absorption without sound reflection. Based on the honeycomb sandwich panel, the mechanical properties of the honeycomb core structure were studied first. By incorporating a thin membrane on top of each honeycomb core, the traditional honeycomb core turns into honeycomb acoustic metamaterial. The basic theory for such kind of membrane-type acoustic metamaterial is demonstrated by a lumped model with infinite periodic oscillator system, and the negative dynamic effective mass density for clamped membrane is analyzed under the membrane resonance condition. Evanescent wave mode caused by negative dynamic effective mass density and impedance methods are utilized to interpret the physical phenomenon of honeycomb acoustic metamaterials at resonance. The honeycomb metamaterials can extraordinarily improve low-frequency sound transmission loss below the first resonant frequency of the membrane. The property of the membrane, the tension of the membrane and the numbers of attached membranes can impact the sound transmission loss, which are observed by numerical simulations and validated by experiments. The sandwich panel which incorporates the honeycomb metamateiral as

  9. MECHANICAL HEART-VALVE PROSTHESES - SOUND LEVEL AND RELATED COMPLAINTS

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    LAURENS, RRP; WIT, HP; EBELS, T

    In a randomised study, we investigated the sound production of mechanical heart valve prostheses and the complaints related to this sound. The CarboMedics, Bjork-Shiley monostrut and StJude Medical prostheses were compared. A-weighted levels of the pulse-like sound produced by the prosthesis were

  10. Characteristic sounds facilitate visual search.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Iordanescu, Lucica; Guzman-Martinez, Emmanuel; Grabowecky, Marcia; Suzuki, Satoru

    2008-06-01

    In a natural environment, objects that we look for often make characteristic sounds. A hiding cat may meow, or the keys in the cluttered drawer may jingle when moved. Using a visual search paradigm, we demonstrated that characteristic sounds facilitated visual localization of objects, even when the sounds carried no location information. For example, finding a cat was faster when participants heard a meow sound. In contrast, sounds had no effect when participants searched for names rather than pictures of objects. For example, hearing "meow" did not facilitate localization of the word cat. These results suggest that characteristic sounds cross-modally enhance visual (rather than conceptual) processing of the corresponding objects. Our behavioral demonstration of object-based cross-modal enhancement complements the extensive literature on space-based cross-modal interactions. When looking for your keys next time, you might want to play jingling sounds.

  11. Investigating the amplitude of interactive footstep sounds and soundscape reproduction

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Turchet, Luca; Serafin, Stefania

    2013-01-01

    In this paper, we study the perception of amplitude of soundscapes and interactively generated footstep sounds provided both through headphones and a surround sound system. In particular, we investigate whether there exists a value for the amplitude of soundscapes and footstep sounds which...... of soundscapes does not significantly affect the selected amplitude of footstep sounds. Similarly, the perception of the soundscapes amplitude is not significantly affected by the selected amplitude of footstep sounds....

  12. Sound exposure measurements using hearing-aid technology

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jensen, Simon Boelt; Drastrup, Mads; Morales, Esteban Chávez

    2016-01-01

    scenarios. The purpose of this work is to document the use of a modified behind-the-ear (BTE) hearing-aid as a portable sound pressure level (SPL) meter. In order to obtain sound level measurements with a BTE device comparable to sound field values that can be used with existing risk assessment strategies...... levels of sound exposures are experienced in modern society in many different situations such as attending concerts, sport events and others. This leads to an interest in measurement devices which are discreet and simple to use, in order to assess sound exposures encountered in typical daily life......, differences due to microphone positions and the presence of a person in the measurement must be taken into account. The present study presents measurements carried out to document the characteristics of the BTE device, using the same framework presented in the ISO 11904 standard series. The responses...

  13. Sound Surfing Network (SSN): Mobile Phone-based Sound Spatialization with Audience Collaboration

    OpenAIRE

    Park, Saebyul; Ban, Seonghoon; Hong, Dae Ryong; Yeo, Woon Seung

    2013-01-01

    SSN (Sound Surfing Network) is a performance system that provides a new musicalexperience by incorporating mobile phone-based spatial sound control tocollaborative music performance. SSN enables both the performer and theaudience to manipulate the spatial distribution of sound using the smartphonesof the audience as distributed speaker system. Proposing a new perspective tothe social aspect music appreciation, SSN will provide a new possibility tomobile music performances in the context of in...

  14. Sound Exposure of Symphony Orchestra Musicians

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Schmidt, Jesper Hvass; Pedersen, Ellen Raben; Juhl, Peter Møller

    2011-01-01

    dBA and their left ear was exposed 4.6 dB more than the right ear. Percussionists were exposed to high sound peaks >115 dBC but less continuous sound exposure was observed in this group. Musicians were exposed up to LAeq8h of 92 dB and a majority of musicians were exposed to sound levels exceeding......Background: Assessment of sound exposure by noise dosimetry can be challenging especially when measuring the exposure of classical orchestra musicians where sound originate from many different instruments. A new measurement method of bilateral sound exposure of classical musicians was developed...... and used to characterize sound exposure of the left and right ear simultaneously in two different symphony orchestras.Objectives: To measure binaural sound exposure of professional classical musicians and to identify possible exposure risk factors of specific musicians.Methods: Sound exposure was measured...

  15. The Impact of Sound Structure on Morphology

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Laaha, Sabine; Kjærbæk, Laila; Basbøll, Hans

    2011-01-01

    This study examines the impact of sound structure on children’s acquisition of noun plural morphology, focussing on stem change. For this purpose, a threelevel classification of stem change properties according to sound structure is presented, with increasing opacity of the plural stem: no change...

  16. Spherical loudspeaker array for local active control of sound.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rafaely, Boaz

    2009-05-01

    Active control of sound has been employed to reduce noise levels around listeners' head using destructive interference from noise-canceling sound sources. Recently, spherical loudspeaker arrays have been studied as multiple-channel sound sources, capable of generating sound fields with high complexity. In this paper, the potential use of a spherical loudspeaker array for local active control of sound is investigated. A theoretical analysis of the primary and secondary sound fields around a spherical sound source reveals that the natural quiet zones for the spherical source have a shell-shape. Using numerical optimization, quiet zones with other shapes are designed, showing potential for quiet zones with extents that are significantly larger than the well-known limit of a tenth of a wavelength for monopole sources. The paper presents several simulation examples showing quiet zones in various configurations.

  17. A recognition method research based on the heart sound texture map

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Huizhong Cheng

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available In order to improve the Heart Sound recognition rate and reduce the recognition time, in this paper, we introduces a new method for Heart Sound pattern recognition by using Heart Sound Texture Map. Based on the Heart Sound model, we give the Heart Sound time-frequency diagram and the Heart Sound Texture Map definition, we study the structure of the Heart Sound Window Function principle and realization method, and then discusses how to use the Heart Sound Window Function and the Short-time Fourier Transform to obtain two-dimensional Heart Sound time-frequency diagram, propose corner correlation recognition algorithm based on the Heart Sound Texture Map according to the characteristics of Heart Sound. The simulation results show that the Heart Sound Window Function compared with the traditional window function makes the first (S1 and the second (S2 Heart Sound texture clearer. And the corner correlation recognition algorithm based on the Heart Sound Texture Map can significantly improve the recognition rate and reduce the expense, which is an effective Heart Sound recognition method.

  18. Phonaesthemes and sound symbolism in Swedish brand names

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Åsa Abelin

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available This study examines the prevalence of sound symbolism in Swedish brand names. A general principle of brand name design is that effective names should be distinctive, recognizable, easy to pronounce and meaningful. Much money is invested in designing powerful brand names, where the emotional impact of the names on consumers is also relevant and it is important to avoid negative connotations. Customers prefer brand names, which say something about the product, as this reduces product uncertainty (Klink, 2001. Therefore, consumers might prefer sound symbolic names. It has been shown that people associate the sounds of the nonsense words maluma and takete with round and angular shapes, respectively. By extension, more complex shapes and textures might activate words containing certain sounds. This study focuses on semantic dimensions expected to be relevant to product names, such as mobility, consistency, texture and shape. These dimensions are related to the senses of sight, hearing and touch and are also interesting from a cognitive linguistic perspective. Cross-modal assessment and priming experiments with pictures and written words were performed and the results analysed in relation to brand name databases and to sound symbolic sound combinations in Swedish (Abelin, 1999. The results show that brand names virtually never contain pejorative, i.e. depreciatory, consonant clusters, and that certain sounds and sound combinations are overrepresented in certain content categories. Assessment tests show correlations between pictured objects and phoneme combinations in newly created words (non-words. The priming experiment shows that object images prime newly created words as expected, based on the presence of compatible consonant clusters.

  19. Persistence, resistance, resonance

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tsadka, Maayan

    Sound cannot travel in a vacuum, physically or socially. The ways in which sound operates are a result of acoustic properties, and the ways by which it is considered to be music are a result of social constructions. Therefore, music is always political, regardless of its content: the way it is performed and composed; the choice of instrumentation, notation, tuning; the medium of its distribution; its inherent hierarchy and power dynamics, and more. My compositional praxis makes me less interested in defining a relationship between music and politics than I am in erasing---or at least blurring---the borders between them. In this paper I discuss the aesthetics of resonance and echo in their metaphorical, physical, social, and musical manifestations. Also discussed is a political aesthetic of resonance, manifested through protest chants. I transcribe and analyze common protest chants from around the world, categorizing and unifying them as universal crowd-mobilizing rhythms. These ideas are explored musically in three pieces. Sumud: Rhetoric of Resistance in Three Movements, for two pianos and two percussion players, is a musical interpretation of the political/social concept of sumud, an Arabic word that literally means "steadfastness" and represents Palestinian non-violent resistance. The piece is based on common protest rhythms and uses the acoustic properties inherent to the instruments. The second piece, Three Piano Studies, extends some of the musical ideas and techniques used in Sumud, and explores the acoustic properties and resonance of the piano. The final set of pieces is part of my Critical Mess Music Project. These are site-specific musical works that attempt to blur the boundaries between audience, performers and composer, in part by including people without traditional musical training in the process of music making. These pieces use the natural structure and resonance of an environment, in this case, locations on the UCSC campus, and offer an active

  20. Modelling Hyperboloid Sound Scattering

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Burry, Jane; Davis, Daniel; Peters, Brady

    2011-01-01

    The Responsive Acoustic Surfaces workshop project described here sought new understandings about the interaction between geometry and sound in the arena of sound scattering. This paper reports on the challenges associated with modelling, simulating, fabricating and measuring this phenomenon using...... both physical and digital models at three distinct scales. The results suggest hyperboloid geometry, while difficult to fabricate, facilitates sound scattering....

  1. Auditory Sketches: Very Sparse Representations of Sounds Are Still Recognizable.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vincent Isnard

    Full Text Available Sounds in our environment like voices, animal calls or musical instruments are easily recognized by human listeners. Understanding the key features underlying this robust sound recognition is an important question in auditory science. Here, we studied the recognition by human listeners of new classes of sounds: acoustic and auditory sketches, sounds that are severely impoverished but still recognizable. Starting from a time-frequency representation, a sketch is obtained by keeping only sparse elements of the original signal, here, by means of a simple peak-picking algorithm. Two time-frequency representations were compared: a biologically grounded one, the auditory spectrogram, which simulates peripheral auditory filtering, and a simple acoustic spectrogram, based on a Fourier transform. Three degrees of sparsity were also investigated. Listeners were asked to recognize the category to which a sketch sound belongs: singing voices, bird calls, musical instruments, and vehicle engine noises. Results showed that, with the exception of voice sounds, very sparse representations of sounds (10 features, or energy peaks, per second could be recognized above chance. No clear differences could be observed between the acoustic and the auditory sketches. For the voice sounds, however, a completely different pattern of results emerged, with at-chance or even below-chance recognition performances, suggesting that the important features of the voice, whatever they are, were removed by the sketch process. Overall, these perceptual results were well correlated with a model of auditory distances, based on spectro-temporal excitation patterns (STEPs. This study confirms the potential of these new classes of sounds, acoustic and auditory sketches, to study sound recognition.

  2. 77 FR 37318 - Eighth Coast Guard District Annual Safety Zones; Sound of Independence; Santa Rosa Sound; Fort...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-06-21

    ...-AA00 Eighth Coast Guard District Annual Safety Zones; Sound of Independence; Santa Rosa Sound; Fort... Coast Guard will enforce a Safety Zone for the Sound of Independence event in the Santa Rosa Sound, Fort... during the Sound of Independence. During the enforcement period, entry into, transiting or anchoring in...

  3. Hydrocarbon studies in Puget Sound and off the Washington coast. Progress report, March 1977--February 1978

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Carpenter, R.; Fairhall, A.W.

    1978-01-01

    This report summarizes progress in the first 2.5 yrs of our studies of the amounts, types, and probable origins of aliphatic, aromatic, S-, and N-containing hydrocarbons in sediments, organisms, and waters of Puget Sound and the Washington coast. We are trying to identify the relative importances of the various possible sources of these substances, the major pathways by which they are transferred through some parts of the marine food web, their rates of transfer, and their ultimate fates. We have found that changes in aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbon compositions are evident in 210 Pb dated sediment cores from central Puget Sound. These changes are due both to natural diagenetic processes and to low level inputs of fossil fuels from a variety of sources. We have found measurable amounts of both S- and N-containing compounds in these Puget Sound sediments. We believe the first results of our studies of the role of zooplankton fecal pellets in the cycling of trace chemicals in the sea have shown that fecal pellets are an important vertical transport agent for hydrocarbons in the sea. We now have defined the natural variations in 14 C and 13 C/ 12 C isotope ratios of the inorganic carbon in Puget Sound seawater. Carbon isotope abundances for organisms and sediments are also reported for selected sites

  4. A cross-language study of the speech sounds in Yorùbá and Malay: Implications for Second Language Acquisition

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Boluwaji Oshodi

    2013-07-01

    Full Text Available Acquiring a language begins with the knowledge of its sounds system which falls under the branch of linguistics known as phonetics. The knowledge of the sound system becomes very important to prospective learners particularly L2 learners whose L1 exhibits different sounds and features from the target L2 because this knowledge is vital in order to internalise the correct pronunciation of words. This study examined and contrasted the sound systems of Yorùbá a Niger-Congo language spoken in Nigeria to that of Malay (Peninsular variety, an Austronesian language spoken in Malaysia with emphasis on the areas of differences. The data for this study were collected from ten participants; five native female Malay speakers who are married to Yorùbá native speakers but live in Malaysia and five Yorùbá native speakers who reside in Nigeria. The findings revealed that speakers from both sides have difficulties with sounds and features in the L2 which are not attested in their L1 and they tended to substitute them for similar ones in their L1 through transfer. This confirms the fact that asymmetry between the sound systems of L1 and L2 is a major source of error in L2 acquisition.

  5. Brief report: sound output of infant humidifiers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Royer, Allison K; Wilson, Paul F; Royer, Mark C; Miyamoto, Richard T

    2015-06-01

    The sound pressure levels (SPLs) of common infant humidifiers were determined to identify the likely sound exposure to infants and young children. This primary investigative research study was completed at a tertiary-level academic medical center otolaryngology and audiology laboratory. Five commercially available humidifiers were obtained from brick-and-mortar infant supply stores. Sound levels were measured at 20-, 100-, and 150-cm distances at all available humidifier settings. Two of 5 (40%) humidifiers tested had SPL readings greater than the recommended hospital infant nursery levels (50 dB) at distances up to 100 cm. In this preliminary study, it was demonstrated that humidifiers marketed for infant nurseries may produce appreciably high decibel levels. Further characterization of the effect of humidifier design on SPLs and further elucidation of ambient sound levels associated with hearing risk are necessary before definitive conclusions and recommendations can be made. © American Academy of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery Foundation 2015.

  6. Waveform analysis of sound

    CERN Document Server

    Tohyama, Mikio

    2015-01-01

    What is this sound? What does that sound indicate? These are two questions frequently heard in daily conversation. Sound results from the vibrations of elastic media and in daily life provides informative signals of events happening in the surrounding environment. In interpreting auditory sensations, the human ear seems particularly good at extracting the signal signatures from sound waves. Although exploring auditory processing schemes may be beyond our capabilities, source signature analysis is a very attractive area in which signal-processing schemes can be developed using mathematical expressions. This book is inspired by such processing schemes and is oriented to signature analysis of waveforms. Most of the examples in the book are taken from data of sound and vibrations; however, the methods and theories are mostly formulated using mathematical expressions rather than by acoustical interpretation. This book might therefore be attractive and informative for scientists, engineers, researchers, and graduat...

  7. Automatic adventitious respiratory sound analysis: A systematic review.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Renard Xaviero Adhi Pramono

    Full Text Available Automatic detection or classification of adventitious sounds is useful to assist physicians in diagnosing or monitoring diseases such as asthma, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD, and pneumonia. While computerised respiratory sound analysis, specifically for the detection or classification of adventitious sounds, has recently been the focus of an increasing number of studies, a standardised approach and comparison has not been well established.To provide a review of existing algorithms for the detection or classification of adventitious respiratory sounds. This systematic review provides a complete summary of methods used in the literature to give a baseline for future works.A systematic review of English articles published between 1938 and 2016, searched using the Scopus (1938-2016 and IEEExplore (1984-2016 databases. Additional articles were further obtained by references listed in the articles found. Search terms included adventitious sound detection, adventitious sound classification, abnormal respiratory sound detection, abnormal respiratory sound classification, wheeze detection, wheeze classification, crackle detection, crackle classification, rhonchi detection, rhonchi classification, stridor detection, stridor classification, pleural rub detection, pleural rub classification, squawk detection, and squawk classification.Only articles were included that focused on adventitious sound detection or classification, based on respiratory sounds, with performance reported and sufficient information provided to be approximately repeated.Investigators extracted data about the adventitious sound type analysed, approach and level of analysis, instrumentation or data source, location of sensor, amount of data obtained, data management, features, methods, and performance achieved.A total of 77 reports from the literature were included in this review. 55 (71.43% of the studies focused on wheeze, 40 (51.95% on crackle, 9 (11.69% on stridor, 9

  8. Automatic adventitious respiratory sound analysis: A systematic review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pramono, Renard Xaviero Adhi; Bowyer, Stuart; Rodriguez-Villegas, Esther

    2017-01-01

    Automatic detection or classification of adventitious sounds is useful to assist physicians in diagnosing or monitoring diseases such as asthma, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), and pneumonia. While computerised respiratory sound analysis, specifically for the detection or classification of adventitious sounds, has recently been the focus of an increasing number of studies, a standardised approach and comparison has not been well established. To provide a review of existing algorithms for the detection or classification of adventitious respiratory sounds. This systematic review provides a complete summary of methods used in the literature to give a baseline for future works. A systematic review of English articles published between 1938 and 2016, searched using the Scopus (1938-2016) and IEEExplore (1984-2016) databases. Additional articles were further obtained by references listed in the articles found. Search terms included adventitious sound detection, adventitious sound classification, abnormal respiratory sound detection, abnormal respiratory sound classification, wheeze detection, wheeze classification, crackle detection, crackle classification, rhonchi detection, rhonchi classification, stridor detection, stridor classification, pleural rub detection, pleural rub classification, squawk detection, and squawk classification. Only articles were included that focused on adventitious sound detection or classification, based on respiratory sounds, with performance reported and sufficient information provided to be approximately repeated. Investigators extracted data about the adventitious sound type analysed, approach and level of analysis, instrumentation or data source, location of sensor, amount of data obtained, data management, features, methods, and performance achieved. A total of 77 reports from the literature were included in this review. 55 (71.43%) of the studies focused on wheeze, 40 (51.95%) on crackle, 9 (11.69%) on stridor, 9 (11

  9. Experimental study on utilization of air-borne jet sound in coolant leak detector

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hayamizu, Y.; Kitahara, T.; Hayashi, T.; Nishimura, M.

    1975-10-01

    Studies have been undertaken to develop a new coolant leak detection method by the use of a microphone to pick up jet sound generated when pressurized high temperature water is discharged from a pressure boundary into the atmosphere. Leakage was simulated in three shapes, such as two machine-made circular holes and longitudinal and transverse slits in an inlet tube of a blowdown test facility. The measured power level of the jet sound was in agreement with theoretical values calculated from Lighthill's equation. In the study of utilization, this new method has been confirmed as applicable, and to be calculated theoretically for design on 'signal to noise ratio' evaluation. Detection of a small coolant leakage of 1 kg/sec is possible in a recirculation pump room which has large background noise from the pump if a suitable isolation wall, such as hot boxes, is installed between the monitored pipes and the pump. (auth.)

  10. Seasonal variation in aragonite saturation in surface waters of Puget Sound – a pilot study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gregory Pelletier

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available A pilot study of sampling, using monthly marine flights over spatially distributed stations, was conducted with the aim to characterize the carbonate system in Puget Sound over a full year-long period. Surface waters of Puget Sound were found to be under-saturated with respect to aragonite during October–March, and super-saturated during April–September. Highest pCO2 and lowest pH occurred during the corrosive October–March period. Lowest pCO2 and highest pH occurred during the super-saturated April–September period. The monthly variations in pCO2 , pH, and aragonite saturation state closely followed the variations in monthly average chlorophyll a. Super-saturated conditions during April–September are likely strongly influenced by photosynthetic uptake of CO2 during the phytoplankton growing season. The relationship between phytoplankton production, the carbonate system, and aragonite saturation state suggests that long-term trends in eutrophication processes may contribute to trends in ocean acidification in Puget Sound

  11. Comprehensive measures of sound exposures in cinemas using smart phones.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huth, Markus E; Popelka, Gerald R; Blevins, Nikolas H

    2014-01-01

    Sensorineural hearing loss from sound overexposure has a considerable prevalence. Identification of sound hazards is crucial, as prevention, due to a lack of definitive therapies, is the sole alternative to hearing aids. One subjectively loud, yet little studied, potential sound hazard is movie theaters. This study uses smart phones to evaluate their applicability as a widely available, validated sound pressure level (SPL) meter. Therefore, this study measures sound levels in movie theaters to determine whether sound levels exceed safe occupational noise exposure limits and whether sound levels in movie theaters differ as a function of movie, movie theater, presentation time, and seat location within the theater. Six smart phones with an SPL meter software application were calibrated with a precision SPL meter and validated as an SPL meter. Additionally, three different smart phone generations were measured in comparison to an integrating SPL meter. Two different movies, an action movie and a children's movie, were measured six times each in 10 different venues (n = 117). To maximize representativeness, movies were selected focusing on large release productions with probable high attendance. Movie theaters were selected in the San Francisco, CA, area based on whether they screened both chosen movies and to represent the largest variety of theater proprietors. Measurements were analyzed in regard to differences between theaters, location within the theater, movie, as well as presentation time and day as indirect indicator of film attendance. The smart phone measurements demonstrated high accuracy and reliability. Overall, sound levels in movie theaters do not exceed safe exposure limits by occupational standards. Sound levels vary significantly across theaters and demonstrated statistically significant higher sound levels and exposures in the action movie compared to the children's movie. Sound levels decrease with distance from the screen. However, no influence on

  12. Sound Settlements

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Mortensen, Peder Duelund; Hornyanszky, Elisabeth Dalholm; Larsen, Jacob Norvig

    2013-01-01

    Præsentation af projektresultater fra Interreg forskningen Sound Settlements om udvikling af bæredygtighed i det almene boligbyggerier i København, Malmø, Helsingborg og Lund samt europæiske eksempler på best practice......Præsentation af projektresultater fra Interreg forskningen Sound Settlements om udvikling af bæredygtighed i det almene boligbyggerier i København, Malmø, Helsingborg og Lund samt europæiske eksempler på best practice...

  13. Sound, memory and interruption

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pinder, David

    2016-01-01

    This chapter considers how art can interrupt the times and spaces of urban development so they might be imagined, experienced and understood differently. It focuses on the construction of the M11 Link Road through north-east London during the 1990s that demolished hundreds of homes and displaced...... around a thousand people. The highway was strongly resisted and it became the site of one of the country’s longest and largest anti-road struggles. The chapter addresses specifically Graeme Miller’s sound walk LINKED (2003), which for more than a decade has been broadcasting memories and stories...... of people who were violently displaced by the road as well as those who actively sought to halt it. Attention is given to the walk’s interruption of senses of the given and inevitable in two main ways. The first is in relation to the pace of the work and its deployment of slowness and arrest in a context...

  14. Sounds of silence: How to animate virtual worlds with sound

    Science.gov (United States)

    Astheimer, Peter

    1993-01-01

    Sounds are an integral and sometimes annoying part of our daily life. Virtual worlds which imitate natural environments gain a lot of authenticity from fast, high quality visualization combined with sound effects. Sounds help to increase the degree of immersion for human dwellers in imaginary worlds significantly. The virtual reality toolkit of IGD (Institute for Computer Graphics) features a broad range of standard visual and advanced real-time audio components which interpret an object-oriented definition of the scene. The virtual reality system 'Virtual Design' realized with the toolkit enables the designer of virtual worlds to create a true audiovisual environment. Several examples on video demonstrate the usage of the audio features in Virtual Design.

  15. How Pleasant Sounds Promote and Annoying Sounds Impede Health: A Cognitive Approach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tjeerd C. Andringa

    2013-04-01

    Full Text Available This theoretical paper addresses the cognitive functions via which quiet and in general pleasurable sounds promote and annoying sounds impede health. The article comprises a literature analysis and an interpretation of how the bidirectional influence of appraising the environment and the feelings of the perceiver can be understood in terms of core affect and motivation. This conceptual basis allows the formulation of a detailed cognitive model describing how sonic content, related to indicators of safety and danger, either allows full freedom over mind-states or forces the activation of a vigilance function with associated arousal. The model leads to a number of detailed predictions that can be used to provide existing soundscape approaches with a solid cognitive science foundation that may lead to novel approaches to soundscape design. These will take into account that louder sounds typically contribute to distal situational awareness while subtle environmental sounds provide proximal situational awareness. The role of safety indicators, mediated by proximal situational awareness and subtle sounds, should become more important in future soundscape research.

  16. Sound synthesis and evaluation of interactive footsteps and environmental sounds rendering for virtual reality applications.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nordahl, Rolf; Turchet, Luca; Serafin, Stefania

    2011-09-01

    We propose a system that affords real-time sound synthesis of footsteps on different materials. The system is based on microphones, which detect real footstep sounds from subjects, from which the ground reaction force (GRF) is estimated. Such GRF is used to control a sound synthesis engine based on physical models. Two experiments were conducted. In the first experiment, the ability of subjects to recognize the surface they were exposed to was assessed. In the second experiment, the sound synthesis engine was enhanced with environmental sounds. Results show that, in some conditions, adding a soundscape significantly improves the recognition of the simulated environment.

  17. It sounds good!

    CERN Multimedia

    CERN Bulletin

    2010-01-01

    Both the atmosphere and we ourselves are hit by hundreds of particles every second and yet nobody has ever heard a sound coming from these processes. Like cosmic rays, particles interacting inside the detectors at the LHC do not make any noise…unless you've decided to use the ‘sonification’ technique, in which case you might even hear the Higgs boson sound like music. Screenshot of the first page of the "LHC sound" site. A group of particle physicists, composers, software developers and artists recently got involved in the ‘LHC sound’ project to make the particles at the LHC produce music. Yes…music! The ‘sonification’ technique converts data into sound. “In this way, if you implement the right software you can get really nice music out of the particle tracks”, says Lily Asquith, a member of the ATLAS collaboration and one of the initiators of the project. The ‘LHC...

