The effect of topical thiocolchicoside in preventing and reducing the increase of muscle tone, stiffness, and soreness: A real-life study on top-level road cyclists during stage competition.

Science.gov (United States)

Gervasi, Marco; Sisti, Davide; Benelli, Piero; Fernández-Peña, Eneko; Calcabrini, Cinzia; Rocchi, Marco B L; Lanata, Luigi; Bagnasco, Michela; Tonti, Andrea; Vilberto, Stocchi; Sestili, Piero

2017-07-01

In professional road cyclists, the majority of overuse injuries affect the lower limbs and are mostly represented by contractures or muscle shortening, characterized by an increase of tone and stiffness and a variation of elasticity. Treatment and prevention of these specific conditions may include physical, supplementary, and pharmacologic support. The aim of this real-life study was to determine: first, the alterations of tone, stiffness, elasticity, and soreness of rectus femoris (RF) and biceps femoris (BF) in top class cyclists engaged in 3 multistage races, and second, whether any variable in the management of the athletes may affect the prevention and/or reduction of such alterations.Twenty-three professional cyclists competing in 3 international, cycling stage races were assessed. Athletes could receive, upon the approval of the medical staff, physical, dietary, and/or pharmacological management which could include treatments with topical over-the-counter myorelaxants to prevent and/or reduce muscle contractures. MyotonPro was used to daily measure tone, stiffness, and elasticity in RF and BF in relaxed and contracted state after every stage. In parallel, BF and RF soreness was also assessed with a Likert scale.All athletes received the same general massage management; none of them received dietary supplements; some of the athletes were treated with a topical myorelaxant thiocolchicoside (TCC 0.25%) foam 3 times daily. TCC was identified as the only variable able to affect these muscle parameters in the cyclists. Tone, stiffness (regardless of the state), and soreness significantly increased over time either in BF or RF in all athletes. In the group of athletes that used TCC (n = 11; TCC+) the increase in tone, stiffness, and soreness was significantly lower than in the group not receiving TCC (n = 12; No-TCC). Elasticity varied coherently with tone and stiffness.A very intense and protracted sport activity increases muscular tone, stiffness, and

COX-1 vs. COX-2 as a determinant of basal tone in the internal anal sphincter.

Science.gov (United States)

de Godoy, Márcio A F; Rattan, Neeru; Rattan, Satish

2009-02-01

Prostanoids, produced endogenously via cyclooxygenases (COXs), have been implicated in the sustained contraction of different smooth muscles. The two major types of COXs are COX-1 and COX-2. The COX subtype involved in the basal state of the internal anal sphincter (IAS) smooth muscle tone is not known. To identify the COX subtype, we examined the effect of COX-1- and COX-2-selective inhibitors, SC-560 and rofecoxib, respectively, on basal tone in the rat IAS. We also determined the effect of selective deletion of COX-1 and COX-2 genes (COX-1(-/-) and COX-2(-/-) mice) on basal tone in murine IAS. Our data show that SC-560 causes significantly more efficacious and potent concentration-dependent decreases in IAS tone than rofecoxib. In support of these data, significantly higher levels of COX-1 than COX-2 mRNA were found in the IAS. In addition, higher levels of COX-1 mRNA and protein were expressed in rat IAS than rectal smooth muscle. In wild-type mice, IAS tone was decreased 41.4 +/- 3.4% (mean +/- SE) by SC-560 (1 x 10(-5) M) and 5.4 +/- 2.2% by rofecoxib (P IAS from wild-type mice and significantly less (0.080 +/- 0.015 mN/mg) in the IAS from COX-1(-/-) mice (P IAS tone.

Aging-associated oxidative stress leads to decrease in IAS tone via RhoA/ROCK downregulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Singh, Jagmohan; Kumar, Sumit; Krishna, Chadalavada Vijay; Rattan, Satish

2014-06-01

Internal anal sphincter (IAS) tone plays an important role in rectoanal incontinence (RI). IAS tone may be compromised during aging, leading to RI in certain patients. We examined the influence of oxidative stress in the aging-associated decrease in IAS tone (AADI). Using adult (4-6 mo old) and aging (24-30 mo old) rats, we determined the effect of oxidative stress on IAS tone and the regulatory RhoA/ROCK signal transduction cascade. We determined the effect of the oxidative stress inducer LY83583, which produces superoxide anions (O2 (·-)), on basal and stimulated IAS tone before and after treatment of intact smooth muscle strips and smooth muscle cells with the O2 (·-) scavenger SOD. Our data showed that AADI was associated with a decrease in RhoA/ROCK expression at the transcriptional and translational levels. Oxidative stress with a LY83583-mediated decrease in IAS tone and relaxation of IAS smooth muscle cells was associated with a decrease in RhoA/ROCK signal transduction, which was reversible by SOD. In addition, LY83583 caused a significant decrease in IAS contraction produced by the RhoA activator and a known RhoA/ROCK agonist, U46619, that was also reversible by SOD. The inhibitory effects of LY83583 and the ROCK inhibitor Y27632 on the U46619-induced increase in IAS tone were similar. We conclude that an increase in oxidative stress plays an important role in AADI in the elderly and may be one of the underlying mechanisms of RI in certain aging patients. Copyright © 2014 the American Physiological Society.

Myogenic activation and calcium sensitivity of cannulated rat mesenteric small arteries

NARCIS (Netherlands)

VanBavel, E.; Wesselman, J. P.; Spaan, J. A.

1998-01-01

Pressure-induced activation of vascular smooth muscle may involve electromechanical as well as nonelectromechanical coupling mechanisms. We compared calcium-tone relations of cannulated rat mesenteric small arteries during pressure-induced activation, depolarization (16 to 46 mmol/L K+), and

Impaired myogenic tone in mesenteric arteries from overweight rats

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Sweazea Karen L

2012-03-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Rats fed high fat (HFD or high sucrose (HSD diets develop increased adiposity as well as impaired vasodilatory responsiveness stemming from oxidative stress. Moreover, HFD rats become hypertensive compared to either control (Chow or HSD fed rats, suggesting elevated vascular tone. We hypothesized that rats with increased adiposity and oxidative stress demonstrate augmented pressure-induced vasoconstriction (i.e. myogenic tone that could account for the hypertensive state. Methods Male Sprague-Dawley rats were fed Chow, HFD or HSD for 6 weeks. The effects of oxidative stress and endogenous nitric oxide on myogenic responses were examined in small mesenteric arteries by exposing the arteries to incremental intraluminal pressure steps in the presence of antioxidants or an inhibitor of nitric oxide synthase, LNNA (100 μM. Results Contrary to the hypothesis, rats fed either HSD or HFD had significantly impaired myogenic responses despite similar vascular morphology and passive diameter responses to increasing pressures. Vascular smooth muscle (VSM calcium levels were normal in HFD arteries suggesting that diminished calcium sensitivity was responsible for the impaired myogenic response. In contrast, VSM calcium levels were reduced in HSD arteries but were increased with pre-exposure of arteries to the antioxidants tiron (10 mM and catalase (1200 U/mL, also resulting in enhanced myogenic tone. These findings show that oxidative stress impairs myogenic tone in arteries from HSD rats by decreasing VSM calcium. Similarly, VSM calcium responses were increased in arteries from HFD rats following treatment with tiron and catalase, but this did not result in improved myogenic tone. Nitric oxide is involved in the impaired myogenic response in HFD, but not HSD, rats since inhibition with LNNA resulted in maximal myogenic responses at lower intraluminal pressures and VSM calcium levels, further implicating reduced calcium sensitivity in

Orofacial muscular activity and related skin movement during the preparatory and sustained phases of tone production on the French horn.

Science.gov (United States)

Hirano, Takeshi; Kudo, Kazutoshi; Ohtsuki, Tatsuyuki; Kinoshita, Hiroshi

2013-07-01

This study investigated activity of the embouchure-related orofacial muscles during pre- and postattack phases of sound production by 10 trained French-horn players. Surface electromyogram (EMG) from five selected facial muscles, and related facial skin kinematics were examined in relation to pitch and intensity of a tone produced. No difference in EMGs and facial kinematics between the two phases was found, indicating importance of appropriate formation of preattack embouchure. EMGs in all muscles during the postattack phase increased linearly with an increase in pitch, and they also increased with tone intensity without interacting with the pitch effect. Orofacial skin movement remained constant across all pitches and intensities except for lateral retraction of the lips during high-pitch tone production. Contraction of the orofacial muscles is fundamentally isometric by which tension on the lips and the cheeks is regulated for flexible sound parameter control.

Effects of nifedipine on anorectal smooth muscle in vitro.

Science.gov (United States)

Cook, T A; Brading, A F; Mortensen, N J

1999-06-01

Glyceryl trinitrate reduces anal resting pressure and aids the healing of anal fissures. However, some patients develop tachyphylaxis and the fissure fails to heal, suggesting that other agents are needed. This study assesses the effects of nifedipine (a calcium channel antagonist) in modulating resting tone and agonist-induced contractions in human internal anal sphincter (IAS) and rectal circular muscle. Smooth muscle strips from the IAS and rectal circular muscle from ten patients undergoing surgical resection were mounted for isometric tension recording in a superfusion organ bath. The effects of noradrenaline and carbachol were assessed in the presence of various perfusates. LAS strips developed tone and spontaneous activity. Noradrenaline produced dose-dependent contractions. In calcium-free Krebs solution, tone and activity were abolished and no contractions were elicited in response to noradrenaline. Nifedipine also abolished tone and spontaneous activity, but contractions to noradrenaline were only slightly attenuated. In contrast, rectal smooth muscle strips developed spontaneous activity but no resting tone and contracted in response to carbachol. In calcium-free Krebs solution, the spontaneous activity and carbachol contractions were abolished. Addition of nifedipine to the perfusate abolished spontaneous activity and greatly reduced contractions. These data suggest that spontaneous activity and resting tone are dependent on extracellular calcium and flux across the cells. Agonist-induced contraction in the IAS is attributable mainly to the release of calcium from intracellular stores, whereas rectal circular smooth muscle depends principally on extracellular calcium entering the cell for contraction. The attenuation of contractions in both tissues and the abolition of resting tone in the IAS suggest that nifedipine may be useful in the management of patients with anorectal disorders.

Two Tones

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Palludan, Charlotte

2007-01-01

This article examines how kindergarten-children are differentiated and segregated through vocal practices and processes. The analysis is based on empirical data, which originate from a long ethnographic fieldwork in Denmark. The author presents two different language tones: "a teaching tone...... and an exchange tone" and shows a pattern in the ways the two tones are performed. While the teaching tone is heard in the interaction between the staff and the ethnic minority children, the ethnic majority children (the Danes) are addressed in the exchange tone. Pierre Bourdieu's concepts: "linguistic market......", "habitual inclinations" and "feeling for the game" are used as theoretical framework. When the author interprets and explains the language pattern as unequal distribution of recognition and as continuation of reproduction of a socio-cultural hierarchy among the children she relates to this framework...

Acute physiological and electrical accentuation of vagal tone has no effect on pain or gastrointestinal motility in chronic pancreatitis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Juel, Jacob; Brock, Christina; Olesen, Soren S.

2017-01-01

derived parameters of autonomic tone, quantitative sensory testing of bone and muscle pain pressure, conditioned pain modulation (CPM) and assessments of gastroduodenal motility with ultrasound were performed. Results: In comparison to sham, t-VNS and DSB increased cardiac vagal tone (CVT) (P

The perceptual enhancement of tones by frequency shifts.

Science.gov (United States)

Demany, Laurent; Carcagno, Samuele; Semal, Catherine

2013-04-01

In a chord of pure tones with a flat spectral profile, one tone can be perceptually enhanced relative to the other tones by the previous presentation of a slightly different chord. "Intensity enhancement" (IE) is obtained when the component tones of the two chords have the same frequencies, but in the first chord the target of enhancement is attenuated relative to the other tones. "Frequency enhancement" (FE) is obtained when both chords have a flat spectral profile, but the target of enhancement shifts in frequency from the first to the second chord. We report here an experiment in which IE and FE were measured using a task requiring the listener to indicate whether or not the second chord included a tone identical to a subsequent probe tone. The results showed that a global attenuation of the first chord relative to the second chord disrupted IE more than FE. This suggests that the mechanisms of IE and FE are not the same. In accordance with this suggestion, computations of the auditory excitation patterns produced by the chords indicate that the mechanism of IE is not sufficient to explain FE for small frequency shifts. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The small GTPase Rac1 is required for smooth muscle contraction

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rahman, Awahan; Davis, Benjamin; Lövdahl, Cecilia

2014-01-01

The role of the small GTP-binding protein Rac1 in smooth muscle contraction was examined using small molecule inhibitors (EHT1864, NSC23766) and a novel smooth muscle-specific, conditional, Rac1 knockout mouse strain. EHT1864, which affects nucleotide binding and inhibits Rac1 activity, concentra...

Constraints on Tone Sensitivity in Novel Word Learning by Monolingual and Bilingual Infants: Tone Properties Are More Influential than Tone Familiarity

Science.gov (United States)

Burnham, Denis; Singh, Leher; Mattock, Karen; Woo, Pei J.; Kalashnikova, Marina

2018-01-01

This study compared tone sensitivity in monolingual and bilingual infants in a novel word learning task. Tone language learning infants (Experiment 1, Mandarin monolingual; Experiment 2, Mandarin-English bilingual) were tested with Mandarin (native) or Thai (non-native) lexical tone pairs which contrasted static vs. dynamic (high vs. rising) tones or dynamic vs. dynamic (rising vs. falling) tones. Non-tone language, English-learning infants (Experiment 3) were tested on English intonational contrasts or the Mandarin or Thai tone contrasts. Monolingual Mandarin language infants were able to bind tones to novel words for the Mandarin High-Rising contrast, but not for the Mandarin Rising-Falling contrast; and they were insensitive to both the High-Rising and the Rising-Falling tone contrasts in Thai. Bilingual English-Mandarin infants were similar to the Mandarin monolinguals in that they were sensitive to the Mandarin High-Rising contrast and not to the Mandarin Rising-Falling contrast. However, unlike the Mandarin monolinguals, they were also sensitive to the High Rising contrast in Thai. Monolingual English learning infants were insensitive to all three types of contrasts (Mandarin, Thai, English), although they did respond differentially to tone-bearing vs. intonation-marked words. Findings suggest that infants' sensitivity to tones in word learning contexts depends heavily on tone properties, and that this influence is, in some cases, stronger than effects of language familiarity. Moreover, bilingual infants demonstrated greater phonological flexibility in tone interpretation. PMID:29354077

Simultaneous pure-tone masking : the dependence of masking asymmetries on intensity

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Vogten, L.L.M.

1978-01-01

Phase locking between probe and masker was used in a series of pure-tone masking experiments. The masker was a stationary sine wave of variable frequency; the probe a fixed-frequency tone burst. We have observed that for small frequency separation the masking behaves asymmetrically around the probe

Small cardiac lesions: fibrosis of papillary muscles and focal cardiac myocytolysis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Steer, A [Hijiyanna Park, Hiroshima JP; Nakashima, N; Kawashima, T; Lee, K K; Danzig, M D; Robertson, T L; Dock, D S

1977-11-01

Three types of small cardiac lesions were described and illustrated: (1) focal type of papillary muscle fibrosis, evidently a healed infarct of the papillary muscle present in 13% of the autopsies, is a histologically characteristic lesion associated with coronary artery disease and healed myocardial infarction; (2) diffuse type of papillary muscle fibrosis, probably an aging change present in almost half of the autopsies, is associated with sclerosis of the arteries in the papillary muscle, is identifiable histologically; and apparently is not associated with any cardiac abnormality; and (3) focal cardiac myocytolysis, a unique histologic lesion, usually multifocal without predilection for any area of the heart, is associated with ischemic heart disease, death due to cancer complicated by non-bacterial thrombotic endocarditis and microthrombi in small cardiac arteries as well as with other diseases. Differentiation of the 2 types of papillary muscle fibrosis is important in the study of papillary muscle and mitral valve dysfunction. Focal cardiac myocytolysis may contribute to the fatal extension of myocardial infarcts.

Small cardiac lesions: fibrosis of papillary muscles and focal cardiac myocytolysis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Steer, A; Nakashima, T; Kawashima, T; Lee, K K; Danzig, M D; Robertson, T L; Dock, D S

1977-11-01

Three types of small cardiac lesions were described and illustrated: (1) focal type of papillary muscle fibrosis, evidently a healed infarct of the papillary muscle present in 13% of the autopsies, is a histologically characteristic lesion associated with coronary artery disease and healed myocardial infarction, (2) diffuse type of papillary muscle fibrosis, probably an aging change present in almost half of the autopsies, is associated with sclerosis of the arteries in the papillary muscle, is identifiable histologically, and apparently is not associated with any cardiac abnormality, and (3) focal cardiac myochtolysis, a unique histologic lesion, usually multifocal without predilection for any area of the heart, is associated with ischemic heart disease, death due to cancer complicated by nonbacterial thrombotic endocarditis and microthrombi in small cardiac arteries as well as with other diseases. Differentiation of the 2 types of papillary muscle fibrosis is important in the study of papillary muscle and mitral valve dysfunction. Focal cardiac myocytolysis may contribute to the fatal extension of myocardial infarcts.

Tailored botulinum toxin type A injections in aesthetic medicine: consensus panel recommendations for treating the forehead based on individual facial anatomy and muscle tone

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anido J

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Javier Anido,1 Daniel Arenas,2 Cristina Arruabarrena,3 Alfonso Domínguez-Gil,4 Carlos Fajardo,5 Mar Mira,6 Javier Murillo,7 Natalia Ribé,8 Helga Rivera,9 Sofia Ruiz del Cueto,6 Helder Silvestre,10 Marisa Tirado11 1A-Clinic, Madrid, 2Hospital Cruz Roja, Madrid, 3Clinic Cristina Arruabarrena, San Sebastiá, 4Salamanca University, Salamanca, 5Clinic Fajardo, Malaga, 6Clinic Mira+Cueto, Madrid, 7Clinic CIR, Seville, 8Institute Natalia Ribé, Barcelona, 9Clinic Helga Rivera, Vigo, Spain; 10Clinic Europa, Lisbon, Portugal; 11Clinic Derma Alemar, Castellón, Spain Background: Facial lines and wrinkles are strongly influenced by individual differences in anatomy and muscle activity and no single injection protocol will suit all patients. However, there is only limited information in the published literature on how to develop a tailored approach to botulinum toxin treatment.Methods: An expert panel of physicians was convened to establish a consensus on developing an individualized approach to treatment of the forehead with incobotulinumtoxinA. Separate treatment protocols were developed for men and women and subdivided by background level of muscle activity: kinetic, hyperkinetic, and hypertonic. Each muscle tone category was then further subdivided to take account of individual characteristics that can influence treatment.Results: Consensus members describe how to perform a dynamic assessment to optimize the dose and injection technique for each patient. A tailored treatment protocol is described for men and women with a wide range of forehead presentations. For each presentation, units of toxin as well as the precise location of injection points were defined by creating a 12-zone map of the forehead.Conclusion: These recommendations depart from traditional consensus documents by providing detailed incobotulinumtoxinA injection protocols for the forehead based on the major parameters that differ between patients, including muscular anatomy, size, and

Skeletal muscle relaxant effect of a standardized extract of Valeriana officinalis L. after acute administration in mice

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Dorian Caudal

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Valeriana officinalis L. root extracts are traditionally taken for their sedative and anxiolytic properties and are also used for muscle relaxation. Relaxant effects were clearly observed on smooth muscle whereas data on effects on skeletal muscle are scarce and inconsistent. The aim of this study was to assess whether a standardized extract (SE of V. officinalis had myorelaxant effects by decreasing skeletal muscle strength and/or neuromuscular tone in mice. Mice received an acute dose of V. officinalis SE (2 or 5 g/kg per os or tetrazepam (10 mg/kg ip, a standard myorelaxant drug. Thirty minutes later, the maximal muscle strength was measured using a grip test, while global skeletal muscle function (endurance and neuromuscular tone was assessed in a wire hanging test. Compared to tetrazepam, both doses of V. officinalis SE induced a pronounced decrease in skeletal muscle strength without any significant effects on endurance and neuromuscular tone. This study provides clear evidence that the extract of V. officinalis tested has a relaxant effect on skeletal muscle. By decreasing skeletal muscle strength without impacting endurance and neuromuscular tone, V. officinalis SE could induce less undesirable side effects than standard myorelaxant agents, and be particularly useful for avoiding falls in the elderly. Keywords: Valeriana officinalis, Skeletal muscle relaxant, Strength, Hydroethanolic root extract, Acute treatment, Mouse

Effect of Adding Swedish Massage to Occupational Therapy on Muscle Tone of Spastic Cerebral Palsied Children

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Firouzeh Sajedi

2007-10-01

Full Text Available Objective: Cerebral palsy is a nonprogressive disorder in body posture and movement, due to different etiologies. Different medical and rehabilitation interventions include massage have been used in these children. This study has been done to determine the effect of adding massage to occupational therapy on muscle tone of children with spastic cerebral palsy. Materials & Methods: This study was a double blind clinical trial. The children were recruited from clinics of University of Welfare & Rehabilitation Sciences. The individuals were divided to intervention and control groups. The routine rehabilitation techniques were done in 3 months in both groups. The intervention group received massage for 30 minutes before rehabilitation. Muscle tonicity was evaluated at the beginning of the study and 3 months later by Ashworth test. The data analysis was done by parametric (t test, paired t test and nonparametric (Mann Whitney, Wilcoxon tests. Results: Thirteen subjects of case (intervention group and 14 subjects of control group were studied. The average age in case group and control group was 49.5, and 42.1 months respectively. There were no statistically significant differences in Tonicity of upper and lower limbs, trunk and neck between intervention group and control group (P>0/05. Conclusion: In general based on the results of this study, adding massage to occupational therapy had no effect on tonicity of spastic cerebral palsied children. Regarding to some effects of massage mentioned in different articles on physical abilities of children with C.P. as well as executive limitations in this research, it is not possible to reject the effects of homeopathy on physical abilities of children with C.P.

What Can Lexical Tone Training Studies in Adults Tell Us about Tone Processing in Children?

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Mark Antoniou

2018-01-01

Full Text Available A growing number of studies on the acquisition of lexical tone by adult learners have revealed that factors such as language background, musical experience, cognitive abilities, and neuroanatomy all play a role in determining tone learning success. On the basis of these findings, it has been argued that the effectiveness of tone learning in adulthood depends on individual differences in these factors. However, it is not clear whether similar individual differences play an analogous role in tone learning in childhood. Indeed, relatively few studies have made comparisons between how adults and children learn lexical tones. Here, we review recent developments for tone learning in both adults and children. The review covers tone training in a range of contexts, including in naive listeners, in native speakers of other tone languages, in listeners with varying levels of musical experience, and in individuals with speech and hearing disorders. Finally, we discuss the parallels between adult and child tone learning, and provide recommendations concerning how findings in adult tone training can provide insights into tone learning for children by accommodating the needs of individual learners.

Quantitative separation of bone and muscle radioactivity in small rodents using Dermestid beetles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Walburg, H.E.; Eisele, G.R.; Mraz, F.R.

1979-01-01

The use of Dermestid beetles, which feed on dead animals, to separate muscle and bone radioactivity in small rodent carcasses was studied. Eviscerated carcasses of mice injected with 1μCi 95 Nb 48hr before killing were placed in jars with adult beetle larvae. Within 3 weeks the skeletons were completely free of muscle. Losses of radioactivity were acceptably small. The actual muscle activity was measured by counting activity in beetles, larvae and excreta, and compared with estimated values. Dermestid digestion has proved to be effective for small carcasses, where size precludes other methods of separation, and is in current use in studies of tissue localization of radionuclides. (author)

Preattentive cortical-evoked responses to pure tones, harmonic tones, and speech: influence of music training.

Science.gov (United States)

Nikjeh, Dee A; Lister, Jennifer J; Frisch, Stefan A

2009-08-01

Cortical auditory evoked potentials, including mismatch negativity (MMN) and P3a to pure tones, harmonic complexes, and speech syllables, were examined across groups of trained musicians and nonmusicians. Because of the extensive formal and informal auditory training received by musicians throughout their lifespan, it was predicted that these electrophysiological indicators of preattentive pitch discrimination and involuntary attention change would distinguish musicians from nonmusicians and provide insight regarding the influence of auditory training and experience on central auditory function. A total of 102 (67 trained musicians, 35 nonmusicians) right-handed young women with normal hearing participated in three auditory stimulus conditions: pure tones (25 musicians/15 nonmusicians), harmonic tones (42 musicians/20 nonmusicians), and speech syllables (26 musicians/15 nonmusicians). Pure tone and harmonic tone stimuli were presented in multideviant oddball paradigms designed to elicit MMN and P3a. Each paradigm included one standard and two infrequently occurring deviants. For the pure tone condition, the standard pure tone was 1000 Hz, and the two deviant tones differed in frequency from the standard by either 1.5% (1015 Hz) or 6% (1060 Hz). The harmonic tone complexes were digitally created and contained a fundamental frequency (F0) and three harmonics. The amplitude of each harmonic was divided by its harmonic number to create a natural amplitude contour in the frequency spectrum. The standard tone was G4 (F0 = 392 Hz), and the two deviant tones differed in fundamental frequency from the standard by 1.5% (F0 = 386 Hz) or 6% (F0 = 370 Hz). The fundamental frequencies of the harmonic tones occur within the average female vocal range. The third condition to elicit MMN and P3a was designed for the presentation of speech syllables (/ba/ and /da/) and was structured as a traditional oddball paradigm (one standard/one infrequent deviant). Each speech stimulus was

Impact of muscle tension dysphonia on tonal pitch target implementation in vietnamese female teachers.

Science.gov (United States)

Nguyen, Duong Duy; Kenny, Dianna T

2009-11-01

Muscle tension dysphonia (MTD) is a voice disorder with deteriorated vocal quality, particularly pitch problems. Because pitch is mainly controlled by the laryngeal muscles, and because MTD is characterized by increased laryngeal muscle tension, we hypothesized that it may result in problems in pitch target implementation in tonal languages. We examined tonal samples of 42 Vietnamese female primary school teachers diagnosed with MTD and compared them with 30 vocally healthy female teachers who spoke the same dialect. Tonal data were analyzed using Computerized Speech Lab (CSL-4300B) for Windows. From tonal sampling bases, fundamental frequency (F0) was measured at target points specified by contour examination. Parameters representing pitch movement including time, size, and speed of movement were measured for the falling tone and rising tone. We found that F0 at target points in MTD group was lowered in most tones, especially tones with extensive F0 variation. In MTD group, target F0 of the broken tone in isolation was 37.5 Hz lower (P<0.01) and target F0 of rising tone in isolation was 46 Hz lower (P<0.01) than in control group. In MTD group, speed of pitch fall of the falling tone in isolation was faster than control group by 2.2 semitones/second (st/s) (P<0.05) and speed of pitch rise in the rising tone in isolation was slower than control group by 7.2 st/s (P<0.01). These results demonstrate that MTD is associated with problems in tonal pitch variation.

Congenital amusia (or tone-deafness interferes with pitch processing in tone languages

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Barbara eTillmann

2011-06-01

Full Text Available Congenital amusia is a neurogenetic disorder that affects music processing and that is ascribed to a deficit in pitch processing. We investigated whether this deficit extended to pitch processing in speech, notably the pitch changes used to contrast lexical tones in tonal languages. Congenital amusics and matched controls, all non-tonal language speakers, were tested for lexical tone discrimination in Mandarin Chinese (Experiment 1 and in Thai (Experiment 2. Tones were presented in pairs and participants were required to make same/different judgments. Experiment 2 additionally included musical analogs of Thai tones for comparison. Performance of congenital amusics was inferior to that of controls for all materials, suggesting a domain-general pitch-processing deficit. The pitch deficit of amusia is thus not limited to music, but may compromise the ability to process and learn tonal languages. Combined with acoustic analyses of the tone material, the present findings provide new insights into the nature of the pitch-processing deficit exhibited by amusics.

Congenital Amusia (or Tone-Deafness) Interferes with Pitch Processing in Tone Languages.

Science.gov (United States)

Tillmann, Barbara; Burnham, Denis; Nguyen, Sebastien; Grimault, Nicolas; Gosselin, Nathalie; Peretz, Isabelle

2011-01-01

Congenital amusia is a neurogenetic disorder that affects music processing and that is ascribed to a deficit in pitch processing. We investigated whether this deficit extended to pitch processing in speech, notably the pitch changes used to contrast lexical tones in tonal languages. Congenital amusics and matched controls, all non-tonal language speakers, were tested for lexical tone discrimination in Mandarin Chinese (Experiment 1) and in Thai (Experiment 2). Tones were presented in pairs and participants were required to make same/different judgments. Experiment 2 additionally included musical analogs of Thai tones for comparison. Performance of congenital amusics was inferior to that of controls for all materials, suggesting a domain-general pitch-processing deficit. The pitch deficit of amusia is thus not limited to music, but may compromise the ability to process and learn tonal languages. Combined with acoustic analyses of the tone material, the present findings provide new insights into the nature of the pitch-processing deficit exhibited by amusics.

Congenital Amusia (or Tone-Deafness) Interferes with Pitch Processing in Tone Languages

OpenAIRE

Tillmann, Barbara; Burnham, Denis; Nguyen, Sebastien; Grimault, Nicolas; Gosselin, Nathalie; Peretz, Isabelle

2011-01-01

Congenital amusia is a neurogenetic disorder that affects music processing and that is ascribed to a deficit in pitch processing. We investigated whether this deficit extended to pitch processing in speech, notably the pitch changes used to contrast lexical tones in tonal languages. Congenital amusics and matched controls, all non-tonal language speakers, were tested for lexical tone discrimination in Mandarin Chinese (Experiment 1) and in Thai (Experiment 2). Tones were presented in pairs an...

Capacity of small groups of muscles to accomplish precision grasping tasks.

Science.gov (United States)

Towles, Joseph D; Valero-Cuevas, Francisco J; Hentz, Vincent R

2013-01-01

An understanding of the capacity or ability of various muscle groups to generate endpoint forces that enable grasping tasks could provide a stronger biomechanical basis for the design of reconstructive surgery or rehabilitation for the treatment of the paralyzed or paretic hand. We quantified two-dimensional endpoint force distributions for every combination of the muscles of the index finger, in cadaveric specimens, to understand the capability of muscle groups to produce endpoint forces that accomplish three common types of grasps-tripod, tip and lateral pinch-characterized by a representative level of Coulomb friction. We found that muscle groups of 4 or fewer muscles were capable of generating endpoint forces that enabled performance of each of the grasping tasks examined. We also found that flexor muscles were crucial to accomplish tripod pinch; intrinsic muscles, tip pinch; and the dorsal interosseus muscle, lateral pinch. The results of this study provide a basis for decision making in the design of reconstructive surgeries and rehabilitation approaches that attempt to restore the ability to perform grasping tasks with small groups of muscles.

Analysis of muscle tone distribution in premature babies based on PodoBaby podoscope examination

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stępowska Jolanta

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Introduction: The aim of the study was to assess load surface with regard to muscle tone distribution of premature infants compared to full-term infants. Material and methods: Twenty-four infants aged 3-6 months (adjusted age were examined, including 12 premature infants (born before 37 weeks and 12 full-term infants. The study was carried out at the Children’s Memorial Health Institute in Warsaw in the period from January to June 2016. The study involved interviews with the infants’ parents and examinations of infants in a supine and prone position performed on PodoBaby digital podoscope. Support surface, i.e. the loading on the left and right side of the body and the length of trunk sides were analysed. Statistical analysis was performed with the use of Statistica v.12 software and Student’s t-test. Results: No significant differences between premature infants and full-term infants regarding the loading on the right side measured in a supine position were revealed (analogous lack of differences was noted on the left side and in a prone position. In a prone position, the correlation between support surface and the length of trunk sides was noted, i.e. the loaded side of the trunk was lengthened, while the unloaded side was shortened. Conclusions: Considerable asymmetry of the loads of trunk sides was noted in premature infants, while in the case of full-term infants, the values of loads were close to symmetry. An examination with the use of PodoBaby podoscope may be applied in early diagnostics in pediatric rehabilitation.

Neural signatures of lexical tone reading.

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Kwok, Veronica P Y; Wang, Tianfu; Chen, Siping; Yakpo, Kofi; Zhu, Linlin; Fox, Peter T; Tan, Li Hai

2015-01-01

Research on how lexical tone is neuroanatomically represented in the human brain is central to our understanding of cortical regions subserving language. Past studies have exclusively focused on tone perception of the spoken language, and little is known as to the lexical tone processing in reading visual words and its associated brain mechanisms. In this study, we performed two experiments to identify neural substrates in Chinese tone reading. First, we used a tone judgment paradigm to investigate tone processing of visually presented Chinese characters. We found that, relative to baseline, tone perception of printed Chinese characters were mediated by strong brain activation in bilateral frontal regions, left inferior parietal lobule, left posterior middle/medial temporal gyrus, left inferior temporal region, bilateral visual systems, and cerebellum. Surprisingly, no activation was found in superior temporal regions, brain sites well known for speech tone processing. In activation likelihood estimation (ALE) meta-analysis to combine results of relevant published studies, we attempted to elucidate whether the left temporal cortex activities identified in Experiment one is consistent with those found in previous studies of auditory lexical tone perception. ALE results showed that only the left superior temporal gyrus and putamen were critical in auditory lexical tone processing. These findings suggest that activation in the superior temporal cortex associated with lexical tone perception is modality-dependent. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Muscle Sensor Model Using Small Scale Optical Device for Pattern Recognitions

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Kreangsak Tamee

2013-01-01

Full Text Available A new sensor system for measuring contraction and relaxation of muscles by using a PANDA ring resonator is proposed. The small scale optical device is designed and configured to perform the coupling effects between the changes in optical device phase shift and human facial muscle movement, which can be used to form the relationship between optical phase shift and muscle movement. By using the Optiwave and MATLAB programs, the results obtained have shown that the measurement of the contraction and relaxation of muscles can be obtained after the muscle movements, in which the unique pattern of individual muscle movement from facial expression can be established. The obtained simulation results, that is, interference signal patterns, can be used to form the various pattern recognitions, which are useful for the human machine interface and the human computer interface application and discussed in detail.

Tone language fluency impairs pitch discrimination

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Isabelle ePeretz

2011-07-01

Full Text Available Here we present evidence that native speakers of a tone language, in which pitch contributes to word meaning, are impaired in the discrimination of falling pitches in tone sequences, as compared to speakers of a non-tone language. Both groups were presented with monotonic and isochronous sequences of five tones (i.e., constant pitch and intertone interval. They were required to detect when the fourth tone was displaced in pitch or time. While speakers of a tone language performed more poorly in the detection of downward pitch changes, they did not differ from non-tone language speakers in their perception of upward pitch changes or in their perception of subtle time changes. Moreover, this impairment cannot be attributed to low musical aptitude since the impairment remains unchanged when individual differences in musical pitch-based processing is taken into account. Thus, the impairment appears highly specific and may reflect the influence of statistical regularities of tone languages.

Nature of extracellular signal that triggers RhoA/ROCK activation for the basal internal anal sphincter tone in humans

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Singh, Jagmohan; Kumar, Sumit; Phillips, Benjamin

2015-01-01

The extracellular signal that triggers activation of rho-associated kinase (RhoA/ROCK), the major molecular determinant of basal internal anal sphincter (IAS) smooth muscle tone, is not known. Using human IAS tissues, we identified the presence of the biosynthetic machineries for angiotensin II (ANG II), thromboxane A2 (TXA2), and prostaglandin F2α (PGF2α). These end products of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) (ANG II) and arachidonic acid (TXA2 and PGF2α) pathways and their effects in human IAS vs. rectal smooth muscle (RSM) were studied. A multipronged approach utilizing immunocytochemistry, Western blot analyses, and force measurements was implemented. Additionally, in a systematic analysis of the effects of respective inhibitors along different steps of biosynthesis and those of antagonists, their end products were evaluated either individually or in combination. To further describe the molecular mechanism for the IAS tone via these pathways, we monitored RhoA/ROCK activation and its signal transduction cascade. Data showed characteristically higher expression of biosynthetic machineries of RAS and AA pathways in the IAS compared with the RSM. Additionally, specific inhibition of the arachidonic acid (AA) pathway caused ∼80% decrease in the IAS tone, whereas that of RAS lead to ∼20% decrease. Signal transduction studies revealed that the end products of both AA and RAS pathways cause increase in the IAS tone via activation of RhoA/ROCK. Both AA and RAS (via the release of their end products TXA2, PGF2α, and ANG II, respectively), provide extracellular signals which activate RhoA/ROCK for the maintenance of the basal tone in human IAS. PMID:25882611

Five-Year-olds' Acoustic Realization of Mandarin Tone Sandhi and Lexical Tones in Context Are Not Yet Fully Adult-Like

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Nan Xu Rattanasone

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Large numbers of children around the world are learning tone languages, but few studies have examined the acoustic properties of children's early tone productions. Even more scarce are acquisition studies on tone sandhi, a tone change phenomenon which alters the surface realization of lexical tones. Two studies using perceptual coding report the emergence of lexical tone and tone sandhi at around 2 years (Li and Thompson, 1977; Hua and Dodd, 2000. However, the only acoustic study available shows that 3-year-olds are not yet adult-like in their lexical tone productions (Wong, 2012. This raises questions about when children's productions become acoustically adult-like and how their tone productions differ from those of adults. These questions were addressed in the current study which compared Mandarin-speaking pre-schoolers' (3–5-year-olds tone productions to that of adults. A picture naming task was used with disyllabic real words familiar to pre-schoolers. Overall children produced appropriate tone contours for all tones, i.e., level for tone 1, rising for tones 2, 3 and full sandhi, falling for tone 4 and half sandhi. However, children's productions were not adult-like for tones 3, 4, and the sandhi forms, in terms of coordinating pitch range, slope and curvature, with little evidence of development across ages. These results suggest a protracted process in achieving adult-like acoustic realization of both lexical and sandhi tones.

Effects of high-intensity pulse irradiation with linear polarized near-infrared rays and stretching on muscle tone in patients with cerebrovascular disease: a randomized controlled trial.

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Takeuchi, Nobuyuki; Takezako, Nobuhiro; Shimonishi, Yuko; Usuda, Shigeru

2017-08-01

[Purpose] The purpose of this study was to clarify the influence of high-intensity pulse irradiation with linear polarized near-infrared rays (HI-LPNR) and stretching on hypertonia in cerebrovascular disease patients. [Subjects and Methods] The subjects were 40 cerebrovascular disease patients with hypertonia of the ankle joint plantar flexor muscle. The subjects were randomly allocated to groups undergoing treatment with HI-LPNR irradiation (HI-LPNR group), stretching (stretching group), HI-LPNR irradiation followed by stretching (combination group), and control group (10 subjects each). In all groups, the passive range of motion of ankle dorsiflexion and passive resistive joint torque of ankle dorsiflexion were measured before and after the specified intervention. [Results] The changes in passive range of motion, significant increase in the stretching and combination groups compared with that in the control group. The changes in passive resistive joint torque, significant decrease in HI-LPNR, stretching, and combination groups compared with that in the control group. [Conclusion] HI-LPNR irradiation and stretching has effect of decrease muscle tone. However, combination of HI-LPNR irradiation and stretching has no multiplier effect.

Matching by Monotonic Tone Mapping.

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Kovacs, Gyorgy

2018-06-01

In this paper, a novel dissimilarity measure called Matching by Monotonic Tone Mapping (MMTM) is proposed. The MMTM technique allows matching under non-linear monotonic tone mappings and can be computed efficiently when the tone mappings are approximated by piecewise constant or piecewise linear functions. The proposed method is evaluated in various template matching scenarios involving simulated and real images, and compared to other measures developed to be invariant to monotonic intensity transformations. The results show that the MMTM technique is a highly competitive alternative of conventional measures in problems where possible tone mappings are close to monotonic.

Functional Imaging of Human Vestibular Cortex Activity Elicited by Skull Tap and Auditory Tone Burst

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Noohi, F.; Kinnaird, C.; Wood, S.; Bloomberg, J.; Mulavara, A.; Seidler, R.

2016-01-01

The current study characterizes brain activation in response to two modes of vestibular stimulation: skull tap and auditory tone burst. The auditory tone burst has been used in previous studies to elicit either the vestibulo-spinal reflex (saccular-mediated colic Vestibular Evoked Myogenic Potentials (cVEMP)), or the ocular muscle response (utricle-mediated ocular VEMP (oVEMP)). Some researchers have reported that air-conducted skull tap elicits both saccular and utricle-mediated VEMPs, while being faster and less irritating for the subjects. However, it is not clear whether the skull tap and auditory tone burst elicit the same pattern of cortical activity. Both forms of stimulation target the otolith response, which provides a measurement of vestibular function independent from semicircular canals. This is of high importance for studying otolith-specific deficits, including gait and balance problems that astronauts experience upon returning to earth. Previous imaging studies have documented activity in the anterior and posterior insula, superior temporal gyrus, inferior parietal lobule, inferior frontal gyrus, and the anterior cingulate cortex in response to different modes of vestibular stimulation. Here we hypothesized that skull taps elicit similar patterns of cortical activity as the auditory tone bursts, and previous vestibular imaging studies. Subjects wore bilateral MR compatible skull tappers and headphones inside the 3T GE scanner, while lying in the supine position, with eyes closed. Subjects received both forms of the stimulation in a counterbalanced fashion. Pneumatically powered skull tappers were placed bilaterally on the cheekbones. The vibration of the cheekbone was transmitted to the vestibular system, resulting in the vestibular cortical response. Auditory tone bursts were also delivered for comparison. To validate our stimulation method, we measured the ocular VEMP outside of the scanner. This measurement showed that both skull tap and auditory

Effect of acetylcysteine on adaptation of intestinal smooth muscle after small bowel bypass

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Weisbrodt, N.W.; Belloso, R.M.; Biskin, L.C.; Dudrick, P.S.; Dudrick, S.J.

1986-01-01

The authors have postulated that the adaptive changes in function and structure of bypassed segments of small bowel are due in part to the change in intestinal contents following operation. The purpose of these experiments was to determine if a mucolytic agent could alter the adaptation. Rats were anesthetized and a 70% jejunoileal bypass was performed. The bypassed segments then were perfused with either saline or acetylcysteine for 3-12 days. Then, either intestinal transit was determined using Cr-51, or segments were taken for morphometric analysis. Transit, as assessed by the geometric center, was increased 32% by acetylcysteine treatment. Treatment also caused a decrease in hypertrophy of the muscularis. Muscle wet weight, muscle cross-sectional area, and muscle layer thickness all were significantly less in those animals infused with acetyl-cysteine. No decreases in hypertrophy were seen in the in-continuity segments. These data indicate that alterations in intestinal content can affect the course of adaptation of intestinal muscle in response to small bowel bypass

Interstitial cells of Cajal in human small intestine. Ultrastructural identification and organization between the main smooth muscle layers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rumessen, Jüri Johannes; Thuneberg, Lars

1991-01-01

Anatomy, interstitial cells of Cajal, small intestine, gut motility, pacemaker cells, smooth muscle......Anatomy, interstitial cells of Cajal, small intestine, gut motility, pacemaker cells, smooth muscle...

Postura, tônus e mobilidade de lábios e língua de crianças respiradoras orais Posture, lips and tongue tone and mobility of mouth breathing children

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Marta Assumpção de Andrada e Silva

2012-10-01

for lip posture: semi-open lips (32.5%, alternating between open and closed lips (27.5%, open lip posture (22.5% and closed lips (17.5%. With regards to the upper lip tone: 90% showed normal muscle tone, 10% lower tone, and no subjects showed a higher muscle tone. As for the tone of the lower lip, 80.0% of the children showed lower muscle tone, and 20.0% normal muscle tone. For the lips mobility variable, 100% had their mobility close to the best scores. Regarding tongue posture, 57.5% had a low-lying resting tongue posture, 32.5% did not allow for observation of this variable, and in 10.0% of the subjects the tongue was placed in an interdental resting posture. As for tongue muscle tone, 52.5% showed lowered tone, and 47.5% were considered normal. When assessing tongue mobility, 100% had mobility close to the best scores. CONCLUSION: characteristics of posture, tone and mobility of lips in this study's mouth breathing children were: semi-opened lip posture, upper lip with normal tone, lower lip with lowered tonicity and normal mobility. Regarding tongue characteristics: low-lying resting posture, lowered muscle tone and normal mobility.

Assessment of skeletal muscle fatigue of road maintenance workers based on heart rate monitoring and myotonometry

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Kalkis Henrijs

2006-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Objective This research work is dedicated to occupational health problems caused by ergonomic risks. The research object was road building industry, where workers have to work very intensively, have long work hours, are working in forced/constrained work postures and overstrain during the work specific parts of their bodies. The aim of this study was to evaluate the work heaviness degree and to estimate the muscle fatigue of workers after one week work cycle. The study group consisted of 10 road construction and maintenance workers and 10 pavers aged between 20 and 60 years. Methods Physical load were analyzed by measuring heart rate (HR, work postures (OWAS and perceived exertion (RPE. Assessments of the muscles strain and functional state (tone were carried out using myotonometric (MYO measurements. The reliability of the statistical processing of heart rate monitoring and myotonometry data was determined using correlating analysis. Results This study showed that that road construction and repairing works should be considered as a hard work according to average metabolic energy consumption 8.1 ± 1.5 kcal/min; paving, in its turn, was a moderately hard work according to 7.2 ± 1.1 kcal/min. Several muscle tone levels were identified allowing subdivision of workers into three conditional categories basing on muscle tone and fatigue: I – absolute muscle relaxation and ability to relax; II – a state of equilibrium, when muscles are able to adapt to the work load and are partly able to relax; and III – muscle fatigue and increased tone. It was also found out that the increase of muscle tone and fatigue mainly depend on workers physical preparedness and length of service, and less – on their age. Conclusion We have concluded that a complex ergonomic analysis consisting of heart rate monitoring, assessment of compulsive working postures and myotonometry is appropriate to assess the work heaviness degree and can provide prognosis of

Perspectives on the Pure-Tone Audiogram.

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Musiek, Frank E; Shinn, Jennifer; Chermak, Gail D; Bamiou, Doris-Eva

The pure-tone audiogram, though fundamental to audiology, presents limitations, especially in the case of central auditory involvement. Advances in auditory neuroscience underscore the considerably larger role of the central auditory nervous system (CANS) in hearing and related disorders. Given the availability of behavioral audiological tests and electrophysiological procedures that can provide better insights as to the function of the various components of the auditory system, this perspective piece reviews the limitations of the pure-tone audiogram and notes some of the advantages of other tests and procedures used in tandem with the pure-tone threshold measurement. To review and synthesize the literature regarding the utility and limitations of the pure-tone audiogram in determining dysfunction of peripheral sensory and neural systems, as well as the CANS, and to identify other tests and procedures that can supplement pure-tone thresholds and provide enhanced diagnostic insight, especially regarding problems of the central auditory system. A systematic review and synthesis of the literature. The authors independently searched and reviewed literature (journal articles, book chapters) pertaining to the limitations of the pure-tone audiogram. The pure-tone audiogram provides information as to hearing sensitivity across a selected frequency range. Normal or near-normal pure-tone thresholds sometimes are observed despite cochlear damage. There are a surprising number of patients with acoustic neuromas who have essentially normal pure-tone thresholds. In cases of central deafness, depressed pure-tone thresholds may not accurately reflect the status of the peripheral auditory system. Listening difficulties are seen in the presence of normal pure-tone thresholds. Suprathreshold procedures and a variety of other tests can provide information regarding other and often more central functions of the auditory system. The audiogram is a primary tool for determining type

Contrasting the effects of duration and number of syllables on the perceptual normalization of lexical tones

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Ciocca, Valter; Francis, Alexander L.; Yau, Teresa S.-K.

2004-05-01

In tonal languages, syllabic fundamental frequency (F0) patterns (``lexical tones'') convey lexical meaning. Listeners need to relate such pitch patterns to the pitch range of a speaker (``tone normalization'') to accurately identify lexical tones. This study investigated the amount of tonal information required to perform tone normalization. A target CV syllable, perceived as either a high level, a low level, or a mid level Cantonese tone, was preceded by a four-syllable carrier sentence whose F0 was shifted (1 semitone), or not shifted. Four conditions were obtained by gating one, two, three, or four syllables from the onset of the target. Presentation rate (normal versus fast) was set such that the duration of the one, two, and three syllable conditions (normal carrier) was equal to that of the two, three, and four syllable conditions (fast carrier). Results suggest that tone normalization is largely accomplished within 250 ms or so prior to target onset, independent of the number of syllables; additional tonal information produces a relatively small increase in tone normalization. Implications for models of lexical tone normalization will be discussed. [Work supported by the RGC of the Hong Kong SAR, Project No. HKU 7193/00H.

Attention deficits revealed by passive auditory change detection for pure tones and lexical tones in ADHD children.

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Yang, Ming-Tao; Hsu, Chun-Hsien; Yeh, Pei-Wen; Lee, Wang-Tso; Liang, Jao-Shwann; Fu, Wen-Mei; Lee, Chia-Ying

2015-01-01

Inattention (IA) has been a major problem in children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), accounting for their behavioral and cognitive dysfunctions. However, there are at least three processing steps underlying attentional control for auditory change detection, namely pre-attentive change detection, involuntary attention orienting, and attention reorienting for further evaluation. This study aimed to examine whether children with ADHD would show deficits in any of these subcomponents by using mismatch negativity (MMN), P3a, and late discriminative negativity (LDN) as event-related potential (ERP) markers, under the passive auditory oddball paradigm. Two types of stimuli-pure tones and Mandarin lexical tones-were used to examine if the deficits were general across linguistic and non-linguistic domains. Participants included 15 native Mandarin-speaking children with ADHD and 16 age-matched controls (across groups, age ranged between 6 and 15 years). Two passive auditory oddball paradigms (lexical tones and pure tones) were applied. The pure tone oddball paradigm included a standard stimulus (1000 Hz, 80%) and two deviant stimuli (1015 and 1090 Hz, 10% each). The Mandarin lexical tone oddball paradigm's standard stimulus was /yi3/ (80%) and two deviant stimuli were /yi1/ and /yi2/ (10% each). The results showed no MMN difference, but did show attenuated P3a and enhanced LDN to the large deviants for both pure and lexical tone changes in the ADHD group. Correlation analysis showed that children with higher ADHD tendency, as indexed by parents' and teachers' ratings on ADHD symptoms, showed less positive P3a amplitudes when responding to large lexical tone deviants. Thus, children with ADHD showed impaired auditory change detection for both pure tones and lexical tones in both involuntary attention switching, and attention reorienting for further evaluation. These ERP markers may therefore be used for the evaluation of anti-ADHD drugs that aim to

Attention deficits revealed by passive auditory change detection for pure tones and lexical tones in ADHD children

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Ming-Tao eYang

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Inattention has been a major problem in children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD, accounting for their behavioral and cognitive dysfunctions. However, there are at least three processing steps underlying attentional control for auditory change detection, namely pre-attentive change detection, involuntary attention orienting, and attention reorienting for further evaluation. This study aimed to examine whether children with ADHD would show deficits in any of these subcomponents by using mismatch negativity (MMN, P3a, and late discriminative negativity (LDN as event-related potential (ERP markers, under the passive auditory oddball paradigm. Two types of stimuli - pure tones and Mandarin lexical tones - were used to examine if the deficits were general across linguistic and non-linguistic domains. Participants included 15 native Mandarin-speaking children with ADHD and 16 age-matched controls (across groups, age ranged between 6 and 15 years. Two passive auditory oddball paradigms (lexical tones and pure tones were applied. Pure tone paradigm included standard stimuli (1000 Hz, 80% and two deviant stimuli (1015 Hz and 1090 Hz, 10% each. The Mandarin lexical tone paradigm’s standard stimuli was /yi3/ (80% and two deviant stimuli were /yi1/ and /yi2/ (10% each. The results showed no MMN difference, but did show attenuated P3a and enhanced LDN to the large deviants for both pure and lexical tone changes in the ADHD group. Correlation analysis showed that children with higher ADHD tendency, as indexed by parents’ and teachers’ rating on ADHD symptoms, showed less positive P3a amplitudes when responding to large lexical tone deviants. Thus, children with ADHD showed impaired auditory change detection for both pure tones and lexical tones in both involuntary attention switching, and attention reorienting for further evaluation. These ERP markers may therefore be used for evaluation of anti-ADHD drugs that aim to alleviate these

Effect of extraluminal ATP application on vascular tone and blood flow in skeletal muscle

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nyberg, Michael Permin; Al-Khazraji, Baraa K; Mortensen, Stefan P

2013-01-01

During skeletal muscle contractions, the concentration of ATP increases in muscle interstitial fluid as measured by microdialysis probes. This increase is associated with the magnitude of blood flow, suggesting that interstitial ATP may be important for contraction-induced vasodilation. However...... studied. The rat gluteus maximus skeletal muscle model was used to study changes in local skeletal muscle hemodynamics. Superfused ATP at concentrations found during muscle contractions (1-10 µM) increased blood flow by up to 400%. In this model, the underlying mechanism was also examined by inhibition...... in interstitial ATP concentrations increases muscle blood flow, indicating that the contraction-induced increase in skeletal muscle interstitial [ATP] is important for exercise hyperemia. The vasodilator effect of ATP application is mediated by NO and prostanoid formation....

Lexical tone and stuttering in Cantonese.

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Law, Thomas; Packman, Ann; Onslow, Mark; To, Carol K-S; Tong, Michael C-F; Lee, Kathy Y-S

2018-01-01

Cantonese is a tone language, in which the variation of the fundamental frequency contour of a syllable can change meaning. There are six different lexical tones in Cantonese. While research with Western languages has shown an association between stuttering and syllabic stress, nothing is known about whether stuttering in Cantonese speakers is associated with one or more of the six lexical tones. Such an association has been reported in conversational speech in Mandarin, which is also a tone language, but which varies markedly from Cantonese. Twenty-four native Cantonese-speaking adults who stutter participated in this study, ranging in age from 18-33 years. There were 18 men and 6 women. Participants read aloud 13 Cantonese syllables, each of which was produced with six contrastive lexical tones. All 78 syllables were embedded in the same carrier sentence, to reduce the influence of suprasegmental or linguistic stress, and were presented in random order. No significant differences were found for stuttering moments across the six lexical tones. It is suggested that this is because lexical tones, at least in Cantonese, do not place the task demands on the speech motor system that typify varying syllabic stress in Western languages: variations not only in fundamental frequency, but also in duration and intensity. The findings of this study suggest that treatments for adults who stutter in Western languages, such as speech restructuring, can be used with Cantonese speakers without undue attention to lexical tone.

The influence of gestational age and birth weight in the clinical assesment of the muscle tone of healthy term and preterm newborns A influência da idade gestacional e do peso ao nascimento na avaliação clínica do tono muscular de recém nascidos a termo e prematuros hígidos

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Edla S. da Silva

2005-12-01

Full Text Available OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the influence of gestational age (GA and birth weight (BW in the clinical assessment of the muscle tone of healthy term and preterm newborns. METHOD: Cross sectional study. The muscle tone of healthy 42 preterm and 47 term newborns was quantified and measured with a goniometer (an instrument for measuring angles respectively between 7th-14th day of life and 24-48 hours of life. Newborns were grouped according to GA and BW and evaluated at fixed time intervals by one examiner. Preterm newborns were matched to term at 40 weeks postconceptional age (PCA. RESULTS: The evolution of muscle tone in the preterm occurred gradually, following PCA, independent of birth weight. Preterm newborns had lower scores in all muscle tone indicators when compared to term at the first assessment. Differences were observed among preterm small for GA and adequate to GA for the indicator heel to ear (pOBJETIVO: Verificar a influência da idade gestacional (IG e do peso ao nascimento (PN na avaliação do tono muscular de recém nascidos (RN a termo e prematuros hígidos. MÉTODO: Estudo transversal. O tono muscular de 42 RN prematuros e 47 termo foi quantificado e mensurado com goniômetro (instrumento para medir ângulos, respectivamente entre 7-14 dias de vida e 24-48 horas de vida. Os RN foram agrupados de acordo com IG e PN, sendo avaliados em intervalos fixos. RN prematuros foram comparados aos a termo na 40ª semana de idade concepcional (IC. RESULTADOS: A evolução do tono muscular nos RN prematuros ocorreu de forma gradual de acordo com IC e independente do PN. RN prematuros, na primeira avaliação apresentaram escores de tono muscular inferiores aos de RN a termo em todos os indicadores. Foram observadas diferenças entre RN prematuros pequenos e adequados para a IG em relação ao indicador calcanhar-orelha (p<0,001. O pareamento dos grupos na 40ª semana de IC mostra, exceto pela postura, diferença significativa entre os grupos (p< 0

Tune in to the Tone: Lexical Tone Identification is Associated with Vocabulary and Word Recognition Abilities in Young Chinese Children.

Science.gov (United States)

Tong, Xiuli; Tong, Xiuhong; McBride-Chang, Catherine

2015-12-01

Lexical tone is one of the most prominent features in the phonological representation of words in Chinese. However, little, if any, research to date has directly evaluated how young Chinese children's lexical tone identification skills contribute to vocabulary acquisition and character recognition. The present study distinguished lexical tones from segmental phonological awareness and morphological awareness in order to estimate the unique contribution of lexical tone in early vocabulary acquisition and character recognition. A sample of 199 Cantonese children aged 5-6 years was assessed on measures of lexical tone identification, segmental phonological awareness, morphological awareness, nonverbal ability, vocabulary knowledge, and Chinese character recognition. It was found that lexical tone awareness and morphological awareness were both associated with vocabulary knowledge and character recognition. However, there was a significant relationship between lexical tone awareness and both vocabulary knowledge and character recognition, even after controlling for the effects of age, nonverbal ability, segmental phonological awareness and morphological awareness. These findings suggest that lexical tone is a key factor accounting for individual variance in young children's lexical acquisition in Chinese, and that lexical tone should be considered in understanding how children learn new Chinese vocabulary words, in either oral or written forms.

In situ microdialysis of intramuscular prostaglandin and thromboxane in contracting skeletal muscle in humans

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Karamouzis, M; Langberg, Henning; Skovgaard, D

2001-01-01

Arachidonic acid metabolites, especially prostacyclin I2, are regulators of vascular tone, and may be released from contracting muscle. In the present study, the influence of exercise on accumulation of prostaglandins and thromboxane in skeletal muscle was determined by the use of microdialysis...

CONSTRUCTION SENSITIVITY IN PINGYAO TONE SANDHI

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Hui-shan Lin

2012-06-01

Full Text Available This paper investigates tone sandhi phenomena in Pingyao, a Jin dialect spoken in Shanxi province in China. Pingyao tone sandhi is special in that tone sandhi in bi-syllabic strings is construction sensitive, but tone sandhi in tri-syllabic strings is not fully conditioned by construction types. Based on Optimality Theory (OT, this paper proposes analyses for bi-tonal and tri-tonal sandhi in Pingyao. We show that while bi-tonal sandhi can be accounted for by assuming that there are different grammars associated with different construction types, the lack of construction sensitivity in certain tri-syllabic strings suggests that the association between construction types and phonological grammars can be sacrificed to comply with a higher demand. In Pingyao, the higher demand is to avoid having a tri-tonal string with marked tone sandhi domain from being associated with conflicting grammars.

Modulation of vagal tone enhances gastroduodenal motility and reduces somatic pain sensitivity

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Frøkjaer, J B; Bergmann, S; Brock, C

2016-01-01

algometry, conditioned pain modulation using a cold pressor test and a liquid meal ultrasonographic gastroduodenal motility test were performed. KEY RESULTS: Cardiac vagal tone increased during active treatment with t-VNS and DSB compared to sham (p = 0.009). In comparison to sham, thresholds to bone pain...... increased (p = 0.001), frequency of antral contractions increased (p = 0.004) and gastroduodenal motility index increased (p = 0.016) with active treatment. However, no effect on muscle pain thresholds and conditioned pain modulation was seen. CONCLUSIONS & INFERENCES: This experimental study suggests...

