bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Improved survival of cirrhotic patients with infections in Australian and New Zealand ICUs between 2005 and 2017
Authors: Majeed Ammar , Bailey Michael , Kemp William , Majumdar Avik , Bellomo Rinaldo , Pilcher David , Roberts Stuart K.
Published: May 2022

Background & Aims

Changes in outcomes of cirrhotic patients admitted to intensive care units (ICUs) with infections are poorly understood. We aimed to describe changes over time in outcomes for such patients and to compare them to other ICU admissions.

Methods

Analysis of consecutive admissions to 188 ICUs between 2005 and 2017 as recorded in the Australian and New Zealand Intensive Care Society Centre for Outcome and Research Evaluation Adult Patient Database.

Results

Admissions for cirrhotic patients with infections accounted for 4645 (0.6%) of 813 189 non‐elective ICU admissions. Hospital mortality rate (35.5%) was significantly higher compared with other cirrhotic patients' admissions (28.5%), and other ICU admissions for infection (17.1%, p < .0001), and increased to 52.2% in the presence of acute‐on‐chronic liver failure (ACLF). Hospital mortality in cirrhotic patients' ICU admissions for infection decreased significantly over time (annual decline odds ratio, 0.97; 95% CI, 0.95–0.99, p = .002). There was a comparable reduction in‐hospital mortality rates over time in other ICU admissions for infections and other cirrhotic patients' ICU admissions. However, mortality rates did not change over time in the ACLF subgroup. Median hospital and ICU length of stays for cirrhotic patients' ICU admissions for infections were 12.1 and 3.5 days, respectively, and decreased significantly by 1 day every 4 years in‐hospital survivors(p < .0001).

Conclusion

Hospital mortality in ICU admissions for cirrhotic patients with infection is double that of non‐cirrhotic patients with infection but has declined significantly over time. Outcomes in the subgroup with ACLF remained poor without significant improvement over the study period.
Odorant receptor orthologues in conifer‐feeding beetles display conserved responses to ecologically relevant odours
Authors: Roberts Rebecca E. , Biswas Twinkle , Yuvaraj Jothi Kumar , Grosse‐Wilde Ewald , Powell Daniel , Hansson Bill S. , Löfstedt Christer , Andersson Martin N.
Published: May 2022

Insects are able to detect a plethora of olfactory cues using a divergent family of odorant receptors (ORs). Despite the divergent nature of this family, related species frequently express several evolutionarily conserved OR orthologues. In the largest order of insects, Coleoptera, it remains unknown whether OR orthologues have conserved or divergent functions in different species. Using HEK293 cells, we addressed this question through functional characterization of two groups of OR orthologues in three species of the Curculionidae (weevil) family, the conifer‐feeding bark beetles Ips typographus L. (“Ityp”) and Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins (“Dpon”) (Scolytinae), and the pine weevil Hylobius abietis L. (“Habi”; Molytinae). The ORs of H. abietis were annotated from antennal transcriptomes. The results show highly conserved response specificities, with one group of orthologues (HabiOR3/DponOR8/ItypOR6) responding exclusively to 2‐phenylethanol (2‐PE), and the other group (HabiOR4/DponOR9/ItypOR5) responding to angiosperm green leaf volatiles (GLVs). Both groups of orthologues belong to the coleopteran OR subfamily 2B, and share a common ancestor with OR5 in the cerambycid Megacyllene caryae, also tuned to 2‐PE, suggesting a shared evolutionary history of 2‐PE receptors across two beetle superfamilies. The detected compounds are ecologically relevant for conifer‐feeding curculionids, and are probably linked to fitness, with GLVs being used to avoid angiosperm nonhost plants, and 2‐PE being important for intraspecific communication and/or playing a putative role in beetle–microbe symbioses. To our knowledge, this study is the first to reveal evolutionary conservation of OR functions across several beetle species and hence sheds new light on the functional evolution of insect ORs.
Brain somatic mutations as RNA therapeutic targets in neurological disorders
Authors: Lee Sungyul , Lee Jeong Ho
Published: May 2022

Research into the genetic etiology of a neurological disorder can provide directions for genetic diagnosis and targeted therapy. In the past, germline mutations, which are transmitted from parents or newly arise from parental germ cells, were considered as major genetic causes of neurological disorders. However, recent evidence has shown that somatic mutations in the brain, which can arise from neural stem cells during development or over aging, account for a significant number of brain disorders, ranging from neurodevelopmental, neurodegenerative, and neuropsychiatric to neoplastic disease. Moreover, the identification of disease‐causing somatic mutations or mutated genes has provided new insights into molecular pathogenesis and unveiled potential therapeutic targets for treating neurological disorders that have few, or no, therapeutic options. RNA therapeutics, including antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) and small interfering RNA (siRNA), are emerging as promising therapeutic tools for treating genetic neurological disorders. As the number of approved and investigational ASO and siRNA drugs for neurological disorders associated with germline mutations increases, they may also prove to be attractive modalities for treating neurologic disorders resulting from somatic mutations. In this perspective, we highlight several neurological diseases caused by brain somatic mutations and discuss the potential role of RNA therapeutics in these conditions.
Complementarity of additionalities resulting from European Union funds: Perspective of the users of research infrastructures
Authors: Hegerty Scott W. , Kowalski Arkadiusz M. , Lewandowska Małgorzata S.
Published: May 2022