  18. Puget Sound Dissolved Oxygen Modeling Study: Development of an Intermediate Scale Water Quality Model

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Khangaonkar, Tarang; Sackmann, Brandon S.; Long, Wen; Mohamedali, Teizeen; Roberts, Mindy

    2012-10-01

    The Salish Sea, including Puget Sound, is a large estuarine system bounded by over seven thousand miles of complex shorelines, consists of several subbasins and many large inlets with distinct properties of their own. Pacific Ocean water enters Puget Sound through the Strait of Juan de Fuca at depth over the Admiralty Inlet sill. Ocean water mixed with freshwater discharges from runoff, rivers, and wastewater outfalls exits Puget Sound through the brackish surface outflow layer. Nutrient pollution is considered one of the largest threats to Puget Sound. There is considerable interest in understanding the effect of nutrient loads on the water quality and ecological health of Puget Sound in particular and the Salish Sea as a whole. The Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology) contracted with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) to develop a coupled hydrodynamic and water quality model. The water quality model simulates algae growth, dissolved oxygen, (DO) and nutrient dynamics in Puget Sound to inform potential Puget Sound-wide nutrient management strategies. Specifically, the project is expected to help determine 1) if current and potential future nitrogen loadings from point and non-point sources are significantly impairing water quality at a large scale and 2) what level of nutrient reductions are necessary to reduce or control human impacts to DO levels in the sensitive areas. The project did not include any additional data collection but instead relied on currently available information. This report describes model development effort conducted during the period 2009 to 2012 under a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) cooperative agreement with PNNL, Ecology, and the University of Washington awarded under the National Estuary Program

  19. Teaching letter sounds to kindergarten English language learners using incremental rehearsal.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peterson, Meredith; Brandes, Dana; Kunkel, Amy; Wilson, Jennifer; Rahn, Naomi L; Egan, Andrea; McComas, Jennifer

    2014-02-01

    Proficiency in letter-sound correspondence is important for decoding connected text. This study examined the effects of an evidence-based intervention, incremental rehearsal (IR), on the letter-sound expression of three kindergarten English language learners (ELLs) performing below the district benchmark for letter-sound fluency. Participants were native speakers of Hmong, Spanish, and Polish. A multiple-baseline design across sets of unknown letter sounds was used to evaluate the effects of IR on letter-sound expression. Visual analysis of the data showed an increase in level and trend when IR was introduced in each phase. Percentage of all non-overlapping data (PAND) ranged from 95% to 100%. All participants exceeded expected growth and reached the spring district benchmark for letter-sound fluency. Results suggest that IR is a promising intervention for increasing letter-sound expression for ELLs who evidence delays in acquiring letter sounds. Copyright © 2013 Society for the Study of School Psychology. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  20. Musical Sound, Instruments, and Equipment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Photinos, Panos

    2017-12-01

    'Musical Sound, Instruments, and Equipment' offers a basic understanding of sound, musical instruments and music equipment, geared towards a general audience and non-science majors. The book begins with an introduction of the fundamental properties of sound waves, and the perception of the characteristics of sound. The relation between intensity and loudness, and the relation between frequency and pitch are discussed. The basics of propagation of sound waves, and the interaction of sound waves with objects and structures of various sizes are introduced. Standing waves, harmonics and resonance are explained in simple terms, using graphics that provide a visual understanding. The development is focused on musical instruments and acoustics. The construction of musical scales and the frequency relations are reviewed and applied in the description of musical instruments. The frequency spectrum of selected instruments is explored using freely available sound analysis software. Sound amplification and sound recording, including analog and digital approaches, are discussed in two separate chapters. The book concludes with a chapter on acoustics, the physical factors that affect the quality of the music experience, and practical ways to improve the acoustics at home or small recording studios. A brief technical section is provided at the end of each chapter, where the interested reader can find the relevant physics and sample calculations. These quantitative sections can be skipped without affecting the comprehension of the basic material. Questions are provided to test the reader's understanding of the material. Answers are given in the appendix.

  1. Sound and Music Interventions in Psychiatry at Aalborg University Hospital

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lund, Helle Nystrup; Bertelsen, Lars Rye; Bonde, Lars Ole

    2016-01-01

    to their needs here-and-now. In the study, we focus on how self-selected music may lead to decrease of anxiety and pain or improved relaxation/sleep. The article describes and discusses the theory-driven development of the sound/music milieu, relevant empirical studies, the novel method of data collection......This article reports on the ongoing project development and research study called “A New Sound and Music Milieu at Aalborg University Hospital”. Based on a number of pilot studies in AUH Psychiatry, investigating how special playlists and sound equipment (“sound pillows” and portable players) can...... be used by hospital patients and administered by hospital staff supervised by music therapists, the new project aims to prepare the ground for a systematic application of sound and music in the hospital environment. A number of playlists have been developed, based on theoretical and empirical research...

  2. Depth study of insular shelf electric sounding in the Puntas de Abrojal anomaly

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cicalese, H.

    1983-01-01

    In the framework of the Uranium prospecting Programme, a geophysics team composed by BRGM and DINAMIGE workers were carried out an study about of insular shelf electric sounding on the Puntas de Abrojal area.A geographical location, geologic framework, geophysical survey and methods, materials and results were given

  3. Sound modes in hot nuclear matter

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kolomietz, V. M.; Shlomo, S.

    2001-01-01

    The propagation of the isoscalar and isovector sound modes in a hot nuclear matter is considered. The approach is based on the collisional kinetic theory and takes into account the temperature and memory effects. It is shown that the sound velocity and the attenuation coefficient are significantly influenced by the Fermi surface distortion (FSD). The corresponding influence is much stronger for the isoscalar mode than for the isovector one. The memory effects cause a nonmonotonous behavior of the attenuation coefficient as a function of the relaxation time leading to a zero-to-first sound transition with increasing temperature. The mixing of both the isoscalar and the isovector sound modes in an asymmetric nuclear matter is evaluated. The condition for the bulk instability and the instability growth rate in the presence of the memory effects is studied. It is shown that both the FSD and the relaxation processes lead to a shift of the maximum of the instability growth rate to the longer-wavelength region

  4. Intercepting a sound without vision

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vercillo, Tiziana; Tonelli, Alessia; Gori, Monica

    2017-01-01

    Visual information is extremely important to generate internal spatial representations. In the auditory modality, the absence of visual cues during early infancy does not preclude the development of some spatial strategies. However, specific spatial abilities might result impaired. In the current study, we investigated the effect of early visual deprivation on the ability to localize static and moving auditory stimuli by comparing sighted and early blind individuals’ performance in different spatial tasks. We also examined perceptual stability in the two groups of participants by matching localization accuracy in a static and a dynamic head condition that involved rotational head movements. Sighted participants accurately localized static and moving sounds. Their localization ability remained unchanged after rotational movements of the head. Conversely, blind participants showed a leftward bias during the localization of static sounds and a little bias for moving sounds. Moreover, head movements induced a significant bias in the direction of head motion during the localization of moving sounds. These results suggest that internal spatial representations might be body-centered in blind individuals and that in sighted people the availability of visual cues during early infancy may affect sensory-motor interactions. PMID:28481939

  5. A Simulation Study on the Performance of Radiant Ceilings Combined with Free-Hanging Horizontal Sound Absorbers

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kazanci, Ongun Berk; Domínguez, L. Marcos; Rage, Niels

    2018-01-01

    using TABS, most building simulation models assume an uncovered ceiling; however, this might not be the case in practice, due to the use of free-hanging horizontal (or vertical) sound absorbers for the control of room acoustic conditions. The use of sound absorbers will decrease the performance...... of radiant ceiling cooling systems. Therefore, the quantification of the effects during the design phase is important for predicting the resulting thermal indoor environment and for system dimensioning. In this study, a two-person office room equipped with TABS was simulated using a commercially available...... simulation software with a recently developed plug-in that allows simulating the effects of horizontal sound absorbers on the performance of TABS and on the thermal indoor environment. The change in thermal indoor environment and in performance of TABS were quantified, and the simulation results were...

  6. Study of the effect of finite extent on sound transmission loss of single panel using a waveguide model

    OpenAIRE

    Prasetiyo , Iwan; Thompson , David

    2012-01-01

    International audience; The sound transmission loss (STL) of a panel is often estimated using an infinite plate model. However, some discrepancies are found between these predicted results and experimental ones. One of the sources of such discrepancies corresponds to the finite extent that is naturally found in real structures. In the present study an analytical waveguide model of sound transmission is used to study the effect of finite dimensions in one direction for a panel which is long in...

  7. OMNIDIRECTIONAL SOUND SOURCE

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    1996-01-01

    A sound source comprising a loudspeaker (6) and a hollow coupler (4) with an open inlet which communicates with and is closed by the loudspeaker (6) and an open outlet, said coupler (4) comprising rigid walls which cannot respond to the sound pressures produced by the loudspeaker (6). According...

  8. The velocity of sound

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Beyer, R.T.

    1985-01-01

    The paper reviews the work carried out on the velocity of sound in liquid alkali metals. The experimental methods to determine the velocity measurements are described. Tables are presented of reported data on the velocity of sound in lithium, sodium, potassium, rubidium and caesium. A formula is given for alkali metals, in which the sound velocity is a function of shear viscosity, atomic mass and atomic volume. (U.K.)

  9. Product sounds : Fundamentals and application

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Ozcan-Vieira, E.

    2008-01-01

    Products are ubiquitous, so are the sounds emitted by products. Product sounds influence our reasoning, emotional state, purchase decisions, preference, and expectations regarding the product and the product's performance. Thus, auditory experience elicited by product sounds may not be just about

  10. Suppression of sound radiation to far field of near-field acoustic communication system using evanescent sound field

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fujii, Ayaka; Wakatsuki, Naoto; Mizutani, Koichi

    2016-01-01

    A method of suppressing sound radiation to the far field of a near-field acoustic communication system using an evanescent sound field is proposed. The amplitude of the evanescent sound field generated from an infinite vibrating plate attenuates exponentially with increasing a distance from the surface of the vibrating plate. However, a discontinuity of the sound field exists at the edge of the finite vibrating plate in practice, which broadens the wavenumber spectrum. A sound wave radiates over the evanescent sound field because of broadening of the wavenumber spectrum. Therefore, we calculated the optimum distribution of the particle velocity on the vibrating plate to reduce the broadening of the wavenumber spectrum. We focused on a window function that is utilized in the field of signal analysis for reducing the broadening of the frequency spectrum. The optimization calculation is necessary for the design of window function suitable for suppressing sound radiation and securing a spatial area for data communication. In addition, a wide frequency bandwidth is required to increase the data transmission speed. Therefore, we investigated a suitable method for calculating the sound pressure level at the far field to confirm the variation of the distribution of sound pressure level determined on the basis of the window shape and frequency. The distribution of the sound pressure level at a finite distance was in good agreement with that obtained at an infinite far field under the condition generating the evanescent sound field. Consequently, the window function was optimized by the method used to calculate the distribution of the sound pressure level at an infinite far field using the wavenumber spectrum on the vibrating plate. According to the result of comparing the distributions of the sound pressure level in the cases with and without the window function, it was confirmed that the area whose sound pressure level was reduced from the maximum level to -50 dB was

  11. Acoustic analysis of trill sounds.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dhananjaya, N; Yegnanarayana, B; Bhaskararao, Peri

    2012-04-01

    In this paper, the acoustic-phonetic characteristics of steady apical trills--trill sounds produced by the periodic vibration of the apex of the tongue--are studied. Signal processing methods, namely, zero-frequency filtering and zero-time liftering of speech signals, are used to analyze the excitation source and the resonance characteristics of the vocal tract system, respectively. Although it is natural to expect the effect of trilling on the resonances of the vocal tract system, it is interesting to note that trilling influences the glottal source of excitation as well. The excitation characteristics derived using zero-frequency filtering of speech signals are glottal epochs, strength of impulses at the glottal epochs, and instantaneous fundamental frequency of the glottal vibration. Analysis based on zero-time liftering of speech signals is used to study the dynamic resonance characteristics of vocal tract system during the production of trill sounds. Qualitative analysis of trill sounds in different vowel contexts, and the acoustic cues that may help spotting trills in continuous speech are discussed.

  12. 33 CFR 334.410 - Albemarle Sound, Pamlico Sound, and adjacent waters, NC; danger zones for naval aircraft operations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Albemarle Sound, Pamlico Sound... AND RESTRICTED AREA REGULATIONS § 334.410 Albemarle Sound, Pamlico Sound, and adjacent waters, NC; danger zones for naval aircraft operations. (a) Target areas—(1) North Landing River (Currituck Sound...

  13. Objective function analysis for electric soundings (VES), transient electromagnetic soundings (TEM) and joint inversion VES/TEM

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bortolozo, Cassiano Antonio; Bokhonok, Oleg; Porsani, Jorge Luís; Monteiro dos Santos, Fernando Acácio; Diogo, Liliana Alcazar; Slob, Evert

    2017-11-01

    Ambiguities in geophysical inversion results are always present. How these ambiguities appear in most cases open to interpretation. It is interesting to investigate ambiguities with regard to the parameters of the models under study. Residual Function Dispersion Map (RFDM) can be used to differentiate between global ambiguities and local minima in the objective function. We apply RFDM to Vertical Electrical Sounding (VES) and TEM Sounding inversion results. Through topographic analysis of the objective function we evaluate the advantages and limitations of electrical sounding data compared with TEM sounding data, and the benefits of joint inversion in comparison with the individual methods. The RFDM analysis proved to be a very interesting tool for understanding the joint inversion method of VES/TEM. Also the advantage of the applicability of the RFDM analyses in real data is explored in this paper to demonstrate not only how the objective function of real data behaves but the applicability of the RFDM approach in real cases. With the analysis of the results, it is possible to understand how the joint inversion can reduce the ambiguity of the methods.

  14. Environmental Sound Training in Cochlear Implant Users

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shafiro, Valeriy; Sheft, Stanley; Kuvadia, Sejal; Gygi, Brian

    2015-01-01

    Purpose: The study investigated the effect of a short computer-based environmental sound training regimen on the perception of environmental sounds and speech in experienced cochlear implant (CI) patients. Method: Fourteen CI patients with the average of 5 years of CI experience participated. The protocol consisted of 2 pretests, 1 week apart,…

  15. Hydraulic transmissivity determination for the groundwater exploration using vertical electric sounding method in comparison to the traditional methods

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Arshad, M.; Shakoor, A.; Ahmad, M.

    2013-01-01

    An important aquifer characteristic, transmissivity significantly contributes to the development of local and regional groundwater resources and solute transport management. Estimation of this property allows quantitative prediction of the hydraulic response and solute transport of the aquifer to recharge and pumping. This study presents the three techniques, used to compare transmissivity determination by Vertical Electric Sounding (VES) over the traditional techniques. The validation of VES was compared with the old widely used methods such as grain size distribution and pumping test techniques. Grain size distribution analysis was carried out to determine transmissivity. Pumping test was performed to determine transmissivity using the type curves solution for unconfined aquifer and taking into account the delayed yield. In resistivity imaging survey, the soil layers were detected through interpretation of resistivity data. Formation factor for each layer was determined with the relation of aquifer soil resistivity and ground water resistivity. The estimated transmissivities though grain size distribution, pumping test and resistivity survey were 0.588, 0.578 and 0.756m/sup 2//min, respectively. The results emphasized the potential of the resistivity survey for aquifer transmissivity determination. (author)

  16. Transient electromagnetic soundings in the San Luis Valley, Colorado, near the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve and the Alamosa National Wildlife Refuge (field seasons 2007, 2009, and 2011)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fitterman, David V.

    2017-06-13

    Transient electromagnetic (TEM) soundings were made in the San Luis Valley, Colorado, to map the location of a blue clay unit as well as to investigate the presence of suspected faults. A total of 147 soundings were made near and in Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve, and an additional 6 soundings were made near Hansen Bluff on the eastern edge of the Alamosa National Wildlife Refuge. The blue clay is a significant hydrologic feature in the area that separates an unconfined surface aquifer from a deeper confined aquifer. Knowledge of its location is important to regional hydrological models. Previous analysis of well logs has shown that the blue clay has a resistivity of 10 ohm-meters or less, which is in contrast to the higher resistivity of sand, gravel, and other clay units found in the area, making it a very good target for TEM soundings. The top of the blue clay was found to have considerable relief, suggesting the possibility of deformation of the clay during or after deposition. Because of rift activity, deformation is to be expected. Of the TEM profiles made across faults identified by aeromagnetic data, some showed resistivity variations and (or) subsurface elevation relief of resistivity units, suggestive of faulting. Such patterns were not associated with all suspected faults. The Hansen Bluff profile showed variations in resistivity and depth to conductor that coincide with a scarp between the highlands to the east and the floodplain of the Rio Grande to the west.

  17. Simulation of Sound Waves Using the Lattice Boltzmann Method for Fluid Flow: Benchmark Cases for Outdoor Sound Propagation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Salomons, Erik M; Lohman, Walter J A; Zhou, Han

    2016-01-01

    Propagation of sound waves in air can be considered as a special case of fluid dynamics. Consequently, the lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) for fluid flow can be used for simulating sound propagation. In this article application of the LBM to sound propagation is illustrated for various cases: free-field propagation, propagation over porous and non-porous ground, propagation over a noise barrier, and propagation in an atmosphere with wind. LBM results are compared with solutions of the equations of acoustics. It is found that the LBM works well for sound waves, but dissipation of sound waves with the LBM is generally much larger than real dissipation of sound waves in air. To circumvent this problem it is proposed here to use the LBM for assessing the excess sound level, i.e. the difference between the sound level and the free-field sound level. The effect of dissipation on the excess sound level is much smaller than the effect on the sound level, so the LBM can be used to estimate the excess sound level for a non-dissipative atmosphere, which is a useful quantity in atmospheric acoustics. To reduce dissipation in an LBM simulation two approaches are considered: i) reduction of the kinematic viscosity and ii) reduction of the lattice spacing.

  18. Non-musical sound branding – a conceptualization and research overview

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Graakjær, Nicolai J.; Bonde, Anders

    2018-01-01

    Purpose The purpose of this paper is to advance the understanding of sound branding by developing a new conceptual framework and providing an overview of the research literature on non-musical sound. Design/methodology/approach Using four mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive types of non......-musical sound, the paper assesses and synthesizes 99 significant studies across various scholarly fields. Findings The overview reveals two areas in which more research may be warranted, that is, non-musical atmospherics and non-musical sonic logos. Moreover, future sound-branding research should examine...... in further detail the potentials of developed versus annexed object sounds, and mediated versus unmediated brand sounds. Research limitations/implications The paper provides important insights into critical issues that suggest directions for further research on non-musical sound branding. Practical...

  19. Study on abrasion resisting material for apron of dam; Dam apron bu no taimamo sozai ni kansuru kenkyu

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Inaba, H.; Hiraki, M.; Miyamoto, T. [Hokuriku Electric Power Co. Inc., Toyama (Japan)

    1995-01-25

    A `laminated rubber tile` and a `shock absorbing holed-in anchor` were devised in connection with the apron of a dam for a hydroelectric power plant. As the result of a survey on the hydroelectric power plants, ten plus places were observed where a general kind of concrete was severely worn in the company territory; but, there were substantial number of rubber materials that had still been sound for over ten years after the installation. In spite of the soundness of the rubber tiles, however, it was observed that their anchor supports had been cut and separated. An abrasion comparison test of concrete and rubber materials revealed that the rubber materials were considerably superior in abrasion resistance. Various rubber tiles were tested for abrasion resistance, tear strength, tensile strength, impact strength, etc.; and methods for fixing rubber tiles were also tested such as a holed-in anchor, chemical anchor and adhesives. As a result, a laminated rubber tile was designed with its upper layer constituted of a rubber sold on the market and its lower layer of a fiber reinforced rubber also on the market, and so was a shock absorbing type holed-in anchor. 1 ref., 11 figs., 4 tabs.

  20. Noise Reduction in Breath Sound Files Using Wavelet Transform Based Filter

    Science.gov (United States)

    Syahputra, M. F.; Situmeang, S. I. G.; Rahmat, R. F.; Budiarto, R.

    2017-04-01

    The development of science and technology in the field of healthcare increasingly provides convenience in diagnosing respiratory system problem. Recording the breath sounds is one example of these developments. Breath sounds are recorded using a digital stethoscope, and then stored in a file with sound format. This breath sounds will be analyzed by health practitioners to diagnose the symptoms of disease or illness. However, the breath sounds is not free from interference signals. Therefore, noise filter or signal interference reduction system is required so that breath sounds component which contains information signal can be clarified. In this study, we designed a filter called a wavelet transform based filter. The filter that is designed in this study is using Daubechies wavelet with four wavelet transform coefficients. Based on the testing of the ten types of breath sounds data, the data is obtained in the largest SNRdB bronchial for 74.3685 decibels.

  1. Application of semi-supervised deep learning to lung sound analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chamberlain, Daniel; Kodgule, Rahul; Ganelin, Daniela; Miglani, Vivek; Fletcher, Richard Ribon

    2016-08-01

    The analysis of lung sounds, collected through auscultation, is a fundamental component of pulmonary disease diagnostics for primary care and general patient monitoring for telemedicine. Despite advances in computation and algorithms, the goal of automated lung sound identification and classification has remained elusive. Over the past 40 years, published work in this field has demonstrated only limited success in identifying lung sounds, with most published studies using only a small numbers of patients (typically Ndeep learning algorithm for automatically classify lung sounds from a relatively large number of patients (N=284). Focusing on the two most common lung sounds, wheeze and crackle, we present results from 11,627 sound files recorded from 11 different auscultation locations on these 284 patients with pulmonary disease. 890 of these sound files were labeled to evaluate the model, which is significantly larger than previously published studies. Data was collected with a custom mobile phone application and a low-cost (US$30) electronic stethoscope. On this data set, our algorithm achieves ROC curves with AUCs of 0.86 for wheeze and 0.74 for crackle. Most importantly, this study demonstrates how semi-supervised deep learning can be used with larger data sets without requiring extensive labeling of data.

  2. Sounding out the logo shot

    OpenAIRE

    Nicolai Jørgensgaard Graakjær

    2013-01-01

    This article focuses on how sound in combination with visuals (i.e. ‘branding by’) may possibly affect the signifying potentials (i.e. ‘branding effect’) of products and corporate brands (i.e. ‘branding of’) during logo shots in television commercials (i.e. ‘branding through’). This particular focus adds both to the understanding of sound in television commercials and to the understanding of sound brands. The article firstly presents a typology of sounds. Secondly, this typology is applied...

  3. Sound intensity

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Crocker, Malcolm J.; Jacobsen, Finn

    1998-01-01

    This chapter is an overview, intended for readers with no special knowledge about this particular topic. The chapter deals with all aspects of sound intensity and its measurement from the fundamental theoretical background to practical applications of the measurement technique.......This chapter is an overview, intended for readers with no special knowledge about this particular topic. The chapter deals with all aspects of sound intensity and its measurement from the fundamental theoretical background to practical applications of the measurement technique....

  4. Sound Intensity

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Crocker, M.J.; Jacobsen, Finn

    1997-01-01

    This chapter is an overview, intended for readers with no special knowledge about this particular topic. The chapter deals with all aspects of sound intensity and its measurement from the fundamental theoretical background to practical applications of the measurement technique.......This chapter is an overview, intended for readers with no special knowledge about this particular topic. The chapter deals with all aspects of sound intensity and its measurement from the fundamental theoretical background to practical applications of the measurement technique....

  5. SoleSound

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Zanotto, Damiano; Turchet, Luca; Boggs, Emily Marie

    2014-01-01

    This paper introduces the design of SoleSound, a wearable system designed to deliver ecological, audio-tactile, underfoot feedback. The device, which primarily targets clinical applications, uses an audio-tactile footstep synthesis engine informed by the readings of pressure and inertial sensors...... embedded in the footwear to integrate enhanced feedback modalities into the authors' previously developed instrumented footwear. The synthesis models currently implemented in the SoleSound simulate different ground surface interactions. Unlike similar devices, the system presented here is fully portable...

  6. Behind Start of Take-Off Roll Aircraft Sound Level Directivity Study - Revision 1

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lau, Michael C.; Roof, Christopher J.; Fleming, Gregg G.; Rapoza, Amanda S.; Boeker, Eric R.; McCurdy, David A.; Shepherd, Kevin P.

    2015-01-01

    The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Langley Research Center (LaRC) and the Environmental Measurement and Modeling Division of the Department of Transportation's Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (Volpe) conducted a noise measurement study to examine aircraft sound level directivity patterns behind the start-of-takeoff roll. The study was conducted at Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD) from October 4 through 20, 2004.

  7. System for actively reducing sound

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Berkhoff, Arthur P.

    2005-01-01

    A system for actively reducing sound from a primary noise source, such as traffic noise, comprising: a loudspeaker connector for connecting to at least one loudspeaker for generating anti-sound for reducing said noisy sound; a microphone connector for connecting to at least a first microphone placed

  8. Sounding rocket study of auroral electron precipitation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    McFadden, J.P.

    1985-01-01

    Measurement of energetic electrons in the auroral zone have proved to be one of the most useful tools in investigating the phenomena of auroral arc formation. This dissertation presents a detailed analysis of the electron data from two sounding rocket campaigns and interprets the measurements in terms of existing auroral models. The Polar Cusp campaign consisted of a single rocket launched from Cape Parry, Canada into the afternoon auroral zone at 1:31:13 UT on January 21, 1982. The results include the measurement of a narrow, magnetic field aligned electron flux at the edge of an arc. This electron precipitation was found to have a remarkably constant 1.2 eV temperature perpendicular to the magnetic field over a 200 to 900 eV energy range. The payload also made simultaneous measurements of both energetic electrons and 3-MHz plasma waves in an auroral arc. Analysis has shown that the waves are propagating in the upper hybrid band and should be generated by a positive slope in the parallel electron distribution. A correlation was found between the 3-MHz waves and small positive slopes in the parallel electron distribution but experimental uncertainties in the electron measurement were large enough to influence the analysis. The BIDARCA campaign consisted of two sounding rockets launched from Poker Flat and Fort Yukon, Alaska at 9:09:00 UT and 9:10:40 UT on February 7, 1984

  9. Emotional sounds modulate early neural processing of emotional pictures

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Antje B M Gerdes

    2013-10-01

    Full Text Available In our natural environment, emotional information is conveyed by converging visual and auditory information; multimodal integration is of utmost importance. In the laboratory, however, emotion researchers have mostly focused on the examination of unimodal stimuli. Few existing studies on multimodal emotion processing have focused on human communication such as the integration of facial and vocal expressions. Extending the concept of multimodality, the current study examines how the neural processing of emotional pictures is influenced by simultaneously presented sounds. Twenty pleasant, unpleasant, and neutral pictures of complex scenes were presented to 22 healthy participants. On the critical trials these pictures were paired with pleasant, unpleasant and neutral sounds. Sound presentation started 500 ms before picture onset and each stimulus presentation lasted for 2s. EEG was recorded from 64 channels and ERP analyses focused on the picture onset. In addition, valence, and arousal ratings were obtained. Previous findings for the neural processing of emotional pictures were replicated. Specifically, unpleasant compared to neutral pictures were associated with an increased parietal P200 and a more pronounced centroparietal late positive potential (LPP, independent of the accompanying sound valence. For audiovisual stimulation, increased parietal P100 and P200 were found in response to all pictures which were accompanied by unpleasant or pleasant sounds compared to pictures with neutral sounds. Most importantly, incongruent audiovisual pairs of unpleasant pictures and pleasant sounds enhanced parietal P100 and P200 compared to pairings with congruent sounds. Taken together, the present findings indicate that emotional sounds modulate early stages of visual processing and, therefore, provide an avenue by which multimodal experience may enhance perception.

  10. Plastic modes of listening: affordance in constructed sound environments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sjolin, Anders

    This thesis is concerned with how the ecological approach to perception with the inclusion of listening modes, informs the creation of sound art installation, or more specifically as referred to in this thesis as constructed sound environments. The basis for the thesis has been a practiced based research where the aim and purpose of the written part of this PhD project has been to critically investigate the area of sound art, in order to map various approaches towards participating in and listening to a constructed sound environment. The main areas has been the notion of affordance as coined by James J. Gibson (1986), listening modes as coined by Pierre Schaeffer (1966) and further developed by Michel Chion (1994), aural architects as coined by Blesser and Salter (2007) and the holistic approach towards understanding sound art developed by Brandon LaBelle (2006). The findings within the written part of the thesis, based on a qualitative analysis, have informed the practice that has resulted in artefacts in the form of seven constructed sound environments that also functions as case studies for further analysis. The aim of the practice has been to exemplify the methodology, strategy and progress behind the organisation and construction of sound environments The research concerns point towards the acknowledgment of affordance as the crucial factor in understanding a constructed sound environment. The affordance approach govern the idea that perceiving a sound environment is a top-down process where the autonomic quality of a constructed sound environment is based upon the perception of structures of the sound material and its relationship with speaker placement and surrounding space. This enables a researcher to side step the conflicting poles of musical/abstract and non-musical/realistic classification of sound elements and regard these poles as included, not separated elements in the analysis of a constructed sound environment.

  11. Measuring the 'complexity'of sound

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    Sounds in the natural environment form an important class of biologically relevant nonstationary signals. We propose a dynamic spectral measure to characterize the spectral dynamics of such non-stationary sound signals and classify them based on rate of change of spectral dynamics. We categorize sounds with slowly ...

