bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
p97/VCP promotes Cullin‐RING‐ubiquitin‐ligase/proteasome‐dependent degradation of IκBα and the preceding liberation of RelA from ubiquitinated IκBα
Authors: Schweitzer Katrin , Pralow Alexander , Naumann Michael
Published: October 2015

Cullin‐RING‐ubiquitin‐ligase (CRL)‐dependent ubiquitination of the nuclear factor kappa B (NF‐κB) inhibitor IκBα and its subsequent degradation by the proteasome usually precede NF‐κB/RelA nuclear activity. Through removal of the CRL‐activating modification of their cullin subunit with the ubiquitin (Ub)‐like modifier NEDD8, the COP9 signalosome (CSN) opposes CRL Ub‐ligase activity. While RelA phosphorylation was observed to mediate NF‐κB activation independent of Ub‐proteasome‐pathway (UPP)‐dependent turnover of IκBα in some studies, a strict requirement of the p97/VCP ATPase for both, IκBα degradation and NF‐κB activation, was reported in others. In this study, we thus aimed to reconcile the mechanism for tumour necrosis factor (TNF)‐induced NF‐κB activation. We found that inducible phosphorylation of RelA is accomplished in an IKK‐complex‐dependent manner within the NF‐κB/RelA‐IκBα‐complex contemporaneous with the phosphorylation of IκBα, and that RelA phosphorylation is not sufficient to dissociate NF‐κB/RelA from IκBα. Subsequent to CRL‐dependent IκBα ubiquitination functional p97/VCP is essentially required for efficient liberation of (phosphorylated) RelA from IκBα, preceding p97/VCP‐promoted timely and efficient degradation of IκBα as well as simultaneous NF‐κB/RelA nuclear translocation. Collectively, our data add new facets to the knowledge about maintenance of IκBα and RelA expression, likely depending on p97/VCP‐supported scheduled basal NF‐κB activity, and the mechanism of TNF‐induced NF‐κB activation.
A Mixed‐Methods Study of Immigrant Somali Women's Health Literacy and Perinatal Experiences in Maine
Authors: Jacoby Susan D. , Lucarelli Monique , Musse Fowsia , Krishnamurthy Ashok , Salyers Vince
Published: October 2015

Introduction

Research on health care provided to clients with limited English proficiency in the United States has revealed poor satisfaction and increased use of the health care system. This mixed‐methods study explored health literacy and the perinatal experiences of Somali and Somali Bantu women living in Lewiston, Maine. The study also describes the development and validation of historietas (comic‐book style health education brochure) used to increase knowledge and awareness of why emergency cesareans may be required and the symptoms of postpartum depression (PPD).

Methods

During phase 1, a focus group to discuss the perinatal experiences of Somali women (n = 4) was undertaken and 2 historietas were developed to create greater understanding of emergency cesareans and PPD. In phase 2, Somali and Somali Bantu women (n = 19) completed a health literacy questionnaire and a perinatal experiences questionnaire. A focus group was also conducted during phase 2 to determine the perinatal experiences of the participants. Phase 2 participants validated the historietas developed in phase 1. Responses from focus groups were triangulated with data from the perinatal experiences questionnaire completed during phase 2.

Results

Overall, none of the phase 2 participants demonstrated adequate health literacy. Problems with gudnin (Somali word for cutting) related to female genital mutilation/cutting and PPD yielded statistically significant results. Somali women expressed dissatisfaction with certain obstetric interventions, especially emergency cesareans. Phase 2 participants unanimously validated the usefulness of the historietas as a clinical teaching tool.

Discussion

Poor health literacy due to language barriers may place Somali women living in the United States at risk for adverse outcomes during pregnancy and/or birth. Complications related to emergency cesareans and PPD were identified as significant problems for which Somali women require further knowledge. Historietas addressing knowledge gaps related to emergency cesareans and symptoms of PPD were validated by participants as useful teaching tools.
Financial Education Interventions Targeting Immigrants and Children of Immigrants: Results from a Randomized Control Trial
Authors: Barcellos Silvia Helena , Carvalho Leandro S. , Smith James P. , Yoong Joanne
Published: October 2015

We document that immigrants in the United States differ from natives in several aspects relevant for their financial decision making. Based on these differences, we designed novel financial education materials targeted at US immigrants and their children and evaluated their effectiveness using a randomized control trial. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first rigorous evaluation of financial education programs targeted at this population. Compared to a control group, the groups that received the one‐time educational intervention were more likely to correctly answer financial knowledge questions immediately after the intervention. The estimated effects of this one‐time intervention on knowledge were large, but most of them faded away after six months. Moreover, we find little effect of the treatments on intended financial behavior measures, both immediately and six months later. Our results point to the efficacy of this type of educational material in informing immigrants and their children about important financial information that they are unfamiliar with, including information related to their immigrant status. However, they also suggest that a priority for future research should be to test whether repeated opportunities for learning can increase financial knowledge retention and lead to behavior change.
Tooth loss and associated factors in elders: results from a national survey in Uruguay
Authors: Laguzzi Patricia Nicola , Schuch Helena Silveira , Medina Lucy Derrégibus , de Amores Andrea Rodríguez , Demarco Flavio Fernando , Lorenzo Susana
Published: October 2015

Objectives

This study evaluated the prevalence and severity of tooth loss in Uruguayan elders, assessing its association with demographic, socioeconomic, and behavioral factors; the use of health services; and self‐reported dental treatment need.

