bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Quantifying the efficiency of the acoustic radiation force from two-wave beating for structural resonance excitation of a thin spherical shell
Authors: Craig Steven R. , Sabra Karim G. , Shi Chengzhi
Published: May 2022

The structural echoes obtained from low-frequency (∼kHz) excitation of resonant underwater targets can serve as a basis for automated target recognition. Acoustic radiation force (ARF) can provide a means to excite those structural echoes with compact transducing mechanisms as it relies on high-frequency transducers to generate locally low-frequency excitation via the classical beating effect. However, a key question is quantifying the efficiency of ARF excitation mechanisms to excite those structural echoes when compared to using direct low-frequency pulses. Here, we develop a time-domain finite element framework that compares the ARF and direct low-frequency excitation methods to excite classical resonances scenarios such as thickness resonances of a thin plate or the so-called “mid-frequency enhancement echo” for elastic spherical shells. These canonical target objects provide a straightforward procedure to investigate the ARF excitation efficiency and establishes the numerical framework to investigate more complex targets with a wider range of environmental parameters.
Acoustic vortex beam reflection, refraction, and orbital Hall effect
Authors: Zhang Likun , Fan Xu-dong , Zou Zheguang , Lirette Robert L.
Published: May 2022

Some of our recent work concerned the interactions of twisted wave fronts of acoustic vortex beams with boundaries and inhomogeneities of media. Experimental measurements and numerical simulations were conducted to investigate vortex beam reflection from a water-air interface and vortex beam refraction when travelling in an inhomogeneous medium or through an acoustic metasurface. The results reveal spatial evolution of the wave fields and the carried angular momenta. In particular, the investigation observed a reversal of orbital angular momentum in the reflected wave field [Zou et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 125(7), 074301 (2020)], and a shift of beam center and an asymmetric vortex pattern in the refracted wave field in the direction transverse to the plane of incidence [Fan et al., Phys. Rev. Res. 1(3), 032014 (2019); 3(1), 013251 (2021)]. The shift relates to conservation of angular momenta and coupling of the twisted wave fronts with the refraction and is termed as acoustic orbital Hall effect.
Effects of age on brainstem coding of speech glimpses in interrupted noise
Authors: Bologna William J. , Molis Michelle R. , Madsen Brandon M. , Billings Curtis J.
Published: May 2022

Difficulty understanding speech in fluctuating backgrounds is common among older adults. Previous research suggests that this age-related decline may be due to increased susceptibility to forward masking and difficulty incorporating short “glimpses” of speech into a coherent auditory object. These findings may be linked via a common brainstem mechanism, such that brief glimpses of speech surrounded by noise are not faithfully represented in the neural code that reaches the cortex. This hypothesis was tested using electrophysiological recordings of the envelope following response (EFR) elicited by glimpses of speech-like stimuli varying in duration (42, 70, and 210 ms) and separated by silence or intervening noise. Responses from adults aged 23–73 years indicated that older adults produced weaker neural responses than younger adults. Across all ages, declines in EFR strength were noted with shorter glimpses of speech and with the addition of intervening noise. However, the extent of these declines was not associated with participant age. These results suggest that the EFR is sensitive to factors commonly associated with glimpsing but may not entirely reflect age-related changes that affect speech recognition in fluctuating backgrounds. [Work supported by NIH TL1TR002371, R01DC015240, R01DC012313, and VA-RR&D 5I01RX002139.]
Assessing age-related temporal processing deficits with single word contrasts in cochlear-implant users
Authors: Goupell Matthew J. , Xie Zilong , Gaskins Casey R. , Anderson Samira , Gordon-Salant Sandra
Published: May 2022

For listeners with acoustic hearing, aging and hearing loss are associated with temporal processing deficits. For those with enough hearing loss, a cochlear implant (CI) becomes the preferred intervention. However, a CI degrades acoustic information by delivering primarily temporal envelope information through modulated electrical pulse trains. Therefore, if older CI listeners experience temporal processing deficits like acoustic-hearing listeners, they are compelled to understand speech primarily through a process that is affected by aging. We will present temporal processing data from a series of experiments that use word contrasts that vary primarily in a temporal dimension (silence duration: Dish-Ditch; voice-onset time: Buy-Pie). Participants include CI listeners and normal-hearing listeners presented with a CI simulation via a channel vocoder and range in age from younger (<45 yrs) to older (>65 yrs). Results show that CI listeners and NH listeners presented with CI simulations need longer temporal cues to discriminate temporally based word contrasts. In addition, such deficits are differentially worse at higher stimulation levels for the older CI listeners compared to the younger CI and all NH listeners. In conclusion, aging may lead to temporal processing deficits in CI listeners. These results have implications for CI programming and directions for technological improvements.
Extraction of dynamic effective material properties for 2D acoustic Willis media
Authors: Konarski Stephanie G. , Sieck Caleb F.
Published: May 2022

