bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Resolution dependence of acoustic scattering statistics for complex seafloors
Authors: Lehman Alexander , Olson Derek R.
Published: May 2022

Underwater Unmanned Vehicles (UUVs) utilize sonar perception to conduct sea floor mapping and target detection operations. However, cooperative surveys with multiple types of UUVs are difficult because platforms with different resolutions may generate different probability density functions (PDFs) of the magnitude of the complex pressure. An area of research that has not been adequately studied is the effects of resolution manipulation during the post-processing of high-resolution data from complex seafloor environments. This work analyzes synthetic aperture sonar (SAS) data collected from multiple seafloor geomorphologies surrounding Bergen, Norway to study the resolution dependence of scattering statistics for complex seafloors. Multi-look methods will be applied to reduce the resolution. The original data and reduced resolution data will be compared in terms of PDF amplitude and evaluated by standard goodness of fit tests with heavily tailed statistical models that are commonly used in the radar and sonar community, including mixture models. The goal of the paper is to provide a bridge to combining high-resolution and low-resolution sonar data together to enhance sonar perception. Data provided by the Norwegian Defense Research Establishment. [Funding provided by the Office of Naval Research.]
My experience at threshold and the consultation process
Authors: Castañon Angel
Published: May 2022

I had the great opportunity to take part in the Acoustical Society of America’s (ASA) 2021Summer Undergraduate Research or Internship Experience in Acoustics (SURIEA) Program. The program was designed for underrepresented minority groups in order to introduce them to the field of acoustics. After a two-week crash course I was able to experience what it was like working in an architectural acoustic consultation firm and learn the extensive consultation process at Threshold. Not only that, but learning some of the programs, the methodology, skills, and purpose of Threshold as well. The impact of the program has certainly opened my eyes to the field of architectural acoustics, and how much work has to go into a project for the best possible outcome. In essence, I found the experience to be one of the most impactful I had in my life.
Acoustic impact studies and assessments by Bureau of Ocean Energy Management on offshore wind development
Authors: Guan Shane , Denes Samuel L.
Published: May 2022

The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) manages the exploration and development of offshore energy resources, including offshore wind development, on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf. Construction, operation, and decommissioning of offshore wind facilities generate intense or long-lasting underwater sounds and vibrations that may be detrimental to marine life. This presentation will provide an overview of the activities that BOEM is in engaging in to address these impacts. BOEM’s Environmental Studies Program (ESP) has been developing funding and managing numerous studies to understand sound field characteristics and sound propagation from pile driving and geophysical surveys related to offshore wind development, as well as marine species responses to these activities. In addition, BOEM established the Center for Marine Acoustics (CMA) to strengthen its role as a driving force within the regulatory community on sound in the marine environment and provides acoustical expertise within the environmental permitting process. The CMA continues to provide guidance on the development of best practices for the use of acoustics in the evaluating the effects of offshore wind on marine fauna. This presentation will highlight the relevant acoustic studies and explain how BOEM is using the science to better manage noise impacts on the ocean environment.
Stevens Passive Acoustic Detection System (SPADES -2) and its prospective application for windfarm underwater noise assessment
Authors: Sedunov Alexander , Salloum Hady , Sedunov Nikolay , Francis Christopher , Tsyuryupa Sergey , Merzhevskiy Aleksandr , Kadyrov Daniel , Sutin Alexander
Published: May 2022

Stevens Institute of Technology has been conducting development and field tests of various underwater passive acoustic systems for several years. Several such systems provided localization of boats and divers triangulation. The new version of SPADES has a tethered low-cost bottom-mounted circular 2.2-m underwater acoustic array with eight custom-built hydrophones. The cost of the array was significantly reduced by manufacturing the hydrophones in-house and utilizing a lightweight and low-cost tether. The tether can provide power and communication up to 1 km away and power to the data acquisition. The software has been developed for real-time direction-finding using Steered Power Response Phase Transform (SRP-PHAT) method, combined with region-zeroing (RZ) approach to multi-source separation and custom noise background estimation subtraction. The array was tested for seven months in the shallow and busy waters of the Hudson River tracking small boat activity. The system’s reliability and long tether make it attractive for long-term observation of underwater noise such as monitoring wind farm noise marine mammals and shipping traffic. Direction-finding can help identify noise unrelated to wind farms.
Ultrasound feasibility study for in body communication using OFDM modulation and small scale transducers
Authors: Bos Thomas , D'hooge Jan , Verhelst Marian , Dehaene Wim
Published: May 2022

