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Sample records for voice pitch feedback

  1. Effects of voice harmonic complexity on ERP responses to pitch-shifted auditory feedback.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Behroozmand, Roozbeh; Korzyukov, Oleg; Larson, Charles R

    2011-12-01

    The present study investigated the neural mechanisms of voice pitch control for different levels of harmonic complexity in the auditory feedback. Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded in response to+200 cents pitch perturbations in the auditory feedback of self-produced natural human vocalizations, complex and pure tone stimuli during active vocalization and passive listening conditions. During active vocal production, ERP amplitudes were largest in response to pitch shifts in the natural voice, moderately large for non-voice complex stimuli and smallest for the pure tones. However, during passive listening, neural responses were equally large for pitch shifts in voice and non-voice complex stimuli but still larger than that for pure tones. These findings suggest that pitch change detection is facilitated for spectrally rich sounds such as natural human voice and non-voice complex stimuli compared with pure tones. Vocalization-induced increase in neural responses for voice feedback suggests that sensory processing of naturally-produced complex sounds such as human voice is enhanced by means of motor-driven mechanisms (e.g. efference copies) during vocal production. This enhancement may enable the audio-vocal system to more effectively detect and correct for vocal errors in the feedback of natural human vocalizations to maintain an intended vocal output for speaking. Copyright © 2011 International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  2. Sensory Processing: Advances in Understanding Structure and Function of Pitch-Shifted Auditory Feedback in Voice Control

    OpenAIRE

    Charles R Larson; Donald A Robin

    2016-01-01

    The pitch-shift paradigm has become a widely used method for studying the role of voice pitch auditory feedback in voice control. This paradigm introduces small, brief pitch shifts in voice auditory feedback to vocalizing subjects. The perturbations trigger a reflexive mechanism that counteracts the change in pitch. The underlying mechanisms of the vocal responses are thought to reflect a negative feedback control system that is similar to constructs developed to explain other forms of motor ...

  3. Sensory Processing: Advances in Understanding Structure and Function of Pitch-Shifted Auditory Feedback in Voice Control

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Charles R Larson

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available The pitch-shift paradigm has become a widely used method for studying the role of voice pitch auditory feedback in voice control. This paradigm introduces small, brief pitch shifts in voice auditory feedback to vocalizing subjects. The perturbations trigger a reflexive mechanism that counteracts the change in pitch. The underlying mechanisms of the vocal responses are thought to reflect a negative feedback control system that is similar to constructs developed to explain other forms of motor control. Another use of this technique requires subjects to voluntarily change the pitch of their voice when they hear a pitch shift stimulus. Under these conditions, short latency responses are produced that change voice pitch to match that of the stimulus. The pitch-shift technique has been used with magnetoencephalography (MEG and electroencephalography (EEG recordings, and has shown that at vocal onset there is normally a suppression of neural activity related to vocalization. However, if a pitch-shift is also presented at voice onset, there is a cancellation of this suppression, which has been interpreted to mean that one way in which a person distinguishes self-vocalization from vocalization of others is by a comparison of the intended voice and the actual voice. Studies of the pitch shift reflex in the fMRI environment show that the superior temporal gyrus (STG plays an important role in the process of controlling voice F0 based on auditory feedback. Additional studies using fMRI for effective connectivity modeling show that the left and right STG play critical roles in correcting for an error in voice production. While both the left and right STG are involved in this process, a feedback loop develops between left and right STG during perturbations, in which the left to right connection becomes stronger, and a new negative right to left connection emerges along with the emergence of other feedback loops within the cortical network tested.

  4. Error-dependent modulation of speech-induced auditory suppression for pitch-shifted voice feedback

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    Larson Charles R

    2011-06-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The motor-driven predictions about expected sensory feedback (efference copies have been proposed to play an important role in recognition of sensory consequences of self-produced motor actions. In the auditory system, this effect was suggested to result in suppression of sensory neural responses to self-produced voices that are predicted by the efference copies during vocal production in comparison with passive listening to the playback of the identical self-vocalizations. In the present study, event-related potentials (ERPs were recorded in response to upward pitch shift stimuli (PSS with five different magnitudes (0, +50, +100, +200 and +400 cents at voice onset during active vocal production and passive listening to the playback. Results Results indicated that the suppression of the N1 component during vocal production was largest for unaltered voice feedback (PSS: 0 cents, became smaller as the magnitude of PSS increased to 200 cents, and was almost completely eliminated in response to 400 cents stimuli. Conclusions Findings of the present study suggest that the brain utilizes the motor predictions (efference copies to determine the source of incoming stimuli and maximally suppresses the auditory responses to unaltered feedback of self-vocalizations. The reduction of suppression for 50, 100 and 200 cents and its elimination for 400 cents pitch-shifted voice auditory feedback support the idea that motor-driven suppression of voice feedback leads to distinctly different sensory neural processing of self vs. non-self vocalizations. This characteristic may enable the audio-vocal system to more effectively detect and correct for unexpected errors in the feedback of self-produced voice pitch compared with externally-generated sounds.

  5. Error-dependent modulation of speech-induced auditory suppression for pitch-shifted voice feedback.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Behroozmand, Roozbeh; Larson, Charles R

    2011-06-06

    The motor-driven predictions about expected sensory feedback (efference copies) have been proposed to play an important role in recognition of sensory consequences of self-produced motor actions. In the auditory system, this effect was suggested to result in suppression of sensory neural responses to self-produced voices that are predicted by the efference copies during vocal production in comparison with passive listening to the playback of the identical self-vocalizations. In the present study, event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded in response to upward pitch shift stimuli (PSS) with five different magnitudes (0, +50, +100, +200 and +400 cents) at voice onset during active vocal production and passive listening to the playback. Results indicated that the suppression of the N1 component during vocal production was largest for unaltered voice feedback (PSS: 0 cents), became smaller as the magnitude of PSS increased to 200 cents, and was almost completely eliminated in response to 400 cents stimuli. Findings of the present study suggest that the brain utilizes the motor predictions (efference copies) to determine the source of incoming stimuli and maximally suppresses the auditory responses to unaltered feedback of self-vocalizations. The reduction of suppression for 50, 100 and 200 cents and its elimination for 400 cents pitch-shifted voice auditory feedback support the idea that motor-driven suppression of voice feedback leads to distinctly different sensory neural processing of self vs. non-self vocalizations. This characteristic may enable the audio-vocal system to more effectively detect and correct for unexpected errors in the feedback of self-produced voice pitch compared with externally-generated sounds.

  6. Analysis of the Auditory Feedback and Phonation in Normal Voices.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arbeiter, Mareike; Petermann, Simon; Hoppe, Ulrich; Bohr, Christopher; Doellinger, Michael; Ziethe, Anke

    2018-02-01

    The aim of this study was to investigate the auditory feedback mechanisms and voice quality during phonation in response to a spontaneous pitch change in the auditory feedback. Does the pitch shift reflex (PSR) change voice pitch and voice quality? Quantitative and qualitative voice characteristics were analyzed during the PSR. Twenty-eight healthy subjects underwent transnasal high-speed video endoscopy (HSV) at 8000 fps during sustained phonation [a]. While phonating, the subjects heard their sound pitched up for 700 cents (interval of a fifth), lasting 300 milliseconds in their auditory feedback. The electroencephalography (EEG), acoustic voice signal, electroglottography (EGG), and high-speed-videoendoscopy (HSV) were analyzed to compare feedback mechanisms for the pitched and unpitched condition of the phonation paradigm statistically. Furthermore, quantitative and qualitative voice characteristics were analyzed. The PSR was successfully detected within all signals of the experimental tools (EEG, EGG, acoustic voice signal, HSV). A significant increase of the perturbation measures and an increase of the values of the acoustic parameters during the PSR were observed, especially for the audio signal. The auditory feedback mechanism seems not only to control for voice pitch but also for voice quality aspects.

  7. Integrating cues of social interest and voice pitch in men's preferences for women's voices.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jones, Benedict C; Feinberg, David R; Debruine, Lisa M; Little, Anthony C; Vukovic, Jovana

    2008-04-23

    Most previous studies of vocal attractiveness have focused on preferences for physical characteristics of voices such as pitch. Here we examine the content of vocalizations in interaction with such physical traits, finding that vocal cues of social interest modulate the strength of men's preferences for raised pitch in women's voices. Men showed stronger preferences for raised pitch when judging the voices of women who appeared interested in the listener than when judging the voices of women who appeared relatively disinterested in the listener. These findings show that voice preferences are not determined solely by physical properties of voices and that men integrate information about voice pitch and the degree of social interest expressed by women when forming voice preferences. Women's preferences for raised pitch in women's voices were not modulated by cues of social interest, suggesting that the integration of cues of social interest and voice pitch when men judge the attractiveness of women's voices may reflect adaptations that promote efficient allocation of men's mating effort.

  8. Discriminating male and female voices: differentiating pitch and gender.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Latinus, Marianne; Taylor, Margot J

    2012-04-01

    Gender is salient, socially critical information obtained from faces and voices, yet the brain processes underlying gender discrimination have not been well studied. We investigated neural correlates of gender processing of voices in two ERP studies. In the first, ERP differences were seen between female and male voices starting at 87 ms, in both spatial-temporal and peak analyses, particularly the fronto-central N1 and P2. As pitch differences may drive gender differences, the second study used normal, high- and low-pitch voices. The results of these studies suggested that differences in pitch produced early effects (27-63 ms). Gender effects were seen on N1 (120 ms) with implicit pitch processing (study 1), but were not seen with manipulations of pitch (study 2), demonstrating that N1 was modulated by attention. P2 (between 170 and 230 ms) discriminated male from female voices, independent of pitch. Thus, these data show that there are two stages in voice gender processing; a very early pitch or frequency discrimination and a later more accurate determination of gender at the P2 latency.

  9. Vocal Pitch Shift in Congenital Amusia (Pitch Deafness)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hutchins, Sean; Peretz, Isabelle

    2013-01-01

    We tested whether congenital amusics, who exhibit pitch perception deficits, nevertheless adjust the pitch of their voice in response to a sudden pitch shift applied to vocal feedback. Nine amusics and matched controls imitated their own previously-recorded speech or singing, while the online feedback they received was shifted mid-utterance by 25…

  10. Integrating cues of social interest and voice pitch in men's preferences for women's voices

    OpenAIRE

    Jones, Benedict C; Feinberg, David R; DeBruine, Lisa M; Little, Anthony C; Vukovic, Jovana

    2008-01-01

    Most previous studies of vocal attractiveness have focused on preferences for physical characteristics of voices such as pitch. Here we examine the content of vocalizations in interaction with such physical traits, finding that vocal cues of social interest modulate the strength of men's preferences for raised pitch in women's voices. Men showed stronger preferences for raised pitch when judging the voices of women who appeared interested in the listener than when judging the voices of women ...

  11. Voice pitch influences perceptions of sexual infidelity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    O'Connor, Jillian J M; Re, Daniel E; Feinberg, David R

    2011-02-28

    Sexual infidelity can be costly to members of both the extra-pair and the paired couple. Thus, detecting infidelity risk is potentially adaptive if it aids in avoiding cuckoldry or loss of parental and relationship investment. Among men, testosterone is inversely related to voice pitch, relationship and offspring investment, and is positively related to the pursuit of short-term relationships, including extra-pair sex. Among women, estrogen is positively related to voice pitch, attractiveness, and the likelihood of extra-pair involvement. Although prior work has demonstrated a positive relationship between men's testosterone levels and infidelity, this study is the first to investigate attributions of infidelity as a function of sexual dimorphism in male and female voices. We found that men attributed high infidelity risk to feminized women's voices, but not significantly more often than did women. Women attributed high infidelity risk to masculinized men's voices at significantly higher rates than did men. These data suggest that voice pitch is used as an indicator of sexual strategy in addition to underlying mate value. The aforementioned attributions may be adaptive if they prevent cuckoldry and/or loss of parental and relationship investment via avoidance of partners who may be more likely to be unfaithful.

  12. Voice Pitch Influences Perceptions of Sexual Infidelity

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    Jillian J.M. O'Connor

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available Sexual infidelity can be costly to members of both the extra-pair and the paired couple. Thus, detecting infidelity risk is potentially adaptive if it aids in avoiding cuckoldry or loss of parental and relationship investment. Among men, testosterone is inversely related to voice pitch, relationship and offspring investment, and is positively related to the pursuit of short-term relationships, including extra-pair sex. Among women, estrogen is positively related to voice pitch, attractiveness, and the likelihood of extra-pair involvement. Although prior work has demonstrated a positive relationship between men's testosterone levels and infidelity, this study is the first to investigate attributions of infidelity as a function of sexual dimorphism in male and female voices. We found that men attributed high infidelity risk to feminized women's voices, but not significantly more often than did women. Women attributed high infidelity risk to masculinized men's voices at significantly higher rates than did men. These data suggest that voice pitch is used as an indicator of sexual strategy in addition to underlying mate value. The aforementioned attributions may be adaptive if they prevent cuckoldry and/or loss of parental and relationship investment via avoidance of partners who may be more likely to be unfaithful.

  13. Left-hemisphere activation is associated with enhanced vocal pitch error detection in musicians with absolute pitch

    Science.gov (United States)

    Behroozmand, Roozbeh; Ibrahim, Nadine; Korzyukov, Oleg; Robin, Donald A.; Larson, Charles R.

    2014-01-01

    The ability to process auditory feedback for vocal pitch control is crucial during speaking and singing. Previous studies have suggested that musicians with absolute pitch (AP) develop specialized left-hemisphere mechanisms for pitch processing. The present study adopted an auditory feedback pitch perturbation paradigm combined with ERP recordings to test the hypothesis whether the neural mechanisms of the left-hemisphere enhance vocal pitch error detection and control in AP musicians compared with relative pitch (RP) musicians and non-musicians (NM). Results showed a stronger N1 response to pitch-shifted voice feedback in the right-hemisphere for both AP and RP musicians compared with the NM group. However, the left-hemisphere P2 component activation was greater in AP and RP musicians compared with NMs and also for the AP compared with RP musicians. The NM group was slower in generating compensatory vocal reactions to feedback pitch perturbation compared with musicians, and they failed to re-adjust their vocal pitch after the feedback perturbation was removed. These findings suggest that in the earlier stages of cortical neural processing, the right hemisphere is more active in musicians for detecting pitch changes in voice feedback. In the later stages, the left-hemisphere is more active during the processing of auditory feedback for vocal motor control and seems to involve specialized mechanisms that facilitate pitch processing in the AP compared with RP musicians. These findings indicate that the left hemisphere mechanisms of AP ability are associated with improved auditory feedback pitch processing during vocal pitch control in tasks such as speaking or singing. PMID:24355545

  14. Multilingual evaluation of voice disability index using pitch rate

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shuji Shinohara

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available We propose the use of the pitch rate of free-form speech recorded by smartphones as an index of voice disability. This research compares the effectiveness of pitch rate, jitter, shimmer, and harmonic-to-noise ratio (HNR as indices of voice disability in English, German, and Japanese. Normally, the evaluation of these indices is performed using long-vowel sounds; however, this study included the recitation of a set passage, which is more similar to free-form speech. The results showed that for English, the jitter, shimmer, and HNR were very effective indices for long-vowel sounds, but the shimmer and HNR for read speech were considerably worse. Although the effectiveness of jitter as an index was maintained for read speech, the pitch rate was better in distinguishing between healthy individuals and patients with illnesses affecting their voice. The read speech results in German, Japanese, and English were similar, and the pitch rate showed the greatest efficiency for identification. Nevertheless, compared to English, the identification efficiency for the other two languages was lower.

  15. Sounds like a winner: voice pitch influences perception of leadership capacity in both men and women.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Klofstad, Casey A; Anderson, Rindy C; Peters, Susan

    2012-07-07

    It is well known that non-human animals respond to information encoded in vocal signals, and the same can be said of humans. Specifically, human voice pitch affects how speakers are perceived. As such, does voice pitch affect how we perceive and select our leaders? To answer this question, we recorded men and women saying 'I urge you to vote for me this November'. Each recording was manipulated digitally to yield a higher- and lower-pitched version of the original. We then asked men and women to vote for either the lower- or higher-pitched version of each voice. Our results show that both men and women select male and female leaders with lower voices. These findings suggest that men and women with lower-pitched voices may be more successful in obtaining positions of leadership. This might also suggest that because women, on average, have higher-pitched voices than men, voice pitch could be a factor that contributes to fewer women holding leadership roles than men. Additionally, while people are free to choose their leaders, these results clearly demonstrate that these choices cannot be understood in isolation from biological influences.

  16. Politeness, emotion, and gender: A sociophonetic study of voice pitch modulation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yuasa, Ikuko

    The present dissertation is a cross-gender and cross-cultural sociophonetic exploration of voice pitch characteristics utilizing speech data derived from Japanese and American speakers in natural conversations. The roles of voice pitch modulation in terms of the concepts of politeness and emotion as they pertain to culture and gender will be investigated herein. The research interprets the significance of my findings based on the acoustic measurements of speech data as they are presented in the ERB-rate scale (the most appropriate scale for human speech perception). The investigation reveals that pitch range modulation displayed by Japanese informants in two types of conversations is closely linked to types of politeness adopted by those informants. The degree of the informants' emotional involvement and expressions reflected in differing pitch range widths plays an important role in determining the relationship between pitch range modulation and politeness. The study further correlates the Japanese cultural concept of enryo ("self-restraint") with this phenomenon. When median values were examined, male and female pitch ranges across cultures did not conspicuously differ. However, sporadically occurring women's pitch characteristics which culturally differ in width and height of pitch ranges may create an 'emotional' perception of women's speech style. The salience of these pitch characteristics appears to be the source of the stereotypically linked sound of women's speech being identified as 'swoopy' or 'shrill' and thus 'emotional'. Such women's salient voice characteristics are interpreted in light of camaraderie/positive politeness. Women's use of conspicuous paralinguistic features helps to create an atmosphere of camaraderie. These voice pitch characteristics promote the establishment of a sense of camaraderie since they act to emphasize such feelings as concern, support, and comfort towards addressees, Moreover, men's wide pitch ranges are discussed in view

  17. Membandingkan Tingkat Kemiripan Rekaman Voice Changer Menggunakan Analisis Pitch, Formant dan Spectogram

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    Ahmad Subki

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available Audio forensik merupakan salah satu ilmu yang mnyandingkan antara ilmu pengetahuan dan metode ilmiah dalam proses analisis rekaman suara untuk membantu dan mendukung pengungkapan suatu tindak kejahatan yang diperlukan dalam proses persidangan. Undang-undang ITE No.19 Tahun 2016 menyebutkan bahwa rekaman suara merupakan salah satu alat bukti digital yang sah dan dapat digunakan sebagai penguat dakwaan. Rekaman suara yang merupakan barang bukti digital sangatlah mudah dan rentan dimanipulasi, baik secara sengaja maupun tidak disengaja. Pada penelitian ini dilakukan analisis terkait tingkat kemiripan antara rekaman suara voice changer dengan rekaman suara asli menggunakan analisis pitch, formant dan spectogram, rekaman suara yang dianalisis ada dua jenis rekaman suara yaitu suara laki-laki dan suara perempuan. Rekaman suara voice changer  dan rekaman suara asli, diekstrak menggunakan tools praat kemudian informasi yang diperoleh dianalisis dengan analisis statistik pitch, formant dan spectrogrammenggunakan tools gnumeric. Penelitian ini menghasilkan bahwa analisis rekaman suara voice changer dengan rekaman suara asli dapat menggunakan analisis statistik pitch, formant dan spectrogram, rekaman suara voice changer A memiliki tingkat kemiripan yang paling tinggi dengan rekaman suara asli pada posisi low pitch, sedangkan voice changer yang lain lebih sulit untuk diidentifikasi.

  18. Spectral Envelope Transformation in Singing Voice for Advanced Pitch Shifting

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    José L. Santacruz

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available The aim of the present work is to perform a step towards more natural pitch shifting techniques in singing voice for its application in music production and entertainment systems. In this paper, we present an advanced method to achieve natural modifications when applying a pitch shifting process to singing voice by modifying the spectral envelope of the audio excerpt. To this end, an all-pole model has been selected to model the spectral envelope, which is estimated using a constrained non-linear optimization. The analysis of the global variations of the spectral envelope was carried out by identifying changes of the parameters of the model along with the changes of the pitch. With the obtained spectral envelope transformation functions, we applied our pitch shifting scheme to some sustained vowels in order to compare results with the same transformation made by using the Flex Pitch plugin of Logic Pro X and pitch synchronous overlap and add technique (PSOLA. This comparison has been carried out by means of both an objective and a subjective evaluation. The latter was done with a survey open to volunteers on our website.

  19. Promoting Increased Pitch Variation in Oral Presentations with Transient Visual Feedback

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    Rebecca Hincks

    2009-10-01

    Full Text Available This paper investigates learner response to a novel kind of intonation feedback generated from speech analysis. Instead of displays of pitch curves, our feedback is flashing lights that show how much pitch variation the speaker has produced. The variable used to generate the feedback is the standard deviation of fundamental frequency as measured in semitones. Flat speech causes the system to show yellow lights, while more expressive speech that has used pitch to give focus to any part of an utterance generates green lights. Participants in the study were 14 Chinese students of English at intermediate and advanced levels. A group that received visual feedback was compared with a group that received audio feedback. Pitch variation was measured at four stages: in a baseline oral presentation; for the first and second halves of three hours of training; and finally in the production of a new oral presentation. Both groups increased their pitch variation with training, and the effect lasted after the training had ended. The test group showed a significantly higher increase than the control group, indicating that the feedback is effective. These positive results imply that the feedback could be beneficially used in a system for practicing oral presentations.

  20. Pitch Tracking and Voiced/Unvoiced Detection in Noisy Environment using Optimat Sequence Estimation

    OpenAIRE

    Wasserblat, Moshe; Gainza, Mikel; Dorran, David; Domb, Yuval

    2008-01-01

    This paper addresses the problem of pitch tracking and voiced/unvoiced detection in noisy speech environments. An algorithm is presented which uses a number of variable thresholds to track pitch contour with minimal error. This is achieved by modeling the pitch tracking problem in such a way that allows the use of optimal estimation methods, such MLSE. The performance of the algorithm is evaluated using the Keele pitch detection database with realistic background noise. Results show best perf...

  1. Presidential, But Not Prime Minister, Candidates With Lower Pitched Voices Stand a Better Chance of Winning the Election in Conservative Countries.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Banai, Benjamin; Laustsen, Lasse; Banai, Irena Pavela; Bovan, Kosta

    2018-01-01

    Previous studies have shown that voters rely on sexually dimorphic traits that signal masculinity and dominance when they choose political leaders. For example, voters exert strong preferences for candidates with lower pitched voices because these candidates are perceived as stronger and more competent. Moreover, experimental studies demonstrate that conservative voters, more than liberals, prefer political candidates with traits that signal dominance, probably because conservatives are more likely to perceive the world as a threatening place and to be more attentive to dangerous and threatening contexts. In light of these findings, this study investigates whether country-level ideology influences the relationship between candidate voice pitch and electoral outcomes of real elections. Specifically, we collected voice pitch data for presidential and prime minister candidates, aggregate national ideology for the countries in which the candidates were nominated, and measures of electoral outcomes for 69 elections held across the world. In line with previous studies, we found that candidates with lower pitched voices received more votes and had greater likelihood of winning the elections. Furthermore, regression analysis revealed an interaction between candidate voice pitch, national ideology, and election type (presidential or parliamentary). That is, having a lower pitched voice was a particularly valuable asset for presidential candidates in conservative and right-leaning countries (in comparison to presidential candidates in liberal and left-leaning countries and parliamentary elections). We discuss the practical implications of these findings, and how they relate to existing research on candidates' voices, voting preferences, and democratic elections in general.

  2. Vote Choice, Ideology, and Social Dominance Orientation Influence Preferences for Lower Pitched Voices in Political Candidates

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Laustsen, Lasse; Petersen, Michael Bang; A. Klofstad, Casey

    2015-01-01

    Humans are equipped with a psychological system of followership that evolved to regulate choices of leaders based partly on would-be leaders’ physiological features. One such feature is voice pitch, which is determined by the physiology of the throat. Recent studies find that political candidates...... these findings by demonstrating that conservatives and Republicans tend to view the world as much more competitive and threatening than liberals and Democrats. We utilize two existing data sources to show that political candidates with lower-pitched voices are preferred more among conservative Republicans than...

  3. Making social robots more attractive: the effects of voice pitch, humor and empathy

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Niculescu, A.I.; Ge, S.S.; van Dijk, Elisabeth M.A.G.; Nijholt, Antinus; Li, Haizhou; See, Swan Lan

    2013-01-01

    In this paper we explore how simple auditory/verbal features of the spoken language, such as voice characteristics (pitch) and language cues (empathy/humor expression) influence the quality of interaction with a social robot receptionist. For our experiment two robot characters were created: Olivia,

  4. Selective and divided attention modulates auditory-vocal integration in the processing of pitch feedback errors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Ying; Hu, Huijing; Jones, Jeffery A; Guo, Zhiqiang; Li, Weifeng; Chen, Xi; Liu, Peng; Liu, Hanjun

    2015-08-01

    Speakers rapidly adjust their ongoing vocal productions to compensate for errors they hear in their auditory feedback. It is currently unclear what role attention plays in these vocal compensations. This event-related potential (ERP) study examined the influence of selective and divided attention on the vocal and cortical responses to pitch errors heard in auditory feedback regarding ongoing vocalisations. During the production of a sustained vowel, participants briefly heard their vocal pitch shifted up two semitones while they actively attended to auditory or visual events (selective attention), or both auditory and visual events (divided attention), or were not told to attend to either modality (control condition). The behavioral results showed that attending to the pitch perturbations elicited larger vocal compensations than attending to the visual stimuli. Moreover, ERPs were likewise sensitive to the attentional manipulations: P2 responses to pitch perturbations were larger when participants attended to the auditory stimuli compared to when they attended to the visual stimuli, and compared to when they were not explicitly told to attend to either the visual or auditory stimuli. By contrast, dividing attention between the auditory and visual modalities caused suppressed P2 responses relative to all the other conditions and caused enhanced N1 responses relative to the control condition. These findings provide strong evidence for the influence of attention on the mechanisms underlying the auditory-vocal integration in the processing of pitch feedback errors. In addition, selective attention and divided attention appear to modulate the neurobehavioral processing of pitch feedback errors in different ways. © 2015 Federation of European Neuroscience Societies and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  5. VLSI implementation of an AMDF pitch detector

    OpenAIRE

    Smith, Tony; Gittel, Falko; Schwarzbacher, Andreas; Hilt, E.; Timoney, Joseph

    2003-01-01

    Pitch detectors are used in a variety of speech processing applications such as speech recognition systems where the pitch of the speaker is used as one parameter for identification purposes. Furthermore, pitch detectors are also sued with adaptive filters to achieve high quality adaptive noise cancellation of speech signals. In voice conversion systems, pitch detection is an essential step since the pitch of the modified signal is altered to model the target voice. This paper describes a ...

  6. Singing ability is rooted in vocal-motor control of pitch.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hutchins, Sean; Larrouy-Maestri, Pauline; Peretz, Isabelle

    2014-11-01

    The inability to vocally match a pitch can be caused by poor pitch perception or by poor vocal-motor control. Although previous studies have tried to examine the relationship between pitch perception and vocal production, they have failed to control for the timbre of the target to be matched. In the present study, we compare pitch-matching accuracy with an unfamiliar instrument (the slider) and with the voice, designed such that the slider plays back recordings of the participant's own voice. We also measured pitch accuracy in singing a familiar melody ("Happy Birthday") to assess the relationship between single-pitch-matching tasks and melodic singing. Our results showed that participants (all nonmusicians) were significantly better at matching recordings of their own voices with the slider than with their voice, indicating that vocal-motor control is an important limiting factor on singing ability. We also found significant correlations between the ability to sing a melody in tune and vocal pitch matching, but not pitch matching on the slider. Better melodic singers also tended to have higher quality voices (as measured by acoustic variables). These results provide important evidence about the role of vocal-motor control in poor singing ability and demonstrate that single-pitch-matching tasks can be useful in measuring general singing abilities.

  7. Your Cheatin' Voice Will Tell on You: Detection of Past Infidelity from Voice.

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    Hughes, Susan M; Harrison, Marissa A

    2017-01-01

    Evidence suggests that many physical, behavioral, and trait qualities can be detected solely from the sound of a person's voice, irrespective of the semantic information conveyed through speech. This study examined whether raters could accurately assess the likelihood that a person has cheated on committed, romantic partners simply by hearing the speaker's voice. Independent raters heard voice samples of individuals who self-reported that they either cheated or had never cheated on their romantic partners. To control for aspects that may clue a listener to the speaker's mate value, we used voice samples that did not differ between these groups for voice attractiveness, age, voice pitch, and other acoustic measures. We found that participants indeed rated the voices of those who had a history of cheating as more likely to cheat. Male speakers were given higher ratings for cheating, while female raters were more likely to ascribe the likelihood to cheat to speakers. Additionally, we manipulated the pitch of the voice samples, and for both sexes, the lower pitched versions were consistently rated to be from those who were more likely to have cheated. Regardless of the pitch manipulation, speakers were able to assess actual history of infidelity; the one exception was that men's accuracy decreased when judging women whose voices were lowered. These findings expand upon the idea that the human voice may be of value as a cheater detection tool and very thin slices of vocal information are all that is needed to make certain assessments about others.

  8. Pitch modelling for the Nguni languages

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Govender, N

    2007-06-01

    Full Text Available Govender ngovender@csir.co.za, Etienne Barnard ebarnard@csir.co.za, Marelie Davel mdavel@csir.co.za by varying the levels of pitch, intensity and duration in the voice. An overview of intonation as observed in a variety of languages is provided in [1... nature of laryngograph data in voiced speech) and thus either could be used as the basis for the experiments. The pitch values extracted by Yin for all the laryngograph databases was consequently used as the basis for our comparisons. Pitch...

  9. A Novel Pitch Control System of a Large Wind Turbine Using Two-Degree-of-Freedom Motion Control with Feedback Linearization Control

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ching-Sung Wang

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available Pitch Control plays a significant role for a large wind turbine. This study investigates a novel robust hydraulic pitch control system of a large wind turbine. The novel hydraulic pitch control system is driven by a novel high efficiency and high response hydraulic servo system. The pitch controller, designed by two degree-of-freedom (2-DOF motion control with feedback linearization, is developed to enhance the controllability and stability of the pitch control system. Furthermore, the full-scale testbed of the hydraulic pitch control system of a large wind turbine is developed for practically experimental verification. Besides, the wind turbine simulation software FAST is used to analyze the motion of the blade which results are given to the testbed as the disturbance load command. The 2-DOF pitch controller contains a feedforward controller with feedback linearization theory to overcome the nonlinearities of the system and a feedback controller to improve the system robustness for achieving the disturbance rejection. Consequently, the novel hydraulic pitch control system shows excellent path tracking performance in the experiments. Moreover, the robustness test with a simulated disturbance load generated by FAST is performed to validate the reliability of the proposed pitch control system.

  10. Absolute pitch: effects of timbre on note-naming ability.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vanzella, Patrícia; Schellenberg, E Glenn

    2010-11-11

    Absolute pitch (AP) is the ability to identify or produce isolated musical tones. It is evident primarily among individuals who started music lessons in early childhood. Because AP requires memory for specific pitches as well as learned associations with verbal labels (i.e., note names), it represents a unique opportunity to study interactions in memory between linguistic and nonlinguistic information. One untested hypothesis is that the pitch of voices may be difficult for AP possessors to identify. A musician's first instrument may also affect performance and extend the sensitive period for acquiring accurate AP. A large sample of AP possessors was recruited on-line. Participants were required to identity test tones presented in four different timbres: piano, pure tone, natural (sung) voice, and synthesized voice. Note-naming accuracy was better for non-vocal (piano and pure tones) than for vocal (natural and synthesized voices) test tones. This difference could not be attributed solely to vibrato (pitch variation), which was more pronounced in the natural voice than in the synthesized voice. Although starting music lessons by age 7 was associated with enhanced note-naming accuracy, equivalent abilities were evident among listeners who started music lessons on piano at a later age. Because the human voice is inextricably linked to language and meaning, it may be processed automatically by voice-specific mechanisms that interfere with note naming among AP possessors. Lessons on piano or other fixed-pitch instruments appear to enhance AP abilities and to extend the sensitive period for exposure to music in order to develop accurate AP.

  11. Absolute pitch: effects of timbre on note-naming ability.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Patrícia Vanzella

    2010-11-01

    Full Text Available Absolute pitch (AP is the ability to identify or produce isolated musical tones. It is evident primarily among individuals who started music lessons in early childhood. Because AP requires memory for specific pitches as well as learned associations with verbal labels (i.e., note names, it represents a unique opportunity to study interactions in memory between linguistic and nonlinguistic information. One untested hypothesis is that the pitch of voices may be difficult for AP possessors to identify. A musician's first instrument may also affect performance and extend the sensitive period for acquiring accurate AP.A large sample of AP possessors was recruited on-line. Participants were required to identity test tones presented in four different timbres: piano, pure tone, natural (sung voice, and synthesized voice. Note-naming accuracy was better for non-vocal (piano and pure tones than for vocal (natural and synthesized voices test tones. This difference could not be attributed solely to vibrato (pitch variation, which was more pronounced in the natural voice than in the synthesized voice. Although starting music lessons by age 7 was associated with enhanced note-naming accuracy, equivalent abilities were evident among listeners who started music lessons on piano at a later age.Because the human voice is inextricably linked to language and meaning, it may be processed automatically by voice-specific mechanisms that interfere with note naming among AP possessors. Lessons on piano or other fixed-pitch instruments appear to enhance AP abilities and to extend the sensitive period for exposure to music in order to develop accurate AP.

  12. Unfamiliar voice identification: Effect of post-event information on accuracy and voice ratings

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Harriet Mary Jessica Smith

    2014-04-01

    Full Text Available This study addressed the effect of misleading post-event information (PEI on voice ratings, identification accuracy, and confidence, as well as the link between verbal recall and accuracy. Participants listened to a dialogue between male and female targets, then read misleading information about voice pitch. Participants engaged in verbal recall, rated voices on a feature checklist, and made a lineup decision. Accuracy rates were low, especially on target-absent lineups. Confidence and accuracy were unrelated, but the number of facts recalled about the voice predicted later lineup accuracy. There was a main effect of misinformation on ratings of target voice pitch, but there was no effect on identification accuracy or confidence ratings. As voice lineup evidence from earwitnesses is used in courts, the findings have potential applied relevance.

  13. Preference for leaders with masculine voices holds in the case of feminine leadership roles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anderson, Rindy C; Klofstad, Casey A

    2012-01-01

    Human voice pitch research has focused on perceptions of attractiveness, strength, and social dominance. Here we examine the influence of pitch on selection of leaders, and whether this influence varies by leadership role. Male and female leaders with lower-pitched (i.e., masculine) voices are generally preferred by both men and women. We asked whether this preference shifts to favor higher-pitch (i.e., feminine) voices within the specific context of leadership positions that are typically held by women (i.e., feminine leadership roles). In hypothetical elections for two such positions, men and women listened to pairs of male and female voices that differed only in pitch, and were asked which of each pair they would vote for. As in previous studies, men and women preferred female candidates with masculine voices. Likewise, men preferred men with masculine voices. Women, however, did not discriminate between male voices. Overall, contrary to research showing that perceptions of voice pitch can be influenced by social context, these results suggest that the influence of voice pitch on perceptions of leadership capacity is largely consistent across different domains of leadership.

  14. Preference for leaders with masculine voices holds in the case of feminine leadership roles.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rindy C Anderson

    Full Text Available Human voice pitch research has focused on perceptions of attractiveness, strength, and social dominance. Here we examine the influence of pitch on selection of leaders, and whether this influence varies by leadership role. Male and female leaders with lower-pitched (i.e., masculine voices are generally preferred by both men and women. We asked whether this preference shifts to favor higher-pitch (i.e., feminine voices within the specific context of leadership positions that are typically held by women (i.e., feminine leadership roles. In hypothetical elections for two such positions, men and women listened to pairs of male and female voices that differed only in pitch, and were asked which of each pair they would vote for. As in previous studies, men and women preferred female candidates with masculine voices. Likewise, men preferred men with masculine voices. Women, however, did not discriminate between male voices. Overall, contrary to research showing that perceptions of voice pitch can be influenced by social context, these results suggest that the influence of voice pitch on perceptions of leadership capacity is largely consistent across different domains of leadership.

  15. Analog voicing detector responds to pitch

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abel, R. S.; Watkins, H. E.

    1967-01-01

    Modified electronic voice encoder /Vocoder/ includes an independent analog mode of operation in addition to the conventional digital mode. The Vocoder is a bandwidth compression equipment that permits voice transmission over channels, having only a fraction of the bandwidth required for conventional telephone-quality speech transmission.

  16. Using Bona Adaptation to Improve Accent Defects as a Voice Training Method

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aycan, Kivanc

    2017-01-01

    Purpose: In this research, it is observed that if solfeggio syllables, consonants, and vowels are spoken properly, voice intensity (accent), duration, pitch (high pitch-low pitch) and intonation (the ability to carry a musical voice) related to proper pitch level. In this study, it is observed that rhythmic structures do not form without…

  17. Voice similarity in identical twins.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Van Gysel, W D; Vercammen, J; Debruyne, F

    2001-01-01

    If people are asked to discriminate visually the two individuals of a monozygotic twin (MT), they mostly get into trouble. Does this problem also exist when listening to twin voices? Twenty female and 10 male MT voices were randomly assembled with one "strange" voice to get voice trios. The listeners (10 female students in Speech and Language Pathology) were asked to label the twins (voices 1-2, 1-3 or 2-3) in two conditions: two standard sentences read aloud and a 2.5-second midsection of a sustained /a/. The proportion correctly labelled twins was for female voices 82% and 63% and for male voices 74% and 52% for the sentences and the sustained /a/ respectively, both being significantly greater than chance (33%). The acoustic analysis revealed a high intra-twin correlation for the speaking fundamental frequency (SFF) of the sentences and the fundamental frequency (F0) of the sustained /a/. So the voice pitch could have been a useful characteristic in the perceptual identification of the twins. We conclude that there is a greater perceptual resemblance between the voices of identical twins than between voices without genetic relationship. The identification however is not perfect. The voice pitch possibly contributes to the correct twin identifications.

  18. Perceiving a stranger's voice as being one's own: a 'rubber voice' illusion?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zane Z Zheng

    2011-04-01

    Full Text Available We describe an illusion in which a stranger's voice, when presented as the auditory concomitant of a participant's own speech, is perceived as a modified version of their own voice. When the congruence between utterance and feedback breaks down, the illusion is also broken. Compared to a baseline condition in which participants heard their own voice as feedback, hearing a stranger's voice induced robust changes in the fundamental frequency (F0 of their production. Moreover, the shift in F0 appears to be feedback dependent, since shift patterns depended reliably on the relationship between the participant's own F0 and the stranger-voice F0. The shift in F0 was evident both when the illusion was present and after it was broken, suggesting that auditory feedback from production may be used separately for self-recognition and for vocal motor control. Our findings indicate that self-recognition of voices, like other body attributes, is malleable and context dependent.

  19. Clinical Voices - an update

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Fusaroli, Riccardo; Weed, Ethan

    Anomalous aspects of speech and voice, including pitch, fluency, and voice quality, are reported to characterise many mental disorders. However, it has proven difficult to quantify and explain this oddness of speech by employing traditional statistical methods. In this talk we will show how...

  20. Investigation of habitual pitch during free play activities for preschool-aged children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Yang; Kimelman, Mikael D Z; Micco, Katie

    2009-01-01

    This study is designed to compare the habitual pitch measured in two different speech activities (free play activity and traditionally used structured speech activity) for normally developing preschool-aged children to explore to what extent preschoolers vary their vocal pitch among different speech environments. Habitual pitch measurements were conducted for 10 normally developing children (2 boys, 8 girls) between the ages of 31 months and 71 months during two different activities: (1) free play; and (2) structured speech. Speech samples were recorded using a throat microphone connected with a wireless transmitter in both activities. The habitual pitch (in Hz) was measured for all collected speech samples by using voice analysis software (Real-Time Pitch). Significantly higher habitual pitch is found during free play in contrast to structured speech activities. In addition, there is no showing of significant difference of habitual pitch elicited across a variety of structured speech activities. Findings suggest that the vocal usage of preschoolers appears to be more effortful during free play than during structured activities. It is recommended that a comprehensive evaluation for young children's voice needs to be based on the speech/voice samples collected from both free play and structured activities.

  1. Clinical voice analysis of Carnatic singers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arunachalam, Ravikumar; Boominathan, Prakash; Mahalingam, Shenbagavalli

    2014-01-01

    Carnatic singing is a classical South Indian style of music that involves rigorous training to produce an "open throated" loud, predominantly low-pitched singing, embedded with vocal nuances in higher pitches. Voice problems in singers are not uncommon. The objective was to report the nature of voice problems and apply a routine protocol to assess the voice. Forty-five trained performing singers (females: 36 and males: 9) who reported to a tertiary care hospital with voice problems underwent voice assessment. The study analyzed their problems and the clinical findings. Voice change, difficulty in singing higher pitches, and voice fatigue were major complaints. Most of the singers suffered laryngopharyngeal reflux that coexisted with muscle tension dysphonia and chronic laryngitis. Speaking voices were rated predominantly as "moderate deviation" on GRBAS (Grade, Rough, Breathy, Asthenia, and Strain). Maximum phonation time ranged from 4 to 29 seconds (females: 10.2, standard deviation [SD]: 5.28 and males: 15.7, SD: 5.79). Singing frequency range was reduced (females: 21.3 Semitones and males: 23.99 Semitones). Dysphonia severity index (DSI) scores ranged from -3.5 to 4.91 (females: 0.075 and males: 0.64). Singing frequency range and DSI did not show significant difference between sex and across clinical diagnosis. Self-perception using voice disorder outcome profile revealed overall severity score of 5.1 (SD: 2.7). Findings are discussed from a clinical intervention perspective. Study highlighted the nature of voice problems (hyperfunctional) and required modifications in assessment protocol for Carnatic singers. Need for regular assessments and vocal hygiene education to maintain good vocal health are emphasized as outcomes. Copyright © 2014 The Voice Foundation. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

  2. Abnormal speech spectrum and increased pitch variability in young autistic children

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yoram S Bonneh

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD who can speak often exhibit abnormal voice quality and speech prosody, but the exact nature and underlying mechanisms of these abnormalities, as well as their diagnostic power are currently unknown. Here we quantified speech abnormalities in terms of the properties of the long-term average spectrum (LTAS and pitch variability in speech samples of 83 children (41 with ASD, 42 controls ages 4-6.5 years, recorded while they named a sequence of daily-life pictures for 60 sec. We found a significant difference in the group’s average spectra, with ASD spectra being shallower and exhibiting less harmonic structure. Contrary to the common impression of monotonic speech in autism, the ASD children had a significantly larger pitch range and variability across time. A measure of this variability, optimally tuned for the sample, yielded 86% success (90% specificity, 80% sensitivity in classifying ASD in the sample. These results indicate that speech abnormalities in ASD are reflected in its spectral content and pitch variability. This variability could imply abnormal processing of auditory feedback or elevated noise and instability in the mechanisms that control pitch. The current results are a first step towards developing speech-spectrum-based bio-markers for early diagnosis of ASD.

  3. Using DCM pitch modulation and feedback to improve long term X-ray beam stability

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bloomer, C; Dent, A; Diaz-Moreno, S; Dolbnya, I; Pedersen, U; Rehm, G; Tang, C; Thomas, C

    2013-01-01

    In this paper we demonstrate significant improvements to the stability of the monochromatic X-ray beam intensity on several beamlines at Diamond, using a modulation of the pitch axis of the DCM with a piezoelectric actuator. The modulation is detected on an intensity diagnostic (e.g. an ion chamber) using a software lock-in technique. The detected amplitude and phase are used in a feedback to keep the DCM at the peak of the rocking curve, or any arbitrary position 'off-peak' which might be desired to detune the DCM and reject unwanted harmonics. A major advantage of this software based system is the great flexibility offered, using standard, readily available instrumentation. Measurements of the short and long-term performance of the feedback on several beamlines are presented, and the limitations of such a feedback are discussed.

  4. Speech emotion recognition based on statistical pitch model

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    WANG Zhiping; ZHAO Li; ZOU Cairong

    2006-01-01

    A modified Parzen-window method, which keep high resolution in low frequencies and keep smoothness in high frequencies, is proposed to obtain statistical model. Then, a gender classification method utilizing the statistical model is proposed, which have a 98% accuracy of gender classification while long sentence is dealt with. By separation the male voice and female voice, the mean and standard deviation of speech training samples with different emotion are used to create the corresponding emotion models. Then the Bhattacharyya distance between the test sample and statistical models of pitch, are utilized for emotion recognition in speech.The normalization of pitch for the male voice and female voice are also considered, in order to illustrate them into a uniform space. Finally, the speech emotion recognition experiment based on K Nearest Neighbor shows that, the correct rate of 81% is achieved, where it is only 73.85%if the traditional parameters are utilized.

  5. Multidimensional assessment of strongly irregular voices such as in substitution voicing and spasmodic dysphonia: a compilation of own research.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moerman, Mieke; Martens, Jean-Pierre; Dejonckere, Philippe

    2015-04-01

    This article is a compilation of own research performed during the European COoperation in Science and Technology (COST) action 2103: 'Advance Voice Function Assessment', an initiative of voice and speech processing teams consisting of physicists, engineers, and clinicians. This manuscript concerns analyzing largely irregular voicing types, namely substitution voicing (SV) and adductor spasmodic dysphonia (AdSD). A specific perceptual rating scale (IINFVo) was developed, and the Auditory Model Based Pitch Extractor (AMPEX), a piece of software that automatically analyses running speech and generates pitch values in background noise, was applied. The IINFVo perceptual rating scale has been shown to be useful in evaluating SV. The analysis of strongly irregular voices stimulated a modification of the European Laryngological Society's assessment protocol which was originally designed for the common types of (less severe) dysphonia. Acoustic analysis with AMPEX demonstrates that the most informative features are, for SV, the voicing-related acoustic features and, for AdSD, the perturbation measures. Poor correlations between self-assessment and acoustic and perceptual dimensions in the assessment of highly irregular voices argue for a multidimensional approach.

  6. Hemispheric lateralization for early auditory processing of lexical tones: dependence on pitch level and pitch contour.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Xiao-Dong; Wang, Ming; Chen, Lin

    2013-09-01

    In Mandarin Chinese, a tonal language, pitch level and pitch contour are two dimensions of lexical tones according to their acoustic features (i.e., pitch patterns). A change in pitch level features a step change whereas that in pitch contour features a continuous variation in voice pitch. Currently, relatively little is known about the hemispheric lateralization for the processing of each dimension. To address this issue, we made whole-head electrical recordings of mismatch negativity in native Chinese speakers in response to the contrast of Chinese lexical tones in each dimension. We found that pre-attentive auditory processing of pitch level was obviously lateralized to the right hemisphere whereas there is a tendency for that of pitch contour to be lateralized to the left. We also found that the brain responded faster to pitch level than to pitch contour at a pre-attentive stage. These results indicate that the hemispheric lateralization for early auditory processing of lexical tones depends on the pitch level and pitch contour, and suggest an underlying inter-hemispheric interactive mechanism for the processing. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  7. Voice quality after laser cordectomy and vertical hemilaryngectomy

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Hesham Abdelfattah

    2011-12-27

    Dec 27, 2011 ... glottic cancer usually presents with change of voice and in most patients ... phonatory mechanism adopted by the patients after surgery is the most ... average (RAP), pitch period (PPQ) and smoothed pitch perturbation ...

  8. Associations between the Transsexual Voice Questionnaire (TVQMtF ) and self-report of voice femininity and acoustic voice measures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dacakis, Georgia; Oates, Jennifer; Douglas, Jacinta

    2017-11-01

    The Transsexual Voice Questionnaire (TVQ MtF ) was designed to capture the voice-related perceptions of individuals whose gender identity as female is the opposite of their birth-assigned gender (MtF women). Evaluation of the psychometric properties of the TVQ MtF is ongoing. To investigate associations between TVQ MtF scores and (1) self-perceptions of voice femininity and (2) acoustic parameters of voice pitch and voice quality in order to evaluate further the validity of the TVQ MtF . A strong correlation between TVQ MtF scores and self-ratings of voice femininity was predicted, but no association between TVQ MtF scores and acoustic measures of voice pitch and quality was proposed. Participants were 148 MtF women (mean age 48.14 years) recruited from the La Trobe Communication Clinic and the clinics of three doctors specializing in transgender health. All participants completed the TVQ MtF and 34 of these participants also provided a voice sample for acoustic analysis. Pearson product-moment correlation analysis was conducted to examine the associations between TVQ MtF scores and (1) self-perceptions of voice femininity and (2) acoustic measures of F0, jitter (%), shimmer (dB) and harmonic-to-noise ratio (HNR). Strong negative correlations between the participants' perceptions of their voice femininity and the TVQ MtF scores demonstrated that for this group of MtF women a low self-rating of voice femininity was associated with more frequent negative voice-related experiences. This association was strongest with the vocal-functioning component of the TVQ MtF . These strong correlations and high levels of shared variance between the TVQ MtF and a measure of a related construct provides evidence for the convergent validity of the TVQ MtF . The absence of significant correlations between the TVQ MtF and the acoustic data is consistent with the equivocal findings of earlier research. This finding indicates that these two measures assess different aspects of the voice

  9. The effect of an artificially lengthened vocal tract on estimated glottal contact quotient in untrained male voices.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gaskill, Christopher S; Erickson, Molly L

    2010-01-01

    The use of hard-walled narrow tubes, often called resonance tubes, for the purpose of voice therapy and voice training has a historical precedent and some theoretical support, but the mechanism of any potential benefit from the application of this technique is not well understood. Fifteen vocally untrained male participants produced a series of spoken /a/ vowels at a modal pitch and constant loudness, before and after a minute of repeated phonation into a 50-cm hard-walled glass tube at the same pitch and loudness targets. Electroglottography was used to measure the glottal contact quotient (CQ) during each phase of the experiment. Single-subject analysis revealed statistically significant changes in CQ during tube phonation, but with no discernable pattern across the 15 participants. These results indicate that the use of resonance tubes can have a distinct effect on glottal closure, but the mechanism behind this change remains unclear. The implication is that vocal loading techniques such as this need to be studied further with specific attention paid to the underlying mechanism of any measured changes in glottal behavior, and especially to the role of instruction and feedback in the therapeutic and pedagogical application of these techniques. Copyright 2010 The Voice Foundation. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

  10. Absolute Pitch: Effects of Timbre on Note-Naming Ability

    OpenAIRE

    Vanzella, Patr?cia; Schellenberg, E. Glenn

    2010-01-01

    Background Absolute pitch (AP) is the ability to identify or produce isolated musical tones. It is evident primarily among individuals who started music lessons in early childhood. Because AP requires memory for specific pitches as well as learned associations with verbal labels (i.e., note names), it represents a unique opportunity to study interactions in memory between linguistic and nonlinguistic information. One untested hypothesis is that the pitch of voices may be difficult for AP poss...

  11. Speaker-Sex Discrimination for Voiced and Whispered Vowels at Short Durations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, David R R

    2016-01-01

    Whispered vowels, produced with no vocal fold vibration, lack the periodic temporal fine structure which in voiced vowels underlies the perceptual attribute of pitch (a salient auditory cue to speaker sex). Voiced vowels possess no temporal fine structure at very short durations (below two glottal cycles). The prediction was that speaker-sex discrimination performance for whispered and voiced vowels would be similar for very short durations but, as stimulus duration increases, voiced vowel performance would improve relative to whispered vowel performance as pitch information becomes available. This pattern of results was shown for women's but not for men's voices. A whispered vowel needs to have a duration three times longer than a voiced vowel before listeners can reliably tell whether it's spoken by a man or woman (∼30 ms vs. ∼10 ms). Listeners were half as sensitive to information about speaker-sex when it is carried by whispered compared with voiced vowels.

  12. Memory for vocal tempo and pitch.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boltz, Marilyn G

    2017-11-01

    Two experiments examined the ability to remember the vocal tempo and pitch of different individuals, and the way this information is encoded into the cognitive system. In both studies, participants engaged in an initial familiarisation phase while attending was systematically directed towards different aspects of speakers' voices. Afterwards, they received a tempo or pitch recognition task. Experiment 1 showed that tempo and pitch are both incidentally encoded into memory at levels comparable to intentional learning, and no performance deficit occurs with divided attending. Experiment 2 examined the ability to recognise pitch or tempo when the two dimensions co-varied and found that the presence of one influenced the other: performance was best when both dimensions were positively correlated with one another. As a set, these findings indicate that pitch and tempo are automatically processed in a holistic, integral fashion [Garner, W. R. (1974). The processing of information and structure. Potomac, MD: Erlbaum.] which has a number of cognitive implications.

  13. Developing Singing in Third-Grade Music Classrooms: The Effect of a Concurrent-Feedback Computer Game on Pitch-Matching Skills

    Science.gov (United States)

    Paney, Andrew S.; Kay, Ann C.

    2015-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to measure the effect of concurrent visual feedback on pitch-matching skill development in third-grade students. Participants played a computer game, "SingingCoach," which scored the accuracy of their singing of the song "America." They followed the contour of the melody on the screen as the…

  14. Feedback brake distribution control for minimum pitch

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tavernini, Davide; Velenis, Efstathios; Longo, Stefano

    2017-06-01

    The distribution of brake forces between front and rear axles of a vehicle is typically specified such that the same level of brake force coefficient is imposed at both front and rear wheels. This condition is known as 'ideal' distribution and it is required to deliver the maximum vehicle deceleration and minimum braking distance. For subcritical braking conditions, the deceleration demand may be delivered by different distributions between front and rear braking forces. In this research we show how to obtain the optimal distribution which minimises the pitch angle of a vehicle and hence enhances driver subjective feel during braking. A vehicle model including suspension geometry features is adopted. The problem of the minimum pitch brake distribution for a varying deceleration level demand is solved by means of a model predictive control (MPC) technique. To address the problem of the undesirable pitch rebound caused by a full-stop of the vehicle, a second controller is designed and implemented independently from the braking distribution in use. An extended Kalman filter is designed for state estimation and implemented in a high fidelity environment together with the MPC strategy. The proposed solution is compared with the reference 'ideal' distribution as well as another previous feed-forward solution.

  15. Assessments of Voice Use and Voice Quality among College/University Singing Students Ages 18–24 through Ambulatory Monitoring with a Full Accelerometer Signal

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schloneger, Matthew; Hunter, Eric

    2016-01-01

    The multiple social and performance demands placed on college/university singers could put their still developing voices at risk. Previous ambulatory monitoring studies have analyzed the duration, intensity, and frequency (in Hz) of voice use among such students. Nevertheless, no studies to date have incorporated the simultaneous acoustic voice quality measures into the acquisition of these measures to allow for direct comparison during the same voicing period. Such data could provide greater insight into how young singers use their voices, as well as identify potential correlations between vocal dose and acoustic changes in voice quality. The purpose of this study was to assess the voice use and estimated voice quality of college/university singing students (18–24 y/o, N = 19). Ambulatory monitoring was conducted over three full, consecutive weekdays measuring voice from an unprocessed accelerometer signal measured at the neck. From this signal were analyzed traditional vocal dose metrics such as phonation percentage, dose time, cycle dose, and distance dose. Additional acoustic measures included perceived pitch, pitch strength, LTAS slope, alpha ratio, dB SPL 1–3 kHz, and harmonic-to-noise ratio. Major findings from more than 800 hours of recording indicated that among these students (a) higher vocal doses correlated significantly with greater voice intensity, more vocal clarity and less perturbation; and (b) there were significant differences in some acoustic voice quality metrics between non-singing, solo singing and choral singing. PMID:26897545

  16. A lover or a fighter? Opposing sexual selection pressures on men's vocal pitch and facial hair.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saxton, Tamsin K; Mackey, Lauren L; McCarty, Kristofor; Neave, Nick

    2016-01-01

    The traditional assumption within the research literature on human sexually dimorphic traits has been that many sex differences have arisen from intersexual selection. More recently, however, there has been a shift toward the idea that many male features, including male lower-pitched voices and male beard growth, might have arisen predominantly through intrasexual selection: that is, to serve the purpose of male-male competition instead of mate attraction. In this study, using a unique set of video stimuli, we measured people's perceptions of the dominance and attractiveness of men who differ both in terms of voice pitch (4 levels from lower to higher pitched) and beard growth (4 levels from clean shaven to a month's hair growth). We found a nonlinear relationship between lower pitch and increased attractiveness; men's vocal attractiveness peaked at around 96 Hz. Beard growth had equivocal effects on attractiveness judgments. In contrast, perceptions of men's dominance simply increased with increasing masculinity (i.e., with lower-pitched voices and greater beard growth). Together, these results suggest that the optimal level of physical masculinity might differ depending on whether the outcome is social dominance or mate attraction. These dual selection pressures might maintain some of the documented variability in male physical and behavioral masculinity that we see today.

  17. A Method for Low-Delay Pitch Tracking and Smoothing

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Christensen, Mads Græsbøll

    2012-01-01

    . In the second step, a Kalman filter is used to smooth the estimates and separate the pitch into a slowly varying component and a rapidly varying component. The former represents the mean pitch while the latter represents vibrato, slides and other fast changes. The method is intended for use in applica- tions...... that require fast and sample-by-sample estimates, like tuners for musical instruments, transcription tasks requiring details like vi- brato, and real-time tracking of voiced speech....

  18. Speaker-Sex Discrimination for Voiced and Whispered Vowels at Short Durations

    OpenAIRE

    Smith, David R. R.

    2016-01-01

    Whispered vowels, produced with no vocal fold vibration, lack the periodic temporal fine structure which in voiced vowels underlies the perceptual attribute of pitch (a salient auditory cue to speaker sex). Voiced vowels possess no temporal fine structure at very short durations (below two glottal cycles). The prediction was that speaker-sex discrimination performance for whispered and voiced vowels would be similar for very short durations but, as stimulus duration increases, voiced vowel pe...

  19. Using voice input and audio feedback to enhance the reality of a virtual experience

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Miner, N.E.

    1994-04-01

    Virtual Reality (VR) is a rapidly emerging technology which allows participants to experience a virtual environment through stimulation of the participant`s senses. Intuitive and natural interactions with the virtual world help to create a realistic experience. Typically, a participant is immersed in a virtual environment through the use of a 3-D viewer. Realistic, computer-generated environment models and accurate tracking of a participant`s view are important factors for adding realism to a virtual experience. Stimulating a participant`s sense of sound and providing a natural form of communication for interacting with the virtual world are equally important. This paper discusses the advantages and importance of incorporating voice recognition and audio feedback capabilities into a virtual world experience. Various approaches and levels of complexity are discussed. Examples of the use of voice and sound are presented through the description of a research application developed in the VR laboratory at Sandia National Laboratories.

  20. A lover or a fighter? Opposing sexual selection pressures on men’s vocal pitch and facial hair

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mackey, Lauren L.; McCarty, Kristofor; Neave, Nick

    2016-01-01

    The traditional assumption within the research literature on human sexually dimorphic traits has been that many sex differences have arisen from intersexual selection. More recently, however, there has been a shift toward the idea that many male features, including male lower-pitched voices and male beard growth, might have arisen predominantly through intrasexual selection: that is, to serve the purpose of male–male competition instead of mate attraction. In this study, using a unique set of video stimuli, we measured people’s perceptions of the dominance and attractiveness of men who differ both in terms of voice pitch (4 levels from lower to higher pitched) and beard growth (4 levels from clean shaven to a month’s hair growth). We found a nonlinear relationship between lower pitch and increased attractiveness; men’s vocal attractiveness peaked at around 96 Hz. Beard growth had equivocal effects on attractiveness judgments. In contrast, perceptions of men’s dominance simply increased with increasing masculinity (i.e., with lower-pitched voices and greater beard growth). Together, these results suggest that the optimal level of physical masculinity might differ depending on whether the outcome is social dominance or mate attraction. These dual selection pressures might maintain some of the documented variability in male physical and behavioral masculinity that we see today. PMID:27004013

  1. Evaluation of voice acoustic parameters related to the vocal-loading test in professionally active teachers with dysphonia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Niebudek-Bogusz, Ewa; Kotyło, Piotr; Sliwińska-Kowalska, Mariola

    2007-01-01

    Teachers are at risk of developing voice disorders. A clinical battery of vocal function tests should include non-invasive and accurate measurements. The quantitative methods (e.g., voice acoustic analysis) make it possible to objectively evaluate voice efficiency and outcomes of dysphonia treatment. To identify possible signs of vocal fatigue, acoustic waveform perturbations during sustained phonation were measured before and after the vocal-loading test in 51 professionally active female teachers with functional voice disorders, using IRIS software. All the participants were also subjected to laryngological/phoniatric examination involving videostroboscopy combined with self-estimation by voice handicap index (VHI)-based scale. The phoniatric examination revealed glottal insufficiency with bowed vocal folds in 35.2%, soft vocal nodules in 31.4%, and hyperfunctional dysphonia with a tendency towards vestibular phonation in 19.6% of the patients. In the VHI scale, 66% of the female teachers estimated their own voice problems as moderate disability. An acoustic analysis performed after the vocal-loading test showed an increased rate of abnormal frequency perturbation parameters (pitch perturbation quotient (Jitter), relative average perturbation (RAP), and pitch period perturbation quotient (PPQ)) compared to the pre-test outcomes. The same was true of pitch-intensity contour of vowel /a:/, an indication of voice instability during sustained phonation. The recorded impairments of voice acoustic parameters related to vocal loading provide further evidence of dysphonia. The voice acoustic analysis performed before and after the vocal-loading test can significantly contribute to objective voice examinations useful in diagnosis of dysphonia among teachers.

  2. Computationally Efficient and Noise Robust DOA and Pitch Estimation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Karimian-Azari, Sam; Jensen, Jesper Rindom; Christensen, Mads Græsbøll

    2016-01-01

    Many natural signals, such as voiced speech and some musical instruments, are approximately periodic over short intervals. These signals are often described in mathematics by the sum of sinusoids (harmonics) with frequencies that are proportional to the fundamental frequency, or pitch. In sensor...... a joint DOA and pitch estimator. In white Gaussian noise, we derive even more computationally efficient solutions which are designed using the narrowband power spectrum of the harmonics. Numerical results reveal the performance of the estimators in colored noise compared with the Cram\\'{e}r-Rao lower...

