bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Improvement of quality of voice conversion based on spectral differential filter using STRAIGHT-based Mel-cepstral coefficients
Authors: Koike Harunori , Nose Takashi , Shinozaki Takahiro , Ito Akinori
Published: November 2016

In our previous research, we proposed a technique for converting the speech individuality of speech of an arbitrary input speaker into a specified speaker’s one. This technique used the neural network (NN) for many-to-one mapping, which was trained from the pairs of multiple source speakers and a target speaker. Using the NN, we design a filter based on the difference of the spectra of the source and the target speech to directly convert the waveform of the input speaker into the target speaker’s one. An advantage of the proposed method is that the direct waveform conversion alleviates the quality degradation caused by the F0 extraction error. To improve this proposed method, we use mel-cepstral coefficients extracted by STRAIGHT, the high-quality tool of speech analysis and synthesis. The higher order components of the cepstral coefficients determine the detailed shape of the spectral envelope, but the prediction accuracy of the high-order coefficients might be worse than that of the lower-order ones. Thus, we investigated the effect of the order of cepstral components to find the condition that gave better conversion quality. Additionally, we exploited the dynamic features to reduce the discontinuity of the frame and improve the converted speech quality.
Acquisition and evaluation of a human-robot elderly spoken dialog corpus for developing computerized cognitive assessment systems
Authors: Kojima Hiroaki , Takaeda Kana , Nihei Misato , Sadohara Ken , Ohnaka Shinichi , Inoue Takenobu
Published: November 2016

Personal communication robots are expected to assist daily living of elderly people. Aiming at developing computerized cognitive assessment systems, we collected human-robot spoken dialog of a cognitive impairment test scenario based on TICS (Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status) and COGNISTAT (Cognitive Status Examination) in Japanese. For the efficient acquisition of the spoken dialog corpus of this scenario, we implemented a WOz (Wizard of Oz) style spoken dialog system on a commercial personal robot, PaPeRo by NEC. By using this system, we collected 147 dialogs spoken by 48 elderlies whose ages varied about 75-85 and MMSE (Mini Mental State Examination) scores varied around 26.5. Each dialog took about 30 min, and contains around 100 human utterances. In order to evaluate feasibility of automatic assessment, we conducted speech recognition experiments with the speech corpus. In the recognition experiments of the elderly speech of answering to the temporal orientation test of asking today's month and date, the accuracies of discriminating correctness of the answers exceeds 80% by using speech dictation engines. This preliminary results show potential feasibilities for computerized cognitive assessment systems.
Experimental study of impression-based statistical mapping between speakers' faces and their voices
Authors: Ohsugi Yasuhito , Saito Daisuke , Minematsu Nobuaki
Published: November 2016

Recently, many types of voice-user interface (VUI) have been developed and some of them become prevalent. To realize more natural conversation between a user and a machine, one feasible approach is expected to be enhanced personification of the machine. In this study, we attempt to give an adequate face to the voice quality of the speech synthesizer embedded in the machine. A research question here is what kind of face should be provided to a given voice quality? Also, an inverse question is possible when a face is given in advance: what kind of voice quality should be mapped to a given face? To solve a problem of mapping between a set of elements and another set, a statistical mapping is often applied, where a parallel and pairwise corpus of elements and their corresponding ones is required. In this study, GMM-based mapping is adopted as statistical mapping between voice features and face features. Further, a parallel corpus is prepared by asking subjects to select suited voices (faces) for given faces (voices) based on their impressions on the faces and the voices. Experiments showed that, although adequate voices can be automatically generated for given faces, mapping between them was strongly subject-dependent.
A study on acoustic features affecting speaker similarity between recorded voice and synthesized voice
Authors: Ota Kenko , Yoshida Kohei
Published: November 2016

This study focuses on the difference in the audibility between recorded voice and synthesized voice uttered by the same speaker. Voices whose pitch does not fluctuate in an utterance were recorded. Voices are synthesized by STRAIGHT. In this research, recorded voices and synthesized voices are allocated to a three-dimensional space by INDSCAL (Individual Differences Scaling) which is an analysis method of MDS (Multi-dimensional Scaling) in order to investigate the acoustic features which are related to the difference in the audibility between recorded voice and synthesized voice. Subjects compared following three combinations of voices: two recorded voices, two synthesized voices, a recorded voice and a synthesized voice. The acoustic features considered in this research are shown as follows: fundamental frequency, spectral centroid, spectral roll-off, spectral flux, spectral contrast, and spectral intensity. As a result, spectral roll-off and spectral contrast are related to the discrimination whether speakers of recorded voice and synthesized voice with same pitch are same or different. Moreover, fundamental frequency is also related to the discrimination whether speakers of recorded voice and synthesized voice with different pitch are same or different.
An evaluation of the automatically topology-generated auto-regressive hidden Markov model with regard to an esophageal voice enhancement task
Authors: Sasou Akira
Published: November 2016