The goal of this paper is to investigate the complementarity of three types of additionalities: input (growth of R&D investments), behavioral (changes in the internal processes of the entity), and output (leveraging social or private returns), occurring as the result of the 7th Framework Programme and Horizon 2020 European Union funds part INFRA. The empirical contribution is based on results of self‐created questionnaires conducted in 2016 with the use of CATI/CAWI on the unique sample of N = 401 users of European Union research infrastructures from 32 countries. We create a Behavioral Additionality Index (BAI), which is a measurement tool that combines eight types (scale, scope, cognitive capacity, challenge, network, follow‐up, management, and acceleration) of behavioral additionalities. Based on the results of a logistic regression, we find that there is a positive relationship between input and behavioral additionality, as well as between behavioral additionality and output additionality. This last link, however, is not shown to be strengthened by input additionality. No significant differences in the level of the BAI were found between EU countries based on their level of innovativeness as measured by the Summary Innovation Index (SII), although we can observe that less developed EU countries, as well as on non‐EU countries, have higher BAI scores compared to developed ones. The overall results lead to the conclusion that the evaluation of public financial support has to be conducted not only for input, behavioral, and output additionalities separately, but must also take into account their complementarity—with its major focus on the behavioral aspects of this effect.
Efficient Simulation of Freezing of Water in Large Tanks Including Expansion of Ice
Authors: Terala Shashank , Mazumder Sandip , Matharu Gurpreet , Vaishnav Dhaval , Ali Syed
Published: May 2022

A liquid water-urea mixture is stored onboard diesel vehicles and used for exhaust aftertreatment. In cold weather conditions, the mixture may freeze and the freezing process may span over a day. In the first part of our study (Journal of Thermal Science and Engineering Applications—Transactions of the ASME, Vol. 13, p. 011008, 2021), it was shown that traditional computational methods are impractical for modeling such large-duration freezing processes because of restrictions in the time-step size posed by numerical stability and physical time scale considerations. A model, in which natural convection driven thermal transport is treated as a diffusive process, was developed and demonstrated. Since the flow field was not computed in this model, the computations were found to be orders of magnitude more efficient than traditional methods. This preliminary model did not account for the expansion of ice. Here, a new model that accounts for the expansion of ice, and the consequent rise of the initial air-water/ice interface (ice dome formation) is presented. An additional conservation equation for excess volume fraction is introduced to this end and is solved using the unstructured finite-volume procedure and sub-time-stepping. Since the flow field is not computed, the air-water/ice interface is tracked using a new algorithm similar to the traditional volume-of-fluid (VOF) method, but one that constructs fluxes using a diffusive formulation rather than an advective one. Validation studies in full-scale three-dimensional tanks show good agreement with measured temperature-time data. It is found that the air-water/ice interface first evolves to a concave shape before finally becoming a convex ice dome after full solidification.
Guiding the Prostatic Artery Embolization Procedure With Computational Fluid Dynamics
Authors: Mahmoudi Mostafa , Jennings Chadrick , Pereira Keith , Hall Andrew F. , Arzani Amirhossein
Published: May 2022

Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is a common disease associated with lower urinary tract symptoms and is the most frequent benign tumor in men. To reduce BPH therapy complications, prostatic artery embolization (PAE) was developed to replace the surgical options. PAE is a minimally invasive technique in which emboli are injected into the prostate arteries (PA), obstructing the blood flow in the hypervascular nodules. In this work, a personalized PAE treatment strategy was proposed using patient-specific computational fluid dynamics (CFD). First, the hemodynamics environment in the iliac arterial tree considering a large network of bifurcations was studied. The results showed complex blood flow patterns in the iliac arterial network. Subsequently, the transport of embolic particulates during PAE for the standard horizontal and hypothetical vertical patient positioning was simulated using Lagrangian particle tracking. Emboli of different sizes were released at various locations across the iliac arterial tree. The emboli entering the PA were mapped back to their initial location to create emboli release maps (ERMs). The obtained ERMs during the standard patient positioning for smaller emboli at certain release locations showed distinct regions in which if the emboli were released within these regions, all of them would reach the PA without nontarget embolization. During the hypothetical vertical patient positioning, the larger emboli formed a larger coherent region in the ERMs. Our patient-specific model can be used to find the best spatial location for emboli injection and perform the embolization procedure with minimal off-target delivery.
The Dr. Phillips Center's Front Yard Festival—A pandemic response that just might outlive the pandemic
Authors: Crossfield Scott A.
Published: May 2022

