bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Analytical predictions of auditory-nerve response to noise-modulated pulsatile electrical stimulation
Authors: Ferguson William D. , Xu Yifang , Miller Roger L. , Collins Leslie M.
Published: October 2013

One factor that may impede speech recognition by cochlear implant subjects is that electrically stimulated auditory nerves respond with a much higher level of synchrony than is normally observed in acoustically stimulated nerves. Thus, the response patterns received by higher processing centers are likely to be substantially different from those generated under normal acoustic stimulation. These differences may form the basis for a degradation of speech understanding since the patterns generated under electrical stimulation may be interpreted incorrectly by higher processing centers. Based on recent findings, the implant research community has suggested several techniques to mitigate this synchrony, which may in turn provide some implanted individuals with improved speech recognition. In this work, the inter-stimulus interval histogram (ISIH) is utilized to compare the response of an electrically stimulated auditory nerve with that of an acoustically stimulated nerve of a cat. The ISIH data were generated from a stochastic model of the cochlea with noise-modulated pulsatile stimulation. Simulated ISIHs are presented along with corroborating analytical predictions of the results. When compared to an acoustically generated ISIH, these data indicate that the addition of noise may provide more natural neural responses to electrical stimuli. [Work supported by NSF.]
Density of Axisymmetric Modes of Closed Prolate Spheriodal Shells
Authors: Burroughs Courtney B.
Published: October 2013

The frequencies of resonance of prolate spheriodal shells may be estimated either by numerical methods or analytically via variational methods. With either approach, the computational effort increases as the order of the mode increases, making it difficult to obtain accurate estimates at frequencies where the modal density is high. However, at high frequencies, it is often necessary to obtain estimates only for the modal density since modal overlap will reduce the effects of individual modes on the response of the shell. In this paper, approximations for the modal density of the axisymmetric modes of closed prolate spheroidal shells are derived based on results obtained using analytic variational methods.
The influence of phonotactics and phonological similarity on speech production
Authors: Vitevitch Michael , Eshelman Duncan , Armbruster Jonna
Published: October 2013

Phonotactic probability refers to the frequency with which segments and sequences of segments appear in a word or syllable. Neighborhood density refers to the number of words that are phonologically similar to a target word. These variables have been shown to influence word recognition, but little work has examined how these variables influence speech production. Although these two variables are positively correlated in English, words that varied orthogonally on these characteristics were selected and presented in a picture-naming task to assess the speed and accuracy of lexical retrieval during speech production. The results suggest that both facilitative and competitive processes operate during lexical retrieval in speech production. The implications for models of speech production are discussed. [Work funded by NIH-NIDCD R03 DC 04259.]
Aeroacoustic mechanisms of voiced sound production
Authors: Krane Michael
Published: October 2013

The focus of this study is to quantify the order of magnitude of the direct effects of (1) vocal-fold wall motion and (2) glottal flow separation point movement on the production of voiced speech sounds. A solution for the sound-pressure field shows three source mechanisms: (1) a volume source due to unsteady glottal air flow; (2) a quadrupole source representing interaction of the glottal jet with the pharynx walls; and (3) an octupole due to direct sound radiation by the glottal jet itself. A relation is derived expressing glottal volume flow in terms of transglottal pressure difference, vocal-fold wall motion, and separation point motion. Using scaling analysis, the transglottal pressure difference is shown to be the dominant effect on glottal volume flow, while vocal-fold wall motion is shown to have a negligible effect. However, separation point motion is shown to have a measurable effect during the closure phase of the vibration cycle. Using these results, the acoustic effect of separation point motion is shown to be measurable, while the effect of vocal-fold wall vibration is shown to be negligible. Relative contributions of these effects across age, gender, and degree of glottal closure are discussed.
An integrated approach to improving noisy speech perception
Authors: Koval Serguei , Stolbov Mikhail , Smirnova Natalia , Khitrov Mikhail
Published: October 2013

For a number of practical purposes and tasks, experts have to decode speech recordings of very poor quality. A combination of techniques is proposed to improve intelligibility and quality of distorted speech messages and thus facilitate their comprehension. Along with the application of noise cancellation and speech signal enhancement techniques removing and/or reducing various kinds of distortions and interference (primarily unmasking and normalization in time and frequency fields), the approach incorporates optimal listener expert tactics based on selective listening, nonstandard binaural listening, accounting for short-term and long-term human ear adaptation to noisy speech, as well as some methods of speech signal enhancement to support speech decoding during listening. The approach integrating the suggested techniques ensures high-quality ultimate results and has successfully been applied by Speech Technology Center experts and by numerous other users, mainly forensic institutions, to perform noisy speech records decoding for courts, law enforcement and emergency services, accident investigation bodies, etc.
Applying and evaluating computer-animated tutors
Authors: Massaro Dominic W. , Bosseler Alexis , Stone Patrick S. , Connors Pamela
Published: October 2013