An Auto-Regressive eXogenous (ARX) model combined with descriptive models of the glottal source waveform has been adopted to more accurately separate the vocal tract and the voicing source. However, these methods cannot be easily applied to the analysis of voices uttered by different speech production methods, such as esophageal voice. We previously proposed the voicing source hidden Markov model and an accompanying parameter estimation method. We refer to the model combining the HMM with an Auto-Regressive (AR) filter as AR-HMM. The proposed method automatically generates the optimum topology for the HMM using the minimum description length-based successive state splitting algorithm in order to simultaneously and accurately estimate the vocal tract and voicing source based on a voice excited by an unknown, aperiodic voicing source such as an esophageal voice. In this paper, we evaluate the perceived quality of the enhanced esophageal voices, which are synthesized by filtering the voicing source extracted from normal speakers with the AR filter extracted from the esophageal voices.
Investigation of using the highway network to predict the F0 trajectory for text-to-speech synthesis
Authors: Wang Xin , Takaki Shinji , Yamagishi Junichi
Published: November 2016

Generation of the F0 trajectory is critical for Text-to-Speech (TTS) synthesis. In most of the recently proposed TTS systems based on neural networks, F0, together with the spectral features of speech, is predicted by a single neural network. However, our recent work, which utilizes the highway network with trainable gates to bypass the non-linear transformation layers, has shown that more accurate F0 can be generated by separating the network for the F0 and the spectral streams. It is also observed that most of the layers for the F0 stream are inactive. In this work, the inactive network for the F0 stream will be analyzed, and empirical evidence will show that a shallow network as well as a deep network for the F0 stream can perform. Additionally, this work will analyze the sensitivity values of the hidden units in the highway network to identify the uninformative input features for predicting the F0 trajectory, which include the automatically inferred ToBI tags.
The effect of training in producing continuous vowels with a data-glove-driven vocal tract configuration tool
Authors: Ogata Kohichi , Matsuda Yusuke
Published: November 2016

This paper describes vocal tract configuration for continuous vowels by using a data glove. The authors have proposed data-glove-driven vocal tract configuration methods and showed the usefulness of a method with three fingers for producing vowel sounds. In the method, the location of constriction, the degree of constriction, and the lip area are controlled by bending the thumb, middle finger, and index finger, respectively. Moreover, the effectiveness of training for continuous vowels was shown for sequence /aiueo/. Whether any combination of vowels can be synthesized by this method is an interesting topic for confirmation of the effectiveness. To examine the possibility of successful manipulation of the data glove, an experiment for synthesizing various three consecutive vowels was performed with five beginner subjects. Japanese vowel sequences of 60 patterns were used in the experiment. The results proved that the subjects were able to successfully produce the vowel sequences immediately after showing a target sequence through three training sessions for manipulating the data glove.
Horseshoe bat inspired reception dynamics embed dynamic features into speech signals
Authors: Gupta Anupam K. , Han Jin P. , Caspers Philip , Cui Xiaodong , Müller Rolf
Published: November 2016

Horseshoe bats can alter the shape of noseleaves and outer ears (pinnae) at the time of emission and reception of biosonar pulses. The shape changes are a result of specific muscular action and significantly change the emission and reception beams by a spatial redistribution of energy in mainlobe and sidelobes. Here, we explore the potential of embedding dynamic features into the speech signals by means of bat inspired reception dynamics to improve the speech recognition accuracy and speaker localization. For this analysis, a digit dataset with 11 U.S. English speakers was recorded through a robotic setup that mimics pinna dynamics as observed in bats. The utterances were obtained through open-source speech corpora and amplitude modulated (carrier frequency: 55 kHz) to shift to ultrasonic band. These utterances were then re-recorded through the dynamic pinna set up and later demodulated to extract the original signal. It was found that reception dynamics have been able to enrich the speech signals with dynamic, direction-dependent time-frequency patterns. The next step in this research is to assess whether these patterns can be utilized to improve speech recognition and speaker localization.
Normal-rate to fast-rate speech conversion using non-linear compression maps
Authors: Fry Michael D. , Vatikiotis-Bateson Eric
Published: November 2016

This paper presents a new technique to convert normal-rate speech into intelligible fast-rate, speeded speech. Speeded speech has long been recognized for its potential to improve spoken media comprehension; however, current tools to significantly speed playback of non-text media are insufficient due to their reliance on inaccurate phoneme analysis. With the ever increasing amount of non-text media online, a method to speed playback that is agnostic of phonemes is needed. Our technique uses spectral and source components of the acoustics to generate a non-linear compression map that characterizes how conversational-rate speech signals are compressed to achieve analogue fast-rate speech signals. A data set containing conversational- and fast-rate speech pairs was processed to determine compression maps corresponding to each pair. A Recursive Neural Network (RNN) was trained on the set of normal-rate speech and the corresponding compression maps. The RNN was then used to generate compression maps for novel normal-rate speech and ultimately output a fast-rate speech signal. Elicited fast-rate speech and speeded speech conversions technique are now being compared perceptually for intelligibility and naturalness.
Controlling the wavefront of the de-modulated sound of a parametric loudspeaker isolated from the angle of own beam
Authors: Takeoka Shigeto
Published: November 2016