Methods

A population‐based cross‐sectional study was done among Uruguayan individuals of ages 65‐74 years. Data were collected through questionnaires and clinical examinations. The dependent variable, tooth loss, was classified into three distinct outcomes: functional dentition (≥20 teeth), severe tooth loss (<9 teeth), and edentulism. The independent variables were: sex, socioeconomic status, use of health services, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, tobacco use, frequent consumption of alcohol, hygiene habits, and need for dental care.

Results

The sample comprised 341 individuals, and the mean number of teeth present was 9.73 (95% confidence interval, 8.77‐10.69) for each individual. After multivariate analysis, lack of a functional dentition, severe tooth loss, and edentulism were found to be associated with lower socioeconomic level, frequent consumption of alcohol, and receiving treatment from the public health system (P < 0.05). Individuals with self‐reported dental treatment need had more severe tooth loss and presented a higher degree of edentulism (P < 0.05).

Conclusions

There is a high and severe prevalence of tooth loss in elderly Uruguayans, especially among those from lower socioeconomic levels. Our findings highlight the importance of public health policies to prevent and treat tooth loss.
Cognitive Function, Progression of Age‐related Behavioral Changes, Biomarkers, and Survival in Dogs More Than 8 Years Old
Authors: Schütt T. , Toft N. , Berendt M.
Published: October 2015

Background

Canine cognitive dysfunction (CCD) is an age‐dependent neurodegenerative condition dominated by changes in behavioral patterns. Cohort studies investigating cognitive status in dogs are lacking.

Objectives

To investigate cognitive function, progression of age‐related behavioral changes, survival, and possible biomarkers of CCD in aged dogs.

Animals

Fifty‐one dogs >8 years old; 21 with no cognitive deficits, 17 with mild cognitive impairments (MCI) and 13 with CCD.

Methods

Longitudinal study. Recruitment period of 12 months and an observational period of 24 months including a baseline and 3 planned subsequent assessments. Cognitive status was determined using validated questionnaires. Plasma Aβ‐peptides were quantified using commercial ELISA assays and cytokines by a validated immunoassay.

Results

Signs characterizing dogs with CCD were aimless wandering, staring into space, avoid getting patted, difficulty finding dropped food and anxiety. Thirty‐three percent of dogs with a normal cognitive status progressed to MCI and 22% classified as MCI progressed to CCD during the study period. For 6 dogs diagnosed with CCD, signs of cognitive dysfunction increased with time. A diagnosis of CCD did not affect survival. The level of plasma Aβ42 was significantly increased (P < .05) in the CCD group (92.8 ± 24.0 pg/mL) compared to the MCI (77.0 ± 12.3 pg/mL) and normal group (74.9 ± 10.0 pg/mL), but no significant differences in concentrations of systemic inflammatory markers were detected.

Conclusions

Canine cognitive dysfunction is a progressive disorder with an individual variability in the rate of cognitive decline and clinical signs. Plasma Aβ42 seems to be an interesting plasma biomarker of CCD.
Toward a better understanding of variation in the amount of leaf area in vegetation
Authors: Cornwell William K.
Published: October 2015

An unsolved problem in vegetation ecology is characterizing the variation in leaf area index (LAI). A key limitation is the lack of high‐quality, geographically diverse, multi‐biome training data sets. Döbert et al., in this issue of the Journal of Vegetation Science, link a classic vegetation description method to LAI. This potentially adds a new tool to the ground and remote approaches.
Community Rights to Intellectual Property in Asia—From Rhetoric to Consensus
Authors: Kamardeen Naazima
Published: October 2015

This paper deals with community rights to intellectual property, in light of the individual‐style ownership envisaged by the TRIPS Agreement. Community rights could either be the right held by traditional communities to their indigenous knowledge, or the right held by the community at large, to demand access to innovations that are protected by the intellectual property regime. This paper proposes to deal with the latter aspect of community rights. It will argue that the community at large has a stake in innovation, as it provides the foundation from which all innovation springs. The innovator should be given the requisite incentives to continue the good work, without which development cannot take place. However, no innovation can be justified if it does not serve the needs of society. Examining the developments in the pharmaceutical and agro‐chemical industries, this paper will advocate that access should be facilitated through a system guaranteeing that vulnerable segments within the community are not disadvantaged due to the delays in the current system, which effectively denies them the opportunity to share in the benefits of innovation. The study will compare various jurisdictions in the Asian region to demonstrate how the lack of community rights negatively impacts on all these communities.
Environmental adaptation in Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) throughout their North American range
Authors: Hecht Benjamin C. , Matala Andrew P. , Hess Jon E. , Narum Shawn R.
Published: October 2015