  12. Preferred sound levels of portable music players and listening habits among adults: a field study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kähäri, Kim R; Aslund, T; Olsson, J

    2011-01-01

    The main purpose of this descriptive field study was to explore music listening habits and preferred listening levels with portable music players (PMPs). We were also interested in seeing whether any exposure differences could be observed between the sexes. Data were collected during 12 hours at Stockholm Central Station, where people passing by were invited to measure their preferred PMP listening level by using a KEMAR manikin. People were also asked to answer a questionnaire about their listening habits. In all, 60 persons (41 men and 19 women) took part in the questionnaire study and 61 preferred PMP levels to be measured. Forty-one of these sound level measurements were valid to be reported after consideration was taken to acceptable measuring conditions. The women (31 years) and the men (33 years) started to use PMPs on a regular basis in their early 20s. Ear canal headphones/ear buds were the preferred headphone types. Fifty-seven percent of the whole study population used their PMP on a daily basis. The measured LAeq60 sec levels corrected for free field ranged between 73 and 102 dB, with a mean value of 83 dB. Sound levels for different types of headphones are also presented. The results of this study indicate that there are two groups of listeners: people who listen less frequently and at lower, safer sound levels, and people with excessive listening habits that may indeed damage their hearing sensory organ in time.

  13. Preferred sound levels of portable music players and listening habits among adults: A field study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kim R Kahari

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available The main purpose of this descriptive field study was to explore music listening habits and preferred listening levels with portable music players (PMPs. We were also interested in seeing whether any exposure differences could be observed between the sexes. Data were collected during 12 hours at Stockholm Central Station, where people passing by were invited to measure their preferred PMP listening level by using a KEMAR manikin. People were also asked to answer a questionnaire about their listening habits. In all, 60 persons (41 men and 19 women took part in the questionnaire study and 61 preferred PMP levels to be measured. Forty-one of these sound level measurements were valid to be reported after consideration was taken to acceptable measuring conditions. The women (31 years and the men (33 years started to use PMPs on a regular basis in their early 20s. Ear canal headphones/ear buds were the preferred headphone types. Fifty-seven percent of the whole study population used their PMP on a daily basis. The measured LAeq60 sec levels corrected for free field ranged between 73 and 102 dB, with a mean value of 83 dB. Sound levels for different types of headphones are also presented. The results of this study indicate that there are two groups of listeners: people who listen less frequently and at lower, safer sound levels, and people with excessive listening habits that may indeed damage their hearing sensory organ in time.

  14. Controlling sound with acoustic metamaterials

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Cummer, Steven A. ; Christensen, Johan; Alù, Andrea

    2016-01-01

    Acoustic metamaterials can manipulate and control sound waves in ways that are not possible in conventional materials. Metamaterials with zero, or even negative, refractive index for sound offer new possibilities for acoustic imaging and for the control of sound at subwavelength scales....... The combination of transformation acoustics theory and highly anisotropic acoustic metamaterials enables precise control over the deformation of sound fields, which can be used, for example, to hide or cloak objects from incident acoustic energy. Active acoustic metamaterials use external control to create......-scale metamaterial structures and converting laboratory experiments into useful devices. In this Review, we outline the designs and properties of materials with unusual acoustic parameters (for example, negative refractive index), discuss examples of extreme manipulation of sound and, finally, provide an overview...

  15. The Sound Attenuation Coefficient Optimization in Case of a Three Parameter Impedance Model for a Rectangular 3D Straight Lined Duct of Finite Dimensions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Stefan BALINT

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available A method for the minimization of the ratio of the sound pressure level at the exit to that at the entrance is presented for a rectangular 3D straight lined duct carrying a uniform gas flow. The duct dimensions, the incident sound wave as well as the frequency of the sound wave propagation are assumed to be known. It is assumed also that the liner impedance model is the mass-spring–damper model. The idea is to compute the considered ratio for a large number of combinations of the values of the inertance, resistance and stiffness of the liner and, by fitting the obtained data, to establish a formula for the dependence of the ratio in discussion on these three parameters of the liner. Using the obtained formula, the minimum value of the ratio, as well as the values of the inertance, resistance and stiffness, for which the minimum is obtained, are found.

  16. Boundary effects on sound propagation in superfluids

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jensen, H.H.; Smith, H.; Woelfle, P.

    1983-01-01

    The attenuation of fourth sound propagating in a superfluid confined within a channel is determined on a microscopic basis, taking into account the scatter of the quasiparticles from the walls. The Q value of a fourth-sound resonance is shown to be inversely proportional to the stationary flow of thermal excitations through the channel due to an external force. Our theoretical estimates of Q are compared with experimentally observed values for 3 He. The transition between first and fourth sound is studied in detail on the basis of two-fluid hydrodynamics, including the slip of the normal component at the walls. The slip is shown to have a strong influence on the velocity and attenuation in the transition region between first and fourth sound, offering a means to examine the interaction of quasiparticles with a solid surface

  17. Usefulness of bowel sound auscultation: a prospective evaluation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Felder, Seth; Margel, David; Murrell, Zuri; Fleshner, Phillip

    2014-01-01

    Although the auscultation of bowel sounds is considered an essential component of an adequate physical examination, its clinical value remains largely unstudied and subjective. The aim of this study was to determine whether an accurate diagnosis of normal controls, mechanical small bowel obstruction (SBO), or postoperative ileus (POI) is possible based on bowel sound characteristics. Prospectively collected recordings of bowel sounds from patients with normal gastrointestinal motility, SBO diagnosed by computed tomography and confirmed at surgery, and POI diagnosed by clinical symptoms and a computed tomography without a transition point. Study clinicians were instructed to categorize the patient recording as normal, obstructed, ileus, or not sure. Using an electronic stethoscope, bowel sounds of healthy volunteers (n = 177), patients with SBO (n = 19), and patients with POI (n = 15) were recorded. A total of 10 recordings randomly selected from each category were replayed through speakers, with 15 of the recordings duplicated to surgical and internal medicine clinicians (n = 41) blinded to the clinical scenario. The sensitivity, positive predictive value, and intra-rater variability were determined based on the clinician's ability to properly categorize the bowel sound recording when blinded to additional clinical information. Secondary outcomes were the clinician's perceived level of expertise in interpreting bowel sounds. The overall sensitivity for normal, SBO, and POI recordings was 32%, 22%, and 22%, respectively. The positive predictive value of normal, SBO, and POI recordings was 23%, 28%, and 44%, respectively. Intra-rater reliability of duplicated recordings was 59%, 52%, and 53% for normal, SBO, and POI, respectively. No statistically significant differences were found between the surgical and internal medicine clinicians for sensitivity, positive predictive value, or intra-rater variability. Overall, 44% of clinicians reported that they rarely listened

  18. Influence of panel fastening on the acoustic performance of light-weight building elements: Study by sound transmission and laser scanning vibrometry

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roozen, N. B.; Muellner, H.; Labelle, L.; Rychtáriková, M.; Glorieux, C.

    2015-06-01

    Structural details and workmanship can cause considerable differences in sound insulation properties of timber frame partitions. In this study, the influence of panel fastening is investigated experimentally by means of standardized sound reduction index measurements, supported by detailed scanning laser Doppler vibrometry. In particular the effect of the number of screws used to fasten the panels to the studs, and the tightness of the screws, is studied using seven different configurations of lightweight timber frame building elements. In the frequency range from 300 to 4000 Hz, differences in the weighted sound reduction index RW as large as 10 dB were measured, suggesting that the method of fastening can have a large impact on the acoustic performance of building elements. Using the measured vibrational responses of the element, its acoustic radiation efficiency was computed numerically by means of a Rayleigh integral. The increased radiation efficiency partly explains the reduced sound reduction index. Loosening the screws, or reducing the number of screws, lowers the radiation efficiency, and significantly increases the sound reduction index of the partition.

  19. Estimating the diffuseness of sound fields: A wavenumber analysis method

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nolan, Melanie; Davy, John L.; Brunskog, Jonas

    2017-01-01

    The concept of a diffuse sound field is widely used in the analysis of sound in enclosures. The diffuse sound field is generally described as composed of plane waves with random phases, which wave number vectors are uniformly distributed over all angles of incidence. In this study, an interpretat...

  20. A new sounding rocket payload for solar plasma studies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bruner, Marilyn E.; Brown, William A.; Appert, Kevin L.

    1989-01-01

    A sounding rocket payload developed for studies of high-temperature plasmas associated with solar active regions and flares is described. The payload instruments will record both spectra and images in the UV, EUV, and soft X-ray regions of the spectrum. The instruments, including the Dual Range Spectrograph, the Flat Field Soft X-ray Spectrograph, the Normal Incidence Soft X-ray Imager, the UV Filtergraph, and the H-alpha Imaging system, are described. Attention is also given to the new structural system of the payload, based on a large optical table suspended within the payload cavity, which will support the optical elements in their correct positions and orientations and will maintain these alignments throughout the rocket launch environment.

  1. Artificial intelligence techniques used in respiratory sound analysis--a systematic review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Palaniappan, Rajkumar; Sundaraj, Kenneth; Sundaraj, Sebastian

    2014-02-01

    Artificial intelligence (AI) has recently been established as an alternative method to many conventional methods. The implementation of AI techniques for respiratory sound analysis can assist medical professionals in the diagnosis of lung pathologies. This article highlights the importance of AI techniques in the implementation of computer-based respiratory sound analysis. Articles on computer-based respiratory sound analysis using AI techniques were identified by searches conducted on various electronic resources, such as the IEEE, Springer, Elsevier, PubMed, and ACM digital library databases. Brief descriptions of the types of respiratory sounds and their respective characteristics are provided. We then analyzed each of the previous studies to determine the specific respiratory sounds/pathology analyzed, the number of subjects, the signal processing method used, the AI techniques used, and the performance of the AI technique used in the analysis of respiratory sounds. A detailed description of each of these studies is provided. In conclusion, this article provides recommendations for further advancements in respiratory sound analysis.

  2. Sound intensity as a function of sound insulation partition

    OpenAIRE

    Cvetkovic , S.; Prascevic , R.

    1994-01-01

    In the modern engineering practice, the sound insulation of the partitions is the synthesis of the theory and of the experience acquired in the procedure of the field and of the laboratory measurement. The science and research public treat the sound insulation in the context of the emission and propagation of the acoustic energy in the media with the different acoustics impedance. In this paper, starting from the essence of physical concept of the intensity as the energy vector, the authors g...

  3. The Process of Optimizing Mechanical Sound Quality in Product Design

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Eriksen, Kaare; Holst, Thomas

    2011-01-01

    The research field concerning optimizing product sound quality is a relatively unexplored area, and may become difficult for designers to operate in. To some degree, sound is a highly subjective parameter, which is normally targeted sound specialists. This paper describes the theoretical...... and practical background for managing a process of optimizing the mechanical sound quality in a product design by using simple tools and workshops systematically. The procedure is illustrated by a case study of a computer navigation tool (computer mouse or mouse). The process is divided into 4 phases, which...... clarify the importance of product sound, defining perceptive demands identified by users, and, finally, how to suggest mechanical principles for modification of an existing sound design. The optimized mechanical sound design is followed by tests on users of the product in its use context. The result...

  4. Intelligent Systems Approaches to Product Sound Quality Analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pietila, Glenn M.

    As a product market becomes more competitive, consumers become more discriminating in the way in which they differentiate between engineered products. The consumer often makes a purchasing decision based on the sound emitted from the product during operation by using the sound to judge quality or annoyance. Therefore, in recent years, many sound quality analysis tools have been developed to evaluate the consumer preference as it relates to a product sound and to quantify this preference based on objective measurements. This understanding can be used to direct a product design process in order to help differentiate the product from competitive products or to establish an impression on consumers regarding a product's quality or robustness. The sound quality process is typically a statistical tool that is used to model subjective preference, or merit score, based on objective measurements, or metrics. In this way, new product developments can be evaluated in an objective manner without the laborious process of gathering a sample population of consumers for subjective studies each time. The most common model used today is the Multiple Linear Regression (MLR), although recently non-linear Artificial Neural Network (ANN) approaches are gaining popularity. This dissertation will review publicly available published literature and present additional intelligent systems approaches that can be used to improve on the current sound quality process. The focus of this work is to address shortcomings in the current paired comparison approach to sound quality analysis. This research will propose a framework for an adaptive jury analysis approach as an alternative to the current Bradley-Terry model. The adaptive jury framework uses statistical hypothesis testing to focus on sound pairings that are most interesting and is expected to address some of the restrictions required by the Bradley-Terry model. It will also provide a more amicable framework for an intelligent systems approach

  5. The Opponent Channel Population Code of Sound Location Is an Efficient Representation of Natural Binaural Sounds

    Science.gov (United States)

    Młynarski, Wiktor

    2015-01-01

    In mammalian auditory cortex, sound source position is represented by a population of broadly tuned neurons whose firing is modulated by sounds located at all positions surrounding the animal. Peaks of their tuning curves are concentrated at lateral position, while their slopes are steepest at the interaural midline, allowing for the maximum localization accuracy in that area. These experimental observations contradict initial assumptions that the auditory space is represented as a topographic cortical map. It has been suggested that a “panoramic” code has evolved to match specific demands of the sound localization task. This work provides evidence suggesting that properties of spatial auditory neurons identified experimentally follow from a general design principle- learning a sparse, efficient representation of natural stimuli. Natural binaural sounds were recorded and served as input to a hierarchical sparse-coding model. In the first layer, left and right ear sounds were separately encoded by a population of complex-valued basis functions which separated phase and amplitude. Both parameters are known to carry information relevant for spatial hearing. Monaural input converged in the second layer, which learned a joint representation of amplitude and interaural phase difference. Spatial selectivity of each second-layer unit was measured by exposing the model to natural sound sources recorded at different positions. Obtained tuning curves match well tuning characteristics of neurons in the mammalian auditory cortex. This study connects neuronal coding of the auditory space with natural stimulus statistics and generates new experimental predictions. Moreover, results presented here suggest that cortical regions with seemingly different functions may implement the same computational strategy-efficient coding. PMID:25996373

  6. Sonic drifting: sound, city and psychogeography

    OpenAIRE

    Budhaditya Chattopadhyay

    2013-01-01

    Studying and perceiving an emerging city by listening to its sounds might be phenomenologically reductive in approach, but it can lead to a framework for understanding the fabric of the urban environment through artistic practice. This paper describes a sound work, Elegy for Bangalore, and examines its artistic processes in order to shed light on the methodologies for listening to an expanding city by engaging with multilayered urban contexts and, subsequently, evoking the psychogeography of ...

  7. Primate auditory recognition memory performance varies with sound type.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ng, Chi-Wing; Plakke, Bethany; Poremba, Amy

    2009-10-01

    Neural correlates of auditory processing, including for species-specific vocalizations that convey biological and ethological significance (e.g., social status, kinship, environment), have been identified in a wide variety of areas including the temporal and frontal cortices. However, few studies elucidate how non-human primates interact with these vocalization signals when they are challenged by tasks requiring auditory discrimination, recognition and/or memory. The present study employs a delayed matching-to-sample task with auditory stimuli to examine auditory memory performance of rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta), wherein two sounds are determined to be the same or different. Rhesus macaques seem to have relatively poor short-term memory with auditory stimuli, and we examine if particular sound types are more favorable for memory performance. Experiment 1 suggests memory performance with vocalization sound types (particularly monkey), are significantly better than when using non-vocalization sound types, and male monkeys outperform female monkeys overall. Experiment 2, controlling for number of sound exemplars and presentation pairings across types, replicates Experiment 1, demonstrating better performance or decreased response latencies, depending on trial type, to species-specific monkey vocalizations. The findings cannot be explained by acoustic differences between monkey vocalizations and the other sound types, suggesting the biological, and/or ethological meaning of these sounds are more effective for auditory memory. 2009 Elsevier B.V.

  8. Interactive physically-based sound simulation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Raghuvanshi, Nikunj

    The realization of interactive, immersive virtual worlds requires the ability to present a realistic audio experience that convincingly compliments their visual rendering. Physical simulation is a natural way to achieve such realism, enabling deeply immersive virtual worlds. However, physically-based sound simulation is very computationally expensive owing to the high-frequency, transient oscillations underlying audible sounds. The increasing computational power of desktop computers has served to reduce the gap between required and available computation, and it has become possible to bridge this gap further by using a combination of algorithmic improvements that exploit the physical, as well as perceptual properties of audible sounds. My thesis is a step in this direction. My dissertation concentrates on developing real-time techniques for both sub-problems of sound simulation: synthesis and propagation. Sound synthesis is concerned with generating the sounds produced by objects due to elastic surface vibrations upon interaction with the environment, such as collisions. I present novel techniques that exploit human auditory perception to simulate scenes with hundreds of sounding objects undergoing impact and rolling in real time. Sound propagation is the complementary problem of modeling the high-order scattering and diffraction of sound in an environment as it travels from source to listener. I discuss my work on a novel numerical acoustic simulator (ARD) that is hundred times faster and consumes ten times less memory than a high-accuracy finite-difference technique, allowing acoustic simulations on previously-intractable spaces, such as a cathedral, on a desktop computer. Lastly, I present my work on interactive sound propagation that leverages my ARD simulator to render the acoustics of arbitrary static scenes for multiple moving sources and listener in real time, while accounting for scene-dependent effects such as low-pass filtering and smooth attenuation

  9. 27 CFR 9.151 - Puget Sound.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 27 Alcohol, Tobacco Products and Firearms 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Puget Sound. 9.151 Section... Sound. (a) Name. The name of the viticultural area described in this section is “Puget Sound.” (b) Approved maps. The appropriate maps for determining the boundary of the Puget Sound viticultural area are...

  10. Fifth sound in superfluid 4He below 1 K

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Williams, G.A.; Rosenbaum, R.

    1979-01-01

    Fifth-sound propagation has been studied in He II adsorbed on large-diameter alumina (Al 2 O 3 ) powder grains below 1 K. The velocity of the fifth-sound mode in 4 He remains in good agreement with the theoretical value c 2 5 =rho/sub n//rhoc 2 2 . Using tabulated values for rho/sub n//rho, values of the second-sound velocity are obtained

  11. How Pleasant Sounds Promote and Annoying Sounds Impede Health : A Cognitive Approach

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Andringa, Tjeerd C.; Lanser, J. Jolie L.

    2013-01-01

    This theoretical paper addresses the cognitive functions via which quiet and in general pleasurable sounds promote and annoying sounds impede health. The article comprises a literature analysis and an interpretation of how the bidirectional influence of appraising the environment and the feelings of

  12. Of Sound Mind: Mental Distress and Sound in Twentieth-Century Media Culture

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Birdsall, C.; Siewert, S.

    2013-01-01

    This article seeks to specify the representation of mental disturbance in sound media during the twentieth century. It engages perspectives on societal and technological change across the twentieth century as crucial for aesthetic strategies developed in radio and sound film production. The analysis

  13. Sounds scary? Lack of habituation following the presentation of novel sounds.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tine A Biedenweg

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Animals typically show less habituation to biologically meaningful sounds than to novel signals. We might therefore expect that acoustic deterrents should be based on natural sounds. METHODOLOGY: We investigated responses by western grey kangaroos (Macropus fulignosus towards playback of natural sounds (alarm foot stomps and Australian raven (Corvus coronoides calls and artificial sounds (faux snake hiss and bull whip crack. We then increased rate of presentation to examine whether animals would habituate. Finally, we varied frequency of playback to investigate optimal rates of delivery. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Nine behaviors clustered into five Principal Components. PC factors 1 and 2 (animals alert or looking, or hopping and moving out of area accounted for 36% of variance. PC factor 3 (eating cessation, taking flight, movement out of area accounted for 13% of variance. Factors 4 and 5 (relaxing, grooming and walking; 12 and 11% of variation, respectively discontinued upon playback. The whip crack was most evocative; eating was reduced from 75% of time spent prior to playback to 6% following playback (post alarm stomp: 32%, raven call: 49%, hiss: 75%. Additionally, 24% of individuals took flight and moved out of area (50 m radius in response to the whip crack (foot stomp: 0%, raven call: 8% and 4%, hiss: 6%. Increasing rate of presentation (12x/min ×2 min caused 71% of animals to move out of the area. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The bull whip crack, an artificial sound, was as effective as the alarm stomp at eliciting aversive behaviors. Kangaroos did not fully habituate despite hearing the signal up to 20x/min. Highest rates of playback did not elicit the greatest responses, suggesting that 'more is not always better'. Ultimately, by utilizing both artificial and biological sounds, predictability may be masked or offset, so that habituation is delayed and more effective deterrents may be produced.

  14. Effects of Sound Frequency on Audiovisual Integration: An Event-Related Potential Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Weiping; Yang, Jingjing; Gao, Yulin; Tang, Xiaoyu; Ren, Yanna; Takahashi, Satoshi; Wu, Jinglong

    2015-01-01

    A combination of signals across modalities can facilitate sensory perception. The audiovisual facilitative effect strongly depends on the features of the stimulus. Here, we investigated how sound frequency, which is one of basic features of an auditory signal, modulates audiovisual integration. In this study, the task of the participant was to respond to a visual target stimulus by pressing a key while ignoring auditory stimuli, comprising of tones of different frequencies (0.5, 1, 2.5 and 5 kHz). A significant facilitation of reaction times was obtained following audiovisual stimulation, irrespective of whether the task-irrelevant sounds were low or high frequency. Using event-related potential (ERP), audiovisual integration was found over the occipital area for 0.5 kHz auditory stimuli from 190-210 ms, for 1 kHz stimuli from 170-200 ms, for 2.5 kHz stimuli from 140-200 ms, 5 kHz stimuli from 100-200 ms. These findings suggest that a higher frequency sound signal paired with visual stimuli might be early processed or integrated despite the auditory stimuli being task-irrelevant information. Furthermore, audiovisual integration in late latency (300-340 ms) ERPs with fronto-central topography was found for auditory stimuli of lower frequencies (0.5, 1 and 2.5 kHz). Our results confirmed that audiovisual integration is affected by the frequency of an auditory stimulus. Taken together, the neurophysiological results provide unique insight into how the brain processes a multisensory visual signal and auditory stimuli of different frequencies.

  15. Sound absorption coefficient of coal bottom ash concrete for railway application

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ramzi Hannan, N. I. R.; Shahidan, S.; Maarof, Z.; Ali, N.; Abdullah, S. R.; Ibrahim, M. H. Wan

    2017-11-01

    A porous concrete able to reduce the sound wave that pass through it. When a sound waves strike a material, a portion of the sound energy was reflected back and another portion of the sound energy was absorbed by the material while the rest was transmitted. The larger portion of the sound wave being absorbed, the lower the noise level able to be lowered. This study is to investigate the sound absorption coefficient of coal bottom ash (CBA) concrete compared to the sound absorption coefficient of normal concrete by carried out the impedance tube test. Hence, this paper presents the result of the impedance tube test of the CBA concrete and normal concrete.

  16. What the Toadfish Ear Tells the Toadfish Brain About Sound.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Edds-Walton, Peggy L

    2016-01-01

    Of the three, paired otolithic endorgans in the ear of teleost fishes, the saccule is the one most often demonstrated to have a major role in encoding frequencies of biologically relevant sounds. The toadfish saccule also encodes sound level and sound source direction in the phase-locked activity conveyed via auditory afferents to nuclei of the ipsilateral octaval column in the medulla. Although paired auditory receptors are present in teleost fishes, binaural processes were believed to be unimportant due to the speed of sound in water and the acoustic transparency of the tissues in water. In contrast, there are behavioral and anatomical data that support binaural processing in fishes. Studies in the toadfish combined anatomical tract-tracing and physiological recordings from identified sites along the ascending auditory pathway to document response characteristics at each level. Binaural computations in the medulla and midbrain sharpen the directional information provided by the saccule. Furthermore, physiological studies in the central nervous system indicated that encoding frequency, sound level, temporal pattern, and sound source direction are important components of what the toadfish ear tells the toadfish brain about sound.

  17. Analysis of sound pressure levels emitted by children's toys.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sleifer, Pricila; Gonçalves, Maiara Santos; Tomasi, Marinês; Gomes, Erissandra

    2013-06-01

    To verify the levels of sound pressure emitted by non-certified children's toys. Cross-sectional study of sound toys available at popular retail stores of the so-called informal sector. Electronic, mechanical, and musical toys were analyzed. The measurement of each product was carried out by an acoustic engineer in an acoustically isolated booth, by a decibel meter. To obtain the sound parameters of intensity and frequency, the toys were set to produce sounds at a distance of 10 and 50cm from the researcher's ear. The intensity of sound pressure [dB(A)] and the frequency in hertz (Hz) were measured. 48 toys were evaluated. The mean sound pressure 10cm from the ear was 102±10 dB(A), and at 50cm, 94±8 dB(A), with ptoys was above 85dB(A). The frequency ranged from 413 to 6,635Hz, with 56.3% of toys emitting frequency higher than 2,000Hz. The majority of toys assessed in this research emitted a high level of sound pressure.

  18. Amplitude modulation of sound from wind turbines under various meteorological conditions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Larsson, Conny; Öhlund, Olof

    2014-01-01

    Wind turbine (WT) sound annoys some people even though the sound levels are relatively low. This could be because of the amplitude modulated "swishing" characteristic of the turbine sound, which is not taken into account by standard procedures for measuring average sound levels. Studies of sound immission from WTs were conducted continually between 19 August 2011 and 19 August 2012 at two sites in Sweden. A method for quantifying the degree and strength of amplitude modulation (AM) is introduced here. The method reveals that AM at the immission points occur under specific meteorological conditions. For WT sound immission, the wind direction and sound speed gradient are crucial for the occurrence of AM. Interference between two or more WTs could probably enhance AM. The mechanisms by which WT sound is amplitude modulated are not fully understood.

  19. Takete and Maluma in Action: A Cross-Modal Relationship between Gestures and Sounds.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kazuko Shinohara

    Full Text Available Despite Saussure's famous observation that sound-meaning relationships are in principle arbitrary, we now have a substantial body of evidence that sounds themselves can have meanings, patterns often referred to as "sound symbolism". Previous studies have found that particular sounds can be associated with particular meanings, and also with particular static visual shapes. Less well studied is the association between sounds and dynamic movements. Using a free elicitation method, the current experiment shows that several sound symbolic associations between sounds and dynamic movements exist: (1 front vowels are more likely to be associated with small movements than with large movements; (2 front vowels are more likely to be associated with angular movements than with round movements; (3 obstruents are more likely to be associated with angular movements than with round movements; (4 voiced obstruents are more likely to be associated with large movements than with small movements. All of these results are compatible with the results of the previous studies of sound symbolism using static images or meanings. Overall, the current study supports the hypothesis that particular dynamic motions can be associated with particular sounds. Building on the current results, we discuss a possible practical application of these sound symbolic associations in sports instructions.

  20. Takete and Maluma in Action: A Cross-Modal Relationship between Gestures and Sounds.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shinohara, Kazuko; Yamauchi, Naoto; Kawahara, Shigeto; Tanaka, Hideyuki

    Despite Saussure's famous observation that sound-meaning relationships are in principle arbitrary, we now have a substantial body of evidence that sounds themselves can have meanings, patterns often referred to as "sound symbolism". Previous studies have found that particular sounds can be associated with particular meanings, and also with particular static visual shapes. Less well studied is the association between sounds and dynamic movements. Using a free elicitation method, the current experiment shows that several sound symbolic associations between sounds and dynamic movements exist: (1) front vowels are more likely to be associated with small movements than with large movements; (2) front vowels are more likely to be associated with angular movements than with round movements; (3) obstruents are more likely to be associated with angular movements than with round movements; (4) voiced obstruents are more likely to be associated with large movements than with small movements. All of these results are compatible with the results of the previous studies of sound symbolism using static images or meanings. Overall, the current study supports the hypothesis that particular dynamic motions can be associated with particular sounds. Building on the current results, we discuss a possible practical application of these sound symbolic associations in sports instructions.

  1. Aerodynamic study of sounding rocket flows using Chimera and patched multiblock meshes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    João Alves de Oliveira Neto

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available Aerodynamic flow simulations over a typical sounding rocket are presented in this paper. The work is inserted in the effort of developing computational tools necessary to simulate aerodynamic flows over configurations of interest for Instituto de Aeronáutica e Espaço of Departamento de Ciência e Tecnologia Aeroespacial. Sounding rocket configurations usually require fairly large fins and, quite frequently, have more than one set of fins. In order to be able to handle such configurations, the present paper presents a novel methodology which combines both Chimera and patched multiblock grids in the discretization of the computational domain. The flows of interest are modeled using the 3-D Euler equations and the work describes the details of discretization procedure, which uses a finite difference approach for structure, body-conforming, multiblock grids. The method is used to calculate the aerodynamics of a sounding rocket vehicle. The results indicate that the present approach can be a powerful aerodynamic analysis and design tool.