In this report, an array control method for de-modulated wavefront of a parametric loudspeaker is described. Parametric loudspeakers are known for a very sharp directivity due to their ultrasonic carrier wave. A desired audio signal modulated onto this carrier wave is reproduced along the beam by non-linearity in sound propagation. In general, the directivity of the output wave from array speakers is formed by the array factor, determined by the sound source arrangement and the excitation distribution. However, the output sound itself of the parametric loudspeaker is ultrasonic, and the audible sound is de-modulated along the beam secondarily. In this report, by using amplitude modulation, we present an experiment which the ultra directivity sound have individual array factors in the carrier and the modulated signal. The result shows the wavefront of the de-modulated sound is isolated from the angle of the beam.
Enhanced target detection and classification using two-pulse sonar methods
Authors: Mistry Nikhil , White Paul , Leighton Timothy
Published: November 2016

A number of two-pulse sonar techniques can be employed to separate linear and nonlinear scatterers. Twin Inverted Pulse Sonar (TWIPS) and Biased Pulse Summation Sonar (BiaPSS) are processes that exploit nonlinear bubble dynamics to perform such a classification, with clutter reduction. Consequently, these techniques can be used to enhance target detection in bubbly waters. TWIPS and BiaPSS rely upon bubbles being driven to large nonlinear pulsations, but this is dependent upon availability of a high-amplitude source. Previous studies could only access a narrow-band source and therefore used a low frequency so that, over the rarefaction cycle, most ocean bubbles would expand sufficiently (the size range of near-surface ocean bubbles under waves and wakes being large). However, recent access to a broadband high-power source has allowed exploitation of bubble resonances. This talk presents results of investigations using broadband linear sine sweeps, of which one is based upon the simulation of an Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) echolocation click from Capus et al. (2006). Insonifying a cloud of bubbles with a wide band of frequencies excites as many of those sizes at, or close to, their resonance. As such, the contrast between linear and nonlinear scatter is enhanced, improving the target detection capability.
Acoustic response of targets in a shallow water, layered, environment: Experimental observations and simple ray model results
Authors: Kargl Steven G. , España Aubrey L. , Williams Kevin L.
Published: November 2016

Synthetic aperture sonar (SAS) data were collected throughout May of 2014 during an experiment in St. Andrew's Bay, Panama City, FL. A brief overview is given of the SAS rail system and procedure used during the “BAYEX14” experiment. BAYEX14 was carried out in a shallow water, layered, environment, where water depth was approximately 8 m with a thin layer of mud (i.e., 0.15-0.30 m thickness) covering a sandy bottom. All targets settled into the mud and came to rest on the mud-sand interface. Scattering data from an aluminum finite cylinder, an aluminum pipe, and solid replicas of an 100-mm unexploded ordnance will be presented and compared to data taken previously in a sand-only environment and to model results. To model the scattered pressure, the ray paths are assumed to experience negligible refraction in passing through the mud layer to the mud-sand interface. However, the much higher attenuation in mud relative to water must be considered along the portion of the ray path in mud. For targets at long horizontal ranges, ray paths that interact with the water-air interface must be included to model an observed modulation of the target strength. [Research sponsored by ONR and SERDP.]
Stability analysis for implementing a distributed-basis transition matrix for acoustic target scattering by highly oblate elastic objects in free-field
Authors: Lim Raymond
Published: November 2016

A variant of Waterman’s transition (T) matrix utilizing an ansatz for problematic outgoing basis functions in standard formulations was proposed and demonstrated in a previous meeting to improve the stability of free-field acoustic scattering calculations with highly oblate axisymmetric elastic objects. The ansatz replaced the basis causing instability with a non-local basis consisting of low-order spherical functions made into a complete set by analytically continuing and distributing them along the imaginary axis of the axial coordinate. While this ansatz was found to produce scattering predictions of comparable stability to a full spheroidal-basis implementation of the T matrix, instabilities of unknown origin eventually appeared as higher matrix truncations were used to obtain convergence at higher frequencies. Here, we present a study to uncover the origin of these instabilities and show results of alternative non-local basis ansatzes chosen to attempt remediation. [Work supported by ONR.]
Effect of music on Turkish medical schools' architectural design in the Seljuk and Ottoman period
Authors: Kocyigit Filiz B.
Published: November 2016

Anatolian people throughout the ages have given importance to art and science. Music has been one of the most important part of life in Ottoman, Anatolian Seljuk Turks. Music therapy has been used with not only traditional medicine but also has been used with modern therapy. It has different historical progresses according to the cultures, nations, and periods, from being a myth to a treatment method. Hospitals' design methods for music therapy have great importance for treatment. Because of the immigration of Turkish people in 11-16th century, different Anatolian works like architectural art and institution affected the other countries. Among these works, we try to state some charity foundations all rendered for the use of the public such as temples, madrasahs, schools, dervish lodges, libraries, and cottage houses. The importance of “Music Therapy” is to show its historical progress, the effects on human being, and to exist the place it takes in psychology science. In this paper, the historical progress of music therapy in Turks is mentioned and information about the hospitals that used “music therapy” in Seljukian and Ottoman era is given, as they were the pioneers for architectural design of a hospital in all over the world.
Metrics for acoustical measurements in North America
Authors: Hallman Robert A.
Published: November 2016