  3. Voice gender discrimination provides a measure of more than pitch-related perception in cochlear implant users.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Tianhao; Fu, Qian-Jie

    2011-08-01

    (1) To investigate whether voice gender discrimination (VGD) could be a useful indicator of the spectral and temporal processing abilities of individual cochlear implant (CI) users; (2) To examine the relationship between VGD and speech recognition with CI when comparable acoustic cues are used for both perception processes. VGD was measured using two talker sets with different inter-gender fundamental frequencies (F(0)), as well as different acoustic CI simulations. Vowel and consonant recognition in quiet and noise were also measured and compared with VGD performance. Eleven postlingually deaf CI users. The results showed that (1) mean VGD performance differed for different stimulus sets, (2) VGD and speech recognition performance varied among individual CI users, and (3) individual VGD performance was significantly correlated with speech recognition performance under certain conditions. VGD measured with selected stimulus sets might be useful for assessing not only pitch-related perception, but also spectral and temporal processing by individual CI users. In addition to improvements in spectral resolution and modulation detection, the improvement in higher modulation frequency discrimination might be particularly important for CI users in noisy environments.

  4. Emotional expressions in voice and music: same code, same effect?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Escoffier, Nicolas; Zhong, Jidan; Schirmer, Annett; Qiu, Anqi

    2013-08-01

    Scholars have documented similarities in the way voice and music convey emotions. By using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) we explored whether these similarities imply overlapping processing substrates. We asked participants to trace changes in either the emotion or pitch of vocalizations and music using a joystick. Compared to music, vocalizations more strongly activated superior and middle temporal cortex, cuneus, and precuneus. However, despite these differences, overlapping rather than differing regions emerged when comparing emotion with pitch tracing for music and vocalizations, respectively. Relative to pitch tracing, emotion tracing activated medial superior frontal and anterior cingulate cortex regardless of stimulus type. Additionally, we observed emotion specific effects in primary and secondary auditory cortex as well as in medial frontal cortex that were comparable for voice and music. Together these results indicate that similar mechanisms support emotional inferences from vocalizations and music and that these mechanisms tap on a general system involved in social cognition. Copyright © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  5. Facial Visualizations of Women's Voices Suggest a Cross-Modality Preference for Femininity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Susanne Röder

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Women with higher-pitched voices and more feminine facial features are commonly judged as being more attractive than are women with lower-pitched voices and less feminine faces, possibly because both features are affected by (age-related variations in endocrine status. These results are primarily derived from investigations of perceptions of variations in single-modality stimuli (i.e., faces or voices in samples of young adult women. In the present study we sought to test whether male and female perceptions of women's voices affect visual representations of facial femininity. Eighty men and women judged voice recordings of 10 young girls (11–15 years, 10 adult women (19–28 years and 10 peri-/post-menopausal women (50–64 years on age, attractiveness, and femininity. Another 80 men and women were asked to indicate the face they think each voice corresponded to using a video that gradually changed from a masculine looking male face into a feminine looking female face. Both male and female participants perceived voices of young girls and adult women to be significantly younger, more attractive and feminine than those of peri-/post-menopausal women. Hearing young girls' and adult women's voices resulted in both men and women selecting faces that differed markedly in apparent femininity from those associated with peri-/post-menopausal women's voices. Voices of young girls had the strongest effect on visualizations of facial femininity. Our results suggest a cross-modal preference for women's vocal and facial femininity, which depends on female age and is independent of the perceiver's sex.

  6. Sensorimotor Mismapping in Poor-pitch Singing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    He, Hao; Zhang, Wei-Dong

    2017-09-01

    This study proposes that there are two types of sensorimotor mismapping in poor-pitch singing: erroneous mapping and no mapping. We created operational definitions for the two types of mismapping based on the precision of pitch-matching and predicted that in the two types of mismapping, phonation differs in terms of accuracy and the dependence on the articulation consistency between the target and the intended vocal action. The study aimed to test this hypothesis by examining the reliability and criterion-related validity of the operational definitions. A within-subject design was used in this study. Thirty-two participants identified as poor-pitch singers were instructed to vocally imitate pure tones and to imitate their own vocal recordings with the same articulation as self-targets and with different articulation from self-targets. Definitions of the types of mismapping were demonstrated to be reliable with the split-half approach and to have good criterion-related validity with findings that pitch-matching with no mapping was less accurate and more dependent on the articulation consistency between the target and the intended vocal action than pitch-matching with erroneous mapping was. Furthermore, the precision of pitch-matching was positively associated with its accuracy and its dependence on articulation consistency when mismapping was analyzed on a continuum. Additionally, the data indicated that the self-imitation advantage was a function of articulation consistency. Types of sensorimotor mismapping lead to pitch-matching that differs in accuracy and its dependence on the articulation consistency between the target and the intended vocal action. Additionally, articulation consistency produces the self-advantage. Copyright © 2017 The Voice Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  7. Auditory feedback of one’s own voice is used for high-level semantic monitoring: the self-comprehension hypothesis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andreas eLind

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available What would it be like if we said one thing, and heard ourselves saying something else? Would we notice something was wrong? Or would we believe we said the thing we heard? Is feedback of our own speech only used to detect errors, or does it also help to specify the meaning of what we say? Comparator models of self-monitoring favor the first alternative, and hold that our sense of agency is given by the comparison between intentions and outcomes, while inferential models argue that agency is a more fluent construct, dependent on contextual inferences about the most likely cause of an action. In this paper, we present a theory about the use of feedback during speech. Specifically, we discuss inferential models of speech production that question the standard comparator assumption that the meaning of our utterances is fully specified before articulation. We then argue that auditory feedback provides speakers with a channel for high-level, semantic self-comprehension. In support of this we discuss results using a method we recently developed called Real-time Speech Exchange (RSE. In our first study using RSE (Lind et al, submitted participants were fitted with headsets and performed a computerized Stroop task. We surreptitiously recorded words they said, and later in the test we played them back at the exact same time that the participants uttered something else, while blocking the actual feedback of their voice. Thus, participants said one thing, but heard themselves saying something else. The results showed that when timing conditions were ideal, more than two thirds of the manipulations went undetected. Crucially, in a large proportion of the non-detected manipulated trials, the inserted words were experienced as self-produced by the participants. This indicates that our sense of agency for speech has a strong inferential component, and that auditory feedback of our own voice acts as a pathway for semantic monitoring.

  8. A Comparative Analysis of Pitch Detection Methods Under the Influence of Different Noise Conditions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sukhostat, Lyudmila; Imamverdiyev, Yadigar

    2015-07-01

    Pitch is one of the most important components in various speech processing systems. The aim of this study was to evaluate different pitch detection methods in terms of various noise conditions. Prospective study. For evaluation of pitch detection algorithms, time-domain, frequency-domain, and hybrid methods were considered by using Keele and CSTR speech databases. Each of them has its own advantages and disadvantages. Experiments have shown that BaNa method achieves the highest pitch detection accuracy. The development of methods for pitch detection, which are robust to additive noise at different signal-to-noise ratio, is an important field of research with many opportunities for enhancement the modern methods. Copyright © 2015 The Voice Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  9. Effects of Culture on Musical Pitch Perception

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wong, Patrick C. M.; Ciocca, Valter; Chan, Alice H. D.; Ha, Louisa Y. Y.; Tan, Li-Hai; Peretz, Isabelle

    2012-01-01

    The strong association between music and speech has been supported by recent research focusing on musicians' superior abilities in second language learning and neural encoding of foreign speech sounds. However, evidence for a double association—the influence of linguistic background on music pitch processing and disorders—remains elusive. Because languages differ in their usage of elements (e.g., pitch) that are also essential for music, a unique opportunity for examining such language-to-music associations comes from a cross-cultural (linguistic) comparison of congenital amusia, a neurogenetic disorder affecting the music (pitch and rhythm) processing of about 5% of the Western population. In the present study, two populations (Hong Kong and Canada) were compared. One spoke a tone language in which differences in voice pitch correspond to differences in word meaning (in Hong Kong Cantonese, /si/ means ‘teacher’ and ‘to try’ when spoken in a high and mid pitch pattern, respectively). Using the On-line Identification Test of Congenital Amusia, we found Cantonese speakers as a group tend to show enhanced pitch perception ability compared to speakers of Canadian French and English (non-tone languages). This enhanced ability occurs in the absence of differences in rhythmic perception and persists even after relevant factors such as musical background and age were controlled. Following a common definition of amusia (5% of the population), we found Hong Kong pitch amusics also show enhanced pitch abilities relative to their Canadian counterparts. These findings not only provide critical evidence for a double association of music and speech, but also argue for the reconceptualization of communicative disorders within a cultural framework. Along with recent studies documenting cultural differences in visual perception, our auditory evidence challenges the common assumption of universality of basic mental processes and speaks to the domain generality of culture

  10. Effects of culture on musical pitch perception.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wong, Patrick C M; Ciocca, Valter; Chan, Alice H D; Ha, Louisa Y Y; Tan, Li-Hai; Peretz, Isabelle

    2012-01-01

    The strong association between music and speech has been supported by recent research focusing on musicians' superior abilities in second language learning and neural encoding of foreign speech sounds. However, evidence for a double association--the influence of linguistic background on music pitch processing and disorders--remains elusive. Because languages differ in their usage of elements (e.g., pitch) that are also essential for music, a unique opportunity for examining such language-to-music associations comes from a cross-cultural (linguistic) comparison of congenital amusia, a neurogenetic disorder affecting the music (pitch and rhythm) processing of about 5% of the Western population. In the present study, two populations (Hong Kong and Canada) were compared. One spoke a tone language in which differences in voice pitch correspond to differences in word meaning (in Hong Kong Cantonese, /si/ means 'teacher' and 'to try' when spoken in a high and mid pitch pattern, respectively). Using the On-line Identification Test of Congenital Amusia, we found Cantonese speakers as a group tend to show enhanced pitch perception ability compared to speakers of Canadian French and English (non-tone languages). This enhanced ability occurs in the absence of differences in rhythmic perception and persists even after relevant factors such as musical background and age were controlled. Following a common definition of amusia (5% of the population), we found Hong Kong pitch amusics also show enhanced pitch abilities relative to their Canadian counterparts. These findings not only provide critical evidence for a double association of music and speech, but also argue for the reconceptualization of communicative disorders within a cultural framework. Along with recent studies documenting cultural differences in visual perception, our auditory evidence challenges the common assumption of universality of basic mental processes and speaks to the domain generality of culture

  11. Effects of culture on musical pitch perception.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Patrick C M Wong

    Full Text Available The strong association between music and speech has been supported by recent research focusing on musicians' superior abilities in second language learning and neural encoding of foreign speech sounds. However, evidence for a double association--the influence of linguistic background on music pitch processing and disorders--remains elusive. Because languages differ in their usage of elements (e.g., pitch that are also essential for music, a unique opportunity for examining such language-to-music associations comes from a cross-cultural (linguistic comparison of congenital amusia, a neurogenetic disorder affecting the music (pitch and rhythm processing of about 5% of the Western population. In the present study, two populations (Hong Kong and Canada were compared. One spoke a tone language in which differences in voice pitch correspond to differences in word meaning (in Hong Kong Cantonese, /si/ means 'teacher' and 'to try' when spoken in a high and mid pitch pattern, respectively. Using the On-line Identification Test of Congenital Amusia, we found Cantonese speakers as a group tend to show enhanced pitch perception ability compared to speakers of Canadian French and English (non-tone languages. This enhanced ability occurs in the absence of differences in rhythmic perception and persists even after relevant factors such as musical background and age were controlled. Following a common definition of amusia (5% of the population, we found Hong Kong pitch amusics also show enhanced pitch abilities relative to their Canadian counterparts. These findings not only provide critical evidence for a double association of music and speech, but also argue for the reconceptualization of communicative disorders within a cultural framework. Along with recent studies documenting cultural differences in visual perception, our auditory evidence challenges the common assumption of universality of basic mental processes and speaks to the domain generality of

  12. [Fundamental frequency analysis - a contribution to the objective examination of the speaking and singing voice (author's transl)].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schultz-Coulon, H J

    1975-07-01

    The applicability of a newly developed fundamental frequency analyzer to diagnosis in phoniatrics is reviewed. During routine voice examination, the analyzer allows a quick and accurate measurement of fundamental frequency and sound level of the speaking voice, and of vocal range and maximum phonation time. By computing fundamental frequency histograms, the median fundamental frequency and the total pitch range can be better determined and compared. Objective studies of certain technical faculties of the singing voice, which usually are estimated subjectively by the speech therapist, may now be done by means of this analyzer. Several examples demonstrate the differences between correct and incorrect phonation. These studies compare the pitch perturbations during the crescendo and decrescendo of a swell-tone, and show typical traces of staccato, thrill and yodel. Conclusions of the study indicate that fundamental frequency analysis is a valuable supplemental method for objective voice examination.

  13. Characterization of the voice of children with mouth breathing caused by four different etiologies using perceptual and acoustic analyses

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rosana Tiepo Arévalo

    2005-09-01

    Full Text Available Objective: To describe vocal characteristics in children aged fiveto twelve years with mouth breathing caused by four etiologies:chronic rhinitis, hypertrophy, hypertrophy + chronic rhinitis andfunctional condition, using perceptual evaluation and acousticanalysis. Methods: Voice recordings of 120 mouth breathers judgedby four speech pathologists using the software Multi-Speech.Results: The perceptual evaluation of the voice revealed highincidence of breathy and hoarse voices, especially in the rhinitisgroup. Most cases were moderate, with low pitch and normalloudness. Hyponasality was found in over 50% of sample, asexpected, but we also found high occurrence of laryngealresonance, especially in the rhinitis group. Mean fundamentalfrequency was 24.81Hz, SD = 15.02; jitter = 2.17; shimmer =0.44, and HNR = 2.11. Values did not show statistically significantdifference among the groups. Conclusion: Perceptual evaluation ofthe voice revealed that most mouth breathers presented hoarseand breathy voice, low pitch, normal loudness and hyponasal andlaryngeal resonance. However, the acoustic analysis did not resultin any significant condition.

  14. Neural effects of environmental advertising: An fMRI analysis of voice age and temporal framing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Casado-Aranda, Luis-Alberto; Martínez-Fiestas, Myriam; Sánchez-Fernández, Juan

    2018-01-15

    Ecological information offered to society through advertising enhances awareness of environmental issues, encourages development of sustainable attitudes and intentions, and can even alter behavior. This paper, by means of functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) and self-reports, explores the underlying mechanisms of processing ecological messages. The study specifically examines brain and behavioral responses to persuasive ecological messages that differ in temporal framing and in the age of the voice pronouncing them. The findings reveal that attitudes are more positive toward future-framed messages presented by young voices. The whole-brain analysis reveals that future-framed (FF) ecological messages trigger activation in brain areas related to imagery, prospective memories and episodic events, thus reflecting the involvement of past behaviors in future ecological actions. Past-framed messages (PF), in turn, elicit brain activations within the episodic system. Young voices (YV), in addition to triggering stronger activation in areas involved with the processing of high-timbre, high-pitched and high-intensity voices, are perceived as more emotional and motivational than old voices (OV) as activations in anterior cingulate cortex and amygdala. Messages expressed by older voices, in turn, exhibit stronger activation in areas formerly linked to low-pitched voices and voice gender perception. Interestingly, a link is identified between neural and self-report responses indicating that certain brain activations in response to future-framed messages and young voices predicted higher attitudes toward future-framed and young voice advertisements, respectively. The results of this study provide invaluable insight into the unconscious origin of attitudes toward environmental messages and indicate which voice and temporal frame of a message generate the greatest subconscious value. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  15. Model based Binaural Enhancement of Voiced and Unvoiced Speech

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kavalekalam, Mathew Shaji; Christensen, Mads Græsbøll; Boldt, Jesper B.

    2017-01-01

    This paper deals with the enhancement of speech in presence of non-stationary babble noise. A binaural speech enhancement framework is proposed which takes into account both the voiced and unvoiced speech production model. The usage of this model in enhancement requires the Short term predictor...... (STP) parameters and the pitch information to be estimated. This paper uses a codebook based approach for estimating the STP parameters and a parametric binaural method is proposed for estimating the pitch parameters. Improvements in objective score are shown when using the voicedunvoiced speech model...

  16. Poor neuro-motor tuning of the human larynx: a comparison of sung and whistled pitch imitation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Johnson, Joseph F.; Kotz, Sonja A.

    2018-01-01

    Vocal imitation is a hallmark of human communication that underlies the capacity to learn to speak and sing. Even so, poor vocal imitation abilities are surprisingly common in the general population and even expert vocalists cannot match the precision of a musical instrument. Although humans have evolved a greater degree of control over the laryngeal muscles that govern voice production, this ability may be underdeveloped compared with control over the articulatory muscles, such as the tongue and lips, volitional control of which emerged earlier in primate evolution. Human participants imitated simple melodies by either singing (i.e. producing pitch with the larynx) or whistling (i.e. producing pitch with the lips and tongue). Sung notes were systematically biased towards each individual's habitual pitch, which we hypothesize may act to conserve muscular effort. Furthermore, while participants who sung more precisely also whistled more precisely, sung imitations were less precise than whistled imitations. The laryngeal muscles that control voice production are under less precise control than the oral muscles that are involved in whistling. This imprecision may be due to the relatively recent evolution of volitional laryngeal-motor control in humans, which may be tuned just well enough for the coarse modulation of vocal-pitch in speech. PMID:29765635

  17. Voice search for development

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Barnard, E

    2010-09-01

    Full Text Available of speech technology development, similar approaches are likely to be applicable in both circumstances. However, within these broad approaches there are details which are specific to certain languages (or lan- guage families) that may require solutions... to the modeling of pitch were therefore required. Similarly, it is possible that novel solutions will be required to deal with the click sounds that occur in some Southern Bantu languages, or the voicing Copyright  2010 ISCA 26-30 September 2010, Makuhari...

  18. Influence of musical training on understanding voiced and whispered speech in noise.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ruggles, Dorea R; Freyman, Richard L; Oxenham, Andrew J

    2014-01-01

    This study tested the hypothesis that the previously reported advantage of musicians over non-musicians in understanding speech in noise arises from more efficient or robust coding of periodic voiced speech, particularly in fluctuating backgrounds. Speech intelligibility was measured in listeners with extensive musical training, and in those with very little musical training or experience, using normal (voiced) or whispered (unvoiced) grammatically correct nonsense sentences in noise that was spectrally shaped to match the long-term spectrum of the speech, and was either continuous or gated with a 16-Hz square wave. Performance was also measured in clinical speech-in-noise tests and in pitch discrimination. Musicians exhibited enhanced pitch discrimination, as expected. However, no systematic or statistically significant advantage for musicians over non-musicians was found in understanding either voiced or whispered sentences in either continuous or gated noise. Musicians also showed no statistically significant advantage in the clinical speech-in-noise tests. Overall, the results provide no evidence for a significant difference between young adult musicians and non-musicians in their ability to understand speech in noise.

  19. Absence of modulatory action on haptic height perception with musical pitch

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Michele eGeronazzo

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available Although acoustic frequency is not a spatial property of physical objects, in common language, pitch, i.e., the psychological correlated of frequency, is often labeled spatially (i.e., high in pitch or low in pitch. Pitch-height is known to modulate (and interact with the response of participants when they are asked to judge spatial properties of non-auditory stimuli (e.g., visual in a variety of behavioral tasks. In the current study we investigated whether the modulatory action of pitch-height extended to the haptic estimation of height of a virtual step.We implemented a HW/SW setup which is able to render virtual 3D objects (stair-steps haptically through a PHANTOM device, and to provide real-time continuous auditory feedback depending on the user interaction with the object. The haptic exploration was associated with a sinusoidal tone whose pitch varied as a function of the interaction point’s height within (i a narrower and (ii a wider pitch range, or (iii a random pitch variation acting as a control audio condition. Explorations were also performed with no sound (haptic only. Participants were instructed to explore the virtual step freely, and to communicate height estimation by opening their thumb and index finger to mimic the step riser height, or verbally by reporting the height in centimeters of the step riser. We analyzed the role of musical expertise by dividing participants into non musicians and musicians. Results showed no effects of musical pitch on high-realistic haptic feedback. Overall there is no difference between the two groups in the proposed multimodal conditions. Additionally, we observed a different haptic response distribution between musicians and non musicians when estimations of the auditory conditions are matched with estimations in the no sound condition.

  20. Amusia for pitch caused by right middle cerebral artery infarct.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hochman, M Seth; Abrams, Kevin J

    2014-01-01

    A 61-year-old right-handed man with hypertension and dyslipidemia noted that he was singing along to classic rock songs on his car radio, but his voice was off pitch. Six days later, a magnetic resonance imaging scan of his brain revealed a cerebral infarct of the right temporal parietal cortex and insula. Case reports of the precise anatomic correlates of disordered pitch musical processing have been few and fragmentary. The anatomic involvement of our case coincides with the areas of involvement in 3 previously reported cases. Increased awareness of amusia as a rare clinical presentation of stroke should lead to earlier stroke intervention. Copyright © 2014 National Stroke Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  1. The musical environment and auditory plasticity: Hearing the pitch of percussion

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Neil M Mclachlan

    2013-10-01

    Full Text Available Although musical skills clearly improve with training, pitch processing has generally been believed to be biologically determined by the behavior of brain stem neural mechanisms. Two main classes of pitch models have emerged over the last 50 years. Harmonic template models have been used to explain cross-channel integration of frequency information, and waveform periodicity models have been used to explain pitch discrimination that is much finer than the resolution of the auditory nerve. It has been proposed that harmonic templates are learnt from repeated exposure to voice, and so it may also be possible to learn inharmonic templates from repeated exposure to inharmonic music instruments. This study investigated whether pitch-matching accuracy for inharmonic percussion instruments was better in people who have trained on these instruments and could reliably recognize their timbre. We found that adults who had trained with Indonesian gamelan instruments were better at recognizing and pitch-matching gamelan instruments than people with similar levels of music training, but no prior exposure to these instruments. These findings suggest that gamelan musicians were able to use inharmonic templates to support accurate pitch processing for these instruments. We suggest that recognition mechanisms based on spectrotemporal patterns of afferent auditory excitation in the early stages of pitch processing allow rapid priming of the lowest frequency partial of inharmonic timbres, explaining how music training can adapt pitch processing to different musical genres and instruments.

  2. Variation in perceptions of physical dominance and trustworthiness predicts individual differences in the effect of relationship context on women's preferences for masculine pitch in men's voices.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vukovic, Jovana; Jones, Benedict C; Feinberg, David R; Debruine, Lisa M; Smith, Finlay G; Welling, Lisa L M; Little, Anthony C

    2011-02-01

    Several studies have found that women tend to demonstrate stronger preferences for masculine men as short-term partners than as long-term partners, though there is considerable variation among women in the magnitude of this effect. One possible source of this variation is individual differences in the extent to which women perceive masculine men to possess antisocial traits that are less costly in short-term relationships than in long-term relationships. Consistent with this proposal, here we show that the extent to which women report stronger preferences for men with low (i.e., masculine) voice pitch as short-term partners than as long-term partners is associated with the extent to which they attribute physical dominance and low trustworthiness to these masculine voices. Thus, our findings suggest that variation in the extent to which women attribute negative personality characteristics to masculine men predicts individual differences in the magnitude of the effect of relationship context on women's masculinity preferences, highlighting the importance of perceived personality attributions for individual differences in women's judgments of men's vocal attractiveness and, potentially, their mate preferences. ©2010 The British Psychological Society.

  3. Transfer Effect of Speech-sound Learning on Auditory-motor Processing of Perceived Vocal Pitch Errors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Zhaocong; Wong, Francis C K; Jones, Jeffery A; Li, Weifeng; Liu, Peng; Chen, Xi; Liu, Hanjun

    2015-08-17

    Speech perception and production are intimately linked. There is evidence that speech motor learning results in changes to auditory processing of speech. Whether speech motor control benefits from perceptual learning in speech, however, remains unclear. This event-related potential study investigated whether speech-sound learning can modulate the processing of feedback errors during vocal pitch regulation. Mandarin speakers were trained to perceive five Thai lexical tones while learning to associate pictures with spoken words over 5 days. Before and after training, participants produced sustained vowel sounds while they heard their vocal pitch feedback unexpectedly perturbed. As compared to the pre-training session, the magnitude of vocal compensation significantly decreased for the control group, but remained consistent for the trained group at the post-training session. However, the trained group had smaller and faster N1 responses to pitch perturbations and exhibited enhanced P2 responses that correlated significantly with their learning performance. These findings indicate that the cortical processing of vocal pitch regulation can be shaped by learning new speech-sound associations, suggesting that perceptual learning in speech can produce transfer effects to facilitating the neural mechanisms underlying the online monitoring of auditory feedback regarding vocal production.

  4. Emotion Recognition From Singing Voices Using Contemporary Commercial Music and Classical Styles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hakanpää, Tua; Waaramaa, Teija; Laukkanen, Anne-Maria

    2018-02-22

    This study examines the recognition of emotion in contemporary commercial music (CCM) and classical styles of singing. This information may be useful in improving the training of interpretation in singing. This is an experimental comparative study. Thirteen singers (11 female, 2 male) with a minimum of 3 years' professional-level singing studies (in CCM or classical technique or both) participated. They sang at three pitches (females: a, e1, a1, males: one octave lower) expressing anger, sadness, joy, tenderness, and a neutral state. Twenty-nine listeners listened to 312 short (0.63- to 4.8-second) voice samples, 135 of which were sung using a classical singing technique and 165 of which were sung in a CCM style. The listeners were asked which emotion they heard. Activity and valence were derived from the chosen emotions. The percentage of correct recognitions out of all the answers in the listening test (N = 9048) was 30.2%. The recognition percentage for the CCM-style singing technique was higher (34.5%) than for the classical-style technique (24.5%). Valence and activation were better perceived than the emotions themselves, and activity was better recognized than valence. A higher pitch was more likely to be perceived as joy or anger, and a lower pitch as sorrow. Both valence and activation were better recognized in the female CCM samples than in the other samples. There are statistically significant differences in the recognition of emotions between classical and CCM styles of singing. Furthermore, in the singing voice, pitch affects the perception of emotions, and valence and activity are more easily recognized than emotions. Copyright © 2018 The Voice Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  5. The addition of voice prompts to audiovisual feedback and debriefing does not modify CPR quality or outcomes in out of hospital cardiac arrest--a prospective, randomized trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bohn, Andreas; Weber, Thomas P; Wecker, Sascha; Harding, Ulf; Osada, Nani; Van Aken, Hugo; Lukas, Roman P

    2011-03-01

    Chest compression quality is a determinant of survival from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). ERC 2005 guidelines recommend the use of technical devices to support rescuers giving compressions. This prospective randomized study reviewed influence of different feedback configurations on survival and compression quality. 312 patients suffering an OHCA were randomly allocated to two different feedback configurations. In the limited feedback group a metronome and visual feedback was used. In the extended feedback group voice prompts were added. A training program was completed prior to implementation, performance debriefing was conducted throughout the study. Survival did not differ between the extended and limited feedback groups (47.8% vs 43.9%, p = 0.49). Average compression depth (mean ± SD: 4.74 ± 0.86 cm vs 4.84 ± 0.93 cm, p = 0.31) was similar in both groups. There were no differences in compression rate (103 ± 7 vs 102 ± 5 min(-1), p=0.74) or hands-off fraction (16.16% ± 0.07 to 17.04% ± 0.07, p = 0.38). Bystander CPR, public arrest location, presenting rhythm and chest compression depth were predictors of short term survival (ROSC to ED). Even limited CPR-feedback combined with training and ongoing debriefing leads to high chest compression quality. Bystander CPR, location, rhythm and chest compression depth are determinants of survival from out of hospital cardiac arrest. Addition of voice prompts does neither modify CPR quality nor outcome in OHCA. CC depth significantly influences survival and therefore more focus should be put on correct delivery. Further studies are needed to examine the best configuration of feedback to improve CPR quality and survival. ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT00449969), http://www.clinicalTrials.gov. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  6. Show and Tell: Video Modeling and Instruction Without Feedback Improves Performance but Is Not Sufficient for Retention of a Complex Voice Motor Skill.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Look, Clarisse; McCabe, Patricia; Heard, Robert; Madill, Catherine J

    2018-02-02

    Modeling and instruction are frequent components of both traditional and technology-assisted voice therapy. This study investigated the value of video modeling and instruction in the early acquisition and short-term retention of a complex voice task without external feedback. Thirty participants were randomized to two conditions and trained to produce a vocal siren over 40 trials. One group received a model and verbal instructions, the other group received a model only. Sirens were analyzed for phonation time, vocal intensity, cepstral peak prominence, peak-to-peak time, and root-mean-square error at five time points. The model and instruction group showed significant improvement on more outcome measures than the model-only group. There was an interaction effect for vocal intensity, which showed that instructions facilitated greater improvement when they were first introduced. However, neither group reproduced the model's siren performance across all parameters or retained the skill 1 day later. Providing verbal instruction with a model appears more beneficial than providing a model only in the prepractice phase of acquiring a complex voice skill. Improved performance was observed; however, the higher level of performance was not retained after 40 trials in both conditions. Other prepractice variables may need to be considered. Findings have implications for traditional and technology-assisted voice therapy. Copyright © 2017 The Voice Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  7. Emotions in freely varying and mono-pitched vowels, acoustic and EGG analyses.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Waaramaa, Teija; Palo, Pertti; Kankare, Elina

    2015-12-01

    Vocal emotions are expressed either by speech or singing. The difference is that in singing the pitch is predetermined while in speech it may vary freely. It was of interest to study whether there were voice quality differences between freely varying and mono-pitched vowels expressed by professional actors. Given their profession, actors have to be able to express emotions both by speech and singing. Electroglottogram and acoustic analyses of emotional utterances embedded in expressions of freely varying vowels [a:], [i:], [u:] (96 samples) and mono-pitched protracted vowels (96 samples) were studied. Contact quotient (CQEGG) was calculated using 35%, 55%, and 80% threshold levels. Three different threshold levels were used in order to evaluate their effects on emotions. Genders were studied separately. The results suggested significant gender differences for CQEGG 80% threshold level. SPL, CQEGG, and F4 were used to convey emotions, but to a lesser degree, when F0 was predetermined. Moreover, females showed fewer significant variations than males. Both genders used more hypofunctional phonation type in mono-pitched utterances than in the expressions with freely varying pitch. The present material warrants further study of the interplay between CQEGG threshold levels and formant frequencies, and listening tests to investigate the perceptual value of the mono-pitched vowels in the communication of emotions.

  8. Obligatory and facultative brain regions for voice-identity recognition

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roswandowitz, Claudia; Kappes, Claudia; Obrig, Hellmuth; von Kriegstein, Katharina

    2018-01-01

    Abstract Recognizing the identity of others by their voice is an important skill for social interactions. To date, it remains controversial which parts of the brain are critical structures for this skill. Based on neuroimaging findings, standard models of person-identity recognition suggest that the right temporal lobe is the hub for voice-identity recognition. Neuropsychological case studies, however, reported selective deficits of voice-identity recognition in patients predominantly with right inferior parietal lobe lesions. Here, our aim was to work towards resolving the discrepancy between neuroimaging studies and neuropsychological case studies to find out which brain structures are critical for voice-identity recognition in humans. We performed a voxel-based lesion-behaviour mapping study in a cohort of patients (n = 58) with unilateral focal brain lesions. The study included a comprehensive behavioural test battery on voice-identity recognition of newly learned (voice-name, voice-face association learning) and familiar voices (famous voice recognition) as well as visual (face-identity recognition) and acoustic control tests (vocal-pitch and vocal-timbre discrimination). The study also comprised clinically established tests (neuropsychological assessment, audiometry) and high-resolution structural brain images. The three key findings were: (i) a strong association between voice-identity recognition performance and right posterior/mid temporal and right inferior parietal lobe lesions; (ii) a selective association between right posterior/mid temporal lobe lesions and voice-identity recognition performance when face-identity recognition performance was factored out; and (iii) an association of right inferior parietal lobe lesions with tasks requiring the association between voices and faces but not voices and names. The results imply that the right posterior/mid temporal lobe is an obligatory structure for voice-identity recognition, while the inferior parietal

  9. Acoustic passaggio pedagogy for the male voice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bozeman, Kenneth Wood

    2013-07-01

    Awareness of interactions between the lower harmonics of the voice source and the first formant of the vocal tract, and of the passive vowel modifications that accompany them, can assist in working out a smooth transition through the passaggio of the male voice. A stable vocal tract length establishes the general location of all formants, including the higher formants that form the singer's formant cluster. Untrained males instinctively shorten the tube to preserve the strong F1/H2 acoustic coupling of voce aperta, resulting in 'yell' timbre. If tube length and shape are kept stable during pitch ascent, the yell can be avoided by allowing the second harmonic to rise above the first formant, creating the balanced timbre of voce chiusa.

  10. The Effects of Head-Up Display (HUD) Pitch Ladder Articulation, Pitch Number Location and Horizon Line Length on Unusual Attitude Recoveries for the F-16

    Science.gov (United States)

    1990-07-01

    No comment . ’D. No comment . E. The best display was the partially articulated HUD. F. Only pitch bars below the horizon should be articulated. G. Fully articulated pitch bars were the best. H. Fully articulated configuration was easiest to quickly determine which direction to the horizon. I. No comment . J. Fully articulated HUD gave instant feedback on which way to pull to the horizon, K. No comment . L. Definite difference using the full articulation. 2. The following zomments are

  11. Auditory-Motor Control of Vocal Production during Divided Attention: Behavioral and ERP Correlates.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Ying; Fan, Hao; Li, Jingting; Jones, Jeffery A; Liu, Peng; Zhang, Baofeng; Liu, Hanjun

    2018-01-01

    When people hear unexpected perturbations in auditory feedback, they produce rapid compensatory adjustments of their vocal behavior. Recent evidence has shown enhanced vocal compensations and cortical event-related potentials (ERPs) in response to attended pitch feedback perturbations, suggesting that this reflex-like behavior is influenced by selective attention. Less is known, however, about auditory-motor integration for voice control during divided attention. The present cross-modal study investigated the behavioral and ERP correlates of auditory feedback control of vocal pitch production during divided attention. During the production of sustained vowels, 32 young adults were instructed to simultaneously attend to both pitch feedback perturbations they heard and flashing red lights they saw. The presentation rate of the visual stimuli was varied to produce a low, intermediate, and high attentional load. The behavioral results showed that the low-load condition elicited significantly smaller vocal compensations for pitch perturbations than the intermediate-load and high-load conditions. As well, the cortical processing of vocal pitch feedback was also modulated as a function of divided attention. When compared to the low-load and intermediate-load conditions, the high-load condition elicited significantly larger N1 responses and smaller P2 responses to pitch perturbations. These findings provide the first neurobehavioral evidence that divided attention can modulate auditory feedback control of vocal pitch production.

  12. Study of the characteristic parameters of the normal voices of Argentinian speakers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Edgardo Bonzi

    2014-02-01

    Full Text Available The voice laboratory permits to study the human voices using a method that is objective and noninvasive. In this work, we have studied the parameters of the human voice such as pitch, formant, jitter, shimmer and harmonic-noise ratio of a group of young people. This statistical information of parameters is obtained from Argentinian speakers. Received: 29 December 2013, Accepted: 27 May 2014; Reviewed by: J. Brum, Instituto de Física, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay; Edited by: E. Mizraji; DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4279/PIP.060002 Cite as: E V Bonzi, G B Grad, A M Maggi, M R Muñoz, Papers in Physics 6, 060002 (2014

  13. Correlations between Sportsmen’s Morpho-Functional Measurements and Voice Acoustic Variables

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rexhepi Agron M.

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Purpose. Since human voice characteristics are specific to each individual, numerous anthropological studies have been oriented to find significant relationships between voice and morpho-functional features. The goal of this study was to identify the correlation between seven morpho-functional variables and six voice acoustic parameters in sportsmen. Methods. Following the protocols of the International Biological Program, seven morpho-functional variables and six voice acoustic parameters have been measured in 88 male professional athletes from Kosovo, aged 17-35 years, during the period of April-October 2013. The statistical analysis was accomplished through the SPSS program, version 20. The obtained data were analysed through descriptive parameters and with Spearman’s method of correlation analysis. Results. Spearman’s method of correlation showed significant negative correlations (R = -0.215 to -0.613; p = 0.05 between three voice acoustic variables of the fundamental frequency of the voice sample (Mean, Minimum, and Maximum Pitch and six morpho-functional measures (Body Height, Body Weight, Margaria-Kalamen Power Test, Sargent Jump Test, Pull-up Test, and VO2max.abs. Conclusions. The significant correlations imply that the people with higher stature have longer vocal cords and a lower voice. These results encourage investigations on predicting sportsmen’s functional abilities on the basis of their voice acoustic parameters.

  14. The speech signal segmentation algorithm using pitch synchronous analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Amirgaliyev Yedilkhan

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available Parameterization of the speech signal using the algorithms of analysis synchronized with the pitch frequency is discussed. Speech parameterization is performed by the average number of zero transitions function and the signal energy function. Parameterization results are used to segment the speech signal and to isolate the segments with stable spectral characteristics. Segmentation results can be used to generate a digital voice pattern of a person or be applied in the automatic speech recognition. Stages needed for continuous speech segmentation are described.

  15. Effect of singing training on total laryngectomees wearing a tracheoesophageal voice prosthesis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Onofre, Fernanda; Ricz, Hilton Marcos Alves; Takeshita-Monaretti, Telma Kioko; Prado, Maria Yuka de Almeida; Aguiar-Ricz, Lílian Neto

    2013-02-01

    To assess the effect of a program of singing training on the voice of total laryngectomees wearing tracheoesophageal voice prosthesis, considering the quality of alaryngeal phonation, vocal extension and the musical elements of tunning and legato. Five laryngectomees wearing tracheoesophageal voice prosthesis completed the singing training program over a period of three months, with exploration of the strengthening of the respiratory muscles and vocalization and with evaluation of perceptive-auditory and singing voice being performed before and after 12 sessions of singing therapy. After the program of singing voice training, the quality of tracheoesophageal voice showed improvement or the persistence of the general degree of dysphonia for the emitted vowels and for the parameters of roughness and breathiness. For the vowel "a", the pitch was displaced to grave in two participants and to acute in one, and remained adequate in the others. A similar situation was observed also for the vowel "i". After the singing program, all participants presented tunning and most of them showed a greater presence of legato. The vocal extension improved in all participants. Singing training seems to have a favorable effect on the quality of tracheoesophageal phonation and on singing voice.

  16. Ring a bell? Adaptive Auditory Game Feedback to Sustain Performance in Stroke Rehabilitation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hald, Kasper; Knoche, Hendrik

    2016-01-01

    This paper investigates the effect of adaptive auditory feed- back on continued player performance for stroke patients in a Whack- a-Mole style tablet game. The feedback consisted of accumulatively in- creasing the pitch of positive feedback sounds on tasks with fast reaction time and resetting...... it after slow reaction times. The analysis was based on data was obtained in a field trial with lesion patients during their regular rehabilitation. The auditory feedback events were categorized by feedback type (positive/negative) and the associated pitch change of ei- ther high or low magnitude. Both...... feedback type and magnitude had a significant effect on players performance. Negative feedback improved re- action time on the subsequent hit by 0.42 second and positive feedback impaired performance by 0.15 seconds....

  17. Transgender Voice and Communication Treatment: A Retrospective Chart Review of 25 Cases

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hancock, Adrienne B.; Garabedian, Laura M.

    2013-01-01

    Background: People transitioning from male to female (MTF) gender seek speech-language pathology services when they feel their voice is betraying their genuine self or perhaps is the last obstacle to representing their authentic gender. Speaking fundamental frequency (pitch) and resonance are most often targets in treatment because the combination…

  18. Obligatory and facultative brain regions for voice-identity recognition.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roswandowitz, Claudia; Kappes, Claudia; Obrig, Hellmuth; von Kriegstein, Katharina

    2018-01-01

    Recognizing the identity of others by their voice is an important skill for social interactions. To date, it remains controversial which parts of the brain are critical structures for this skill. Based on neuroimaging findings, standard models of person-identity recognition suggest that the right temporal lobe is the hub for voice-identity recognition. Neuropsychological case studies, however, reported selective deficits of voice-identity recognition in patients predominantly with right inferior parietal lobe lesions. Here, our aim was to work towards resolving the discrepancy between neuroimaging studies and neuropsychological case studies to find out which brain structures are critical for voice-identity recognition in humans. We performed a voxel-based lesion-behaviour mapping study in a cohort of patients (n = 58) with unilateral focal brain lesions. The study included a comprehensive behavioural test battery on voice-identity recognition of newly learned (voice-name, voice-face association learning) and familiar voices (famous voice recognition) as well as visual (face-identity recognition) and acoustic control tests (vocal-pitch and vocal-timbre discrimination). The study also comprised clinically established tests (neuropsychological assessment, audiometry) and high-resolution structural brain images. The three key findings were: (i) a strong association between voice-identity recognition performance and right posterior/mid temporal and right inferior parietal lobe lesions; (ii) a selective association between right posterior/mid temporal lobe lesions and voice-identity recognition performance when face-identity recognition performance was factored out; and (iii) an association of right inferior parietal lobe lesions with tasks requiring the association between voices and faces but not voices and names. The results imply that the right posterior/mid temporal lobe is an obligatory structure for voice-identity recognition, while the inferior parietal lobe is

  19. Emotional Prosody Measurement (EPM): A voice-based evaluation method for psychological therapy effectiveness

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van den Broek, Egon; Bos, Lodewijk; Laxminarayan, Swamy; Marsh, Andy

    2004-01-01

    The voice embodies three sources of information: speech, the identity, and the emotional state of the speaker (i.e., emotional prosody). The latter feature is resembled by the variability of the F0 (also named fundamental frequency of pitch) (SD F0). To extract this feature, Emotional Prosody

  20. DAC with LQR Control Design for Pitch Regulated Variable Speed Wind Turbine

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Imran, Raja Muhammad; Hussain, Dil Muhammad Akbar; Soltani, Mohsen

    2014-01-01

    Disturbance Accommodation Control (DAC) is used to model and simulate a system with known disturbance waveform. This paper presents a control scheme to mitigate the effect of disturbances by using collective pitch control for the aboverated wind speed (Region III) for a variable speed wind turbine....... We have used Linear Quadratic Regulator (LQR) to obtain full state feedback gain, disturbance feedback gain is calculated independently and then estimator gain is achieved by poleplacement technique in the DAC augmented plant model. The reduced order model (two-mass model) of wind turbine is used...... and 5MW National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) wind turbine is used in this research. We have shown comparison of results relating to pitch angle, drive train torsion and generator speed obtained by a PID controller and DAC. Simulations are performed in MATLAB/Simulink. The results are compared...

  1. Outcomes Measurement in Voice Disorders: Application of an Acoustic Index of Dysphonia Severity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Awan, Shaheen N.; Roy, Nelson

    2009-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this experiment was to assess the ability of an acoustic model composed of both time-based and spectral-based measures to track change following voice disorder treatment and to serve as a possible treatment outcomes measure. Method: A weighted, four-factor acoustic algorithm consisting of shimmer, pitch sigma, the ratio of…

  2. Haptic seat for fuel economy feedback

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bobbitt, III, John Thomas

    2016-08-30

    A process of providing driver fuel economy feedback is disclosed in which vehicle sensors provide for haptic feedback on fuel usage. Such sensors may include one or more of a speed sensors, global position satellite units, vehicle pitch/roll angle sensors, suspension displacement sensors, longitudinal accelerometer sensors, throttle position in sensors, steering angle sensors, break pressure sensors, and lateral accelerometer sensors. Sensors used singlely or collectively can provide enhanced feedback as to various environmental conditions and operating conditions such that a more accurate assessment of fuel economy information can be provided to the driver.

  3. 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.

  4. Test-retest reliability for aerodynamic measures of voice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Awan, Shaheen N; Novaleski, Carolyn K; Yingling, Julie R

    2013-11-01

    The purpose of this study was to investigate the intrasubject reliability of aerodynamic characteristics of the voice within typical/normal speakers across testing sessions using the Phonatory Aerodynamic System (PAS 6600; KayPENTAX, Montvale, NJ). Participants were 60 healthy young adults (30 males and 30 females) between the ages 18 and 31 years with perceptually typical voice. Participants were tested using the PAS 6600 (Phonatory Aerodynamic System) on two separate days with approximately 1 week between each session at approximately the same time of day. Four PAS protocols were conducted (vital capacity, maximum sustained phonation, comfortable sustained phonation, and voicing efficiency) and measures of expiratory volume, maximum phonation time, mean expiratory airflow (during vowel production) and target airflow (obtained via syllable repetition), peak air pressure, aerodynamic power, aerodynamic resistance, and aerodynamic efficiency were obtained during each testing session. Associated acoustic measures of vocal intensity and frequency were also collected. All phonations were elicited at comfortable pitch and loudness. All aerodynamic and associated variables evaluated in this study showed useable test-retest reliability (ie, intraclass correlation coefficients [ICCs] ≥ 0.60). A high degree of mean test-retest reliability was found across all subjects for aerodynamic and associated acoustic measurements of vital capacity, maximum sustained phonation, glottal resistance, and vocal intensity (all with ICCs > 0.75). Although strong ICCs were observed for measures of glottal power and mean expiratory airflow in males, weaker overall results for these measures (ICC range: 0.60-0.67) were observed in females subjects and sizable coefficients of variation were observed for measures of power, resistance, and efficiency in both men and women. Differences in degree of reliability from measure to measure were revealed in greater detail using methods such as ICCs and

  5. The Identification of High-pitched Sung Vowels in Sense and Nonsense Words by Professional Singers and Untrained Listeners.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Deme, Andrea

    2017-03-01

    High-pitched sung vowels may be considered phonetically "underspecified" because of (i) the tuning of the F 1 to the f 0 accompanying pitch raising and (ii) the wide harmonic spacing of the voice source resulting in the undersampling of the vocal tract transfer function. Therefore, sung vowel intelligibility is expected to decrease as the f 0 increases. Based on the literature of speech perception, it is often suggested that sung vowels are better perceived if uttered in consonantal (CVC) context than in isolation even at high f 0 . The results for singing, however, are contradictory. In the present study, we further investigate this question. We compare vowel identification in sense and nonsense CVC sequences and show that the positive effect of the context disappears if the number of legal choices in a perception test is similar in both conditions, meaning that any positive effect of the CVC context may only stem from the smaller number of possible responses, i.e., from higher probabilities. Additionally, it is also tested whether the training in production (i.e., singing training) may also lead to a perceptual advantage of the singers over nonsingers in the identification of high-pitched sung vowels. The results show no advantage of this kind. Copyright © 2017 The Voice Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  6. Describing different styles of singing: a comparison of a female singer's voice source in "Classical", "Pop", "Jazz" and "Blues".

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thalén, M; Sundberg, J

    2001-01-01

    The voice is apparently used in quite different manners in different styles of singing. Some of these differences concern the voice source, which varies considerably with loudness, pitch, and mode of phonation. We attempt to describe voice source differences between Classical, Pop, Jazz and Blues styles of singing as produced in a triad melody pattern by a professional female singer in soft, middle and loud phonation. An expert panel was asked to identify these triads as examples of either Classical, Pop, Jazz or Blues. The voice source was analysed by inverse filtering. Subglottal pressure Ps, closed quotient QClosed, glottal compliance (ratio between the air volume contained in a voice pulse and Ps), and the level difference between the two lowest source spectrum partials were analysed in the styles and in four modes of phonation: breathy, flow, neutral, and pressed. The same expert panel rated the degree of pressedness in the entire material. Averages across pitch were calculated for each mode and style and related to their total range of variation in the subject. The glottogram data showed a high correlation with the ratings of pressedness. Based on these correlations a pressedness factor was computed from the glottogram data. A phonation map was constructed with the axes representing mean adduction factor and mean Ps, respectively. In this map Classical was similar to flow phonation, Pop and Jazz to neutral and flow phonation, and Blues to pressed phonation.

  7. [Environmental factors and vocal habits regarding pre-school teachers and functionaries suffering voice disorders].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barrreto-Munévar, Deisy P; Cháux-Ramos, Oriana M; Estrada-Rangel, Mónica A; Sánchez-Morales, Jenifer; Moreno-Angarita, Marisol; Camargo-Mendoza, Maryluz

    2011-06-01

    Determining the relationship between vocal habits and environmental/ occupational conditions with the presence of vocal disturbance (dysphonia) in teachers and functionaries working at community-based, initial childhood education centres (kindergartens). This was a descriptive study which adopted across-sectional approach using 198 participants which was developed in three phases. Phase 1: consisted of identifying participants having the highest risk of presenting vocal disturbance. Phase 2consisted of observation-analysis concerning the voice use and vocal habits of participants who had been identified in phase 1. Phase 3consisted of perceptual and computational assessment of participants' voices using Wilson's vocal profile and the multidimensional voice program. Individuals having pitch breaks, throat clearing, increased voice intensity, and gastro-oesophageal reflux were found to present below standard fundamental frequency (FF). Subjects having altered breathing and increased voice intensity were identified as having above standard shimmer and jitter acoustic values. A high rate of inability to work was found due to vocal disturbance. It is thus suggested that there is a correlation between vocal habits and vocal disorders presented by preschool teachers in kindergarten settings.

  8. Improve beam position stability of SSRF BL15U beamline by using beam intensity feedback

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Li Guoqiang; Liang Dongxu; Yan Fen; Li Aiguo; Yu Xiaohan

    2013-01-01

    Background: The shaking of micro-focus spot in the vertical direction is found during the energy scan experiments, such as XAFS scan. The beam position of vertical direction changes obviously with the energy. Purpose: In order to make the beam position shaking amplitude less than 1/10 of the beam size. Methods: The beam position stability of SSRF BL15U beamline is improved by using beam intensity feedback. The feedback system include beam intensity monitor of the beamline and fine adjust mechanism of pitch 2 (the pitch angle of the second crystal of the double crystal monochromator). The feedback control of the beam position is realized by adjusting the pitch 2 to fix beam intensity at its maximum value. Results: The test results show that the vertical beam vibration below 10 Hz frequency is significantly reduced and also the beam position stability during photon energy scan is improved by more than 5 times. Conclusions: By adopting the new feedback systems, the stability of the beam spot on the specimen stage was dramatically improved which achieved the anticipated target. (authors)

  9. Bringing voice in policy building.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lotrecchiano, Gaetano R; Kane, Mary; Zocchi, Mark S; Gosa, Jessica; Lazar, Danielle; Pines, Jesse M

    2017-07-03

    Purpose The purpose of this paper is to describe the use of group concept mapping (GCM) as a tool for developing a conceptual model of an episode of acute, unscheduled care from illness or injury to outcomes such as recovery, death and chronic illness. Design/methodology/approach After generating a literature review drafting an initial conceptual model, GCM software (CS Global MAX TM ) is used to organize and identify strengths and directionality between concepts generated through feedback about the model from several stakeholder groups: acute care and non-acute care providers, patients, payers and policymakers. Through online and in-person population-specific focus groups, the GCM approach seeks feedback, assigned relationships and articulated priorities from participants to produce an output map that described overarching concepts and relationships within and across subsamples. Findings A clustered concept map made up of relational data points that produced a taxonomy of feedback was used to update the model for use in soliciting additional feedback from two technical expert panels (TEPs), and finally, a public comment exercise was performed. The results were a stakeholder-informed improved model for an acute care episode, identified factors that influence process and outcomes, and policy recommendations, which were delivered to the Department of Health and Human Services's (DHHS) Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response. Practical implications This study provides an example of the value of cross-population multi-stakeholder input to increase voice in shared problem health stakeholder groups. Originality/value This paper provides GCM results and a visual analysis of the relational characteristics both within and across sub-populations involved in the study. It also provides an assessment of observational key factors supporting how different stakeholder voices can be integrated to inform model development and policy recommendations.

  10. A Preliminary Study of Individual Responses to Real-Time Pitch and Formant Perturbations

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    MacDonald, Ewen; Munhall, Kevin G.

    2012-01-01

    Previous studies have demonstrated a wide range in individuals’ compensations in response to real-time alterations of the auditory feedback of both pitch and formant frequencies. One potential source of this variability may be individual differences in the relative weighting of auditory and somat...

  11. 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.

  12. LANGUAGE EXPERIENCE SHAPES PROCESSING OF PITCH RELEVANT INFORMATION IN THE HUMAN BRAINSTEM AND AUDITORY CORTEX: ELECTROPHYSIOLOGICAL EVIDENCE.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Krishnan, Ananthanarayan; Gandour, Jackson T

    2014-12-01

    -term experience shapes this adaptive process wherein the top-down connections provide selective gating of inputs to both cortical and subcortical structures to enhance neural responses to specific behaviorally-relevant attributes of the stimulus. A theoretical framework for a neural network is proposed involving coordination between local, feedforward, and feedback components that can account for experience-dependent enhancement of pitch representations at multiple levels of the auditory pathway. The ability to record brainstem and cortical pitch relevant responses concurrently may provide a new window to evaluate the online interplay between feedback, feedforward, and local intrinsic components in the hierarchical processing of pitch relevant information.

  13. Computer-aided voice training in higher education: participants ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The training of performance singing in a multi lingual, multi cultural educational context presents unique problems and requires inventive teaching strategies. Computer-aided training offers objective visual feedback of the voice production that can be implemented as a teaching aid in higher education. This article reports on ...

  14. Spectral distribution of solo voice and accompaniment in pop music.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Borch, Daniel Zangger; Sundberg, Johan

    2002-01-01

    Singers performing in popular styles of music mostly rely on feedback provided by monitor loudspeakers on the stage. The highest sound level that these loudspeakers can provide without feedback noise is often too low to be heard over the ambient sound level on the stage. Long-term-average spectra of some orchestral accompaniments typically used in pop music are compared with those of classical symphonic orchestras. In loud pop accompaniment the sound level difference between 0.5 and 2.5 kHz is similar to that of a Wagner orchestra. Long-term-average spectra of pop singers' voices showed no signs of a singer's formant but a peak near 3.5 kHz. It is suggested that pop singers' difficulties to hear their own voices may be reduced if the frequency range 3-4 kHz is boosted in the monitor sound.

  15. Difficulties with Pitch Discrimination Influences Pitch Memory Performance: Evidence from Congenital Amusia

    OpenAIRE

    Jiang, Cunmei; Lim, Vanessa K.; Wang, Hang; Hamm, Jeff P.

    2013-01-01

    Music processing is influenced by pitch perception and memory. Additionally these features interact, with pitch memory performance decreasing as the perceived distance between two pitches decreases. This study examined whether or not the difficulty of pitch discrimination influences pitch retention by testing individuals with congenital amusia. Pitch discrimination difficulty was equated by determining an individual's threshold with a two down one up staircase procedure and using this to crea...

  16. Reverse Engineering Tone-Deafness: Disrupting Pitch-Matching by Creating Temporary Dysfunctions in the Auditory-Motor Network

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anja Hohmann

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Perceiving and producing vocal sounds are important functions of the auditory-motor system and are fundamental to communication. Prior studies have identified a network of brain regions involved in pitch production, specifically pitch matching. Here we reverse engineer the function of the auditory perception-production network by targeting specific cortical regions (e.g., right and left posterior superior temporal (pSTG and posterior inferior frontal gyri (pIFG with cathodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS—commonly found to decrease excitability in the underlying cortical region—allowing us to causally test the role of particular nodes in this network. Performance on a pitch-matching task was determined before and after 20 min of cathodal stimulation. Acoustic analyses of pitch productions showed impaired accuracy after cathodal stimulation to the left pIFG and the right pSTG in comparison to sham stimulation. Both regions share particular roles in the feedback and feedforward motor control of pitched vocal production with a differential hemispheric dominance.

  17. Difficulties with pitch discrimination influences pitch memory performance: evidence from congenital amusia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jiang, Cunmei; Lim, Vanessa K; Wang, Hang; Hamm, Jeff P

    2013-01-01

    Music processing is influenced by pitch perception and memory. Additionally these features interact, with pitch memory performance decreasing as the perceived distance between two pitches decreases. This study examined whether or not the difficulty of pitch discrimination influences pitch retention by testing individuals with congenital amusia. Pitch discrimination difficulty was equated by determining an individual's threshold with a two down one up staircase procedure and using this to create conditions where two pitches (the standard and the comparison tones) differed by 1x, 2x, and 3x the threshold setting. For comparison with the literature a condition that employed a constant pitch difference of four semitones was also included. The results showed that pitch memory performance improved as the discrimination between the standard and the comparison tones was made easier for both amusic and control groups, and more importantly, that amusics did not show any pitch retention deficits when the discrimination difficulty was equated. In contrast, consistent with previous literature, amusics performed worse than controls when the physical pitch distance was held constant at four semitones. This impaired performance has been interpreted as evidence for pitch memory impairment in the past. However, employing a constant pitch distance always makes the difference closer to the discrimination threshold for the amusic group than for the control group. Therefore, reduced performance in this condition may simply reflect differences in the perceptual difficulty of the discrimination. The findings indicate the importance of equating the discrimination difficulty when investigating memory.

  18. Literature review of voice recognition and generation technology for Army helicopter applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Christ, K. A.

    1984-08-01

    This report is a literature review on the topics of voice recognition and generation. Areas covered are: manual versus vocal data input, vocabulary, stress and workload, noise, protective masks, feedback, and voice warning systems. Results of the studies presented in this report indicate that voice data entry has less of an impact on a pilot's flight performance, during low-level flying and other difficult missions, than manual data entry. However, the stress resulting from such missions may cause the pilot's voice to change, reducing the recognition accuracy of the system. The noise present in helicopter cockpits also causes the recognition accuracy to decrease. Noise-cancelling devices are being developed and improved upon to increase the recognition performance in noisy environments. Future research in the fields of voice recognition and generation should be conducted in the areas of stress and workload, vocabulary, and the types of voice generation best suited for the helicopter cockpit. Also, specific tasks should be studied to determine whether voice recognition and generation can be effectively applied.

  19. Detection of Membrane Puncture with Haptic Feedback using a Tip-Force Sensing Needle.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Elayaperumal, Santhi; Bae, Jung Hwa; Daniel, Bruce L; Cutkosky, Mark R

    2014-09-01

    This paper presents calibration and user test results of a 3-D tip-force sensing needle with haptic feedback. The needle is a modified MRI-compatible biopsy needle with embedded fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors for strain detection. After calibration, the needle is interrogated at 2 kHz, and dynamic forces are displayed remotely with a voice coil actuator. The needle is tested in a single-axis master/slave system, with the voice coil haptic display at the master, and the needle at the slave end. Tissue phantoms with embedded membranes were used to determine the ability of the tip-force sensors to provide real-time haptic feedback as compared to external sensors at the needle base during needle insertion via the master/slave system. Subjects were able to determine the position of the embedded membranes with significantly better accuracy using FBG tip feedback than with base feedback using a commercial force/torque sensor (p = 0.045) or with no added haptic feedback (p = 0.0024).

  20. [Psychological effects of preventive voice care training in student teachers].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nusseck, M; Richter, B; Echternach, M; Spahn, C

    2017-07-01

    Studies on the effectiveness of preventive voice care programs have focused mainly on voice parameters. Psychological parameters, however, have not been investigated in detail so far. The effect of a voice training program for German student teachers on psychological health parameters was investigated in a longitudinal study. The sample of 204 student teachers was divided into the intervention group (n = 123), who participated in the voice training program, and the control group (n = 81), who received no voice training. Voice training contained ten 90-min group courses and an individual visit by the voice trainer in a teaching situation with feedback afterwards. Participants were asked to fill out questionnaires (self-efficacy, Short-Form Health Survey, self-consciousness, voice self-concept, work-related behaviour and experience patterns) at the beginning and the end of their student teacher training period. The training program showed significant positive influences on psychological health, voice self-concept (i.e. more positive perception and increased awareness of one's own voice) and work-related coping behaviour in the intervention group. On average, the mental health status of all participants reduced over time, whereas the status in the trained group diminished significantly less than in the control group. Furthermore, the trained student teachers gained abilities to cope with work-related stress better than those without training. The training program clearly showed a positive impact on mental health. The results maintain the importance of such a training program not only for voice health, but also for wide-ranging aspects of constitutional health.

  1. Difficulties with pitch discrimination influences pitch memory performance: evidence from congenital amusia.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cunmei Jiang

    Full Text Available Music processing is influenced by pitch perception and memory. Additionally these features interact, with pitch memory performance decreasing as the perceived distance between two pitches decreases. This study examined whether or not the difficulty of pitch discrimination influences pitch retention by testing individuals with congenital amusia. Pitch discrimination difficulty was equated by determining an individual's threshold with a two down one up staircase procedure and using this to create conditions where two pitches (the standard and the comparison tones differed by 1x, 2x, and 3x the threshold setting. For comparison with the literature a condition that employed a constant pitch difference of four semitones was also included. The results showed that pitch memory performance improved as the discrimination between the standard and the comparison tones was made easier for both amusic and control groups, and more importantly, that amusics did not show any pitch retention deficits when the discrimination difficulty was equated. In contrast, consistent with previous literature, amusics performed worse than controls when the physical pitch distance was held constant at four semitones. This impaired performance has been interpreted as evidence for pitch memory impairment in the past. However, employing a constant pitch distance always makes the difference closer to the discrimination threshold for the amusic group than for the control group. Therefore, reduced performance in this condition may simply reflect differences in the perceptual difficulty of the discrimination. The findings indicate the importance of equating the discrimination difficulty when investigating memory.

  2. Perceptual adaptation of voice gender discrimination with spectrally shifted vowels.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Tianhao; Fu, Qian-Jie

    2011-08-01

    To determine whether perceptual adaptation improves voice gender discrimination of spectrally shifted vowels and, if so, which acoustic cues contribute to the improvement. Voice gender discrimination was measured for 10 normal-hearing subjects, during 5 days of adaptation to spectrally shifted vowels, produced by processing the speech of 5 male and 5 female talkers with 16-channel sine-wave vocoders. The subjects were randomly divided into 2 groups; one subjected to 50-Hz, and the other to 200-Hz, temporal envelope cutoff frequencies. No preview or feedback was provided. There was significant adaptation in voice gender discrimination with the 200-Hz cutoff frequency, but significant improvement was observed only for 3 female talkers with F(0) > 180 Hz and 3 male talkers with F(0) gender discrimination under spectral shift conditions with perceptual adaptation, but spectral shift may limit the exclusive use of spectral information and/or the use of formant structure on voice gender discrimination. The results have implications for cochlear implant users and for understanding voice gender discrimination.

  3. Domestic dogs use contextual information and tone of voice when following a human pointing gesture.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Linda Scheider

    Full Text Available Domestic dogs are skillful at using the human pointing gesture. In this study we investigated whether dogs take contextual information into account when following pointing gestures, specifically, whether they follow human pointing gestures more readily in the context in which food has been found previously. Also varied was the human's tone of voice as either imperative or informative. Dogs were more sustained in their searching behavior in the 'context' condition as opposed to the 'no context' condition, suggesting that they do not simply follow a pointing gesture blindly but use previously acquired contextual information to inform their interpretation of that pointing gesture. Dogs also showed more sustained searching behavior when there was pointing than when there was not, suggesting that they expect to find a referent when they see a human point. Finally, dogs searched more in high-pitched informative trials as opposed to the low-pitched imperative trials, whereas in the latter dogs seemed more inclined to respond by sitting. These findings suggest that a dog's response to a pointing gesture is flexible and depends on the context as well as the human's tone of voice.