Landscape genomics is a rapidly growing field with recent advances in both genotyping efficiency and statistical analyses that provide insight towards local adaptation of populations under varying environmental and selective pressure. Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) are a broadly distributed Pacific salmon species, occupying a diversity of habitats throughout the northeastern Pacific with pronounced variation in environmental and climate features but little is understood regarding local adaptation in this species. We used a multivariate method, redundancy analysis (RDA), to identify polygenic correlations between 19 703SNPloci and a suite of environmental variables in 46 collections of Chinook salmon (1956 total individuals) distributed throughout much of its North American range. Models inRDAwere conducted on both rangewide and regional scales by hierarchical partitioning of the populations into three distinct genetic lineages. Our results indicate that between 5.8 and 21.8% of genomic variation can be accounted for by environmental features, and 566 putatively adaptive loci were identified as targets of environmental adaptation. The most influential drivers of adaptive divergence included precipitation in the driest quarter of the year (Rangewide and North Coastal Lineage,anovaP = 0.002 and 0.01, respectively), precipitation in the wettest quarter of the year (Interior Columbia River Stream‐Type Lineage,anovaP = 0.03), variation in mean diurnal range in temperature (South Coastal Lineage,anovaP = 0.005), and migration distance (Rangewide,anovaP = 0.001). Our results indicate that environmental features are strong drivers of adaptive genomic divergence in this species, and provide a foundation to investigate how Chinook salmon might respond to global environmental change.
In and out of refugia: historical patterns of diversity and demography in the North American Caesar's mushroom species complex
Authors: Sánchez‐Ramírez Santiago , Tulloss Rodham E. , Guzmán‐Dávalos Laura , Cifuentes‐Blanco Joaquín , Valenzuela Ricardo , Estrada‐Torres Arturo , Ruán‐Soto Felipe , Díaz‐Moreno Raúl , Hernández‐Rico Nallely , Torres‐Gómez Mariano , León Hugo , Moncalvo Jean‐Marc
Published: October 2015

Some of the effects of past climate dynamics on plant and animal diversity make‐up have been relatively well studied, but to less extent in fungi. Pleistocene refugia are thought to harbour high biological diversity (i.e. phylogenetic lineages and genetic diversity), mainly as a product of increased reproductive isolation and allele conservation. In addition, high extinction rates and genetic erosion are expected in previously glaciated regions. Some of the consequences of past climate dynamics might involve changes in range and population size that can result in divergence and incipient or cryptic speciation. Many of these dynamic processes and patterns can be inferred through phylogenetic and coalescent methods. In this study, we first delimit species within a group of closely related edible ectomycorrhizal Amanita from North America (the American Caesar's mushrooms species complex) using multilocus coalescent‐based approaches; and then address questions related to effects of Pleistocene climate change on the diversity and genetics of the group. Our study includes extensive geographical sampling throughout the distribution range, and DNA sequences from three nuclear protein‐coding genes. Results reveal cryptic diversity and high speciation rates in refugia. Population sizes and expansions seem to be larger at midrange latitudes (Mexican highlands and SE USA). Range shifts are proportional to population size expansions, which were overall more common during the Pleistocene. This study documents responses to past climate change in fungi and also highlights the applicability of the multispecies coalescent in comparative phylogeographical analyses and diversity assessments that include ancestral species.
The impacts of larval density and protease inhibition on feeding in medicinal larvae of the greenbottle fly Lucilia sericata
Authors: WILSON M. R. , NIGAM Y. , JUNG W. , KNIGHT J. , PRITCHARD D. I.
Published: October 2015

Larval therapy, the therapeutic use of blowfly larvae to treat chronic wounds, is primarily used in debridement. There are, however, gaps in current knowledge of the optimal clinical application of the therapy and mechanisms of action in the debridement process. Using an artificial assay, two studies were undertaken to investigate these aspects of larval debridement by Lucilia sericata Meigen (Diptera: Calliphoridae); the first studied the effects of the density of larvae on tissue digestion and larval mass, and the second considered the effects on the same parameters of incorporating protease inhibitors into the feeding substrate. The total mass of tissue digested increased with larval density until saturation was observed at 5.0–7.5 larvae/cm2. This range was considered optimal as lower doses resulted in the removal of less tissue and higher doses offered no additional tissue removal and appeared to exacerbate competition for feeding. In the second study, increased protease inhibitor concentration led to significant decreases in tissue digestion and larval mass, suggesting that serine proteases, particularly trypsin, may play major roles in larval digestion. Such information is important in elucidating the main constituents that make up larval digestive products and may be significant in the development of new therapies.
The voltage‐gated sodium channel NaV1.9 in visceral pain
Authors: Hockley J. R. F. , Winchester W. J. , Bulmer D. C.
Published: October 2015

Background

Visceral pain is a common symptom for patients with gastrointestinal (GI) disease. It is unpleasant, debilitating, and represents a large unmet medical need for effective clinical treatments. Recent studies have identified NaV1.9 as an important regulator of afferent sensitivity in visceral pain pathways to mechanical and inflammatory stimuli, suggesting that NaV1.9 could represent an important therapeutic target for the treatment of visceral pain. This potential has been highlighted by the identification of patients who have an insensitivity to pain or painful neuropathies associated with mutations in SCN11A, the gene encoding voltage‐gated sodium channel subtype 1.9 (NaV1.9).