Ultrasound waves pose a promising alternative to the commonly used electromagnetic waves for in-body communication. This due to the lower ultrasound wave attenuation, the reduced health risks and the reduced external interference. These properties might realize a more reliable, low-energy, secure and high throughput in-body communication link. Current state-of-the-art ultrasound designs, however, are limited in their practical in-body deployment and reliability. This stems from their use of bulky, focused transducers, the use of simple modulation schemes or the absence of a realistic test environment and corresponding realistic channel models. This talk focuses on enabling communication with small-scale (2mm size) and omni-directional transducers (1.2 MHz center frequency). First, we will address the specific channel characteristics of such communication links. Second, to cope with these channel characteristics, we propose an OFDM modulation scheme, optimized for ultrasound in-body communication scenarios. Third, we will discuss the performance of a device optimized to assess this communication link.
A review of industrial ultrasonic power and communication systems and lessons towards medical applications
Authors: Wilt Kyle
Published: May 2022

The use of ultrasound in producing wireless powering and communication links, primarily used to transmit through metallic walls as a form of penetration free feedthrough, has been of significant interest recently. These ultrasonic feedthroughs enable sensing in environments which are otherwise inaccessible or dangerous to instrument, such as the interiors of nuclear containment vessels or the external hulls of submersibles. A review of these types of systems will be presented which summarizes the technologies and capabilities developed both at Rensselaer, with support of industry sponsors, and by others; considering both low-rate and high-rate sensing with power delivery support. Parallels and differences will be explored between the systems employed to provide such connections across or along rigid structures and applications involving communication with biologically implanted devices, generally focusing on the challenges present in producing effective ultrasonic channels with respect to both power transmission efficiency and data link bandwidth characteristics.
Ultrasound water-marking for simultaneous B-scan imaging and bio-telemetry
Authors: Li Chaohui , Yang Peter , Kondapalli Sri Harsha , Chakrabartty Shantanu
Published: May 2022

Ultrasound imaging technology has undergone a revolution during the last decade due to the availability of transducers that can operate over a large range of frequencies, and also due to the availability of high-speed, high-resolution analog-to-digital converters and signal processors. The large data acquisition and computational bandwidth afforded on these portable and bench-top ultrasound imaging systems could potentially be leveraged for designing energy-efficient bio-telemetry links that can be used for communicating with devices implanted in vivo. In this paper, we discuss an ultrasound water-marking approach that can be used for simultaneous imaging and bio-telemetry. The trade-off involves supporting a reasonable data-rate bio-telemetry link and at the same time minimizing artifacts due to bio-telemetry data in the B-scan images. Specifically, we exploit a variance-based signal representation where the image background noise is modulated to encode the data to be transmitted or sensed. Using a B-scan ultrasound imaging system and a phantom setup we show that the approach can support biotelemetry links at sub-nanowatt transmission power and at depths greater than 10 cm.
Design of an electronic radiological clip for improved breast cancer imaging with ultrasound
Authors: Cario Jenna , Oelze Michael L.
Published: May 2022