Reproducible measurements of muscle characteristics using the MyotonPRO device : comparison between individuals with and without paratonia

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Van Deun, Bieke; Cagnie, Barbara; Van Eetvelde, Birgit; Van Den Noortgate, Nele; Cambier, Dirk; Hobbelen, Hans

2016-01-01

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The MyotonPRO is a portable device that measures muscle tone and biomechanical muscle properties objectively. MyotonPRO has already proven to be effective in measuring muscle properties in healthy and diseased populations. However, to the best of our knowledge, it has never

Cardiac vagal tone, a non-invasive measure of parasympathetic tone, is a clinically relevant tool in Type 1 diabetes mellitus

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brock, C; Jessen, N; Brock, B

2017-01-01

AIMS: To compare a novel index of parasympathetic tone, cardiac vagal tone, with established autonomic variables and to test the hypotheses that (1) cardiac vagal tone would be associated with established time and frequency domain measures of heart rate and (2) cardiac vagal tone would be lower...... identification of people with Type 1 diabetes who should undergo formal autonomic function testing....

Tone as a health concept: An analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

McDowall, Donald; Emmanuel, Elizabeth; Grace, Sandra; Chaseling, Marilyn

2017-11-01

Concept analysis. This paper is a report on the analysis of the concept of tone in chiropractic. The purpose of this paper is to clarify the concept of tone as originally understood by Daniel David Palmer from 1895 to 1914 and to monitor its evolution over time. Data was sourced from Palmer's original work, published between 1895 and 1914. A literature search from 1980 to 2016 was also performed on the online databases CINHAL, PubMed and Scopus with key terms including 'tone', 'chiropractic', 'Palmer', 'vitalism', 'health', 'homeostasis', 'holism' and 'wellness'. Finally hand-searches were conducted through chiropractic books and professional literature from 1906 to 1980 for any references to 'tone'. Rodgers' evolutionary method of analysis was used to categorise the data in relation to the surrogates, attributes, references, antecedents and consequences of tone. A total of 49 references were found: five from publications by Palmer; three from the database searches, and; the remaining 41 from professional books, trade journals and websites. There is no clear interpretation of tone in the contemporary chiropractic literature. Tone is closely aligned with functional neurology and can be understood as an interface between the metaphysical and the biomedical. Using the concept of tone as a foundation for practice could strengthen the identity of the chiropractic profession. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Illusory conjunctions of pitch and duration in unfamiliar tone sequences.

Science.gov (United States)

Thompson, W F; Hall, M D; Pressing, J

2001-02-01

In 3 experiments, the authors examined short-term memory for pitch and duration in unfamiliar tone sequences. Participants were presented a target sequence consisting of 2 tones (Experiment 1) or 7 tones (Experiments 2 and 3) and then a probe tone. Participants indicated whether the probe tone matched 1 of the target tones in both pitch and duration. Error rates were relatively low if the probe tone matched 1 of the target tones or if it differed from target tones in pitch, duration, or both. Error rates were remarkably high, however, if the probe tone combined the pitch of 1 target tone with the duration of a different target tone. The results suggest that illusory conjunctions of these dimensions frequently occur. A mathematical model is presented that accounts for the relative contribution of pitch errors, duration errors, and illusory conjunctions of pitch and duration.

Functional Imaging of Human Vestibular Cortex Activity Elicited by Skull Tap and Auditory Tone Burst

Science.gov (United States)

Noohi, Fatemeh; Kinnaird, Catherine; Wood, Scott; Bloomberg, Jacob; Mulavara, Ajitkumar; Seidler, Rachael

2014-01-01

our stimulation method, we measured the ocular VEMP outside of the scanner. This measurement showed that both skull tap and auditory tone burst elicited vestibular evoked activation, indicated by eye muscle response. Our preliminary analyses showed that the skull tap elicited activation in medial frontal gyrus, superior temporal gyrus, postcentral gyrus, transverse temporal gyrus, anterior cingulate, and putamen. The auditory tone bursts elicited activation in medial frontal gyrus, superior temporal gyrus, superior frontal gyrus, precentral gyrus, inferior and superior parietal lobules. In line with our hypothesis, skull taps elicited a pattern of cortical activity closely similar to one elicited by auditory tone bursts. Further analysis will determine the extent to which the skull taps can replace the auditory tone stimulation in clinical and basic science vestibular assessments.

Does Central Bank Tone Move Asset Prices?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schmeling, Maik; Wagner, Christian

the next press conference. Moreover, we find that positive tone changes are associated with increasing government bond yields, lower implied equity volatility, lower variance risk premia, and lower corporate credit spreads. Since we also show that tone changes are unrelated to current and future economic...... fundamentals, these results support the conjecture that central bank tone matters for asset prices through a risk-based channel. Our main findings also apply to U.S. markets, where stock prices and Treasury yields increase when the Fed chair’s tone in the Congressional Testimony becomes more positive....

Rhythm Deficits in "Tone Deafness"

Science.gov (United States)

Foxton, Jessica M.; Nandy, Rachel K.; Griffiths, Timothy D.

2006-01-01

It is commonly observed that "tone deaf" individuals are unable to hear the beat of a tune, yet deficits on simple timing tests have not been found. In this study, we investigated rhythm processing in nine individuals with congenital amusia ("tone deafness") and nine controls. Participants were presented with pairs of 5-note sequences, and were…

Musical experience and Mandarin tone discrimination and imitation

Science.gov (United States)

Gottfried, Terry L.; Staby, Ann M.; Ziemer, Christine J.

2004-05-01

Previous work [T. L. Gottfried and D. Riester, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 108, 2604 (2000)] showed that native speakers of American English with musical training performed better than nonmusicians when identifying the four distinctive tones of Mandarin Chinese (high-level, mid-rising, low-dipping, high-falling). Accuracy for both groups was relatively low since listeners were not trained on the phonemic contrasts. Current research compares musicians and nonmusicians on discrimination and imitation of unfamiliar tones. Listeners were presented with two different Mandarin words that had either the same or different tones; listeners indicated whether the tones were same or different. Thus, they were required to determine a categorical match (same or different tone), rather than an auditory match. All listeners had significantly more difficulty discriminating between mid-rising and low-dipping tones than with other contrasts. Listeners with more musical training showed significantly greater accuracy in their discrimination. Likewise, musicians' spoken imitations of Mandarin tones (model tokens presented by a native speaker) were rated as significantly more native-like than those of nonmusicians. These findings suggest that musicians may have abilities or training that facilitate their perception and production of Mandarin tones. However, further research is needed to determine whether this advantage transfers to language learning situations.

Categorical Perception of Lexical Tones in Mandarin-speaking Congenital Amusics

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Wan Ting Huang

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Previous research suggests that within Mandarin-speaking congenital amusics, only a subgroup has behavioral lexical tone perception impairments (tone agnosia, whereas the rest of amusics do not. The purpose of the current study was to investigate the categorical nature of lexical tone perception in Mandarin-speaking amusics with and without behavioral lexical tone deficits. Three groups of listeners (controls, pure amusics and amusics with tone agnosia participated in tone identification and discrimination tasks. Indexes of the categorical perception of a physical continuum of fundamental frequencies ranging from a rising to level tone were measured. Specifically, the stimulus durations were manipulated at 100 and 200 ms. For both stimulus durations, all groups exhibited similar categorical boundaries. The pure amusics showed sharp identification slopes and significantly peaked discrimination functions similar to those of normal controls. However, such essential characteristics for the categorical perception of lexical tones were not observed in amusics with tone agnosia. An enlarged step-size from 20 Hz to 35 Hz was not able to produce any discrimination peaks in tone agnosics either. The current study revealed that only amusics with tone agnosia showed a lack of categorical tone perception, while the pure amusics demonstrated typical categorical perception of lexical tones, indicating that the deficit of pitch processing in music does not necessarily result in the deficit in the categorical perception of lexical tones. The different performance between congenital amusics with and without tone agnosia provides a new perspective on the proposition of the relationship between music and speech perception.

EFFECTS OF VERAPAMIL ON CHICKEN BIVENTER - CERVICIS MUSCLE

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F.Farokhy

1999-06-01

Full Text Available - Verapamil produces a sustained contraction in isolated biventer-cervicis muscle of chickens between 2-8 days old. From cumulative dose-response curves, ED50 of was calculated for this effect of verapamil. when isolated chicken biventer-cervicis muscle was electrically stimulated, verapamil had no effect on twitch contractures but increased the base line tone of the muscle. Glycerol treatment of the muscle reduced the responses to acetylcholine and KCl but had little effect on contracture produced by verapamil, and no effect on contracture produced by caffeine. Incubation of the muscles with calcium-free Krcbs solution omitted the responses of the muscle to acetylcholine and reduced the response to caffeine. Again, the responses to caffeine and verapamil were less affected compared to KCL. Addition of ethylene glycol tetra-acetic acid (EGTA (2.5 mM abolished the responses of muscle to all compounds. It was concluded that verapamil produces contracture of the muscle by release of calcium from intracellular stores.

Anatomical study on The Arm Greater Yang Small Intestine Meridian Muscle in Human

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kyoung-Sik, Park

2004-06-01

Full Text Available This study was carried to identify the component of Small Intestine Meridian Muscle in human, dividing the regional muscle group into outer, middle, and inner layer. the inner part of body surface were opened widely to demonstrate muscles, nerve, blood vessels and the others, displaying the inner structure of Small Intestine Meridian Muscle. We obtained the results as follows; 1. Small Intestine Meridian Muscle is composed of the muscle, nerve and blood vessels. 2. In human anatomy, it is present the difference between a term of nerve or blood vessels which control the muscle of Meridian Muscle and those which pass near by Meridian Muscle. 3. The inner composition of meridian muscle in human arm is as follows ; 1 Muscle ; Abd. digiti minimi muscle(SI-2, 3, 4, pisometacarpal lig.(SI-4, ext. retinaculum. ext. carpi ulnaris m. tendon.(SI-5, 6, ulnar collateral lig.(SI-5, ext. digiti minimi m. tendon(SI-6, ext. carpi ulnaris(SI-7, triceps brachii(SI-9, teres major(SI-9, deltoid(SI-10, infraspinatus(SI-10, 11, trapezius(Sl-12, 13, 14, 15, supraspinatus(SI-12, 13, lesser rhomboid(SI-14, erector spinae(SI-14, 15, levator scapular(SI-15, sternocleidomastoid(SI-16, 17, splenius capitis(SI-16, semispinalis capitis(SI-16, digasuicus(SI-17, zygomaticus major(Il-18, masseter(SI-18, auriculoris anterior(SI-19 2 Nerve ; Dorsal branch of ulnar nerve(SI-1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, br. of mod. antebrachial cutaneous n.(SI-6, 7, br. of post. antebrachial cutaneous n.(SI-6,7, br. of radial n.(SI-7, ulnar n.(SI-8, br. of axillary n.(SI-9, radial n.(SI-9, subscapular n. br.(SI-9, cutaneous n. br. from C7, 8(SI-10, 14, suprascapular n.(SI-10, 11, 12, 13, intercostal n. br. from T2(SI-11, lat. supraclavicular n. br.(SI-12, intercostal n. br. from C8, T1(SI-12, accessory n. br.(SI-12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, intercostal n. br. from T1,2(SI-13, dorsal scapular n.(SI-14, 15, cutaneous n. br. from C6, C7(SI-15, transverse cervical n.(SI-16, lesser occipital n. & great auricular n. from

Leg blood flow is impaired during small muscle mass exercise in patients with COPD

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Iepsen, Ulrik Winning; Munch, Gregers Druedal Wibe; Rugbjerg, Mette

2017-01-01

to both endothelium-independent (SNP) and endothelium-dependent (ACh) stimulation. The results suggests that leg muscle blood flow is impaired during small muscle mass exercise in patients with COPD possibly due to impaired formation of prostacyclin and increased levels of endothelin-1.......Skeletal muscle blood flow is regulated to match the oxygen demand and dysregulation could contribute to exercise intolerance in patients with COPD. We measured leg hemodynamics and metabolites from vasoactive compounds in muscle interstitial fluid and plasma at rest, during one-legged knee...... the formation of interstitial prostacyclin (vasodilator) was only increased in the controls. There was no difference between groups in the nitrite/nitrate levels (vasodilator) in plasma or interstitial fluid during exercise. Moreover, patients and controls showed similar vasodilatory capacity in response...

Effects of exogenous oxygen derived free radicals on myocardial capillary permeability, vascular tone, and incidence of ventricular arrhythmias in the canine heart

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Svendsen, Jesper Hastrup; Bjerrum, P J

1992-01-01

The aim was to examine the effects of exogenous oxygen derived free radicals on myocardial capillary permeability for a small hydrophilic indicator, postischaemic vascular tone, and the occurrence of arrhythmias in the canine heart in vivo.......The aim was to examine the effects of exogenous oxygen derived free radicals on myocardial capillary permeability for a small hydrophilic indicator, postischaemic vascular tone, and the occurrence of arrhythmias in the canine heart in vivo....

Musicians' working memory for tones, words, and pseudowords.

Science.gov (United States)

Benassi-Werke, Mariana E; Queiroz, Marcelo; Araújo, Rúben S; Bueno, Orlando F A; Oliveira, Maria Gabriela M

2012-01-01

Studies investigating factors that influence tone recognition generally use recognition tests, whereas the majority of the studies on verbal material use self-generated responses in the form of serial recall tests. In the present study we intended to investigate whether tonal and verbal materials share the same cognitive mechanisms, by presenting an experimental instrument that evaluates short-term and working memories for tones, using self-generated sung responses that may be compared to verbal tests. This paradigm was designed according to the same structure of the forward and backward digit span tests, but using digits, pseudowords, and tones as stimuli. The profile of amateur singers and professional singers in these tests was compared in forward and backward digit, pseudoword, tone, and contour spans. In addition, an absolute pitch experimental group was included, in order to observe the possible use of verbal labels in tone memorization tasks. In general, we observed that musical schooling has a slight positive influence on the recall of tones, as opposed to verbal material, which is not influenced by musical schooling. Furthermore, the ability to reproduce melodic contours (up and down patterns) is generally higher than the ability to reproduce exact tone sequences. However, backward spans were lower than forward spans for all stimuli (digits, pseudowords, tones, contour). Curiously, backward spans were disproportionately lower for tones than for verbal material-that is, the requirement to recall sequences in backward rather than forward order seems to differentially affect tonal stimuli. This difference does not vary according to musical expertise.

Loudness of tone pulses in a free field

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Poulsen, Torben

1981-01-01

Investigations of temporal loudness summation of tone pulses have been performed. The investigations comprised equal loudness determinations between pairs of tone pulses with a duration ratio of 1:2, and threshold determinations of the same tone pulses. Pulse durations ranged from 5 to 640 ms...

Alteration of frequency range for binaural beats in acute low-tone hearing loss.

Science.gov (United States)

Karino, Shotaro; Yamasoba, Tatsuya; Ito, Ken; Kaga, Kimitaka

2005-01-01

The effect of acute low-tone sensorineural hearing loss (ALHL) on the interaural frequency difference (IFD) required for perception of binaural beats (BBs) was investigated in 12 patients with unilateral ALHL and 7 patients in whom ALHL had lessened. A continuous pure tone of 30 dB sensation level at 250 Hz was presented to the contralateral, normal-hearing ear. The presence of BBs was determined by a subjective yes-no procedure as the frequency of a loudness-balanced test tone was gradually adjusted around 250 Hz in the affected ear. The frequency range in which no BBs were perceived (FRNB) was significantly wider in the patients with ALHL than in the controls, and FRNBs became narrower in the recovered ALHL group. Specifically, detection of slow BBs with a small IFD was impaired in this limited (10 s) observation period. The significant correlation between the hearing level at 250 Hz and FRNBs suggests that FRNBs represent the degree of cochlear damage caused by ALHL.

[Dichotic perception of Mandarin third tone by Mexican Chinese learners].

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Hongbin

2014-05-01

To investigate the relationship between the advantage ear (cerebral hemisphere) of Spanish-speaking Mexican learners and the third Chinese tone. Third tone Chinese vowel syllables were used as experimental materials with dichotic listening technology to test the Spanish-speaking Mexican Chinese learners (20-32 years old) who studied Chinese about 20 h. In terms of error rates to identify the third Chinese tone, the Spanish-speaking Mexican Chinese learners's reaction to the third tone suggested that their left ears were the advantageous ear (the right cerebral hemisphere) (Z=-2.091, P=0.036). The verbal information of tones influenced the perception of Mexican Chinese learners' mandarin tones. In the process of learning mandarin tones, Mexican Chinese learners gradually formed the category of tones.

Developmental androgen excess programs sympathetic tone and adipose tissue dysfunction and predisposes to a cardiometabolic syndrome in female mice.

Science.gov (United States)

Nohara, Kazunari; Waraich, Rizwana S; Liu, Suhuan; Ferron, Mathieu; Waget, Aurélie; Meyers, Matthew S; Karsenty, Gérard; Burcelin, Rémy; Mauvais-Jarvis, Franck

2013-06-15

Among women, the polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) is considered a form of metabolic syndrome with reproductive abnormalities. Women with PCOS show increased sympathetic tone, visceral adiposity with enlarged adipocytes, hypoadiponectinemia, insulin resistance, glucose intolerance, increased inactive osteocalcin, and hypertension. Excess fetal exposure to androgens has been hypothesized to play a role in the pathogenesis of PCOS. Previously, we showed that neonatal exposure to the androgen testosterone (NT) programs leptin resistance in adult female mice. Here, we studied the impact of NT on lean and adipose tissues, sympathetic tone in cardiometabolic tissues, and the development of metabolic dysfunction in mice. Neonatally androgenized adult female mice (NTF) displayed masculinization of lean tissues with increased cardiac and skeletal muscle as well as kidney masses. NTF mice showed increased and dysfunctional white adipose tissue with increased sympathetic tone in both visceral and subcutaneous fat as well as increased number of enlarged and insulin-resistant adipocytes that displayed altered expression of developmental genes and hypoadiponectinemia. NTF exhibited dysfunctional brown adipose tissue with increased mass and decreased energy expenditure. They also displayed decreased undercarboxylated and active osteocalcin and were predisposed to obesity during chronic androgen excess. NTF showed increased renal sympathetic tone associated with increased blood pressure, and they developed glucose intolerance and insulin resistance. Thus, developmental exposure to testosterone in female mice programs features of cardiometabolic dysfunction, as can be observed in women with PCOS, including increased sympathetic tone, visceral adiposity, insulin resistance, prediabetes, and hypertension.

Modeling pitch perception of complex tones

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Houtsma, A.J.M.

1986-01-01

When one listens to a series of harmonic complex tones that have no acoustic energy at their fundamental frequencies, one usually still hears a melody that corresponds to those missing fundamentals. Since it has become evident some two decades ago that neither Helmholtz's difference tone theory nor

Muscle stiffness at different force levels measured with two myotonometric devices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jarocka, Ewa; Marusiak, Jarosław; Kumorek, Martyna; Jaskólska, Anna; Jaskólski, Artur

2012-01-01

Myotonometric measurements are quantitative methods of muscle tone assessment and may be used as an alternative for palpation evaluation. The objective of the study was to compare the measurements of brachioradialis muscle tone and stiffness using the Myoton-3 and the Myotonometer. The participants were young males (N = 17, mean age 21 ± 1 years). The skeletal muscle state was expressed by the Myoton-3 parameters stiffness (N m −1 ), frequency (Hz) and decrement (no unit) and the Myotonometer's area under the curve (AUC) parameter (area under the curve, no unit), when muscle was at rest and during activity at 25%, 50%, 80% and 100% of maximal voluntary contraction for elbow flexors. Pearson's correlation between AUC and stiffness is r = −0.89, AUC and frequency r = −0.84 and AUC and decrement r = 0.79, p < 0.01. When comparing the results from each experimental condition separately for frequency and AUC, the correlation was from −0.63 to −0.80, for stiffness and AUC it ranged from −0.25 to −0.75 and for decrement and AUC from 0.27 to 0.74. The degree of correlation between myotonometric measurements depends on whether the measured muscle is at rest or during contraction. The correlation is diverse among related parameters. (paper)

Muscle function of the pelvic floor in healthy, puerperal women with pelvic floor dysfunction.

Science.gov (United States)

Castro-Pardiñas, M A; Torres-Lacomba, M; Navarro-Brazález, B

2017-05-01

To understand the function of the pelvic floor muscles (PFM) at different ages in healthy women and in puerperal women with pelvic floor dysfunctions (PFD) and to ascertain whether there are differences among them. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted between June 2014 and September 2016 and included 177 women, 70 of whom had no symptoms of PFD, 53 primiparous mothers in late postpartum and 54 with PFD. The function of the PFM was measured through vaginal palpation (quality of the contraction); manometry (force); dynamometer (tone, strength, and response to stretching), and surface electromyography (neuromuscular activity and resistance). The healthy women showed superior values for PFM tone, maximum strength, neuromuscular activity and resistance than the puerperal mothers and the women with PFD (P.05). The muscle function of the healthy women did not vary significantly with age, except in the case of tone, which was lower in the women older than 46 years (P=.004). Age and births decrease the baseline tone of the PFM in healthy women. Therefore, lower strength, resistance and neuromuscular activity appear to be the main difference between the PFM of women with PFD and the PFM of healthy women. Copyright © 2016 AEU. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

[The influence of high-tone power therapy on the functional status of patients with multiple sclerosis].

Science.gov (United States)

Kubsik, Anna; Klimkiewicz, Paulina; Klimkiewicz, Robert; Jankowska, Katarzyna; Jankowska, Agnieszka; Woldańska-Okońska, Marta

2014-07-01

Multiple sclerosis is a chronic, inflammatory, demyelinating disease of the central nervous system, which is characterized by diverse symptomatology. Most often affects people at a young age gradually leading to their disability. Looking for new therapies to alleviate neurological deficits caused by the disease. One of the alternative methods of therapy is high - tone power therapy. The article is a comparison of high-tone power therapy and kinesis in improving patients with multiple sclerosis. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of high-tone power therapy and exercises in kinesis on the functional status of patients with multiple sclerosis. The study involved 20 patients with multiple sclerosis, both sexes, treated at the Department of Rehabilitation and Physical Medicine in Lodz. Patients were randomly divided into two groups studied. In group high-tone power therapy applied for 60 minutes, while in group II were used exercises for kinesis. Treatment time for both groups of patients was 15 days. To assess the functional status scale was used: Expanded Disability Status Scale of Kurtzke (EDSS), as well as by Barthel ADL Index. Assessment of quality of life were made using MSQOL Questionnaire-54. For the evaluation of gait and balance using Tinetti scale, and pain VAS rated, and Laitinen. Changes in muscle tone was assessed on the basis of the Ashworth scale. Both group I and II improved on scales conducted before and after therapy. In group I, in which the applied high-tone power therapy, reported statistically significant results in 9 out of 10 tested parameters, while in group II, which was used in the exercises in kinesis an improvement in 6 out of 10 tested parameters. Correlating the results of both the test groups in relation to each other did not show statistically significant differences. High-Tone Power Therapy beneficial effect on the functional status of patients with multiple sclerosis. Obtaining results in terms of number of tested

Musical Scales in Tone Sequences Improve Temporal Accuracy.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Min S; Di Luca, Massimiliano

2018-01-01

Predicting the time of stimulus onset is a key component in perception. Previous investigations of perceived timing have focused on the effect of stimulus properties such as rhythm and temporal irregularity, but the influence of non-temporal properties and their role in predicting stimulus timing has not been exhaustively considered. The present study aims to understand how a non-temporal pattern in a sequence of regularly timed stimuli could improve or bias the detection of temporal deviations. We presented interspersed sequences of 3, 4, 5, and 6 auditory tones where only the timing of the last stimulus could slightly deviate from isochrony. Participants reported whether the last tone was 'earlier' or 'later' relative to the expected regular timing. In two conditions, the tones composing the sequence were either organized into musical scales or they were random tones. In one experiment, all sequences ended with the same tone; in the other experiment, each sequence ended with a different tone. Results indicate higher discriminability of anisochrony with musical scales and with longer sequences, irrespective of the knowledge of the final tone. Such an outcome suggests that the predictability of non-temporal properties, as enabled by the musical scale pattern, can be a factor in determining the sensitivity of time judgments.

Affective evaluation of simultaneous tone combinations in congenital amusia.

Science.gov (United States)

Marin, Manuela M; Thompson, William Forde; Gingras, Bruno; Stewart, Lauren

2015-11-01

Congenital amusia is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by impaired pitch processing. Although pitch simultaneities are among the fundamental building blocks of Western tonal music, affective responses to simultaneities such as isolated dyads varying in consonance/dissonance or chords varying in major/minor quality have rarely been studied in amusic individuals. Thirteen amusics and thirteen matched controls enculturated to Western tonal music provided pleasantness ratings of sine-tone dyads and complex-tone dyads in piano timbre as well as perceived happiness/sadness ratings of sine-tone triads and complex-tone triads in piano timbre. Acoustical analyses of roughness and harmonicity were conducted to determine whether similar acoustic information contributed to these evaluations in amusics and controls. Amusic individuals' pleasantness ratings indicated sensitivity to consonance and dissonance for complex-tone (piano timbre) dyads and, to a lesser degree, sine-tone dyads, whereas controls showed sensitivity when listening to both tone types. Furthermore, amusic individuals showed some sensitivity to the happiness-major association in the complex-tone condition, but not in the sine-tone condition. Controls rated major chords as happier than minor chords in both tone types. Linear regression analyses revealed that affective ratings of dyads and triads by amusic individuals were predicted by roughness but not harmonicity, whereas affective ratings by controls were predicted by both roughness and harmonicity. We discuss affective sensitivity in congenital amusia in view of theories of affective responses to isolated chords in Western listeners. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Relationships among arteriolar, regional, and whole organ blood flow in cremaster muscle

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Proctor, K.G.; Busija, D.W.

1985-01-01

The relationship between microvessel and tissue blood flow (BF) was determined with two different techniques during changes in local vasomotor tone in the rat cremaster muscle. Whole organ and regional BF were measured with the radioactive microsphere technique (BFms) and compared with values calculated in individual arterioles (BFc) using the dual-slit cross-correlation technique. In the muscle prepared for microcirculatory observation (i.e., dissected, surgically divided into a flattened sheet, and covered with clear plastic), resting BFms was 43 +/- 3 ml X min-1 X 100 g-1, which was significantly higher than paired BFms in the contralateral undisturbed muscle (24 +/- 7 ml X min-1 X 100 g-1). Over a range in vasomotor tone, regional BFms to the edge of the tissue, which was exposed to the trauma of the surgery, was 56 +/- 7 ml X min-1 X 100 g-1 compared with 38 +/- 5 in the less traumatized center region, a significant difference of 79 +/- 31%. There was no linear relationship between arteriolar BFc and BFms. The correlation was not improved if the factors of vessel size, vasomotor tone, animal size, or muscle size were considered. Changes in arteriolar BFc (y) overestimated changes in total tissue BFms (x) by a factor of 2 (y = 2.01x - 0.6; r = 0.86), but changes in arteriolar BFc were proportional to changes in BFms if only the center region (x) of the tissue was considered (y = 1.08x - 0.1; r = 0.84). The general implication from these results is that factors that influence perfusion heterogeneity, such as surgical trauma, should be carefully considered when correlating macro- and microcirculatory measurements of BF

Moderate Baseline Vagal Tone Predicts Greater Prosociality in Children

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, Jonas G.; Kahle, Sarah; Hastings, Paul D.

2016-01-01

Vagal tone is widely believed to be an important physiological aspect of emotion regulation and associated positive behaviors. However, there is inconsistent evidence for relations between children’s baseline vagal tone and their helpful or prosocial responses to others (Hastings & Miller, 2014). Recent work in adults suggests a quadratic association (inverted U-shape curve) between baseline vagal tone and prosociality (Kogan et al., 2014). The present research examined whether this nonlinear association was evident in children. We found consistent evidence for a quadratic relation between vagal tone and prosociality across 3 samples of children using 6 different measures. Compared to low and high vagal tone, moderate vagal tone in early childhood concurrently predicted greater self-reported prosociality (Study 1), observed empathic concern in response to the distress of others and greater generosity toward less fortunate peers (Study 2), and longitudinally predicted greater self-, mother-, and teacher-reported prosociality 5.5 years later in middle childhood (Study 3). Taken together, our findings suggest that moderate vagal tone at rest represents a physiological preparedness or tendency to engage in different forms of prosociality across different contexts. Early moderate vagal tone may reflect an optimal balance of regulation and arousal that helps prepare children to sympathize, comfort, and share with others. PMID:27819463

A fundamental residue pitch perception bias for tone language speakers

Science.gov (United States)

Petitti, Elizabeth

A complex tone composed of only higher-order harmonics typically elicits a pitch percept equivalent to the tone's missing fundamental frequency (f0). When judging the direction of residue pitch change between two such tones, however, listeners may have completely opposite perceptual experiences depending on whether they are biased to perceive changes based on the overall spectrum or the missing f0 (harmonic spacing). Individual differences in residue pitch change judgments are reliable and have been associated with musical experience and functional neuroanatomy. Tone languages put greater pitch processing demands on their speakers than non-tone languages, and we investigated whether these lifelong differences in linguistic pitch processing affect listeners' bias for residue pitch. We asked native tone language speakers and native English speakers to perform a pitch judgment task for two tones with missing fundamental frequencies. Given tone pairs with ambiguous pitch changes, listeners were asked to judge the direction of pitch change, where the direction of their response indicated whether they attended to the overall spectrum (exhibiting a spectral bias) or the missing f0 (exhibiting a fundamental bias). We found that tone language speakers are significantly more likely to perceive pitch changes based on the missing f0 than English speakers. These results suggest that tone-language speakers' privileged experience with linguistic pitch fundamentally tunes their basic auditory processing.

RhoA/ROCK pathway is the major molecular determinant of basal tone in intact human internal anal sphincter.

Science.gov (United States)

Rattan, Satish; Singh, Jagmohan

2012-04-01

The knowledge of molecular control mechanisms underlying the basal tone in the intact human internal anal sphincter (IAS) is critical for the pathophysiology and rational therapy for a number of debilitating rectoanal motility disorders. We determined the role of RhoA/ROCK and PKC pathways by comparing the effects of ROCK- and PKC-selective inhibitors Y 27632 and Gö 6850 (10(-8) to 10(-4) M), respectively, on the basal tone in the IAS vs. the rectal smooth muscle (RSM). Western blot studies were performed to determine the levels of RhoA/ROCK II, PKC-α, MYPT1, CPI-17, and MLC(20) in the unphosphorylated and phosphorylated forms, in the IAS vs. RSM. Confocal microscopic studies validated the membrane distribution of ROCK II. Finally, to confirm a direct relationship, we examined the enzymatic activities and changes in the basal IAS tone and p-MYPT1, p-CPI-17, and p-MLC(20), before and after Y 27632 and Gö 6850. Data show higher levels of RhoA/ROCK II and related downstream signal transduction proteins in the IAS vs. RSM. In addition, data show a significant correlation between the active RhoA/ROCK levels, ROCK enzymatic activity, downstream proteins, and basal IAS tone, before and after ROCK inhibitor. From these data we conclude 1) RhoA/ROCK and downstream signaling are constitutively active in the IAS, and this pathway (in contrast with PKC) is the critical determinant of the basal tone in intact human IAS; and 2) RhoA and ROCK are potential therapeutic targets for a number of rectoanal motility disorders for which currently there is no satisfactory treatment.

When does the tone of earnings press releases matter?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Boudt, Kris; Thewissen, James; Torsin, Wouter

2018-01-01

The tone of a firm's financial disclosure is increasingly used as a variable in panel data regressions to predict future performance and explain investors’ reaction at earnings announcement. We investigate when tone is informative, and argue that the informativeness of tone increases with the

Gaussian Pulse-Based Two-Threshold Parallel Scaling Tone Reservation for PAPR Reduction of OFDM Signals

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lei Guan

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Tone Reservation (TR is a technique proposed to combat the high Peak-to-Average Power Ratio (PAPR problem of Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM signals. However conventional TR suffers from high computational cost due to the difficulties in finding an effective cancellation signal in the time domain by using only a few tones in the frequency domain. It also suffers from a high cost of hardware implementation and long handling time delay issues due to the need to conduct multiple iterations to cancel multiple high signal peaks. In this paper, we propose an efficient approach, called two-threshold parallel scaling, for implementing a previously proposed Gaussian pulse-based Tone Reservation algorithm. Compared to conventional approaches, this technique significantly reduces the hardware implementation complexity and cost, while also reducing signal processing time delay by using just two iterations. Experimental results show that the proposed technique can effectively reduce the PAPR of OFDM signals with only a very small number of reserved tones and with limited usage of hardware resources. This technique is suitable for any OFDM-based communication systems, especially for Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB systems employing large IFFT/FFT transforms.

Testing a model of intonation in a tone language.

Science.gov (United States)

Lindau, M

1986-09-01

Schematic fundamental frequency curves of simple statements and questions are generated for Hausa, a two-tone language of Nigeria, using a modified version of an intonational model developed by Gårding and Bruce [Nordic Prosody II, edited by T. Fretheim (Tapir, Trondheim, 1981), pp. 33-39]. In this model, rules for intonation and tones are separated. Intonation is represented as sloping grids of (near) parallel lines, inside which tones are placed. The tones are associated with turning points of the fundamental frequency contour. Local rules may also modify the exact placement of a tone within the grid. The continuous fundamental frequency contour is modeled by concatenating the tonal points using polynomial equations. Thus the final pitch contour is modeled as an interaction between global and local factors. The slope of the intonational grid lines depends at least on sentence type (statement or question), sentence length, and tone pattern. The model is tested by reference to data from nine speakers of Kano Hausa.

Altered pharyngeal muscles in Parkinson disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Mu, Liancai; Sobotka, Stanislaw; Chen, Jingming; Su, Hungxi; Sanders, Ira; Adler, Charles H; Shill, Holly A; Caviness, John N; Samanta, Johan E; Beach, Thomas G

2012-06-01

Dysphagia (impaired swallowing) is common in patients with Parkinson disease (PD) and is related to aspiration pneumonia, the primary cause of death in PD. Therapies that ameliorate the limb motor symptoms of PD are ineffective for dysphagia. This suggests that the pathophysiology of PD dysphagia may differ from that affecting limb muscles, but little is known about potential neuromuscular abnormalities in the swallowing muscles in PD. This study examined the fiber histochemistry of pharyngeal constrictor and cricopharyngeal sphincter muscles in postmortem specimens from 8 subjects with PD and 4 age-matched control subjects. Pharyngeal muscles in subjects with PD exhibited many atrophic fibers, fiber type grouping, and fast-to-slow myosin heavy chain transformation. These alterations indicate that the pharyngeal muscles experienced neural degeneration and regeneration over the course of PD. Notably, subjects with PD with dysphagia had a higher percentage of atrophic myofibers versus with those without dysphagia and controls. The fast-to-slow fiber-type transition is consistent with abnormalities in swallowing, slow movement of food, and increased tone in the cricopharyngeal sphincter in subjects with PD. The alterations in the pharyngeal muscles may play a pathogenic role in the development of dysphagia in subjects with PD.

Pattern Differences of Small Hand Muscle Atrophy in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Mimic Disorders.

Science.gov (United States)

Fang, Jia; Liu, Ming-Sheng; Guan, Yu-Zhou; Du, Hua; Li, Ben-Hong; Cui, Bo; Ding, Qing-Yun; Cui, Li-Ying

2016-04-05

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and some mimic disorders, such as distal-type cervical spondylotic amyotrophy (CSA), Hirayama disease (HD), and spinobulbar muscular atrophy (SBMA) may present with intrinsic hand muscle atrophy. This study aimed to investigate different patterns of small hand muscle involvement in ALS and some mimic disorders. We compared the abductor digiti minimi/abductor pollicis brevis (ADM/APB) compound muscle action potential (CMAP) ratios between 200 ALS patients, 95 patients with distal-type CSA, 88 HD patients, 43 SBMA patients, and 150 normal controls. The ADM/APB CMAP amplitude ratio was significantly higher in the ALS patients (P mimic disorders presumably reflect distinct pathophysiological mechanisms underlying different disorders, and may aid in distinguishing between ALS and mimic disorders.

Multi-Band Multi-Tone Tunable Millimeter-Wave Frequency Synthesizer For Satellite Beacon Transmitter

Science.gov (United States)

Simons, Rainee N.; Wintucky, Edwin G.

2016-01-01

This paper presents the design and test results of a multi-band multi-tone tunable millimeter-wave frequency synthesizer, based on a solid-state frequency comb generator. The intended application of the synthesizer is in a satellite beacon transmitter for radio wave propagation studies at K-band (18 to 26.5 GHz), Q-band (37 to 42 GHz), and E-band (71 to 76 GHz). In addition, the architecture for a compact beacon transmitter, which includes the multi-tone synthesizer, polarizer, horn antenna, and power/control electronics, has been investigated for a notional space-to-ground radio wave propagation experiment payload on a small satellite. The above studies would enable the design of robust high throughput multi-Gbps data rate future space-to-ground satellite communication links.

Two-Tone Interference Caused by Active Amplification

Science.gov (United States)

Duke, T. A. J.; Andor, D.; Jülicher, F.

2003-02-01

To capture faint sounds, the ear uses an active system of amplification. We and our colleagues have put forward the idea that the amplifier comprises a set of "self-tuned critical oscillators": each hair cell contains a force-generating dynamical system which is maintained at the threshold of an oscillatory instability, or Hopf bifurcation. Our analysis shows that the active response to a pure tone is perfectly suited to the ear's needs, since it provides frequency selectivity, exquisite sensitivity and wide dynamic range. However, the intrinsic nonlinearity of the mechanism causes tones of different frequency to interfere with one another in the cochlea. In order to provide a framework for understanding how the ear processes the more complex sounds of speech and music, we have examined the response of a critical Hopf oscillator to two tones. Our calculations indicate how the response to one tone is suppressed by the presence of a second tone of similar frequency. They also show how a characteristic spectrum of distortion products is generated. Based on this analysis, we discuss to what extent psychophysical phenomena such as the sensation of dissonance and auditory illusions can be attributed to the physical nature of the peripheral detection apparatus.

EFFECT OF MUSCLE ENERGY TECHNIQUE ON FLEXIBILITY OF HAMSTRING AND CALF MUSCLES AND SPRINTING PERFORMANCE IN SPRINTERS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Prasad Naik

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Background: Muscle energy technique is used for restoring normal tone in hypertonic muscles, strengthening weak muscles, preparing muscle for subsequent stretching, one of the main uses of this method is to normalize joint range which may help in increase flexibility and performance in sprinters. The aim of the study is to evaluate the effect of muscle energy technique on flexibility of hamstrings and calf muscles and sprinting performance in sprinters. The objective of the study is to determine the muscle energy technique on hamstrings and calf muscle flexibility and sprinting performance in sprinters by using goniometer and timing of sprinting performance. Method: The study design is an experimental study in which 30 male sprinters were recruited in this study. The study sample included all male healthy sprinters, aged between 15 -30 years. All subjects received warm up, muscle energy technique and cool down exercises daily for a period of 6weeks.The outcome measures are 90°-90°popliteal angle for assessing hamstring flexibility and ROM of ankle joint for calf muscles by universal goniometer and sprinting performance time by using stopwatch. Results: Independent t-test and paired t- test are used to analyse the data. A significant difference was found between pre and post values of hamstring and calf muscle flexibility and sprinting performance after the analysis in this study. Conclusion: This study shows that there was a significant effect of MET on hamstring and calf muscle flexibility and sprinting performance.

Two zero-flow pressure intercepts exist in autoregulating isolated skeletal muscle.

Science.gov (United States)

Braakman, R; Sipkema, P; Westerhof, N

1990-06-01

The autoregulating vascular bed of the isolated canine extensor digitorum longus muscle was investigated for the possible existence of two positive zero-flow pressure axis intercepts, a tone-dependent one and a tone-independent one. An isolated preparation, perfused with autologous blood, was used to exclude effects of collateral flow and nervous and humoral regulation while autoregulation was left intact [mean autoregulatory gain 0.50 +/- 0.24 (SD)]. In a first series of experiments, the steady-state (zero flow) pressure axis intercept [mean 8.9 +/- 2.6 (SD) mmHg, tone independent] and the instantaneous (zero flow) pressure axis intercept [mean 28.5 +/- 9.9 (SD) mmHg, tone dependent] were determined as a function of venous pressure (range: 0-45 mmHg) and were independent of venous pressure until the venous pressure exceeded their respective values. Beyond this point the relations between the venous pressure and the steady-state and instantaneous pressure axis intercept followed the line of identity. The findings agree with the predictions of the vascular waterfall model. In a second series it was shown by means of administration of vasoactive drugs that the instantaneous pressure axis intercept is tone dependent, whereas the steady-state pressure axis intercept is not. It is concluded that there is a (proximal) tone-dependent zero-flow pressure at the arteriolar level and a (distal) tone-independent zero-flow pressure at the venous level.

Dissociation of tone and vowel processing in Mandarin idioms.

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Jiehui; Gao, Shan; Ma, Weiyi; Yao, Dezhong

2012-09-01

Using event-related potentials, this study measured the access of suprasegmental (tone) and segmental (vowel) information in spoken word recognition with Mandarin idioms. Participants performed a delayed-response acceptability task, in which they judged the correctness of the last word of each idiom, which might deviate from the correct word in either tone or vowel. Results showed that, compared with the correct idioms, a larger early negativity appeared only for vowel violation. Additionally, a larger N400 effect was observed for vowel mismatch than tone mismatch. A control experiment revealed that these differences were not due to low-level physical differences across conditions; instead, they represented the greater constraining power of vowels than tones in the lexical selection and semantic integration of the spoken words. Furthermore, tone violation elicited a more robust late positive component than vowel violation, suggesting different reanalyses of the two types of information. In summary, the current results support a functional dissociation of tone and vowel processing in spoken word recognition. Copyright © 2012 Society for Psychophysiological Research.

Cantonese tone production performance of mainstream school children with hearing impairment.

Science.gov (United States)

Cheung, Karen K L; Lau, Ada H Y; Lam, Joffee H S; Lee, Kathy Y S

2014-12-01

This study investigated the Cantonese tone production ability of children with hearing impairment studying in mainstream schools. The participants were 87 Cantonese-speaking children with mild-to-profound degrees of hearing loss aged 5.92-13.58 in Hong Kong. Most of the children were fitted with hearing aids (n = 65); 17 of them had profound hearing impairment, one who had severe hearing loss had cochlear implantation, and four who had mild hearing loss were without any hearing device. The Hong Kong Cantonese Articulation Test was administered, and the tones produced were rated by two of the authors and a speech-language pathologist. Group effects of tones, hearing loss level, and also an interaction of the two were found to be significant. The children with profound hearing impairment performed significantly worse than most of the other children. Tone 1 was produced most accurately, whereas tone 6 productions were the poorest. No relationship was found between the number of years of mainstreaming and tone production ability. Tone production error pattern revealed that confusion patterns in tone perception coincided with those in production. Tones having a similar fundamental frequency (F0) at the onset also posed difficulty in tone production for children with hearing impairment.

Tone perception in Mandarin-speaking school age children with otitis media with effusion.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ting Cai

Full Text Available The present study explored tone perception ability in school age Mandarin-speaking children with otitis media with effusion (OME in noisy listening environments. The study investigated the interaction effects of noise, tone type, age, and hearing status on monaural tone perception, and assessed the application of a hierarchical clustering algorithm for profiling hearing impairment in children with OME.Forty-one children with normal hearing and normal middle ear status and 84 children with OME with or without hearing loss participated in this study. The children with OME were further divided into two subgroups based on their severity and pattern of hearing loss using a hierarchical clustering algorithm. Monaural tone recognition was measured using a picture-identification test format incorporating six sets of monosyllabic words conveying four lexical tones under speech spectrum noise, with the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR conditions ranging from -9 to -21 dB.Linear correlation indicated tone recognition thresholds of children with OME were significantly correlated with age and pure tone hearing thresholds at every frequency tested. Children with hearing thresholds less affected by OME performed similarly to their peers with normal hearing. Tone recognition thresholds of children with auditory status more affected by OME were significantly inferior to those of children with normal hearing or with minor hearing loss. Younger children demonstrated poorer tone recognition performance than older children with OME. A mixed design repeated-measure ANCOVA showed significant main effects of listening condition, hearing status, and tone type on tone recognition. Contrast comparisons revealed that tone recognition scores were significantly better under -12 dB SNR than under -15 dB SNR conditions and tone recognition scores were significantly worse under -18 dB SNR than those obtained under -15 dB SNR conditions. Tone 1 was the easiest tone to identify and

Tone perception in Mandarin-speaking school age children with otitis media with effusion.

Science.gov (United States)

Cai, Ting; McPherson, Bradley; Li, Caiwei; Yang, Feng

2017-01-01

The present study explored tone perception ability in school age Mandarin-speaking children with otitis media with effusion (OME) in noisy listening environments. The study investigated the interaction effects of noise, tone type, age, and hearing status on monaural tone perception, and assessed the application of a hierarchical clustering algorithm for profiling hearing impairment in children with OME. Forty-one children with normal hearing and normal middle ear status and 84 children with OME with or without hearing loss participated in this study. The children with OME were further divided into two subgroups based on their severity and pattern of hearing loss using a hierarchical clustering algorithm. Monaural tone recognition was measured using a picture-identification test format incorporating six sets of monosyllabic words conveying four lexical tones under speech spectrum noise, with the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) conditions ranging from -9 to -21 dB. Linear correlation indicated tone recognition thresholds of children with OME were significantly correlated with age and pure tone hearing thresholds at every frequency tested. Children with hearing thresholds less affected by OME performed similarly to their peers with normal hearing. Tone recognition thresholds of children with auditory status more affected by OME were significantly inferior to those of children with normal hearing or with minor hearing loss. Younger children demonstrated poorer tone recognition performance than older children with OME. A mixed design repeated-measure ANCOVA showed significant main effects of listening condition, hearing status, and tone type on tone recognition. Contrast comparisons revealed that tone recognition scores were significantly better under -12 dB SNR than under -15 dB SNR conditions and tone recognition scores were significantly worse under -18 dB SNR than those obtained under -15 dB SNR conditions. Tone 1 was the easiest tone to identify and Tone 3 was the most

Lexical tone and stuttering loci in Mandarin: evidence from preschool children who stutter.

Science.gov (United States)

Chou, Fang-Chi; Zebrowski, Patricia; Yang, Shu-Lan

2015-02-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between stuttering loci and lexical tone in Mandarin-speaking preschoolers. Conversational samples from 20 Taiwanese children who stutter (CWS; M = 4:9; range = 3:2-6:4) were analysed for frequency and type of speech disfluency and lexical tone associated with stuttering-like disfluencies (SLDs). Results indicated that SLDs were significantly more likely to be produced on Mandarin syllables carrying Tone 3 and Tone 4 syllables compared to syllables carrying either Tone 1 or Tone 2. Post-hoc analyses revealed: (1) no significant differences in the stuttering frequencies between Tone 1 and Tone 2, or between Tone 3 and Tone 4, and (2) a higher incidence of stuttering on syllables carrying Tone 3 and Tone 4 embedded in conflicting (as opposed to compatible) tonal contexts. Results suggest that the higher incidence of stuttering on Mandarin syllables carrying either Tone 3 or 4 may be attributed to the increased level of speech motor demand underlying rapid F0 change both within and across syllables.

Multimodal vaginal toning for bladder symptoms and quality of life in stress urinary incontinence.

Science.gov (United States)

de la Torre, Sarah; Miller, Larry E

2017-08-01

Treatment options for women with stress urinary incontinence (SUI) have limitations. We hypothesized that multimodal vaginal toning therapy would improve bladder symptoms and quality of life in women with postpartum SUI and sexual function complaints. Patients self-administered 24 sessions of multimodal vaginal toning therapy lasting 10 min each over 50 days. Outcomes included 1-h pad weight test, Urogenital Distress Inventory Short Form (UDI-6), Incontinence Impact Questionnaire-Short Form (IIQ-7), Female Sexual Distress Scale-Revised 2005 (FSDS-R), Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI), pelvic floor muscle strength, patient satisfaction, and adverse events. Of the 55 patients enrolled (safety population), 48 completed the study per-protocol (PP population). A total of 38 (79%) patients had a positive 1-h pad weight test at baseline. In this group, urine leakage was moderate or severe in 82% of patients at baseline, but in only 18% after treatment. Treatment success was 84%, defined as >50% improvement in pad weight relative to baseline. In the PP population, mean UDI-6 score improved by 50% (p life improved by 54% for FSDS-R and 15% for FSFI (both p life in women with SUI.

Empirical measurements on a Sesotho tone labeling algorithm

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Raborife, M

2012-05-01

Full Text Available This paper discusses the empirical assessments employed on two versions of a Sesotho tone labeling algorithm. This algorithm uses linguistically-defined Sesotho tonal rules to predict the tone labels on the syllables of Sesotho words. The two...

The Theory of Adaptive Dispersion and Acoustic-phonetic Properties of Cross-language Lexical-tone Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Alexander, Jennifer Alexandra

Lexical-tone languages use fundamental frequency (F0/pitch) to convey word meaning. About 41.8% of the world's languages use lexical tone (Maddieson, 2008), yet those systems are under-studied. I aim to increase our understanding of speech-sound inventory organization by extending to tone-systems a model of vowel-system organization, the Theory of Adaptive Dispersion (TAD) (Liljencrants and Lindblom, 1972). This is a cross-language investigation of whether and how the size of a tonal inventory affects (A) acoustic tone-space size and (B) dispersion of tone categories within the tone-space. I compared five languages with very different tone inventories: Cantonese (3 contour, 3 level tones); Mandarin (3 contour, 1 level tone); Thai (2 contour, 3 level tones); Yoruba (3 level tones only); and Igbo (2 level tones only). Six native speakers (3 female) of each language produced 18 CV syllables in isolation, with each of his/her language's tones, six times. I measured tonal F0 across the vowel at onset, midpoint, and offglide. Tone-space size was the F0 difference in semitones (ST) between each language's highest and lowest tones. Tone dispersion was the F0 distance (ST) between two tones shared by multiple languages. Following the TAD, I predicted that languages with larger tone inventories would have larger tone-spaces. Against expectations, tone-space size was fixed across level-tone languages at midpoint and offglide, and across contour-tone languages (except Thai) at offglide. However, within each language type (level-tone vs. contour-tone), languages with smaller tone inventories had larger tone spaces at onset. Tone-dispersion results were also unexpected. The Cantonese mid-level tone was further dispersed from a tonal baseline than the Yoruba mid-level tone; Cantonese mid-level tone dispersion was therefore greater than theoretically necessary. The Cantonese high-level tone was also further dispersed from baseline than the Mandarin high-level tone -- at midpoint

The effects of cervical traction, cranial rhythmic impulse, and Mckenzie exercise on headache and cervical muscle stiffness in episodic tension-type headache patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Choi, Sung-Yong; Choi, Jung-Hyun

2016-03-01

[Purpose] The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of cervical traction treatment, cranial rhythmic impulse treatment, a manual therapy, and McKenzie exercise, a dynamic strengthening exercise, on patients who have the neck muscle stiffness of the infrequent episodic tension-type (IETTH) headache and frequent episodic tension-type headache(FETTH), as well as to provide the basic materials for clinical interventions. [Subjects] Twenty-seven subjects (males: 15, females: 12) who were diagnosed with IETTH and FETTH after treatment by a neurologist were divided into three groups: (a cervical traction group (CTG, n=9), a cranial rhythmic contractiongroup (CRIG, n=9), and a McKenzie exercise group (MEG, n=9). An intervention was conducted for each group and the differences in their degrees of neck pain and changes in muscle tone were observed. [Results] In the within-group comparison of each group, headache significantly decreased in CTG. According to the results of the analysis of the muscle tone of the upper trapezius, there was a statistically significant difference in MEG on the right side and in CRIG on the left side. According to the results of the analysis of the muscle tone of the sternocleidomastoid muscle, there was a statistically significant difference in MEG on the right side and in CRIG on the left side. [Conclusion] In the comparison of the splenius capitis muscle between the groups, there was a statistically significant difference on the right side. Hence, compared to the other methods, cervical traction is concluded to be more effective at reducing headaches in IETTH and FETTH patients.

Aging-associated changes in microRNA expression profile of internal anal sphincter smooth muscle: Role of microRNA-133a

Science.gov (United States)

Singh, Jagmohan; Boopathi, Ettickan; Addya, Sankar; Phillips, Benjamin; Rigoutsos, Isidore; Penn, Raymond B.

2016-01-01

A comprehensive genomic and proteomic, computational, and physiological approach was employed to examine the (previously unexplored) role of microRNAs (miRNAs) as regulators of internal anal sphincter (IAS) smooth muscle contractile phenotype and basal tone. miRNA profiling, genome-wide expression, validation, and network analyses were employed to assess changes in mRNA and miRNA expression in IAS smooth muscles from young vs. aging rats. Multiple miRNAs, including rno-miR-1, rno-miR-340-5p, rno-miR-185, rno-miR-199a-3p, rno-miR-200c, rno-miR-200b, rno-miR-31, rno-miR-133a, and rno-miR-206, were found to be upregulated in aging IAS. qPCR confirmed the upregulated expression of these miRNAs and downregulation of multiple, predicted targets (Eln, Col3a1, Col1a1, Zeb2, Myocd, Srf, Smad1, Smad2, Rhoa/Rock2, Fn1, Tagln v2, Klf4, and Acta2) involved in regulation of smooth muscle contractility. Subsequent studies demonstrated an aging-associated increase in the expression of miR-133a, corresponding decreases in RhoA, ROCK2, MYOCD, SRF, and SM22α protein expression, RhoA-signaling, and a decrease in basal and agonist [U-46619 (thromboxane A2 analog)]-induced increase in the IAS tone. Moreover, in vitro transfection of miR-133a caused a dose-dependent increase of IAS tone in strips, which was reversed by anti-miR-133a. Last, in vivo perianal injection of anti-miR-133a reversed the loss of IAS tone associated with age. This work establishes the important regulatory effect of miRNA-133a on basal and agonist-stimulated IAS tone. Moreover, reversal of age-associated loss of tone via anti-miR delivery strongly implicates miR dysregulation as a causal factor in the aging-associated decrease in IAS tone and suggests that miR-133a is a feasible therapeutic target in aging-associated rectoanal incontinence. PMID:27634012

Dopamine transporters govern diurnal variation in extracellular dopamine tone

OpenAIRE

Ferris, Mark J.; España, Rodrigo A.; Locke, Jason L.; Konstantopoulos, Joanne K.; Rose, Jamie H.; Chen, Rong; Jones, Sara R.

2014-01-01

The mechanism for diurnal (i.e., light/dark) oscillations in extracellular dopamine tone in mesolimbic and nigrostriatal systems is unknown. This is because, unlike other neurotransmitter systems, variation in dopamine tone does not correlate with variation in dopamine cell firing. The current research pinpoints the dopamine transporter as a critical governor of diurnal variation in both extracellular dopamine tone and the intracellular availability of releasable dopamine. These data describe...

Increased rhythmicity in hypertensive arterial smooth muscle is linked to transient receptor potential canonical channels

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Chen, Xiaoping; Yang, Dachun; Ma, Shuangtao

2010-01-01

Vasomotion describes oscillations of arterial vascular tone due to synchronized changes of intracellular calcium concentrations. Since increased calcium influx into vascular smooth muscle cells from spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) has been associated with variances of transient receptor pot...

Vagal tone during infant contingency learning and its disruption.

Science.gov (United States)

Sullivan, Margaret Wolan

2016-04-01

This study used contingency learning to examine changes in infants' vagal tone during learning and its disruption. The heart rate of 160 five-month-old infants was recorded continuously during the first of two training sessions as they experienced an audiovisual event contingent on their pulling. Maternal reports of infant temperament were also collected. Baseline vagal tone, a measure of parasympathetic regulation of the heart, was related to vagal levels during the infants' contingency learning session, but not to their learner status. Vagal tone levels did not vary significantly over session minutes. Instead, vagal tone levels were a function of both individual differences in learner status and infant soothability. Vagal levels of infants who learned in the initial session were similar regardless of their soothability; however, vagal levels of infants who learned in a subsequent session differed as a function of soothability. Additionally, vagal levels during contingency disruption were significantly higher among infants in this group who were more soothable as opposed to those who were less soothable. The results suggest that contingency learning and disruption is associated with stable vagal tone in the majority of infants, but that individual differences in attention processes and state associated with vagal tone may be most readily observed during the disruption phase. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Statistics of EMIC Rising Tones Observed by the Van Allen Probes

Science.gov (United States)

Sigsbee, K. M.; Kletzing, C.; Smith, C. W.; Santolik, O.

2017-12-01

We will present results from an ongoing statistical study of electromagnetic ion cyclotron (EMIC) wave rising tones observed by the Van Allen Probes. Using data from the Electric and Magnetic Field Instrument Suite and Integrated Science (EMFISIS) fluxgate magnetometer, we have identified orbits by both Van Allen Probes with EMIC wave events from the start of the mission in fall 2012 through fall 2016. Orbits with EMIC wave events were further examined for evidence of rising tones. Most EMIC wave rising tones were found during H+ band EMIC wave events. In Fourier time-frequency power spectrograms of the fluxgate magnetometer data, H+ band rising tones generally took the form of triggered emission type events, where the discrete rising tone structures rapidly rise in frequency out of the main band of observed H+ EMIC waves. A smaller percentage of EMIC wave rising tone events were found in the He+ band, where rising tones may appear as discrete structures with a positive slope embedded within the main band of observed He+ EMIC waves, similar in appearance to whistler-mode chorus elements. Understanding the occurrence rate and properties of rising tone EMIC waves will provide observational context for theoretical studies indicating that EMIC waves exhibiting non-linear behavior, such as rising tones, may be more effective at scattering radiation belt electrons than ordinary EMIC waves.

Correlation between Mechanical Properties of the Ankle Muscles and Postural Sway during the Menstrual Cycle.

Science.gov (United States)

Yim, JongEun; Petrofsky, Jerrold; Lee, Haneul

2018-03-01

Ankle and foot injuries are common among athletes and physically active individuals. The most common residual disability, ankle sprain, is characterized by instability along with postural sway. If the supporting structures around a joint become lax, posture stability and balance are also affected. Previous studies have examined muscle stiffness and elasticity and postural sway separately; however, the relationship between these factors is yet unknown. It is well known that the levels of sex hormones, especially estrogen, change in women over the phase of the menstrual cycle. Therefore, this study examined the relationship between the mechanical properties of tissue and balance activity using a non-invasive digital palpation device to determine if they undergo any changes over the menstrual cycle in young women. Sixteen young women with regular menstrual cycles completed the study. Tone, stiffness, and elasticity of the ankle muscles (lateral gastrocnemius, peroneus longus, and tibialis anterior) were measured using a non-invasive digital palpation device. Postural sway was recorded while the participants performed balance tasks during ovulation and menstruation. Significantly greater posture sway characteristics and ankle muscle elasticity were found during ovulation than during menstruation; lower tone and stiffness of the ankle muscles were observed at ovulation (p connective tissues. We therefore postulate that estrogen increases joint and muscle laxity and affects posture stability according to the phase of the menstrual cycle.