The primary source of standards for acoustical measurements in buildings and community noise for North America is ASTM E33 on Building and Environmental Acoustics. This paper focuses on the ASTM E33 standards and the metrics generated. There are six major categories of standards, Sound Absorption, Speech Privacy, Sound Transmission, Application of Materials and Systems, Mechanical and Electrical Noise, and Community Noise. The most familiar metrics include NRC, STC, and IIC, but there is an alphabet soup of metrics including AC, AI, AOITC(θ), ANISPL, ATL, CNEL, FSTC, NIC, and OINIC. Many of these are variations of the basic measurements targeting a specific measurement environment. This paper focuses on the basic measurements and how the metrics are calculated and then gives a broad overview of the range of variations and specialized test methods available through ASTM Committee E33 standards.
Japanese standards of measurement method and rating for floor impact sound insulation
Authors: Hiramitsu Atsuo
Published: November 2016

Among the objections and the troubles of buildings in Japan, the floor impact sound is one of the most serious issues. The floor impact sounds are classified in a heavy- and a light-weight floor impact sound by the characteristic of the impact source. One is the floor impact sound caused by human jumping, running, or walking and the other is the floor impact sound caused by falling lightweight object. The measurement and rating method for floor impact sound insulation is standardized in JIS (Japanese Industrial Standard). JIS A 1418-2 is method using standard heavy/soft impact sources, a car-tire source (a bang machine) and a rubber ball source. The heavy-weight floor impact sound insulation is started in Japan. JIS A 1418-1, which is corresponded to ISO140-7, is method using standard light impact source, a tapping machine. The evaluation for the floor impact sound insulation is standardized in JIS A 1419-2 which is corresponded to ISO 717-2. This paper summarizes the trends for the floor impact sound insulation in Japan. The single-number quantity “Lr” is usually used for the rating of the floor impact sound insulation from the octave band sound pressure level. Moreover, A-weighted floor impact sound level is used recently.
Acoustic design method of multifunctional small venues
Authors: Miyazaki Hideo
Published: November 2016

Looking at the tendency of resent acoustic design projects in Japan, the number of venues specialized for a certain usage like concert halls is decreasing while the significant differences of the number of multi-purpose venues are not seen between in 1990s and 2000s. On the other hand, regarding the size (seating capacity), the number of over 1,000 seats multi-purpose venues are decreasing and that of below 1000 seats (especially, small venues below 500 seats) tends to be increasing. One of the reasons for this tendency is the finance problem at local governments. Another reason is the background that venues used by local citizens has been focused rather than large venues for touring performances under the strategy to activate the local cities. In this report, the acoustic design examples of multifunctional small venues are introduced while categorized by their design methods.
Midbrain neurons of the free-flying echolocating bat represent three-dimensional space
Authors: Kothari Ninad B. , Wohlgemuth Melville J. , Moss Cynthia F.
Published: November 2016

Spatial navigation by echolocation in bats is an active and adaptive system: Its success depends upon tight coupling between motor commands for sonar signal production and neural processing that supports spatial perception and attention to objects in the 3D environment. The midbrain superior colliculus (SC) has been implicated in sensorimotor transformations to support adaptive behaviors in the echolocating bat, but the response properties of SC neurons have yet to be studied in free-flying animals engaged in natural spatial navigation behaviors. Using RF telemetry, in combination with a model that computes the direction and arrival time of echoes received at the bat’s ears, we have successfully characterized the auditory response profiles of single neurons in the SC of the free-flying big brown bat. Neural data, acquired across intermediate and deep layers of the bat SC, were sorted off-line from multichannel silicon array recordings. Spikes evoked by echo returns were analyzed and used to construct 3D spatial response profiles of over 40 SC neurons in two bats. Echo response profiles showed selectivity to both the direction and delay of sonar returns over biologically relevant ranges. This work opens the door to investigate the contribution of spatial attention to 3D auditory tuning.
Dynamic periphery in a biomimetic sonar system introduces time-variant signatures into targets echoes
Authors: Sutlive Joseph , Caspers Philip , Müller Rolf
Published: November 2016

Bats have developed unique and refined systems of echolocation throughout the course of their evolutionary history, giving them the ability to navigate and hunt in extremely cluttered environments. While the mechanisms behind many of these abilities remain unknown, it has been observed that the most effective biosonar systems in bats use a variety of dynamic sensing mechanisms. One conspicuous manifestation of this dynamics can be seen in changes to the shapes of the baffle that diffract the emitted biosonar pulses (noseleaves) and the returning echoes (outer ears). Using numerical predictions as well as measurements with biomimetic hardware, our own prior work has established that the dynamics in these baffles can create time-variant emitter and receiver characteristics. However, it has yet to be demonstrated that these time-variant device characteristics have a substantial impact on the received echoes. To address this question, a biomimetic sonar head with dynamic emission and reception baffles was used to ensonify a range of different targets that included simple geometrical shapes (e.g., sphere, cylinder, and cube) as well as natural targets (foliage). The biomimetic dynamics of the sonar head resulted in time-variant signature in the received echoes that could provide a substrate for encoding additional sensory information.
Challenges of acoustic monitoring of bats—A biosonar perspective
Authors: Koblitz Jens C. , Stilz Peter
Published: November 2016