  4. Establishment of expanded and streamlined pipeline of PITCh knock-in - a web-based design tool for MMEJ-mediated gene knock-in, PITCh designer, and the variations of PITCh, PITCh-TG and PITCh-KIKO.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nakamae, Kazuki; Nishimura, Yuki; Takenaga, Mitsumasa; Nakade, Shota; Sakamoto, Naoaki; Ide, Hiroshi; Sakuma, Tetsushi; Yamamoto, Takashi

    2017-05-04

    The emerging genome editing technology has enabled the creation of gene knock-in cells easily, efficiently, and rapidly, which has dramatically accelerated research in the field of mammalian functional genomics, including in humans. We recently developed a microhomology-mediated end-joining-based gene knock-in method, termed the PITCh system, and presented various examples of its application. Since the PITCh system only requires very short microhomologies (up to 40 bp) and single-guide RNA target sites on the donor vector, the targeting construct can be rapidly prepared compared with the conventional targeting vector for homologous recombination-based knock-in. Here, we established a streamlined pipeline to design and perform PITCh knock-in to further expand the availability of this method by creating web-based design software, PITCh designer ( http://www.mls.sci.hiroshima-u.ac.jp/smg/PITChdesigner/index.html ), as well as presenting an experimental example of versatile gene cassette knock-in. PITCh designer can automatically design not only the appropriate microhomologies but also the primers to construct locus-specific donor vectors for PITCh knock-in. By using our newly established pipeline, a reporter cell line for monitoring endogenous gene expression, and transgenesis (TG) or knock-in/knockout (KIKO) cell line can be produced systematically. Using these new variations of PITCh, an exogenous promoter-driven gene cassette expressing fluorescent protein gene and drug resistance gene can be integrated into a safe harbor or a specific gene locus to create transgenic reporter cells (PITCh-TG) or knockout cells with reporter knock-in (PITCh-KIKO), respectively.

  5. A lover or a fighter? Opposing sexual selection pressures on men?s vocal pitch and facial hair

    OpenAIRE

    Saxton, Tamsin K.; Mackey, Lauren L.; McCarty, Kristofor; Neave, Nick

    2015-01-01

    The traditional assumption within the research literature on human sexually dimorphic traits has been that many sex differences have arisen from intersexual selection. More recently however, there has been a shift towards the idea that many male features, including for example male lower-pitched voices, and male beard growth, might have arisen predominantly through intrasexual selection: that is, to serve the purpose of male-male competition instead of mate attraction. In this study, using a ...

  6. Singing in groups for Parkinson's disease (SING-PD): a pilot study of group singing therapy for PD-related voice/speech disorders.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shih, Ludy C; Piel, Jordan; Warren, Amanda; Kraics, Lauren; Silver, Althea; Vanderhorst, Veronique; Simon, David K; Tarsy, Daniel

    2012-06-01

    Parkinson's disease related speech and voice impairment have significant impact on quality of life measures. LSVT(®)LOUD voice and speech therapy (Lee Silverman Voice Therapy) has demonstrated scientific efficacy and clinical effectiveness, but musically based voice and speech therapy has been underexplored as a potentially useful method of rehabilitation. We undertook a pilot, open-label study of a group-based singing intervention, consisting of twelve 90-min weekly sessions led by a voice and speech therapist/singing instructor. The primary outcome measure of vocal loudness as measured by sound pressure level (SPL) at 50 cm during connected speech was not significantly different one week after the intervention or at 13 weeks after the intervention. A number of secondary measures reflecting pitch range, phonation time and maximum loudness also were unchanged. Voice related quality of life (VRQOL) and voice handicap index (VHI) also were unchanged. This study suggests that a group singing therapy intervention at this intensity and frequency does not result in significant improvement in objective and subject-rated measures of voice and speech impairment. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  7. Chaos and its control in the pitch motion of an asymmetric magnetic spacecraft in polar elliptic orbit

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Inarrea, Manuel [Universidad de La Rioja, Area de Fisica Aplicada, 26006 Logrono (Spain)], E-mail: manuel.inarrea@unirioja.es

    2009-05-30

    We study the pitch attitude dynamics of an asymmetric magnetic spacecraft in a polar almost circular orbit under the influence of a gravity gradient torque. The spacecraft is perturbed by the small eccentricity of the elliptic orbit and by a small magnetic torque generated by the interaction between the Earth's magnetic field and the magnetic moment of the spacecraft. Under both perturbations, we show that the pitch motion exhibits heteroclinic chaotic behavior by means of the Melnikov method. Numerical methods applied to simulations of the pitch motion also confirm the chaotic character of the spacecraft attitude dynamics. Finally, a linear time-delay feedback method for controlling chaos is applied to the governing equations of the spacecraft pitch motion in order to remove the chaotic character of initially irregular attitude motions and transform them into periodic ones.

  8. Chaos and its control in the pitch motion of an asymmetric magnetic spacecraft in polar elliptic orbit

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Inarrea, Manuel

    2009-01-01

    We study the pitch attitude dynamics of an asymmetric magnetic spacecraft in a polar almost circular orbit under the influence of a gravity gradient torque. The spacecraft is perturbed by the small eccentricity of the elliptic orbit and by a small magnetic torque generated by the interaction between the Earth's magnetic field and the magnetic moment of the spacecraft. Under both perturbations, we show that the pitch motion exhibits heteroclinic chaotic behavior by means of the Melnikov method. Numerical methods applied to simulations of the pitch motion also confirm the chaotic character of the spacecraft attitude dynamics. Finally, a linear time-delay feedback method for controlling chaos is applied to the governing equations of the spacecraft pitch motion in order to remove the chaotic character of initially irregular attitude motions and transform them into periodic ones.

  9. Imperfect pitch: Gabor's uncertainty principle and the pitch of extremely brief sounds.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hsieh, I-Hui; Saberi, Kourosh

    2016-02-01

    How brief must a sound be before its pitch is no longer perceived? The uncertainty tradeoff between temporal and spectral resolution (Gabor's principle) limits the minimum duration required for accurate pitch identification or discrimination. Prior studies have reported that pitch can be extracted from sinusoidal pulses as brief as half a cycle. This finding has been used in a number of classic papers to develop models of pitch encoding. We have found that phase randomization, which eliminates timbre confounds, degrades this ability to chance, raising serious concerns over the foundation on which classic pitch models have been built. The current study investigated whether subthreshold pitch cues may still exist in partial-cycle pulses revealed through statistical integration in a time series containing multiple pulses. To this end, we measured frequency-discrimination thresholds in a two-interval forced-choice task for trains of partial-cycle random-phase tone pulses. We found that residual pitch cues exist in these pulses but discriminating them requires an order of magnitude (ten times) larger frequency difference than that reported previously, necessitating a re-evaluation of pitch models built on earlier findings. We also found that as pulse duration is decreased to less than two cycles its pitch becomes biased toward higher frequencies, consistent with predictions of an auto-correlation model of pitch extraction.

  10. Establishment of expanded and streamlined pipeline of PITCh knock-in – a web-based design tool for MMEJ-mediated gene knock-in, PITCh designer, and the variations of PITCh, PITCh-TG and PITCh-KIKO

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nakamae, Kazuki; Nishimura, Yuki; Takenaga, Mitsumasa; Sakamoto, Naoaki; Ide, Hiroshi; Sakuma, Tetsushi; Yamamoto, Takashi

    2017-01-01

    ABSTRACT The emerging genome editing technology has enabled the creation of gene knock-in cells easily, efficiently, and rapidly, which has dramatically accelerated research in the field of mammalian functional genomics, including in humans. We recently developed a microhomology-mediated end-joining-based gene knock-in method, termed the PITCh system, and presented various examples of its application. Since the PITCh system only requires very short microhomologies (up to 40 bp) and single-guide RNA target sites on the donor vector, the targeting construct can be rapidly prepared compared with the conventional targeting vector for homologous recombination-based knock-in. Here, we established a streamlined pipeline to design and perform PITCh knock-in to further expand the availability of this method by creating web-based design software, PITCh designer (http://www.mls.sci.hiroshima-u.ac.jp/smg/PITChdesigner/index.html), as well as presenting an experimental example of versatile gene cassette knock-in. PITCh designer can automatically design not only the appropriate microhomologies but also the primers to construct locus-specific donor vectors for PITCh knock-in. By using our newly established pipeline, a reporter cell line for monitoring endogenous gene expression, and transgenesis (TG) or knock-in/knockout (KIKO) cell line can be produced systematically. Using these new variations of PITCh, an exogenous promoter-driven gene cassette expressing fluorescent protein gene and drug resistance gene can be integrated into a safe harbor or a specific gene locus to create transgenic reporter cells (PITCh-TG) or knockout cells with reporter knock-in (PITCh-KIKO), respectively. PMID:28453368

  11. Top-Down Modulation of Auditory-Motor Integration during Speech Production: The Role of Working Memory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guo, Zhiqiang; Wu, Xiuqin; Li, Weifeng; Jones, Jeffery A; Yan, Nan; Sheft, Stanley; Liu, Peng; Liu, Hanjun

    2017-10-25

    Although working memory (WM) is considered as an emergent property of the speech perception and production systems, the role of WM in sensorimotor integration during speech processing is largely unknown. We conducted two event-related potential experiments with female and male young adults to investigate the contribution of WM to the neurobehavioural processing of altered auditory feedback during vocal production. A delayed match-to-sample task that required participants to indicate whether the pitch feedback perturbations they heard during vocalizations in test and sample sequences matched, elicited significantly larger vocal compensations, larger N1 responses in the left middle and superior temporal gyrus, and smaller P2 responses in the left middle and superior temporal gyrus, inferior parietal lobule, somatosensory cortex, right inferior frontal gyrus, and insula compared with a control task that did not require memory retention of the sequence of pitch perturbations. On the other hand, participants who underwent extensive auditory WM training produced suppressed vocal compensations that were correlated with improved auditory WM capacity, and enhanced P2 responses in the left middle frontal gyrus, inferior parietal lobule, right inferior frontal gyrus, and insula that were predicted by pretraining auditory WM capacity. These findings indicate that WM can enhance the perception of voice auditory feedback errors while inhibiting compensatory vocal behavior to prevent voice control from being excessively influenced by auditory feedback. This study provides the first evidence that auditory-motor integration for voice control can be modulated by top-down influences arising from WM, rather than modulated exclusively by bottom-up and automatic processes. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT One outstanding question that remains unsolved in speech motor control is how the mismatch between predicted and actual voice auditory feedback is detected and corrected. The present study

  12. Effects of Written Peer-Feedback Content and Sender's Competence on Perceptions, Performance, and Mindful Cognitive Processing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Berndt, Markus; Strijbos, Jan-Willem; Fischer, Frank

    2018-01-01

    Peer-feedback efficiency might be influenced by the oftentimes voiced concern of students that they perceive their peers' competence to provide feedback as inadequate. Feedback literature also identifies mindful processing of (peer)feedback and (peer)feedback content as important for its efficiency, but lacks systematic investigation. In a 2 × 2…

  13. Pitch discrimination learning: specificity for pitch and harmonic resolvability, and electrophysiological correlates.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carcagno, Samuele; Plack, Christopher J

    2011-08-01

    Multiple-hour training on a pitch discrimination task dramatically decreases the threshold for detecting a pitch difference between two harmonic complexes. Here, we investigated the specificity of this perceptual learning with respect to the pitch and the resolvability of the trained harmonic complex, as well as its cortical electrophysiological correlates. We trained 24 participants for 12 h on a pitch discrimination task using one of four different harmonic complexes. The complexes differed in pitch and/or spectral resolvability of their components by the cochlea, but were filtered into the same spectral region. Cortical-evoked potentials and a behavioral measure of pitch discrimination were assessed before and after training for all the four complexes. The change in these measures was compared to that of two control groups: one trained on a level discrimination task and one without any training. The behavioral results showed that learning was partly specific to both pitch and resolvability. Training with a resolved-harmonic complex improved pitch discrimination for resolved complexes more than training with an unresolved complex. However, we did not find evidence that training with an unresolved complex leads to specific learning for unresolved complexes. Training affected the P2 component of the cortical-evoked potentials, as well as a later component (250-400 ms). No significant changes were found on the mismatch negativity (MMN) component, although a separate experiment showed that this measure was sensitive to pitch changes equivalent to the pitch discriminability changes induced by training. This result suggests that pitch discrimination training affects processes not measured by the MMN, for example, processes higher in level or parallel to those involved in MMN generation.

  14. Lung studies with spiral CT. pitch 1 versus pitch 2

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sartoni Galloni, S.; Miceli, M.; Lipparino, M.; Burzi, M.; Gigli, F.; Rossi, M.S.; Santoli, G.; Guidarelli, G.

    1999-01-01

    In Spiral CT, the pitch is the ratio of the distance to tabletop travels per 360 degrees rotation to nominal slice width, expressed in mm. Performing Spiral CT examination with pitch 2 allows to reduce examination time, exposure and contrast dose, and X-ray tube overload. The authors investigated the yield of pitch 2 in lung parenchyma studies, particular relative to diagnostic image quality [it

  15. Connections between voice ergonomic risk factors and voice symptoms, voice handicap, and respiratory tract diseases.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rantala, Leena M; Hakala, Suvi J; Holmqvist, Sofia; Sala, Eeva

    2012-11-01

    The aim of the study was to investigate the connections between voice ergonomic risk factors found in classrooms and voice-related problems in teachers. Voice ergonomic assessment was performed in 39 classrooms in 14 elementary schools by means of a Voice Ergonomic Assessment in Work Environment--Handbook and Checklist. The voice ergonomic risk factors assessed included working culture, noise, indoor air quality, working posture, stress, and access to a sound amplifier. Teachers from the above-mentioned classrooms reported their voice symptoms, respiratory tract diseases, and completed a Voice Handicap Index (VHI). The more voice ergonomic risk factors found in the classroom the higher were the teachers' total scores on voice symptoms and VHI. Stress was the factor that correlated most strongly with voice symptoms. Poor indoor air quality increased the occurrence of laryngitis. Voice ergonomics were poor in the classrooms studied and voice ergonomic risk factors affected the voice. It is important to convey information on voice ergonomics to education administrators and those responsible for school planning and taking care of school buildings. Copyright © 2012 The Voice Foundation. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

  16. Effectiveness of radio spokesperson's gender, vocal pitch and accent and the use of music in radio advertising

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Josefa D. Martín-Santana

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this study is to analyze how certain voice features of radio spokespersons and background music influence the advertising effectiveness of a radio spot from the cognitive, affective and conative perspectives. We used a 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 experimental design in 16 different radio programs in which an ad hoc radio spot was inserted during advertising block. This ad changed according to combinations of spokesperson's gender (male–female, vocal pitch (low–high and accent (local–standard. In addition to these independent factors, the effect of background music in advertisements was also tested and compared with those that only had words. 987 regular radio listeners comprised the sample that was exposed to the radio program we created. Based on the differences in the levels of effectiveness in the tested voice features, our results suggest that the choice of the voice in radio advertising is one of the most important decisions an advertiser faces. Furthermore, the findings show that the inclusion of music does not always imply greater effectiveness.

  17. A Social Semiotic Mapping of Voice in Youth Media: The Pitch in Youth Video Production

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pyles, Damiana Gibbons

    2017-01-01

    An ethics of youth media production is the interplay of identities, media literacy, and modality that shape the environment within which young people produce media, yet how "voice" is fostered and/or constrained in these environments could still be explored more fully. This paper stems from a larger qualitative study of how youth created…

  18. Consonance and pitch.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McLachlan, Neil; Marco, David; Light, Maria; Wilson, Sarah

    2013-11-01

    To date, no consensus exists in the literature as to theories of consonance and dissonance. Experimental data collected over the last century have raised questions about the dominant theories that are based on frequency relationships between the harmonics of music chords. This study provides experimental evidence that strongly challenges these theories and suggests a new theory of dissonance based on relationships between pitch perception and recognition. Experiment 1 shows that dissonance does not increase with increasing numbers of harmonics in chords as predicted by Helmholtz's (1863/1954) roughness theory, nor does it increase with fewer pitch-matching errors as predicted by Stumpf's (1898) tonal fusion theory. Dissonance was strongly correlated with pitch-matching error for chords, which in turn was reduced by chord familiarity and greater music training. This led to the proposition that long-term memory templates for common chords assist the perception of pitches in chords by providing an estimate of the chord intervals from spectral information. When recognition mechanisms based on these templates fail, the spectral pitch estimate is inconsistent with the period of the waveform, leading to cognitive incongruence and the negative affect of dissonance. The cognitive incongruence theory of dissonance was rigorously tested in Experiment 2, in which nonmusicians were trained to match the pitches of a random selection of 2-pitch chords. After 10 training sessions, they rated the chords they had learned to pitch match as less dissonant than the unlearned chords, irrespective of their tuning, providing strong support for a cognitive mechanism of dissonance. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved.

  19. Temporal recalibration in vocalization induced by adaptation of delayed auditory feedback.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kosuke Yamamoto

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: We ordinarily perceive our voice sound as occurring simultaneously with vocal production, but the sense of simultaneity in vocalization can be easily interrupted by delayed auditory feedback (DAF. DAF causes normal people to have difficulty speaking fluently but helps people with stuttering to improve speech fluency. However, the underlying temporal mechanism for integrating the motor production of voice and the auditory perception of vocal sound remains unclear. In this study, we investigated the temporal tuning mechanism integrating vocal sensory and voice sounds under DAF with an adaptation technique. METHODS AND FINDINGS: Participants produced a single voice sound repeatedly with specific delay times of DAF (0, 66, 133 ms during three minutes to induce 'Lag Adaptation'. They then judged the simultaneity between motor sensation and vocal sound given feedback. We found that lag adaptation induced a shift in simultaneity responses toward the adapted auditory delays. This indicates that the temporal tuning mechanism in vocalization can be temporally recalibrated after prolonged exposure to delayed vocal sounds. Furthermore, we found that the temporal recalibration in vocalization can be affected by averaging delay times in the adaptation phase. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest vocalization is finely tuned by the temporal recalibration mechanism, which acutely monitors the integration of temporal delays between motor sensation and vocal sound.

  20. Noise and pitch interact during the cortical segregation of concurrent speech.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bidelman, Gavin M; Yellamsetty, Anusha

    2017-08-01

    Behavioral studies reveal listeners exploit intrinsic differences in voice fundamental frequency (F0) to segregate concurrent speech sounds-the so-called "F0-benefit." More favorable signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) in the environment, an extrinsic acoustic factor, similarly benefits the parsing of simultaneous speech. Here, we examined the neurobiological substrates of these two cues in the perceptual segregation of concurrent speech mixtures. We recorded event-related brain potentials (ERPs) while listeners performed a speeded double-vowel identification task. Listeners heard two concurrent vowels whose F0 differed by zero or four semitones presented in either clean (no noise) or noise-degraded (+5 dB SNR) conditions. Behaviorally, listeners were more accurate in correctly identifying both vowels for larger F0 separations but F0-benefit was more pronounced at more favorable SNRs (i.e., pitch × SNR interaction). Analysis of the ERPs revealed that only the P2 wave (∼200 ms) showed a similar F0 x SNR interaction as behavior and was correlated with listeners' perceptual F0-benefit. Neural classifiers applied to the ERPs further suggested that speech sounds are segregated neurally within 200 ms based on SNR whereas segregation based on pitch occurs later in time (400-700 ms). The earlier timing of extrinsic SNR compared to intrinsic F0-based segregation implies that the cortical extraction of speech from noise is more efficient than differentiating speech based on pitch cues alone, which may recruit additional cortical processes. Findings indicate that noise and pitch differences interact relatively early in cerebral cortex and that the brain arrives at the identities of concurrent speech mixtures as early as ∼200 ms. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  1. Pitch Discrimination Learning: Specificity for Pitch and Harmonic Resolvability, and Electrophysiological Correlates

    OpenAIRE

    Carcagno, Samuele; Plack, Christopher J.

    2011-01-01

    Multiple-hour training on a pitch discrimination task dramatically decreases the threshold for detecting a pitch difference between two harmonic complexes. Here, we investigated the specificity of this perceptual learning with respect to the pitch and the resolvability of the trained harmonic complex, as well as its cortical electrophysiological correlates. We trained 24 participants for 12 h on a pitch discrimination task using one of four different harmonic complexes. The complexes differed...

  2. Pitch memory and exposure effects.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ben-Haim, Moshe Shay; Eitan, Zohar; Chajut, Eran

    2014-02-01

    Recent studies indicate that the ability to represent absolute pitch values in long-term memory, long believed to be the possession of a small minority of trained musicians endowed with "absolute pitch," is in fact shared to some extent by a considerable proportion of the population. The current study examined whether this newly discovered ability affects aspects of music and auditory cognition, particularly pitch learning and evaluation. Our starting points are two well-established premises: (1) frequency of occurrence has an influence on the way we process stimuli; (2) in Western music, some pitches and musical keys are much more frequent than others. Based on these premises, we hypothesize that if absolute pitch values are indeed represented in long-term memory, pitch frequency of occurrence in music would significantly affect cognitive processes, in particular pitch learning and evaluation. Two experiments were designed to test this hypothesis in participants with no absolute pitch, most with little or no musical training. Experiment 1 demonstrated a faster response and a learning advantage for frequent pitches over infrequent pitches in an identification task. In Experiment 2, participants evaluated infrequent pitches as more pleasing than frequent pitches when presented in isolation. These results suggest that absolute pitch representation in memory may play a substantial, hitherto unacknowledged role in auditory (and specifically musical) cognition. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

  3. Pitch-verticality and pitch-size cross-modal interactions

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bonetti, Leonardo; Costa, Marco

    2017-01-01

    Two studies were conducted on cross-modal matching between pitch and sound source localization on the vertical axis, and pitch and size. In the first study 100 Hz, 200 Hz, 600 Hz, and 800 Hz tones were emitted by a loudspeaker positioned 60 cm above or below to the participant’s ear level. Using...

  4. Vocal parameters and voice-related quality of life in adult women with and without ovarian function.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ferraz, Pablo Rodrigo Rocha; Bertoldo, Simão Veras; Costa, Luanne Gabrielle Morais; Serra, Emmeliny Cristini Nogueira; Silva, Eduardo Magalhães; Brito, Luciane Maria Oliveira; Chein, Maria Bethânia da Costa

    2013-05-01

    To identify the perceptual and acoustic parameters of voice in adult women with and without ovarian function and its impact on quality of life related to voice. Cross-sectional and analytical study with 106 women divided into, two groups: G1, with ovarian function (n=43) and G2, without physiological ovarian function (n=63). The women were instructed to sustain the vowel "a" and the sounds of /s/ and /z/ in habitual pitch and loudness. They were also asked to classify their voices and answer the voice-related quality of life (V-RQOL) questionnaire. The perceptual analysis of the vocal samples was performed by three speech-language pathologists using the GRBASI (G: grade; R: roughness; B: breathness; A: asthenia; S: strain; I: instability) scale. The acoustic analysis was carried out with the software VoxMetria 2.7h (CTS Informatica). The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. In the perceptual analysis, both groups showed a mild deviation for the parameters roughness, strain, and instability, but only G2 showed a mild impact for the overall degree of dysphonia. The mean of fundamental frequency was significantly lower for the G2, with a difference of 17.41Hz between the two groups. There was no impact on V-RQOL in any of the V-RQOL domains for this group. With the menopause, there is a change in women's voices, impacting on some voice parameters. However, there is no direct impact on their quality of life related to voice. Copyright © 2013 The Voice Foundation. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

  5. Softball Pitching and Injury.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lear, Aaron; Patel, Niraj

    2016-01-01

    The windmill softball pitch generates considerable forces about the athlete's shoulder and elbow. The injury pattern of softball pitchers seems to be primarily overuse injury, and they seem not to suffer the same volume of injury that baseball pitchers do. This article will explore softball pitching techniques, kinetics and kinematics of the windmill pitch, epidemiology of softball pitchers, and discuss possible etiologies of softball pitching injuries.

  6. Factors affecting relative pitch perception

    OpenAIRE

    McClaskey, Carolyn Marie

    2016-01-01

    Sounds that evoke a sense of pitch are ubiquitous in our environment and important for speech, music, and auditory scene analysis. The frequencies of these sounds rarely remain constant, however, and the direction and extent of pitch change is often more important than the exact pitches themselves. This dissertation examines the mechanisms underlying how we perceive relative pitch distance, focusing on two types of stimuli: continuous pitch changes and discrete pitch changes. In a series of e...

  7. Sensor comparison study for load alleviating wind turbine pitch control

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kragh, Knud Abildgaard; Hansen, Morten Hartvig; Henriksen, Lars Christian

    2014-01-01

    As the size of wind turbines increases, the load alleviating capabilities of the turbine controller are becoming increasingly important. Load alleviating control schemes have traditionally been based on feedback from load sensor; however, recent developments of measurement technologies have enabled...... control on the basis of preview measurements of the inflow acquired using, e.g., light detection and ranging. The potential of alleviating load variations that are caused by mean wind speed changes through feed-forward control have been demonstrated through both experiments and simulations in several...... studies, whereas the potential of preview control for alleviating the load variations caused by azimuth dependent inflow variations is less described. Individual or cyclic pitch is required to alleviate azimuth dependent load variations and is traditionally applied through feedback control of the blade...

  8. Predicted singers' vocal fold lengths and voice classification-a study of x-ray morphological measures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roers, Friederike; Mürbe, Dirk; Sundberg, Johan

    2009-07-01

    Students admitted to the solo singing education at the University of Music Dresden, Germany have been submitted to a detailed physical examination of a variety of factors with relevance to voice function since 1959. In the years 1959-1991, this scheme of examinations included X-ray profiles of the singers' vocal tracts. This material of 132 X-rays of voice professionals was used to investigate different laryngeal morphological measures and their relation to vocal fold length. Further, the study aimed to investigate if there are consistent anatomical differences between singers of different voice classifications. The study design used was a retrospective analysis. Vocal fold length could be measured in 29 of these singer subjects directly. These data showed a strong correlation with the anterior-posterior diameter of the subglottis and the trachea as well as with the distance from the anterior contour of the thyroid cartilage to the anterior contour of the spine. These relations were used in an attempt to predict the 132 singers' vocal fold lengths. The results revealed a clear covariation between predicted vocal fold length and voice classification. Anterior-posterior subglottic-tracheal diameter yielded mean vocal fold lengths of 14.9, 16.0, 16.6, 18.4, 19.5, and 20.9mm for sopranos, mezzo-sopranos, altos, tenors, baritones, and basses, respectively. The data support the assumption that there are consistent anatomical laryngeal differences between singers of different voice classifications, which are of relevance to pitch range and timbre of the voice.

  9. Perfect pitch reconsidered.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moulton, Calum

    2014-10-01

    Perfect pitch, or absolute pitch (AP), is defined as the ability to identify or produce the pitch of a sound without need for a reference pitch, and is generally regarded as a valuable asset to the musician. However, there has been no recent review of the literature examining its aetiology and its utility taking into account emerging scientific advances in AP research, notably in functional imaging. This review analyses the key empirical research on AP, focusing on genetic and neuroimaging studies. The review concludes that: AP probably has a genetic predisposition, although this is based on limited evidence; early musical training is almost certainly essential for AP acquisition; and, although there is evidence that it may be relevant to speech processing, AP can interfere with relative pitch, an ability on which humans rely to communicate effectively. The review calls into question the value of AP to musicians and non-musicians alike. © 2014 Royal College of Physicians.

  10. Perceptual pitch deficits coexist with pitch production difficulties in music but not Mandarin speech

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Wu-xia; Feng, Jie; Huang, Wan-ting; Zhang, Cheng-xiang; Nan, Yun

    2014-01-01

    Congenital amusia is a musical disorder that mainly affects pitch perception. Among Mandarin speakers, some amusics also have difficulties in processing lexical tones (tone agnosics). To examine to what extent these perceptual deficits may be related to pitch production impairments in music and Mandarin speech, eight amusics, eight tone agnosics, and 12 age- and IQ-matched normal native Mandarin speakers were asked to imitate music note sequences and Mandarin words of comparable lengths. The results indicated that both the amusics and tone agnosics underperformed the controls on musical pitch production. However, tone agnosics performed no worse than the amusics, suggesting that lexical tone perception deficits may not aggravate musical pitch production difficulties. Moreover, these three groups were all able to imitate lexical tones with perfect intelligibility. Taken together, the current study shows that perceptual musical pitch and lexical tone deficits might coexist with musical pitch production difficulties. But at the same time these perceptual pitch deficits might not affect lexical tone production or the intelligibility of the speech words that were produced. The perception-production relationship for pitch among individuals with perceptual pitch deficits may be, therefore, domain-dependent. PMID:24474944

  11. Perceptual Pitch Deficits Coexist with Pitch Production Difficulties in Music but Not Mandarin Speech

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wu-xia eYang

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Congenital amusia is a musical disorder that mainly affects pitch perception. Among Mandarin speakers, some amusics also have difficulties in processing lexical tones (tone agnosics. To examine to what extent these perceptual deficits may be related to pitch production impairments in music and Mandarin speech, 8 amusics, 8 tone agnosics, and 12 age- and IQ-matched normal native Mandarin speakers were asked to imitate music note sequences and Mandarin words of comparable lengths. The results indicated that both the amusics and tone agnosics underperformed the controls on musical pitch production. However, tone agnosics performed no worse than the amusics, suggesting that lexical tone perception deficits may not aggravate musical pitch production difficulties. Moreover, these three groups were all able to imitate lexical tones with perfect intelligibility. Taken together, the current study shows that perceptual musical pitch and lexical tone deficits might coexist with musical pitch production difficulties. But at the same time these perceptual pitch deficits might not affect lexical tone production or the intelligibility of the speech words that were produced. The perception-production relationship for pitch among individuals with perceptual pitch deficits may be, therefore, domain-dependent.

  12. Effects of Bel Canto Training on Acoustic and Aerodynamic Characteristics of the Singing Voice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McHenry, Monica A; Evans, Joseph; Powitzky, Eric

    2016-03-01

    This study was designed to assess the impact of 2 years of operatic training on acoustic and aerodynamic characteristics of the singing voice. This is a longitudinal study. Participants were 21 graduate students and 16 undergraduate students. They completed a variety of tasks, including laryngeal videostroboscopy, audio recording of pitch range, and singing of syllable trains at full voice in chest, passaggio, and head registers. Inspiration, intraoral pressure, airflow, and sound pressure level (SPL) were captured during the syllable productions. Both graduate and undergraduate students significantly increased semitone range and SPL. The contributions to increased SPL were typically increased inspiration, increased airflow, and reduced laryngeal resistance, although there were individual differences. Two graduate students increased SPL without increased airflow and likely used supraglottal strategies to do so. Students demonstrated improvements in both acoustic and aerodynamic components of singing. Increasing SPL primarily through respiratory drive is a healthy strategy and results from intensive training. Copyright © 2016 The Voice Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  13. Effect of Context on the Contribution of Individual Harmonics to Residue Pitch.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gockel, Hedwig E; Alsindi, Sami; Hardy, Charles; Carlyon, Robert P

    2017-12-01

    There is evidence that the contribution of a given harmonic in a complex tone to residue pitch is influenced by the accuracy with which the frequency of that harmonic is encoded. The present study investigated whether listeners adjust the weights assigned to individual harmonics based on acquired knowledge of the reliability of the frequency estimates of those harmonics. In a two-interval forced-choice task, seven listeners indicated which of two 12-harmonic complex tones had the higher overall pitch. In context trials (60 % of all trials), the fundamental frequency (F0) was 200 Hz in one interval and 200 + ΔF0 Hz in the other. In different (blocked) conditions, either the 3rd or the 4th harmonic (plus the 7th, 9th, and 12th harmonics), were replaced by narrowband noises that were identical in the two intervals. Feedback was provided. In randomly interspersed test trials (40 % of all trials), the fundamental frequency was 200 + ΔF0/2 Hz in both intervals; in the second interval, either the third or the fourth harmonic was shifted slightly up or down in frequency with equal probability. There were no narrowband noises. Feedback was not provided. The results showed that substitution of a harmonic by noise in context trials reduced the contribution of that harmonic to pitch judgements in the test trials by a small but significant amount. This is consistent with the notion that listeners give smaller weight to a harmonic or frequency region when they have learned that this frequency region does not provide reliable information for a given task.

  14. Perceiving pitch absolutely: Comparing absolute and relative pitch possessors in a pitch memory task

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Schlaug Gottfried

    2009-08-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The perceptual-cognitive mechanisms and neural correlates of Absolute Pitch (AP are not fully understood. The aim of this fMRI study was to examine the neural network underlying AP using a pitch memory experiment and contrasting two groups of musicians with each other, those that have AP and those that do not. Results We found a common activation pattern for both groups that included the superior temporal gyrus (STG extending into the adjacent superior temporal sulcus (STS, the inferior parietal lobule (IPL extending into the adjacent intraparietal sulcus (IPS, the posterior part of the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG, the pre-supplementary motor area (pre-SMA, and superior lateral cerebellar regions. Significant between-group differences were seen in the left STS during the early encoding phase of the pitch memory task (more activation in AP musicians and in the right superior parietal lobule (SPL/intraparietal sulcus (IPS during the early perceptual phase (ITP 0–3 and later working memory/multimodal encoding phase of the pitch memory task (more activation in non-AP musicians. Non-significant between-group trends were seen in the posterior IFG (more in AP musicians and the IPL (more anterior activations in the non-AP group and more posterior activations in the AP group. Conclusion Since the increased activation of the left STS in AP musicians was observed during the early perceptual encoding phase and since the STS has been shown to be involved in categorization tasks, its activation might suggest that AP musicians involve categorization regions in tonal tasks. The increased activation of the right SPL/IPS in non-AP musicians indicates either an increased use of regions that are part of a tonal working memory (WM network, or the use of a multimodal encoding strategy such as the utilization of a visual-spatial mapping scheme (i.e., imagining notes on a staff or using a spatial coding for their relative pitch height for pitch

  15. Enhancing the stabilization of aircraft pitch motion control via intelligent and classical method

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lukman, H.; Munawwarah, S.; Azizan, A.; Yakub, F.; Zaki, S. A.; Rasid, Z. A.

    2017-12-01

    The pitching movement of an aircraft is very important to ensure passengers are intrinsically safe and the aircraft achieve its maximum stability. The equations governing the motion of an aircraft are a complex set of six nonlinear coupled differential equations. Under certain assumptions, it can be decoupled and linearized into longitudinal and lateral equations. Pitch control is a longitudinal problem and thus, only the longitudinal dynamics equations are involved in this system. It is a third order nonlinear system, which is linearized about the operating point. The system is also inherently unstable due to the presence of a free integrator. Because of this, a feedback controller is added in order to solve this problem and enhance the system performance. This study uses two approaches in designing controller: a conventional controller and an intelligent controller. The pitch control scheme consists of proportional, integral and derivatives (PID) for conventional controller and fuzzy logic control (FLC) for intelligent controller. Throughout the paper, the performance of the presented controllers are investigated and compared based on the common criteria of step response. Simulation results have been obtained and analysed by using Matlab and Simulink software. The study shows that FLC controller has higher ability to control and stabilize the aircraft's pitch angle as compared to PID controller.

  16. Polyphonic pitch detection and instrument separation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bay, Mert; Beauchamp, James W.

    2005-09-01

    An algorithm for polyphonic pitch detection and musical instrument separation is presented. Each instrument is represented as a time-varying harmonic series. Spectral information is obtained from a monaural input signal using a spectral peak tracking method. Fundamental frequencies (F0s) for each time frame are estimated from the spectral data using an Expectation Maximization (EM) algorithm with a Gaussian mixture model representing the harmonic series. The method first estimates the most predominant F0, suppresses its series in the input, and then the EM algorithm is run iteratively to estimate each next F0. Collisions between instrument harmonics, which frequently occur, are predicted from the estimated F0s, and the resulting corrupted harmonics are ignored. The amplitudes of these corrupted harmonics are replaced by harmonics taken from a library of spectral envelopes for different instruments, where the spectrum which most closely matches the important characteristics of each extracted spectrum is chosen. Finally, each voice is separately resynthesized by additive synthesis. This algorithm is demonstrated for a trio piece that consists of 3 different instruments.

  17. Pitch-to-Pitch Correlation in Location, Velocity, and Movement ant Its Role in Predicting Strikeout Rate

    OpenAIRE

    Zhao, Shiyuan

    2015-01-01

    We evaluate a model for pitch sequencing in baseball that is defined by pitch-to-pitch correlation in location, velocity, and movement. The correlations quantify the average similarity of consecutive pitches and provide a measure of the batter's ability to predict the properties of the upcoming pitch. We examine the characteristics of the model for a set of major league pitchers using PITCHf/x data for nearly three million pitches thrown over seven major league seasons. After partitioning the...

  18. The effect of escalating feedback on the acquisition of psychomotor skills for laparoscopy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Van Sickle, K R; Gallagher, A G; Smith, C D

    2007-02-01

    In the acquisition of new skills that are difficult to master, such as those required for laparoscopy, feedback is a crucial component of the learning experience. Optimally, feedback should accurately reflect the task performance to be improved and be proximal to the training experience. In surgery, however, feedback typically is in vivo. The development of virtual reality training systems currently offers new training options. This study investigated the effect of feedback type and quality on laparoscopic skills acquisition. For this study, 32 laparoscopic novices were prospectively randomized into four training conditions, with 8 in each group. Group 1 (control) had no feedback. Group 2 (buzzer) had audio feedback when the edges were touched. Group 3 (voiced error) had an examiner voicing the word "error" each time the walls were touched. Group 4 (both) received both the audio buzzer and "error" voiced by the examiner All the subjects performed a maze-tracking task with a laparoscopic stylus inserted through a 5-mm port to simulate the fulcrum effect in minimally invasive surgery (MIS). A computer connected to the stylus scored an error each time the edge of the maze was touched, and the subjects were made aware of the error in the aforementioned manner. Ten 2-min trials were performed by the subjects while viewing a monitor. At the conclusion of training, all the subjects completed a 2-min trial of a simple laparoscopic cutting task, with the number of correct and incorrect incisions recorded. Group 4 (both) made significantly more correct incisions than the other three groups (F = 12.13; df = 3, 28; p < 0.001), and also made significantly fewer errors or incorrect incisions (F = 14.4; p < 0.0001). Group 4 also made three times more correct incisions and 7.4 times fewer incorrect incisions than group 1 (control). The type and quality of feedback during psychomotor skill acquisition for MIS have a large effect on the strength of skills generalization to a simple

  19. Explaining the high voice superiority effect in polyphonic music: evidence from cortical evoked potentials and peripheral auditory models.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Trainor, Laurel J; Marie, Céline; Bruce, Ian C; Bidelman, Gavin M

    2014-02-01

    Natural auditory environments contain multiple simultaneously-sounding objects and the auditory system must parse the incoming complex sound wave they collectively create into parts that represent each of these individual objects. Music often similarly requires processing of more than one voice or stream at the same time, and behavioral studies demonstrate that human listeners show a systematic perceptual bias in processing the highest voice in multi-voiced music. Here, we review studies utilizing event-related brain potentials (ERPs), which support the notions that (1) separate memory traces are formed for two simultaneous voices (even without conscious awareness) in auditory cortex and (2) adults show more robust encoding (i.e., larger ERP responses) to deviant pitches in the higher than in the lower voice, indicating better encoding of the former. Furthermore, infants also show this high-voice superiority effect, suggesting that the perceptual dominance observed across studies might result from neurophysiological characteristics of the peripheral auditory system. Although musically untrained adults show smaller responses in general than musically trained adults, both groups similarly show a more robust cortical representation of the higher than of the lower voice. Finally, years of experience playing a bass-range instrument reduces but does not reverse the high voice superiority effect, indicating that although it can be modified, it is not highly neuroplastic. Results of new modeling experiments examined the possibility that characteristics of middle-ear filtering and cochlear dynamics (e.g., suppression) reflected in auditory nerve firing patterns might account for the higher-voice superiority effect. Simulations show that both place and temporal AN coding schemes well-predict a high-voice superiority across a wide range of interval spacings and registers. Collectively, we infer an innate, peripheral origin for the higher-voice superiority observed in human

  20. Blade pitch optimization methods for vertical-axis wind turbines

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kozak, Peter

    Vertical-axis wind turbines (VAWTs) offer an inherently simpler design than horizontal-axis machines, while their lower blade speed mitigates safety and noise concerns, potentially allowing for installation closer to populated and ecologically sensitive areas. While VAWTs do offer significant operational advantages, development has been hampered by the difficulty of modeling the aerodynamics involved, further complicated by their rotating geometry. This thesis presents results from a simulation of a baseline VAWT computed using Star-CCM+, a commercial finite-volume (FVM) code. VAWT aerodynamics are shown to be dominated at low tip-speed ratios by dynamic stall phenomena and at high tip-speed ratios by wake-blade interactions. Several optimization techniques have been developed for the adjustment of blade pitch based on finite-volume simulations and streamtube models. The effectiveness of the optimization procedure is evaluated and the basic architecture for a feedback control system is proposed. Implementation of variable blade pitch is shown to increase a baseline turbine's power output between 40%-100%, depending on the optimization technique, improving the turbine's competitiveness when compared with a commercially-available horizontal-axis turbine.

  1. Anti-voice adaptation suggests prototype-based coding of voice identity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marianne eLatinus

    2011-07-01

    Full Text Available We used perceptual aftereffects induced by adaptation with anti-voice stimuli to investigate voice identity representations. Participants learned a set of voices then were tested on a voice identification task with vowel stimuli morphed between identities, after different conditions of adaptation. In Experiment 1, participants chose the identity opposite to the adapting anti-voice significantly more often than the other two identities (e.g., after being adapted to anti-A, they identified the average voice as A. In Experiment 2, participants showed a bias for identities opposite to the adaptor specifically for anti-voice, but not for non anti-voice adaptors. These results are strikingly similar to adaptation aftereffects observed for facial identity. They are compatible with a representation of individual voice identities in a multidimensional perceptual voice space referenced on a voice prototype.

  2. Limitations of fixed pitch Darrieus hydrokinetic turbines and the challenge of variable pitch

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kirke, B.K. [Sustainable Energy Centre, University of South Australia, Mawson Lakes, SA 5095 (Australia); Lazauskas, L. [Cyberiad, 25/65 King William Street, Adelaide, SA 5000 (Australia)

    2011-03-15

    Small Darrieus hydrokinetic turbines with fixed pitch blades typically suffer from poor starting torque, low efficiency and shaking due to large fluctuations in both radial and tangential force with azimuth angle. Efficiency improves as size increases, since adequate blade chord Reynolds numbers can be maintained with low solidity. Shaking can be eliminated by using helical blades, or reduced by using multiple blades. Starting torque can be marginally improved by the use of cambered blade profiles but may still be inadequate to overcome drive train friction for self-starting. Variable pitch can generate high starting torque, high efficiency and reduced shaking but active pitch control systems add considerably to complexity and cost, while passive systems must have effective pitch control to achieve higher efficiency than fixed pitch systems. (author)

  3. Vocal Qualities in Music Theater Voice: Perceptions of Expert Pedagogues.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bourne, Tracy; Kenny, Dianna

    2016-01-01

    To gather qualitative descriptions of music theater vocal qualities including belt, legit, and mix from expert pedagogues to better define this voice type. This is a prospective, semistructured interview. Twelve expert teachers from United States, United Kingdom, Asia, and Australia were interviewed by Skype and asked to identify characteristics of music theater vocal qualities including vocal production, physiology, esthetics, pitch range, and pedagogical techniques. Responses were compared with published studies on music theater voice. Belt and legit were generally described as distinct sounds with differing physiological and technical requirements. Teachers were concerned that belt should be taught "safely" to minimize vocal health risks. There was consensus between teachers and published research on the physiology of the glottis and vocal tract; however, teachers were not in agreement about breathing techniques. Neither were teachers in agreement about the meaning of "mix." Most participants described belt as heavily weighted, thick folds, thyroarytenoid-dominant, or chest register; however, there was no consensus on an appropriate term. Belt substyles were named and generally categorized by weightedness or tone color. Descriptions of male belt were less clear than for female belt. This survey provides an overview of expert pedagogical perspectives on the characteristics of belt, legit, and mix qualities in the music theater voice. Although teacher responses are generally in agreement with published research, there are still many controversial issues and gaps in knowledge and understanding of this vocal technique. Breathing techniques, vocal range, mix, male belt, and vocal registers require continuing investigation so that we can learn more about efficient and healthy vocal function in music theater singing. Copyright © 2016 The Voice Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  4. Audio Feedback to Physiotherapy Students for Viva Voce: How Effective Is "The Living Voice"?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Munro, Wendy; Hollingworth, Linda

    2014-01-01

    Assessment and feedback remains one of the categories that students are least satisfied with within the United Kingdom National Student Survey. The Student Charter promotes the use of various formats of feedback to enhance student learning. This study evaluates the use of audio MP3 as an alternative feedback mechanism to written feedback for…

  5. Adaptation to Delayed Speech Feedback Induces Temporal Recalibration between Vocal Sensory and Auditory Modalities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kosuke Yamamoto

    2011-10-01

    Full Text Available We ordinarily perceive our voice sound as occurring simultaneously with vocal production, but the sense of simultaneity in vocalization can be easily interrupted by delayed auditory feedback (DAF. DAF causes normal people to have difficulty speaking fluently but helps people with stuttering to improve speech fluency. However, the underlying temporal mechanism for integrating the motor production of voice and the auditory perception of vocal sound remains unclear. In this study, we investigated the temporal tuning mechanism integrating vocal sensory and voice sounds under DAF with an adaptation technique. Participants read some sentences with specific delay times of DAF (0, 30, 75, 120 ms during three minutes to induce ‘Lag Adaptation’. After the adaptation, they then judged the simultaneity between motor sensation and vocal sound given feedback in producing simple voice but not speech. We found that speech production with lag adaptation induced a shift in simultaneity responses toward the adapted auditory delays. This indicates that the temporal tuning mechanism in vocalization can be temporally recalibrated after prolonged exposure to delayed vocal sounds. These findings suggest vocalization is finely tuned by the temporal recalibration mechanism, which acutely monitors the integration of temporal delays between motor sensation and vocal sound.

  6. Memory for pitch in congenital amusia: beyond a fine-grained pitch discrimination problem.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Williamson, Victoria Jane; Stewart, Lauren

    2010-08-01

    Congenital amusia is a disorder that affects the perception and production of music. While amusia has been associated with deficits in pitch discrimination, several reports suggest that memory deficits also play a role. The present study investigated short-term memory span for pitch-based and verbal information in 14 individuals with amusia and matched controls. Analogous adaptive-tracking procedures were used to generate tone and digit spans using stimuli that exceeded psychophysically measured pitch perception thresholds. Individuals with amusia had significantly smaller tone spans, whereas their digits spans were a similar size to those of controls. An automated operation span task was used to determine working memory capacity. Working memory deficits were seen in only a small subgroup of individuals with amusia. These findings support the existence of a pitch-specific component within short-term memory and suggest that congenital amusia is more than a disorder of fine-grained pitch discrimination.

  7. Major League Baseball pitch velocity and pitch type associated with risk of ulnar collateral ligament injury.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Keller, Robert A; Marshall, Nathan E; Guest, John-Michael; Okoroha, Kelechi R; Jung, Edward K; Moutzouros, Vasilios

    2016-04-01

    The number of Major League Baseball (MLB) pitchers requiring ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) reconstructions is increasing. Recent literature has attempted to correlate specific stresses placed on the throwing arm to risk for UCL injury, with limited results. Eighty-three MLB pitchers who underwent primary UCL reconstruction were evaluated. Pitching velocity and percent of pitch type thrown (fastball, curve ball, slider, and change-up) were evaluated 2 years before and after surgery. Data were compared with control pitchers matched for age, position, size, innings pitched, and experience. The evaluation of pitch velocity compared with matched controls found no differences in pre-UCL reconstruction pitch velocities for fastballs (91.5 vs. 91.2 miles per hour [mph], P = .69), curveballs (78.2 vs. 77.9 mph, P = .92), sliders (83.3 vs. 83.5 mph, P = .88), or change-ups (83.9 vs. 83.8 mph, P = .96). When the percentage of pitches thrown was evaluated, UCL reconstructed pitchers pitch significantly more fastballs than controls (46.7% vs. 39.4%, P = .035). This correlated to a 2% increase in risk for UCL injury for every 1% increase in fastballs thrown. Pitching more than 48% fastballs was a significant predictor of UCL injury, because pitchers over this threshold required reconstruction (P = .006). MLB pitchers requiring UCL reconstruction do not pitch at higher velocities than matched controls, and pitch velocity does not appear to be a risk factor for UCL reconstruction. However, MLB pitchers who pitch a high percentage of fastballs may be at increased risk for UCL injury because pitching a higher percent of fastballs appears to be a risk factor for UCL reconstruction. Copyright © 2016 Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery Board of Trustees. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  8. Coal tar pitch. Interrelations between properties and utilization of coal tar pitch

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Collin, G; Koehler, H [Ruetgerswerke A.G., Duisburg (Germany, F.R.)

    1977-06-01

    Coal tar pitch is won as a highly aromatic, thermoplastic residue by destillating coal tar. In this paper the structure as well as the chemical and physical data of this pitch are introduced. In addition to this the actual as well as possible applications are indicated. For example, the pitch can be used for the production of binders, e.g. for electrodes and road construction as well as in combination with plastics for the production of insulating material and corrosion protection material.

  9. Pitch perception prior to cortical maturation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lau, Bonnie K.

    Pitch perception plays an important role in many complex auditory tasks including speech perception, music perception, and sound source segregation. Because of the protracted and extensive development of the human auditory cortex, pitch perception might be expected to mature, at least over the first few months of life. This dissertation investigates complex pitch perception in 3-month-olds, 7-month-olds and adults -- time points when the organization of the auditory pathway is distinctly different. Using an observer-based psychophysical procedure, a series of four studies were conducted to determine whether infants (1) discriminate the pitch of harmonic complex tones, (2) discriminate the pitch of unresolved harmonics, (3) discriminate the pitch of missing fundamental melodies, and (4) have comparable sensitivity to pitch and spectral changes as adult listeners. The stimuli used in these studies were harmonic complex tones, with energy missing at the fundamental frequency. Infants at both three and seven months of age discriminated the pitch of missing fundamental complexes composed of resolved and unresolved harmonics as well as missing fundamental melodies, demonstrating perception of complex pitch by three months of age. More surprisingly, infants in both age groups had lower pitch and spectral discrimination thresholds than adult listeners. Furthermore, no differences in performance on any of the tasks presented were observed between infants at three and seven months of age. These results suggest that subcortical processing is not only sufficient to support pitch perception prior to cortical maturation, but provides adult-like sensitivity to pitch by three months.

  10. Exploring the Impact of Role-Playing on Peer Feedback in an Online Case-Based Learning Activity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ching, Yu-Hui

    2014-01-01

    This study explored the impact of role-playing on the quality of peer feedback and learners' perception of this strategy in a case-based learning activity with VoiceThread in an online course. The findings revealed potential positive impact of role-playing on learners' generation of constructive feedback as role-playing was associated with higher…

  11. Switching between pitch surfaces

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rago, Vincenzo; Silva, João R; Brito, João

    2018-01-01

    Soccer training and completion is conventionally practiced on natural grass (NG) or artificial turf (AT). Recently, AT pitches for training / competition, and of unstable surfaces for injury prevention training has increased. Therefore, soccer players are frequently exposed to variations in pitch...... surface during either training or competition. These ground changes may impact physical and physiological responses, adaptations as well as the injury. The aim of this review was to summarize the acute physical and physiological responses, chronic adaptations, and injury risk associated with exercising...... on different pitch surfaces in soccer. Eligible studies were published in English, had pitch surface as an independent variable, and had physical, physiological or epidemiological information as outcome variables. Specific data extracted from the articles included the training response, training adaptations...

  12. Musical Activity Tunes Up Absolute Pitch Ability

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Dohn, Anders; Garza-Villarreal, Eduardo A.; Ribe, Lars Riisgaard

    2014-01-01

    Absolute pitch (AP) is the ability to identify or produce pitches of musical tones without an external reference. Active AP (i.e., pitch production or pitch adjustment) and passive AP (i.e., pitch identification) are considered to not necessarily coincide, although no study has properly compared...

  13. Tower Based Load Measurements for Individual Pitch Control and Tower Damping of Wind Turbines

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kumar, A A; Hugues-Salas, O; Savini, B; Keogh, W

    2016-01-01

    The cost of IPC has hindered adoption outside of Europe despite significant loading advantages for large wind turbines. In this work we presented a method for applying individual pitch control (including for higher-harmonics) using tower-top strain gauge feedback instead of blade-root strain gauge feedback. Tower-top strain gauges offer hardware savings of approximately 50% in addition to the possibility of easier access for maintenance and installation and requiring a less specialised skill-set than that required for applying strain gauges to composite blade roots. A further advantage is the possibility of using the same tower-top sensor array for tower damping control. This method is made possible by including a second order IPC loop in addition to the tower damping loop to reduce the typically dominating 3P content in tower-top load measurements. High-fidelity Bladed simulations show that the resulting turbine spectral characteristics from tower-top feedback IPC and from the combination of tower-top IPC and damping loops largely match those of blade-root feedback IPC and nacelle- velocity feedback damping. Lifetime weighted fatigue analysis shows that the methods allows load reductions within 2.5% of traditional methods. (paper)

  14. High-pitch metal-on-glass technology for pad pitch adaptation between detectors and readout electronics

    CERN Document Server

    Ullán, Miguel; Campabadal, Francesca; Fleta, Celeste; Garcia, Carmen; Gonzalez, Francisco; Bernabeu, Jose

    2004-01-01

    Modern high-energy physics and astrophysics strip detectors have increased channel density to levels at which their connection with readout electronics has become very complex due to high pad pitch. Also, direct wire bonding is prevented by the fact that typically detector's pad pitch and electronics' pad pitch do not match. A high- pitch metal-on-glass technology is presented, that allows pad pitch adaptation between detectors and readout electronics. It consists of high-density metal lines on top of an insulating glass substrate. A photoresist layer is deposited covering the metal tracks for passivation and protection The technology is tested for conductivity, bondability, bonding pull force, peel off, and radiation hardness, and it is an established technology in the clean room of the CNM Institute in Barcelona. This technology has been chosen by the ATLAS Collaboration for the pad pitch adapters (PPA) of the SCT Endcap Modules, by a Compton camera project, and by other HEP groups for interconnection betwe...

  15. Nonlinear power flow feedback control for improved stability and performance of airfoil sections

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wilson, David G.; Robinett, III, Rush D.

    2013-09-03

    A computer-implemented method of determining the pitch stability of an airfoil system, comprising using a computer to numerically integrate a differential equation of motion that includes terms describing PID controller action. In one model, the differential equation characterizes the time-dependent response of the airfoil's pitch angle, .alpha.. The computer model calculates limit-cycles of the model, which represent the stability boundaries of the airfoil system. Once the stability boundary is known, feedback control can be implemented, by using, for example, a PID controller to control a feedback actuator. The method allows the PID controller gain constants, K.sub.I, K.sub.p, and K.sub.d, to be optimized. This permits operation closer to the stability boundaries, while preventing the physical apparatus from unintentionally crossing the stability boundaries. Operating closer to the stability boundaries permits greater power efficiencies to be extracted from the airfoil system.

  16. The influence of music-elicited emotions and relative pitch on absolute pitch memory for familiar melodies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jakubowski, Kelly; Müllensiefen, Daniel

    2013-01-01

    Levitin's findings that nonmusicians could produce from memory the absolute pitches of self-selected pop songs have been widely cited in the music psychology literature. These findings suggest that latent absolute pitch (AP) memory may be a more widespread trait within the population than traditional AP labelling ability. However, it has been left unclear what factors may facilitate absolute pitch retention for familiar pieces of music. The aim of the present paper was to investigate factors that may contribute to latent AP memory using Levitin's sung production paradigm for AP memory and comparing results to the outcomes of a pitch labelling task, a relative pitch memory test, measures of music-induced emotions, and various measures of participants' musical backgrounds. Our results suggest that relative pitch memory and the quality and degree of music-elicited emotions impact on latent AP memory.

  17. Disorders of pitch production in tone deafness

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Simone eDalla Bella

    2011-07-01

    Full Text Available Singing is as natural as speaking for the majority of people. Yet some individuals (i.e., 10-15% are inaccurate singers, typically performing or imitating pitches and melodies inaccurately. This condition, commonly referred to as tone deafness, has been observed both in the presence and absence of deficient pitch perception. In this article we review the existing literature concerning normal singing, poor-pitch singing, and, briefly, the sources of this condition. Considering that pitch plays a prominent role in the structure of both music and speech we also focus on the possibility that pitch production (or imitation is similarly impaired in poor-pitch singers. Preliminary evidence from our laboratory on poor-pitch singing suggests that pitch imitation may be selectively inaccurate in the music domain without being affected in speech. This finding points to separability of mechanisms subserving pitch production in music and language.

  18. Familiarity and Voice Representation: From Acoustic-Based Representation to Voice Averages

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maureen Fontaine

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available The ability to recognize an individual from their voice is a widespread ability with a long evolutionary history. Yet, the perceptual representation of familiar voices is ill-defined. In two experiments, we explored the neuropsychological processes involved in the perception of voice identity. We specifically explored the hypothesis that familiar voices (trained-to-familiar (Experiment 1, and famous voices (Experiment 2 are represented as a whole complex pattern, well approximated by the average of multiple utterances produced by a single speaker. In experiment 1, participants learned three voices over several sessions, and performed a three-alternative forced-choice identification task on original voice samples and several “speaker averages,” created by morphing across varying numbers of different vowels (e.g., [a] and [i] produced by the same speaker. In experiment 2, the same participants performed the same task on voice samples produced by familiar speakers. The two experiments showed that for famous voices, but not for trained-to-familiar voices, identification performance increased and response times decreased as a function of the number of utterances in the averages. This study sheds light on the perceptual representation of familiar voices, and demonstrates the power of average in recognizing familiar voices. The speaker average captures the unique characteristics of a speaker, and thus retains the information essential for recognition; it acts as a prototype of the speaker.

  19. Tone language fluency impairs pitch discrimination

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    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.

  20. Improving Higher Education Practice through Student Evaluation Systems: Is the Student Voice Being Heard?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blair, Erik; Valdez Noel, Keisha

    2014-01-01

    Many higher education institutions use student evaluation systems as a way of highlighting course and lecturer strengths and areas for improvement. Globally, the student voice has been increasing in volume, and capitalising on student feedback has been proposed as a means to benefit teacher professional development. This paper examines the student…

  1. Phonomicrosurgery in Vocal Fold Nodules: Quantification of Outcomes in Professional and Non-Professional Voice Users.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Caffier, Philipp P; Salmen, Tatjana; Ermakova, Tatiana; Forbes, Eleanor; Ko, Seo-Rin; Song, Wen; Gross, Manfred; Nawka, Tadeus

    2017-12-01

    There are few data demonstrating the specific extent to which surgical intervention for vocal fold nodules (VFN) improves vocal function in professional (PVU) and non-professional voice users (NVU). The objective of this study was to compare and quantify results after phonomicrosurgery for VFN in these patient groups. In a prospective clinical study, surgery was performed via microlaryngoscopy in 37 female patients with chronic VFN manifestations (38±12 yrs, mean±SD). Pre- and postoperative evaluations of treatment efficacy comprised videolaryngostroboscopy, auditory-perceptual voice assessment, voice range profile (VRP), acoustic-aerodynamic analysis, and voice handicap index (VHI-9i). The dysphonia severity index (DSI) was compared with the vocal extent measure (VEM). PVU (n=24) and NVU (n=13) showed comparable laryngeal findings and levels of suffering (VHI-9i 16±7 vs 17±8), but PVU had a better pretherapeutic vocal range (26.8±7.4 vs 17.7±5.1 semitones, p<0.001) and vocal capacity (VEM 106±18 vs 74±29, p<0.01). Three months postoperatively, all patients had straight vocal fold edges, complete glottal closure, and recovered mucosal wave propagation. The mean VHI-9i score decreased by 8±6 points. DSI increased from 4.0±2.4 to 5.5±2.4, and VEM from 95±27 to 108±23 (p<0.001). Both parameters correlated significantly (rs=0.82). The average vocal range increased by 4.1±5.3 semitones, and the mean speaking pitch lowered by 0.5±1.4 semitones. These results confirm that phonomicrosurgery for VFN is a safe therapy for voice improvement in both PVU and NVU who do not respond to voice therapy alone. Top-level artistic capabilities in PVU were restored, but numeric changes of most vocal parameters were considerably larger in NVU.

  2. [Voice disorders in female teachers assessed by Voice Handicap Index].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Niebudek-Bogusz, Ewa; Kuzańska, Anna; Woźnicka, Ewelina; Sliwińska-Kowalska, Mariola

    2007-01-01

    The aim of this study was to assess the application of Voice Handicap Index (VHI) in the diagnosis of occupational voice disorders in female teachers. The subjective assessment of voice by VHI was performed in fifty subjects with dysphonia diagnosed in laryngovideostroboscopic examination. The control group comprised 30 women whose jobs did not involve vocal effort. The results of the total VHI score and each of its subscales: functional, emotional and physical was significantly worse in the study group than in controls (p teachers estimated their own voice problems as a moderate disability, while 12% of them reported severe voice disability. However, all non-teachers assessed their voice problems as slight, their results ranged at the lowest level of VHI score. This study confirmed that VHI as a tool for self-assessment of voice can be a significant contribution to the diagnosis of occupational dysphonia.

  3. Attending to pitch information inhibits processing of pitch information: the curious case of amusia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zendel, Benjamin Rich; Lagrois, Marie-Élaine; Robitaille, Nicolas; Peretz, Isabelle

    2015-03-04

    In normal listeners, the tonal rules of music guide musical expectancy. In a minority of individuals, known as amusics, the processing of tonality is disordered, which results in severe musical deficits. It has been shown that the tonal rules of music are neurally encoded, but not consciously available in amusics. Previous neurophysiological studies have not explicitly controlled the level of attention in tasks where participants ignored the tonal structure of the stimuli. Here, we test whether access to tonal knowledge can be demonstrated in congenital amusia when attention is controlled. Electric brain responses were recorded while asking participants to detect an individually adjusted near-threshold click in a melody. In half the melodies, a note was inserted that violated the tonal rules of music. In a second task, participants were presented with the same melodies but were required to detect the tonal deviation. Both tasks required sustained attention, thus conscious access to the rules of tonality was manipulated. In the click-detection task, the pitch deviants evoked an early right anterior negativity (ERAN) in both groups. In the pitch-detection task, the pitch deviants evoked an ERAN and P600 in controls but not in amusics. These results indicate that pitch regularities are represented in the cortex of amusics, but are not consciously available. Moreover, performing a pitch-judgment task eliminated the ERAN in amusics, suggesting that attending to pitch information interferes with perception of pitch. We propose that an impaired top-down frontotemporal projection is responsible for this disorder. Copyright © 2015 the authors 0270-6474/15/353815-10$15.00/0.