We have developed computer-assisted speech and language tutors for deaf, hard of hearing, and autistic children. Our language-training program utilizes our computer-animated talking head, Baldi, as the conversational agent, who guides students through a variety of exercises designed to teach vocabulary and grammer, to improve speech articulation, and to develop linguistic and phonological awareness. Baldi is an accurate three-dimensional animated talking head appropriately aligned with either synthesized or natural speech. Baldi has a tongue and palate, which can be displayed by making his skin transparent. Two specific language-training programs have been evaluated to determine if they improve word learning and speech articulation. The results indicate that the programs are effective in teaching receptive and productive language. Advantages of utilizing a computer-animated agent as a language tutor are the popularity of computers and embodied conversational agents with autistic kids, the perpetual availability of the program, and individualized instruction. Students enjoy working with Baldi because he offers extreme patience, he doesn’t become angry, tired, or bored, and he is in effect a perpetual teaching machine. The results indicate that the psychology and technology of Baldi holds great promise in language learning and speech therapy. [Work supported by NSF Grant Nos. CDA-9726363 and BCS-9905176 and Public Health Service Grant No. PHS R01 DC00236.]
Speech and neurology-chemical impairment correlates
Authors: Hayre Harb S.
Published: October 2013

Speech correlates of alcohol/drug impairment and its neurological basis is presented with suggestion for further research in impairment from poly drug/medicine/inhalent/chew use/abuse, and prediagnosis of many neuro- and endocrin-related disorders. Nerve cells all over the body detect chemical entry by smoking, injection, drinking, chewing, or skin absorption, and transmit neurosignals to their corresponding cerebral subsystems, which in turn affect speech centers-Broca’s and Wernick’s area, and motor cortex. For instance, gustatory cells in the mouth, cranial and spinal nerve cells in the skin, and cilia/olfactory neurons in the nose are the intake sensing nerve cells. Alcohol depression, and brain cell damage were detected from telephone speech using IMPAIRLYZER-TM, and the results of these studies were presented at 1996 ASA meeting in Indianapolis, and 2001 German Acoustical Society-DEGA conference in Hamburg, Germany respectively. Speech based chemical Impairment measure results were presented at the 2001 meeting of ASA in Chicago. New data on neurotolerance based chemical impairment for alcohol, drugs, and medicine shall be presented, and shown not to fully support NIDA-SAMSHA drug and alcohol threshold used in drug testing domain.
Temporal characteristics of the speech of typical and lexically precocious two-year-old children: preliminary observations
Authors: Smith Bruce L. , McGregor Karla K.
Published: October 2013

To examine the extent to which temporal properties of speech might be affected by children’s lexical knowledge as opposed to their age and general development, productions by a group of two-year-olds with average-sized vocabularies were compared with those of a group of age-matched, lexically precocious children. It was hypothesized that because of their additional lexical knowledge and experience, the lexically precocious children would manifest shorter durations and/or less temporal variability in their speech. Multiple repetitions of several different target words were obtained from children with vocabularies at about the 50th percentile (ca. 300 words) versus the 90th percentile (ca. 600 words) on the MacArthur Communicative Development Inventory. In general, acoustic measurements indicated that there were no significant differences between the groups in terms of their segmental durations or temporal variability. Thus, the additional linguistic knowledge and experience the precocious talkers had gained from having learned to produce many more words did not appear to have influenced temporal properties of their speech. This suggests that the children’s age and/or other aspects of their development had a greater impact on temporal aspects of their speech than did their level of lexical knowledge and experience.
Relative timing of the three gestures of North American English /r/
Authors: Gick Bryan , Goldstein Louis
Published: October 2013

Interarticulator timing of liquid consonants has been shown in recent years to be of importance in understanding syllable-based allophonic variation and related synchronic, historical, and developmental phonological phenomena. In this and other respects, the unusual complexity of North American English /r/ in particular has attracted much attention. Nevertheless, because of the difficulty of collecting simultaneous dynamic measurements of the lips, tongue body and tongue root, the articulatory dynamics of /r/ remain a subject of conjecture. A simultaneous ultrasound and video study of relative timing of these three gestures of /r/ will be presented. Preliminary results from three native North American English speakers show that, for the prevocalic allophone, the lip gesture reaches its target first, followed by the tongue body (TB) gesture, then the tongue root (TR) gesture last. As for the postvocalic allophone, the lip and TR constrictions are reduced in magnitude; also the TR gesture tends to precede the other gestures in both gestural onset and peak. These results support a view of the lip gesture of /r/ as a consonantal component, and presents a pattern for /r/ analogous to that previously observed for /l/. [Research supported by NSERC and NIH.]
A possible physical mechanism of ultrasound-activated gene delivery: Shear stress generated by microstreaming
Authors: Wu Junru
Published: October 2013