Fundamental role for the KCNE4 ancillary subunit in Kv7.4 regulation of arterial tone

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jepps, Thomas A; Carr, Georgina; Lundegaard, Pia R

2015-01-01

tone by Kv7 channels. In HEK cells expressing Kv7.4, co-expression of KCNE4 increased the membrane expression of Kv7.4 and significantly altered Kv7.4 current properties. Quantitative PCR analysis of different rat arteries found that the KCNE4 isoform predominated and proximity ligation experiments...... leads to reduced Kv7.4 membrane abundance, a depolarized membrane potential and an augmented response to vasoconstrictors. KCNE4 is a key regulator of the function and expression of Kv7.4 in vascular smooth muscle. ABSTRACT: The KCNE ancillary subunits (KCNE1-5) significantly alter the expression...... to reduced Kv7.4 membrane abundance, a depolarized membrane potential and an augmented response to vasoconstrictors. The present study is the first to demonstrate an integral role of KCNE4 in regulating the function and expression of Kv7.4 in vascular smooth muscle....

Pilot tones in WDM networks with wavelength converters

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kloch, Allan; Mikkelsen, Benny; Stubkjær, Kristian

1997-01-01

Here we investigate the transmission of a pilot tone through an interferometric wavelength converter (IWC) in conjunction with a 2.5 Gbit/s experiment. The pilot tone is added by sinusoidal modulation of the bias current to the signal laser. After the IWC (Michelson interferometer) the converted...

One-tone suppression in the frog auditory nerve

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christensen-Dalsgaard, J; Jørgensen, M B

1996-01-01

Sixty-seven fibers of a sample of 401 in the auditory nerve of grassfrogs (Rana temporaria) showed one-tone suppression, i.e., their spontaneous activity was suppressed by tones. All fibers were afferents from the amphibian papilla with best frequencies between 100 and 400 Hz. Best suppression...

Effects of low harmonics on tone identification in natural and vocoded speech.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Chang; Azimi, Behnam; Tahmina, Qudsia; Hu, Yi

2012-11-01

This study investigated the contribution of low-frequency harmonics to identifying Mandarin tones in natural and vocoded speech in quiet and noisy conditions. Results showed that low-frequency harmonics of natural speech led to highly accurate tone identification; however, for vocoded speech, low-frequency harmonics yielded lower tone identification than stimuli with full harmonics, except for tone 4. Analysis of the correlation between tone accuracy and the amplitude-F0 correlation index suggested that "more" speech contents (i.e., more harmonics) did not necessarily yield better tone recognition for vocoded speech, especially when the amplitude contour of the signals did not co-vary with the F0 contour.

Continuous tone printing in silicone from CNC milled matrices

Science.gov (United States)

Hoskins, S.; McCallion, P.

2014-02-01

Current research at the Centre for Fine Print Research (CFPR) at the University of the West of England, Bristol, is exploring the potential of creating coloured pictorial imagery from a continuous tone relief surface. To create the printing matrices the research team have been using CNC milled images where the height of the relief image is dictated by creating a tone curve and then milling this curve into a series of relief blocks from which the image is cast in a silicone ink. A translucent image is cast from each of the colour matrices and each colour is assembled - one on top of another - resulting is a colour continuous tone print, where colour tone is created by physical depth of colour. This process is a contemporary method of continuous tone colour printing based upon the Nineteenth Century black and white printing process of Woodburytype as developed by Walter Bentley Woodbury in 1865. Woodburytype is the only true continuous tone printing process invented, and although its delicate and subtle surfaces surpassed all other printing methods at the time. The process died out in the late nineteenth century as more expedient and cost effective methods of printing prevailed. New research at CFPR builds upon previous research that combines 19th Century Photomechanical techniques with digital technology to reappraise the potential of these processes.

Representations of race and skin tone in medical textbook imagery.

Science.gov (United States)

Louie, Patricia; Wilkes, Rima

2018-04-01

Although a large literature has documented racial inequities in health care delivery, there continues to be debate about the potential sources of these inequities. Preliminary research suggests that racial inequities are embedded in the curricular edification of physicians and patients. We investigate this hypothesis by considering whether the race and skin tone depicted in images in textbooks assigned at top medical schools reflects the diversity of the U.S. We analyzed 4146 images from Atlas of Human Anatomy, Bates' Guide to Physical Examination & History Taking, Clinically Oriented Anatomy, and Gray's Anatomy for Students by coding race (White, Black, and Person of Color) and skin tone (light, medium, and dark) at the textbook, chapter, and topic level. While the textbooks approximate the racial distribution of the U.S. population - 62.5% White, 20.4% Black, and 17.0% Person of Color - the skin tones represented - 74.5% light, 21% medium, and 4.5% dark - overrepresent light skin tone and underrepresent dark skin tone. There is also an absence of skin tone diversity at the chapter and topic level. Even though medical texts often have overall proportional racial representation this is not the case for skin tone. Furthermore, racial minorities are still often absent at the topic level. These omissions may provide one route through which bias enters medical treatment. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Disturbs Coronary Tone and Its Regulatory Mechanisms.

Science.gov (United States)

Lazuko, Svetlana S; Kuzhel, Olga P; Belyaeva, Lyudmila E; Manukhina, Eugenia B; Fred Downey, H; Tseilikman, Olga B; Komelkova, Maria V; Tseilikman, Vadim E

2018-01-01

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is associated with myocardial injury, but changes in coronary regulatory mechanisms in PTSD have not been investigated. This study evaluated the effect of PTSD-inducing stress on coronary tone and its regulation by nitric oxide (NO) and voltage-gated K + channels. PTSD was induced by exposing rats to predator stress, 15 min daily for 10 days, followed by 14 stress-free days. Presence of PTSD was confirmed by the elevated plus-maze test. Coronary tone was evaluated from changes in coronary perfusion pressure of Langendorff isolated hearts. Predator stress induced significant decreases in coronary tone of isolated hearts and in blood pressure of intact rats. L-NAME, a non-selective NO synthase (NOS) inhibitor, but not S-MT, a selective iNOS inhibitor, and increased coronary tone of control rats. In PTSD rats, both L-NAME and S-MT increased coronary tone. Therefore, the stress-induced coronary vasodilation resulted from NO overproduction by both iNOS and eNOS. NOS induction was apparently due to systemic inflammation as evidenced by increased serum interleukin-1β and C-reactive protein in PTSD rats. Decreased corticosterone in PTSD rats may have contributed to inflammation and its effect on coronary tone. PTSD was also associated with voltage-gated K + channel dysfunction, which would have also reduced coronary tone.

TGF-β Small Molecule Inhibitor SB431542 Reduces Rotator Cuff Muscle Fibrosis and Fatty Infiltration By Promoting Fibro/Adipogenic Progenitor Apoptosis.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michael R Davies

Full Text Available Rotator cuff tears represent a large burden of muscle-tendon injuries in our aging population. While small tears can be repaired surgically with good outcomes, critical size tears are marked by muscle atrophy, fibrosis, and fatty infiltration, which can lead to failed repair, frequent re-injury, and chronic disability. Previous animal studies have indicated that Transforming Growth Factor-β (TGF-β signaling may play an important role in the development of these muscle pathologies after injury. Here, we demonstrated that inhibition of TGF-β1 signaling with the small molecule inhibitor SB431542 in a mouse model of massive rotator cuff tear results in decreased fibrosis, fatty infiltration, and muscle weight loss. These observed phenotypic changes were accompanied by decreased fibrotic, adipogenic, and atrophy-related gene expression in the injured muscle of mice treated with SB431542. We further demonstrated that treatment with SB431542 reduces the number of fibro/adipogenic progenitor (FAP cells-an important cellular origin of rotator cuff muscle fibrosis and fatty infiltration, in injured muscle by promoting apoptosis of FAPs. Together, these data indicate that the TGF-β pathway is a critical regulator of the degenerative muscle changes seen after massive rotator cuff tears. TGF-β promotes rotator cuff muscle fibrosis and fatty infiltration by preventing FAP apoptosis. TGF-β regulated FAP apoptosis may serve as an important target pathway in the future development of novel therapeutics to improve muscle outcomes following rotator cuff tear.

Perception of Lexical Neutral Tone Among Adults and Infants

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shanshan Fan

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Neutral tone (T0 is a special tone form in Mandarin that contains tonal and stress information. Compared with canonical tones, T0 has a much shorter duration and reduced pitch contour. Its tonal contour is determined by the preceding canonical tone. However, not much is known about the perception of tonal and stress information in T0. In the current study, we investigate (1 whether T0 can be perceived as lexically unstressed by stress-language listeners; and (2 how Mandarin (tone language- and Dutch (stress language-learning infants perceive T0. Three experiments were conducted. In Experiment 1, Dutch adults identified T0 as unstressed when presented with disyllabic sequences ending in T0. In Experiment 2, we used the visual fixation paradigm to test 4- to 6-month-old and 10- to 12-month-old Dutch and Mandarin infants on pseudoword discrimination (/pan1san4/ [high-level + high-falling] and /pan1san0/ [high-level + mid-falling]. T4 and T0 each exhibit a similar falling contour. The results show that (1 after being habituated to neutral tone sequences (/pan1san0/, Dutch infants discriminated the T1T0–T1T4 contrast; and (2 neither age groups of Mandarin infants discriminated the tone contrast. Assuming Mandarin infants’ lack of discrimination might be due to the similar F0 contours, we tested Mandarin infants in Experiment 3 using a more salient contrast, /pan1san2/ (high-level + mid-rising and /pan1san0/. While no overall discrimination was observed, those who were habituated to /pan1san0/ demonstrated discrimination. The continuous discrimination of Dutch infants suggests that they might process neutral–canonical tone contrast as lexical stress rather than as tonal information. Overall, Mandarin infants’ failure implies that the representation of T0 is not complete during their 1st year of life; the acquisition of tonal categories may therefore take longer than we expected.

Inhibition of α-adrenergic tone disturbs the distribution of blood flow in the exercising human limb.

Science.gov (United States)

Heinonen, Ilkka; Wendelin-Saarenhovi, Maria; Kaskinoro, Kimmo; Knuuti, Juhani; Scheinin, Mika; Kalliokoski, Kari K

2013-07-15

The role of neuronal regulation of human cardiovascular function remains incompletely elucidated, especially during exercise. Here we, by positron emission tomography, monitored tissue-specific blood flow (BF) changes in nine healthy young men during femoral arterial infusions of norepinephrine (NE) and phentolamine. At rest, the α-adrenoceptor agonist NE reduced BF by ~40%, similarly in muscles (from 3.2 ± 1.9 to 1.4 ± 0.3 ml·min(-1)·100 g(-1) in quadriceps femoris muscle), bone (from 1.1 ± 0.4 to 0.5 ± 0.2 ml·min(-1)·100 g(-1)) and adipose tissue (AT) (from 1.2 ± 0.7 to 0.7 ± 0.3 ml·min(-1)·100 g(-1)). During exercise, NE reduced exercising muscle BF by ~16%. BF in AT was reduced similarly as rest. The α-adrenoceptor antagonist phentolamine increased BF similarly in the different muscles and other tissues of the limb at rest. During exercise, BF in inactive muscle was increased 3.4-fold by phentolamine compared with exercise without drug, but BF in exercising muscles was not influenced. Bone and AT (P = 0.055) BF were also increased by phentolamine in the exercise condition. NE increased and phentolamine decreased oxygen extraction in the limb during exercise. We conclude that inhibition of α-adrenergic tone markedly disturbs the distribution of BF and oxygen extraction in the exercising human limb by increasing BF especially around inactive muscle fibers. Moreover, although marked functional sympatholysis also occurs during exercise, the arterial NE infusion that mimics the exaggerated sympathetic nerve activity commonly seen in patients with cardiovascular disease was still capable of directly limiting BF in the exercising leg muscles.

Modified Thiele massage as therapeutic intervention for female patients with interstitial cystitis and high-tone pelvic floor dysfunction.

Science.gov (United States)

Oyama, Ian A; Rejba, Amy; Lukban, James C; Fletcher, Erica; Kellogg-Spadt, Susan; Holzberg, Adam S; Whitmore, Kristene E

2004-11-01

To evaluate the effectiveness of transvaginal manual therapy of the pelvic floor musculature (Thiele massage) in symptomatic female patients with interstitial cystitis and high-tone dysfunction of the pelvic floor. A total of 21 women with documented interstitial cystitis and high-tone pelvic floor dysfunction underwent transvaginal massage using the Thiele technique twice a week for 5 weeks. Symptoms were evaluated before massage, at protocol conclusion, and at a mean of 4.5 months after therapy completion (long-term follow-up). The response to treatment was evaluated through the O'Leary-Sant Interstitial Cystitis Symptom and Problem Indexes, Likert Visual Analogue Scales for urgency and pain, and Short-Form 12-item (SF-12) Quality-of-Life Scale, and through changes in the physical examination findings using a 5-point modified Oxford Scale to document pelvic floor tenderness. A statistically significant improvement was seen in the Symptom and Problem Indexes of the O'Leary-Sant Questionnaire (P = 0.015 and P = 0.039, respectively), Likert Visual Analogue Scales for urgency and pain (P = 0.001 and P = 0.005, respectively), the Physical and Mental Component Summary from the SF-12 Quality-of-Life Scale (P = 0.049 and P = 0.044, respectively), and the modified Oxford Scale (P pelvic floor (P pelvic floor dysfunction in addition to decreasing pelvic floor muscle tone.

Predicting utterance pitch targets in Yoruba for tone realisation in speech synthesis

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Van Niekerk, DR

2013-01-01

Full Text Available well studied African tone language of which the linguistic details of the tone system have been thoroughly described. Three level tones, labelled High (H), Mid (M) and Low (L) are associated with syllables and have a high functional load (Courtenay... (see Figure 1). Distinct intra-syllable patterns occurring in Yoru`ba´ are falling and rising pitch contours when L and H tones are realised after H and L tones respectively. downstep downstep H L Figure 1: A simplified illustration of terracing...

Effects of PPARγ ligands on vascular tone.

Science.gov (United States)

Salomone, Salvatore; Drago, Filippo

2012-06-01

Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor γ (PPARγ), originally described as a transcription factor for genes of carbohydrate and lipid metabolism, has been more recently studied in the context of cardiovascular pathophysiology. Here, we review the available data on PPARγ ligands as modulator of vascular tone. PPARγ ligands include: thiazolidinediones (used in the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus), glitazars (bind and activate both PPARγ and PPARα), and other experimental drugs (still in development) that exploit the chemistry of thiazolidinediones as a scaffold for PPARγ-independent pharmacological properties. In this review, we examine both short (mostly from in vitro data)- and long (mostly from in vivo data)-term effects of PPARγ ligands that extend from PPARγ-independent vascular effects to PPARγ-dependent gene expression. Because endothelium is a master regulator of vascular tone, we have attempted to differentiate between endothelium-dependent and endothelium-independent effects of PPARγ ligands. Based on available data, we conclude that PPARγ ligands appear to influence vascular tone in different experimental paradigms, most often in terms of vasodilatation (potentially increasing blood flow to some tissues). These effects on vascular tone, although potentially beneficial, must be weighed against specific cardiovascular warnings that may apply to some drugs, such as rosiglitazone.

Rapid small-angle X-ray diffraction of a tonically contracting molluscan smooth muscle recorded with imaging plates

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tajima, Y.; Okada, K.; Yoshida, O.; Seto, T.; Amemiya, Y.

1989-01-01

Small-angle X-ray diffraction patterns from the anterior byssus retractor muscles of Mytilus edulis contracting tonically in response to stimulation with acetylcholine were recorded in a 30 s exposure with synchrotron radiation and a high-sensitivity X-ray area detector called an imaging plate. The 190 A layer line from the thin filaments increased in intensity with increase in tonic tension up to 6x10 4 kg m -2 . Above this value, the layer-line intensity remained almost constant and comparable to that for a contracting skeletal muscle, indicating that the same structural changes of the thin filaments occur in both muscles. (orig.)

Influences on tone in Sepedi, a Southern Bantu language

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Zerbian, S

2008-09-01

Full Text Available Tone in Bantu languages is rarely studied experimentally. This paper reports a production study which reveals the intricate interaction of tonal context and morphological structure in surface tone realization in Sepedi, a South African Bantu...

The prosody of Swedish underived nouns: No lexical tones required

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bruce Morén-Duolljá

2013-02-01

Full Text Available This paper provides a detailed representational analysis of the morpho-prosodic system of underived nouns in a dialect of Swedish.  It shows that the morphology, stress and tonal patterns are not as complex as they first appear once the data are looked at in sufficient detail.  Further, it shows that the renowned Swedish "lexical pitch accent" is not the result of lexical tones/tonemes.  Rather, Swedish is like all other languages and uses tones to mark the edges of prosodic constituents on the surface. "Accent 2" occurs when tones mark the edge of a structural uneven trochee (i.e. recursive foot and "accent 1" occurs elsewhere. This analysis is counter all other treatments of North Germanic tones and denies the almost unquestioned assumption that there is an underlying tone specification on roots and/or affixes in many North Germanic varieties. At the same time, it unifies the intuitions behind the three previous approaches found in the literature.

Role of SM22 in the differential regulation of phasic vs. tonic smooth muscle

Science.gov (United States)

Ali, Mehboob

2015-01-01

Preliminary proteomics studies between tonic vs. phasic smooth muscles identified three distinct protein spots identified to be those of transgelin (SM22). The latter was found to be distinctly downregulated in the internal anal sphincter (IAS) vs. rectal smooth muscle (RSM) SMC. The major focus of the present studies was to examine the differential molecular control mechanisms by SM22 in the functionality of truly tonic smooth muscle of the IAS vs. the adjoining phasic smooth muscle of the RSM. We monitored SMC lengths before and after incubation with pFLAG-SM22 (for SM22 overexpression), and SM22 small-interfering RNA. pFLAG-SM22 caused concentration-dependent and significantly greater relaxation in the IAS vs. the RSM SMCs. Conversely, temporary silencing of SM22 caused contraction in both types of the SMCs. Further studies revealed a significant reverse relationship between the levels of SM22 phosphorylation and the amount of SM22-actin binding in the IAS and RSM SMC. Data showed higher phospho-SM22 levels and decreased SM22-actin binding in the IAS, and reverse to be the case in the RSM SMCs. Experiments determining the mechanism for SM22 phosphorylation in these smooth muscles revealed that Y-27632 (Rho kinase inhibitor) but not Gö-6850 (protein kinase C inhibitor) caused concentration-dependent decreased phosphorylation of SM22. We speculate that SM22 plays an important role in the regulation of basal tone via Rho kinase-induced phosphorylation of SM22. PMID:25617350

Loads on small muscle groups as a risk of hypertensive conditions

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Olga G. Kourova

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Background ― Hypertension is a widespread condition nowadays. Changes in physical activity patterns of the population, namely, sedentary lifestyle and increased loads on small muscle groups, are the key factors behind the development of hypertension. Although science has amassed sufficient amounts of facts about a hypertensive effect of local loads, the very mechanisms underlying adaptive reactions of the circulatory system have not received comprehensive study. Material and Methods ― We studied adaptive reactions to local muscle work in 108 adult subjects groups aged between 18 and 20, 30 and 35, and 60 and 74 respectively by means of a Mosso’s ergograph until the onset of fatigue with all the three age groups receiving medium loads. We have analyzed their work performance, including static and dynamic stamina. We took blood pressure measurements, electrocardiograms (ECGs and electroencephalograms (EEGs before and after the test. Results ― We discovered increased heartbeat rates, systolic blood pressure, and diastolic blood pressure in all of the subjects, as they were doing local load tests, while their ECGs showed shortened electric diastole time, which was indicative of heart functional tension, especially in the subjects aged between 18 and, and 60 and 74. Adverse heart reactions were more pronounced while the subjects were doing static tests rather than dynamic tests, and their EEGs showed increased slow-wave activity within alpha- and theta-ranges, with regularly recurrent alpha wave synchronizations. Conclusion ― Our research shows that central mechanisms underlie hypertensive reactions of the cardiovascular system to local loads with the participation of metabolic receptors of muscles. We have also justified the necessity of preventive campaigns against hypertensions in individuals receiving increased amounts of local muscle work in the motor mode.

Change of tone

CERN Multimedia

Association du personnel

2006-01-01

The President of the Staff Association set the tone by leaving the members of the SCC speechless when he read out a solemn declaration For a start, Management invites us to discuss the Five-Yearly Review without having provided any formal text. Concertation Method of analysis and use of data previously adopted by Council. Salaries. Increase. Employment conditions. Family allowances. Crèche. Career perspectives. Referendum.

Audiometric Testing With Pulsed, Steady, and Warble Tones in Listeners With Tinnitus and Hearing Loss.

Science.gov (United States)

Lentz, Jennifer J; Walker, Matthew A; Short, Ciara E; Skinner, Kimberly G

2017-09-18

This study evaluated the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association's recommendation that audiometric testing for patients with tinnitus should use pulsed or warble tones. Using listeners with varied audiometric configurations and tinnitus statuses, we asked whether steady, pulsed, and warble tones yielded similar audiometric thresholds, and which tone type was preferred. Audiometric thresholds (octave frequencies from 0.25-16 kHz) were measured using steady, pulsed, and warble tones in 61 listeners, who were divided into 4 groups on the basis of hearing and tinnitus status. Participants rated the appeal and difficulty of each tone type on a 1-5 scale and selected a preferred type. For all groups, thresholds were lower for warble than for pulsed and steady tones, with the largest effects above 4 kHz. Appeal ratings did not differ across tone type, but the steady tone was rated as more difficult than the warble and pulsed tones. Participants generally preferred pulsed and warble tones. Pulsed tones provide advantages over steady and warble tones for patients regardless of hearing or tinnitus status. Although listeners preferred pulsed and warble tones to steady tones, pulsed tones are not susceptible to the effects of off-frequency listening, a consideration when testing listeners with sloping audiograms.

Regulation of basal tone, relaxation and contraction of the lower oesophageal sphincter. Relevance to drug discovery for oesophageal disorders.

Science.gov (United States)

Farré, R; Sifrim, D

2008-03-01

The lower oesophageal sphincter (LOS) is a specialized region of the oesophageal circular smooth muscle that allows the passage of a swallowed bolus to the stomach and prevents the reflux of gastric contents into the oesophagus. The anatomical arrangement of the LOS includes semicircular clasp fibres adjacent to the lesser gastric curvature and sling fibres following the greater gastric curvature. Such anatomical arrangement together with an asymmetric intrinsic innervation and distinct proportion of neurotransmitters in both regions produces an asymmetric pressure profile. The LOS tone is myogenic in origin and depends on smooth muscle properties that lead to opening of L-type Ca(2+) channels; however it can be modulated by enteric motor neurons, the parasympathetic and sympathetic extrinsic nervous system and several neurohumoral substances. Nitric oxide synthesized by neuronal NOS is the main inhibitory neurotransmitter involved in LOS relaxation. Different putative neurotransmitters have been proposed to play a role together with NO. So far, only ATP or related purines have shown to be co-transmitters with NO. Acetylcholine and tachykinins are involved in the LOS contraction acting through acetylcholine M(3) and tachykinin NK(2) receptors. Nitric oxide can also be involved in the regulation of LOS contraction. The understanding of the mechanisms that originate and modulate LOS tone, relaxation and contraction and the characterization of neurotransmitters and receptors involved in LOS function are important to develop new pharmacological tools to treat primary oesophageal motor disorders and gastro-oesophageal reflux disease.

Consequences of Late-Stage Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer Cachexia on Muscle Metabolic Processes.

Science.gov (United States)

Murton, Andrew J; Maddocks, Matthew; Stephens, Francis B; Marimuthu, Kanagaraj; England, Ruth; Wilcock, Andrew

2017-01-01

The loss of muscle is common in patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and contributes to the high morbidity and mortality of this group. The exact mechanisms behind the muscle loss are unclear. To investigate this, 4 patients with stage IV NSCLC who met the clinical definitions for sarcopenia and cachexia were recruited, along with 4 age-matched healthy volunteers. After an overnight fast, biopsy specimens were obtained from the vastus lateralis, and the key components associated with inflammation and the control of muscle protein, carbohydrate, and fat metabolism were assessed. Compared with the healthy volunteers, significant increases in mRNA levels for interleukin-6 and NF-κB signaling and lower intramyocellular lipid content in slow-twitch fibers were observed in NSCLC patients. Although a significant decrease in phosphorylation of the mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling protein 4E-BP1 (Ser 65 ) was observed, along with a trend toward reduced p70 S6K (Thr 389 ) phosphorylation (P = .06), no difference was found between groups for the mRNA levels of MAFbx (muscle atrophy F box) and MuRF1 (muscle ring finger protein 1), chymotrypsin-like activity of the proteasome, or protein levels of multiple proteasome subunits. Moreover, despite decreases in intramyocellular lipid content, no robust changes in mRNA levels for key proteins involved in insulin signaling, glycolysis, oxidative metabolism, or fat metabolism were observed. These findings suggest that examining the contribution of suppressed mTOR signaling in the loss of muscle mass in late-stage NSCLC patients is warranted and reinforces our need to understand the potential contribution of impaired fat metabolism and muscle protein synthesis in the etiology of cancer cachexia. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Muscle-strengthening and conditioning activities and risk of type 2 diabetes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Grøntved, Anders; Pan, An; Mekary, Rania A

2014-01-01

BACKGROUND: It is well established that aerobic physical activity can lower the risk of type 2 diabetes (T2D), but whether muscle-strengthening activities are beneficial for the prevention of T2D is unclear. This study examined the association of muscle-strengthening activities with the risk of T2D...... at baseline. Participants reported weekly time spent on resistance exercise, lower intensity muscular conditioning exercises (yoga, stretching, toning), and aerobic moderate and vigorous physical activity (MVPA) at baseline and in 2004/2005. Cox regression with adjustment for major determinants for T2D...... include that muscle-strengthening and conditioning activity and other types of physical activity were assessed by a self-administered questionnaire and that the study population consisted of registered nurses with mostly European ancestry. CONCLUSIONS: Our study suggests that engagement in muscle...

Effects of Early Bilingual Experience with a Tone and a Non-Tone Language on Speech-Music Integration.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Salomi S Asaridou

Full Text Available We investigated music and language processing in a group of early bilinguals who spoke a tone language and a non-tone language (Cantonese and Dutch. We assessed online speech-music processing interactions, that is, interactions that occur when speech and music are processed simultaneously in songs, with a speeded classification task. In this task, participants judged sung pseudowords either musically (based on the direction of the musical interval or phonologically (based on the identity of the sung vowel. We also assessed longer-term effects of linguistic experience on musical ability, that is, the influence of extensive prior experience with language when processing music. These effects were assessed with a task in which participants had to learn to identify musical intervals and with four pitch-perception tasks. Our hypothesis was that due to their experience in two different languages using lexical versus intonational tone, the early Cantonese-Dutch bilinguals would outperform the Dutch control participants. In online processing, the Cantonese-Dutch bilinguals processed speech and music more holistically than controls. This effect seems to be driven by experience with a tone language, in which integration of segmental and pitch information is fundamental. Regarding longer-term effects of linguistic experience, we found no evidence for a bilingual advantage in either the music-interval learning task or the pitch-perception tasks. Together, these results suggest that being a Cantonese-Dutch bilingual does not have any measurable longer-term effects on pitch and music processing, but does have consequences for how speech and music are processed jointly.

The role of tone and segmental information in visual-word recognition in Thai.

Science.gov (United States)

Winskel, Heather; Ratitamkul, Theeraporn; Charoensit, Akira

2017-07-01

Tone languages represent a large proportion of the spoken languages of the world and yet lexical tone is understudied. Thai offers a unique opportunity to investigate the role of lexical tone processing during visual-word recognition, as tone is explicitly expressed in its script. We used colour words and their orthographic neighbours as stimuli to investigate facilitation (Experiment 1) and interference (Experiment 2) Stroop effects. Five experimental conditions were created: (a) the colour word (e.g., ขาว /k h ã:w/ [white]), (b) tone different word (e.g., ข่าว /k h à:w/[news]), (c) initial consonant phonologically same word (e.g., คาว /k h a:w/ [fishy]), where the initial consonant of the word was phonologically the same but orthographically different, (d) initial consonant different, tone same word (e.g., หาว /hã:w/ yawn), where the initial consonant was orthographically different but the tone of the word was the same, and (e) initial consonant different, tone different word (e.g., กาว /ka:w/ glue), where the initial consonant was orthographically different, and the tone was different. In order to examine whether tone information per se had a facilitative effect, we also included a colour congruent word condition where the segmental (S) information was different but the tone (T) matched the colour word (S-T+) in Experiment 2. Facilitation/interference effects were found for all five conditions when compared with a neutral control word. Results of the critical comparisons revealed that tone information comes into play at a later stage in lexical processing, and orthographic information contributes more than phonological information.

Perceived Pitch of Violin and Cello Vibrato Tones among Music Majors

Science.gov (United States)

Geringer, John M.; MacLeod, Rebecca B.; Allen, Michael L.

2010-01-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceived pitch of string vibrato tones. The authors used recordings of acoustic instruments (cello and violin) to provide both vibrato stimulus tones and the nonvibrato tones that listeners adjusted to match the perceived pitch of the vibrato stimuli. We were interested especially in whether there…

Bimodal effect of oxidative stress in internal anal sphincter smooth muscle

Science.gov (United States)

Singh, Jagmohan; Kumar, Sumit

2015-01-01

Changes in oxidative stress may affect basal tone and relaxation of the internal anal sphincter (IAS) smooth muscle in aging. We examined this issue by investigating the effects of the oxidative stress inducer 6-anilino-5,8-quinolinedione (LY-83583) in basal as well as U-46619-stimulated tone, and nonadrenergic, noncholinergic (NANC) relaxation in rat IAS. LY-83583, which works via generation of reactive oxygen species in living cells, produced a bimodal effect in IAS tone: lower concentrations (0.1 nM to 10 μM) produced a concentration-dependent increase, while higher concentrations (50–100 μM) produced a decrease in IAS tone. An increase in IAS tone by lower concentrations was associated with an increase in RhoA/Rho kinase (ROCK) activity. This was evident by the increase in RhoA/ROCK in the particulate fractions, in ROCK activity, and in the levels of phosphorylated (p) Thr696-myosin phosphatase target subunit 1 and pThr18/Ser19-20-kDa myosin light chain. Conversely, higher concentrations of LY-83583 produced inhibitory effects on RhoA/ROCK. Interestingly, both the excitatory and inhibitory effects of LY-83583 in the IAS were reversed by superoxide dismutase. The excitatory effects of LY-83583 were found to resemble those with neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) inhibition by l-NNA, since it produced a significant increase in the IAS tone and attenuated NANC relaxation. These effects of LY-83583 and l-NNA were reversible by l-arginine. This suggests the role of nNOS inhibition and RhoA/ROCK activation in the increase in IAS tone by LY-83583. These data have important implications in the pathophysiology and therapeutic targeting of rectoanal disorders, especially associated with IAS dysfunction. PMID:26138467

Improvement of Tone's method with two-term rational approximation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yamamoto, Akio; Endo, Tomohiro; Chiba, Go

2011-01-01

An improvement of Tone's method, which is a resonance calculation method based on the equivalence theory, is proposed. In order to increase calculation accuracy, the two-term rational approximation is incorporated for the representation of neutron flux. Furthermore, some theoretical aspects of Tone's method, i.e., its inherent approximation and choice of adequate multigroup cross section for collision probability estimation, are also discussed. The validity of improved Tone's method is confirmed through a verification calculation in an irregular lattice geometry, which represents part of an LWR fuel assembly. The calculation result clarifies the validity of the present method. (author)

Tone Attrition in Mandarin Speakers of Varying English Proficiency

Science.gov (United States)

Creel, Sarah C.

2017-01-01

Purpose The purpose of this study was to determine whether the degree of dominance of Mandarin–English bilinguals' languages affects phonetic processing of tone content in their native language, Mandarin. Method We tested 72 Mandarin–English bilingual college students with a range of language-dominance profiles in the 2 languages and ages of acquisition of English. Participants viewed 2 photographs at a time while hearing a familiar Mandarin word referring to 1 photograph. The names of the 2 photographs diverged in tone, vowels, or both. Word recognition was evaluated using clicking accuracy, reaction times, and an online recognition measure (gaze) and was compared in the 3 conditions. Results Relative proficiency in English was correlated with reduced word recognition success in tone-disambiguated trials, but not in vowel-disambiguated trials, across all 3 dependent measures. This selective attrition for tone content emerged even though all bilinguals had learned Mandarin from birth. Lengthy experience with English thus weakened tone use. Conclusions This finding has implications for the question of the extent to which bilinguals' 2 phonetic systems interact. It suggests that bilinguals may not process pitch information language-specifically and that processing strategies from the dominant language may affect phonetic processing in the nondominant language—even when the latter was learned natively. PMID:28124064

Antifibrotic effects of Smad4 small interfering RNAs in injured skeletal muscle after acute contusion.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, H; Chen, J; Chen, S; Zhang, Q; Chen, S

2011-10-01

Muscle injuries are common musculoskeletal problems encountered in sports medicine clinics. In this study, we examined the effect of lentivirus-mediated small interfering RNA (siRNA) targeting Smad4 on the suppression of the fibrosis in injured skeletal muscles. We found that Smad4-siRNA could efficiently knock down the expression of Smad4 in the C2C12 myoblast cells and in the contunded mice gastrocnemius muscle. The expression of mRNA level of Smad4 decreased to 11% and 49% compared to the control group, respectively, and the expression of protein level decreased to 13% and 57% respectively. Moreover, the lentivirus-mediated siRNA was stably transfected only into the skeletal muscle and not into the liver of the animals. In contunded mice gastrocnemius, the collagenous and vimentin-positive area in the Smad4 siRNA group reduced to 36% and 37% compared to the control group, respectively. Furthermore, compared to the scrambled Smad4 siRNA-injected mice and PBS control-injected mice, the muscle function of the mice injected with lentivirus-mediated Smad4 siRNA improved in terms of both fast-twitch and tetanic strength (P<0.05). The results suggest that the gene therapy of inhibiting Smad4 by lentivirus-mediated siRNA could be a useful approach to prevent scar tissue formation and improve the function of injured skeletal muscle. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

Chronic deficit in nitric oxide elicits oxidative stress and augments T-type calcium-channel contribution to vascular tone of rodent arteries and arterioles

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Howitt, Lauren; Kuo, Ivana Y; Ellis, Anthie

2013-01-01

arteries in vitro and skeletal muscle arterioles in vivo to study the contribution of L-type (1 µmol/L nifedipine) and T-type (1 µmol/L mibefradil, 3 µmol/L NNC 55-0396) calcium channels to vascular tone, following acute or chronic inhibition of nitric oxide. Acute inhibition with l-NAME (10 µmol...... was reversed by acute scavenging of superoxide with tempol (1 mmol/L), or inhibition of NADPH oxidase with apocynin (500 µmol/L) or DPI (5 µmol/L). CONCLUSION: We conclude that nitric oxide deficit produces a significant increase in the contribution of Cav3.1 and Cav3.2 T-type calcium channels to vascular tone......, by regulating the bioavailability of reactive oxygen species produced by NADPH oxidase. Our data provide evidence for a novel causal link between nitric oxide deficit, oxidative stress, and T-type calcium channel function....

Vowel and tone recognition in quiet and in noise among Mandarin-speaking amusics.

Science.gov (United States)

Tang, Wei; Wang, Xi-Jian; Li, Jia-Qi; Liu, Chang; Dong, Qi; Nan, Yun

2018-03-06

Music and language are two intricately linked communication modalities in humans. A deficit in music pitch processing as manifested in the condition of congenital amusia has been related to difficulties in lexical tone processing for both tone and non-tonal languages. However, it is still unclear whether amusia also affects the perception of vowel phonemes in quiet and in noise. In this study, we examined vowel-plus-tone identification in quiet and noise conditions among Mandarin-speaking amusics with and without speech tone difficulties (tone agnosics and pure amusics, respectively), and IQ- and age-matched controls. Overall, pure amusics showed vowel and tone identification comparable to the controls in both quiet and noise conditions. Compared to pure amusics and controls, tone agnosics showed deficits in tone perception in both quiet and noise conditions. More importantly, their vowel perception was lower than pure amusics and controls in noise conditions, e.g., at a signal-to-noise ratio of -4 dB, although they showed normal-like performance in quiet and at a signal-to-noise ratio of -8 dB. These results suggest that when amusia affected speech tone processing (e.g., tone agnosics), it could also compromise vowel processing in noise. However, amusia alone does not affect tone or vowel perception in Mandarin Chinese either in quiet or in noise. Overall, the current study highlights the necessity of taking heterogeneity within the amusic group into account when considering the related speech deficits in this group. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Subgroup differences in the lexical tone mismatch negativity (MMN) among Mandarin speakers with congenital amusia.

Science.gov (United States)

Nan, Yun; Huang, Wan-ting; Wang, Wen-jing; Liu, Chang; Dong, Qi

2016-01-01

The association/dissociation of pitch processing between music and language is a long lasting debate. We examined this music-language relationship by investigating to what extent pitch deficits in these two domains were dissociable. We focused on a special neurodevelopmental pitch disorder - congenital amusia, which primarily affects musical pitch processing. Recent research has also revealed lexical tone deficits in speech among amusics. Approximately one-third of Mandarin amusics exhibits behavioural difficulties in lexical tone perception, which is known as tone agnosia. Using mismatch negativities (MMNs), our current work probed lexical tone encoding at the pre-attentive level among the Mandarin amusics with (tone agnosics) and without (pure amusics) behavioural lexical tone deficits compared with age- and IQ-matched controls. Relative to the controls and the pure amusics, the tone agnosics exhibited reduced MMNs specifically in response to lexical tone changes. Their tone-consonant MMNs were intact and similar to those of the other two groups. Moreover, the tone MMN reduction over the left hemisphere was tightly linked to behavioural insensitivity to lexical tone changes. The current study thus provides the first psychophysiological evidence of subgroup differences in lexical tone processing among Mandarin amusics and links amusics' behavioural tone deficits to impaired pre-attentive tone processing. Despite the overall music pitch deficits, the subgroup differences in lexical tone processing in Mandarin-speaking amusics suggest dissociation of pitch deficits between music and speech. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The coordination of boundary tones and its interaction with prominence.

Science.gov (United States)

Katsika, Argyro; Krivokapić, Jelena; Mooshammer, Christine; Tiede, Mark; Goldstein, Louis

2014-05-01

This study investigates the coordination of boundary tones as a function of stress and pitch accent. Boundary tone coordination has not been experimentally investigated previously, and the effect of prominence on this coordination, and whether it is lexical (stress-driven) or phrasal (pitch accent-driven) in nature is unclear. We assess these issues using a variety of syntactic constructions to elicit different boundary tones in an Electromagnetic Articulography (EMA) study of Greek. The results indicate that the onset of boundary tones co-occurs with the articulatory target of the final vowel. This timing is further modified by stress, but not by pitch accent: boundary tones are initiated earlier in words with non-final stress than in words with final stress regardless of accentual status. Visual data inspection reveals that phrase-final words are followed by acoustic pauses during which specific articulatory postures occur. Additional analyses show that these postures reach their achievement point at a stable temporal distance from boundary tone onsets regardless of stress position. Based on these results and parallel findings on boundary lengthening reported elsewhere, a novel approach to prosody is proposed within the context of Articulatory Phonology: rather than seeing prosodic (lexical and phrasal) events as independent entities, a set of coordination relations between them is suggested. The implications of this account for prosodic architecture are discussed.

Preattentive processing of emotional musical tones: a multidimensional scaling and ERP study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Thomas F Münte

2013-09-01

Full Text Available Musical emotion can be conveyed by subtle variations in timbre. Here, we investigated whether the brain is capable to discriminate tones differing in emotional expression by recording event-related potentials (ERPs in an oddball paradigm under preattentive listening conditions. First, using multidimensional Fechnerian scaling, pairs of violin tones played with a happy or sad intonation were rated same or different by a group of non-musicians. Three happy and three sad tones were selected for the ERP experiment. The Fechnerian distances between tones within an emotion were in the same range as the distances between tones of different emotions. In two conditions, either 3 happy and 1 sad or 3 sad and 1 happy tone were presented in pseudo-random order. A mismatch negativity for the emotional deviant was observed, indicating that in spite of considerable perceptual differences between the three equiprobable tones of the standard emotion, a template was formed based on timbral cues against which the emotional deviant was compared. Based on Juslin’s assumption of redundant code usage, we propose that tones were grouped together, because they were identified as belonging to one emotional category based on different emotion-specific cues. These results indicate that the brain forms an emotional memory trace at a preattentive level and thus extends previous investigations in which emotional deviance was confounded with physical dissimilarity. Differences between sad and happy tones were observed which might be due to the fact that the happy emotion is mostly communicated by suprasegmental features.

Inhibition of muscle spindle afferent activity during masseter muscle fatigue in the rat.

Science.gov (United States)

Brunetti, Orazio; Della Torre, Giovannella; Lucchi, Maria Luisa; Chiocchetti, Roberto; Bortolami, Ruggero; Pettorossi, Vito Enrico

2003-09-01

The influence of muscle fatigue on the jaw-closing muscle spindle activity has been investigated by analyzing: (1) the field potentials evoked in the trigeminal motor nucleus (Vmot) by trigeminal mesencephalic nucleus (Vmes) stimulation, (2) the orthodromic and antidromic responses evoked in the Vmes by stimulation of the peripheral and central axons of the muscle proprioceptive afferents, and (3) the extracellular unitary discharge of masseter muscle spindles recorded in the Vmes. The masseter muscle was fatigued by prolonged tetanic masseter nerve electrical stimulation. Pre- and postsynaptic components of the potentials evoked in the Vmot showed a significant reduction in amplitude following muscle fatigue. Orthodromic and antidromic potentials recorded in the Vmes also showed a similar amplitude decrease. Furthermore, muscle fatigue caused a decrease of the discharge frequency of masseter muscle spindle afferents in most of the examined units. The inhibition of the potential amplitude and discharge frequency was strictly correlated with the extent of muscle fatigue and was mediated by the group III and IV afferent muscle fibers activated by fatigue. In fact, the inhibitory effect was abolished by capsaicin injection in the masseter muscle that provokes selective degeneration of small afferent muscle fibers containing neurokinins. We concluded that fatigue signals originating from the muscle and traveling through capsaicin-sensitive fibers are able to diminish the proprioceptive input by a central presynaptic influence. In the second part of the study, we examined the central projection of the masseter small afferents sensitive to capsaicin at the electron-microscopic level. Fiber degeneration was induced by injecting capsaicin into the masseter muscle. Degenerating terminals were found on the soma and stem process in Vmes and on the dendritic tree of neurons in Vmot. This suggests that small muscle afferents may influence the muscle spindle activity through

A Pedagogical Study of Tone Neutralization in Cibemba Phonetics ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Nekky Umera

distinct schools of thought have emerged in relation to tone in teaching phonetics ... the argument of the present writer is that the phenomenon of tone is essentially a ... Three notable published books in the area of Cibemba grammar have also ..... Sharman (1956) Tabulation of tenses in a Bantu language (Bemba). Africa.

Local adaptive tone mapping for video enhancement

Science.gov (United States)

Lachine, Vladimir; Dai, Min (.

2015-03-01

As new technologies like High Dynamic Range cameras, AMOLED and high resolution displays emerge on consumer electronics market, it becomes very important to deliver the best picture quality for mobile devices. Tone Mapping (TM) is a popular technique to enhance visual quality. However, the traditional implementation of Tone Mapping procedure is limited by pixel's value to value mapping, and the performance is restricted in terms of local sharpness and colorfulness. To overcome the drawbacks of traditional TM, we propose a spatial-frequency based framework in this paper. In the proposed solution, intensity component of an input video/image signal is split on low pass filtered (LPF) and high pass filtered (HPF) bands. Tone Mapping (TM) function is applied to LPF band to improve the global contrast/brightness, and HPF band is added back afterwards to keep the local contrast. The HPF band may be adjusted by a coring function to avoid noise boosting and signal overshooting. Colorfulness of an original image may be preserved or enhanced by chroma components correction by means of saturation function. Localized content adaptation is further improved by dividing an image to a set of non-overlapped regions and modifying each region individually. The suggested framework allows users to implement a wide range of tone mapping applications with perceptional local sharpness and colorfulness preserved or enhanced. Corresponding hardware circuit may be integrated in camera, video or display pipeline with minimal hardware budget

Aberrant Splicing Induced by Dysregulated Rbfox2 Produces Enhanced Function of CaV1.2 Calcium Channel and Vascular Myogenic Tone in Hypertension.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Yingying; Fan, Jia; Zhu, Huayuan; Ji, Li; Fan, Wenyong; Kapoor, Isha; Wang, Yue; Wang, Yuan; Zhu, Guoqing; Wang, Juejin

2017-12-01

Calcium influx from activated voltage-gated calcium channel Ca V 1.2 in vascular smooth muscle cells is indispensable for maintaining myogenic tone and blood pressure. The function of Ca V 1.2 channel can be optimized by alternative splicing, one of post-transcriptional modification mechanisms. The splicing factor Rbfox2 is known to regulate the Ca V 1.2 pre-mRNA alternative splicing events during neuronal development. However, Rbfox2's roles in modulating the key function of vascular Ca V 1.2 channel and in the pathogenesis of hypertension remain elusive. Here, we report that the proportion of Ca V 1.2 channels with alternative exon 9* is increased by 10.3%, whereas that with alternative exon 33 is decreased by 10.5% in hypertensive arteries. Surprisingly, the expression level of Rbfox2 is increased ≈3-folds, presumably because of the upregulation of a dominant-negative isoform of Rbfox2. In vascular smooth muscle cells, we find that knockdown of Rbfox2 dynamically increases alternative exon 9*, whereas decreases exon 33 inclusion of Ca V 1.2 channels. By patch-clamp studies, we show that diminished Rbfox2-induced alternative splicing shifts the steady-state activation and inactivation curves of vascular Ca V 1.2 calcium channel to hyperpolarization, which makes the window current potential to more negative. Moreover, siRNA-mediated knockdown of Rbfox2 increases the pressure-induced vascular myogenic tone of rat mesenteric artery. Taken together, our data indicate that Rbfox2 modulates the functions of vascular Ca V 1.2 calcium channel by dynamically regulating the expressions of alternative exons 9* and 33, which in turn affects the vascular myogenic tone. Therefore, our work suggests a key role for Rbfox2 in hypertension, which provides a rational basis for designing antihypertensive therapies. © 2017 American Heart Association, Inc.

The Significance of the Level Tone in Ghanaian English: Evidence ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

2016-05-29

May 29, 2016 ... act functions, and perform interactive functions (Chun, 2002). Apart from these functions, ... that the use of falling tones can communicate deliberate rudeness he ..... phonetic features for the segmentation of tone units. In the ...

Improving Tone Recognition with Nucleus Modeling and Sequential Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Siwei

2010-01-01

Mandarin Chinese and many other tonal languages use tones that are defined as specific pitch patterns to distinguish syllables otherwise ambiguous. It had been shown that tones carry at least as much information as vowels in Mandarin Chinese [Surendran et al., 2005]. Surprisingly, though, many speech recognition systems for Mandarin Chinese have…

Skin-Tone Preferences and Self-Representation in Hispanic Children

Science.gov (United States)

Kaufman, Erin A.; Wiese, Deborah L.

2012-01-01

Skin-tone preferences and colourism within Hispanic children have been largely unexamined in the psychological literature. The objectives of the current study were to investigate Hispanic children's skin-tone preferences and the effect of assessor race and ethnicity on those preferences. To carry out the study, Clark and Clark's colouring task was…

On the design of tone-free ΣΔ modulators

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Risbo, Lars

1995-01-01

Traditional one-bit ΣΔ modulators used for A/D and D/A conversion produce very predominant tones near half the sample rate which might intermodulate in the analog converter section and cause in-band tones. This paper demonstrates how the use of chaos can substitute dither as a means for extinguis...

Light and heavy touch reduces postural sway and modifies axial tone in Parkinson's disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Franzén, Erika; Paquette, Caroline; Gurfinkel, Victor; Horak, Fay

2012-10-01

Light touch with a stable object reduces postural sway by increasing axial postural tone in healthy subjects. However, it is unknown whether subjects with Parkinson's disease (PD), who have more postural sway and higher axial postural tone than healthy subjects, can benefit from haptic touch. To investigate the effect of light and heavy touch on postural stability and hip tone in subjects with PD. Fourteen subjects with mid-stage PD and 14 healthy control subjects were evaluated during quiet standing with eyes closed with their arms (a) crossed, (b) lightly touching a fixed rigid bar in front of them, and (c) firmly gripping the bar. Postural sway was measured with a forceplate, and axial hip tone was quantified using a unique device that measures the resistance of the hips to yaw rotation while maintaining active stance. Subjects with PD significantly decreased their postural sway with light or heavy touch (P touch, hip tone was larger in PD subjects. With touch, however, tone values were similar in both groups. This change in hip tone with touch was highly correlated with the initial amount of tone (PD, r = -.72 to -.95; controls, r = -.74 to -.85). The authors showed, for the first time, that subjects with PD benefit from touch similarly to control subjects and that despite higher axial postural tone, PD subjects are able to modulate their tone with touch. Future studies should investigate the complex relationship between touch and postural tone.

Pressure injuries in people with darker skin tones: A literature review.

Science.gov (United States)

Oozageer Gunowa, Neesha; Hutchinson, Marie; Brooke, Joanne; Jackson, Debra

2017-09-08

In this article, we aimed to explore the literature to ascertain what research evidence exists in relation to the identification of pressure injuries in people with dark skin tones. Pressure injuries development has been widely researched and documented; however, much of this work does not address ethnicity or race and assumes Caucasian-ness. Thus, the perceptions of people with dark skin tones and the influence of skin pigmentation on identification and management of pressure injuries is under examined. Literature review. A comprehensive electronic database search was undertaken of PubMed, Cumulative Index for Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Cochrane and British Nursing Index (BNI) between 1990-July 2016. Alongside the electronic data, journals, books, papers from conferences, relevant national and international organisations and reference lists were also used to help source key studies. A search of the literature revealed 11 relevant articles. The foci of studies included the following: risk of sustaining a pressure injuries based on skin tones, identification of pressure injuries amongst people with dark skin tones, pressure injuries and place of care and socio-economic impact on pressure injuries development. Overall, findings indicate that people with darker skin tones are more likely to develop higher stage pressure injuries. Reasons for this are not fully elucidated; however, it may be associated with current skin assessment protocols being less effective for people who have darker skin tones resulting in early damage arising from pressure not being recognised. From the literature reviewed, it can be seen that there is a lack of guidance and evidence, and people with darker skin tones are more likely in comparison with people presenting as Caucasian to develop higher stage pressure injuries. The current literature suggests a need for researchers and clinicians to consider skin tone variances rather than ethnicity when exploring comprehensive skin

Factors Influencing Sensitivity to Lexical Tone in an Artificial Language: Implications for Second Language Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Caldwell-Harris, Catherine L.; Lancaster, Alia; Ladd, D. Robert; Dediu, Dan; Christiansen, Morten H.

2015-01-01

This study examined whether musical training, ethnicity, and experience with a natural tone language influenced sensitivity to tone while listening to an artificial tone language. The language was designed with three tones, modeled after level-tone African languages. Participants listened to a 15-min random concatenation of six 3-syllable words.…

Neuronal Correlates of Auditory Streaming in Monkey Auditory Cortex for Tone Sequences without Spectral Differences

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stanislava Knyazeva

2018-01-01

Full Text Available This study finds a neuronal correlate of auditory perceptual streaming in the primary auditory cortex for sequences of tone complexes that have the same amplitude spectrum but a different phase spectrum. Our finding is based on microelectrode recordings of multiunit activity from 270 cortical sites in three awake macaque monkeys. The monkeys were presented with repeated sequences of a tone triplet that consisted of an A tone, a B tone, another A tone and then a pause. The A and B tones were composed of unresolved harmonics formed by adding the harmonics in cosine phase, in alternating phase, or in random phase. A previous psychophysical study on humans revealed that when the A and B tones are similar, humans integrate them into a single auditory stream; when the A and B tones are dissimilar, humans segregate them into separate auditory streams. We found that the similarity of neuronal rate responses to the triplets was highest when all A and B tones had cosine phase. Similarity was intermediate when the A tones had cosine phase and the B tones had alternating phase. Similarity was lowest when the A tones had cosine phase and the B tones had random phase. The present study corroborates and extends previous reports, showing similar correspondences between neuronal activity in the primary auditory cortex and auditory streaming of sound sequences. It also is consistent with Fishman’s population separation model of auditory streaming.

Neuronal Correlates of Auditory Streaming in Monkey Auditory Cortex for Tone Sequences without Spectral Differences.

Science.gov (United States)

Knyazeva, Stanislava; Selezneva, Elena; Gorkin, Alexander; Aggelopoulos, Nikolaos C; Brosch, Michael

2018-01-01

This study finds a neuronal correlate of auditory perceptual streaming in the primary auditory cortex for sequences of tone complexes that have the same amplitude spectrum but a different phase spectrum. Our finding is based on microelectrode recordings of multiunit activity from 270 cortical sites in three awake macaque monkeys. The monkeys were presented with repeated sequences of a tone triplet that consisted of an A tone, a B tone, another A tone and then a pause. The A and B tones were composed of unresolved harmonics formed by adding the harmonics in cosine phase, in alternating phase, or in random phase. A previous psychophysical study on humans revealed that when the A and B tones are similar, humans integrate them into a single auditory stream; when the A and B tones are dissimilar, humans segregate them into separate auditory streams. We found that the similarity of neuronal rate responses to the triplets was highest when all A and B tones had cosine phase. Similarity was intermediate when the A tones had cosine phase and the B tones had alternating phase. Similarity was lowest when the A tones had cosine phase and the B tones had random phase. The present study corroborates and extends previous reports, showing similar correspondences between neuronal activity in the primary auditory cortex and auditory streaming of sound sequences. It also is consistent with Fishman's population separation model of auditory streaming.

Jazz Guitar Improvisation: Beginning with Guide-Tones

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniel Andersen

2010-12-01

Full Text Available This article discusses an approach to teaching linear improvisation to beginning jazz guitarists through the function of voice leading in harmonic progressions. The student may gain a clear understanding of improvising melodies by establishing clear visual and aural relationships between the chordal and melodic textures. Three dominant 7th chord voicings are introduced and applied to a twelve bar blues progression in F major. After learning the rhythm guitar accompaniment, single note guide tones consisting of the flat 7th and 3rd chord tones of each dominant seventh chord are extracted from the chord voicings and applied in a melodic texture following chromatic voice leading principles within the harmonic progression. Musicality within the exercises is increased by the addition of a series of rhythmic variations that are applied to the guide-tone lines. Continuing with the concept, full dominant seventh arpeggios are introduced in order to expand the available note choices as a way to build a solid foundation for improvising within harmonic progressions prior to using diatonic scales.

Split SR-RLS for the Joint Initialization of the Per-Tone Equalizers and Per-Tone Echo Cancelers in DMT-Based Receivers

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Ysebaert Geert

2004-01-01

Full Text Available In asymmetric digital subscriber lines (ADSL, the available bandwidth is divided in subcarriers or tones which are assigned to the upstream and/or downstream transmission direction. To allow efficient bidirectional communication over one twisted pair, echo cancellation is required to separate upstream and downstream channels. In addition, intersymbol interference and intercarrier interference have to be reduced by means of equalization. In this paper, a computationally efficient algorithm for adaptively initializing the per-tone equalizers (PTEQ and per-tone echo cancelers (PTEC is presented. For a given number of equalizer and echo canceler taps per-tone, it was shown that the joint PTEQ/PTEC receiver structure is able to maximize the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR on each subcarrier and hence also the achievable bit rate. The proposed initialization scheme is based on a modification of the square root recursive least squares (SR-RLS algorithm to reduce computational complexity and memory requirement compared to full SR-RLS, while keeping the convergence rate acceptably fast. Our performance analysis will show that the proposed method converges in the mean and an upper bound for the step size is given. Moreover, we will indicate how the presented initialization method can be reused in several other ADSL applications.

The Enduring Significance of Skin Tone: Linking Skin Tone, Attitudes Toward Marriage and Cohabitation, and Sexual Behavior.

Science.gov (United States)

Landor, Antoinette M; Halpern, Carolyn Tucker

2016-05-01

Past evidence has documented that attitudes toward marriage and cohabitation are related to sexual behavior in adolescence and young adulthood. This study extends prior research by longitudinally testing these associations across racial/ethnic groups and investigating whether culturally relevant variations within racial/ethnic minority groups, such as skin tone (i.e., lightness/darkness of skin color), are linked to attitudes toward marriage and cohabitation and sex. Drawing on family and public health literatures and theories, as well as burgeoning skin tone literature, it was hypothesized that more positive attitudes toward marriage and negative attitudes toward cohabitation would be associated with less risky sex, and that links differed for lighter and darker skin individuals. The sample included 6872 respondents (49.6 % female; 70.0 % White; 15.8 % African American; 3.3 % Asian; 10.9 % Hispanic) from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health. The results revealed that marital attitudes had a significantly stronger dampening effect on risky sexual behavior of lighter skin African Americans and Asians compared with their darker skin counterparts. Skin tone also directly predicted number of partners and concurrent partners among African American males and Asian females. We discuss theoretical and practical implications of these findings for adolescence and young adulthood.

The Enduring Significance of Skin Tone: Linking Skin Tone, Attitudes Toward Marriage and Cohabitation, and Sexual Behavior

Science.gov (United States)

Landor, Antoinette M.; Halpern, Carolyn Tucker

2016-01-01

Past evidence has documented that attitudes toward marriage and cohabitation are related to sexual behavior in adolescence and young adulthood. This study extends prior research by longitudinally testing these associations across racial/ethnic groups and investigating whether culturally relevant variations within racial/ethnic minority groups, such as skin tone (i.e., lightness/darkness of skin color), are linked to attitudes toward marriage and cohabitation and sex. Drawing on family and public health literatures and theories, as well as burgeoning skin tone literature, it was hypothesized that more positive attitudes toward marriage and negative attitudes toward cohabitation would be associated with less risky sex, and that links differed for lighter and darker skin individuals. The sample included 6872 respondents (49.6 % female; 70.0 % White; 15.8 % African American; 3.3 % Asian; 10.9 % Hispanic) from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health. The results revealed that marital attitudes had a significantly stronger dampening effect on risky sexual behavior of lighter skin African Americans and Asians compared with their darker skin counterparts. Skin tone also directly predicted number of partners and concurrent partners among African American males and Asian females. We discuss theoretical and practical implications of these findings for adolescence and young adulthood. PMID:26979445

Spoken word recognition in young tone language learners: Age-dependent effects of segmental and suprasegmental variation.