Purpose

Here, we address the role of NaV1.9 in visceral pain and what known human NaV1.9 mutants can tell us about NaV1.9 function in gut physiology and pathophysiology.
Elegy, prophecy, and politics: literary responses to the death of Prince Henry Stuart, 1612–1614
Authors: Streete Adrian
Published: October 2015

This article examines literary responses to the death of Prince Henry Stuart. These texts were written by figures from across the religious and political spectrum. They demonstrate an intriguing variety of responses – sceptical, moderate, and militant. They show that the implications of Henry's death were unstable and keenly contested. Specifically, I look at how elegists use the prophetic voice in order to comment on the political situation in the aftermath of Henry's death, especially in relation to the fortunes of militant Protestantism. Elegists offered advice and critique by using the divine sanction of the prophetic voice, advice that in other contexts would probably not be possible. The final part of this article examines John Webster's elegy for the prince, and reconsiders its relationship to his tragedy The Duchess of Malfi (1613/14). I suggest that the play's thematic interest in elegy, prophecy, and politics, allows Webster to express both militant futility and expectation in the aftermath of Henry's death.
A septic tank‐UASB combined system for domestic wastewater treatment: a pilot test
Authors: Lohani Sunil P. , Bakke Rune , Khanal Sanjay N.
Published: October 2015

A 250 L and a 550 L pilot scale Up‐Flow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket (UASB) reactors having different reactor height were fed septic tank effluents and operated at ambient temperatures of 0°C to 30°C. Both UASB reactors were fed intermittently at least 8 times per Hydraulic Retention Time (HRT) and the performance was monitored at 4d and 1d HRT. The removal efficiencies of Total Suspended Solid (TSS) and Total Chemical Oxygen Demand (CODt) were about 59–68% and 54–59%, respectively, for both reactors at both HRT. The TSS and CODt removal efficiencies of Septic tank – UASB combined system were above 80% for both HRTs tested. The average biogas yields were almost same at 4d and 1d HRT, representing 31(±3)% of influent CODt. The nitrogen and phosphorous removal efficiency was an average 20–30%. The tested system can become a suitable low cost yet effective option.
Topography-free sample for thermal spatial response measurement of scanning thermal microscopy
Authors: Ge Yunfei , Zhang Yuan , Weaver Jonathan M. R. , Zhou Haiping , Dobson Phillip S.
Published: October 2015

A novel fabrication technique is described for the production of multimaterial, lithographically defined, topography-free samples for use in experiments to investigate the nature of contrast in scanning probe microscopy (SPM). The approach uses a flat sacrificial substrate as the base for fabrication, which is deleted in the final step. This leaves an exposed, flat surface with patterns of materials contrast defined during the lithography stages. In the example application presented, these are designed to challenge the detection ability of a scanning thermal microscopy (SThM) probe, although many other applications can be envisioned. There are many instances in SPM where images can exhibit topographically induced artifacts. In SThM, these can result in a change of the thermal signal which can easily be misinterpreted as changes in the sample thermal conductivity or temperature. The elimination of these artifacts through postprocessing requires a knowledge of how the probe responds thermal features of differing sizes. The complete sample fabrication process, followed by successful topographic/thermal scanning is demonstrated, showing sub-1.5 nm topography with a clear artifact-free thermal signal from sub-100 nm gold wires. The thermal spatial resolution is determined for the sample materials and probe used in this study to be in the range of 35–75 nm.
The spatio-temporal analysis of male-male vocal interactions in chorusing frogs
Authors: Jones Douglas L. , Jones Russell L. , Ratnam Rama
Published: October 2015

In some chorusing frog species, such as the green treefrog (Hyla cinerea), males can rapidly adjust call-timing with reference to neighbors and avoid acoustic interference while maintaining call-rate. The rules underlying vocal interactions are largely unknown, presumably being species-specific and governed by acoustic and physiological factors. Here, we use a microphone-array technique that can simultaneously localize callers and selectively extract the calls of each frog. This allows us to analyze vocal interactions between individual callers at high spatial and temporal resolutions. We show that green treefrogs can synchronize with one another and prefer to time their calls antiphonally that are on average exactly at one-third and two-thirds of the inter-call intervals of a focal neighbor. When antiphonal calling is not possible, call collision is tolerated even though a continuum of phase positions are available. The communication system in green treefrogs is thus “discrete” with callers capable of rapidly switching between the discrete phase-slots (0, 1/3, and 2/3) in response to changes in a neighbor’s phase. Further, call collision increases and phase-locking decreases, with increasing inter-caller spacing. We conclude that the vocal communication system in green treefrogs is capable of robust maintenance of inter-caller timing so as to maintain chorus synchrony.
Instantaneous reproductive isolation in polyploid treefrogs: Mechanisms and consequences
Authors: Gerhardt H. C.
Published: October 2015