Gene therapy provides potentially effective treatment of many diseases. Sonoporation and ultrasound induced transfection can promote the uptake and expression of foreign DNA by a cell. In vitro studies [Bao et al., Ultrasound Med. Biol. 23, 953–959 (1997); Greenleaf et al., Ultrasound Med. Biol. 24, 587–595 (1998); Ward et al., J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 105, 2951–2957 (1999); Ultrasound Med. Biol. 26, 1169–1175 (2000); Guzman et al., J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 110, 588–596 (2001)] have shown that the presence of contrast agents dramatically enhances the efficiency of the transfection and also reduces the required acoustic pressure. Recent experimental studies and numerical calculations also demonstrated that the shear stress associated with microstreaming surrounding encapsulated bubbles of contrast agents near living cells driven by 0.1 MPa acoustic pressure amplitude ultrasound a 1 MHz or 2 MHz may be large enough to generate reparable sonoporation to the cells. This presentation will review above-mentioned publications and discuss the possible physical mechanism involved.
Low cost laboratory experiments in musical acoustics
Authors: Rossing Thomas D.
Published: October 2013

For a number of years we have offered a one-credit Acoustics Laboratory course, which is available to students taking our introductory ‘‘Acoustics, Music, and Hearing’’ course as well as to other students. We have developed over 500 acoustics experiments, many of which can be done with low-cost materials or equipment, that are described in our manual Acoustics Laboratory Experiments. We offer the students the option of taking the materials home (‘‘lab in a bag’’) to do the experiments, where they will often attract the attention of parents or roommates. We describe some of the experiments that can be done with low-cost materials or equipment.
Statistical control of ultrasonic power measurements using hypothesis testing
Authors: Wu Lixue , Wong George
Published: October 2013

The measurement in the calibration of ultrasonic power was controlled using hypothesis testing. The ultrasonic power measurement system is based on the radiation force balance method according to IEC 61161 (1998). To assess the uncertainty in the measurement, the experimental variance needs to be estimated. Having a well-characterized measurement with statistical method in accordance with the Guide to the Expression of Uncertainty in Measurement (4.2.4 and the note of H.3.6), a pooled estimate of the experimental variance that characterizes the measurement is obtained. During an acoustical calibration and measurements over a period of 6 weeks, hypothesis testing was applied to the measurement data to ensure the validity of the pooled experimental variance. The measurement data were divided into data blocks with a sliding window to form five independent consecutive observations. Hypothesis tests were then applied to the data blocks to examine the variability of the value of a measurand. Good measurement reproducibility was observed that resulted in the confidence of the measurement.
Loudspeaker linearization technique for parametric array in air
Authors: Lee Kelvin , Liew Yew-Hin , Karnapi Furi Andi , Gan Woon-Seng
Published: October 2013

The use of a parametric array in air as a directional audio loudspeaker has been reported in previous literature. The generation of highly directional audible sound is made possible by the self-demodulation of a finite amplitude ultrasonic carrier which is amplitude-modulated with the audio signal. This self-demodulation process, which is a result of the airs nonlinear response, has undesirable side effects on the audible sound as it is subject to nonlinear distortion. The most widely accepted preprocessing technique for reducing this distortion is based on Bertays far field solution and involves using a square root operation which requires the use of an ultrasonic transducer with infinite bandwidth. We propose a novel approach to model the airs nonlinear response a priori using a nonlinear system identification process commonly used in conventional loudspeaker linearization. Inverse modeling of the identified nonlinear system is then performed online and used to predistort the audio signal before it is modulated onto the ultrasonic carrier. A modified Volterra filter structure, known as Multi-memory Decomposition (MMD) and first proposed by Frank et al., is used for the whole linearization process because of its simplicity and efficiency.
Automated model-based localization of marine mammals near Hawaii
Authors: Tiemann Christopher O. , Porter Michael B. , Frazer L. Neil
Published: October 2013

Acoustic data from the Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF) hydrophone network near Hawaii is being used to develop a real-time automated alert and tracking algorithm. The sources of interest are marine mammals, humpback whales in particular, which are regularly seen in the vicinity of the PMRF array. The algorithm under development uses acoustic data from six hydrophones plus an acoustic propagation model to construct an ambiguity surface identifying the most probable whale location in a horial plane around the array. It has the further advantage that it can be implemented in real-time and without human interaction, making it suitable for automated alert applications.
A comparison of modal, beam, and PE modeled replicas for matched-field processing in the Santa Barbara Channel
Authors: Tiemann Christopher O. , Porter Michael B.
Published: October 2013

In order to evaluate the use of different propagation models in matched-field processing (MFP) applications, source localization was attempted using data from the Santa Barbara Channel Experiment and replicas generated by the adiabatic normal mode model KRAKEN, the beam model BELLHOP, and the parabolic equation model RAM. A conventional matched-field processor using all these models successfully located the source position in range and depth at both short (1 km) and intermediate (7 km) range, with marginal results at the longest 15 km range. Because signal-gain degradation varies with the model used, simulations were performed to quantify the degradation and relate that amount to a model mismatch, i.e., an error in array element localization.
HIFU for tumor therapy in China: A report on its application to humans for a variety of diseases
Authors: Wu Feng , Zhibiao Wang
Published: October 2013

