bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Validation of a generalized least squares beamformer for infrasonic data analysis
Authors: Dannemann Fransiska K. , Blom Philip , Marcillo Omar
Published: April 2019

Current seismoacoustic signal detectors including the traditional F-detector, the Progressive Multi-Channel Correlation detector (PMCC), and the adaptive F-Detector (AFD) statistically separate signals of interest from noise based upon a user-defined threshold, however, in regions of high background noise or in the presence of multiple transient signals, a signal’s SNR decreases and is often missed by the detector. The adaptive F-detector addresses this problem of coherent noise across array elements by re-mapping a noise threshold over a user-defined window. While application of the adaptive F-detector successfully reduces false detection rates attributed to coherent noise across array elements, the detector is applied post-processing following array analysis using a standard (Bartlett) beamforming approach. Processing of low SNR infrasonic signals can further be enhanced through the application of a generalized least squares (GLS) approach to beamforming which adaptively accounts for background noise characteristics. A characterization of background noise environments will be presented, along with the statistical significance of enhanced detection capabilities compared to traditional beamforming approaches.
Comparison of one-way and full-wave linear propagation models in inhomogeneous medium
Authors: Yuldashev Petr V. , Rosnitskiy Pavel B. , Khokhlova Vera A. , Sapozhnikov Oleg A.
Published: April 2019

One-way wave propagation models based on the parabolic approximation or its wide-angle extensions are often used for describing bounded acoustic beams. Such models are highly demanded when solving nonlinear problems that are computationally intensive and thus technically difficult to solve using full-wave approaches. When describing the propagation of a wave beam in a homogeneous medium, the one-way assumption is fulfilled exactly, and therefore, the inaccuracy is caused only by the limitations of the parabolic approximation. Such an error is significantly reduced within the wide-angle approach and completely disappears when using the exact propagator in the framework of the angular spectrum method. The situation is less obvious in the case of a heterogeneous environment, when a part of the wave energy is inevitably reflected becoming a counter-propagating wave and thus is not taken into account in the one-way approximation. The degree this phenomenon affects the accuracy of the one-way approach is still under discussion. In the current paper, a one-way propagator based on the pseudo-differential wide-angle equation is proposed. The propagator is tested for the homogeneous medium and for several configurations of media with regular and random inhomogeneities. The corresponding solutions are compared with those obtained using the k-Wave toolbox. Results of comparison show how the one-way propagator accuracy depends on the contrast and smoothness of the inhomogeneities. [Work supported by RSF No. 18-72-00196.]
Impacted waves in granular media: A laboratory scale asteroids experiment
Authors: Gallot Thomas , Tancredi Gonzalo , Ginares Alejandro
Published: April 2019

Asteroids and small bodies of the Solar System can be considered as agglomerates of irregular boulders, therefore cataloged as granular media. Ejections of particles and dust, resulting in a cometary-type plume, can result from impacts on their surface generating waves within these bodies and potentially causing modifications in the rocks distribution. Since no asteroid seismicity data are available, we propose a laboratory scale experiment of impact-induced seismic waves in granular media. Our study focuses on the influence of static compression mimicking pressure variations induced by self-gravity on the asteroid interior. A cubic box (50 x50 x50 cm) filled with different natural and artificial granular matter is impacted with low velocity projectiles (40 to 200 m/s). An array of accelerometers records the resulting wavefield while the box is compressed to understand its dependence with the monitored internal pressure. This study is relevant to understand how asteroids reacts to kinetic energy, as is will be tested at real scale during the Asteroid Impact and Deflection Assessment mission (2022).
A comparison of optical and acoustical resonances: The bisphere telescope
Authors: Dean Cleon E. , Durach Maxim
Published: April 2019

A previous presentation compared acoustical and optical resonances of a Mie regime double sphere system that focused on a side scattering phenomenon that roughly mimicked a mirror [C. E. Dean and R. M. Hodges, JASA, 143, 1844 (2018)]. If one thinks of these scatterers as lenses the presence of a photonic or phononic “jet” suggests a caustic region with a concentration of energy near the tip of the jet, a point analogous to the focus of a lens. Since both light and sound are reversible, there are two foci on either side of such a scatterer, arrranged symmetrically about each scatterer on the axis of the line between the centers of the two sphere system. The current research examines the case when two variable sized Mie regime scatterers are arranged so as to have the backward focus of a second scatterer on or near the forward focus of the first scatterer. This is effectively a Mie regime double sphere “telescope.” Changes to far field scattering in and around the forward scattering direction are examined. This talk attempts to answer these and other questions through the use of theoretical computational acoustics models.
Speech auditory brainstem responses in adult hearing aid users: Effects of aiding and background noise, and prediction of behavioral measures
Authors: Kluk Karolina , BinKhamis Ghada , Elia Forte Antonio , Reichenbach Tobias , O’Driscoll Martin
Published: April 2019