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, Weiyi; Zhou, Peng; Singh, Leher; Gao, Liqun

2017-02-01

The majority of the world's languages rely on both segmental (vowels, consonants) and suprasegmental (lexical tones) information to contrast the meanings of individual words. However, research on early language development has mostly focused on the acquisition of vowel-consonant languages. Developmental research comparing sensitivity to segmental and suprasegmental features in young tone learners is extremely rare. This study examined 2- and 3-year-old monolingual tone learners' sensitivity to vowels and tones. Experiment 1a tested the influence of vowel and tone variation on novel word learning. Vowel and tone variation hindered word recognition efficiency in both age groups. However, tone variation hindered word recognition accuracy only in 2-year-olds, while 3-year-olds were insensitive to tone variation. Experiment 1b demonstrated that 3-year-olds could use tones to learn new words when additional support was provided, and additionally, that Tone 3 words were exceptionally difficult to learn. Experiment 2 confirmed a similar pattern of results when children were presented with familiar words. This study is the first to show that despite the importance of tones in tone languages, vowels maintain primacy over tones in young children's word recognition and that tone sensitivity in word learning and recognition changes between 2 and 3years of age. The findings suggest that early lexical processes are more tightly constrained by variation in vowels than by tones. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Are lexical tones musical? Native language's influence on neural response to pitch in different domains.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Ao; Peter, Varghese; Wijnen, Frank; Schnack, Hugo; Burnham, Denis

2018-04-21

Language experience shapes musical and speech pitch processing. We investigated whether speaking a lexical tone language natively modulates neural processing of pitch in language and music as well as their correlation. We tested tone language (Mandarin Chinese), and non-tone language (Dutch) listeners in a passive oddball paradigm measuring mismatch negativity (MMN) for (i) Chinese lexical tones and (ii) three-note musical melodies with similar pitch contours. For lexical tones, Chinese listeners showed a later MMN peak than the non-tone language listeners, whereas for MMN amplitude there were no significant differences between groups. Dutch participants also showed a late discriminative negativity (LDN). In the music condition two MMNs, corresponding to the two notes that differed between the standard and the deviant were found for both groups, and an LDN were found for both the Dutch and the Chinese listeners. The music MMNs were significantly right lateralized. Importantly, significant correlations were found between the lexical tone and the music MMNs for the Dutch but not the Chinese participants. The results suggest that speaking a tone language natively does not necessarily enhance neural responses to pitch either in language or in music, but that it does change the nature of neural pitch processing: non-tone language speakers appear to perceive lexical tones as musical, whereas for tone language speakers, lexical tones and music may activate different neural networks. Neural resources seem to be assigned differently for the lexical tones and for musical melodies, presumably depending on the presence or absence of long-term phonological memory traces. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Automated tone grading of granite

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Catalina Hernández, J.C.; Fernández Ramón, G.

2017-01-01

The production of a natural stone processing plant is subject to the intrinsic variability of the stone blocks that constitute its raw material, which may cause problems of lack of uniformity in the visual appearance of the produced material that often triggers complaints from customers. The best way to tackle this problem is to classify the product according to its visual features, which is traditionally done by hand: an operator observes each and every piece that comes out of the production line and assigns it to the closest match among a number of predefined classes, taking into account visual features of the material such as colour, texture, grain, veins, etc. However, this manual procedure presents significant consistency problems, due to the inherent subjectivity of the classification performed by each operator, and the errors caused by their progressive fatigue. Attempts to employ automated sorting systems like the ones used in the ceramic tile industry have not been successful, as natural stone presents much higher variability than ceramic tiles. Therefore, it has been necessary to develop classification systems specifically designed for the treatment of the visual parameters that distinguish the different types of natural stone. This paper describes the details of a computer vision system developed by AITEMIN for the automatic classification of granite pieces according to their tone, which provides an integral solution to tone grading problems in the granite processing and marketing industry. The system has been designed to be easily trained by the end user, through the learning of the samples established as tone patterns by the user. [es

Domains of H tone spreading and the noun class prefix in Xitsonga ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This article reports results from an investigation of domains of H tone spreading in Xitsonga, a southern Bantu language. High (H) tone spreads into toneless syllables but it spreads only to the first syllable if a nominal root has an H tone. Kisseberth (1994) argues that domain structures created by the Pre-High Projection rule ...

Musical Tone Law Method for the Structural Damage Detection

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Weisong Yang

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Damage detection tests of inclined cables, steel pipes, spherical shells, and an actual cable-stayed bridge were conducted based on the proposed musical tone law method. The results show that the musical tone law method could be used in the damage detection of isotropic material structures with simple shape, like cables, pipes, plates, and shells. Having distinct spectral lines like a comb with a certain interval distribution rule is the main characteristic of the music tone law. Damage detection baseline could be established by quantizing the fitting relationship between modal orders and the corresponding frequency values. The main advantage of this method is that it could be used in the structural damage detection without vibration information of an intact structure as a reference.

Skin Tone Dissatisfaction, Sun Exposure, and Sun Protection in Australian Adolescents.

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Hutchinson, Amanda D; Prichard, Ivanka; Ettridge, Kerry; Wilson, Carlene

2015-08-01

This study aimed to assess the adoption of sun protection and sun exposure behaviors, the extent to which these behaviors group together, and the relationship between skin tone dissatisfaction and sun-related behaviors in South Australian adolescents (aged 12-17). A total of 2,875 secondary school students (1,461 male and 1,414 female) completed a questionnaire including questions about sun protection and sun exposure behaviors and skin tone dissatisfaction. Regular adoption of sun protection behaviors was low and ranged from 20% (wearing protective clothing) to 44% (sunscreen use). A principal components analysis identified four subgroups of sun-related behaviors: sun protection, appearance enhancement, sun avoidance, and sun exposure. Females had significantly higher skin tone dissatisfaction than males. Skin tone dissatisfaction was associated with decreased sun protection and avoidance and increased appearance enhancement and sun exposure in both males and females. Skin tone dissatisfaction plays an important role in Australian adolescents' sun-related behavior. Appearance-based interventions may be effective in reducing skin cancer risk through reduced sun exposure.

PELVIC FLOOR MUSCLE TRAINING IN THE TREATMENT OF URINARY INCONTINENCE AFTER RADICAL PROSTATECTOMY

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Yu. L. Demidko

2014-07-01

Full Text Available The incidence of urinary incontinence after radical prostatectomy is 0.8 to 87%. This category of patients has pelvic floor muscle weakness and reduced perineal reflex. The treatment of these patients uses a pelvic floor exercise system that is to enhance muscle tone and to develop strong reflex contraction in response to a sudden rise in intraabdominal pressure. Pelvic floor muscle training belongs to first-line therapy for urinary incontinence occurring within 6 to 12 months after prostatectomy. The ability to control pelvic floor muscle knowingly and to train them allows one not only to increase the closing capability of sphincter mechanisms, but also to suppress involuntary detrusor contractions. We used this method in 9 patients who had undergone radical prostatectomy. The duration of pelvic floor muscle training under control was up to 25 weeks. During this period, the symptoms of incontinence were relieved. No contraindications or adverse reactions have put this method in first-line therapy for post-prostatectomy urinary incontinence.

PELVIC FLOOR MUSCLE TRAINING IN THE TREATMENT OF URINARY INCONTINENCE AFTER RADICAL PROSTATECTOMY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yu. L. Demidko

2010-01-01

Full Text Available The incidence of urinary incontinence after radical prostatectomy is 0.8 to 87%. This category of patients has pelvic floor muscle weakness and reduced perineal reflex. The treatment of these patients uses a pelvic floor exercise system that is to enhance muscle tone and to develop strong reflex contraction in response to a sudden rise in intraabdominal pressure. Pelvic floor muscle training belongs to first-line therapy for urinary incontinence occurring within 6 to 12 months after prostatectomy. The ability to control pelvic floor muscle knowingly and to train them allows one not only to increase the closing capability of sphincter mechanisms, but also to suppress involuntary detrusor contractions. We used this method in 9 patients who had undergone radical prostatectomy. The duration of pelvic floor muscle training under control was up to 25 weeks. During this period, the symptoms of incontinence were relieved. No contraindications or adverse reactions have put this method in first-line therapy for post-prostatectomy urinary incontinence.

The coordination of boundary tones and its interaction with prominence1

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Katsika, Argyro; Krivokapić, Jelena; Mooshammer, Christine; Tiede, Mark; Goldstein, Louis

2014-01-01

This study investigates the coordination of boundary tones as a function of stress and pitch accent. Boundary tone coordination has not been experimentally investigated previously, and the effect of prominence on this coordination, and whether it is lexical (stress-driven) or phrasal (pitch accent-driven) in nature is unclear. We assess these issues using a variety of syntactic constructions to elicit different boundary tones in an Electromagnetic Articulography (EMA) study of Greek. The results indicate that the onset of boundary tones co-occurs with the articulatory target of the final vowel. This timing is further modified by stress, but not by pitch accent: boundary tones are initiated earlier in words with non-final stress than in words with final stress regardless of accentual status. Visual data inspection reveals that phrase-final words are followed by acoustic pauses during which specific articulatory postures occur. Additional analyses show that these postures reach their achievement point at a stable temporal distance from boundary tone onsets regardless of stress position. Based on these results and parallel findings on boundary lengthening reported elsewhere, a novel approach to prosody is proposed within the context of Articulatory Phonology: rather than seeing prosodic (lexical and phrasal) events as independent entities, a set of coordination relations between them is suggested. The implications of this account for prosodic architecture are discussed. PMID:25300341

IHC-TM connect-disconnect in relation to sensitization and masking of a HF-tone burst by a LF tone. IV.

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Crane, H D

1982-05-01

Evidence continues to accumulate that although the outer hair cells (OHCs) of the cochlea are firmly bonded to the tectorial membrane (TM), the inner hair cells (IHCS) are not. This is the fourth in a series of papers that explores how the idea of a set of disconnected hair cells that "impact" the TM is consistent with psychophysical data. The paper extends the exploration to the masking of high-frequency (HF) tone bursts by low-frequency (LF) tones and shows that the model can explain the important features of these complex data.

Dissimilation in the Second Language Acquisition of Mandarin Chinese Tones

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Zhang, Hang

2016-01-01

This article extends Optimality Theoretic studies to the research on second language tone phonology. Specifically, this work analyses the acquisition of identical tone sequences in Mandarin Chinese by adult speakers of three non-tonal languages: English, Japanese and Korean. This study finds that the learners prefer not to use identical lexical…

The reverse sural artery fasciomusculocutaneous flap for small lower-limb defects: the use of the gastrocnemius muscle cuff as a plug for small bony defects following debridement of infected/necrotic bone.

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Al-Qattan, M M

2007-09-01

The reverse sural artery fasciomusculocutaneous flap is a modification of the original fasciocutaneous flap in which a midline gastrocnemius muscle cuff around the buried sural pedicle is included in the flap. This modification was done to improve the blood supply of the distal part of the flap, which is harvested from the upper leg. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate that there is another important advantage of the modified flap: the use of the muscle cuff as a "plug" for small lower limb defects following debridement of infected/necrotic bone. A total of 10 male adult patients with small complex lower-limb defects with underlying bone pathology were treated with the modified flap using the muscle component to fill up the small bony defects. The bony pathology included necrotic exposed bone without evidence of osteomyelitis or wound infection (n = 1), an underlying neglected tibial fracture with wound infection (n = 4), and a sinus at the heel with underlying calcaneal osteomyelitis (n = 5). Primary wound healing of the flap into the defect was noted in all patients. No recurrence of calcaneal osteomyelitis was seen and all tibial fractures united following appropriate orthopedic fixation. It was concluded that the reverse sural artery fasciomusculocutaneous flap is well suited for small complex lower-limb defects with underlying bone pathology.

Contributions of muscle imbalance and impaired growth to postural and osseous shoulder deformity following brachial plexus birth palsy: a computational simulation analysis.

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Cheng, Wei; Cornwall, Roger; Crouch, Dustin L; Li, Zhongyu; Saul, Katherine R

2015-06-01

Two potential mechanisms leading to postural and osseous shoulder deformity after brachial plexus birth palsy are muscle imbalance between functioning internal rotators and paralyzed external rotators and impaired longitudinal growth of paralyzed muscles. Our goal was to evaluate the combined and isolated effects of these 2 mechanisms on transverse plane shoulder forces using a computational model of C5-6 brachial plexus injury. We modeled a C5-6 injury using a computational musculoskeletal upper limb model. Muscles expected to be denervated by C5-6 injury were classified as affected, with the remaining shoulder muscles classified as unaffected. To model muscle imbalance, affected muscles were given no resting tone whereas unaffected muscles were given resting tone at 30% of maximal activation. To model impaired growth, affected muscles were reduced in length by 30% compared with normal whereas unaffected muscles remained normal in length. Four scenarios were simulated: normal, muscle imbalance only, impaired growth only, and both muscle imbalance and impaired growth. Passive shoulder rotation range of motion and glenohumeral joint reaction forces were evaluated to assess postural and osseous deformity. All impaired scenarios exhibited restricted range of motion and increased and posteriorly directed compressive glenohumeral joint forces. Individually, impaired muscle growth caused worse restriction in range of motion and higher and more posteriorly directed glenohumeral forces than did muscle imbalance. Combined muscle imbalance and impaired growth caused the most restricted joint range of motion and the highest joint reaction force of all scenarios. Both muscle imbalance and impaired longitudinal growth contributed to range of motion and force changes consistent with clinically observed deformity, although the most substantial effects resulted from impaired muscle growth. Simulations suggest that treatment strategies emphasizing treatment of impaired longitudinal

Dynamic resistance training decreases sympathetic tone in hypertensive ovariectomized rats

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Shimojo, G.L.; Palma, R.K.; Brito, J.O.; Sanches, I.C. [Laboratório de Fisiologia Translacional, Programa de Ciências da Reabilitação, Universidade Nove de Julho, São Paulo, SP (Brazil); Irigoyen, M.C. [Instituto do Coração, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP (Brazil); De Angelis, K. [Laboratório de Fisiologia Translacional, Programa de Ciências da Reabilitação, Universidade Nove de Julho, São Paulo, SP (Brazil)

2015-03-27

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of resistance exercise training on hemodynamics and cardiac autonomic control in ovariectomized spontaneously hypertensive rats. Female rats were divided into 4 groups: sedentary control (SC), sedentary hypertensive (SH), sedentary hypertensive ovariectomized (SHO), and resistance-trained hypertensive ovariectomized (RTHO). Resistance exercise training was performed on a vertical ladder (5 days/week, 8 weeks) at 40-60% maximal load. Direct arterial pressure was recorded. Vagal and sympathetic tones were measured by heart rate (HR) responses to methylatropine (3 mg/kg, iv) and propranolol (4 mg/kg, iv). Ovariectomy resulted in additional increases in blood pressure in hypertensive rats and was associated with decreased vagal tone. Resistance exercise trained rats had lower mean arterial pressure than untrained rats (RTHO: 159±2.2 vs SHO: 177±3.4 mmHg), as well as resting bradycardia (RTHO: 332±9.0 vs SHO: 356±5 bpm). Sympathetic tone was also lower in the trained group. Moreover, sympathetic tone was positively correlated with resting HR (r=0.7, P<0.05). The additional arterial pressure increase in hypertensive rats caused by ovarian hormone deprivation was attenuated by moderate-intensity dynamic resistance training. This benefit may be associated with resting bradycardia and reduced cardiac sympathetic tone after training, which suggests potential benefits of resistance exercise for the management of hypertension after ovarian hormone deprivation.

Dynamic resistance training decreases sympathetic tone in hypertensive ovariectomized rats

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shimojo, G.L.; Palma, R.K.; Brito, J.O.; Sanches, I.C.; Irigoyen, M.C.; De Angelis, K.

2015-01-01

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of resistance exercise training on hemodynamics and cardiac autonomic control in ovariectomized spontaneously hypertensive rats. Female rats were divided into 4 groups: sedentary control (SC), sedentary hypertensive (SH), sedentary hypertensive ovariectomized (SHO), and resistance-trained hypertensive ovariectomized (RTHO). Resistance exercise training was performed on a vertical ladder (5 days/week, 8 weeks) at 40-60% maximal load. Direct arterial pressure was recorded. Vagal and sympathetic tones were measured by heart rate (HR) responses to methylatropine (3 mg/kg, iv) and propranolol (4 mg/kg, iv). Ovariectomy resulted in additional increases in blood pressure in hypertensive rats and was associated with decreased vagal tone. Resistance exercise trained rats had lower mean arterial pressure than untrained rats (RTHO: 159±2.2 vs SHO: 177±3.4 mmHg), as well as resting bradycardia (RTHO: 332±9.0 vs SHO: 356±5 bpm). Sympathetic tone was also lower in the trained group. Moreover, sympathetic tone was positively correlated with resting HR (r=0.7, P<0.05). The additional arterial pressure increase in hypertensive rats caused by ovarian hormone deprivation was attenuated by moderate-intensity dynamic resistance training. This benefit may be associated with resting bradycardia and reduced cardiac sympathetic tone after training, which suggests potential benefits of resistance exercise for the management of hypertension after ovarian hormone deprivation

Current versus ideal skin tones and tanning behaviors in Caucasian college women.

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Hemrich, Ashley; Pawlow, Laura; Pomerantz, Andrew; Segrist, Dan

2014-01-01

To explore tanning behaviors and whether a discrepancy between current and ideal skin tones exists. The sample included 78 Caucasian women from a mid-sized midwestern university. Data were collected in spring 2012 via a paper questionnaire. Sixty-two percent of the sample regularly engaged in salon tanning at least once per week, with an average frequency of 2.5 visits per week. Thirteen percent endorsed regularly tanning 4 or more times per week, and 26% reported visiting a tanning bed more than once in a 24-hour period. Ninety-four percent wished their current skin tone was darker, and ideal tone was significantly darker than current tone. The data suggest that the young Caucasian women in this sample tend to be dissatisfied with their current skin tone to an extent that leads the majority of them to engage in risky, potentially cancer-causing behavior by either salon tanning or considering tanning in the future as time and finances become available.

Effects of zoxazolamine and related centrally acting muscle relaxants on nigrostriatal dopaminergic neurons.

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Matthews, R T; McMillen, B A; Speciale, S G; Jarrah, H; Shore, P A; Sanghera, M K; Shepard, P D; German, D C

1984-05-01

The effects of zoxazolamine (ZOX) and related centrally acting muscle relaxants on striatal dopamine (DA) metabolism and turnover, and substantia nigra zona compacta DA neuronal impulse flow were studied in rats. ZOX, chlorzoxazone and mephenesin, but not meprobamate, chloral hydrate, diazepam, pentobarbital, ethanol or dantrolene, decreased striatal DA metabolism without affecting striatal DA concentrations. More specifically, ZOX, as a representative muscle relaxant, was shown to decrease striatal DA turnover without directly affecting DA synthesis, catabolism, reuptake, or release. ZOX decreased nigral DA neuronal firing rates and dramatically decreased firing rate variability (normally many of the cells fire with bursting firing patterns but after ZOX the cells often fired with a very regular pacemaker-like firing pattern). ZOX and related centrally acting muscle relaxants appear to decrease striatal DA turnover by decreasing both neuronal firing rate and firing rate variability. The possible relationships between DA neuronal activity and muscle tone are discussed.

Light and heavy touch reduces postural sway and modifies axial tone in Parkinson’s disease

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Franzén, Erika; Paquette, Caroline; Gurfinkel, Victor; Horak, Fay

2014-01-01

Background Light touch with a stable object reduces postural sway by increasing axial postural tone in healthy subjects. However, it is unknown whether subjects with Parkinson’s disease (PD), who have more postural sway and higher axial postural tone than healthy subjects, can benefit from haptic touch. Objective To investigate the effect of light and heavy touch on postural stability and hip tone in subjects with PD. Methods Fourteen subjects with mid-stage PD, and 14 healthy control subjects were evaluated during quiet standing with eyes closed with their arms: 1) crossed, 2) lightly touching a fixed rigid bar in front of them and 3) firmly gripping the bar. Postural sway was measured with a forceplate and axial hip tone was quantified using a unique device that measures the resistance of the hips to yaw rotation while maintaining active stance. Results Subjects with PD significantly decreased their postural sway with light or heavy touch (ptouch, hip tone was larger in PD subjects. With touch, however, tone values were similar in both groups. This change in hip tone with touch was highly correlated with the initial amount of tone (PD: r=− 0.72 to −0.95 and controls: r=−0.74 to−0.85). Conclusions We showed, for the first time, that subjects with PD benefit from touch similarly to control subjects and that despite higher axial postural tone, PD subjects are able to modulate their tone with touch. Future studies should investigate the complex relationship between touch and postural tone. PMID:22415944

Short and long term representation of an unfamiliar tone distribution.

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Cui, Anja X; Diercks, Charlette; Troje, Nikolaus F; Cuddy, Lola L

2016-01-01

We report on a study conducted to extend our knowledge about the process of gaining a mental representation of music. Several studies, inspired by research on the statistical learning of language, have investigated statistical learning of sequential rules underlying tone sequences. Given that the mental representation of music correlates with distributional properties of music, we tested whether participants are able to abstract distributional information contained in tone sequences to form a mental representation. For this purpose, we created an unfamiliar music genre defined by an underlying tone distribution, to which 40 participants were exposed. Our stimuli allowed us to differentiate between sensitivity to the distributional properties contained in test stimuli and long term representation of the distributional properties of the music genre overall. Using a probe tone paradigm and a two-alternative forced choice discrimination task, we show that listeners are able to abstract distributional properties of music through mere exposure into a long term representation of music. This lends support to the idea that statistical learning is involved in the process of gaining musical knowledge.

Short and long term representation of an unfamiliar tone distribution

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anja X. Cui

2016-08-01

Full Text Available We report on a study conducted to extend our knowledge about the process of gaining a mental representation of music. Several studies, inspired by research on the statistical learning of language, have investigated statistical learning of sequential rules underlying tone sequences. Given that the mental representation of music correlates with distributional properties of music, we tested whether participants are able to abstract distributional information contained in tone sequences to form a mental representation. For this purpose, we created an unfamiliar music genre defined by an underlying tone distribution, to which 40 participants were exposed. Our stimuli allowed us to differentiate between sensitivity to the distributional properties contained in test stimuli and long term representation of the distributional properties of the music genre overall. Using a probe tone paradigm and a two-alternative forced choice discrimination task, we show that listeners are able to abstract distributional properties of music through mere exposure into a long term representation of music. This lends support to the idea that statistical learning is involved in the process of gaining musical knowledge.

An Integrated Tone Mapping for High Dynamic Range Image Visualization

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Liang, Lei; Pan, Jeng-Shyang; Zhuang, Yongjun

2018-01-01

There are two type tone mapping operators for high dynamic range (HDR) image visualization. HDR image mapped by perceptual operators have strong sense of reality, but will lose local details. Empirical operators can maximize local detail information of HDR image, but realism is not strong. A common tone mapping operator suitable for all applications is not available. This paper proposes a novel integrated tone mapping framework which can achieve conversion between empirical operators and perceptual operators. In this framework, the empirical operator is rendered based on improved saliency map, which simulates the visual attention mechanism of the human eye to the natural scene. The results of objective evaluation prove the effectiveness of the proposed solution.

Genetics Home Reference: adenylosuccinate lyase deficiency

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... during fetal development and a small head size ( microcephaly ). Affected newborns have severe encephalopathy, which leads to ... severe psychomotor delay, weak muscle tone (hypotonia), and microcephaly. Many affected infants develop recurrent seizures that are ...

Genetics Home Reference: Cohen syndrome

Science.gov (United States)

... by developmental delay, intellectual disability, small head size ( microcephaly ), and weak muscle tone (hypotonia). Other features common ... Researchers speculate that problems with neuron development underlie microcephaly, intellectual disability, and retinal dystrophy and that abnormal ...

Usefulness of 1000-Hz probe tone in tympanometry according to age in Korean infants.

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Park, Mina; Han, Kyu-Hee; Jung, Hyunseo; Kim, Mee-Hee; Chang, Hyun-Kyung; Kim, Shin Hye; Park, Moo Kyun; Lee, Jun Ho

2015-01-01

Numerous studies have shown the superiority of a 1000-Hz frequency probe tone for evaluating the middle ear status of infants. However, most of these studies examined Caucasian populations. This study validated the 1000-Hz probe tone and evaluated the age at which it should be used in Korean infants. Data from 83 infants (43 males, 40 females; mean age 9.2±6.2 (range 1-30) months, 165 ears) were analyzed. Tympanograms were classified according to Baldwin's modification of the method of Marchant et al. and correlated with results based on combined diagnostic tests, including an endoscopic examination of the tympanic membrane, myringotomy findings, and the air and bone conduction auditory brainstem response (ABR) thresholds. Data were analyzed in five age groups, each covering a 3-month range. The traces were measured for both 226- and 1000-Hz probe tones. The sensitivity and specificity for the different age groups were also determined. For the 226-Hz probe tone, the tympanograms showed normal traces for most ears with otitis media effusions in infants younger than 12 months. By contrast, the tympanograms using the 1000-Hz probe tone showed abnormal traces in most of the infants with otitis media effusions in all age groups. In infants with no otitis media effusion, the tympanograms using both 226- and 1000-Hz probe tones were interpreted as normal in most cases in all age groups. In infants younger than 12 months, the sensitivity of the 226-Hz probe tone was very low (0-6.6%), whereas that of the 1000-Hz probe tone was very high (90-100%). In infants older than 13 months, however, the sensitivities of the 226- and 1000-Hz probe tones were 76.2% and 85.7%, respectively. Regarding specificity, the difference between the two probe tones was not significant for any age group. This study confirmed the superiority of the 1000-Hz probe tone for evaluating the middle ear in infants. We recommend using a 1000-Hz probe tone at least up to the age of 12 months for Korean

Long-term relationships between cholinergic tone, synchronous bursting and synaptic remodeling.

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Maya Kaufman

Full Text Available Cholinergic neuromodulation plays key roles in the regulation of neuronal excitability, network activity, arousal, and behavior. On longer time scales, cholinergic systems play essential roles in cortical development, maturation, and plasticity. Presumably, these processes are associated with substantial synaptic remodeling, yet to date, long-term relationships between cholinergic tone and synaptic remodeling remain largely unknown. Here we used automated microscopy combined with multielectrode array recordings to study long-term relationships between cholinergic tone, excitatory synapse remodeling, and network activity characteristics in networks of cortical neurons grown on multielectrode array substrates. Experimental elevations of cholinergic tone led to the abrupt suppression of episodic synchronous bursting activity (but not of general activity, followed by a gradual growth of excitatory synapses over hours. Subsequent blockage of cholinergic receptors led to an immediate restoration of synchronous bursting and the gradual reversal of synaptic growth. Neither synaptic growth nor downsizing was governed by multiplicative scaling rules. Instead, these occurred in a subset of synapses, irrespective of initial synaptic size. Synaptic growth seemed to depend on intrinsic network activity, but not on the degree to which bursting was suppressed. Intriguingly, sustained elevations of cholinergic tone were associated with a gradual recovery of synchronous bursting but not with a reversal of synaptic growth. These findings show that cholinergic tone can strongly affect synaptic remodeling and synchronous bursting activity, but do not support a strict coupling between the two. Finally, the reemergence of synchronous bursting in the presence of elevated cholinergic tone indicates that the capacity of cholinergic neuromodulation to indefinitely suppress synchronous bursting might be inherently limited.

Long-term Relationships between Cholinergic Tone, Synchronous Bursting and Synaptic Remodeling

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Kaufman, Maya; Corner, Michael A.; Ziv, Noam E.

2012-01-01

Cholinergic neuromodulation plays key roles in the regulation of neuronal excitability, network activity, arousal, and behavior. On longer time scales, cholinergic systems play essential roles in cortical development, maturation, and plasticity. Presumably, these processes are associated with substantial synaptic remodeling, yet to date, long-term relationships between cholinergic tone and synaptic remodeling remain largely unknown. Here we used automated microscopy combined with multielectrode array recordings to study long-term relationships between cholinergic tone, excitatory synapse remodeling, and network activity characteristics in networks of cortical neurons grown on multielectrode array substrates. Experimental elevations of cholinergic tone led to the abrupt suppression of episodic synchronous bursting activity (but not of general activity), followed by a gradual growth of excitatory synapses over hours. Subsequent blockage of cholinergic receptors led to an immediate restoration of synchronous bursting and the gradual reversal of synaptic growth. Neither synaptic growth nor downsizing was governed by multiplicative scaling rules. Instead, these occurred in a subset of synapses, irrespective of initial synaptic size. Synaptic growth seemed to depend on intrinsic network activity, but not on the degree to which bursting was suppressed. Intriguingly, sustained elevations of cholinergic tone were associated with a gradual recovery of synchronous bursting but not with a reversal of synaptic growth. These findings show that cholinergic tone can strongly affect synaptic remodeling and synchronous bursting activity, but do not support a strict coupling between the two. Finally, the reemergence of synchronous bursting in the presence of elevated cholinergic tone indicates that the capacity of cholinergic neuromodulation to indefinitely suppress synchronous bursting might be inherently limited. PMID:22911726

Long-term relationships between cholinergic tone, synchronous bursting and synaptic remodeling.

Science.gov (United States)

Kaufman, Maya; Corner, Michael A; Ziv, Noam E

2012-01-01

Cholinergic neuromodulation plays key roles in the regulation of neuronal excitability, network activity, arousal, and behavior. On longer time scales, cholinergic systems play essential roles in cortical development, maturation, and plasticity. Presumably, these processes are associated with substantial synaptic remodeling, yet to date, long-term relationships between cholinergic tone and synaptic remodeling remain largely unknown. Here we used automated microscopy combined with multielectrode array recordings to study long-term relationships between cholinergic tone, excitatory synapse remodeling, and network activity characteristics in networks of cortical neurons grown on multielectrode array substrates. Experimental elevations of cholinergic tone led to the abrupt suppression of episodic synchronous bursting activity (but not of general activity), followed by a gradual growth of excitatory synapses over hours. Subsequent blockage of cholinergic receptors led to an immediate restoration of synchronous bursting and the gradual reversal of synaptic growth. Neither synaptic growth nor downsizing was governed by multiplicative scaling rules. Instead, these occurred in a subset of synapses, irrespective of initial synaptic size. Synaptic growth seemed to depend on intrinsic network activity, but not on the degree to which bursting was suppressed. Intriguingly, sustained elevations of cholinergic tone were associated with a gradual recovery of synchronous bursting but not with a reversal of synaptic growth. These findings show that cholinergic tone can strongly affect synaptic remodeling and synchronous bursting activity, but do not support a strict coupling between the two. Finally, the reemergence of synchronous bursting in the presence of elevated cholinergic tone indicates that the capacity of cholinergic neuromodulation to indefinitely suppress synchronous bursting might be inherently limited.

Lexical tone recognition in noise in normal-hearing children and prelingually deafened children with cochlear implants.

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Mao, Yitao; Xu, Li

2017-01-01

The purpose of the present study was to investigate Mandarin tone recognition in background noise in children with cochlear implants (CIs), and to examine the potential factors contributing to their performance. Tone recognition was tested using a two-alternative forced-choice paradigm in various signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) conditions (i.e. quiet, +12, +6, 0, and -6 dB). Linear correlation analysis was performed to examine possible relationships between the tone-recognition performance of the CI children and the demographic factors. Sixty-six prelingually deafened children with CIs and 52 normal-hearing (NH) children as controls participated in the study. Children with CIs showed an overall poorer tone-recognition performance and were more susceptible to noise than their NH peers. Tone confusions between Mandarin tone 2 and tone 3 were most prominent in both CI and NH children except for in the poorest SNR conditions. Age at implantation was significantly correlated with tone-recognition performance of the CI children in noise. There is a marked deficit in tone recognition in prelingually deafened children with CIs, particularly in noise listening conditions. While factors that contribute to the large individual differences are still elusive, early implantation could be beneficial to tone development in pediatric CI users.

Segmented correlation measurements on superconducting bandpass delta-sigma modulator with and without input tone

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bulzacchelli, John F; Lee, Hae-Seung; Hong, Merit Y; Misewich, James A; Ketchen, Mark B

2003-01-01

Segmented correlation is a useful technique for testing a superconducting analogue-to-digital converter, as it allows the output spectrum to be estimated with fine frequency resolution even when data record lengths are limited by small on-chip acquisition memories. Previously, we presented segmented correlation measurements on a superconducting bandpass delta-sigma modulator sampling at 40.2 GHz under idle channel (no input) conditions. This paper compares the modulator output spectra measured by segmented correlation with and without an input tone. Important practical considerations of calculating segmented correlations are discussed in detail. Resolution enhancement by segmented correlation does reduce the spectral width of the input tone in the desired manner, but the signal power due to the input increases the variance of the spectral estimate near the input frequency, hindering accurate calculation of the in-band noise. This increased variance, which is predicted by theory, must be considered carefully in the application of segmented correlation. Methods for obtaining more accurate estimates of the quantization noise spectrum which are closer to those measured with no input are described

Repetition Suppression in the Left Inferior Frontal Gyrus Predicts Tone Learning Performance.

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Asaridou, Salomi S; Takashima, Atsuko; Dediu, Dan; Hagoort, Peter; McQueen, James M

2016-06-01

Do individuals differ in how efficiently they process non-native sounds? To what extent do these differences relate to individual variability in sound-learning aptitude? We addressed these questions by assessing the sound-learning abilities of Dutch native speakers as they were trained on non-native tone contrasts. We used fMRI repetition suppression to the non-native tones to measure participants' neuronal processing efficiency before and after training. Although all participants improved in tone identification with training, there was large individual variability in learning performance. A repetition suppression effect to tone was found in the bilateral inferior frontal gyri (IFGs) before training. No whole-brain effect was found after training; a region-of-interest analysis, however, showed that, after training, repetition suppression to tone in the left IFG correlated positively with learning. That is, individuals who were better in learning the non-native tones showed larger repetition suppression in this area. Crucially, this was true even before training. These findings add to existing evidence that the left IFG plays an important role in sound learning and indicate that individual differences in learning aptitude stem from differences in the neuronal efficiency with which non-native sounds are processed. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Using Adaptive Tone Mapping to Enhance Edge-Preserving Color Image Automatically

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Lu Min-Yao

2010-01-01

Full Text Available One common characteristic of most high-contrast images is the coexistence of dark shadows and bright light source in one scene. It is very difficult to present details in both dark and bright areas simultaneously on most display devices. In order to resolve this problem, a new method utilizing bilateral filter combined with adaptive tone-mapping method is proposed to improve image quality. First of all, bilateral filter is used to decompose image into two layers: large-scale layer and detail layer. Then, the large-scale layer image is divided into three regions: bright, mid-tone, and dark region. Finally, an appropriate tone-mapping method is chosen to process each region according to its individual property. Only large-scale layer image is enhanced by using adaptive tone mapping; therefore, the details of the original image can be preserved. The experiment results demonstrate the success of proposed method. Furthermore, the proposed method can also avoid posterization produced by methods using histogram equalization.

Darker Skin Tone Increases Perceived Discrimination among Male but Not Female Caribbean Black Youth

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Shervin Assari

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Background: Among most minority groups, males seem to report higher levels of exposure and vulnerability to racial discrimination. Although darker skin tone may increase exposure to racial discrimination, it is yet unknown whether skin tone similarly influences perceived discrimination among male and female Caribbean Black youth. Objective: The current cross-sectional study tests the role of gender on the effects of skin tone on perceived discrimination among Caribbean Black youth. Methods: Data came from the National Survey of American Life-Adolescent Supplement (NSAL-A, 2003–2004, which included 360 Caribbean Black youth (ages 13 to 17. Demographic factors (age and gender, socioeconomic status (SES; family income, income to needs ratio, and subjective SES, skin tone, and perceived everyday discrimination were measured. Linear regressions were used for data analysis. Results: In the pooled sample, darker skin tone was associated with higher levels of perceived discrimination among Caribbean Black youth (b = 0.48; 95% Confidence Interval (CI = 0.07–0.89. A significant interaction was found between gender and skin tone (b = 1.17; 95% CI = 0.49–1.86, suggesting a larger effect of skin tone on perceived discrimination for males than females. In stratified models, darker skin tone was associated with more perceived discrimination for males (b = 1.20; 95% CI = 0.69–0.72 but not females (b = 0.06; 95% CI = −0.42–0.55. Conclusion: Similar to the literature documenting male gender as a vulnerability factor to the effects of racial discrimination, we found that male but not female Caribbean Black youth with darker skin tones perceive more discrimination.

Amplitude modulation reduces loudness adaptation to high-frequency tones.

Science.gov (United States)

Wynne, Dwight P; George, Sahara E; Zeng, Fan-Gang

2015-07-01

Long-term loudness perception of a sound has been presumed to depend on the spatial distribution of activated auditory nerve fibers as well as their temporal firing pattern. The relative contributions of those two factors were investigated by measuring loudness adaptation to sinusoidally amplitude-modulated 12-kHz tones. The tones had a total duration of 180 s and were either unmodulated or 100%-modulated at one of three frequencies (4, 20, or 100 Hz), and additionally varied in modulation depth from 0% to 100% at the 4-Hz frequency only. Every 30 s, normal-hearing subjects estimated the loudness of one of the stimuli played at 15 dB above threshold in random order. Without any amplitude modulation, the loudness of the unmodulated tone after 180 s was only 20% of the loudness at the onset of the stimulus. Amplitude modulation systematically reduced the amount of loudness adaptation, with the 100%-modulated stimuli, regardless of modulation frequency, maintaining on average 55%-80% of the loudness at onset after 180 s. Because the present low-frequency amplitude modulation produced minimal changes in long-term spectral cues affecting the spatial distribution of excitation produced by a 12-kHz pure tone, the present result indicates that neural synchronization is critical to maintaining loudness perception over time.

Facial reanimation by muscle-nerve neurotization after facial nerve sacrifice. Case report.

Science.gov (United States)

Taupin, A; Labbé, D; Babin, E; Fromager, G

2016-12-01

Recovering a certain degree of mimicry after sacrifice of the facial nerve is a clinically recognized finding. The authors report a case of hemifacial reanimation suggesting a phenomenon of neurotization from muscle-to-nerve. A woman benefited from a parotidectomy with sacrifice of the left facial nerve indicated for recurrent tumor in the gland. The distal branches of the facial nerve, isolated at the time of resection, were buried in the masseter muscle underneath. The patient recovered a voluntary hémifacial motricity. The electromyographic analysis of the motor activity of the zygomaticus major before and after block of the masseter nerve showed a dependence between mimic muscles and the masseter muscle. Several hypotheses have been advanced to explain the spontaneous reanimation of facial paralysis. The clinical case makes it possible to argue in favor of muscle-to-nerve neurotization from masseter muscle to distal branches of the facial nerve. It illustrates the quality of motricity that can be obtained thanks to this procedure. The authors describe a simple implantation technique of distal branches of the facial nerve in the masseter muscle during a radical parotidectomy with facial nerve sacrifice and recovery of resting tone but also a quality voluntary mimicry. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Nonlinear effects contributing to hand-stopping tones in a horn.

Science.gov (United States)

Ebihara, Takayasu; Yoshikawa, Shigeru

2013-05-01

Hand stopping is a technique for playing the French horn while closing the bell relatively tightly using the right hand. The resulting timbre is called "penetrating" and "metallic." The effect of hand stopping on the horn input impedance has been studied, but the tone quality has hardly ever been considered. In the present paper, the dominant physical cause of the stopped-tone quality is discussed in detail. Numerical calculations of the transmission function of the stopped-horn model and the measurements of both sound pressure and wall vibration in hand stopping are carried out. They strongly suggest that the metallicness of the stopped tone is characterized by the generation of higher harmonics extending over 10 kHz due to the rapidly corrugating waveform and that the associated wall vibration on the bell may be responsible for this higher harmonic generation. However, excitation experiments and immobilization experiments performed to elucidate the relationship between sound radiation and wall vibration deny their correlation. Instead, the measurement result of the mouthpiece pressure in hand stopping suggests that minute wave corrugations peculiar to the metallic stopped tones are probably formed by nonlinear sound propagation along the bore.

Impact of Functional Appliances on Muscle Activity: A Surface Electromyography Study in Children

Science.gov (United States)

Woźniak, Krzysztof; Piątkowska, Dagmara; Szyszka-Sommerfeld, Liliana; Buczkowska-Radlińska, Jadwiga

2015-01-01

Background Electromyography (EMG) is the most objective tool for assessing changes in the electrical activity of the masticatory muscles. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the tone of the masseter and anterior temporalis muscles in growing children before and after 6 months of treatment with functional removable orthodontic appliances. Material/Methods The sample conisted of 51 patients with a mean age 10.7 years with Class II malocclusion. EMG recordings were performed by using a DAB-Bluetooth instrument (Zebris Medical GmbH, Germany). Recordings were performed in mandibular rest position, during maximum voluntary contraction (MVC), and during maximum effort. Results The results of the study indicated that the electrical activity of the muscles in each of the clinical situations was the same in the group of girls and boys. The factor that determined the activity of the muscles was their type. In mandibular rest position and in MVC, the activity of the temporalis muscles was significantly higher that that of the masseter muscels. The maximum effort test indicated a higher fatigue in masseter than in temporalis muscles. Conclusions Surface electromyography is a useful tool for monitoring muscle activity. A 6-month period of functional therapy resulted in changes in the activity of the masticatory muscles. PMID:25600247

Relative and Absolute Interrater Reliabilities of a Hand-Held Myotonometer to Quantify Mechanical Muscle Properties in Patients with Acute Stroke in an Inpatient Ward

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wai Leung Ambrose Lo

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Introduction. The reliability of using MyotonPRO to quantify muscles mechanical properties in a ward setting for the acute stroke population remains unknown. Aims. To investigate the within-session relative and absolute interrater reliability of MyotonPRO. Methods. Mechanical properties of biceps brachii, brachioradialis, rectus femoris, and tibialis anterior were recorded at bedside. Participants were within 1 month of the first occurrence of stroke. Relative reliability was assessed by intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC. Absolute reliability was assessed by standard error of measurement (SEM, SEM%, smallest real difference (SRD, SRD%, and the Bland-Altman 95% limits of agreement. Results. ICCs of all studied muscles ranged between 0.63 and 0.97. The SEM of all muscles ranged within 0.30–0.88 Hz for tone, 0.07–0.19 for decrement, 6.42–20.20 N/m for stiffness, and 0.04–0.07 for creep. The SRD of all muscles ranged within 0.70–2.05 Hz for tone, 0.16–0.45 for decrement, 14.98–47.15 N/m for stiffness, and 0.09–0.17 for creep. Conclusions. MyotonPRO demonstrated acceptable relative and absolute reliability in a ward setting for patients with acute stroke. However, results must be interpreted with caution, due to the varying level of consistency between different muscles, as well as between different parameters within a muscle.

Current and ideal skin tone: Associations with tanning behavior among sexual minority men.

Science.gov (United States)

Klimek, Patrycja; Lamb, Kalina M; Nogg, Kelsey A; Rooney, Benjamin M; Blashill, Aaron J

2018-06-01

Sexual minority men have high rates of skin cancer, yet little is known about skin cancer risk behaviors in this population. It was hypothesized that current skin tone would moderate the association between darker ideals and tanning behaviors. Data were collected online from 231 sexual minority men in San Diego, United States of America, with a mean age of 24.66 (SD = 5.44). Ideal and current skin tone ratings and indoor and outdoor tanning behaviors were assessed. Darker ideals were significantly associated with increased indoor and outdoor tanning. The effect of darker ideals on tanning was strongest among individuals with lighter current skin tone, indicating a significant interaction. Sexual minority men whose perceived skin tone did not match their ideal were more likely to engage in skin cancer risk behaviors. Future skin cancer prevention programs aimed at sexual minority men may consider techniques that modify ideal skin tone internalization. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Botulinum Toxin A Injections Into Pelvic Floor Muscles Under Electromyographic Guidance for Women With Refractory High-Tone Pelvic Floor Dysfunction: A 6-Month Prospective Pilot Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Morrissey, Darlene; El-Khawand, Dominique; Ginzburg, Natasha; Wehbe, Salim; O'Hare, Peter; Whitmore, Kristene

2015-01-01

High-tone pelvic floor dysfunction (HTPFD) is a debilitating chronic pain disorder for many women with significant impact on their quality of life (QoL). Our objective was to determine the efficacy of electromyography-guided onabotulinumtoxinA (Botox; Allergan, Irvine, Calif) injections in treating patient's perception of pelvic pain and improving QoL measurement scores. This is a prospective pilot open-label study of women with chronic pelvic pain and HTPFD who have failed conventional therapy between January 2011 and August 2013. Botox injections (up to 300 U) were done using needle electromyography guidance, from a transperineal approach, to localize spastic pelvic floor muscles (PFMs). Data were collected at baseline, 4, 8, 12, and 24 weeks after injections. This included demographics; Visual Analog Scale (VAS) scores for pain and dyspareunia; validated questionnaires for symptoms, QoL, and sexual function; Global Response Assessment scale for pelvic pain; digital examination of PFM for tone and tenderness; and vaginal manometry. Side effects were also recorded. Out of 28 women who enrolled in the study, 21 completed the 6-month follow-up and qualified for analysis. The mean (SD) age was 35.1 (9.4) years (range, 22-50 years), and the mean (SD) body mass index was 25 (4.4). Comorbidities included interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome (42.9%) and vulvodynia (66.7%). Overall, 61.9% of subjects reported improvement on Global Response Assessment at 4 weeks and 80.9% at 8, 12, and 24 weeks post injection, compared with baseline. Of the subjects who were sexually active at baseline, 58.8% (10/17), 68.8% (11/16), 80% (12/15), and 83.3% (15/18) reported less dyspareunia at 4, 8, 12, and 24 weeks, respectively. Dyspareunia Visual Analog Scale score significantly improved at weeks 12 (5.6, P = 0.011) and 24 (5.4, P = 0.004) compared with baseline (7.8). Two of the 4 patients who avoided sexual activity at baseline secondary to dyspareunia resumed and tolerated

Perceptual Weights for Loudness Judgments of 6-Tone Complexes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jesteadt, Walt; Valente, Daniel L.; Joshi, Suyash Narendra

In a series of studies, 6 subjects with normal hearing (NH) and 3 with sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) judged the overall loudness of 6-tone complexes comprised of octave frequencies from 0.25 to 8 kHz. In two tasks, tones were equated in level in dB SPL or in sensation level (SL) and a range....... In the “loudness” task there was no difference in mean level across the two intervals. In the “sample discrimination” task, the two complexes differed by an average of 5 dB. For both tasks, perceptual weights were derived by correlating the differences in level between matched-frequency tones in the complexes...... and the loudness decision on each trial. Weights derived from the loudness task (no mean level difference) were highly correlated with weights derived from the sample discrimination task (5-dB difference). For SPL conditions, both NH and SNHL subjects placed less weight on the lowest frequency and greater weight...

Flow Tones in a Pipeline-Cavity System: Effect of Pipe Asymmetry

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

D. Erdem; D. rockwell; P. Oshkai; M. Pollack

2002-05-29

Flow tones in a pipeline-cavity system are characterized in terms of unsteady pressure within the cavity and along the pipe. The reference case corresponds to equal lengths of pipe connected to the inlet and outlet ends of the cavity. Varying degrees of asymmetry of this pipe arrangement are investigated. The asymmetry is achieved by an extension of variable length, which is added to the pipe at the cavity outlet. An extension length as small as a few percent of the acoustic wavelength of the resonant mode can yield a substantial reduction in the pressure amplitude of the flow tone. This amplitude decrease occurs in a similar fashion within both the cavity and the pipe resonator, which indicates that it is a global phenomenon. Furthermore, the decrease of pressure amplitude is closely correlated with a decrease of the Q (quality)-factor of the predominant spectral component of pressure. At a sufficiently large value of extension length, however, the overall form of the pressure spectrum recovers to the form that exists at zero length of the extension. Further insight is provided by variation of the inflow velocity at selected values of extension length. Irrespective of its value, both the magnitude and frequency of the peak pressure exhibit a sequence of resonant-like states. Moreover, the maximum attainable magnitude of the peak pressure decreases with increasing extension length.

Flow Tones in a Pipeline-Cavity System: Effect of Pipe Asymmetry

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

D. Erdem; D. Rockwell; P.L. Oshkai; M. Pollack

2001-02-28

Flow tones in a pipeline-cavity system are characterized in terms of unsteady pressure within the cavity and along the pipe. The reference case corresponds to equal lengths of pipe connected to the inlet and outlet ends of the cavity. Varying degrees of asymmetry of this pipe arrangement are investigated. The asymmetry is achieved by an extension of variable length, which is added to the pipe at the cavity outlet. An extension length as small as a few percent of the acoustic wavelength of the resonant mode can yield a substantial reduction in the pressure amplitude of the flow tone. This amplitude decrease occurs in a similar fashion within both the cavity and the pipe resonator, which indicates that it is a global phenomenon. Furthermore, the decrease of pressure amplitude is closely correlated with a decrease of the Q (quality)-factor of the predominant spectral component of pressure. At a sufficiently large value of extension length, however, the overall form of the pressure spectrum recovers to the form that exists at zero length of the extension. Further insight is provided by variation of the inflow velocity at selected values of extension length. Irrespective of its value, both the magnitude and frequency of the peak pressure exhibit a sequence of resonant-like states. moreover, the maximum attainable magnitude of the peak pressure decreases with increasing extension length.

Brain Plasticity in Speech Training in Native English Speakers Learning Mandarin Tones

Science.gov (United States)

Heinzen, Christina Carolyn

The current study employed behavioral and event-related potential (ERP) measures to investigate brain plasticity associated with second-language (L2) phonetic learning based on an adaptive computer training program. The program utilized the acoustic characteristics of Infant-Directed Speech (IDS) to train monolingual American English-speaking listeners to perceive Mandarin lexical tones. Behavioral identification and discrimination tasks were conducted using naturally recorded speech, carefully controlled synthetic speech, and non-speech control stimuli. The ERP experiments were conducted with selected synthetic speech stimuli in a passive listening oddball paradigm. Identical pre- and post- tests were administered on nine adult listeners, who completed two-to-three hours of perceptual training. The perceptual training sessions used pair-wise lexical tone identification, and progressed through seven levels of difficulty for each tone pair. The levels of difficulty included progression in speaker variability from one to four speakers and progression through four levels of acoustic exaggeration of duration, pitch range, and pitch contour. Behavioral results for the natural speech stimuli revealed significant training-induced improvement in identification of Tones 1, 3, and 4. Improvements in identification of Tone 4 generalized to novel stimuli as well. Additionally, comparison between discrimination of across-category and within-category stimulus pairs taken from a synthetic continuum revealed a training-induced shift toward more native-like categorical perception of the Mandarin lexical tones. Analysis of the Mismatch Negativity (MMN) responses in the ERP data revealed increased amplitude and decreased latency for pre-attentive processing of across-category discrimination as a result of training. There were also laterality changes in the MMN responses to the non-speech control stimuli, which could reflect reallocation of brain resources in processing pitch patterns

The effects of tones in noise on human annoyance and performance

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Joonhee

Building mechanical equipment often generates prominent tones because most systems include rotating parts like fans and pumps. These tonal noises can cause unpleasant user experiences in spaces and, in turn, lead to increased complaints by building occupants. Currently, architectural engineers can apply the noise criteria guidelines in standards or publications to achieve acceptable noise conditions for assorted types of spaces. However, these criteria do not apply well if the noise contains perceptible tones. The annoyance thresholds experienced by the general population with regards to the degree of tones in noise is a significant piece of knowledge that has not been well-established. Thus, this dissertation addresses the relationship between human perception and noises with tones in the built environment. Four phases of subjective testing were conducted in an indoor acoustic testing chamber at the University of Nebraska to achieve the research objective. The results indicate that even the least prominent tones in noises can significantly decrease the cognitive performance of participants on a mentally demanding task. Factorial repeated-measures analysis of variance of test results have proven that tonality has a crucial influence on working memory capacity of subjects, whereas loudness levels alone did not. A multidimensional annoyance model, incorporating psycho-acoustical attributes of noise in addition to loudness and tonality, has been proposed as a more accurate annoyance model.

Total Mercury content of skin toning creams

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Administrator

2008-04-01

Apr 1, 2008 ... Kwame Nkrumah University of Science & Technology,. Kumasi, Ghana. ABSTRACT. The use of mercury containing skin toning creams is becoming ..... Country of Origin. Colour. Aleo Whitening Milk. 0.013. China. White.

The influence of midazolam on heart rate arises from cardiac autonomic tones alterations in Burmese pythons, Python molurus.

Science.gov (United States)

Lopes, Ivã Guidini; Armelin, Vinicius Araújo; Braga, Victor Hugo da Silva; Florindo, Luiz Henrique

2017-12-01

The GABA A receptor agonist midazolam is a compound widely used as a tranquilizer and sedative in mammals and reptiles. It is already known that this benzodiazepine produces small to intermediate heart rate (HR) alterations in mammals, however, its influence on reptiles' HR remains unexplored. Thus, the present study sought to verify the effects of midazolam on HR and cardiac modulation in the snake Python molurus. To do so, the snakes' HR, cardiac autonomic tones, and HR variability were evaluated during four different experimental stages. The first stage consisted on the data acquisition of animals under untreated conditions, in which were then administered atropine (2.5mgkg -1 ; intraperitoneal), followed later by propranolol (3.5mgkg -1 ; intraperitoneal) (cardiac double autonomic blockade). The second stage focused on the data acquisition of animals under midazolam effect (1.0mgkg -1 ; intramuscular), which passed through the same autonomic blockade protocol of the first stage. The third and fourth stages consisted of the same protocol of stages one and two, respectively, with the exception that atropine and propranolol injections were reversed. By comparing the HR of animals that received midazolam (second and fourth stages) with those that did not (first and third stages), it could be observed that this benzodiazepine reduced the snakes' HR by ~60%. The calculated autonomic tones showed that such cardiac depression was elicited by an ~80% decrease in cardiac adrenergic tone and an ~620% increase in cardiac cholinergic tone - a finding that was further supported by the results of HR variability analysis. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Genetics Home Reference: Kabuki syndrome

Science.gov (United States)

... also have seizures, an unusually small head size ( microcephaly ), or weak muscle tone (hypotonia). Some have eye ... Syndrome ClinicalTrials.gov (1 link) ClinicalTrials.gov Scientific Articles on PubMed (1 link) PubMed OMIM (2 links) ...

'Tone at the top': Fighting military corruption in Latin America | Klaus ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This essay aims to discuss how tone at the top works in the traditional military contexts found in Latin America, and how the right tone could be adopted in corrupt military institutions to move towards an ethical role-modelling environment. For this endeavour, several strategies that can help military generals to fight military ...

Effects of Freestream Turbulence on Cavity Tone and Sound Source

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hiroshi Yokoyama

2016-01-01

Full Text Available To clarify the effects of freestream turbulence on cavity tones, flow and acoustic fields were directly predicted for cavity flows with various intensities of freestream turbulence. The freestream Mach number was 0.09 and the Reynolds number based on the cavity length was 4.0 × 104. The depth-to-length ratio of the cavity, D/L, was 0.5 and 2.5, where the acoustic resonance of a depth-mode occurs for D/L = 2.5. The incoming boundary layer was laminar. The results for the intensity of freestream turbulence of Tu = 2.3% revealed that the reduced level of cavity tones in a cavity flow with acoustic resonance (D/L=2.5 was greater than that without acoustic resonance (D/L=0.5. To clarify the reason for this, the sound source based on Lighthill’s acoustic analogy was computed, and the contributions of the intensity and spanwise coherence of the sound source to the reduction of the cavity tone were estimated. As a result, the effects of the reduction of spanwise coherence on the cavity tone were greater in the cavity flow with acoustic resonance than in that without resonance, while the effects of the intensity were comparable for both flows.

Electromagnetic correlates of musical expertise in processing of tone patterns.

Science.gov (United States)

Kuchenbuch, Anja; Paraskevopoulos, Evangelos; Herholz, Sibylle C; Pantev, Christo

2012-01-01

Using magnetoencephalography (MEG), we investigated the influence of long term musical training on the processing of partly imagined tone patterns (imagery condition) compared to the same perceived patterns (perceptual condition). The magnetic counterpart of the mismatch negativity (MMNm) was recorded and compared between musicians and non-musicians in order to assess the effect of musical training on the detection of deviants to tone patterns. The results indicated a clear MMNm in the perceptual condition as well as in a simple pitch oddball (control) condition in both groups. However, there was no significant mismatch response in either group in the imagery condition despite above chance behavioral performance in the task of detecting deviant tones. The latency and the laterality of the MMNm in the perceptual condition differed significantly between groups, with an earlier MMNm in musicians, especially in the left hemisphere. In contrast the MMNm amplitudes did not differ significantly between groups. The behavioral results revealed a clear effect of long-term musical training in both experimental conditions. The obtained results represent new evidence that the processing of tone patterns is faster and more strongly lateralized in musically trained subjects, which is consistent with other findings in different paradigms of enhanced auditory neural system functioning due to long-term musical training.

Mandarin-English Bilinguals Process Lexical Tones in Newly Learned Words in Accordance with the Language Context.

Science.gov (United States)

Quam, Carolyn; Creel, Sarah C

2017-01-01

Previous research has mainly considered the impact of tone-language experience on ability to discriminate linguistic pitch, but proficient bilingual listening requires differential processing of sound variation in each language context. Here, we ask whether Mandarin-English bilinguals, for whom pitch indicates word distinctions in one language but not the other, can process pitch differently in a Mandarin context vs. an English context. Across three eye-tracked word-learning experiments, results indicated that tone-intonation bilinguals process tone in accordance with the language context. In Experiment 1, 51 Mandarin-English bilinguals and 26 English speakers without tone experience were taught Mandarin-compatible novel words with tones. Mandarin-English bilinguals out-performed English speakers, and, for bilinguals, overall accuracy was correlated with Mandarin dominance. Experiment 2 taught 24 Mandarin-English bilinguals and 25 English speakers novel words with Mandarin-like tones, but English-like phonemes and phonotactics. The Mandarin-dominance advantages observed in Experiment 1 disappeared when words were English-like. Experiment 3 contrasted Mandarin-like vs. English-like words in a within-subjects design, providing even stronger evidence that bilinguals can process tone language-specifically. Bilinguals (N = 58), regardless of language dominance, attended more to tone than English speakers without Mandarin experience (N = 28), but only when words were Mandarin-like-not when they were English-like. Mandarin-English bilinguals thus tailor tone processing to the within-word language context.

Vasodilatation with pinacidil. Mode of action in rat resistance vessels

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Videbaek, L.M.; Aalkjaer, C.; Mulvany, M.J.

1988-01-01

Pinacidil is a newly developed antihypertensive vasodilator, proposed to belong to the new group of smooth muscle relaxants, the K+ channel openers. The in vitro effects of pinacidil on induced tone, smooth muscle membrane potential and 86 Rb and 42 K efflux from rat resistance vessels (internal diameter about 200 microns) were studied. Tone induced with noradrenaline was concentration-dependently inhibited by pinacidil. Responses to electrical field stimulation were also inhibited. However, tone induced with high K+ depolarization, noradrenaline in the presence of high K+, caffeine-induced contractions and noradrenaline contractions in the presence of felodipine were little affected by pinacidil. Pinacidil caused concentration-dependent hyperpolarisation of the resting smooth muscle. Pinacidil caused only a small and transient increase of the 86 Rb efflux rate constant, while the same concentrations of pinacidil produced a significant increase in the 42 K efflux rate constant. Our results seem to indicate that the relaxant effect of pinacidil is the result of an increase in K+ permeability, thus causing hyperpolarisation and relaxation. The opened K+ channels appear to be selective for K+ over Rb+

Absolute pitch among students in an American music conservatory: association with tone language fluency.

Science.gov (United States)

Deutsch, Diana; Dooley, Kevin; Henthorn, Trevor; Head, Brian

2009-04-01

Absolute pitch (AP), the ability to name a musical note in the absence of a reference note, is extremely rare in the U.S. and Europe, and its genesis is unclear. The prevalence of AP was examined among students in an American music conservatory as a function of age of onset of musical training, ethnicity, and fluency in speaking a tone language. Taking those of East Asian ethnicity, the performance level on a test of AP was significantly higher among those who spoke a tone language very fluently compared with those who spoke a tone language fairly fluently and also compared with those who were not fluent in speaking a tone language. The performance level of this last group did not differ significantly from that of Caucasian students who spoke only nontone language. Early onset of musical training was associated with enhanced performance, but this did not interact with the effect of language. Further analyses showed that the results could not be explained by country of early music education. The findings support the hypothesis that the acquisition of AP by tone language speakers involves the same process as occurs in the acquisition of a second tone language.