When the doors of a Performing Arts Center are closed due to Covid, how can they carry on their mission to engage their community in a safe, socially distanced way? Join Scott Crossfield ASTC from Theatre Projects as he tells the story of how the Dr. Phillips Center in Orlando, Florida created the Front Yard Festival. Conceived as an innovative, yet temporary, 2000-seat outdoor venue intended to bring much needed live entertainment, culture, and wellness to the community during the pandemic, it has been so successful that the festival will become a permanent fixture for years to come.
Simulation of near-ground signals from a flying source on UAV over a building structure
Authors: Hou Jiacheng , Zheng Zhongquan Charlie
Published: May 2022

Acoustic signals near the ground generated by a moving source on a fly-by UAV are simulated around a house. The simulation is carried out using a time-domain acoustics solver that can simulate acoustic propagations with the specified moving source, ground properties, and building geometries. The source on a UAV is approximated by a broadband source moving at a constant speed. The long-range three-dimensional computation is developed with a ground as a rigid or porous medium and a residential house with realistic geometries. Time histories and histograms of the near-ground sensors at different locations around the house are analyzed with their different behaviors due to Doppler shift, ground effect, and acoustic interference from the house structures. Comparisons will be made with literature results and available measured data.
Nonlinear elastic metamaterials as pulse shaping devices for shock test applications
Authors: Wallen Samuel P. , Haberman Michael R. , DeLima Washington
Published: May 2022

Metamaterials (MM) have become a very active research topic in numerous domains of engineering because of their promise to create structures and devices that can control wave propagation in ways that exceed the capabilities of conventional homogeneous and composite materials. Most research on acoustic and elastic MM has been focused on linear behavior. However, linear MM suffer from notable drawbacks, for example, (i) the effective material properties for the application of interest are often limited to narrow frequency bands, and (ii) they have limited usefulness in applications where nonlinearity is unavoidable or essential, e.g., shock testing or high-intensity focused ultrasound. Nonlinearity has therefore been explored to expand the palette of accessible dynamic response of synthetic materials. In this work, we investigate applications for nonlinear elastic MM as pulse shaping materials for shock testing. By using high-resolution finite element methods in concert with direct numerical simulations of reduced-order dynamic models, we examine the propagation of elastic pulses under the influence of various types of nonlinear elastic response and identify means to obtain them. These simulations demonstrate the potential for nonlinear elastic MM to significantly expand the space of accessible excitations for shock testing, using a relatively small number of design parameters.
Amplitude-dependent edge states and discrete breathers in non-linear modulated phononic lattices
Authors: Ruzzene Massimo , Rosa Matheus , Leamy Michael
Published: May 2022

We explore the role of non-linearities on the spectral properties of modulated one-dimensional phononic lattices. In the linear regime, a spatial modulation of stiffness is known to produce topological gaps characterized by non-zero Chern numbers, which host topological states localized at the edges of finite domains. A continuation of the linear modes as a function of amplitude is performed, revealing a series of localization and de-localization transitions that are confirmed through direct time domain simulations. The results show that edge states whose eigenvalue branch remains within the gap remains localized, and therefore appear to be robust with respect to amplitude. In contrast, edge states whose corresponding branch approaches and remains tangential to the bulk bands experience delocalization transitions. Additionally, we observe a series of amplitude-induced phase transitions as the bulk modes become discrete breathers localized in one or more regions of the domain. Remarkably, these transitions are independent on the size of the lattice. These results bring to light the co-existence of topological edge states and discrete breathers for non-linear modulated lattices, whose interplay may exploited for amplitude-induced topological and localization transitions.
Breaking reciprocity to realize extreme energy isolation in coupled oscillators
Authors: Wang Chengen , Moore Keegan J.
Published: May 2022

This research investigates the isolation achieved by breaking the reciprocity of between two coupled oscillators. The two oscillators have equal mass and the first one is linearly grounded and called the linear oscillator (LO). The second oscillator is nonlinearly coupled to the LO and is termed the nonlinear oscillator (NO). By breaking dynamical reciprocity using asymmetry and nonlinearity, the LO–NO system is shown to exhibit regimes of extreme energy isolation in only one of the oscillators as well as regimes where energy is exchanged between them. These regimes are shown to arise under both impulsive and harmonic excitation. The resulting system is governed by two nonlinear normal modes (NNMs), which can interact with each other under internal resonance of different ratios. Under different loading scenarios, different energy isolations are illustrated. This research starts with analytical study using numerical simulations that assess how energy distributes in the structure under varying loads. The analytical predictions are validated experimentally for both impulsive and harmonic excitations. The results of this research demonstrate that there remains much to learn about energy transfer in general and the breaking of dynamic reciprocity may lead to new types of acoustic and vibrational metamaterials.
An acoustic study on the voice of emotion in Beijing Chinese adults
Authors: Yan Hanbo , Chien Yu-Fu
Published: May 2022