  4. Singing voice outcomes following singing voice therapy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dastolfo-Hromack, Christina; Thomas, Tracey L; Rosen, Clark A; Gartner-Schmidt, Jackie

    2016-11-01

    The objectives of this study were to describe singing voice therapy (SVT), describe referred patient characteristics, and document the outcomes of SVT. Retrospective. Records of patients receiving SVT between June 2008 and June 2013 were reviewed (n = 51). All diagnoses were included. Demographic information, number of SVT sessions, and symptom severity were retrieved from the medical record. Symptom severity was measured via the 10-item Singing Voice Handicap Index (SVHI-10). Treatment outcome was analyzed by diagnosis, history of previous training, and SVHI-10. SVHI-10 scores decreased following SVT (mean change = 11, 40% decrease) (P singing lessons (n = 10) also completed an average of three SVT sessions. Primary muscle tension dysphonia (MTD1) and benign vocal fold lesion (lesion) were the most common diagnoses. Most patients (60%) had previous vocal training. SVHI-10 decrease was not significantly different between MTD and lesion. This is the first outcome-based study of SVT in a disordered population. Diagnosis of MTD or lesion did not influence treatment outcomes. Duration of SVT was short (approximately three sessions). Voice care providers are encouraged to partner with a singing voice therapist to provide optimal care for the singing voice. This study supports the use of SVT as a tool for the treatment of singing voice disorders. 4 Laryngoscope, 126:2546-2551, 2016. © 2016 The American Laryngological, Rhinological and Otological Society, Inc.

  5. High coking value pitch

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miller, Douglas J.; Chang, Ching-Feng; Lewis, Irwin C.; Lewis, Richard T.

    2014-06-10

    A high coking value pitch prepared from coal tar distillate and has a low softening point and a high carbon value while containing substantially no quinoline insolubles is disclosed. The pitch can be used as an impregnant or binder for producing carbon and graphite articles.

  6. A high precision dual feedback discrete control system designed for satellite trajectory simulator

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Ximin; Liu, Liren; Sun, Jianfeng; Xu, Nan

    2005-08-01

    Cooperating with the free-space laser communication terminals, the satellite trajectory simulator is used to test the acquisition, pointing, tracking and communicating performances of the terminals. So the satellite trajectory simulator plays an important role in terminal ground test and verification. Using the double-prism, Sun etc in our group designed a satellite trajectory simulator. In this paper, a high precision dual feedback discrete control system designed for the simulator is given and a digital fabrication of the simulator is made correspondingly. In the dual feedback discrete control system, Proportional- Integral controller is used in velocity feedback loop and Proportional- Integral- Derivative controller is used in position feedback loop. In the controller design, simplex method is introduced and an improvement to the method is made. According to the transfer function of the control system in Z domain, the digital fabrication of the simulator is given when it is exposed to mechanism error and moment disturbance. Typically, when the mechanism error is 100urad, the residual standard error of pitching angle, azimuth angle, x-coordinate position and y-coordinate position are 0.49urad, 6.12urad, 4.56urad, 4.09urad respectively. When the moment disturbance is 0.1rad, the residual standard error of pitching angle, azimuth angle, x-coordinate position and y-coordinate position are 0.26urad, 0.22urad, 0.16urad, 0.15urad respectively. The digital fabrication results demonstrate that the dual feedback discrete control system designed for the simulator can achieve the anticipated high precision performance.

  7. Relação entre dados ocupacionais, sintomas e avaliação vocal de operadores de telesserviços Relationship between occupational data, symptoms and voice evaluation of teleservice operators

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ana Paula Dassie-Leite

    2011-03-01

    Full Text Available OBJETIVO: Relacionar dados referentes a gênero, idade e tempo na função com os sintomas vocais e os resultados da avaliação vocal de operadores de telesserviços. MÉTODOS: Foi realizada análise retrospectiva e quantitativa de 404 prontuários referentes a avaliações periódicas de funcionários de instituições bancárias com centrais próprias constantes no arquivo de uma empresa de medicina ocupacional, 259 mulheres, 145 homens, com idades entre 18 e 53 anos (média 30,48. O estudo teve caráter exploratório descritivo. RESULTADOS: Mulheres apresentam maior quantidade de sintomas vocais (média 1,69 e alteração de voz (n=33; 12,7% do que homens (média 1,12 e n=6; 4,1%. Não houve diferença entre quantidade de sintomas vocais e dados da avaliação perceptivo-auditiva quando relacionados à faixa etária e tempo na função. Funcionários com vozes neutras (n=365; 90,35% apresentaram menor número de sintomas (1,41 que funcionários com vozes não neutras (n=39, 9,65%, média 2,21. Dos 39 funcionários com qualidade vocal não-neutra, 34 (87,2% apresentaram ressonância laringo-faríngea e 21 (53,8% apresentaram pitch agravado. Operadores com alteração vocal de grau moderado (n=12; 2,97% apresentaram maior ocorrência de loudness aumentada em relação aos operadores com alteração discreta. CONCLUSÃO: Mulheres apresentam maiores índices de sintomas e alteração de voz. Não há relação entre o avanço da idade e maior tempo na função do teleoperador com o aumento do número de sintomas e alterações vocais. Alterações de pitch, loudness e ressonância têm relação com alterações de qualidade vocal.PURPOSE: To relate data regarding gender, age and length of time on the job with voice symptoms and the results of vocal evaluation of teleservice operators. METHODS: A quantitative retrospective analysis was carried with 404 medical records regarding periodic evaluations of employees from bank institutions with owned

  8. ATC/pilot voice communications: A survey of the literature

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prinzo, O. Veronika; Britton, Thomas W.

    1993-11-01

    The first radio-equipped control tower in the United States opened at the Cleveland Municipal Airport in 1930. From that time to the present, voice radio communications have played a primary role in air safety. Verbal communications in air traffic control (ATC) operations have been frequently cited as causal factors in operational errors and pilot deviations in the FAA Operational Error and Deviation System, the NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS), and reports derived from government sponsored research projects. Collectively, the data provided by these programs indicate that communications constitute a significant problem for pilots and controllers. Although the communications problem was well known the research literature was fragmented, making it difficult to appreciate the various types of verbal communications problems that existed and their unique influence on the quality of ATC/pilot communications. This is a survey of the voice radio communications literature. The 43 reports in the review represent survey data, field studies, laboratory studies, narrative reports, and reviews. The survey topics pertain to communications taxonomies, acoustical correlates and cognitive/psycholinguistic perspectives. Communications taxonomies were used to identify the frequency and types of information that constitute routine communications, as well as those communications involved in operational errors, pilot deviations, and other safety-related events. Acoustical correlate methodologies identified some qualities of a speaker's voice, such as loudness, pitch, and speech rate, which might be used potentially to monitor stress, mental workload, and other forms of psychological or physiological factors that affect performance. Cognitive/psycho-linguistic research offered an information processing perspective for understanding how pilots' and controllers' memory and language comprehension processes affect their ability to communicate effectively with one another. This

  9. Pitch-Responsive Cortical Regions in Congenital Amusia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Norman-Haignere, Sam V; Albouy, Philippe; Caclin, Anne; McDermott, Josh H; Kanwisher, Nancy G; Tillmann, Barbara

    2016-03-09

    Congenital amusia is a lifelong deficit in music perception thought to reflect an underlying impairment in the perception and memory of pitch. The neural basis of amusic impairments is actively debated. Some prior studies have suggested that amusia stems from impaired connectivity between auditory and frontal cortex. However, it remains possible that impairments in pitch coding within auditory cortex also contribute to the disorder, in part because prior studies have not measured responses from the cortical regions most implicated in pitch perception in normal individuals. We addressed this question by measuring fMRI responses in 11 subjects with amusia and 11 age- and education-matched controls to a stimulus contrast that reliably identifies pitch-responsive regions in normal individuals: harmonic tones versus frequency-matched noise. Our findings demonstrate that amusic individuals with a substantial pitch perception deficit exhibit clusters of pitch-responsive voxels that are comparable in extent, selectivity, and anatomical location to those of control participants. We discuss possible explanations for why amusics might be impaired at perceiving pitch relations despite exhibiting normal fMRI responses to pitch in their auditory cortex: (1) individual neurons within the pitch-responsive region might exhibit abnormal tuning or temporal coding not detectable with fMRI, (2) anatomical tracts that link pitch-responsive regions to other brain areas (e.g., frontal cortex) might be altered, and (3) cortical regions outside of pitch-responsive cortex might be abnormal. The ability to identify pitch-responsive regions in individual amusic subjects will make it possible to ask more precise questions about their role in amusia in future work. Copyright © 2016 the authors 0270-6474/16/362986-09$15.00/0.

  10. Wind Turbine Pitch Control and Load Mitigation Using an L1 Adaptive Approach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Danyong Li

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available We present an application of L1 adaptive output feedback control design to wind turbine collective pitch control and load mitigation. Our main objective is the design of an L1 output feedback controller without wind speed estimation, ensuring that the generator speed tracks the reference trajectory with robustness to uncertain parameters and time-varying disturbances (mainly the uniform wind disturbance across the wind turbine rotor. The wind turbine model CART (controls advanced research turbine developed by the national renewable energy laboratory (NREL is used to validate the performance of the proposed L1 adaptive controller using the FAST (fatigue, aerodynamics, structures, and turbulence code. A comparative study is also conducted between the proposed controller and the most popular methods in practice: gain scheduling PI (GSPI controls and disturbance accommodating control (DAC methods. The results show better performance of L1 output feedback controller over the other two methods. Moreover, based on the FAST software and LQR analysis in the reference model selection of L1 adaptive controller, tradeoff can be achieved between control performance and loads mitigation.

  11. Measurement of pitch in speech : an implementation of Goldstein's theory of pitch perception

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Duifhuis, H.; Willems, L.F.; Sluyter, R.J.

    1982-01-01

    Recent developments in hearing theory have resulted in the rather general acceptance of the idea that the perception of pitch of complex sounds is the result of the psychological pattern recognition process. The pitch is supposedly mediated by the fundamental of the harmonic spectrum which fits the

  12. Disorders of pitch production in tone deafness.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bella, Simone Dalla; Berkowska, Magdalena; Sowiński, Jakub

    2011-01-01

    Singing is as natural as speaking for the majority of people. Yet some individuals (i.e., 10-15%) are poor singers, typically performing or imitating pitches and melodies inaccurately. This condition, commonly referred to as "tone deafness," has been observed both in the presence and absence of deficient pitch perception. In this article we review the existing literature concerning normal singing, poor-pitch singing, and, briefly, the sources of this condition. Considering that pitch plays a prominent role in the structure of both music and speech we also focus on the possibility that speech production (or imitation) is similarly impaired in poor-pitch singers. Preliminary evidence from our laboratory suggests that pitch imitation may be selectively inaccurate in the music domain without being affected in speech. This finding points to separability of mechanisms subserving pitch production in music and language.

  13. I like my voice better: self-enhancement bias in perceptions of voice attractiveness.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hughes, Susan M; Harrison, Marissa A

    2013-01-01

    Previous research shows that the human voice can communicate a wealth of nonsemantic information; preferences for voices can predict health, fertility, and genetic quality of the speaker, and people often use voice attractiveness, in particular, to make these assessments of others. But it is not known what we think of the attractiveness of our own voices as others hear them. In this study eighty men and women rated the attractiveness of an array of voice recordings of different individuals and were not told that their own recorded voices were included in the presentation. Results showed that participants rated their own voices as sounding more attractive than others had rated their voices, and participants also rated their own voices as sounding more attractive than they had rated the voices of others. These findings suggest that people may engage in vocal implicit egotism, a form of self-enhancement.

  14. Pitch memory and exposure effects.

    OpenAIRE

    Ben-Haim, Moshe Shay; Eitan, Zohar; Chajut, Eran

    2014-01-01

    Recent studies indicate that the ability to represent absolute pitch values in long-term memory (LTM), long believed to be the possession of a small minority of trained musicians endowed with "absolute pitch" (AP), is in fact shared to some extent by a considerable proportion of the population. The current study examined whether this newly-discovered ability affects aspects of music and auditory cognition, particularly pitch learning and evaluation. Our starting points are two well establishe...

  15. Vowel identity between note labels confuses pitch identification in non-absolute pitch possessors.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alfredo Brancucci

    Full Text Available The simplest and likeliest assumption concerning the cognitive bases of absolute pitch (AP is that at its origin there is a particularly skilled function which matches the height of the perceived pitch to the verbal label of the musical tone. Since there is no difference in sound frequency resolution between AP and non-AP (NAP musicians, the hypothesis of the present study is that the failure of NAP musicians in pitch identification relies mainly in an inability to retrieve the correct verbal label to be assigned to the perceived musical note. The primary hypothesis is that, when asked to identify tones, NAP musicians confuse the verbal labels to be attached to the stimulus on the basis of their phonetic content. Data from two AP tests are reported, in which subjects had to respond in the presence or in the absence of visually presented verbal note labels (fixed Do solmization. Results show that NAP musicians confuse more frequently notes having a similar vowel in the note label. They tend to confuse e.g. a 261 Hz tone (Do more often with Sol than, e.g., with La. As a second goal, we wondered whether this effect is lateralized, i.e. whether one hemisphere is more responsible than the other in the confusion of notes with similar labels. This question was addressed by observing pitch identification during dichotic listening. Results showed that there is a right hemispheric disadvantage, in NAP but not AP musicians, in the retrieval of the verbal label to be assigned to the perceived pitch. The present results indicate that absolute pitch has strong verbal bases, at least from a cognitive point of view.

  16. Disorders of Pitch Production in Tone Deafness

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bella, Simone Dalla; Berkowska, Magdalena; Sowiński, Jakub

    2011-01-01

    Singing is as natural as speaking for the majority of people. Yet some individuals (i.e., 10–15%) are poor singers, typically performing or imitating pitches and melodies inaccurately. This condition, commonly referred to as “tone deafness,” has been observed both in the presence and absence of deficient pitch perception. In this article we review the existing literature concerning normal singing, poor-pitch singing, and, briefly, the sources of this condition. Considering that pitch plays a prominent role in the structure of both music and speech we also focus on the possibility that speech production (or imitation) is similarly impaired in poor-pitch singers. Preliminary evidence from our laboratory suggests that pitch imitation may be selectively inaccurate in the music domain without being affected in speech. This finding points to separability of mechanisms subserving pitch production in music and language. PMID:21811479

  17. Connections between voice ergonomic risk factors in classrooms and teachers' voice production.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rantala, Leena M; Hakala, Suvi; Holmqvist, Sofia; Sala, Eeva

    2012-01-01

    The aim of the study was to investigate if voice ergonomic risk factors in classrooms correlated with acoustic parameters of teachers' voice production. The voice ergonomic risk factors in the fields of working culture, working postures and indoor air quality were assessed in 40 classrooms using the Voice Ergonomic Assessment in Work Environment - Handbook and Checklist. Teachers (32 females, 8 males) from the above-mentioned classrooms recorded text readings before and after a working day. Fundamental frequency, sound pressure level (SPL) and the slope of the spectrum (alpha ratio) were analyzed. The higher the number of the risk factors in the classrooms, the higher SPL the teachers used and the more strained the males' voices (increased alpha ratio) were. The SPL was already higher before the working day in the teachers with higher risk than in those with lower risk. In the working environment with many voice ergonomic risk factors, speakers increase voice loudness and use more strained voice quality (males). A practical implication of the results is that voice ergonomic assessments are needed in schools. Copyright © 2013 S. Karger AG, Basel.

  18. Thermosetting behavior of pitch-resin from heavy residue

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Qingfang, Z.; Yansheng, G.; Baohua, H.; Yuzhen, Z. [China Univ. of Petroleum, Dongying, Shandong (China). State Key LAboratory of Heavy Oil Processing, Heavy Oil Research Inst.

    2006-07-01

    Thermosetting resins are widely employed as a basic matrix for c/c composites in carbon materials production. A new type of synthesized thermosetting resin is called pitch resin. Pitch resin is a cheaper resin and possesses a potential opportunity for future use. However, the thermosetting behavior of pitch resin is not very clear. The hardening process and conditions for thermosetting are very important for future use of pitch resin. B-stage pitch resin is a soluble and meltable inter-media condensed polymer, which is not fully reacted and is of a low molecular weight. The insoluble and unmelted pitch resin can only be obtained from synthesized B-stage resin after a hardening stage. This paper presented an experiment that synthesized B-stage pitch resin with a link agent (PXG) under catalyst action from fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) of the slurry's aromatic enriched component (FCCDF). The paper discussed the experiment, including the synthesis of pitch resin and thermosetting of pitch resin. Two kinds of thermosetting procedures were used in the study called one-step thermosetting and two-step thermosetting. It was concluded that the B-stage pitch resin could be hardened after a thermosetting procedure by heat treatment. The thermosetting pitch resin from 2-step thermosetting possesses was found to have better thermal resistant properties than that of the 1-step thermosetting pitch resin. 13 refs., 2 tabs., 6 figs.

  19. Norwegian Pitched Roof Defects

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lars Gullbrekken

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available The building constructions investigated in this work are pitched wooden roofs with exterior vertical drainpipes and wooden load-bearing system. The aim of this research is to further investigate the building defects of pitched wooden roofs and obtain an overview of typical roof defects. The work involves an analysis of the building defect archive from the research institute SINTEF Building and Infrastructure. The findings from the SINTEF archive show that moisture is a dominant exposure factor, especially in roof constructions. In pitched wooden roofs, more than half of the defects are caused by deficiencies in design, materials, or workmanship, where these deficiencies allow moisture from precipitation or indoor moisture into the structure. Hence, it is important to increase the focus on robust and durable solutions to avoid defects both from exterior and interior moisture sources in pitched wooden roofs. Proper design of interior ventilation and vapour retarders seem to be the main ways to control entry from interior moisture sources into attic and roof spaces.

  20. Reliance on auditory feedback in children with childhood apraxia of speech.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Iuzzini-Seigel, Jenya; Hogan, Tiffany P; Guarino, Anthony J; Green, Jordan R

    2015-01-01

    Children with childhood apraxia of speech (CAS) have been hypothesized to continuously monitor their speech through auditory feedback to minimize speech errors. We used an auditory masking paradigm to determine the effect of attenuating auditory feedback on speech in 30 children: 9 with CAS, 10 with speech delay, and 11 with typical development. The masking only affected the speech of children with CAS as measured by voice onset time and vowel space area. These findings provide preliminary support for greater reliance on auditory feedback among children with CAS. Readers of this article should be able to (i) describe the motivation for investigating the role of auditory feedback in children with CAS; (ii) report the effects of feedback attenuation on speech production in children with CAS, speech delay, and typical development, and (iii) understand how the current findings may support a feedforward program deficit in children with CAS. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  1. Ideomotor effects of pitch on continuation tapping.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ammirante, Paolo; Thompson, William F; Russo, Frank A

    2011-02-01

    The ideomotor principle predicts that perception will modulate action where overlap exists between perceptual and motor representations of action. This effect is demonstrated with auditory stimuli. Previous perceptual evidence suggests that pitch contour and pitch distance in tone sequences may elicit tonal motion effects consistent with listeners' implicit awareness of the lawful dynamics of locomotive bodies. To examine modulating effects of perception on action, participants in a continuation tapping task produced a steady tempo. Auditory tones were triggered by each tap. Pitch contour randomly and persistently varied within trials. Pitch distance between successive tones varied between trials. Although participants were instructed to ignore them, tones systematically affected finger dynamics and timing. Where pitch contour implied positive acceleration, the following tap and the intertap interval (ITI) that it completed were faster. Where pitch contour implied negative acceleration, the following tap and the ITI that it completed were slower. Tempo was faster with greater pitch distance. Musical training did not predict the magnitude of these effects. There were no generalized effects on timing variability. Pitch contour findings demonstrate how tonal motion may elicit the spontaneous production of accents found in expressive music performance.

  2. Voice Habits and Behaviors: Voice Care Among Flamenco Singers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Garzón García, Marina; Muñoz López, Juana; Y Mendoza Lara, Elvira

    2017-03-01

    The purpose of this study is to analyze the vocal behavior of flamenco singers, as compared with classical music singers, to establish a differential vocal profile of voice habits and behaviors in flamenco music. Bibliographic review was conducted, and the Singer's Vocal Habits Questionnaire, an experimental tool designed by the authors to gather data regarding hygiene behavior, drinking and smoking habits, type of practice, voice care, and symptomatology perceived in both the singing and the speaking voice, was administered. We interviewed 94 singers, divided into two groups: the flamenco experimental group (FEG, n = 48) and the classical control group (CCG, n = 46). Frequency analysis, a Likert scale, and discriminant and exploratory factor analysis were used to obtain a differential profile for each group. The FEG scored higher than the CCG in speaking voice symptomatology. The FEG scored significantly higher than the CCG in use of "inadequate vocal technique" when singing. Regarding voice habits, the FEG scored higher in "lack of practice and warm-up" and "environmental habits." A total of 92.6% of the subjects classified themselves correctly in each group. The Singer's Vocal Habits Questionnaire has proven effective in differentiating flamenco and classical singers. Flamenco singers are exposed to numerous vocal risk factors that make them more prone to vocal fatigue, mucosa dehydration, phonotrauma, and muscle stiffness than classical singers. Further research is needed in voice training in flamenco music, as a means to strengthen the voice and enable it to meet the requirements of this musical genre. Copyright © 2017 The Voice Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  3. Am I ready for it? Students’ perceptions of meaningful feedback on entrustable professional activities

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Duijn, Chantal C. M. A.; Welink, Lisanne S; Mandoki, Mira; Ten Cate, Olle Th J; Kremer, Wim D. J.; Bok, Harold G. J.

    2017-01-01

    Background Receiving feedback while in the clinical workplace is probably the most frequently voiced desire of students. In clinical learning environments, providing and seeking performance-relevant information is often difficult for both supervisors and students. The use of entrustable professional

  4. Sound induced activity in voice sensitive cortex predicts voice memory ability

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rebecca eWatson

    2012-04-01

    Full Text Available The ‘temporal voice areas’ (TVAs (Belin et al., 2000 of the human brain show greater neuronal activity in response to human voices than to other categories of nonvocal sounds. However, a direct link between TVA activity and voice perceptionbehaviour has not yet been established. Here we show that a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI measure of activity in the TVAs predicts individual performance at a separately administered voice memory test. This relation holds whengeneral sound memory ability is taken into account. These findings provide the first evidence that the TVAs are specifically involved in voice cognition.

  5. Cross-Cultural Perspectives on Pitch Memory

    Science.gov (United States)

    Trehub, Sandra E.; Schellenberg, E. Glenn; Nakata, Takayuki

    2008-01-01

    We examined effects of age and culture on children's memory for the pitch level of familiar music. Canadian 9- and 10-year-olds distinguished the original pitch level of familiar television theme songs from foils that were pitch-shifted by one semitone, whereas 5- to 8-year-olds failed to do so (Experiment 1). In contrast, Japanese 5- and…

  6. Voice Therapy Practices and Techniques: A Survey of Voice Clinicians.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mueller, Peter B.; Larson, George W.

    1992-01-01

    Eighty-three voice disorder therapists' ratings of statements regarding voice therapy practices indicated that vocal nodules are the most frequent disorder treated; vocal abuse and hard glottal attack elimination, counseling, and relaxation were preferred treatment approaches; and voice therapy is more effective with adults than with children.…

  7. Adaptive sliding mode back-stepping pitch angle control of a variable-displacement pump controlled pitch system for wind turbines.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yin, Xiu-xing; Lin, Yong-gang; Li, Wei; Liu, Hong-wei; Gu, Ya-jing

    2015-09-01

    A variable-displacement pump controlled pitch system is proposed to mitigate generator power and flap-wise load fluctuations for wind turbines. The pitch system mainly consists of a variable-displacement hydraulic pump, a fixed-displacement hydraulic motor and a gear set. The hydraulic motor can be accurately regulated by controlling the pump displacement and fluid flows to change the pitch angle through the gear set. The detailed mathematical representation and dynamic characteristics of the proposed pitch system are thoroughly analyzed. An adaptive sliding mode pump displacement controller and a back-stepping stroke piston controller are designed for the proposed pitch system such that the resulting pitch angle tracks its desired value regardless of external disturbances and uncertainties. The effectiveness and control efficiency of the proposed pitch system and controllers have been verified by using realistic dataset of a 750 kW research wind turbine. Copyright © 2015 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  8. A Neuronal Network Model for Pitch Selectivity and Representation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, Chengcheng; Rinzel, John

    2016-01-01

    Pitch is a perceptual correlate of periodicity. Sounds with distinct spectra can elicit the same pitch. Despite the importance of pitch perception, understanding the cellular mechanism of pitch perception is still a major challenge and a mechanistic model of pitch is lacking. A multi-stage neuronal network model is developed for pitch frequency estimation using biophysically-based, high-resolution coincidence detector neurons. The neuronal units respond only to highly coincident input among convergent auditory nerve fibers across frequency channels. Their selectivity for only very fast rising slopes of convergent input enables these slope-detectors to distinguish the most prominent coincidences in multi-peaked input time courses. Pitch can then be estimated from the first-order interspike intervals of the slope-detectors. The regular firing pattern of the slope-detector neurons are similar for sounds sharing the same pitch despite the distinct timbres. The decoded pitch strengths also correlate well with the salience of pitch perception as reported by human listeners. Therefore, our model can serve as a neural representation for pitch. Our model performs successfully in estimating the pitch of missing fundamental complexes and reproducing the pitch variation with respect to the frequency shift of inharmonic complexes. It also accounts for the phase sensitivity of pitch perception in the cases of Schroeder phase, alternating phase and random phase relationships. Moreover, our model can also be applied to stochastic sound stimuli, iterated-ripple-noise, and account for their multiple pitch perceptions.

  9. Adaptive pitch control for variable speed wind turbines

    Science.gov (United States)

    Johnson, Kathryn E [Boulder, CO; Fingersh, Lee Jay [Westminster, CO

    2012-05-08

    An adaptive method for adjusting blade pitch angle, and controllers implementing such a method, for achieving higher power coefficients. Average power coefficients are determined for first and second periods of operation for the wind turbine. When the average power coefficient for the second time period is larger than for the first, a pitch increment, which may be generated based on the power coefficients, is added (or the sign is retained) to the nominal pitch angle value for the wind turbine. When the average power coefficient for the second time period is less than for the first, the pitch increment is subtracted (or the sign is changed). A control signal is generated based on the adapted pitch angle value and sent to blade pitch actuators that act to change the pitch angle of the wind turbine to the new or modified pitch angle setting, and this process is iteratively performed.

  10. Pitch Based Sound Classification

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nielsen, Andreas Brinch; Hansen, Lars Kai; Kjems, U

    2006-01-01

    A sound classification model is presented that can classify signals into music, noise and speech. The model extracts the pitch of the signal using the harmonic product spectrum. Based on the pitch estimate and a pitch error measure, features are created and used in a probabilistic model with soft......-max output function. Both linear and quadratic inputs are used. The model is trained on 2 hours of sound and tested on publicly available data. A test classification error below 0.05 with 1 s classification windows is achieved. Further more it is shown that linear input performs as well as a quadratic......, and that even though classification gets marginally better, not much is achieved by increasing the window size beyond 1 s....

  11. [Factors influencing the pitch and loudness of tinnitus].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ueda, S; Asoh, S; Watanabe, Y

    1992-11-01

    Pitch match and loudness balance tests were given to 397 cases with tinnitus. The factors which influenced tinnitus pitch and loudness were analyzed statistically from the clinical point of view. The results obtained were as follows: 1) Onomatopoeia of tinnitus, either [Keeeen] or [Jeeeen], were observed in a majority of cases. 2) Significantly sharp sounding onomatopoeia such as [Keeeen] or [Meeeen] had high pitches, over 4kHz, and dull sounds like [Gooooh] or [Buuuun] had low pitches, below 500Hz. 3) Acute stage tinnitus, within one month of onset, had a significantly depressed pitch and walked loudness, above 6dB. 4) The pitches observed in cases with Meniere's disease and chronic otitis media were distributed evenly from low frequencies to high. In other cases, especially presbyacusis and noise deafness, high pitch tinnitus (above 4kHz) was frequently noted. The loudness of tinnitus without hearing loss was significantly greater than in other diseases. 5) As a rule the more deteriorated the hearing level was, the lower the frequency of the pitch, and the smaller the loudness in tinnitus. 6) A high pitch of tinnitus nearly corresponded with hearing type, that is, the pitch of tinnitus was also in accordance with the disturbed frequency in the hearing threshold.

  12. Pitch (F0) and formant profiles of human vowels and vowel-like baboon grunts: The role of vocalizer body size and voice-acoustic allometry

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rendall, Drew; Kollias, Sophie; Ney, Christina; Lloyd, Peter

    2005-02-01

    Key voice features-fundamental frequency (F0) and formant frequencies-can vary extensively between individuals. Much of the variation can be traced to differences in the size of the larynx and vocal-tract cavities, but whether these differences in turn simply reflect differences in speaker body size (i.e., neutral vocal allometry) remains unclear. Quantitative analyses were therefore undertaken to test the relationship between speaker body size and voice F0 and formant frequencies for human vowels. To test the taxonomic generality of the relationships, the same analyses were conducted on the vowel-like grunts of baboons, whose phylogenetic proximity to humans and similar vocal production biology and voice acoustic patterns recommend them for such comparative research. For adults of both species, males were larger than females and had lower mean voice F0 and formant frequencies. However, beyond this, F0 variation did not track body-size variation between the sexes in either species, nor within sexes in humans. In humans, formant variation correlated significantly with speaker height but only in males and not in females. Implications for general vocal allometry are discussed as are implications for speech origins theories, and challenges to them, related to laryngeal position and vocal tract length. .

  13. Using active shape modeling based on MRI to study morphologic and pitch-related functional changes affecting vocal structures and the airway.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miller, Nicola A; Gregory, Jennifer S; Aspden, Richard M; Stollery, Peter J; Gilbert, Fiona J

    2014-09-01

    The shape of the vocal tract and associated structures (eg, tongue and velum) is complicated and varies according to development and function. This variability challenges interpretation of voice experiments. Quantifying differences between shapes and understanding how vocal structures move in relation to each other is difficult using traditional linear and angle measurements. With statistical shape models, shape can be characterized in terms of independent modes of variation. Here, we build an active shape model (ASM) to assess morphologic and pitch-related functional changes affecting vocal structures and the airway. Using a cross-sectional study design, we obtained six midsagittal magnetic resonance images from 10 healthy adults (five men and five women) at rest, while breathing out, and while listening to, and humming low and high notes. Eighty landmark points were chosen to define the shape of interest and an ASM was built using these (60) images. Principal component analysis was used to identify independent modes of variation, and statistical analysis was performed using one-way repeated-measures analysis of variance. Twenty modes of variation were identified with modes 1 and 2 accounting for half the total variance. Modes 1 and 9 were significantly associated with humming low and high notes (P structures, and airway. Mode 2 highlighted wide structural variations between subjects. This study highlights the potential of active shape modeling to advance understanding of factors underlying morphologic and pitch-related functional variations affecting vocal structures and the airway in health and disease. Copyright © 2014 The Voice Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  14. Voice following radiotherapy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stoicheff, M.L.

    1975-01-01

    This study was undertaken to provide information on the voice of patients following radiotherapy for glottic cancer. Part I presents findings from questionnaires returned by 227 of 235 patients successfully irradiated for glottic cancer from 1960 through 1971. Part II presents preliminary findings on the speaking fundamental frequencies of 22 irradiated patients. Normal to near-normal voice was reported by 83 percent of the 227 patients; however, 80 percent did indicate persisting vocal difficulties such as fatiguing of voice with much usage, inability to sing, reduced loudness, hoarse voice quality and inability to shout. Amount of talking during treatments appeared to affect length of time for voice to recover following treatments in those cases where it took from nine to 26 weeks; also, with increasing years since treatment, patients rated their voices more favorably. Smoking habits following treatments improved significantly with only 27 percent smoking heavily as compared with 65 percent prior to radiation therapy. No correlation was found between smoking (during or after treatments) and vocal ratings or between smoking and length of time for voice to recover. There was no relationship found between reported vocal ratings and stage of the disease

  15. Voices Not Heard: Voice-Use Profiles of Elementary Music Teachers, the Effects of Voice Amplification on Vocal Load, and Perceptions of Issues Surrounding Voice Use

    Science.gov (United States)

    Morrow, Sharon L.

    2009-01-01

    Teachers represent the largest group of occupational voice users and have voice-related problems at a rate of over twice that found in the general population. Among teachers, music teachers are roughly four times more likely than classroom teachers to develop voice-related problems. Although it has been established that music teachers use their…

  16. Dimensionality in voice quality.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bele, Irene Velsvik

    2007-05-01

    This study concerns speaking voice quality in a group of male teachers (n = 35) and male actors (n = 36), as the purpose was to investigate normal and supranormal voices. The goal was the development of a method of valid perceptual evaluation for normal to supranormal and resonant voices. The voices (text reading at two loudness levels) had been evaluated by 10 listeners, for 15 vocal characteristics using VA scales. In this investigation, the results of an exploratory factor analysis of the vocal characteristics used in this method are presented, reflecting four dimensions of major importance for normal and supranormal voices. Special emphasis is placed on the effects on voice quality of a change in the loudness variable, as two loudness levels are studied. Furthermore, the vocal characteristics Sonority and Ringing voice quality are paid special attention, as the essence of the term "resonant voice" was a basic issue throughout a doctoral dissertation where this study was included.

  17. [Assessment of voice acoustic parameters in female teachers with diagnosed occupational voice disorders].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Niebudek-Bogusz, Ewa; Fiszer, Marta; Sliwińska-Kowalska, Mariola

    2005-01-01

    Laryngovideostroboscopy is the method most frequently used in the assessment of voice disorders. However, the employment of quantitative methods, such as voice acoustic analysis, is essential for evaluating the effectiveness of prophylactic and therapeutic activities as well as for objective medical certification of larynx pathologies. The aim of this study was to examine voice acoustic parameters in female teachers with occupational voice diseases. Acoustic analysis (IRIS software) was performed in 66 female teachers, including 35 teachers with occupational voice diseases and 31 with functional dysphonia. The teachers with occupational voice diseases presented the lower average fundamental frequency (193 Hz) compared to the group with functional dysphonia (209 Hz) and to the normative value (236 Hz), whereas other acoustic parameters did not differ significantly in both groups. Voice acoustic analysis, when applied separately from vocal loading, cannot be used as a testing method to verify the diagnosis of occupational voice disorders.

  18. Muscular tension and body posture in relation to voice handicap and voice quality in teachers with persistent voice complaints.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kooijman, P G C; de Jong, F I C R S; Oudes, M J; Huinck, W; van Acht, H; Graamans, K

    2005-01-01

    The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between extrinsic laryngeal muscular hypertonicity and deviant body posture on the one hand and voice handicap and voice quality on the other hand in teachers with persistent voice complaints and a history of voice-related absenteeism. The study group consisted of 25 female teachers. A voice therapist assessed extrinsic laryngeal muscular tension and a physical therapist assessed body posture. The assessed parameters were clustered in categories. The parameters in the different categories represent the same function. Further a tension/posture index was created, which is the summation of the different parameters. The different parameters and the index were related to the Voice Handicap Index (VHI) and the Dysphonia Severity Index (DSI). The scores of the VHI and the individual parameters differ significantly except for the posterior weight bearing and tension of the sternocleidomastoid muscle. There was also a significant difference between the individual parameters and the DSI, except for tension of the cricothyroid muscle and posterior weight bearing. The score of the tension/posture index correlates significantly with both the VHI and the DSI. In a linear regression analysis, the combination of hypertonicity of the sternocleidomastoid, the geniohyoid muscles and posterior weight bearing is the most important predictor for a high voice handicap. The combination of hypertonicity of the geniohyoid muscle, posterior weight bearing, high position of the hyoid bone, hypertonicity of the cricothyroid muscle and anteroposition of the head is the most important predictor for a low DSI score. The results of this study show the higher the score of the index, the higher the score of the voice handicap and the worse the voice quality is. Moreover, the results are indicative for the importance of assessment of muscular tension and body posture in the diagnosis of voice disorders.

  19. Mindfulness of voices, self-compassion, and secure attachment in relation to the experience of hearing voices.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dudley, James; Eames, Catrin; Mulligan, John; Fisher, Naomi

    2018-03-01

    Developing compassion towards oneself has been linked to improvement in many areas of psychological well-being, including psychosis. Furthermore, developing a non-judgemental, accepting way of relating to voices is associated with lower levels of distress for people who hear voices. These factors have also been associated with secure attachment. This study explores associations between the constructs of mindfulness of voices, self-compassion, and distress from hearing voices and how secure attachment style related to each of these variables. Cross-sectional online. One hundred and twenty-eight people (73% female; M age  = 37.5; 87.5% Caucasian) who currently hear voices completed the Self-Compassion Scale, Southampton Mindfulness of Voices Questionnaire, Relationships Questionnaire, and Hamilton Programme for Schizophrenia Voices Questionnaire. Results showed that mindfulness of voices mediated the relationship between self-compassion and severity of voices, and self-compassion mediated the relationship between mindfulness of voices and severity of voices. Self-compassion and mindfulness of voices were significantly positively correlated with each other and negatively correlated with distress and severity of voices. Mindful relation to voices and self-compassion are associated with reduced distress and severity of voices, which supports the proposed potential benefits of mindful relating to voices and self-compassion as therapeutic skills for people experiencing distress by voice hearing. Greater self-compassion and mindfulness of voices were significantly associated with less distress from voices. These findings support theory underlining compassionate mind training. Mindfulness of voices mediated the relationship between self-compassion and distress from voices, indicating a synergistic relationship between the constructs. Although the current findings do not give a direction of causation, consideration is given to the potential impact of mindful and

  20. Individual Pitch Control Using LIDAR Measurements

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Mirzaei, Mahmood; Henriksen, Lars Christian; Poulsen, Niels Kjølstad

    2012-01-01

    In this work the problem of individual pitch control of a variable-speed variable-pitch wind turbine in the full load region is considered. Model predictive control (MPC) is used to solve the problem. However as the plant is nonlinear and time varying, a new approach is proposed to simplify......-of-plane blade root bending moments and a better transient response compared to a benchmark PI individual pitch controller....

  1. Pitch memory, labelling and disembedding in autism.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heaton, Pamela

    2003-05-01

    Autistic musical savants invariably possess absolute pitch ability and are able to disembed individual musical tones from chords. Enhanced pitch discrimination and memory has been found in non-savant individuals with autism who also show superior performance on visual disembedding tasks. These experiments investigate the extent that enhanced disembedding ability will be found within the musical domain in autism. High-functioning children with autism, together with age- and intelligence-matched controls, participated in three experiments testing pitch memory, labelling and chord disembedding. The findings from experiment 1 showed enhanced pitch memory and labelling in the autism group. In experiment 2, when subjects were pre-exposed to labelled individual tones, superior chord segmentation was also found. However, in experiment 3, when disembedding performance was less reliant on pitch memory, no group differences emerged and the children with autism, like controls, perceived musical chords holistically. These findings indicate that pitch memory and labelling is superior in autism and can facilitate performance on musical disembedding tasks. However, when task performance does not rely on long-term pitch memory, autistic children, like controls, succumb to the Gestalt qualities of chords.

  2. Physicochemical characterization of pitches by differential scanning calorimetry

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lahaye, J.; Ehrburger, P.; Saint-Romain, J.L.; Couderc, P.

    1987-11-01

    The glass transition characterization of pitches has been studied by differential scanning calorimetry (d.s.c.). Experimental results and theoretical considerations indicate that: (1) the average molecular mass of pitches can be characterized by the apparent activation energy of the relaxation phenomenon of pitch molecules; (2) the molecular polydispersity is correlated with the width of the glass transition. Characterization of pitch by d.s.c. is well adapted to follow pitch transformation during heat treatment. 6 refs., 6 figs., 4 tabs.

  3. A Neuronal Network Model for Pitch Selectivity and Representation

    OpenAIRE

    Huang, Chengcheng; Rinzel, John

    2016-01-01

    Pitch is a perceptual correlate of periodicity. Sounds with distinct spectra can elicit the same pitch. Despite the importance of pitch perception, understanding the cellular mechanism of pitch perception is still a major challenge and a mechanistic model of pitch is lacking. A multi-stage neuronal network model is developed for pitch frequency estimation using biophysically-based, high-resolution coincidence detector neurons. The neuronal units respond only to highly coincident input among c...

  4. Face the voice

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lønstrup, Ansa

    2014-01-01

    will be based on a reception aesthetic and phenomenological approach, the latter as presented by Don Ihde in his book Listening and Voice. Phenomenologies of Sound , and my analytical sketches will be related to theoretical statements concerning the understanding of voice and media (Cavarero, Dolar, La......Belle, Neumark). Finally, the article will discuss the specific artistic combination and our auditory experience of mediated human voices and sculpturally projected faces in an art museum context under the general conditions of the societal panophonia of disembodied and mediated voices, as promoted by Steven...

  5. "Voice Forum" The Human Voice as Primary Instrument in Music Therapy

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pedersen, Inge Nygaard; Storm, Sanne

    2009-01-01

    Aspects will be drawn on the human voice as tool for embodying our psychological and physiological state, and attempting integration of feelings. Presentations and dialogues on different methods and techniques in "Therapy related body-and voice work.", as well as the human voice as a tool for non...

  6. Emotional Prosody Measurement (EPM): a voice-based evaluation method for psychological therapy effectiveness.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van den Broek, Egon L

    2004-01-01

    The voice embodies three sources of information: speech, the identity, and the emotional state of the speaker (i.e., emotional prosody). The latter feature is resembled by the variability of the F0 (also named fundamental frequency of pitch) (SD F0). To extract this feature, Emotional Prosody Measurement (EPM) was developed, which consists of 1) speech recording, 2) removal of speckle noise, 3) a Fourier Transform to extract the F0-signal, and 4) the determination of SD F0. After a pilot study in which six participants mimicked emotions by their voice, the core experiment was conducted to see whether EPM is successful. Twenty-five patients suffering from a panic disorder with agoraphobia participated. Two methods (story-telling and reliving) were used to trigger anxiety and were compared with comparable but more relaxed conditions. This resulted in a unique database of speech samples that was used to compare the EPM with the Subjective Unit of Distress to validate it as measure for anxiety/stress. The experimental manipulation of anxiety proved to be successful and EPM proved to be a successful evaluation method for psychological therapy effectiveness.

  7. Automatic Transcription of Polyphonic Vocal Music

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andrew McLeod

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents a method for automatic music transcription applied to audio recordings of a cappella performances with multiple singers. We propose a system for multi-pitch detection and voice assignment that integrates an acoustic and a music language model. The acoustic model performs spectrogram decomposition, extending probabilistic latent component analysis (PLCA using a six-dimensional dictionary with pre-extracted log-spectral templates. The music language model performs voice separation and assignment using hidden Markov models that apply musicological assumptions. By integrating the two models, the system is able to detect multiple concurrent pitches in polyphonic vocal music and assign each detected pitch to a specific voice type such as soprano, alto, tenor or bass (SATB. We compare our system against multiple baselines, achieving state-of-the-art results for both multi-pitch detection and voice assignment on a dataset of Bach chorales and another of barbershop quartets. We also present an additional evaluation of our system using varied pitch tolerance levels to investigate its performance at 20-cent pitch resolution.

  8. Characterization of pitches by differential scanning calorimetry

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ehrburger, P.; Martin, C.; Lahaye, J.; Saint-Romain, J.L.; Couderc, P.

    1988-12-01

    Pitch materials have generally a very complex composition with molecular mass ranging from a few hundred to several thousands units. In order to characterize these materials their properties related to the glassy transformation, in particular to enthalpy relaxation, have been investigated. Solvent soluble fractions have been characterized by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). As with polymeric materials, enthalpy relaxation can provide information about pitches and the interactions occurring between the different types of molecules present in the pitch: mean molecular size, structural factor, molecular-size distribution. The determination of glass transition properties provides a useful means for the characterization of pitch and of their solvent extracts. It also permits insight into the complex reactions which occur when pitch materials are heat-treated. 7 refs., 2 figs., 3 tabs.

  9. Voice Use Among Music Theory Teachers: A Voice Dosimetry and Self-Assessment Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schiller, Isabel S; Morsomme, Dominique; Remacle, Angélique

    2017-07-25

    This study aimed (1) to investigate music theory teachers' professional and extra-professional vocal loading and background noise exposure, (2) to determine the correlation between vocal loading and background noise, and (3) to determine the correlation between vocal loading and self-evaluation data. Using voice dosimetry, 13 music theory teachers were monitored for one workweek. The parameters analyzed were voice sound pressure level (SPL), fundamental frequency (F0), phonation time, vocal loading index (VLI), and noise SPL. Spearman correlation was used to correlate vocal loading parameters (voice SPL, F0, and phonation time) and noise SPL. Each day, the subjects self-assessed their voice using visual analog scales. VLI and self-evaluation data were correlated using Spearman correlation. Vocal loading parameters and noise SPL were significantly higher in the professional than in the extra-professional environment. Voice SPL, phonation time, and female subjects' F0 correlated positively with noise SPL. VLI correlated with self-assessed voice quality, vocal fatigue, and amount of singing and speaking voice produced. Teaching music theory is a profession with high vocal demands. More background noise is associated with increased vocal loading and may indirectly increase the risk for voice disorders. Correlations between VLI and self-assessments suggest that these teachers are well aware of their vocal demands and feel their effect on voice quality and vocal fatigue. Visual analog scales seem to represent a useful tool for subjective vocal loading assessment and associated symptoms in these professional voice users. Copyright © 2017 The Voice Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  10. Writing with Voice

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kesler, Ted

    2012-01-01

    In this Teaching Tips article, the author argues for a dialogic conception of voice, based in the work of Mikhail Bakhtin. He demonstrates a dialogic view of voice in action, using two writing examples about the same topic from his daughter, a fifth-grade student. He then provides five practical tips for teaching a dialogic conception of voice in…

  11. Marshall’s Voice

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Halper Thomas

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Most judicial opinions, for a variety of reasons, do not speak with the voice of identifiable judges, but an analysis of several of John Marshall’s best known opinions reveals a distinctive voice, with its characteristic language and style of argumentation. The power of this voice helps to account for the influence of his views.

  12. Method of producing pitch (distillation residue)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Stepanenko, M.A.; Belkina, T.V.; Krysin, V.P.

    1979-08-15

    A method is proposed for producing pitch by mixing hard coal pitch with anthracene fraction and thermal treatment of the mixture. The method is distinguished in that in order to increase the quality of the pitch, the anthracene fraction is subjected to thermal treatment at 250-300/sup 0/ for 10-13 hours in the presence of air. This duration of heat treatment allows one to build up in the anthracene fraction up to 20-24% of material which is not soluble and toluene, without the formation of products which are not soluble in quinoline. The fraction prepared in this manner is inserted into the initial pitch in the ratio 1:2 up to 1:9, the mixture is subject to heat treatment at temperature 360-380/sup 0/ and air consumption 7-91/kgX hours until the production of pitch with softening temperature of 85-90/sup 0/. As the initial raw material we used pitch with softening temperature of 60/sup 0/, content of substances which are not soluble in quinoline, 2.0% which are not soluble and toluene 20.6% and coking residue of 49.2%. Example. 80 grams of anthracene fraction is added to 320 grams of pitch. The anthracene fraction is subjected previously to heat treatment at 300/sup 0/ for 13 hours in the presence of air, supplied in the amount of 9 liters per hour. As a result of the heat treatment of the content of materials which are not soluble in toluence in the anthracene fraction is 24.0%, in quinoline it is 0.1%. The ratio of a pitch and thermally treated anthracene fraction in the mixture was 4:l. The produced mixture was subjected to heat treatment at 360/sup 0/ for 1.5 hours with air supply in the amount of 7 liters/ kilograms/hours. Pitch is produced with the following characteristics: softening temperature 88/sup 0/, content of substances which are not soluble in toluene 32.5%, in quinilone, 6.0%, coking residue, 56.7%. The invention can be used in the chemical coking and petrochemical industry.

  13. Effects of Game Pitch Count and Body Mass Index on Pitching Biomechanics in 9- to 10-Year-Old Baseball Athletes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Darke, Jim D; Dandekar, Eshan M; Aguinaldo, Arnel L; Hazelwood, Scott J; Klisch, Stephen M

    2018-04-01

    Pitching while fatigued and body composition may increase the injury risk in youth and adult pitchers. However, the relationships between game pitch count, biomechanics, and body composition have not been reported for a study group restricted to 9- to 10-year-old athletes. During a simulated game with 9- to 10-year-old athletes, (1) participants will experience biomechanical signs of fatigue, and (2) shoulder and elbow kinetics will correlate with body mass index (BMI). Descriptive laboratory study. Thirteen 9- to 10-year-old youth baseball players pitched a simulated game (75 pitches). Range of motion and muscular output tests were conducted before and after the simulated game to quantify fatigue. Kinematic parameters at foot contact, maximum external rotation, and maximum internal rotation velocity (MIRV), as well as maximum shoulder and elbow kinetics between foot contact and MIRV were compared at pitches 1-5, 34-38, and 71-75. Multivariate analyses of variance were used to test the first hypothesis, and linear regressions were used to test the second hypothesis. MIRV increased from pitches 1-5 to 71-75 ( P = .007), and head flexion at MIRV decreased from pitches 1-5 to 34-38 ( P = .022). Maximum shoulder horizontal adduction, external rotation, and internal rotation torques increased from pitches 34-38 to 71-75 ( P = .031, .023, and .021, respectively). Shoulder compression force increased from pitches 1-5 to 71-75 ( P = .011). Correlations of joint torque/force with BMI were found at every pitch period: for example, shoulder internal rotation ( R 2 = 0.93, P biomechanics for 9- to 10-year-old baseball pitchers and may be used in future studies to improve evidence-based injury prevention guidelines.

  14. Complex-tone pitch representations in the human auditory system

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bianchi, Federica

    in listeners with SNHL, it is likely that HI listeners rely on the enhanced envelope cues to retrieve the pitch of unresolved harmonics. Hence, the relative importance of pitch cues may be altered in HI listeners, whereby envelope cues may be used instead of TFS cues to obtain a similar performance in pitch......Understanding how the human auditory system processes the physical properties of an acoustical stimulus to give rise to a pitch percept is a fascinating aspect of hearing research. Since most natural sounds are harmonic complex tones, this work focused on the nature of pitch-relevant cues...... that are necessary for the auditory system to retrieve the pitch of complex sounds. The existence of different pitch-coding mechanisms for low-numbered (spectrally resolved) and high-numbered (unresolved) harmonics was investigated by comparing pitch-discrimination performance across different cohorts of listeners...

  15. Effect of Pitching Consecutive Days in Youth Fast-Pitch Softball Tournaments on Objective Shoulder Strength and Subjective Shoulder Symptoms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Skillington, S Andrew; Brophy, Robert H; Wright, Rick W; Smith, Matthew V

    2017-05-01

    The windmill pitching motion has been associated with risk for shoulder injury. Because there are no pitching limits on youth fast-pitch softball pitchers, these athletes often pitch multiple games across consecutive days. Strength changes, fatigue levels, and shoulder pain that develop among female fast-pitch pitchers over the course of consecutive days of pitching have not been investigated. Over the course of 2- and 3-day fast-pitch softball tournaments, pitchers will develop progressive objective weakness and increased subjective shoulder fatigue and pain without complete recovery between days. Cross-sectional study; Level of evidence, 3. Fourteen female fast-pitch softball pitchers between the ages of 14 and 18 years were evaluated for strength and fatigue changes across 2- and 3-day tournaments. At the beginning and end of each day of tournament play, pitchers were asked to quantify shoulder fatigue and shoulder pain levels of their dominant throwing arm using a 10-point visual analog scale (VAS). Shoulder abduction, flexion, external rotation, internal rotation, elbow flexion, and elbow extension strength measurements were gathered using a handheld dynamometer. Over the course of an average single day of tournament participation, pitchers developed significant increases in VAS scores for shoulder fatigue (median, 2.0; 95% CI, 1.3-3.0) and pain (median, 1.3; 95% CI, 0.5-2.3) and significant strength loss in all tested motions. Pitchers also developed significant increases in VAS shoulder fatigue (median, 3.5; 95% CI, 1.5-5.5), VAS shoulder pain (median, 2.5; 95% CI, 1.0-4.5), and strength loss in all tested motions over the entire tournament. Shoulder pain, fatigue, and strength do not fully recover between days. The accumulation of subjective shoulder pain and fatigue over the course of tournament play were closely correlated. Among youth female fast-pitch softball pitchers, there is a progressive increase in shoulder fatigue, pain, and weakness over the

  16. A pneumatic Bionic Voice prosthesis-Pre-clinical trials of controlling the voice onset and offset.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ahmadi, Farzaneh; Noorian, Farzad; Novakovic, Daniel; van Schaik, André

    2018-01-01

    Despite emergent progress in many fields of bionics, a functional Bionic Voice prosthesis for laryngectomy patients (larynx amputees) has not yet been achieved, leading to a lifetime of vocal disability for these patients. This study introduces a novel framework of Pneumatic Bionic Voice Prostheses as an electronic adaptation of the Pneumatic Artificial Larynx (PAL) device. The PAL is a non-invasive mechanical voice source, driven exclusively by respiration with an exceptionally high voice quality, comparable to the existing gold standard of Tracheoesophageal (TE) voice prosthesis. Following PAL design closely as the reference, Pneumatic Bionic Voice Prostheses seem to have a strong potential to substitute the existing gold standard by generating a similar voice quality while remaining non-invasive and non-surgical. This paper designs the first Pneumatic Bionic Voice prosthesis and evaluates its onset and offset control against the PAL device through pre-clinical trials on one laryngectomy patient. The evaluation on a database of more than five hours of continuous/isolated speech recordings shows a close match between the onset/offset control of the Pneumatic Bionic Voice and the PAL with an accuracy of 98.45 ±0.54%. When implemented in real-time, the Pneumatic Bionic Voice prosthesis controller has an average onset/offset delay of 10 milliseconds compared to the PAL. Hence it addresses a major disadvantage of previous electronic voice prostheses, including myoelectric Bionic Voice, in meeting the short time-frames of controlling the onset/offset of the voice in continuous speech.

  17. A developmental study of latent absolute pitch memory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jakubowski, Kelly; Müllensiefen, Daniel; Stewart, Lauren

    2017-03-01

    The ability to recall the absolute pitch level of familiar music (latent absolute pitch memory) is widespread in adults, in contrast to the rare ability to label single pitches without a reference tone (overt absolute pitch memory). The present research investigated the developmental profile of latent absolute pitch (AP) memory and explored individual differences related to this ability. In two experiments, 288 children from 4 to12 years of age performed significantly above chance at recognizing the absolute pitch level of familiar melodies. No age-related improvement or decline, nor effects of musical training, gender, or familiarity with the stimuli were found in regard to latent AP task performance. These findings suggest that latent AP memory is a stable ability that is developed from as early as age 4 and persists into adulthood.

  18. Tips for Healthy Voices

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... prevent voice problems and maintain a healthy voice: Drink water (stay well hydrated): Keeping your body well hydrated by drinking plenty of water each day (6-8 glasses) is essential to maintaining a healthy voice. The ...

  19. [The lombard reflex as a test of vocal function (author's transl)].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schultz-Coulon, H J; Fues, C P

    1976-06-01

    Any impairment of audio-phonatory control by background noise is followed by an increase in both the intensity and pitch of the speaking voice (Lombard reflex, 1911), thus increasing vocal strain. As a consequence, it might be anticipated that persons reacting to noise with marked changes in voice might be more liable to develop dysphonia. 22 singers, 34 normal controls, and 22 patients with hyperfunctional dysphonia where studied. In all patients, both ears were gradually masked with white noise. The change of the mean intensity level and of the mean pitch level of the speaking voice were then measured objectively with a special fundamental frequency analyzer (Fedders and Schultz-Coulon, 1975). Results show that the increase of intensity is comparable in all subjects, whereas the elevation of the mean pitch level differs significantly: trained voices (singers) react with the least pitch increment whereas dysphonic patients react with the most. The following conclusions were made from the present investigation: 1. Extreme increments in pitch level can be considered to be a more significant etiological factor of dysphonia than intensity increments; 2. Vocal therapy and voice training may have a favorable effect on the Lombard reflex (probably by improvement of the kinesthetic control mechanism) so that the speaking voice in a noisy environment is raised less with less vocal strain. The study also indicates that measurement of pitch changes during binaural masking can provide important information for the diagnosis, therapy and prophylaxis of dysphonia.

  20. A pneumatic Bionic Voice prosthesis-Pre-clinical trials of controlling the voice onset and offset.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Farzaneh Ahmadi

    Full Text Available Despite emergent progress in many fields of bionics, a functional Bionic Voice prosthesis for laryngectomy patients (larynx amputees has not yet been achieved, leading to a lifetime of vocal disability for these patients. This study introduces a novel framework of Pneumatic Bionic Voice Prostheses as an electronic adaptation of the Pneumatic Artificial Larynx (PAL device. The PAL is a non-invasive mechanical voice source, driven exclusively by respiration with an exceptionally high voice quality, comparable to the existing gold standard of Tracheoesophageal (TE voice prosthesis. Following PAL design closely as the reference, Pneumatic Bionic Voice Prostheses seem to have a strong potential to substitute the existing gold standard by generating a similar voice quality while remaining non-invasive and non-surgical. This paper designs the first Pneumatic Bionic Voice prosthesis and evaluates its onset and offset control against the PAL device through pre-clinical trials on one laryngectomy patient. The evaluation on a database of more than five hours of continuous/isolated speech recordings shows a close match between the onset/offset control of the Pneumatic Bionic Voice and the PAL with an accuracy of 98.45 ±0.54%. When implemented in real-time, the Pneumatic Bionic Voice prosthesis controller has an average onset/offset delay of 10 milliseconds compared to the PAL. Hence it addresses a major disadvantage of previous electronic voice prostheses, including myoelectric Bionic Voice, in meeting the short time-frames of controlling the onset/offset of the voice in continuous speech.

  1. A pneumatic Bionic Voice prosthesis—Pre-clinical trials of controlling the voice onset and offset

    Science.gov (United States)

    Noorian, Farzad; Novakovic, Daniel; van Schaik, André

    2018-01-01

    Despite emergent progress in many fields of bionics, a functional Bionic Voice prosthesis for laryngectomy patients (larynx amputees) has not yet been achieved, leading to a lifetime of vocal disability for these patients. This study introduces a novel framework of Pneumatic Bionic Voice Prostheses as an electronic adaptation of the Pneumatic Artificial Larynx (PAL) device. The PAL is a non-invasive mechanical voice source, driven exclusively by respiration with an exceptionally high voice quality, comparable to the existing gold standard of Tracheoesophageal (TE) voice prosthesis. Following PAL design closely as the reference, Pneumatic Bionic Voice Prostheses seem to have a strong potential to substitute the existing gold standard by generating a similar voice quality while remaining non-invasive and non-surgical. This paper designs the first Pneumatic Bionic Voice prosthesis and evaluates its onset and offset control against the PAL device through pre-clinical trials on one laryngectomy patient. The evaluation on a database of more than five hours of continuous/isolated speech recordings shows a close match between the onset/offset control of the Pneumatic Bionic Voice and the PAL with an accuracy of 98.45 ±0.54%. When implemented in real-time, the Pneumatic Bionic Voice prosthesis controller has an average onset/offset delay of 10 milliseconds compared to the PAL. Hence it addresses a major disadvantage of previous electronic voice prostheses, including myoelectric Bionic Voice, in meeting the short time-frames of controlling the onset/offset of the voice in continuous speech. PMID:29466455

  2. Language experience enhances early cortical pitch-dependent responses

    Science.gov (United States)

    Krishnan, Ananthanarayan; Gandour, Jackson T.; Ananthakrishnan, Saradha; Vijayaraghavan, Venkatakrishnan

    2014-01-01

    Pitch processing at cortical and subcortical stages of processing is shaped by language experience. We recently demonstrated that specific components of the cortical pitch response (CPR) index the more rapidly-changing portions of the high rising Tone 2 of Mandarin Chinese, in addition to marking pitch onset and sound offset. In this study, we examine how language experience (Mandarin vs. English) shapes the processing of different temporal attributes of pitch reflected in the CPR components using stimuli representative of within-category variants of Tone 2. Results showed that the magnitude of CPR components (Na-Pb and Pb-Nb) and the correlation between these two components and pitch acceleration were stronger for the Chinese listeners compared to English listeners for stimuli that fell within the range of Tone 2 citation forms. Discriminant function analysis revealed that the Na-Pb component was more than twice as important as Pb-Nb in grouping listeners by language affiliation. In addition, a stronger stimulus-dependent, rightward asymmetry was observed for the Chinese group at the temporal, but not frontal, electrode sites. This finding may reflect selective recruitment of experience-dependent, pitch-specific mechanisms in right auditory cortex to extract more complex, time-varying pitch patterns. Taken together, these findings suggest that long-term language experience shapes early sensory level processing of pitch in the auditory cortex, and that the sensitivity of the CPR may vary depending on the relative linguistic importance of specific temporal attributes of dynamic pitch. PMID:25506127

  3. Wing-pitching mechanism of hovering Ruby-throated hummingbirds

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Song, Jialei; Luo, Haoxiang; Hedrick, Tyson L

    2015-01-01

    In hovering flight, hummingbirds reverse the angle of attack of their wings through pitch reversal in order to generate aerodynamic lift during both downstroke and upstroke. In addition, the wings may pitch during translation to further enhance lift production. It is not yet clear whether these pitching motions are caused by the wing inertia or actuated through the musculoskeletal system. Here we perform a computational analysis of the pitching dynamics by incorporating the realistic wing kinematics to determine the inertial effects. The aerodynamic effect is also included using the pressure data from a previous three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics simulation of a hovering hummingbird. The results show that like many insects, pitch reversal of the hummingbird is, to a large degree, caused by the wing inertia. However, actuation power input at the root is needed in the beginning of pronation to initiate a fast pitch reversal and also in mid-downstroke to enable a nose-up pitching motion for lift enhancement. The muscles on the wing may not necessarily be activated for pitching of the distal section. Finally, power analysis of the flapping motion shows that there is no requirement for substantial elastic energy storage or energy absorption at the shoulder joint. (paper)

  4. Wing-pitching mechanism of hovering Ruby-throated hummingbirds.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Song, Jialei; Luo, Haoxiang; Hedrick, Tyson L

    2015-01-19

    In hovering flight, hummingbirds reverse the angle of attack of their wings through pitch reversal in order to generate aerodynamic lift during both downstroke and upstroke. In addition, the wings may pitch during translation to further enhance lift production. It is not yet clear whether these pitching motions are caused by the wing inertia or actuated through the musculoskeletal system. Here we perform a computational analysis of the pitching dynamics by incorporating the realistic wing kinematics to determine the inertial effects. The aerodynamic effect is also included using the pressure data from a previous three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics simulation of a hovering hummingbird. The results show that like many insects, pitch reversal of the hummingbird is, to a large degree, caused by the wing inertia. However, actuation power input at the root is needed in the beginning of pronation to initiate a fast pitch reversal and also in mid-downstroke to enable a nose-up pitching motion for lift enhancement. The muscles on the wing may not necessarily be activated for pitching of the distal section. Finally, power analysis of the flapping motion shows that there is no requirement for substantial elastic energy storage or energy absorption at the shoulder joint.