  2. The effect of sound speed profile on shallow water shipping sound maps

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Sertlek, H.Ö.; Binnerts, B.; Ainslie, M.A.

    2016-01-01

    Sound mapping over large areas can be computationally expensive because of the large number of sources and large source-receiver separations involved. In order to facilitate computation, a simplifying assumption sometimes made is to neglect the sound speed gradient in shallow water. The accuracy of

  3. Reconstruction of sound fields with a spherical microphone array

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Fernandez Grande, Efren; Walton, Tim

    2014-01-01

    waves traveling in any direction. In particular, rigid sphere microphone arrays are robust, and have the favorable property that the scattering introduced by the array can be compensated for - making the array virtually transparent. This study examines a recently proposed sound field reconstruction...... method based on a point source expansion, i.e. equivalent source method, using a rigid spherical array. The study examines the capability of the method to distinguish between sound waves arriving from different directions (i.e., as a sound field separation method). This is representative of the potential...

  4. Air conducted and body conducted sound produced by own voice

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hansen, Mie Østergaard

    1998-01-01

    When we speak, sound reaches our ears both through the air, from the mouth to ear, and through our body, as vibrations. The ratio between the air borne and body conducted sound has been studied in a pilot experiment where the air borne sound was eliminated by isolating the ear with a large...... attenuation box. The ratio was found to lie between -15 dB to -7 dB, below 1 kHz, comparable with theoretical estimations. This work is part of a broader study of the occlusion effect and the results provide important input data for modelling the sound pressure change between an open and an occluded ear canal....

  5. Sound wave transmission (image)

    Science.gov (United States)

    When sounds waves reach the ear, they are translated into nerve impulses. These impulses then travel to the brain where they are interpreted by the brain as sound. The hearing mechanisms within the inner ear, can ...

  6. Evaluation of 3D Positioned Sound in Multimodal Scenarios

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Møller, Anders Kalsgaard

    present but interacts with the other meeting members using different virtual reality technologies. The thesis also dealt with a 3D sound system in trucks. it was investigated if 3D-sound could be used to give the truck driver an audible and lifelike experience of the cyclists’ position, in relation......This Ph.D. study has dealt with different binaural methods for implementing 3D sound in selected multimodal applications, with the purpose of evaluating the feasibility of using 3D sound in these applications. The thesis dealt with a teleconference application in which one person is not physically...

  7. A new multifeature mismatch negativity (MMN) paradigm for the study of music perception with more real-sounding stimuli

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Quiroga Martinez, David Ricardo; Hansen, Niels Christian; Højlund, Andreas

    . Interestingly, this reduction did not hold for mistunings and slide in the melody, probably due to interval mistuning and the high voice superiority effect. Our results indicate that it is possible to use the MMN for the study of more real-sounding music and that stimulus complexity plays a crucial role......The MMN is a brain response elicited by deviants in a series of repetitive sounds that has been valuable for the study of music perception. However, most MMN experimental designs use simple tone patterns as stimuli, failing to represent the complexity of everyday music. Our goal was to develop...... a new paradigm using more real-sounding stimuli. Concretely, we wanted to assess the perception of nonrepetitive melodies when presented alone and when embedded in two-part music. An Alberti bass used previously served both as a comparison and as the second voice in the two-part stimuli. We used MEG...

  8. What ears do for bats: a comparative study of pinna sound pressure transformation in chiroptera.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Obrist, M K; Fenton, M B; Eger, J L; Schlegel, P A

    1993-07-01

    Using a moveable loudspeaker and an implanted microphone, we studied the sound pressure transformation of the external ears of 47 species of bats from 13 families. We compared pinna gain, directionality of hearing and interaural intensity differences (IID) in echolocating and non-echolocating bats, in species using different echolocation strategies and in species that depend upon prey-generated sounds to locate their targets. In the Pteropodidae, two echolocating species had slightly higher directionality than a non-echolocating species. The ears of phyllostomid and vespertilionid species showed moderate directionality. In the Mormoopidae, the ear directionality of Pteronotus parnellii clearly matched the dominant spectral component of its echolocation calls, unlike the situation in three other species. Species in the Emballonuridae, Molossidae, Rhinopomatidae and two vespertilionids that use narrow-band search-phase echolocation calls showed increasingly sharp tuning of the pinna to the main frequency of their signals. Similar tuning was most evident in Hipposideridae and Rhinolophidae, species specialized for flutter detection via Doppler-shifted echoes of high-duty-cycle narrow-band signals. The large pinnae of bats that use prey-generated sounds to find their targets supply high sound pressure gain at lower frequencies. Increasing domination of a narrow spectral band in echolocation is reflected in the passive acoustic properties of the external ears (sharper directionality). The importance of IIDs for lateralization and horizontal localization is discussed by comparing the behavioural directional performance of bats with their bioacoustical features.

  9. Sound & The Society

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Schulze, Holger

    2014-01-01

    How are those sounds you hear right now socially constructed and evaluated, how are they architecturally conceptualized and how dependant on urban planning, industrial developments and political decisions are they really? How is your ability to hear intertwined with social interactions and their ...... and their professional design? And how is listening and sounding a deeply social activity – constructing our way of living together in cities as well as in apartment houses? A radio feature with Nina Backmann, Jochen Bonz, Stefan Krebs, Esther Schelander & Holger Schulze......How are those sounds you hear right now socially constructed and evaluated, how are they architecturally conceptualized and how dependant on urban planning, industrial developments and political decisions are they really? How is your ability to hear intertwined with social interactions...

  10. Predicting outdoor sound

    CERN Document Server

    Attenborough, Keith; Horoshenkov, Kirill

    2014-01-01

    1. Introduction  2. The Propagation of Sound Near Ground Surfaces in a Homogeneous Medium  3. Predicting the Acoustical Properties of Outdoor Ground Surfaces  4. Measurements of the Acoustical Properties of Ground Surfaces and Comparisons with Models  5. Predicting Effects of Source Characteristics on Outdoor Sound  6. Predictions, Approximations and Empirical Results for Ground Effect Excluding Meteorological Effects  7. Influence of Source Motion on Ground Effect and Diffraction  8. Predicting Effects of Mixed Impedance Ground  9. Predicting the Performance of Outdoor Noise Barriers  10. Predicting Effects of Vegetation, Trees and Turbulence  11. Analytical Approximations including Ground Effect, Refraction and Turbulence  12. Prediction Schemes  13. Predicting Sound in an Urban Environment.

  11. Perception of environmental sounds by experienced cochlear implant patients

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shafiro, Valeriy; Gygi, Brian; Cheng, Min-Yu; Vachhani, Jay; Mulvey, Megan

    2011-01-01

    Objectives Environmental sound perception serves an important ecological function by providing listeners with information about objects and events in their immediate environment. Environmental sounds such as car horns, baby cries or chirping birds can alert listeners to imminent dangers as well as contribute to one's sense of awareness and well being. Perception of environmental sounds as acoustically and semantically complex stimuli, may also involve some factors common to the processing of speech. However, very limited research has investigated the abilities of cochlear implant (CI) patients to identify common environmental sounds, despite patients' general enthusiasm about them. This project (1) investigated the ability of patients with modern-day CIs to perceive environmental sounds, (2) explored associations among speech, environmental sounds and basic auditory abilities, and (3) examined acoustic factors that might be involved in environmental sound perception. Design Seventeen experienced postlingually-deafened CI patients participated in the study. Environmental sound perception was assessed with a large-item test composed of 40 sound sources, each represented by four different tokens. The relationship between speech and environmental sound perception, and the role of working memory and some basic auditory abilities were examined based on patient performance on a battery of speech tests (HINT, CNC, and individual consonant and vowel tests), tests of basic auditory abilities (audiometric thresholds, gap detection, temporal pattern and temporal order for tones tests) and a backward digit recall test. Results The results indicated substantially reduced ability to identify common environmental sounds in CI patients (45.3%). Except for vowels, all speech test scores significantly correlated with the environmental sound test scores: r = 0.73 for HINT in quiet, r = 0.69 for HINT in noise, r = 0.70 for CNC, r = 0.64 for consonants and r = 0.48 for vowels. HINT and

  12. Subtyping Children with Speech Sound Disorders by Endophenotypes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lewis, Barbara A.; Avrich, Allison A.; Freebairn, Lisa A.; Taylor, H. Gerry; Iyengar, Sudha K.; Stein, Catherine M.

    2011-01-01

    Purpose: The present study examined associations of 5 endophenotypes (i.e., measurable skills that are closely associated with speech sound disorders and are useful in detecting genetic influences on speech sound production), oral motor skills, phonological memory, phonological awareness, vocabulary, and speeded naming, with 3 clinical criteria…

  13. Evolutionary Sound Synthesis Controlled by Gestural Data

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jose Fornari

    2011-05-01

    Full Text Available This article focuses on the interdisciplinary research involving Computer Music and Generative Visual Art. We describe the implementation of two interactive artistic systems based on principles of Gestural Data (WILSON, 2002 retrieval and self-organization (MORONI, 2003, to control an Evolutionary Sound Synthesis method (ESSynth. The first implementation uses, as gestural data, image mapping of handmade drawings. The second one uses gestural data from dynamic body movements of dance. The resulting computer output is generated by an interactive system implemented in Pure Data (PD. This system uses principles of Evolutionary Computation (EC, which yields the generation of a synthetic adaptive population of sound objects. Considering that music could be seen as “organized sound” the contribution of our study is to develop a system that aims to generate "self-organized sound" – a method that uses evolutionary computation to bridge between gesture, sound and music.

  14. Developmental change in children's sensitivity to sound symbolism.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tzeng, Christina Y; Nygaard, Lynne C; Namy, Laura L

    2017-08-01

    The current study examined developmental change in children's sensitivity to sound symbolism. Three-, five-, and seven-year-old children heard sound symbolic novel words and foreign words meaning round and pointy and chose which of two pictures (one round and one pointy) best corresponded to each word they heard. Task performance varied as a function of both word type and age group such that accuracy was greater for novel words than for foreign words, and task performance increased with age for both word types. For novel words, children in all age groups reliably chose the correct corresponding picture. For foreign words, 3-year-olds showed chance performance, whereas 5- and 7-year-olds showed reliably above-chance performance. Results suggest increased sensitivity to sound symbolic cues with development and imply that although sensitivity to sound symbolism may be available early and facilitate children's word-referent mappings, sensitivity to subtler sound symbolic cues requires greater language experience. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  15. Electrical resistivity and porosity structure of the upper Biscayne Aquifer in Miami-Dade County, Florida

    Science.gov (United States)

    Whitman, Dean; Yeboah-Forson, Albert

    2015-12-01

    Square array electrical soundings were made at 13 sites in the Biscayne Aquifer distributed between 1 and 20 km from the shoreline. These soundings were modeled to investigate how resistivity varies spatially and with depth in the upper 15 m of the aquifer. Porosity was estimated from the modeled formation resistivity and observed pore fluid resistivity with Archie's Law. The models were used to interpolate resistivity and porosity surfaces at -2, -5, -8, and -15 m elevations. Modeled resistivity in the unsaturated zone is generally higher than 300 Ω m with the resistivity at sites with thick unsaturated zones greater than 1000 Ω m. Resistivity in the saturated zone ranges from 30 to 320 Ω m. At many sites in the western portions of the study area, resistivity is constant or increases with depth whereas sites in the center of the Atlantic Coastal Ridge exhibit a distinct low resistivity zone (ρ aquifer. The estimated porosity ranges between 14% and 71% with modal values near 25%. The porosity structure varies both with depth and spatially. Western sites exhibit a high porosity zone at shallow depths best expressed in a NE-SW trending zone of 40-50% porosity situated near the western margin of the Atlantic Coastal Ridge. This zone roughly corresponds in depth with the Q5 chronostratigraphic unit of the Miami Fm. which constitutes the upper flow unit of the Biscayne Aquifer. The highest porosity (>50%) is seen at elevations below -5 m at sites in the center of the Atlantic Coastal Ridge and likely corresponds to solution features. The general NE-SW trend of the resistivity and porosity structure suggests a causal connection with the Pleistocene paleogeography and sedimentary environments.

  16. [High-frequency components of occlusal sound in sliding movement].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nagai, K

    1990-03-01

    We postulated that high-frequency components of the occlusal sound occurring due to the characteristic vibration of teeth can be useful data for confirmation of the stability in occlusion, and studied the high-frequency components in the cases both of an experimental sliding movement and a normal occlusion. The results obtained were as follows. 1. A study on high-frequency components of the occlusal sound in an experimental sliding movement. 1) A study on wave type of the occlusal sound revealed one damped oscillation in an impact form and two in a slide form. 2) Spectrum analysis of the damped oscillation showed a similar spectrum pattern with a peak existing between 16KHz or more and 17KHz or less in both impact and slide cases. 2. A study on high-frequency components of the occlusal sound in a normal occlusion case. 1) The wave type in occlusal sound we have observed in a normal occlusion group and in a prosthetic or operative group was as follows: One damped oscillation shown in an impact form and two damped oscillation in a slide form which were the same as those shown in the case where an interference device was attached. 2) Duration of the sliding movement was short in a normal occlusion group, but was prolonged in a prosthetic or operative group. 3) The incidence of the wave type in occlusal sound was 56.7% in a prosthetic or operative group as compared to 87.8% in a normal occlusion group in an impact form. In contrast, the incidence was 43.3% in a prosthetic or operative group as compared to 12.2% in a normal occlusion group in a slide form. Such difference in the incidence between the wave types suggested that high-frequency components of occlusal sound can be an index for judgement of the stability in occlusion.

  17. A- and C-weighted sound levels as predictors of the annoyance caused by shooting sounds, for various facade attenuation types

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Vos, J.

    2003-01-01

    In a previous study on the annoyance caused by a great variety of shooting sounds [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 109, 244-253 (2001)], it was shown that the annoyance, as rated indoors with the windows closed, could be adequately predicted from the outdoor A-weighted and C-weighted sound-exposure levels [ASEL

  18. The Aesthetic Experience of Sound

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Breinbjerg, Morten

    2005-01-01

    to react on. In an ecological understanding of hearing our detection of audible information affords us ways of responding to our environment. In my paper I will address both these ways of using sound in relation to computer games. Since a game player is responsible for the unfolding of the game, his......The use of sound in (3D) computer games basically falls in two. Sound is used as an element in the design of the set and as a narrative. As set design sound stages the nature of the environment, it brings it to life. As a narrative it brings us information that we can choose to or perhaps need...... exploration of the virtual space laid out before him is pertinent. In this mood of exploration sound is important and heavily contributing to the aesthetic of the experience....

  19. Principles of underwater sound

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Urick, Robert J

    1983-01-01

    ... the immediately useful help they need for sonar problem solving. Its coverage is broad-ranging from the basic concepts of sound in the sea to making performance predictions in such applications as depth sounding, fish finding, and submarine detection...

  20. Sound Clocks and Sonic Relativity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Todd, Scott L.; Menicucci, Nicolas C.

    2017-10-01

    Sound propagation within certain non-relativistic condensed matter models obeys a relativistic wave equation despite such systems admitting entirely non-relativistic descriptions. A natural question that arises upon consideration of this is, "do devices exist that will experience the relativity in these systems?" We describe a thought experiment in which `acoustic observers' possess devices called sound clocks that can be connected to form chains. Careful investigation shows that appropriately constructed chains of stationary and moving sound clocks are perceived by observers on the other chain as undergoing the relativistic phenomena of length contraction and time dilation by the Lorentz factor, γ , with c the speed of sound. Sound clocks within moving chains actually tick less frequently than stationary ones and must be separated by a shorter distance than when stationary to satisfy simultaneity conditions. Stationary sound clocks appear to be length contracted and time dilated to moving observers due to their misunderstanding of their own state of motion with respect to the laboratory. Observers restricted to using sound clocks describe a universe kinematically consistent with the theory of special relativity, despite the preferred frame of their universe in the laboratory. Such devices show promise in further probing analogue relativity models, for example in investigating phenomena that require careful consideration of the proper time elapsed for observers.

  1. Experimental and Numerical Study of the Effects of Acoustic Sound Absorbers on the Cooling Performance of Thermally Active Building Systems

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Domínguez, L. Marcos; Kazanci, Ongun Berk; Rage, Nils

    2017-01-01

    Free-hanging horizontal and vertical sound absorbers are commonly used in buildings for room acoustic control; however, when these sound absorbers are used in combination with Thermally Active Building Systems, they will decrease the cooling performance of Thermally Active Building Systems...... and this will affect the thermal indoor environment in that space. Therefore, it is crucial to be able to quantify and model these effects in the design phase. This study quantifies experimentally the effects of horizontal and vertical free-hanging sound absorbers on the cooling performance of Thermally Active......%, respectively. With vertical sound absorbers, the decrease in cooling performance was 8%, 12%, and 14% for the corresponding cases, respectively. The numerical model predicted closely the cooling performance reduction, air temperatures and ceiling surface temperatures in most cases, while there were differences...

  2. Integrating Apparent Conductance in Resistivity Sounding to Constrain 2D Gravity Modeling for Subsurface Structure Associated with Uranium Mineralization across South Purulia Shear Zone, West Bengal, India

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Arkoprovo Biswas

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available South Purulia Shear Zone (SPSZ is an important area for the prospect of uranium mineralization and no detailed geophysical investigations have been carried out in this region. To delineate the subsurface structure in the present area, vertical electrical soundings using Schlumberger array and gravity survey were carried out along a profile perpendicular to the SPSZ. Apparent conductance in the subsurface revealed a possible connection from SPSZ to Raghunathpur. The gravity model reveals the presence of a northerly dipping low density zone (most likely the shear zone extending up to Raghunathpur under a thin cover of granitic schist of Chotanagpur Granite Gneissic Complex (CGGC. The gravity model also depicts the depth of the zone of density low within this shear zone at ~400 m near Raghunathpur village and this zone truncates with a steep slope. Integration of resistivity and gravity study revealed two possible contact zones within this low density zone in the subsurface at depth of 40 m and 200 m. Our study reveals a good correlation with previous studies in Raghunathpur area characterized by medium to high hydro-uranium anomaly. Thus the conducting zone coinciding with the low gravity anomaly is inferred to be a possible uranium mineralized zone.

  3. Sounds of Space

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gurnett, D. A.

    2005-12-01

    Starting in the early 1960s, spacecraft-borne plasma wave instruments revealed that space is filled with an astonishing variety of radio and plasma wave sounds, which have come to be called "sounds of space." For over forty years these sounds have been collected and played to a wide variety of audiences, often as the result of press conferences or press releases involving various NASA projects for which the University of Iowa has provided plasma wave instruments. This activity has led to many interviews on local and national radio programs, and occasionally on programs haviang world-wide coverage, such as the BBC. As a result of this media coverage, we have been approached many times by composers requesting copies of our space sounds for use in their various projects, many of which involve electronic synthesis of music. One of these collaborations led to "Sun Rings," which is a musical event produced by the Kronos Quartet that has played to large audiences all over the world. With the availability of modern computer graphic techniques we have recently been attempting to integrate some of these sound of space into an educational audio/video web site that illustrates the scientific principles involved in the origin of space plasma waves. Typically I try to emphasize that a substantial gas pressure exists everywhere in space in the form of an ionized gas called a plasma, and that this plasma can lead to a wide variety of wave phenomenon. Examples of some of this audio/video material will be presented.

  4. Sound Synthesis and Evaluation of Interactive Footsteps and Environmental Sounds Rendering for Virtual Reality Applications

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nordahl, Rolf; Turchet, Luca; Serafin, Stefania

    2011-01-01

    We propose a system that affords real-time sound synthesis of footsteps on different materials. The system is based on microphones, which detect real footstep sounds from subjects, from which the ground reaction force (GRF) is estimated. Such GRF is used to control a sound synthesis engine based ...... a soundscape significantly improves the recognition of the simulated environment....

  5. 10 Hz Amplitude Modulated Sounds Induce Short-Term Tinnitus Suppression

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Patrick Neff

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available Objectives: Acoustic stimulation or sound therapy is proposed as a main treatment option for chronic subjective tinnitus. To further probe the field of acoustic stimulations for tinnitus therapy, this exploratory study compared 10 Hz amplitude modulated (AM sounds (two pure tones, noise, music, and frequency modulated (FM sounds and unmodulated sounds (pure tone, noise regarding their temporary suppression of tinnitus loudness. First, it was hypothesized that modulated sounds elicit larger temporary loudness suppression (residual inhibition than unmodulated sounds. Second, with manipulation of stimulus loudness and duration of the modulated sounds weaker or stronger effects of loudness suppression were expected, respectively.Methods: We recruited 29 participants with chronic tonal tinnitus from the multidisciplinary Tinnitus Clinic of the University of Regensburg. Participants underwent audiometric, psychometric and tinnitus pitch matching assessments followed by an acoustic stimulation experiment with a tinnitus loudness growth paradigm. In a first block participants were stimulated with all of the sounds for 3 min each and rated their subjective tinnitus loudness to the pre-stimulus loudness every 30 s after stimulus offset. The same procedure was deployed in the second block with the pure tone AM stimuli matched to the tinnitus frequency, manipulated in length (6 min, and loudness (reduced by 30 dB and linear fade out. Repeated measures mixed model analyses of variance (ANOVA were calculated to assess differences in loudness growth between the stimuli for each block separately.Results: First, we found that all sounds elicit a short-term suppression of tinnitus loudness (seconds to minutes with strongest suppression right after stimulus offset [F(6, 1331 = 3.74, p < 0.01]. Second, similar to previous findings we found that AM sounds near the tinnitus frequency produce significantly stronger tinnitus loudness suppression than noise [vs. Pink

  6. A new sounding rocket payload for solar plasma studies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bruner, M.E.; Brown, W.A.; Appert, K.L.

    1989-01-01

    A sounding rocket payload developed for studies of high-temperature plasmas associated with solar active regions and flares is described. The payload instruments will record both spectra and images in the UV, EUV, and soft X-ray regions of the spectrum. The instruments, including the Dual Range Spectrograph, the Flat Field Soft X-ray Spectrograph, the Normal Incidence Soft X-ray Imager, the UV Filtergraph, and the H-alpha Imaging system, are described. Attention is also given to the new structural system of the payload, based on a large optical table suspended within the payload cavity, which will support the optical elements in their correct positions and orientations and will maintain these alignments throughout the rocket launch environment. 8 refs

  7. Observation of a second-sound-like mode in superfluid-filled aerogel

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    McKenna, M.J.; Slawecki, T.; Maynard, J.D.

    1991-01-01

    Superfluid 4 He is interesting acoustically because it can support more than one mode of sound propagation, and these can be used to study critical properties. Recently, there has been interest in superfluid-filled aerogels, but for such compressible materials one does not observe the ordinary (fourth) sound; instead there is a mode intermediate between first and fourth sound and a second-sound-like mode. We present a theory for the modes and the first observation of the aerogel second-sound-like mode, which is important because it propagates near the critical temperature

  8. Statistical Analysis for Subjective and Objective Evaluations of Dental Drill Sounds.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tomomi Yamada

    Full Text Available The sound produced by a dental air turbine handpiece (dental drill can markedly influence the sound environment in a dental clinic. Indeed, many patients report that the sound of a dental drill elicits an unpleasant feeling. Although several manufacturers have attempted to reduce the sound pressure levels produced by dental drills during idling based on ISO 14457, the sound emitted by such drills under active drilling conditions may negatively influence the dental clinic sound environment. The physical metrics related to the unpleasant impressions associated with dental drill sounds have not been determined. In the present study, psychological measurements of dental drill sounds were conducted with the aim of facilitating improvement of the sound environment at dental clinics. Specifically, we examined the impressions elicited by the sounds of 12 types of dental drills in idling and drilling conditions using a semantic differential. The analysis revealed that the impressions of dental drill sounds varied considerably between idling and drilling conditions and among the examined drills. This finding suggests that measuring the sound of a dental drill in idling conditions alone may be insufficient for evaluating the effects of the sound. We related the results of the psychological evaluations to those of measurements of the physical metrics of equivalent continuous A-weighted sound pressure levels (LAeq and sharpness. Factor analysis indicated that impressions of the dental drill sounds consisted of two factors: "metallic and unpleasant" and "powerful". LAeq had a strong relationship with "powerful impression", calculated sharpness was positively related to "metallic impression", and "unpleasant impression" was predicted by the combination of both LAeq and calculated sharpness. The present analyses indicate that, in addition to a reduction in sound pressure level, refining the frequency components of dental drill sounds is important for creating a

  9. Influence of visual appearance on loudspeaker sound quality evaluation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Karandreas, Theodoros-Alexandros; Christensen, Flemming

    2008-01-01

    Product sound quality evaluation aims to identify relevant attributes and assess their influence on the overall auditory impression. Extending this sound specific rationale, the present study evaluates overall impression in relation to audition and vision, specifically for loudspeakers. In order...... to quantify the bias that the loudspeaker appearance has on the sound quality evaluation of a naive listening panel, audio stimuli of varied degradation are coupled with actual loudspeakers of different visual appearance....

  10. Why 1D electrical resistivity techniques can result in inaccurate siting of boreholes in hard rock aquifers and why electrical resistivity tomography must be preferred: the example of Benin, West Africa

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alle, Iboukoun Christian; Descloitres, Marc; Vouillamoz, Jean-Michel; Yalo, Nicaise; Lawson, Fabrice Messan Amen; Adihou, Akonfa Consolas

    2018-03-01

    Hard rock aquifers are of particular importance for supplying people with drinking water in Africa and in the world. Although the common use of one-dimensional (1D) electrical resistivity techniques to locate drilling site, the failure rate of boreholes is usually high. For instance, about 40% of boreholes drilled in hard rock aquifers in Benin are unsuccessful. This study investigates why the current use of 1D techniques (e.g. electrical profiling and electrical sounding) can result in inaccurate siting of boreholes, and checks the interest and the limitations of the use of two-dimensional (2D) Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT). Geophysical numerical modeling and comprehensive 1D and 2D resistivity surveys were carried out in hard rock aquifers in Benin. The experiments carried out at 7 sites located in different hard rock groups confirmed the results of the numerical modeling: the current use of 1D techniques can frequently leads to inaccurate siting, and ERT better reveals hydrogeological targets such as thick weathered zone (e.g. stratiform fractured layer and preferential weathering associated with subvertical fractured zone). Moreover, a cost analysis demonstrates that the use of ERT can save money at the scale of a drilling programme if ERT improves the success rate by only 5% as compared to the success rate obtained with 1D techniques. Finally, this study demonstrates, using the example of Benin, that the use of electrical resistivity profiling and sounding for siting boreholes in weathered hard rocks of western Africa should be discarded and replaced by the use of ERT technique, more efficient.

  11. Using therapeutic sound with progressive audiologic tinnitus management.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Henry, James A; Zaugg, Tara L; Myers, Paula J; Schechter, Martin A

    2008-09-01

    Management of tinnitus generally involves educational counseling, stress reduction, and/or the use of therapeutic sound. This article focuses on therapeutic sound, which can involve three objectives: (a) producing a sense of relief from tinnitus-associated stress (using soothing sound); (b) passively diverting attention away from tinnitus by reducing contrast between tinnitus and the acoustic environment (using background sound); and (c) actively diverting attention away from tinnitus (using interesting sound). Each of these goals can be accomplished using three different types of sound-broadly categorized as environmental sound, music, and speech-resulting in nine combinations of uses of sound and types of sound to manage tinnitus. The authors explain the uses and types of sound, how they can be combined, and how the different combinations are used with Progressive Audiologic Tinnitus Management. They also describe how sound is used with other sound-based methods of tinnitus management (Tinnitus Masking, Tinnitus Retraining Therapy, and Neuromonics).