Acoustic Willis media is characterized by coupling between the kinetic and potential energy through the pressure-strain and momentum density-velocityrelationships. The introduction of additional constitutive properties allows more appropriate characterization of complex unit cells, including effects related to physical asymmetry, finite phase and multiple scattering, and nonreciprocal biases. Similar to traditional composites or other metamaterials, homogenization is a valuable modeling tool that simplifies numerical study of Willis media. However, homogenization schemes must be altered to account for even and/or odd Willis coupling parameters. In this work, we extend a 2D homogenization approach to account for the Willis coupling using the modified dynamic equations. With this homogenization scheme, finite layers of N unit cells and N + 1 unit cells are utilized with different propagation angles and incident directions to isolate the response across a single unit cell. Numerical simulations with the finite element method will then be presented to validate the homogenization model and demonstrate the effective material properties obtained for an asymmetric unit cell. [This work was supported by the Office of Naval Research.]
Symmetry-enforced gapless surface states in three-dimensional acoustic gyroid structures
Authors: Guo Yuning , Rosa Matheus , Ruzzene Massimo
Published: May 2022

The discovery of topological gapless phases challenges the perception that topological features necessarily require a bandgap, expanding the understanding of topological phases of matter in various realms including electric, photonic, and phononic systems. The progress on 3D topological gapless states in elastic and acoustic systems is still in its early stages of formulation and design. We here investigate 3D acoustic gyroid crystals supporting symmetry-enforced gapless surface states in minimal surface-based structures. The inherent chirality and morphology of gyroid surfaces enable the implementation of 3D acoustic crystals hosting symmetry-enforced Dirac points and topologically gapless surface states. The associated fourfold degeneracy is protected by the nonsymmorphic space group featuring a combination of screw symmetry and glide reflections. The presence of gapless surface arcs relies on band structure calculations conducted using finite element simulations, while preliminary experimental results on additively manufactured samples validate their occurrence in the proposed gyroid surfaces. With the continuous development in additive manufacturing techniques, the presented surface-based framework provides a platform to explore a variety of topological wave physics phenomena in 3D load-bearing, continuum materials of potential engineering relevance, among which superior acoustic absorption may be particularly promising.
Enhanced energy trapping in a nonreciprocal phononic crystal cavity
Authors: Dhillon Jyotsna , Walker Ezekiel , Neogi Arup , Krokhin Arkadii
Published: May 2022

Acoustic energy trapping using defect modes in the band gap frequencies of acoustic metamaterials has been widely explored. Unlike this extensively used mechanism, the present work demonstrates the use of non-reciprocity in the transmission band to trap energy inside a phononic crystal cavity. A phononic crystal with broken parity and time reversal symmetry can be used to generate linear nonreciprocal transmission of the ultrasound waves. A gradient induced differential dissipation (GIDD) based passive non-reciprocal phononic crystal with asymmetric scatterers was employed to create three configurations of cavities. The parity of the present system is broken by the asymmetric shape of the scatterers, and the time reversal symmetry is naturally broken by viscous dissipation. The cavity configurations were based on the orientations of the asymmetric scatterers in part of the crystal that allowed utilization of non-reciprocity involved in only one of the cavities' configurations. Enhancement of energy trapping at a frequency of 622.5 kHz was observed experimentally for the cavity utilizing nonreciprocity compared to other cavity configurations. Experimental results were further confirmed and comprehended using finite element method based computational outcome. This energy trapping device is linear, robust, and allows sound energy trapping without an external energy source.
Socio-ethnic expectations of race in speech perception
Authors: Holt Yolanda F. , Bent Tessa
Published: May 2022

The social construct of race, as a group of individuals to be visually or auditorily discriminated between, or from, or against is a human construction much like speech itself. This talk will share the analyses of a speech production and a speech perception experiment designed to evaluate how familiar and unfamiliar listeners parse the auditory spectral information contained in words to assign the speech token to a racial category. Familiar North Carolina listeners (n = 28) and unfamiliar Indiana listeners (n = 44) heard ten hVd words produced by three male and three female, Black and White talkers from two geographically distant dialect regions in east and west North Carolina (n = 24). Listener groups assigned most speech tokens to the correct racial category with greater than chance accuracy. Statistically significant differences in listener use of socio-ethnically aligned vowels as produced in the words hid, heyd, head, mid and low front vowels the back vowel as produced in whod and the diphthongs as produced in hoyd, hide and howed were noted. Results will be discussed in the context of socio-ethic talker group membership and patterns of both listener accuracy and listener error in assigning talkers to racial groups.
No news is good news: Social priming and the intelligibility of American-accented English
Authors: McLaughlin Drew J. , Van Engen Kristin J.
Published: May 2022