Although Mandarin and Beijing Chinese are both tone language, Beijing Chinese, a dialect spoken in Beijing, is considered more colloquial. This study examines the acoustic properties of the vocal expression of emotions in Beijing Chinese. Using an emotional-stories elicitation method (Anolli etal., 2008), 30 native speakers of Beijing Chinese produced one target sentence in eight emotions, including anger, contempt, fear, guilt, joy, pride, sadness, and shame. The same sentence produced in a neutral condition was used as the baseline. The results showed that mean f0 values were high for shame and fear, while low for pride and anger. Pitch variation was high for shame and guilt, but low in sad and pride. Shame and sad also yielded high intensity variation. For speech rate, guilt was expressed with the fastest speech rate, while sad with the slowest. Longer pauses were found for sad, and shorter pauses for anger and guilt. Unlike Anolli et al. (2008), in which Mandarin speakers showed low f0 variation and slow speech rate for guilt, the current results showed that pitch variation was high for guilt, and it was characterized by the fastest speech rate in Beijing. It suggests that for tone language, regardless of the similar phonological systems, emotions were expressed differently in a more colloquial situation.
An acoustic analysis of French vowel phoneme substitutions in native English speakers
Authors: Strah-Farber Madeline G.
Published: May 2022

In the last 60 years of second language acquisition research, much has changed from the Critical Period Hypothesis (CPH) and the belief from Eric Lenneberg that producing second language vowels and consonants was too tricky without a first language accent (Harley, 1997). These casual remarks and observations would set in motion further extensions of CPH to help focus equal attention on second language learning. It would not be until 1987 and research conducted by Jim Flege that the world would begin to see how American college students can produce and differentiate between the close fronted /y/ and its back closed counterpart /u/ (Flege, 2005). Flege would conclude through his experiment that second language learners (L2) of French had an easier time producing a “new” vowel or vowel that is absent from their first language (L1) inventory because the habit of substitution would not be as frequent (Flege, 2005). The research that will be attempted will try to show how with more experience as a French student, students will be able to form a separate category for the high fronted close /y/, regardless of how close it is to its American English counterpart /u/, or the predictions set forth by the Learning Speech Model.
Information redundancy across spectral regions for sentence recognition in noise
Authors: Shen Yi
Published: May 2022

Two approaches are examined to quantify the synergetic and redundant interactions across spectral regions for sentence recognition in noise. In one approach, the Speech Intelligibility Index is extended such that speech intelligibility is not only influenced by the speech audibility metrics in individual frequency bands but also their pairwise products to capture the synergetic and redundant interactions between pairs of bands. In a second approach, it is assumed that successful keyword recognition is determined by how many independent channels of information is received by the listener. Each channel of information may be uniquely carried by a frequency band, representing the independent contribution of that band, or shared among multiple bands, representing information redundancy. A previously collected dataset was re-analyzed using the two quantification approaches. For each of the 30 listeners in the dataset, correctness in keyword recognition in the IEEE sentences was available for 600 trials. From trial to trial, the sentence-in-noise stimuli varied in terms of signal-to-noise ratio and which frequency bands were removed from the spectrum via filtering. Both approaches provided consistent depictions of how information is shared across spectral regions for the IEEE sentences. Moreover, the information redundancies across frequency regions did not equally impact all listeners.
Coupled modeling of the seasonal transmission loss in the Beaufort Sea
Authors: Barclay David R. , Martin S. B. , Hines Paul C. , Borys Pablo , Robinson Calder L. , Hamilton James , Deveau Terry
Published: May 2022

An eight-element drifting vertical line array was deployed overwinter 2019–20 in the Beaufort Sea to record transmissions from two moored 35 Hz sources deployed as part of the Coordinated Arctic Acoustic Thermometry Experiment (CAATEX), and seven 925 Hz sources deployed by the Arctic Mobile Observing Systems (AMOS) experiment. Transmissions were received every day on the array at ranges of 10 to 850 km. A probabilistic rough-ice canopy was integrated to a Parabolic Equation code to predict the propagation loss. Sound speed profiles and percent ice cover along the propagation paths were obtained at daily resolution from data-assimilative Global Ice Ocean Prediction System (GIOPS, 20 km spatial resolution). Sea ice roughness and keel properties are empirically determined from the GIOPS ice thickness. The ice roughness is generated using a random pulse-train model with a characteristic wavenumber spectrum slope determined by ice age. Empirical probability distributions of ice keel depth, slope, and spatial densities are used to randomly add keels. Spatial averaging is used to account for signal bandwidth and uncertainty in receiver positions. The environment files and modeling are performed in piece-wise steps to manage memory footprints over long ranges. Modeled propagation losses compare well with the data and reproduce the seasonal variability observed in the measured results.
Modeling the effects of internal waves on synthetic aperture sonar resolution
Authors: La Manna Nicholas A. , Lyons Anthony P. , Brown Daniel C. , Hansen Roy E.
Published: May 2022

Synthetic aperture sonar (SAS) beamforming is performed under the assumption of a constant sound speed within the water column or by utilizing a measured sound speed profile. Water column features, such as internal waves or internal wave boluses that cause a sound speed structure different than that assumed, can break the constant sound speed assumption resulting in image defocusing and loss of resolution. The resultant loss of resolution can be quantified using the point spread function (PSF). An ellipse fitting technique was applied to SAS images collected by the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment (FFI) using the HISAS system. In conjunction with the analysis conducted on real data, a ray tracing method was applied to model the broadening effects on the PSF for sound speed differences caused by internal wave boluses. A wavenumber beamforming algorithm was also applied to artificial echo data, in which sound speed errors were introduced. It is hoped that the two models can be used in conjunction with SAS data to determine the sound speed within an internal wave feature from the observed loss in resolution.
Principles and techniques of microbubble localization and tracking in super-resolution ultrasound microvascular imaging
Authors: Song Pengfei
Published: May 2022