Radiological clips are commonly used to track and identify lesions in breast cancer patients receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Available radiological clips often suffer degradation of visibility in ultrasound during the course of treatment, thus requiring more involved localization procedures to identify regions prior to resection. Furthermore, upon localization, additional markers are placed to aid surgeons during resection. We describe a biocompatible electronic device which transmits a unique identification signal when imaged with ultrasound pulse inversion,i.e., ultrasound identification (USID). The USID clip provides better localization and visualization of the clip compared to passive clips. Furthermore, the ultrasound systems can be programmed to produce an audible indicator of a specific clip’s presence and proximity to the probe, thereby eliminating the need for insertion of additional markers. This concept is tested using a microcontroller and a direct digital synthesis board connected to two sonomicrocrystals, a Verasonics research system, and tissue mimicking phantoms. Clips with six different USID tags were successfully visualized at 10 dB above the background signal. Localization and identification are demonstrated using pulse inversion and image processing techniques.
Implementation of real-time high-speed ultrasound communications through tissue
Authors: Kou Zhengchang , Oelze Michael L.
Published: May 2022

In this work, we propose a novel implementation of both a transmitter and receiver with field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) to achieve real-time continuous high-definition (HD) video transmission through tissue, which can enable HD and higher frame rate wireless capsule endoscopy. We used a Texas Instruments AFE58JD48EVM 16 channel analog front end (AFE) evaluation board as the receiver connected to a Xilinx ZCU106 Zynq Ultrascale MPSoC development board in which we implemented a digital down converter (DDC), OFDM demodulator, maximum ratio combiner and low-density parity-check (LDPC) decoder. For the transmitter, we used an Analog Devices EVAL-AD9166 vector signal generator evaluation board, which has a built-in 4.3 dBm output power amplifier as a transmitter connected to another ZCU106 development board in which we implemented a LDPC encoder, OFDM modulator and digital up converter (DUC). The modulated signal was transmitted through a tissue-mimicking abdominal phantom using a 2-mm microcrystal transducer and received with a Sonic Concepts IP103 64 channel phased array at a center frequency of 3.2 MHz. We achieved the continuous transmission of up to over[OML1] 6 Mbps error free payload data rate after LDPC decoder which is used to carry HD video streams through ultrasound.
Design of a scanning acoustic and photoacoustic microscopy system using open-source hardware and software components
Authors: Kumon Ronald E. , Bonhomme John T. , Rablau Corneliu I. , Stiles Timothy A.
Published: May 2022

We have designed and started construction of an instrument that will be able to operate as both a scanning acoustic microscope and photoacoustic microscope. To keep costs down, we are using open-source hardware and software components wherever possible. The system is designed to scan specimens that are approximately 2 cm × 2 cm in lateral dimensions with lateral steps of 1 micron or less. When operating as a scanning acoustic microscope, the specimen will be water-coupled to a high-frequency ultrasound transducer operating in pulse-echo mode. When operating as a photoacoustic microscope, short light pulses infrared laser diode located under the specimen will generate ultrasound pulses thermoelastically, which will then be received by a confocal high-frequency transducer. In both cases, the specimen will be raster-scanned under the transducer by a moving stage. The mechanical scanning system was designed and built using a spring-loaded microscope stage, micrometers, stepper motors, a shield board used for 3D printers, an Arduino Mega microcontroller, and a Raspberry Pi 4 microcomputer. A graphical user interface has been written in Python using Tkinter to send the motion control commands to the stage. Future work will include incorporation of the laser and transducer control systems.
Low-cost engineering experimentation laboratory kit designed for at-home project-based learning
Authors: Lawless Martin S. , Giglia Michael , Wootton David
Published: May 2022

During the Spring 2021 semester, the third-year Engineering Experimentation course at the Cooper Union was administered virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The online format presented many challenges to teaching a hands-on, project-based laboratory class. To provide students with the experience of performing real engineering experiments, a low-cost laboratory kit was assembled and sent to each student. The kit included a microcontroller to serve as a data acquisition device, two electret microphones, and electronic components necessary to collect acoustic data. All of the students used this equipment to run a speed of sound laboratory by determining the time an impulsive signal took to travel between the microphones placed a known distance apart. For the final project, two teams of students conducted independent research of acoustic phenomena and further developed low-cost solutions. One team constructed an impedance tube from PVC pipe to measure the absorption characteristics of unknown materials. Normal incidence sound absorption coefficients were calculated for four frequencies by measuring the standing-wave ratio in accordance with ASTM standard C384. The second team built two experimental apparatuses to demonstrate the Doppler Effect. Both at-home Doppler experiments were able to clearly show the shift of the observed frequency of a moving source.
Comparing a low-cost bioacoustics-focused recording system with traditional acoustical measurement hardware
Authors: Moats Levi T. , Moore Kelsey B. , Cook Mylan R. , Hall Lucas K. , Gee Kent L. , Campbell Steven C.
Published: May 2022