The number and choice of muscles impact the results of muscle synergy analyses

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Katherine Muterspaugh Steele

2013-08-01

Full Text Available One theory for how humans control movement is that muscles are activated in weighted groups or synergies. Studies have shown that electromyography (EMG from a variety of tasks can be described by a low-dimensional space thought to reflect synergies. These studies use algorithms, such as nonnegative matrix factorization, to identify synergies from EMG. Due to experimental constraints, EMG can rarely be taken from all muscles involved in a task. However, it is unclear if the choice of muscles included in the analysis impacts estimated synergies. The aim of our study was to evaluate the impact of the number and choice of muscles on synergy analyses. We used a musculoskeletal model to calculate muscle activations required to perform an isometric upper-extremity task. Synergies calculated from the activations from the musculoskeletal model were similar to a prior experimental study. To evaluate the impact of the number of muscles included in the analysis, we randomly selected subsets of between 5 and 29 muscles and compared the similarity of the synergies calculated from each subset to a master set of synergies calculated from all muscles. We determined that the structure of synergies is dependent upon the number and choice of muscles included in the analysis. When five muscles were included in the analysis, the similarity of the synergies to the master set was only 0.57 ± 0.54; however, the similarity improved to over 0.8 with more than ten muscles. We identified two methods, selecting dominant muscles from the master set or selecting muscles with the largest maximum isometric force, which significantly improved similarity to the master set and can help guide future experimental design. Analyses that included a small subset of muscles also over-estimated the variance accounted for (VAF by the synergies compared to an analysis with all muscles. Thus, researchers should use caution using VAF to evaluate synergies when EMG is measured from a small

No Perceptual Reorganization for Limburgian Tones? A Cross-Linguistic Investigation with 6- to 12-Month-Old Infants

Science.gov (United States)

Ramachers, Stefanie; Brouwer, Susanne; Fikkert, Paula

2018-01-01

Despite the fact that many of the world's languages use lexical tone, the majority of language acquisition studies has focused on non-tone languages. Research on tone languages has typically investigated wellknown tone languages such as Mandarin and Cantonese Chinese. The current study looked at a Limburgian dialect of Dutch that uses lexical…

Lexical Tones in Mandarin Chinese Infant-Directed Speech: Age-Related Changes in the Second Year of Life

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mengru Han

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Tonal information is essential to early word learning in tone languages. Although numerous studies have investigated the intonational and segmental properties of infant-directed speech (IDS, only a few studies have explored the properties of lexical tones in IDS. These studies mostly focused on the first year of life; thus little is known about how lexical tones in IDS change as children’s vocabulary acquisition accelerates in the second year (Goldfield and Reznick, 1990; Bloom, 2001. The present study examines whether Mandarin Chinese mothers hyperarticulate lexical tones in IDS addressing 18- and 24-month-old children—at which age children are learning words at a rapid speed—vs. adult-directed speech (ADS. Thirty-nine Mandarin Chinese–speaking mothers were tested in a semi-spontaneous picture-book-reading task, in which they told the same story to their child (IDS condition and to an adult (ADS condition. Results for the F0 measurements (minimum F0, maximum F0, and F0 range of tone in the speech data revealed a continuum of differences among IDS addressing 18-month-olds, IDS addressing 24-month-olds, and ADS. Lexical tones in IDS addressing 18-month-old children had a higher minimum F0, higher maximum F0, and larger pitch range than lexical tones in ADS. Lexical tones in IDS addressing 24-month-old children showed more similarity to ADS tones with respect to pitch height: there were no differences in minimum F0 and maximum F0 between ADS and IDS. However, F0 range was still larger. These results suggest that lexical tones are generally hyperarticulated in Mandarin Chinese IDS addressing 18- and 24- month-old children despite the change in pitch level over time. Mandarin Chinese mothers hyperarticulate lexical tones in IDS when talking to toddlers and potentially facilitate tone acquisition and word learning.

Mandarin-English Bilinguals Process Lexical Tones in Newly Learned Words in Accordance with the Language Context

Science.gov (United States)

Quam, Carolyn; Creel, Sarah C.

2017-01-01

Previous research has mainly considered the impact of tone-language experience on ability to discriminate linguistic pitch, but proficient bilingual listening requires differential processing of sound variation in each language context. Here, we ask whether Mandarin-English bilinguals, for whom pitch indicates word distinctions in one language but not the other, can process pitch differently in a Mandarin context vs. an English context. Across three eye-tracked word-learning experiments, results indicated that tone-intonation bilinguals process tone in accordance with the language context. In Experiment 1, 51 Mandarin-English bilinguals and 26 English speakers without tone experience were taught Mandarin-compatible novel words with tones. Mandarin-English bilinguals out-performed English speakers, and, for bilinguals, overall accuracy was correlated with Mandarin dominance. Experiment 2 taught 24 Mandarin-English bilinguals and 25 English speakers novel words with Mandarin-like tones, but English-like phonemes and phonotactics. The Mandarin-dominance advantages observed in Experiment 1 disappeared when words were English-like. Experiment 3 contrasted Mandarin-like vs. English-like words in a within-subjects design, providing even stronger evidence that bilinguals can process tone language-specifically. Bilinguals (N = 58), regardless of language dominance, attended more to tone than English speakers without Mandarin experience (N = 28), but only when words were Mandarin-like—not when they were English-like. Mandarin-English bilinguals thus tailor tone processing to the within-word language context. PMID:28076400

Effect of harmonic rank on the streaming of complex tones

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Madsen, Sara Miay Kim; Dau, Torsten; Moore, Brian C.J.

2015-01-01

The effect of the rank of the harmonics on sequential stream segregation of complex tones was investigated for normal-hearing participants with no musical training. It was hypothesized that stream segregation would be greater for tones with high pitch salience, as assessed by fundamental frequency....... There was a significant trend for less stream segregation with increasing harmonic rank. The amount of stream segregation was inversely correlated with the f0 difference limens, consistent with the hypothesis....

Identification and Classification of New Transcripts in Dorper and Small-Tailed Han Sheep Skeletal Muscle Transcriptomes.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tianle Chao

Full Text Available High-throughput mRNA sequencing enables the discovery of new transcripts and additional parts of incompletely annotated transcripts. Compared with the human and cow genomes, the reference annotation level of the sheep genome is still low. An investigation of new transcripts in sheep skeletal muscle will improve our understanding of muscle development. Therefore, applying high-throughput sequencing, two cDNA libraries from the biceps brachii of small-tailed Han sheep and Dorper sheep were constructed, and whole-transcriptome analysis was performed to determine the unknown transcript catalogue of this tissue. In this study, 40,129 transcripts were finally mapped to the sheep genome. Among them, 3,467 transcripts were determined to be unannotated in the current reference sheep genome and were defined as new transcripts. Based on protein-coding capacity prediction and comparative analysis of sequence similarity, 246 transcripts were classified as portions of unannotated genes or incompletely annotated genes. Another 1,520 transcripts were predicted with high confidence to be long non-coding RNAs. Our analysis also revealed 334 new transcripts that displayed specific expression in ruminants and uncovered a number of new transcripts without intergenus homology but with specific expression in sheep skeletal muscle. The results confirmed a complex transcript pattern of coding and non-coding RNA in sheep skeletal muscle. This study provided important information concerning the sheep genome and transcriptome annotation, which could provide a basis for further study.

Advances in dual-tone development for pitch frequency doubling

Science.gov (United States)

Fonseca, Carlos; Somervell, Mark; Scheer, Steven; Kuwahara, Yuhei; Nafus, Kathleen; Gronheid, Roel; Tarutani, Shinji; Enomoto, Yuuichiro

2010-04-01

Dual-tone development (DTD) has been previously proposed as a potential cost-effective double patterning technique1. DTD was reported as early as in the late 1990's2. The basic principle of dual-tone imaging involves processing exposed resist latent images in both positive tone (aqueous base) and negative tone (organic solvent) developers. Conceptually, DTD has attractive cost benefits since it enables pitch doubling without the need for multiple etch steps of patterned resist layers. While the concept for DTD technique is simple to understand, there are many challenges that must be overcome and understood in order to make it a manufacturing solution. Previous work by the authors demonstrated feasibility of DTD imaging for 50nm half-pitch features at 0.80NA (k1 = 0.21) and discussed challenges lying ahead for printing sub-40nm half-pitch features with DTD. While previous experimental results suggested that clever processing on the wafer track can be used to enable DTD beyond 50nm halfpitch, it also suggest that identifying suitable resist materials or chemistries is essential for achieving successful imaging results with novel resist processing methods on the wafer track. In this work, we present recent advances in the search for resist materials that work in conjunction with novel resist processing methods on the wafer track to enable DTD. Recent experimental results with new resist chemistries, specifically designed for DTD, are presented in this work. We also present simulation studies that help and support identifying resist properties that could enable DTD imaging, which ultimately lead to producing viable DTD resist materials.

A comparison of adenine and some derivatives on pig isolated tracheal muscle.

Science.gov (United States)

Bach-Dieterle, Y.; Holden, W. E.; Junod, A. F.

1983-01-01

We studied the muscle relaxation induced by adenine and several adenine derivatives in strips of tracheal smooth muscle from pigs; in addition their metabolism by the tissue was examined. Adenine relaxed tissue which was contracted by carbachol, histamine, or KCl. Adenine's potency was similar to that of adenosine and ATP (threshold about 4 X 10(-5)M). In tissues with carbachol-induced tone, the adenine effect differed from adenosine and ATP by being slower in onset and in 'washout' time. Furthermore, neither dipyridamole nor theophylline modified the response to adenine. The relationship was examined between pharmacological effects and the metabolism of [3H]-adenosine and [3H]-adenine. Both substrates were taken up by the tissue and converted to nucleotides, but relaxation correlated with nucleotide accumulation only in the case of [3H]-adenine. We conclude that the site and mechanism of adenine-induced relaxation is different from that of adenosine and ATP in porcine tracheal muscle. PMID:6571222

Effects of Fundamental Frequency and Duration Variation on the Perception of South Kyungsang Korean Tones

Science.gov (United States)

Chang, Seung-Eun

2013-01-01

The perception of lexical tones is addressed through research on South Kyungsang Korean, spoken in the southeastern part of Korea. Based on an earlier production study (Chang, 2008a, 2008b), a categorization experiment was conducted to determine the perceptually salient aspects of the perceptual nature of a high tone and a rising tone. The…

A 'Good' muscle in a 'Bad' environment: the importance of airway smooth muscle force adaptation to airway hyperresponsiveness.

Science.gov (United States)

Bossé, Ynuk; Chapman, David G; Paré, Peter D; King, Gregory G; Salome, Cheryl M

2011-12-15

Asthma is characterized by airway inflammation, with a consequent increase in spasmogens, and exaggerated airway narrowing in response to stimuli, termed airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR). The nature of any relationship between inflammation and AHR is less clear. Recent ex vivo data has suggested a novel mechanism by which inflammation may lead to AHR, in which increased basal ASM-tone, due to the presence of spasmogens in the airways, may "strengthen" the ASM and ultimately lead to exaggerated airway narrowing. This phenomenon was termed "force adaptation" [Bossé, Y., Chin, L.Y., Paré, P.D., Seow, C.Y., 2009. Adaptation of airway smooth muscle to basal tone: relevance to airway hyperresponsiveness. Am. J. Respir. Cell Mol. Biol. 40, 13-18]. However, it is unknown whether the magnitude of the effect of force adaptation ex vivo could contribute to exaggerated airway narrowing in vivo. Our aim was to utilize a computational model of ASM shortening in order to quantify the potential effect of force adaptation on airway narrowing when all other mechanical factors were kept constant. The shortening in the model is dictated by a balance between physiological loads and ASM force-generating capacity at different lengths. The results suggest that the magnitude of the effect of force adaptation on ASM shortening would lead to substantially more airway narrowing during bronchial challenge at any given airway generation. We speculate that the increased basal ASM-tone in asthma, due to the presence of inflammation-derived spasmogens, produces an increase in the force-generating capacity of ASM, predisposing to AHR during subsequent challenge. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Left auditory cortex is involved in pairwise comparisons of the direction of frequency modulated tones

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Nicole eAngenstein

2013-07-01

Full Text Available Evaluating series of complex sounds like those in speech and music requires sequential comparisons to extract task-relevant relations between subsequent sounds. With the present functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI study, we investigated whether sequential comparison of a specific acoustic feature within pairs of tones leads to a change in lateralized processing in the auditory cortex of humans. For this we used the active categorization of the direction (up versus down of slow frequency modulated (FM tones. Several studies suggest that this task is mainly processed in the right auditory cortex. These studies, however, tested only the categorization of the FM direction of each individual tone. In the present study we ask the question whether the right lateralized processing changes when, in addition, the FM direction is compared within pairs of successive tones. For this we use an experimental approach involving contralateral noise presentation in order to explore the contributions made by the left and right auditory cortex in the completion of the auditory task. This method has already been applied to confirm the right-lateralized processing of the FM direction of individual tones. In the present study, the subjects were required to perform, in addition, a sequential comparison of the FM-direction in pairs of tones. The results suggest a division of labor between the two hemispheres such that the FM direction of each individual tone is mainly processed in the right auditory cortex whereas the sequential comparison of this feature between tones in a pair is probably performed in the left auditory cortex.

The high aerobic capacity of a small, marsupial rat-kangaroo (Bettongia penicillata) is matched by the mitochondrial and capillary morphology of its skeletal muscles.

Science.gov (United States)

Webster, Koa N; Dawson, Terence J

2012-09-15

We examined the structure-function relationships that underlie the aerobic capacities of marsupial mammals that hop. Marsupials have relatively low basal metabolic rates (BMR) and historically were seen as 'low energy' mammals. However, the red kangaroo, Macropus rufus (family Macropodidae), has aerobic capacities equivalent to athletic placentals. It has an extreme aerobic scope (fAS) and its large locomotor muscles feature high mitochondrial and capillary volumes. M. rufus belongs to a modern group of kangaroos and its high fAS is not general for marsupials. However, other hopping marsupials may have elevated aerobic capacities. Bettongia penicillata, a rat-kangaroo (family Potoroidae), is a small (1 kg), active hopper whose fAS is somewhat elevated. We examined the oxygen delivery system in its muscles to ascertain links with hopping. An elevated fAS of 23 provided a relatively high maximal aerobic oxygen consumption ( ) in B. penicillata; associated with this is a skeletal muscle mass of 44% of body mass. Ten muscles were sampled to estimate the total mitochondrial and capillary volume of the locomotor muscles. Values in B. penicillata were similar to those in M. rufus and in athletic placentals. This small hopper had high muscle mitochondrial volume densities (7.1-11.9%) and both a large total capillary volume (6 ml kg(-1) body mass) and total capillary erythrocyte volume (3.2 ml kg(-1)). Apparently, a considerable aerobic capacity is required to achieve the benefits of the extended stride in fast hopping. Of note, the ratio of to total muscle mitochondrial volume in B. penicillata was 4.9 ml O(2) min(-1) ml(-1). Similar values occur in M. rufus and also placental mammals generally, not only athletic species. If such relationships occur in other marsupials, a fundamental structure-function relationship for oxygen delivery to muscles likely originated with or before the earliest mammals.

New segmentation-based tone mapping algorithm for high dynamic range image

Science.gov (United States)

Duan, Weiwei; Guo, Huinan; Zhou, Zuofeng; Huang, Huimin; Cao, Jianzhong

2017-07-01

The traditional tone mapping algorithm for the display of high dynamic range (HDR) image has the drawback of losing the impression of brightness, contrast and color information. To overcome this phenomenon, we propose a new tone mapping algorithm based on dividing the image into different exposure regions in this paper. Firstly, the over-exposure region is determined using the Local Binary Pattern information of HDR image. Then, based on the peak and average gray of the histogram, the under-exposure and normal-exposure region of HDR image are selected separately. Finally, the different exposure regions are mapped by differentiated tone mapping methods to get the final result. The experiment results show that the proposed algorithm achieve the better performance both in visual quality and objective contrast criterion than other algorithms.

Hearing and Seeing Tone through Color: An Efficacy Study of Web-Based, Multimodal Chinese Tone Perception Training

Science.gov (United States)

Godfroid, Aline; Lin, Chin-Hsi; Ryu, Catherine

2017-01-01

Multimodal approaches have been shown to be effective for many learning tasks. In this study, we compared the effectiveness of five multimodal methods for second language (L2) Mandarin tone perception training: three single-cue methods (number, pitch contour, color) and two dual-cue methods (color and number, color and pitch contour). A total of…

Measurement and analysis of phased array data on haystacked tones from a source located in a free jet

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Tester, Brian J.; Sijtsma, P.

2017-01-01

Significant spectral broadening of tone noise by jet shear-layer turbulence can occur if the tone frequency and the path length through the shear layer are sufficiently large. A typical example of spectral broadening or ‘tone haystacking’ are turbine aero-engine tones which exhibit little or no

Leucocyte depletion attenuates the early increase in myocardial capillary permeability to small hydrophilic solutes following ischaemia and reperfusion

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Svendsen, Jesper Hastrup; Hansen, P R; Ali, S

1993-01-01

The aim was to assess the significance of polymorphonuclear leucocytes on the myocardial capillary permeability to a small hydrophilic indicator, on the vascular tone of the resistance vessels, and on contractile function following ischaemia and reperfusion.......The aim was to assess the significance of polymorphonuclear leucocytes on the myocardial capillary permeability to a small hydrophilic indicator, on the vascular tone of the resistance vessels, and on contractile function following ischaemia and reperfusion....

Modulation of CaV1.2 calcium channel by neuropeptide W regulates vascular myogenic tone via G protein-coupled receptor 7.

Science.gov (United States)

Ji, Li; Zhu, Huayuan; Chen, Hong; Fan, Wenyong; Chen, Junjie; Chen, Jing; Zhu, Guoqing; Wang, Juejin

2015-12-01

Neuropeptide W (NPW), an endogenous ligand for the G protein-coupled receptor 7 (GPR7), was first found to make important roles in central nerve system. In periphery, NPW was also present and regulated intracellular calcium homeostasis by L-type calcium channels. This study was designed to discover the effects of NPW-GPR7 on the function of CaV1.2 calcium channels in the vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) and vasotone of arterial vessels. By whole-cell patch clamp, we studied the effects of NPW-23, the active form of NPW, on the CaV1.2 channels in the heterologously transfected human embryonic kidney 293 cells and VSMCs isolated from rat. Living system was used to explore the physiological function of NPW-23 in arterial myogenic tone. To investigate the pathological relevance, NPW mRNA level of mesenteric arteries was measured in the hypertensive and normotensive rats. NPW's receptor GPR7 was coexpressed with CaV1.2 channels in arterial smooth muscle. NPW-23 increased the ICa,L in transfected human embryonic kidney 293 cells and VSMCs via GPR7, which could be abrogated by phospholipase C (PLC)/protein kinase C (PKC) inhibitors, not protein kinase A or protein kinase G inhibitor. After NPW-23 application, the expression of pan phospho-PKC was increased; moreover, intracellular diacylglycerol level, the second messenger catalyzed by PLC, was increased 1.5-2-fold. Application with NPW-23 increased pressure-induced vasotone of the rat mesenteric arteries. Importantly, the expression of NPW was decreased in the hypertensive rats. NPW-23 regulates ICa,L via GPR7, which is mediated by PLC/PKC signaling, and such a mechanism plays a role in modulating vascular myogenic tone, which may involve in the development of vascular hypertension.

Auditory Stream Segregation Improves Infants' Selective Attention to Target Tones Amid Distracters

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Nicholas A.; Trainor, Laurel J.

2011-01-01

This study examined the role of auditory stream segregation in the selective attention to target tones in infancy. Using a task adapted from Bregman and Rudnicky's 1975 study and implemented in a conditioned head-turn procedure, infant and adult listeners had to discriminate the temporal order of 2,200 and 2,400 Hz target tones presented alone,…

Neural Control of Rising and Falling Tones in Mandarin Speakers Who Stutter

Science.gov (United States)

Howell, Peter; Jiang, Jing; Peng, Danling; Lu, Chunming

2012-01-01

Neural control of rising and falling tones in Mandarin people who stutter (PWS) was examined by comparing with that which occurs in fluent speakers [Howell, Jiang, Peng, and Lu (2012). Neural control of fundamental frequency rise and fall in Mandarin tones. "Brain and Language, 121"(1), 35-46]. Nine PWS and nine controls were scanned. Functional…

The derived allele of ASPM is associated with lexical tone perception.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Patrick C M Wong

Full Text Available The ASPM and MCPH1 genes have been implicated in the adaptive evolution of the human brain [Mekel-Bobrov N. et al., 2005. Ongoing adaptive evolution of ASPM, a brain size determinant in homo sapiens. Science 309; Evans P.D. et al., 2005. Microcephalin, a gene regulating brain size, continues to evolve adaptively in humans. Science 309]. Curiously, experimental attempts have failed to connect the implicated SNPs in these genes with higher-level brain functions. These results stand in contrast with a population-level study linking the population frequency of their alleles with the tendency to use lexical tones in a language [Dediu D., Ladd D.R., 2007. Linguistic tone is related to the population frequency of the adaptive haplogroups of two brain size genes, ASPM and microcephalin. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 104]. In the present study, we found a significant correlation between the load of the derived alleles of ASPM and tone perception in a group of European Americans who did not speak a tone language. Moreover, preliminary results showed a significant correlation between ASPM load and hemodynamic responses to lexical tones in the auditory cortex, and such correlation remained after phonemic awareness, auditory working memory, and non-verbal IQ were controlled. As in previous studies, no significant correlation between ASPM and cognitive measures were found. MCPH1 did not correlate with any measures. These results suggest that the association between the recently derived allele of ASPM is likely to be specific and is tied to higher level brain functions in the temporal cortex related to human communication.

Congenital amusics use a secondary pitch mechanism to identify lexical tones.

Science.gov (United States)

Bones, Oliver; Wong, Patrick C M

2017-09-01

Amusia is a pitch perception disorder associated with deficits in processing and production of both musical and lexical tones, which previous reports have suggested may be constrained to fine-grained pitch judgements. In the present study speakers of tone-languages, in which lexical tones are used to convey meaning, identified words present in chimera stimuli containing conflicting pitch-cues in the temporal fine-structure and temporal envelope, and which therefore conveyed two distinct utterances. Amusics were found to be more likely than controls to judge the word according to the envelope pitch-cues. This demonstrates that amusia is not associated with fine-grained pitch judgements alone, and is consistent with there being two distinct pitch mechanisms and with amusics having an atypical reliance on a secondary mechanism based upon envelope cues. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

[The application of artificial neural network on the assessment of lexical tone production of pediatric cochlear implant users].

Science.gov (United States)

Mao, Y T; Chen, Z M; Xu, L

2017-08-07

Objective: The present study was carried out to explore the tone production ability of the Mandarin-speaking children with cochlear implants (CI) by using an artificial neural network model and to examine the potential contributing factors underlining their tone production performance. The results of this study might provide useful guidelines for post-operative rehabilitation processes of pediatric CI users. Methods: Two hundred and seventy-eight prelingually deafened children who received unilateral CI participated in this study. As controls, 170 similarly-aged children with normal hearing (NH) were recruited. A total of 36 Chinese monosyllabic words were selected as the tone production targets. Vocal production samples were recorded and the fundamental frequency (F0) contour of each syllable was extracted using an auto-correlation algorithm followed by manual correction. An artificial neural network was created in MATLAB to classify the tone production. The relationships between tone production and several demographic factors were evaluated. Results: Pediatric CI users produced Mandarin tones much less accurately than did the NH children (58.8% vs. 91.5% correct). Tremendous variability in tone production performance existed among the CI children. Tones 2 and 3 were produced less accurately than tones 1 and 4 for both groups. For the CI group, all tones when in error tended to be judged as tone 1. The tone production accuracy was negatively correlated with age at implantation and positively correlated with CI use duration with correlation coefficients ( r ) of -0.215 ( P =0.003) and 0.203 ( P =0.005), respectively. Age was one of the determinants of tonal ability for NH children. Conclusions: For children with severe to profound hearing loss, early implantation and persistent use of CI are beneficial to their tone production development. Artificial neural network is a convenient and reliable assessment tool for the development of tonal ability of hearing

[Muscle and function management by the physiotherapist in orthodontic and orthodonto-surgical treatment. Oral myofunctional rehabilitation].

Science.gov (United States)

Girard, Marion; Leroux, Claire

2015-03-01

Can we hope to dispense with muscle and function management in orthodontic and orthodonto-surgical treatment plans? How can the specialized physiotherapist assist, facilitate and stabilize the work done by the orthodontist and maxillo-facial surgeon and help avoid relapses? Treatment aims to achieve dental alignment and occlusal balance in direct association with balance of the tongue muscles, cutaneous muscles, masticatory and postural muscles and functions in the orofacial region. Restoration of balance between agonist and antagonist muscles is achieved by relaxing contracted muscles and by gradually building up weak muscle tone. If effective and lasting treatment results are to be obtained, active patient participation is mandatory during rehabilitation of oro-maxillo-facial disorders and must encompass the tongue, lips, cheeks, masticatory system, ventilation and general posture as well as management of the parafunctions. These procedures are essential in dentofacial orthopedic treatment of both children and adults. Practical cases will be used to demonstrate the contribution that myofunctional rehabilitation can make. Regarding natural functions, very satisfactory results are obtained provided patients do daily muscle exercises and day-long training in the correct postures and practical drills they have been taught over a period of at least six months and under the supervision of the physiotherapist. © EDP Sciences, SFODF, 2015.

Multi-tone suppression of distortion-product otoacoustic emissions in humans

OpenAIRE

Sieck, Nicole E.; Rasetshwane, Daniel M.; Kopun, Judy G.; Jesteadt, Walt; Gorga, Michael P.; Neely, Stephen T.

2016-01-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate the combined effect of multiple suppressors. Distortion-product otoacoustic emission (DPOAE) measurements were made in normal-hearing participants. Primary tones had fixed frequencies (f2 = 4000 Hz; f1 / f2 = 1.22) and a range of levels. Suppressor tones were at three frequencies (fs = 2828, 4100, 4300 Hz) and range of levels. Decrement was defined as the attenuation in DPOAE level due to the presence of a suppressor. A measure of suppression calle...

Suprasegmental Features Are Not Acquired Early: Perception and Production of Monosyllabic Cantonese Lexical Tones in 4- to 6-Year-Old Preschool Children.

Science.gov (United States)

Wong, Puisan; Tsz-Tin Leung, Carrie

2018-05-17

Previous studies reported that children acquire Cantonese tones before 3 years of age, supporting the assumption in models of phonological development that suprasegmental features are acquired rapidly and early in children. Yet, recent research found a large disparity in the age of Cantonese tone acquisition. This study investigated Cantonese tone development in 4- to 6-year-old children. Forty-eight 4- to 6-year-old Cantonese-speaking children and 28 mothers of the children labeled 30 pictures representing familiar words in the 6 tones in a picture-naming task and identified pictures representing words in different Cantonese tones in a picture-pointing task. To control for lexical biases in tone assessment, tone productions were low-pass filtered to eliminate lexical information. Five judges categorized the tones in filtered stimuli. Tone production accuracy, tone perception accuracy, and correlation between tone production and perception accuracy were examined. Children did not start to produce adultlike tones until 5 and 6 years of age. Four-year-olds produced none of the tones with adultlike accuracy. Five- and 6-year-olds attained adultlike productions in 2 (T5 and T6) to 3 (T4, T5, and T6) tones, respectively. Children made better progress in tone perception and achieved higher accuracy in perception than in production. However, children in all age groups perceived none of the tones as accurately as adults, except that T1 was perceived with adultlike accuracy by 6-year-olds. Only weak association was found between children's tone perception and production accuracy. Contradicting to the long-held assumption that children acquire lexical tone rapidly and early before the mastery of segmentals, this study found that 4- to 6-year-old children have not mastered the perception or production of the full set of Cantonese tones in familiar monosyllabic words. Larger development was found in children's tone perception than tone production. The higher tone perception

Pregnancy causes diminished myogenic tone and outward hypotrophic remodeling of the cerebral vein of Galen.

Science.gov (United States)

van der Wijk, Anne-Eva; Schreurs, Malou P H; Cipolla, Marilyn J

2013-04-01

Pregnancy increases the risk of several complications associated with the cerebral veins, including thrombosis and hemorrhage. In contrast to the cerebral arteries and arterioles, few studies have focused on the effect of pregnancy on the cerebral venous side. Here, we investigated for the first time the effect of pregnancy on the function and structure of the cerebral vein of Galen in rats. Our major finding was that cerebral veins from late-pregnant (LP, n=11) rats had larger lumen diameters and thinner walls than veins from nonpregnant (NP, n=13) rats, indicating that pregnancy caused outward hypotrophic remodeling of the vein of Galen. Moreover, veins from NP animals had a small amount of myogenic tone at 10 mm Hg (3.9±1.0%) that was diminished in veins during pregnancy (0.8±0.3%; Ppregnancy. Using immunohistochemistry, we show that the vein of Galen receives perivascular innervation, and that serotonergic innervation of cerebral veins is significantly higher in veins from LP animals. Outward hypotrophic remodeling and diminished tone of cerebral veins during pregnancy may contribute to the development of venous pathology through elevated wall tension and wall stress, and possibly by promoting venous blood stasis.

Preferred Tone of Nutrition Text Messages for Young Adults: Focus Group Testing

Science.gov (United States)

2016-01-01

Background Young adults are a particularly hard to reach group using conventional health promotion practices as they do not see nutrition messages as personally relevant to them. Text messaging (short message service, SMS) offers an innovative approach to reaching young adults to support and promote dietary behavior change. Objective The aim of this study was to develop and test tonal preferences for nutrition text messages among young adults using focus groups. Methods A total of 39 young adults aged 18-30 years residing in Perth, Western Australia participated in four focus groups. Participants briefly discussed their perception of healthy eating and their responses to messages about increasing fruit and vegetables, and reducing “junk food” and alcohol intake. They ranked their preference for 15 nutrition messages across 3 dietary behaviors (fruit and vegetables, junk food, and alcohol) with 5 different message tones (authoritative, empathetic, generation Y, solutions, and substitutions) and identified the messages most likely to persuade young adults to change their diet. A 5-point ranking of the nutrition messages was from the most likely to least likely to persuade (1-5). The focus groups were conducted by a trained facilitator and observer and were recorded. Data driven content analysis was used to explore themes. Tonal preferences and potential motivators were collated and frequencies presented. Results Participants ranked offering substitutes (29%, 11/39) and using empathy (22%, 9/39) as the most persuasive message techniques in improving diets of young adults, with low responses for Generation Y (17%, 7/39), solutions (17%, 7/39), and authoritative (15%, 6/39) tones. Females were more likely to consider substitution messages persuasive (35%, 7/20) compared with males (22%, 4/19). A greater proportion of males compared with females considered authoritative messages persuasive: (22%, 4/19) compared with (7%, 1/20). There is a strong preference for a

The affective tone of narration and posttraumatic growth in organ transplant recipients

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zięba Mariusz

2015-09-01

Full Text Available The aim of the study was to verify the hypothesis that positive affective tone of narratives is connected to the experience of posttraumatic growth among transplant patients. Kidney transplant patients (N = 51 and liver transplant patients (N = 48 participated in the study. In the first stage, about 10 weeks after transplant, the participants told two stories about important, freely chosen events from their lives. During the second meeting 10-12 months later we measured posttraumatic growth. Results indicated that the affective tone of narratives about past events was associated with the level of post-traumatic growth measured 10-12 months later. This proves that the affective tone of narratives about life, understood as a relatively constant individual characteristic, promote posttraumatic growth.

Compression-induced hyperaemia in the rabbit masseter muscle: a model to investigate vascular mechano-sensitivity of skeletal muscle

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Turturici, Marco; Roatta, Silvestro

2013-01-01

Recent evidence suggests that the mechano-sensitivity of the vascular network may underlie rapid dilatory events in skeletal muscles. Previous investigations have been mostly based either on in vitro or on whole-limb studies, neither preparation allowing one to assess the musculo-vascular specificity under physiological conditions. The aim of this work is to characterize the mechano-sensitivity of an exclusively-muscular vascular bed in vivo. In five anesthetized rabbits, muscle blood flow was continuously monitored in the masseteric artery, bilaterally (n = 10). Hyperaemic responses were evoked by compressive stimuli of different extent (50, 100 and 200 mm Hg) and duration (0.5, 1, 2 and 5 s) exerted by a servo-controlled motor on the masseter muscle. Peak amplitude of the hyperaemic response ranged from 340 ± 30% of baseline (at 50 mm Hg) to 459 ± 57% (at 200 mm Hg) (P < 0.05), did not depend on stimulus duration and exhibited very good reliability (ICC = 0.98) when reassessed at 30 min intervals. The time course of the response depended neither on applied pressure nor on the duration of the stimulus. In conclusion, for its high sensitivity and reliability this technique is adequate to characterize mechano-vascular reactivity and may prove useful in the investigation of the underlying mechanisms, with implications in the control of vascular tone and blood pressure in health and disease. (paper)

Loudness of brief tones in listeners with normal hearing and sensorineural hearing loss

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Buus, Søren; Florentine, Mary; Poulsen, Torben

1997-01-01

To investigate how hearing loss affects the loudness of brief tones, loudness matches between 5- and 200-ms tones were obtained as a function of level. Loudness functions derived from these data indicated that the gain required to restore loudness usually is the same for short and long sounds....

Processing of Acoustic Cues in Lexical-Tone Identification by Pediatric Cochlear-Implant Recipients

Science.gov (United States)

Peng, Shu-Chen; Lu, Hui-Ping; Lu, Nelson; Lin, Yung-Song; Deroche, Mickael L. D.; Chatterjee, Monita

2017-01-01

Purpose: The objective was to investigate acoustic cue processing in lexical-tone recognition by pediatric cochlear-implant (CI) recipients who are native Mandarin speakers. Method: Lexical-tone recognition was assessed in pediatric CI recipients and listeners with normal hearing (NH) in 2 tasks. In Task 1, participants identified naturally…

Learning a Tonal Language by Attending to the Tone: An In Vivo Experiment

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Liu, Y.; Wang, M.; Perfetti, C.A.; Brubaker, B.; Wu, S.M.; MacWhinney, B.

2011-01-01

Learning the Chinese tone system is a major challenge to students of Chinese as a second or foreign language. Part of the problem is that the spoken Chinese syllable presents a complex perceptual input that overlaps tone with segments. This complexity can be addressed through directing attention to

Developmental change in tone perception in Mandarin monolingual, English monolingual, and Mandarin-English bilingual infants: Divergences between monolingual and bilingual learners.

Science.gov (United States)

Singh, Leher; Fu, Charlene S L; Seet, Xian Hui; Tong, Ashley P Y; Wang, Joelle L; Best, Catherine T

2018-09-01

Most languages use lexical tone to discriminate the meanings of words. There has been recent interest in tracking the development of tone categories during infancy. These studies have focused largely on monolingual infants learning either a tone language or a non-tone language. It remains to be seen how bilingual infants learning one tone language (e.g., Mandarin) and one non-tone language (e.g., English) discriminate tones. Here, we examined infants' discrimination of two Mandarin tones pairs: one salient and one subtle. Discrimination was investigated in three groups: Mandarin-English bilinguals, English monolinguals, and Mandarin monolinguals at 6 months and 9 months of age in a cross-sectional design. Results demonstrated relatively strong Mandarin tone discrimination in Mandarin monolinguals, with salient tone discrimination at 6 months and both salient and subtle tone discrimination at 9 months. English monolinguals discriminated neither contrast at 6 months but discriminated the salient contrast at 9 months. Surprisingly, there was no evidence for tone discrimination in Mandarin-English bilingual infants. In a second experiment, 12- and 13-month-old Mandarin-English bilingual and English monolingual infants were tested to determine whether bilinguals would demonstrate tone sensitivity at a later age. Results revealed a lack of tone sensitivity at 12 or 13 months in bilingual infants, yet English monolingual infants were sensitive to both salient and subtle Mandarin tone contrasts at 12 or 13 months. Our findings provide evidence for age-related convergence in Mandarin tone discrimination in English and Mandarin monolingual infants and for a distinct pattern of tone discrimination in bilingual infants. Theoretical implications for phonetic category acquisition are discussed. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A temporary decrease in twitch response during reversal of rocuronium-induced muscle relaxation with a small dose of sugammadex

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Eleveld, Douglas J.; Kuizenga, Karel; Proost, Johannes H.; Wierda, J. Mark K. H.

BACKGROUND: We present a case in which a temporary decrease in train-of-four (TOF) response was observed after reversal of muscle relaxation with a small dose (0.5 mg/kg) of sugammadex administered 42 min after 0.9 mg/kg of rocuronium. At the end of the operation, the TOF ratio was > 0.9, and the

A functional study on small intestinal smooth muscles in jejunal atresia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Preeti Tyagi

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Aim: The present study was aimed to assess the contractile status of neonatal small intestinal smooth muscle of dilated pre-atretic part of intestinal atresia to resolve debatable issues related to mechanisms of persistent dysmotility after surgical repair. Materials and Methods: A total of 34 longitudinally sectioned strips were prepared from pre-atretic dilated part of freshly excised 8 jejunal atresia type III a cases. Spontaneous as well as acetylcholine- and histamine-induced contractions were recorded in vitro by using organ bath preparations. Chemically evoked contractions were further evaluated after application of atropine (muscarinic blocker, pheniramine (H1 blocker, and lignocaine (neuronal blocker to ascertain receptors and neuronal involvement. Histological examinations of strips were made by using Masson trichrome stain to assess the fibrotic changes. Results: All 34 strips, except four showed spontaneous contractions with mean frequency and amplitude of 5.49 ± 0.26/min and 24.41 ± 5.26 g/g wet tissue respectively. The response to ACh was nearly twice as compared to histamine for equimolar concentrations (100 μM. ACh (100 μM induced contractions were attenuated (by 60% by atropine. Histamine (100 μM-induced contractions was blocked by pheniramine (0.32 μM and lignocaine (4 μM by 74% and 78%, respectively. Histopathological examination showed varying degree of fibrotic changes in muscle layers. Conclusions: Pre-atretic dilated part of jejunal atresia retains functional activity but with definitive histopathologic abnormalities. It is suggested that excision of a length of pre-atretic part and early stimulation of peristalsis by locally acting cholinomimetic or H1 agonist may help in reducing postoperative motility problems in atresia patients.

A functional study on small intestinal smooth muscles in jejunal atresia.

Science.gov (United States)

Tyagi, Preeti; Mandal, Maloy B; Gangopadhyay, Ajay N; Patne, Shashikant C U

2016-01-01

The present study was aimed to assess the contractile status of neonatal small intestinal smooth muscle of dilated pre-atretic part of intestinal atresia to resolve debatable issues related to mechanisms of persistent dysmotility after surgical repair. A total of 34 longitudinally sectioned strips were prepared from pre-atretic dilated part of freshly excised 8 jejunal atresia type III a cases. Spontaneous as well as acetylcholine- and histamine-induced contractions were recorded in vitro by using organ bath preparations. Chemically evoked contractions were further evaluated after application of atropine (muscarinic blocker), pheniramine (H1 blocker), and lignocaine (neuronal blocker) to ascertain receptors and neuronal involvement. Histological examinations of strips were made by using Masson trichrome stain to assess the fibrotic changes. All 34 strips, except four showed spontaneous contractions with mean frequency and amplitude of 5.49 ± 0.26/min and 24.41 ± 5.26 g/g wet tissue respectively. The response to ACh was nearly twice as compared to histamine for equimolar concentrations (100 μM). ACh (100 μM) induced contractions were attenuated (by 60%) by atropine. Histamine (100 μM)-induced contractions was blocked by pheniramine (0.32 μM) and lignocaine (4 μM) by 74% and 78%, respectively. Histopathological examination showed varying degree of fibrotic changes in muscle layers. Pre-atretic dilated part of jejunal atresia retains functional activity but with definitive histopathologic abnormalities. It is suggested that excision of a length of pre-atretic part and early stimulation of peristalsis by locally acting cholinomimetic or H1 agonist may help in reducing postoperative motility problems in atresia patients.

Jaw muscles in older overdenture patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Newton, James P; McManus, Frank C; Menhenick, Stephen

2004-03-01

To determine, using computer tomography (CT), whether the retention of a small number of teeth in the older adult used to support overdentures could affect the cross-sectional area (CSA) and X-ray density of two jaw closing muscles. Cross-sectional study of a group of older patients subdivided into dentate, edentulous and those wearing overdentures supported by two to five teeth. The sample consisted of 24 subjects aged 55-68 years. CSA and X-ray density of two jaw closing muscles, masseter and medial pterygoid were measured and evaluated using CT. There were no significant differences between left and right jaw muscles, but the CSA of the masseter muscles were significantly larger than the medial pterygoid muscles. The CSA of the masseter and medial pterygoid muscles was significantly smaller in edentulous subjects compared with dentate subjects but no significant difference was observed between subjects wearing overdentures and those with a natural dentition. No significant differences were observed with the X-ray density between different muscles or dental states. The retention of a small number of teeth in the older adult used to support overdentures appears to sustain the CSA of two jaw closing muscles and therefore could enhance these patients' masticatory ability compared with those who were edentulous.

The Analysis for Activations in the Brain during Hearing the Amplitude-Modulated Tone by fMRI Measurement

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Fukami, Tadanori; Shimada, Takamasa; Akatsuka, Takao; Saito, Yoichi

In audiometry, ABR (Auditory Brainstem Response) is widely used. However, it shows low accuracy in low frequency band. Meanwhile, AMFR (Amplitude-Modulation-Following Response), the response during hearing an amplitude-modulated tone, has high frequency specificity and is brought to attention. As the first step to clinical application of AMFR, we investigated the activated areas in a brain when the subjects hear SAM tone (Sinusoidally Amplitude-Modulated tone) with both ears. We measured following two signals. One is the difference of BOLD (Blood Oxygenation Level Dependent) signal between hearing SAM tone vs. silence, the other is the difference of BOLD signal between hearing SAM tone vs. unmodulated tone. As a result, in the case of SAM vs. silence, the bilaterally auditory cortex (Broadmann Area 41, 42), the biratelally BA 10, left superior frontal gyrus and right superior temporal gyrus were activated (pvs. unmodulated tone, the bilaterally superior frontal gyrus (BA 6) and precuneus (BA 7), neighboring area including the bilaterally inferior parietal lobule (BA 40), the bilaterally medial frontal gyrus and superior frontal gyrus were activated (p<0.021, uncorrected). Activations of visual perception due to eye-opened state were detected in some parts of activations. As a result, we inferred that modulated tone was recognized in the medial frontal gyrus and inferior parietal lobule was the part related to perception of amplitude-modulation.

Hypoxic contraction of cultured pulmonary vascular smooth muscle cells

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Murray, T.R.; Chen, L.; Marshall, B.E.; Macarak, E.J.

1990-01-01

The cellular events involved in generating the hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction response are not clearly understood, in part because of the multitude of factors that alter pulmonary vascular tone. The goal of the present studies was to determine if a cell culture preparation containing vascular smooth muscle (VSM) cells could be made to contract when exposed to a hypoxic atmosphere. Cultures containing only fetal bovine pulmonary artery VSM cells were assessed for contractile responses to hypoxic stimuli by two methods. In the first, tension forces generated by cells grown on a flexible growth surface (polymerized polydimethyl siloxane) were manifested as wrinkles and distortions of the surface under the cells. Wrinkling of the surface was noted to progressively increase with time as the culture medium bathing the cells was made hypoxic (PO2 approximately 25 mmHg). The changes were sometimes reversible upon return to normoxic conditions and appeared to be enhanced in cells already exhibiting evidence of some baseline tone. Repeated passage in culture did not diminish the hypoxic response. Evidence for contractile responses to hypoxia was also obtained from measurements of myosin light chain (MLC) phosphorylation. Conversion of MLC to the phosphorylated species is an early step in the activation of smooth muscle contraction. Lowering the PO2 in the culture medium to 59 mmHg caused a 45% increase in the proportion of MLC in the phosphorylated form as determined by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. Similarly, cultures preincubated for 4 h with 32P and then exposed to normoxia or hypoxia for a 5-min experimental period showed more than twice as much of the label in MLCs of the hypoxic cells

Tone realisation in a Yoruba speech recognition corpus

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Van Niekerk, D

2012-05-01

Full Text Available development. Extracted contours are processed and analysed statistically to describe acoustic properties in different tonal contexts. The authors demonstrate how features useful for tone recognition or synthesis can be successfully extracted from a corpus...

Contribution of low-frequency harmonics to Mandarin Chinese tone identification in quiet and six-talker babble background.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Chang; Azimi, Behnam; Bhandary, Moulesh; Hu, Yi

2014-01-01

The goal of this study was to investigate Mandarin Chinese tone identification in quiet and multi-talker babble conditions for normal-hearing listeners. Tone identification was measured with speech stimuli and stimuli with low and/or high harmonics that were embedded in three Mandarin vowels with two fundamental frequencies. There were six types of stimuli: all harmonics (All), low harmonics (Low), high harmonics (High), and the first (H1), second (H2), and third (H3) harmonic. Results showed that, for quiet conditions, individual harmonics carried frequency contour information well enough for tone identification with high accuracy; however, in noisy conditions, tone identification with individual low harmonics (e.g., H1, H2, and H3) was significantly lower than that with the Low, High, and All harmonics. Moreover, tone identification with individual harmonics in noise was lower for a low F0 than for a high F0, and was also dependent on vowel category. Tone identification with individual low-frequency harmonics was accounted for by local signal-to-noise ratios, indicating that audibility of harmonics in noise may play a primary role in tone identification.

TONE AND IMAGERY IN TENNYSON‟S „TITHONUS‟

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Muhammad Rifqi

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Studying poetry is considered the most difficult by most of the students in my classes in EFL context. This can be understood since poetry in general has a unique form different from other types of literary works. With very limited lines and space provided in poetry, poets are able to put forward their ideas. Such reality enables readers to explore the most possible and acceptable meaning of poetry. However, it seems impossible for readers to find out the poets‘ exact intended meaning through their writings. So, it is notthe readers‘ job to get the poets‘ exact intended meaning but to explore the possible and acceptable meaning by using the clues presented within the poem. In interpreting the poem‘s meaning, readers should consider any poetic devices applied by the poet in expressing his/her ideas. Poets are very intelligent in playing with figures of speech. They use figurative languages more freshly and vividly than common writers. Through this article, I intend to investigate how the tone and imagery are applied in the poem ―Tithonus‖ written by Lord Alfred Tennyson (1809-1892, the most popular poet of Victorian Era. This poem is very rich of imagery. Afterward, the tone will also be scrutinized. As all poetic devices work complementarily and so do tone and imagery to support each other.I will also show how they work intertwiningly together in creating the whole meaning of the poem.

[Prophylaxis of recurring low-flow priapism : Experimental botulinum neurotoxin injection into the ischiocavernosus muscle].

Science.gov (United States)

Reichel, G; Stenner, A

2018-01-01

The treatment of recurring low-flow priapism with the usual medications is still unsatisfactory. The case of an otherwise healthy young man experiencing low-flow priapism at the age of 31 is presented. A reason for his condition could not be identified. Over the course of several months, he required emergency urological treatment more than ten times. Treatment with cyproterone acetate (Androcur® 50 mg/day) stopped the spontaneous erections, but resulted in erectile impotence, reduced motivation, decreased interest in sex, weight gain of 10 kg, breast enlargement combined with touch sensitivity on both sides, and hair loss on both legs. In addition, the patient complained about painful cramps in his pelvic muscles. After appropriate explanations he agreed to try botulinum neurotoxin injections into both ischiocavernosus muscles. The objective was to reduce muscle tone in order to improve venous drainage of blood from the penis. The latest relapse of priapism occurred more than 6 months ago.

The impact of face skin tone on perceived facial attractiveness: A study realized with an innovative methodology.

Science.gov (United States)

Vera Cruz, Germano

2017-12-19

This study aimed to assess the impact of target faces' skin tone and perceivers' skin tone on the participants' attractiveness judgment regarding a symmetrical representative range of target faces as stimuli. Presented with a set of facial features, 240 Mozambican adults rated their attractiveness along a continuous scale. ANOVA and Chi-square were used to analyze the data. The results revealed that the skin tone of the target faces had an impact on the participants' attractiveness judgment. Overall, participants preferred light-skinned faces over dark-skinned ones. This finding is not only consistent with previous results on skin tone preferences, but it is even more powerful because it demonstrates that the light skin tone preference occurs regardless of the symmetry and baseline attractiveness of the stimuli.

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

Science.gov (United States)

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

2009-01-01

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

Limits on Monolingualism? A comparison of monolingual and bilingual infants’ abilities to integrate lexical tone in novel word learning.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Leher eSingh

2016-05-01

Full Text Available To construct their first lexicon, infants must determine the relationship between native phonological variation and the meanings of words. This process is arguably more complex for bilingual learners who are often confronted with phonological conflict: phonological variation that is lexically relevant in one language may be lexically irrelevant in the other. In a series of four experiments, the present study investigated English-Mandarin bilingual infants’ abilities to negotiate phonological conflict introduced by learning both a tone and a non-tone language. In a novel word learning task, bilingual children were tested on their sensitivity to tone variation in English and Mandarin contexts. Their abilities to interpret tone variation in a language-dependent manner were compared to those of monolingual Mandarin learning infants. Results demonstrated that at 12 to 13 months, bilingual infants demonstrated the ability to bind tone to word meanings in Mandarin, but to disregard tone variation when learning new words in English. In contrast, monolingual learners of Mandarin did not show evidence of integrating tones into word meanings in Mandarin at the same age even though they were learning a tone language. However, a tone discrimination paradigm confirmed that monolingual Mandarin learning infants were able to tell these tones apart at 12 to 13 months under a different set of conditions. Later, at 17 to 18 months, monolingual Mandarin learners were able to bind tone variation to word meanings when learning new words. Our findings are discussed in terms of cognitive adaptations associated with bilingualism that may ease the negotiation of phonological conflict and facilitate precocious uptake of certain properties of each language.

Tone of voice guides word learning in informative referential contexts.

Science.gov (United States)

Reinisch, Eva; Jesse, Alexandra; Nygaard, Lynne C

2013-06-01

Listeners infer which object in a visual scene a speaker refers to from the systematic variation of the speaker's tone of voice (ToV). We examined whether ToV also guides word learning. During exposure, participants heard novel adjectives (e.g., "daxen") spoken with a ToV representing hot, cold, strong, weak, big, or small while viewing picture pairs representing the meaning of the adjective and its antonym (e.g., elephant-ant for big-small). Eye fixations were recorded to monitor referent detection and learning. During test, participants heard the adjectives spoken with a neutral ToV, while selecting referents from familiar and unfamiliar picture pairs. Participants were able to learn the adjectives' meanings, and, even in the absence of informative ToV, generalize them to new referents. A second experiment addressed whether ToV provides sufficient information to infer the adjectival meaning or needs to operate within a referential context providing information about the relevant semantic dimension. Participants who saw printed versions of the novel words during exposure performed at chance during test. ToV, in conjunction with the referential context, thus serves as a cue to word meaning. ToV establishes relations between labels and referents for listeners to exploit in word learning.

Known-Groups and Concurrent Validity of the Mandarin Tone Identification Test (MTIT.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shufeng Zhu

Full Text Available The Mandarin Tone Identification Test (MTIT is a new test designed to assess the tone identification abilities of children with hearing impairment (HI. Evidence for reliability and sensitivity has been reported. The present study aimed to evaluate the known-groups and concurrent validity of the MTIT.The MTIT and Mandarin Pediatric Speech Intelligibility test (MPSI were administered in quiet and in noise conditions. The known-groups validity was evaluated by comparing the performance of the MTIT on children with two different levels of HI. The MPSI was included to evaluate the concurrent validity of the MTIT.81 children with HI were recruited in the present study. They were Mandarin-speaking children with profound HI (mean age = 9; 0, n = 41 and with moderate to severe HI (mean age = 8; 9, n = 40.Scores on the MTIT differed between the two groups with different hearing levels suggesting good known-groups validity. A strong relationship between tone and sentence perception both in quiet and in noise provided preliminary evidence for concurrent validity.The present study confirmed that the MTIT has good known-groups validity and provided preliminary evidence for concurrent validity. The MTIT could be used to evaluate tone identification ability in children with HI with confidence.

Lack of independent effect of type 2 diabetes beyond characteristic comorbidities and medications on small muscle mass exercising muscle blood flow and exercise tolerance.

Science.gov (United States)

Poitras, Veronica J; Bentley, Robert F; Hopkins-Rosseel, Diana H; LaHaye, Stephen A; Tschakovsky, Michael E

2015-08-01

Persons with type 2 diabetes (T2D) are believed to have reduced exercise tolerance; this may be partly due to impaired exercising muscle blood flow (MBF). Whether there is an impact of T2D on exercising MBF within the typical constellation of comorbidities (hypertension, dyslipidemia, obesity) and their associated medications has not been investigated. We tested the hypothesis that small muscle mass exercise tolerance is reduced in persons with T2D versus Controls (matched for age, body mass index, fitness, comorbidities, non-T2D medications) and that this is related to blunted MBF. Eight persons with T2D and eight controls completed a forearm critical force (fCFimpulse) test as a measure of exercise tolerance (10-min intermittent maximal effort forearm contractions; the average contraction impulse in the last 30 sec quantified fCFimpulse). Forearm blood flow (FBF; ultrasound) and mean arterial pressure (MAP; finger photoplethysmography) were measured; forearm vascular conductance (FVK) was calculated. Data are means ± SD, T2D versus Control. fCFimpulse was not different between groups (136.9 ± 47.3  N·sec vs. 163.1 ± 49.7 N·sec, P = 0.371) nor was the ∆FBF from rest to during exercise at fCFimpulse (502.9 ± 144.6 vs. 709.1 ± 289.2 mL/min, P = 0.092), or its determinants ∆FVK and ∆MAP (both P > 0.05), although there was considerable interindividual variability. ∆FBF was strongly related to fCFimpulse (r = 0.727, P = 0.002), providing support for the relationship between oxygen delivery and exercise tolerance. We conclude that small muscle mass exercising MBF and exercise tolerance are not impaired in representative persons with T2D versus appropriately matched controls. This suggests that peripheral vascular control impairment does not contribute to reduced exercise tolerance in this population. © 2015 The Authors. Physiological Reports published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of the American Physiological Society and

A Tale of Two Features: Perception of Cantonese Lexical Tone and English Lexical Stress in Cantonese-English Bilinguals

Science.gov (United States)

Tong, Xiuli; Burnham, Denis

2015-01-01

This study investigated the similarities and differences in perception of Cantonese tones and English stress patterns by Cantonese-English bilingual children, adults, and English monolingual adults. All three groups were asked to discriminate pairs of syllables that minimally differed in either Cantonese tone or in English stress. Bilingual children’s performance on tone perception was comparable to their performance on stress perception. By contrast, bilingual adults’ performance on tone perception was lower than their performance on stress perception, and there was a similar pattern in English monolingual adults. Bilingual adults tended to perform better than English monolingual adults on both the tone and stress perception tests. A significant correlation between tone perception and stress perception performance was found in bilingual children but not in bilingual adults. All three groups showed lower accuracy in the high rising-low rising contrast than any of the other 14 Cantonese tone contrasts. The acoustic analyses revealed that average F0, F0 onset, and F0 major slope were the critical acoustic correlates of Cantonese tones, whereas multiple acoustic correlates were salient in English stress, including average F0, spectral balance, duration and intensity. We argue that participants’ difficulty in perceiving high rising-low rising contrasts originated from the contrasts’ similarities in F0 onset and average F0; indeed the difference between their major slopes was the only cue with which to distinguish them. Acoustic-perceptual correlation analyses showed that although the average F0 and F0 onset were associated with tone perception performance in all three groups, F0 major slope was only associated with tone perception in the bilingual adult group. These results support a dynamic interactive account of suprasegmental speech perception by emphasizing the positive prosodic transfer between Cantonese tone and English stress, and the role that level of

Shallow Cavity Flow Tone Experiments: Onset of Locked-On States

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

D. Rockwell; J.C. Lin; P. Oshkai; M. Reiss; M. Pollack

2000-09-05

Fully turbulent inflow past a shallow cavity is investigated for the configuration of an axisymmetric cavity mounted in a pipe. Emphasis is on conditions giving rise to coherent oscillations, which can lead to locked-on states of flow tones in the pipe-cavity system. Unsteady surface pressure measurements are interpreted using three-dimensional representations of amplitude-frequency-inflow velocity; these representations are constructed for a range of cavity depth. Assessment of these data involves a variety of approaches. Evaluation of pressure gradients on plan views of the three-dimensional representations allows extraction of the frequencies of the instability (Strouhal) modes of the cavity oscillation. These frequency components are correlated with traditional models originally formulated for cavities in a free-stream. In addition, they are normalized using two length scales; inflow boundary-layer thickness and pipe diameter. These scales are consistent with those employed for the hydrodynamic instability of the separated shear layer, and are linked to the large-scale mode of the shear layer oscillation, which occurs at relatively long cavity length. In fact, a simple scaling based on pipe diameter can correlate the frequencies of the dominant peaks over a range of cavity depth. The foregoing considerations provide evidence that pronounced flow tones can be generated from a fully-turbulent inflow at very low Mach number, including the limiting case of fully-developed turbulent flow in a pipe. These tones can arise even for the extreme case of a cavity having a length over an order of magnitude longer than its depth. Suppression of tones is generally achieved if the cavity is sufficiently shallow.

The effect of L1 prosodic backgrounds of Cantonese and Japanese speakers on the perception of Mandarin tones after training

Science.gov (United States)

So, Connie K.

2005-04-01

The present study investigated to what extent ones' L1 prosodic backgrounds affect their learning of a new tonal system. The question as to whether native speakers of a tone language perform differently from those of a pitch accent language will be addressed. Twenty native speakers of Hong Kong Cantonese (a tone language) and Japanese (a pitch accent language) were assigned to two groups. All of them had had no prior knowledge of Mandarin, and had never received any form of musical training before they participated in the study. Their performance of the identification of Mandarin tones before and after a short-term training was compared. Analysis of listeners' tonal confusions in the pretest, posttest, and generalization tests revealed that both Cantonese and Japanese listeners had more confusion for two contrastive tone pairs: Tone 1-Tone 4, and Tone 2-Tone 3. Moreover, Cantonese speakers consistently had greater difficulty than Japanese speakers in distinguishing the tones in each pair. These imply that listeners L1 prosodic backgrounds are at work during the process of learning a new tonal system. The findings will be further discussed in terms of the Perceptual Assimilation Model (Best, 1995). [Work supported by SSHRC.

Tbx15 controls skeletal muscle fibre-type determination and muscle metabolism

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Kevin Y.; Singh, Manvendra K.; Ussar, Siegfried; Wetzel, Petra; Hirshman, Michael F.; Goodyear, Laurie J.; Kispert, Andreas; Kahn, C. Ronald

2015-01-01

Skeletal muscle is composed of both slow-twitch oxidative myofibers and fast-twitch glycolytic myofibers that differentially impact muscle metabolism, function and eventually whole-body physiology. Here we show that the mesodermal transcription factor T-box 15 (Tbx15) is highly and specifically expressed in glycolytic myofibers. Ablation of Tbx15 in vivo leads to a decrease in muscle size due to a decrease in the number of glycolytic fibres, associated with a small increase in the number of oxidative fibres. This shift in fibre composition results in muscles with slower myofiber contraction and relaxation, and also decreases whole-body oxygen consumption, reduces spontaneous activity, increases adiposity and glucose intolerance. Mechanistically, ablation of Tbx15 leads to activation of AMPK signalling and a decrease in Igf2 expression. Thus, Tbx15 is one of a limited number of transcription factors to be identified with a critical role in regulating glycolytic fibre identity and muscle metabolism. PMID:26299309

Focal and diffuse papillary muscle fibrosis and small vessel sclerosis of the heart. A clinical-pathologic study of 375 autopsies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Steer, A; Danzig, M D; Robertson, T L; Kawashima, T; Nakashima, T; Lee, K K

1975-01-01

A retrospective clinical-pathologic study was made of papillary muscle fibrosis and small vessel sclerosis of the heart in 375 autopsies from the ABCC-JNIH Adult Health Study sample in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The histopathologic findings were correlated with clinical diagnoses which included hypertension, hypertensive heart disease, myocardial infarction, and diabetes mellitus. (7 tables, 5 figures) (auth)

Continuous-tone applications in digital hard-copy output devices

Science.gov (United States)

Saunders, Jeffrey C.