  5. Estimates of pitch strength for musicians and nonmusicians

    Science.gov (United States)

    Clarkson, Marsha G.; Zettler, Cynthia M.; Follmer, Michelle J.; Faulk, Margaret; Takagi, Michael J.

    2003-04-01

    To measure the strength of the pitch of iterated rippled noise (IRN), 19 adults were tested in an operant conditioning procedure. Seven adults had music training and currently played an instrument; 12 adults had no training and did not currently play an instrument. To generate IRN, a 500-ms Gaussian noise stimulus was delayed by 5 or 6 ms (pitches of 200 or 166 Hz) and added to the original for 16 iterations. IRN stimuli having one delay were presented repeatedly. On signal trials the delay changed for 6 s. Stimulus level roved from 63-67 dBA (background of 28 dBA). Adults learned to press a button when the stimulus changed. Testing started with IRN stimuli having 0-dB attenuation (i.e., maximal pitch strength). Stimuli having weaker pitches (i.e., progressively greater attenuation applied to the delayed noise) followed. Strength of pitch was quantified as the maximum attenuation for which pitch was discerned. For each subject, threshold attenuation for pitch strength was extrapolated as the 71% point on a psychometric function depicting percent correct performance as a function of attenuation. Mean thresholds revealed that the pitch percept was similar for both nonmusically trained (18.70 dB) and musically trained adults (18.73 dB).

  6. Language-dependent changes in pitch-relevant neural activity in the auditory cortex reflect differential weighting of temporal attributes of pitch contours

    Science.gov (United States)

    Krishnan, Ananthanarayan; Gandour, Jackson T.; Xu, Yi; Suresh, Chandan H.

    2016-01-01

    There remains a gap in our knowledge base about neural representation of pitch attributes that occur between onset and offset of dynamic, curvilinear pitch contours. The aim is to evaluate how language experience shapes processing of pitch contours as reflected in the amplitude of cortical pitch-specific response components. Responses were elicited from three nonspeech, bidirectional (falling-rising) pitch contours representative of Mandarin Tone 2 varying in location of the turning point with fixed onset and offset. At the frontocentral Fz electrode site, Na–Pb and Pb–Nb amplitude of the Chinese group was larger than the English group for pitch contours exhibiting later location of the turning point relative to the one with the earliest location. Chinese listeners’ amplitude was also greater than that of English in response to those same pitch contours with later turning points. At lateral temporal sites (T7/T8), Na–Pb amplitude was larger in Chinese listeners relative to English over the right temporal site. In addition, Pb–Nb amplitude of the Chinese group showed a rightward asymmetry. The pitch contour with its turning point located about halfway of total duration evoked a rightward asymmetry regardless of group. These findings suggest that neural mechanisms processing pitch in the right auditory cortex reflect experience-dependent modulation of sensitivity to weighted integration of changes in acceleration rates of rising and falling sections and the location of the turning point. PMID:28713201

  7. Relating binaural pitch perception to the individual listener's auditory profile.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Santurette, Sébastien; Dau, Torsten

    2012-04-01

    The ability of eight normal-hearing listeners and fourteen listeners with sensorineural hearing loss to detect and identify pitch contours was measured for binaural-pitch stimuli and salience-matched monaurally detectable pitches. In an effort to determine whether impaired binaural pitch perception was linked to a specific deficit, the auditory profiles of the individual listeners were characterized using measures of loudness perception, cognitive ability, binaural processing, temporal fine structure processing, and frequency selectivity, in addition to common audiometric measures. Two of the listeners were found not to perceive binaural pitch at all, despite a clear detection of monaural pitch. While both binaural and monaural pitches were detectable by all other listeners, identification scores were significantly lower for binaural than for monaural pitch. A total absence of binaural pitch sensation coexisted with a loss of a binaural signal-detection advantage in noise, without implying reduced cognitive function. Auditory filter bandwidths did not correlate with the difference in pitch identification scores between binaural and monaural pitches. However, subjects with impaired binaural pitch perception showed deficits in temporal fine structure processing. Whether the observed deficits stemmed from peripheral or central mechanisms could not be resolved here, but the present findings may be useful for hearing loss characterization.

  8. Timing matters: The processing of pitch relations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Annekathrin eWeise

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available The human central auditory system can automatically extract abstract regularities from a variant auditory input. To this end, temporarily separated events need to be related. This study tested whether the timing between events, falling either within or outside the temporal window of integration (~350 ms, impacts the extraction of abstract feature relations. We utilized tone pairs for which tones within but not across pairs revealed a constant pitch relation (e.g. pitch of 2nd tone of a pair higher than pitch of 1st tone, while absolute pitch values varied across pairs. We measured the Mismatch Negativity (MMN; the brain’s error signal to auditory regularity violations to 2nd tones that rarely violated the pitch relation (e.g. pitch of 2nd tone lower. A Short condition in which tone duration (90 ms and stimulus onset asynchrony between the tones of a pair were short (110 ms was compared to two conditions, where this onset asynchrony was long (510 ms. In the Long Gap condition the tone durations were identical to Short (90 ms, but the silent interval was prolonged by 400 ms. In Long Tone the duration of the first tone was prolonged by 400 ms, while the silent interval was comparable to Short (20 ms. Results show a frontocentral MMN of comparable amplitude in all conditions. Thus, abstract pitch relations can be extracted even when the within-pair timing exceeds the integration period. Source analyses indicate MMN generators in the supratemporal cortex. Interestingly, they were located more anterior in Long Gap than in Short and Long Tone. Moreover, frontal generator activity was found for Long Gap and Long Tone. Thus, the way in which the system automatically registers irregular abstract pitch relations depends on the timing of the events to be linked. Pending that the current MMN data mirror established abstract rule representations coding the regular pitch relation, neural processes building these templates vary with timing.

  9. Timing matters: the processing of pitch relations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Weise, Annekathrin; Grimm, Sabine; Trujillo-Barreto, Nelson J.; Schröger, Erich

    2014-01-01

    The human central auditory system can automatically extract abstract regularities from a variant auditory input. To this end, temporarily separated events need to be related. This study tested whether the timing between events, falling either within or outside the temporal window of integration (~350 ms), impacts the extraction of abstract feature relations. We utilized tone pairs for which tones within but not across pairs revealed a constant pitch relation (e.g., pitch of second tone of a pair higher than pitch of first tone, while absolute pitch values varied across pairs). We measured the mismatch negativity (MMN; the brain’s error signal to auditory regularity violations) to second tones that rarely violated the pitch relation (e.g., pitch of second tone lower). A Short condition in which tone duration (90 ms) and stimulus onset asynchrony between the tones of a pair were short (110 ms) was compared to two conditions, where this onset asynchrony was long (510 ms). In the Long Gap condition, the tone durations were identical to Short (90 ms), but the silent interval was prolonged by 400 ms. In Long Tone, the duration of the first tone was prolonged by 400 ms, while the silent interval was comparable to Short (20 ms). Results show a frontocentral MMN of comparable amplitude in all conditions. Thus, abstract pitch relations can be extracted even when the within-pair timing exceeds the integration period. Source analyses indicate MMN generators in the supratemporal cortex. Interestingly, they were located more anterior in Long Gap than in Short and Long Tone. Moreover, frontal generator activity was found for Long Gap and Long Tone. Thus, the way in which the system automatically registers irregular abstract pitch relations depends on the timing of the events to be linked. Pending that the current MMN data mirror established abstract rule representations coding the regular pitch relation, neural processes building these templates vary with timing. PMID:24966823

  10. METHODS FOR QUALITY ENHANCEMENT OF USER VOICE SIGNAL IN VOICE AUTHENTICATION SYSTEMS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    O. N. Faizulaieva

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available The reasonability for the usage of computer systems user voice in the authentication process is proved. The scientific task for improving the signal/noise ratio of the user voice signal in the authentication system is considered. The object of study is the process of input and output of the voice signal of authentication system user in computer systems and networks. Methods and means for input and extraction of voice signal against external interference signals are researched. Methods for quality enhancement of user voice signal in voice authentication systems are suggested. As modern computer facilities, including mobile ones, have two-channel audio card, the usage of two microphones is proposed in the voice signal input system of authentication system. Meanwhile, the task of forming a lobe of microphone array in a desired area of voice signal registration (100 Hz to 8 kHz is solved. The usage of directional properties of the proposed microphone array gives the possibility to have the influence of external interference signals two or three times less in the frequency range from 4 to 8 kHz. The possibilities for implementation of space-time processing of the recorded signals using constant and adaptive weighting factors are investigated. The simulation results of the proposed system for input and extraction of signals during digital processing of narrowband signals are presented. The proposed solutions make it possible to improve the value of the signal/noise ratio of the useful signals recorded up to 10, ..., 20 dB under the influence of external interference signals in the frequency range from 4 to 8 kHz. The results may be useful to specialists working in the field of voice recognition and speaker’s discrimination.

  11. An implementation of sensor-based force feedback in a compact laparoscopic surgery robot.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Duk-Hee; Choi, Jaesoon; Park, Jun-Woo; Bach, Du-Jin; Song, Seung-Jun; Kim, Yoon-Ho; Jo, Yungho; Sun, Kyung

    2009-01-01

    Despite the rapid progress in the clinical application of laparoscopic surgery robots, many shortcomings have not yet been fully overcome, one of which is the lack of reliable haptic feedback. This study implemented a force-feedback structure in our compact laparoscopic surgery robot. The surgery robot is a master-slave configuration robot with 5 DOF (degree of freedom corresponding laparoscopic surgical motion. The force-feedback implementation was made in the robot with torque sensors and controllers installed in the pitch joint of the master and slave robots. A simple dynamic model of action-reaction force in the slave robot was used, through which the reflective force was estimated and fed back to the master robot. The results showed the system model could be identified with significant fidelity and the force feedback at the master robot was feasible. However, the qualitative human assessment of the fed-back force showed only limited level of object discrimination ability. Further developments are underway with this result as a framework.

  12. The Role of Occupational Voice Demand and Patient-Rated Impairment in Predicting Voice Therapy Adherence.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ebersole, Barbara; Soni, Resha S; Moran, Kathleen; Lango, Miriam; Devarajan, Karthik; Jamal, Nausheen

    2018-05-01

    Examine the relationship among the severity of patient-perceived voice impairment, perceptual dysphonia severity, occupational voice demand, and voice therapy adherence. Identify clinical predictors of increased risk for therapy nonadherence. A retrospective cohort study of patients presenting with a chief complaint of persistent dysphonia at an interdisciplinary voice center was done. The Voice Handicap Index-10 (VHI-10) and the Voice-Related Quality of Life (V-RQOL) survey scores, clinician rating of dysphonia severity using the Grade score from the Grade, Roughness Breathiness, Asthenia, and Strain scale, occupational voice demand, and patient demographics were tested for associations with therapy adherence, defined as completion of the treatment plan. Classification and Regression Tree (CART) analysis was performed to establish thresholds for nonadherence risk. Of 166 patients evaluated, 111 were recommended for voice therapy. The therapy nonadherence rate was 56%. Occupational voice demand category, VHI-10, and V-RQOL scores were the only factors significantly correlated with therapy adherence (P demand are significantly more likely to be nonadherent with therapy than those with high occupational voice demand (P 40 is a significant cutoff point for predicting therapy nonadherence (P demand and patient perception of impairment are significantly and independently correlated with therapy adherence. A VHI-10 score of ≤9 or a V-RQOL score of >40 is a significant cutoff point for predicting nonadherence risk. Copyright © 2018 The Voice Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  13. Impaired short-term memory for pitch in congenital amusia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tillmann, Barbara; Lévêque, Yohana; Fornoni, Lesly; Albouy, Philippe; Caclin, Anne

    2016-06-01

    Congenital amusia is a neuro-developmental disorder of music perception and production. The hypothesis is that the musical deficits arise from altered pitch processing, with impairments in pitch discrimination (i.e., pitch change detection, pitch direction discrimination and identification) and short-term memory. The present review article focuses on the deficit of short-term memory for pitch. Overall, the data discussed here suggest impairments at each level of processing in short-term memory tasks; starting with the encoding of the pitch information and the creation of the adequate memory trace, the retention of the pitch traces over time as well as the recollection and comparison of the stored information with newly incoming information. These impairments have been related to altered brain responses in a distributed fronto-temporal network, associated with decreased connectivity between these structures, as well as in abnormalities in the connectivity between the two auditory cortices. In contrast, amusic participants׳ short-term memory abilities for verbal material are preserved. These findings show that short-term memory deficits in congenital amusia are specific to pitch, suggesting a pitch-memory system that is, at least partly, separated from verbal memory. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled SI: Auditory working memory. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  14. Diagnostic value of voice acoustic analysis in assessment of occupational voice pathologies in teachers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Niebudek-Bogusz, Ewa; Fiszer, Marta; Kotylo, Piotr; Sliwinska-Kowalska, Mariola

    2006-01-01

    It has been shown that teachers are at risk of developing occupational dysphonia, which accounts for over 25% of all occupational diseases diagnosed in Poland. The most frequently used method of diagnosing voice diseases is videostroboscopy. However, to facilitate objective evaluation of voice efficiency as well as medical certification of occupational voice disorders, it is crucial to implement quantitative methods of voice assessment, particularly voice acoustic analysis. The aim of the study was to assess the results of acoustic analysis in 66 female teachers (aged 40-64 years), including 35 subjects with occupational voice pathologies (e.g., vocal nodules) and 31 subjects with functional dysphonia. The acoustic analysis was performed using the IRIS software, before and after a 30-minute vocal loading test. All participants were subjected also to laryngological and videostroboscopic examinations. After the vocal effort, the acoustic parameters displayed statistically significant abnormalities, mostly lowered fundamental frequency (Fo) and incorrect values of shimmer and noise to harmonic ratio. To conclude, quantitative voice acoustic analysis using the IRIS software seems to be an effective complement to voice examinations, which is particularly helpful in diagnosing occupational dysphonia.

  15. A perceptual pitch boundary in a non-human primate

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Olivier eJoly

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available Pitch is an auditory percept critical to the perception of music and speech, and for these harmonic sounds, pitch is closely related to the repetition rate of the acoustic wave. This paper reports a test of the assumption that non-human primates and especially rhesus monkeys perceive the pitch of these harmonic sounds much as humans do. A new procedure was developed to train macaques to discriminate the pitch of harmonic sounds and thereby demonstrate that the lower limit for pitch perception in macaques is close to 30 Hz, as it is in humans. Moreover, when the phases of successive harmonics are alternated to cause a pseudo-doubling of the repetition rate, the lower pitch boundary in macaques decreases substantially, as it does in humans. The results suggest that both species use neural firing times to discriminate pitch, at least for sounds with relatively low repetition rates.

  16. Objective voice parameters in Colombian school workers with healthy voices

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    L.C. Cantor Cutiva (Lady Catherine); A. Burdorf (Alex)

    2015-01-01

    textabstractObjectives: To characterize the objective voice parameters among school workers, and to identify associated factors of three objective voice parameters, namely fundamental frequency, sound pressure level and maximum phonation time. Materials and methods: We conducted a cross-sectional

  17. Forced pitch motion of wind turbines

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leble, V.; Barakos, G.

    2016-09-01

    The possibility of a wind turbine entering vortex ring state during pitching oscillations is explored in this paper. The aerodynamic performance of the rotor was computed using the Helicopter Multi-Block flow solver. This code solves the Navier-Stokes equations in integral form using the arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian formulation for time-dependent domains with moving boundaries. A 10-MW wind turbine was put to perform yawing and pitching oscillations suggesting the partial vortex ring state during pitching motion. The results also show the strong effect of the frequency and amplitude of oscillations on the wind turbine performance.

  18. Forced pitch motion of wind turbines

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Leble, V; Barakos, G

    2016-01-01

    The possibility of a wind turbine entering vortex ring state during pitching oscillations is explored in this paper. The aerodynamic performance of the rotor was computed using the Helicopter Multi-Block flow solver. This code solves the Navier-Stokes equations in integral form using the arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian formulation for time-dependent domains with moving boundaries. A 10-MW wind turbine was put to perform yawing and pitching oscillations suggesting the partial vortex ring state during pitching motion. The results also show the strong effect of the frequency and amplitude of oscillations on the wind turbine performance. (paper)

  19. Auditory deficits in amusia extend beyond poor pitch perception.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Whiteford, Kelly L; Oxenham, Andrew J

    2017-05-01

    Congenital amusia is a music perception disorder believed to reflect a deficit in fine-grained pitch perception and/or short-term or working memory for pitch. Because most measures of pitch perception include memory and segmentation components, it has been difficult to determine the true extent of pitch processing deficits in amusia. It is also unclear whether pitch deficits persist at frequencies beyond the range of musical pitch. To address these questions, experiments were conducted with amusics and matched controls, manipulating both the stimuli and the task demands. First, we assessed pitch discrimination at low (500Hz and 2000Hz) and high (8000Hz) frequencies using a three-interval forced-choice task. Amusics exhibited deficits even at the highest frequency, which lies beyond the existence region of musical pitch. Next, we assessed the extent to which frequency coding deficits persist in one- and two-interval frequency-modulation (FM) and amplitude-modulation (AM) detection tasks at 500Hz at slow (f m =4Hz) and fast (f m =20Hz) modulation rates. Amusics still exhibited deficits in one-interval FM detection tasks that should not involve memory or segmentation. Surprisingly, amusics were also impaired on AM detection, which should not involve pitch processing. Finally, direct comparisons between the detection of continuous and discrete FM demonstrated that amusics suffer deficits in both coding and segmenting pitch information. Our results reveal auditory deficits in amusia extending beyond pitch perception that are subtle when controlling for memory and segmentation, and are likely exacerbated in more complex contexts such as musical listening. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  20. Tinnitus pitch and acoustic trauma

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cahani, M; Paul, G; Shahar, A

    1983-01-01

    Fifty-six subjects complaining of tinnitus underwent an audiometric test and a test for identifying the analogous pitch of their tinnitus. All of the subjects reported that they had been exposed to noise in the past. The subjects were divided into two groups on the basis of their audiometric test results. Group P was composed of subjects who showed a sensorineural hearing loss typical of acoustic trauma. Group N was composed of subjects whose hearing was within normal limits. The pitch of the tinnitus in group P was concentrated in the high-frequency range, whereas in group N tinnitus pitch values were distributed over the low and mid-audiometric frequency spectrum. It was deduced that different processes are involved in the generation of tinnitus in the two groups.

  1. Binaural Pitch Fusion in Bilateral Cochlear Implant Users.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reiss, Lina A J; Fowler, Jennifer R; Hartling, Curtis L; Oh, Yonghee

    Binaural pitch fusion is the fusion of stimuli that evoke different pitches between the ears into a single auditory image. Individuals who use hearing aids or bimodal cochlear implants (CIs) experience abnormally broad binaural pitch fusion, such that sounds differing in pitch by as much as 3-4 octaves are fused across ears, leading to spectral averaging and speech perception interference. The goal of this study was to determine if adult bilateral CI users also experience broad binaural pitch fusion. Stimuli were pulse trains delivered to individual electrodes. Fusion ranges were measured using simultaneous, dichotic presentation of reference and comparison stimuli in opposite ears, and varying the comparison stimulus to find the range that fused with the reference stimulus. Bilateral CI listeners had binaural pitch fusion ranges varying from 0 to 12 mm (average 6.1 ± 3.9 mm), where 12 mm indicates fusion over all electrodes in the array. No significant correlations of fusion range were observed with any subject factors related to age, hearing loss history, or hearing device history, or with any electrode factors including interaural electrode pitch mismatch, pitch match bandwidth, or within-ear electrode discrimination abilities. Bilateral CI listeners have abnormally broad fusion, similar to hearing aid and bimodal CI listeners. This broad fusion may explain the variability of binaural benefits for speech perception in quiet and in noise in bilateral CI users.

  2. Pedagogic Voice: Student Voice in Teaching and Engagement Pedagogies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baroutsis, Aspa; McGregor, Glenda; Mills, Martin

    2016-01-01

    In this paper, we are concerned with the notion of "pedagogic voice" as it relates to the presence of student "voice" in teaching, learning and curriculum matters at an alternative, or second chance, school in Australia. This school draws upon many of the principles of democratic schooling via its utilisation of student voice…

  3. Voice Savers for Music Teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cookman, Starr

    2012-01-01

    Music teachers are in a class all their own when it comes to voice use. These elite vocal athletes require stamina, strength, and flexibility from their voices day in, day out for hours at a time. Voice rehabilitation clinics and research show that music education ranks high among the professionals most commonly affected by voice problems.…

  4. Statistically Efficient Methods for Pitch and DOA Estimation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jensen, Jesper Rindom; Christensen, Mads Græsbøll; Jensen, Søren Holdt

    2013-01-01

    , it was recently considered to estimate the DOA and pitch jointly. In this paper, we propose two novel methods for DOA and pitch estimation. They both yield maximum-likelihood estimates in white Gaussian noise scenar- ios, where the SNR may be different across channels, as opposed to state-of-the-art methods......Traditionally, direction-of-arrival (DOA) and pitch estimation of multichannel, periodic sources have been considered as two separate problems. Separate estimation may render the task of resolving sources with similar DOA or pitch impossible, and it may decrease the estimation accuracy. Therefore...

  5. Mechanics of human voice production and control.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Zhaoyan

    2016-10-01

    As the primary means of communication, voice plays an important role in daily life. Voice also conveys personal information such as social status, personal traits, and the emotional state of the speaker. Mechanically, voice production involves complex fluid-structure interaction within the glottis and its control by laryngeal muscle activation. An important goal of voice research is to establish a causal theory linking voice physiology and biomechanics to how speakers use and control voice to communicate meaning and personal information. Establishing such a causal theory has important implications for clinical voice management, voice training, and many speech technology applications. This paper provides a review of voice physiology and biomechanics, the physics of vocal fold vibration and sound production, and laryngeal muscular control of the fundamental frequency of voice, vocal intensity, and voice quality. Current efforts to develop mechanical and computational models of voice production are also critically reviewed. Finally, issues and future challenges in developing a causal theory of voice production and perception are discussed.

  6. Wind turbine pitch control using ICPSO-PID algorithm

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Xu, Chang; Tian, Qiangqiang; Shen, Wen Zhong

    2013-01-01

    For the traditional simplified first-order pitch-control system model, it is difficult to describe a real dynamic characteristic of a variable pitch action system, thus a complete high order mathematical model has to be developed for the pitch control of wind turbine generation (WTG). In the paper...... controller parameters quickly; and the feed-forward controller for wind speed can improve dynamics of a pitch-control system; additionally the power controller can allow a wind turbine to have a constant power output as a wind speed is over the rated one. Compared with a conventional PID, the controller...... with ICPSO-PID algorithm has a smaller overshoot, a shorter tuning time and better robustness. The design method proposed in the paper can be applied in a practical electro-hydraulic pitch control system for WTG....

  7. 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.

  8. Heavy vehicle pitch dynamics and suspension tuning

    OpenAIRE

    Cao, Dongpu; Rakheja, Subhash; Su, Chun-Yi

    2008-01-01

    The influence of suspension tuning of passenger cars on bounce and pitch ride performance has been explored in a number of studies, while only minimal efforts have been made for establishing similar rules for heavy vehicles. This study aims to explore pitch dynamics and suspension tunings of a two-axle heavy vehicle with unconnected suspension, which could also provide valuable information for heavy vehicles with coupled suspensions. Based on a generalised pitch-plane model of a two-axle heav...

  9. You're a What? Voice Actor

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liming, Drew

    2009-01-01

    This article talks about voice actors and features Tony Oliver, a professional voice actor. Voice actors help to bring one's favorite cartoon and video game characters to life. They also do voice-overs for radio and television commercials and movie trailers. These actors use the sound of their voice to sell a character's emotions--or an advertised…

  10. Voice - How humans communicate?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tiwari, Manjul; Tiwari, Maneesha

    2012-01-01

    Voices are important things for humans. They are the medium through which we do a lot of communicating with the outside world: our ideas, of course, and also our emotions and our personality. The voice is the very emblem of the speaker, indelibly woven into the fabric of speech. In this sense, each of our utterances of spoken language carries not only its own message but also, through accent, tone of voice and habitual voice quality it is at the same time an audible declaration of our membership of particular social regional groups, of our individual physical and psychological identity, and of our momentary mood. Voices are also one of the media through which we (successfully, most of the time) recognize other humans who are important to us-members of our family, media personalities, our friends, and enemies. Although evidence from DNA analysis is potentially vastly more eloquent in its power than evidence from voices, DNA cannot talk. It cannot be recorded planning, carrying out or confessing to a crime. It cannot be so apparently directly incriminating. As will quickly become evident, voices are extremely complex things, and some of the inherent limitations of the forensic-phonetic method are in part a consequence of the interaction between their complexity and the real world in which they are used. It is one of the aims of this article to explain how this comes about. This subject have unsolved questions, but there is no direct way to present the information that is necessary to understand how voices can be related, or not, to their owners.

  11. Speaker's voice as a memory cue.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Campeanu, Sandra; Craik, Fergus I M; Alain, Claude

    2015-02-01

    Speaker's voice occupies a central role as the cornerstone of auditory social interaction. Here, we review the evidence suggesting that speaker's voice constitutes an integral context cue in auditory memory. Investigation into the nature of voice representation as a memory cue is essential to understanding auditory memory and the neural correlates which underlie it. Evidence from behavioral and electrophysiological studies suggest that while specific voice reinstatement (i.e., same speaker) often appears to facilitate word memory even without attention to voice at study, the presence of a partial benefit of similar voices between study and test is less clear. In terms of explicit memory experiments utilizing unfamiliar voices, encoding methods appear to play a pivotal role. Voice congruency effects have been found when voice is specifically attended at study (i.e., when relatively shallow, perceptual encoding takes place). These behavioral findings coincide with neural indices of memory performance such as the parietal old/new recollection effect and the late right frontal effect. The former distinguishes between correctly identified old words and correctly identified new words, and reflects voice congruency only when voice is attended at study. Characterization of the latter likely depends upon voice memory, rather than word memory. There is also evidence to suggest that voice effects can be found in implicit memory paradigms. However, the presence of voice effects appears to depend greatly on the task employed. Using a word identification task, perceptual similarity between study and test conditions is, like for explicit memory tests, crucial. In addition, the type of noise employed appears to have a differential effect. While voice effects have been observed when white noise is used at both study and test, using multi-talker babble does not confer the same results. In terms of neuroimaging research modulations, characterization of an implicit memory effect

  12. Do Musicians with Perfect Pitch Have More Autism Traits than Musicians without Perfect Pitch? An Empirical Study

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Dohn, Anders; Garza-Villarreal, Eduardo A.; Heaton, Pamela

    2012-01-01

    Perfect pitch, also known as absolute pitch (AP), refers to the rare ability to identify or produce a musical tone correctly without the benefit of an external reference. AP is often considered to reflect musical giftedness, but it has also been associated with certain disabilities due to increas...

  13. Exploring the Impact of Role-Playing on Peer Feedback in an Online Case-Based Learning Activity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yu-Hui Ching

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available This study explored the impact of role-playing on the quality of peer feedback and learners’ perception of this strategy in a case-based learning activity with VoiceThread in an online course. The findings revealed potential positive impact of role-playing on learners’ generation of constructive feedback as role-playing was associated with higher frequency of problem identification in the peer comments. Sixty percent of learners perceived the role-play strategy useful in assisting them to compose and provide meaningful feedback. Multiple motivations drove learners in making decisions on role choice when responding to their peers, mostly for peer benefits. Finally, 90% of learners reported the peer feedback useful or somewhat useful. Based on the findings of this study, we discussed educational and instructional design implications and future directions to further the line of research using role-play strategy to enhance peer feedback activity.

  14. Processing of Binaural Pitch Stimuli in Hearing-Impaired Listeners

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Santurette, Sébastien; Dau, Torsten

    2009-01-01

    Binaural pitch is a tonal sensation produced by introducing a frequency-dependent interaural phase shift in binaurally presented white noise. As no spectral cues are present in the physical stimulus, binaural pitch perception is assumed to rely on accurate temporal fine structure coding and intact...... binaural integration mechanisms. This study investigated to what extent basic auditory measures of binaural processing as well as cognitive abilities are correlated with the ability of hearing-impaired listeners to perceive binaural pitch. Subjects from three groups (1: normal-hearing; 2: cochlear...... hearingloss; 3: retro-cochlear impairment) were asked to identify the pitch contour of series of five notes of equal duration, ranging from 523 to 784 Hz, played either with Huggins’ binaural pitch stimuli (BP) or perceptually similar, but monaurally detectable, pitches (MP). All subjects from groups 1 and 2...

  15. Kinematics and kinetics of elite windmill softball pitching.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Werner, Sherry L; Jones, Deryk G; Guido, John A; Brunet, Michael E

    2006-04-01

    A significant number of time-loss injuries to the upper extremity in elite windmill softball pitchers has been documented. The number of outings and pitches thrown in 1 week for a softball pitcher is typically far in excess of those seen in baseball pitchers. Shoulder stress in professional baseball pitching has been reported to be high and has been linked to pitching injuries. Shoulder distraction has not been studied in an elite softball pitching population. The stresses on the throwing shoulder of elite windmill pitchers are similar to those found for professional baseball pitchers. Descriptive laboratory study. Three-dimensional, high-speed (120 Hz) video data were collected on rise balls from 24 elite softball pitchers during the 1996 Olympic Games. Kinematic parameters related to pitching mechanics and resultant kinetics on the throwing shoulder were calculated. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to relate shoulder stress and pitching mechanics. Shoulder distraction stress averaged 80% of body weight for the Olympic pitchers. Sixty-nine percent of the variability in shoulder distraction can be explained by a combination of 7 parameters related to pitching mechanics. Excessive distraction stress at the throwing shoulder is similar to that found in baseball pitchers, which suggests that windmill softball pitchers are at risk for overuse injuries. Normative information regarding upper extremity kinematics and kinetics for elite softball pitchers has been established.

  16. Binaural pitch perception in normal-hearing and hearing-impaired listeners

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Santurette, Sébastien; Dau, Torsten

    2007-01-01

    The effects of hearing impairment on the perception of binaural-pitch stimuli were investigated. Several experiments were performed with normal-hearing and hearing-impaired listeners, including detection and discrimination of binaural pitch, and melody recognition using different types of binaural...... pitches. For the normal-hearing listeners, all types of binaural pitches could be perceived immediately and were musical. The hearing-impaired listeners could be divided into three groups based on their results: (a) some perceived all types of binaural pitches, but with decreased salience or musicality...... compared to normal-hearing listeners; (b) some could only perceive the strongest pitch types; (c) some were unable to perceive any binaural pitch at all. The performance of the listeners was not correlated with audibility. Additional experiments investigated the correlation between performance in binaural...

  17. Foetal response to music and voice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Al-Qahtani, Noura H

    2005-10-01

    To examine whether prenatal exposure to music and voice alters foetal behaviour and whether foetal response to music differs from human voice. A prospective observational study was conducted in 20 normal term pregnant mothers. Ten foetuses were exposed to music and voice for 15 s at different sound pressure levels to find out the optimal setting for the auditory stimulation. Music, voice and sham were played to another 10 foetuses via a headphone on the maternal abdomen. The sound pressure level was 105 db and 94 db for music and voice, respectively. Computerised assessment of foetal heart rate and activity were recorded. 90 actocardiograms were obtained for the whole group. One way anova followed by posthoc (Student-Newman-Keuls method) analysis was used to find if there is significant difference in foetal response to music and voice versus sham. Foetuses responded with heart rate acceleration and motor response to both music and voice. This was statistically significant compared to sham. There was no significant difference between the foetal heart rate acceleration to music and voice. Prenatal exposure to music and voice alters the foetal behaviour. No difference was detected in foetal response to music and voice.

  18. Influence of classroom acoustics on the voice levels of teachers with and without voice problems: a field study

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pelegrin Garcia, David; Lyberg-Åhlander, Viveka; Rydell, Roland

    2010-01-01

    of the classroom. The results thus suggest that teachers with voice problems are more aware of classroom acoustic conditions than their healthy colleagues and make use of the more supportive rooms to lower their voice levels. This behavior may result from an adaptation process of the teachers with voice problems...... of the voice problems was made with a questionnaire and a laryngological examination. During teaching, the sound pressure level at the teacher’s position was monitored. The teacher’s voice level and the activity noise level were separated using mixed Gaussians. In addition, objective acoustic parameters...... of Reverberation Time and Voice Support were measured in the 30 empty classrooms of the study. An empirical model shows that the measured voice levels depended on the activity noise levels and the voice support. Teachers with and without voice problems were differently affected by the voice support...

  19. Pitch discrimination associated with phonological awareness: Evidence from congenital amusia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sun, Yanan; Lu, Xuejing; Ho, Hao Tam; Thompson, William Forde

    2017-03-13

    Research suggests that musical skills are associated with phonological abilities. To further investigate this association, we examined whether phonological impairments are evident in individuals with poor music abilities. Twenty individuals with congenital amusia and 20 matched controls were assessed on a pure-tone pitch discrimination task, a rhythm discrimination task, and four phonological tests. Amusic participants showed deficits in discriminating pitch and discriminating rhythmic patterns that involve a regular beat. At a group level, these individuals performed similarly to controls on all phonological tests. However, eight amusics with severe pitch impairment, as identified by the pitch discrimination task, exhibited significantly worse performance than all other participants in phonological awareness. A hierarchical regression analysis indicated that pitch discrimination thresholds predicted phonological awareness beyond that predicted by phonological short-term memory and rhythm discrimination. In contrast, our rhythm discrimination task did not predict phonological awareness beyond that predicted by pitch discrimination thresholds. These findings suggest that accurate pitch discrimination is critical for phonological processing. We propose that deficits in early-stage pitch discrimination may be associated with impaired phonological awareness and we discuss the shared role of pitch discrimination for processing music and speech.

  20. Analysis of temporal fluctuations in Bach’s sinfonias

    Science.gov (United States)

    Telesca, Luciano; Lovallo, Michele

    2012-06-01

    The correlation structures in 15 Bach's sinfonias were analyzed. Each sinfonia is characterized by the superposition of three voices. Each voice is a sequence of pitches. Each voice was transformed in a time series, in which the sampling time was given by the smallest pitch duration in that voice. The scaling properties of the three voices of each sinfonia was quantified by means of the estimate of the scaling exponent, performed using the power spectral density (PSD) and the detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA). The results show that the voice time series are persistent. The DFA was applied not only to any single voice time series, but also to couples (2-DFA) of voices and to the triple (3-DFA) of voices. It was found that the first voice of each sinfonia modulates the scaling behavior of the whole sinfonia.

  1. Design and stable flight of a 21 g insect-like tailless flapping wing micro air vehicle with angular rates feedback control.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Phan, Hoang Vu; Kang, Taesam; Park, Hoon Cheol

    2017-04-04

    An insect-like tailless flapping wing micro air vehicle (FW-MAV) without feedback control eventually becomes unstable after takeoff. Flying an insect-like tailless FW-MAV is more challenging than flying a bird-like tailed FW-MAV, due to the difference in control principles. This work introduces the design and controlled flight of an insect-like tailless FW-MAV, named KUBeetle. A combination of four-bar linkage and pulley-string mechanisms was used to develop a lightweight flapping mechanism that could achieve a high flapping amplitude of approximately 190°. Clap-and-flings at dorsal and ventral stroke reversals were implemented to enhance vertical force. In the absence of a control surface at the tail, adjustment of the location of the trailing edges at the wing roots to modulate the rotational angle of the wings was used to generate control moments for the attitude control. Measurements by a 6-axis load cell showed that the control mechanism produced reasonable pitch, roll and yaw moments according to the corresponding control inputs. The control mechanism was integrated with three sub-micro servos to realize the pitch, roll and yaw controls. A simple PD feedback controller was implemented for flight stability with an onboard microcontroller and a gyroscope that sensed the pitch, roll and yaw rates. Several flight tests demonstrated that the tailless KUBeetle could successfully perform a vertical climb, then hover and loiter within a 0.3 m ground radius with small variations in pitch and roll body angles.

  2. Deficits of congenital amusia beyond pitch: Evidence from impaired categorical perception of vowels in Cantonese-speaking congenital amusics.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Caicai Zhang

    Full Text Available Congenital amusia is a lifelong disorder of fine-grained pitch processing in music and speech. However, it remains unclear whether amusia is a pitch-specific deficit, or whether it affects frequency/spectral processing more broadly, such as the perception of formant frequency in vowels, apart from pitch. In this study, in order to illuminate the scope of the deficits, we compared the performance of 15 Cantonese-speaking amusics and 15 matched controls on the categorical perception of sound continua in four stimulus contexts: lexical tone, pure tone, vowel, and voice onset time (VOT. Whereas lexical tone, pure tone and vowel continua rely on frequency/spectral processing, the VOT continuum depends on duration/temporal processing. We found that the amusic participants performed similarly to controls in all stimulus contexts in the identification, in terms of the across-category boundary location and boundary width. However, the amusic participants performed systematically worse than controls in discriminating stimuli in those three contexts that depended on frequency/spectral processing (lexical tone, pure tone and vowel, whereas they performed normally when discriminating duration differences (VOT. These findings suggest that the deficit of amusia is probably not pitch specific, but affects frequency/spectral processing more broadly. Furthermore, there appeared to be differences in the impairment of frequency/spectral discrimination in speech and nonspeech contexts. The amusic participants exhibited less benefit in between-category discriminations than controls in speech contexts (lexical tone and vowel, suggesting reduced categorical perception; on the other hand, they performed inferiorly compared to controls across the board regardless of between- and within-category discriminations in nonspeech contexts (pure tone, suggesting impaired general auditory processing. These differences imply that the frequency/spectral-processing deficit might be

  3. Deficits of congenital amusia beyond pitch: Evidence from impaired categorical perception of vowels in Cantonese-speaking congenital amusics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Caicai; Shao, Jing; Huang, Xunan

    2017-01-01

    Congenital amusia is a lifelong disorder of fine-grained pitch processing in music and speech. However, it remains unclear whether amusia is a pitch-specific deficit, or whether it affects frequency/spectral processing more broadly, such as the perception of formant frequency in vowels, apart from pitch. In this study, in order to illuminate the scope of the deficits, we compared the performance of 15 Cantonese-speaking amusics and 15 matched controls on the categorical perception of sound continua in four stimulus contexts: lexical tone, pure tone, vowel, and voice onset time (VOT). Whereas lexical tone, pure tone and vowel continua rely on frequency/spectral processing, the VOT continuum depends on duration/temporal processing. We found that the amusic participants performed similarly to controls in all stimulus contexts in the identification, in terms of the across-category boundary location and boundary width. However, the amusic participants performed systematically worse than controls in discriminating stimuli in those three contexts that depended on frequency/spectral processing (lexical tone, pure tone and vowel), whereas they performed normally when discriminating duration differences (VOT). These findings suggest that the deficit of amusia is probably not pitch specific, but affects frequency/spectral processing more broadly. Furthermore, there appeared to be differences in the impairment of frequency/spectral discrimination in speech and nonspeech contexts. The amusic participants exhibited less benefit in between-category discriminations than controls in speech contexts (lexical tone and vowel), suggesting reduced categorical perception; on the other hand, they performed inferiorly compared to controls across the board regardless of between- and within-category discriminations in nonspeech contexts (pure tone), suggesting impaired general auditory processing. These differences imply that the frequency/spectral-processing deficit might be manifested

  4. Understanding the 'Anorexic Voice' in Anorexia Nervosa.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pugh, Matthew; Waller, Glenn

    2017-05-01

    In common with individuals experiencing a number of disorders, people with anorexia nervosa report experiencing an internal 'voice'. The anorexic voice comments on the individual's eating, weight and shape and instructs the individual to restrict or compensate. However, the core characteristics of the anorexic voice are not known. This study aimed to develop a parsimonious model of the voice characteristics that are related to key features of eating disorder pathology and to determine whether patients with anorexia nervosa fall into groups with different voice experiences. The participants were 49 women with full diagnoses of anorexia nervosa. Each completed validated measures of the power and nature of their voice experience and of their responses to the voice. Different voice characteristics were associated with current body mass index, duration of disorder and eating cognitions. Two subgroups emerged, with 'weaker' and 'stronger' voice experiences. Those with stronger voices were characterized by having more negative eating attitudes, more severe compensatory behaviours, a longer duration of illness and a greater likelihood of having the binge-purge subtype of anorexia nervosa. The findings indicate that the anorexic voice is an important element of the psychopathology of anorexia nervosa. Addressing the anorexic voice might be helpful in enhancing outcomes of treatments for anorexia nervosa, but that conclusion might apply only to patients with more severe eating psychopathology. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Experiences of an internal 'anorexic voice' are common in anorexia nervosa. Clinicians should consider the role of the voice when formulating eating pathology in anorexia nervosa, including how individuals perceive and relate to that voice. Addressing the voice may be beneficial, particularly in more severe and enduring forms of anorexia nervosa. When working with the voice, clinicians should aim to address both the content of the voice and how

  5. Voice application development for Android

    CERN Document Server

    McTear, Michael

    2013-01-01

    This book will give beginners an introduction to building voice-based applications on Android. It will begin by covering the basic concepts and will build up to creating a voice-based personal assistant. By the end of this book, you should be in a position to create your own voice-based applications on Android from scratch in next to no time.Voice Application Development for Android is for all those who are interested in speech technology and for those who, as owners of Android devices, are keen to experiment with developing voice apps for their devices. It will also be useful as a starting po

  6. Pitch Counts in Youth Baseball and Softball: A Historical Review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Feeley, Brian T; Schisel, Jessica; Agel, Julie

    2018-07-01

    Pitching injuries are getting increased attention in the mass media. Many references are made to pitch counts and the role they play in injury prevention. The original purpose of regulating the pitch count in youth baseball was to reduce injury and fatigue to pitchers. This article reviews the history and development of the pitch count limit in baseball, the effect it has had on injury, and the evidence regarding injury rates on softball windmill pitching. Literature search through PubMed, mass media, and organizational Web sites through June 2015. Pitch count limits and rest recommendations were introduced in 1996 after a survey of 28 orthopedic surgeons and baseball coaches showed injuries to baseball pitchers' arms were believed to be from the number of pitches thrown. Follow-up research led to revised recommendations with more detailed guidelines in 2006. Since that time, data show a relationship between innings pitched and upper extremity injury, but pitch type has not clearly been shown to affect injury rates. Current surveys of coaches and players show that coaches, parents, and athletes often do not adhere to these guidelines. There are no pitch count guidelines currently available in softball. The increase in participation in youth baseball and softball with an emphasis on early sport specialization in youth sports activities suggests that there will continue to be a rise in injury rates to young throwers. The published pitch counts are likely to positively affect injury rates but must be adhered to by athletes, coaches, and parents.

  7. Subcortical plasticity following perceptual learning in a pitch discrimination task.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carcagno, Samuele; Plack, Christopher J

    2011-02-01

    Practice can lead to dramatic improvements in the discrimination of auditory stimuli. In this study, we investigated changes of the frequency-following response (FFR), a subcortical component of the auditory evoked potentials, after a period of pitch discrimination training. Twenty-seven adult listeners were trained for 10 h on a pitch discrimination task using one of three different complex tone stimuli. One had a static pitch contour, one had a rising pitch contour, and one had a falling pitch contour. Behavioral measures of pitch discrimination and FFRs for all the stimuli were measured before and after the training phase for these participants, as well as for an untrained control group (n = 12). Trained participants showed significant improvements in pitch discrimination compared to the control group for all three trained stimuli. These improvements were partly specific for stimuli with the same pitch modulation (dynamic vs. static) and with the same pitch trajectory (rising vs. falling) as the trained stimulus. Also, the robustness of FFR neural phase locking to the sound envelope increased significantly more in trained participants compared to the control group for the static and rising contour, but not for the falling contour. Changes in FFR strength were partly specific for stimuli with the same pitch modulation (dynamic vs. static) of the trained stimulus. Changes in FFR strength, however, were not specific for stimuli with the same pitch trajectory (rising vs. falling) as the trained stimulus. These findings indicate that even relatively low-level processes in the mature auditory system are subject to experience-related change.

  8. DolphinAtack: Inaudible Voice Commands

    OpenAIRE

    Zhang, Guoming; Yan, Chen; Ji, Xiaoyu; Zhang, Taimin; Zhang, Tianchen; Xu, Wenyuan

    2017-01-01

    Speech recognition (SR) systems such as Siri or Google Now have become an increasingly popular human-computer interaction method, and have turned various systems into voice controllable systems(VCS). Prior work on attacking VCS shows that the hidden voice commands that are incomprehensible to people can control the systems. Hidden voice commands, though hidden, are nonetheless audible. In this work, we design a completely inaudible attack, DolphinAttack, that modulates voice commands on ultra...

  9. Voice-to-Phoneme Conversion Algorithms for Voice-Tag Applications in Embedded Platforms

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yan Ming Cheng

    2008-08-01

    Full Text Available We describe two voice-to-phoneme conversion algorithms for speaker-independent voice-tag creation specifically targeted at applications on embedded platforms. These algorithms (batch mode and sequential are compared in speech recognition experiments where they are first applied in a same-language context in which both acoustic model training and voice-tag creation and application are performed on the same language. Then, their performance is tested in a cross-language setting where the acoustic models are trained on a particular source language while the voice-tags are created and applied on a different target language. In the same-language environment, both algorithms either perform comparably to or significantly better than the baseline where utterances are manually transcribed by a phonetician. In the cross-language context, the voice-tag performances vary depending on the source-target language pair, with the variation reflecting predicted phonological similarity between the source and target languages. Among the most similar languages, performance nears that of the native-trained models and surpasses the native reference baseline.

  10. Facial Expression and Vocal Pitch Height: Evidence of an Intermodal Association

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    David Huron

    2009-11-01

    Full Text Available Forty-four participants were asked to sing moderate, high, and low pitches while their faces were photographed. In a two-alternative forced choice task, independent judges selected the high-pitch faces as more friendly than the low-pitch faces. When photographs were cropped to show only the eye region, judges still rated the high-pitch faces friendlier than the low-pitch faces. These results are consistent with prior research showing that vocal pitch height is used to signal aggression (low pitch or appeasement (high pitch. An analysis of the facial features shows a strong correlation between eyebrow position and sung pitch—consistent with the role of eyebrows in signaling aggression and appeasement. Overall, the results are consistent with an inter-modal linkage between vocal and facial expressions.

  11. Risk factors for voice problems in teachers.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kooijman, P.G.C.; Jong, F.I.C.R.S. de; Thomas, G.; Huinck, W.J.; Donders, A.R.T.; Graamans, K.; Schutte, H.K.

    2006-01-01

    In order to identify factors that are associated with voice problems and voice-related absenteeism in teachers, 1,878 questionnaires were analysed. The questionnaires inquired about personal data, voice complaints, voice-related absenteeism from work and conditions that may lead to voice complaints

  12. Risk factors for voice problems in teachers

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kooijman, P. G. C.; de Jong, F. I. C. R. S.; Thomas, G.; Huinck, W.; Donders, R.; Graamans, K.; Schutte, H. K.

    2006-01-01

    In order to identify factors that are associated with voice problems and voice-related absenteeism in teachers, 1,878 questionnaires were analysed. The questionnaires inquired about personal data, voice complaints, voice-related absenteeism from work and conditions that may lead to voice complaints

  13. Unsteady force characteristics on foils undergoing pitching motion

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yang, Chang Jo

    2006-01-01

    In the present study the unsteady forces acting on the pitching foils such as a flat plate, NACA0010, NACA0020, NACA65-0910 and BTE have been measured by using a six-axis sensor in a circulating water tunnel at a low Reynolds number region. The unsteady characteristics of the dynamic drag and lift have been compared to the quasi-steady ones which are measured under the stationary condition. The pitching motion is available for keeping the lift higher after the separation occurs. Especially, the characteristics of the dynamic lift are quite different from the quasi-steady one at high pitching frequency regions. As the pitching frequency deceases, the amplitude of the dynamic lift becomes closer to the quasi-steady one. However, the phase remains different between the steady and unsteady conditions even at low pitching frequencies. On the other hand, the dynamic drag is governed strongly by the angle of attack

  14. H-Darrieus Wind Turbine with Blade Pitch Control

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    I. Paraschivoiu

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available A procedure for computing the optimal variation of the blades' pitch angle of an H-Darrieus wind turbine that maximizes its torque at given operational conditions is proposed and presented along with the results obtained on a 7 kW prototype. The CARDAAV code, based on the “Double-Multiple Streamtube” model developed by the first author, is used to determine the performances of the straight-bladed vertical axis wind turbine. This was coupled with a genetic algorithm optimizer. The azimuthal variation of the blades' pitch angle is modeled with an analytical function whose coefficients are used as variables in the optimization process. Two types of variations were considered for the pitch angle: a simple sinusoidal one and one which is more general, relating closely the blades' pitch to the local flow conditions along their circular path. A gain of almost 30% in the annual energy production was obtained with the polynomial optimal pitch control.

  15. Pitch Sequence Complexity and Long-Term Pitcher Performance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Joel R. Bock

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available Winning one or two games during a Major League Baseball (MLB season is often the difference between a team advancing to post-season play, or “waiting until next year”. Technology advances have made it feasible to augment historical data with in-game contextual data to provide managers immediate insights regarding an opponent’s next move, thereby providing a competitive edge. We developed statistical models of pitcher behavior using pitch sequences thrown during three recent MLB seasons (2011–2013. The purpose of these models was to predict the next pitch type, for each pitcher, based on data available at the immediate moment, in each at-bat. Independent models were developed for each player’s most frequent four pitches. The overall predictability of next pitch type is 74:5%. Additional analyses on pitcher predictability within specific game situations are discussed. Finally, using linear regression analysis, we show that an index of pitch sequence predictability may be used to project player performance in terms of Earned Run Average (ERA and Fielding Independent Pitching (FIP over a longer term. On a restricted range of the independent variable, reducing complexity in selection of pitches is correlated with higher values of both FIP and ERA for the players represented in the sample. Both models were significant at the α = 0.05 level (ERA: p = 0.022; FIP: p = 0.0114. With further development, such models may reduce risk faced by management in evaluation of potential trades, or to scouts assessing unproven emerging talent. Pitchers themselves might benefit from awareness of their individual statistical tendencies, and adapt their behavior on the mound accordingly. To our knowledge, the predictive model relating pitch-wise complexity and long-term performance appears to be novel.

  16. Voice quality in relation to voice complaints and vocal fold condition during the screening of female student teachers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meulenbroek, Leo F P; de Jong, Felix I C R S

    2011-07-01

    The purpose of this study was to compare the perceptual examination of voice quality with the condition of the vocal folds and voice complaints during voice screening in female student teachers. This research was a cross-sectional study in 214 starting student teachers using the four-point grade scale of the GRBAS and laryngostroboscopic assessment of the vocal folds. The voice quality was assessed by speech pathologists using the ordinal 4-point G-scale (overall dysphonia) of the GRBAS method in a running speech sample. Glottal closure and vocal fold lesions were recorded. A questionnaire was used for assessing voice complaints. More students with an insufficient glottal closure (89%) were rated dysphonic compared with students with sufficient glottal closure (80%). Students with sufficient glottal closure had a significantly lower mean G-score (1.21) compared with the group with insufficient glottal closure (1.52) (P = 0.038). This study showed a larger percentage of students with vocal fold lesions (96%) labeled a dysphonic voice compared to students with no vocal fold problems (81%). Students with no vocal fold lesions had a significantly lower mean G-score (1.20) compared with the group with vocal fold lesions (2.05) (P=0.002). A dysphonic voice (G≥1) was rated in 76% of the students without voice complaints compared with 86% of the students with voice complaints. Students with no voice complaints had a lower mean G-score (1.07) compared with the group with voice complaints (1.41) (P=0.090). The present study showed that perceptual assessment of the voice and voice complaints is not sufficient to check if the future professional is at risk. Therefore, preventive measures are needed to detect students at risk early in their education and this depends on broader assessment: on the one hand, assessing voice quality and voice complaints and on the other hand, examination of the vocal folds of all starting students. Copyright © 2011 The Voice Foundation

  17. Can vibratory feedback be used to improve postural stability in persons with transtibial limb loss?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rusaw, David; Hagberg, Kerstin; Nolan, Lee; Ramstrand, Nerrolyn

    2012-01-01

    The use of vibration as a feedback modality to convey motion of the body has been shown to improve measures of postural stability in some groups of patients. Because individuals using transtibial prostheses lack sensation distal to the amputation, vibratory feedback could possibly be used to improve their postural stability. The current investigation provided transtibial prosthesis users (n = 24, mean age 48 yr) with vibratory feedback proportional to the signal received from force transducers located under the prosthetic foot. Postural stability was evaluated by measuring center of pressure (CoP) movement, limits of stability, and rhythmic weight shift while participants stood on a force platform capable of rotations in the pitch plane (toes up/toes down). The results showed that the vibratory feedback increased the mediolateral displacement amplitude of CoP in standing balance and reduced the response time to rapid voluntary movements of the center of gravity. The results suggest that the use of vibratory feedback in an experimental setting leads to improvements in fast open-loop mechanisms of postural control in transtibial prosthesis users.

  18. Fine-grained pitch processing of music and speech in congenital amusia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tillmann, Barbara; Rusconi, Elena; Traube, Caroline; Butterworth, Brian; Umiltà, Carlo; Peretz, Isabelle

    2011-12-01

    Congenital amusia is a lifelong disorder of music processing that has been ascribed to impaired pitch perception and memory. The present study tested a large group of amusics (n=17) and provided evidence that their pitch deficit affects pitch processing in speech to a lesser extent: Fine-grained pitch discrimination was better in spoken syllables than in acoustically matched tones. Unlike amusics, control participants performed fine-grained pitch discrimination better for musical material than for verbal material. These findings suggest that pitch extraction can be influenced by the nature of the material (music vs speech), and that amusics' pitch deficit is not restricted to musical material, but extends to segmented speech events. © 2011 Acoustical Society of America

  19. The Effects of Lexical Pitch Accent on Infant Word Recognition in Japanese

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mitsuhiko Ota

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Learners of lexical tone languages (e.g., Mandarin develop sensitivity to tonal contrasts and recognize pitch-matched, but not pitch-mismatched, familiar words by 11 months. Learners of non-tone languages (e.g., English also show a tendency to treat pitch patterns as lexically contrastive up to about 18 months. In this study, we examined if this early-developing capacity to lexically encode pitch variations enables infants to acquire a pitch accent system, in which pitch-based lexical contrasts are obscured by the interaction of lexical and non-lexical (i.e., intonational features. Eighteen 17-month-olds learning Tokyo Japanese were tested on their recognition of familiar words with the expected pitch or the lexically opposite pitch pattern. In early trials, infants were faster in shifting their eyegaze from the distractor object to the target object than in shifting from the target to distractor in the pitch-matched condition. In later trials, however, infants showed faster distractor-to-target than target-to-distractor shifts in both the pitch-matched and pitch-mismatched conditions. We interpret these results to mean that, in a pitch-accent system, the ability to use pitch variations to recognize words is still in a nascent state at 17 months.

  20. VOICE QUALITY BEFORE AND AFTER THYROIDECTOMY

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dora CVELBAR

    2016-04-01

    Full Text Available Introduction: Voice disorders are a well-known complication which is often associated with thyroid gland diseases and because voice is still the basic mean of communication it is very important to maintain its quality healthy. Objectives: The aim of this study referred to questions whether there is a statistically significant difference between results of voice self-assessment, perceptual voice assessment and acoustic voice analysis before and after thyroidectomy and whether there are statistically significant correlations between variables of voice self-assessment, perceptual assessment and acoustic analysis before and after thyroidectomy. Methods: This scientific research included 12 participants aged between 41 and 76. Voice self-assessment was conducted with the help of Croatian version of Voice Handicap Index (VHI. Recorded reading samples were used for perceptual assessment and later evaluated by two clinical speech and language therapists. Recorded samples of phonation were used for acoustic analysis which was conducted with the help of acoustic program Praat. All of the data was processed through descriptive statistics and nonparametric statistical methods. Results: Results showed that there are statistically significant differences between results of voice self-assessments and results of acoustic analysis before and after thyroidectomy. Statistically significant correlations were found between variables of perceptual assessment and acoustic analysis. Conclusion: Obtained results indicate the importance of multidimensional, preoperative and postoperative assessment. This kind of assessment allows the clinician to describe all of the voice features and provides appropriate recommendation for further rehabilitation to the patient in order to optimize voice outcomes.

  1. A qualitative study on feedback provided by students in nurse education.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chan, Zenobia C Y; Stanley, David John; Meadus, Robert J; Chien, Wai Tong

    2017-08-01

    This study aims to help nurse educators/academics understand the perspectives and expectations of students providing their feedback to educators about teaching performance and subject quality. The aim of this study is to reveal students' voices regarding their feedback in nurse education in order to shed light on how the current student feedback practice may be modified. A qualitative study using focus group inquiry. Convenience sampling was adopted and participants recruited from one school of nursing in Hong Kong. A total of 66 nursing students from two pre-registration programs were recruited for seven focus group interviews: one group of Year 1 students (n=21), two groups of Year 3 students (n=27), and four groups of Final Year students (n=18). The interviews were guided by a semi-structured interview guideline and the interview narratives were processed through content analysis. The trustworthiness of this study was guaranteed through peer checking, research meetings, and an audit trail. The participants' privacy was protected throughout the study. Four core themes were discerned based on the narratives of the focus group interviews: (1) "timing of collecting feedback at more than one time point"; (2) "modify the questions being asked in collecting student feedback"; (3) "are electronic means of collecting feedback good enough?; and (4) "what will be next for student feedback?". This study is significant in the following three domains: 1) it contributed to student feedback because it examined the issue from a student's perspective; 2) it explored the timing and channels for collecting feedback from the students' point of view; and 3) it showed the preferred uses of student feedback. Crown Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  2. Aerodynamic and sound intensity measurements in tracheoesophageal voice

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Grolman, Wilko; Eerenstein, Simone E. J.; Tan, Frédérique M. L.; Tange, Rinze A.; Schouwenburg, Paul F.

    2007-01-01

    BACKGROUND: In laryngectomized patients, tracheoesophageal voice generally provides a better voice quality than esophageal voice. Understanding the aerodynamics of voice production in patients with a voice prosthesis is important for optimizing prosthetic designs and successful voice rehabilitation.

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

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Julia eMerrill

    2012-03-01

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

  4. Kinematics changes in technique of a softball pitch

    OpenAIRE

    Tomášek, Petr

    2007-01-01

    Headline: Kinematic changes in technique of a softball pitch. Aims of thesis: I will compare the pitches ofprofessinal european softball wonam pitchers and then I will compare their technique with professional czech woman pitcher. Methods: Results: Key words: For examination of different techniques, I choosed thease professinal european softball wonam pitchers 3 Italians and 2 Greeks. Videotape was taken on European championship 2005 in Prague. For description of softball pitch I used a metho...

  5. Crossing Cultures with Multi-Voiced Journals

    Science.gov (United States)

    Styslinger, Mary E.; Whisenant, Alison

    2004-01-01

    In this article, the authors discuss the benefits of using multi-voiced journals as a teaching strategy in reading instruction. Multi-voiced journals, an adaptation of dual-voiced journals, encourage responses to reading in varied, cultured voices of characters. It is similar to reading journals in that they prod students to connect to the lives…

  6. Effects of Music and Tonal Language Experience on Relative Pitch Performance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ngo, Mary Kim; Vu, Kim-Phuong L; Strybel, Thomas Z

    2016-01-01

    We examined the interaction between music and tone language experience as related to relative pitch processing by having participants judge the direction and magnitude of pitch changes in a relative pitch task. Participants' performance on this relative pitch task was assessed using the Cochran-Weiss-Shanteau (CWS) index of expertise, based on a ratio of discrimination over consistency in participants' relative pitch judgments. Testing took place in 2 separate sessions on different days to assess the effects of practice on participants' performance. Participants also completed the Montreal Battery of Evaluation of Amusia (MBEA), an existing measure comprising subtests aimed at evaluating relative pitch processing abilities. Musicians outperformed nonmusicians on both the relative pitch task, as measured by the CWS index, and the MBEA, but tonal language speakers outperformed non-tonal language speakers only on the MBEA. A closer look at the discrimination and consistency component scores of the CWS index revealed that musicians were better at discriminating different pitches and more consistent in their assessments of the direction and magnitude of relative pitch change.

  7. [Applicability of Voice Handicap Index to the evaluation of voice therapy effectiveness in teachers].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Niebudek-Bogusz, Ewa; Kuzańska, Anna; Błoch, Piotr; Domańska, Maja; Woźnicka, Ewelina; Politański, Piotr; Sliwińska-Kowalska, Mariola

    2007-01-01

    The aim of this study was to assess the applicability of Voice Handicap Index (VHI) to the evaluation of effectiveness of functional voice disorders treatment in teachers. The subjects were 45 female teachers with functional dysphonia who evaluated their voice problems according to the subjective VHI scale before and after phoniatric management. Group I (29 patients) were subjected to vocal training, whereas group II (16 patients) received only voice hygiene instructions. The results demonstrated that differences in the mean VHI score before and after phoniatric treatment were significantly higher in group 1 than in group II (p teacher's dysphonia.

  8. Voice parameters and videonasolaryngoscopy in children with vocal nodules: a longitudinal study, before and after voice therapy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Valadez, Victor; Ysunza, Antonio; Ocharan-Hernandez, Esther; Garrido-Bustamante, Norma; Sanchez-Valerio, Araceli; Pamplona, Ma C

    2012-09-01

    Vocal Nodules (VN) are a functional voice disorder associated with voice misuse and abuse in children. There are few reports addressing vocal parameters in children with VN, especially after a period of vocal rehabilitation. The purpose of this study is to describe measurements of vocal parameters including Fundamental Frequency (FF), Shimmer (S), and Jitter (J), videonasolaryngoscopy examination and clinical perceptual assessment, before and after voice therapy in children with VN. Voice therapy was provided using visual support through Speech-Viewer software. Twenty patients with VN were studied. An acoustical analysis of voice was performed and compared with data from subjects from a control group matched by age and gender. Also, clinical perceptual assessment of voice and videonasolaryngoscopy were performed to all patients with VN. After a period of voice therapy, provided with visual support using Speech Viewer-III (SV-III-IBM) software, new acoustical analyses, perceptual assessments and videonasolaryngoscopies were performed. Before the onset of voice therapy, there was a significant difference (ptherapy period, a significant improvement (pvocal nodules were no longer discernible on the vocal folds in any of the cases. SV-III software seems to be a safe and reliable method for providing voice therapy in children with VN. Acoustic voice parameters, perceptual data and videonasolaryngoscopy were significantly improved after the speech therapy period was completed. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. Tune That Beer! Listening for the Pitch of Beer

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Felipe Reinoso Carvalho

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available We report two experiments designed to assess the key sensory drivers underlying people’s association of a specific auditory pitch with Belgian beer. In particular, we assessed if people would rely mostly on the differences between beers in terms of their relative alcohol strength, or on the contrast between the most salient taste attributes of the different beers. In Experiment 1, the participants rated three bitter beers (differing in alcohol content, using a narrow range of pitch choices (50–500 Hz. The results revealed that the beers were all rated around the same pitch (Mean = 232 Hz, SD = 136 Hz. In Experiment 2, a wider range of pitch choices (50–1500 Hz, along with the addition of a much sweeter beer, revealed that people mostly tend to match beers with bitter-range profiles at significantly lower pitch ranges when compared to the average pitch of a much sweeter beer. These results therefore demonstrate that clear differences in taste attributes lead to distinctly different matches in terms of pitch. Having demonstrated the robustness of the basic crossmodal matching, future research should aim to uncover the basis for such matches and better understand the perceptual effects of matching/non-matching tones on the multisensory drinking experience.