The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of aiding (hearing aids) and background noise on Auditory Brainstem Responses to short consonant vowel speech (Speech-ABRs), and to assess the predictive value of these responses in adults with a bilateral sensorineural hearing loss. Speech-ABRs evoked by a 40-ms [da] were recorded from 98 adult hearing-aid users via loudspeaker stimulus presentation with and without a hearing aid, in quiet and in 2-talker babble using a two-channel vertical electrode montage. Behavioral speech perception in noise and/or aided self-reported speech understanding were assessed. Aided speech-ABRs had earlier peak latencies, larger peak amplitudes, and larger F0 encoding amplitudes compared to unaided speech-ABRs. Background noise resulted in later F0 encoding latencies but did not have an effect on peak latencies and amplitudes, or on F0 encoding amplitudes. Speech-ABRs were not a significant predictor of any of the behavioral or self-report measures. Speech-ABRs are not a good predictor measure of speech-in-noise performance or self-reported speech understanding with hearing aids. However, they may have potential for clinical application as an objective measure of speech detection with hearing aids. [Work supported by EPSRC EP/M026728/1, Saudi Arabian Ministry of Education, NIHR MBRC.]
Nano, micro, and macro-scale effects on cochlear tuning
Authors: Sasmal Aritra , Grosh Karl
Published: April 2019

Reconciling the highly tuned and nonlinear basilar membrane (BM) response at the base with the nearly low-pass and weakly nonlinear response at the apex has presented a longstanding challenge to cochlear mechanics modelers. Recent experiments have shown that the BM centric view of cochlear mechanics is incomplete and have highlighted the importance of modeling and measuring the dynamics of the organ of Corti (OoC). Here, we describe a new computational model of the guinea pig cochlea that can correctly simulate the response at all frequencies. The model shows that the electromotile force from the outer hair cells modulate the differential motion between the reticular lamina and the BM. Model calculations at the apex show that the geometric taper of the scalae duct as well as the cytoarchitecture of the OoC breaks the scaling symmetry observed at the base. Further, the model predicts that the neural tuning at the base is primarily governed by the macroscopic dynamics of the cochlear partition, while the micro-scale fluid dynamics and the nano-scale channel dynamics dominate the neural tuning at the apex. Overall, the model provides a physiological explanation for the differences between high and low frequency hearing observed in psychophysical experiments. [Work supported by NIH-R01-04084.]
Mandatory dichotic integration of second-formant information: Mismatched contralateral sine bleats have predictable effects on place judgments in consonant-vowel syllables
Authors: Roberts Brian , Summers Robert J. , Bailey Peter J.
Published: April 2019

Speech-on-speech informational masking may arise because the interferer disrupts processing of the target (e.g., capacity limitations) or corrupts it (e.g., intrusions into the target percept). The latter should produce predictable errors. Listeners identified the consonant in monaural three-formant analogues of approximant-vowel syllables, lying along a place-of-articulation continuum ([w]-[l]-[y]). There were two eleven-member continua; the vowel was either high-front or low-back. Continuum members shared F1 and F3 frequency contours; they were distinguished solely by the F2 contour prior to the steady portion. Continuum members also shared amplitude contours and fundamental frequency (130 Hz). Targets were always presented in the left ear. For each continuum, the F2 frequency and amplitude contours were also used to generate interferers with different source properties—sine-wave analogues of F2 (sine bleats) RMS-matched to their buzz-excited counterparts. Accompanying each continuum member with a matched sine bleat in the contralateral ear had little effect, but accompanying each member by a fixed mismatched bleat (1, 6, or 11) produced systematic and predictable effects on category judgments. This outcome indicates that informational masking by interferers involved corruption of target processing as a result of mandatory dichotic integration of F2 information, despite the grouping cues disfavoring this integration. [Work supported by ESRC.]
The effect of altered sentence rhythm on timing judgments
Authors: Pearson Dylan V. , Shen Yi , McAuley J. Devin , Kidd Gary R.
Published: April 2019

Successful speech understanding requires the listener to accurately anticipate the temporal onsets of individual words in running speech. The present study investigated listeners’ sensitivity to temporal deviations in sentences with natural or modified speech timing. Subjects listened to sentences in which a portion of speech preceding the final word was replaced by a silent gap. On each trial, an intact sentence was presented, followed by two versions of the sentence with a silent gap: one with the correct timing for the gap (i.e., equal to the duration of the missing speech) and one with altered gap timing (longer or shorter than the missing speech). Listeners judged which version had the altered timing. An adaptive procedure was used to estimate thresholds for the detection of altered timing for early-onset (shortened gap) and late-onset (lengthened gap) final words. In separate conditions, the rhythm of the sentence preceding the gap was either unaltered or rate-modulated according to a sinusoidal modulator. Results showed that the ability to identify the correct gap timing was adversely affected by the manipulation of sentence rhythm, and in both intact and altered rhythmic contexts, listeners were better at detecting early final word onsets than late onsets.
A database of English multisyllabic words for speech perception research
Authors: Elston Cody , Prendergast Brendan , Thomas Madeleine , Partain Mark , Butler Elizabeth , Sheft Stanley , Shafiro Valeriy
Published: April 2019