Social information, such as a speaker’s race, can affect the perception of speech. In some cases, these social primes facilitate perception, while in others they can lead to reduced speech intelligibility. For example, a picture of an East Asian face may facilitate perception of Mandarin Chinese-accented English but interfere with perception of American-accented English. Using a large sample recruited online, we aimed to test whether there is a link between implicit racial associations and the effects of social primes on the perception of American-accented English. We examined priming for a White versus an East Asian prime and for a White versus a Latina prime. In both cases, the difference between priming conditions was non-significant. Subjects also completed two implicit association tests, examining associations of these races/ethnicities with the constructs American versus Foreign and Good versus Bad. Individual differences in implicit associations did not predict social priming for either cohort. However, in some cases they did predict overall performance on the speech perception task. We discuss how these findings diverge from prior work on multiple accounts, and how consideration of the racial and linguistic diversity of listeners’ interpersonal networks may improve our understanding of individual differences in social priming susceptibility.
Toward a computational theory for the sensory world of bat biosonar
Authors: Müller Rolf , Chakrabarti Sounak , Zhang Liujun
Published: May 2022

A sensory map of the world is a key component of any cognitive system. For cognitive systems navigating the physical world, this map is typically assumed to be a representation of the three-dimensional geometries in the environment. For vision-based maps, this is not an overly difficult goal to accomplish, since images have already two dimensions and hence only depth has to be inferred from additional clues. For bats using biosonar to navigate complex natural environments, such as dense vegetation, reconstruction of scatterer geometry is likely an ill-posed problem under the constraints of the biosonar systems (e.g., on beamwidth and spatial sampling). In these cases, biosonar echoes are “clutter,” i.e., signals that must be regarded as unpredictable due to lack of knowledge. Deep learning offers an opportunity to explore the information content of these echoes and hence understand the sensory map of bat biosonar on small and large scales. In addition, the biosonar systems of many bat species that live in dense vegetation are highly active senses, where time-variant signal transformations of the emitted pulses and the returning echoes are controlled in a perception-action loop. Again, deep learning can be used to understand the information that is encoded in this loop.
Are universal beamformers passive cognitive sonar systems?
Authors: Buck John R. , Wage Kathleen E. , Singer Andrew C.
Published: May 2022

Cognitive sonars dynamically tune system parameters to improve performance in pursuit of specific goals. Most research on cognitive sonar focuses on active sonar, varying the transmitted waveform and ping rate. Although passive sonar also faces the challenges of pursuing goals in varying and unknown environments, little research has been done exploring cognitive approaches to passive beamforming for sonar arrays. Universal beamformers provide one implementation of a cognitive approach to passive sonar. Practical adaptive beamformers generally regularize the sample covariance matrix before estimating the array weights. Universal beamformers blend the array weights across a family of beamformers competing on different choices for the regularization parameters. The blend of array weights is performance driven based, including the largest portion from the beamformers best suited for the current environment. Universal are “doubly adaptive” in that each competing beamformer is adapting its array weight vector in response to the data observed at the sensor array, the universal algorithm is then meta-adapting the blend of these array weight vectors used to process the data based on the performance of each competing beamformer. We will present examples of beamformers, which are universal over dominant subspace dimension and beam pattern notch width for moving interferers. [Work supported by ONR 321US.]
Machine learning approach to prediction of real-time ocean sound speed profile
Authors: Madiligama Madusanka , Zou Zheguang , Zhang Likun
Published: May 2022

Sound speed profile (SSP) determines sound propagation in the ocean. Variation of sound speed profiles with time and location heavily impacts underwater sonar systems used in ocean science and engineering. However, mapping sound speed profile over a vast area of the oceans in real-time is impossible by the traditional way, where sound speed is calculated from insitu profiling measurements of temperature, salinity, and pressure, which is expensive and, therefore, limited in sparse locations and time. Here, we aim to develop a machine learning model to predict real-time sound speed profiles anywhere in the global oceans. Our model takes advantage of the big data of long-term global temperature, salinity, and pressure measurements and further accounts for the variability of the surface ocean by inputting sea surface temperature and sea surface salinity data, which can be updated by satellite remote sensing in real-time. Here, SSPs are predicted for Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian ocean regions. The results show that the estimated SSPs had a root-mean-square error of 0.26 m/s and a coefficient of determination of 0.99. About 99% of the estimates lie within ±0.4 m/s of the SSPs obtained from in situ temperature and salinity profiles.
Sonar target feature representation using temporal graph networks
Authors: Christensen Andrew J. , Sen Gupta Ananya , Kirsteins Ivars
Published: May 2022

Autonomous sonar target recognition suffers from uncertainty caused by waveguide distortions to signal, unknown target geometry, and morphing target features. Typical “black-box” neural networks do not produce physically interpretable features and, therefore, are not effective in meeting these challenges. The primary objective of our work is to harness signal processing with machine learning to extract braided features that allow such physical interpretation by a domain expert. In this work, we introduce a feature extraction method using graph neural networks (GNNs) that seeks to discover braid manifolds from sonar magnitude spectra data. The approach involves representing the sonar magnitude spectra as sparse, dynamic graphs. These dynamic graphs can then be fed into a GNN as sequences of timed events to produce feature dictionaries that are resilient to environmental uncertainty and agnostic to ping direction. The ability of GNNs to learn complex systems of interactions makes them a great choice for braid-like feature discovery. To handle the evolving dynamic features of the sonar spectra graphs, a variation of a GNN, called temporal graph networks (TGNs), is used. TGNs utilize memory modules and graph-based operators to outperform previous GNN-based approaches when handling dynamic graphs. We use TGNs to model the evolution of the sonar spectra graphs and ultimately perform graph-based classification. Preliminary results performed on the Malta Plateau field experiment are presented.
Does rotation during echolocation increase the acoustic field of view? Comparative numerical models based on CT data of a live versus deceased dolphin
Authors: Wei Chong , Houser Dorian , Erbe Christine , Zhang Chuang , Matrai Eszter , Finneran James J. , Au Whitlow W.
Published: May 2022