Super-resolution ultrasound microvascular imaging (SR-UMI) is an emerging technology that uses microbubbles as point targets to break the diffraction limit of ultrasound and track blood flow. Robust microbubble localization and tracking are essential for successful SR-UMI. However, in practice, microbubble localization and tracking are often hampered by the complex flow dynamics of microbubbles (e.g., microbubble signal overlap, merging and splitting) and suboptimal ultrasound imaging quality (e.g., low SNR, tissue motion). More importantly, the tradeoff between microbubble localization and tracking accuracy and SR-UMI imaging speed remains a key barrier for practical implementation of SR-UMI. In this presentation, I will first review the principles and state-of-the-art techniques of microbubble localization and tracking. I will then introduce several new methods recently developed by our group that demonstrate improved microbubble localization and tracking performance under high microbubble concentrations (which leads to accelerated SR-UMI). Finally, I will introduce a new deep learning-based SR-UMI method that is both microbubble localization- and tracking-free. Because this new method is no longer constrained by challenges associated with microbubble localization and tracking, it achieves very fast SR-UMI imaging speed (tens of milliseconds to several seconds on a moderate GPU) and has the potential to be implemented in real-time.
Super-resolution Imaging with a multifrequency large-aperture hemispherical phased array
Authors: Deng Lulu , Lea-Banks Harriet , Jones Ryan , O'Reilly Meaghan , Hynynen Kullervo
Published: May 2022

High-resolution imaging of microvasculature is important for diagnostic and therapeutic applications. Here, the utility of a multi-frequency large-aperture hemispherical phased array in the context of vasculature imaging via passive beamforming and super-resolution techniques was explored at various receive frequencies, to investigate the capability of mapping the emissions of lipid coated phase-change nanodroplets flowing through tube phantoms as well as rabbit renal and cerebral vasculatures in-vivo. With super-resolution techniques, the mean lateral (axial) full-width-at-half-maximum image intensity was estimated to be 16 ± 3 (32 ± 6) μm and 7 ± 1 (15 ± 2) μm, corresponding to approximately 1/85 of normal resolution when received with the subarrays at 612 and 1224 kHz, respectively. The mean positional uncertainties were approximately 1/350 (lateral) and 1/180 (axial) of the receive wavelength in water. The renal and cerebral vasculatures of rabbits were partially visualized. A correlation between transmit pulse and nanodroplet vaporization is observed, demonstrating potentials for nanodroplet vaporization modulation and signal-to-noise ratio enhancement. This study demonstrates the feasibility of mapping vaporized nanodroplets with passive beamforming and super-resolution imaging techniques. It may provide means to map complete vasculature pre- or post-treatment with therapeutic focused ultrasound in organs that can be surrounded by the hemispherical array.
Projector design for imaging of buried unexploded ordnance
Authors: Brown Daniel C. , Brumbaugh Scott , Fanton Mark , Meyer Richard , Johnson Shawn , Brownstead Cale
Published: May 2022

Recent modeling and field experimentation has shown very-shallow-water acoustic imaging of buried unexploded ordnance (UXO) can place stringent requirements on the sonar transmit system. Achieving high-resolution imagery requires large transmit bandwidth. Imaging deeply buried UXO requires low operating frequencies and high source levels to overcome sediment attenuation. Imaging UXO near the sediment–water interface requires short transmit waveforms that require projectors with a low mechanical quality factor for accurate reproduction. This work presents the results of a recent design study, device fabrication, and acoustic testing of a new projector intended for operation as part of a buried UXO imaging system. The analysis will focus on the design and material selection of the head mass and the ring stack used in the tonpilz device. The head mass design trade considered construction from aluminum or an aluminum beryllium metal matrix composite (AlBeMet). The ring stack design trade considered traditional polycrystalline lead zirconate titanate (PZT), ternary single crystal lead indium niobium–lead indium manganese niobium titanate (PIN-PMN-PT), and textured manganese doped lead magnesium niobate–lead zirconate titanate (Mn-PMN-PZT). Finite element simulations and measured results will be presented.
Simulation of acoustic effects of postural laryngeal oscillatory movement during vocalization
Authors: Titze Ingo R. , Sharma Anuja , Adluru Ganesh , Barkmeier-Kraemer Julie
Published: May 2022