Acoustic monitoring of bats is increasingly used in biodiversity assessments and population monitoring. Besides accurate species identification, additional factors make it challenging to derive population trends, yet—sizes based on acoustic monitoring. Inter- and intra-species as well as individual variation of acoustic parameters and acoustic activity result in varying detection probability. Changes in environmental conditions result in a large changes in the volume monitored by the device. Differences in the devices used for acoustic monitoring make it inherently difficult to compare data collected with different devices. By broadcasting bat echolocation calls from various distances to monitoring devices, the acoustic parameters influencing the successful detection of a call were examined. A microphone array was used to track bats in the vicinity of monitoring devices and the distance between device and bat was measured for each call based on the time of arrival difference. The acoustic detection function, the probability of detecting calls as a function of distance, was then derived for multiple detector types.
Do echo flow patterns guide flight behavior of the big brown bat?
Authors: Warnecke Michaela , Moss Cynthia F.
Published: November 2016

When animals move through the environment, they receive dynamic sensory information from surrounding objects. Past research has demonstrated that visually guided animals rely on optic flow to estimate their relative velocity and distance to objects. More recently, the flight and echolocation behavior of big brown bats was studied in a corridor constructed of poles of variable spacing. When the pole spacing on opposite walls was symmetric, animals centered themselves in the corridor, and when pole spacing was asymmetric, bats steered toward the less echoic wall. This finding raised the question whether bats adjusted their flight paths based on the flow of echoes returning from the corridor walls, or whether the animals steered away from the wall reflecting more intense echoes. To address this question, bats flew through the original corridor with the additional experimental condition of felt coverage on one corridor wall, reducing the reflectivity of pole echoes on that side, while retaining the flow pattern. If the bat’s flight path is influenced by the echo intensity profile of a corridor wall, it should deviate toward the felt-covered wall. By contrast, if the bat’s behavior is influenced by acoustic flow cues, flight paths should resemble those in the original (no-felt) conditions.
Obstacle avoidance navigation by echolocating bat: Compared relationships between acoustic guidance and flight control in unfamiliar space and familiar space
Authors: Yamamoto Yuya , Yamada Yasufumi , Kobayasi Kohta I. , Hiryu Shizuko
Published: November 2016

Echolocating bats can fly without colliding with obstacles by synchronizing acoustic guidance and flight control. To research how bats adapt echolocation as they became familiar with the spaces, we made CF-FM bats (Japanese horseshoe bat) exhibit S-sharp flight repeatedly in a chamber arranged acoustically transparent chains. We found (1) flight path was changed continuously to reduce its curvature as the bats repeated the flights, resulting that the maximum flight speed increased from 2.7 to 3.0 m/s in the 1st trial to 3.2 to 3.8 m/s in the 12th (last) trial for all three bats, (2) pulse emission was reduced by 45% (66/148 pulses) from the first to the last trial, (3) they shifted the pulse direction dynamically relative to their flight direction in the 1st flight whereas the pulse direction was shifted smoothly, the bats emitted more intense pulses toward the intended flight direction as they became familiar with the space. When acrylic boards were arranged, the bats could not pass through the obstacle course until they learned the space. These suggest echolocation is changed between unfamiliar and familiar space flight and the bats adapt their echolocation to feedforward-dominant control for perceiving more at distance for path planning when they have a spatial map.
The enigma of the ocean internal wave spectrum: Can acoustics help solve the enigma?
Authors: Colosi John A.
Published: November 2016

In 1979, Carl Wunsch famously asserted “Many sources for the internal wave field have been proposed; but it has not yet been possible to make the kind of statement that can be made about surface waves: namely, when the wind blows surface waves are generated and the larger the fetch and duration, the larger the waves.” In spite of decades of work using traditional oceanographic tools (e.g., acoustic doppler current profilers and conductivity, temperature, and depth devices), this statement remains essentially true today and can be equally applied to the question of internal wave sinks (dissipation), and more generally the form of the spectrum. It is therefore possible that acoustic propagation methodologies with their unique sampling properties in frequency-wavenumber space and spatial averaging could shed some light on this enigma. Several ways forward on this problem will be discussed.
Listening to light and seeing through: In vivo multiscale photoacoustic imaging
Authors: Kim Chulhong
Published: November 2016