Spinning is a natural and common dolphin behavior; however, its role in echolocation is unknown. We used computed tomography (CT) data of a live and a recently deceased bottlenose dolphin together with measurements of the acoustic properties of head tissues to perform acoustic property reconstrcution. The anatomical configuration and acoustic properties of the main forehead structures between the live and deceased dolphins were compared. Finite element analysis (FEA) was applied to simulate the generation and propagation of echolocation clicks, to compute their waveforms and spectra in both near- and far-fields, and to derive echolocation beam patterns. Model results from both the live and deceased dolphins were in good agreement with click recordings from live, echolocating individuals. FEA was also used to estimate the acoustic scene experienced by a dolphin rotating 180ã‚œabout its longitudinal axis to detect fish in the far-field at elevation angles of 0ã‚œ–20ã‚œ. The results suggest that the spinning behavior provides a wider insonification area and compensates for the dolphin’s relatively narrow biosonar beam and constraints on the pointing direction that are limited by head movement. The results also have implications for examining the accuracy of FEA in acoustic simulations using freshly deceased specimens.
Big things come in small packages—Clinical use of endobronchial ultrasound
Authors: Burks A. C.
Published: May 2022

Endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS) revolutionized bronchoscopy. It first became available for clinical use in 1999 as a mechanical radial probe and was initially used to define airway wall anatomy, but was supplanted by convex probe EBUS bronchoscopes in 2002–now the preferred initial approach for evaluation of mediastinal pathology. Radial EBUS has since proven invaluable for evaluating the peripheral lung and aiding biopsy guidance despite the limitations in ultrasound (US) propagation through air filled structures. Centrally, airways pass through the mediastinum in direct contact with the esophagus, heart, great vessels, and lymph nodes, making the mediastinum amenable to direct US imaging. However, beyond the lung hila, the airways are largely surrounded by air, generally preventing production of usable US images by halting penetration and reverberation of sound waves. The tissue mass that makes up the terminal airway walls, however, does propagate ultrasound waves before encountering reflective air. The ratio of tissue to air varies according to anatomic location and physiologic/disease state; identifying patterns in the varying ratio of tissue to air within the lungs allows the ability to distinguish normal from abnormal lung. This presentation will describe the clinical use of EBUS in modern bronchoscopy.
Utility of lung ultrasound in following up COVID-19 patients over a 3-month period
Authors: Perrone Tiziano , Gori Giulia , Lepore Federica , sabatini umberto , Robone Maria Laura , Torri Elena , Di Sabatino Antonio
Published: May 2022

Lung ultrasound (LUS) examination has been shown to have a potential diagnostic and prognostic role in SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia disease. We evaluated the role of a new LUS score protocol (14 windows evaluation, graded score 0–3) in patients with SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia and the association of LUS patterns with clinical findings in acute stage and after three month from disease recovery. First, a cohort of 52 consecutive laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 patients underwent LUS examination upon the admission in an Internal Medicine ward. A total LUS score as the sum of the scores at each explored area was computed,and we investigated the association between LUS score and the clinical worsening. Then 47 patients who survived the first COVID-19 wave and who underwent a 3-stage LUS examination (T0 “access to ER”; T1 “ward hospitalization”; T2 “post-COVID outpatient”) were enrolled for the longitudinal study. In the acute stage, we observed that a median LUS score above 24 was associated with an almost 6-fold increase in the odds of worsening. In the longitudinal observation, we seen that LUS score's variation between T0 and T2 resulted to be statistically significant, as well a difference of LUS score between patients with or without pleural effusion, maintained over time.
Neuro-symbolic interpretable AI for automatic COVID-19 patient-stratification based on standardised lung ultrasound data
Authors: Custode Leonardo Lucio , Mento Federico , Afrakhteh Sajjad , Tursi Francesco , Smargiassi Andrea , Inchingolo Riccardo , Perrone Tiziano , Demi Libertario , Iacca Giovanni
Published: May 2022

In the current pandemic, being able to efficiently stratify patients depending on their probability to develop a severe form of COVID-19 can improve the outcome of treatments and optimize the use of the available resources. To this end, recent studies proposed to use deep-networks to perform automatic stratification of COVID-19 patients based on lung ultrasound (LUS) data. In this work, we present a novel neuro-symbolic approach able to provide video-level predictions by aggregating results from frame-level analysis made by deep-networks. Specifically, a decision tree was trained, which provides direct access to the decision process and a high-level explainability. This approach was tested on 1808 LUS videos acquired from 100 patients diagnosed as COVID-19 positive by a RT-PCR swab test. Each video was scored by LUS experts according to a 4-level scoring system specifically developed for COVID-19. This information was utilised for both the training and testing of the algorithms. A five-folds cross-validation process was utilised to assess the performance of the presented approach and compare it with results achieved by deep-learning models alone. Results show that this novel approach achieves better performance (82% of mean prognostic agreement) than a threshold-based ensemble of deep-learning models (78% of mean prognostic agreement).
Building industrial-education partnerships in acoustics
Authors: Barnard Andrew
Published: May 2022