Various types of low-cost acoustic recording equipment are available to the scientific community and the general public. While financial budgets can restrict what equipment can be purchased for a particular application, it is necessary to quantify the limitations of particular systems to determine their usefulness. Direct comparisons between recordings using low-cost equipment and using high fidelity equipment can highlight how the quality of low-cost recording is affected, which can help to determine whether or not budget recording systems are sufficient for a particular application. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology developed a low-cost terrestrial recording device for bioacoustic data collection known as the SwiftOne. This device can be set with various sampling rates and configurable recording schedules, making them suitable for long term data collection. Multiple SwiftOne units were used alongside a high-fidelity data acquisition system in both laboratory and outdoor data collection, including loudspeaker measurements in an anechoic chamber, ambient recordings at a bird refuge, and at a coastal rocket launch. The overall quality of the low-budget data recordings is investigated to determine the usefulness of the SwiftOne in these acoustic environments. Analyses include comparisons of measured waveforms, spectral content, and sound pressure levels.
Characterizing the complex shear modulus of materials with an iPhone
Authors: Venegas Gabriel R. , Ben-avi Aytahn , Naify Christina , Lee Kevin M. , Wilson Preston S.
Published: May 2022

Dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) is a technique that accurately measures the mechanical properties, such as stiffness and damping, of a material as a function of frequency, temperature, and time. However, DMA is expensive, requires significant training to operate, and must be performed on-site, lending itself impractical for hands-on classroom activities or research during the early stages of a global pandemic. To characterize the complex shear modulus of seagrass during the COVID-19 shelter-in-place order in May 2020, an iPhone XS Max was used as the tail mass of a freely oscillating torsional pendulum. The Vibrations application (Diffraction Limited Design, LLC) acquired the angular velocity of the underdamped system during oscillation, and the damped natural frequency and decay rate were later extracted from the time series. By measuring the cross-section and length of the material under test, the natural frequency and decay rate were used to determine the complex shear modulus. A strip of 1-cm-wide polyethylene film (McMaster Carr #85655K13) was first used to test the measurement technique. iPhone-obtained shear modulus of the strip was within the range of tabulated values, and was in agreement with DMA-obtained shear modulus measured after COVID-19 restrictions were relaxed. Uncertainty analysis and instructional applications will be discussed.
Photoacoustic LED imaging apparatus using a low-cost system
Authors: Burge Leah E. , Korman Murray S.
Published: May 2022

The use of compact and cost-effective visible light emitting diodes (LEDs) as an alternative to Q-switched lasers, the conventional photoacoustic excitation source, has been explored for vascular imaging applications [T. J. Allen and P. C. Beard, “Light emitting diodes as an excitation source for biomedical photo-acoustics,” Proc. SPIE 8581, 85811F (2013)]. This research motivated our work. Experiments used a 619 nm LED (Luminus SST-90-R-F11-HH100) pulsed for 450 ns with period 34 ms utilizing a pulse generator, MOSFET driver and power MOSFET switch, discharging a bank of capacitors (990 μF) with 36 A peak current. A pair of 2.5 cm diameter aspherical acrylic lens focused the LED—with an emitting area of 3mm × 3 mm—onto the surface of a vertical capillary tube (1.19 mm ID, 1.75 mm OD) filled with 5% McCormick Green food coloring or 5% Higgins India Ink and placed in the 10 cc acrylic water tank. An Olympus emersion transducer (1.27 cm diameter circular plane array, 1 MHz with 0.4MHz bandwidth) was amplified using four home-made low noise amplifiers (87 dB overall gain, 0.5–30 MHz bandwidth). An Agilent DSO 7014 B oscilloscope recorded the photoacoustic signal pulse averaging 8196 trials.
Acoustic metamaterial design framework using deep learning and generative modeling
Authors: Amirkulova Feruza , Zhou Linwei , Abbas Anam , Lai Peter , Qiu Cheng , Shah Tristan A.
Published: May 2022