Starting in 1997, our center began to apply HIFU in clinical treatment to patients with malignant solid tumor, such as breast cancer, hepatic carcinoma, and bone sarcoma, etc. During three years of study, we have observed satisfactory results from more than 400 cases, including some patients with bone sarcomas. A brief description of our treatment methodology will be reviewed as well as a few individual cases.
Fine-scale volume heterogeneity measurements in sand
Authors: Tang Dajun , Williams Kevin , Jackson Darrell , Thorsos Eric , Briggs Kevin
Published: October 2013

During the High Frequency Sediment Acoustics Experiment (SAX99), fine-scale variability of sediment density was measured by an in situ technique and core analysis. The in situ measurement was accomplished by a new instrument that measures sediment conductivity. These measurements were conducted on a three-dimensional grid, hence providing a set of data suited for studies of sediment acoustic scattering. A three-dimensional matrix of sediment density measurements is obtained from the conductivity data through an empirical relationship. Based on the density data, a power spectrum of density variability is estimated. Cores were collected independently at the SAX99 site from which density variations were measured using gravimetric techniques. Volume heterogeneity power spectra estimated from cores are compared to the ones obtained from the in situ measurements. It is found that whereas the overall volume heterogeneity in the sediment is very low, and thus contributes little to backscatter, the surficial part of the sediment has a rather strong heterogeneity apparently due to bioturbation. To model such scatter correctly, the surface roughness and the volume heterogeneity need to be considered jointly. This depth-dependent heterogeneity is expected to be significant at higher frequency (greater than 100 kHz). [Work supported by ONR.]
The effects of presentation time on the localization accuracy of 3D sound through headphones
Authors: Chen Fang , Sääv Jonas
Published: October 2013

The present study deals with the relationship between sound presentation time and localization accuracy of 3D sound presented through headphones. Huron Lake CP4 system was used for sound presentation and Flock of birds tracking system was used to register movement of the head. There were 31 volunteers (15 females and 16 males) in this experiment. Six different types of sounds were presented with the duration of 0.5, 2, 4, and 6 s. They were dog bark (0–500 Hz), coin drop with three different bandwidths (0–1650 Hz, 1650–6500 Hz, and 0–8500 Hz), alarm (0–5500 Hz) and male speech voice (0–7000 Hz). The results showed that the accuracy of localizing the sound is significantly related to the duration of the sound presentation. The perceived azimuth difference for 0.5 s duration (45°±15° in average) is significantly higher compared with the longer presentation duration. The perceived azimuth difference for 2 s duration is also significantly higher than 4 and 6 s duration (21°±9° in average). There is not any significant difference between 4 and 6 s duration. There is not any significant difference between male and female subjects, but individual difference is significant.
An optimal protocol for shock wave delivery by the dual-pulse lithotripter
Authors: Sokolov Dahlia L. , Bailey Michael R. , Crum Lawrence A.
Published: October 2013

Dual pulses, generated by opposing, confocal, and simultaneously triggered electrohydraulic shock wave sources, can be used to localize and intensify cavitation for application to lithotripsy. It has been reported that the dual-pulse lithotripter (DPL) may be a safer and more effective lithotripter [Sokolov et al., J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 100 (2001)]. Fragmentation of cement stones and hemolysis in dilute suspensions of human red blood cells were assessed at several positions along the focal axis of the DPL. Pulse repetition frequency was varied from 0.5 to 2 Hz and charging voltage was varied from 12 to 20 kV. At 1 Hz and 15 kV, the number of stone fragments > 1.5 mm, at the focus, remained the same while hemolysis, 2 cm away, decreased by one-half, when compared to the conventional lithotripter at the same PRF and a higher voltage of 18 kV. By varying PRF and voltage, an optimal in vitro protocol for shock wave delivery that maximizes stone fragmentation at the focus and minimizes hemolysis away from the focus might be determined. Results support the hypothesis that cavitation plays a more significant role than shock waves in both stone fragmentation and cell damage in the dual-pulse lithotripter. [Work supported by NIH DK43881.]
Iterative model-based automatic target recognition for acoustic landmine detection
Authors: Xiang Ning , Sabatier James
Published: October 2013

A model has been developed to allow the scanned data obtained using a laser Doppler vibrometer-based acoustic-to-seismic landmine detection system to be analyzed without operator interaction. The ground vibration data from the LDV are pre-processed to form images in a 2-D data format. A parametric model was established to describe the amplified magnitude velocity phenomena induced by buried landmines. This model incorporates amplitude, size, position, and background amplitude parameters into an automatic analysis process. An iterative regression approach is described which can perform the automatic recognition of landmines. The estimated parameters, such as the amplitude relative to the background, the size, and the shape of a target, are used to make the decision regarding the presence of a mine. Once a positive decision is made, the estimated position parameters are used to localize the target location. [Work supported by the United States Army Communications-Electronics Command Night Vision and Electronic Sensors Directorate.]
Motivating the underwater acoustics community: 50s and 60s version
Authors: Spiess Fred N.
Published: October 2013