Strong industry relations can provide many positive impacts for an educational program. The rewards of such an educational-industrial partnership only occur after the hard work of trust-building between the educational provider and the industry partners. A strong partnership requires value generated for both the industrial partner and the educational institution. In this talk, examples will be given of successful and unsuccessful industrial partnerships with academia. The focus will be on educational partnerships, as opposed to industrial research funding. Examples of undergraduate class projects, guest lecturing, professional seminars and webinars, and others will be discussed, in addition to the value streams realized by long time industrial partners.
Doing high power airborne vortex beams with ultrasonic vibrations
Authors: Ealo Joao , Pazos-Ospina Jhon , Acevedo-Espinosa Jhoan , Rojas-Valencia Juan , Muñoz-Delgado Carlos
Published: May 2022

Vortex beams (VBs) are able to transfer angular momentum to matter and exhibit self-reconstruction capacity and a great potential in engineering applications such as particle manipulation, communications, imaging, among others. Several VB generation methods have been put forward, e.g., physically helical sources, phase-driven multi emitters, passive metastructured devices, and recently, electroactive spiral gratings. Even though airborne ultrasound technologies offer interesting benefits, such as the free access to the manipulated specimen/particle, most of the reported methods are intended for water applications. Here, a sonotrode-based approach is introduced, in which ultrasonic vibrations are induced to produce a high quality, high power VB in air. We designed, fabricated, and characterized two different prototypes with radiant structures that operate in length-extension and transverse vibration modes at 27.6 kHz and 40.7 kHz, respectively. Numerical simulation models were implemented at the design stage, which allowed us a proper selection of the materials and geometry of the assembly. The prototypes allow for intensities over 0.5 W/cm2 in open-loop operation. A discussion on the electro-acoustic performance of the devices is included. New design configurations are possible for higher order VB generation with amplified acoustic output. This work opens up new manipulation possibilities for engineering applications in air and also in water.
Noise exposure, binaural envelope processing, and spatial release from masking in student musicians with normal hearing
Authors: Patro Chhayakanta , Srinivasan Nirmal Kumar
Published: May 2022

Musicians are at risk of cochlear synaptopathy, because they are frequently exposed to hazardous sound levels that exceed the daily dose of noise exposure. In this study, we evaluated the effects of noise exposure on physiological, and perceptual correlates of cochlear synaptopathy in student musicians and non-musicians with normal audiometric thresholds. Auditory brainstem responses (ABRs) were recorded at various click rates to investigate the physiological findings consistent with synaptopathy. Sensitivity to interaural envelope time difference, and spatial release from speech-on-speech masking, were measured to characterize the perceptual deficits consistent with those expected from cochlear synaptopathy. Preliminary analyses suggested that rate-dependent ABR wave I amplitude reductions and wave V latency shifts were greater in the musicians, compared to their non-musician counterparts. However, performance on the two perceptual tasks did not differ across the two groups. These results suggest that there may be sub-clinical effects of excessive noise exposure in student musicians, but the effects are too subtle or too diffuse to precipitate perceptual deficits.
A guinea pig model of hidden hearing loss: Prelude to the development of a human model
Authors: McGee Joann , Lin Xiaohui , Vazquez Ashley , Li Hongzhe , Leek Marjorie R. , Venezia Jonathan H. , Whittle Nicole , Walsh Edward J.
Published: May 2022

Cochlear synaptopathy, otherwise known as hidden hearing loss, has been at least partially characterized in a number of mammalian species. Although well-established generally, the disorder is incompletely understood, particularly with regard to the extent of interspecies pathology associated with the condition. Furthermore, the extent to which recovery of lost function is achieved among species thus far studied is also incompletely understood. In this context, the existence of evidence suggesting that humans experience this form of synapse pathology calls for the development of a noninvasive protocol designed to further address the question. If confirmed, where on the disorder spectrum humans are positioned takes on a heightened sense of importance. To that end, a protocol that reliably identifies the disorder in a guinea pig model is under development and will, if successful, serve as the foundation for the development of an equivalent human protocol employing the same noninvasive electrophysiological strategy. In this report, preliminary findings from an ongoing study centered on a battery of electrophysiology and immunohistochemical studies supporting model development in guinea pigs will be reviewed with the goal of identifying response outcomes with diagnostic potential. [Work supported by the Department of Defense Award No. W81XWH-19-1-0862.]
The onset of voice onset time: Measuring the emergent timing of laryngeal and oral gestures in early speech development
Authors: Ramsay Gordon
Published: May 2022