This paper addresses the contributions of low-frequency postural laryngeal kinematics to frequency and amplitude modulations of the vocal output signal. A one-dimensional Navier–Stokes solution for fluid transport and wave propagation is used along with a laryngeal source model to simulate voice production. Vocal fold adduction and vertical laryngeal posture are modulated sinusoidally at 2–10 Hz with various amplitudes to approximate kinematic phenomena observed with MRI during production of vocal vibrato and voice tremor. The acoustic modulations are quantified in terms of formant (resonance) and fundamental frequency shifts in the radiated output signal from the mouth. Postural oscillation of the larynx is a common kinematic component of vocal tremor, although less documented during production of vibrato.
Acoustics of Drop Impact on Hydrophobic Surfaces and Liquid Pools
Authors: Allen John S. , Rabbi Rafsan , Kiyama Akihito , Truscott Tadd
Published: May 2022

Drop impact on surfaces has been studied comprehensively as it has a wide range of fundamental and practical implications. The splash, spreading, and rebound have been investigated with respect to substrate interfaces with hydrophobic surfaces being of particular interest. However, impact on wetted substrates is less understood for the hydrophobic surfaces. Also the associated acoustics of the drop impact has not be explored in terms of air entrainment and substrate vibrations. We investigate the impact of water drops (∼2–10 mm diameter) from heights 100–400 cm upon hydrophilic– and hydrophobic–coated solid surfaces as well as free floating liquid pools (0.15–0.45 ml). A contact microphone coated with the Glaxco water repellant provides a hydrophobic surface upon which impact vibrations can be quantified. An air microphone is synchronized to a high-speed Phantom camera for sound recording and optical visualization of the impact and rebound phases. Cross-correlation of the two microphones reveals distinct differences between the two solid substrates. The initial rebound and subsequent jet break-up are found in an analysis of the signal’s amplitude and phase. These results are compared to those from gel spheres and discussed for applications of non-contact coating monitoring.
Linguistic and personal influences on speaker variability
Authors: Lee Yoonjeong , Kreiman Jody
Published: May 2022

Our previous studies examined the manner in which within- and between-speaker acoustic variability in voice follow patterns determined by biological factors, the language spoken, and individual idiosyncrasies. To date, we have analyzed data from speakers of English, Seoul Korean, and Hmong, which differ in whether they contrast phonation type and/or tone. We found several factors that consistently account for acoustic variability across languages, but also factors that vary with phonology. The present study adds Gujarati (which contrasts breathy with modal phonation) and Thai (a tone language without contrastive phonation) to this work. We hypothesize that F0 will emerge from analyses of Thai, as it did for Hmong and Korean (but not for English), and that differences in the amplitudes of lower harmonics will emerge for Gujarati, as occurred for Hmong, but not for English or Korean. We further hypothesize that two factors—the balance of high-frequency harmonic and inharmonic energy and formant dispersion—will emerge as the most important factors explaining acoustic variance for these new sets of speakers and languages, as they have in our previous studies. Such a result would be consistent with the view that speaker variability is governed by both biological and linguistic factors.
Sociophonetic variation among Asian Americans: The role of ethnicity and style
Authors: Dionne Danielle , Chang Charles B.
Published: May 2022

The present study examined sociophonetic variation in a small sample of Asian Americans in Boston, Massachusetts (N = 8; 4f, 4m; Mage = 23) representing four ethnic groups—Chinese, Filipino, Korean, and Vietnamese. Analyzing these speakers’ English production in tasks eliciting both casual and careful speech, we focused on four linguistic features comprising features observed in New England and in certain Asian American groups. Three features (L/R-CONFLATION, L-VOCALIZATION, and R-DELETION) were coded auditorily and one (LOW BACK RAISING of /ɑ/ to /ɔ/) acoustically; the dataset included approximately 1500 tokens of each feature, for a total of around 6000 tokens. Mixed-effects modeling results on the casual speech data indicated that Ethnicity was a significant predictor (p's < .05) of the occurrence of L-VOCALIZATION (M = 86.6% overall) and R-DELETION (M = 8.5%), but not of L/R-CONFLATION (which did not occur at all) or LOW BACK RAISING (which did not clearly occur in F1 or F2). Preliminary analysis of the careful speech data showed lower rates of L-VOCALIZATION (M = 70.0%) and R-DELETION (M = 1.5%) than in casual speech and, again, no occurrence of L/R-CONFLATION or LOW BACK RAISING. These findings reveal similarities and differences in speech production among ethnically diverse Asian Americans, point to a possible role of style, and highlight the need for further investigation of phonetic variation within this community.
Quantifying uncertainty of shipping source levels for marine soundscape modeling
Authors: MacGillivray Alexander O. , Ainsworth Laurie
Published: May 2022

Soundscape modeling is increasingly being used in assessments of marine habitat quality and to inform marine spatial planning. In most locations of interest, noise from shipping traffic and other marine vessels is the dominant anthropogenic contributor to the underwater soundscape. The noise contributions of marine vessels are typically calculated using tracking data from sources such as the automated identification system (AIS) and the vessel monitoring system (VMS). However, source levels of individual vessels in these datasets are often highly uncertain and must be estimated from incomplete information using data-driven models. Such models may be used to reliably predict mean source levels for large aggregations of vessels, but comparisons with real datasets show substantial statistical variability about the mean. Recent work, carried out using a large database of vessel noise measurements from the Enhancing Cetacean Habitat and Observation (ECHO) Program, has been used to develop statistical models that predict source levels based on ship type, design characteristics, and operating conditions. These models include a predictive component, based on observed trends, as well as a random component based on the residual variability of the data. This random component can be used to quantify the uncertainty of vessel noise emissions for soundscape modeling.
Understanding echoes
Authors: Lee Wu-Jung
Published: May 2022