Speciation by polyploidy—duplication of chromosome sets—commonly occurs in plants and happened twice in the early evolutionary history of vertebrates. The gray treefrog (Hyla versicolor) is a recently evolved tetraploid species found in the eastern United States, where it often occurs with a cryptic diploid species (Hyla chrysoscelis). Assortative mating by ploidy is favored by selection because of triploid hybrid sterility and is based solely on selective phonotaxis of females to the species (ploidy)-specific calls of males. The tetraploid species has arisen multiple times independently; the calls and preferences of frogs in these lineages are nearly the same. Autotriploids of the diploid species created in the laboratory show parallel shifts in both the key call-properties of males and female preferences in the direction of the wild-type tetraploid species. These shifts are probably caused by changes in cell size (larger in tetraploids) and number (fewer in tetraploids) rather than the difference in gene dosage. The magnitude of changes expected in autotetraploids would be sufficient for instant pre-mating isolation of diploids and recently derived tetraploids, hence promoting instantaneous speciation, which would then be reinforced by selection against the production of infertile hybrids.
Frogs, thalamotectal neurons, and other things I learned about from Al Feng
Authors: Llano Daniel
Published: October 2015

In this presentation, I will discuss our work on the thalamotectal system, work inspired Al Feng and others working in the anuran thalamus. Descending projections from the thalamus to inferior colliculus are evolutionarily highly conserved. Despite the long history of work on this pathway in anurans and other species, the basic organization of the mammalian auditory thalamotectal pathway has yet to be characterized. We therefore studied the basic organizational properties of this pathway in mouse. We observed that a large proportion of cells from the medial and paralaminar divisions of the auditory thalamus project to the lateral cortex of the inferior colliculus. In addition, the vast majority of thalamotectal cells are negative for calcium binding proteins typically found in thalamocortical neurons. Double tracer injections revealed that thalamotectal cells do not branch to the amygdala or cortex. Finally, unlike thalamocortical cells, thalamotectal cells do not show typical T-type calcium channel-dependent bursting. These data suggest that the thalamocollicular pathway is neurochemically, neurophysiologically and anatomically distinct from primary auditory thalamic pathways, and bears resemblances to the anuran thalamotectal system. These results will be discussed in the context of Al Feng’s ongoing influence on our laboratory (including unusual items left behind in the lab…).
Explorations of the unique anuran ear: The contributions of Al Feng
Authors: Simmons Andrea M.
Published: October 2015

The anuran inner ear is unique among vertebrate ears in containing three organs for sound detection—the amphibian papilla, the basilar papilla, and the saccule (a mixed auditory/vestibular organ). Al’s anatomical, physiological, and behavioral work in several different anuran species, from the American bullfrog to the Chinese torrent frog, has significantly furthered our understanding of the evolution and operation of this unusual ear. In this talk, I will review this species diversity in inner ear systems and I will further discuss how this diversity emerges over ontogenetic (metamorphic) development. Following up on Al’s research into the post-metamorphic development of the amphibian and basilar papillae in bullfrogs, I will present anatomical data on the larval development of the inner ear in two anuran species, the bullfrog and the African clawed frog, which are adapted to live in different biomes as adults. These results focus attention on how differences in post-metamorphic habitats are reflected in developmental timetables of the maturation of the ear during tadpole life.
The state of the Arctic Ocean, its variability and prediction—An overview
Authors: Maslowski Wieslaw
Published: October 2015

The Arctic is a complex and integral part of the Earth system, influencing the global surface energy and moisture budgets, atmospheric and oceanic circulations, and geosphere-biosphere feedback. Some key influences are linked to the recent changes in the multiyear sea ice cover and the ocean. The ice cover is particularly important because it buffers air-sea heat fluxes and through ice-albedo feedback strongly influences Earth’s absorption of solar radiation, especially by the ocean. Global warming has been most visibly manifested in the Arctic through a declining perennial sea ice cover, which has intensified during the late 1990s and the 2000s, resulting in record minima ice cover in 2007 and in 2012. This talk will provide an overview of the recent states and variability of the Arctic Ocean. We will focus on physical changes of potential relevance to the Arctic acoustics, including the past and present climatological changes, evolution of the upper ocean stratification and water masses, mesoscale processes, including eddies, mixing, coastal and boundary currents, and their linkages to the changing regime of the sea ice cover from multi-year to first-year sea ice. Finally, the latest advancements and outstanding challenges in modeling and prediction of arctic climate change will be discussed.
Predicted effects of meteorology on ground treatments
Authors: Taherzadeh Shahram
Published: October 2015

This presentation reports on calculations carried out to investigate the effect of meteorological conditions on the performance of ground treatments for traffic noise reduction. These treatments include placing strips of acoustically soft or rough surfaces near the source. The soft or rough strip can be raised up to 30 cm. In other words, the height of the rough elements can be as much as 30 cm. Their upper surface height can also be the same as the ground surface or, in other words, the treatments can be recessed. We present and discuss numerical predictions of the influence of downwind and upwind conditions on the insertion loss of raised and recessed, acoustically soft strips or strips of roughness elements in 2D using a Parabolic Equation code.
Road traffic noise mapping in the Federal University of Santa Maria, Brazil
Authors: de Souza Neto Olmiro C. , Paul Stephan
Published: October 2015