High-resolution volumetric optical imaging modalities, such as confocal microscopy, two-photon microscopy, and optical coherence tomography, have become increasing important in biomedical imaging fields. However, due to strong light scattering, the penetration depths of these imaging modalities are limited to the optical transport mean free path (~1 mm) in biological tissues. Photoacoustic imaging, an emerging hybrid modality that can provide strong endogenous and exogenous optical absorption contrasts with high ultrasonic spatial resolution, has overcome the fundamental depth limitation while keeping the spatial resolution. The image resolution, as well as the maximum imaging depth, is scalable with ultrasonic frequency within the reach of diffuse photons. In biological tissues the imaging depth can be up to a few centimeters deep. In this presentation, the following topics of photoacoustic imaging will be discussed; (1) multi-scale photoacoustic imaging systems (i.e., Photoacoustic Nanoscopy, Optical-Resolution Photoacoustic Microscopy, Fast 2-Axis MEMS based Optical-Resolution Photoacoustic Microscopy, Intravascular Photoacoustic/Ultrasound Catheter, Virtual Intraoperative Surgical Photoacoustic Microscopy, Acoustic-Resolution Photoacoustic Microscopy, and Clinical Photoacoustic/Ultrasound Scanner), (2) morphological, functional, and molecular photoacoustic imaging, (3) potential clinical applications, and (4) contrast agents for photoacoustic imaging.
Photoacoustic imaging with multiple speckle illumination
Authors: Bossy Emmanuel
Published: November 2016

In this presentation, I will illustrate how the use of multiple speckle illumination offers new degrees of freedom in photoacoustic imaging. In the acoustic-resolution regime, I will show that speckle illumination can help breaking the acoustic-diffraction limit [1]. I will show how multiple speckle illumination may also be used to perform optical-resolution photoacoustic microscopy, as an alternative to the conventional point scanning approach. [1]. Chaigne, T., Gateau, J., Allain, M., Katz, O., Gigan, S., Sentenac, A., & Bossy, E. 2016. Super-resolution photoacoustic fluctuation imaging with multiple speckle illumination. Optica, 3(1), 54-57.
Polypyrrole phase-change contrast agents for sono-photoacoustic imaging
Authors: Li David S. , Yoon Soon Joon , Matula Thomas J. , O’Donnell Matthew , Pozzo Lilo D.
Published: November 2016

A new type of light and sound sensitive emulsion-based contrast agent is presented. It features a low boiling point liquid perfluorocarbon core and a polypyrrole (PPy) polymer shell. The PPy coated nanoemulsions can reversibly convert from liquid to gas phase by cavitating the perfluorocarbon core during the negative phase of an acoustic pulse. Alternatively, cavitation can be initiated through heat transfer from light absorption in the PPy shell from a laser pulse. By overlapping transmitted laser and acoustic pulses, activation energies required to cavitate the nanoemulsions are lower than for either source alone. The emulsions are typically produced between 150 and 350 nm in diameter and PPy has a broad optical absorption covering both the visible and near-infrared wavelengths (peak covers 700-1100 nm). The size, structure, and optical absorption properties of the contrast agents were characterized using dynamic light scattering, ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometry, transmission electron microscopy, and small angle X-ray scattering. The cavitation threshold and signal intensity was measured as a function of both acoustic pressure and laser fluence. We also demonstrate that these agents can be used as a sono-photoacoustic contrast agent, providing a non-linear photoacoustic response much more intense than particle-based contrast agents used in photoacoustic imaging.
High-speed observation for a better understanding of bubble dynamics in an
in vivo
-like situation of sonoporation
Authors: Kudo Nobuki
Published: November 2016

Sonoporation is a technique to temporally increase the permeability of a biological cell membrane by ultrasound exposure and to transduce a foreign gene or drug that normally has no permeability. The mechanisms of sonoporation have not been fully elucidated yet; however, it is widely accepted that microbubbles oscillating adjacent to cells play an important role to induce membrane damage. Dynamics of microbubbles has strong dependence not only on exposure parameters of ultrasound but also on surrounding conditions of the bubbles. To obtain a better understanding of cell-bubble interactions affected by the surrounding conditions, high-speed observation was carried out. A newly designed chamber was used for observation from a lateral direction, enabling visualization of translational movements of bubbles beside a scaffold and of cell-bubble interaction without hiding the interacting point by the oscillating bubble itself. It was observed that a bubble on a soft scaffold surface moves translationally in a direction separating from the surface, whereas a bubble on a hard scaffold surface remains on the surface. Adhesion of a bubble to the top of a cell caused a considerable decrease in bubble oscillation amplitude, but membrane damage was confirmed in all of the observed cells with attached bubbles, indicating the importance of taking into account the conditions surrounding a bubble in order to understand the mechanisms of sonoporation.
Comparative studies on enhancement of cell killing induced by ultrasound in the presence of platinum and gold nanoparticles
Authors: Kondo Takashi
Published: November 2016