In the decades immediately following the end of WWII our Navy was the only significant U.S. sponsor of underwater acoustics R&D. There were close, collegial, interactions among the academic and Navy laboratory researchers as well as between those groups and the operation-oriented Navy community. There was direct contact between the operating forces and the working levels in the research organizations, exemplified by ComSubPac providing submarine services for research directly to the Navy Electronics Laboratory and the Marine Physical Laboratory. There was the ONR Deep Water Propagation Committee, where meetings started with a round table discussion of on-going research results before moving on to devising programs optimizing use of the research groups in the several academic and Navy laboratories. There was the Undersea Warfare R&D Planning Council in which senior officers from CNO met and shared their concerns with the directors of the Navy and academic laboratories, including critical review of the Navy’s undersea warfare R&D budgets. This paper will explore a range of similar examples and show how they contributed to maintaining a high level of enthusiasm, collegiality and inventiveness resulting in major improvements in Navy sonar capabilities yesterday and providing perspectives for tomorrow.
Acoustic characteristics of engine air cleaner boxes
Authors: Lee Iljae , Selamet Ahmet , Li Sean
Published: October 2013

Air cleaner boxes placed on the induction system of engines play a critical role in the attenuation of airborn sound. The acoustic performance of such configurations is investigated experimentally and computationally in the absence of mean flow. The transmission loss of a fabricated rectangular box (prototype) with various inlet and outlet locations and extensions is predicted by a three-dimensional boundary element method. The predictions are then compared with experimental data obtained from an impedance tube setup. The results demonstrate that: (1) the variations of locations and extension lengths of inlet and outlet affect the acoustic behavior of the prototype at higher frequencies, as expected; (2) the transmission loss characteristics at low frequencies may be estimated by a one-dimensional analysis; and (3) the boundary element method is effective throughout the entire frequency range of interest in predicting the acoustic performance of air cleaner boxes with asymmetric shape and/or inlet and outlet extensions.
Dissipation induced by substructures and distribution of vibratory energy in a complex system
Authors: Choi Sunghoon , Kim Yang-Hann
Published: October 2013

This work is concerned with the problem of energy transfer that takes place between a master structure and the substructures attached to it. The response of the system is characterized by the impedance of the substructures and it determines whether the induced damping is real or apparent. When the dissipation is real the master structure has a larger loss factor than that of the substructures and there will be continuous transfer of vibratory energy from the master structure to substructures. However, in the case of apparent damping, one can observe that the vibration energy is transferred back and forth between the master and substructures. Some combinations of the master and substructures have been considered to examine this phenomenon and to determine the criteria for damping. It has found that a modal overlapping condition, which corresponds to bandwidths that exceed the spacing of those natural frequencies, is crucial in determining the characteristics of the system damping. The result of this paper is consistent with that found with the fuzzy structure and SEA framework. [Work sponsored by Ministry of Education, Korean Government under the BK21 program and Ministry of Science and Tech., Korean Government under National Research Lab. program.]
Modulation masking in cochlear implant listeners: Effects of masker envelope
Authors: Chatterjee Monita
Published: October 2013

We are interested in quantifying the effects of competing fluctuations on the detection of envelope modulation by cochlear implant listeners. In these experiments, the task is to detect modulation in the signal envelope in the presence of noisy or sinusoidal fluctuations in a masker envelope. Masker and signal pulse trains are both 500 Hz, 200 ms long and interleaved with each other. Noise is applied to the masker pulse train by scaling successive pulses by a random number drawn from a uniform distribution. The masker-signal tonotopic distance is varied. Results indicate that, for all tonotopic distances between the masker and signal tested, the fluctuating masker has a stronger masking effect on modulation detection than a steady-state masker with an amplitude fixed at the peak of the fluctuating envelope. Experiments with sinusoidally modulated maskers show significant effects of the phase and frequency of masker modulation relative to signal modulation. Overall, the results indicate significant interactions between concurrent, interleaved pulsatile stimuli in both tonotopic and envelope domains. Therefore, measures of channel-interaction in cochlear implant listeners should incorporate the effects of the distance between the electrodes as well as the temporal envelope in each channel. [Work supported by NIDCD.]
Auditory streaming in cochlear implant listeners
Authors: Chatterjee Monita , Galvin John J.
Published: October 2013

We used the following method to measure auditory streaming in CI listeners: a ‘‘test’’ pattern is composed of two loudness-matched tones A and B presented in the sequence AABAABAAB.... If A and B are perceptually separable, the subject should hear ‘‘AA...AA...AA...’’ and ‘‘B...B...B...’’ as the two separate streams. The subject hears a ‘‘preview’’ sequence of tones which can have the rhythm of either tone B or tone A in the pattern (e.g., X...X...X...X or XX...XX...XX...), where X is the preview tone. The subject indicates whether or not she/he heard the rhythm of the preview sequence in the test sequence. A number of sets of A, B, and X are set up, and the subject is presented with the different patterns in random order. Results suggest CI listeners are able to perceptually separate tonal sequences into auditory streams. The tonotopic distance (electrode pair separation) between tones is an important factor for streaming. However, listeners are also able to stream sequences of tones presented to the same electrode pair (tonotopic location) but with different temporal envelopes. [Work supported by NIDCD.]
A generalized inversion method: Simultaneous source localization and environmental inversion
Authors: Neilsen Tracianne B. , Knobles David P.
Published: October 2013