The Federal University of Santa Maria is an academic community with teaching units, leisure and resting places, and a hospital. This different uses require that environmental noise limits, as given by international and national recommendations, are respected. Noise maps are one of the tools that can be used for soundscape evaluation and to check conformity with requirements. In this project, the data necessary for the development of the noise map of UFSM university campus have been collected, taking the traffic of motor vehicles on the campus as mayor noise source. A methodology for data collection was created based on the bibliography and input data required by the software. Noise maps, in terms of day sound pressure level isolines, were then generated by the software SoundPLAN 7.1. The noise map created shows that 35% of the teaching units are overexposed to road traffic noise and 45% of the students may be under negative effects of the road noise. It was also discovered that the most noise sensitive units, that are the hospital, a high school, and a day care center, have their facades exposed to day sound pressure levels higher than the recommendations.
Ordinal response model of community response
Authors: Armstrong Chandler M. , Nykaza Edward T.
Published: October 2015

Those analyzing community response to noise data often collapse ordinal scale data into a binomial variable to predict the percentage of the community that will be highly annoyed at given a noise dose. Collapsing the data simplifies the model, but also discards potentially useful information. An ordinal response model is one way to use all the information available in ordinal scale data. This paper compares the conventional binomial model to an ordinal response model to demonstrate the benefits and drawbacks of each. We have found that the ordinal response model may be a better option because some independent variables only influence response to noise at the lower end of the ordinal scale. The ordinal response model can detect effects across the entire ordinal range whereas the binomial model examines only the highly annoyed end of the scale.
Wave control with acoustic metasurfaces
Authors: Cummer Steven , Xie Yangbo , Wang Wenqi , Popa Bogdan-Ioan
Published: October 2015

Acoustic metasurfaces are thin, engineered structures that can control the local reflection and transmission phase of acoustic waves, and thus enable a high degree of flexibility of wave manipulation. They are currently under active investigation by a multiple research groups for diffractive acoustic elements, surface mode excitation, extraordinary wave transmission, and a number of other possible applications. We will describe our recent work in the area of acoustic metasurfaces based on both rigid labyrinthine passive structures and piezoelectric-based active structures. Specific topics will include optimization of passive metasurface structure, nonlinear and reconfigurable active metasurfaces, and control of acoustic diffraction and surface waves with periodic metasurfaces.
Acoustic wave control with cylindrical metamaterial elements in water
Authors: Norris Andrew , Titovich Alexey S. , Haberman Michael
Published: October 2015

Devices based on transformation acoustics (TA) designed to control radiation of acoustic waves in water will be described. By restricting the TA mapping to a two-dimensional conformal transformation, it is shown that the properties in the physical device have constant density equal to the background density, while the effective acoustic medium must have spatially varying compressibility with values proportional to the area mapping. The talk will concentrate on the application of these ideas to a conformal TA device, the circle-to-square lens. A practical design procedure based on unit solid cylinder metamaterial elements will be described. The selection of elements is simplified using an Ashby-type chart of properties in terms of effective cylinder density vs. compressibility. Unlike previous gradient index lens devices of this type, the present design is almost optimally impedance and index matched. Analytical, numerical, and experimental results will be presented for a device with only 49 elements showing broadband focusing with positive gain in the preferred directions. [Work supported by ONR.]
Source driven homogenization and spatial dispersion effects in acoustic metamaterials
Authors: Sieck Caleb F. , Muhlestein Michael B. , Alù Andrea , Haberman Michael R.
Published: October 2015

Acoustic metamaterials (AMM) composed of dynamic subwavelength heterogeneities in a host fluid may generate an overall response that can be represented with dynamic effective parameters such as negative dynamic density or compressibility. Dynamic parameters imply that highly variable effective wavelengths exist even in the long wavelength limit where k0a << 1, with k0 representing the wavenumber in the host and a the descriptive size of the heterogeneity. The variability in effective wavelength is the result of strong frequency dispersion, often accompanied by nonlocal and spatial dispersion effects that complicate efforts to correctly homogenize the medium. This work presents a three-dimensional, source-driven, non-local homogenization scheme for a periodic AMM composed of a host fluid containing dynamic heterogeneities. The resulting constitutive relations couple macroscopic volume-strain and momentum fields and are analogous to the Willis relations of elastodynamics and bianisotropy in electromagnetism. The model accounts for first-order spatial dispersion effects in the long wavelength limit and reveals the origins of coupled field response. One dimensional examples of AMM will be used to demonstrate the homogenization procedure and the effects of spatial dispersion. [Work supported by ONR.]
Some aspects of signal and array processing with small aperture underwater acoustic arrays
Authors: D'Spain Gerald L. , Pagniello Camille
Published: October 2015