Recognition of individual words is frequently used to investigate speech intelligibility and underlying perceptual processing. Traditionally, the majority of such studies in English have utilized monosyllabic and, on occasion, disyllabic words and spondees. Although multisyllabic words have been used extensively to investigate visual processing and lexical organization in reading, little research exists on the auditory perception of spoken multisyllabic English words. The present database was designed to provide materials to facilitate further research into the intelligibility and perceptual processing of spoken multisyllabic words. The database consists of five sections of 1–5 syllable words each. Individual words in each section were generated from the English Lexicon Project website. All words in the database were recorded by a male native speaker of American English, separated into individual word audio files and equalized in root-mean-square energy. Each syllable section contains 1125 words that vary in duration, frequency of occurrence and phonological neighborhood density. With a large number of words in each syllable section, shorter word lists can be selected from each section and matched on specific lexical characteristics. The database recordings are available free of charge for research purposes to improve understanding of perceptual processing of multisyllabic words.
Reading aloud in a clear speaking style may interfere with sentence recognition memory
Authors: Keerstock Sandie , Smiljanic Rajka
Published: April 2019

Previous research has shown that native and non-native listeners’ recognition memory is higher for sentences previously heard in clear speech (CS) than in conversational speech (Keerstock and Smiljanic, 2018). The present study investigated whether speaking clearly also enhances talkers’ sentence recognition memory. The production effect (MacLeod et al., 2010) revealed superior retention of material read aloud relative to material read silently during an encoding phase. Vocal production that included an additional distinct element, such as speaking loudly, produced even greater memory benefits than reading aloud (Quinlan and Taylor, 2013). Production of the exaggerated articulatory and acoustic cues in CS could thus lead to enhanced sentence recognition memory relative to conversational style. Native and non-native English speakers produced alternating blocks of 10 conversational and CS sentences for a total of 60 unique sentences. In the test phase, they identified 120 sentences as old (from exposure) or new (distractors). Unexpectedly, preliminary results show lower sentence recognition memory for sentences produced in CS than in conversational speech for both groups of talkers. The results suggest that producing CS, unlike perceiving it, interferes with recognition memory. Allocating cognitive resources to producing hyper-articulated speech may limit their availability for storing information in memory.
Auditory integration in the perception of rhoticity
Authors: Schenker Molly F. , Schmidt Anna M.
Published: April 2019

Traditionally, descent of F3 below 2000 Hz at the midpoint has been considered an acoustic correlate for perceived rhoticity. Recent investigations by Heselwood of the auditory integration hypothesis related to rhotics and by Fox and colleagues of “center of gravity” (COG) for stops, diphthongs, and vowels suggested an application to rhotic perception. A resynthesized continuum containing manipulated formant amplitudes to create a high amplitude frequency band descending from above 2000 Hz to below 2000 Hz over 8 steps will be presented to graduate speech pathology students who will judge goodness of rhoticity.
Real-time auditory feedback perturbation of German quantity contrasts
Authors: Oschkinat Miriam , Reinisch Eva , Hoole Philip
Published: April 2019

Online auditory feedback (OAF) perturbations have reviewed much about the interplay between acoustic and sensorimotor information during speech production. For spectral manipulations (e.g., formant frequencies), it was shown that people are sensitive to OAF, mainly reacting with a compensation in the opposite direction to the perturbation. This study investigates German speakers’ reaction not to spectral but temporal OAF manipulations for the vowels /a/ and /a:/, a phoneme contrast that is realized as a quantity contrast without strong additional spectral cues. Participants were asked to produce the German words Stab (/ʃtaːp/ “pole”) and Staat (/ʃtaːt/ “state”) where the vowel was compressed in real-time, or Stamm (/ʃtam/ “trunk”) and Stadt (/ʃtat/ “city”) where the vowel was lengthened. While Staat and Stadt form a minimal pair in German, Stamm and Stab do not have lexical neighbours. Results showed compensatory responses in the opposite direction to the manipulation for Staat, Stab and Stamm with larger effects for Staat (with the lexical neighbour) than Stab (without lexical neighbour). Thus, participants react to manipulations of temporal feedback in a similar manner to spectral perturbations. These findings give more precise insight into the link between perception and production in the online-processing of the temporal structure of speech.
What *can* make clear speech clear: Lessons learned from the Ferguson Clear Speech Database
Authors: Ferguson Sarah H.
Published: April 2019