Voicing contrasts in stop consonants are predominantly signaled by manipulation of voice onset time (VOT), the relative timing of oral and laryngeal gestures responsible for the release of the oral constriction and the onset of phonation. VOT is usually measured from the acoustic signal and defined by the time between the stop consonant burst and the following glottal period. Although this works well in adult speech, the same measure can be problematic when applied to child vocalizations. Infant productions of closant-vocant sequences perceived as consonant-vowel syllables by adults often do not exhibit full closure and are voiced throughout. Traditional measures of VOT cannot then be employed, even though evidence from the acoustic signal can still be used to deduce the presence and timing of precursors of the oral and laryngeal gestures from which adult voicing contrasts later emerge. This study illustrates these issues using data derived from home audio recordings made monthly from birth to three years as part of a large-scale, longitudinal study of infant vocal development. New methods for measuring VOT are proposed, using the relative amplitude, frequency and phase of the harmonics in the acoustic signal to infer the timing of underlying articulatory gestures.
Prosodyad: A Praat plugin to assess prosody in dyadic interactions
Authors: Atria José J. , Brusilovsky Jane , Cohen Kevin , Pressman Peter
Published: May 2022

Affective prosodic features, such as syllabification and fundamental frequency, are important aspects of human communication. Praat software has enabled detailed analysis of prosody but is usually used to analyze small snippets of task-based speech. To study prosody in more ecologically valid ten-minute conversations, we designed Prosodyad, a Praat script designed to extract several emotionally salient prosodic features from conversations between two people. Prosodyad is designed to overcome several technical obstacles inherent to multiple speakers by using human labeling on Praat “textgrids” to analyze signals only from noise-free, non-overlapping speech. Prosodyad works over lists of matched textgrids and audio files, extracting salient features such as F0 floor, minimum, maximum, and standard deviation, mean and standard deviation of F1 and F2, HF500, and intensity mean, min, max, and SD, and a syllable count for each unbroken interval. Floor and ceiling for pitch, windowing options for the analysis, as well as max formant as well as thresholds for ASD can be set by the user. We illustrate potential research and clinical applications and give examples of analyses relevant to ten-minute conversations among people with dementia. The software is available on Github at https://github.com/jjatria/pluginprosodyad.
Investigating the acoustic fidelity of remote recording methods
Authors: Ahn Emily P. , Bowers William , Deaton Ella , Levow Gina-Anne , Ng Sara , Oganyan Marina , Squizzero Robert , Wright Richard A.
Published: May 2022

Our study tests the acoustic fidelity of remote recordings, using a large variety of stimuli and recording environments. With standard recording environments not available due to COVID-19, more studies investigate remote recordings for acoustic analyses [e.g., Guan and Li (2021); Freeman and De Decker (2021)]. High fidelity remote recordings also support crucial uses like reaching isolated populations and more speakers. A 188-word list was constructed from each English consonant followed by each vowel. Words recorded by a male and female speaker in a sound attenuated booth were input for test recordings. Stimuli were recorded on six devices across five operating systems, four tele-conferencing platforms, and three browsers, using internal and external microphones. Acoustic analysis investigates the impact of these recording configurations on features including pitch, relative intensity, vowel formant measures, spectral moments, spectral tilt, spectral rolloff, and Mel Frequency Cepstral Coefficients. Preliminary analyses found durational differences between original and test-recorded stimuli, posing challenges for automatic segmentation and alignment. Aperiodic noise was also introduced. We hypothesize further distortions in other measures. The findings from this study will allow us to identify acoustic measures which are robust across varied remote recording conditions and to highlight configurations least likely to introduce problematic artifacts.
A digital pattern playback system implemented in Python
Authors: Koo Hahn
Published: May 2022

Pattern playback systems were instrumental in speech perception research [e.g., Cooper et al. (1951)] and can be valuable for pedagogical purposes [e.g., Arai et al. (2006)]. They would be utilized further if one could integrate them with other speech processing software written in a common programming language. In response, I present an open-source digital pattern playback system implemented in the Python programming language. The software allows the user to provide an image of a magnitude spectrogram as input by either selecting an image file (e.g., PNG, JPG) or drawing one directly on a blank canvas using a pointing device (e.g., computer mouse, stylus, fingertip). It first translates pixel values of the image to an array of magnitude spectral coefficients and then applies the inverse short-time Fourier transform assuming zero phase to convert the array into a waveform. Users can readily manipulate basic parameters of conversion (e.g., sampling rate, frame length) and augment the process by utilizing various signal processing methods available in Python libraries such as SciPy and librosa. The source code is available for download and will be maintained on the author's GitHub repository and personal website.
Partial field visualization using an advanced circular aperture, continuous-scan acoustic array
Authors: McShane John , Lee Abe , Shah Parthiv , Kerrian Peter
Published: May 2022