By sending out sounds and analyzing the returning echoes, both humans and animals use active acoustic sensing systems to probe and understand the environment. High-frequency sonar systems, or echosounders, are the workhorse for observing fish and zooplankton in the ocean. Toothed whales and bats navigate and forage via echolocation in the air and under water. In this talk, I will discuss our work with both engineered and biological sonar systems to enable effective extraction and interpretation of information embedded in the echoes. We are developing data-driven methodologies and open-source software tools to tackle challenges imposed by large volumes of echosounder data rapidly accumulating across the global ocean. Using echolocating toothed whales as a model, we are combining experimental and computational approaches to understand biological processing of echo information. Throughout the talk, I will highlight the pivotal role of collaboration in my professional and personal development, and discuss efforts by colleagues and myself to cultivate a sense of community in our field.
Designing personalized soundscape for care facilities
Authors: Talebzadeh Arezoo , Botteldooren Dick
Published: May 2022

Sound is a critical element in making people aware of their environment; it gives people a sense of place and time. Soundscape relies not only on the objective quality of sound by quantifying the sound level but also on the subjective quality of the auditory environment based on people's perceptions. When a sonic environment is unfamiliar, it adds to the anxiety of those who receive the sound. People with dementia may have difficulty understanding time and space; they may live in long-term care (LTC) facilities or have to relocate to LTC to reduce care responsibilities from their families. Sensory perception in these facilities is unfamiliar: light, sound, temperature, and smells may be strange. Unfamiliar sensory stimuli add to residents' anxiety and annoyance, making them agitated and disturbed and decreasing their sleep quality. Designing a pleasant and personalized soundscape helps reduce BPSD (behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia) and improves sleep quality. This study employed a sound system that uses a customized algorithm to play sounds at prescheduled moments throughout the day. The soundscape is composed according to the resident's daily activities and is delivered in their room, using familiar sounds like bird sounds and raindrops. The goal is to implement soundscape into the design of LTC facilities to enhance the quality of life for residents and their caregivers.
Integrating acoustics and video imaging to illuminate life in the mesopelagic
Authors: Benoit-Bird Kelly
Published: May 2022

The complementary strengths of acoustic and in situ visual sampling for understanding ocean life have been evident from the earliest days of each technique. The “deep scattering layer,” for example, was discovered using military sonars in the 1940s. This layer, thought at first to be the seafloor, was confirmed to be biological via in situ visual observations. This early example of combining these two powerful approaches highlights their complementary strengths (and weaknesses). Since then, acoustics and imaging have made great advances in both technology and application. Yet, they have been used together to address biological questions only infrequently, noting substantive contributions by Whitlow Au. Building on this foundation, we have been integrating acoustics and imaging to understand life in the mesopelagic. Used in a synergistic fashion, these tools allow us to describe the behavioral responses that animals exhibit to platforms and their lights, to measure the species-specific broadband “acoustic signatures” of pelagic animals needed to interpret remotely collected data, make measurements of animal size with a single camera, and examine how animal distributions are affected by the environment. In combining acoustics and imaging, there is power to observe biological phenomena in the ocean not fully resolvable with either technique alone.
Relating lung pathology to ultrasound imaging: An experimentally validated simulation approach
Authors: Ostras Oleksii , Shponka Igor , Pinton Gianmarco
Published: May 2022

Lung ultrasound (LUS) imaging can be highly sensitive to disease. However, lung imaging depends on reverberation that occurs at the lung interface, which is complex and upends the conventional time-space relationship in delay-and-sum beamforming resulting in images that require the interpretation of artifacts. Establishing a clear link between ultrasound images and underlying alveolar or fibrotic state of the lung could improve the diagnostic accuracy and clinical deployment of lung ultrasound and potentially establish LUS as a gold-standard imaging modality. Here, it is shown how histology-derived acoustical maps of the lung, Visible Human maps of the abdomen, and Fullwave simulations of ultrasound propagation can accurately model the multiple scattering physics at the lung interface. Lung B-mode images are generated based on the first principles of propagation and multiple scattering and they are compared to clinical imaging. In silico modifications of the aeration/porosity and the fluid-to-tissue ratio in the lung parenchyma are related to the corresponding changes in B-mode images. Additionally, the patterns of superficial/subpleural air inclusions were analyzed and mapped to corresponding B-mode image markers (white lung, single and multiple B-lines, A-lines). This establishes a validated framework for quantitative imaging of lung disease and the development of LUS-specific beamforming.
Ultrasound vibro-elastography for assessing water content in a lung sponge phantom model
Authors: Zhang Xiaoming , Zhou Jinling
Published: May 2022