Extensive acoustic and perceptual analyses have been carried out on the materials from the Ferguson Clear Speech Database (FCSD), which was recorded at Indiana University in 2002. The FCSD consists of 41 untrained talkers reading 188 sentences under instructions first to speak in a manner “as much like your normal conversational style as possible” and later to “speak clearly, so that a hearing-impaired person would be able to understand you.” My intent in developing the FCSD was to exploit the expected wide acoustic and perceptual variability among the talkers and use a talker-differences approach to answer the question, “What makes clear speech clear?” In this presentation, I will summarize data from studies of vowel intelligibility, word intelligibility, and perceived sentence clarity along with global and fine-grained acoustic analyses, and discuss how all of these measures are related across the 41 talkers. My hope is that this birds-eye view of the FCSD data will reveal subgroups of talkers in which the talkers adopted certain “profiles” of clear speech acoustic changes that yielded specific helpful perceptual changes. If time permits, I will also review data on perceived talker indexical properties and how they change when talkers speak clearly.
A replication of a test of the metrical segmentation strategy in spoken word recognition
Authors: Warner Natasha L. , Park Seongjin , McQueen James M. , Southee Richard A. , Zhang Dongdong , Lin Iris
Published: April 2019

Norris et al. (1995) tested the Metrical Segmentation Strategy (MSS; Cutler and Norris, 1988) as part of the spoken-word recognition model Shortlist. We replicate their study in a different dialect of English, with a different population and items. Norris et al. used a word-spotting task, in which listeners had to spot words within speech (e.g., "stamp" in [stæmpɪdʒ]). Target words were CVCC like "champ" or CVC like "done," and were followed by a full vowel ("champ" in/tʃæmpoʊʃ/, "done" in /dʌnʤeɪb/) or a reduced vowel ("champ" in /tʃæmpəʃ/, "done" in /dʌnʤəb/). The original study found different behavior for CVCC versus CVC targets, with the results suggesting that listeners hypothesize a word onset at the start of a full-vowel strong syllable (the MSS). Doing so makes it harder to detect "champ" when it is followed by a full vowel than a weak vowel because the full vowel leads the listener to think the /p/ is the onset of the following word, while the following vowel has little influence for "done," where the equivalent consonant is not part of the word. The results for the current study (underway) will show whether these effects generalize across English dialects, listener populations, and words.
Effects of type, token, and talker variability in speech processing efficiency
Authors: Kapadia Alexandra M. , Tin Jessica , Perrachione Tyler K.
Published: April 2019

Phonetic variability across talkers imposes additional processing costs during speech perception, evident in performance decrements for mixed- versus single-talker speech. However, within-talker phonetic variation across different utterances is another, relatively unexplored source of variability in speech, and it is unknown how processing costs from within-talker variation compare to those from between-talker variation. Cognitive consequences of talker variability are also mostly measured from two-alternative forced-choice tasks, whereas naturalistic speech processing occurs in a much larger decision space. Do talker-variability effects scale when both the stimuli and the decision space are more complicated? Here, we measured response times in a speeded word identification task that factorially manipulated three dimensions of speech variability: number of talkers (one versus four), number of target word choices (two versus six), and number of talker-specific exemplars per word (one versus eight). Across all eight experimental levels, larger decision spaces led to significantly slower word identification. Word identification was also slower in conditions with mixed talkers and conditions with multiple exemplars. This pattern of interactions suggests complex processing relationships between type, token, and talker variability and provides preliminary evidence for how both within- and between-talker variability impose additional processing costs in speech perception.
Song structure and sex-specific features in the indris
Authors: Gamba Marco , Valente Daria , De Gregorio Chiara , Zanoli Anna , Randrianarison Rose Marie , Torti Valeria , Giacoma Cristina
Published: April 2019

In the dense tropical rainforests of Madagascar, visual communication is impeded by obstacles. Lemurs use scent marking to communicate at a short distance and loud calls to communicate at a long range. The Indri (Indri indri) is a diurnal primate that emits choruses of three distinct types. The song types are essential in advertising position within the group territory, in deciding the sorts of aggressive group encounters, and in maintaining cohesion between animals dispersed during feeding. A detailed examination of the advertisement songs showed that three main parts constitute them. The last, most consistent of these parts, showed phrases consisting of units emitted with a descending frequency. The rhythm of these units changed significantly between phrases of different durations and the sexes. We also found that the unit structure may provide conspecifics with information on the individual identity of the emitter and that male songs, but not female's, are more similar to those of their parent of the same sex than to other indris. The song of the indris is an effective way to transfer information at a long distance and may transmit sex and individual identity information.
Egg white-based ultrasound blood mimicking phantom
Authors: Liu Yunbo , Connors Brady , Abboud Monica , Maruvada Subha
Published: April 2019

An egg white-based blood mimicking fluid (BMF) was developed and characterized as a blood coagulation surrogate for the acoustical and thermal evaluation of therapeutic ultrasound, especially high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) devices. Physical properties, including coagulation temperature, frequency-dependent attenuation, sound speed, thermal conductivity, and thermal diffusivity, were measured as a function of temperature (20–95 oC). The fluid viscosity was quantified at room and body temperature. With the addition of Nylon particles in the solution, the backscattering coefficient of the BMF was measured and compared before and after a complete thermal coagulation for diagnostic imaging purpose. For a 30 s thermal exposure, the egg white-based BMF (3 mm thickness) started to denature at 65 oC and coagulate into an elastic gel at 85 oC. The coagulation temperature can be lowered by adding a small amount of the acid solution to the BMF. HIFU exposure on the BMF was conducted using a flow loop phantom system to simulate and understand the HIFU ablation process and coagulation dynamics. These blood mimicking properties make this egg white-based ultrasound blood phantom a potential tool for pre-clinical bench testing of medical ultrasound devices.
Spontaneous thermokinetic amplitude modulation in the “burning wire” lecture demonstration
Authors: Garrett Steven L. , Penelet Guillaume
Published: April 2019