ATA Engineering, Inc. designed, fabricated, and tested a novel circular aperture acoustic array for continuous-scan beamforming and acoustical holography applications. The array comprises an outer perimeter of stationary reference sensors coupled to a multi-arm inner rotating array that samples the entire aperture plane. The unique architecture allows the user to perform both fixed-receiver and continuous-scan beamforming with a single array with the latter method also enabling high-spatial-resolution partial field visualization. The presentation will show results from far- and near-field partial field visualizations over the rotating array circular aperture taken at different orientations. The presentation will also describe the use of the array to measure and model isolated sources, and experimentally verify their boundary element method-predicted sound fields in the presence of a scattering body.
In-water and in-air vehicle velocity estimation via harmonic and Doppler analysis
Authors: Singer Jonah , Oelze Eden
Published: May 2022

Remotely-controlled (RC) vehicles, such as RC cars, boats, planes, and drones, use high energy-density lithium polymer batteries that enable powerful brushless DC motors to propel them at remarkable velocities. In prior work, measurements of the acoustic emissions from such motors on RC cars have been processed to estimate vehicle velocity, based on a spectral analysis of the emissions, together with a parametric model for the acoustic emissions, relating them to motor speed and vehicle velocity. This work builds on prior models for the acoustic emissions of the DC motors to estimate the motor speeds for in-water and in-air craft, including RC boats and drones. Spectrograms of the acoustic recordings of the vehicles at moving at constant velocity provide sufficient harmonic structure to effectively measure the Doppler shift at closest point of proximity, enabling vehicle velocity estimates. These, in turn, enable calibration of the harmonic structure for motor speed estimation. Preliminary results demonstrate the correlation between the speed profile of the vehicle, acoustic harmonic structure, and Doppler shift.
Otitis media-induced cochlear immune response and opportunistic ototoxicity
Authors: Li Hongzhe , Chai Yongchuan , Sargsyan Liana
Published: May 2022

Lipopolysaccharide (LPS), an essential component of the bacterial endotoxin, activates tissue macrophages and triggers the release of inflammatory cytokines. In animal models, intratympanic (i.t.) injection of LPS is known to simulate acute otitis media (AOM) and modifies the structure and function of the inner ear. However, whether LPS-induced AOM modulates the uptake of ototoxic aminoglycosides in vivo is unclear. Here, we established an AOM mouse model to investigate the gentamicin uptake in the inner ear and the change of cochlear inflammation for pertaining ototoxicity mechanisms. We found that LPS-induced AOM switched on the cochlear inflammatory response, including macrophage infiltration and upregulation of pro-inflammation cytokines, and significantly enhanced the cochlear uptake of gentamicin. Potential mechanisms of enhanced drug uptake may include increased strial permeability due to acute middle-ear inflammation, resulting in higher drug concentration in the stria vascularis and the endolymph, and subsequently higher drug uptake by hair cells. Other possible mechanisms, such as the activation of specific candidate channels and endocytosis followed by inflammation, need to be further interrogated. In sum, this study improves our understanding of drug trafficking in the pathological cochlea and provides a reference for drug treatment of AOM while protecting the inner ear function.
How prevalent is acoustic scattering from physical microstructure?
Authors: Lavery Andone C. , Bassett Christopher , Loranger Scott
Published: May 2022

Any oceanic environment with spatial gradients in sound speed and density can result in acoustic scattering hot spots. These acoustic hotspots can be rapidly evolving and vary in their spatial heterogeneity. Here, we present data collected with a variety of split-beam and multi-beam echosounders illustrating the broad array of environments and spatial scales associated with scattering from physical microstructure, including shear instabilities in estuarine environments, non-linear internal waves on the continental shelf, strong interface scattering due to double-diffusion, scattering from strong gradients, or interfaces, and turbulent microstructure at the new England Shelf Break Front. The theoretical acoustic scattering formulations for different types of physical microstructure are applied to these different environments, and recommendations are made for optimal frequency bands to sample the different types of physical microstructure and the optimal measurements for inference of parameters that describe the physical microstructure. The impact of other scattering sources, such as suspended sediments, bubbles, and biological targets, on successful acoustic sampling of physical microstructure is also discussed. [This work was supported by the ONR.]
Acoustic rainfall detection with linear discriminant functions of principal components
Authors: Mallary C. , Berg C. J. , Buck John R. , Tandon Amit , Andonian Alan
Published: May 2022

Ma and Nystuen (2005) pioneered passive acoustic measurement of rainfall rates. This project extends their work with signal processing algorithms exploiting the full frequency band of the acoustic signals. We also extend Schwock and Abadi’s order-statistic power spectral density (PSD) estimation for outlier rejection to reject recreational anthropogenic noise sources and reject diurnal biological sources using two hydrophones spaced by 1 m. Ma and Nystuen reduced the data dimensionality by extracting a few "discriminant frequencies." Our proposed detection algorithm implements principal component analysis (PCA) to reduce the estimated PSD to two principal components. Linear discriminant analysis (LDA) provides a simple detection statistic from the two dimensional principal components. We evaluated our algorithm on four months of acoustic and meteorological data collected from a dock in New Bedford, MA in shallow water (3 m deep). For 1% false alarms, the proposed PCA/LDA algorithm correctly detected 36% (±7%) of rain events exceeding 1 mm/hr, including 64% (±7%) of the rain by volume. Applying Ma and Nystuen’s algorithm to the same data set for the same false alarm rate detected 23% (±11%) of events containing 52% (±26%) of the rainfall volume. [Work supported by ONR.]
Glimpsing the Impossible: How Artificially Enhanced Targets Improve Elite Performance
Authors: Robinson Mark A.
Published: May 2022