The problem of localizing and tracking a source in the shallow ocean is often complicated by uncertainty in the environmental parameters. Likewise, the estimates of environmental parameters in the shallow ocean obtained by inversion methods can be degraded by incorrect information about the source location. To overcome both these common obstacles—environmental mismatch in matched field processing and incorrect source location in geoacoustic inversions—a generalized inversion scheme is developed that includes both source and environmental parameters as unknowns in the inversion. The new technique called systematic decoupling using rotated coordinates (SDRC) expands the original idea of rotated coordinates [M. D. Collins and L. Fishman, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 98, 1637–1644 (1995)] by using multiple sets of coherent broadband rotated coordinates, each corresponding to a different set of bounds, to systematically decouple the unknowns in a series of simulated annealing inversions. The results of applying the SDRC inversion method to data from the Area Characterization Test II experiment performed on the New Jersey continental shelf are presented. [Work supported by ONR.]
Voronoi polygons and self-consistent technique used to compute the airflow resistivity of randomly placed fibers in glass wool
Authors: Tarnow Viggo
Published: October 2013

Sound in glass wool propagates mainly in the air between glass fibers. For sound waves considered here, the distance between fibers is much smaller than the wavelength. Therefore, the sound velocity and attenuation can be computed from an effective mass density and compressibility. For simple harmonic waves at low frequencies, the effective mass density is determined by the friction between air and fibers. The friction is described by the airflow resistivity, which depends on frequency, but for frequencies below 1000 Hz in glass wool with density 15–30 kg/m3, the resistivity to airflow is constant, and equal to the constant current value. A computation of resistivity from fiber density and diameter will be presented for a model of glass wool that consists of parallel randomly placed fibers with equal diameters. The computation is based on Voronoi polygons, and the results will be compared with results from a self-consistent technique.
Improved estimation of frequency importance functions
Authors: Kates James M.
Published: October 2013

The Speech Intelligibility Index (SII) estimates speech intelligibility based on the audibility of speech cues across frequency. The frequency importance function gives the relative contribution to the SII of the speech audibility at different frequencies. The frequency importance function is usually estimated from the intelligibility data using a complicated multi-step procedure. This paper presents a new procedure for computing the frequency importance function directly from the intelligibility data based on nonlinear joint optimization of the frequency importance function and the SII curve-fitting parameters. An example of using the new approach is presented for previously published W-22 word list intelligibility data.
Genome Sequences of Listeria monocytogenes Serotype 4b Variant Strains Isolated from Clinical and Environmental Sources
Authors: Laksanalamai Pongpan , Steyert Susan R. , Burall Laurel S. , Datta Atin R.
Published: October 2013

Listeria monocytogenes
strains that show a novel PCR serotyping profile (IVb-v1) have been reported recently. Here, we announce the draft genome sequences of five
L. monocytogenes
IVb-v1 strains isolated from the United States and Australia that harbor a 6.3-kb DNA cassette characteristic of serotype 1/2a strains.
Draft Genome Sequence of the Dimorphic Prosthecate Bacterium Brevundimonas abyssalis TAR-001
T
Authors: Tsubouchi Taishi , Nishi Shinro , Usui Keiko , Shimane Yasuhiro , Takaki Yoshihiro , Maruyama Tadashi , Hatada Yuji
Published: October 2013

We report the 3.0-Mb draft genome sequence of
Brevundimonas abyssalis
strain TAR-001
T
, isolated from deep-sea floor sediment. The draft genome sequence of strain TAR-001
T
consists of 2,979,700 bp in 128 contigs, with a G+C content of 68.2%, 2,946 potential coding sequences (CDS), 3 rRNAs, and 41 tRNAs.
Genome Sequence Analysis of Staphylococcus equorum Bovine Mastitis Isolate UMC-CNS-924
Authors: Calcutt Michael J. , Foecking Mark F. , Hsieh Hsin-Yeh , Perry Jeanette , Stewart George C. , Middleton John R.
Published: October 2013

Intramammary infections in dairy cattle are frequently caused by staphylococci, resulting in mastitis and associated economic losses. A draft genome sequence was determined for
Staphylococcus equorum
UMC-CNS-924, isolated from the milk of a Holstein cow, to better understand the genetic basis of its pathogenesis and adaptation to the bovine mammary gland.
Draft Genome Sequence of the Hydrogen- and Ethanol-Producing Bacterium Clostridium intestinale Strain URNW
Authors: Lal Sadhana , Ramachandran Umesh , Zhang Xiangli , Sparling Richard , Levin David B.
Published: October 2013

Here, we report the draft genome sequence of
Clostridium intestinale
strain URNW, which can convert biomass to useful products such as biofuels (hydrogen or ethanol) and other soluble end products.
Draft Genome Sequence of Pasteurella multocida subsp.
multocida
Strain PMTB, Isolated from a Buffalo
Authors: Yap Huan Yong , Ghazali Kamal , Wan Mohamad Nazarie Wan Fahmi , Mat Isa Mohd Noor , Zakaria Zunita , Omar Abdul Rahman
Published: October 2013