  10. Relating the absence of binaural pitch percept to retro-cochlear impairment

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Santurette, Sébastien; Dau, Torsten

    Binaural pitch stimuli, created by introducing an interaural phase difference over a narrow band of otherwise diotic white noise, produce an immediate tonal sensation with a pitch close to the centre of the phase-shifted band. In Santurette and Dau [Hear. Res. 223(1-2):29-47, 2007], it was shown...... that the salience of binaural pitch was affected by hearing impairment. Specifically, for subjects with a sensorineural impairment, binaural pitch perception was weaker than the normal-hearing average but the pitch sensation was immediately present. In contrast, no binaural pitch sensation at all was found...... for the (only) two subjects with damage at central stages. The aim of the present study is to clarify whether such a sharp distinction between levels of impairment can be made using binaural pitch stimuli. A pitch detection test was performed by three groups of subjects with: 1) normal hearing; 2) a cochlear...

  11. Interactive Augmentation of Voice Quality and Reduction of Breath Airflow in the Soprano Voice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rothenberg, Martin; Schutte, Harm K

    2016-11-01

    In 1985, at a conference sponsored by the National Institutes of Health, Martin Rothenberg first described a form of nonlinear source-tract acoustic interaction mechanism by which some sopranos, singing in their high range, can use to reduce the total airflow, to allow holding the note longer, and simultaneously enrich the quality of the voice, without straining the voice. (M. Rothenberg, "Source-Tract Acoustic Interaction in the Soprano Voice and Implications for Vocal Efficiency," Fourth International Conference on Vocal Fold Physiology, New Haven, Connecticut, June 3-6, 1985.) In this paper, we describe additional evidence for this type of nonlinear source-tract interaction in some soprano singing and describe an analogous interaction phenomenon in communication engineering. We also present some implications for voice research and pedagogy. Copyright © 2016 The Voice Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  12. Electronic monitoring and voice prompts improve hand hygiene and decrease nosocomial infections in an intermediate care unit.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Swoboda, Sandra M; Earsing, Karen; Strauss, Kevin; Lane, Stephen; Lipsett, Pamela A

    2004-02-01

    To determine whether electronic monitoring of hand hygiene and voice prompts can improve hand hygiene and decrease nosocomial infection rates in a surgical intermediate care unit. Three-phase quasi-experimental design. Phase I was electronic monitoring and direct observation; phase II was electronic monitoring and computerized voice prompts for failure to perform hand hygiene on room exit; and phase III was electronic monitoring only. Nine-room, 14-bed intermediate care unit in a university, tertiary-care institution. All patient rooms, utility room, and staff lavatory were monitored electronically. All healthcare personnel including physicians, nurses, nursing support personnel, ancillary staff, all visitors and family members, and any other personnel interacting with patients on the intermediate care unit. All patients with an intermediate care unit length of stay >48 hrs were followed for nosocomial infection. Electronic monitoring during all phases, computerized voice prompts during phase II only. We evaluated a total of 283,488 electronically monitored entries into a patient room with 251,526 exits for 420 days (10,080 hrs and 3,549 patient days). Compared with phase I, hand hygiene compliance in patient rooms improved 37% during phase II (odds ratio, 1.38; 95% confidence interval, 1.04-1.83) and 41% in phase III (odds ratio, 1.41; 95% confidence interval, 1.07-1.84). When adjusting for patient admissions during each phase, point estimates of nosocomial infections decreased by 22% during phase II and 48% during phase III; when adjusting for patient days, the number of infections decreased by 10% during phase II and 40% during phase III. Although the overall rate of nosocomial infections significantly decreased when combining phases II and III, the association between nosocomial infection and individual phase was not significant. Electronic monitoring provided effective ongoing feedback about hand hygiene compliance. During both the voice prompt phase and post

  13. Interventions for preventing voice disorders in adults.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ruotsalainen, J H; Sellman, J; Lehto, L; Jauhiainen, M; Verbeek, J H

    2007-10-17

    Poor voice quality due to a voice disorder can lead to a reduced quality of life. In occupations where voice use is substantial it can lead to periods of absence from work. To evaluate the effectiveness of interventions to prevent voice disorders in adults. We searched MEDLINE (PubMed, 1950 to 2006), EMBASE (1974 to 2006), CENTRAL (The Cochrane Library, Issue 2 2006), CINAHL (1983 to 2006), PsychINFO (1967 to 2006), Science Citation Index (1986 to 2006) and the Occupational Health databases OSH-ROM (to 2006). The date of the last search was 05/04/06. Randomised controlled clinical trials (RCTs) of interventions evaluating the effectiveness of treatments to prevent voice disorders in adults. For work-directed interventions interrupted time series and prospective cohort studies were also eligible. Two authors independently extracted data and assessed trial quality. Meta-analysis was performed where appropriate. We identified two randomised controlled trials including a total of 53 participants in intervention groups and 43 controls. One study was conducted with teachers and the other with student teachers. Both trials were poor quality. Interventions were grouped into 1) direct voice training, 2) indirect voice training and 3) direct and indirect voice training combined.1) Direct voice training: One study did not find a significant decrease of the Voice Handicap Index for direct voice training compared to no intervention.2) Indirect voice training: One study did not find a significant decrease of the Voice Handicap Index for indirect voice training when compared to no intervention.3) Direct and indirect voice training combined: One study did not find a decrease of the Voice Handicap Index for direct and indirect voice training combined when compared to no intervention. The same study did however find an improvement in maximum phonation time (Mean Difference -3.18 sec; 95 % CI -4.43 to -1.93) for direct and indirect voice training combined when compared to no

  14. Designing a Voice Controlled Interface For Radio : Guidelines for The First Generation of Voice Controlled Public Radio

    OpenAIRE

    Päärni, Anna

    2017-01-01

    From being a fictional element in sci-fi, voice control has become a reality, with inventions such as Apple's Siri, and interactive voice response (IVR) when calling your doctor's office. The combination of radio’s strength as a hands-free medium, public radio’s mission to reach across all platforms and the rise of voice makes up a relevant intersection; voice controlled public radio in Sweden. This thesis has aimed to investigate how radio listeners wish to interact using voice control to li...

  15. Relationship of radiation dose and spiral pitch for multi-slice CT system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Song Shaojuan; Wang Wei; Liu Chuanya

    2006-01-01

    Objective: To study the relations of radiation dose and spiral pitch for multi-slice CT system. Methods: 16 mm dose phantom with solidose 300/400 pen-style ion chamber inserted into each of five holes in turn was scanned with different spiral pitch by LightSpeed 16-slice CT and Sensation 16-slice and 64-slice CT and radiation dose. Results: CTDI vol of axial scan and spiral scan for the three types of CT system are: (1) LightSpeed 16-slice CT: 28.9 (axial), 51.4 (pitch 0.562), 30.8 (pitch 0.938) and 16.5 ( pitch 1.75 ); (2) Sensation 16-slice CT: 41.2(axial) and 40.3(pitch 0.5) ,41.5(pitch 1) and 43.2(pitch 1.5); (3) Sensation 64- slice CT: 41.2(axial) and 40.3(pitch 0.5),41.5(pitch 1),43.2(pitch 1.5). Conclusions: For LightSpeed 16-slice CT, the measured radiation dose decreased with the increase of spiral pitch, the image quality could keep constant only if we increase mAs. While for Sensation 16-slice and 64-slice CT system, the measured radiation dose was identical for different pitch, and the image quality was identical because of the use of mAs auto control technique The mAs should be adjusted in different way according to the type of CT system when the pitch is changed in daily operation. (authors)

  16. Application of computer voice input/output

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ford, W.; Shirk, D.G.

    1981-01-01

    The advent of microprocessors and other large-scale integration (LSI) circuits is making voice input and output for computers and instruments practical; specialized LSI chips for speech processing are appearing on the market. Voice can be used to input data or to issue instrument commands; this allows the operator to engage in other tasks, move about, and to use standard data entry systems. Voice synthesizers can generate audible, easily understood instructions. Using voice characteristics, a control system can verify speaker identity for security purposes. Two simple voice-controlled systems have been designed at Los Alamos for nuclear safeguards applicaations. Each can easily be expanded as time allows. The first system is for instrument control that accepts voice commands and issues audible operator prompts. The second system is for access control. The speaker's voice is used to verify his identity and to actuate external devices

  17. Voice and silence in organizations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Moaşa, H.

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available Unlike previous research on voice and silence, this article breaksthe distance between the two and declines to treat them as opposites. Voice and silence are interrelated and intertwined strategic forms ofcommunication which presuppose each other in such a way that the absence of one would minimize completely the other’s presence. Social actors are not voice, or silence. Social actors can have voice or silence, they can do both because they operate at multiple levels and deal with multiple issues at different moments in time.

  18. Multi-pitch Estimation using Semidefinite Programming

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jensen, Tobias Lindstrøm; Vandenberghe, Lieven

    2017-01-01

    assuming a Nyquist sampled signal by adding an additional semidefinite constraint. We show that the proposed estimator has superior performance compared to state- of-the-art methods for separating two closely spaced fundamentals and approximately achieves the asymptotic Cramér-Rao lower bound.......Multi-pitch estimation concerns the problem of estimating the fundamental frequencies (pitches) and amplitudes/phases of multiple superimposed harmonic signals with application in music, speech, vibration analysis etc. In this paper we formulate a complex-valued multi-pitch estimator via...... a semidefinite programming representation of an atomic decomposition over a continuous dictionary of complex exponentials and extend this to real-valued data via a real semidefinite pro-ram with the same dimensions (i.e. half the size). We further impose a continuous frequency constraint naturally occurring from...

  19. Contact Quotient of Female Singers Singing Four Pitches for Five Vowels in Normal and Pressed Phonations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ong Tan, Kendrich Graemer

    2017-09-01

    The present study aimed to investigate the contact quotient (CQ) values of breathy, normal, and pressed phonation types in four different sections of the female singing range. Electroglottography (EGG) and acoustic signals were recorded from 10 female singing teachers. Five vowels were sung for 1-3 seconds each, in three phonation types-normal, breathy, and pressed, in four pitches representing registration change points in the singing range. CQ values were automatically generated from the EGG signal using VoceVista at 35% threshold level. Sound pressure levels were checked in Praat. Unianova and correlations were performed using an SPSS program. CQ values of female participants in the study yielded ranges of 0.25-0.62 in normal and 0.34-0.73 in pressed. Normal and pressed CQ differed significantly from each other at P singing. Copyright © 2017 The Voice Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  20. Classification of voice disorder in children with cochlear implantation and hearing aid using multiple classifier fusion

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tayarani Hamid

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Speech production and speech phonetic features gradually improve in children by obtaining audio feedback after cochlear implantation or using hearing aids. The aim of this study was to develop and evaluate automated classification of voice disorder in children with cochlear implantation and hearing aids. Methods We considered 4 disorder categories in children's voice using the following definitions: Level_1: Children who produce spontaneous phonation and use words spontaneously and imitatively. Level_2: Children, who produce spontaneous phonation, use words spontaneously and make short sentences imitatively. Level_3: Children, who produce spontaneous phonations, use words and arbitrary sentences spontaneously. Level_4: Normal children without any hearing loss background. Thirty Persian children participated in the study, including six children in each level from one to three and 12 children in level four. Voice samples of five isolated Persian words "mashin", "mar", "moosh", "gav" and "mouz" were analyzed. Four levels of the voice quality were considered, the higher the level the less significant the speech disorder. "Frame-based" and "word-based" features were extracted from voice signals. The frame-based features include intensity, fundamental frequency, formants, nasality and approximate entropy and word-based features include phase space features and wavelet coefficients. For frame-based features, hidden Markov models were used as classifiers and for word-based features, neural network was used. Results After Classifiers fusion with three methods: Majority Voting Rule, Linear Combination and Stacked fusion, the best classification rates were obtained using frame-based and word-based features with MVR rule (level 1:100%, level 2: 93.75%, level 3: 100%, level 4: 94%. Conclusions Result of this study may help speech pathologists follow up voice disorder recovery in children with cochlear implantation or hearing aid who are

  1. Optimal pitching axis location of flapping wings for efficient hovering flight.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Q; Goosen, J F L; van Keulen, F

    2017-09-01

    Flapping wings can pitch passively about their pitching axes due to their flexibility, inertia, and aerodynamic loads. A shift in the pitching axis location can dynamically alter the aerodynamic loads, which in turn changes the passive pitching motion and the flight efficiency. Therefore, it is of great interest to investigate the optimal pitching axis for flapping wings to maximize the power efficiency during hovering flight. In this study, flapping wings are modeled as rigid plates with non-uniform mass distribution. The wing flexibility is represented by a linearly torsional spring at the wing root. A predictive quasi-steady aerodynamic model is used to evaluate the lift generated by such wings. Two extreme power consumption scenarios are modeled for hovering flight, i.e. the power consumed by a drive system with and without the capacity of kinetic energy recovery. For wings with different shapes, the optimal pitching axis location is found such that the cycle-averaged power consumption during hovering flight is minimized. Optimization results show that the optimal pitching axis is located between the leading edge and the mid-chord line, which shows close resemblance to insect wings. An optimal pitching axis can save up to 33% of power during hovering flight when compared to traditional wings used by most of flapping wing micro air vehicles (FWMAVs). Traditional wings typically use the straight leading edge as the pitching axis. With the optimized pitching axis, flapping wings show higher pitching amplitudes and start the pitching reversals in advance of the sweeping reversals. These phenomena lead to higher lift-to-drag ratios and, thus, explain the lower power consumption. In addition, the optimized pitching axis provides the drive system higher potential to recycle energy during the deceleration phases as compared to their counterparts. This observation underlines the particular importance of the wing pitching axis location for energy-efficient FWMAVs when

  2. Long-term memory for pitch in six-month-old infants.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Plantinga, Judy; Trainor, Laurel J

    2003-11-01

    We examined 6-month-old infants' long-term memory representations for the pitch of familiar melodies. Infants remembered the relative pitch of the melodies, but the absolute pitch was either not remembered or not a particularly salient attribute.

  3. An investigation of spatial representation of pitch in individuals with congenital amusia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lu, Xuejing; Sun, Yanan; Thompson, William Forde

    2017-09-01

    Spatial representation of pitch plays a central role in auditory processing. However, it is unknown whether impaired auditory processing is associated with impaired pitch-space mapping. Experiment 1 examined spatial representation of pitch in individuals with congenital amusia using a stimulus-response compatibility (SRC) task. For amusic and non-amusic participants, pitch classification was faster and more accurate when correct responses involved a physical action that was spatially congruent with the pitch height of the stimulus than when it was incongruent. However, this spatial representation of pitch was not as stable in amusic individuals, revealed by slower response times when compared with control individuals. One explanation is that the SRC effect in amusics reflects a linguistic association, requiring additional time to link pitch height and spatial location. To test this possibility, Experiment 2 employed a colour-classification task. Participants judged colour while ignoring a concurrent pitch by pressing one of two response keys positioned vertically to be congruent or incongruent with the pitch. The association between pitch and space was found in both groups, with comparable response times in the two groups, suggesting that amusic individuals are only slower to respond to tasks involving explicit judgments of pitch.

  4. Pitch Angle Control for Variable Speed Wind Turbines

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mouna Ben Smida

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available Abstract.Pitch control is a practical technique for power regulation above the rated wind speed it is considered as the most efficient and popular power control method. As conventional pitch control usually use PI controller, the mathematical model of the system should be known well.This paper deals with the operation and the control of the direct driven permanent magnet synchronous generator (PMSG.Different conventional strategies of pitch angle control are described and validated through simulation results under Matlab\\Simulink.

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

    Science.gov (United States)

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

    2006-03-10

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

  6. A Computationally Efficient Method for Polyphonic Pitch Estimation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ruohua Zhou

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents a computationally efficient method for polyphonic pitch estimation. The method employs the Fast Resonator Time-Frequency Image (RTFI as the basic time-frequency analysis tool. The approach is composed of two main stages. First, a preliminary pitch estimation is obtained by means of a simple peak-picking procedure in the pitch energy spectrum. Such spectrum is calculated from the original RTFI energy spectrum according to harmonic grouping principles. Then the incorrect estimations are removed according to spectral irregularity and knowledge of the harmonic structures of the music notes played on commonly used music instruments. The new approach is compared with a variety of other frame-based polyphonic pitch estimation methods, and results demonstrate the high performance and computational efficiency of the approach.

  7. Voice Biometrics for Information Assurance Applications

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Kang, George

    2002-01-01

    .... The ultimate goal of voice biometrics is to enable the use of voice as a password. Voice biometrics are "man-in-the-loop" systems in which system performance is significantly dependent on human performance...

  8. Variable Pitch Darrieus Water Turbines

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kirke, Brian; Lazauskas, Leo

    In recent years the Darrieus wind turbine concept has been adapted for use in water, either as a hydrokinetic turbine converting the kinetic energy of a moving fluid in open flow like an underwater wind turbine, or in a low head or ducted arrangement where flow is confined, streamtube expansion is controlled and efficiency is not subject to the Betz limit. Conventional fixed pitch Darrieus turbines suffer from two drawbacks, (i) low starting torque and (ii) shaking due to cyclical variations in blade angle of attack. Ventilation and cavitation can also cause problems in water turbines when blade velocities are high. Shaking can be largely overcome by the use of helical blades, but these do not produce large starting torque. Variable pitch can produce high starting torque and high efficiency, and by suitable choice of pitch regime, shaking can be minimized but not entirely eliminated. Ventilation can be prevented by avoiding operation close to a free surface, and cavitation can be prevented by limiting blade velocities. This paper summarizes recent developments in Darrieus water turbines, some problems and some possible solutions.

  9. Subcortical plasticity following perceptual learning in a pitch discrimination task

    OpenAIRE

    Carcagno, Samuele; Plack, Christopher J.

    2011-01-01

    Practice can lead to dramatic improvements in the discrimination of auditory stimuli. In this study, we investigated changes of the frequency-following response (FFR), a subcortical component of the auditory evoked potentials, after a period of pitch discrimination training. Twenty-seven adult listeners were trained for 10 h on a pitch discrimination task using one of three different complex tone stimuli. One had a static pitch contour, one had a rising pitch contour, and one had a falling pi...

  10. 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.

  11. Analysis of failure of voice production by a sound-producing voice prosthesis

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van der Torn, M.; van Gogh, C.D.L.; Verdonck-de Leeuw, I M; Festen, J.M.; Mahieu, H.F.

    OBJECTIVE: To analyse the cause of failing voice production by a sound-producing voice prosthesis (SPVP). METHODS: The functioning of a prototype SPVP is described in a female laryngectomee before and after its sound-producing mechanism was impeded by tracheal phlegm. This assessment included:

  12. The relation of vocal fold lesions and voice quality to voice handicap and psychosomatic well-being

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Smits, R.; Marres, H.A.; de Jong, F.

    2012-01-01

    BACKGROUND: Voice disorders have a multifactorial genesis and may be present in various ways. They can cause a significant communication handicap and impaired quality of life. OBJECTIVE: To assess the effect of vocal fold lesions and voice quality on voice handicap and psychosomatic well-being.

  13. EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF FIRMWARE FOR INPUT AND EXTRACTION OF USER’S VOICE SIGNAL IN VOICE AUTHENTICATION SYSTEMS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    O. N. Faizulaieva

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available Scientific task for improving the signal-to-noise ratio for user’s voice signal in computer systems and networks during the process of user’s voice authentication is considered. The object of study is the process of input and extraction of the voice signal of authentication system user in computer systems and networks. Methods and means for input and extraction of the voice signal on the background of external interference signals are investigated. Ways for quality improving of the user’s voice signal in systems of voice authentication are investigated experimentally. Firmware means for experimental unit of input and extraction of the user’s voice signal against external interference influence are considered. As modern computer means, including mobile, have two-channel audio card, two microphones are used in the voice signal input. The distance between sonic-wave sensors is 20 mm and it provides forming one direction pattern lobe of microphone array in a desired area of voice signal registration (from 100 Hz to 8 kHz. According to the results of experimental studies, the usage of directional properties of the proposed microphone array and space-time processing of the recorded signals with implementation of constant and adaptive weighting factors has made it possible to reduce considerably the influence of interference signals. The results of firmware experimental studies for input and extraction of the user’s voice signal against external interference influence are shown. The proposed solutions will give the possibility to improve the value of the signal/noise ratio of the useful signals recorded up to 20 dB under the influence of external interference signals in the frequency range from 4 to 8 kHz. The results may be useful to specialists working in the field of voice recognition and speaker discrimination.

  14. Two LQRI based Blade Pitch Controls for Wind Turbines

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yoonsu Nam

    2012-06-01

    Full Text Available As the wind turbine size has been increasing and their mechanical components are built lighter, the reduction of the structural loads becomes a very important task of wind turbine control in addition to maximum wind power capture. In this paper, we present a separate set of collective and individual pitch control algorithms. Both pitch control algorithms use the LQR control technique with integral action (LQRI, and utilize Kalman filters to estimate system states and wind speed. Compared to previous works in this area, our pitch control algorithms can control rotor speed and blade bending moments at the same time to improve the trade-off between rotor speed regulation and load reduction, while both collective and individual pitch controls can be designed separately. Simulation results show that the proposed collective and individual pitch controllers achieve very good rotor speed regulation and significant reduction of blade bending moments.

  15. Children’s identification of familiar songs from pitch and timing cues

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anna eVolkova

    2014-08-01

    Full Text Available The goal of the present study was to ascertain whether children with normal hearing and prelingually deaf children with cochlear implants could use pitch or timing cues alone or in combination to identify familiar songs. Children 4-7 years of age were required to identify the theme songs of familiar TV shows in a simple task with excerpts that preserved (1 the relative pitch and timing cues of the melody but not the original instrumentation, (2 the timing cues only (rhythm, meter, and tempo, and (3 the relative pitch cues only (pitch contour and intervals. Children with normal hearing performed at high levels and comparably across the three conditions. The performance of child implant users was well above chance levels when both pitch and timing cues were available, marginally above chance with timing cues only, and at chance with pitch cues only. This is the first demonstration that children can identify familiar songs from monotonic versions—timing cues but no pitch cues—and from isochronous versions—pitch cues but no timing cues. The study also indicates that, in the context of a very simple task, young implant users readily identify songs from melodic versions that preserve pitch and timing cues.

  16. Pitch perception and production in congenital amusia: Evidence from Cantonese speakers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Fang; Chan, Alice H D; Ciocca, Valter; Roquet, Catherine; Peretz, Isabelle; Wong, Patrick C M

    2016-07-01

    This study investigated pitch perception and production in speech and music in individuals with congenital amusia (a disorder of musical pitch processing) who are native speakers of Cantonese, a tone language with a highly complex tonal system. Sixteen Cantonese-speaking congenital amusics and 16 controls performed a set of lexical tone perception, production, singing, and psychophysical pitch threshold tasks. Their tone production accuracy and singing proficiency were subsequently judged by independent listeners, and subjected to acoustic analyses. Relative to controls, amusics showed impaired discrimination of lexical tones in both speech and non-speech conditions. They also received lower ratings for singing proficiency, producing larger pitch interval deviations and making more pitch interval errors compared to controls. Demonstrating higher pitch direction identification thresholds than controls for both speech syllables and piano tones, amusics nevertheless produced native lexical tones with comparable pitch trajectories and intelligibility as controls. Significant correlations were found between pitch threshold and lexical tone perception, music perception and production, but not between lexical tone perception and production for amusics. These findings provide further evidence that congenital amusia is a domain-general language-independent pitch-processing deficit that is associated with severely impaired music perception and production, mildly impaired speech perception, and largely intact speech production.

  17. Pitch and time, tonality and meter: how do musical dimensions combine?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prince, Jon B; Thompson, William F; Schmuckler, Mark A

    2009-10-01

    The authors examined how the structural attributes of tonality and meter influence musical pitch-time relations. Listeners heard a musical context followed by probe events that varied in pitch class and temporal position. Tonal and metric hierarchies contributed additively to the goodness-of-fit of probes, with pitch class exerting a stronger influence than temporal position (Experiment 1), even when listeners attempted to ignore pitch (Experiment 2). Speeded classification tasks confirmed this asymmetry. Temporal classification was biased by tonal stability (Experiment 3), but pitch classification was unaffected by temporal position (Experiment 4). Experiments 5 and 6 ruled out explanations based on the presence of pitch classes and temporal positions in the context, unequal stimulus quantity, and discriminability. The authors discuss how typical Western music biases attention toward pitch and distinguish between dimensional discriminability and salience. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2009 APA, all rights reserved.

  18. Voice Onset Time in Azerbaijani Consonants

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ali Jahan

    2009-10-01

    Full Text Available Objective: Voice onset time is known to be cue for the distinction between voiced and voiceless stops and it can be used to describe or categorize a range of developmental, neuromotor and linguistic disorders. The aim of this study is determination of standard values of voice onset time for Azerbaijani language (Tabriz dialect. Materials & Methods: In this description-analytical study, 30 Azeris persons whom were selected conveniently by simple selection, uttered 46 monosyllabic words initiating with 6 Azerbaijani stops twice. Using Praat software, the voice onset time values were analyzed by waveform and wideband spectrogram in milliseconds. Vowel effect, sex differences and the effect of place of articulation on VOT, were evaluated and data were analyzed by one-way ANOVA test. Results: There was no significant difference in voice onset time between male and female Azeris speakers (P<0.05. Vowel and place of articulation had significant correlation with voice onset time (P<0.001. Voice onset time values for /b/, /p/, /d/, /t/, /g/, /k/, and [c], [ɟ] allophones were 10.64, 86.88, 13.35, 87.09, 26.25, 100.62, 131.19, 63.18 mili second, respectively. Conclusion: Voice onset time values are the same for Azerbaijani men and women. However, like many other languages, back and high vowels and back place of articulation lengthen VOT. Also, voiceless stops are aspirated in this language and voiced stops have positive VOT values.

  19. Does CPAP treatment affect the voice?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saylam, Güleser; Şahin, Mustafa; Demiral, Dilek; Bayır, Ömer; Yüceege, Melike Bağnu; Çadallı Tatar, Emel; Korkmaz, Mehmet Hakan

    2016-12-20

    The aim of this study was to investigate alterations in voice parameters among patients using continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) for the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome. Patients with an indication for CPAP treatment without any voice problems and with normal laryngeal findings were included and voice parameters were evaluated before and 1 and 6 months after CPAP. Videolaryngostroboscopic findings, a self-rated scale (Voice Handicap Index-10, VHI-10), perceptual voice quality assessment (GRBAS: grade, roughness, breathiness, asthenia, strain), and acoustic parameters were compared. Data from 70 subjects (48 men and 22 women) with a mean age of 44.2 ± 6.0 years were evaluated. When compared with the pre-CPAP treatment period, there was a significant increase in the VHI-10 score after 1 month of treatment and in VHI- 10 and total GRBAS scores, jitter percent (P = 0.01), shimmer percent, noise-to-harmonic ratio, and voice turbulence index after 6 months of treatment. Vague negative effects on voice parameters after the first month of CPAP treatment became more evident after 6 months. We demonstrated nonsevere alterations in the voice quality of patients under CPAP treatment. Given that CPAP is a long-term treatment it is important to keep these alterations in mind.

  20. Managing dysphonia in occupational voice users.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Behlau, Mara; Zambon, Fabiana; Madazio, Glaucya

    2014-06-01

    Recent advances with regard to occupational voice disorders are highlighted with emphasis on issues warranting consideration when assessing, training, and treating professional voice users. Findings include the many particularities between the various categories of professional voice users, the concept that the environment plays a major role in occupational voice disorders, and that biopsychosocial influences should be analyzed on an individual basis. Assessment via self-evaluation protocols to quantify the impact of these disorders is mandatory as a component of an evaluation and to document treatment outcomes. Discomfort or odynophonia has evolved as a critical symptom in this population. Clinical trials are limited and the complexity of the environment may be a limitation in experiment design. This review reinforced the need for large population studies of professional voice users; new data highlighted important factors specific to each group of voice users. Interventions directed at student teachers are necessities to not only improving the quality of future professionals, but also to avoid the frustration and limitations associated with chronic voice problems. The causative relationship between the work environment and voice disorders has not yet been established. Randomized controlled trials are lacking and must be a focus to enhance treatment paradigms for this population.

  1. Effects of harmonic roving on pitch discrimination

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Santurette, Sébastien; de Kérangal, Mathilde le Gal; Joshi, Suyash Narendra

    2015-01-01

    Performance in pitch discrimination tasks is limited by variability intrinsic to listeners which may arise from peripheral auditory coding limitations or more central noise sources. The present study aimed at quantifying such “internal noise” by estimating the amount of harmonic roving required...... to impair pitch discrimination performance. Fundamental-frequency difference limens (F0DLs) were obtained in normal-hearing listeners with and without musical training for complex tones filtered between 1.5 and 3.5 kHz with F0s of 300 Hz (resolved harmonics) and 75 Hz (unresolved harmonics). The harmonicity...... that could be used to quantify the internal noise and provide strong constraints for physiologically inspired models of pitch perception....

  2. Investors prefer entrepreneurial ventures pitched by attractive men.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brooks, Alison Wood; Huang, Laura; Kearney, Sarah Wood; Murray, Fiona E

    2014-03-25

    Entrepreneurship is a central path to job creation, economic growth, and prosperity. In the earliest stages of start-up business creation, the matching of entrepreneurial ventures to investors is critically important. The entrepreneur's business proposition and previous experience are regarded as the main criteria for investment decisions. Our research, however, documents other critical criteria that investors use to make these decisions: the gender and physical attractiveness of the entrepreneurs themselves. Across a field setting (three entrepreneurial pitch competitions in the United States) and two experiments, we identify a profound and consistent gender gap in entrepreneur persuasiveness. Investors prefer pitches presented by male entrepreneurs compared with pitches made by female entrepreneurs, even when the content of the pitch is the same. This effect is moderated by male physical attractiveness: attractive males were particularly persuasive, whereas physical attractiveness did not matter among female entrepreneurs.

  3. Epidemiology of Voice Disorders in Latvian School Teachers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Trinite, Baiba

    2017-07-01

    The prevalence of voice disorders in the teacher population in Latvia has not been studied so far and this is the first epidemiological study whose goal is to investigate the prevalence of voice disorders and their risk factors in this professional group. A wide cross-sectional study using stratified sampling methodology was implemented in the general education schools of Latvia. The self-administered voice risk factor questionnaire and the Voice Handicap Index were completed by 522 teachers. Two teachers groups were formed: the voice disorders group which included 235 teachers with actual voice problems or problems during the last 9 months; and the control group which included 174 teachers without voice disorders. Sixty-six percent of teachers gave a positive answer to the following question: Have you ever had problems with your voice? Voice problems are more often found in female than male teachers (68.2% vs 48.8%). Music teachers suffer from voice disorders more often than teachers of other subjects. Eighty-two percent of teachers first faced voice problems in their professional carrier. The odds of voice disorders increase if the following risk factors exist: extra vocal load, shouting, throat clearing, neglecting of personal health, background noise, chronic illnesses of the upper respiratory tract, allergy, job dissatisfaction, and regular stress in the working place. The study findings indicated a high risk of voice disorders among Latvian teachers. The study confirmed data concerning the multifactorial etiology of voice disorders. Copyright © 2017 The Voice Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  4. DIAGNOSIS OF PITCH AND LOAD DEFECTS

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    2009-01-01

    The invention relates to a method, system and computer readable code for diagnosis of pitch and/or load defects of e.g. wind turbines as well as wind turbines using said diagnosis method and/or comprising said diagnosis system.......The invention relates to a method, system and computer readable code for diagnosis of pitch and/or load defects of e.g. wind turbines as well as wind turbines using said diagnosis method and/or comprising said diagnosis system....

  5. Shoulder and Scapular Kinematics during the Windmill Softball Pitch

    OpenAIRE

    Backus, Sherry I.; Kraszewski, Andrew; Kontaxis, Andreas; Gibbons, Mandi; Bido, Jennifer; Graziano, Jessica; Hafer, Jocelyn; Jones, Kristofer J.; Hillstrom, Howard; Fealy, Stephen

    2013-01-01

    Objectives: Pitch count has been studied extensively in the overhand throwing athlete. However, pitch count and fatigue have not been systematically evaluated in the female windmill (underhand) throwing athlete. Direct kinematic measurements of the glenohumeral and scapulo-thoracic joint have not to be correlated and determined. The purpose is to measure scapular kinematics for the high school female windmill softball pitcher and identify kinematic adaptions and changes in pitching performanc...

  6. Identifying hidden voice and video streams

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fan, Jieyan; Wu, Dapeng; Nucci, Antonio; Keralapura, Ram; Gao, Lixin

    2009-04-01

    Given the rising popularity of voice and video services over the Internet, accurately identifying voice and video traffic that traverse their networks has become a critical task for Internet service providers (ISPs). As the number of proprietary applications that deliver voice and video services to end users increases over time, the search for the one methodology that can accurately detect such services while being application independent still remains open. This problem becomes even more complicated when voice and video service providers like Skype, Microsoft, and Google bundle their voice and video services with other services like file transfer and chat. For example, a bundled Skype session can contain both voice stream and file transfer stream in the same layer-3/layer-4 flow. In this context, traditional techniques to identify voice and video streams do not work. In this paper, we propose a novel self-learning classifier, called VVS-I , that detects the presence of voice and video streams in flows with minimum manual intervention. Our classifier works in two phases: training phase and detection phase. In the training phase, VVS-I first extracts the relevant features, and subsequently constructs a fingerprint of a flow using the power spectral density (PSD) analysis. In the detection phase, it compares the fingerprint of a flow to the existing fingerprints learned during the training phase, and subsequently classifies the flow. Our classifier is not only capable of detecting voice and video streams that are hidden in different flows, but is also capable of detecting different applications (like Skype, MSN, etc.) that generate these voice/video streams. We show that our classifier can achieve close to 100% detection rate while keeping the false positive rate to less that 1%.

  7. Optical voice encryption based on digital holography.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rajput, Sudheesh K; Matoba, Osamu

    2017-11-15

    We propose an optical voice encryption scheme based on digital holography (DH). An off-axis DH is employed to acquire voice information by obtaining phase retardation occurring in the object wave due to sound wave propagation. The acquired hologram, including voice information, is encrypted using optical image encryption. The DH reconstruction and decryption with all the correct parameters can retrieve an original voice. The scheme has the capability to record the human voice in holograms and encrypt it directly. These aspects make the scheme suitable for other security applications and help to use the voice as a potential security tool. We present experimental and some part of simulation results.

  8. Performance of Phonatory Deviation Diagrams in Synthesized Voice Analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lopes, Leonardo Wanderley; da Silva, Karoline Evangelista; da Silva Evangelista, Deyverson; Almeida, Anna Alice; Silva, Priscila Oliveira Costa; Lucero, Jorge; Behlau, Mara

    2018-05-02

    To analyze the performance of a phonatory deviation diagram (PDD) in discriminating the presence and severity of voice deviation and the predominant voice quality of synthesized voices. A speech-language pathologist performed the auditory-perceptual analysis of the synthesized voice (n = 871). The PDD distribution of voice signals was analyzed according to area, quadrant, shape, and density. Differences in signal distribution regarding the PDD area and quadrant were detected when differentiating the signals with and without voice deviation and with different predominant voice quality. Differences in signal distribution were found in all PDD parameters as a function of the severity of voice disorder. The PDD area and quadrant can differentiate normal voices from deviant synthesized voices. There are differences in signal distribution in PDD area and quadrant as a function of the severity of voice disorder and the predominant voice quality. However, the PDD area and quadrant do not differentiate the signals as a function of severity of voice disorder and differentiated only the breathy and rough voices from the normal and strained voices. PDD density is able to differentiate only signals with moderate and severe deviation. PDD shape shows differences between signals with different severities of voice deviation. © 2018 S. Karger AG, Basel.

  9. Occupational risk factors and voice disorders.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vilkman, E

    1996-01-01

    From the point of view of occupational health, the field of voice disorders is very poorly developed as compared, for instance, to the prevention and diagnostics of occupational hearing disorders. In fact, voice disorders have not even been recognized in the field of occupational medicine. Hence, it is obviously very rare in most countries that the voice disorder of a professional voice user, e.g. a teacher, a singer or an actor, is accepted as an occupational disease by insurance companies. However, occupational voice problems do not lack significance from the point of view of the patient. We also know from questionnaires and clinical studies that voice complaints are very common. Another example of job-related health problems, which has proved more successful in terms of its occupational health status, is the repetition strain injury of the elbow, i.e. the "tennis elbow". Its textbook definition could be used as such to describe an occupational voice disorder ("dysphonia professional is"). In the present paper the effects of such risk factors as vocal loading itself, background noise and room acoustics and low relative humidity of the air are discussed. Due to individual factors underlying the development of professional voice disorders, recommendations rather than regulations are called for. There are many simple and even relatively low-cost methods available for the prevention of vocal problems as well as for supporting rehabilitation.

  10. Pitch Angle Control for Variable Speed Wind Turbines

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Chen, Zhe; Zhang, Jianzhong; Cheng, M

    2008-01-01

    Pitch angle control is the most common means for adjusting the aerodynamic torque of the wind turbine when wind speed is above rated speed and various controlling variables may be chosen, such as wind speed, generator speed and generator power. As conventional pitch control usually use PI...... controller, the mathematical model of the system should be known well. A fuzzy logic pitch angle controller is developed in this paper, in which it does not need well known about the system and the mean wind speed is used to compensate the non-linear sensitivity. The fuzzy logic control strategy may have...... the potential when the system contains strong non-linearity, such as wind turbulence is strong, or the control objectives include fatigue loads. The design of the fuzzy logic controller and the comparisons with conversional pitch angle control strategies with various controlling variables are carried out...

  11. Development of comprehensive unattended child warning and feedback system in vehicle

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sulaiman Norizam

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The cases of children being trapped and suffocated in unattended vehicle keep increasing even though the awareness campaign on the safety of children in non-moving vehicle were carried out by government. Various methods were introduced by researchers to overcome this issue but yet to be effective. Among them were the usage of capacitive sensor, microwave sensor, pressure sensor and image sensor where most of the techniques or systems were applied on the child’s seat to detect the presence of baby or infant. Thus, this research is carried out to provide a comprehensive and effective detection system to detect the presence of children including infant in unattended vehicle by using the combination of human physiological signals (voice and body odor detectors with the temperature and motion sensors. Here, once the proposed system recognizes any signals that generated from voice, odor, motion and temperature detectors in vehicle’s cabin, the system then will provide effective feedback system by sending short message to the parents first. If no response received in the specified allocation time, the system then will activate the vehicle’s horn system. Finally, the system will lower down the vehicle’s window to release the toxic gas and reduce the cabin temperature. The system is in prototyping stage where every design component was evaluated individually. Besides, the overall system was successfully tested where the detection and feedback system follow the instruction given by the microcontroller.

  12. Voice Response Systems Technology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gerald, Jeanette

    1984-01-01

    Examines two methods of generating synthetic speech in voice response systems, which allow computers to communicate in human terms (speech), using human interface devices (ears): phoneme and reconstructed voice systems. Considerations prior to implementation, current and potential applications, glossary, directory, and introduction to Input Output…

  13. Anomalous capillary flow of coal tar pitches

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Saint Romain, J.L.; Lahaye, J.; Ehrburger, P.; Couderc, P.

    1986-06-01

    Capillary flow of liquid coal tar pitch into a coke bed was studied. Anomalies in the flow could not be attributed to a plugging effect for mesophase content lower than 20 wt%. The flow behaviour of small pitch droplets can be correlated with the change in physicochemical properties, as measured by the glass transition temperature, on penetration into the coke bed. 4 references.

  14. Detection and identification of monaural and binaural pitch contours in dyslexic listeners

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Santurette, Sébastien; Dau, Torsten; Poelmans, Hanne

    2010-01-01

    found that a majority of dyslexic subjects were unable to hear binaural pitch, the latter obtained a clear response of dyslexic listeners to Huggins’ pitch (HP) (Cramer and Huggins, 1958). The present study clarified whether impaired binaural pitch perception is found in dyslexia. Results from a pitch...

  15. Neural mechanisms underlying melodic perception and memory for pitch.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zatorre, R J; Evans, A C; Meyer, E

    1994-04-01

    The neural correlates of music perception were studied by measuring cerebral blood flow (CBF) changes with positron emission tomography (PET). Twelve volunteers were scanned using the bolus water method under four separate conditions: (1) listening to a sequence of noise bursts, (2) listening to unfamiliar tonal melodies, (3) comparing the pitch of the first two notes of the same set of melodies, and (4) comparing the pitch of the first and last notes of the melodies. The latter two conditions were designed to investigate short-term pitch retention under low or high memory load, respectively. Subtraction of the obtained PET images, superimposed on matched MRI scans, provides anatomical localization of CBF changes associated with specific cognitive functions. Listening to melodies, relative to acoustically matched noise sequences, resulted in CBF increases in the right superior temporal and right occipital cortices. Pitch judgments of the first two notes of each melody, relative to passive listening to the same stimuli, resulted in right frontal-lobe activation. Analysis of the high memory load condition relative to passive listening revealed the participation of a number of cortical and subcortical regions, notably in the right frontal and right temporal lobes, as well as in parietal and insular cortex. Both pitch judgment conditions also revealed CBF decreases within the left primary auditory cortex. We conclude that specialized neural systems in the right superior temporal cortex participate in perceptual analysis of melodies; pitch comparisons are effected via a neural network that includes right prefrontal cortex, but active retention of pitch involves the interaction of right temporal and frontal cortices.

  16. Absolute pitch: a case study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vernon, P E

    1977-11-01

    The auditory skill known as 'absolute pitch' is discussed, and it is shown that this differs greatly in accuracy of identification or reproduction of musical tones from ordinary discrimination of 'tonal height' which is to some extent trainable. The present writer possessed absolute pitch for almost any tone or chord over the normal musical range, from about the age of 17 to 52. He then started to hear all music one semitone too high, and now at the age of 71 it is heard a full tone above the true pitch. Tests were carried out under controlled conditions, in which 68 to 95 per cent of notes were identified as one semitone or one tone higher than they should be. Changes with ageing seem more likely to occur in the elasticity of the basilar membrane mechanisms than in the long-term memory which is used for aural analysis of complex sounds. Thus this experience supports the view that some resolution of complex sounds takes place at the peripheral sense organ, and this provides information which can be incorrect, for interpretation by the cortical centres.

  17. Changes after voice therapy in objective and subjective voice measurements of pediatric patients with vocal nodules.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tezcaner, Ciler Zahide; Karatayli Ozgursoy, Selmin; Ozgursoy, Selmin Karatayli; Sati, Isil; Dursun, Gursel

    2009-12-01

    The aim of this study was to analyze the efficiency of the voice therapy in children with vocal nodules by using the acoustic analysis and subjective assessment. Thirty-nine patients with vocal fold nodules, aged between 7 and 14, were included in the study. Each subject had voice therapy led by an experienced voice therapist once a week. All diagnostic and follow-up workouts were performed before the voice therapy and after the third or the sixth month. Transoral and/or transnasal videostroboscopic examination and acoustic analysis were achieved using multi-dimensional voice program (MDVP) and subjective analysis with GRBAS scale. As for the perceptual assessment, the difference was significant for four parameters out of five. A significant improvement was found in the acoustic analysis parameters of jitter, shimmer, and noise-to-harmonic ratio. The voice therapy which was planned according to patients' needs, age, compliance and response to therapy had positive effects on pediatric patients with vocal nodules. Acoustic analysis and GRBAS may be used successfully in the follow-up of pediatric vocal nodule treatment.

  18. The intensity-pitch relation revisited: monopolar versus bipolar cochlear stimulation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arnoldner, Christoph; Riss, Dominik; Kaider, Alexandra; Mair, Alois; Wagenblast, Jens; Baumgartner, Wolf-Dieter; Gstöttner, Wolfgang; Hamzavi, Jafar-Sasan

    2008-09-01

    The very high speech perception scores now being achieved with cochlear implants have led to demands for similar levels of achievement in music perception and perception in noisy environments. One of the crucial factors in these fields is pitch perception. The aim of the present study was to investigate the extent to which pitch perception is influenced by the intensity of the stimulus, through the use of different stimulation modes (monopolar, bipolar) and different electrodes (lateral and perimodiolar). Sixteen postlingually deafened patients with an average implant use of 3.1 years were included in this study. All patients were using a Cochlear (CI24M, CI24R, CI24RE) cochlear implant. Subjects were asked to compare the pitch of an intensity-constant reference tone with the pitch of a test tone of varying intensity. The test was repeated for apical, mediocochlear, and basal channel locations, and also for monopolar and bipolar stimulation. It was found that in monopolar stimulation 87.5% and in bipolar stimulation 85.7% of the patients perceived a clear pitch change with changing intensity of the stimulus (Spearman correlation coefficients r 0.3, respectively). A total of 73.1% of these patients perceived lower pitches with increasing intensity, 26.9% reported the opposite effect. No statistically significant difference in the intensity-pitch correlation could be found between mono- and bipolar stimulation. Neither the mean dynamic range nor the type of electrode used was found to be related to the correlation coefficient. Although the majority of today's cochlear implant recipients perform well and the intensity-pitch relation in cochlear implant recipients is still poorly understood, rising demands on speech-coding strategies may soon make a compensation of the pitch shifts desirable. Although the results of our study tend to argue against a peripheral mechanism, the exact origin of this phenomenon remains unclear.

  19. Playful Interaction with Voice Sensing Modular Robots

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Heesche, Bjarke; MacDonald, Ewen; Fogh, Rune

    2013-01-01

    This paper describes a voice sensor, suitable for modular robotic systems, which estimates the energy and fundamental frequency, F0, of the user’s voice. Through a number of example applications and tests with children, we observe how the voice sensor facilitates playful interaction between child...... children and two different robot configurations. In future work, we will investigate if such a system can motivate children to improve voice control and explore how to extend the sensor to detect emotions in the user’s voice....

  20. Objective Voice Parameters in Colombian School Workers with Healthy Voices

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lady Catherine Cantor Cutiva

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available Objectives: To characterize the objective voice parameters among school workers, and to identi­fy associated factors of three objective voice parameters, namely fundamental frequency, sound pressure level and maximum phonation time. Materials and methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study among 116 Colombian teachers and 20 Colombian non-teachers. After signing the informed consent form, participants filled out a questionnaire. Then, a voice sample was recorded and evaluated perceptually by a speech therapist and by objective voice analysis with praat software. Short-term environmental measurements of sound level, temperature, humi­dity, and reverberation time were conducted during visits at the workplaces, such as classrooms and offices. Linear regression analysis was used to determine associations between individual and work-related factors and objective voice parameters. Results: Compared with men, women had higher fundamental frequency (201 Hz for teachers and 209 for non-teachers vs. 120 Hz for teachers and 127 for non-teachers and sound pressure level (82 dB vs. 80 dB, and shorter maximum phonation time (around 14 seconds vs. around 16 seconds. Female teachers younger than 50 years of age evidenced a significant tendency to speak with lower fundamental frequen­cy and shorter mpt compared with female teachers older than 50 years of age. Female teachers had significantly higher fundamental frequency (66 Hz, higher sound pressure level (2 dB and short phonation time (2 seconds than male teachers. Conclusion: Female teachers younger than 50 years of age had significantly lower F0 and shorter mpt compared with those older than 50 years of age. The multivariate analysis showed that gender was a much more important determinant of variations in F0, spl and mpt than age and teaching occupation. Objectively measured temperature also contributed to the changes on spl among school workers.

  1. Dynamics of fluidic devices with applications to rotor pitch links

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scarborough, Lloyd H., III

    Coupling a Fluidic Flexible Matrix Composite (F2MC) to an air-pressurized fluid port produces a fundamentally new class of tunable vibration isolator. This fluidlastic device provides significant vibration reduction at an isolation frequency that can be tuned over a broad frequency range. The material properties and geometry of the F2MC element, as well as the port inertance, determine the isolation frequency. A unique feature of this device is that the port inertance depends on pressure so the isolation frequency can be adjusted by changing the air pressure. For constant port inertance, the isolation frequency is largely independent of the isolated mass so the device is robust to changes in load. A nonlinear model is developed to predict isolator length and port inertance. The model is linearized and the frequency response calculated. Experiments agree with theory, demonstrating a tunable isolation range from 9 Hz to 36 Hz and transmitted force reductions of up to 60 dB at the isolation frequency. Replacing rigid pitch links on rotorcraft with coupled fluidic devices has the potential to reduce the aerodynamic blade loads transmitted through the pitch links to the swashplate. Analytical models of two fluidic devices coupled with three different fluidic circuits are derived. These passive fluidlastic systems are tuned, by varying the fluid inertances and capacitances of each fluidic circuit, to reduce the transmitted pitch-link loads. The different circuit designs result in transmitted pitch link loads reduction at up to three main rotor harmonics. The simulation results show loads reduction at the targeted out-of-phase and in-phase harmonics of up to 88% and 93%, respectively. Experimental validation of two of the fluidic circuits demonstrates loads reduction of up to 89% at the out-of-phase isolation frequencies and up to 81% at the in-phase isolation frequencies. Replacing rigid pitch links on rotorcraft with fluidic pitch links changes the blade torsional

  2. Human vocal attractiveness as signaled by body size projection.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yi Xu

    Full Text Available Voice, as a secondary sexual characteristic, is known to affect the perceived attractiveness of human individuals. But the underlying mechanism of vocal attractiveness has remained unclear. Here, we presented human listeners with acoustically altered natural sentences and fully synthetic sentences with systematically manipulated pitch, formants and voice quality based on a principle of body size projection reported for animal calls and emotional human vocal expressions. The results show that male listeners preferred a female voice that signals a small body size, with relatively high pitch, wide formant dispersion and breathy voice, while female listeners preferred a male voice that signals a large body size with low pitch and narrow formant dispersion. Interestingly, however, male vocal attractiveness was also enhanced by breathiness, which presumably softened the aggressiveness associated with a large body size. These results, together with the additional finding that the same vocal dimensions also affect emotion judgment, indicate that humans still employ a vocal interaction strategy used in animal calls despite the development of complex language.

  3. Relationship between noise, dose, and pitch in cardiac multi-detector row CT.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Primak, Andrew N; McCollough, Cynthia H; Bruesewitz, Michael R; Zhang, Jie; Fletcher, Joel G

    2006-01-01

    In spiral computed tomography (CT), dose is always inversely proportional to pitch. However, the relationship between noise and pitch (and hence noise and dose) depends on the scanner type (single vs multi-detector row) and reconstruction mode (cardiac vs noncardiac). In single detector row spiral CT, noise is independent of pitch. Conversely, in noncardiac multi-detector row CT, noise depends on pitch because the spiral interpolation algorithm makes use of redundant data from different detector rows to decrease noise for pitch values less than 1 (and increase noise for pitch values > 1). However, in cardiac spiral CT, redundant data cannot be used because such data averaging would degrade the temporal resolution. Therefore, the behavior of noise versus pitch returns to the single detector row paradigm, with noise being independent of pitch. Consequently, since faster rotation times require lower pitch values in cardiac multi-detector row CT, dose is increased without a commensurate decrease in noise. Thus, the use of faster rotation times will improve temporal resolution, not alter noise, and increase dose. For a particular application, the higher dose resulting from faster rotation speeds should be justified by the clinical benefits of the improved temporal resolution. RSNA, 2006

  4. Lower extremity muscle activation during baseball pitching.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Campbell, Brian M; Stodden, David F; Nixon, Megan K

    2010-04-01

    The purpose of this study was to investigate muscle activation levels of select lower extremity muscles during the pitching motion. Bilateral surface electromyography data on 5 lower extremity muscles (biceps femoris, rectus femoris, gluteus maximus, vastus medialis, and gastrocnemius) were collected on 11 highly skilled baseball pitchers and compared with individual maximal voluntary isometric contraction (MVIC) data. The pitching motion was divided into 4 distinct phases: phase 1, initiation of pitching motion to maximum stride leg knee height; phase 2, maximum stride leg knee height to stride foot contact (SFC); phase 3, SFC to ball release; and phase 4, ball release to 0.5 seconds after ball release (follow-through). Results indicated that trail leg musculature elicited moderate to high activity levels during phases 2 and 3 (38-172% of MVIC). Muscle activity levels of the stride leg were moderate to high during phases 2-4 (23-170% of MVIC). These data indicate a high demand for lower extremity strength and endurance. Specifically, coaches should incorporate unilateral and bilateral lower extremity exercises for strength improvement or maintenance and to facilitate dynamic stabilization of the lower extremities during the pitching motion.

  5. Voice Quality Estimation in Wireless Networks

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Petr Zach

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available This article deals with the impact of Wireless (Wi-Fi networks on the perceived quality of voice services. The Quality of Service (QoS metrics must be monitored in the computer network during the voice data transmission to ensure proper voice service quality the end-user has paid for, especially in the wireless networks. In addition to the QoS, research area called Quality of Experience (QoE provides metrics and methods for quality evaluation from the end-user’s perspective. This article focuses on a QoE estimation of Voice over IP (VoIP calls in the wireless networks using network simulator. Results contribute to voice quality estimation based on characteristics of the wireless network and location of a wireless client.

  6. Series pid pitch controller of large wind turbines generator

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Micić Aleksandar D.

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available For this stable process with oscillatory dynamics, characterized with small damping ratio and dominant transport delay, design of the series PID pitch controller is based on the model obtained from the open-loop process step response, filtered with the second-order Butterworth filter Fbw. Performance of the series PID pitch controller, with the filter Fbw, is analyzed by simulations of the set-point and input/output disturbance responses, including simulations with a colored noise added to the control variable. Excellent performance/robustness tradeoff is obtained, compared to the recently proposed PI pitch controllers and to the modified internal model pitch controller, developed here, which has a natural mechanism to compensate effect of dominant transport delay. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. III 47016

  7. Determination of pitch rotation in a spherical birefringent microparticle

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roy, Basudev; Ramaiya, Avin; Schäffer, Erik

    2018-03-01

    Rotational motion of a three dimensional spherical microscopic object can happen either in pitch, yaw or roll fashion. Among these, the yaw motion has been conventionally studied using the intensity of scattered light from birefringent microspheres through crossed polarizers. Up until now, however, there is no way to study the pitch motion in spherical microspheres. Here, we suggest a new method to study the pitch motion of birefringent microspheres under crossed polarizers by measuring the 2-fold asymmetry in the scattered signal either using video microscopy or with optical tweezers. We show a couple of simple examples of pitch rotation determination using video microscopy for a microsphere attached with a kinesin molecule while moving along a microtubule and of a particle diffusing freely in water.

  8. The Influence of Sleep Disorders on Voice Quality.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rocha, Bruna Rainho; Behlau, Mara

    2017-09-19

    To verify the influence of sleep quality on the voice. Descriptive and analytical cross-sectional study. Data were collected by an online or printed survey divided in three parts: (1) demographic data and vocal health aspects; (2) self-assessment of sleep and vocal quality, and the influence that sleep has on voice; and (3) sleep and voice self-assessment inventories-the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS), the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), and the Voice Handicap Index reduced version (VHI-10). A total of 862 people were included (493 women, 369 men), with a mean age of 32 years old (maximum age of 79 and minimum age of 18 years old). The perception of the influence that sleep has on voice showed a difference (P influence a voice handicap are vocal self-assessment, ESS total score, and self-assessment of the influence that sleep has on voice. The absence of daytime sleepiness is a protective factor (odds ratio [OR] > 1) against perceived voice handicap; the presence of daytime sleepiness is a damaging factor (OR influences voice. Perceived poor sleep quality is related to perceived poor vocal quality. Individuals with a voice handicap observe a greater influence of sleep on voice than those without. Copyright © 2017 The Voice Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  9. 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.

  10. Calculation and characteristics analysis of blade pitch loads for large scale wind turbines

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    2010-01-01

    Based on the electric pitch system of large scale horizontal-axis wind turbines,the blade pitch loads coming mainly from centrifugal force,aerodynamic force and gravity are analyzed,and the calculation models for them are established in this paper.For illustration,a 1.2 MW wind turbine is introduced as a practical sample,and its blade pitch loads from centrifugal force,aerodynamic force and gravity are calculated and analyzed separately and synthetically.The research results showed that in the process of rotor rotating 360o,the fluctuation of blade pitch loads is similar to cosine curve when the rotor rotational speed,in-flow wind speed and pitch angle are constant.Furthermore,the amplitude of blade pitch load presents quite a difference at a different pitch angle.The ways of calculation for blade pitch loads are of the universality,and are helpful for further research of the individual pitch control system.

  11. Shoulder joint velocity during fastball pitching in baseball

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Gasparutto, X.; van der Graaff, E; van der Helm, F.C.T.; Veeger, H.E.J.; Colloud, F.; Domalain, M.; Monnet, T.

    2015-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to assess the rotation and translation velocity of the shoulder complex during fastball pitching in baseball. 8 pitchers from the Dutch AAA team performed each 3 fastball pitches. Their motion was recorded by an opto-electronic device. Kinematic computation was

  12. The Sound of Voice: Voice-Based Categorization of Speakers' Sexual Orientation within and across Languages.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Simone Sulpizio

    Full Text Available Empirical research had initially shown that English listeners are able to identify the speakers' sexual orientation based on voice cues alone. However, the accuracy of this voice-based categorization, as well as its generalizability to other languages (language-dependency and to non-native speakers (language-specificity, has been questioned recently. Consequently, we address these open issues in 5 experiments: First, we tested whether Italian and German listeners are able to correctly identify sexual orientation of same-language male speakers. Then, participants of both nationalities listened to voice samples and rated the sexual orientation of both Italian and German male speakers. We found that listeners were unable to identify the speakers' sexual orientation correctly. However, speakers were consistently categorized as either heterosexual or gay on the basis of how they sounded. Moreover, a similar pattern of results emerged when listeners judged the sexual orientation of speakers of their own and of the foreign language. Overall, this research suggests that voice-based categorization of sexual orientation reflects the listeners' expectations of how gay voices sound rather than being an accurate detector of the speakers' actual sexual identity. Results are discussed with regard to accuracy, acoustic features of voices, language dependency and language specificity.

  13. The Acoustic Correlates of Breathy Voice: a Study of Source-Vowel INTERACTION{00}{00}{00}{00}{00}{00}{00} {00}{00}{00}{00}{00}{00}{00}{00}{00}{00}{00}{00}{00}{00} {00}{00}{00}{00}{00}{00}{00}{00}{00}{00}{00}{00}{00}{00} {00}{00}{00}{00}{00}{00}{00}{00}{00}{00}{00}{00}{00}{00}.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lin, Yeong-Fen Emily

    This thesis is the result of an investigation of the source-vowel interaction from the point of view of perception. Major objectives include the identification of the acoustic correlates of breathy voice and the disclosure of the interdependent relationship between the perception of vowel identity and breathiness. Two experiments were conducted to achieve these objectives. In the first experiment, voice samples from one control group and seven patient groups were compared. The control group consisted of five female and five male adults. The ten normals were recruited to perform a sustained vowel phonation task with constant pitch and loudness. The voice samples of seventy patients were retrieved from a hospital data base, with vowels extracted from sentences repeated by patients at their habitual pitch and loudness. The seven patient groups were divided, based on a unique combination of patients' measures on mean flow rate and glottal resistance. Eighteen acoustic variables were treated with a three-way (Gender x Group x Vowel) ANOVA. Parameters showing a significant female-male difference as well as group differences, especially those between the presumed breathy group and the other groups, were identified as relevant to the distinction of breathy voice. As a result, F1-F3 amplitude difference and slope were found to be most effective in distinguishing breathy voice. Other acoustic correlates of breathy voice included F1 bandwidth, RMS-H1 amplitude difference, and F1-F2 amplitude difference and slope. In the second experiment, a formant synthesizer was used to generate vowel stimuli with varying spectral tilt and F1 bandwidth. Thirteen native American English speakers made dissimilarity judgements on paired stimuli in terms of vowel identity and breathiness. Listeners' perceptual vowel spaces were found to be affected by changes in the acoustic correlates of breathy voice. The threshold of detecting a change of vocal quality in the breathiness domain was also

  14. [Diagnostics and therapy in professional voice-users].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Richter, B; Echternach, M

    2010-04-01

    Voice is one of the most important instruments for expression and communication in humans. Dysphonia remains very frequent. Generally people in voice-intensive professions, such as teachers, call center employees, singers and actors suffer from these complaints. In recent years methods have been developed which facilitate appropriate diagnosis and therapy, based on the criteria of evidence based medicine, in voice patients appropriate to their degree of disease. The basic protocol of the European Laryngological Society offers a standardized evaluation of multidimensional voice parameters. In our own patient collective there were statistically significant improvements in voice quality, according to a pre/post mean value comparison, in both phonomicrosurgical (n=45) and voice therapy (n=30) patients in relation to RBH, DSI and VHI.

  15. Analysis of pitch system data for condition monitoring

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nielsen, Jannie Sønderkær; van de Pieterman, René P.; Sørensen, John Dalsgaard

    2014-01-01

    with a theoretical model based on aeroelastic simulations. The blade moment is found to have only minor influence on the friction in the blade bearing. The main factors affecting the static friction are the temperature and time after the latest pitch movement. Pitch motor current and torque are proportional...

  16. The effect of pitch in multislice spiral/helical CT

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang, G.; Vannier, M.W.

    2000-01-01

    The purpose of this study is to understand the effect of pitch on raw data interpolation in multislice spiral/helical computed tomography (CT) and provide guidelines for scanner design and protocol optimization. Multislice spiral CT is mainly characterized by the three parameters: the number of detector arrays, the detector collimation, and the table increment per x-ray source rotation. The pitch in multislice spiral CT is defined as the ratio of the table increment over the detector collimation in this study. In parallel to the current framework for studying longitudinal image resolution, the central fan-beam rays of direct and opposite directions are considered, assuming a narrow cone-beam angle. Generally speaking, sampling in the Radon domain by the direct and opposite central rays is nonuniform along the longitudinal axis. Using a recently developed methodology for quantifying the sensibility of signal reconstruction from non-uniformly sampled finite points, the effect of pitch on raw data interpolation is analyzed in multislice spiral CT. Unlike single-slice spiral CT, in which image quality decreases monotonically as the pitch increases, the sensibility of raw data interpolation in multislice spiral CT increases, suggesting that image quality does not decrease monotonically in this case. The most favorable pitch can be found from the sensitivity-slice spiral CT is provided. The study on the effect of pitch using the sensitivity analysis approach reveals the fundamental characteristics of raw data interpolation in multislice spiral CT, and gives insights into interaction between pitch and image quality. These results may be valuable for design of multislice spiral CT scanners and imaging protocol optimization in clinical applications. (authors)

  17. [Design of standard voice sample text for subjective auditory perceptual evaluation of voice disorders].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Jin-rang; Sun, Yan-yan; Xu, Wen

    2010-09-01

    To design a speech voice sample text with all phonemes in Mandarin for subjective auditory perceptual evaluation of voice disorders. The principles for design of a speech voice sample text are: The short text should include the 21 initials and 39 finals, this may cover all the phonemes in Mandarin. Also, the short text should have some meanings. A short text was made out. It had 155 Chinese words, and included 21 initials and 38 finals (the final, ê, was not included because it was rarely used in Mandarin). Also, the text covered 17 light tones and one "Erhua". The constituent ratios of the initials and finals presented in this short text were statistically similar as those in Mandarin according to the method of similarity of the sample and population (r = 0.742, P text were statistically not similar as those in Mandarin (r = 0.731, P > 0.05). A speech voice sample text with all phonemes in Mandarin was made out. The constituent ratios of the initials and finals presented in this short text are similar as those in Mandarin. Its value for subjective auditory perceptual evaluation of voice disorders need further study.