A thin nichrome wire that is tensioned by a mass and driven by an alternating electrical current, with a magnet placed along the wire’s length, provides a popular lecture demonstration. Due to the convective cooling of the portions of the wire moving with the greatest velocity, in a darkened room, only the regions near the velocity nodes will be visible due to the orange glow of the heated wire. The thermal expansion coefficient of the wire forces the tensioning mass to change its height as temperature changes. By adiabatic invariance, the changes in the mass’s elevation cause the natural frequency to be shifted. Competition between the thermal inertia of the wire and the convective heat transfer coefficient introduces an exponential thermal relaxation time so that the amplitude of vibration is dependent on the ratio of the constant drive frequency to the changing resonance frequency at an earlier (retarded) time. These thermal and kinetic effects are incorporated into three coupled nonlinear ordinary differential equations that are separated by the method of multiple time scales and are solved numerically, reproducing both the spontaneous appearance of stable periodic amplitude modulation and the hysteretic behavior observed with the increasing or decreasing drive frequency.
The effect of tapered entrance in nozzle flow cavitation
Authors: McDonough Grace , Moreira Jennifer M. , Gupta Ankush , Ryan Emily , Grace Sheryl , Holt R. Glynn
Published: April 2019

Cavitation erosion is a common cause of damage of fuel injectors, pumps, and other hydrodynamic equipment. For fuel injectors, cavitation can also have a beneficial effect on the resultant spray angle and aerosol size distribution. Because collapsing cavitation bubbles emit pressure waves, the occurrence and extent of cavitation can be characterized using an ultrasonic transducer in the spirit of passive cavitation detection, commonly employed in biomedical acoustics. Experiments use a two-part acrylic nozzle: a contraction portion of length 1 in. (contracting from the feed tube diameter of 1.14 in. to the diameter of the cylindrical portion) and a cylindrical outlet of length 1 in. Two different outlet diameters have been considered. Water is caused to flow at increasing rates which span the inception and development of hydrodynamic cavitation. Acoustic and optical results will be presented and compared. The results indicate that introducing a tapered change in the nozzle diameter delays the onset of cavitation with respect to the mean flow rate, as does decreasing the taper angle with respect to the flow axis. [Work supported by DOE DE-EE0007332.]
Coarticulation varies by consonant identity in adult and child speech
Authors: Cychosz Margaret
Published: April 2019

Consonant-vowel coarticulation varies by manner of articulation: speakers coarticulate less between segments in V[stop] sequences than V[glide]. There are different approaches to modelling consonant identity effects upon coarticulation (Iskarous et al., 2013). However, these effects have not been studied in non-literate populations—young children or non-literate adults. This is relevant since literacy heightens phoneme awareness, affecting coarticulation. 40 South Bolivian Quechua speakers who were not literate in the language, 30 children (aged 5–10) and 10 adults, completed a picture-prompted word elicitation task. Coarticulation was measured between [a] and the consonants /p, t, k, kh, qh, ch, s, m, w/ in VC and CV syllables. Because the child speech apparatus poses problems for typical spectral analysis, we quantify coarticulation as the Euclidean distance between Mel frequency cepstral coefficient vectors averaged over adjacent phones (Gerosa et al., 2006). Mixed effects models predicting the Euclidean distance between adjacent phones show that all age groups are sensitive to changes in consonant manner. Adults and children restrained coarticulation more between sequences containing obstruents than glides or liquids. These results suggest that literacy and heightened phoneme awareness are not required for consonant identity to affect coarticulation.
A phonetic study of Swahili voiced stops
Authors: Coburn Jeremy , Hjortnaes Nils
Published: April 2019

Despite a rich history of general linguistic research, discrepancy exists within the literature on the phonetic description of voiced stops in Swahili. Polome (1967) reports the voiced stops are phonemically implosive, with plosive allophones in some environments, but which may be strictly egressive for some speakers. Additionally, he states that other speakers have implosives for all stops (i.e., [ɓ], [ɗ], [ɟ]) except the voiced velar plosive [g]. Contemporary descriptions classify all the voiced stops as pulmonic voiced plosives (Mohamed, 2001). This study is an acoustical examination of voiced stops of Swahili speakers from various regions of Tanzania and Kenya to determine the presence of implosives in Swahili and its dialects. The parameters under observation include: (1) voicing onset time (VOT), (2) voicing terminating time (VTT), (3) amplitude, and (4) closure duration as described in several works (Nihalani, 1986; Clements and Osu, 2002; Chávez-Péon, 2005; especially, Cun, 2009). This study discusses preliminary findings on the analysis of five speakers’ productions. Four speakers were found to have implosives in all cases except prenasalized voiced stops. One speaker produced plosives in all instances. The results suggest that variation does occur and further research is needed to establish a better description of the language.
Effect of simultaneous lip-tube and auditory feedback perturbations
Authors: Beaudry Lambert , Perrier Pascal , Menard Lucie
Published: April 2019