This talk presents our findings and research performed on the application of deep learning and generative modeling in acoustic metamaterial design. Specifically, we will discuss our research findings published in recent papers on the application of deep learning algorithms, generative neural networks, reinforcement learning models, and global optimization for the inverse design of 2-D and 3-D acoustic metamaterial structures. The examples will be shown for the implementation of neural networks models for the inverse design of 3-D pentamode structures resulting in a low shear modulus, high bulk modulus, and an impedance matched with water. The generative 2-D GLO-Nets and the reinforcement learning models producing broadband low scattering effects for 2-D planar configurations of scatterers under plane wave incidence will be presented. The current challenges encountered during the application of deep learning methods in scaled metamaterial design will be discussed.
Toward improved measurement of infant bone conduction auditory brainstem responses
Authors: Uhler Kristin M. , Hunsaker Aoi A. , Greene Nathaniel , Walker Kerry A. , Brown Andrew D.
Published: May 2022

Newborn hearing screening has led to improved detection and treatment of hearing loss (HL) in infants and young children, supporting improved communication outcomes in early childhood and beyond. However, current screening protocols are not equally sensitive to all forms of HL, limiting diagnostic accuracy and, ultimately, identification of appropriate treatment options. Correspondingly, treatment outcomes in children with HL remain quite variable. One fundamental and persistent challenge is the assessment of bone conduction hearing, which is essential to differentiate conductive versus sensorineural pathology. Whereas hearing via air conduction can be effectively assessed using the auditory brainstem response (ABR), a noninvasive electrophysiologic measure, bone conduction ABR measurements suffer from comparatively poor signal quality (including significant stimulus artifact), transducer acoustic output limitations, and generally lower test-retest reliability. Here we evaluated the prospective benefits of measuring infant bone conduction ABRs using a modified bone conduction transducer designed to reduce stimulus artifact and thereby improve measurement quality. Measurements obtained using a standard bone conduction transducer were compared on several dimensions to measurements obtained using the modified transducer. Improved bone conduction measurement tools are expected to support improved detection and classification of conductive and mixed HL, leading to improved treatment outcomes for this important patient population.
Characterizing the effects of distorted tonotopy on neural coding and perception in sensorineural hearing loss
Authors: Kafi Homeira I. , Alexander Joshua M. , Bharadwaj Hari
Published: May 2022

Patients with similar audiograms often experience varying levels of difficulty with understanding speech in noisy listening environments, even with prescriptive amplification using state-of-the-art hearing aids. With audibility mostly restored by amplification, these suprathreshold differences are often attributed to degraded frequency selectivity (broadened cochlear tuning) due to sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL), and non-peripheral factors. However, evidence from recent animal models of noise-induced SNHL suggests that distorted tonotopy—i.e., hypersensitivity of the tails of cochlear frequency tuning curves—may be a significant contributor to degraded speech coding, particularly in the presence of background noise. In this study, a combination of behavioral measures, otoacoustic emissions, and electroencephalography (EEG) was used to investigate: (1) whether distorted tonotopy degrades the neural coding of speech in human listeners with SNHL as measured using EEG, and (2) whether variations in the degree of distorted tonotopy contribute to the large individual differences in perceptual outcomes that persist despite prescriptive amplification. Preliminary results from individuals with mild-to-moderate SNHL who listened to stimuli amplified by a hearing-aid simulator implementing individualized prescriptions suggest that distorted tonotopy (as measured using the tuning-curve tip-to-tail ratio) can indeed partly account for individual variations both in neural coding and behavior.
Phonological but not lexical processing alters the perceptual weighting of mean fundamental frequency and vocal-tract length cues for voice gender categorisation
Authors: Rachman Laura , Jebens Almut , Baskent Deniz
Published: May 2022