  18. Voice pedagogy-what do we need?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gill, Brian P; Herbst, Christian T

    2016-12-01

    The final keynote panel of the 10th Pan-European Voice Conference (PEVOC) was concerned with the topic 'Voice pedagogy-what do we need?' In this communication the panel discussion is summarized, and the authors provide a deepening discussion on one of the key questions, addressing the roles and tasks of people working with voice students. In particular, a distinction is made between (1) voice building (derived from the German term 'Stimmbildung'), primarily comprising the functional and physiological aspects of singing; (2) coaching, mostly concerned with performance skills; and (3) singing voice rehabilitation. Both public and private educators are encouraged to apply this distinction to their curricula, in order to arrive at more efficient singing teaching and to reduce the risk of vocal injury to the singers concerned.

  19. Effect of subthalamic stimulation on voice and speech in Parkinson´s disease: for the better or worse ?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sabine eSkodda

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Background: Deep brain stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus, although highly effective for the treatment of motor impairment in Parkinson´s disease, can induce speech deterioration in a subgroup of patients. The aim of the current study was to survey 1 if there are distinctive stimulation effects on the different parameters of voice and speech and 2 if there is a special pattern of preexisting speech abnormalities indicating a risk for further worsening under stimulation. Methods: N = 38 patients with Parkinson´s disease had to perform a speech test without medication with stimulation ON and OFF. Speech samples were analysed: 1 according to a four-dimensional perceptual speech score and 2 by acoustic analysis to obtain quantifiable measures of distinctive speech parameters.Results: Quality of voice was ameliorated with stimulation ON, and there were trends to increased loudness and better pitch variability. N = 8 patients featured a deterioration of speech with stimulation ON, caused by worsening of articulation or/and fluency. These patients had more severe overall speech impairment with characteristic features of articulatory slurring and articulatory acceleration already under StimOFF condition.Conclusion: The influence of subthalamic stimulation on Parkinsonian speech differs considerably between individual patients, however, there is a trend to amelioration of voice quality and prosody. Patients with stimulation-associated speech deterioration featured higher overall speech impairment and showed a distinctive pattern of articulatory abnormalities at baseline. Further investigations to confirm these preliminary findings are necessary to allow neurologists to pre-surgically estimate the individual risk of deterioration of speech under stimulation.

  20. Analyzing the mediated voice - a datasession

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lawaetz, Anna

    Broadcasted voices are technologically manipulated. In order to achieve a certain autencity or sound of “reality” paradoxically the voices are filtered and trained in order to reach the listeners. This “mis-en-scene” is important knowledge when it comes to the development of a consistent method o...... of analysis of the mediated voice...

  1. Voice Quality in Mobile Telecommunication System

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Evaldas Stankevičius

    2013-05-01

    Full Text Available The article deals with methods measuring the quality of voice transmitted over the mobile network as well as related problem, algorithms and options. It presents the created voice quality measurement system and discusses its adequacy as well as efficiency. Besides, the author presents the results of system application under the optimal hardware configuration. Under almost ideal conditions, the system evaluates the voice quality with MOS 3.85 average estimate; while the standardized TEMS Investigation 9.0 has 4.05 average MOS estimate. Next, the article presents the discussion of voice quality predictor implementation and investigates the predictor using nonlinear and linear prediction methods of voice quality dependence on the mobile network settings. Nonlinear prediction using artificial neural network resulted in the correlation coefficient of 0.62. While the linear prediction method using the least mean squares resulted in the correlation coefficient of 0.57. The analytical expression of voice quality features from the three network parameters: BER, C / I, RSSI is given as well.Article in Lithuanian

  2. Pulping Variables, Storage Time and Pitch Deposit | Ogunwusi ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Pulp resin is also influenced by effective alkali concentration of the pulping medium. With increase in effective alkali concentration from 13% to 15%, pulp pitch is reduced. The interaction effect of storage and effective alkali concentration was not significant indicating that reduction in pulp pitch caused by effective alkali ...

  3. The Influence of Second Harmonic Phase and Amplitude Variation in Cyclically Pitching Wings

    Science.gov (United States)

    Culler, Ethan; Farnsworth, John

    2017-11-01

    From wind tunnel testing of a cyber-physical wing model, it has been found that the pitch trajectory for stall flutter is described by an array of higher harmonic frequencies with decaying energy content. These frequencies distort the stall flutter motion from that of a pure sinusoidal oscillation in pitch and can have a significant effect on the resulting force production. In order to understand how these higher harmonic frequencies contribute to the overall pitching moment characteristics of a wing in stall flutter, a rigid finite span wing model, with aspect ratio four, was pitched in the wind tunnel. The prescribed motion of the pitch cycle was varied by changing the amplitude ratio and phase of the second harmonic of the oscillation frequency. The second harmonic represents the second highest energy mode in the pitching cycle spectra. Pitching moment and planar particle image velocimetry data was collected. From these pitching trajectories, a significant dependence of pitching moment on both the phase and amplitude of the prescribed waveforms was found. Specifically, for the same amplitude ratio, variations in the phase produced changes of approximately 30 percent in the phase averaged pitching moment.

  4. Crackle Pitch Rises Progressively during Inspiration in Pneumonia, CHF, and IPF Patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vyshedskiy, Andrey; Murphy, Raymond

    2012-01-01

    Objective. It is generally accepted that crackles are due to sudden opening of airways and that larger airways produce crackles of lower pitch than smaller airways do. As larger airways are likely to open earlier in inspiration than smaller airways and the reverse is likely to be true in expiration, we studied crackle pitch as a function of crackle timing in inspiration and expiration. Our goal was to see if the measurement of crackle pitch was consistent with this theory. Methods. Patients with a significant number of crackles were examined using a multichannel lung sound analyzer. These patients included 34 with pneumonia, 38 with heart failure, and 28 with interstitial fibrosis. Results. Crackle pitch progressively increased during inspirations in 79% of all patients. In these patients crackle pitch increased by approximately 40 Hz from the early to midinspiration and by another 40 Hz from mid to late-inspiration. In 10% of patients, crackle pitch did not change and in 11% of patients crackle pitch decreased. During expiration crackle pitch progressively decreased in 72% of patients and did not change in 28% of patients. Conclusion. In the majority of patients, we observed progressive crackle pitch increase during inspiration and decrease during expiration. Increased crackle pitch at larger lung volumes is likely a result of recruitment of smaller diameter airways. An alternate explanation is that crackle pitch may be influenced by airway tension that increases at greater lung volume. In any case improved understanding of the mechanism of production of these common lung sounds may help improve our understanding of pathophysiology of these disorders.

  5. Rapid area change in pitch-up manoeuvres of small perching birds.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Polet, D T; Rival, D E

    2015-10-26

    Rapid pitch-up has been highlighted as a mechanism to generate large lift and drag during landing manoeuvres. However, pitching rates had not been measured previously in perching birds, and so the direct applicability of computations and experiments to observed behaviour was not known. We measure pitch rates in a small, wild bird (the black-capped chickadee; Poecile atricapillus), and show that these rates are within the parameter range used in experiments. Pitching rates were characterized by the shape change number, a metric comparing the rate of frontal area increase to acceleration. Black-capped chickadees increase the shape change number during perching in direct proportion to their total kinetic and potential energy at the start of the manoeuvre. The linear relationship between dissipated energy and shape change number is in accordance with a simple analytical model developed for two-dimensional pitching and decelerating airfoils. Black-capped chickadees use a wing pitch-up manoeuvre during perching to dissipate energy quickly while maintaining lift and drag through rapid area change. It is suggested that similar pitch-and-decelerate manoeuvres could be used to aid in the controlled, precise landings of small manoeuvrable air vehicles.

  6. Smartphone App for Voice Disorders

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... on. Feature: Taste, Smell, Hearing, Language, Voice, Balance Smartphone App for Voice Disorders Past Issues / Fall 2013 ... developed a mobile monitoring device that relies on smartphone technology to gather a week's worth of talking, ...

  7. Hearing Voices and Seeing Things

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... Facts for Families Guide Facts for Families - Vietnamese Hearing Voices and Seeing Things No. 102; Updated October ... delusions (a fixed, false, and often bizarre belief). Hearing voices or seeing things that are not there ...

  8. Auditory working memory predicts individual differences in absolute pitch learning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Van Hedger, Stephen C; Heald, Shannon L M; Koch, Rachelle; Nusbaum, Howard C

    2015-07-01

    Absolute pitch (AP) is typically defined as the ability to label an isolated tone as a musical note in the absence of a reference tone. At first glance the acquisition of AP note categories seems like a perceptual learning task, since individuals must assign a category label to a stimulus based on a single perceptual dimension (pitch) while ignoring other perceptual dimensions (e.g., loudness, octave, instrument). AP, however, is rarely discussed in terms of domain-general perceptual learning mechanisms. This is because AP is typically assumed to depend on a critical period of development, in which early exposure to pitches and musical labels is thought to be necessary for the development of AP precluding the possibility of adult acquisition of AP. Despite this view of AP, several previous studies have found evidence that absolute pitch category learning is, to an extent, trainable in a post-critical period adult population, even if the performance typically achieved by this population is below the performance of a "true" AP possessor. The current studies attempt to understand the individual differences in learning to categorize notes using absolute pitch cues by testing a specific prediction regarding cognitive capacity related to categorization - to what extent does an individual's general auditory working memory capacity (WMC) predict the success of absolute pitch category acquisition. Since WMC has been shown to predict performance on a wide variety of other perceptual and category learning tasks, we predict that individuals with higher WMC should be better at learning absolute pitch note categories than individuals with lower WMC. Across two studies, we demonstrate that auditory WMC predicts the efficacy of learning absolute pitch note categories. These results suggest that a higher general auditory WMC might underlie the formation of absolute pitch categories for post-critical period adults. Implications for understanding the mechanisms that underlie the

  9. Co-variation of tonality in the music and speech of different cultures.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shui' er Han

    Full Text Available Whereas the use of discrete pitch intervals is characteristic of most musical traditions, the size of the intervals and the way in which they are used is culturally specific. Here we examine the hypothesis that these differences arise because of a link between the tonal characteristics of a culture's music and its speech. We tested this idea by comparing pitch intervals in the traditional music of three tone language cultures (Chinese, Thai and Vietnamese and three non-tone language cultures (American, French and German with pitch intervals between voiced speech segments. Changes in pitch direction occur more frequently and pitch intervals are larger in the music of tone compared to non-tone language cultures. More frequent changes in pitch direction and larger pitch intervals are also apparent in the speech of tone compared to non-tone language cultures. These observations suggest that the different tonal preferences apparent in music across cultures are closely related to the differences in the tonal characteristics of voiced speech.

  10. Clinical Features of Psychogenic Voice Disorder and the Efficiency of Voice Therapy and Psychological Evaluation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tezcaner, Zahide Çiler; Gökmen, Muhammed Fatih; Yıldırım, Sibel; Dursun, Gürsel

    2017-11-06

    The aim of this study was to define the clinical features of psychogenic voice disorder (PVD) and explore the treatment efficiency of voice therapy and psychological evaluation. Fifty-eight patients who received treatment following the PVD diagnosis and had no organic or other functional voice disorders were assessed retrospectively based on laryngoscopic examinations and subjective and objective assessments. Epidemiological characteristics, accompanying organic and psychological disorders, preferred methods of treatment, and previous treatment outcomes were examined for each patient. A comparison was made based on voice disorders and responses to treatment between patients who received psychotherapy and patients who did not. Participants in this study comprised 58 patients, 10 male and 48 female. Voice therapy was applied in all patients, 54 (93.1%) of whom had improvement in their voice. Although all patients were advised to undergo psychological assessment, only 60.3% (35/58) of them underwent psychological assessment. No statistically significant difference was found between patients who did receive psychological support concerning their treatment responses and patients who did not. Relapse occurred in 14.7% (5/34) of the patients who applied for psychological assessment and in 50% (10/20) of those who did not. There was a statistically significant difference in relapse rates, which was higher among patients who did not receive psychological support (P therapy is an efficient treatment method for PVD. However, in the long-term follow-up, relapse of the disease is observed to be higher among patients who failed to follow up on the recommendation for psychological assessment. Copyright © 2017 The Voice Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  11. A comparative Tg-Ms study of the carbonization behaviour of different pitches

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Garcia, R.; Arenillas, A.; Crespo, J.L.; Pis, J.J.; Moinelo, S.R. [CSIC, Oviedo (Spain). Inst. Nacional del Carbon

    2002-08-01

    The purpose of this work was to study the formation of mesophase spherules from a low-temperature coal tar pitch under carbonization conditions. For comparison, the carbonization of a high-temperature coal tar pitch and a petroleum pitch were also considered. Different degrees of mesophase formation and development for each pitch. The results from Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), elemental analysis, and the thermogravimetric analyzer mass spectrometer (TG-MS) tests were compared with the different extents of mesophase formation, checked by optical microscopy. According to the results, several stages can be distinguished as temperature increases in the carbonization process of the pitches. In the low-temperature coal tar pitch, the devolatilization of light components, especially phenols, accounts for the most significant weight loss. Moreover, cross-linking contributes greatly to the formation and development of mesophase, resulting in the predominance of bulk mesophase in a relatively short time in the case of the low-temperature coal tar pitch. 19 refs., 10 figs., 2 tabs.

  12. Prediction of HS Soderberg plant PAH emissions from a laboratory evaluation of a pitch

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Castonguay, L.; Mirtchi, A. A.; Proulx, A. L.; Savard, G.; Simard, E.; Steward, N.; Tremblay, C. [Alcan International Ltd., Arvida Research and Development Centre, Jonquiere, PQ (Canada)

    1998-12-31

    The presence of certain polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in coal tar pitch has been identified as a possible limit to the long-term viability of horizontal stud (HS) Soderberg technology, a technology of importance in the aluminum industry. This paper presents the results of a comparative study of pitch PAH content and HS Soderberg cell emissions. Laboratory results are compared with plant emissions for two regular and low PAH pitches with the same softening points. The results indicate the existence of a correlation between pitch PAH content and cell emission, which is valid for regular tar pitches, low tar pitches, as well as for hybrid pitches. These findings make it possible to predict the quantity and distribution of HS Soderberg cell PAH emissions from the analysis of PAHs in the pitch. The results also justify the conclusion that the emission of genotoxic compounds from pitch in the HS Soderberg technology can be decreased by using a pitch with low PAH content. 4 refs., 5 tabs., 5 figs.

  13. Crackle Pitch Rises Progressively during Inspiration in Pneumonia, CHF, and IPF Patients

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andrey Vyshedskiy

    2012-01-01

    Methods. Patients with a significant number of crackles were examined using a multichannel lung sound analyzer. These patients included 34 with pneumonia, 38 with heart failure, and 28 with interstitial fibrosis. Results. Crackle pitch progressively increased during inspirations in 79% of all patients. In these patients crackle pitch increased by approximately 40 Hz from the early to midinspiration and by another 40 Hz from mid to late-inspiration. In 10% of patients, crackle pitch did not change and in 11% of patients crackle pitch decreased. During expiration crackle pitch progressively decreased in 72% of patients and did not change in 28% of patients. Conclusion. In the majority of patients, we observed progressive crackle pitch increase during inspiration and decrease during expiration. Increased crackle pitch at larger lung volumes is likely a result of recruitment of smaller diameter airways. An alternate explanation is that crackle pitch may be influenced by airway tension that increases at greater lung volume. In any case improved understanding of the mechanism of production of these common lung sounds may help improve our understanding of pathophysiology of these disorders.

  14. arXiv Signal coupling to embedded pitch adapters in silicon sensors

    CERN Document Server

    Artuso, M.; Bezshyiko, I.; Blusk, S.; Bruendler, R.; Bugiel, S.; Dasgupta, R.; Dendek, A.; Dey, B.; Ely, S.; Lionetto, F.; Petruzzo, M.; Polyakov, I.; Rudolph, M.; Schindler, H.; Steinkamp, O.; Stone, S.

    2018-01-01

    We have examined the effects of embedded pitch adapters on signal formation in n-substrate silicon microstrip sensors with data from beam tests and simulation. According to simulation, the presence of the pitch adapter metal layer changes the electric field inside the sensor, resulting in slowed signal formation on the nearby strips and a pick-up effect on the pitch adapter. This can result in an inefficiency to detect particles passing through the pitch adapter region. All these effects have been observed in the beam test data.

  15. Variability of a "force signature" during windmill softball pitching and relationship between discrete force variables and pitch velocity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nimphius, Sophia; McGuigan, Michael R; Suchomel, Timothy J; Newton, Robert U

    2016-06-01

    This study assessed reliability of discrete ground reaction force (GRF) variables over multiple pitching trials, investigated the relationships between discrete GRF variables and pitch velocity (PV) and assessed the variability of the "force signature" or continuous force-time curve during the pitching motion of windmill softball pitchers. Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) for all discrete variables was high (0.86-0.99) while the coefficient of variance (CV) was low (1.4-5.2%). Two discrete variables were significantly correlated to PV; second vertical peak force (r(5)=0.81, p=0.03) and time between peak forces (r(5)=-0.79; p=0.03). High ICCs and low CVs support the reliability of discrete GRF and PV variables over multiple trials and significant correlations indicate there is a relationship between the ability to produce force and the timing of this force production with PV. The mean of all pitchers' curve-average standard deviation of their continuous force-time curves demonstrated low variability (CV=4.4%) indicating a repeatable and identifiable "force signature" pattern during this motion. As such, the continuous force-time curve in addition to discrete GRF variables should be examined in future research as a potential method to monitor or explain changes in pitching performance. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  16. Reliability in perceptual analysis of voice quality.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bele, Irene Velsvik

    2005-12-01

    This study focuses on speaking voice quality in male teachers (n = 35) and male actors (n = 36), who represent untrained and trained voice users, because we wanted to investigate normal and supranormal voices. In this study, both substantial and methodologic aspects were considered. It includes a method for perceptual voice evaluation, and a basic issue was rater reliability. A listening group of 10 listeners, 7 experienced speech-language therapists, and 3 speech-language therapist students evaluated the voices by 15 vocal characteristics using VA scales. Two sets of voice signals were investigated: text reading (2 loudness levels) and sustained vowel (3 levels). The results indicated a high interrater reliability for most perceptual characteristics. Connected speech was evaluated more reliably, especially at the normal level, but both types of voice signals were evaluated reliably, although the reliability for connected speech was somewhat higher than for vowels. Experienced listeners tended to be more consistent in their ratings than did the student raters. Some vocal characteristics achieved acceptable reliability even with a smaller panel of listeners. The perceptual characteristics grouped in 4 factors reflected perceptual dimensions.

  17. Surface Electromyography of the Forearm Musculature During the Windmill Softball Pitch

    Science.gov (United States)

    Remaley, D. Trey; Fincham, Bryce; McCullough, Bryan; Davis, Kirk; Nofsinger, Charles; Armstrong, Charles; Stausmire, Julie M.

    2015-01-01

    Background: Previous studies investigating the windmill softball pitch have focused primarily on shoulder musculature and function, collecting limited data on elbow and forearm musculature. Little information is available in the literature regarding the forearm. This study documents forearm muscle electromyographic (EMG) activity that has not been previously published. Purpose: Elbow and upper extremity overuse injuries are on the rise in fast-pitch softball pitchers. This study attempts to describe forearm muscle activity in softball pitchers during the windmill softball pitch. Overuse injuries can be prevented if a better understanding of mechanics is defined. Study Design: Descriptive laboratory study. Methods: Surface EMG and high-speed videography was used to study forearm muscle activation patterns during the windmill softball pitch on 10 female collegiate-level pitchers. Maximum voluntary isometric contraction of each muscle was used as a normalizing value. Each subject was tested during a single laboratory session per pitcher. Data included peak muscle activation, average muscle activation, and time to peak activation for 6 pitch types: fastball, changeup, riseball, curveball, screwball, and dropball. Results: During the first 4 phases, muscle activity (seen as signal strength on the EMG recordings) was limited and static in nature. The greatest activation occurred in phases 5 and 6, with increased signal strength, evidence of stretch-shortening cycle, and different muscle characteristics with each pitch style. These 2 phases of the windmill pitch are where the arm is placed in the 6 o’clock position and then at release of the ball. The flexor carpi ulnaris signal strength was significantly greater than the other forearm flexors. Timing of phases 1 through 5 was successively shorter for each pitch. There was a secondary pattern of activation in the flexor carpi ulnaris in phase 4 for all pitches except the fastball and riseball. Conclusion: During the 6

  18. Surface Electromyography of the Forearm Musculature During the Windmill Softball Pitch.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Remaley, D Trey; Fincham, Bryce; McCullough, Bryan; Davis, Kirk; Nofsinger, Charles; Armstrong, Charles; Stausmire, Julie M

    2015-01-01

    Previous studies investigating the windmill softball pitch have focused primarily on shoulder musculature and function, collecting limited data on elbow and forearm musculature. Little information is available in the literature regarding the forearm. This study documents forearm muscle electromyographic (EMG) activity that has not been previously published. Elbow and upper extremity overuse injuries are on the rise in fast-pitch softball pitchers. This study attempts to describe forearm muscle activity in softball pitchers during the windmill softball pitch. Overuse injuries can be prevented if a better understanding of mechanics is defined. Descriptive laboratory study. Surface EMG and high-speed videography was used to study forearm muscle activation patterns during the windmill softball pitch on 10 female collegiate-level pitchers. Maximum voluntary isometric contraction of each muscle was used as a normalizing value. Each subject was tested during a single laboratory session per pitcher. Data included peak muscle activation, average muscle activation, and time to peak activation for 6 pitch types: fastball, changeup, riseball, curveball, screwball, and dropball. During the first 4 phases, muscle activity (seen as signal strength on the EMG recordings) was limited and static in nature. The greatest activation occurred in phases 5 and 6, with increased signal strength, evidence of stretch-shortening cycle, and different muscle characteristics with each pitch style. These 2 phases of the windmill pitch are where the arm is placed in the 6 o'clock position and then at release of the ball. The flexor carpi ulnaris signal strength was significantly greater than the other forearm flexors. Timing of phases 1 through 5 was successively shorter for each pitch. There was a secondary pattern of activation in the flexor carpi ulnaris in phase 4 for all pitches except the fastball and riseball. During the 6 pitches, the greatest muscular activity was in phases 5 and 6

  19. Joint Pitch and DOA Estimation Using the ESPRIT method

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Wu, Yuntao; Amir, Leshem; Jensen, Jesper Rindom

    2015-01-01

    In this paper, the problem of joint multi-pitch and direction-of-arrival (DOA) estimation for multi-channel harmonic sinusoidal signals is considered. A spatio-temporal matrix signal model for a uniform linear array is defined, and then the ESPRIT method based on subspace techniques that exploits...... the invariance property in the time domain is first used to estimate the multi pitch frequencies of multiple harmonic signals. Followed by the estimated pitch frequencies, the DOA estimations based on the ESPRIT method are also presented by using the shift invariance structure in the spatial domain. Compared...... to the existing stateof-the-art algorithms, the proposed method based on ESPRIT without 2-D searching is computationally more efficient but performs similarly. An asymptotic performance analysis of the DOA and pitch estimation of the proposed method are also presented. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed...

  20. [Hearing voices does not always constitute a psychosis].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sommer, I E C; van der Spek, D W

    2016-01-01

    Hearing voices (i.e. auditory verbal hallucinations) is mainly known as part of schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders. However, hearing voices is a symptom that can occur in many psychiatric, neurological and general medical conditions. We present three cases of non-psychotic patients with auditory verbal hallucinations caused by different disorders. The first patient is a 74-year-old male with voices due to hearing loss, the second is a 20-year-old woman with voices due to traumatisation. The third patient is a 27-year-old woman with voices caused by temporal lobe epilepsy. Hearing voices is a phenomenon that occurs in a variety of disorders. Therefore, identification of the underlying disorder is essential to indicate treatment. Improvement of coping with the voices can reduce their impact on a patient. Antipsychotic drugs are especially effective when hearing voices is accompanied by delusions or disorganization. When this is not the case, the efficacy of antipsychotic drugs will probably not outweigh the side-effects.

  1. Permanent Quadriplegia Following Replacement of Voice Prosthesis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ozturk, Kayhan; Erdur, Omer; Kibar, Ertugrul

    2016-11-01

    The authors presented a patient with quadriplegia caused by cervical spine abscess following voice prosthesis replacement. The authors present the first reported permanent quadriplegia patient caused by voice prosthesis replacement. The authors wanted to emphasize that life-threatening complications may be faced during the replacement of voice prosthesis. Care should be taken during the replacement of voice prosthesis and if some problems have been faced during the procedure patients must be followed closely.

  2. Risk-based Comparative Study of Fluid Power Pitch Concepts

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Liniger, Jesper; Pedersen, Henrik Clemmensen; N. Soltani, Mohsen

    2017-01-01

    Proper functioning of the pitch system is essential to both normal operation and safety critical shut down of modern multi megawatt wind turbines. Several studies on field failure rates for such turbines show that pitch systems are a major contributor to failures which entails an increased risk....... Thus, more reliable and safe concepts are needed. A review of patents and patent applications covering fluid power pitch concepts, reveals that many propose closed-type hydraulic systems. This paper proposes a closed-type concept with a bootstrap reservoir. In contrary to a conventional system where...

  3. Operating wind turbines in strong wind conditions by using feedforward-feedback control

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Feng, Ju; Sheng, Wen Zhong

    2014-01-01

    Due to the increasing penetration of wind energy into power systems, it becomes critical to reduce the impact of wind energy on the stability and reliability of the overall power system. In precedent works, Shen and his co-workers developed a re-designed operation schema to run wind turbines in strong wind conditions based on optimization method and standard PI feedback control, which can prevent the typical shutdowns of wind turbines when reaching the cut-out wind speed. In this paper, a new control strategy combing the standard PI feedback control with feedforward controls using the optimization results is investigated for the operation of variable-speed pitch-regulated wind turbines in strong wind conditions. It is shown that the developed control strategy is capable of smoothening the power output of wind turbine and avoiding its sudden showdown at high wind speeds without worsening the loads on rotor and blades

  4. Reality Monitoring and Feedback Control of Speech Production Are Related Through Self-Agency.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Subramaniam, Karuna; Kothare, Hardik; Mizuiri, Danielle; Nagarajan, Srikantan S; Houde, John F

    2018-01-01

    Self-agency is the experience of being the agent of one's own thoughts and motor actions. The intact experience of self-agency is necessary for successful interactions with the outside world (i.e., reality monitoring) and for responding to sensory feedback of our motor actions (e.g., speech feedback control). Reality monitoring is the ability to distinguish internally self-generated information from outside reality (externally-derived information). In the present study, we examined the relationship of self-agency between lower-level speech feedback monitoring (i.e., monitoring what we hear ourselves say) and a higher-level cognitive reality monitoring task. In particular, we examined whether speech feedback monitoring and reality monitoring were driven by the capacity to experience self-agency-the ability to make reliable predictions about the outcomes of self-generated actions. During the reality monitoring task, subjects made judgments as to whether information was previously self-generated (self-agency judgments) or externally derived (external-agency judgments). During speech feedback monitoring, we assessed self-agency by altering environmental auditory feedback so that subjects listened to a perturbed version of their own speech. When subjects heard minimal perturbations in their auditory feedback while speaking, they made corrective responses, indicating that they judged the perturbations as errors in their speech output. We found that self-agency judgments in the reality-monitoring task were higher in people who had smaller corrective responses ( p = 0.05) and smaller inter-trial variability ( p = 0.03) during minimal pitch perturbations of their auditory feedback. These results provide support for a unitary process for the experience of self-agency governing low-level speech control and higher level reality monitoring.

  5. Updating signal typing in voice: addition of type 4 signals.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sprecher, Alicia; Olszewski, Aleksandra; Jiang, Jack J; Zhang, Yu

    2010-06-01

    The addition of a fourth type of voice to Titze's voice classification scheme is proposed. This fourth voice type is characterized by primarily stochastic noise behavior and is therefore unsuitable for both perturbation and correlation dimension analysis. Forty voice samples were classified into the proposed four types using narrowband spectrograms. Acoustic, perceptual, and correlation dimension analyses were completed for all voice samples. Perturbation measures tended to increase with voice type. Based on reliability cutoffs, the type 1 and type 2 voices were considered suitable for perturbation analysis. Measures of unreliability were higher for type 3 and 4 voices. Correlation dimension analyses increased significantly with signal type as indicated by a one-way analysis of variance. Notably, correlation dimension analysis could not quantify the type 4 voices. The proposed fourth voice type represents a subset of voices dominated by noise behavior. Current measures capable of evaluating type 4 voices provide only qualitative data (spectrograms, perceptual analysis, and an infinite correlation dimension). Type 4 voices are highly complex and the development of objective measures capable of analyzing these voices remains a topic of future investigation.

  6. Voice amplification for primary school teachers with voice disorders: a randomized clinical trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bovo, Roberto; Trevisi, Patrizia; Emanuelli, Enzo; Martini, Alessandro

    2013-06-01

    Several studies have demonstrated a high prevalence of voice disorders in teachers, together with the personal, professional and economical consequences of the problem. Good primary prevention should be based on 3 aspects: 1) amelioration of classroom acoustics, 2) voice care programs for future professional voice users, including teachers and 3) classroom or portable amplification systems. The aim of the study was to assess the benefit obtained from the use of portable amplification systems by female primary school teachers in their occupational setting. Forty female primary school teachers attended a course about professional voice care, which comprised two theoretical lectures, each 60 min long. Thereafter, they were randomized into 2 groups: the teachers of the first group were asked to use a portable vocal amplifier for 3 months, till the end of school-year. The other 20 teachers were part of the control group, matched for age and years of employment. All subjects had a grade 1 of dysphonia with no significant organic lesion of the vocal folds. Most teachers of the experimental group used the amplifier consistently for the whole duration of the experiment and found it very useful in reducing the symptoms of vocal fatigue. In fact, after 3 months, Voice Handicap Index (VHI) scores in "course + amplifier" group demonstrated a significant amelioration (p = 0.003). The perceptual grade of dysphonia also improved significantly (p = 0.0005). The same parameters changed favourably also in the "course only" group, but the results were not statistically significant (p = 0.4 for VHI and p = 0.03 for perceptual grade). In teachers, and particularly in those with a constitutional weak voice and/or those who are prone to vocal fold pathology, vocal amplifiers may be an effective and low-cost intervention to decrease potentially damaging vocal loads and may represent a necessary form of prevention.

  7. Half pitch lower sound perception caused by carbamazepine.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Konno, Shyu; Yamazaki, Etsuko; Kudoh, Masako; Abe, Takashi; Tohgi, Hideo

    2003-09-01

    We report a 16-year-old woman with secondary generalization of partial seizure, who complained of an auditory disturbance after carbamazepine (CBZ) administration. She had been taking sodium valproate (VPA) from the age of 15. However, her seizures remained poorly controlled. We changed her antiepileptic drug from VPA to CBZ. At 1 week after CBZ administration, she noticed that electone musical performances were heard as a semitone lower. When oral administration of CBZ was stopped, her pitch perception returned to normal. If she had not been able to discern absolute pitch, she might have been unable to recognize her lowered pitch perception. Auditory disturbance caused by CBZ is reversible and very rare.

  8. Acoustic cues for the recognition of self-voice and other-voice

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mingdi eXu

    2013-10-01

    Full Text Available Self-recognition, being indispensable for successful social communication, has become a major focus in current social neuroscience. The physical aspects of the self are most typically manifested in the face and voice. Compared with the wealth of studies on self-face recognition, self-voice recognition (SVR has not gained much attention. Converging evidence has suggested that the fundamental frequency (F0 and formant structures serve as the key acoustic cues for other-voice recognition (OVR. However, little is known about which, and how, acoustic cues are utilized for SVR as opposed to OVR. To address this question, we independently manipulated the F0 and formant information of recorded voices and investigated their contributions to SVR and OVR. Japanese participants were presented with recorded vocal stimuli and were asked to identify the speaker—either themselves or one of their peers. Six groups of 5 peers of the same sex participated in the study. Under conditions where the formant information was fully preserved and where only the frequencies lower than the third formant (F3 were retained, accuracies of SVR deteriorated significantly with the modulation of the F0, and the results were comparable for OVR. By contrast, under a condition where only the frequencies higher than F3 were retained, the accuracy of SVR was significantly higher than that of OVR throughout the range of F0 modulations, and the F0 scarcely affected the accuracies of SVR and OVR. Our results indicate that while both F0 and formant information are involved in SVR, as well as in OVR, the advantage of SVR is manifested only when major formant information for speech intelligibility is absent. These findings imply the robustness of self-voice representation, possibly by virtue of auditory familiarity and other factors such as its association with motor/articulatory representation.

  9. Measurement of voice onset time in maxillectomy patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hattori, Mariko; Sumita, Yuka I; Taniguchi, Hisashi

    2014-01-01

    Objective speech evaluation using acoustic measurement is needed for the proper rehabilitation of maxillectomy patients. For digital evaluation of consonants, measurement of voice onset time is one option. However, voice onset time has not been measured in maxillectomy patients as their consonant sound spectra exhibit unique characteristics that make the measurement of voice onset time challenging. In this study, we established criteria for measuring voice onset time in maxillectomy patients for objective speech evaluation. We examined voice onset time for /ka/ and /ta/ in 13 maxillectomy patients by calculating the number of valid measurements of voice onset time out of three trials for each syllable. Wilcoxon's signed rank test showed that voice onset time measurements were more successful for /ka/ and /ta/ when a prosthesis was used (Z = -2.232, P = 0.026 and Z = -2.401, P = 0.016, resp.) than when a prosthesis was not used. These results indicate a prosthesis affected voice onset measurement in these patients. Although more research in this area is needed, measurement of voice onset time has the potential to be used to evaluate consonant production in maxillectomy patients wearing a prosthesis.

  10. Measurement of Voice Onset Time in Maxillectomy Patients

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mariko Hattori

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Objective speech evaluation using acoustic measurement is needed for the proper rehabilitation of maxillectomy patients. For digital evaluation of consonants, measurement of voice onset time is one option. However, voice onset time has not been measured in maxillectomy patients as their consonant sound spectra exhibit unique characteristics that make the measurement of voice onset time challenging. In this study, we established criteria for measuring voice onset time in maxillectomy patients for objective speech evaluation. We examined voice onset time for /ka/ and /ta/ in 13 maxillectomy patients by calculating the number of valid measurements of voice onset time out of three trials for each syllable. Wilcoxon’s signed rank test showed that voice onset time measurements were more successful for /ka/ and /ta/ when a prosthesis was used (Z=−2.232, P=0.026 and Z=−2.401, P=0.016, resp. than when a prosthesis was not used. These results indicate a prosthesis affected voice onset measurement in these patients. Although more research in this area is needed, measurement of voice onset time has the potential to be used to evaluate consonant production in maxillectomy patients wearing a prosthesis.

  11. Voice and choice by delegation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van de Bovenkamp, Hester; Vollaard, Hans; Trappenburg, Margo; Grit, Kor

    2013-02-01

    In many Western countries, options for citizens to influence public services are increased to improve the quality of services and democratize decision making. Possibilities to influence are often cast into Albert Hirschman's taxonomy of exit (choice), voice, and loyalty. In this article we identify delegation as an important addition to this framework. Delegation gives individuals the chance to practice exit/choice or voice without all the hard work that is usually involved in these options. Empirical research shows that not many people use their individual options of exit and voice, which could lead to inequality between users and nonusers. We identify delegation as a possible solution to this problem, using Dutch health care as a case study to explore this option. Notwithstanding various advantages, we show that voice and choice by delegation also entail problems of inequality and representativeness.

  12. Singing Voice Analysis, Synthesis, and Modeling

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Youngmoo E.

    The singing voice is the oldest musical instrument, but its versatility and emotional power are unmatched. Through the combination of music, lyrics, and expression, the voice is able to affect us in ways that no other instrument can. The fact that vocal music is prevalent in almost all cultures is indicative of its innate appeal to the human aesthetic. Singing also permeates most genres of music, attesting to the wide range of sounds the human voice is capable of producing. As listeners we are naturally drawn to the sound of the human voice, and, when present, it immediately becomes the focus of our attention.

  13. Voice stress analysis and evaluation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Haddad, Darren M.; Ratley, Roy J.

    2001-02-01

    Voice Stress Analysis (VSA) systems are marketed as computer-based systems capable of measuring stress in a person's voice as an indicator of deception. They are advertised as being less expensive, easier to use, less invasive in use, and less constrained in their operation then polygraph technology. The National Institute of Justice have asked the Air Force Research Laboratory for assistance in evaluating voice stress analysis technology. Law enforcement officials have also been asking questions about this technology. If VSA technology proves to be effective, its value for military and law enforcement application is tremendous.

  14. Effects of Medications on Voice

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... ENTCareers Marketplace Find an ENT Doctor Near You Effects of Medications on Voice Effects of Medications on Voice Patient Health Information News ... replacement therapy post-menopause may have a variable effect. An inadequate level of thyroid replacement medication in ...

  15. Pitch and Time, Tonality and Meter: How Do Musical Dimensions Combine?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prince, Jon B.; Thompson, William F.; Schmuckler, Mark A.

    2009-01-01

    The authors examined how the structural attributes of tonality and meter influence musical pitch-time relations. Listeners heard a musical context followed by probe events that varied in pitch class and temporal position. Tonal and metric hierarchies contributed additively to the goodness-of-fit of probes, with pitch class exerting a stronger…

  16. 29 CFR 1910.1002 - Coal tar pitch volatiles; interpretation of term.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 29 Labor 6 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Coal tar pitch volatiles; interpretation of term. 1910.1002... Hazardous Substances § 1910.1002 Coal tar pitch volatiles; interpretation of term. As used in § 1910.1000 (Table Z-1), coal tar pitch volatiles include the fused polycyclic hydrocarbons which volatilize from the...

  17. Petrographic characterization of the solid products of coal- pitch coprocessing

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Potter, J.; Kybett, B.D.; McDougall, W.J.; Nambudiri, E.M.V.; Rahimi, P.; Price, J.T.

    1986-06-01

    Petrographic studies were conducted on four solid residues resulting from the hydrogenation process of 1) Forestburg sub- bituminous coal alone, 2) the coal with a non-coking solvent (anthracene oil), 3) pitch (Cold Lake vacuum-bottom deposits), and 4) a mixture of coal and pitch. The purpose was to determine the amounts of coal and pitch-derived solids in the residues. All the residues were produced under identical severe conditions of liquefaction to promote the formation of solids. The coal processed with anthracene oil gives a residue consisting mainly of isotropic huminitic solids. If the coal is hydrogenated under similar conditions but without a solvent, the predominant residual solids are anisotropic semicokes displaying coarse mosaic textures, which form from vitroplast. The residual products from the hydrogenated Cold Lake vacuum- bottom deposits are also dominantly anisotropic semicokes; these display coarse mosaics and flow textures, and form by the growth and coalescence of mesophase spherules. Both coal- and pitch-derived solids are identified in a residue produced by coprocessing the Forestburg coal with the pitch from the Cold Lake vacuum-bottom deposits. It is concluded that the huminite macerals in the coal generate the fine-grained, mosaic-textured semicokes, whereas the pitch produces the coarse mosaics and flow-textured semicokes.

  18. Long-term pitch memory for music recordings is related to auditory working memory precision.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Van Hedger, Stephen C; Heald, Shannon Lm; Nusbaum, Howard C

    2018-04-01

    Most individuals have reliable long-term memories for the pitch of familiar music recordings. This pitch memory (1) appears to be normally distributed in the population, (2) does not depend on explicit musical training and (3) only seems to be weakly related to differences in listening frequency estimates. The present experiment was designed to assess whether individual differences in auditory working memory could explain variance in long-term pitch memory for music recordings. In Experiment 1, participants first completed a musical note adjustment task that has been previously used to assess working memory of musical pitch. Afterward, participants were asked to judge the pitch of well-known music recordings, which either had or had not been shifted in pitch. We found that performance on the pitch working memory task was significantly related to performance in the pitch memory task using well-known recordings, even when controlling for overall musical experience and familiarity with each recording. In Experiment 2, we replicated these findings in a separate group of participants while additionally controlling for fluid intelligence and non-pitch-based components of auditory working memory. In Experiment 3, we demonstrated that participants could not accurately judge the pitch of unfamiliar recordings, suggesting that our method of pitch shifting did not result in unwanted acoustic cues that could have aided participants in Experiments 1 and 2. These results, taken together, suggest that the ability to maintain pitch information in working memory might lead to more accurate long-term pitch memory.

  19. Study of Pumping Capacity of Pitched Blade Impellers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    I. Fořt

    2002-01-01

    Full Text Available A study was made of the pumping capacity of pitched blade impellers in a cylindrical pilot plant vessel with four standard radial baffles at the wall under a turbulent regime of flow. The pumping capacity was calculated from the radial profile of the axial flow, under the assumption of axial symmetry of the discharge flow. The mean velocity was measured using laser Doppler anemometry in a transparent vessel of diameter T = 400 mm, provided with a standard dished bottom. Three and six blade pitched blade impellers (the pitch angle varied within the interval a Îá24°; 45°ń of impeller/vessel diameter ratio D/T = 0.36, as well as a three blade pitched blade impeller with folded blades of the same diameter, were tested. The calculated results were compared with the results of experiments mentioned in the literature, above all in cylindrical vessels with a flat bottom. Both arrangements of the agitated system were described by the impeller energetic efficiency, i.e, a criterion including in dimensionless form both the impeller energy consumption (impeller power input and the impeller pumping effect (impeller pumping capacity. It follows from the results obtained with various geometrical configurations that the energetic efficiency of pitched blade impellers is significantly lower for configurations suitable for mixing solid-liquid suspensions (low impeller off bottom clearances than for blending miscible liquids in mixing (higher impeller off bottom clearances.

  20. Performance Demands in Softball Pitching: A Comprehensive Muscle Fatigue Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Corben, Jeffrey S; Cerrone, Sara A; Soviero, Julie E; Kwiecien, Susan Y; Nicholas, Stephen J; McHugh, Malachy P

    2015-08-01

    Monitoring pitch count is standard practice in minor league baseball but not in softball because of the perception that fast-pitch softball pitching is a less stressful motion. To examine muscle fatigue after fast-pitch softball performances to provide an assessment of performance demand. Descriptive laboratory study. Bilateral strength measurements (handheld dynamometer) were made on 19 female softball pitchers (mean age [±SD], 15.2 ± 1.2 years) before and after pitching a game (mean number of pitches, 99 ± 21; mean innings pitched, 5 ± 1). A total of 20 tests were performed on the dominant and nondominant sides: forearm (grip, wrist flexion/extension, pronation/supination, elbow flexion/extension), shoulder (flexion, abduction/adduction, external/internal rotation, empty can test), scapula (middle/lower trapezius, rhomboid), and hip (hip flexion/extension, abduction/adduction). Fatigue (percentage strength loss) was categorized based on bilateral versus unilateral presentation using paired t tests: bilateral symmetric (significant on dominant and nondominant and not different between sides), bilateral asymmetric (significant on dominant and nondominant but significantly greater on dominant), unilateral asymmetric (significant on dominant only and significantly greater than nondominant), or unilateral equivocal (significant on dominant only but not different from nondominant). Bilateral symmetric fatigue was evident for all hip (dominant, 19.3%; nondominant, 15.2%) and scapular tests (dominant, 19.2%; nondominant, 19.3%). In general, shoulder tests exhibited bilateral asymmetric fatigue (dominant, 16.9%; nondominant, 11.6%). Forearm tests were more variable, with bilateral symmetric fatigue in the elbow flexors (dominant, 22.5%; nondominant, 19.2%), and wrist flexors (dominant, 21.6%; nondominant, 19.0%), bilateral asymmetric fatigue in the supinators (dominant, 21.8%; nondominant, 15.5%), unilateral asymmetric fatigue in the elbow extensors (dominant, 22

  1. Unaccounted Workload Factor: Game-Day Pitch Counts in High School Baseball Pitchers—An Observational Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zaremski, Jason L.; Zeppieri, Giorgio; Jones, Deborah L.; Tripp, Brady L.; Bruner, Michelle; Vincent, Heather K.; Horodyski, MaryBeth

    2018-01-01

    Background: Throwing injuries are common in high school baseball. Known risk factors include excessive pitch counts, year-round pitching, and pitching with arm pain and fatigue. Despite the evidence, the prevalence of pitching injuries among high school players has not decreased. One possibility to explain this pattern is that players accumulate unaccounted pitch volume during warm-up and bullpen activity, but this has not yet been examined. Hypotheses: Our primary hypothesis was that approximately 30% to 40% of pitches thrown off a mound by high school pitchers during a game-day outing are unaccounted for in current data but will be revealed when bullpen sessions and warm-up pitches are included. Our secondary hypothesis was that there is wide variability among players in the number of bullpen pitches thrown per outing. Study Design: Cross-sectional study; Level of evidence, 3. Methods: Researchers counted all pitches thrown off a mound during varsity high school baseball games played by 34 high schools in North Central Florida during the 2017 season. Results: We recorded 13,769 total pitches during 115 varsity high school baseball starting pitcher outings. The mean ± SD pitch numbers per game were calculated for bullpen activity (27.2 ± 9.4), warm-up (23.6 ±8.0), live games (68.9 ±19.7), and total pitches per game (119.7 ± 27.8). Thus, 42.4% of the pitches performed were not accounted for in the pitch count monitoring of these players. The number of bullpen pitches thrown varied widely among players, with 25% of participants in our data set throwing fewer than 22 pitches and 25% throwing more than 33 pitches per outing. Conclusion: In high school baseball players, pitch count monitoring does not account for the substantial volume of pitching that occurs during warm-up and bullpen activity during the playing season. These extra pitches should be closely monitored to help mitigate the risk of overuse injury. PMID:29662911

  2. Unaccounted Workload Factor: Game-Day Pitch Counts in High School Baseball Pitchers-An Observational Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zaremski, Jason L; Zeppieri, Giorgio; Jones, Deborah L; Tripp, Brady L; Bruner, Michelle; Vincent, Heather K; Horodyski, MaryBeth

    2018-04-01

    Throwing injuries are common in high school baseball. Known risk factors include excessive pitch counts, year-round pitching, and pitching with arm pain and fatigue. Despite the evidence, the prevalence of pitching injuries among high school players has not decreased. One possibility to explain this pattern is that players accumulate unaccounted pitch volume during warm-up and bullpen activity, but this has not yet been examined. Our primary hypothesis was that approximately 30% to 40% of pitches thrown off a mound by high school pitchers during a game-day outing are unaccounted for in current data but will be revealed when bullpen sessions and warm-up pitches are included. Our secondary hypothesis was that there is wide variability among players in the number of bullpen pitches thrown per outing. Cross-sectional study; Level of evidence, 3. Researchers counted all pitches thrown off a mound during varsity high school baseball games played by 34 high schools in North Central Florida during the 2017 season. We recorded 13,769 total pitches during 115 varsity high school baseball starting pitcher outings. The mean ± SD pitch numbers per game were calculated for bullpen activity (27.2 ± 9.4), warm-up (23.6 ±8.0), live games (68.9 ±19.7), and total pitches per game (119.7 ± 27.8). Thus, 42.4% of the pitches performed were not accounted for in the pitch count monitoring of these players. The number of bullpen pitches thrown varied widely among players, with 25% of participants in our data set throwing fewer than 22 pitches and 25% throwing more than 33 pitches per outing. In high school baseball players, pitch count monitoring does not account for the substantial volume of pitching that occurs during warm-up and bullpen activity during the playing season. These extra pitches should be closely monitored to help mitigate the risk of overuse injury.

  3. The Voices of the Documentarist

    Science.gov (United States)

    Utterback, Ann S.

    1977-01-01

    Discusses T. S. Elliot's essay, "The Three Voices of Poetry" which conceptualizes the position taken by the poet or creator. Suggests that an examination of documentary film, within the three voices concept, expands the critical framework of the film genre. (MH)

  4. Pitch Discrimination and Melodic Memory in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stanutz, Sandy; Wapnick, Joel; Burack, Jacob A.

    2014-01-01

    Background: Pitch perception is enhanced among persons with autism. We extended this finding to memory for pitch and melody among school-aged children. Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate pitch memory in musically untrained children with autism spectrum disorders, aged 7-13 years, and to compare it to that of age- and…

  5. Human vertical eye movement responses to earth horizontal pitch

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wall, C. 3rd; Petropoulos, A. E.

    1993-01-01

    The vertical eye movements in humans produced in response to head-over-heels constant velocity pitch rotation about a horizontal axis resemble those from other species. At 60 degrees/s these are persistent and tend to have non-reversing slow components that are compensatory to the direction of rotation. In most, but not all subjects, the slow component velocity was well characterized by a rapid build-up followed by an exponential decay to a non-zero baseline. Super-imposed was a cyclic or modulation component whose frequency corresponded to the time for one revolution and whose maximum amplitude occurred during a specific head orientation. All response components (exponential decay, baseline and modulation) were larger during pitch backward compared to pitch forward runs. Decay time constants were shorter during the backward runs, thus, unlike left to right yaw axis rotation, pitch responses display significant asymmetries between paired forward and backward runs.

  6. Development in children's interpretation of pitch cues to emotions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Quam, Carolyn; Swingley, Daniel

    2012-01-01

    Young infants respond to positive and negative speech prosody (A. Fernald, 1993), yet 4-year-olds rely on lexical information when it conflicts with paralinguistic cues to approval or disapproval (M. Friend, 2003). This article explores this surprising phenomenon, testing one hundred eighteen 2- to 5-year-olds' use of isolated pitch cues to emotions in interactive tasks. Only 4- to 5-year-olds consistently interpreted exaggerated, stereotypically happy or sad pitch contours as evidence that a puppet had succeeded or failed to find his toy (Experiment 1) or was happy or sad (Experiments 2, 3). Two- and 3-year-olds exploited facial and body-language cues in the same task. The authors discuss the implications of this late-developing use of pitch cues to emotions, relating them to other functions of pitch. © 2011 The Authors. Child Development © 2011 Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.

  7. Faster decline of pitch memory over time in congenital amusia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Williamson, Victoria J; McDonald, Claire; Deutsch, Diana; Griffiths, Timothy D; Stewart, Lauren

    2010-04-26

    Congenital amusia (amusia, hereafter) is a developmental disorder that impacts negatively on the perception of music. Psychophysical testing suggests that individuals with amusia have above average thresholds for detection of pitch change and pitch direction discrimination; however, a low-level auditory perceptual problem cannot completely explain the disorder, since discrimination of melodies is also impaired when the constituent intervals are suprathreshold for perception. The aim of the present study was to test pitch memory as a function of (a) time and (b) tonal interference, in order to determine whether pitch traces are inherently weaker in amusic individuals. Memory for the pitch of single tones was compared using two versions of a paradigm developed by Deutsch (1970a). In both tasks, participants compared the pitch of a standard (S) versus a comparison (C) tone. In the time task, the S and C tones were presented, separated in time by 0, 1, 5, 10, and 15 s (blocked presentation). In the interference task, the S and C tones were presented with a fixed time interval (5 s) but with a variable number of irrelevant tones in between 0, 2, 4, 6, and 8 tones (blocked presentation). In the time task, control performance remained high for all time intervals, but amusics showed a performance decrement over time. In the interference task, controls and amusics showed a similar performance decrement with increasing number of irrelevant tones. Overall, the results suggest that the pitch representations of amusic individuals are less stable and more prone to decay than those of matched non-amusic individuals.

  8. Analysis of Pitch Gear Deterioration using Indicators

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nielsen, Jannie Jessen; Sørensen, John Dalsgaard

    2011-01-01

    This work concerns a case study in the context of risk-based operation and maintenance of offshore wind turbines. For wind turbines with electrical pitch systems, deterioration can generally be observed at the pitch gear teeth; especially at the point where the blades are located during normal...... of the damage, and can be used for Bayesian updating of a damage model used for risk-based decision making. For this decision problem, the risk of failure should be compared to the cost of preventive maintenance. The hypothesis that the maximum pitch motor torque is an indicator of the damage size is supported...... changes in the temperature are the primary cause of the decrease. A model is established to remove the effect of the explained variation, and it is investigated if deterioration can be detected as changes in the peak torque. A small increase could be detected after the maintenance, but before...

  9. Comparison of individual pitch and smart rotor control strategies for load reduction

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Plumley, C; Leithead, W; Jamieson, P; Bossanyi, E; Graham, M

    2014-01-01

    Load reduction is increasingly seen as an essential part of controller and wind turbine design. On large multi-MW wind turbines that experience high levels of wind shear and turbulence across the rotor, individual pitch control and smart rotor control are being considered. While individual pitch control involves adjusting the pitch of each blade individually to reduce the cyclic loadings on the rotor, smart rotor control involves activating control devices distributed along the blades to alter the local aerodynamics of the blades. Here we investigate the effectiveness of using a DQ-axis control and a distributed (independent) control for both individual pitch and trailing edge flap smart rotor control. While load reductions are similar amongst the four strategies across a wide range of variables, including blade root bending moments, yaw bearing and shaft, the pitch actuator requirements vary. The smart rotor pitch actuator has reduced travel, rates, accelerations and power requirements than that of the individual pitch controlled wind turbines. This benefit alone however would be hard to justify the added design complexities of using a smart rotor, which can be seen as an alternative to upgrading the pitch actuator and bearing. In addition, it is found that the independent control strategy is apt at roles that the collective pitch usually targets, such as tower motion and speed control, and it is perhaps here, in supplementing other systems, that the future of the smart rotor lies

  10. Comparison of individual pitch and smart rotor control strategies for load reduction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Plumley, C.; Leithead, W.; Jamieson, P.; Bossanyi, E.; Graham, M.

    2014-06-01

    Load reduction is increasingly seen as an essential part of controller and wind turbine design. On large multi-MW wind turbines that experience high levels of wind shear and turbulence across the rotor, individual pitch control and smart rotor control are being considered. While individual pitch control involves adjusting the pitch of each blade individually to reduce the cyclic loadings on the rotor, smart rotor control involves activating control devices distributed along the blades to alter the local aerodynamics of the blades. Here we investigate the effectiveness of using a DQ-axis control and a distributed (independent) control for both individual pitch and trailing edge flap smart rotor control. While load reductions are similar amongst the four strategies across a wide range of variables, including blade root bending moments, yaw bearing and shaft, the pitch actuator requirements vary. The smart rotor pitch actuator has reduced travel, rates, accelerations and power requirements than that of the individual pitch controlled wind turbines. This benefit alone however would be hard to justify the added design complexities of using a smart rotor, which can be seen as an alternative to upgrading the pitch actuator and bearing. In addition, it is found that the independent control strategy is apt at roles that the collective pitch usually targets, such as tower motion and speed control, and it is perhaps here, in supplementing other systems, that the future of the smart rotor lies.

  11. The effect of voice quality on hiring decisions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lea Tylečková

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available This paper examines the effect of voice quality on hiring decisions. Considering voice quality an important tool in an individual’s self-presentation in the job market, it may very well enhance his/her job prospects, while some voice qualities may affect employers’ judgments in a negative way. Five men and five women were recorded reading four different utterances representing answers to job interviewers’ questions in four different phonation guises: modal, breathy, creaky and pressed. 38 professional employment interviewers recorded the speakers’ hireability and personality ratings (likeability, self-confidence and trustworthiness on 7-point semantic differential scales based on the speakers’ voice. The results revealed a significant effect of the phonation guises on the speakers’ ratings with the modal voice being superior to the cluster of non-modal voices. Interestingly, the non-modal guises were evaluated in a very similar way, except for the self-confidence category with the breathy voice getting the lowest scores on the one hand and the pressed voice correlating with high self-confidence ratings on the other.

  12. Can a voice disorder be an occupational disease?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Daša Gluvajić

    2012-11-01

    Full Text Available Voice disorders are all changes in the voice quality that can be detected by hearing. Some etiological factors that contribute to the development of voice disorders are related to occupation, working environment and working conditions. In modern societies one third of the labour force works in professions with vocal loading. In such professions, voice disorders influence work ability and quality of life. For an occupational disease, the exposure to harmful factors in the workplace is essential and causes the development of a disorder in a previously healthy individual. In some European countries, voice disorders in teachers, which do not improve after proper treatment are recognized as occupational diseases. In Slovenia, no organic or functional voice disorder is listed on the current list of occupational diseases. Prevention and cure of occupational voice disorders can contribute to better safety at the workplace and improve the workers’ health. Voice professionals must also know that they are responsible for their own health and that they must actively take care of it.

  13. The Voice as Computer Interface: A Look at Tomorrow's Technologies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lange, Holley R.

    1991-01-01

    Discussion of voice as the communications device for computer-human interaction focuses on voice recognition systems for use within a library environment. Voice technologies are described, including voice response and voice recognition; examples of voice systems in use in libraries are examined; and further possibilities, including use with…

  14. Probing echoic memory with different voices.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Madden, D J; Bastian, J

    1977-05-01

    Considerable evidence has indicated that some acoustical properties of spoken items are preserved in an "echoic" memory for approximately 2 sec. However, some of this evidence has also shown that changing the voice speaking the stimulus items has a disruptive effect on memory which persists longer than that of other acoustical variables. The present experiment examined the effect of voice changes on response bias as well as on accuracy in a recognition memory task. The task involved judging recognition probes as being present in or absent from sets of dichotically presented digits. Recognition of probes spoken in the same voice as that of the dichotic items was more accurate than recognition of different-voice probes at each of three retention intervals of up to 4 sec. Different-voice probes increased the likelihood of "absent" responses, but only up to a 1.4-sec delay. These shifts in response bias may represent a property of echoic memory which should be investigated further.

  15. Voice disorders in teachers. A review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martins, Regina Helena Garcia; Pereira, Eny Regina Bóia Neves; Hidalgo, Caio Bosque; Tavares, Elaine Lara Mendes

    2014-11-01

    Voice disorders are very prevalent among teachers and consequences are serious. Although the literature is extensive, there are differences in the concepts and methodology related to voice problems; most studies are restricted to analyzing the responses of teachers to questionnaires and only a few studies include vocal assessments and videolaryngoscopic examinations to obtain a definitive diagnosis. To review demographic studies related to vocal disorders in teachers to analyze the diverse methodologies, the prevalence rates pointed out by the authors, the main risk factors, the most prevalent laryngeal lesions, and the repercussions of dysphonias on professional activities. The available literature (from 1997 to 2013) was narratively reviewed based on Medline, PubMed, Lilacs, SciELO, and Cochrane library databases. Excluded were articles that specifically analyzed treatment modalities and those that did not make their abstracts available in those databases. The keywords included were teacher, dysphonia, voice disorders, professional voice. Copyright © 2014 The Voice Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  16. Uncovering phenotypes of poor-pitch singing: the Sung Performance Battery (SPB)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Berkowska, Magdalena; Dalla Bella, Simone

    2013-01-01

    Singing is as natural as speaking for humans. Increasing evidence shows that the layman can carry a tune (e.g., when asked to sing a well-known song or to imitate single pitches, intervals and short melodies). Yet, important individual differences exist in the general population with regard to singing proficiency. Some individuals are particularly inaccurate or imprecise in producing or imitating pitch information (poor-pitch singers), thus showing a variety of singing phenotypes. Unfortunately, so far there is not a standard set of tasks for assessing singing proficiency in the general population, allowing to uncover and characterize individual profiles of poor-pitch singing. Different tasks and analysis methods are typically used in various experiments, making the comparison of the results across studies arduous. To fill this gap we propose here a new tool for assessing singing proficiency (the Sung Performance Battery, SPB). The SPB starts from the assessment of participants' vocal range followed by five tasks: (1) single-pitch matching, (2) pitch-interval matching, (3) novel-melody matching, (4) singing from memory of familiar melodies (with lyrics and on a syllable), and (5) singing of familiar melodies (with lyrics and on a syllable) at a slow tempo indicated by a metronome. Data analysis via acoustical methods provides objective measures of pitch accuracy and precision in terms of absolute and relative pitch. The SPB has been tested in a group of 50 occasional singers. The results indicate that the battery is useful for characterizing proficient singing and for detecting cases of inaccurate and/or imprecise singing. PMID:24151475

  17. Learning of pitch and time structures in an artificial grammar setting.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prince, Jon B; Stevens, Catherine J; Jones, Mari Riess; Tillmann, Barbara

    2018-04-12

    Despite the empirical evidence for the power of the cognitive capacity of implicit learning of structures and regularities in several modalities and materials, it remains controversial whether implicit learning extends to the learning of temporal structures and regularities. We investigated whether (a) an artificial grammar can be learned equally well when expressed in duration sequences as when expressed in pitch sequences, (b) learning of the artificial grammar in either duration or pitch (as the primary dimension) sequences can be influenced by the properties of the secondary dimension (invariant vs. randomized), and (c) learning can be boosted when the artificial grammar is expressed in both pitch and duration. After an exposure phase with grammatical sequences, learning in a subsequent test phase was assessed in a grammaticality judgment task. Participants in both the pitch and duration conditions showed incidental (not fully implicit) learning of the artificial grammar when the secondary dimension was invariant, but randomizing the pitch sequence prevented learning of the artificial grammar in duration sequences. Expressing the artificial grammar in both pitch and duration resulted in disproportionately better performance, suggesting an interaction between the learning of pitch and temporal structure. The findings are relevant to research investigating the learning of temporal structures and the learning of structures presented simultaneously in 2 dimensions (e.g., space and time, space and objects). By investigating learning, the findings provide further insight into the potential specificity of pitch and time processing, and their integrated versus independent processing, as previously debated in music cognition research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

  18. Contributions of pitch contour, tonality, rhythm, and meter to melodic similarity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prince, Jon B

    2014-12-01

    The identity of a melody resides in its sequence of pitches and durations, both of which exhibit surface details as well as structural properties. In this study, pitch contour (pattern of ups and downs) served as pitch surface information, and tonality (musical key) as pitch structure; in the temporal dimension, surface information was the ordinal duration ratios of adjacent notes (rhythm), and meter (beat, or pulse) comprised the structure. Factorially manipulating the preservation or alteration of all of these forms of information in 17 novel melodies (typifying Western music) enabled measuring their effect on perceived melodic similarity. In Experiment 1, 34 participants (varied musical training) rated the perceived similarity of melody pairs transposed to new starting pitches. Rhythm was the largest contributor to perceived similarity, then contour, meter, and tonality. Experiment 2 used the same melodies but varied the tempo within a pair, and added a prefix of 3 chords, which oriented the listener to the starting pitch and tempo before the melody began. Now contour was the strongest influence on similarity ratings, followed by tonality, and then rhythm; meter was not significant. Overall, surface features influenced perceived similarity more than structural, but both had observable effects. The primary theoretical advances in melodic similarity research are that (a) the relative emphasis on pitch and temporal factors is flexible; (b) pitch and time functioned independently when factorially manipulated, regardless of which dimension is more influential; and (c) interactions between surface and structural information were unreliable and never occurred between dimensions. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

  19. Uncovering phenotypes of poor-pitch singing: The Sung Performance Battery (SPB

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Magdalena eBerkowska

    2013-10-01

    Full Text Available Singing is as natural as speaking for humans. Increasing evidence shows that the layman can carry a tune (e.g., when asked to sing a well-known song or to imitate single pitches, intervals and short melodies. Yet, important individual differences exist in the general population with regard to singing proficiency. Some individuals are particularly inaccurate or imprecise in producing or imitating pitch information (poor-pitch singers, thus showing a variety of singing phenotypes. Unfortunately, so far there is not a standard set of tasks for assessing singing proficiency in the general population, allowing to uncover and characterize individual profiles of poor-pitch singing. Different tasks and analysis methods are typically used in various experiments, making the comparison of the results across studies arduous. To fill this gap we propose here a new tool for assessing singing proficiency (the Sung Performance Battery, SPB. The SPB starts from the assessment of participants’ vocal range followed by five tasks: 1 single-pitch matching, 2 pitch-interval matching, 3 novel-melody matching, 4 singing from memory of familiar melodies (with lyrics and on a syllable, and 5 singing of familiar melodies (with lyrics and on a syllable at a slow tempo indicated by a metronome. Data analysis via acoustical methods provides objective measures of pitch accuracy and precision in terms of absolute and relative pitch. The SPB has been tested in a group of 50 occasional singers. The results indicate that the battery is useful for characterizing proficient singing and for detecting cases of inaccurate and/or imprecise singing.