Signal and array processing with small aperture acoustic arrays is a critical issue when physical space for sensor deployment is limited, often the case in ocean acoustics. This presentation discusses processing issues and performance of various algorithms applied to data from these arrays. In 1954, Pritchard showed that as the ratio of the inter-hydrophone spacing to acoustic wavelength approached zero, the maximum directivity index approached a non-zero value. This phenomenon of “superdirectivity,” where array weights become large and opposite in sign, can be understood in terms of a Taylor series expansion of the pressure field. This expansion also illustrates that an acoustic vector sensor is equivalent to a small volumetric hydrophone array, so that data processing issues for both array types is similar, although the primary sources of self noise differ. Formally, measurement of direction of arrival (DOA) is a parameter estimation problem. Therefore, performance is quantified by the statistical distribution (bias and variance) of the estimates. Therefore, although the spatial resolution of adaptive beamformers and the array gain may be higher than conventional approaches, the statistical estimation performance may be similar. These points will be illustrated using actual ocean acoustic data. [Work supported by the Office of Naval Research.]
Small aperture microphone arrays
Authors: Elko Gary W. , Meyer Jens
Published: October 2015

Superdirectional microphone arrays are arrays that are typically smaller than the acoustic wavelength and attain directional gains that exceed those of a classical delay-sum beamformer. Early superdirectional microphones utilized a combination of a velocity microphone along with a pressure microphone. Later, a single sensor superdirectional microphone was discovered that utilized the combination of pressure and pressure-difference (which is proportional to the acoustic particle velocity) through appropriate porting of the incident acoustic field to both sides of the microphone diaphragm. In the early 1980s, with the advent of multichannel FFT analyzers, there was a renewed interest in using superdirectional microphone arrays to estimate the acoustic intensity and to calculate the acoustic power flow from sources. The estimation of the vector acoustic intensity led to many transducer designs that utilized up to 6 pressure microphones and commensurate signal processing. In this talk we will show some of the early acoustic intensity probes that were designed to estimate the acoustic intensity. These small arrays have been utilized in many other beamforming applications. We will show one where a superdirectional beamformer is also capable of source direction finding by utilizing some simple adaptive beamformer implementations.
On robust time delay estimation in room acoustic environments
Authors: Chen Jingdong , Benesty Jacob , Huang Gongping
Published: October 2015

Time delay estimation, which serves as the first stage that feeds into subsequent processors for localizing and tracking radiating sources, has been an active research topic for decades. This paper deals with time delay estimation in room acoustic environments. The major focus is on developing algorithms that can achieve robust time delay estimates in reverberant and noisy environments. Three approaches are investigated, i.e., the blind channel identification based method, the multichannel cross correlation based technique, and a method based on the use of the Householder transformation. The first approach achieves its robustness with respect to reverberation by taking into account reverberation in the problem formulation; the second one improves the robustness by exploiting the redundancy provided by multiple microphones, and the third method attempts to separate noise and reverberation from the signal components. Experimental results are presented to illustrate their performance and pros and cons in room acoustic environments where reverberation and noise are commonly encountered.
Small infrasonic arrays for direction of arrival estimation
Authors: Alberts W. C. Kirkpatrick , Tenney Stephen M.
Published: October 2015

Long infrasonic wavelengths suggest a requirement for large arrays. This coupled with constraints in space can lead to array sizes and shapes that must strike a balance between the available resources and the tasks of the array; rarely are these arrays able to be installed in an optimal configuration. Further, typical frequencies of military interest span an order of magnitude in wavelength, roughly 17 to 170 m. However, standard beamforming techniques yield acceptable results even in frequency ranges where the spatial limitations of the available real estate force the size of the array to be much smaller than the wavelengths of a given signal of interest. Results acquired by processing several spatially constrained infrasonic arrays using standard techniques, e.g., minimum variance distortionless response (MVDR), will be discussed.
Comparison of direction on arrival estimates from a co-located vector sensor and horizontal line array
Authors: Dall'Osto David R. , Dahl Peter H.
Published: October 2015

Direction of arrival (DOA) estimates made simultaneously by a vector sensor and a co-located 1.4 m long horizontal line array (HLA) are compared. The 8-channels of data, corresponding to four HLA pressure sensors and a vector sensor (3-orthogonal particle acceleration sensors + 1 pressure sensor), were coherently recorded by an autonomous bottom-deployed system. The system was deployed 4 km off the coast of Panama City, FL, in water 20 m deep. Recordings were made of a series of 1–4 kHz transmissions (100-ms duration) produced by source suspended 12 m below a drifting vessel. GPS measurements of the source location for each transmission show a source heading changing by 90 degrees relative to the sensor system as the source passes to within 200 m before opening to range 1200 m. The performance of DOA estimates from vector sensor measurements of active intensity and from HLA beamforming, using both conventional methods and compressive sensing, are assessed relative to the measured source bearing. At certain source locations DOA estimates deviate significantly from the source bearing. This effect is shown to be caused by destructively interfering modes, which can produce DOA estimates in the opposite direction of the source bearing.
Analysis and design of multi-pole vector sensor arrays
Authors: Guo Junyuan , Yang Shie , Piao Shengchun
Published: October 2015