Pasteurella multocida
serotypes B:2 and E:2 are the main causative agents of ruminant hemorrhagic septicemia in Asia and Africa, respectively.
Pasteurella multocida
strain PMTB was isolated from a buffalo with hemorrhagic septicemia and has been determined to be serotype B:2. Here we report the draft genome sequence of strain PMTB.
When water does not clear the smut from the smoke
Authors: Bonadies Nicolas , Tichelli André , Rovó Alicia
Published: October 2013

Water-pipe (shisha) smoking is increasingly popular among young people in Europe and North America. The proponents claim that smoking water-pipe is much ‘cleaner’ than cigarettes. Although, a recent analysis of toxicant yields during 1–2 h water-pipe smoking resulted comparable to 100–200 cigarettes. We report a case of a 25-year-old patient with elevated haemoglobin, impaired concentration and reduced physical performance. Molecular investigations for JAK2 mutations and BCR–ABL fusion transcripts were negative and the arterial blood gas analysis revealed an elevated carboxyhaemoglobin of 6.1%. In a follow-up visit, the patient disclosed excessive shisha smoking. Secondary polycythaemia was diagnosed caused by chronic carbon monoxide poisoning. After cessation of shisha smoking all blood values returned to normal ranges within 6 weeks. Owing to the increasing popularity of water-pipe smoking and the anticipated health risks, our report should help to enhance awareness and advocate more information in tobacco prevention programmes on its potential toxicities.
Massive breast necrosis after extravasation of a full anthracycline cycle
Authors: Vasconcelos Ines , Schoenegg Winfried
Published: October 2013

A 57-year-old woman with invasive breast cancer was referred for adjuvant chemotherapy after undergoing breast conservative therapy and axillary dissection. A port was inserted in the contralateral subclavian vein and epirubicin, cyclophosphamide and 5-fluorouracil was the treatment of choice. After the first cycle, the patient was sent home. The following day, she reported rapidly developing redness and pain in the right breast and diagnosis of epirubicin extravasation was made. She was hospitalised, the port was surgically removed and approximately two-thirds of the breast underwent tissue necrosis. The necrotic tissue was resected and a skin graft was harvested from the thigh. She was offered DIEP-flap reconstruction 8 months later. There were no complications, except for marginal necrosis of the flap. Necrosectomy was performed and resolved through an advancement flap.
Guidelines in Emergency Medicine Network (GEMNet): guideline for the use of thromboprophylaxis in ambulatory trauma patients requiring temporary limb immobilisation
Authors: Roberts Catherine , Horner Daniel , Coleman Grant , Maitland Laura , Curl-Roper Thomas , Smith Rachel , Wood Ellena , Mackway-Jones Kevin
Published: October 2013

▸ The Guidelines in Emergency Medicine Network (GEMNet) has been created to promote best medical practice in a range of conditions presenting to emergency departments (EDs) in the UK.

▸ This guideline presents a summary of the best available evidence to guide the use of thromboprophylaxis in adult ambulatory outpatients who present to the ED following acute limb trauma and require temporary immobilisation.

▸ The document has been developed following discussion among emergency physicians and collegiate fellows to decide which topics would benefit from the development of clinical guidelines.

▸ The document is intended as a guideline for use in the ED by emergency physicians and is based on the review of the best existing evidence for treatments used in this setting.

▸ The document is summarised as a Clinical Decision Support Guideline that has been presented as an easy to follow algorithm.

▸ The intention is for each guideline to be updated and reviewed as further evidence becomes available. The formal revision date has been set at 5 years from publication, though the guideline is subject to continuous informal review.
ECAT‐V: where clinical and research training meet
Authors: Argyle David J. , Iredale John P. , Jackson Andrew P. , Walker Brian R.
Published: October 2013

The University of Edinburgh is currently inviting applications for a unique training programme intended to develop a new generation of veterinary researchers, who are able to conduct internationally competitive research while still being grounded in clinical practice. Modelled on the Edinburgh Clinical Academic Track (ECAT) programme for medical trainees, the ECAT‐V programme will allow successful applicants to develop both their clinical and research skills. Here, David Argyle, head of the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, and his medical colleagues, John Iredale, Andrew Jackson and Brian Walker, describe the initiative and explain why it is important
In situ equilibrium pore-water pressures derived from partial piezoprobe dissipation tests in marine sediments
Authors: Sultan Nabil , Lafuerza Sara
Published: October 2013