  12. Design of Wearable Breathing Sound Monitoring System for Real-Time Wheeze Detection

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shih-Hong Li

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available In the clinic, the wheezing sound is usually considered as an indicator symptom to reflect the degree of airway obstruction. The auscultation approach is the most common way to diagnose wheezing sounds, but it subjectively depends on the experience of the physician. Several previous studies attempted to extract the features of breathing sounds to detect wheezing sounds automatically. However, there is still a lack of suitable monitoring systems for real-time wheeze detection in daily life. In this study, a wearable and wireless breathing sound monitoring system for real-time wheeze detection was proposed. Moreover, a breathing sounds analysis algorithm was designed to continuously extract and analyze the features of breathing sounds to provide the objectively quantitative information of breathing sounds to professional physicians. Here, normalized spectral integration (NSI was also designed and applied in wheeze detection. The proposed algorithm required only short-term data of breathing sounds and lower computational complexity to perform real-time wheeze detection, and is suitable to be implemented in a commercial portable device, which contains relatively low computing power and memory. From the experimental results, the proposed system could provide good performance on wheeze detection exactly and might be a useful assisting tool for analysis of breathing sounds in clinical diagnosis.

  13. Vertical sounding balloons for stratospheric photochemistry

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pommereau, J. P.

    The use of vertical sounding balloons for stratospheric photochemistry studies is illustrated by the use of a vertical piloted gas balloon for the search of NO2 diurnal variations. It is shown that the use of montgolfieres (hot air balloons) can enhance the vertical sounding technique. Particular attention is given to a sun-heated montgolfiere and to the more sophisticated infrared montgolfiere that is able to perform three to four vertical excursions per day and to remain aloft for weeks or months.

  14. Can road traffic mask sound from wind turbines? Response to wind turbine sound at different levels of road traffic sound

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Pedersen, Eja; van den Berg, Frits; Bakker, Roel; Bouma, Jelte

    Wind turbines are favoured in the switch-over to renewable energy. Suitable sites for further developments could be difficult to find as the sound emitted from the rotor blades calls for a sufficient distance to residents to avoid negative effects. The aim of this study was to explore if road

  15. Sound Control in the Physic Lab in the Polyacryl Company and Studying the Noise Reduction by Means of Different Absorbents

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Harandi

    1999-03-01

    Full Text Available Studying noise effect at the workplace has more various aspects than other factors. So it is not surprising that its adverse impact on the physical and mental state of the society has been detected to some extent. There is a significant correlation between the hearing loss and the noise pollution of the workplaces. The most important ways to lessen and control the impact of noise are: substituting the noisy equipments with ones that produce less noise, correcting noise sources and isolating the sound source. In the current study we tried to control the noise level by using various sound absorbents and measured sound level by using these different substances. The results of these measurements have reported in the current article in details.

  16. Delineation of graves using electrical resistivity tomography

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nero, Callistus; Aning, Akwasi Acheampong; Danuor, Sylvester K.; Noye, Reginald M.

    2016-03-01

    A suspected old royal cemetery has been surveyed at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) campus, Kumasi, Ghana using Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT) with the objective of detecting graves in order to make informed decisions with regard to the future use of the area. The survey was conducted on a 10,000 m2 area. Continuous Vertical Electrical Sounding (CVES) was combined with the roll along technique for 51 profiles with 1 m probe separation separated by 2 m. Inverted data results indicated wide resistivity variations ranging between 9.34 Ωm and 600 Ωm in the near surface. Such heterogeneity suggests a disturbance of the soil at this level. Both high (≥ 600 Ωm) and low resistivity (≤ 74.7 Ωm) anomalies, relative to background levels, were identified within the first 4 m of the subsurface. These were suspected to be burial tombs because of their rectangular geometries and resistivity contrasts. The results were validated with forward numerical modeling results. The study area is therefore an old cemetery and should be preserved as a cultural heritage site.

  17. A comparative performance study of sound zoning methods in a reflective environment

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Olik, Marek; Francombe, Jon; Coleman, Philip

    2013-01-01

    Whilst sound zoning methods have typically been studied under anechoic conditions, it is desirable to evaluate the performance of various methods in a real room. Three control methods were implemented (delay and sum, DS; acoustic contrast control, ACC; and pressure matching, PM) on two regular 24...... monophonic auralisations from measured system responses to collect ratings of perceived distraction due to the alternate audio programme. Distraction ratings were a ected by control method and programme material....

  18. Fourth sound in relativistic superfluidity theory

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vil'chinskij, S.I.; Fomin, P.I.

    1995-01-01

    The Lorentz-covariant equations describing propagation of the fourth sound in the relativistic theory of superfluidity are derived. The expressions for the velocity of the fourth sound are obtained. The character of oscillation in sound is determined

  19. Electrical Resistivity Survey For Conductive Soils At Gas Turbine ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Ten (10) vertical electrical soundings (VES) using Schlumberger configuration were carried out to delineate subsurface conductive soils for the design of earthling grid for electrical materials installation at the Gas Turbine Station, Ajaokuta, SW Nigeria. Interpretation of the resistivity data revealed three major geoelectric ...

  20. The science of sound recording

    CERN Document Server

    Kadis, Jay

    2012-01-01

    The Science of Sound Recording will provide you with more than just an introduction to sound and recording, it will allow you to dive right into some of the technical areas that often appear overwhelming to anyone without an electrical engineering or physics background.  The Science of Sound Recording helps you build a basic foundation of scientific principles, explaining how recording really works. Packed with valuable must know information, illustrations and examples of 'worked through' equations this book introduces the theory behind sound recording practices in a logical and prac

  1. Nuclear sound

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wambach, J.

    1991-01-01

    Nuclei, like more familiar mechanical systems, undergo simple vibrational motion. Among these vibrations, sound modes are of particular interest since they reveal important information on the effective interactions among the constituents and, through extrapolation, on the bulk behaviour of nuclear and neutron matter. Sound wave propagation in nuclei shows strong quantum effects familiar from other quantum systems. Microscopic theory suggests that the restoring forces are caused by the complex structure of the many-Fermion wavefunction and, in some cases, have no classical analogue. The damping of the vibrational amplitude is strongly influenced by phase coherence among the particles participating in the motion. (author)

  2. Selective attention to sound location or pitch studied with event-related brain potentials and magnetic fields.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Degerman, Alexander; Rinne, Teemu; Särkkä, Anna-Kaisa; Salmi, Juha; Alho, Kimmo

    2008-06-01

    Event-related brain potentials (ERPs) and magnetic fields (ERFs) were used to compare brain activity associated with selective attention to sound location or pitch in humans. Sixteen healthy adults participated in the ERP experiment, and 11 adults in the ERF experiment. In different conditions, the participants focused their attention on a designated sound location or pitch, or pictures presented on a screen, in order to detect target sounds or pictures among the attended stimuli. In the Attend Location condition, the location of sounds varied randomly (left or right), while their pitch (high or low) was kept constant. In the Attend Pitch condition, sounds of varying pitch (high or low) were presented at a constant location (left or right). Consistent with previous ERP results, selective attention to either sound feature produced a negative difference (Nd) between ERPs to attended and unattended sounds. In addition, ERPs showed a more posterior scalp distribution for the location-related Nd than for the pitch-related Nd, suggesting partially different generators for these Nds. The ERF source analyses found no source distribution differences between the pitch-related Ndm (the magnetic counterpart of the Nd) and location-related Ndm in the superior temporal cortex (STC), where the main sources of the Ndm effects are thought to be located. Thus, the ERP scalp distribution differences between the location-related and pitch-related Nd effects may have been caused by activity of areas outside the STC, perhaps in the inferior parietal regions.

  3. Digitizing a sound archive

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Cone, Louise

    2017-01-01

    Danish and international artists. His methodology left us with a large collection of unique and inspirational time-based media sound artworks that have, until very recently, been inaccessible. Existing on an array of different media formats, such as open reel tapes, 8-track and 4 track cassettes, VHS......In 1990 an artist by the name of William Louis Sørensen was hired by the National Gallery of Denmark to collect important works of art – made from sound. His job was to acquire sound art, but also recordings that captured rare artistic occurrences, music, performances and happenings from both...

  4. Assessment of the health effects of low-frequency sounds and infra-sounds from wind farms. ANSES Opinion. Collective expertise report

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lepoutre, Philippe; Avan, Paul; Cheveigne, Alain de; Ecotiere, David; Evrard, Anne-Sophie; Hours, Martine; Lelong, Joel; Moati, Frederique; Michaud, David; Toppila, Esko; Beugnet, Laurent; Bounouh, Alexandre; Feltin, Nicolas; Campo, Pierre; Dore, Jean-Francois; Ducimetiere, Pierre; Douki, Thierry; Flahaut, Emmanuel; Gaffet, Eric; Lafaye, Murielle; Martinsons, Christophe; Mouneyrac, Catherine; Ndagijimana, Fabien; Soyez, Alain; Yardin, Catherine; Cadene, Anthony; Merckel, Olivier; Niaudet, Aurelie; Cadene, Anthony; Saddoki, Sophia; Debuire, Brigitte; Genet, Roger

    2017-03-01

    The French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety (ANSES) reiterates that wind turbines emit infra-sounds (sound below 20 Hz) and low-frequency sounds. There are also other sources of infra-sound emissions that can be natural (wind in particular) or anthropogenic (heavy-goods vehicles, heat pumps, etc.). The measurement campaigns undertaken during the expert appraisal enabled these emissions from three wind farms to be characterised. In general, only very high intensities of infra-sound can be heard or perceived by humans. At the minimum distance (of 500 metres) separating homes from wind farm sites set out by the regulations, the infra-sounds produced by wind turbines do not exceed hearing thresholds. Therefore, the disturbance related to audible noise potentially felt by people around wind farms mainly relates to frequencies above 50 Hz. The expert appraisal showed that mechanisms for health effects grouped under the term 'vibro-acoustic disease', reported in certain publications, have no serious scientific basis. There have been very few scientific studies on the potential health effects of infra-sounds and low frequencies produced by wind turbines. The review of these experimental and epidemiological data did not find any adequate scientific arguments for the occurrence of health effects related to exposure to noise from wind turbines, other than disturbance related to audible noise and a nocebo effect, which can help explain the occurrence of stress-related symptoms experienced by residents living near wind farms. However, recently acquired knowledge on the physiology of the cochlea-vestibular system has revealed physiological effects in animals induced by exposure to high-intensity infra-sounds. These effects, while plausible in humans, have yet to be demonstrated for exposure to levels comparable to those observed in residents living near wind farms. Moreover, the connection between these physiological effects and the occurrence of

  5. Seismic and Biological Sources of Ambient Ocean Sound

    Science.gov (United States)

    Freeman, Simon Eric

    . This distribution of sources could reveal small-scale spatial ecological limitations, such as the availability of food and shelter. While array-based passive acoustic sensing is well established in seismoacoustics, the technique is little utilized in the study of ambient biological sound. With the continuance of Moore's law and advances in battery and memory technology, inferring biological processes from ambient sound may become a more accessible tool in underwater ecological evaluation and monitoring.

  6. Swallowing sound detection using hidden markov modeling of recurrence plot features

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Aboofazeli, Mohammad; Moussavi, Zahra

    2009-01-01

    Automated detection of swallowing sounds in swallowing and breath sound recordings is of importance for monitoring purposes in which the recording durations are long. This paper presents a novel method for swallowing sound detection using hidden Markov modeling of recurrence plot features. Tracheal sound recordings of 15 healthy and nine dysphagic subjects were studied. The multidimensional state space trajectory of each signal was reconstructed using the Taken method of delays. The sequences of three recurrence plot features of the reconstructed trajectories (which have shown discriminating capability between swallowing and breath sounds) were modeled by three hidden Markov models. The Viterbi algorithm was used for swallowing sound detection. The results were validated manually by inspection of the simultaneously recorded airflow signal and spectrogram of the sounds, and also by auditory means. The experimental results suggested that the performance of the proposed method using hidden Markov modeling of recurrence plot features was superior to the previous swallowing sound detection methods.

  7. Swallowing sound detection using hidden markov modeling of recurrence plot features

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Aboofazeli, Mohammad [Faculty of Engineering, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, R3T 5V6 (Canada)], E-mail: umaboofa@cc.umanitoba.ca; Moussavi, Zahra [Faculty of Engineering, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, R3T 5V6 (Canada)], E-mail: mousavi@ee.umanitoba.ca

    2009-01-30

    Automated detection of swallowing sounds in swallowing and breath sound recordings is of importance for monitoring purposes in which the recording durations are long. This paper presents a novel method for swallowing sound detection using hidden Markov modeling of recurrence plot features. Tracheal sound recordings of 15 healthy and nine dysphagic subjects were studied. The multidimensional state space trajectory of each signal was reconstructed using the Taken method of delays. The sequences of three recurrence plot features of the reconstructed trajectories (which have shown discriminating capability between swallowing and breath sounds) were modeled by three hidden Markov models. The Viterbi algorithm was used for swallowing sound detection. The results were validated manually by inspection of the simultaneously recorded airflow signal and spectrogram of the sounds, and also by auditory means. The experimental results suggested that the performance of the proposed method using hidden Markov modeling of recurrence plot features was superior to the previous swallowing sound detection methods.

  8. Effect of Sound Waves on Decarburization Rate of Fe-C Melt

    Science.gov (United States)

    Komarov, Sergey V.; Sano, Masamichi

    2018-02-01

    Sound waves have the ability to propagate through a gas phase and, thus, to supply the acoustic energy from a sound generator to materials being processed. This offers an attractive tool, for example, for controlling the rates of interfacial reactions in steelmaking processes. This study investigates the kinetics of decarburization in molten Fe-C alloys, the surface of which was exposed to sound waves and Ar-O2 gas blown onto the melt surface. The main emphasis is placed on clarifying effects of sound frequency, sound pressure, and gas flow rate. A series of water model experiments and numerical simulations are also performed to explain the results of high-temperature experiments and to elucidate the mechanism of sound wave application. This is explained by two phenomena that occur simultaneously: (1) turbulization of Ar-O2 gas flow by sound wave above the melt surface and (2) motion and agitation of the melt surface when exposed to sound wave. It is found that sound waves can both accelerate and inhibit the decarburization rate depending on the Ar-O2 gas flow rate and the presence of oxide film on the melt surface. The effect of sound waves is clearly observed only at higher sound pressures on resonance frequencies, which are defined by geometrical features of the experimental setup. The resonance phenomenon makes it difficult to separate the effect of sound frequency from that of sound pressure under the present experimental conditions.

  9. Hamiltonian Algorithm Sound Synthesis

    OpenAIRE

    大矢, 健一

    2013-01-01

    Hamiltonian Algorithm (HA) is an algorithm for searching solutions is optimization problems. This paper introduces a sound synthesis technique using Hamiltonian Algorithm and shows a simple example. "Hamiltonian Algorithm Sound Synthesis" uses phase transition effect in HA. Because of this transition effect, totally new waveforms are produced.

  10. Exploring Noise: Sound Pollution.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rillo, Thomas J.

    1979-01-01

    Part one of a three-part series about noise pollution and its effects on humans. This section presents the background information for teachers who are preparing a unit on sound. The next issues will offer learning activities for measuring the effects of sound and some references. (SA)

  11. Dementias show differential physiological responses to salient sounds.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fletcher, Phillip D; Nicholas, Jennifer M; Shakespeare, Timothy J; Downey, Laura E; Golden, Hannah L; Agustus, Jennifer L; Clark, Camilla N; Mummery, Catherine J; Schott, Jonathan M; Crutch, Sebastian J; Warren, Jason D

    2015-01-01

    Abnormal responsiveness to salient sensory signals is often a prominent feature of dementia diseases, particularly the frontotemporal lobar degenerations, but has been little studied. Here we assessed processing of one important class of salient signals, looming sounds, in canonical dementia syndromes. We manipulated tones using intensity cues to create percepts of salient approaching ("looming") or less salient withdrawing sounds. Pupil dilatation responses and behavioral rating responses to these stimuli were compared in patients fulfilling consensus criteria for dementia syndromes (semantic dementia, n = 10; behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia, n = 16, progressive nonfluent aphasia, n = 12; amnestic Alzheimer's disease, n = 10) and a cohort of 26 healthy age-matched individuals. Approaching sounds were rated as more salient than withdrawing sounds by healthy older individuals but this behavioral response to salience did not differentiate healthy individuals from patients with dementia syndromes. Pupil responses to approaching sounds were greater than responses to withdrawing sounds in healthy older individuals and in patients with semantic dementia: this differential pupil response was reduced in patients with progressive nonfluent aphasia and Alzheimer's disease relative both to the healthy control and semantic dementia groups, and did not correlate with nonverbal auditory semantic function. Autonomic responses to auditory salience are differentially affected by dementias and may constitute a novel biomarker of these diseases.

  12. Photoacoustic Sounds from Meteors.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Spalding, Richard E. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Tencer, John [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Sweatt, William C. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Hogan, Roy E. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Boslough, Mark B. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Spurny, Pavel [Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic (ASCR), Prague (Czech Republic)

    2015-03-01

    High-speed photometric observations of meteor fireballs have shown that they often produce high-amplitude light oscillations with frequency components in the kHz range, and in some cases exhibit strong millisecond flares. We built a light source with similar characteristics and illuminated various materials in the laboratory, generating audible sounds. Models suggest that light oscillations and pulses can radiatively heat dielectric materials, which in turn conductively heats the surrounding air on millisecond timescales. The sound waves can be heard if the illuminated material is sufficiently close to the observer’s ears. The mechanism described herein may explain many reports of meteors that appear to be audible while they are concurrently visible in the sky and too far away for sound to have propagated to the observer. This photoacoustic (PA) explanation provides an alternative to electrophonic (EP) sounds hypothesized to arise from electromagnetic coupling of plasma oscillation in the meteor wake to natural antennas in the vicinity of an observer.

  13. Urban Sound Interfaces

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Breinbjerg, Morten

    2012-01-01

    This paper draws on the theories of Michel de Certeau and Gaston Bachelard to discuss how media architecture, in the form of urban sound interfaces, can help us perceive the complexity of the spaces we inhabit, by exploring the history and the narratives of the places in which we live. In this pa......This paper draws on the theories of Michel de Certeau and Gaston Bachelard to discuss how media architecture, in the form of urban sound interfaces, can help us perceive the complexity of the spaces we inhabit, by exploring the history and the narratives of the places in which we live....... In this paper, three sound works are discussed in relation to the iPod, which is considered as a more private way to explore urban environments, and as a way to control the individual perception of urban spaces....

  14. The parabolic equation method for outdoor sound propagation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Arranz, Marta Galindo

    The parabolic equation method is a versatile tool for outdoor sound propagation. The present study has focused on the Cranck-Nicolson type Parabolic Equation method (CNPE). Three different applications of the CNPE method have been investigated. The first two applications study variations of the g......The parabolic equation method is a versatile tool for outdoor sound propagation. The present study has focused on the Cranck-Nicolson type Parabolic Equation method (CNPE). Three different applications of the CNPE method have been investigated. The first two applications study variations...

  15. Adaptive sound speed correction for abdominal ultrasonography: preliminary results

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jin, Sungmin; Kang, Jeeun; Song, Tai-Kyung; Yoo, Yangmo

    2013-03-01

    Ultrasonography has been conducting a critical role in assessing abdominal disorders due to its noninvasive, real-time, low cost, and deep penetrating capabilities. However, for imaging obese patients with a thick fat layer, it is challenging to achieve appropriate image quality with a conventional beamforming (CON) method due to phase aberration caused by the difference between sound speeds (e.g., 1580 and 1450m/s for liver and fat, respectively). For this, various sound speed correction (SSC) methods that estimate the accumulated sound speed for a region-of interest (ROI) have been previously proposed. However, with the SSC methods, the improvement in image quality was limited only for a specific depth of ROI. In this paper, we present the adaptive sound speed correction (ASSC) method, which can enhance the image quality for whole depths by using estimated sound speeds from two different depths in the lower layer. Since these accumulated sound speeds contain the respective contributions of layers, an optimal sound speed for each depth can be estimated by solving contribution equations. To evaluate the proposed method, the phantom study was conducted with pre-beamformed radio-frequency (RF) data acquired with a SonixTouch research package (Ultrasonix Corp., Canada) with linear and convex probes from the gel pad-stacked tissue mimicking phantom (Parker Lab. Inc., USA and Model539, ATS, USA) whose sound speeds are 1610 and 1450m/s, respectively. From the study, compared to the CON and SSC methods, the ASSC method showed the improved spatial resolution and information entropy contrast (IEC) for convex and linear array transducers, respectively. These results indicate that the ASSC method can be applied for enhancing image quality when imaging obese patients in abdominal ultrasonography.

  16. Sound field separation with sound pressure and particle velocity measurements

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Fernandez Grande, Efren; Jacobsen, Finn; Leclère, Quentin

    2012-01-01

    separation techniques make it possible to distinguish between outgoing and incoming waves from the two sides, and thus NAH can be applied. In this paper, a separation method based on the measurement of the particle velocity in two layers and another method based on the measurement of the pressure...... and the velocity in a single layer are proposed. The two methods use an equivalent source formulation with separate transfer matrices for the outgoing and incoming waves, so that the sound from the two sides of the array can be modeled independently. A weighting scheme is proposed to account for the distance......In conventional near-field acoustic holography (NAH) it is not possible to distinguish between sound from the two sides of the array, thus, it is a requirement that all the sources are confined to only one side and radiate into a free field. When this requirement cannot be fulfilled, sound field...

  17. 21 CFR 876.4590 - Interlocking urethral sound.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Interlocking urethral sound. 876.4590 Section 876...) MEDICAL DEVICES GASTROENTEROLOGY-UROLOGY DEVICES Surgical Devices § 876.4590 Interlocking urethral sound. (a) Identification. An interlocking urethral sound is a device that consists of two metal sounds...

  18. Developmental Changes in Locating Voice and Sound in Space

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kezuka, Emiko; Amano, Sachiko; Reddy, Vasudevi

    2017-01-01

    We know little about how infants locate voice and sound in a complex multi-modal space. Using a naturalistic laboratory experiment the present study tested 35 infants at 3 ages: 4 months (15 infants), 5 months (12 infants), and 7 months (8 infants). While they were engaged frontally with one experimenter, infants were presented with (a) a second experimenter’s voice and (b) castanet sounds from three different locations (left, right, and behind). There were clear increases with age in the successful localization of sounds from all directions, and a decrease in the number of repetitions required for success. Nonetheless even at 4 months two-thirds of the infants attempted to search for the voice or sound. At all ages localizing sounds from behind was more difficult and was clearly present only at 7 months. Perseverative errors (looking at the last location) were present at all ages and appeared to be task specific (only present in the 7 month-olds for the behind location). Spontaneous attention shifts by the infants between the two experimenters, evident at 7 months, suggest early evidence for infant initiation of triadic attentional engagements. There was no advantage found for voice over castanet sounds in this study. Auditory localization is a complex and contextual process emerging gradually in the first half of the first year. PMID:28979220

  19. Poetry Pages. Sound Effects.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fina, Allan de

    1992-01-01

    Explains how elementary teachers can help students understand onomatopoeia, suggesting that they define onomatopoeia, share examples of it, read poems and have students discuss onomatopoeic words, act out common household sounds, write about sound effects, and create choral readings of onomatopoeic poems. Two appropriate poems are included. (SM)

  20. Walrus Movements in Smith Sound: A Canada - Greenland Shared Stock

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Heide-Jorgensen, Mads Peter; Flora, Janne; Andersen, Astrid O.

    2017-01-01

    Fifty of 58 walruses (Odobenus rosmarus rosmarus) instrumented with satellite-linked transmitters in four areas in eastern Smith Sound, Northwest Greenland, during May and June of 2010 – 13 and 2015 provided data for this study. These animals departed from the feeding banks along the Greenland...... coast in June – July (average 14th June), simultaneously with the disappearance of sea ice from these areas. Most of them moved to Canadian waters in western Smith Sound. The most frequently used summering grounds were along the coasts of Ellesmere Island: on the eastern coast, the area around Alexandra...... of Jones Sound and Lancaster Sound for short periods during the summer, though this cannot be confirmed with certainty. The return migration from western Smith Sound to the wintering area in eastern Smith Sound takes place in October. The tracked walrus showed high affinity to coastal areas, while walruses...

  1. Sound-like collective mode excitation with pion absorption in nuclear matter

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Qiu Xijiun; Shen Jianguo; Huang Lingfang

    1985-01-01

    The relativistic mean field theory consistent with bulk properties of nuclear matter is extended to study the excitations of the sound-like collective modes in nuclear matter. Corresponding relativistic mean field equations are solved numerically and self-consistently. The effective mass of nucleon, the speed of the sound and the amplitude of the sound-like solution are calculated. When the nuclear density is near or greater than the saturation density, the sound-like non-trivial solution could be found

  2. The cinematic soundscape: conceptualising the use of sound in Indian films

    OpenAIRE

    Budhaditya Chattopadhyay

    2012-01-01

    This article examines the trajectories of sound practice in Indian cinema and conceptualises the use of sound since the advent of talkies. By studying and analysing a number of sound- films from different technological phases of direct recording, magnetic recording and present- day digital recording, the article proposes three corresponding models that are developed on the basis of observations on the use of sound in Indian cinema. These models take their point of departure in specific phases...

  3. Film sound in preservation and presentation

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Campanini, S.

    2014-01-01

    What is the nature of film sound? How does it change through time? How can film sound be conceptually defined? To address these issues, this work assumes the perspective of film preservation and presentation practices, describing the preservation of early sound systems, as well as the presentation

  4. Sound at the zoo: Using animal monitoring, sound measurement, and noise reduction in zoo animal management.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Orban, David A; Soltis, Joseph; Perkins, Lori; Mellen, Jill D

    2017-05-01

    A clear need for evidence-based animal management in zoos and aquariums has been expressed by industry leaders. Here, we show how individual animal welfare monitoring can be combined with measurement of environmental conditions to inform science-based animal management decisions. Over the last several years, Disney's Animal Kingdom® has been undergoing significant construction and exhibit renovation, warranting institution-wide animal welfare monitoring. Animal care and science staff developed a model that tracked animal keepers' daily assessments of an animal's physical health, behavior, and responses to husbandry activity; these data were matched to different external stimuli and environmental conditions, including sound levels. A case study of a female giant anteater and her environment is presented to illustrate how this process worked. Associated with this case, several sound-reducing barriers were tested for efficacy in mitigating sound. Integrating daily animal welfare assessment with environmental monitoring can lead to a better understanding of animals and their sensory environment and positively impact animal welfare. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  5. Search for fourth sound propagation in supersolid 4He

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Aoki, Y.; Kojima, H.; Lin, X.

    2008-01-01

    A systematic study is carried out to search for fourth sound propagation solid 4 He samples below 500 mK down to 40 mK between 25 and 56 bar using the techniques of heat pulse generator and titanium superconducting transition edge bolometer. If solid 4 He is endowed with superfluidity below 200 mK, as indicated by recent torsional oscillator experiments, theories predict fourth sound propagation in such a supersolid state. If found, fourth sound would provide convincing evidence for superfluidity and a new tool for studying the new phase. The search for a fourth sound-like mode is based on the response of the bolometers to heat pulses traveling through cylindrical samples of solids grown with different crystal qualities. Bolometers with increasing sensitivity are constructed. The heater generator amplitude is reduced to the sensitivity limit to search for any critical velocity effects. The fourth sound velocity is expected to vary as ∞ √ Ρ s /ρ. Searches for a signature in the bolometer response with such a characteristic temperature dependence are made. The measured response signal has not so far revealed any signature of a new propagating mode within a temperature excursion of 5 μK from the background signal shape. Possible reasons for this negative result are discussed. Prior to the fourth sound search, the temperature dependence of heat pulse propagation was studied as it transformed from 'second sound' in the normal solid 4 He to transverse ballistic phonon propagation. Our work extends the studies of [V. Narayanamurti and R. C. Dynes, Phys. Rev. B 12, 1731 (1975)] to higher pressures and to lower temperatures. The measured transverse ballistic phonon propagation velocity is found to remain constant (within the 0.3% scatter of the data) below 100 mK at all pressures and reveals no indication of an onset of supersolidity. The overall dynamic thermal response of solid to heat input is found to depend strongly on the sample preparation procedure

  6. Analyzing the Pattern of L1 Sounds on L2 Sounds Produced by Javanese Students of Stkip PGRI Jombang

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Daning Hentasmaka

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available The studyconcerns on an analysis on the tendency of first language (L1 sound patterning on second language (L2 sounds done by Javanese students.Focusing on the consonant sounds, the data were collected by recording students’ pronunciationof English words during the pronunciation test. The data then analysed through three activities: data reduction, data display, and conclusion drawing/ verification. Theresult showedthatthe patterning of L1 sounds happened on L2 sounds especially on eleven consonant sounds: the fricatives [v, θ, ð, ʃ, ʒ], the voiceless stops [p, t, k], and the voiced stops [b, d, g].Thosepatterning case emergedmostlyduetothe difference in the existence of consonant sounds and rules of consonant distribution. Besides, one of the cases was caused by the difference in consonant clusters between L1 and L2

  7. ANALYZING THE PATTERN OF L1 SOUNDS ON L2 SOUNDS PRODUCED BY JAVANESE STUDENTS OF STKIP PGRI JOMBANG

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Daning Hentasmaka

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available The studyconcerns on an analysis on the tendency of first language (L1 sound patterning on second language (L2 sounds done by Javanese students.Focusing on the consonant sounds, the data were collected by recording students’ pronunciationof English words during the pronunciation test. The data then analysed through three activities: data reduction, data display, and conclusion drawing/ verification. Theresult showedthatthe patterning of L1 sounds happened on L2 sounds especially on eleven consonant sounds: the fricatives [v, θ, ð, ʃ, ʒ], the voiceless stops [p, t, k], and the voiced stops [b, d, g].Thosepatterning case emergedmostlyduetothe difference in the existence of consonant sounds and rules of consonant distribution. Besides, one of the cases was caused by the difference in consonant clusters between L1 and L2.