Super-directive sensor arrays, due to their small size and enhanced directivity, are quite promising in signal-to-noise enhancement and target direction finding. An array design method, which can build a desired beam pattern using compact multi-pole sensor arrays, is presented in this paper. The proposed method extracts multi-pole modes of different order from the spatial differentials of the sound fields which are measured by a uniform square array composed with hydrophones and particle velocity sensors. It can achieve more benefits with the employment of particle velocity sensors because of their inherent dipole directivities. The spatial differential in the extraction procedure is approximated with spatial difference and the approximation decreases the beam pattern performance. The performance degradations in multi-pole beam patterns are investigated for different incident wave frequency. Simulation and analysis show that the array gain is to a certain extent robust to uncorrelated noise.
Understanding and communicating the importance of sustainable acoustics
Authors: Woolworth David S. , Higbie Amanda G.
Published: October 2015

A green or sustainable approach to acoustics design extends far beyond the use of green materials or meeting LEED requirements. This paper addresses the importance of understanding and using the language of sustainability, the gray area of acoustics and general exclusion from the (Mechanical-Electrical-Plumbing based) engineering conversation, and the benefits of integrated design and early inclusion of acoustics in the design process. Included will be tools and studies to communicate the advantage of sustainable acoustics practices to architects and owners.
Creating sustainable rooms through remediation
Authors: Keefe Joseph A.
Published: October 2015

The author's consulting experience is that typical current sustainable design practices do not greatly affect acoustical design choices. However, many spaces are not “sustainable” due to poor acoustical performance (e.g., excessive reverberation). A few case studies of room investigations are presented, some with remediation efforts and some without, in order to evaluate how rooms can be made sustainable in the most important way: functional for their users.
The harmonization of sustainability and acoustics
Authors: Siebein Keely , Roa Marylin
Published: October 2015

A theoretical look will be presented at how building and environmental acoustics fall into the larger context of sustainability. The 2005 World Summit on Social Development identifies sustainable development concepts as being: Social, Environment, and Economic. Each concept is examined in terms of how it relates to acoustics. For example, Social relates to communication and human interaction. Whether it is optimizing speech communication in schools, or global networking with colleagues via Internet teleconferencing, or listening to music performances in high-fidelity acoustic environments; the idea of communication is at the root of the social fabric of our society. Environment relates to materials’ complete lifecycle from raw material to disposal, using recyclable materials or renewable materials that are locally harvested, reducing unwanted sonic impacts into the surroundings, and creating pleasing sounds in the environment. Economic relates to 1st cost, lifecycle cost, embodied energy, and productivity of space and users in the space. Research has shown that acoustics impacts productivity in offices, healthcare occupancies, and schools. Finding ways to navigate between competing goals in terms of other building attributes is also discussed.
Albert Feng and target ranging by echolocating bats
Authors: Simmons James A.
Published: October 2015

Ultrasonic biosonar sounds propagate out to a target and return as echoes. Simultaneously, phasic-on neural responses evoked by each outbound sound propagate from one subpopulation of neurons to another at different latencies in the inferior colliculus, creating delay-lines carrying a replica of the broadcast. When each echo returns, it evokes new on-responses that travel over similar subpopulations of neurons, but lagging behind responses to the broadcast according to the delay of the echo. Albert Feng’s discovery of delay-tuned neurons in the bat’s nucleus intercollicularis revealed that bats “read out” echo delay from the delay-lines by detecting the succession of coincidences between responses to the echo and to the emission. Subsequent work in multiple labs demonstrated the ubiquity of delay-tuning in bats. Working in the inferior colliculus, Al Feng showed how the delay-line responses are restricted to single spikes by initial inhibition that determines each neuron’s characteristic on-response latency followed by new inhibition that suppresses any subsequent multiple spikes. The interplay between timed and triggered inhibition defines the delay-lines, while delay-tuned coincidence-detecting neurons from inferior colliculus to superior colliculus guide the bat and from inferior colliculus to auditory cortex create the bat’s perceived images. [Work supported by ONR.]
Strategies for an echolocating FM bat, Pipistrellus abramus, to listen to weak echoes
Authors: Riquimaroux Hiroshi
Published: October 2015

In Japanese house bat, Pipistrellus abramus, a typical FM-bat, neurophysiological investigation in the inferior colliculus showed that about half of neurons was tuned to the terminal frequency of the downward FM seep or pseudo-CF frequency for searching insects, which was around 40 kHz. Their audiograms determined by the auditory brainstem response (ABR) and the compound action potentials (CAP) of the cochlear nerve also show the lowest threshold or maximum amplitude to be found at around 40 kHz. However, we could not find a sharp notch in their audiogram around 40 kHz, which we have usually found in CF-FM bats at round their reference CF frequency. We examined the peripheral system of Japanese house bat how they extract signals of a flying insect. A particular attention was paid on their terminal frequency of FM sweep or pseudo-CF frequency. [Research supported by MEXT of Japan.]