Excess pore-water pressure has a significant effect on submarine slope stability and sediment deformation, and therefore its in situ equilibrium measurement is crucial in carrying out accurate slope stability assessments and accurately deriving geotechnical design parameters. In situ equilibrium pore-water pressure is usually obtained from pore pressure decay during piezocone tests. However, submarine shelves and slopes are often characterized by the existence of low-permeability (fine-grained) sediments involving long dissipation tests that are an important issue for offshore operational costs. Consequently, short-term and (or) partial dissipation tests are usually performed and in situ equilibrium pore-water pressures are predicted from partial measurements. Using a modified cavity expansion approach, this paper aims to predict for four different sites the in situ equilibrium pore-water pressures. Comparisons between predicted and observed in situ equilibrium pore-water pressures allowed the development of a guide to evaluate the minimum time required to perform short-term dissipation tests for a given marine sediment. The main finding of this Note is that the second derivative of the pore pressure, u, versus the logarithm of time, t, ∂2u/∂ln(t)2 must be positive to calculate accurately the in situ equilibrium pore-water pressures from partial measurements.
DATA DISCRETIZATION FOR THE TRANSFER ENTROPY IN FINANCIAL MARKET
Authors: WANG XUEJIAO , SHANG PENGJIAN , HUANG JINGJING , FENG GUOCHEN
Published: October 2013

Recently, an information theoretic inspired concept of transfer entropy has been introduced by Schreiber. It aims to quantify in a nonparametric and explicitly nonsymmetric way the flow of information between two time series. This model-free based on Shannon entropy approach in principle allows us to detect statistical dependencies of all types, i.e., linear and nonlinear temporal correlations. However, we always analyze the transfer entropy based on the data, which is discretized into three partitions by some coarse graining. Naturally, we are interested in investigating the effect of the data discretization of the two series on the transfer entropy. In our paper, we analyze the results based on the data which are generated by the linear modeling and the ARFIMA modeling, as well as the dataset consists of seven indices during the period 1992–2002. The results show that the higher the degree of data discretization get, the larger the value of the transfer entropy will be, besides, the direction of the information flow is unchanged along with the degree of data discretization.
Direct Simulation Monte Carlo Analysis of Gas Transport in Microporous Structure Based on X-ray Computed Tomography
Authors: Kinefuchi Ikuya , Oyama Junpei , Yokoyama Koji , Kubo Norio , Tokumasu Takashi , Matsumoto Yoichiro
Published: October 2013

We present the analysis of gas transport in micro porous layers of polymer electrolyte fuel cells based on the three-dimensional structure data obtained from X-ray nano computed tomography (CT). The characteristic pore size is comparable to the mean free path of gas molecules. The polygonal surface representation of the porous structure is constructed from the volumetric CT image using the marching tetrahedrons algorithm. The diffusion fluxes of gas molecules through the porous layer are evaluated by the direct simulation Monte Carlo method, which can reproduce the transition between the Knudsen and molecular diffusion regimes. Our numerical simulation well reproduces the experimentally observed pressure dependence of the diffusion resistance. The effect of porous media morphology on gas transport is examined by an analysis of the trajectories of transmitted molecules through the porous layer.
Introducing OpenPNM: An Open Source Pore Network Modeling Software Package
Authors: Putz Andreas , Hinebaugh James , Aghighi Mahmoudreza , Day Harold , Bazylak Aimy , Gostick Jeffery T
Published: October 2013

An open source pore network modeling framework has been developed. Written in Python with Scipy, this framework was designed with flexibility in mind so networks of any topology and dimensionality can be represented. The package includes numerous network generation and manipulation functions, as well as a variety of physical simulations like invasion percolation and diffusivity. A graphical user interface is also presented.
Non Precious Catalysts for Fuel Cells - A Short Review on Mößbauer Spectroscopy of Fe-N-C Catalysts for ORR
Authors: Kramm Ulrike I.
Published: October 2013

This paper gives some general information on Mößbauer spectroscopy of Fe-N-C catalysts. After a short introduction to Mößbauer spectroscopy it is discussed to what extent the technique can provide useful information on the chemical composition of Fe-N-C catalysts in relation to its preparation procedure. Insight into the electronic properties of active sites and the possibility of in-situ Mößbauer spectroscopy are discussed.
Radiation Grafted Membranes for Fuel Cells: Strategies to Compete with PFSA Membranes
Authors: Gubler Lorenz , Bonorand Lukas
Published: October 2013

Radiation grafted proton conducting membranes are developed with the prospect of low cost, while aiming at maintaining or improving the functionalities of PFSA ionomer membranes. We show key polymer design aspects (base film, grafting monomer, processing) to prepare membranes that show favorable performance and durability attributes in the fuel cell compared to commercial Nafion 212 and Nafion XL-100 membranes.
Fuel Cells for Dismounted Warfighter Use
Authors: Thampan Tony , Shah Deepal , Cook Clifford , Novoa John N , Shah Shailesh
Published: October 2013

Communications-Electronics Research, Development, and Engineering Center (CERDEC) has been developing fuel cell power sources for the US military, including soldier borne applications in an austere environment with minimum access to resupply and vehicular transportation. These dismounted soldier applications require systems that are power and energy dense to minimize the load burden. A number of fuel cell products have been developed for these applications, and the performance of these systems are discussed. Significant advancements in power density and energy density have been made, resulting in increased relevance to users. Based on recent advances, it is anticipated that these fuel cells will be transitioned as a viable alternative to the incumbent power solutions upon successfully meeting cost, reliability and ergonomic targets.