  8. Hydrostratigraphy and hydrogeology of the western part of Maira area, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan: a case study by using electrical resistivity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Farid, Asam; Jadoon, Khanzaib; Akhter, Gulraiz; Iqbal, Muhammad Asim

    2013-03-01

    Hydrostratigraphy and hydrogeology of the Maira vicinity is important for the characterization of aquifer system and developing numerical groundwater flow models to predict the future availability of the water resource. Conventionally, the aquifer parameters are obtained by the analysis of pumping tests data which provide limited spatial information and turn out to be costly and time consuming. Vertical electrical soundings and pump testing of boreholes were conducted to delineate the aquifer system at the western part of the Maira area, Khyber Pakhtun Khwa, Pakistan. Aquifer lithology in the eastern part of the study area is dominated by coarse sand and gravel whereas the western part is characterized by fine sand. An attempt has been made to estimate the hydraulic conductivity of the aquifer system by establishing a relationship between the pumping test results and vertical electrical soundings by using regression technique. The relationship is applied to the area along the resistivity profiles where boreholes are not drilled. Our findings show a good match between pumped hydraulic conductivity and estimated hydraulic conductivity. In case of sparse borehole data, regression technique is useful in estimating hydraulic properties for aquifers with varying lithology.

  9. Hydrostratigraphy and hydrogeology of the western part of Maira area, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan: A case study by using electrical resistivity

    KAUST Repository

    Farid, Asam M.

    2012-06-27

    Hydrostratigraphy and hydrogeology of the Maira vicinity is important for the characterization of aquifer system and developing numerical groundwater flow models to predict the future availability of the water resource. Conventionally, the aquifer parameters are obtained by the analysis of pumping tests data which provide limited spatial information and turn out to be costly and time consuming. Vertical electrical soundings and pump testing of boreholes were conducted to delineate the aquifer system at the western part of the Maira area, Khyber Pakhtun Khwa, Pakistan. Aquifer lithology in the eastern part of the study area is dominated by coarse sand and gravel whereas the western part is characterized by fine sand. An attempt has been made to estimate the hydraulic conductivity of the aquifer system by establishing a relationship between the pumping test results and vertical electrical soundings by using regression technique. The relationship is applied to the area along the resistivity profiles where boreholes are not drilled. Our findings show a good match between pumped hydraulic conductivity and estimated hydraulic conductivity. In case of sparse borehole data, regression technique is useful in estimating hydraulic properties for aquifers with varying lithology. © 2012 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.

  10. Integrating surface and borehole geophysics in ground water studies - an example using electromagnetic soundings in south Florida

    Science.gov (United States)

    Paillet, Frederick; Hite, Laura; Carlson, Matthew

    1999-01-01

    Time domain surface electromagnetic soundings, borehole induction logs, and other borehole logging techniques are used to construct a realistic model for the shallow subsurface hydraulic properties of unconsolidated sediments in south Florida. Induction logs are used to calibrate surface induction soundings in units of pore water salinity by correlating water sample specific electrical conductivity with the electrical conductivity of the formation over the sampled interval for a two‐layered aquifer model. Geophysical logs are also used to show that a constant conductivity layer model is appropriate for the south Florida study. Several physically independent log measurements are used to quantify the dependence of formation electrical conductivity on such parameters as salinity, permeability, and clay mineral fraction. The combined interpretation of electromagnetic soundings and induction logs was verified by logging three validation boreholes, confirming quantitative estimates of formation conductivity and thickness in the upper model layer, and qualitative estimates of conductivity in the lower model layer.

  11. Prototype electronic stethoscope vs. conventional stethoscope for auscultation of heart sounds.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kelmenson, Daniel A; Heath, Janae K; Ball, Stephanie A; Kaafarani, Haytham M A; Baker, Elisabeth M; Yeh, Daniel D; Bittner, Edward A; Eikermann, Matthias; Lee, Jarone

    2014-08-01

    In an effort to decrease the spread of hospital-acquired infections, many hospitals currently use disposable plastic stethoscopes in patient rooms. As an alternative, this study examines a prototype electronic stethoscope that does not break the isolation barrier between clinician and patient and may also improve the diagnostic accuracy of the stethoscope exam. This study aimed to investigate whether the new prototype electronic stethoscope improved auscultation of heart sounds compared to the standard conventional isolation stethoscope. In a controlled, non-blinded, cross-over study, clinicians were randomized to identify heart sounds with both the prototype electronic stethoscope and a conventional stethoscope. The primary outcome was the score on a 10-question heart sound identification test. In total, 41 clinicians completed the study. Subjects performed significantly better in the identification of heart sounds when using the prototype electronic stethoscope (median = 9 [7-10] vs. 8 [6-9] points, p value prototype electronic stethoscope. Clinicians using a new prototype electronic stethoscope achieved greater accuracy in identification of heart sounds and also universally favoured the new device, compared to the conventional stethoscope.

  12. Sexual dimorphism of sonic apparatus and extreme intersexual variation of sounds in Ophidion rochei (Ophidiidae: first evidence of a tight relationship between morphology and sound characteristics in Ophidiidae

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kéver Loïc

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Many Ophidiidae are active in dark environments and display complex sonic apparatus morphologies. However, sound recordings are scarce and little is known about acoustic communication in this family. This paper focuses on Ophidion rochei which is known to display an important sexual dimorphism in swimbladder and anterior skeleton. The aims of this study were to compare the sound producing morphology, and the resulting sounds in juveniles, females and males of O. rochei. Results Males, females, and juveniles possessed different morphotypes. Females and juveniles contrasted with males because they possessed dramatic differences in morphology of their sonic muscles, swimbladder, supraoccipital crest, and first vertebrae and associated ribs. Further, they lacked the ‘rocker bone’ typically found in males. Sounds from each morphotype were highly divergent. Males generally produced non harmonic, multiple-pulsed sounds that lasted for several seconds (3.5 ± 1.3 s with a pulse period of ca. 100 ms. Juvenile and female sounds were recorded for the first time in ophidiids. Female sounds were harmonic, had shorter pulse period (±3.7 ms, and never exceeded a few dozen milliseconds (18 ± 11 ms. Moreover, unlike male sounds, female sounds did not have alternating long and short pulse periods. Juvenile sounds were weaker but appear to be similar to female sounds. Conclusions Although it is not possible to distinguish externally male from female in O. rochei, they show a sonic apparatus and sounds that are dramatically different. This difference is likely due to their nocturnal habits that may have favored the evolution of internal secondary sexual characters that help to distinguish males from females and that could facilitate mate choice by females. Moreover, the comparison of different morphotypes in this study shows that these morphological differences result from a peramorphosis that takes place during the development of

  13. Breaking the Sound Barrier

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brown, Tom; Boehringer, Kim

    2007-01-01

    Students in a fourth-grade class participated in a series of dynamic sound learning centers followed by a dramatic capstone event--an exploration of the amazing Trashcan Whoosh Waves. It's a notoriously difficult subject to teach, but this hands-on, exploratory approach ignited student interest in sound, promoted language acquisition, and built…

  14. Sound therapies for tinnitus management.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jastreboff, Margaret M

    2007-01-01

    Many people with bothersome (suffering) tinnitus notice that their tinnitus changes in different acoustical surroundings, it is more intrusive in silence and less profound in the sound enriched environments. This observation led to the development of treatment methods for tinnitus utilizing sound. Many of these methods are still under investigation in respect to their specific protocol and effectiveness and only some have been objectively evaluated in clinical trials. This chapter will review therapies for tinnitus using sound stimulation.

  15. Creating wavelet-based models for real-time synthesis of perceptually convincing environmental sounds

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miner, Nadine Elizabeth

    1998-09-01

    This dissertation presents a new wavelet-based method for synthesizing perceptually convincing, dynamic sounds using parameterized sound models. The sound synthesis method is applicable to a variety of applications including Virtual Reality (VR), multi-media, entertainment, and the World Wide Web (WWW). A unique contribution of this research is the modeling of the stochastic, or non-pitched, sound components. This stochastic-based modeling approach leads to perceptually compelling sound synthesis. Two preliminary studies conducted provide data on multi-sensory interaction and audio-visual synchronization timing. These results contributed to the design of the new sound synthesis method. The method uses a four-phase development process, including analysis, parameterization, synthesis and validation, to create the wavelet-based sound models. A patent is pending for this dynamic sound synthesis method, which provides perceptually-realistic, real-time sound generation. This dissertation also presents a battery of perceptual experiments developed to verify the sound synthesis results. These experiments are applicable for validation of any sound synthesis technique.

  16. Sounds in one-dimensional superfluid helium

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Um, C.I.; Kahng, W.H.; Whang, E.H.; Hong, S.K.; Oh, H.G.; George, T.F.

    1989-01-01

    The temperature variations of first-, second-, and third-sound velocity and attenuation coefficients in one-dimensional superfluid helium are evaluated explicitly for very low temperatures and frequencies (ω/sub s/tau 2 , and the ratio of second sound to first sound becomes unity as the temperature decreases to absolute zero

  17. Marginal ridge fracture resistance, microleakage and pulpal response to glass ionomer/glass cermet partial tunnel restorations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prabhu, N T; Munshi, A K; Shetty, T R

    1997-01-01

    Sixty sound premolars which were to be extracted for orthodontic treatment purposes were restored either with glass ionomer cement or glass cermet cements after partial tunnel preparation, and prior to the extraction after a time interval of 30 and 60 days respectively. The teeth were then subjected to marginal ridge fracture resistance, microleakage study using dye penetration and histological evaluation of the pulpal response to these materials. Both the materials exhibited increase in marginal ridge fracture resistance at 60 days, with minimal degree of microleakage and were biologically compatible with the dental pulp.

  18. Physiological and genetics studies of highly radiation-resistant bacteria

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Keller, L.C.

    1981-01-01

    The phenomenon of radiation resistance was studied using micrococci and Moraxella-Acinetobacter capable of surviving very high doses of gamma radiation which were isolated from foods. Physiological age, or growth phase, was found to be an important factor in making comparisons of radiation-resistance among different bacteria and their mutants. Radiation-resistant bacteria were highly resistant to the lethal effect of nitrosoguanidine used for mutagenesis. Studies of relative resistance of radiation-resistant bacteria, radiation-sensitive mutants, and nonradiation-resistant bacteria to killing by different chemical mutagens did not reveal a correlation between the traits of radiation resistance and mutagen resistance among different strains. Comparisons of plasmid profiles of radiation-resistant bacteria and selected radiation-sensitive mutants suggested the possibility that plasmids may carry genes involved in radiation resistance

  19. How do auditory cortex neurons represent communication sounds?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gaucher, Quentin; Huetz, Chloé; Gourévitch, Boris; Laudanski, Jonathan; Occelli, Florian; Edeline, Jean-Marc

    2013-11-01

    A major goal in auditory neuroscience is to characterize how communication sounds are represented at the cortical level. The present review aims at investigating the role of auditory cortex in the processing of speech, bird songs and other vocalizations, which all are spectrally and temporally highly structured sounds. Whereas earlier studies have simply looked for neurons exhibiting higher firing rates to particular conspecific vocalizations over their modified, artificially synthesized versions, more recent studies determined the coding capacity of temporal spike patterns, which are prominent in primary and non-primary areas (and also in non-auditory cortical areas). In several cases, this information seems to be correlated with the behavioral performance of human or animal subjects, suggesting that spike-timing based coding strategies might set the foundations of our perceptive abilities. Also, it is now clear that the responses of auditory cortex neurons are highly nonlinear and that their responses to natural stimuli cannot be predicted from their responses to artificial stimuli such as moving ripples and broadband noises. Since auditory cortex neurons cannot follow rapid fluctuations of the vocalizations envelope, they only respond at specific time points during communication sounds, which can serve as temporal markers for integrating the temporal and spectral processing taking place at subcortical relays. Thus, the temporal sparse code of auditory cortex neurons can be considered as a first step for generating high level representations of communication sounds independent of the acoustic characteristic of these sounds. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled "Communication Sounds and the Brain: New Directions and Perspectives". Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  20. Robust segmentation and retrieval of environmental sounds

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wichern, Gordon

    The proliferation of mobile computing has provided much of the world with the ability to record any sound of interest, or possibly every sound heard in a lifetime. The technology to continuously record the auditory world has applications in surveillance, biological monitoring of non-human animal sounds, and urban planning. Unfortunately, the ability to record anything has led to an audio data deluge, where there are more recordings than time to listen. Thus, access to these archives depends on efficient techniques for segmentation (determining where sound events begin and end), indexing (storing sufficient information with each event to distinguish it from other events), and retrieval (searching for and finding desired events). While many such techniques have been developed for speech and music sounds, the environmental and natural sounds that compose the majority of our aural world are often overlooked. The process of analyzing audio signals typically begins with the process of acoustic feature extraction where a frame of raw audio (e.g., 50 milliseconds) is converted into a feature vector summarizing the audio content. In this dissertation, a dynamic Bayesian network (DBN) is used to monitor changes in acoustic features in order to determine the segmentation of continuously recorded audio signals. Experiments demonstrate effective segmentation performance on test sets of environmental sounds recorded in both indoor and outdoor environments. Once segmented, every sound event is indexed with a probabilistic model, summarizing the evolution of acoustic features over the course of the event. Indexed sound events are then retrieved from the database using different query modalities. Two important query types are sound queries (query-by-example) and semantic queries (query-by-text). By treating each sound event and semantic concept in the database as a node in an undirected graph, a hybrid (content/semantic) network structure is developed. This hybrid network can

  1. Generation of the vorticity mode by sound in a Bingham plastic

    Science.gov (United States)

    Perelomova, Anna; Wojda, Pawel

    2011-10-01

    This study investigates interaction between acoustic and non-acoustic modes, such as vorticity mode, in some class of a non-newtonian fluid called Bingham plastic. The instantaneous equations describing interaction between different modes are derived. The attention is paid to the nonlinear effects in the field of intense sound. The resulting equations which describe dynamics of both sound and the vorticity mode apply to both periodic and aperiodic sound of any waveform. They use only instantaneous quantities and do not imply averaging over the sound period. The theory is illustrated by an example of acoustic force of vorticity induced in the field of a Gaussian sound beam. Some unusual peculiarities in both sound and the vorticity induced in its field as compared to a newtonian fluid, are discovered.

  2. Effect of a sound wave on the stability of an argon discharge

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Galechyan, G.A.; Karapetyan, D.M.; Tavakalyan, L.B.

    1992-01-01

    The effect of a sound wave on the stability of the positive column of an argon discharge has been studied experimentally in the range of pressures from 40 to 180 torr and discharge currents from 40 to 110 mA in a tube with an interior diameter of 9.8 cm. It is shown that, depending on the intensity of the sound wave and the discharge parameters, sound can cause the positive column either to contract or to leave the contracted state. The electric field strength has been measured as a function of the sound intensity. An analogy between the effect of sound and that of longitudinal pumping of the gas on the argon discharge parameters has been established. The radial temperature of the gas has been studied in an argon discharge as a function of the sound intensity for different gas pressures. A direct relationship has been established between the sign of the detector effect produced by a sound wave in a discharge and the processes of contraction and filamentation of a discharge. 11 refs., 4 figs., 1 tab

  3. Dementias show differential physiological responses to salient sounds

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Phillip David Fletcher

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available Abnormal responsiveness to salient sensory signals is often a prominent feature of dementia diseases, particularly the frontotemporal lobar degenerations, but has been little studied. Here we assessed processing of one important class of salient signals, looming sounds, in canonical dementia syndromes. We manipulated tones using intensity cues to create percepts of salient approaching (‘looming’ or less salient withdrawing sounds. Pupil dilatation responses and behavioural rating responses to these stimuli were compared in patients fulfilling consensus criteria for dementia syndromes (semantic dementia, n=10; behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia, n=16, progressive non-fluent aphasia, n=12; amnestic Alzheimer’s disease, n=10 and a cohort of 26 healthy age-matched individuals. Approaching sounds were rated as more salient than withdrawing sounds by healthy older individuals but this behavioural response to salience did not differentiate healthy individuals from patients with dementia syndromes. Pupil responses to approaching sounds were greater than responses to withdrawing sounds in healthy older individuals and in patients with semantic dementia: this differential pupil response was reduced in patients with progressive nonfluent aphasia and Alzheimer’s disease relative both to the healthy control and semantic dementia groups, and did not correlate with nonverbal auditory semantic function. Autonomic responses to auditory salience are differentially affected by dementias and may constitute a novel biomarker of these diseases.

  4. Dementias show differential physiological responses to salient sounds

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fletcher, Phillip D.; Nicholas, Jennifer M.; Shakespeare, Timothy J.; Downey, Laura E.; Golden, Hannah L.; Agustus, Jennifer L.; Clark, Camilla N.; Mummery, Catherine J.; Schott, Jonathan M.; Crutch, Sebastian J.; Warren, Jason D.

    2015-01-01

    Abnormal responsiveness to salient sensory signals is often a prominent feature of dementia diseases, particularly the frontotemporal lobar degenerations, but has been little studied. Here we assessed processing of one important class of salient signals, looming sounds, in canonical dementia syndromes. We manipulated tones using intensity cues to create percepts of salient approaching (“looming”) or less salient withdrawing sounds. Pupil dilatation responses and behavioral rating responses to these stimuli were compared in patients fulfilling consensus criteria for dementia syndromes (semantic dementia, n = 10; behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia, n = 16, progressive nonfluent aphasia, n = 12; amnestic Alzheimer's disease, n = 10) and a cohort of 26 healthy age-matched individuals. Approaching sounds were rated as more salient than withdrawing sounds by healthy older individuals but this behavioral response to salience did not differentiate healthy individuals from patients with dementia syndromes. Pupil responses to approaching sounds were greater than responses to withdrawing sounds in healthy older individuals and in patients with semantic dementia: this differential pupil response was reduced in patients with progressive nonfluent aphasia and Alzheimer's disease relative both to the healthy control and semantic dementia groups, and did not correlate with nonverbal auditory semantic function. Autonomic responses to auditory salience are differentially affected by dementias and may constitute a novel biomarker of these diseases. PMID:25859194

  5. Second sound tracking system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Jihee; Ihas, Gary G.; Ekdahl, Dan

    2017-10-01

    It is common that a physical system resonates at a particular frequency, whose frequency depends on physical parameters which may change in time. Often, one would like to automatically track this signal as the frequency changes, measuring, for example, its amplitude. In scientific research, one would also like to utilize the standard methods, such as lock-in amplifiers, to improve the signal to noise ratio. We present a complete He ii second sound system that uses positive feedback to generate a sinusoidal signal of constant amplitude via automatic gain control. This signal is used to produce temperature/entropy waves (second sound) in superfluid helium-4 (He ii). A lock-in amplifier limits the oscillation to a desirable frequency and demodulates the received sound signal. Using this tracking system, a second sound signal probed turbulent decay in He ii. We present results showing that the tracking system is more reliable than those of a conventional fixed frequency method; there is less correlation with temperature (frequency) fluctuation when the tracking system is used.

  6. In vitro fracture resistance of fiber reinforced cusp-replacing composite restorations.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Fennis, W.M.M.; Tezvergil, A.; Kuijs, R.H.; Lassila, L.V.; Kreulen, C.M.; Creugers, N.H.J.; Vallittu, P.K.

    2005-01-01

    OBJECTIVES: To assess the fracture resistance and failure mode of fiber reinforced composite (FRC) cusp-replacing restorations in premolars. METHODS: Forty-five extracted sound upper premolars were randomly divided into three groups. Identical MOD cavities with simulated buccal cusp fracture and

  7. Underwater Sound Propagation from Marine Pile Driving.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reyff, James A

    2016-01-01

    Pile driving occurs in a variety of nearshore environments that typically have very shallow-water depths. The propagation of pile-driving sound in water is complex, where sound is directly radiated from the pile as well as through the ground substrate. Piles driven in the ground near water bodies can produce considerable underwater sound energy. This paper presents examples of sound propagation through shallow-water environments. Some of these examples illustrate the substantial variation in sound amplitude over time that can be critical to understand when computing an acoustic-based safety zone for aquatic species.

  8. Application of Surface Geophysical Methods, With Emphasis on Magnetic Resonance Soundings, to Characterize the Hydrostratigraphy of the Brazos River Alluvium Aquifer, College Station, Texas, July 2006 - A Pilot Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shah, Sachin D.; Kress, Wade H.; Legchenko, Anatoly

    2007-01-01

    The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Texas Water Development Board, used surface geophysical methods at the Texas A&M University Brazos River Hydrologic Field Research Site near College Station, Texas, in a pilot study, to characterize the hydrostratigraphic properties of the Brazos River alluvium aquifer and determine the effectiveness of the methods to aid in generating an improved ground-water availability model. Three non-invasive surface geophysical methods were used to characterize the electrical stratigraphy and hydraulic properties and to interpret the hydrostratigraphy of the Brazos River alluvium aquifer. Two methods, time-domain electromagnetic (TDEM) soundings and two-dimensional direct-current (2D-DC) resistivity imaging, were used to define the lateral and vertical extent of the Ships clay, the alluvium of the Brazos River alluvium aquifer, and the underlying Yegua Formation. Magnetic resonance sounding (MRS), a recently developed geophysical method, was used to derive estimates of the hydrologic properties including percentage water content and hydraulic conductivity. Results from the geophysics study demonstrated the usefulness of combined TDEM, 2D-DC resistivity, and MRS methods to reduce the need for additional boreholes in areas with data gaps and to provide more accurate information for ground-water availability models. Stratigraphically, the principal finding of this study is the relation between electrical resistivity and the depth and thickness of the subsurface hydrostratigraphic units at the site. TDEM data defined a three-layer electrical stratigraphy corresponding to a conductor-resistor-conductor that represents the hydrostratigraphic units - the Ships clay, the alluvium of the Brazos River alluvium aquifer, and the Yegua Formation. Sharp electrical boundaries occur at about 4 to 6 and 20 to 22 meters below land surface based on the TDEM data and define the geometry of the more resistive Brazos River alluvium aquifer

  9. Acoustic Performance of a Real-Time Three-Dimensional Sound-Reproduction System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Faller, Kenneth J., II; Rizzi, Stephen A.; Aumann, Aric R.

    2013-01-01

    The Exterior Effects Room (EER) is a 39-seat auditorium at the NASA Langley Research Center and was built to support psychoacoustic studies of aircraft community noise. The EER has a real-time simulation environment which includes a three-dimensional sound-reproduction system. This system requires real-time application of equalization filters to compensate for spectral coloration of the sound reproduction due to installation and room effects. This paper describes the efforts taken to develop the equalization filters for use in the real-time sound-reproduction system and the subsequent analysis of the system s acoustic performance. The acoustic performance of the compensated and uncompensated sound-reproduction system is assessed for its crossover performance, its performance under stationary and dynamic conditions, the maximum spatialized sound pressure level it can produce from a single virtual source, and for the spatial uniformity of a generated sound field. Additionally, application examples are given to illustrate the compensated sound-reproduction system performance using recorded aircraft flyovers

  10. Noise exposure in movie theaters: a preliminary study of sound levels during the showing of 25 films.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Warszawa, Anna; Sataloff, Robert T

    2010-09-01

    The harmful effects of noise exposure during leisure-time activities are beginning to receive some scrutiny. We conducted a preliminary study to investigate the noise levels during the showings of 25 different films. During each screening, various sound measurements were made with a dosimeter. The movies were classified on the basis of both their Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) rating and their genre, and the size of the theater and the size of the audience were taken into consideration in the final analysis. Our findings suggest that the sound levels of many movies might be harmful to hearing, although we can draw no definitive conclusions. We did not discern any relationship between noise levels and either MPAA rating or genre. Further studies are recommended.

  11. Near-field acoustic holography with sound pressure and particle velocity measurements

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Fernandez Grande, Efren

    of the particle velocity has notable potential in NAH, and furthermore, combined measurement of sound pressure and particle velocity opens a new range of possibilities that are examined in this study. On this basis, sound field separation methods have been studied, and a new measurement principle based on double...... layer measurements of the particle velocity has been proposed. Also, the relation between near-field and far-field radiation from sound sources has been examined using the concept of the supersonic intensity. The calculation of this quantity has been extended to other holographic methods, and studied...

  12. Sound topology, duality, coherence and wave-mixing an introduction to the emerging new science of sound

    CERN Document Server

    Deymier, Pierre

    2017-01-01

    This book offers an essential introduction to the notions of sound wave topology, duality, coherence and wave-mixing, which constitute the emerging new science of sound. It includes general principles and specific examples that illuminate new non-conventional forms of sound (sound topology), unconventional quantum-like behavior of phonons (duality), radical linear and nonlinear phenomena associated with loss and its control (coherence), and exquisite effects that emerge from the interaction of sound with other physical and biological waves (wave mixing).  The book provides the reader with the foundations needed to master these complex notions through simple yet meaningful examples. General principles for unraveling and describing the topology of acoustic wave functions in the space of their Eigen values are presented. These principles are then applied to uncover intrinsic and extrinsic approaches to achieving non-conventional topologies by breaking the time revers al symmetry of acoustic waves. Symmetry brea...

  13. Diffuse sound field: challenges and misconceptions

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jeong, Cheol-Ho

    2016-01-01

    Diffuse sound field is a popular, yet widely misused concept. Although its definition is relatively well established, acousticians use this term for different meanings. The diffuse sound field is defined by a uniform sound pressure distribution (spatial diffusion or homogeneity) and uniform...... tremendously in different chambers because the chambers are non-diffuse in variously different ways. Therefore, good objective measures that can quantify the degree of diffusion and potentially indicate how to fix such problems in reverberation chambers are needed. Acousticians often blend the concept...... of mixing and diffuse sound field. Acousticians often refer diffuse reflections from surfaces to diffuseness in rooms, and vice versa. Subjective aspects of diffuseness have not been much investigated. Finally, ways to realize a diffuse sound field in a finite space are discussed....

  14. Frequency-independent radiation modes of interior sound radiation: Experimental study and global active control

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hesse, C.; Papantoni, V.; Algermissen, S.; Monner, H. P.

    2017-08-01

    Active control of structural sound radiation is a promising technique to overcome the poor passive acoustic isolation performance of lightweight structures in the low-frequency region. Active structural acoustic control commonly aims at the suppression of the far-field radiated sound power. This paper is concerned with the active control of sound radiation into acoustic enclosures. Experimental results of a coupled rectangular plate-fluid system under stochastic excitation are presented. The amplitudes of the frequency-independent interior radiation modes are determined in real-time using a set of structural vibration sensors, for the purpose of estimating their contribution to the acoustic potential energy in the enclosure. This approach is validated by acoustic measurements inside the cavity. Utilizing a feedback control approach, a broadband reduction of the global acoustic response inside the enclosure is achieved.

  15. Sound characteristics of Terapon jorbua as a response to temperature changes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Amron; Jaya, I.; Hestirianoto, T.; Juterzenka, K. v.

    2017-10-01

    The change of water temperature has potential impact on the behavior of aquatic animal including fish which generated by their sound productivity and characteristics. This research aimed to study the response of sound productivity and characteristics of Terapon jorbua to temperature change. As a response to temperature increase, T. jorbua to have decreased the number of sound productivity. Two characteristic parameters of fish sound, i.e. intensity and frequency as were quadratic increased during the water temperature rises. In contrast, pulse duration was quadratic decreased.