In a series of previous experiments, it has been shown that when required to produce the back rounded vowel /u/ with a lip-tube perturbation that prevents lip rounding, speakers reached the auditory goal associated with /u/ by altering their tongue position. In the present study, the importance of sensory feedback was further investigated by combining lip-tube and auditory feedback perturbations. Fifteen adult francophone speakers produced 5 blocks of ten /u/ tokens under various conditions (following and preceding a baseline condition). First, tokens were produced when the speakers had a lip-tube in place (predicted to increase F1 and F2) as well as a real-time auditory feedback perturbation (designed to cancel the acoustic effects of the lip-tube, that is, to decrease F2 and F1). Next, only the lip-tube perturbation was applied, with and without white noise. Formant values for each condition were extracted at the vowel midpoint. Although most speakers produced a larger compensatory response with the lip-tube alone condition than with the combined lip-tube and auditory perturbation condition, all speakers produced altered formants in the latter condition. This suggests that speakers try to reduce auditory and somatosensory feedback errors during speech production, with a speaker-specific weighting of each sensory modality.
Vowel coarticulation in the Buckeye corpus
Authors: Fulop Sean A. , Scott Hannah
Published: April 2019

Theories of vowel perception, production, and acquisition have moved on from the early simple assumption of a single target for each vowel in auditory space, and yet modern variations continue to employ this notion in more sophisticated garb. The vowel prototype is lately conceived as the result of an auditory processing function incorporating information about both vowel dynamics and flanking sounds. Vowel sounds most often are flanked by consonants which are coarticulated with the vowel. It is commonly presumed that listeners apply an unknown auditory transformation to undo the coarticulatory effects when processing speech cognitively. This presumption requires coarticulation to be systematically predictable from neighboring consonants, which some studies have not found to be the case. The present study examines the vowel formants of 35 speakers from the Buckeye corpus of American English. It is found that consonant-vowel coarticulation effects are not sufficiently systematic across speakers to be predictable from the consonants. Moreover, since the coarticulation effects are so large and ubiquitous, there are no “ideal” vowels to be found in the data. There appears to be no way to transform such acoustic data by relying on the consonants that could yield a set of ideal vowel prototypes.
Voice actors imitating child speech: A study using 3D ultrasound
Authors: Feehan Colette , Lulich Steven M.
Published: April 2019

Voice actors are an interesting population for linguistic study because their profession requires them to perform complex vocal tract manipulations in order to portray specific social identities and convey socially indexed linguistic information. Previous investigations have looked at how voice actors manipulate laryngeal setting and voice quality to portray specific character types in animation (Teshigawara and Murano, 2004; Starr, 2015), but investigations of articulatory manipulations employed by voice actors are rare. This study uses three-dimensional ultrasound, formant, and F0 analyses to compare the strategies that one amateur and one professional voice actor use in order to imitate child speech. Preliminary analysis shows that the amateur actor relies on manipulation of articulatory setting by implementing hyoid bone raising, gesture fronting, and tongue grooving in order to sound like a child. The professional actor relies more on manipulation of laryngeal structures and prosody. Despite these differences in approach, the two actors still achieve similar child-like percepts. This study will describe the differences in strategy implemented by each actor as well as the within-subject variation across each actor’s adult and imitated child voices.
Sociolinguistic differences in production of pre-nasal /o/: Evidence from Southeastern Ohio
Authors: Andrews Peter A.
Published: April 2019

This study investigates the production of /o/ among 14 young adults (ages 18–24) in Athens, Ohio. This vowel is phonetically atypical because it is subject to lexical and phonological conditioning among non-native Athenians living in Athens. To better understand the phonological effects of a following nasal on /o/, the speech of 14 native southeast Ohioans was analyzed acoustically. The data come from sociolinguistic interviews selected from the Southeast Ohio Language Project corpus (Lee et al., 2018). The first two formants of each token of /o/ were extracted (n = 1468), normalized (Lobanov, 1971), and plotted. A mixed effects model was applied to the normalized F2 data to uncover interactions between location (Athens versus non-Athens) and vowel class. Results of the analysis suggest that non-Athenians have a significantly higher F2 value for /o/ than Athenians, and further that non-Athenians distinguish between two /oN/ allophones depending on the lexical item, a distinction that Athenians seem to lack. Furthermore, this fronting effect is more pronounced in words that have a preceding post-alveolar or labiovelar consonant, both of which are likely to result in a higher F2 of the vowel. These findings are an important contribution toward a more thorough understanding of pre-nasal phonological conditioning.
Individual differences in the production of prosodic boundaries in American English
Authors: Kim Jiseung
Published: April 2019