  20. The Association Between Pitch Conditions and the Incidence of ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    shown to influence incidence of rugby injuries. Harsh weather conditions and detrimental effect on poor Kenyan rugby pitches create a unique environment for injury exposure. We conducted a whole population prospective cohort study to determine the association of pitch conditions with injury incidence and severity.

  1. Pointed and plateau-shaped pitch accents in North Frisian

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Niebuhr, Oliver; Hoekstra, Jarich

    2015-01-01

    for language documentation and conservation purposes. We selected a small part of this corpus – interviews of 10 elderly speakers – and conducted multiparametric F0 and duration measurements, focusing on nuclear rising-falling pitch accent patterns. We found strong evidence for a phonological pitch...

  2. Feedback Linearization approach for Standard and Fault Tolerant control: Application to a Quadrotor UAV Testbed

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ghandour, J; Aberkane, S; Ponsart, J-C

    2014-01-01

    In this paper the control problem of a quadrotor vehicle experiencing a rotor failure is investigated. We develop a Feedback linearization approach to design a controller whose task is to make the vehicle performs trajectory following. Then we use the same approach to design a controller whose task is to make the vehicle enter a stable spin around its vertical axis, while retaining zero angular velocities around the other axis when a rotor failure is present. These conditions can be exploited to design a second control loop, which is used to perform trajectory following. The proposed double control loop architecture allows the vehicle to perform both trajectory and roll/pitch control. At last, to test the robustness of the feedback linearization technique, we applied wind to the quadrotor in mid flight

  3. Optimal dose-response relationships in voice therapy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roy, Nelson

    2012-10-01

    Like other areas of speech-language pathology, the behavioural management of voice disorders lacks precision regarding optimal dose-response relationships. In voice therapy, dosing can presumably vary from no measurable effect (i.e., no observable benefit or adverse effect), to ideal dose (maximum benefit with no adverse effects), to doses that produce toxic or harmful effects on voice production. Practicing specific vocal exercises will inevitably increase vocal load. At ideal doses, these exercises may be non-toxic and beneficial, while at intermediate or high doses, the same exercises may actually be toxic or damaging to vocal fold tissues. In pharmacology, toxicity is a critical concept, yet it is rarely considered in voice therapy, with little known regarding "effective" concentrations of specific voice therapies vs "toxic" concentrations. The potential for vocal fold tissue damage related to overdosing on specific vocal exercises has been under-studied. In this commentary, the issue of dosing will be explored within the context of voice therapy, with particular emphasis placed on possible "overdosing".

  4. The recognition of female voice based on voice registers in singing techniques in real-time using hankel transform method and macdonald function

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meiyanti, R.; Subandi, A.; Fuqara, N.; Budiman, M. A.; Siahaan, A. P. U.

    2018-03-01

    A singer doesn’t just recite the lyrics of a song, but also with the use of particular sound techniques to make it more beautiful. In the singing technique, more female have a diverse sound registers than male. There are so many registers of the human voice, but the voice registers used while singing, among others, Chest Voice, Head Voice, Falsetto, and Vocal fry. Research of speech recognition based on the female’s voice registers in singing technique is built using Borland Delphi 7.0. Speech recognition process performed by the input recorded voice samples and also in real time. Voice input will result in weight energy values based on calculations using Hankel Transformation method and Macdonald Functions. The results showed that the accuracy of the system depends on the accuracy of sound engineering that trained and tested, and obtained an average percentage of the successful introduction of the voice registers record reached 48.75 percent, while the average percentage of the successful introduction of the voice registers in real time to reach 57 percent.

  5. Work-related voice disorder

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Paulo Eduardo Przysiezny

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available INTRODUCTION: Dysphonia is the main symptom of the disorders of oral communication. However, voice disorders also present with other symptoms such as difficulty in maintaining the voice (asthenia, vocal fatigue, variation in habitual vocal fundamental frequency, hoarseness, lack of vocal volume and projection, loss of vocal efficiency, and weakness when speaking. There are several proposals for the etiologic classification of dysphonia: functional, organofunctional, organic, and work-related voice disorder (WRVD.OBJECTIVE: To conduct a literature review on WRVD and on the current Brazilian labor legislation.METHODS: This was a review article with bibliographical research conducted on the PubMed and Bireme databases, using the terms "work-related voice disorder", "occupational dysphonia", "dysphonia and labor legislation", and a review of labor and social security relevant laws.CONCLUSION: WRVD is a situation that frequently is listed as a reason for work absenteeism, functional rehabilitation, or for prolonged absence from work. Currently, forensic physicians have no comparative parameters to help with the analysis of vocal disorders. In certain situations WRVD may cause, work disability. This disorder may be labor-related, or be an adjuvant factor to work-related diseases.

  6. Human voice perception.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Latinus, Marianne; Belin, Pascal

    2011-02-22

    We are all voice experts. First and foremost, we can produce and understand speech, and this makes us a unique species. But in addition to speech perception, we routinely extract from voices a wealth of socially-relevant information in what constitutes a more primitive, and probably more universal, non-linguistic mode of communication. Consider the following example: you are sitting in a plane, and you can hear a conversation in a foreign language in the row behind you. You do not see the speakers' faces, and you cannot understand the speech content because you do not know the language. Yet, an amazing amount of information is available to you. You can evaluate the physical characteristics of the different protagonists, including their gender, approximate age and size, and associate an identity to the different voices. You can form a good idea of the different speaker's mood and affective state, as well as more subtle cues as the perceived attractiveness or dominance of the protagonists. In brief, you can form a fairly detailed picture of the type of social interaction unfolding, which a brief glance backwards can on the occasion help refine - sometimes surprisingly so. What are the acoustical cues that carry these different types of vocal information? How does our brain process and analyse this information? Here we briefly review an emerging field and the main tools used in voice perception research. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  7. A Novel Degradation Identification Method for Wind Turbine Pitch System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guo, Hui-Dong

    2018-04-01

    It’s difficult for traditional threshold value method to identify degradation of operating equipment accurately. An novel degradation evaluation method suitable for wind turbine condition maintenance strategy implementation was proposed in this paper. Based on the analysis of typical variable-speed pitch-to-feather control principle and monitoring parameters for pitch system, a multi input multi output (MIMO) regression model was applied to pitch system, where wind speed, power generation regarding as input parameters, wheel rotation speed, pitch angle and motor driving currency for three blades as output parameters. Then, the difference between the on-line measurement and the calculated value from the MIMO regression model applying least square support vector machines (LSSVM) method was defined as the Observed Vector of the system. The Gaussian mixture model (GMM) was applied to fitting the distribution of the multi dimension Observed Vectors. Applying the model established, the Degradation Index was calculated using the SCADA data of a wind turbine damaged its pitch bearing retainer and rolling body, which illustrated the feasibility of the provided method.

  8. PRODUCTION OF FOAMS, FIBERS AND PITCHES USING A COAL EXTRACTION PROCESS

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Chong Chen; Elliot B. Kennel; Liviu Magean; Pete G. Stansberry; Alfred H. Stiller; John W. Zondlo

    2004-06-20

    This Department of Energy National Energy Technology Laboratory sponsored project developed processes for converting coal feedstocks to carbon products, including coal-derived pitch, coke foams and fibers based on solvent extraction processes. A key technology is the use of hydrogenation accomplished at elevated temperatures and pressures to obtain a synthetic coal pitch. Hydrogenation, or partial direct liquefaction of coal, is used to modify the properties of raw coal such that a molten synthetic pitch can be obtained. The amount of hydrogen required to produce a synthetic pitch is about an order of magnitude less than the amount required to produce synthetic crude oil. Hence the conditions for synthetic pitch production consume very little hydrogen and can be accomplished at substantially lower pressure. In the molten state, hot filtration or centrifugation can be used to separate dissolved coal chemicals from mineral matter and insolubles (inertinite), resulting in the production of a purified hydrocarbon pitch. Alternatively, if hydrogenation is not used, aromatic hydrocarbon liquids appropriate for use as precursors to carbon products can obtained by dissolving coal in a solvent. As in the case for partial direct liquefaction pitches, undissolved coal is removed via hot filtration or centrifugation. Excess solvent is boiled off and recovered. The resultant solid material, referred to as Solvent Extracted Carbon Ore or SECO, has been used successfully to produce artificial graphite and carbon foam.

  9. Singing with yourself: evidence for an inverse modeling account of poor-pitch singing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pfordresher, Peter Q; Mantell, James T

    2014-05-01

    Singing is a ubiquitous and culturally significant activity that humans engage in from an early age. Nevertheless, some individuals - termed poor-pitch singers - are unable to match target pitches within a musical semitone while singing. In the experiments reported here, we tested whether poor-pitch singing deficits would be reduced when individuals imitate recordings of themselves as opposed to recordings of other individuals. This prediction was based on the hypothesis that poor-pitch singers have not developed an abstract "inverse model" of the auditory-vocal system and instead must rely on sensorimotor associations that they have experienced directly, which is true for sequences an individual has already produced. In three experiments, participants, both accurate and poor-pitch singers, were better able to imitate sung recordings of themselves than sung recordings of other singers. However, this self-advantage was enhanced for poor-pitch singers. These effects were not a byproduct of self-recognition (Experiment 1), vocal timbre (Experiment 2), or the absolute pitch of target recordings (i.e., the advantage remains when recordings are transposed, Experiment 3). Results support the conceptualization of poor-pitch singing as an imitative deficit resulting from a deficient inverse model of the auditory-vocal system with respect to pitch. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  10. Structural Load Analysis of a Wind Turbine under Pitch Actuator and Controller Faults

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Etemaddar, Mahmoud; Gao, Zhen; Moan, Torgeir

    2014-01-01

    In this paper, we investigate the characteristics of a wind turbine under blade pitch angle and shaft speed sensor faults as well as pitch actuator faults. A land-based NREL 5MW variable speed pitch reg- ulated wind turbine is considered as a reference. The conventional collective blade pitch angle controller strategy with independent pitch actuators control is used for load reduction. The wind turbine class is IEC-BII. The main purpose is to investigate the severity of end effects on structural loads and responses and consequently identify the high-risk components according to the type and amplitude of fault using a servo-aero-elastic simulation code, HAWC2. Both transient and steady state effects of faults are studied. Such information is useful for wind turbine fault detection and identification as well as system reliability analysis. Results show the effects of faults on wind turbine power output and responses. Pitch sensor faults mainly affects the vibration of shaft main bearing, while generator power and aerodynamic thrust are not changed significantly, due to independent pitch actuator control of three blades. Shaft speed sensor faults can seriously affect the generator power and aerodynamic thrust. Pitch actuator faults can result in fully pitching of the blade, and consequently rotor stops due to negative aerodynamic torque

  11. How to help teachers' voices.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saatweber, Margarete

    2008-01-01

    It has been shown that teachers are at high risk of developing occupational dysphonia, and it has been widely accepted that the vocal characteristics of a speaker play an important role in determining the reactions of listeners. The functions of breathing, breathing movement, breathing tonus, voice vibrations and articulation tonus are transmitted to the listener. So we may conclude that listening to the teacher's voice at school influences children's behavior and the perception of spoken language. This paper presents the concept of Schlaffhorst-Andersen including exercises to help teachers improve their voice, breathing, movement and their posture. Copyright 2008 S. Karger AG, Basel.

  12. Thermal transformations of pitch and its compositions with thermoanthracite

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Belkina, T.V.; Ulanovskii, M.L.; Krysin, V.P.

    1983-01-01

    Derivatogrphy is used to investigate the character of thermal transformations of hard coal pitch in compositions with thermoanthracite. It was shown that losses in mass during thermal transformations of hard coal pitch in the temperature interval 200-1000 C occur in two stages, at a varying rate in the 200-600 C range and at a constant rate in the 600-1000 C range. The rate of loss in the 200-600 C range is determined primarily by the rate of diffusion of volatile components and products of pitch conversion and in the 600-1000 C range mainly by the rate of the elemental chemical event. The thermal transformation is essentially unchanged in the presence of thermoanthracite. Silica intensifies the synthesis and increases the solid residue yield. Increasing the rate of heating of the pitch-thermoanthracite brings about incomplete separation of volatile products and a corresponding increase in the solid residue yield. (9 refs.)

  13. Embedded pitch adapters for the ATLAS Tracker Upgrade

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ullan, Miguel; Benitez, Victor; Pellegrini, Giulio; Fleta, Celeste; Lozano, Manuel; Lacasta, Carlos; Soldevila, Urmila; Garcia, Carmen

    2013-01-01

    In the current ATLAS tracker modules, sensor bonding pads are placed on their corresponding strips and oriented along the strips. This creates a difference in pitch and orientation between sensor bond pads and readout electronics bond pads. Therefore, a pitch adapter (PA), or “fan-in”, is needed. The purpose of these PA is the electrical interconnection of every channel from the detector bonding pads to the read-out chips, adapting the different pad pitch. Our new approach is to build those PAs inside the sensor; this is what we call Embedded Pitch Adapters. The idea is to use an additional metal layer in order to define a new group of pads, connected to the strips via tracks with the second metal. The embedded PAs have been fabricated on 4-in. prototype sensors for the ATLAS-Upgrade Endcap Tracker to test their performance and suitability. The tests confirm proper fabrication of the second metal tracks, and no effects on detector performance. No indication of cross-talk between first and second metal channels has been observed. A small indication of possible signal pick-up from the bulk has been observed in a few channels, which needs to be further investigated

  14. Learning for pitch and melody discrimination in congenital amusia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Whiteford, Kelly L; Oxenham, Andrew J

    2018-03-23

    Congenital amusia is currently thought to be a life-long neurogenetic disorder in music perception, impervious to training in pitch or melody discrimination. This study provides an explicit test of whether amusic deficits can be reduced with training. Twenty amusics and 20 matched controls participated in four sessions of psychophysical training involving either pure-tone (500 Hz) pitch discrimination or a control task of lateralization (interaural level differences for bandpass white noise). Pure-tone pitch discrimination at low, medium, and high frequencies (500, 2000, and 8000 Hz) was measured before and after training (pretest and posttest) to determine the specificity of learning. Melody discrimination was also assessed before and after training using the full Montreal Battery of Evaluation of Amusia, the most widely used standardized test to diagnose amusia. Amusics performed more poorly than controls in pitch but not localization discrimination, but both groups improved with practice on the trained stimuli. Learning was broad, occurring across all three frequencies and melody discrimination for all groups, including those who trained on the non-pitch control task. Following training, 11 of 20 amusics no longer met the global diagnostic criteria for amusia. A separate group of untrained controls (n = 20), who also completed melody discrimination and pretest, improved by an equal amount as trained controls on all measures, suggesting that the bulk of learning for the control group occurred very rapidly from the pretest. Thirty-one trained participants (13 amusics) returned one year later to assess long-term maintenance of pitch and melody discrimination. On average, there was no change in performance between posttest and one-year follow-up, demonstrating that improvements on pitch- and melody-related tasks in amusics and controls can be maintained. The findings indicate that amusia is not always a life-long deficit when using the current standard

  15. 179 Extraction of Coal-tar Pitch by Supercritical Carbon Dioxide ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Meyer

    Several extractions of coal-tar pitch were performed using supercritical fluid ..... pressure and temperature, unlike exhaustive extraction, which involves a change in ... mechanism that is operative on extracting coal-tar pitch components with.

  16. Implicit multisensory associations influence voice recognition.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Katharina von Kriegstein

    2006-10-01

    Full Text Available Natural objects provide partially redundant information to the brain through different sensory modalities. For example, voices and faces both give information about the speech content, age, and gender of a person. Thanks to this redundancy, multimodal recognition is fast, robust, and automatic. In unimodal perception, however, only part of the information about an object is available. Here, we addressed whether, even under conditions of unimodal sensory input, crossmodal neural circuits that have been shaped by previous associative learning become activated and underpin a performance benefit. We measured brain activity with functional magnetic resonance imaging before, while, and after participants learned to associate either sensory redundant stimuli, i.e. voices and faces, or arbitrary multimodal combinations, i.e. voices and written names, ring tones, and cell phones or brand names of these cell phones. After learning, participants were better at recognizing unimodal auditory voices that had been paired with faces than those paired with written names, and association of voices with faces resulted in an increased functional coupling between voice and face areas. No such effects were observed for ring tones that had been paired with cell phones or names. These findings demonstrate that brief exposure to ecologically valid and sensory redundant stimulus pairs, such as voices and faces, induces specific multisensory associations. Consistent with predictive coding theories, associative representations become thereafter available for unimodal perception and facilitate object recognition. These data suggest that for natural objects effective predictive signals can be generated across sensory systems and proceed by optimization of functional connectivity between specialized cortical sensory modules.

  17. Auditory processing in absolute pitch possessors

    Science.gov (United States)

    McKetton, Larissa; Schneider, Keith A.

    2018-05-01

    Absolute pitch (AP) is a rare ability in classifying a musical pitch without a reference standard. It has been of great interest to researchers studying auditory processing and music cognition since it is seldom expressed and sheds light on influences pertaining to neurodevelopmental biological predispositions and the onset of musical training. We investigated the smallest frequency that could be detected or just noticeable difference (JND) between two pitches. Here, we report significant differences in JND thresholds in AP musicians and non-AP musicians compared to non-musician control groups at both 1000 Hz and 987.76 Hz testing frequencies. Although the AP-musicians did better than non-AP musicians, the difference was not significant. In addition, we looked at neuro-anatomical correlates of musicianship and AP using structural MRI. We report increased cortical thickness of the left Heschl's Gyrus (HG) and decreased cortical thickness of the inferior frontal opercular gyrus (IFO) and circular insular sulcus volume (CIS) in AP compared to non-AP musicians and controls. These structures may therefore be optimally enhanced and reduced to form the most efficient network for AP to emerge.

  18. Individual blade pitch for yaw control

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Navalkar, S T; Van Wingerden, J W; Van Kuik, G A M

    2014-01-01

    Individual pitch control (IPC) for reducing blade loads has been investigated and proven successful in recent literature. For IPC, the multi-blade co-ordinate (MBC) transformation is used to process the blade load signals from the rotating to a stationary frame of reference. In the stationary frame of reference, the yaw error of a turbine can be appended to generate IPC actions that are able to achieve turbine yaw control for a turbine in free yaw. In this paper, IPC for yaw control is tested on a high-fidelity numerical model of a commercially produced wind turbine in free yaw. The tests show that yaw control using IPC has the distinct advantage that the yaw system loads and support structure loading are substantially reduced. However, IPC for yaw control also shows a reduction in IPC blade load reduction potential and causes a slight increase in pitch activity. Thus, the key contribution of this paper is the concept demonstration of IPC for yaw control. Further, using IPC for yaw as a tuning parameter, it is shown how the best trade-off between blade loading, pitch activity and support structure loading can be achieved for wind turbine design

  19. Different auditory feedback control for echolocation and communication in horseshoe bats.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ying Liu

    Full Text Available Auditory feedback from the animal's own voice is essential during bat echolocation: to optimize signal detection, bats continuously adjust various call parameters in response to changing echo signals. Auditory feedback seems also necessary for controlling many bat communication calls, although it remains unclear how auditory feedback control differs in echolocation and communication. We tackled this question by analyzing echolocation and communication in greater horseshoe bats, whose echolocation pulses are dominated by a constant frequency component that matches the frequency range they hear best. To maintain echoes within this "auditory fovea", horseshoe bats constantly adjust their echolocation call frequency depending on the frequency of the returning echo signal. This Doppler-shift compensation (DSC behavior represents one of the most precise forms of sensory-motor feedback known. We examined the variability of echolocation pulses emitted at rest (resting frequencies, RFs and one type of communication signal which resembles an echolocation pulse but is much shorter (short constant frequency communication calls, SCFs and produced only during social interactions. We found that while RFs varied from day to day, corroborating earlier studies in other constant frequency bats, SCF-frequencies remained unchanged. In addition, RFs overlapped for some bats whereas SCF-frequencies were always distinctly different. This indicates that auditory feedback during echolocation changed with varying RFs but remained constant or may have been absent during emission of SCF calls for communication. This fundamentally different feedback mechanism for echolocation and communication may have enabled these bats to use SCF calls for individual recognition whereas they adjusted RF calls to accommodate the daily shifts of their auditory fovea.

  20. Detection and identification of monaural and binaural pitch contours in dyslexic listeners

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Santurette, Sébastien; Poelmans, Hanne; Luts, Heleen

    2010-01-01

    of dyslexic listeners to Huggins' pitch (HP). The present study clarified whether impaired binaural pitch perception is found in dyslexia. Results from a pitch contour identification test, performed in 31 dyslexic listeners and 31 matched controls, clearly showed that dyslexics perceived HP as well...

  1. Full field image reconstruction is suitable for high-pitch dual-source computed tomography.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mahnken, Andreas H; Allmendinger, Thomas; Sedlmair, Martin; Tamm, Miriam; Reinartz, Sebastian D; Flohr, Thomas

    2012-11-01

    The field of view (FOV) in high-pitch dual-source computed tomography (DSCT) is limited by the size of the second detector. The goal of this study was to develop and evaluate a full FOV image reconstruction technique for high-pitch DSCT. For reconstruction beyond the FOV of the second detector, raw data of the second system were extended to the full dimensions of the first system, using the partly existing data of the first system in combination with a very smooth transition weight function. During the weighted filtered backprojection, the data of the second system were applied with an additional weighting factor. This method was tested for different pitch values from 1.5 to 3.5 on a simulated phantom and on 25 high-pitch DSCT data sets acquired at pitch values of 1.6, 2.0, 2.5, 2.8, and 3.0. Images were reconstructed with FOV sizes of 260 × 260 and 500 × 500 mm. Image quality was assessed by 2 radiologists using a 5-point Likert scale and analyzed with repeated-measure analysis of variance. In phantom and patient data, full FOV image quality depended on pitch. Where complete projection data from both tube-detector systems were available, image quality was unaffected by pitch changes. Full FOV image quality was not compromised at pitch values of 1.6 and remained fully diagnostic up to a pitch of 2.0. At higher pitch values, there was an increasing difference in image quality between limited and full FOV images (P = 0.0097). With this new image reconstruction technique, full FOV image reconstruction can be used up to a pitch of 2.0.

  2. Development of advanced blade pitching kinematics for cycloturbines and cyclorotors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Adams, Zachary Howard

    Cycloturbines and cyclorotors are established concepts for extracting freesteam fluid energy and producing thrust which promise to exceed the performance of traditional horizontal axis turbines and rotors while maintaining unique operational advantages. However, their potential is not yet realized in widespread applications. A central barrier to their proliferation is the lack of fundamental understanding of the aerodynamic interaction between the turbine and the freestream flow. In particular, blade pitch must be precisely actuated throughout the revolution to achieve the proper blade angle of attack and maximize performance. So far, there is no adequate method for determining or implementing the optimal blade pitching kinematics for cyclorotors or cycloturbines. This dissertation bridges the pitching deficiency by introducing a novel low order model to predict improved pitch kinematics, experimentally demonstrating improved performance, and evaluating flow physics with a high order Navier-Stokes computational code. The foundation for developing advanced blade pitch motions is a low order model named Fluxline Theory. Fluid calculations are performed in a coordinate system fixed to streamlines whose spatial locations are not pre-described in order to capture the flow expansion/contraction and bending through the turbine. A transformation then determines the spatial location of streamlines through the rotor disk and finally blade element method integrations determine the power and forces produced. Validation against three sets of extant cycloturbine experimental data demonstrates improvement over other existing streamtube models. Fluxline Theory was extended by removing dependence on a blade element model to better understand how turbine-fluid interaction impacts thrust and power production. This pure momentum variation establishes a cycloturbine performance limit similar to the Betz Limit for horizontal axis wind turbines, as well as the fluid deceleration required

  3. Musculoskeletal Pain and Occupational Variables in Teachers With Voice Disorders and in Those With Healthy Voices-A Pilot Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    da Silva Vitor, Jhonatan; Siqueira, Larissa Thaís Donalonso; Ribeiro, Vanessa Veis; Ramos, Janine Santos; Brasolotto, Alcione Ghedini; Silverio, Kelly Cristina Alves

    2017-07-01

    This study aimed to compare musculoskeletal pain perception in teachers with voice disorders and in those with healthy voices, and to investigate the relationship between musculoskeletal pain and occupational variables (ie, work journey per week and working period). Forty-three classroom teachers were divided into two groups: dysphonic group (DG), 32 classroom teachers with voice complaints and voice disorders; and non-DG, 11 classroom teachers without voice complaints and who are vocally healthy. The musculoskeletal pain investigation survey was used to investigate the frequency and intensity of the pain. Occupational variables, such as work journey per week and working period, were investigated by the Voice Production Condition-Teacher questionnaire. The statistical tests used were the Spearman correlation (P ≤ 0.05) and the Mann-Whitney U test (P ≤ 0.05). There was no difference between the frequency and the intensity of musculoskeletal pain regarding dysphonia. Work journey per week was positively related to the frequency and the intensity of laryngeal pain in the DG. The working period had a negative relationship to the frequency and the intensity of musculoskeletal pain in the submandibular region in the DG. Classroom teachers with voice disorders and those with healthy voices do not have differences regarding the frequency and the intensity of musculoskeletal pain. Besides dysphonia the pain is an important symptom to be considered in classroom teachers. The occupational variables contributed to the presence of musculoskeletal pain in the region near the larynx, which appears to be directly proportional to work journey per week and inversely proportional to the working period. Copyright © 2017 The Voice Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  4. Sparse Multi-Pitch and Panning Estimation of Stereophonic Signals

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kronvall, Ted; Jakobsson, Andreas; Hansen, Martin Weiss

    2016-01-01

    In this paper, we propose a novel multi-pitch estimator for stereophonic mixtures, allowing for pitch estimation on multi-channel audio even if the amplitude and delay panning parameters are unknown. The presented method does not require prior knowledge of the number of sources present in the mix...

  5. Contributions of neuroimaging in singing voice studies: a systematic review

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Geová Oliveira de Amorim

    Full Text Available ABSTRACT It is assumed that singing is a highly complex activity, which requires the activation and interconnection of sensorimotor areas. The aim of the current research was to present the evidence from neuroimaging studies in the performance of the motor and sensory system in the process of singing. Research articles on the characteristics of human singing analyzed by neuroimaging, which were published between 1990 and 2016, and indexed and listed in databases such as PubMed, BIREME, Lilacs, Web of Science, Scopus, and EBSCO were chosen for this systematic review. A total of 9 articles, employing magnetoencephalography, functional magnetic resonance imaging, positron emission tomography, and electrocorticography were chosen. These neuroimaging approaches enabled the identification of a neural network interconnecting the spoken and singing voice, to identify, modulate, and correct pitch. This network changed with the singer's training, variations in melodic structure and harmonized singing, amusia, and the relationship among the brain areas that are responsible for speech, singing, and the persistence of musicality. Since knowledge of the neural networks that control singing is still scarce, the use of neuroimaging methods to elucidate these pathways should be a focus of future research.

  6. Frogs Call at a Higher Pitch in Traffic Noise

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kirsten M. Parris

    2009-06-01

    Full Text Available Male frogs call to attract females for mating and to defend territories from rival males. Female frogs of some species prefer lower-pitched calls, which indicate larger, more experienced males. Acoustic interference occurs when background noise reduces the active distance or the distance over which an acoustic signal can be detected. Birds are known to call at a higher pitch or frequency in urban noise, decreasing acoustic interference from low-frequency noise. Using Bayesian linear regression, we investigated the effect of traffic noise on the pitch of advertisement calls in two species of frogs, the southern brown tree frog (Litoria ewingii and the common eastern froglet (Crinia signifera. We found evidence that L. ewingii calls at a higher pitch in traffic noise, with an average increase in dominant frequency of 4.1 Hz/dB of traffic noise, and a total effect size of 123 Hz. This frequency shift is smaller than that observed in birds, but is still large enough to be detected by conspecific frogs and confer a significant benefit to the caller. Mathematical modelling predicted a 24% increase in the active distance of a L. ewingii call in traffic noise with a frequency shift of this size. Crinia signifera may also call at a higher pitch in traffic noise, but more data are required to be confident of this effect. Because frog calls are innate rather than learned, the frequency shift demonstrated by L. ewingii may represent an evolutionary adaptation to noisy conditions. The phenomenon of frogs calling at a higher pitch in traffic noise could therefore constitute an intriguing trade-off between audibility and attractiveness to potential mates.

  7. Fine-pitch glass GEM for high-resolution X-ray imaging

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fujiwara, T.; Toyokawa, H.; Mitsuya, Y.

    2016-01-01

    We have developed a fine-pitch glass gas electron multiplier (G-GEM) for high-resolution X-ray imaging. The fine-pitch G-GEM is made of a 400 μm thick photo-etchable glass substrate with 150 μm pitch holes. It is fabricated using the same wet etching technique as that for the standard G-GEM. In this work, we present the experimental results obtained with a single fine-pitch G-GEM with a 50 × 50 mm 2 effective area. We recorded an energy resolution of 16.2% and gas gain up to 5,500 when the detector was irradiated with 5.9 keV X-rays. We present a 50 × 50 mm 2 X-ray radiograph image acquired with a scintillation gas and optical readout system.

  8. Voice amplification for primary school teachers with voice disorders: A randomized clinical trial

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Roberto Bovo

    2013-06-01

    Full Text Available Objectives: Several studies have demonstrated a high prevalence of voice disorders in teachers, together with the personal, professional and economical consequences of the problem. Good primary prevention should be based on 3 aspects: 1 amelioration of classroom acoustics, 2 voice care programs for future professional voice users, including teachers and 3 classroom or portable amplification systems. The aim of the study was to assess the benefit obtained from the use of portable amplification systems by female primary school teachers in their occupational setting. Materials and Methods: Forty female primary school teachers attended a course about professional voice care, which comprised two theoretical lectures, each 60 min long. Thereafter, they were randomized into 2 groups: the teachers of the first group were asked to use a portable vocal amplifier for 3 months, till the end of school-year. The other 20 teachers were part of the control group, matched for age and years of employment. All subjects had a grade 1 of dysphonia with no significant organic lesion of the vocal folds. Results: Most teachers of the experimental group used the amplifier consistently for the whole duration of the experiment and found it very useful in reducing the symptoms of vocal fatigue. In fact, after 3 months, Voice Handicap Index (VHI scores in "course + amplifier" group demonstrated a significant amelioration (p = 0.003. The perceptual grade of dysphonia also improved significantly (p = 0.0005. The same parameters changed favourably also in the "course only" group, but the results were not statistically significant (p = 0.4 for VHI and p = 0.03 for perceptual grade. Conclusions: In teachers, and particularly in those with a constitutional weak voice and/or those who are prone to vocal fold pathology, vocal amplifiers may be an effective and low-cost intervention to decrease potentially damaging vocal loads and may represent a necessary form of prevention.

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

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    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.

  10. 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.

  11. Fundamental study on aerodynamic force of floating offshore wind turbine with cyclic pitch mechanism

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Li, Qing'an; Kamada, Yasunari; Maeda, Takao; Murata, Junsuke; Iida, Kohei; Okumura, Yuta

    2016-01-01

    Wind turbines mounted on floating platforms are subjected to completely different and soft foundation properties, rather than onshore wind turbines. Due to the flexibility of their mooring systems, floating offshore wind turbines are susceptible to large oscillations such as aerodynamic force of the wind and hydrodynamic force of the wave, which may compromise their performance and structural stability. This paper focuses on the evaluation of aerodynamic forces depending on suppressing undesired turbine's motion by a rotor thrust control which is controlled by pitch changes with wind tunnel experiments. In this research, the aerodynamic forces of wind turbine are tested at two kinds of pitch control system: steady pitch control and cyclic pitch control. The rotational speed of rotor is controlled by a variable speed generator, which can be measured by the power coefficient. Moment and force acts on model wind turbine are examined by a six-component balance. From cyclic pitch testing, the direction and magnitude of moment can be arbitrarily controlled by cyclic pitch control. Moreover, the fluctuations of thrust coefficient can be controlled by collective pitch control. The results of this analysis will help resolve the fundamental design of suppressing undesired turbine's motion by cyclic pitch control. - Highlights: • Offshore wind offers additional options in regions with low onshore potential. • Two kinds of pitch control system: Steady pitch control and Cyclic pitch control. • Performance curves and unsteady aerodynamics are investigated in wind tunnel. • Fluctuations of thrust coefficient can be controlled by collective pitch control.

  12. A Fröhlich effect and representational gravity in memory for auditory pitch.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hubbard, Timothy L; Ruppel, Susan E

    2013-08-01

    Memory for the initial pitch of an auditory target that increased or decreased in auditory frequency was examined. Memory was displaced forward in the direction of pitch motion, and this is consistent with the Fröhlich effect previously observed for visual targets moving in visual physical space. The Fröhlich effect for pitch increased with faster target velocity and decreased if an auditory cue with the same pitch as the initial pitch of the target was presented before the target was presented. The Fröhlich effect was larger for descending pitch motion than for ascending pitch motion, and this is consistent with an influence of representational gravity. The data suggest that representation of auditory frequency space exhibits some of the same biases as representation of visual physical space, and implications for theories of attention in displacement and for crossmodal and multisensory representation of space are discussed. 2013 APA, all rights reserved

  13. Voiced Excitations

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Holzricher, John

    2004-01-01

    To more easily obtain a voiced excitation function for speech characterization, measurements of skin motion, tracheal tube, and vocal fold, motions were made and compared to EM sensor-glottal derived...

  14. The effects of medial ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction on Major League pitching performance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Keller, Robert A; Steffes, Matthew J; Zhuo, David; Bey, Michael J; Moutzouros, Vasilios

    2014-11-01

    Medial ulnar collateral ligament (MUCL) reconstruction is commonly performed on Major League Baseball (MLB) pitchers. Previous studies have reported that most pitchers return to presurgical statistical performance levels after MUCL reconstruction. Pitching performance data--specifically, earned run average (ERA), walks and hits per inning pitched (WHIP), winning percentage, and innings pitched--were acquired for 168 MLB pitchers who had undergone MUCL reconstruction. These data were averaged over the 3 years before surgery and the 3 years after surgery and also acquired from 178 age-matched, uninjured MLB pitchers. Of the pitchers who had MUCL reconstruction surgery, 87% returned to MLB pitching. However, compared with presurgical data, pitching performance declined in terms of ERA (P = .001), WHIP (P = .011), and innings pitched (P = .026). Pitching performance also declined in the season before the surgery compared with previous years (ERA, P = .014; WHIP, P = .036; innings pitched, P risk factor for requiring surgery. In addition, there is an increased risk of MUCL reconstruction for pitchers who enter the major leagues at a younger age. Copyright © 2014 Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery Board of Trustees. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  15. Voice and Speech Quality Perception Assessment and Evaluation

    CERN Document Server

    Jekosch, Ute

    2005-01-01

    Foundations of Voice and Speech Quality Perception starts out with the fundamental question of: "How do listeners perceive voice and speech quality and how can these processes be modeled?" Any quantitative answers require measurements. This is natural for physical quantities but harder to imagine for perceptual measurands. This book approaches the problem by actually identifying major perceptual dimensions of voice and speech quality perception, defining units wherever possible and offering paradigms to position these dimensions into a structural skeleton of perceptual speech and voice quality. The emphasis is placed on voice and speech quality assessment of systems in artificial scenarios. Many scientific fields are involved. This book bridges the gap between two quite diverse fields, engineering and humanities, and establishes the new research area of Voice and Speech Quality Perception.

  16. Pitch Perception, Working Memory, and Second-Language Phonological Production

    Science.gov (United States)

    Posedel, James; Emery, Lisa; Souza, Benjamin; Fountain, Catherine

    2012-01-01

    Previous research has suggested that training on a musical instrument is associated with improvements in working memory and musical pitch perception ability. Good working memory and musical pitch perception ability, in turn, have been linked to certain aspects of language production. The current study examines whether working memory and/or pitch…

  17. Voice Disorders in Occupations with Vocal Load in Slovenia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boltežar, Lučka; Šereg Bahar, Maja

    2014-12-01

    The aim of this paper is to compare the prevalence of voice disorders and the risk factors for them in different occupations with a vocal load in Slovenia. A meta-analysis of six different Slovenian studies involving teachers, physicians, salespeople, catholic priests, nurses and speech-and-language therapists (SLTs) was performed. In all six studies, similar questions about the prevalence of voice disorders and the causes for them were included. The comparison of the six studies showed that more than 82% of the 2347 included subjects had voice problems at some time during their career. The teachers were the most affected by voice problems. The prevalent cause of voice problems was the vocal load in teachers and salespeople and respiratory-tract infections in all the other occupational groups. When the occupational groups were compared, it was stated that the teachers had more voice problems and showed less care for their voices than the priests. The physicians had more voice problems and showed better consideration of vocal hygiene rules than the SLTs. The majority of all the included subjects did not receive instructions about voice care during education. In order to decrease the prevalence of voice disorders in vocal professionals, a screening program is recommended before the beginning of their studies. Regular courses on voice care and proper vocal technique should be obligatory for all professional voice users during their career. The inclusion of dysphonia in the list of occupational diseases should be considered in Slovenia as it is in some European countries.

  18. TRUNK LEAN DURING A SINGLE-LEG SQUAT IS ASSOCIATED WITH TRUNK LEAN DURING PITCHING.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Plummer, Hillary A; Oliver, Gretchen D; Powers, Christopher M; Michener, Lori A

    2018-02-01

    Impaired trunk motion during pitching may be a risk factor for upper extremity injuries. Specifically, increased forces about the shoulder and elbow have been observed in pitchers with excessive contralateral trunk lean during pitching. Because of the difficulty in identifying abnormal trunk motions during a high-speed task such as pitching, a clinical screening test is needed to identify pitchers who have impaired trunk motion during pitching. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between the degree of lateral trunk lean during the single-leg squat and amount of trunk lean during pitching and if trunk lean during pitching can be predicted from lean during the single-leg squat. Controlled Laboratory Study; Cross-sectional. Seventy-three young baseball pitchers (11.4 ± 1.7 years; 156.3 ± 11.9 cm; 50.5 ± 8.8 kg) participated. An electromagnetic tracking system was used to obtain trunk kinematic data during a single-leg squat task (lead leg) and at maximum shoulder external rotation of a fastball pitch. Pearson correlation coefficients for trunk lean during the single-leg squat and pitching were calculated. A linear regression analysis was performed to determine if trunk lean during pitching can be predicted from lean during the single-leg squat. There was a positive correlation between trunk lean during the single-leg squat and trunk lean during pitching (r = 0.53; plean during the single-leg squat predicted the amount of lateral trunk lean during pitching (R 2 = 0.28; p lean during an SLS and pitching. Trunk lean during the single-leg squat explained 28% of the variance in trunk lean during pitching. Diagnosis, level 3.

  19. Meta-analytic evidence for the non-modularity of pitch processing in congenital amusia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vuvan, Dominique T; Nunes-Silva, Marilia; Peretz, Isabelle

    2015-08-01

    A major theme driving research in congenital amusia is related to the modularity of this musical disorder, with two possible sources of the amusic pitch perception deficit. The first possibility is that the amusic deficit is due to a broad disorder of acoustic pitch processing that has the effect of disrupting downstream musical pitch processing, and the second is that amusia is specific to a musical pitch processing module. To interrogate these hypotheses, we performed a meta-analysis on two types of effect sizes contained within 42 studies in the amusia literature: the performance gap between amusics and controls on tasks of pitch discrimination, broadly defined, and the correlation between specifically acoustic pitch perception and musical pitch perception. To augment the correlation database, we also calculated this correlation using data from 106 participants tested by our own research group. We found strong evidence for the acoustic account of amusia. The magnitude of the performance gap was moderated by the size of pitch change, but not by whether the stimuli were composed of tones or speech. Furthermore, there was a significant correlation between an individual's acoustic and musical pitch perception. However, individual cases show a double dissociation between acoustic and musical processing, which suggests that although most amusic cases are probably explainable by an acoustic deficit, there is heterogeneity within the disorder. Finally, we found that tonal language fluency does not influence the performance gap between amusics and controls, and that there was no evidence that amusics fare worse with pitch direction tasks than pitch discrimination tasks. These results constitute a quantitative review of the current literature of congenital amusia, and suggest several new directions for research, including the experimental induction of amusic behaviour through transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and the systematic exploration of the developmental

  20. Measurement of Voice Onset Time in Maxillectomy Patients

    OpenAIRE

    Hattori, Mariko; Sumita, Yuka I.; Taniguchi, Hisashi

    2014-01-01

    Objective speech evaluation using acoustic measurement is needed for the proper rehabilitation of maxillectomy patients. For digital evaluation of consonants, measurement of voice onset time is one option. However, voice onset time has not been measured in maxillectomy patients as their consonant sound spectra exhibit unique characteristics that make the measurement of voice onset time challenging. In this study, we established criteria for measuring voice onset time in maxillectomy patients ...

  1. Voice, Schooling, Inequality, and Scale

    Science.gov (United States)

    Collins, James

    2013-01-01

    The rich studies in this collection show that the investigation of voice requires analysis of "recognition" across layered spatial-temporal and sociolinguistic scales. I argue that the concepts of voice, recognition, and scale provide insight into contemporary educational inequality and that their study benefits, in turn, from paying attention to…

  2. Voice restoration following total laryngectomy by tracheoesophageal prosthesis: Effect on patients' quality of life and voice handicap in Jordan

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wreikat Mahmoud M

    2008-03-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Little has been reported about the impact of tracheoesophageal (TE speech on individuals in the Middle East where the procedure has been gaining in popularity. After total laryngectomy, individuals in Europe and North America have rated their quality of life as being lower than non-laryngectomized individuals. The purpose of this study was to evaluate changes in quality of life and degree of voice handicap reported by laryngectomized speakers from Jordan before and after establishment of TE speech. Methods Twelve male Jordanian laryngectomees completed the University of Michigan Head & Neck Quality of Life instrument and the Voice Handicap Index pre- and post-TE puncture. Results All subjects showed significant improvements in their quality of life following successful prosthetic voice restoration. In addition, voice handicap scores were significantly reduced from pre- to post-TE puncture. Conclusion Tracheoesophageal speech significantly improved the quality of life and limited the voice handicap imposed by total laryngectomy. This method of voice restoration has been used for a number of years in other countries and now appears to be a viable alternative within Jordan.

  3. Testbeam Studies on Pick-Up in Sensors with Embedded Pitch Adapters

    CERN Document Server

    Rehnisch, Laura; The ATLAS collaboration

    2018-01-01

    Embedded pitch adapters are an alternative solution to external pitch adapters widely used to facilitate the wire-bonding step when connecting silicon strip sensors and readout electronics of different pitch. The pad-pitch adaption can be moved into the sensor fabrication step by implementing a second layer of metal tracks, connected by vias to the primary metal layer of sensor strips. Such a solution, however, might bear the risk of performance losses introduced by various phenomena. One of these effects, the undesired capacitive coupling between the silicon bulk and this second metal layer (pick-up) has been investigated in photon testbeam measurements. For a worst-case embedded pitch adapter design, expected to be maximally susceptible to pick-up, a qualitative analysis has visualized the effect as a function of the location on the second metal layer structure. It was further found that the unwanted effect decreases towards expected values for operating thresholds of the binary readout used. Suggestions fo...

  4. Evidence for shared cognitive processing of pitch in music and language.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Perrachione, Tyler K; Fedorenko, Evelina G; Vinke, Louis; Gibson, Edward; Dilley, Laura C

    2013-01-01

    Language and music epitomize the complex representational and computational capacities of the human mind. Strikingly similar in their structural and expressive features, a longstanding question is whether the perceptual and cognitive mechanisms underlying these abilities are shared or distinct--either from each other or from other mental processes. One prominent feature shared between language and music is signal encoding using pitch, conveying pragmatics and semantics in language and melody in music. We investigated how pitch processing is shared between language and music by measuring consistency in individual differences in pitch perception across language, music, and three control conditions intended to assess basic sensory and domain-general cognitive processes. Individuals' pitch perception abilities in language and music were most strongly related, even after accounting for performance in all control conditions. These results provide behavioral evidence, based on patterns of individual differences, that is consistent with the hypothesis that cognitive mechanisms for pitch processing may be shared between language and music.

  5. Self-Reported Acute and Chronic Voice Disorders in Teachers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rossi-Barbosa, Luiza Augusta Rosa; Barbosa, Mirna Rossi; Morais, Renata Martins; de Sousa, Kamilla Ferreira; Silveira, Marise Fagundes; Gama, Ana Cristina Côrtes; Caldeira, Antônio Prates

    2016-11-01

    The present study aimed to identify factors associated with self-reported acute and chronic voice disorders among municipal elementary school teachers in the city of Montes Claros, in the State of Minas Gerais, Brazil. The dependent variable, self-reported dysphonia, was determined via a single question, "Have you noticed changes in your voice quality?" and if so, a follow-up question queried the duration of this change, acute or chronic. The independent variables were dichotomized and divided into five categories: sociodemographic and economic data; lifestyle; organizational and environmental data; health-disease processes; and voice. Analyses of associated factors were performed via a hierarchical multiple logistic regression model. The present study included 226 teachers, of whom 38.9% reported no voice disorders, 35.4% reported an acute disorder, and 25.7% reported a chronic disorder. Excessive voice use daily, consuming more than one alcoholic drink per time, and seeking medical treatment because of voice disorders were associated factors for acute and chronic voice disorders. Consuming up to three glasses of water per day was associated with acute voice disorders. Among teachers who reported chronic voice disorders, teaching for over 15 years and the perception of disturbing or unbearable noise outside the school were both associated factors. Identification of organizational, environmental, and predisposing risk factors for voice disorders is critical, and furthermore, a vocal health promotion program may address these issues. Copyright © 2016 The Voice Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  6. Pitch perception and production in congenital amusia: Evidence from Cantonese speakers

    OpenAIRE

    Liu, Fang; Chan, Alice H. D.; Ciocca, Valter; Roquet, Catherine; Peretz, Isabelle; Wong, Patrick C. M.

    2016-01-01

    This study investigated pitch perception and production in speech and music in individuals with congenital amusia (a disorder of musical pitch processing) who are native speakers of Cantonese, a tone language with a highly complex tonal system. Sixteen Cantonese-speaking congenital amusics and 16 controls performed a set of lexical tone perception, production, singing, and psychophysical pitch threshold tasks. Their tone production accuracy and singing proficiency were subsequently judged by ...

  7. Evaluation of pitches and cokes from solvent-extracted coal materials

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    McHenry, E.R.

    1996-12-01

    Three initial coal-extracted (C-E) samples were received from the West Virginia University (WVU) Chemical Engineering Department. Two samples had been hydrogenated to obtain pitches that satisfy Theological requirements. One of the hydrogenated (HC-E) samples had been extracted by toluene to remove ash and higher molecular weight aromatic compounds. We were unable to measure the softening point and viscosity of the non-hydro treated solid extract sample, Positive characteristics in the HC-E materials were softening points of 113-119{degrees}C, low sulfur and ash. The oxygen and nitrogen content of the HC-E samples may limit future usage in premium carbon and graphite products. Coking values were similar to petroleum pitches. Laboratory anode testing indicates that in combination with standard coal-tar pitch, the HC-E material can be used as a binder pitch.

  8. Common diagnoses and treatments in professional voice users.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Franco, Ramon A; Andrus, Jennifer G

    2007-10-01

    Common problems among all patients seen by the laryngologist are also common among professional voice users. These include laryngopharyngeal reflux, muscle tension dysphonia, fibrovascular vocal fold lesions (eg, nodules and polyps), cysts, vocal fold scarring, changes in vocal fold mobility, and age-related changes. Microvascular lesions and their associated sequelae of vocal fold hemorrhage and laryngitis due to voice overuse are more common among professional voice users. Much more common among professional voice users is the negative impact that voice problems have on their ability to work, on their overall sense of well-being, and sometimes on their very sense of self. This article reviews the diagnosis and treatment options for these and other problems among professional voice users, describing the relevant roles of medical treatment, voice therapy, and surgery. The common scenario of multiple concomitant entities contributing to a symptom complex is underscored. Emphasis is placed on gaining insight into the "whole" patient so that individualized management plans can be developed. Videos of select diagnoses accompany this content online.

  9. Influence of Pitch Height on the Perception of Submissiveness and Threat in Musical Passages

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    David Huron

    2006-09-01

    Full Text Available Bolinger, Ohala, Morton and others have established that vocal pitch height is perceived to be associated with social signals of dominance and submissiveness: higher vocal pitch is associated with submissiveness, whereas lower vocal pitch is associated with social dominance. An experiment was carried out to test this relationship in the perception of non-vocal melodies. Results show a parallel situation in music: higher-pitched melodies sound more submissive (less threatening than lower-pitched melodies.

  10. Engaging retailers: giving them voice or controlling their voice, a supplier's perspective

    OpenAIRE

    Jackson, Keith; Jackson, Jacqui; Hopkinson, Gillian

    2013-01-01

    This full paper from the Marketing and Retail track of BAM 2013 investigates the relationships between suppliers and retailers in the UK convenience store sector in terms of Hirschman's model whereby members of a group can influence it by either expressing their opinions (voice) or leaving it in protest (exit). Suppliers may create loyalty among retailers by raising exit costs and/or allowing them to express their voices. The investigation was carried out using the recorded turnover of the to...

  11. Detection of pitch failures in wind turbines using environmental noise recognition techniques

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Skrimpas, Georgios Alexandros; Marhadi, Kun S.; Gomez, Robert

    2015-01-01

    Modern wind turbines employ pitch regulated control strategies in order to optimise the yielded power production. Pitch systems can be subjected to various failure modes related to cylinders, bearings and loose mounting, leading to poor pitching and aerodynamic imbalance. Early stage pitch....... The proposed method is built upon the following three processes. Firstly, the impacts are identified using envelope analysis, followed by the extraction of 12 features, such as energy, crest factor and peak to peak amplitude and finally the classification of the events based on the above features. Eighty nine...

  12. Major League pitching workload after primary ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction and risk for revision surgery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Keller, Robert A; Mehran, Nima; Marshall, Nathan E; Okoroha, Kelechi R; Khalil, Lafi; Tibone, James E; Moutzouros, Vasilios

    2017-02-01

    Literature has attempted to correlate pitching workload with risk of ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) injury; however, limited data are available in evaluating workload and its relationship with the need for revision reconstruction in Major League Baseball (MLB) pitchers. We identified 29 MLB pitchers who underwent primary UCL reconstruction surgery and subsequently required revision reconstruction and compared them with 121 MLB pitchers who underwent primary reconstruction but did not later require revision surgery. Games pitched, pitch counts, and innings pitched were evaluated and compared for the seasons after returning from primary reconstruction and for the last season pitched before undergoing revision surgery. The difference in workload between pitchers who did and did not require revision reconstruction was not statistically significant in games pitched, innings pitched, and MLB-only pitch counts. The one significant difference in workload was in total pitch counts (combined MLB and minor league), with the pitchers who required revision surgery pitching less than those who did not (primary: 1413.6 pitches vs. revision: 959.0 pitches, P = .04). In addition, pitchers who required revision surgery underwent primary reconstruction at an early age (22.9 years vs. 27.3 years, P risk for injury after primary UCL reconstruction. However, correlations of risk may be younger age and less MLB experience at the time of the primary reconstruction. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Inc.

  13. Fault Detection and Isolation for Wind Turbine Electric Pitch System

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Zhu, Jiangsheng; Ma, Kuichao; Hajizadeh, Amin

    2017-01-01

    This paper presents a model-based fault detection and isolation scheme applied on electric pitch system of wind turbines. Pitch system is one of the most critical components due to its effect on the operational safety and the dynamics of wind turbines. Faults in this system should be precisely...... detected to prevent failures and decrease downtime. To detect faults of electric pitch actuators and sensors, an extended kalman filter (EKF) based multiple model adaptive estimation (MMAE) designed to estimate the states of the system. The proposed method is demonstrated in case studies. The simulation...

  14. Discrete Element Method Modeling of the Rheological Properties of Coke/Pitch Mixtures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Majidi, Behzad; Taghavi, Seyed Mohammad; Fafard, Mario; Ziegler, Donald P; Alamdari, Houshang

    2016-05-04

    Rheological properties of pitch and pitch/coke mixtures at temperatures around 150 °C are of great interest for the carbon anode manufacturing process in the aluminum industry. In the present work, a cohesive viscoelastic contact model based on Burger's model is developed using the discrete element method (DEM) on the YADE, the open-source DEM software. A dynamic shear rheometer (DSR) is used to measure the viscoelastic properties of pitch at 150 °C. The experimental data obtained is then used to estimate the Burger's model parameters and calibrate the DEM model. The DSR tests were then simulated by a three-dimensional model. Very good agreement was observed between the experimental data and simulation results. Coke aggregates were modeled by overlapping spheres in the DEM model. Coke/pitch mixtures were numerically created by adding 5, 10, 20, and 30 percent of coke aggregates of the size range of 0.297-0.595 mm (-30 + 50 mesh) to pitch. Adding up to 30% of coke aggregates to pitch can increase its complex shear modulus at 60 Hz from 273 Pa to 1557 Pa. Results also showed that adding coke particles increases both storage and loss moduli, while it does not have a meaningful effect on the phase angle of pitch.

  15. Exploring the Effects of Pitch Layout on Learning a New Musical Instrument

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jennifer MacRitchie

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available Although isomorphic pitch layouts are proposed to afford various advantages for musicians playing new musical instruments, this paper details the first substantive set of empirical tests on how two fundamental aspects of isomorphic pitch layouts affect motor learning: shear, which makes the pitch axis vertical, and the adjacency (or nonadjacency of pitches a major second apart. After receiving audio-visual training tasks for a scale and arpeggios, performance accuracies of 24 experienced musicians were assessed in immediate retention tasks (same as the training tasks, but without the audio-visual guidance and in a transfer task (performance of a previously untrained nursery rhyme. Each participant performed the same tasks with three different pitch layouts and, in total, four different layouts were tested. Results show that, so long as the performance ceiling has not already been reached (due to ease of the task or repeated practice, adjacency strongly improves performance accuracy in the training and retention tasks. They also show that shearing the layout, to make the pitch axis vertical, worsens performance accuracy for the training tasks but, crucially, it strongly improves performance accuracy in the transfer task when the participant needs to perform a new, but related, task. These results can inform the design of pitch layouts in new musical instruments.

  16. Pitch structure, but not selective attention, affects accent weightings in metrical grouping.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prince, Jon B

    2014-10-01

    Among other cues, pitch and temporal accents contribute to grouping in musical sequences. However, exactly how they combine remains unclear, possibly because of the role of structural organization. In 3 experiments, participants rated the perceived metrical grouping of sequences that either adhered to the rules of tonal Western musical pitch structure (musical key) or did not (atonal). The tonal status of sequences did not provide any grouping cues and was irrelevant to the task. Experiment 1 established equally strong levels of pitch leap accents and duration accents in baseline conditions, which were then recombined in subsequent experiments. Neither accent type was stronger or weaker for tonal and atonal contexts. In Experiment 2, pitch leap accents dominated over duration accents, but the extent of this advantage was greater when sequences were tonal. Experiment 3 ruled out an attentional origin of this effect by replicating this finding while explicitly manipulating attention to pitch or duration accents between participant groups. Overall, the presence of tonal pitch structure made the dimension of pitch more salient at the expense of time. These findings support a dimensional salience framework in which the presence of organizational structure prioritizes the processing of the more structured dimension regardless of task relevance, independent from psychophysical difficulty, and impervious to attentional allocation.

  17. Boosting pitch encoding with audiovisual interactions in congenital amusia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Albouy, Philippe; Lévêque, Yohana; Hyde, Krista L; Bouchet, Patrick; Tillmann, Barbara; Caclin, Anne

    2015-01-01

    The combination of information across senses can enhance perception, as revealed for example by decreased reaction times or improved stimulus detection. Interestingly, these facilitatory effects have been shown to be maximal when responses to unisensory modalities are weak. The present study investigated whether audiovisual facilitation can be observed in congenital amusia, a music-specific disorder primarily ascribed to impairments of pitch processing. Amusic individuals and their matched controls performed two tasks. In Task 1, they were required to detect auditory, visual, or audiovisual stimuli as rapidly as possible. In Task 2, they were required to detect as accurately and as rapidly as possible a pitch change within an otherwise monotonic 5-tone sequence that was presented either only auditorily (A condition), or simultaneously with a temporally congruent, but otherwise uninformative visual stimulus (AV condition). Results of Task 1 showed that amusics exhibit typical auditory and visual detection, and typical audiovisual integration capacities: both amusics and controls exhibited shorter response times for audiovisual stimuli than for either auditory stimuli or visual stimuli. Results of Task 2 revealed that both groups benefited from simultaneous uninformative visual stimuli to detect pitch changes: accuracy was higher and response times shorter in the AV condition than in the A condition. The audiovisual improvements of response times were observed for different pitch interval sizes depending on the group. These results suggest that both typical listeners and amusic individuals can benefit from multisensory integration to improve their pitch processing abilities and that this benefit varies as a function of task difficulty. These findings constitute the first step towards the perspective to exploit multisensory paradigms to reduce pitch-related deficits in congenital amusia, notably by suggesting that audiovisual paradigms are effective in an appropriate

  18. Pitch and Loudness Tinnitus in Individuals with Presbycusis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Seimetz, Bruna Macangnin; Teixeira, Adriane Ribeiro; Rosito, Leticia Petersen Schmidt; Flores, Leticia Sousa; Pappen, Carlos Henrique; Dall'igna, Celso

    2016-10-01

    Introduction  Tinnitus is a symptom that is often associated with presbycusis. Objective  This study aims to analyze the existence of association among hearing thresholds, pitch, and loudness of tinnitus in individuals with presbycusis, considering the gender variable. Methods  Cross-sectional, descriptive, and prospective study, whose sample consisted of individuals with tinnitus and diagnosis of presbycusis. For the evaluation, we performed anamnesis along with otoscopy, pure tone audiometry, and acuphenometry to analyze the psychoacoustic characteristics of tinnitus individuals. Results  The sample consisted of 49 subjects, with a mean age of 69.57 ± 6.53 years, who presented unilateral and bilateral tinnitus, therefore, a sample of 80 ears. In analyzing the results, as for acuphenometry, the loudness of tinnitus was more present at 0dB and the pitch was 6HKz and 8HKz. Regarding the analysis of the association between the frequency of greater hearing threshold and tinnitus pitch, no statistical significance ( p  = 0.862) was found. As for the association between the intensity of greater hearing threshold and tinnitus loudness, no statistical significance ( p  = 0.115) was found. Conclusion  There is no significant association between the hearing loss of patients with presbycusis and the pitch and loudness of tinnitus.

  19. Pitch and Loudness Tinnitus in Individuals with Presbycusis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Seimetz, Bruna Macangnin

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available Introduction Tinnitus is a symptom that is often associated with presbycusis. Objective This study aims to analyze the existence of association among hearing thresholds, pitch, and loudness of tinnitus in individuals with presbycusis, considering the gender variable. Methods Cross-sectional, descriptive, and prospective study, whose sample consisted of individuals with tinnitus and diagnosis of presbycusis. For the evaluation, we performed anamnesis along with otoscopy, pure tone audiometry, and acuphenometry to analyze the psychoacoustic characteristics of tinnitus individuals. Results The sample consisted of 49 subjects, with a mean age of 69.57 ± 6.53 years, who presented unilateral and bilateral tinnitus, therefore, a sample of 80 ears. In analyzing the results, as for acuphenometry, the loudness of tinnitus was more present at 0dB and the pitch was 6HKz and 8HKz. Regarding the analysis of the association between the frequency of greater hearing threshold and tinnitus pitch, no statistical significance (p = 0.862 was found. As for the association between the intensity of greater hearing threshold and tinnitus loudness, no statistical significance (p = 0.115 was found. Conclusion There is no significant association between the hearing loss of patients with presbycusis and the pitch and loudness of tinnitus.

  20. Comparison of Two Independent LIDAR-Based Pitch Control Designs

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dunne, F.; Schlipf, D.; Pao, L. Y.

    2012-08-01

    Two different lidar-based feedforward controllers have previously been designed for the NREL 5 MW wind turbine model under separate studies. Feedforward controller A uses a finite-impulse-response design, with 5 seconds of preview, and three rotating lidar measurements. Feedforward controller B uses a static-gain design, with the preview time defined by the pitch actuator dynamics, a simulation of a real nacelle-based scanning lidar system, and a lowpass filter defined by the lidar configuration. These controllers are now directly compared under the same lidar configuration, in terms of fatigue load reduction, rotor speed regulation, and power capture. The various differences in design choices are discussed and compared. We also compare frequency plots of individual pitch feedforward and collective pitch feedforward load reductions, and we see that individual pitch feedforward is effective mainly at the once-per-revolution and twice-per-revolution frequencies. We also explain how to determine the required preview time by breaking it down into separate parts, and we then compare it to the expected preview time available.