1990-11-01

Dye diffusion technology has made a recent entry into the hardcopy printer arena making it now possible to achieve near-photographic quality images from digital raster image data. Whereas the majority of low cost printers utilizing ink-jet, thermal wax, or dotmatrix technologies advertise high resolution printheads, the restrictions which dithering algorithms apply to these inherently binary printing systems force them to sacrifice spatial resolution capability for tone scale reproduction. Dye diffusion technology allows a fully continuous range of density at each pixel location thus preserving the full spatial resolution capability of the printhead; spatial resolution is not sacrificed for tone scale. This results in images whose quality is far superior to the ink-jet or wax-transfer products; image quality so high in fact, to the unaided eye, dye diffusion images are indistinguishable from their silver-halide counterparts. Eastman Kodak Co. offers a highly refined application of dye diffusion technology in the Kodak XL 7700 Digital Continuous Tone Printer and Kodak EKTATHERM media products. The XL . 7700 Printer represents a serious alternative to expensive laser-based film recorders for applications which require high quality image output from digital data files. This paper presents an explanation of dye diffusion printing, what distinguishes it from other technologies, sensitometric control and image quality parameters, and applications within the industry, particularly that of Airborne Reconnaissance and Remote Sensing.

Endothelin-1 Regulation of exercise-induced changes in flow: Dynamic regulation of vascular tone

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Rapoport, R.M. (Robert M.); D. Merkus (Daphne)

2017-01-01

textabstractAlthough endothelin (ET)-1 is a highly potent vasoconstrictor with considerable efficacy in numerous vascular beds, the role of endogenous ET-1 in the regulation of vascular tone remains unclear. The perspective that ET-1 plays little role in the on-going regulation of vascular tone at

Syllabification, Tone Marking, and Minimality in Eleme Ngulube ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Mrs Afam

accounting for the fact that they only appear in word-final position. Word-initial ... Having established the basic principles of syllabification for Eleme, I would like to turn now to consider tone ... 'I have shared the book.' (17) b b r. 'they beat you'.

The interaction of tone with voicing and foot structure: evidence from Kera phonetics and phonology

Science.gov (United States)

Pearce, Mary Dorothy

This thesis uses acoustic measurements as a basis for the phonological analysis of the interaction of tone with voicing and foot structure in Kera (a Chadic language). In both tone spreading and vowel harmony, the iambic foot acts as a domain for spreading. Further evidence for the foot comes from measurements of duration, intensity and vowel quality. Kera is unusual in combining a tone system with a partially independent metrical system based on iambs. In words containing more than one foot, the foot is the tone bearing unit (TBU), but in shorter words, the TBU is the syllable. In perception and production experiments, results show that Kera speakers, unlike English and French, use the fundamental frequency as the principle cue to 'Voicing" contrast. Voice onset time (VOT) has only a minor role. Historically, tones probably developed from voicing through a process of tonogenesis, but synchronically, the feature voice is no longer contrastive and VOT is used in an enhancing role. Some linguists have claimed that Kera is a key example for their controversial theory of long-distance voicing spread. But as voice is not part of Kera phonology, this thesis gives counter-evidence to the voice spreading claim. An important finding from the experiments is that the phonological grammars are different between village women, men moving to town and town men. These differences are attributed to French contact. The interaction between Kera tone and voicing and contact with French have produced changes from a 2-way voicing contrast, through a 3-way tonal contrast, to a 2-way voicing contrast plus another contrast with short VOT. These diachronic and synchronic tone/voicing facts are analysed using laryngeal features and Optimality Theory. This thesis provides a body of new data, detailed acoustic measurements, and an analysis incorporating current theoretical issues in phonology, which make it of interest to Africanists and theoreticians alike.

Beyond Auditory Sensory Processing Deficits: Lexical Tone Perception Deficits in Chinese Children With Developmental Dyslexia.

Science.gov (United States)

Tong, Xiuhong; Tong, Xiuli; King Yiu, Fung

Increasing evidence suggests that children with developmental dyslexia exhibit a deficit not only at the segmental level of phonological processing but also, by extension, at the suprasegmental level. However, it remains unclear whether such a suprasegmental phonological processing deficit is due to a difficulty in processing acoustic cues of speech rhythm, such as rise time and intensity. This study set out to investigate to what extent suprasegmental phonological processing (i.e., Cantonese lexical tone perception) and rise time sensitivity could distinguish Chinese children with dyslexia from typically developing children. Sixteen children with dyslexia and 44 age-matched controls were administered a Cantonese lexical tone perception task, psychoacoustic tasks, a nonverbal reasoning ability task, and word reading and dictation tasks. Children with dyslexia performed worse than controls on Cantonese lexical tone perception, rise time, and intensity. Furthermore, Cantonese lexical tone perception appeared to be a stable indicator that distinguishes children with dyslexia from controls, even after controlling for basic auditory processing skills. These findings suggest that suprasegmental phonological processing (i.e., lexical tone perception) is a potential factor that accounts for reading difficulty in Chinese.

Global Database of Events, Language, and Tone (GDELT Project)

Data.gov (United States)

World Wide Human Geography Data Working Group — The Global Database of Events, Language, and Tone (GDELT Project) monitors the world's broadcast, print, and web news from nearly every corner of every country in...

Hierarchical tone mapping for high dynamic range image visualization

Science.gov (United States)

Qiu, Guoping; Duan, Jiang

2005-07-01

In this paper, we present a computationally efficient, practically easy to use tone mapping techniques for the visualization of high dynamic range (HDR) images in low dynamic range (LDR) reproduction devices. The new method, termed hierarchical nonlinear linear (HNL) tone-mapping operator maps the pixels in two hierarchical steps. The first step allocates appropriate numbers of LDR display levels to different HDR intensity intervals according to the pixel densities of the intervals. The second step linearly maps the HDR intensity intervals to theirs allocated LDR display levels. In the developed HNL scheme, the assignment of LDR display levels to HDR intensity intervals is controlled by a very simple and flexible formula with a single adjustable parameter. We also show that our new operators can be used for the effective enhancement of ordinary images.

THE CORRELATED TRACK RECEIVER OF TONE TRACK CIRCUITS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

K. V. Goncharov

2011-05-01

Full Text Available The work is devoted to further improvement of processing algorithm of checking signals of rail line. The simulation modeling of correlation track receiver of tone rail circuits has been executed; the benchmark analysis of correlation receiver and direct amplifier receiver has been executed.

Berlyne revisited: Evidence for the multifaceted nature of hedonic tone in the appreciation of paintings and music

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Manuela Maria Marin

2016-11-01

Full Text Available In his seminal book on aesthetics, Berlyne (1971 posited an inverted-U relationship between complexity and hedonic tone in arts appreciation, however, converging evidence for his theory is still missing. The disregard of the multidimensionality of complexity may explain some of the divergent results. Here, we argue that definitions of hedonic tone are manifold and systematically examined whether the nature of the relationship between complexity and hedonic tone is determined by the specific measure of hedonic tone. In Experiment 1, we studied three picture categories with similar affective and semantic contents: 96 affective environmental scenes, which were also converted into 96 cartoons, and 96 representational paintings. Complexity varied along the dimension of elements. In a between-subjects design, each stimulus was presented for 5 s to 206 female participants. Subjective ratings of hedonic tone (either beauty, pleasantness or liking, arousal, complexity and familiarity were collected in three conditions per stimulus set. Complexity and arousal were positively associated in all conditions, with the strongest association observed for paintings. For environmental scenes and cartoons, there was no significant association between complexity and hedonic tone, and the three measures of hedonic tone were highly correlated (all rs >.85. As predicted, in paintings the measures of hedonic tone were less strongly correlated (all rs >.73, and when controlling for familiarity, the association with complexity was significantly positive for beauty (rs = .26, weakly negative for pleasantness (rs = -.16 and not present for liking. Experiment 2 followed a similar approach and 77 female participants, all non-musicians, rated 92 musical excerpts (15 s in three conditions of hedonic tone (either beauty, pleasantness or liking. Results indicated a strong relationship between complexity and arousal (all rs >.85. When controlling for familiarity effects, the

Berlyne Revisited: Evidence for the Multifaceted Nature of Hedonic Tone in the Appreciation of Paintings and Music.

Science.gov (United States)

Marin, Manuela M; Lampatz, Allegra; Wandl, Michaela; Leder, Helmut

2016-01-01

In his seminal book on esthetics, Berlyne (1971) posited an inverted-U relationship between complexity and hedonic tone in arts appreciation, however, converging evidence for his theory is still missing. The disregard of the multidimensionality of complexity may explain some of the divergent results. Here, we argue that definitions of hedonic tone are manifold and systematically examined whether the nature of the relationship between complexity and hedonic tone is determined by the specific measure of hedonic tone. In Experiment 1, we studied three picture categories with similar affective and semantic contents: 96 affective environmental scenes, which were also converted into 96 cartoons, and 96 representational paintings. Complexity varied along the dimension of elements. In a between-subjects design, each stimulus was presented for 5 s to 206 female participants. Subjective ratings of hedonic tone (either beauty, pleasantness or liking), arousal, complexity and familiarity were collected in three conditions per stimulus set. Complexity and arousal were positively associated in all conditions, with the strongest association observed for paintings. For environmental scenes and cartoons, there was no significant association between complexity and hedonic tone, and the three measures of hedonic tone were highly correlated (all r s > 0.85). As predicted, in paintings the measures of hedonic tone were less strongly correlated (all r s > 0.73), and when controlling for familiarity, the association with complexity was significantly positive for beauty ( r s = 0.26), weakly negative for pleasantness ( r s = -0.16) and not present for liking. Experiment 2 followed a similar approach and 77 female participants, all non-musicians, rated 92 musical excerpts (15 s) in three conditions of hedonic tone (either beauty, pleasantness or liking). Results indicated a strong relationship between complexity and arousal (all r s > 0.85). When controlling for familiarity effects, the

Effects of hypnagogic imagery on the event-related potential to external tone stimuli.

Science.gov (United States)

Michida, Nanae; Hayashi, Mitsuo; Hori, Tadao

2005-07-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of hypnagogic imagery on the information processes of external tone stimuli during the sleep onset period with the use of event-related potentials. Event-related potentials to tone stimuli were compared between conditions with and without the experience of hypnagogic imagery. To control the arousal level when the tone was presented, a certain criterion named the electroencephalogram stage was used. Stimuli were presented at electroencephalogram stage 4, which was characterized by the appearance of a vertex sharp wave. Data were collected in the sleep laboratory at Hiroshima University. Eleven healthy university and graduate school students participated in the study. N/A. Experiments were performed at night. Reaction times to tone stimuli were measured, and only trials with shorter reaction times than 5000 milliseconds were analyzed. Electroencephalograms were recorded from Fz, Cz, Pz, Oz, T5 and T6. There were no differences in reaction times and electroencephalogram spectra between the conditions of with and without hypnagogic imagery. These results indicated that the arousal levels were not different between the 2 conditions. On the other hand, the N550 amplitude of the event-related potentials in the imagery condition was lower than in the no-imagery condition. The decrease in the N550 amplitude in the imagery condition showed that experiences of hypnagogic imagery exert some influence on the information processes of external tone stimuli. It is possible that the processing of hypnagogic imagery interferes with the processing of external stimuli, lowering the sensitivity to external stimuli.

Metronome-Cued Stepping in Place after Hemiparetic Stroke: Comparison of a One- and Two-Tone Beat

OpenAIRE

Wright, Rachel L.; Masood, Afia; Maccormac, Elinor S.; Pratt, David; Sackley, Catherine M.; Wing, Alan M.

2013-01-01

Hemiparetic gait is characterised by temporal asymmetry and variability, and these variables are improved by auditory cueing. Stepping in place incorporates aspects of gait and may be a useful tool for locomotor training. The aim of this pilot study was to investigate the use of a single-tone and dual-tone metronome to cue stepping in place after hemiparetic stroke. Eight participants completed an uncued baseline stepping condition and two cued stepping conditions utilising a single-tone and ...

Pre-attentive modulation of brain responses to tones in coloured-hearing synesthetes

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Jäncke Lutz

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Coloured-hearing (CH synesthesia is a perceptual phenomenon in which an acoustic stimulus (the inducer initiates a concurrent colour perception (the concurrent. Individuals with CH synesthesia "see" colours when hearing tones, words, or music; this specific phenomenon suggesting a close relationship between auditory and visual representations. To date, it is still unknown whether the perception of colours is associated with a modulation of brain functions in the inducing brain area, namely in the auditory-related cortex and associated brain areas. In addition, there is an on-going debate as to whether attention to the inducer is necessarily required for eliciting a visual concurrent, or whether the latter can emerge in a pre-attentive fashion. Results By using the EEG technique in the context of a pre-attentive mismatch negativity (MMN paradigm, we show that the binding of tones and colours in CH synesthetes is associated with increased MMN amplitudes in response to deviant tones supposed to induce novel concurrent colour perceptions. Most notably, the increased MMN amplitudes we revealed in the CH synesthetes were associated with stronger intracerebral current densities originating from the auditory cortex, parietal cortex, and ventral visual areas. Conclusions The automatic binding of tones and colours in CH synesthetes is accompanied by an early pre-attentive process recruiting the auditory cortex, inferior and superior parietal lobules, as well as ventral occipital areas.

Application of advanced structure to multi-tone mask for FPD process

Science.gov (United States)

Song, Jin-Han; Jeong, Jin-Woong; Kim, Kyu-Sik; Jeong, Woo-Gun; Yun, Sang-Pil; Lee, Dong-Heok; Choi, Sang-Soo

2017-07-01

In accordance with improvement of FPD technology, masks such as phase shift mask (PSM) and multi-tone mask (MTM) for a particular purpose also have been developed. Above all, the MTM consisted of more than tri-tone transmittance has a substantial advantage which enables to reduce the number of mask demand in FPD fabrication process contrast to normal mask of two-tone transmittance.[1,2] A chromium (Cr)-based MTM (Typically top type) is being widely employed because of convenience of etch process caused by its only Cr-based structure consisted of Cr absorber layer and Cr half-tone layer. However, the top type of Cr-based MTM demands two Cr sputtering processes after each layer etching process and writing process. For this reason, a different material from the Cr-based MTM is required for reduction of mask fabrication time and cost. In this study, we evaluate a MTM which has a structure combined Cr with molybdenum silicide (MoSi) to resolve the issues mentioned above. The MoSi which is demonstrated by integrated circuit (IC) process is a suitable material for MTM evaluation. This structure could realize multi-transmittance in common with the Cr-based MTM. Moreover, it enables to reduce the number of sputtering process. We investigate a optimized structure upon consideration of productivity along with performance such as critical dimension (CD) variation and transmittance range of each structure. The transmittance is targeted at h-line wavelength (405 nm) in the evaluation. Compared with Cr-based MTM, the performances of all Cr-/MoSi-based MTMs are considered.

Trellis Tone Modulation Multiple-Access for Peer Discovery in D2D Networks

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Chiwoo Lim

2018-04-01

Full Text Available In this paper, a new non-orthogonal multiple-access scheme, trellis tone modulation multiple-access (TTMMA, is proposed for peer discovery of distributed device-to-device (D2D communication. The range and capacity of discovery are important performance metrics in peer discovery. The proposed trellis tone modulation uses single-tone transmission and achieves a long discovery range due to its low Peak-to-Average Power Ratio (PAPR. The TTMMA also exploits non-orthogonal resource assignment to increase the discovery capacity. For the multi-user detection of superposed multiple-access signals, a message-passing algorithm with supplementary schemes are proposed. With TTMMA and its message-passing demodulation, approximately 1.5 times the number of devices are discovered compared to the conventional frequency division multiple-access (FDMA-based discovery.

A tone-aided dual vestigial sideband system for digital communications on fading channels

Science.gov (United States)

Hladik, Stephen M.; Saulnier, Gary J.; Rafferty, William

1989-01-01

A spectrally efficient tone-aided dual vestigial sideband (TA/DVSB) system for digital data communications on fading channels is presented and described analytically. This PSK (phase-shift-keying) system incorporates a feed-forward, tone-aided demodulation technique to compensate for Doppler frequency shift and channel- induced, multipath fading. In contrast to other tone-in-band-type systems, receiver synchronization is derived from the complete data VSBs. Simulation results for the Rician fading channel are presented. These results demonstrate the receiver's ability to mitigate performance degradation due to fading and to obtain proper data carrier synchronization, suggesting that the proposed TA/DVSB system has promise for this application. Simulated BER (bit-error rate) data indicate that the TA/DVSB system effectively alleviates the channel distortions of the land mobile satellite application.

Neurobiology of hedonic tone: the relationship between treatment-resistant depression, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, and substance abuse

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Sternat T

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Tia Sternat,1,2 Martin A Katzman1–4 1START Clinic for Mood and Anxiety Disorders, 2Department of Psychology, Adler Graduate Professional School, Toronto, 3Division of Clinical Sciences, The Northern Ontario School of Medicine, 4Department of Psychology, Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, ON, Canada Abstract: Anhedonia, defined as the state of reduced ability to experience feelings of pleasure, is one of the hallmarks of depression. Hedonic tone is the trait underlying one’s characteristic ability to feel pleasure. Low hedonic tone represents a reduced capacity to experience pleasure, thus increasing the likelihood of experiencing anhedonia. Low hedonic tone has been associated with several psychopathologies, including major depressive disorder (MDD, substance use, and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD. The main neural pathway that modulates emotional affect comprises the limbic–cortical–striatal–pallidal–thalamic circuits. The activity of various components of the limbic–cortical–striatal–pallidal–thalamic pathway is correlated with hedonic tone in healthy individuals and is altered in MDD. Dysfunction of these circuits has also been implicated in the relative ineffectiveness of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors used to treat anxiety and depression in patients with low hedonic tone. Mood disorders such as MDD, ADHD, and substance abuse share low hedonic tone as well as altered activation of brain regions involved in reward processing and monoamine signaling as their features. Given the common features of these disorders, it is not surprising that they have high levels of comorbidities. The purpose of this article is to review the neurobiology of hedonic tone as it pertains to depression, ADHD, and the potential for substance abuse. We propose that, since low hedonic tone is a shared feature of MDD, ADHD, and substance abuse, evaluation of hedonic tone may become a diagnostic feature used to predict subtypes

A novel small molecule target in human airway smooth muscle for potential treatment of obstructive lung diseases: a staged high-throughput biophysical screening.

Science.gov (United States)

An, Steven S; Askovich, Peter S; Zarembinski, Thomas I; Ahn, Kwangmi; Peltier, John M; von Rechenberg, Moritz; Sahasrabudhe, Sudhir; Fredberg, Jeffrey J

2011-01-13

A newly identified mechanism of smooth muscle relaxation is the interaction between the small heat shock protein 20 (HSP20) and 14-3-3 proteins. Focusing upon this class of interactions, we describe here a novel drug target screening approach for treating airflow obstruction in asthma. Using a high-throughput fluorescence polarization (FP) assay, we screened a library of compounds that could act as small molecule modulators of HSP20 signals. We then applied two quantitative, cell-based biophysical methods to assess the functional efficacy of these molecules and rank-ordered their abilities to relax isolated human airway smooth muscle (ASM). Scaling up to the level of an intact tissue, we confirmed in a concentration-responsive manner the potency of the cell-based hit compounds. Among 58,019 compound tested, 268 compounds caused 20% or more reduction of the polarized emission in the FP assay. A small subset of these primary screen hits, belonging to two scaffolds, caused relaxation of isolated ASM cell in vitro and attenuated active force development of intact tissue ex vivo. This staged biophysical screening paradigm provides proof-of-principle for high-throughput and cost-effective discovery of new small molecule therapeutic agents for obstructive lung diseases.

A novel small molecule target in human airway smooth muscle for potential treatment of obstructive lung diseases: a staged high-throughput biophysical screening

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

von Rechenberg Moritz

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background A newly identified mechanism of smooth muscle relaxation is the interaction between the small heat shock protein 20 (HSP20 and 14-3-3 proteins. Focusing upon this class of interactions, we describe here a novel drug target screening approach for treating airflow obstruction in asthma. Methods Using a high-throughput fluorescence polarization (FP assay, we screened a library of compounds that could act as small molecule modulators of HSP20 signals. We then applied two quantitative, cell-based biophysical methods to assess the functional efficacy of these molecules and rank-ordered their abilities to relax isolated human airway smooth muscle (ASM. Scaling up to the level of an intact tissue, we confirmed in a concentration-responsive manner the potency of the cell-based hit compounds. Results Among 58,019 compound tested, 268 compounds caused 20% or more reduction of the polarized emission in the FP assay. A small subset of these primary screen hits, belonging to two scaffolds, caused relaxation of isolated ASM cell in vitro and attenuated active force development of intact tissue ex vivo. Conclusions This staged biophysical screening paradigm provides proof-of-principle for high-throughput and cost-effective discovery of new small molecule therapeutic agents for obstructive lung diseases.

High phase noise tolerant pilot-tone-aided DP-QPSK optical communication systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zhang, Xu; Pang, Xiaodan; Deng, Lei

2012-01-01

In this paper we experimentally demonstrate a novel, high phase-noise tolerant, optical dual polarization (DP) quadrature phase-shift keying (QPSK) communication system based on pilot-tone-aided phase noise cancellation (PNC) algorithm. Vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs) with approx......In this paper we experimentally demonstrate a novel, high phase-noise tolerant, optical dual polarization (DP) quadrature phase-shift keying (QPSK) communication system based on pilot-tone-aided phase noise cancellation (PNC) algorithm. Vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs...

Memory for pure tone sequences without contour.

Science.gov (United States)

Lefebvre, Christine; Jolicœur, Pierre

2016-06-01

We presented pure tones interspersed with white noise sounds to disrupt contour perception in an acoustic short-term memory (ASTM) experiment during which we recorded the electroencephalogram. The memory set consisted of seven stimuli, 0, 1, 2, 3, or 4 of which were to-be-remembered tones. We estimated each participant׳s capacity, K, for each set size and measured the amplitude of the SAN (sustained anterior negativity, an ERP related to acoustic short-term memory). We correlated their K slopes with their SAN amplitude slopes as a function of set size, and found a significant link between performance and the SAN: a larger increase in SAN amplitude was linked with a larger number of stimuli maintained in ASTM. The SAN decreased in amplitude in the later portion of the silent retention interval, but the correlation between the SAN and capacity remained strong. These results show the SAN is not an index of contour but rather an index of the maintenance of individual objects in STM. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled SI: Auditory working memory. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Damage detection and locating using tone burst and continuous excitation modulation method

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Zheng; Wang, Zhi; Xiao, Li; Qu, Wenzhong

2014-03-01

Among structural health monitoring techniques, nonlinear ultrasonic spectroscopy methods are found to be effective diagnostic approach to detecting nonlinear damage such as fatigue crack, due to their sensitivity to incipient structural changes. In this paper, a nonlinear ultrasonic modulation method was developed to detect and locate a fatigue crack on an aluminum plate. The method is different with nonlinear wave modulation method which recognizes the modulation of low-frequency vibration and high-frequency ultrasonic wave; it recognizes the modulation of tone burst and high-frequency ultrasonic wave. In the experiment, a Hanning window modulated sinusoidal tone burst and a continuous sinusoidal excitation were simultaneously imposed on the PZT array which was bonded on the surface of an aluminum plate. The modulations of tone burst and continuous sinusoidal excitation was observed in different actuator-sensor paths, indicating the presence and location of fatigue crack. The results of experiments show that the proposed method is capable of detecting and locating the fatigue crack successfully.

TONE DEVELOPMENT STUDIES WITH A STUDENT DURING FLUTE EDUCATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Begum Aytemur

2016-12-01

Full Text Available This research investigated the effect of a five stage study program applied by the researcher to one student who had entered university playing the flute, but who had not resolved lip and tone problems in one educational semester through basic long sound studies and scale studies. The participant in the research was a 19 year old student who had completed first year of the music teaching program and had performed in the year-end concert; however she was criticized by listeners and flute teachers for forced and scratchy tone. The research had the basic aim of solving these problems. As a result the “single subject study model”, chosen for research on individuals requesting private training, was chosen for this research model. The findings of the study were collected as video recordings of scale, study and piece work in initial, training and final stages of a six-week education course run every day. To evaluate the obtained recordings, a “Behavior for Quality Flute Tone Scale” was created. The video recordings were investigated by three flute teaching staff, expert in the area, who provided points in accordance with the scale. The obtained points were analyzed using the SPSS 15.0 program. The results showed that the study program created by the researcher provided rapid tonal development of the student. It is considered that the study is important to present an alternative route for flute students experiencing similar problems.

Predicting human epidermal melanin concentrations for different skin tones

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Smit, Jacoba E

2011-07-01

Full Text Available epidermal melanin concentrations for different skin tones JE Smit 1 , AE Karsten 2 , RW Sparrow 1 1 CSIR Biosciences, Pretoria, South Africa 2 CSIR National Laser Centre, Pretoria, South Africa Author e-mail address: KSmit...

Regulation of myostatin expression is associated with growth and muscle development in commercial broiler and DMC muscle

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dou, Tengfei; Li, Zhengtian; Wang, Kun; Liu, Lixian; Rong, Hua; Xu, Zhiqiang; Huang, Ying; Gu, Dahai; Chen, Xiaobo; Hu, Wenyuan; Zhang, Jiarong; Zhao, Sumei; Jois, Markandeya; Li, Qihua; Ge, Changrong; Pas, te Marinus F.W.; Jia, Junjing

2018-01-01

Myostatin is a negative regulator of skeletal muscle growth. Muscle tissue is the largest tissue in the body and influences body growth. Commercial Avian broiler chickens are selected for high growth rate and muscularity. Daweishan mini chickens are a slow growing small-sized chicken breed. We

Vibration sensitivity of human muscle spindles and Golgi tendon organs.

Science.gov (United States)

Fallon, James B; Macefield, Vaughan G

2007-07-01

The responses of the various muscle receptors to vibration are more complicated than a naïve categorization into stretch (muscle spindle primary ending), length (muscle spindle secondary endings), and tension (Golgi tendon organs) receptors. To emphasize the similarity of responses to small length changes, we recorded from 58 individual muscle afferents subserving receptors in the ankle or toe dorsiflexors of awake human subjects (32 primary endings, 20 secondary endings, and six Golgi tendon organs). Transverse sinusoidal vibration was applied to the distal tendon of the receptor-bearing muscle, while subjects either remained completely relaxed or maintained a weak isometric contraction of the appropriate muscle. In relaxed muscle, few units responded in a 1:1 manner to vibration, and there was no evidence of a preferred frequency of activation. In active muscle the response profiles of all three receptor types overlapped, with no significant difference in threshold between receptor types. These results emphasize that when intramuscular tension increases during a voluntary contraction, Golgi tendon organs and muscle spindle secondary endings, not just muscle spindle primary endings, can effectively encode small imposed length changes.

Charge movements and transverse tubular ultrastructure in organ cultured skeletal muscle.

Science.gov (United States)

Cullen, M J; Hollingworth, S; Marshall, M W; Robson, E

1990-04-01

A study was made of charge movements and the transverse tubular systems in rat EDL and soleus muscle fibres maintained for up to five days in organ culture. In the cultured EDL muscle the maximum amount of charge moved was about one third of that in innervated muscle. Charge movements in innervated soleus fibres are small, less than 10 nC/microF, and difficult to resolve. They remain small following organ culturing. The ultrastructural study examined the concentration of junctional feet because of their proposed key role in excitation-contraction coupling. The general architecture of the triads and the spacing of the feet in both muscle types was largely unchanged by culturing. In cultured EDL muscles the small changes in feet concentration did not parallel the large fall in charge movement. The results reported here support a previous conclusion that, in mammalian muscle, there is not a simple relation between charge and feet. The stimulation of cultured soleus muscles with a fast twitch pattern of electrical activity produced no observable changes in morphology.

Interstitial cells of Cajal in human small intestine. Ultrastructural identification and organization between the main smooth muscle layers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rumessen, J J; Thuneberg, L

1991-01-01

with elastin fibers. The organization shown in this study strongly supports the concept of interstitial cells of Cajal as important regulatory cells also in the human small intestine. The characteristic cytology and organization of interstitial cells of Cajal may provide a basis for future morphological......Previous morphological and electrophysiological studies have supported the hypothesis that interstitial cells of Cajal have important regulatory (pacemaker) functions in the gut. In the current study, interstitial cells of Cajal associated with Auerbach's plexus in human small intestine were...... studied. Freshly resected intestine was examined by light and electron microscopy. The interstitial cells of Cajal resembled modified smooth muscle cells. They had caveolae and dense bodies, an incomplete basal lamina, a very well-developed smooth endoplasmic reticulum, and abundant intermediate (10 nm...

What is cerebral small vessel disease?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Onodera, Osamu

2011-01-01

An accumulating amount of evidence suggests that the white matter hyperintensities on T 2 weighted brain magnetic resonance imaging predict an increased risk of dementia and gait disturbance. This state has been proposed as cerebral small vessel disease, including leukoaraiosis, Binswanger's disease, lacunar stroke and cerebral microbleeds. However, the concept of cerebral small vessel disease is still obscure. To understand the cerebral small vessel disease, the precise structure and function of cerebral small vessels must be clarified. Cerebral small vessels include several different arteries which have different anatomical structures and functions. Important functions of the cerebral small vessels are blood-brain barrier and perivasucular drainage of interstitial fluid from the brain parenchyma. Cerebral capillaries and glial endfeet, take an important role for these functions. However, the previous pathological investigations on cerebral small vessels have focused on larger arteries than capillaries. Therefore little is known about the pathology of capillaries in small vessel disease. The recent discoveries of genes which cause the cerebral small vessel disease indicate that the cerebral small vessel diseases are caused by a distinct molecular mechanism. One of the pathological findings in hereditary cerebral small vessel disease is the loss of smooth muscle cells, which is an also well-recognized finding in sporadic cerebral small vessel disease. Since pericytes have similar character with the smooth muscle cells, the pericytes should be investigated in these disorders. In addition, the loss of smooth muscle cells may result in dysfunction of drainage of interstitial fluid from capillaries. The precise correlation between the loss of smooth muscle cells and white matter disease is still unknown. However, the function that is specific to cerebral small vessel may be associated with the pathogenesis of cerebral small vessel disease. (author)

Distortion-product otoacoustic emissions: body position effects with simultaneous presentation of tone pairs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Samuel R. Atcherson

2011-11-01

Full Text Available This study examined the effect of three different body positions on distortion-product otoacoustic emission (DPOAE amplitude and noise levels with multiple primary tone pairs simultaneously-presented to 36 normal-hearing female human adults. Other studies have demonstrated that the simultaneously presented tone pairs method shows clinical promise as a screener, but the sequential method remains in widespread clinical use. Postural changes have been suggested to have an effect not only on DPOAEs, but also transient-evoked OAEs and stimulus- frequency OAEs. DPOAE amplitude and noise levels were recorded in seated, supine, and side-lying positions to the following order of simultaneously-presented tone pairs relative to the f2 frequencies: 1187, 2375, and 4812 Hz; 1500, 3000, and 6062 Hz; and 1875, 3812, and 7625 Hz. No DPOAE could be detected reliably at 7625 Hz as result of poor signal-to-noise ratio. For remaining DPOAEs, statistical analyses revealed that amplitudes were not significantly different among the three body positions. However, at 1500 Hz and below, body position did have a statistically significant effect on noise levels though they are likely clinically negligible. Except at 7625 Hz, results suggest that DPOAEs recorded using a simultaneously presented tone pairs appear to be comparably recorded regardless of an individual’s body position.

Vagally mediated effects of brain stem dopamine on gastric tone and phasic contractions of the rat.

Science.gov (United States)

Anselmi, L; Toti, L; Bove, C; Travagli, R A

2017-11-01

Dopamine (DA)-containing fibers and neurons are embedded within the brain stem dorsal vagal complex (DVC); we have shown previously that DA modulates the membrane properties of neurons of the dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus (DMV) via DA1 and DA2 receptors. The vagally dependent modulation of gastric tone and phasic contractions, i.e., motility, by DA, however, has not been characterized. With the use of microinjections of DA in the DVC while recording gastric tone and motility, the aims of the present study were 1 ) assess the gastric effects of brain stem DA application, 2 ) identify the DA receptor subtype, and, 3 ) identify the postganglionic pathway(s) activated. Dopamine microinjection in the DVC decreased gastric tone and motility in both corpus and antrum in 29 of 34 rats, and the effects were abolished by ipsilateral vagotomy and fourth ventricular treatment with the selective DA2 receptor antagonist L741,626 but not by application of the selective DA1 receptor antagonist SCH 23390. Systemic administration of the cholinergic antagonist atropine attenuated the inhibition of corpus and antrum tone in response to DA microinjection in the DVC. Conversely, systemic administration of the nitric oxide synthase inhibitor nitro-l-arginine methyl ester did not alter the DA-induced decrease in gastric tone and motility. Our data provide evidence of a dopaminergic modulation of a brain stem vagal neurocircuit that controls gastric tone and motility. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Dopamine administration in the brain stem decreases gastric tone and phasic contractions. The gastric effects of dopamine are mediated via dopamine 2 receptors on neurons of the dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus. The inhibitory effects of dopamine are mediated via inhibition of the postganglionic cholinergic pathway. Copyright © 2017 the American Physiological Society.

Hidden Markov modeling of frequency-following responses to Mandarin lexical tones.

Science.gov (United States)

Llanos, Fernando; Xie, Zilong; Chandrasekaran, Bharath

2017-11-01

The frequency-following response (FFR) is a scalp-recorded electrophysiological potential reflecting phase-locked activity from neural ensembles in the auditory system. The FFR is often used to assess the robustness of subcortical pitch processing. Due to low signal-to-noise ratio at the single-trial level, FFRs are typically averaged across thousands of stimulus repetitions. Prior work using this approach has shown that subcortical encoding of linguistically-relevant pitch patterns is modulated by long-term language experience. We examine the extent to which a machine learning approach using hidden Markov modeling (HMM) can be utilized to decode Mandarin tone-categories from scalp-record electrophysiolgical activity. We then assess the extent to which the HMM can capture biologically-relevant effects (language experience-driven plasticity). To this end, we recorded FFRs to four Mandarin tones from 14 adult native speakers of Chinese and 14 of native English. We trained a HMM to decode tone categories from the FFRs with varying size of averages. Tone categories were decoded with above-chance accuracies using HMM. The HMM derived metric (decoding accuracy) revealed a robust effect of language experience, such that FFRs from native Chinese speakers yielded greater accuracies than native English speakers. Critically, the language experience-driven plasticity was captured with average sizes significantly smaller than those used in the extant literature. Our results demonstrate the feasibility of HMM in assessing the robustness of neural pitch. Machine-learning approaches can complement extant analytical methods that capture auditory function and could reduce the number of trials needed to capture biological phenomena. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The Role of Baseline Vagal Tone in Dealing with a Stressor during Face to Face and Computer-Based Social Interactions.

Science.gov (United States)

Rigoni, Daniele; Morganti, Francesca; Braibanti, Paride

2017-01-01

Facing a stressor involves a cardiac vagal tone response and a feedback effect produced by social interaction in visceral regulation. This study evaluated the contribution of baseline vagal tone and of social engagement system (SES) functioning on the ability to deal with a stressor. Participants ( n = 70) were grouped into a minimized social interaction condition (procedure administered through a PC) and a social interaction condition (procedure administered by an experimenter). The State Trait Anxiety Inventory, the Social Interaction Anxiety Scale, the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire and a debriefing questionnaire were completed by the subjects. The baseline vagal tone was registered during the baseline, stressor and recovery phases. The collected results highlighted a significant effect of the baseline vagal tone on vagal suppression. No effect of minimized vs. social interaction conditions on cardiac vagal tone during stressor and recovery phases was detected. Cardiac vagal tone and the results of the questionnaires appear to be not correlated. The study highlighted the main role of baseline vagal tone on visceral regulation. Some remarks on SES to be deepen in further research were raised.

The Role of Baseline Vagal Tone in Dealing with a Stressor during Face to Face and Computer-Based Social Interactions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniele Rigoni

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Facing a stressor involves a cardiac vagal tone response and a feedback effect produced by social interaction in visceral regulation. This study evaluated the contribution of baseline vagal tone and of social engagement system (SES functioning on the ability to deal with a stressor. Participants (n = 70 were grouped into a minimized social interaction condition (procedure administered through a PC and a social interaction condition (procedure administered by an experimenter. The State Trait Anxiety Inventory, the Social Interaction Anxiety Scale, the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire and a debriefing questionnaire were completed by the subjects. The baseline vagal tone was registered during the baseline, stressor and recovery phases. The collected results highlighted a significant effect of the baseline vagal tone on vagal suppression. No effect of minimized vs. social interaction conditions on cardiac vagal tone during stressor and recovery phases was detected. Cardiac vagal tone and the results of the questionnaires appear to be not correlated. The study highlighted the main role of baseline vagal tone on visceral regulation. Some remarks on SES to be deepen in further research were raised.

APC sets the Wnt tone necessary for cerebral cortical progenitor development.

Science.gov (United States)

Nakagawa, Naoki; Li, Jingjun; Yabuno-Nakagawa, Keiko; Eom, Tae-Yeon; Cowles, Martis; Mapp, Tavien; Taylor, Robin; Anton, E S

2017-08-15

Adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) regulates the activity of β-catenin, an integral component of Wnt signaling. However, the selective role of the APC-β-catenin pathway in cerebral cortical development is unknown. Here we genetically dissected the relative contributions of APC-regulated β-catenin signaling in cortical progenitor development, a necessary early step in cerebral cortical formation. Radial progenitor-specific inactivation of the APC-β-catenin pathway indicates that the maintenance of appropriate β-catenin-mediated Wnt tone is necessary for the orderly differentiation of cortical progenitors and the resultant formation of the cerebral cortex. APC deletion deregulates β-catenin, leads to high Wnt tone, and disrupts Notch1 signaling and primary cilium maintenance necessary for radial progenitor functions. β-Catenin deregulation directly disrupts cilium maintenance and signaling via Tulp3, essential for intraflagellar transport of ciliary signaling receptors. Surprisingly, deletion of β-catenin or inhibition of β-catenin activity in APC-null progenitors rescues the APC-null phenotype. These results reveal that APC-regulated β-catenin activity in cortical progenitors sets the appropriate Wnt tone necessary for normal cerebral cortical development. © 2017 Nakagawa et al.; Published by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press.

A novel small molecule target in human airway smooth muscle for potential treatment of obstructive lung diseases: a staged high-throughput biophysical screening

OpenAIRE

von Rechenberg Moritz; Peltier John M; Ahn Kwangmi; Zarembinski Thomas I; Askovich Peter S; An Steven S; Sahasrabudhe Sudhir; Fredberg Jeffrey J

2011-01-01

Abstract Background A newly identified mechanism of smooth muscle relaxation is the interaction between the small heat shock protein 20 (HSP20) and 14-3-3 proteins. Focusing upon this class of interactions, we describe here a novel drug target screening approach for treating airflow obstruction in asthma. Methods Using a high-throughput fluorescence polarization (FP) assay, we screened a library of compounds that could act as small molecule modulators of HSP20 signals. We then applied two qua...

The Effect of Intertalker Variations on Acoustic-Perceptual Mapping in Cantonese and Mandarin Tone Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Peng, Gang; Zhang, Caicai; Zheng, Hong-Ying; Minett, James W.; Wang, William S.-Y.

2012-01-01

Purpose: This study investigates the impact of intertalker variations on the process of mapping acoustic variations on tone categories in two different tone languages. Method: Pitch stimuli manipulated from four voice ranges were presented in isolation through a blocked-talker design. Listeners were instructed to identify the stimuli that they…

Frequency-Zooming ARMA Modeling for Analysis of Noisy String Instrument Tones

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Paulo A. A. Esquef

2003-09-01

Full Text Available This paper addresses model-based analysis of string instrument sounds. In particular, it reviews the application of autoregressive (AR modeling to sound analysis/synthesis purposes. Moreover, a frequency-zooming autoregressive moving average (FZ-ARMA modeling scheme is described. The performance of the FZ-ARMA method on modeling the modal behavior of isolated groups of resonance frequencies is evaluated for both synthetic and real string instrument tones immersed in background noise. We demonstrate that the FZ-ARMA modeling is a robust tool to estimate the decay time and frequency of partials of noisy tones. Finally, we discuss the use of the method in synthesis of string instrument sounds.

Physical activity opposes the age-related increase in skeletal muscle and plasma endothelin-1 levels and normalizes plasma endothelin-1 levels in individuals with essential hypertension

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nyberg, Michael Permin; Mortensen, Stefan Peter; Hellsten, Ylva

2013-01-01

performed lifelong physical activity had similar plasma and muscle endothelin-1 levels as the young controls and had higher ET(A) receptor levels. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that aerobic exercise training opposes the age-related increase in skeletal muscle and plasma endothelin-1 levels and normalizes......AIMS: Endothelin-1 has potent constrictor and proliferative activity in vascular smooth muscle, and essential hypertension and aging are associated with increased endothelin-1-mediated vasoconstrictor tone. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of physical activity, hypertension...... and age on endothelin-1 levels in plasma and skeletal muscle and endothelin receptors in skeletal muscle in human subjects. METHODS: In study 1, normotensive (46 ± 1 years, n = 11) and hypertensive (47 ± 1 years, n = 10) subjects were studied before and after 8 weeks of aerobic exercise training. In study...

Review of relationships between grey-tone co-occurrence, semivariance, and autocorrelation based image texture analysis approaches

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Sanden, van der J.J.; Hoekman, D.H.

2005-01-01

In the present paper we review relationships between commonly used statistical approaches to analysis of image texture. The approaches considered characterize image texture by means of the statistics of grey- tone co- occurrence contrast, grey- tone co- occurrence correlation, semivariance, and

Acute effects of gamma irradiation on vascular arterial tone

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bourlier, V.; Diserbo, M.; Multon, E.; Verdetti, J.; Fatome, M.

1995-01-01

In rat aortic rings, we showed an increase in arterial tone during irradiation. This effect is acute reversible. This effect is only observed on pre-contracted rings and needs the integrity of vascular endothelium. The molecular mechanism of this effect is discussed. (author)

Ileoanal pouch function is related to postprandial pouch tone

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Steens, J.; Bemelman, W. A.; Meijerink, W. J.; Griffioen, G.; van Hogezand, R. A.; Masclee, A. A.

2001-01-01

Functional impairments are frequently observed in patients with an ileoanal pouch. Meal ingestion increases pouch tone and motility. Little is known, however, about the influence of meal-stimulated pouch characteristics on pouch function. The aim was to characterize basal and postprandial pouch

Feasibity of Using a Measure of Heart Rate Change in Human Adults to Signal Occurrence of Tone

Science.gov (United States)

1977-11-01

clearly with the binaural subjects in the 85 dB free response live trials situation on post-tone offset beat 1. Here, the significant response...seen when comparing the sign test results of post-tone offset beat I in the binaural 15 db motor response live trial situation to the analagous 85 db...subject response consistency. Tills is most evident in the binaural 85 db fret live situation comparison of post-tone offset beat one to

Computer Pure-Tone and Operator Stress: Report III.

Science.gov (United States)

Dow, Caroline; Covert, Douglas C.

Pure-tone sound at 15,750 Herz generated by flyback transformers in many computer and video display terminal (VDT) monitors has stress-related productivity effects in some operators, especially women. College-age women in a controlled experiment simulating half a normal work day showed responses within the first half hour of exposure to a tone…

Muscle metabolism during graded quadriceps exercise in man

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Helge, Jørn W; Stallknecht, Bente; Galbo, Henrik

2007-01-01

, oxidation of plasma free fatty acids increases and accordingly oxidation of other fat sources decreases. These findings are in contrast to whole body measurements performed during graded exercise involving a large muscle mass during which fat oxidation peaks at around 60% of .......The aim of the study was to examine local muscle metabolism in response to graded exercise when the involved muscle mass is too small to elicit marked hormonal changes and local blood flow restriction. Nine healthy overnight fasted male subjects performed knee extension exercise with both thighs...... intensity. In conclusion, in the presence of a high blood flow and oxygen supply and only small hormonal changes, total fat oxidation in muscle increases from rest to light exercise, but then remains constant with exercise intensity up to heavy exercise. However, with increasing exercise intensity...

MeCP2 Affects Skeletal Muscle Growth and Morphology through Non Cell-Autonomous Mechanisms.

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Valentina Conti

Full Text Available Rett syndrome (RTT is an autism spectrum disorder mainly caused by mutations in the X-linked MECP2 gene and affecting roughly 1 out of 10.000 born girls. Symptoms range in severity and include stereotypical movement, lack of spoken language, seizures, ataxia and severe intellectual disability. Notably, muscle tone is generally abnormal in RTT girls and women and the Mecp2-null mouse model constitutively reflects this disease feature. We hypothesized that MeCP2 in muscle might physiologically contribute to its development and/or homeostasis, and conversely its defects in RTT might alter the tissue integrity or function. We show here that a disorganized architecture, with hypotrophic fibres and tissue fibrosis, characterizes skeletal muscles retrieved from Mecp2-null mice. Alterations of the IGF-1/Akt/mTOR pathway accompany the muscle phenotype. A conditional mouse model selectively depleted of Mecp2 in skeletal muscles is characterized by healthy muscles that are morphologically and molecularly indistinguishable from those of wild-type mice raising the possibility that hypotonia in RTT is mainly, if not exclusively, mediated by non-cell autonomous effects. Our results suggest that defects in paracrine/endocrine signaling and, in particular, in the GH/IGF axis appear as the major cause of the observed muscular defects. Remarkably, this is the first study describing the selective deletion of Mecp2 outside the brain. Similar future studies will permit to unambiguously define the direct impact of MeCP2 on tissue dysfunctions.

Function of skeletal muscle tissue formed after myoblast transplantation into irradiated mouse muscles.

Science.gov (United States)

Wernig, A; Zweyer, M; Irintchev, A

2000-01-15

1. Pretreatment of muscles with ionising radiation enhances tissue formation by transplanted myoblasts but little is known about the effects on muscle function. We implanted myoblasts from an expanded, male-donor-derived, culture (i28) into X-ray irradiated (16 Gy) or irradiated and damaged soleus muscles of female syngeneic mice (Balb/c). Three to 6 months later the isometric contractile properties of the muscles were studied in vitro, and donor nuclei were visualised in muscle sections with a Y chromosome-specific DNA probe. 2. Irradiated sham-injected muscles had smaller masses than untreated solei and produced less twitch and tetanic force (all by about 18 %). Injection of 106 myoblasts abolished these deficiencies and innervation appeared normal. 3. Cryodamage of irradiated solei produced muscle remnants with few (1-50) or no fibres. Additional myoblast implantation led to formation of large muscles (25 % above normal) containing numerous small-diameter fibres. Upon direct electrical stimulation, these muscles produced considerable twitch (53 % of normal) and tetanic forces (35 % of normal) but innervation was insufficient as indicated by weak nerve-evoked contractions and elevated ACh sensitivity. 4. In control experiments on irradiated muscles, reinnervation was found to be less complete after botulinum toxin paralysis than after nerve crush indicating that proliferative arrest of irradiated Schwann cells may account for the observed innervation deficits. 5. Irradiation appears to be an effective pretreatment for improving myoblast transplantation. The injected cells can even produce organised contractile tissue replacing whole muscle. However, impaired nerve regeneration limits the functional performance of the new muscle.

Relationship between vagal tone, cortisol, TNF-alpha, epinephrine and negative affects in Crohn's disease and irritable bowel syndrome.

Science.gov (United States)

Pellissier, Sonia; Dantzer, Cécile; Mondillon, Laurie; Trocme, Candice; Gauchez, Anne-Sophie; Ducros, Véronique; Mathieu, Nicolas; Toussaint, Bertrand; Fournier, Alicia; Canini, Frédéric; Bonaz, Bruno

2014-01-01

Crohn's disease (CD) and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) involve brain-gut dysfunctions where vagus nerve is an important component. The aim of this work was to study the association between vagal tone and markers of stress and inflammation in patients with CD or IBS compared to healthy subjects (controls). The study was performed in 73 subjects (26 controls, 21 CD in remission and 26 IBS patients). The day prior to the experiment, salivary cortisol was measured at 8:00 AM and 10:00 PM. The day of the experiment, subjects completed questionnaires for anxiety (STAI) and depressive symptoms (CES-D). After 30 min of rest, ECG was recorded for heart rate variability (HRV) analysis. Plasma cortisol, epinephrine, norepinephrine, TNF-alpha and IL-6 were measured in blood samples taken at the end of ECG recording. Compared with controls, CD and IBS patients had higher scores of state-anxiety and depressive symptomatology. A subgroup classification based on HRV-normalized high frequency band (HFnu) as a marker of vagal tone, showed that control subjects with high vagal tone had significantly lower evening salivary cortisol levels than subjects with low vagal tone. Such an effect was not observed in CD and IBS patients. Moreover, an inverse association (r =  -0.48; p<0.05) was observed between the vagal tone and TNF-alpha level in CD patients exclusively. In contrast, in IBS patients, vagal tone was inversely correlated with plasma epinephrine (r =  -0.39; p<0.05). No relationship was observed between vagal tone and IL-6, norepinephrine or negative affects (anxiety and depressive symptomatology) in any group. In conclusion, these data argue for an imbalance between the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis and the vagal tone in CD and IBS patients. Furthermore, they highlight the specific homeostatic link between vagal tone and TNF-alpha in CD and epinephrine in IBS and argue for the relevance of vagus nerve reinforcement interventions in those diseases.

Relationship between vagal tone, cortisol, TNF-alpha, epinephrine and negative affects in Crohn's disease and irritable bowel syndrome.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sonia Pellissier

Full Text Available Crohn's disease (CD and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS involve brain-gut dysfunctions where vagus nerve is an important component. The aim of this work was to study the association between vagal tone and markers of stress and inflammation in patients with CD or IBS compared to healthy subjects (controls. The study was performed in 73 subjects (26 controls, 21 CD in remission and 26 IBS patients. The day prior to the experiment, salivary cortisol was measured at 8:00 AM and 10:00 PM. The day of the experiment, subjects completed questionnaires for anxiety (STAI and depressive symptoms (CES-D. After 30 min of rest, ECG was recorded for heart rate variability (HRV analysis. Plasma cortisol, epinephrine, norepinephrine, TNF-alpha and IL-6 were measured in blood samples taken at the end of ECG recording. Compared with controls, CD and IBS patients had higher scores of state-anxiety and depressive symptomatology. A subgroup classification based on HRV-normalized high frequency band (HFnu as a marker of vagal tone, showed that control subjects with high vagal tone had significantly lower evening salivary cortisol levels than subjects with low vagal tone. Such an effect was not observed in CD and IBS patients. Moreover, an inverse association (r =  -0.48; p<0.05 was observed between the vagal tone and TNF-alpha level in CD patients exclusively. In contrast, in IBS patients, vagal tone was inversely correlated with plasma epinephrine (r =  -0.39; p<0.05. No relationship was observed between vagal tone and IL-6, norepinephrine or negative affects (anxiety and depressive symptomatology in any group. In conclusion, these data argue for an imbalance between the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis and the vagal tone in CD and IBS patients. Furthermore, they highlight the specific homeostatic link between vagal tone and TNF-alpha in CD and epinephrine in IBS and argue for the relevance of vagus nerve reinforcement interventions in those diseases.

Altered fibre types in gastrocnemius muscle of high wheel-running selected mice with mini-muscle phenotypes.

Science.gov (United States)

Guderley, Helga; Joanisse, Denis R; Mokas, Sophie; Bilodeau, Geneviève M; Garland, Theodore

2008-03-01

Selective breeding of mice for high voluntary wheel running has favoured characteristics that facilitate sustained, aerobically supported activity, including a "mini-muscle" phenotype with markedly reduced hind limb muscle mass, increased mass-specific activities of oxidative enzymes, decreased % myosin heavy chain IIb, and, in the medial gastrocnemius, reduced twitch speed, reduced mass-specific isotonic power, and increased fatigue resistance. To evaluate whether selection has altered fibre type expression in mice with either "mini" or normal muscle phenotypes, we examined fibre types of red and white gastrocnemius. In both the medial and lateral gastrocnemius, the mini-phenotype increased activities of oxidative enzymes and decreased activities of glycolytic enzymes. In red muscle samples, the mini-phenotype markedly changed fibre types, with the % type I and type IIA fibres and the surface area of type IIA fibres increasing; in addition, mice from selected lines in general had an increased % type IIA fibres and larger type I fibres as compared with mice from control lines. White muscle samples from mini-mice showed dramatic structural alterations, with an atypical distribution of extremely small, unidentifiable fibres surrounded by larger, more oxidative fibres than normally present in white muscle. The increased proportion of oxidative fibres and these atypical small fibres together may explain the reduced mass and increased mitochondrial enzyme activities in mini-muscles. These and previous results demonstrate that extension of selective breeding beyond the time when the response of the selected trait (i.e. distance run) has levelled off can still modify the mechanistic underpinnings of this behaviour.

Electrophysiological measurement of binaural beats: effects of primary tone frequency and observer age.

Science.gov (United States)

Grose, John H; Mamo, Sara K

2012-01-01

The purpose of this study was to determine the reliability of the electrophysiological binaural beat steady state response as a gauge of temporal fine structure coding, particularly as it relates to the aging auditory system. The hypothesis was that the response would be more robust in a lower, than in a higher, frequency region and in younger, than in older, adults. Two experiments were undertaken. The first measured the 40 Hz binaural beat steady state response elicited by tone pairs in two frequency regions: lower (390 and 430 Hz tone pair) and higher (810 and 850 Hz tone pair). Frequency following responses (FFRs) evoked by the tones were also recorded. Ten young adults with normal hearing participated. The second experiment measured the binaural beat and FFRs in older adults but only in the lower frequency region. Fourteen older adults with relatively normal hearing participated. Response metrics in both experiments included response component signal-to-noise ratio (F statistic) and magnitude-squared coherence. Experiment 1 showed that FFRs were elicited in both frequency regions but were more robust in the lower frequency region. Binaural beat responses elicited by the lower frequency pair of tones showed greater amplitude fluctuation within a participant than the respective FFRs. Experiment 2 showed that older adults exhibited similar FFRs to younger adults, but proportionally fewer older participants showed binaural beat responses. Age differences in onset responses were also observed. The lower prevalence of the binaural beat response in older adults, despite the presence of FFRs, provides tentative support for the sensitivity of this measure to age-related deficits in temporal processing. However, the lability of the binaural beat response advocates caution in its use as an objective measure of fine structure coding.

A Follow-Up Study on Music and Lexical Tone Perception in Adult Mandarin-Speaking Cochlear Implant Users.

Science.gov (United States)

Gu, Xin; Liu, Bo; Liu, Ziye; Qi, Beier; Wang, Shuo; Dong, Ruijuan; Chen, Xueqing; Zhou, Qian

2017-12-01

The aim was to evaluate the development of music and lexical tone perception in Mandarin-speaking adult cochlear implant (CI) users over a period of 1 year. Prospective patient series. Tertiary hospital and research institute. Twenty five adult CI users, with ages ranging from 19 to 75 years old, participated in a year-long follow-up evaluation. There were also 40 normal hearing adult subjects who participated as a control group to provide the normal value range. Musical sounds in cochlear implants (Mu.S.I.C.) test battery was undertaken to evaluate music perception ability. Mandarin Tone Identification in Noise Test (M-TINT) was used to assess lexical tone recognition. The tests for CI users were completed at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months after the CI switch-on. Quantitative and statistical analysis of their results from music and tone perception tests. The performance of music perception and tone recognition both demonstrated an overall improvement in outcomes during the entire 1-year follow-up process. The increasing trends were obvious in the early period especially in the first 6 months after switch-on. There was a significant improvement in the melody discrimination (p music and tone perception during the 1-year follow-up. The improvement was the most prominent in the first 6 months of CI use. It is essential to strengthen the rehabilitation training within the first 6 months.

Identification of telocytes in skeletal muscle interstitium: implication for muscle regeneration.

Science.gov (United States)

Popescu, L M; Manole, Emilia; Serboiu, Crenguţa S; Manole, C G; Suciu, Laura C; Gherghiceanu, Mihaela; Popescu, B O

2011-06-01

Skeletal muscle interstitium is crucial for regulation of blood flow, passage of substances from capillaries to myocytes and muscle regeneration. We show here, probably, for the first time, the presence of telocytes (TCs), a peculiar type of interstitial (stromal) cells, in rat, mouse and human skeletal muscle. TC features include (as already described in other tissues) a small cell body and very long and thin cell prolongations-telopodes (Tps) with moniliform appearance, dichotomous branching and 3D-network distribution. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) revealed close vicinity of Tps with nerve endings, capillaries, satellite cells and myocytes, suggesting a TC role in intercellular signalling (via shed vesicles or exosomes). In situ immunolabelling showed that skeletal muscle TCs express c-kit, caveolin-1 and secrete VEGF. The same phenotypic profile was demonstrated in cell cultures. These markers and TEM data differentiate TCs from both satellite cells (e.g. TCs are Pax7 negative) and fibroblasts (which are c-kit negative). We also described non-satellite (resident) progenitor cell niche. In culture, TCs (but not satellite cells) emerge from muscle explants and form networks suggesting a key role in muscle regeneration and repair, at least after trauma. © 2011 The Authors Journal of Cellular and Molecular Medicine © 2011 Foundation for Cellular and Molecular Medicine/Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Consonance perception of complex-tone dyads and chords

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rasmussen, Marc; Santurette, Sébastien; MacDonald, Ewen

2014-01-01

Sensory consonance and dissonance are perceptual attributes of musical intervals conveying pleasant- ness, tension, and harmony in musical phrases. For complex-tone dyads, corresponding to two musical notes played simultaneously, consonance is known to vary with the ratio in fundamental frequency...... for a potential role of frequency selectivity for consonance perception of dyads, might not hold for chords...

The impact of musical training and tone language experience on talker identification.

Science.gov (United States)

Xie, Xin; Myers, Emily

2015-01-01

Listeners can use pitch changes in speech to identify talkers. Individuals exhibit large variability in sensitivity to pitch and in accuracy perceiving talker identity. In particular, people who have musical training or long-term tone language use are found to have enhanced pitch perception. In the present study, the influence of pitch experience on talker identification was investigated as listeners identified talkers in native language as well as non-native languages. Experiment 1 was designed to explore the influence of pitch experience on talker identification in two groups of individuals with potential advantages for pitch processing: musicians and tone language speakers. Experiment 2 further investigated individual differences in pitch processing and the contribution to talker identification by testing a mediation model. Cumulatively, the results suggested that (a) musical training confers an advantage for talker identification, supporting a shared resources hypothesis regarding music and language and (b) linguistic use of lexical tones also increases accuracy in hearing talker identity. Importantly, these two types of hearing experience enhance talker identification by sharpening pitch perception skills in a domain-general manner.

Leiomyoma of the sternothyroid muscle.