In this study, we report on the potential use of platinum nanoparticles (Pt-NPs), a superoxide dismutase (SOD)/catalase mimetic antioxidant, in combination with 1 MHz ultrasound (US) at an intensity of 0.4 W/cm(2), 10% duty factor, 100 Hz PRF, for 2 min. Apoptosis induction was assessed by DNA fragmentation assay, cell cycle analysis and Annexin V-FITC/PI staining. Cell killing was confirmed by cell counting and microscopic examination. The mitochondrial and Ca(2 + )-dependent pathways were investigated. Caspase-8 expression and autophagy-related proteins were detected by spectrophotometry and western blot analysis, respectively. Intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) elevation was detected by flow cytometry. The results showed that Pt-NPs exerted differential effects depending on their internalization. Pt-NPs functioned as potent free radical scavengers when added immediately before sonication while pre-treatment with Pt-NPs suppressed the induction of apoptosis as well as autophagy AP, and resulted in enhanced cell killing. In addition, we used gold nanoparticles without anti-oxidant activities and will discuss the difference between the two.
Cavitation-mediated extravasation and transtumoral drug delivery by microstreaming: What role do the gas nuclei and the physical properties of the therapeutic play?
Authors: Coussios Constantin , Myers Rachel , Kwan James , Lea-Banks Harriet , Mo Steven , Grundy Megan , Mannaris Christophoros , Duffy Margaret , Paverd Catherine , Carugo Dario , Coviello Christian , Stride Eleanor , Carlisle Robert
Published: November 2016

For effective cancer therapy, therapeutic agents must extravasate from the blood stream into the tumour mass, then overcome the elevated intratumoural pressure and dense extracellular matrix to reach each and every cancer cell. Several recent studies have suggested that inertial cavitation in the absence or presence of artificial cavitation nuclei can significantly enhance the delivery, penetration, and distribution of small-molecule or nanoparticulate therapeutic agents into tumors. We first present a comparison of the reported enhancements in delivery achieved for a range of frequencies and therapeutic sizes without or with pre-seeding of cavitation, with particular emphasis on the potential role of cavitation persistence and spatial distribution. With microstreaming hypothesized to be the dominant transport mechanism for drug delivery, the likely benefit of using sub-micron cavitation nucleation agents capable of extravasating alongside the therapeutic, rather than microbubbles confined to the blood pool, is then investigated. Lastly, potential physical and biological modification strategies capable of enhancing the transport of therapeutics by cavitation-microstreaming are discussed, and compared in terms of their relative delivery efficacies in vivo.
1-MHz ultrasound stimulates protective mechanisms in cardiac endothelial cells during oxygen and glucose deprivation
Authors: Ammi Azzdine Y. , Davis Catherine M. , Dykan Igor V. , Gowda Mohanika , Alkayed Nabil J. , Kaul Sanjiv
Published: November 2016

Ultrasound improves myocardial perfusion during coronary occlusion. Our aim was to study the production of vasodilatory compounds by primary mouse cardiac endothelial cells (ECs) exposed to ultrasound after a 2-hour oxygen and glucose deprivation (OGD). A 1.05-MHz transducer was used to insonify ECs with a 50-cycle tone burst at a peak rarefactional pressure of 0.5 MPa and a PRF of 50 Hz. US exposure of ECs after OGD increased the adenosine release to 168±16% of control (n = 11, p<0.05). It also resulted in an increase in 8,9-, 11,12- and 14,15-EETs reaching 125±19%, 123±17%, and 118±15% of control (n = 7, p<0.05), respectively. US caused an increase of 5,6-, 8,9-, 11,12-, and 14,15-DHETs to 135±16%, 138±17%, 133±15%, and 133±14% of control, respectively. It also caused levels of 18-, 19-, and 20-HETEs to be statistically different when compared to control and OGD alone (n = 7, p<0.05). eNOS phosphorylation level was not statistically significant to either control or OGD alone. Higher level of cell viability compared to the ECs not exposed to US was observed (n = 7, p<0.05). Pulsed ultrasound at 1.05 MHz has the ability to increase adenosine and eicosanoids production by cardiac ECs after OGD and increase their viability.
The use of all-in-one sensor devices in the general education acoustics laboratory
Authors: Morrison Andrew C.
Published: November 2016

For a general education acoustics course meeting the physical science laboratory requirement, we have implemented the use of IOLab devices. The IOLab is an all-in-one collection of sensors in a box approximately the size of a graphing calculator. The devices include a microphone, accelerometer, force sensor, light sensor, magnetic field sensor, analog inputs and outputs among other built-in features. Each of the devices communicates wirelessly with laboratory computers. Our acoustics course serves not only students seeking general education credit but also students pursuing careers in music technology and as sonography technicians. The common bond between students in these groups is their shared avoidance of mathematical analysis. In our course, we attempt to build student skills in analytical thinking by scaffolding laboratory activities in a series of mini-labs which make use of the IOLab devices. We discuss the successes and challenges faced using this approach.
Underwater acoustics education at University of Washington Bothell
Authors: Abadi Shima
Published: November 2016