This study investigates individual differences in the weighting of phonetic properties in the production of prosodic boundaries in American English. The motivation of the study is to inform understanding of individual speaker variation and its accommodation in the representation of prosodic structure. In an acoustic study, 32 speakers produced eight sentence pairs differing in type of boundary (Intonational Phrase (IP) boundary versus Word boundary). Pause duration, phrase-final lengthening (three syllables before the boundary), phrase-initial lengthening (one syllable after the boundary), and pitch reset were examined. The results of a series of statistical analyses showed substantial individual differences in (1) which segmental and suprasegmental properties speakers phonetically modulated to produce IP boundaries and (2) the scope and the degree of such modulations. In addition, the results suggest that there seems to be no apparent relationship between how speakers modulated boundary-adjacent syllable durations and whether and how they used two other acoustic correlates for IP boundary, namely, pause duration and pitch reset. The current models of prosodic structure need to accommodate the fact that individuals may vary significantly while systematically modulating the acoustic correlates relevant for encoding a prosodic contrast.
Semantic predictability and the use of creaky voice in female speakers
Authors: Marchitelli Stefania , Levi Susannah V.
Published: April 2019

The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of creaky voice in sentence-final position as a function of semantic predictability of the final word. Creaky voice is maligned in the media and often claimed to be less intelligible than normal phonation. A recent study finds some evidence to support this claim by examining intelligibility of single words. If speakers were concerned about intelligibility of their speech, they may be less likely to use it in sentences with little semantic support (e.g., “Mr. Black knew about the pad” compared to “Tear off some paper from the pad”). In the current study, 11 young female speakers without any vocal pathologies produced sentences from the Speech Perception in Noise (SPIN) test. Fourteen final words that appeared in both high and low semantic predictability sentences were selected for analysis. Three outcome measures were examined for these final words: presence versus absence of creaky voice, duration of creaky voice, and type of creaky voice. Contrary to our expectations, the results indicated that semantic support does not significantly predict the existence, amount, or type of creaky voice in young female speakers.
Studying the rate of velar elevation across different vowel contexts in normal speech using high speed nasopharyngoscopy
Authors: Hashemi Hosseinabad Hedieh , Oren Liran , Kummer Ann W. , Taite Winter
Published: April 2019

Velum has a range of positions across different speech segments, with the lowest velum position for nasal consonants, a high (closed) position for obstruent consonants, and a range of positions in the middle for sonorant consonants and vowels varying according to constriction degree. Vowel environment has a considerable influence on the rate of velum closure. Changes in the rates of velar positioning during production of vowels in non-nasal speech (H-words) was studied in seven typically speaking adults with general American dialect and normal oral-nasal resonance. The participants were scoped using a Phantom Miro 310 high-speed video camera (Image acquisition rate of 5000 fps) connected to a flexible scope. Measurements were taken simultaneously with capturing acoustic data. The data suggested that velum tends to have a higher elevation point for vowels with higher degree of constriction in the oral cavity like /i/. Further results will be discussed.
Acoustic characteristics of aspirated fricatives in a Tibeto-Burman language
Authors: Hoffmann Maureen
Published: April 2019

Aspirated fricatives are typologically rare, though they are relatively more common in Asia (Jacques, 2011). Of the 2155 languages in the PHOIBLE Online database of phonological segments, only 7 are reported to have distinctive fricative aspiration (Moran et al., 2014). This paper examines the acoustic properties of aspirated fricatives in Matu, an under-documented Kuki-Chin (Tibeto-Burman) language spoken in Chin State, Burma (Myanmar). Matu contrasts unaspirated alveolar fricative /s/ with aspirated alveolar fricative /sh/. Aspirated alveolar fricatives are also found in other Chin languages and have been reconstructed for Proto-Kuki-Chin (VanBik, 2009, p. 186). The data were recorded with Matu-speaking refugees living in Indiana, U.S. and are analyzed using durational and spectral measures. This research expands literature on an uncommon—and reportedly diachronically unstable (Jacques, 2011)—phonemic contrast while increasing documentation of an understudied language. Jacques, G., “A panchronic study of aspirated fricatives, with new evidence from Pumi,” Lingua121, 1518–1538 (2011). and Wright, R.(eds). 2014. PHOIBLE Online, edited by S. Moran, D. McCloy, and R. Wright (Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Lepzig, 2014). VanBik, K., “Proto-Kuki-Chin: A reconstructed ancestor of the Kuki-Chin languages,” STEDT Monograph Series #8 (University of California, Berkeley, CA, 2009).
Temporal structures of English and Mandarin running speech
Authors: Xu Can , Li Mingshuang , Liu Chang , Tao Sha
Published: April 2019