Science.gov (United States)

Rowe, Meghan E; Khorsandi, Azita S; Guerrero, Dominick R; Brett, Elise M; Sarlin, Jonathan; Urken, Mark L

2016-01-01

Leiomyomas are benign cutaneous tumors of smooth muscle origin. Only a small percentage of leiomyomas arise in the head and neck region. We present the first case of leiomyoma arising in the sternothyroid muscle of the neck. We analyze the clinical presentation, pathology, and histology for a single case study. The histologic findings of the tumor located in the sternothyroid muscle support the diagnosis of leiomyoma. This is the first case of leiomyoma arising in the sternothyroid muscle, and only the second reported case of leiomyoma in the strap muscles of the neck. Leiomyoma should be included in the differential diagnosis of soft tissue tumors in the head and neck region. A histological analysis is essential in determining both tumor type and subtype, which will inform the proper course of treatment. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Modulation of motor excitability by metricality of tone sequences

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Cameron, David; Stewart, Lauren; Pearce, Marcus

2012-01-01

amplitude. These results demonstrate that the pure metrical structure of an auditory rhythm presented as generic parametrically varied tone sequences can influence motor excitability but that the picture may be more complex for real recordings of musical pieces. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all...

Opposite patterns of hemisphere dominance for early auditory processing of lexical tones and consonants

OpenAIRE

Luo, Hao; Ni, Jing-Tian; Li, Zhi-Hao; Li, Xiao-Ou; Zhang, Da-Ren; Zeng, Fan-Gang; Chen, Lin

2006-01-01

in tonal languages such as Mandarin Chinese, a lexical tone carries semantic information and is preferentially processed in the left brain hemisphere of native speakers as revealed by the functional MRI or positron emission tomography studies, which likely measure the temporally aggregated neural events including those at an attentive stage of auditory processing. Here, we demonstrate that early auditory processing of a lexical tone at a preattentive stage is actually ...

Method of forming half-tone test images in the IR spectrum

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Glebova, L.N.; Gridin, A.S.; Denisov, V.N.; Dmitriev, I.Yu.; Mochalov, I.V.; Chebotarev, S.A.

1992-01-01

Test charts in the form of half-tone IR images, including not only an image of the interference-producing background (the underlying earth's surface and clouds), but also the observation objects, are required for conducting bench tests on the noise immunity of modern optoelectronic equipment designed to solve observation problems under background-interference conditions. The simulation of extended half-tone IR images containing the high spatial frequencies of background formations having an appreciable dynamic range of reproducible radiances is a complex problem in technical and processing aspects. The use of phosphorus as visible-to-IR converters for the creation of IR-background simulators is shown to be possible in principle in this paper. 2 refs., 3 figs

Linear combination of auditory steady-state responses evoked by co-modulated tones

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Guérit, François; Marozeau, Jeremy; Epp, Bastian

2017-01-01

Up to medium intensities and in the 80–100-Hz region, the auditory steady-state response (ASSR) to a multi-tone carrier is commonly considered to be a linear sum of the dipoles from each tone specific ASSR generator. Here, this hypothesis was investigated when a unique modulation frequency is used...... for all carrier components. Listeners were presented with a co-modulated dual-frequency carrier (1 and 4 kHz), from which the modulator starting phase Ui of the 1-kHz component was systematically varied. The results support the hypothesis of a linear superposition of the dipoles originating from different...

Are cervical multifidus muscles active during whiplash and startle? An initial experimental study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carpenter Mark G

2008-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The cervical multifidus muscles insert onto the lower cervical facet capsular ligaments and the cervical facet joints are the source of pain in some chronic whiplash patients. Reflex activation of the multifidus muscle during a whiplash exposure could potentially contribute to injuring the facet capsular ligament. Our goal was to determine the onset latency and activation amplitude of the cervical multifidus muscles to a simulated rear-end collision and a loud acoustic stimuli. Methods Wire electromyographic (EMG electrodes were inserted unilaterally into the cervical multifidus muscles of 9 subjects (6M, 3F at the C4 and C6 levels. Seated subjects were then exposed to a forward acceleration (peak acceleration 1.55 g, speed change 1.8 km/h and a loud acoustic tone (124 dB, 40 ms, 1 kHz. Results Aside from one female, all subjects exhibited multifidus activity after both stimuli (8 subjects at C4, 6 subjects at C6. Neither onset latencies nor EMG amplitude varied with stimulus type or spine level (p > 0.13. Onset latencies and amplitudes varied widely, with EMG activity appearing within 160 ms of stimulus onset (for at least one of the two stimuli in 7 subjects. Conclusion These data indicate that the multifidus muscles of some individuals are active early enough to potentially increase the collision-induced loading of the facet capsular ligaments.

Comparative characteristic of transmembrane currents and caffeine-induced responses of intact and irradiated small intestine smooth muscle cells

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stepanov, Yu.V.; Gordienko, D.V.; Preobrazhenskaya, T.D.; Stepanova, L.I.; Vojtsitskij, V.M.

1994-01-01

A comparative investigation of transmembrane ion currents and caffeine-induced responses of single smooth muscle cells isolated from the circular layer of rat small intestine was curried out by the method of 'patch-clamp'. No reliable difference in potential-dependent and amplitude-kinetic characteristics of transmembrane ion currents in cells of intact and irradiated with dose of 3 Gy rats was revealed. In cells of irradiated animals external application of caffeine (4 mM) was not accompanied by strong quick-inactivated transient Ca 2+ -dependent potassium current as in control

Long Lasting Microvascular Tone Alteration in Rat Offspring Exposed In Utero to Maternal Hyperglycaemia.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Emilie Vessières

Full Text Available Epidemiologic studies have demonstrated that cardiovascular risk is not only determined by conventional risk factors in adulthood, but also by early life events which may reprogram vascular function. To evaluate the effect of maternal diabetes on fetal programming of vascular tone in offspring and its evolution during adulthood, we investigated vascular reactivity of third order mesenteric arteries from diabetic mother offspring (DMO and control mother offspring (CMO aged 3 and 18 months. In arteries isolated from DMO the relaxation induced by prostacyclin analogues was reduced in both 3- and 18-month old animals although endothelium (acetylcholine-mediated relaxation was reduced in 18-month old DMO only. Endothelium-independent (sodium nitroprusside relaxation was not affected. Pressure-induced myogenic tone, which controls local blood flow, was reduced in 18-month old CMO compared to 3-month old CMO. Interestingly, myogenic tone was maintained at a high level in 18-month old DMO even though agonist-induced vasoconstriction was not altered. These perturbations, in 18-months old DMO rats, were associated with an increased pMLC/MLC, pPKA/PKA ratio and an activated RhoA protein. Thus, we highlighted perturbations in the reactivity of resistance mesenteric arteries in DMO, at as early as 3 months of age, followed by the maintenance of high myogenic tone in older rats. These modifications are in favour of excessive vasoconstrictor tone. These results evidenced a fetal programming of vascular functions of resistance arteries in adult rats exposed in utero to maternal diabetes, which could explain a re-setting of vascular functions and, at least in part, the occurrence of hypertension later in life.

Acute electromyographic responses of deep thoracic paraspinal muscles to spinal manual therapy interventions. An experimental, randomized cross-over study.

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Fryer, Gary; Bird, Michael; Robbins, Barry; Johnson, Jane C

2017-07-01

This single group, randomized, cross-over study explored whether manual therapy alters motor tone of deep thoracic back muscles by examining resting electromyographic activity (EMG) after 2 types of manual therapy and a sham control intervention. Twenty-two participants with thoracic spinal pain (15 females, 7 males, mean age 28.1 ± 6.4 years) had dual fine-wire, intramuscular electrodes inserted into deep transversospinalis muscles at a thoracic level where tissues appeared abnormal to palpation (AbP) and at 2 sites above and below normal and non-tender to palpation (NT). A surface electrode was on the contralateral paraspinal mass at the level of AbP. EMG signals were recorded for resting prone, two 3-s free neck extension efforts, two 3-s resisted maximal voluntary isometric contractions (MVIC), and resting prone before the intervention. Randomized spinal manipulation, counterstrain, or sham manipulation was delivered and EMG re-measured. Participants returned 1 and 2 weeks later for the remaining 2 treatments. Reductions in resting EMG followed counterstrain in AbP (median decrease 3.3%, P = 0.01) and NT sites (median decrease 1.0%, P = 0.05) and for the surface electrode site (median decrease 2.0%, P = 0.009). Reduction in EMG following counterstrain during free neck extension was found for the surface electrode site (median decrease 2.7%, P < 0.01). Spinal manipulation produced no change in EMG, whereas counterstrain technique produced small significant reductions in paraspinal muscle activity during prone resting and free neck extension conditions. The clinical relevance of these changes is unclear. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Electromyography and vaginal pressure of the pelvic floor muscles in women with recurrent vulvovaginal candidiasis and vulvodynia.

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Polpeta, Nádia Cristina; Giraldo, Paulo César; Juliato, Cássia Raquel Teatin; Yoshida, Laura Pagotto; do Amaral, Rose Luce Gomes; Eleutério, José

2012-01-01

To evaluate the electrical potentials and pressure exerted by the pelvic floor muscles in women with recurrent vulvovaginal candidiasis (RVVC) or vulvodynia as compared to control women. A cross-sectional study performed in the Female Outpatient Clinic of Genital Infections in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology of the Universidade Estadual de Campinas analyzed and compared electromyography (EMG) and vaginal pressure of the pelvic floor muscles in 61 women. Of these 61 women, 19 had vulvodynia, 12 had RVVC and 30 women had no disorder (control group). For data collection, the instrument used was the Miotool Uro device and its software Biotrainer (Miotec Ltd., Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil). The EMG evaluation of the pelvic floor muscles showed significantly lower values in the vulvodynia group (tonic contractions) and RVVC group (phasic and tonic contractions) when compared to the control group. No significant differences in basal tone EMG and vaginal pressure values at rest or during pelvic floor muscle contractions were found among groups. The maximum time of sustained contraction in patients with RVVC or vulvodynia was significantly lower (p < 0.0001) than in controls. Women with vulvodynia and RVVC have more frequent pelvic floor muscle dysfunction than controls when observed by EMG evaluation.

The multilevel analysis of surface acting and mental health: A moderation of positive group affective tone

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Lee, Meng-Shiu; Huang, Jui-Chan; Wu, Tzu-Jung

2017-06-01

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship among surface acting, mental health, and positive group affective tone. According to the prior theory, this study attempts to establish a comprehensive research framework among these variables, and furthermore tests the moderating effect of positive group affective tone. Data were collected from 435 employees in 52 service industrial companies by questionnaire, and this study conducted multilevel analysis. The results showed that surface acting will negatively affect the mental health. In addition, the positive group affective tone have significant moderating effect on the relationship among surface acting and mental health. Finally, this study discusses managerial implications and highlights future research suggestions.

Relationship between Vagal Tone, Cortisol, TNF-Alpha, Epinephrine and Negative Affects in Crohn’s Disease and Irritable Bowel Syndrome

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Pellissier, Sonia; Dantzer, Cécile; Mondillon, Laurie; Trocme, Candice; Gauchez, Anne-Sophie; Ducros, Véronique; Mathieu, Nicolas; Toussaint, Bertrand; Fournier, Alicia; Canini, Frédéric; Bonaz, Bruno

2014-01-01

Crohn’s disease (CD) and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) involve brain-gut dysfunctions where vagus nerve is an important component. The aim of this work was to study the association between vagal tone and markers of stress and inflammation in patients with CD or IBS compared to healthy subjects (controls). The study was performed in 73 subjects (26 controls, 21 CD in remission and 26 IBS patients). The day prior to the experiment, salivary cortisol was measured at 8∶00 AM and 10∶00 PM. The day of the experiment, subjects completed questionnaires for anxiety (STAI) and depressive symptoms (CES-D). After 30 min of rest, ECG was recorded for heart rate variability (HRV) analysis. Plasma cortisol, epinephrine, norepinephrine, TNF-alpha and IL-6 were measured in blood samples taken at the end of ECG recording. Compared with controls, CD and IBS patients had higher scores of state-anxiety and depressive symptomatology. A subgroup classification based on HRV-normalized high frequency band (HFnu) as a marker of vagal tone, showed that control subjects with high vagal tone had significantly lower evening salivary cortisol levels than subjects with low vagal tone. Such an effect was not observed in CD and IBS patients. Moreover, an inverse association (r = −0.48; p<0.05) was observed between the vagal tone and TNF-alpha level in CD patients exclusively. In contrast, in IBS patients, vagal tone was inversely correlated with plasma epinephrine (r = −0.39; p<0.05). No relationship was observed between vagal tone and IL-6, norepinephrine or negative affects (anxiety and depressive symptomatology) in any group. In conclusion, these data argue for an imbalance between the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis and the vagal tone in CD and IBS patients. Furthermore, they highlight the specific homeostatic link between vagal tone and TNF-alpha in CD and epinephrine in IBS and argue for the relevance of vagus nerve reinforcement interventions in those diseases. PMID

Pelvic floor muscle assessment outcomes in women with and without provoked vestibulodynia and the impact of a physical therapy program.

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Gentilcore-Saulnier, Evelyne; McLean, Linda; Goldfinger, Corrie; Pukall, Caroline F; Chamberlain, Susan

2010-02-01

Physical therapy (PT) may reduce the pain associated with provoked vestibulodynia (PVD) based on previous findings that pelvic floor muscle dysfunction (PFMD) is associated with PVD symptoms. The goals of this study were: (i) to determine whether women with and without PVD differ on measures of pelvic floor muscle (PFM) behavior; and (ii) to assess the impact of PT treatment for women with PVD on these measures. Eleven women with PVD and 11 control women completed an assessment evaluating PFM behavior using surface electromyography (SEMG) recordings and a digital intravaginal assessment. Women with PVD repeated the assessment after they had undergone eight PT treatment sessions of manual therapy, biofeedback, electrical stimulation, dilator insertions, and home exercises. Superficial and deep PFM SEMG tonic activity and phasic activity in response to a painful pressure stimulus, PFM digital assessment variables (tone, flexibility, relaxation capacity, and strength). At pretreatment, women with PVD had higher tonic SEMG activity in their superficial PFMs compared with the control group, whereas no differences were found in the deep PFMs. Both groups demonstrated contractile responses to the painful pressure stimulus that were significantly higher in the superficial as compared with the deep PFMs, with the responses in the PVD group being higher than those in control women. Women with PVD had higher PFM tone, decreased PFM flexibility and lower PFM relaxation capacity compared with control women. Posttreatment improvements included less PFM responsiveness to pain, less PFM tone, improved vaginal flexibility, and improved PFM relaxation capacity, such that women with PVD no longer differed from controls on these measures. Women with PVD demonstrated altered PFM behavior when compared with controls, providing empirical evidence of PFMD, especially at the superficial layer. A PT rehabilitation program specifically targeting PFMD normalized PFM behavior in women with PVD.

A Pedagogical Study of Tone Neutralization in Cibemba Phonetics ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The paper discussed the concept of tone in African languages generally and in the Bantu linguistic group in particular from a pedagogical perspective. Using illustrative examples from Cibemba, the major language of Zambia, with an air of extension in DR Congo, in comparison with Germanic and Romance languages, the ...

Unsteady phenomena in the edge tone

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Paal, G.; Vaik, I.

2007-01-01

Despite its geometrical simplicity, the edge tone displays a remarkably complex behaviour. A plane jet oscillates around the wedge-shaped object with a relatively stable frequency and under certain circumstances emits an audible tone. This configuration plays a central role in the sound production of several wind instruments but occurs in industrial situations too. The flow exhibits various interesting nonlinear phenomena reported in the literature which are not entirely explained. In this paper, detailed high precision numerical simulations of the flow are reported under various conditions. Several phenomena are reproduced in agreement with the literature such as the existence of 'stages', the dependence of oscillation frequency on the outflow velocity and the orifice-edge distance within one stage, the pressure distribution on the edge surface, etc. A criterion for the appropriate time step for constant accuracy has been derived. The location of force action is surprisingly stable; it remains in a very narrow region of the wedge surface independently of the Reynolds number and the orifice-edge distance but it is much further behind the edge tip than reported in the literature. The various stages can coexist in different ways: jumping back and forth between stages or being superposed on each other. Regardless of the form, the first stage continues to be dominant even when the second and third stage appears. The question of disturbance propagation velocity and disturbance wavelength is also investigated. The development of higher harmonics of a single stage along the orifice-edge tip distance is presented

An animal model for human masseter muscle: histochemical characterization of mouse, rat, rabbit, cat, dog, pig, and cow masseter muscle

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tuxen, A; Kirkeby, S

1990-01-01

The masseter muscle of several animal species was investigated by use of a histochemical method for the demonstration of acid-stable and alkali-stable myosin adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase). The following subdivisions of fiber types were used: Type I fibers show weak ATPase activity at pH 9...... II and I fibers, with type II predominating. Cow masseter muscle consisted mainly of type I fibers, although some cow masseter muscles contained a very small number of type II fibers. Pig masseter muscle had both type I, II, and IM fibers. One of the characteristics of human masseter muscle is type...... IM fibers, which are rarely seen in muscles other than the masticatory muscles. Therefore, pig masseter muscle might be a suitable animal model for experimental studies, such as an investigation of the distribution and diameter of fiber types in the masticatory muscles before and after orthognathic...

Overexpression of SMPX in adult skeletal muscle does not change skeletal muscle fiber type or size.

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Einar Eftestøl

Full Text Available Mechanical factors such as stretch are thought to be important in the regulation of muscle phenotype. Small muscle protein X-linked (SMPX is upregulated by stretch in skeletal muscle and has been suggested to serve both as a transcription factor and a mechanosensor, possibly giving rise to changes in both fiber size and fiber type. We have used in vivo confocal imaging to study the subcellular localization of SMPX in skeletal muscle fibers of adult rats using a SMPX-EGFP fusion protein. The fusion protein was localized predominantly in repetitive double stripes flanking the Z-disc, and was excluded from all nuclei. This localization would be consistent with SMPX being a mechanoreceptor, but not with SMPX playing a role as a transcription factor. In vivo overexpression of ectopic SMPX in skeletal muscle of adult mice gave no significant changes in fiber type distribution or cross sectional area, thus a role of SMPX in regulating muscle phenotype remains unclear.

Using a forehead reflectance pulse oximeter to detect changes in sympathetic tone.

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Wendelken, Suzanne M; McGrath, Susan P; Akay, Metin; Blike, George T

2004-01-01

The extreme conditions of combat and multi-casualty rescue often make field triage difficult and put the medic or first responder at risk. In an effort to improve field triage, we have developed an automated remote triage system called ARTEMIS (automated remote triage and emergency management information system) for use in the battlefield or disaster zone. Common to field injuries is a sudden change in arterial pressure resulting from massive blood loss or shock. In effort to stabilize the arterial pressure, the sympathetic system is strongly activated and sympathetic tone is increased. This preliminary research seeks to empirically demonstrate that a forehead reflectance pulse oximeter is a viable sensor for detecting sudden changes in sympathetic tone. We performed the classic supine-standing experiment and collected the raw waveform, the photoplethysmogram (PPG), continuously using a forehead reflectance pulse oximeter. The resulting waveform was processed in Matlab using various spectral analysis techniques (FFT and AR). Our preliminary results show that a relative ratio analysis (low frequency power/high frequency power) for both the raw PPG signal and its derived pulse statistics (height, beat-to-beat interval) is a useful technique for detecting change in sympathetic tone resulting from positional change.

Can't Sing? Won't Sing? Aotearoa/New Zealand "Tone-Deaf" Early Childhood Teachers' Musical Beliefs

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Swain, Nicola; Bodkin-Allen, Sally

2014-01-01

Singing is an important part of teaching for early childhood teachers. However, some teachers find this difficult and may even identify themselves as "tone-deaf". We invited a group of early childhood teachers who self-identified as "tone-deaf" to participate in a study to investigate their beliefs and behaviours about singing…

Connecting science and the musical arts in teaching tone quality: Integrating Helmholtz motion and master violin teachers' pedagogies

Science.gov (United States)

Collins, Cheri D.

Is it possible for students to achieve better tone quality from even their factory-made violins? All violins, regardless of cost, have a common capacity for good tone in certain frequencies. These signature modes outline the first position range of a violin (196-600 hertz). To activate this basic capacity of all violins, the string must fully vibrate. To accomplish this the bow must be pulled across the string with enough pressure (relative to its speed and contact point) for the horsehairs to catch. This friction permits the string to vibrate in Helmholtz Motion, which produces a corner that travels along the edge of the string between the bridge and the nut. Creating this corner is the most fundamental technique for achieving good tone. The findings of celebrated scientists Ernest Chladni, Hermann von Helmholtz, and John Schelleng will be discussed and the tone-production pedagogy of master teachers Carl Flesch, Ivan Galamian, Robert Gerle, and Simon Fischer will be investigated. Important connections between the insights of these scientists and master teachers are evident. Integrating science and art can provide teachers with a better understanding of the characteristics of good tone. This can help their students achieve the best possible sound from their instruments. In the private studio the master teacher may not use the words "Helmholtz Motion." Yet through modeling and listening students are able to understand and create a quality tone. Music teachers without experience in string performance may be assigned to teach strings in classroom and ensembles settings. As a result modeling good tone is not always possible. However, all teachers and conductors can understand the fundamental behavior of string vibration and adapt their instruction strategies towards student success. Better tonal quality for any string instrument is ultimately achieved. Mastery and use of the Helmholtz Motion benefits teachers and students alike. Simple practice exercises for teaching

PGE2 maintains the tone of the guinea pig trachea through a balance between activation of contractile EP1 receptors and relaxant EP2 receptors

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Säfholm, J; Dahlén, S-E; Delin, I; Maxey, K; Stark, K; Cardell, L-O; Adner, M

2013-01-01

Background and Purpose The guinea pig trachea (GPT) is commonly used in airway pharmacology. The aim of this study was to define the expression and function of EP receptors for PGE2 in GPT as there has been ambiguity concerning their role. Experimental Approach Expression of mRNA for EP receptors and key enzymes in the PGE2 pathway were assessed by real-time PCR using species-specific primers. Functional studies of GPT were performed in tissue organ baths. Key Results Expression of mRNA for the four EP receptors was found in airway smooth muscle. PGE2 displayed a bell-shaped concentration–response curve, where the initial contraction was inhibited by the EP1 receptor antagonist ONO-8130 and the subsequent relaxation by the EP2 receptor antagonist PF-04418948. Neither EP3 (ONO-AE5-599) nor EP4 (ONO-AE3-208) selective receptor antagonists affected the response to PGE2. Expression of COX-2 was greater than COX-1 in GPT, and the spontaneous tone was most effectively abolished by selective COX-2 inhibitors. Furthermore, ONO-8130 and a specific PGE2 antibody eliminated the spontaneous tone, whereas the EP2 antagonist PF-04418948 increased it. Antagonists of other prostanoid receptors had no effect on basal tension. The relaxant EP2 response to PGE2 was maintained after long-term culture, whereas the contractile EP1 response showed homologous desensitization to PGE2, which was prevented by COX-inhibitors. Conclusions and Implications Endogenous PGE2, synthesized predominantly by COX-2, maintains the spontaneous tone of GPT by a balance between contractile EP1 receptors and relaxant EP2 receptors. The model may be used to study interactions between EP receptors. PMID:22934927

Domain interaction in rabbit muscle pyruvate kinase. II. Small angle neutron scattering and computer simulation.

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Consler, T G; Uberbacher, E C; Bunick, G J; Liebman, M N; Lee, J C

1988-02-25

The effects of ligands on the structure of rabbit muscle pyruvate kinase were studied by small angle neutron scattering. The radius of gyration, RG, decreases by about 1 A in the presence of the substrate phosphoenolpyruvate, but increases by about the same magnitude in the presence of the allosteric inhibitor phenylalanine. With increasing pH or in the absence of Mg2+ and K+, the RG of pyruvate kinase increases. Hence, there is a 2-A difference in RG between two alternative conformations. Length distribution analysis indicates that, under all experimental conditions which increase the radius of gyration, there is a pronounced increase observed in the probability for interatomic distance between 80 and 110 A. These small angle neutron scattering results indicate a "contraction" and "expansion" of the enzyme when it transforms between its active and inactive forms. Using the alpha-carbon coordinates of crystalline cat muscle pyruvate kinase, a length distribution profile was calculated, and it matches the scattering profile of the inactive form. These observations are expected since the crystals were grown in the absence of divalent cations (Stuart, D. I., Levine, M., Muirhead, H., and Stammers, D. K. (1979) J. Mol. Biol. 134, 109-142). Hence, results from neutron scattering, x-ray crystallographic, and sedimentation studies (Oberfelder, R. W., Lee, L. L.-Y., and Lee, J.C. (1984) Biochemistry 23, 3813-3821) are totally consistent with each other. With the aid of computer modeling, the crystal structure has been manipulated in order to effect changes that are consistent with the conformational change described by the solution scattering data. The structural manipulation involves the rotation of the B domain relative to the A domain, leading to the closure of the cleft between these domains. These manipulations resulted in the generation of new sets of atomic (C-alpha) coordinates, which were utilized in calculations, the result of which compared favorably with the

Low Vagal Tone Magnifies the Association Between Psychosocial Stress Exposure and Internalizing Psychopathology in Adolescents

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McLaughlin, Katie A.; Rith-Najarian, Leslie; Dirks, Melanie A.; Sheridan, Margaret A.

2014-01-01

Vagal tone is a measure of cardiovascular function that facilitates adaptive responses to environmental challenge. Low vagal tone is associated with poor emotional and attentional regulation in children and has been conceptualized as a marker of sensitivity to stress. We investigated whether the associations of a wide range of psychosocial stressors with internalizing and externalizing psychopathology were magnified in adolescents with low vagal tone. Resting heart period data were collected from a diverse community sample of adolescents (ages 13–17; N =168). Adolescents completed measures assessing internalizing and externalizing psychopathology and exposure to stressors occurring in family, peer, and community contexts. Respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) was calculated from the interbeat interval time series. We estimated interactions between RSA and stress exposure in predicting internalizing and externalizing symptoms and evaluated whether interactions differed by gender. Exposure to psychosocial stressors was associated strongly with psychopathology. RSA was unrelated to internalizing or externalizing problems. Significant interactions were observed between RSA and child abuse, community violence, peer victimization, and traumatic events in predicting internalizing but not externalizing symptoms. Stressors were positively associated with internalizing symptoms in adolescents with low RSA but not in those with high RSA. Similar patterns were observed for anxiety and depression. These interactions were more consistently observed for male than female individuals. Low vagal tone is associated with internalizing psychopathology in adolescents exposed to high levels of stressors. Measurement of vagal tone in clinical settings might provide useful information about sensitivity to stress in child and adolescent clients. PMID:24156380

Effect of small-sided team sport training and protein intake on muscle mass, physical function and markers of health in older untrained adults

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Vorup, Jacob; Pedersen, Mogens Theisen; Brahe, Lena Kirchner

2017-01-01

The effect of small-sided team sport training and protein intake on muscle mass, physical function, and adaptations important for health in untrained older adults was examined. Forty-eight untrained older (72±6 (±standard deviation, SD) years men and women were divided into either a team sport...... group ingesting a drink high in protein (18 g) immediately and 3 h after each training session (TS-HP, n = 13), a team sport group ingesting an isocaloric drink with low protein content (3 g; TS-LP, n = 18), or a control group continuing their normal activities (CON, n = 17). The team sport training...... was performed as ~20 min of small-sided ball games twice a week over 12 weeks. After the intervention period, leg muscle mass was 0.6 kg higher (P = 0.047) in TS-HP, with no effect in TS-LP. In TS-HP, number of sit-to-stand repetitions increased (1.2±0.6, P = 0.054), time to perform 2.45 m up-and-go was lower...

'Changes in Tone, Setting, and Publisher: Indigenous Literatures of Australia and New Zealand from the 1980s to Today'

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Per Henningsgaard

2016-05-01

Full Text Available This article examines four novels written since 1980 by two Aboriginal Australian authors and two Maori authors. Two of the four novels were written near the beginning of this period and feature settings that are contemporary with their publication; The Day of the Dog by Aboriginal Australian author Archie Weller was published in 1981, while Once Were Warriors by Maori author Alan Duff was published in 1990. The other two novels (That Deadman Dance by Aboriginal Australian author Kim Scott and The Trowenna Sea by Maori author Witi Ihimaera are works of historical fiction written in the last decade. The shift in tone between the earlier novels and the more recent novels is particularly remarkable. Coupled with the shift in tone, the settings have changed. It is tempting to ascribe the shifts in tone and setting over this 30-year period to the changing social and political realities surrounding the issue of indigenous relations in the two nations. And these factors undoubtedly played an important role in the aforementioned shifts; indigenous authors writing today are responding to a different social and political reality compared to indigenous authors writing in the 1980s and early 1990s. What this explanation overlooks, however, are the concurrent changes in the publication of indigenous literature and how these might contribute to the types of changes noted above. Indigenous writers are now writing for an international literary marketplace. This article makes it clear that there are significant implications to the shift from indigenous literature being published by small to medium-sized local publishing houses, to indigenous literature being published by the local arm of a multinational conglomerate.

Dissociation of Detection and Discrimination of Pure Tones following Bilateral Lesions of Auditory Cortex

Science.gov (United States)

Dykstra, Andrew R.; Koh, Christine K.; Braida, Louis D.; Tramo, Mark Jude

2012-01-01

It is well known that damage to the peripheral auditory system causes deficits in tone detection as well as pitch and loudness perception across a wide range of frequencies. However, the extent to which to which the auditory cortex plays a critical role in these basic aspects of spectral processing, especially with regard to speech, music, and environmental sound perception, remains unclear. Recent experiments indicate that primary auditory cortex is necessary for the normally-high perceptual acuity exhibited by humans in pure-tone frequency discrimination. The present study assessed whether the auditory cortex plays a similar role in the intensity domain and contrasted its contribution to sensory versus discriminative aspects of intensity processing. We measured intensity thresholds for pure-tone detection and pure-tone loudness discrimination in a population of healthy adults and a middle-aged man with complete or near-complete lesions of the auditory cortex bilaterally. Detection thresholds in his left and right ears were 16 and 7 dB HL, respectively, within clinically-defined normal limits. In contrast, the intensity threshold for monaural loudness discrimination at 1 kHz was 6.5±2.1 dB in the left ear and 6.5±1.9 dB in the right ear at 40 dB sensation level, well above the means of the control population (left ear: 1.6±0.22 dB; right ear: 1.7±0.19 dB). The results indicate that auditory cortex lowers just-noticeable differences for loudness discrimination by approximately 5 dB but is not necessary for tone detection in quiet. Previous human and Old-world monkey experiments employing lesion-effect, neurophysiology, and neuroimaging methods to investigate the role of auditory cortex in intensity processing are reviewed. PMID:22957087

Dissociation of detection and discrimination of pure tones following bilateral lesions of auditory cortex.

Science.gov (United States)

Dykstra, Andrew R; Koh, Christine K; Braida, Louis D; Tramo, Mark Jude

2012-01-01

It is well known that damage to the peripheral auditory system causes deficits in tone detection as well as pitch and loudness perception across a wide range of frequencies. However, the extent to which to which the auditory cortex plays a critical role in these basic aspects of spectral processing, especially with regard to speech, music, and environmental sound perception, remains unclear. Recent experiments indicate that primary auditory cortex is necessary for the normally-high perceptual acuity exhibited by humans in pure-tone frequency discrimination. The present study assessed whether the auditory cortex plays a similar role in the intensity domain and contrasted its contribution to sensory versus discriminative aspects of intensity processing. We measured intensity thresholds for pure-tone detection and pure-tone loudness discrimination in a population of healthy adults and a middle-aged man with complete or near-complete lesions of the auditory cortex bilaterally. Detection thresholds in his left and right ears were 16 and 7 dB HL, respectively, within clinically-defined normal limits. In contrast, the intensity threshold for monaural loudness discrimination at 1 kHz was 6.5 ± 2.1 dB in the left ear and 6.5 ± 1.9 dB in the right ear at 40 dB sensation level, well above the means of the control population (left ear: 1.6 ± 0.22 dB; right ear: 1.7 ± 0.19 dB). The results indicate that auditory cortex lowers just-noticeable differences for loudness discrimination by approximately 5 dB but is not necessary for tone detection in quiet. Previous human and Old-world monkey experiments employing lesion-effect, neurophysiology, and neuroimaging methods to investigate the role of auditory cortex in intensity processing are reviewed.

Dissociation of detection and discrimination of pure tones following bilateral lesions of auditory cortex.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrew R Dykstra

Full Text Available It is well known that damage to the peripheral auditory system causes deficits in tone detection as well as pitch and loudness perception across a wide range of frequencies. However, the extent to which to which the auditory cortex plays a critical role in these basic aspects of spectral processing, especially with regard to speech, music, and environmental sound perception, remains unclear. Recent experiments indicate that primary auditory cortex is necessary for the normally-high perceptual acuity exhibited by humans in pure-tone frequency discrimination. The present study assessed whether the auditory cortex plays a similar role in the intensity domain and contrasted its contribution to sensory versus discriminative aspects of intensity processing. We measured intensity thresholds for pure-tone detection and pure-tone loudness discrimination in a population of healthy adults and a middle-aged man with complete or near-complete lesions of the auditory cortex bilaterally. Detection thresholds in his left and right ears were 16 and 7 dB HL, respectively, within clinically-defined normal limits. In contrast, the intensity threshold for monaural loudness discrimination at 1 kHz was 6.5 ± 2.1 dB in the left ear and 6.5 ± 1.9 dB in the right ear at 40 dB sensation level, well above the means of the control population (left ear: 1.6 ± 0.22 dB; right ear: 1.7 ± 0.19 dB. The results indicate that auditory cortex lowers just-noticeable differences for loudness discrimination by approximately 5 dB but is not necessary for tone detection in quiet. Previous human and Old-world monkey experiments employing lesion-effect, neurophysiology, and neuroimaging methods to investigate the role of auditory cortex in intensity processing are reviewed.

A multiscale active structural model of the arterial wall accounting for smooth muscle dynamics.

Science.gov (United States)

Coccarelli, Alberto; Edwards, David Hughes; Aggarwal, Ankush; Nithiarasu, Perumal; Parthimos, Dimitris

2018-02-01

Arterial wall dynamics arise from the synergy of passive mechano-elastic properties of the vascular tissue and the active contractile behaviour of smooth muscle cells (SMCs) that form the media layer of vessels. We have developed a computational framework that incorporates both these components to account for vascular responses to mechanical and pharmacological stimuli. To validate the proposed framework and demonstrate its potential for testing hypotheses on the pathogenesis of vascular disease, we have employed a number of pharmacological probes that modulate the arterial wall contractile machinery by selectively inhibiting a range of intracellular signalling pathways. Experimental probes used on ring segments from the rabbit central ear artery are: phenylephrine, a selective α 1-adrenergic receptor agonist that induces vasoconstriction; cyclopiazonic acid (CPA), a specific inhibitor of sarcoplasmic/endoplasmic reticulum Ca 2+ -ATPase; and ryanodine, a diterpenoid that modulates Ca 2+ release from the sarcoplasmic reticulum. These interventions were able to delineate the role of membrane versus intracellular signalling, previously identified as main factors in smooth muscle contraction and the generation of vessel tone. Each SMC was modelled by a system of nonlinear differential equations that account for intracellular ionic signalling, and in particular Ca 2+ dynamics. Cytosolic Ca 2+ concentrations formed the catalytic input to a cross-bridge kinetics model. Contractile output from these cellular components forms the input to the finite-element model of the arterial rings under isometric conditions that reproduces the experimental conditions. The model does not account for the role of the endothelium, as the nitric oxide production was suppressed by the action of L-NAME, and also due to the absence of shear stress on the arterial ring, as the experimental set-up did not involve flow. Simulations generated by the integrated model closely matched experimental

A new Tone's method in APOLLO3® and its application to fast and thermal reactor calculations

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Li Mao

2017-09-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a newly developed resonance self-shielding method based on Tone's method in APOLLO3® for fast and thermal reactor calculations. The new method is based on simplified models, the narrow resonance approximation for the slowing down source and Tone's approximation for group collision probability matrix. It utilizes mathematical probability tables as quadrature formulas in calculating effective cross-sections. Numerical results for the ZPPR drawer calculations in 1,968 groups show that, in the case of the double-column fuel drawer, Tone's method gives equivalent precision to the subgroup method while markedly reducing the total number of collision probability matrix calculations and hence the central processing unit time. In the case of a single-column fuel drawer with the presence of a uranium metal material, Tone's method obtains less precise results than those of the subgroup method due to less precise heterogeneous–homogeneous equivalence. The same options are also applied to PWR UOX, MOX, and Gd cells using the SHEM 361-group library, with the objective of analyzing whether this energy mesh might be suitable for the application of this methodology to thermal systems. The numerical results show that comparable precision is reached with both Tone's and the subgroup methods, with the satisfactory representation of intrapellet spatial effects.

Effects of cochlear compression and frequency selectivity on pitch discrimination of complex tones with unresolved harmonics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bianchi, Federica; Fereczkowski, Michal; Zaar, Johannes

2015-01-01

Physiological studies have shown that noise-induced sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) enhances the amplitude of envelope coding in auditory-nerve fibers. As pitch coding of unresolved complex tones is assumed to rely on temporal envelope coding mechanisms, this study investigated...... for the RP condition. Overall, these findings suggest that both reduced cochlear compression and auditory filter broadening alter the envelope representation of unresolved complex tones, leading to changes in pitch-discrimination performance....... pitchdiscrimination performance in listeners with SNHL. Pitch-discrimination thresholds were obtained in 14 normal-hearing (NH) and 10 hearingimpaired (HI) listeners for sine-phase (SP) and random-phase (RP) unresolved complex tones. The HI listeners performed, on average, similarly as the NH listeners in the SP...

Endothelin-1 Regulation of Exercise-Induced Changes in Flow: Dynamic Regulation of Vascular Tone

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Robert M. Rapoport

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Although endothelin (ET-1 is a highly potent vasoconstrictor with considerable efficacy in numerous vascular beds, the role of endogenous ET-1 in the regulation of vascular tone remains unclear. The perspective that ET-1 plays little role in the on-going regulation of vascular tone at least under physiologic conditions is supported by findings that potential ET-1 constriction is minimized by the release of the vasodilator and ET-1 synthesis inhibitor, nitric oxide (NO. Indeed, ET-1 release and constriction is self-limited by ET-1-induced, endothelial ETB receptor-mediated release of NO. Moreover, even if the balance between ET-1 and NO were reversed as the result of lowered NO activity, as occurs in a number of pathophysiologies associated with endothelial dysfunction, the well-known resistance of ET-1 constriction to reversal (as determined with exogenous ET-1 precludes ET-1 in the dynamic, i.e., moment-to-moment, regulation of vascular tone. On the other hand, and as presently reviewed, findings of ET-1-dependent modulation of organ blood flow with exercise under physiologic conditions demonstrate the dynamic regulation of vascular tone by ET-1. We speculate that this regulation is mediated at least in part through changes in ET-1 synthesis/release caused by pulsatile flow-induced shear stress and NO.

Near constant-time optimal piecewise LDR to HDR inverse tone mapping

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Qian; Su, Guan-Ming; Yin, Peng

2015-02-01

In a backward compatible HDR image/video compression, it is a general approach to reconstruct HDR from compressed LDR as a prediction to original HDR, which is referred to as inverse tone mapping. Experimental results show that 2- piecewise 2nd order polynomial has the best mapping accuracy than 1 piece high order or 2-piecewise linear, but it is also the most time-consuming method because to find the optimal pivot point to split LDR range to 2 pieces requires exhaustive search. In this paper, we propose a fast algorithm that completes optimal 2-piecewise 2nd order polynomial inverse tone mapping in near constant time without quality degradation. We observe that in least square solution, each entry in the intermediate matrix can be written as the sum of some basic terms, which can be pre-calculated into look-up tables. Since solving the matrix becomes looking up values in tables, computation time barely differs regardless of the number of points searched. Hence, we can carry out the most thorough pivot point search to find the optimal pivot that minimizes MSE in near constant time. Experiment shows that our proposed method achieves the same PSNR performance while saving 60 times computation time compared to the traditional exhaustive search in 2-piecewise 2nd order polynomial inverse tone mapping with continuous constraint.

Who Do You Love, Your Mother or Your Horse? An Event-Related Brain Potential Analysis of Tone Processing in Mandarin Chinese

Science.gov (United States)

Brown-Schmidt, Sarah; Canseco-Gonzalez, Enriqueta

2004-01-01

In Mandarin Chinese, word meaning is partially determined by lexical tone (Wang, 1973). Previous studies suggest that lexical tone is processed as linguistic information and not as pure tonal information (Gandour, 1998; Van Lanker & Fromkin, 1973). The current study explored the online processing of lexical tones. Event-related potentials were…

Deep cerebellar nuclei play an important role in two-tone discrimination on delay eyeblink conditioning in C57BL/6 mice.

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Toshiro Sakamoto

Full Text Available Previous studies have shown that deep cerebellar nuclei (DCN-lesioned mice develop conditioned responses (CR on delay eyeblink conditioning when a salient tone conditioned stimulus (CS is used, which suggests that the cerebellum potentially plays a role in more complicated cognitive functions. In the present study, we examined the role of DCN in tone frequency discrimination in the delay eyeblink-conditioning paradigm. In the first experiment, DCN-lesioned and sham-operated mice were subjected to standard simple eyeblink conditioning under low-frequency tone CS (LCS: 1 kHz, 80 dB or high-frequency tone CS (HCS: 10 kHz, 70 dB conditions. DCN-lesioned mice developed CR in both CS conditions as well as sham-operated mice. In the second experiment, DCN-lesioned and sham-operated mice were subjected to two-tone discrimination tasks, with LCS+ (or HCS+ paired with unconditioned stimulus (US, and HCS- (or LCS- without US. CR% in sham-operated mice increased in LCS+ (or HCS+ trials, regardless of tone frequency of CS, but not in HCS- (or LCS- trials. The results indicate that sham-operated mice can discriminate between LCS+ and HCS- (or HCS+ and LCS-. In contrast, DCN-lesioned mice showed high CR% in not only LCS+ (or HCS+ trials but also HCS- (or LCS- trials. The results indicate that DCN lesions impair the discrimination between tone frequency in eyeblink conditioning. Our results suggest that the cerebellum plays a pivotal role in the discrimination of tone frequency.

Muscle architecture and fibre characteristics of rat gastrocnemius and semimembranosus muscles during isometric contractions.

Science.gov (United States)

Huijing, P A; van Lookeren Campagne, A A; Koper, J F

1989-01-01

Rat gastrocnemius medialis (GM) and semimembranosus (SM) muscles have a very different morphology. GM is a very pennate muscle, combining relatively short muscle fibre length with sizable fibre angles and long muscle and aponeurosis lengths. SM is a more parallel-fibred muscle, combining a relatively long fibre length with a small fibre angle and short aponeurosis length. The mechanisms of fibre shortening as well as angle increase are operational in GM as well as SM. However, as a consequence of isometric contraction, changes of fibre length and angle are greater for GM than for SM at any relative muscle length. These differences are particularly notable at short muscle lengths: at 80% of optimum muscle length, fibre length changes of approximately 30% are coupled to fibre angle changes of 15 degrees in GM, while for SM these changes are 4% and 0.6 degrees, respectively. A considerable difference was found for normalized active slack muscle length (GM approximately 80 and SM approximately 45%). This is explained by differences of degree of pennation as well as factors related to differences found for estimated fibre length-force characteristics. Estimated normalized active fibre slack length was considerably smaller for SM than for GM (approximately 40 and 60%, respectively). The most likely explanation of these findings are differences of distribution of optimum fibre lengths, possibly in combination with differences of myofilament lengths and/or fibre length distributions.

[Condition of neurohumoral regulation of bronchial tone and gallbladder in patients with chronic cholecystitis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease].

Science.gov (United States)

Dudka, T V; Khukhlina, O S; Dudka, I V

2014-01-01

SUMMARY The paper presents data from a study of the neuroendocrine regulation of nonstriated muscles, bronchial tree and the gallbladder tones by means of an assessment of the adrenergic and cholinergic systems state in patients, suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and chronic acalculous cholecystitis. Adrenergic and cholinergic activities as well as cortisol secretion have significantly changed. To study the features of adrenergic and cholinergic regulations of bronchial tone and that of the gallbladder in patients with combined course of chronic acalculous cholecystitis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. 92 patients were involved in the study: 30 patients with COPD (1st group), 30 patients with COPD of comorbid CAC in the acute phase (2nd group), 32 patients with CAC in the acute phase (3rd group) and a control group--30 practically healthy individuals (PHI) of the respective age. All the patients with COPD and COPD combined with CAC had a marked predominance of the parasympathetic nervous system, as evidenced by the established significant decrease of CDE (Table) in patients with isolated COPD is 1.4 times (p instance, the CDA in the individuals of groups 1 and 2 was lower by 1.6 and 2.4 times respectively (p instance, the first group patients' blood contained 2.7 times (p base of regulatory neuroendocrine and paracrine mecganisms imbalance, contributing to a development of COPD, is the cholinergic imbalance (reduction in blood acetylcholinesterase activity, hypertensive sphincter of Oddi dysfunction), adrenergic imbalance, reduction in catecholamine-depositing erythrocytes function, hypokinetic gallbladder dysfunction, adrenal dysfunction (decreased cortisol levels) that contribute to the development and progression of chronic cholecystitis against a background of hypokinetic gallbladder dysfunction.

The Expression of NOX4 in Smooth Muscles of Small Airway Correlates with the Disease Severity of COPD.

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Liu, Xianyan; Hao, Binwei; Ma, Ailing; He, Jinxi; Liu, Xiaoming; Chen, Juan

Airway smooth muscle (ASM) remodeling is a hallmark in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and nicotinamide-adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) oxidases (NOXs) produced reactive oxygen species (ROS) play a crucial role in COPD pathogenesis. In the present study, the expression of NOX4 and its correlation with the ASM hypertrophy/hyperplasia, clinical pulmonary functions, and the expression of transforming growth factor β (TGF- β ) in the ASM of COPD small airways were investigated by semiquantitative morphological and/or immunohistochemistry staining methods. The results showed that an elevated expression of NOX4 and TGF- β , along with an increased volume of ASM mass, was found in the ASM of small airways in COPD patients. The abundance of NOX4 protein in the ASM was increased with disease severity and inversely correlated with the pulmonary functions in COPD patients. In addition, the expression of NOX4 and ASM marker α -SMA was colocalized, and the increased NOX4 expression was found to accompany an upregulated expression of TGF- β in the ASM of small airways of COPD lung. These results indicate that NOX4 may be a key regulator in ASM remodeling of small airway, in part through a mechanism interacting with TGF- β signaling in the pathogenesis of COPD, which warrants further investigation.

Analysis of Small Muscle Movement Effects on EEG Signals

Science.gov (United States)

2016-12-22

different conditions are recorded in this experiment. These conditions are the resting state, left finger keyboard press, right finger keyboard...51 4.3.2. Right and Left Finger Keyboard Press Conditions ..................................... 57 4.4. Detection of Hand...solving Gamma 30 Hz and higher Blending of multiple brain functions ; Muscle related artifacts 2.2. EEG Artifacts EEG recordings are intended to

/sup 67/Ga-binding substances in stomach, small intestine, pancreas, and muscle

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ando, Atsushi; Ando, Itsuko; Hirake, Tatsunosuke; Hisada, Kinichi

1985-11-01

Normal male rats were injected with either gallium citrate /sup 67/Ga or sodium sulfate /sup 35/S. After 24 h, the stomach, small intestine, pancreas, and muscle were excised and homogenized. After the removal of the nuclear fraction, each of these homogenates was digested with protease. After digestion, the supernatants of the reaction mixtures were applied to a Sephadex-G-100 column. The radioactivity was eluted with buffer solution. The resultant eluates were analyzed for radioactivity and the levels of proteins, uronic acids, and sialic acids. In all four organs, sizable amounts of /sup 67/Ga were bound to sulfated acid mucopolysaccharides with molecular masses of about 10,000 daltons and to sulfated acid mucopolysaccharides, a species whose molecular masses exceed 40,000 daltons. In the stomach, large amounts of /sup 67/Ga were bound to sulfated acid mucopolysaccharides with molecular masses of about 10,000 daltons. From these results, it is obvious that the main /sup 67/Ga-binding substances in these four organs are sulfated acid mucopolysaccharides, and that these acid mucopolysaccharides play the most important role in the concentration of /sup 67/Ga in these organs.

Relating Pitch Awareness to Phonemic Awareness in Children: Implications for Tone-Deafness and Dyslexia

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Psyche eLoui

2011-05-01

Full Text Available Language and music are complex cognitive and neural functions that rely on awareness of one’s own sound productions. Information on the awareness of vocal pitch, and its relation to phonemic awareness which is crucial for learning to read, will be important for understanding the relationship between tone-deafness and developmental language disorders such as dyslexia. Here we show that phonemic awareness skills are positively correlated with pitch perception-production skills in children. Children between the ages of 7 and 9 were tested on pitch perception and production, phonemic awareness, and IQ. Results showed a significant positive correlation between pitch perception-production and phonemic awareness, suggesting that the relationship between musical and linguistic sound processing is intimately linked to awareness at the level of pitch and phonemes. Since tone-deafness is a pitch-related impairment and dyslexia is a deficit of phonemic awareness, we suggest that dyslexia and tone-deafness may have a shared and/or common neural basis.

Cortical pitch representations of complex tones in musicians and non-musicians

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bianchi, Federica; Hjortkjær, Jens; Santurette, Sébastien

Musicians typically show enhanced pitch-discrimination ability compared to non-musicians, consistent with the fact that musicians are more sensitive to some acoustic features critical for both speech and music processing. However, it is still unclear which mechanisms underlie this perceptual...... enhancement. In a previous behavioral study, musicians showed an increased pitch-discrimination performance for both resolved and unresolved complex tones suggesting an enhanced neural representation of pitch at central stages of the auditory system. The aim of this study was to clarify whether musicians show...... (i) differential neural activation in response to complex tones as compared to non-musicians and/or (ii) finer fundamental frequency (F0) representation in the auditory cortex. Assuming that the right auditory cortex is specialized in processing fine spectral changes, we hypothesized that an enhanced...

Effects of hypothyroidism on myosin heavy chain composition and fibre types of fast skeletal muscles in a small marsupial, Antechinus flavipes.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhong, Wendy W H; Withers, Kerry W; Hoh, Joseph F Y

2010-04-01

Effects of drug-induced hypothyroidism on myosin heavy chain (MyHC) content and fibre types of fast skeletal muscles were studied in a small marsupial, Antechinus flavipes. SDS-PAGE of MyHCs from the tibialis anterior and gastrocnemius revealed four isoforms, 2B, 2X, 2A and slow, in that order of decreasing abundance. After 5 weeks treatment with methimazole, the functionally fastest 2B MyHC significantly decreased, while 2X, 2A and slow MyHCs increased. Immunohistochemistry using monospecific antibodies to each of the four MyHCs revealed decreased 2b and 2x fibres, and increased 2a and hybrid fibres co-expressing two or three MyHCs. In the normally homogeneously fast superficial regions of these muscles, evenly distributed slow-staining fibres appeared, resembling the distribution of slow primary myotubes in fast muscles during development. Hybrid fibres containing 2A and slow MyHCs were virtually absent. These results are more detailed but broadly similar to the earlier studies on eutherians. We hypothesize that hypothyroidism essentially reverses the effects of thyroid hormone on MyHC gene expression of muscle fibres during myogenesis, which differ according to the developmental origin of the fibre: it induces slow MyHC expression in 2b fibres derived from fast primary myotubes, and shifts fast MyHC expression in fibres of secondary origin towards 2A, but not slow, MyHC.

Who do you love, your mother or your horse? An event-related brain potential analysis of tone processing in Mandarin Chinese.

Science.gov (United States)

Brown-Schmidt, Sarah; Canseco-Gonzalez, Enriqueta

2004-03-01

In Mandarin Chinese, word meaning is partially determined by lexical tone (Wang, 1973). Previous studies suggest that lexical tone is processed as linguistic information and not as pure tonal information (Gandour, 1998; Van Lanker & Fromkin, 1973). The current study explored the online processing of lexical tones. Event-related potentials were obtained from 25 Mandarin speakers while they listened to normal and anomalous sentences containing one of three types of semantic anomalies created by manipulating the tone, the syllable, or both tone and syllable (double-anomaly) of sentence-final words. We hypothesized N400 effects elicited by all three types of anomalies and the largest by the double-anomaly. As expected, all three elicited N400 effects starting approximately 150 ms poststimulus and continuing until 1000 ms in some areas. Surprisingly, onset of the double-anomaly effect was approximately 50 ms later than the rest. Delayed detection of errors in this condition may be responsible for the apparent delay. Slight differences between syllable and tone conditions may be due to the relative timing of these acoustic cues.

Increased arterial vascular tone during the night in patients with essential hypertension

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Scholze, A; Burkert, A; Mardanzai, K

2007-01-01

The time-dependent incidence of cardiovascular events points to an important role of chronobiology for arterial properties. To evaluate arterial properties in patients with essential hypertension, we assessed arterial vascular tone during sleep at night in patients with essential hypertension...... of systemic arterial vascular tone in patients with essential hypertension during the first half of the night compared to normotensive control subjects....... was significantly higher in 31 patients with essential hypertension compared to 30 normotensive control subjects (30.0+/-0.2 vs 28.8+/-0.2; P=0.001). In patients with essential hypertension, the reflective index significantly increased from 30.0+/-0.2 in the first half (from 2301 to 0230) to 30...

Activation of plantar flexor muscles is constrained by multiple muscle synergies rather than joint torques.

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Takahito Suzuki

Full Text Available Behavioral evidence has suggested that a small number of muscle synergies may be responsible for activating a variety of muscles. Nevertheless, such dimensionality reduction may also be explained using the perspective of alternative hypotheses, such as predictions based on linear combinations of joint torques multiplied by corresponding coefficients. To compare the explanatory capacity of these hypotheses for describing muscle activation, we enrolled 12 male volunteers who performed isometric plantar flexor contractions at 10-100% of maximum effort. During each plantar flexor contraction, the knee extensor muscles were isometrically contracted at 0%, 50%, or 100% of maximum effort. Electromyographic activity was recorded from the vastus lateralis, medial gastrocnemius (MG, lateral gastrocnemius (LG, and soleus muscles and quantified using the average rectified value (ARV. At lower plantar flexion torque, regression analysis identified a clear linear relationship between the MG and soleus ARVs and between the MG and LG ARVs, suggesting the presence of muscle synergy (r2 > 0.65. The contraction of the knee extensor muscles induced a significant change in the slope of this relationship for both pairs of muscles (MG × soleus, P = 0.002; MG × LG, P = 0.006. Similarly, the slope of the linear relationship between the plantar flexion torque and the ARV of the MG or soleus changed significantly with knee extensor contraction (P = 0.031 and P = 0.041, respectively. These results suggest that muscle synergies characterized by non-mechanical constraints are selectively recruited according to whether contraction of the knee extensor muscles is performed simultaneously, which is relatively consistent with the muscle synergy hypothesis.

Spectral broadening of acoustic tones generated by unmanned aerial vehicles in a turbulent atmosphere

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ostashev, Vladimir E.; Wilson, D. K.; Finn, Anthony

2016-01-01

The acoustic spectrum emitted by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and other aircraft can be distorted by propagation through atmospheric turbulence. Since most UAVs are propeller-based, they generate a series of acoustic tones and harmonics. In this paper, spectral broadening of these tones due......, spectral broadening is calculated and analyzed for typical meteorological regimes of the atmospheric boundary layer and different flight trajectories of UAVs. Experimental results are presented and compared with theoretical predictions. Spectral broadening might also provide a means for remotely sensing...

Evaluation of atrophy of foot muscles in diabetic neuropathy -- a comparative study of nerve conduction studies and ultrasonography

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Severinsen, Kaare; Andersen, Henning

2007-01-01

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the relation between the findings at nerve conduction studies and the size of small foot muscles determined by ultrasonography. METHODS: In 26 diabetic patients the size of the extensor digitorum brevis muscle (EDB) and of the muscles between the first and second metatarsal...... related to the size of the small foot muscles as determined by ultrasonography. SIGNIFICANCE: In diabetic patients motor nerve conduction studies can reliably determine the size of small foot muscles. Udgivelsesdato: 2007-Oct....... RESULTS: Seventeen patients fulfilled the criteria for diabetic neuropathy. The cross-sectional area of the EDB muscle and the thickness of the MIL muscle were 116 +/- 65 mm2 and 29.6 +/- 8.2 mm, respectively. Close relations were established between muscle size and the amplitude of the CMAP...

Maltitol inhibits small intestinal glucose absorption and increases insulin mediated muscle glucose uptake ex vivo but not in normal and type 2 diabetic rats.

Science.gov (United States)

Chukwuma, Chika Ifeanyi; Ibrahim, Mohammed Auwal; Islam, Md Shahidul

2017-02-01

This study investigated the effects of maltitol on intestinal glucose absorption and muscle glucose uptake using ex vivo and in vivo experimental models. The ex vivo experiment was conducted in isolated jejunum and psoas muscle from normal rats. The in vivo study investigated the effects of a single bolus dose of maltitol on gastric emptying, intestinal glucose absorption and digesta transit in normal and type 2 diabetic rats. Maltitol inhibited glucose absorption in isolated rat jejunum and increased glucose uptake in isolated rat psoas muscle in the presence of insulin but not in the absence of insulin. In contrast, maltitol did not significantly (p > 0.05) alter small intestinal glucose absorption or blood glucose levels as well as gastric emptying and digesta transit in normal or type 2 diabetic rats. The results suggest that maltitol may not be a suitable dietary supplement for anti-diabetic food and food products to improve glycemic control.

How well can anaesthetists discriminate pulse oximeter tones?

Science.gov (United States)

Morris, R W; Mohacsi, P J

2005-08-01

The ability of experienced anaesthetists to discern oxygen saturation by listening to the tones of a Datex AS3 pulse oximeter was examined. Five-second samples were recorded using a high fidelity patient simulator and replayed singly and in pairs. Whilst the lower saturations were generally recognized as lower, the perceived range was greatly compressed. Median perceived estimates for 70% saturation was 89%, for 80% was 93% and for 94% was 94%. When comparing pairs of samples, the direction of the difference was correctly discerned by 70% of anaesthetists for differences of 2%, rising to 95% for differences of greater than 8% oxygen saturation. The magnitude of the difference was consistently underestimated. With an actual difference of 20%, the median estimate was 5%. The results indicate that while qualitative estimate changes in oxygen saturation are moderately reliable, quantitative estimation is severely limited by a compromised perceived scale. This may lead to underestimation of the severity if the auditory signal is relied on in isolation. A non-linear (musical) scale may prove more appropriate and should be investigated. Testing experienced anaesthetists demonstrated that most could detect the direction, but not the magnitude of a change in saturation by listening to the change in pitch of a Datex AS3 pulse oximeter tone.

Pitch identification and discrimination for complex tones with many harmonics

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Houtsma, A.J.M.; Smurzyński, J.

1990-01-01

Four experiments are reported that deal with pitch perception of harmonic complex tones containing up to 11 successive harmonics. In particular, the question is raised whether the pitch percept of the missing fundamental is mediated only by low-order resolvable harmonics, or whether it can also be

Monolingual and Bilingual Infants’ Ability to Use Non-native Tone for Word Learning Deteriorates by the Second Year After Birth

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Liquan Liu

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Previous studies reported a non-native word learning advantage for bilingual infants at around 18 months. We investigated developmental changes in infant interpretation of sounds that aid in object mapping. Dutch monolingual and bilingual (exposed to Dutch and a second non-tone-language infants’ word learning ability was examined on two novel label–object pairings using syllables differing in Mandarin tones as labels (flat vs. falling. Infants aged 14–15 months, regardless of language backgrounds, were sensitive to violations in the label–objects pairings when lexical tones were switched compared to when they were the same as habituated. Conversely at 17–18 months, neither monolingual nor bilingual infants demonstrated learning. Linking with existing literature, infants’ ability to associate non-native tones with meanings may be related to tonal acoustic properties and/or perceptual assimilation to native prosodic categories. These findings provide new insights into the relation between infant tone perception, learning, and interpretative narrowing from a developmental perspective.