University of Washington Bothell was founded in 1990 to bring the University of Washington traditions of academic excellence to residents of the Puget Sound region. Mechanical engineering launched as a new undergraduate program in engineering & mathematics division in fall 2014. Underwater acoustics is one of the main focus areas in ME program which is integrated in several elective courses to provide students with formal training prior to the graduation and prepare them for research, internships, and ocean acoustics job positions. University of Washington Bothell in collaboration with local research institutes and industries supports underwater acoustics capstone projects. In addition to the capstone projects, many students are involved in theoretical and experimental research projects such as marine mammal bioacoustics, acoustical array signal processing, and underwater acoustic sensor design. In this talk, the underwater acoustics emphasis at the University of Washington Bothell will be presented along with the courses offered, research activities, capstone projects, and collaborations with local communities.
Optimum insertion timing of symbolic music to induce laughter in video contents
Authors: Kim Ki-Hong , Kubo Mikiko , Iwamiya Shin-ichiro
Published: November 2016

In television variety shows or comedy programs, in addition to real sounds, various sound effects and music are combined with humorous scenes to induce more pronounced laughter from viewer-listeners. Symbolic music whose imagery is associated with special meaning based on past usage is dubbed just after humorous scenes as a sort of “punch line” to emphasize their humorous nature. Rating experiments using a method of paired comparisons were conducted to clarify the best timing for insertion of such music into humorous video contents. In the case of purely comical scene, the optimal insertion time was 0.0 to 0.5 seconds after the target scene. In the case of tragicomic scene (humorous accident), the optimal insertion time was 0.5 to 1.0 seconds after the scene, i.e., a short pause before the music was effective in this case. In both cases, the effects of symbolic music decreased 1.5 to 2.0 seconds after the scenes. The rating experiments showed that optimal timing was associated with highest impressiveness of the videos, highest evaluations, highest congruence between moving pictures and sounds, and inducement of maximum laughter.
Making sense of multiple senses
Authors: Shinn-Cunningham Barbara
Published: November 2016

Our brains are expert at processing multi-sensory inputs. We automatically “fuse” sounds and sights that come from one source-- to the point that we cannot turn off cross-sensory perceptual interactions. Examples like the McGurk effect (in speech perception), the “Flash-Beep illusion” (in temporal perception), and the “Ventriloquism Effect” (in spatial perception) demonstrate how robust and obligatory cross-sensory integration can be. Indeed, these sensory “illusions” are not truly “illusions,” but rather examples of how perceptually integrated sensory inputs are in the real world, compared to how we view them in the laboratory. Such cross-modal effects also underscore differences in the kind of information that vision and audition “specialize” in, and what our brain trusts. Specifically, visual inputs convey spatial information precisely, but temporal information poorly. Conversely, auditory inputs convey temporal information precisely, but spatial information poorly. Recent cognitive neuroscience work from our lab gives insight into how the brain handles sensory specialization and cross-sensory coding, revealing distinct cortical networks that support visuo-spatial and auditory-temporal processing. These results will be reviewed, along with their implications for multi-sensory coding in films, video games, and other forms of multimedia.
Influence of rotor eccentricity on electromagnetic vibration and noise in permanent magnet synchronous motor with different slot-pole combinations
Authors: Lin Fu , Zuo Shuguang
Published: November 2016

Rotor eccentricity (RE) is a common fault in permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM). In this paper, a multiphysics model is proposed to investigate the variation of electromagnetic vibration and noise due to two types of RE including static eccentricity (SE) and dynamic eccentricity (DE). Maxwell stress tensor is first employed to derive the spatial and temporal changes of electromagnetic force from eccentricity, which are validated by 2-D decomposing of radial force calculated by a finite element (FE) model. Then, based on the proposed multiphysics model, the electromagnetic vibration and noise considering RE with different eccentricity levels and types is calculated. The vibration and noise changes with eccentricity are all explained by the force harmonics induced by eccentricity. It is concluded that the influence of RE on vibration and noise is closely related to the slot-pole combination. The vibration and noise in PMSM with higher space order of force is more sensitive to RE. It is also found that, due to the low space order force induced by RE, vibration and noise peaks would transfer to the frequency band close to lower modal frequencies.
Computational investigation of microperforated materials: End corrections, thermal effects, and fluid-structure interaction
Authors: Bolton J. S. , Herdtle Thomas , Kim Nicholas
Published: November 2016

The concept of microperforated noise control treatments was introduced by Maa 1975; in that theory, the transfer impedance of the microperforated layer was calculated based on oscillatory viscous flow within a small cylinder combined with resistive and reactive end corrections. Recently, new manufacturing procedures have dramatically lowered the cost of these materials, and as a result, there has been renewed interest in studying their properties. Since 1975, Maa’s original theory has been widely used. However, in principle, that theory can only be used to describe cylindrical perforation, while in practice, perforations are rarely cylindrical. In addition, there have been questions about the dependence of end corrections on frequency, and on the effect of coupling between the motion of the fluid in the perforations and the solid sheet in which they are formed. Additionally, in his original paper, Maa drew a distinction between the dissipative properties of thermally conducting and adiabatic materials. The latter topic, in particular, has not been considered by any investigators since the idea was introduced. The purpose of this presentation is to introduce numerical tools that can be used to address the open questions mentioned above and to highlight important results obtained by using those tools.