  16. Sound Symbolism in the Languages of Australia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Haynie, Hannah; Bowern, Claire; LaPalombara, Hannah

    2014-01-01

    The notion that linguistic forms and meanings are related only by convention and not by any direct relationship between sounds and semantic concepts is a foundational principle of modern linguistics. Though the principle generally holds across the lexicon, systematic exceptions have been identified. These “sound symbolic” forms have been identified in lexical items and linguistic processes in many individual languages. This paper examines sound symbolism in the languages of Australia. We conduct a statistical investigation of the evidence for several common patterns of sound symbolism, using data from a sample of 120 languages. The patterns examined here include the association of meanings denoting “smallness” or “nearness” with front vowels or palatal consonants, and the association of meanings denoting “largeness” or “distance” with back vowels or velar consonants. Our results provide evidence for the expected associations of vowels and consonants with meanings of “smallness” and “proximity” in Australian languages. However, the patterns uncovered in this region are more complicated than predicted. Several sound-meaning relationships are only significant for segments in prominent positions in the word, and the prevailing mapping between vowel quality and magnitude meaning cannot be characterized by a simple link between gradients of magnitude and vowel F2, contrary to the claims of previous studies. PMID:24752356

  17. Decoding sound level in the marmoset primary auditory cortex.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sun, Wensheng; Marongelli, Ellisha N; Watkins, Paul V; Barbour, Dennis L

    2017-10-01

    Neurons that respond favorably to a particular sound level have been observed throughout the central auditory system, becoming steadily more common at higher processing areas. One theory about the role of these level-tuned or nonmonotonic neurons is the level-invariant encoding of sounds. To investigate this theory, we simulated various subpopulations of neurons by drawing from real primary auditory cortex (A1) neuron responses and surveyed their performance in forming different sound level representations. Pure nonmonotonic subpopulations did not provide the best level-invariant decoding; instead, mixtures of monotonic and nonmonotonic neurons provided the most accurate decoding. For level-fidelity decoding, the inclusion of nonmonotonic neurons slightly improved or did not change decoding accuracy until they constituted a high proportion. These results indicate that nonmonotonic neurons fill an encoding role complementary to, rather than alternate to, monotonic neurons. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Neurons with nonmonotonic rate-level functions are unique to the central auditory system. These level-tuned neurons have been proposed to account for invariant sound perception across sound levels. Through systematic simulations based on real neuron responses, this study shows that neuron populations perform sound encoding optimally when containing both monotonic and nonmonotonic neurons. The results indicate that instead of working independently, nonmonotonic neurons complement the function of monotonic neurons in different sound-encoding contexts. Copyright © 2017 the American Physiological Society.

  18. Sound transmission in porcine thorax through airway insonification.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peng, Ying; Dai, Zoujun; Mansy, Hansen A; Henry, Brian M; Sandler, Richard H; Balk, Robert A; Royston, Thomas J

    2016-04-01

    Many pulmonary injuries and pathologies may lead to structural and functional changes in the lungs resulting in measurable sound transmission changes on the chest surface. Additionally, noninvasive imaging of externally driven mechanical wave motion in the chest (e.g., using magnetic resonance elastography) can provide information about lung structural property changes and, hence, may be of diagnostic value. In the present study, a comprehensive computational simulation (in silico) model was developed to simulate sound wave propagation in the airways, lung, and chest wall under normal and pneumothorax conditions. Experiments were carried out to validate the model. Here, sound waves with frequency content from 50 to 700 Hz were introduced into airways of five porcine subjects via an endotracheal tube, and transmitted waves were measured by scanning laser Doppler vibrometry at the chest wall surface. The computational model predictions of decreased sound transmission with pneumothorax were consistent with experimental measurements. The in silico model can also be used to visualize wave propagation inside and on the chest wall surface for other pulmonary pathologies, which may help in developing and interpreting diagnostic procedures that utilize sound and vibration.

  19. Sound transmission in porcine thorax through airway insonification

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dai, Zoujun; Mansy, Hansen A.; Henry, Brian M.; Sandler, Richard H.; Balk, Robert A.; Royston, Thomas J.

    2015-01-01

    Many pulmonary injuries and pathologies may lead to structural and functional changes in the lungs resulting in measurable sound transmission changes on the chest surface. Additionally, noninvasive imaging of externally driven mechanical wave motion in the chest (e.g., using magnetic resonance elastography) can provide information about lung structural property changes and, hence, may be of diagnostic value. In the present study, a comprehensive computational simulation (in silico) model was developed to simulate sound wave propagation in the airways, lung, and chest wall under normal and pneumothorax conditions. Experiments were carried out to validate the model. Here, sound waves with frequency content from 50 to 700 Hz were introduced into airways of five porcine subjects via an endotracheal tube, and transmitted waves were measured by scanning laser Doppler vibrometry at the chest wall surface. The computational model predictions of decreased sound transmission with pneumothorax were consistent with experimental measurements. The in silico model can also be used to visualize wave propagation inside and on the chest wall surface for other pulmonary pathologies, which may help in developing and interpreting diagnostic procedures that utilize sound and vibration. PMID:26280512

  20. Temporal Organization of Sound Information in Auditory Memory

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kun Song

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available Memory is a constructive and organizational process. Instead of being stored with all the fine details, external information is reorganized and structured at certain spatiotemporal scales. It is well acknowledged that time plays a central role in audition by segmenting sound inputs into temporal chunks of appropriate length. However, it remains largely unknown whether critical temporal structures exist to mediate sound representation in auditory memory. To address the issue, here we designed an auditory memory transferring study, by combining a previously developed unsupervised white noise memory paradigm with a reversed sound manipulation method. Specifically, we systematically measured the memory transferring from a random white noise sound to its locally temporal reversed version on various temporal scales in seven experiments. We demonstrate a U-shape memory-transferring pattern with the minimum value around temporal scale of 200 ms. Furthermore, neither auditory perceptual similarity nor physical similarity as a function of the manipulating temporal scale can account for the memory-transferring results. Our results suggest that sounds are not stored with all the fine spectrotemporal details but are organized and structured at discrete temporal chunks in long-term auditory memory representation.

  1. Temporal Organization of Sound Information in Auditory Memory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Song, Kun; Luo, Huan

    2017-01-01

    Memory is a constructive and organizational process. Instead of being stored with all the fine details, external information is reorganized and structured at certain spatiotemporal scales. It is well acknowledged that time plays a central role in audition by segmenting sound inputs into temporal chunks of appropriate length. However, it remains largely unknown whether critical temporal structures exist to mediate sound representation in auditory memory. To address the issue, here we designed an auditory memory transferring study, by combining a previously developed unsupervised white noise memory paradigm with a reversed sound manipulation method. Specifically, we systematically measured the memory transferring from a random white noise sound to its locally temporal reversed version on various temporal scales in seven experiments. We demonstrate a U-shape memory-transferring pattern with the minimum value around temporal scale of 200 ms. Furthermore, neither auditory perceptual similarity nor physical similarity as a function of the manipulating temporal scale can account for the memory-transferring results. Our results suggest that sounds are not stored with all the fine spectrotemporal details but are organized and structured at discrete temporal chunks in long-term auditory memory representation.

  2. Stridulatory sound-production and its function in females of the cicada Subpsaltria yangi.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Changqing Luo

    Full Text Available Acoustic behavior plays a crucial role in many aspects of cicada biology, such as reproduction and intrasexual competition. Although female sound production has been reported in some cicada species, acoustic behavior of female cicadas has received little attention. In cicada Subpsaltria yangi, the females possess a pair of unusually well-developed stridulatory organs. Here, sound production and its function in females of this remarkable cicada species were investigated. We revealed that the females could produce sounds by stridulatory mechanism during pair formation, and the sounds were able to elicit both acoustic and phonotactic responses from males. In addition, the forewings would strike the body during performing stridulatory sound-producing movements, which generated impact sounds. Acoustic playback experiments indicated that the impact sounds played no role in the behavioral context of pair formation. This study provides the first experimental evidence that females of a cicada species can generate sounds by stridulatory mechanism. We anticipate that our results will promote acoustic studies on females of other cicada species which also possess stridulatory system.

  3. On-board sound intensity tire-pavement noise study in North Carolina.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-12-01

    "This research investigated tire-pavement noise on various types of pavements across North Carolina by using On- : Board Sound Intensity (OBSI) method. To mitigate traffic noise, quieter pavement may provide advantages that : noise barriers cannot. T...

  4. [Study for lung sound acquisition module based on ARM and Linux].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lu, Qiang; Li, Wenfeng; Zhang, Xixue; Li, Junmin; Liu, Longqing

    2011-07-01

    A acquisition module with ARM and Linux as a core was developed. This paper presents the hardware configuration and the software design. It is shown that the module can extract human lung sound reliably and effectively.

  5. Ratio-scaling of listener preference of multichannel reproduced sound

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Choisel, Sylvain; Wickelmaier, Florian

    2005-01-01

    -trivial assumption in the case of complex spatial sounds. In the present study the Bradley-Terry-Luce (BTL) model was employed to investigate the unidimensionality of preference judgments made by 40 listeners on multichannel reproduced sound. Short musical excerpts played back in eight reproduction modes (mono...... music). As a main result, the BTL model was found to predict the choice frequencies well. This implies that listeners were able to integrate the complex nature of the sounds into a unidimensional preference judgment. It further implies the existence of a preference scale on which the reproduction modes...

  6. Measuring the speed of sound in air using smartphone applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yavuz, A.

    2015-05-01

    This study presents a revised version of an old experiment available in many textbooks for measuring the speed of sound in air. A signal-generator application in a smartphone is used to produce the desired sound frequency. Nodes of sound waves in a glass pipe, of which one end is immersed in water, are more easily detected, so results can be obtained more quickly than from traditional acoustic experiments using tuning forks.

  7. WODA Technical Guidance on Underwater Sound from Dredging.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thomsen, Frank; Borsani, Fabrizio; Clarke, Douglas; de Jong, Christ; de Wit, Pim; Goethals, Fredrik; Holtkamp, Martine; Martin, Elena San; Spadaro, Philip; van Raalte, Gerard; Victor, George Yesu Vedha; Jensen, Anders

    2016-01-01

    The World Organization of Dredging Associations (WODA) has identified underwater sound as an environmental issue that needs further consideration. A WODA Expert Group on Underwater Sound (WEGUS) prepared a guidance paper in 2013 on dredging sound, including a summary of potential impacts on aquatic biota and advice on underwater sound monitoring procedures. The paper follows a risk-based approach and provides guidance for standardization of acoustic terminology and methods for data collection and analysis. Furthermore, the literature on dredging-related sounds and the effects of dredging sounds on marine life is surveyed and guidance on the management of dredging-related sound risks is provided.

  8. Effect of thermal-treatment sequence on sound absorbing and mechanical properties of porous sound-absorbing/thermal-insulating composites

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Huang Chen-Hung

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Due to recent rapid commercial and industrial development, mechanical equipment is supplemented massively in the factory and thus mechanical operation causes noise which distresses living at home. In livelihood, neighborhood, transportation equipment, jobsite construction noises impact on quality of life not only factory noise. This study aims to preparation technique and property evaluation of porous sound-absorbing/thermal-insulating composites. Hollow three-dimensional crimp PET fibers blended with low-melting PET fibers were fabricated into hollow PET/low-melting PET nonwoven after opening, blending, carding, lapping and needle-bonding process. Then, hollow PET/low-melting PET nonwovens were laminated into sound-absorbing/thermal-insulating composites by changing sequence of needle-bonding and thermal-treatment. The optimal thermal-treated sequence was found by tensile strength, tearing strength, sound-absorbing coefficient and thermal conductivity coefficient tests of porous composites.

  9. Metrics for Polyphonic Sound Event Detection

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Annamaria Mesaros

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents and discusses various metrics proposed for evaluation of polyphonic sound event detection systems used in realistic situations where there are typically multiple sound sources active simultaneously. The system output in this case contains overlapping events, marked as multiple sounds detected as being active at the same time. The polyphonic system output requires a suitable procedure for evaluation against a reference. Metrics from neighboring fields such as speech recognition and speaker diarization can be used, but they need to be partially redefined to deal with the overlapping events. We present a review of the most common metrics in the field and the way they are adapted and interpreted in the polyphonic case. We discuss segment-based and event-based definitions of each metric and explain the consequences of instance-based and class-based averaging using a case study. In parallel, we provide a toolbox containing implementations of presented metrics.

  10. Audible sound treatment of the microalgae Picochlorum oklahomensis for enhancing biomass productivity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cai, Weiming; Dunford, Nurhan Turgut; Wang, Ning; Zhu, Songming; He, Huinong

    2016-02-01

    It has been reported in the literature that exposure of microalgae cells to audible sound could promote growth. This study examined the effect of sound waves with the frequency of 1100 Hz, 2200 Hz, and 3300 Hz to stimulate the biomass productivity of an Oklahoma native strain, Picochlorum oklahomensis (PO). The effect of the frequency of sound on biomass mass was measured. This study demonstrated that audible sound treatment of the algae cultures at 2200 Hz was the most effective in terms of biomass production and volumetric oil yield. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  11. Prevalence of high frequency hearing loss consistent with noise exposure among people working with sound systems and general population in Brazil: A cross-sectional study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Trevisani Virgínia FM

    2008-05-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Music is ever present in our daily lives, establishing a link between humans and the arts through the senses and pleasure. Sound technicians are the link between musicians and audiences or consumers. Recently, general concern has arisen regarding occurrences of hearing loss induced by noise from excessively amplified sound-producing activities within leisure and professional environments. Sound technicians' activities expose them to the risk of hearing loss, and consequently put at risk their quality of life, the quality of the musical product and consumers' hearing. The aim of this study was to measure the prevalence of high frequency hearing loss consistent with noise exposure among sound technicians in Brazil and compare this with a control group without occupational noise exposure. Methods This was a cross-sectional study comparing 177 participants in two groups: 82 sound technicians and 95 controls (non-sound technicians. A questionnaire on music listening habits and associated complaints was applied, and data were gathered regarding the professionals' numbers of working hours per day and both groups' hearing complaint and presence of tinnitus. The participants' ear canals were visually inspected using an otoscope. Hearing assessments were performed (tonal and speech audiometry using a portable digital AD 229 E audiometer funded by FAPESP. Results There was no statistically significant difference between the sound technicians and controls regarding age and gender. Thus, the study sample was homogenous and would be unlikely to lead to bias in the results. A statistically significant difference in hearing loss was observed between the groups: 50% among the sound technicians and 10.5% among the controls. The difference could be addressed to high sound levels. Conclusion The sound technicians presented a higher prevalence of high frequency hearing loss consistent with noise exposure than did the general population, although

  12. Detecting change in stochastic sound sequences.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Benjamin Skerritt-Davis

    2018-05-01

    Full Text Available Our ability to parse our acoustic environment relies on the brain's capacity to extract statistical regularities from surrounding sounds. Previous work in regularity extraction has predominantly focused on the brain's sensitivity to predictable patterns in sound sequences. However, natural sound environments are rarely completely predictable, often containing some level of randomness, yet the brain is able to effectively interpret its surroundings by extracting useful information from stochastic sounds. It has been previously shown that the brain is sensitive to the marginal lower-order statistics of sound sequences (i.e., mean and variance. In this work, we investigate the brain's sensitivity to higher-order statistics describing temporal dependencies between sound events through a series of change detection experiments, where listeners are asked to detect changes in randomness in the pitch of tone sequences. Behavioral data indicate listeners collect statistical estimates to process incoming sounds, and a perceptual model based on Bayesian inference shows a capacity in the brain to track higher-order statistics. Further analysis of individual subjects' behavior indicates an important role of perceptual constraints in listeners' ability to track these sensory statistics with high fidelity. In addition, the inference model facilitates analysis of neural electroencephalography (EEG responses, anchoring the analysis relative to the statistics of each stochastic stimulus. This reveals both a deviance response and a change-related disruption in phase of the stimulus-locked response that follow the higher-order statistics. These results shed light on the brain's ability to process stochastic sound sequences.

  13. Female listeners’ autonomic responses to dramatic shifts between loud and soft music/sound passages: a study of heavy metal songs

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tzu-Han eCheng

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available Although music and the emotion it conveys unfold over time, little is known about how listeners respond to shifts in musical emotions. A special technique in heavy metal music utilizes dramatic shifts between loud and soft passages. Loud passages are penetrated by distorted sounds conveying aggression, whereas soft passages are often characterized by a clean, calm singing voice and light accompaniment. The present study used heavy metal songs and soft sea sounds to examine how female listeners’ respiration rates and heart rates responded to the arousal changes associated with auditory stimuli. The high-frequency power of heart rate variability (HF-HRV was used to assess cardiac parasympathetic activity. The results showed that the soft passages of heavy metal songs and soft sea sounds expressed lower arousal and induced significantly higher HF-HRVs than the loud passages of heavy metal songs. Listeners’ respiration rate was determined by the arousal level of the present music passage, whereas the heart rate was dependent on both the present and preceding passages. Compared with soft sea sounds, the loud music passage led to greater deceleration of the heart rate at the beginning of the following soft music passage. The sea sounds delayed the heart rate acceleration evoked by the following loud music passage. The data provide evidence that sound-induced parasympathetic activity affects listener’s heart rate in response to the following music passage. These findings have potential implications for future research of the temporal dynamics of musical emotions.

  14. Oyster larvae settle in response to habitat-associated underwater sounds.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lillis, Ashlee; Eggleston, David B; Bohnenstiehl, DelWayne R

    2013-01-01

    Following a planktonic dispersal period of days to months, the larvae of benthic marine organisms must locate suitable seafloor habitat in which to settle and metamorphose. For animals that are sessile or sedentary as adults, settlement onto substrates that are adequate for survival and reproduction is particularly critical, yet represents a challenge since patchily distributed settlement sites may be difficult to find along a coast or within an estuary. Recent studies have demonstrated that the underwater soundscape, the distinct sounds that emanate from habitats and contain information about their biological and physical characteristics, may serve as broad-scale environmental cue for marine larvae to find satisfactory settlement sites. Here, we contrast the acoustic characteristics of oyster reef and off-reef soft bottoms, and investigate the effect of habitat-associated estuarine sound on the settlement patterns of an economically and ecologically important reef-building bivalve, the Eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica). Subtidal oyster reefs in coastal North Carolina, USA show distinct acoustic signatures compared to adjacent off-reef soft bottom habitats, characterized by consistently higher levels of sound in the 1.5-20 kHz range. Manipulative laboratory playback experiments found increased settlement in larval oyster cultures exposed to oyster reef sound compared to unstructured soft bottom sound or no sound treatments. In field experiments, ambient reef sound produced higher levels of oyster settlement in larval cultures than did off-reef sound treatments. The results suggest that oyster larvae have the ability to respond to sounds indicative of optimal settlement sites, and this is the first evidence that habitat-related differences in estuarine sounds influence the settlement of a mollusk. Habitat-specific sound characteristics may represent an important settlement and habitat selection cue for estuarine invertebrates and could play a role in driving

  15. Oyster larvae settle in response to habitat-associated underwater sounds.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ashlee Lillis

    Full Text Available Following a planktonic dispersal period of days to months, the larvae of benthic marine organisms must locate suitable seafloor habitat in which to settle and metamorphose. For animals that are sessile or sedentary as adults, settlement onto substrates that are adequate for survival and reproduction is particularly critical, yet represents a challenge since patchily distributed settlement sites may be difficult to find along a coast or within an estuary. Recent studies have demonstrated that the underwater soundscape, the distinct sounds that emanate from habitats and contain information about their biological and physical characteristics, may serve as broad-scale environmental cue for marine larvae to find satisfactory settlement sites. Here, we contrast the acoustic characteristics of oyster reef and off-reef soft bottoms, and investigate the effect of habitat-associated estuarine sound on the settlement patterns of an economically and ecologically important reef-building bivalve, the Eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica. Subtidal oyster reefs in coastal North Carolina, USA show distinct acoustic signatures compared to adjacent off-reef soft bottom habitats, characterized by consistently higher levels of sound in the 1.5-20 kHz range. Manipulative laboratory playback experiments found increased settlement in larval oyster cultures exposed to oyster reef sound compared to unstructured soft bottom sound or no sound treatments. In field experiments, ambient reef sound produced higher levels of oyster settlement in larval cultures than did off-reef sound treatments. The results suggest that oyster larvae have the ability to respond to sounds indicative of optimal settlement sites, and this is the first evidence that habitat-related differences in estuarine sounds influence the settlement of a mollusk. Habitat-specific sound characteristics may represent an important settlement and habitat selection cue for estuarine invertebrates and could play a

  16. On the sound absorption coefficient of porous asphalt pavements for oblique incident sound waves

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bezemer-Krijnen, Marieke; Wijnant, Ysbrand H.; de Boer, Andries; Bekke, Dirk; Davy, J.; Don, Ch.; McMinn, T.; Dowsett, L.; Broner, N.; Burgess, M.

    2014-01-01

    A rolling tyre will radiate noise in all directions. However, conventional measurement techniques for the sound absorption of surfaces only give the absorption coefficient for normal incidence. In this paper, a measurement technique is described with which it is possible to perform in situ sound

  17. Zero sound in a two-dimensional dipolar Fermi gas

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Lu, Z.K.; Matveenko, S.I.; Shlyapnikov, G.V.

    2013-01-01

    We study zero sound in a weakly interacting two-dimensional (2D) gas of single-component fermionic dipoles (polar molecules or atoms with a large magnetic moment) tilted with respect to the plane of their translational motion. It is shown that the propagation of zero sound is provided by both

  18. Neuroplasticity beyond sounds

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Reybrouck, Mark; Brattico, Elvira

    2015-01-01

    Capitalizing from neuroscience knowledge on how individuals are affected by the sound environment, we propose to adopt a cybernetic and ecological point of view on the musical aesthetic experience, which includes subprocesses, such as feature extraction and integration, early affective reactions...... and motor actions, style mastering and conceptualization, emotion and proprioception, evaluation and preference. In this perspective, the role of the listener/composer/performer is seen as that of an active "agent" coping in highly individual ways with the sounds. The findings concerning the neural...

  19. Ultrasonic study on ternary liquid systems by laser-sound interaction

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Behboudnia, M.; Necati Ecevit, F.; Aydin, R.

    1994-01-01

    To investigate the ultrasound velocity in liquid mixtures an interferometer based on Raman-Nath diffraction of laser light by sound waves is described. Ultrasonic velocity measurements in water in dependence of temperature and in carboxylic acids with triethylamine in benzene of different mole fractions are presented. (author). 14 refs, 4 figs, 1 tab

  20. Impacts of distinct observations during the 2009 Prince William Sound field experiment: A data assimilation study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Z.; Chao, Y.; Farrara, J.; McWilliams, J. C.

    2012-12-01

    A set of data assimilation experiments, known as Observing System Experiments (OSEs), are performed to assess the relative impacts of different types of observations acquired during the 2009 Prince William Sound Field Experiment. The observations assimilated consist primarily of three types: High Frequency (HF) radar surface velocities, vertical profiles of temperature/salinity (T/S) measured by ships, moorings, Autonomous Underwater Vehicles and gliders, and satellite sea surface temperatures (SSTs). The impact of all the observations, HF radar surface velocities, and T/S profiles is assessed. Without data assimilation, a frequently occurring cyclonic eddy in the central Sound is overly persistent and intense. The assimilation of the HF radar velocities effectively reduces these biases and improves the representation of the velocities as well as the T/S fields in the Sound. The assimilation of the T/S profiles improves the large scale representation of the temperature/salinity and also the velocity field in the central Sound. The combination of the HF radar surface velocities and sparse T/S profiles results in an observing system capable of representing the circulation in the Sound reliably and thus producing analyses and forecasts with useful skill. It is suggested that a potentially promising observing network could be based on satellite SSHs and SSTs along with sparse T/S profiles, and future satellite SSHs with wide swath coverage and higher resolution may offer excellent data that will be of great use for predicting the circulation in the Sound.

  1. Physically based sound synthesis and control of jumping sounds on an elastic trampoline

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Turchet, Luca; Pugliese, Roberto; Takala, Tapio

    2013-01-01

    This paper describes a system to interactively sonify the foot-floor contacts resulting from jumping on an elastic trampoline. The sonification was achieved by means of a synthesis engine based on physical models reproducing the sounds of jumping on several surface materials. The engine was contr......This paper describes a system to interactively sonify the foot-floor contacts resulting from jumping on an elastic trampoline. The sonification was achieved by means of a synthesis engine based on physical models reproducing the sounds of jumping on several surface materials. The engine...... was controlled in real-time by pro- cessing the signal captured by a contact microphone which was attached to the membrane of the trampoline in order to detect each jump. A user study was conducted to evaluate the quality of the in- teractive sonification. Results proved the success of the proposed algorithms...

  2. Model studies of bubble size distribution and sound propagation at microleaks in sodium-heated steam generators

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Uhlmann, G.

    1979-01-01

    The reaction zone of a small water leak in a sodium-heated steam generator (microleak) has been simulated by jet gassing or argon in water. The bubble diameter distribution in the bubble flow has been measured using a photoelectric method. The bubble size distribution obtained can be approached by an exponential distribution. For this case, phase velocity and sound damping have been calculated in the two-phase mixture. In the case of small ratios of sound frequency to the expected value of bubble resonance frequency, the frequency-independent sound velocity of the homogeneous mixture is obtained as a function of the gas volume fraction. In the case of very high frequencies, the sound velocity of the pure liquid is obtained for any gas volume fractions. In the whole range investigated damping is strongly dependent on the frequency. (author)

  3. Moth hearing and sound communication

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nakano, Ryo; Takanashi, Takuma; Surlykke, Annemarie

    2015-01-01

    Active echolocation enables bats to orient and hunt the night sky for insects. As a counter-measure against the severe predation pressure many nocturnal insects have evolved ears sensitive to ultrasonic bat calls. In moths bat-detection was the principal purpose of hearing, as evidenced by compar......Active echolocation enables bats to orient and hunt the night sky for insects. As a counter-measure against the severe predation pressure many nocturnal insects have evolved ears sensitive to ultrasonic bat calls. In moths bat-detection was the principal purpose of hearing, as evidenced...... by comparable hearing physiology with best sensitivity in the bat echolocation range, 20–60 kHz, across moths in spite of diverse ear morphology. Some eared moths subsequently developed sound-producing organs to warn/startle/jam attacking bats and/or to communicate intraspecifically with sound. Not only...... the sounds for interaction with bats, but also mating signals are within the frequency range where bats echolocate, indicating that sound communication developed after hearing by “sensory exploitation”. Recent findings on moth sound communication reveal that close-range (~ a few cm) communication with low...

  4. The effects of intervening interference on working memory for sound location as a function of inter-comparison interval.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ries, Dennis T; Hamilton, Traci R; Grossmann, Aurora J

    2010-09-01

    This study examined the effects of inter-comparison interval duration and intervening interference on auditory working memory (AWM) for auditory location. Interaural phase differences were used to produce localization cues for tonal stimuli and the difference limen for interaural phase difference (DL-IPD) specified as the equivalent angle of incidence between two sound sources was measured in five different conditions. These conditions consisted of three different inter-comparison intervals [300 ms (short), 5000 ms (medium), and 15,000 ms (long)], the medium and long of which were presented both in the presence and absence of intervening tones. The presence of intervening stimuli within the medium and long inter-comparison intervals produced a significant increase in the DL-IPD compared to the medium and long inter-comparison intervals condition without intervening tones. The result obtained in the condition with a short inter-comparison interval was roughly equivalent to that obtained for the medium inter-comparison interval without intervening tones. These results suggest that the ability to retain information about the location of a sound within AWM decays slowly; however, the presence of intervening sounds readily disrupts the retention process. Overall, the results suggest that the temporal decay of information within AWM regarding the location of a sound from a listener's environment is so gradual that it can be maintained in trace memory for tens of seconds in the absence of intervening acoustic signals. Conversely, the presence of intervening sounds within the retention interval may facilitate the use of context memory, even for shorter retention intervals, resulting in a less detailed, but relevant representation of the location that is resistant to further degradation. Copyright (c) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  5. Underwater sound produced by individual drop impacts and rainfall

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pumphrey, Hugh C.; Crum, L. A.; Jensen, Leif Bjørnø

    1989-01-01

    An experimental study of the underwater sound produced by water drop impacts on the surface is described. It is found that sound may be produced in two ways: first when the drop strikes the surface and, second, when a bubble is created in the water. The first process occurs for every drop...