The effect of radiation dose on mouse skeletal muscle remodeling

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hardee, Justin P.; Puppa, Melissa J.; Fix, Dennis K.; Gao, Song; Hetzler, Kimbell L.; Bateman, Ted A.; Carson, James A.

2014-01-01

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of two clinically relevant radiation doses on the susceptibility of mouse skeletal muscle to remodeling. Alterations in muscle morphology and regulatory signaling were examined in tibialis anterior and gastrocnemius muscles after radiation doses that differed in total biological effective dose (BED). Female C57BL/6 (8-wk) mice were randomly assigned to non-irradiated control, four fractionated doses of 4 Gy (4x4 Gy; BED 37 Gy), or a single 16 Gy dose (16 Gy; BED 100 Gy). Mice were sacrificed 2 weeks after the initial radiation exposure. The 16 Gy, but not 4x4 Gy, decreased total muscle protein and RNA content. Related to muscle regeneration, both 16 Gy and 4x4 Gy increased the incidence of central nuclei containing myofibers, but only 16 Gy increased the extracellular matrix volume. However, only 4x4 Gy increased muscle 4-hydroxynonenal expression. While both 16 Gy and 4x4 Gy decreased IIB myofiber mean cross-sectional area (CSA), only 16 Gy decreased IIA myofiber CSA. 16 Gy increased the incidence of small diameter IIA and IIB myofibers, while 4x4 Gy only increased the incidence of small diameter IIB myofibers. Both treatments decreased the frequency and CSA of low succinate dehydrogenase activity (SDH) fibers. Only 16 Gy increased the incidence of small diameter myofibers having high SDH activity. Neither treatment altered muscle signaling related to protein turnover or oxidative metabolism. Collectively, these results demonstrate that radiation dose differentially affects muscle remodeling, and these effects appear to be related to fiber type and oxidative metabolism

Evolution of the bulk optical properties of bovine muscles during wet aging.

Science.gov (United States)

Van Beers, Robbe; Kokawa, Mito; Aernouts, Ben; Watté, Rodrigo; De Smet, Stefaan; Saeys, Wouter

2018-02-01

The bulk optical properties (BOP) of two bovine muscles were studied in the 500nm to 1850nm wavelength range. Over a two-week period of wet aging, the BOP of the biceps femoris (BF) and longissimus lumborum (LL) were determined and related to moisture content, tenderness and cooking loss. The absorption by myoglobin and reduced scattering coefficient were higher in the BF compared to the LL. The scattering anisotropy factor was relatively high (>0.95 for LL), representing dominant forward scattering. Two-toning effects in the BF could be attributed to significant scattering differences, as no differences in absorption properties were observed. During wet aging, the anisotropy factor decreased, while tenderness increased. It was hypothesized that this might be related to proteolysis of cytoskeletal proteins. The results show the potential use of BOP to monitor tenderization and the cause of color differences in beef muscles. Moreover, this information could be used to develop and optimize optical sensors for non-destructive meat quality monitoring. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Auditory evoked potentials to abrupt pitch and timbre change of complex tones: electrophysiological evidence of 'streaming'?

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, S J; Longe, O; Vaz Pato, M

1998-03-01

Examination of the cortical auditory evoked potentials to complex tones changing in pitch and timbre suggests a useful new method for investigating higher auditory processes, in particular those concerned with 'streaming' and auditory object formation. The main conclusions were: (i) the N1 evoked by a sudden change in pitch or timbre was more posteriorly distributed than the N1 at the onset of the tone, indicating at least partial segregation of the neuronal populations responsive to sound onset and spectral change; (ii) the T-complex was consistently larger over the right hemisphere, consistent with clinical and PET evidence for particular involvement of the right temporal lobe in the processing of timbral and musical material; (iii) responses to timbral change were relatively unaffected by increasing the rate of interspersed changes in pitch, suggesting a mechanism for detecting the onset of a new voice in a constantly modulated sound stream; (iv) responses to onset, offset and pitch change of complex tones were relatively unaffected by interfering tones when the latter were of a different timbre, suggesting these responses must be generated subsequent to auditory stream segregation.

Pressure Myography to Study the Function and Structure of isolated small arteries

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schjørring, Olav; Carlsson, Rune; Simonsen, Ulf

2015-01-01

Small arteries play an important role in regulation of peripheral resistance and organ perfusion. Here we describe a series of the methods allowing measurements in pressurized segments of small arteries from the systemic and coronary circulation of mice as well as other species. The pressure...... myography techniques described include measurements of wall structure, wall stress, strain, and of myogenic tone. The pressurized perfused small arteries also allow evaluation of responses to increases in pressure, flow, and drugs, where the main readout is changes in vascular diameter....

Modulation of high frequency noise by engine tones of small boats.

Science.gov (United States)

Pollara, Alexander; Sutin, Alexander; Salloum, Hady

2017-07-01

The effect of modulation of high frequency ship noise by propeller rotation frequencies is well known. This modulation is observed with the Detection of Envelope Modulation on Noise (DEMON) algorithm. Analysis of the DEMON spectrum allows the revolutions per minute and number of blades of the propeller to be determined. This work shows that the high frequency noise of a small boat can also be modulated by engine frequencies. Prior studies have not reported high frequency noise amplitude modulated at engine frequencies. This modulation is likely produced by bubbles from the engine exhaust system.

SPASTICITY PATTERNS OF HAND MUSCLES AND BOTULINUM TOXIN THERAPY APPLICATION IN PATIENTS WITH CEREBRAL PALSY WITH UPPER LIMB INVOLVEMENT

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O. A. Klochkova

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Botulinum toxin therapy is an effective and safe method of treatment of local spasticity in patients with cerebral palsy (CP. Calculation of botulinum toxin A (BTA dosage based on the spasticity patterns and functional capabilities of the patient proved effective for the hypertonic lower limb muscle spasm treatment and is being applied to BTA injections in hand muscles more often. The article presents contemporary scientific data and results of the original study of BTA injections efficacy for pathologic tension reduction in hand muscles of 52 patients with CP. The authors give detailed description of the upper limb spasticity patterns, their frequency and role in the pathological movement pattern formation. The authors propose BTA dosage calculation for the functional segments of upper limbs, which allows minimizing the total amount of the administered drug and avoiding excessive weakness. The authors have also conducted a follow-up analysis of changes in hand muscle tone for the period of 6 months after the first BTA injection, compared results of botulinum toxin therapy at various clinical forms of CP and given recommendations on the optimum duration of the follow-up period.

Primary sacrococcygeal chordoma with unusual skeletal muscle metastasis

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Lisa Vu, MD

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Chordomas are rare neoplasms that do not often metastasize. Of the small percent that do metastasize, they very infrequently involve skeletal muscle. Only a few cases of skeletal muscle metastases have been reported in the literature. We report an unusual case of a patient with a primary sacrococcygeal chordoma who experienced a long period of remission but who subsequently developed recurrence and multiple metastatic lesions to skeletal muscles including the deltoid, triceps, and pectineus.

Effects of emotional tone and visual complexity on processing health information in prescription drug advertising.

Science.gov (United States)

Norris, Rebecca L; Bailey, Rachel L; Bolls, Paul D; Wise, Kevin R

2012-01-01

This experiment explored how the emotional tone and visual complexity of direct-to-consumer (DTC) drug advertisements affect the encoding and storage of specific risk and benefit statements about each of the drugs in question. Results are interpreted under the limited capacity model of motivated mediated message processing framework. Findings suggest that DTC drug ads should be pleasantly toned and high in visual complexity in order to maximize encoding and storage of risk and benefit information.

Presbycusis occurs after cochlear implantation also: a retrospective study of pure tone thresholds over time.

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Trosman, Samuel; Matusik, Deanna Kattah; Ferro, Lia; Gao, Weihua; Saadia-Redleaf, Miriam

2012-12-01

To assess aided soundfield pure tone thresholds after cochlear implantation in adults over time. Retrospective case review. Academic tertiary care center. Seventy-seven severe-to-profoundly deafened adults implanted with one of 5 different internal devices. Cochlear implantation. Outcome measures were cochlear implant aided soundfield pure tone thresholds at 250, 500, 1,000, 2,000, 4,000, and 6,000 Hz. For the 77 adult patients in the study, pure tone aided thresholds deteriorated over time at 500, 1,000, 2,000, 4,000, and 6,000 Hz at rates ranging from 0.54 to 0.86 dB per year with the implant (p presbycusis, this deterioration is most prominent at the highest frequencies; however, the incidence and rate of deterioration is higher than that seen in presbycusis. These physiologic changes are not indicative of device failure and do not mean that performance measures will necessarily deteriorate.

Representation of acoustic signals in the eighth nerve of the Tokay gecko: I. Pure tones.

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Sams-Dodd, F; Capranica, R R

1994-06-01

A systematic study of the encoding properties of 146 auditory nerve fibers in the Tokay gecko (Gekko gecko, L) was conducted with respect to pure tones and two-tone rate suppression. Our aim was a comprehensive understanding of the peripheral encoding of simple tonal stimuli and their representation by temporal synchronization and spike rate codes as a prelude to subsequent studies of more complex signals. Auditory nerve fibers in the Tokay gecko have asymmetrical, V-shaped excitatory tuning curves with best excitatory frequencies that range from 200-5100 Hz and thresholds between 4-35 dB SPL. A low-frequency excitatory 'tail' extends far into the low-frequency range and two-tone suppression is present only on the high frequency side of the tuning curve. The response properties to pure tones at different loci within a tuning curve can differ greatly, due to evident interactions between the representations of temporal, spectral and intensity stimulus features. For frequencies below 1250 Hz, pure tones are encoded by both temporal synchronization and spike rate codes, whereas above this frequency a fiber's ability to encode the waveform periodicity is lost and only a rate code predominates. These complimentary representations within a tuning curve raise fundamental issues which need to be addressed in interpreting how more complex, bioacoustic communication signals are represented in the peripheral and central auditory system. And since auditory nerve fibers in the Tokay gecko exhibit tonal sensitivity, selective frequency tuning, and iso-intensity and iso-frequency contours that seem comparable to similar measures in birds and mammals, these issues likely apply to most higher vertebrates in general. The simpler wiring diagram of the reptilian auditory system, coupled with the Tokay gecko's remarkable vocalizations, make this animal a good evolutionary model in which to experimentally explore the encoding of more complex sounds of communicative significance.

INFLUENCE OF MUSICAL TONES, IN THE CLASSICAL CONDITIONING OF PREFERENCE OF GEOMETRICAL FIGURES

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WILSON LÓPEZ

2004-07-01

Full Text Available This research intended to create preferences on geometric figures using a classical conditioning procedurewhere 2 specific variations of musical structure were used -mayor and dissonant tones- as unconditionedstimulus. 24 university students with an age average of 23 years were exposed to stimular conditionswhere 2 geometric figures (CS+, were matched with mayor tones (UCS+ and other 2 (CS- withdissonant (UCS-; subsequently the figures were rated on a scale (where +10 = very pleasant and -10 =very unpleasant. According with the formulated hypothesis and the previous discoveries in both basicand applied research, three of the four conditions tested showed significant values using the Wilcoxonsign ranks test.

Thresholds of Tone Burst Auditory Brainstem Responses for Infants and Young Children with Normal Hearing in Taiwan

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Chung-Yi Lee

2007-10-01

Conclusion: Based on the published research and our study, we suggest setting the normal criterion levels for infants and young children in Taiwan of the tone burst auditory brainstem response to air-conducted tones as 30 dB nHL for 500 and 1000 Hz, and 25 dB nHL for 2000 and 4000 Hz.

A population of Pax7-expressing muscle progenitor cells show differential responses to muscle injury dependent on developmental stage and injury extent

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Stefanie eKnappe

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Muscle regeneration in vertebrates occurs by the activation of quiescent progenitor cells that express pax7 and replace and repair damaged fibers. We have developed a mechanical injury paradigm in zebrafish to determine whether developmental stage and injury size affect the regeneration dynamics of damaged muscle. We found that both small, focal injuries and large injuries affecting the entire myotome lead to the expression of myf5 and myogenin. Their expression was prolonged in older larvae, indicating a slower process of regeneration. We characterized the endogenous behavior of a population of muscle-resident Pax7-expressing cells using a pax7a:eGFP transgenic line and found that GFP+ cell migration in the myotome dramatically declined between 5 and 7 days post fertilization (dpf. Following a small injury, we observed that GFP+ cells responded by extending processes, before migrating to the injured fibers. Furthermore, these cells responded more rapidly to injury in 4dpf larvae compared to 7dpf. Interestingly, we did not see GFP+ fibers after repair of small injuries, indicating that pax7a-expressing cells did not contribute to fiber formation in this injury context. On the contrary, numerous GFP+ fibers could be observed after a large single myotome injury. Both injury models were accompanied by an increased number of proliferating GFP+ cells, which was more pronounced in larvae injured at 4dpf than 7dpf, This indicates intriguing developmental differences, even at these relatively early ages. Our data also suggests an interesting disparity in the role that pax7a-expressing muscle progenitor cells play during muscle regeneration, which may reflect the extent of muscle damage.

Cross-talk between cardiac muscle and coronary vasculature.

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Westerhof, Nico; Boer, Christa; Lamberts, Regis R; Sipkema, Pieter

2006-10-01

The cardiac muscle and the coronary vasculature are in close proximity to each other, and a two-way interaction, called cross-talk, exists. Here we focus on the mechanical aspects of cross-talk including the role of the extracellular matrix. Cardiac muscle affects the coronary vasculature. In diastole, the effect of the cardiac muscle on the coronary vasculature depends on the (changes in) muscle length but appears to be small. In systole, coronary artery inflow is impeded, or even reversed, and venous outflow is augmented. These systolic effects are explained by two mechanisms. The waterfall model and the intramyocardial pump model are based on an intramyocardial pressure, assumed to be proportional to ventricular pressure. They explain the global effects of contraction on coronary flow and the effects of contraction in the layers of the heart wall. The varying elastance model, the muscle shortening and thickening model, and the vascular deformation model are based on direct contact between muscles and vessels. They predict global effects as well as differences on flow in layers and flow heterogeneity due to contraction. The relative contributions of these two mechanisms depend on the wall layer (epi- or endocardial) and type of contraction (isovolumic or shortening). Intramyocardial pressure results from (local) muscle contraction and to what extent the interstitial cavity contracts isovolumically. This explains why small arterioles and venules do not collapse in systole. Coronary vasculature affects the cardiac muscle. In diastole, at physiological ventricular volumes, an increase in coronary perfusion pressure increases ventricular stiffness, but the effect is small. In systole, there are two mechanisms by which coronary perfusion affects cardiac contractility. Increased perfusion pressure increases microvascular volume, thereby opening stretch-activated ion channels, resulting in an increased intracellular Ca2+ transient, which is followed by an increase in Ca

MicroRNA in Skeletal Muscle: Its Crucial Roles in Signal Proteins, Mus cle Fiber Type, and Muscle Protein Synthesis.

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Zhang, Jing; Liu, Yu Lan

2017-01-01

Pork is one of the most economical sources of animal protein for human consumption. Meat quality is an important economic trait for the swine industry, which is primarily determined by prenatal muscle development and postnatal growth. Identification of the molecular mechanisms underlying skeletal muscle development is a key priority. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of small noncoding RNAs that have emerged as key regulators of skeletal muscle development. A number of muscle-related miRNAs have been identified by functional gain and loss experiments in mouse model. However, determining miRNA-mRNA interactions involved in pig skeletal muscle still remains a significant challenge. For a comprehensive understanding of miRNA-mediated mechanisms underlying muscle development, miRNAome analyses of pig skeletal muscle have been performed by deep sequencing. Additionally, porcine miRNA single nucleotide polymorphisms have been implicated in muscle fiber types and meat quality. The present review provides an overview of current knowledge on recently identified miRNAs involved in myogenesis, muscle fiber type and muscle protein metabolism. Undoubtedly, further systematic understanding of the functions of miRNAs in pig skeletal muscle development will be helpful to expand the knowledge of basic skeletal muscle biology and be beneficial for the genetic improvement of meat quality traits. Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.org.

The relationship between high-frequency pure-tone hearing loss, hearing in noise test (HINT) thresholds, and the articulation index.

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Vermiglio, Andrew J; Soli, Sigfrid D; Freed, Daniel J; Fisher, Laurel M

2012-01-01

Speech recognition in noise testing has been conducted at least since the 1940s (Dickson et al, 1946). The ability to recognize speech in noise is a distinct function of the auditory system (Plomp, 1978). According to Kochkin (2002), difficulty recognizing speech in noise is the primary complaint of hearing aid users. However, speech recognition in noise testing has not found widespread use in the field of audiology (Mueller, 2003; Strom, 2003; Tannenbaum and Rosenfeld, 1996). The audiogram has been used as the "gold standard" for hearing ability. However, the audiogram is a poor indicator of speech recognition in noise ability. This study investigates the relationship between pure-tone thresholds, the articulation index, and the ability to recognize speech in quiet and in noise. Pure-tone thresholds were measured for audiometric frequencies 250-6000 Hz. Pure-tone threshold groups were created. These included a normal threshold group and slight, mild, severe, and profound high-frequency pure-tone threshold groups. Speech recognition thresholds in quiet and in noise were obtained using the Hearing in Noise Test (HINT) (Nilsson et al, 1994; Vermiglio, 2008). The articulation index was determined by using Pavlovic's method with pure-tone thresholds (Pavlovic, 1989, 1991). Two hundred seventy-eight participants were tested. All participants were native speakers of American English. Sixty-three of the original participants were removed in order to create groups of participants with normal low-frequency pure-tone thresholds and relatively symmetrical high-frequency pure-tone threshold groups. The final set of 215 participants had a mean age of 33 yr with a range of 17-59 yr. Pure-tone threshold data were collected using the Hughson-Weslake procedure. Speech recognition data were collected using a Windows-based HINT software system. Statistical analyses were conducted using descriptive, correlational, and multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) statistics. The

Tone and Style: Developing a Neglected Segment of Business Communication

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Kenman, Leon F.

2007-01-01

The importance of tone and style to communication is attested by the longevity of the popularity of "Elements of Style," published originally in 1918, with the fourth edition published in 2000 (Strunk, 1918; Strunk & White, 2000). Communicators in business and academia at all levels need to send messages that are understood pleasantly and…

Detection of time-varying harmonic amplitude alterations due to spectral interpolations between musical instrument tones.

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Horner, Andrew B; Beauchamp, James W; So, Richard H Y

2009-01-01

Gradated spectral interpolations between musical instrument tone pairs were used to investigate discrimination as a function of time-averaged spectral difference. All possible nonidentical pairs taken from a collection of eight musical instrument sounds consisting of bassoon, clarinet, flute, horn, oboe, saxophone, trumpet, and violin were tested. For each pair, several tones were generated with different balances between the primary and secondary instruments, where the balance was fixed across the duration of each tone. Among primary instruments it was found that changes to horn and bassoon [corrected] were most easily discriminable, while changes to saxophone and trumpet timbres were least discriminable. Among secondary instruments, the clarinet had the strongest effect on discrimination, whereas the bassoon had the least effect. For primary instruments, strong negative correlations were found between discrimination and their spectral incoherences, suggesting that the presence of dynamic spectral variations tends to increase the difficulty of detecting time-varying alterations such as spectral interpolation.

Distortion product otoacoustic emissions: comparison of sequential vs. simultaneous presentation of primary tones.

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Kumar, U Ajith; Maruthy, Sandeep; Chandrakant, Vishwakarma

2009-03-01

Distortion product otoacoustic emissions are one form of evoked otoacoustic emissions. DPOAEs provide the frequency specific information about the hearing status in mid and high frequency regions. But in most screening protocols TEOAEs are preferred as it requires less time compared to DPOAE. This is because, in DPOAE each stimulus is presented one after the other and responses are analyzed. Grason and Stadler Incorporation 60 (GSI-60) offer simultaneous presentation of four sets of primary tones at a time and checks for the DPOAE. In this mode of presentation, all the pairs are presented at a time and following that response is extracted separately whereas, in sequential mode primaries are presented in orderly fashion one after the other. In this article simultaneous and sequential protocols were used to compare the Distortion product otoacoustic emission amplitude, noise floor and administration time in individuals with normal hearing and mild sensori-neural (SN) hearing loss. In simultaneous protocols four sets of primary tones (i.e. 8 tones) were presented together whereas, in sequential presentation mode one set of primary tones was presented each time. Simultaneous protocol was completed in less than half the time required for the completion of sequential protocol. Two techniques yielded similar results at frequencies above 1000 Hz only in normal hearing group. In SN hearing loss group simultaneous presentation yielded signifi cantly higher noise floors and distortion product amplitudes. This result challenges the use of simultaneous presentation technique in neonatal hearing screening programmes and on other pathologies. This discrepancy between two protocols may be due to some changes in biomechanical process in the cochlear and/or due to higher distortion/noise produced by the system during the simultaneous presentation mode.

PCDD/Fs and dioxin-like PCBs in the Tone River, Japan

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Watanabe, Eiki; Heesoo, Eun; Koji, Baba; Tomohito, Arao; Shozo, Endo [National Institute for Agro-Environmental Sciences, Tsukuba (Japan); Tadashi, Sekino [Environmental Research Center, Tsukuba (Japan)

2004-09-15

Environmental pollution by PCDD/Fs has arisen exclusively from human activities, and for example, they are inadvertently produced from various combustion sources and manufacturing processes, such as municipal solid waste incineration steel production processes and chemical production processes. In Japan, it is well known that the environmental pollution has close relation to agricultural operation, that is, some PCDD/Fs are contained as impurities in a kind of pesticide. The Tone River is the largest basin area (about 16,900 km{sup 2}) in Japan, and after the Shinano River, is the second longest river (about 322 km). The river has many tributaries (about 800 rivers), and the rivers taking the Kokai River, the Kinu River, the Edo River, and the Watarase River as objects of the present study are also representative tributaries. Since the Tone River basin corresponding to about 4.5% of the total area of Japan leads about twelve million population corresponding to about 10% of the gross population in Japan, it plays an important part in a supply of water for human activities. Not only some residential zones near Tokyo and industrial zones but also representative agricultural zones in Japan expand in the basin expands, and especially the lower basin leads a leading granary. The objective of our effort is to investigate the levels of PCDD/Fs and PCBs in surface sediment and water samples from the Tone River and some related tributaries, and to assess their distribution and origin using congener-specific characterization approach.

Non-tip auditory-nerve responses that are suppressed by low-frequency bias tones originate from reticular lamina motion.

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Nam, Hui; Guinan, John J

2017-12-14

Recent cochlear mechanical measurements show that active processes increase the motion response of the reticular lamina (RL) at frequencies more than an octave below the local characteristic frequency (CF) for CFs above 5 kHz. A possible correlate is that in high-CF (>5 kHz) auditory-nerve (AN) fibers, responses to frequencies 1-3 octaves below CF ("tail" frequencies) can be inhibited by medial olivocochlear (MOC) efferents. These results indicate that active processes enhance the sensitivity of tail-frequency RL and AN responses. Perhaps related is that some apical low-CF AN fibers have tuning-curve (TC) "side-lobe" response areas at frequencies above and below the TC-tip that are MOC inhibited. We hypothesized that the tail and side-lobe responses are enhanced by the same active mechanisms as CF cochlear amplification. If responses to CF, tail-frequency, and TC-side-lobe tones are all enhanced by prestin motility controlled by outer-hair-cell (OHC) transmembrane voltage, then they should depend on OHC stereocilia position in the same way. To test this, we cyclically changed the OHC-stereocilia mechano-electric-transduction (MET) operating point with low-frequency "bias" tones (BTs) and increased the BT level until the BT caused quasi-static OHC MET saturation that reduced or "suppressed" the gain of OHC active processes. While measuring cat AN-fiber responses, 50 Hz BT level series, 70-120 dB SPL, were run alone and with CF tones, or 2.5 kHz tail-frequency tones, or side-lobe tones. BT-tone-alone responses were used to exclude BT sound levels that produced AN responses that might obscure BT suppression. Data were analyzed to show the BT phase that suppressed the tone responses at the lowest sound level. We found that AN responses to CF, tail-frequency, and side-lobe tones were suppressed at the same BT phase in almost all cases. The data are consistent with the enhancement of responses to CF, tail-frequency, and side-lobe tones all being due to the same

Cosmeceuticals: efficacy and influence on skin tone.

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Draelos, Zoe Diana

2014-04-01

Cosmeceuticals are understood to be active cosmetics that are sold over-the-counter, but have profound effects on skin appearance and functioning. This term has no legal meaning in the United States, because only cosmetics and pharmaceuticals are recognized by regulatory bodies. Cosmeceuticals are carefully developed and tested by the cosmetics industry to deliver consumer-recognizable benefits, with an excellent safety profile. Persons use these products worldwide, including those of African descent, for improvement of skin tone. This article discusses the issues surrounding cosmeceutical use by persons of African descent. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Evidence of skeletal muscle damage following electrically stimulated isometric muscle contractions in humans

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mackey, Abigail; Bojsen-Moller, Jens; Qvortrup, Klaus

2008-01-01

and desmin-negative staining in a small percentage of myofibers in five and four individuals, respectively. z-Line disruption was evident at varying magnitudes in all subjects and displayed a trend toward a positive correlation (r = 0.73, P = 0.0663) with the force produced by stimulation. Increased muscle...

Muscle Deoxygenation Causes Muscle Fatigue

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Murthy, G.; Hargens, A. R.; Lehman, S.; Rempel, D.

1999-01-01

Muscle fatigue is a common musculoskeletal disorder in the work place, and may be a harbinger for more disabling cumulative trauma disorders. Although the cause of fatigue is multifactorial, reduced blood flow and muscle oxygenation may be the primary factor in causing muscle fatigue during low intensity muscle exertion. Muscle fatigue is defined as a reduction in muscle force production, and also occurs among astronauts who are subjected to postural constraints while performing lengthy, repetitive tasks. The objectives of this research are to: 1) develop an objective tool to study the role of decreased muscle oxygenation on muscle force production, and 2) to evaluate muscle fatigue during prolonged glovebox work.

Development of rigor mortis is not affected by muscle volume.

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Kobayashi, M; Ikegaya, H; Takase, I; Hatanaka, K; Sakurada, K; Iwase, H

2001-04-01

There is a hypothesis suggesting that rigor mortis progresses more rapidly in small muscles than in large muscles. We measured rigor mortis as tension determined isometrically in rat musculus erector spinae that had been cut into muscle bundles of various volumes. The muscle volume did not influence either the progress or the resolution of rigor mortis, which contradicts the hypothesis. Differences in pre-rigor load on the muscles influenced the onset and resolution of rigor mortis in a few pairs of samples, but did not influence the time taken for rigor mortis to reach its full extent after death. Moreover, the progress of rigor mortis in this muscle was biphasic; this may reflect the early rigor of red muscle fibres and the late rigor of white muscle fibres.

Defective mitochondrial function in vivo in skeletal muscle in adults with Down's syndrome: a 31P-MRS study.

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Alexander C Phillips

Full Text Available Down's syndrome (DS is a developmental disorder associated with intellectual disability (ID. We have previously shown that people with DS engage in very low levels of exercise compared to people with ID not due to DS. Many aspects of the DS phenotype, such as dementia, low activity levels and poor muscle tone, are shared with disorders of mitochondrial origin, and mitochondrial dysfunction has been demonstrated in cultured DS tissue. We undertook a phosphorus magnetic resonance spectroscopy ((31P-MRS study in the quadriceps muscle of 14 people with DS and 11 non-DS ID controls to investigate the post-exercise resynthesis kinetics of phosphocreatine (PCr, which relies on mitochondrial respiratory function and yields a measure of muscle mitochondrial function in vivo. We found that the PCr recovery rate constant was significantly decreased in adults with DS compared to non-DS ID controls (1.7 ± 0.1 min(-1 vs 2.1 ± 0.1 min(-1 respectively who were matched for physical activity levels, indicating that muscle mitochondrial function in vivo is impaired in DS. This is the first study to investigate mitochondrial function in vivo in DS using (31P-MRS. Our study is consistent with previous in vitro studies, supporting a theory of a global mitochondrial defect in DS.

The differences in brain activity between narrow band noise and pure tone tinnitus.

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Sven Vanneste

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Tinnitus is an auditory sensation characterized by the perception of sound or noise in the absence of any external sound source. Based on neurobiological research, it is generally accepted that most forms of tinnitus are attributable to maladaptive plasticity due to damage to auditory system. Changes have been observed in auditory structures such as the inferior colliculus, the thalamus and the auditory cortex as well as in non-auditory brain areas. However, the observed changes show great variability, hence lacking a conclusive picture. One of the reasons might be the selection of inhomogeneous groups in data analysis. METHODOLOGY: The aim of the present study was to delineate the differences between the neural networks involved in narrow band noise and pure tone tinnitus conducting LORETA based source analysis of resting state EEG. CONCLUSIONS: Results demonstrated that narrow band noise tinnitus patients differ from pure tone tinnitus patients in the lateral frontopolar (BA 10, PCC and the parahippocampal area for delta, beta and gamma frequency bands, respectively. The parahippocampal-PCC current density differences might be load dependent, as noise-like tinnitus constitutes multiple frequencies in contrast to pure tone tinnitus. The lateral frontopolar differences might be related to pitch specific memory retrieval.

Thermosensitive Hydrogel Mask Significantly Improves Skin Moisture and Skin Tone; Bilateral Clinical Trial

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Anna Quattrone

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Objective: A temperature-sensitive state-changing hydrogel mask was used in this study. Once it comes into contact with the skin and reaches the body temperature, it uniformly and quickly releases the active compounds, which possess moisturizing, anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory and regenerative properties. Methods: An open label clinical trial was conducted to evaluate the effects of the test product on skin hydration, skin tone and skin ageing. Subjects applied the product to one side of their face and underwent Corneometer® and Chromameter measurements, Visual assessment of facial skin ageing and facial photography. All assessments and Self-Perception Questionnaires (SPQ were performed at baseline, after the first application of the test product and after four applications. Results: After a single treatment we observed an increase in skin moisturisation, an improvement of skin tone/luminosity and a reduction in signs of ageing, all statistically significant. After four applications a further improvement in all measured parameters was recorded. These results were confirmed by the subjects’ own perceptions, as reported in the SPQ both after one and four applications. Conclusion: The hydrogel mask tested in this study is very effective in improving skin hydration, skin radiance and luminosity, in encouraging an even skin tone and in reducing skin pigmentation.

Feasibility, Test-Retest Reliability, and Interrater Reliability of the Modified Ashworth Scale and Modified Tardieu Scale in Persons with Profound Intellectual and Multiple Disabilities

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Waninge, A.; Rook, R. A.; Dijkhuizen, A.; Gielen, E.; van der Schans, C. P.

2011-01-01

Caregivers of persons with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities (PIMD) often describe the quality of the daily movements of these persons in terms of flexibility or stiffness. Objective outcome measures for flexibility and stiffness are muscle tone or level of spasticity. Two instruments used to grade muscle tone and spasticity are the…

[Dynamic study of the female levator ani muscle using MRI 3D vectorial modeling].

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Delmas, Vincent; Ami, Olivier; Iba-Zizen, Marie-Thérèse

2010-06-01

The levator ani muscle has a major role in the female pelvic floor, and is involved in the pathophysiology of pelvic prolapse and stress urinary incontinence. We conducted an anatomical and morphological study of this muscle using dynamic 3D vectorial reconstruction MRI, in order to analyze the contraction of two major components of the levator ani: the iliococcygeus and pubococcygeus. Three volunteer healthy continent nulliparous women aged from 19 to 22 underwent dynamic pelvic MRI. Coronal T2-weighted pelvic images were obtained in the supine position, at rest, holding back, and during Valsalva stress effort. 3D vectorial models were reconstructed by manual segmentation of the source images, and were set up on bony anatomic marks. Iliococcygeus and pubococcygeus volumes were measured in the three positions. Volumetrics, displacement and dynamic morphing changes were analyzed with 3D vectorial animation software. The urogenital hiatus extended more holding back (mean +4.31 mm) than on effort (mean +2.78 mm). The iliococcygeus lowered (mean -3.95 mm) and deviated outward (mean +3.01 mm). The basic tone of the iliococcygeus muscle gives it a dome shape, and its reflex contraction against abdominal strain ensures anal and urinary continence The levator ani is more than a pelvic diaphragm: it is a truly dynamic pelvic floor. Its points of support on the stiff osseous frame allow it to retain the pelvic organs. The levator ani muscle seems to prevent anal prolapse during stress strain.

The use of fractal tones in tinnitus patient management

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Robert W Sweetow

2013-01-01

Full Text Available A variety of noises have been employed for decades in an effort to facilitate habituation, mask, or suppress tinnitus. Many of these sounds have reportedly provided benefit, but success has not been universal. More recently, musical stimuli have been added as a sound therapy component. The potential advantages of using such stimuli, in particular fractal tones, in combination with amplification are discussed in this paper.

Perception of Cantonese Lexical Tones by Pediatric Cochlear Implant Users

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Holt, Colleen M.; Lee, Kathy Y. S.; Dowell, Richard C.; Vogel, Adam P.

2018-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to assess Cantonese word recognition and the discrimination of Cantonese tones with manipulated contours by child and adolescent cochlear implant (CI) users and a group of peers with normal hearing (NH). It was hypothesized that the CI users would perform more poorly than their counterparts with NH in both…

Inhaled Lavandula angustifolia essential oil inhibits consolidation of contextual- but not tone-fear conditioning in rats.

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Coelho, Laura Segismundo; Correa-Netto, Nelson Francisco; Masukawa, Marcia Yuriko; Lima, Ariadiny Caetano; Maluf, Samia; Linardi, Alessandra; Santos-Junior, Jair Guilherme

2018-04-06

Although the current treatment for anxiety is effective, it promotes a number of adverse reactions and medical interactions. Inhaled essential oils have a prominent action on the central nervous system, with minimal systemic effects, primarily because of reduced systemic bioavailability. The effects of drugs on the consolidation of fear conditioning reflects its clinical efficacy in preventing a vicious cycle of anticipatory anxiety leading to fearful cognition and anxiety symptoms. In this study, we investigated the effects of inhaled Lavandula angustifolia essential oil on the consolidation of aversive memories and its influence on c-Fos expression. Adult male Wistar rats were subjected to a fear conditioning protocol. Immediately after the training session, the rats were exposed to vaporized water or essential oil (1%, 2.5% and 5% solutions) for 4h. The next day, the rats underwent contextual- or tone-fear tests and 90min after the test they were euthanized and their brains processed for c-Fos immunohistochemistry. In the contextual-fear test, essential oil at 2.5% and 5% (but not 1%) reduced the freezing response and its respective c-Fos expression in the ventral hippocampus and amygdala. In the tone-fear test, essential oil did not reduce the freezing response during tone presentation. However, rats that inhaled essential oil at 2.5% and 5% (but not 1%) showed decreased freezing in the three minutes after tone presentation, as well as reduced c-Fos expression in the prefrontal cortex and amygdala. These results show that the inhalation of L. angustifolia essential oil inhibited the consolidation of contextual- but not tone-fear conditioning and had an anxiolytic effect in a conditioned animal model of anxiety. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Effects of weightlessness on the muscle system. new results of simulation's studies

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Kozlovskaya, I. B.; Shenkman, B. S.; Grigoriev, A. I.

Results of studies of phenomenology and nature of the hypogravitational motor syndrome, provided at the Institute of Biomedical Problems of RAS, have shown that a decline of gravitational load is followed consistently by deep disturbances in all parts and structures of the motor system. An important role in their development plays the withdrawal of the support and, accordingly the decrease of the intensity of the support afferentation activities that provokes a decline of tonic motor units' activities and correspondingly a decline of the muscle tone in the first phase and the development of atrophic processes in slow fibers of antigravitational muscles in the second one (Kozlovskaya et.al., 1987). This hypothesis was tested in experiments with 7-hours and 7-days "dry immersion" (DI), in which effects of pure supportless environment and pure supportless environment coupled with mechanical stimulation of the support zones of the soles were compared. Stimulation with the pressure of 0,2 kg/sm^2 value to forefoot and heel support zones for 20 minutes every hour during 6 hours was applied daily in the regimen of slow and fast locomotion (pacing with the rate of 60 and 120 steps/min). The subjects exposed to the pure DI environment revealed after exposition a significant decline of the transverse stiffness and of the maximal isokinetic force of the leg postural muscles, a decrease of the postural muscles participation in the locomotions along with the increase of the phasic muscles' part, a significant decrease of the absolute force of m.soleus single skinned fibers evoked by Ca++, and an obvious decline of their transverse cross sectional areas as well as prominent disturbances of the activities of spinal and supraspinal motor control systems. Mechanical stimulation of the soles support zones eliminated all the above effects, minimizing the changes of the muscle stiffness and the maximal isokinetic force, taking away the signs of the isolated muscle fibers force decline

Relevance of 19th century continuous tone photomechanical printing techniques to digitally generated imagery

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Hoskins, Stephen; Thirkell, Paul

2003-01-01

Collotype and Woodburytype are late 19th early 20th century continuous tone methods of reproducing photography in print, which do not have an underlying dot structure. The aesthetic and tactile qualities produced by these methods at their best, have never been surpassed. Woodburytype is the only photomechanical print process using a printing matrix and ink, that is capable of rendering true continuous tone; it also has the characteristic of rendering a photographic image by mapping a three-dimensional surface topography. Collotype"s absence of an underlying dot structure enables an image to be printed in as many colours as desired without creating any form of interference structure. Research at the Centre for Fine Print Research, UWE Bristol aims to recreate these processes for artists and photographers and assess their potential to create a digitally generated image printed in full colour and continuous tone that will not fade or deteriorate. Through this research the Centre seeks to provide a context in which the development of current four-colour CMYK printing may be viewed as an expedient rather than a logical route for the development of colour printing within the framework of digitally generated hard copy paper output.

Cancer cachexia-induced muscle atrophy: evidence for alterations in microRNAs important for muscle size.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, David E; Brown, Jacob L; Rosa-Caldwell, Megan E; Blackwell, Thomas A; Perry, Richard A; Brown, Lemuel A; Khatri, Bhuwan; Seo, Dongwon; Bottje, Walter G; Washington, Tyrone A; Wiggs, Michael P; Kong, Byung-Whi; Greene, Nicholas P

2017-05-01

Muscle atrophy is a hallmark of cancer cachexia resulting in impaired function and quality of life and cachexia is the immediate cause of death for 20-40% of cancer patients. Multiple microRNAs (miRNAs) have been identified as being involved in muscle development and atrophy; however, less is known specifically on miRNAs in cancer cachexia. The purpose of this investigation was to examine the miRNA profile of skeletal muscle atrophy induced by cancer cachexia to uncover potential miRNAs involved with this catabolic condition. Phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) or Lewis lung carcinoma cells (LLC) were injected into C57BL/6J mice at 8 wk of age. LLC animals were allowed to develop tumors for 4 wk to induce cachexia. Tibialis anterior muscles were extracted and processed to isolate small RNAs, which were used for miRNA sequencing. Sequencing results were assembled with mature miRNAs, and functions of miRNAs were analyzed by Ingenuity Pathway Analysis. LLC animals developed tumors that contributed to significantly smaller tibialis anterior muscles (18.5%) and muscle cross-sectional area (40%) compared with PBS. We found 371 miRNAs to be present in the muscle above background levels. Of these, nine miRNAs were found to be differentially expressed. Significantly altered groups of miRNAs were categorized into primary functionalities including cancer, cell-to-cell signaling, and cellular development among others. Gene network analysis predicted specific alterations of factors contributing to muscle size including Akt, FOXO3, and others. These results create a foundation for future research into the sufficiency of targeting these genes to attenuate muscle loss in cancer cachexia. Copyright © 2017 the American Physiological Society.

Sheep skeletal muscle transcriptome analysis reveals muscle growth regulatory lncRNAs.

Science.gov (United States)

Chao, Tianle; Ji, Zhibin; Hou, Lei; Wang, Jin; Zhang, Chunlan; Wang, Guizhi; Wang, Jianmin

2018-01-01

As widely distributed domestic animals, sheep are an important species and the source of mutton. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the regulatory lncRNAs associated with muscle growth and development between high production mutton sheep (Dorper sheep and Qianhua Mutton Merino sheep) and low production mutton sheep (Small-tailed Han sheep). In total, 39 lncRNAs were found to be differentially expressed. Using co-expression analysis and functional annotation, 1,206 co-expression interactions were found between 32 lncRNAs and 369 genes, and 29 of these lncRNAs were found to be associated with muscle development, metabolism, cell proliferation and apoptosis. lncRNA-mRNA interactions revealed 6 lncRNAs as hub lncRNAs. Moreover, three lncRNAs and their associated co-expressed genes were demonstrated by cis-regulatory gene analyses, and we also found a potential regulatory relationship between the pseudogene lncRNA LOC101121401 and its parent gene FTH1. This study provides a genome-wide resolution of lncRNA and mRNA regulation in muscles from mutton sheep.

Consonants, vowels and tones across Vietnamese dialects.

Science.gov (United States)

PhȦm, Ben; McLeod, Sharynne

2016-04-01

Vietnamese is spoken by over 89 million people in Vietnam and it is one of the most commonly spoken languages other than English in the US, Canada and Australia. This study defines between one and nine different dialects of Vietnamese spoken in Vietnam. In Vietnamese schools, children learn Standard Vietnamese which is based on the northern dialect; however, if they live in other regions they may speak a different dialect at home. This paper describes the differences between the consonants, semivowels, vowels, diphthongs and tones for four dialects: Standard, northern, central and southern Vietnamese. The number and type of initial consonants differs per dialect (i.e. Standard = 23, northern = 20, central = 23, southern = 21). For example, the letter "r" is pronounced in the Standard and central dialects as the retroflex /ʐ/, northern dialect as the voiced alveolar fricative /z/ or the trilled /r/ and in the southern dialect as the voiced velar fricative /ɣ/. Additionally, the letter "v" is pronounced in the Standard, northern and central dialects as the voiced bilabial fricative /v/, the southern dialect as the voiced palatal approximant /j/ and in the lower northern dialect (Ninh Binh) as the voiceless bilabial fricative /f/. Similarly, the number of final consonants differs per dialect (i.e. Standard = 6, northern = 10, central = 10, southern = 8). Finally, the number and type of tones differs per dialect (i.e. Standard = 6, northern = 6, central = 5, southern = 5). Understanding differences between Vietnamese dialects is important so that speech-language pathologists and educators provide appropriate services to people who speak Vietnamese.

Developmental changes in mismatch responses to mandarin consonants and lexical tones from early to middle childhood.

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Huei-Mei Liu

Full Text Available The purpose of this study was to use mismatch responses (MMRs to explore the dynamic changes of Mandarin speech perception abilities from early to middle childhood. Twenty preschoolers, 18 school-aged children, and 26 adults participated in this study. Two sets of synthesized speech stimuli varying in Mandarin consonant (alveolo-palatal affricate vs. fricative and lexical tone features (rising vs. contour tone were used to examine the developmental course of speech perception abilities. The results indicated that only the adult group demonstrated typical early mismatch negativity (MMN responses, suggesting that the ability to discriminate specific speech cues in Mandarin consonant and lexical tone is a continuing process in preschool- and school-aged children. Additionally, distinct MMR patterns provided evidence indicating diverse developmental courses to different speech characteristics. By incorporating data from the two speech conditions, we propose using MMR profiles consisting of mismatch negativity (MMN, positive mismatch response (p-MMR, and late discriminative negativity (LDN as possible brain indices to investigate speech perception development.

TREK-1 Channel Expression in Smooth Muscle as a Target for Regulating Murine Intestinal Contractility: Therapeutic Implications for Motility Disorders

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Ruolin Ma

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Gastrointestinal (GI motility disorders such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS can occur when coordinated smooth muscle contractility is disrupted. Potassium (K+ channels regulate GI smooth muscle tone and are key to GI tract relaxation, but their molecular and functional phenotypes are poorly described. Here we define the expression and functional roles of mechano-gated K2P channels in mouse ileum and colon. Expression and distribution of the K2P channel family were investigated using quantitative RT-PCR (qPCR, immunohistochemistry and confocal microscopy. The contribution of mechano-gated K2P channels to mouse intestinal muscle tension was studied pharmacologically using organ bath. Multiple K2P gene transcripts were detected in mouse ileum and colon whole tissue preparations. Immunohistochemistry confirmed TREK-1 expression was smooth muscle specific in both ileum and colon, whereas TREK-2 and TRAAK channels were detected in enteric neurons but not smooth muscle. In organ bath, mechano-gated K2P channel activators (Riluzole, BL-1249, flufenamic acid, and cinnamyl 1-3,4-dihydroxy-alpha-cyanocinnamate induced relaxation of KCl and CCh pre-contracted ileum and colon tissues and reduced the amplitude of spontaneous contractions. These data reveal the specific expression of mechano-gated K2P channels in mouse ileum and colon tissues and highlight TREK-1, a smooth muscle specific K2P channel in GI tract, as a potential therapeutic target for combating motility pathologies arising from hyper-contractility.

An ERP study of good production vis-à-vis poor perception of tones in Cantonese: implications for top-down speech processing.

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Sam-Po Law

Full Text Available This study investigated a theoretically challenging dissociation between good production and poor perception of tones among neurologically unimpaired native speakers of Cantonese. The dissociation is referred to as the near-merger phenomenon in sociolinguistic studies of sound change. In a passive oddball paradigm, lexical and nonlexical syllables of the T1/T6 and T4/T6 contrasts were presented to elicit the mismatch negativity (MMN and P3a from two groups of participants, those who could produce and distinguish all tones in the language (Control and those who could produce all tones but specifically failed to distinguish between T4 and T6 in perception (Dissociation. The presence of MMN to T1/T6 and null response to T4/T6 of lexical syllables in the dissociation group confirmed the near-merger phenomenon. The observation that the control participants exhibited a statistically reliable MMN to lexical syllables of T1/T6, weaker responses to nonlexical syllables of T1/T6 and lexical syllables of T4/T6, and finally null response to nonlexical syllables of T4/T6, suggests the involvement of top-down processing in speech perception. Furthermore, the stronger P3a response of the control group, compared with the dissociation group in the same experimental conditions, may be taken to indicate higher cognitive capability in attention switching, auditory attention or memory in the control participants. This cognitive difference, together with our speculation that constant top-down predictions without complete bottom-up analysis of acoustic signals in speech recognition may reduce one's sensitivity to small acoustic contrasts, account for the occurrence of dissociation in some individuals but not others.

An ERP Study of Good Production vis-à-vis Poor Perception of Tones in Cantonese: Implications for Top-Down Speech Processing

Science.gov (United States)

Law, Sam-Po; Fung, Roxana; Kung, Carmen

2013-01-01

This study investigated a theoretically challenging dissociation between good production and poor perception of tones among neurologically unimpaired native speakers of Cantonese. The dissociation is referred to as the near-merger phenomenon in sociolinguistic studies of sound change. In a passive oddball paradigm, lexical and nonlexical syllables of the T1/T6 and T4/T6 contrasts were presented to elicit the mismatch negativity (MMN) and P3a from two groups of participants, those who could produce and distinguish all tones in the language (Control) and those who could produce all tones but specifically failed to distinguish between T4 and T6 in perception (Dissociation). The presence of MMN to T1/T6 and null response to T4/T6 of lexical syllables in the dissociation group confirmed the near-merger phenomenon. The observation that the control participants exhibited a statistically reliable MMN to lexical syllables of T1/T6, weaker responses to nonlexical syllables of T1/T6 and lexical syllables of T4/T6, and finally null response to nonlexical syllables of T4/T6, suggests the involvement of top-down processing in speech perception. Furthermore, the stronger P3a response of the control group, compared with the dissociation group in the same experimental conditions, may be taken to indicate higher cognitive capability in attention switching, auditory attention or memory in the control participants. This cognitive difference, together with our speculation that constant top-down predictions without complete bottom-up analysis of acoustic signals in speech recognition may reduce one’s sensitivity to small acoustic contrasts, account for the occurrence of dissociation in some individuals but not others. PMID:23342146

An ERP study of good production vis-à-vis poor perception of tones in Cantonese: implications for top-down speech processing.

Science.gov (United States)

Law, Sam-Po; Fung, Roxana; Kung, Carmen

2013-01-01

This study investigated a theoretically challenging dissociation between good production and poor perception of tones among neurologically unimpaired native speakers of Cantonese. The dissociation is referred to as the near-merger phenomenon in sociolinguistic studies of sound change. In a passive oddball paradigm, lexical and nonlexical syllables of the T1/T6 and T4/T6 contrasts were presented to elicit the mismatch negativity (MMN) and P3a from two groups of participants, those who could produce and distinguish all tones in the language (Control) and those who could produce all tones but specifically failed to distinguish between T4 and T6 in perception (Dissociation). The presence of MMN to T1/T6 and null response to T4/T6 of lexical syllables in the dissociation group confirmed the near-merger phenomenon. The observation that the control participants exhibited a statistically reliable MMN to lexical syllables of T1/T6, weaker responses to nonlexical syllables of T1/T6 and lexical syllables of T4/T6, and finally null response to nonlexical syllables of T4/T6, suggests the involvement of top-down processing in speech perception. Furthermore, the stronger P3a response of the control group, compared with the dissociation group in the same experimental conditions, may be taken to indicate higher cognitive capability in attention switching, auditory attention or memory in the control participants. This cognitive difference, together with our speculation that constant top-down predictions without complete bottom-up analysis of acoustic signals in speech recognition may reduce one's sensitivity to small acoustic contrasts, account for the occurrence of dissociation in some individuals but not others.

The oculomotor system of decapod cephalopods: eye muscles, eye muscle nerves, and the oculomotor neurons in the central nervous system.

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Budelmann, B U; Young, J Z

1993-04-29

Fourteen extraocular eye muscles are described in the decapods Loligo and Sepioteuthis, and thirteen in Sepia; they are supplied by four eye muscle nerves. The main action of most of the muscles is a linear movement of the eyeball, only three muscles produce strong rotations. The arrangement, innervation and action of the decapod eye muscles are compared with those of the seven eye muscles and seven eye muscle nerves in Octopus. The extra muscles in decapods are attached to the anterior and superior faces of the eyes. At least, the anterior muscles, and presumably also the superior muscles, are concerned with convergent eye movements for binocular vision during fixation and capture of prey by the tentacles. The remaining muscles are rather similar in the two cephalopod groups. In decapods, the anterior muscles include conjunctive muscles; these cross the midline and each presumably moves both eyes at the same time during fixation. In the squids Loligo and Sepioteuthis there is an additional superior conjunctive muscle of perhaps similar function. Some of the anterior muscles are associated with a narrow moveable plate, the trochlear cartilage; it is attached to the eyeball by trochlear membranes. Centripetal cobalt fillings showed that all four eye muscle nerves have fibres that originate from somata in the ipsilateral anterior lateral pedal lobe, which is the oculomotor centre. The somata of the individual nerves show different but overlapping distributions. Bundles of small presumably afferent fibres were seen in two of the four nerves. They do not enter the anterior lateral pedal lobe but run to the ventral magnocellular lobe; some afferent fibres enter the brachio-palliovisceral connective and run perhaps as far as the palliovisceral lobe.

Direct measurement of skeletal muscle fatigue in patients with chronic heart failure.

OpenAIRE

Buller, N P; Jones, D; Poole-Wilson, P A

1991-01-01

Skeletal muscle function was measured as force production and fatigue in both the quadriceps (a large locomotive muscle) and adductor pollicis (a small intrinsic hand muscle) in five healthy volunteers, five patients with mild chronic heart failure, and five patients with severe chronic heart failure. The quadriceps of patients with chronic heart failure had a reduced muscle cross sectional area, a reduced maximum isometric force production, and an increased tendency to fatigue. Isometric for...

Work behaviors of artificial muscle based on cation driven polypyrrole.

Science.gov (United States)

Fujisue, Hisashi; Sendai, Tomokazu; Yamato, Kentaro; Takashima, Wataru; Kaneto, Keiichi

2007-06-01

A soft actuator mimicking natural muscles (artificial muscle) has been developed using a flexible conducting polymer of polypyrrole films, which were driven by electrical stimulus in a saline solution. The work characteristics were studied under various load stresses and found to behave like natural muscles. The artificial muscles shrunk and stiffened by the positive electrical stimulus by 2-3% at the maximum force of 5 MPa, and relaxed by application of negative voltages. At larger load stresses, the artificial muscle shrunk slowly as natural muscles do. The driving current also lasted longer at larger loads, indicating that the muscle sensed the magnitude of the load stress. During contraction of the muscle, the conversion efficiency from the electrical input and mechanical output energies was estimated to be around 0.06%. The maximum volumetric work was approximately estimated to be 100 kJ m(-3). These figures are unexpectedly small compared with those of natural muscles.

The study of the co-rhyme of the level and oblique tones in the Ci%词调平仄通押考论

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

姚鹏举

2016-01-01

词调的平仄通押主要是受音乐及文学两种因素影响的结果。虽然平仄通押词调较少，却可分为多种类型，每种类型的原因各不相同。因为阶层的不同，词人创作的态度、能力及内容、受众的要求、趣味等都有不同，这些造成了诗客曲子词和民间市民词在平仄通押的表现形态并不相同。平仄通押是词曲共有的现象，不是区别词曲的标记。%The co-rhyme of the level and oblique tones in the Ci is mainly affected by music and literature. The number of this kind of Ci is small, but can be divided into a variety of types whose forming reasons are varied. Because of different social stratums, different poets have different creative attitudes, abilities, contents and audience’s requirements and taste are also different. So, there arise different manifestations of the co-rhyme of the level and oblique tones between poets and ordinary citizens in the Ci. The co-rhyme of the level and oblique tones is a common phenomenon rather than a diacritical mark in Ci and Qu.

Does caffeine alter muscle carbohydrate and fat metabolism during exercise?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Graham, Terry E; Battram, Danielle S; Dela, Flemming

2008-01-01

and carbohydrate metabolism. While caffeine certainly mobilizes fatty acids from adipose tissue, rarely have measures of the respiratory exchange ratio indicated an increase in fat oxidation. However, this is a difficult measure to perform accurately during exercise, and small changes could be physiologically...... important. The few studies examining human muscle metabolism directly have also supported the fact that there is no change in fat or carbohydrate metabolism, but these usually have had a small sample size. We combined the data from muscle biopsy analyses of several similar studies to generate a sample size...

The Role of Temporal Envelope and Fine Structure in Mandarin Lexical Tone Perception in Auditory Neuropathy Spectrum Disorder.

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Shuo Wang

Full Text Available Temporal information in a signal can be partitioned into temporal envelope (E and fine structure (FS. Fine structure is important for lexical tone perception for normal-hearing (NH listeners, and listeners with sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL have an impaired ability to use FS in lexical tone perception due to the reduced frequency resolution. The present study was aimed to assess which of the acoustic aspects (E or FS played a more important role in lexical tone perception in subjects with auditory neuropathy spectrum disorder (ANSD and to determine whether it was the deficit in temporal resolution or frequency resolution that might lead to more detrimental effects on FS processing in pitch perception. Fifty-eight native Mandarin Chinese-speaking subjects (27 with ANSD, 16 with SNHL, and 15 with NH were assessed for (1 their ability to recognize lexical tones using acoustic E or FS cues with the "auditory chimera" technique, (2 temporal resolution as measured with temporal gap detection (TGD threshold, and (3 frequency resolution as measured with the Q(10dB values of the psychophysical tuning curves. Overall, 26.5%, 60.2%, and 92.1% of lexical tone responses were consistent with FS cues for tone perception for listeners with ANSD, SNHL, and NH, respectively. The mean TGD threshold was significantly higher for listeners with ANSD (11.9 ms than for SNHL (4.0 ms; p < 0.001 and NH (3.9 ms; p < 0.001 listeners, with no significant difference between SNHL and NH listeners. In contrast, the mean Q(10dB for listeners with SNHL (1.8 ± 0.4 was significantly lower than that for ANSD (3.5 ± 1.0; p < 0.001 and NH (3.4 ± 0.9; p < 0.001 listeners, with no significant difference between ANSD and NH listeners. These results suggest that reduced temporal resolution, as opposed to reduced frequency selectivity, in ANSD subjects leads to greater degradation of FS processing for pitch perception.

Hearing Tests Based on Biologically Calibrated Mobile Devices: Comparison With Pure-Tone Audiometry.

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Masalski, Marcin; Grysiński, Tomasz; Kręcicki, Tomasz

2018-01-10

Hearing screening tests based on pure-tone audiometry may be conducted on mobile devices, provided that the devices are specially calibrated for the purpose. Calibration consists of determining the reference sound level and can be performed in relation to the hearing threshold of normal-hearing persons. In the case of devices provided by the manufacturer, together with bundled headphones, the reference sound level can be calculated once for all devices of the same model. This study aimed to compare the hearing threshold measured by a mobile device that was calibrated using a model-specific, biologically determined reference sound level with the hearing threshold obtained in pure-tone audiometry. Trial participants were recruited offline using face-to-face prompting from among Otolaryngology Clinic patients, who own Android-based mobile devices with bundled headphones. The hearing threshold was obtained on a mobile device by means of an open access app, Hearing Test, with incorporated model-specific reference sound levels. These reference sound levels were previously determined in uncontrolled conditions in relation to the hearing threshold of normal-hearing persons. An audiologist-assisted self-measurement was conducted by the participants in a sound booth, and it involved determining the lowest audible sound generated by the device within the frequency range of 250 Hz to 8 kHz. The results were compared with pure-tone audiometry. A total of 70 subjects, 34 men and 36 women, aged 18-71 years (mean 36, standard deviation [SD] 11) participated in the trial. The hearing threshold obtained on mobile devices was significantly different from the one determined by pure-tone audiometry with a mean difference of 2.6 dB (95% CI 2.0-3.1) and SD of 8.3 dB (95% CI 7.9-8.7). The number of differences not greater than 10 dB reached 89% (95% CI 88-91), whereas the mean absolute difference was obtained at 6.5 dB (95% CI 6.2-6.9). Sensitivity and specificity for a mobile

Constraints of Tones, Vowels and Consonants on Lexical Selection in Mandarin Chinese.

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Wiener, Seth; Turnbull, Rory

2016-03-01

Previous studies have shown that when speakers of European languages are asked to turn nonwords into words by altering either a vowel or consonant, they tend to treat vowels as more mutable than consonants. These results inspired the universal vowel mutability hypothesis: listeners learn to cope with vowel variability because vowel information constrains lexical selection less tightly and allows for more potential candidates than does consonant information. The present study extends the word reconstruction paradigm to Mandarin Chinese--a Sino-Tibetan language, which makes use of lexically contrastive tone. Native speakers listened to word-like nonwords (e.g., su3) and were asked to change them into words by manipulating a single consonant (e.g., tu3), vowel (e.g., si3), or tone (e.g., su4). Additionally, items were presented in a fourth condition in which participants could change any part. The participants' reaction times and responses were recorded. Results revealed that participants responded faster and more accurately in both the free response and the tonal change conditions. Unlike previous reconstruction studies on European languages, where vowels were changed faster and more often than consonants, these results demonstrate that, in Mandarin, changes to vowels and consonants were both overshadowed by changes to tone, which was the preferred modification to the stimulus nonwords, while changes to vowels were the slowest and least accurate. Our findings show that the universal vowel mutability hypothesis is not consistent with a tonal language, that Mandarin tonal information is lower-priority than consonants and vowels and that vowel information most tightly constrains Mandarin lexical access.

Small Bowel Follow-Through

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... Small bowel follow-through uses a form of real-time x-ray called fluoroscopy and a barium-based ... Dense bone absorbs much of the radiation while soft tissue, such as muscle, fat and organs, allow ...