Pulmonary edema is common in patients with congestive heart failure. Extravascular lung water (EVLW) correlates to the disease prognosis but the assessment is challenging. The current standard method, computed tomography (CT), poses a significant logistic burden and exposes patents to ionizing radiation. Non-invasive lung ultrasound (LUS) is introduced to subjectively evaluate B-lines for EVLW but results in significant inter-observer variability. We have developed ultrasound vibro-elastography (USVE) to safely measure lung surface wave speed quantitatively. In this abstract, we presented the technique for analyzing water content in a lung phantom model. A sponge is used as the lung phantom. Twelve water contents were injected in the phantom for different EVLW values. The mass density of the phantom was measured for each water content. Wave propagation was generated at five frequencies between 100 Hz and 300 Hz in the phantom, and the surface wave speeds were collected. The viscoelasticity was derived from the wave speed dispersion with frequency. The obtained surface wave speeds showed no clear correlation with different water content. The elasticity and viscosity, however, were found increased with water content. This research pinpoints the likelihood and possible direction for USVE to assess EVLW for patients with pulmonary edema.
Localizing pulmonary nodules for surgical resection using ultrasound multiple scattering
Authors: Roshankhah Roshan , Blackwell John , Egan Thomas M. , Muller Marie
Published: May 2022

Using conventional ultrasound to image pulmonary nodules is elusive due to multiple scattering in highly heterogeneous lung tissue. It is possible to leverage multiple scattering as a source of contrast between nodules and healthy lung parenchyma, because lung nodules do not contain air-filled alveoli. We developed a method based on the separation of multiple and single scattering using singular value decomposition. When combined with a depression detection algorithm, this allows us to render a map of the regions exhibiting less multiple scattering, associated with the presence of nodules. These techniques allowed for localization of 55 out of 59 nodules placed in ten lungs, as small as 5 mm diameter. In this study, we are demonstrating the feasibility of the method to locate nodules with respect to a surgical stapler by merging the rendered nodule map with a B-mode image of the surgical device. Using Verasonics Vantage scanner with array transducer, inter-element responses matrices were acquired from ex vivo pig/dog lungs, in which artificial nodules were implanted. We show that the relative position of nodule to the stapler can be measured. By measuring the distance of the nodule to the surgical stapler, it is possible to resect the nodule with safe margins.
Quantifying severity of lung fibrosis in rodents using random matrix theory
Authors: Cole Azadeh D. , Blackwell John , Montgomery Stephanie A. , Egan Thomas M. , Muller Marie
Published: May 2022

We investigate random matrix theory (RMT) as a tool to detect and quantify pulmonary fibrosis in rodents in vivo. Highly scattering structures such as lung alveoli result in specific characteristics in the distribution of singular values of the inter-element response matrix (IRM). When multiple scattering dominates (healthy lung), the distribution of singular values of the IRM is expected to follow a quarter circle law. However, when single scattering regime dominates, the singular values distribution is closer to a Henkel distribution. We propose to exploit this feature to detect pulmonary fibrosis and quantify its severity. Two metrics are defined to describe the singular value distribution: the expected value E(x), which is the weighted average of all singular values, and, the singular value with the highest probability. A 128-element linear transducer operating at 7.8 MHz and a Verasonics scanner were used to collect IRMs from 6 normal and 18 rat lungs with bleomycin-induced fibrosis in vivo. Significant correlations were observed between E(x) (r = −0.46, p = 0.02) and (r = 0.52, p = 0.01) with the severity of fibrosis independently assessed by histology. These preliminary results show the potential of RMT metrics E(x) and to quantify structural changes in the lung parenchyma.
Using ultrasound multiple scattering to determine severity of pulmonary edema
Authors: Egan Thomas M. , Roshankhah Roshan , Blackwell John , Yuan Hong , Montgomery Stephanie A. , Muller Marie
Published: May 2022

Conventional ultrasound (US) cannot quantitatively evaluate lung tissue because of US multiple scattering (USMS). Pulmonary edema causes vertical artifacts -B-lines- which provide qualitative information about alveolar flooding. We showed that Scattering mean free path (SMFP), a measure of the density of air-filled alveoli, is longer in edematous than normal lungs. Here, we show that SMFP correlates with wet:dry weight ratio of lung tissue (W/D) and CT-scan assessment of edema. Ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) was created in lungs of anesthetized rats. The left lung hilum was clamped for 20, 40, or 60 minutes (n = 6/group) then reperfused for 60 minutes before ligating the apical portion of each lung to measure W/D, removing inflated lung blocks, then measuring SMFP and backscatter frequency shift (BFS) with a Verasonics scanner and L11-4v US probe. Six lung blocks were removed from healthy rats as Controls. Inflated lung blocks had ex vivo CT scans, followed by inflation-fixed histology. By logistic regression, there was a correlation between SMFP and W/D in 18 edematous and 12 Control lungs (r2 = 0.27, p < 0.004) and a significant correlation between edema extent by CT and SMFP and W/D. BFS was larger, and histology confirmed edema in IRI lungs. SMFP may be useful to quantify lung edema.