In 2009, elite swimming introduced polyurethane “supersuits,” which artificially enhanced performances and facilitated 43 world records at the World Championships, before being prohibited from 2010. This transient, artificial improvement spike created a natural experiment to examine the effect of “impossible” targets on subsequent performances. Analyses revealed that swimming speeds at global championships in the postsupersuit period (2011–2017) were substantially faster than predicted from the presupersuit period (2000–2007). These results suggest that the transient, artificially enhanced performances of the supersuit era recalibrated targets upward—acting as goals—and improved subsequent performances beyond previous trajectories (d = 0.64; 0.70%). Contributing to psychological goal-setting theory, the positive relationship between the size of the transient, artificial improvement (i.e., goal difficulty) and subsequent performance was curvilinear, increasing at a decreasing rate before improvements plateaued. Overall, the research demonstrates the potential for elite athletes to exceed perceived human limits after expectations have been recalibrated upward.
Switching off Bacterial Flagellar Biogenesis by YdiU-Mediated UMPylation of FlhDC
Authors: Ma Yue , Yue Yingying , Jia Haihong , Song Nannan , Zhai Li , Wang Weiwei , Li Cuiling , Li Bingqing
Published: May 2022

Salmonella
is an important facultative pathogen of foodborne illness and typhoid fever in humans. Flagella allow bacterial motility and are required for
Salmonella
to successfully invade the host cells.
Serine Protease Inhibitors Restrict Host Susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 Infections
Authors: Rosendal Ebba , Mihai Ionut Sebastian , Becker Miriam , Das Debojyoti , Frängsmyr Lars , Persson B. David , Rankin Gregory D. , Gröning Remigius , Trygg Johan , Forsell Mattias , Ankarklev Johan , Blomberg Anders , Henriksson Johan , Överby Anna K. , Lenman Annasara
Published: May 2022

Identification of host factors affecting individual SARS-CoV-2 susceptibility will provide a better understanding of the large variations in disease severity and will identify potential factors that can be used, or targeted, in antiviral drug development. With the use of an advanced lung cell model established from several human donors, we identified cellular protease inhibitors, serpins, as host factors that restrict SARS-CoV-2 infection.
Draft Genome Sequence of a Lactobacillus gasseri Strain Isolated from the Catheterized Urine of a Healthy Postmenopausal Woman
Authors: Johnson James A. , Modliszewski Jennifer L. , Siddiqui Nazema Y. , Sysoeva Tatyana A.
Published: May 2022

Urinary microbiome composition has been found to associate with health status and to change with age.
Lactobacillus gasseri
is one of the most frequently found lactic acid bacteria in the vaginal and urinary tracts of women. Here, we report a draft genome sequence of a urinary
L. gasseri
strain isolated from a healthy postmenopausal woman.
Complete Chromosomal Genome Sequence of Mycobacterium sp. Strain IWGMT90018-18076
Authors: Fukano Hanako , Yoshida Mitsunori , Kazumi Yuko , Sakagami Nobuya , Ato Manabu , Mitarai Satoshi , Hoshino Yoshihiko
Published: May 2022

We have isolated a strain that we believe is identical to strain IWGMT90018—an unidentified nontuberculous mycobacterium (NTM) species published in 1981—and named it IWGMT90018-18076. Here, we report its complete chromosomal genome sequence. This study will help us understand the diversity and pathogenicity of NTM.
In-Human Multiyear Evolution of Carbapenem-Resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae Causing Chronic Colonization and Intermittent Urinary Tract Infections: A Case Study
Authors: Kalu Michelle , Tan Karen , Algorri Marquerita , Jorth Peter , Wong-Beringer Annie
Published: May 2022

Carbapenem-resistant
Klebsiella pneumoniae
(CRKP) can cause a variety of infections such as recurrent urinary tract infections (rUTI) with the ability to change with the host environment over time. However, it is unclear how CRKP adapts to the urinary tract during chronic infections and colonization.
In Vitro
Activity of Delafloxacin and Finafloxacin against Mycoplasma hominis and
Ureaplasma
Species
Authors: Kong Yingying , Li Chao , Li Gangfeng , Yang Ting , Draz Mohamed S. , Xie Xinyou , Zhang Jun , Ruan Zhi
Published: May 2022

Fluoroquinolone resistance in
Mycoplasma hominis
and
Ureaplasma
spp. is on the rise globally, which has compromised the efficacy of the currently available antimicrobial agents. This study evaluated the antimicrobial activity of two new fluoroquinolones, delafloxacin and finafloxacin, for the first time, against
M. hominis
and
Ureaplasma
spp. clinical isolates.