  6. Cross-Modal Correspondence between Brightness and Chinese Speech Sound with Aspiration

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sachiko Hirata

    2011-10-01

    Full Text Available Phonetic symbolism is the phenomenon of speech sounds evoking images based on sensory experiences; it is often discussed with cross-modal correspondence. By using Garner's task, Hirata, Kita, and Ukita (2009 showed the cross-modal congruence between brightness and voiced/voiceless consonants in Japanese speech sound, which is known as phonetic symbolism. In the present study, we examined the effect of the meaning of mimetics (lexical words whose sound reflects its meaning, like “ding-dong” in Japanese language on the cross-modal correspondence. We conducted an experiment with Chinese speech sounds with or without aspiration using Chinese people. Chinese vocabulary also contains mimetics but the existence of aspiration doesn't relate to the meaning of Chinese mimetics. As a result, Chinese speech sounds with aspiration, which resemble voiceless consonants, were matched with white color, whereas those without aspiration were matched with black. This result is identical to its pattern in Japanese people and consequently suggests that cross-modal correspondence occurs without the effect of the meaning of mimetics. The problem that whether these cross-modal correspondences are purely based on physical properties of speech sound or affected from phonetic properties remains for further study.

  7. Analysis of Respiratory Sounds: State of the Art

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sandra Reichert

    2008-01-01

    Full Text Available Objective This paper describes state of the art, scientific publications and ongoing research related to the methods of analysis of respiratory sounds. Methods and material Review of the current medical and technological literature using Pubmed and personal experience. Results The study includes a description of the various techniques that are being used to collect auscultation sounds, a physical description of known pathologic sounds for which automatic detection tools were developed. Modern tools are based on artificial intelligence and on technics such as artificial neural networks, fuzzy systems, and genetic algorithms… Conclusion The next step will consist in finding new markers so as to increase the efficiency of decision aid algorithms and tools.

  8. The Sounds of the Little and Big Bangs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shuryak, Edward

    2017-11-01

    Studies of heavy ion collisions have discovered that tiny fireballs of new phase of matter -- quark gluon plasma (QGP) -- undergoes explosion, called the Little Bang. In spite of its small size, it is not only well described by hydrodynamics, but even small perturbations on top of the explosion turned to be well described by hydrodynamical sound modes. The cosmological Big Bang also went through phase transitions, the QCD and electroweak ones, which are expected to produce sounds as well. We discuss their subsequent evolution and hypothetical inverse acoustic cascade, amplifying the amplitude. Ultimately, collision of two sound waves leads to formation of gravity waves, with the smallest wavelength. We briefly discuss how those can be detected.

  9. Simulation of sound waves using the Lattice Boltzmann Method for fluid flow: Benchmark cases for outdoor sound propagation

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Salomons, E.M.; Lohman, W.J.A.; Zhou, H.

    2016-01-01

    Propagation of sound waves in air can be considered as a special case of fluid dynamics. Consequently, the lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) for fluid flow can be used for simulating sound propagation. In this article application of the LBM to sound propagation is illustrated for various cases:

  10. Sound & The Senses

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Schulze, Holger

    2012-01-01

    How are those sounds you hear right now technically generated and post-produced, how are they aesthetically conceptualized and how culturally dependant are they really? How is your ability to hear intertwined with all the other senses and their cultural, biographical and technological constructio...... over time? And how is listening and sounding a deeply social activity – constructing our way of living together in cities as well as in apartment houses? A radio feature with Jonathan Sterne, AGF a.k.a Antye Greie, Jens Gerrit Papenburg & Holger Schulze....

  11. Deterministic Approach to Detect Heart Sound Irregularities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Richard Mengko

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available A new method to detect heart sound that does not require machine learning is proposed. The heart sound is a time series event which is generated by the heart mechanical system. From the analysis of heart sound S-transform and the understanding of how heart works, it can be deducted that each heart sound component has unique properties in terms of timing, frequency, and amplitude. Based on these facts, a deterministic method can be designed to identify each heart sound components. The recorded heart sound then can be printed with each component correctly labeled. This greatly help the physician to diagnose the heart problem. The result shows that most known heart sounds were successfully detected. There are some murmur cases where the detection failed. This can be improved by adding more heuristics including setting some initial parameters such as noise threshold accurately, taking into account the recording equipment and also the environmental condition. It is expected that this method can be integrated into an electronic stethoscope biomedical system.

  12. Sound For Animation And Virtual Reality

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hahn, James K.; Docter, Pete; Foster, Scott H.; Mangini, Mark; Myers, Tom; Wenzel, Elizabeth M.; Null, Cynthia (Technical Monitor)

    1995-01-01

    Sound is an integral part of the experience in computer animation and virtual reality. In this course, we will present some of the important technical issues in sound modeling, rendering, and synchronization as well as the "art" and business of sound that are being applied in animations, feature films, and virtual reality. The central theme is to bring leading researchers and practitioners from various disciplines to share their experiences in this interdisciplinary field. The course will give the participants an understanding of the problems and techniques involved in producing and synchronizing sounds, sound effects, dialogue, and music. The problem spans a number of domains including computer animation and virtual reality. Since sound has been an integral part of animations and films much longer than for computer-related domains, we have much to learn from traditional animation and film production. By bringing leading researchers and practitioners from a wide variety of disciplines, the course seeks to give the audience a rich mixture of experiences. It is expected that the audience will be able to apply what they have learned from this course in their research or production.

  13. Producing of Impedance Tube for Measurement of Acoustic Absorption Coefficient of Some Sound Absorber Materials

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    R. Golmohammadi

    2008-04-01

    Full Text Available Introduction & Objective: Noise is one of the most important harmful agents in work environment. In spit of industrial improvements, exposure with over permissible limit of noise is counted as one of the health complication of workers. In Iran, do not exact information of the absorption coefficient of acoustic materials. Iranian manufacturer have not laboratory for measured of sound absorbance of their products, therefore using of sound absorber is limited for noise control in industrial and non industrial constructions. The goal of this study was to design an impedance tube based on pressure method for measurement of the sound absorption coefficient of acoustic materials.Materials & Methods: In this study designing of measuring system and method of calculation of sound absorption based on a available equipment and relatively easy for measurement of the sound absorption coefficient related to ISO10534-1 was performed. Measuring system consist of heavy asbestos tube, a pure tone sound generator, calibrated sound level meter for measuring of some commonly of sound absorber materials was used. Results: In this study sound absorption coefficient of 23 types of available acoustic material in Iran was tested. Reliability of results by three repeat of measurement was tested. Results showed that the standard deviation of sound absorption coefficient of study materials was smaller than .Conclusion: The present study performed a necessary technology of designing and producing of impedance tube for determining of acoustical materials absorption coefficient in Iran.

  14. Sound Levels and Risk Perceptions of Music Students During Classes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rodrigues, Matilde A; Amorim, Marta; Silva, Manuela V; Neves, Paula; Sousa, Aida; Inácio, Octávio

    2015-01-01

    It is well recognized that professional musicians are at risk of hearing damage due to the exposure to high sound pressure levels during music playing. However, it is important to recognize that the musicians' exposure may start early in the course of their training as students in the classroom and at home. Studies regarding sound exposure of music students and their hearing disorders are scarce and do not take into account important influencing variables. Therefore, this study aimed to describe sound level exposures of music students at different music styles, classes, and according to the instrument played. Further, this investigation attempted to analyze the perceptions of students in relation to exposure to loud music and consequent health risks, as well as to characterize preventive behaviors. The results showed that music students are exposed to high sound levels in the course of their academic activity. This exposure is potentiated by practice outside the school and other external activities. Differences were found between music style, instruments, and classes. Tinnitus, hyperacusis, diplacusis, and sound distortion were reported by the students. However, students were not entirely aware of the health risks related to exposure to high sound pressure levels. These findings reflect the importance of starting intervention in relation to noise risk reduction at an early stage, when musicians are commencing their activity as students.

  15. Analysis and Synthesis of Musical Instrument Sounds

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beauchamp, James W.

    For synthesizing a wide variety of musical sounds, it is important to understand which acoustic properties of musical instrument sounds are related to specific perceptual features. Some properties are obvious: Amplitude and fundamental frequency easily control loudness and pitch. Other perceptual features are related to sound spectra and how they vary with time. For example, tonal "brightness" is strongly connected to the centroid or tilt of a spectrum. "Attack impact" (sometimes called "bite" or "attack sharpness") is strongly connected to spectral features during the first 20-100 ms of sound, as well as the rise time of the sound. Tonal "warmth" is connected to spectral features such as "incoherence" or "inharmonicity."

  16. Problems of procedure for studying crack resistance

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Babak, A.V.; Uskov, E.I.

    1984-01-01

    Procedures are developed for studying crack resistance in sintered hot-worked tungsten within 20-2200 deg C. Certain structural properties of the installation for studying high-temperature crack resistance of tungsten are considered. Technological peculiarities of eccentric tensile strength of tungsten specimens and methodical peculiarities of initjation and fixation of initial cracks in specimens of different tungsten alloys are studied

  17. Audio-visual interactions in product sound design

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Özcan, E.; Van Egmond, R.

    2010-01-01

    Consistent product experience requires congruity between product properties such as visual appearance and sound. Therefore, for designing appropriate product sounds by manipulating their spectral-temporal structure, product sounds should preferably not be considered in isolation but as an integral

  18. Learning about the Dynamic Sun through Sounds

    Science.gov (United States)

    Quinn, M.; Peticolas, L. M.; Luhmann, J.; MacCallum, J.

    2008-06-01

    Can we hear the Sun or its solar wind? Not in the sense that they make sound. But we can take the particle, magnetic field, electric field, and image data and turn it into sound to demonstrate what the data tells us. We present work on turning data from the two-satellite NASA mission called STEREO (Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory) into sounds and music (sonification). STEREO has two satellites orbiting the Sun near Earth's orbit to study the coronal mass ejections (CMEs) from the Corona. One sonification project aims to inspire musicians, museum patrons, and the public to learn more about CMEs by downloading STEREO data and using it to make music. We demonstrate the software and discuss the way in which it was developed. A second project aims to produce a museum exhibit using STEREO imagery and sounds from STEREO data. We demonstrate a "walk across the Sun" created for this exhibit so people can hear the features on solar images. We show how pixel intensity translates into pitches from selectable scales with selectable musical scale size and octave locations. We also share our successes and lessons learned.

  19. Analytic study of resistive instabilities

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Svensson, Magnus

    2003-05-01

    In a fusion plasma there is always a small amount of resistivity that may cause instabilities. Although their rather slow growth rates they can be of major importance for fusion plasma confinement. In this work a MAPLE-code was rewritten and simplified to make it possible to analytically solve the linearized MHD-equations with resistivity in an RFP-configuration. By using the MHD-equations and expanding the unknown perturbed quantities u{sub 1r}(r) and B{sub 1r}(r) as Taylor series and solving each coefficient we could get eigenvalues, dispersion relations and a relation between the growth rate and the resistivity. The new code was first used to solve two cases with no resistivity and simple unstable equilibria which after running gave the correct expected results. The difference from running the original code with these two cases was the greater speed of the calculations and the less memory needed. Then by using an ideal MHD-stable equilibrium in a plasma with no resistivity the code gave us solutions which unfortunately were not of the expected kind but the time of the calculations was still very fast. The resistivity was finally added to the code with the ideal MHD-stable equilibrium. The program also this time gave incorrect results. We could, however, see from a relation between the growth rate and the resistivity that the solution may be approximately correct in this domain. Although we did not get all the correct results we have to consider the fact that we got results, that were not possible before. Before this work was carried out we could not get any results at all in the resistive cue because of the very long memory demanding expressions. In future work and studies it is not only possible to get the desired eigenvalues {gamma} as function of {eta} but also possible to get expressions for eigenfunctions, dispersion relations and other significant relations with a number of variable parameters. We could also use the method for any geometry and possibly for

  20. Analytic study of resistive instabilities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Svensson, Magnus

    2003-05-01

    In a fusion plasma there is always a small amount of resistivity that may cause instabilities. Although their rather slow growth rates they can be of major importance for fusion plasma confinement. In this work a MAPLE-code was rewritten and simplified to make it possible to analytically solve the linearized MHD-equations with resistivity in an RFP-configuration. By using the MHD-equations and expanding the unknown perturbed quantities u 1r (r) and B 1r (r) as Taylor series and solving each coefficient we could get eigenvalues, dispersion relations and a relation between the growth rate and the resistivity. The new code was first used to solve two cases with no resistivity and simple unstable equilibria which after running gave the correct expected results. The difference from running the original code with these two cases was the greater speed of the calculations and the less memory needed. Then by using an ideal MHD-stable equilibrium in a plasma with no resistivity the code gave us solutions which unfortunately were not of the expected kind but the time of the calculations was still very fast. The resistivity was finally added to the code with the ideal MHD-stable equilibrium. The program also this time gave incorrect results. We could, however, see from a relation between the growth rate and the resistivity that the solution may be approximately correct in this domain. Although we did not get all the correct results we have to consider the fact that we got results, that were not possible before. Before this work was carried out we could not get any results at all in the resistive cue because of the very long memory demanding expressions. In future work and studies it is not only possible to get the desired eigenvalues γ as function of η but also possible to get expressions for eigenfunctions, dispersion relations and other significant relations with a number of variable parameters. We could also use the method for any geometry and possibly for non

  1. Characterization of sound emitted by wind machines used for frost control

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gambino, V.; Gambino, T. [Aercoustics Engineering Ltd., Toronto, ON (Canada); Fraser, H.W. [Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, Vineland, ON (Canada)

    2007-07-01

    Wind machines are used in Niagara-on-the-Lake to protect cold-sensitive crops against cold injury during winter's extreme cold temperatures,spring's late frosts and autumn's early frosts. The number of wind machines in Ontario has about doubled annually from only a few in the late 1990's, to more than 425 in 2006. They are not used for generating power. Noise complaints have multiplied as the number of wind machines has increased. The objective of this study was to characterize the sound produced by wind machines; learn why residents are annoyed by wind machine noise; and suggest ways to possibly reduce sound emissions. One part of the study explored acoustic emission characteristics, the sonic differences of units made by different manufacturers, sound propagation properties under typical use atmospheric conditions and low frequency noise impact potential. Tests were conducted with a calibrated Larson Davis 2900B portable spectrum analyzer. Sound was measured with a microphone whose frequency response covered the range 4 Hz to 20 kHz. The study examined and found several unique acoustic properties that are characteristic of wind machines. It was determined that noise from wind machines is due to both aerodynamic and mechanical effects, but aerodynamic sounds were found to be the most significant. It was concluded that full range or broadband sounds manifest themselves as noise components that extend throughout the audible frequency range from the bladepass frequency to upwards of 1000 Hz. The sound spectrum of a wind machine is full natural tones and impulses that give it a readily identifiable acoustic character. Atmospheric conditions including temperature, lapse rate, relative humidity, mild winds, gradients and atmospheric turbulence all play a significant role in the long range outdoor propagation of sound from wind machines. 6 refs., 6 figs.

  2. Effects of interaural level differences on the externalization of sound

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Catic, Jasmina; Santurette, Sébastien; Dau, Torsten

    2012-01-01

    Distant sound sources in our environment are perceived as externalized and are thus properly localized in both direction and distance. This is due to the acoustic filtering by the head, torso, and external ears, which provides frequency-dependent shaping of binaural cues such as interaural level...... differences (ILDs) and interaural time differences (ITDs). In rooms, the sound reaching the two ears is further modified by reverberant energy, which leads to increased fluctuations in short-term ILDs and ITDs. In the present study, the effect of ILD fluctuations on the externalization of sound......, for sounds that contain frequencies above about 1 kHz the ILD fluctuations were found to be an essential cue for externalization....

  3. The organization of words and environmental sounds in memory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hendrickson, Kristi; Walenski, Matthew; Friend, Margaret; Love, Tracy

    2015-03-01

    In the present study we used event-related potentials to compare the organization of linguistic and meaningful nonlinguistic sounds in memory. We examined N400 amplitudes as adults viewed pictures presented with words or environmental sounds that matched the picture (Match), that shared semantic features with the expected match (Near Violation), and that shared relatively few semantic features with the expected match (Far Violation). Words demonstrated incremental N400 amplitudes based on featural similarity from 300-700ms, such that both Near and Far Violations exhibited significant N400 effects, however Far Violations exhibited greater N400 effects than Near Violations. For environmental sounds, Far Violations but not Near Violations elicited significant N400 effects, in both early (300-400ms) and late (500-700ms) time windows, though a graded pattern similar to that of words was seen in the mid-latency time window (400-500ms). These results indicate that the organization of words and environmental sounds in memory is differentially influenced by featural similarity, with a consistently fine-grained graded structure for words but not sounds. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  4. Microflown based monopole sound sources for reciprocal measurements

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bree, H.E. de; Basten, T.G.H.

    2008-01-01

    Monopole sound sources (i.e. omni directional sound sources with a known volume velocity) are essential for reciprocal measurements used in vehicle interior panel noise contribution analysis. Until recently, these monopole sound sources use a sound pressure transducer sensor as a reference sensor. A

  5. The Influence of Sanskrit on the Japanese Sound Systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Buck, James H.

    The Japanese syllabary of today would probably not exist in its present arrangement had it not been for Sanskrit studies in Japan. Scholars of ancient Japan extracted from the Devanagari those sounds which corresponded to sounds in Japanese and arranged the Japanese syllabary in the devanagari order. First appearing in a document dated 1204, this…

  6. Impact sound insulation improvement of wooden floors on concrete slabs

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rasmussen, Birgit; Hoffmeyer, Dan; Hansen, Rói

    2014-01-01

    renovating housing. In Denmark, there are about 1 million dwellings in multi-storey housing. About half of the dwellings are built with timber floors, and the other half with wooden floors on concrete slabs, either in-situ cast or prefabricated hollow-core elements. In a project including mapping of sound......Improvement of impact sound insulation is one of the major challenges, when renovating housing. In Denmark, building regulations for impact sound in new-build were strengthened 5 dB in 2008, implying a main requirement L’n,w ≤ 53 dB between dwellings. The same value should also be a goal, when...... insulation in the Danish housing stock and investigation of improvement possibilities, a pilot laboratory study of wooden floors on concrete was carried out. The laboratory study included impact sound improvement measurements of full-scale samples (10 m2) fulfilling the conditions in EN ISO 10140...

  7. 7 CFR 29.6036 - Sound.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Sound. 29.6036 Section 29.6036 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Standards, Inspections, Marketing... INSPECTION Standards Definitions § 29.6036 Sound. Free of damage. (See Rule 4.) ...

  8. Sound preference test in animal models of addicts and phobias.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Soga, Ryo; Shiramatsu, Tomoyo I; Kanzaki, Ryohei; Takahashi, Hirokazu

    2016-08-01

    Biased or too strong preference for a particular object is often problematic, resulting in addiction and phobia. In animal models, alternative forced-choice tasks have been routinely used, but such preference test is far from daily situations that addicts or phobic are facing. In the present study, we developed a behavioral assay to evaluate the preference of sounds in rodents. In the assay, several sounds were presented according to the position of free-moving rats, and quantified the sound preference based on the behavior. A particular tone was paired with microstimulation to the ventral tegmental area (VTA), which plays central roles in reward processing, to increase sound preference. The behaviors of rats were logged during the classical conditioning for six days. Consequently, some behavioral indices suggest that rats search for the conditioned sound. Thus, our data demonstrated that quantitative evaluation of preference in the behavioral assay is feasible.

  9. Tensor quasiparticle interaction and spin-isospin sound in nuclear matter

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Haensel, P.

    1979-01-01

    The effect of the tensor components of the quasiparticle interaction in nuclear matter on the spin-isospin sound type excitations is studied. Numerical results are obtained using a simplified model of the quasiparticle interaction in nuclear matter. The quasiparticle distribution matrix corresponding to the spin-isospin sound is found to be qualitatively different from that obtained for purely central quasiparticle interaction. The macroscopic effects, however, are restricted to a small change in the phase velocity of the spin-isospin sound. (Auth.)

  10. Theoretical and experimental study on active sound transmission control based on single structural mode actuation using point force actuators.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sanada, Akira; Tanaka, Nobuo

    2012-08-01

    This study deals with the feedforward active control of sound transmission through a simply supported rectangular panel using vibration actuators. The control effect largely depends on the excitation method, including the number and locations of actuators. In order to obtain a large control effect at low frequencies over a wide frequency, an active transmission control method based on single structural mode actuation is proposed. Then, with the goal of examining the feasibility of the proposed method, the (1, 3) mode is selected as the target mode and a modal actuation method in combination with six point force actuators is considered. Assuming that a single input single output feedforward control is used, sound transmission in the case minimizing the transmitted sound power is calculated for some actuation methods. Simulation results showed that the (1, 3) modal actuation is globally effective at reducing the sound transmission by more than 10 dB in the low-frequency range for both normal and oblique incidences. Finally, experimental results also showed that a large reduction could be achieved in the low-frequency range, which proves the validity and feasibility of the proposed method.

  11. Nonlinear effects in the propagation of shortwave transverse sound in pure superconductors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gal'perin, Y.

    1982-01-01

    Various mechanisms are analyzed which lead to nonlinear phenomena (e.g., the dependence of the absorption coefficient and of the velocity of sound on its intensity) in the propagation of transverse shortwave sound in pure superconductors (the wavelength of the sound being much less than the mean free path of the quasiparticles). It is shown that the basic mechanism, over a wide range of superconductor parameters and of the sound intensity, is the so-called momentum nonlinearity. The latter is due to the distortion (induced by the sound wave) of the quasimomentum distribution of resonant electrons interacting with the wave. The dependences of the absorption coefficient and of the sound velocity on its intensity and on the temperature are analyzed in the vicinity of the superconducting transition point. The feasibility of an experimental study of nonlinear acoustic phenomena in the case of transverse sound is considered

  12. Undergraduate Students' Resistance to Study Skills Course

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yuksel, Sedat

    2006-01-01

    Research indicate that students generally fail to benefit from study skills courses and show resistance to this course in higher education level. The purpose of this research is to investigate reasons why students show resistance to the course of study skills and habits. In this research, a qualitative design utilizing retrospective interviews was…

  13. Perception of acoustic scale and size in musical instrument sounds.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Dinther, Ralph; Patterson, Roy D

    2006-10-01

    There is size information in natural sounds. For example, as humans grow in height, their vocal tracts increase in length, producing a predictable decrease in the formant frequencies of speech sounds. Recent studies have shown that listeners can make fine discriminations about which of two speakers has the longer vocal tract, supporting the view that the auditory system discriminates changes on the acoustic-scale dimension. Listeners can also recognize vowels scaled well beyond the range of vocal tracts normally experienced, indicating that perception is robust to changes in acoustic scale. This paper reports two perceptual experiments designed to extend research on acoustic scale and size perception to the domain of musical sounds: The first study shows that listeners can discriminate the scale of musical instrument sounds reliably, although not quite as well as for voices. The second experiment shows that listeners can recognize the family of an instrument sound which has been modified in pitch and scale beyond the range of normal experience. We conclude that processing of acoustic scale in music perception is very similar to processing of acoustic scale in speech perception.

  14. Misconceptions About Sound Among Engineering Students

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pejuan, Arcadi; Bohigas, Xavier; Jaén, Xavier; Periago, Cristina

    2012-12-01

    Our first objective was to detect misconceptions about the microscopic nature of sound among senior university students enrolled in different engineering programmes (from chemistry to telecommunications). We sought to determine how these misconceptions are expressed (qualitative aspect) and, only very secondarily, to gain a general idea of the extent to which they are held (quantitative aspect). Our second objective was to explore other misconceptions about wave aspects of sound. We have also considered the degree of consistency in the model of sound used by each student. Forty students answered a questionnaire including open-ended questions. Based on their free, spontaneous answers, the main results were as follows: a large majority of students answered most of the questions regarding the microscopic model of sound according to the scientifically accepted model; however, only a small number answered consistently. The main model misconception found was the notion that sound is propagated through the travelling of air particles, even in solids. Misconceptions and mental-model inconsistencies tended to depend on the engineering programme in which the student was enrolled. However, students in general were inconsistent also in applying their model of sound to individual sound properties. The main conclusion is that our students have not truly internalised the scientifically accepted model that they have allegedly learnt. This implies a need to design learning activities that take these findings into account in order to be truly efficient.

  15. Development of an Amplifier for Electronic Stethoscope System and Heart Sound Analysis

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kim, D. J.; Kang, D. K. [Chongju University, Chongju (Korea)

    2001-05-01

    The conventional stethoscope can not store its stethoscopic sounds. Therefore a doctor diagnoses a patient with instantaneous stethoscopic sounds at that time, and he can not remember the state of the patient's stethoscopic sounds on the next. This prevent accurate and objective diagnosis. If the electronic stethoscope, which can store the stethoscopic sound, is developed, the auscultation will be greatly improved. This study describes an amplifier for electronic stethoscope system that can extract heart sounds of fetus as well as adult and allow us hear and record the sounds. Using the developed stethoscopic amplifier, clean heart sounds of fetus and adult can be heard in noisy environment, such as a consultation room of a university hospital, a laboratory of a university. Surprisingly, the heart sound of a 22-week fetus was heard through the developed electronic stethoscope. Pitch detection experiments using the detected heart sounds showed that the signal represents distinct periodicity. It can be expected that the developed electronic stethoscope can substitute for conventional stethoscopes and if proper analysis method for the stethoscopic signal is developed, a good electronic stethoscope system can be produced. (author). 17 refs., 6 figs.

  16. Sound waves in (2+1) dimensional holographic magnetic fluids

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Buchbinder, Evgeny I.; Buchel, Alex; Vazquez, Samuel E.

    2008-01-01

    We use the AdS/CFT correspondence to study propagation of sound waves in strongly coupled (2+1) dimensional conformal magnetic fluids. Our computation provides a nontrivial consistency check of the viscous magneto-hydrodynamics of Hartnoll-Kovtun-Mueller-Sachdev to leading order in the external field. Depending on the behavior of the magnetic field in the hydrodynamic limit, we show that it can lead to further attenuation of sound waves in the (2+1) dimensional conformal plasma, or reduce the speed of sound. We present both field theory and dual supergravity descriptions of these phenomena. While to the leading order in momenta the dispersion of the sound waves obtained from the dual supergravity description agrees with the one predicted from field theory, we find a discrepancy at higher order. This suggests that further corrections to HKMS magneto-hydrodynamics are necessary.

  17. The effects of bilingualism on children's perception of speech sounds

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Brasileiro, I.

    2009-01-01

    The general topic addressed by this dissertation is that of bilingualism, and more specifically, the topic of bilingual acquisition of speech sounds. The central question in this study is the following: does bilingualism affect children’s perceptual development of speech sounds? The term bilingual

  18. Neuroanatomic organization of sound memory in humans.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kraut, Michael A; Pitcock, Jeffery A; Calhoun, Vince; Li, Juan; Freeman, Thomas; Hart, John

    2006-11-01

    The neural interface between sensory perception and memory is a central issue in neuroscience, particularly initial memory organization following perceptual analyses. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to identify anatomic regions extracting initial auditory semantic memory information related to environmental sounds. Two distinct anatomic foci were detected in the right superior temporal gyrus when subjects identified sounds representing either animals or threatening items. Threatening animal stimuli elicited signal changes in both foci, suggesting a distributed neural representation. Our results demonstrate both category- and feature-specific responses to nonverbal sounds in early stages of extracting semantic memory information from these sounds. This organization allows for these category-feature detection nodes to extract early, semantic memory information for efficient processing of transient sound stimuli. Neural regions selective for threatening sounds are similar to those of nonhuman primates, demonstrating semantic memory organization for basic biological/survival primitives are present across species.

  19. Sound Equipment Fabrication and Values in Nigerian Theatre ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The main points of this paper is to discover ways of fabricating sound and sound effects equipment for theatrical productions in Nigeria have become of essence since most educational theatres cannot afford western sound and sound effects equipment. Even when available, they are old fashioned, compared to the ...

  20. Thinking The City Through Sound

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kreutzfeldt, Jacob

    2011-01-01

    n Acoutic Territories. Sound Culture and Everyday Life Brandon LaBelle sets out to charts an urban topology through sound. Working his way through six acoustic territories: underground, home, sidewalk, street, shopping mall and sky/radio LaBelle investigates tensions and potentials inherent in mo...