A number of studies have found that temporal envelope cues are significant for both English and Mandarin speech perception. However, native English and Mandarin speakers appear to differ in abilities to use these cues in speech recognition. The current study thus aims to investigate whether the temporal envelopes of English and Chinese running speech have any significant difference. Conversational speech of 16 males and 16 females from the United States and mainland China was recorded. The temporal envelope and long-term spectrum were analyzed and compared across the two groups of speakers. Results showed that in the temporal modulation domain, English speech had a peak at around 3 Hz, while for Chinese speech, the peak was observed relatively steadily from 3 to 5 Hz. Moreover, English speech possibly contained significantly longer and deeper temporal troughs to make use of than Chinese. [Works supported by the China National Natural Science Foundation (31628009).]
Analysis of a ray-based blind deconvolution algorithm on ships of opportunity in the Santa Barbara Channel
Authors: Durofchalk Nicholas C. , Zhang Xuedong , Sabra Karim G.
Published: April 2019

The ray-based blind deconvolution (RBD) technique for ocean waveguides estimates both the Channel Impulse Response (CIR) and the unknown waveform radiated by some source of opportunity measured on an array of hydrophones using only knowledge of the array geometry and the local sound speed. This method has been shown to be well suited for estimating CIRs in environments with water column depths of ~100 m and the estimated CIRs have been successfully used in conjunction with other techniques, such as matched field processing or waveguide invariant based approaches, for source localization, bottom parameter inversion, and other related studies. With the recent 2016 at-sea passive noise experiment in the Santa Barbara Channel (SBC), plenty of processing remains to be done; however, the RBD’s performance and robustness in such an environment (~580 m depth, downward refracting profile) is not well documented. Here, we seek to investigate the feasibility and effectiveness of the RBD method in estimating CIRs from ships of opportunity in the SBC in terms of the assumptions of the technique, application to data, and numerical simulation.
Activity of Antibiotics against Staphylococcus aureus in an
In Vitro
Model of Biofilms in the Context of Cystic Fibrosis: Influence of the Culture Medium
Authors: Diaz Iglesias Yvan , Wilms Tobias , Vanbever Rita , Van Bambeke Françoise
Published: April 2019

Staphylococcus aureus
is a highly prevalent pathogen in the respiratory tract of young patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) and causes biofilm-related infections. Here, we set up an
in vitro
model of a biofilm grown in Trypticase soy broth supplemented with glucose and NaCl (TGN) or in artificial sputum medium (ASM) and used it to evaluate on a pharmacodynamic basis the activity of antibiotics used in CF patients and active on staphylococci (meropenem, vancomycin, azithromycin, linezolid, rifampin, ciprofloxacin, tobramycin).
Enterococcus faecalis Gluconate Phosphotransferase System Accelerates Experimental Colitis and Bacterial Killing by Macrophages
Authors: Fan Ting-Jia , Goeser Laura , Naziripour Arash , Redinbo Matthew R. , Hansen Jonathan J.
Published: April 2019

Enterococcus faecalisstrains are resident intestinal bacteria associated with invasive infections, inflammatory bowel diseases, and colon cancer. Although factors promotingE. faecaliscolonization of intestines are not fully known, one implicated pathway is a phosphotransferase system (PTS) inE. faecalisstrain OG1RF that phosphorylates gluconate and contains the genes OG1RF_12399 to OG1RF_12402 (OG1RF_12399-12402).
Whole-Genome Sequence of a Serotype 1/2b Listeria monocytogenes Strain Isolated from Raw Seafood in Japan
Authors: Ohshima Chihiro , Kanagawa Satomi , Miya Satoko , Nakamura Ayaka , Takahashi Hajime , Kuda Takashi , Kimura Bon
Published: April 2019

Listeria monocytogenes
is a pathogen typically acquired through the ingestion of foods. It has been specifically reported that the pathogen is widely distributed in raw seafood in Japan.
Complete Genome Sequence of Klebsiella pneumoniae Myophage Mineola
Authors: Boeckman Justin X. , Lessor Lauren , Gill Jason J. , Liu Mei
Published: April 2019

Klebsiella pneumoniaeis an important human pathogen due to the wide range of infections it can cause and its emerging drug resistance. Isolation and characterization of phage infectingK. pneumoniaecould be important for future therapeutic applications.
Genome Sequences of a Staphylococcus aureus Clinical Isolate, Strain SMA0034-04 (UGA22), from Siaya County Referral Hospital in Siaya, Kenya
Authors: Xie Gary , Cheng Qiuying , Daligault Hajnalka , Davenport Karen , Gleasner Cheryl , Jacobs Lindsey , Kubicek-Sutherland Jessica , LeCuyer Tessa , Otieno Vincent , Raballah Evans , Mukundan Harshini , Perkins Douglas J. , McMahon Benjamin , Doggett Norman
Published: April 2019

Here, we report the genome sequences of a
Staphylococcus aureus
clinical isolate, strain SMA0034-04 (UGA22), which contains one chromosome and one plasmid. We also reveal that isolate SMA0034-04 (UGA22) contains loci in the genome that encode multiple exotoxins.