Listeners use various voice cues to segregate different speakers, or to infer speaker-related information such as perceived gender. Two important anatomically related voices cues used for speaker identification, including perceived gender, are mean fundamental frequency (F0), related to the glottal pulse rate, and vocal-tract length (VTL), correlating with body size. Voice cue processing seems to be affected by linguistic processes, such that voice perception is more precise when listeners hear speakers in their native language compared to a non-native language. In addition, recent research shows that F0 and VTL sensitivity is lower for words compared to time-reversed words, either because time-reversed words are unintelligible or phonemes are distorted in voice-onset times and aspirations, pointing to effects of lexical or phonological processing. However, voice cue sensitivity and using these cues to infer speaker-related information may rely on different mechanisms. Here, we studied effects of lexical and phonological processing on F0 and VTL cue weighting for one aspect of speaker identification, namely voice gender categorisation, by manipulating these cues in three linguistic conditions: meaningful words; phonotactically plausible nonwords; and phonotactically implausible time-reversed nonwords. We found that F0 and VTL weighting for voice gender categorisation was affected by phonological but not by lexical processing.
Influences of talker gender on second language speech perception
Authors: Zhang Yang , Tanaka Keita , Imada Toshiaki
Published: May 2022

This study examined how talker gender information may influence second language speech perception. The participants were ten right-handed male Japanese adults with normal hearing. The speech stimuli were two minimal pairs of English words, “heed-hod” and “head-had”, recorded from twenty male and twenty female native English speakers. The stimuli were delivered binaurally at a sensation level of 50 dB. In the gender recognition task, the subjects were asked to judge talker gender. In the vowel recognition task, they were asked to identify the vowel category. Magnetoencephalography data were recorded during the experiment. For gender recognition, there was no significant difference in identification accuracy between the two word pairs while reaction time was significantly faster for the difficult “head-had” pair. In the phoneme recognition task, there was a significant phoneme*gender interaction for the difficult “head-had” pair but not for the easy “heed-hod” pair. The MEG data for gender recognition showed right hemisphere dominance, and the phoneme recognition task showed overall bilateral activation. Time-frequency analysis further revealed distinctions between male and female voices and the difficulty differences for the two word pairs in the phoneme recognition task. The results suggest a complex role of paralinguistic gender information in L2 speech perception.
Estimation and interpretation of multipath channel activity using braiding techniques
Authors: McCarthy Ryan A. , Sen Gupta Ananya , Kemerling Madison
Published: May 2022

Robust underwater acoustic channel estimation is critical towards improving communications efforts and enhancing awareness of changing environments. To explore these channels in-depth, machine learning algorithms are developed through feature geometric representations, referred to as “braiding,” to interpret multipath ray bundles within shallow water acoustic channels in two ways. The first application of this work predicts the number of reflections an acoustic signal may undergo through the environment by applying known physical parameters and braid features. The second application explores the importance of a braid feature within the acoustic channel for estimation purposes by using braid path information. Three unique machine learning techniques are trained to predict the applications using a diverse set of shallow water acoustic channels generated through the BELLHOP model. Machine learning models developed for the applications demonstrate high testing accuracies with an accuracy of 86.70% in the first application and an accuracy of 99.94% in the second application. As a further demonstration, braid feature representations and model predictions are used for channel estimation and determining the number of reflections using SPACE08 field data.
Architecture and acoustics: Effective collaboration for judicial facility design
Authors: Johnson Kristine B.
Published: May 2022

Designing public buildings, like judicial facilities, requires careful planning and thoughtful integration of all building systems. Judicial facilities can be stressful environments and the planning, design, and performance of these buildings can enhance or detract from a user’s experience of the space. This presentation will address best practices for courthouse planning and explore opportunities for architects and acousticians to collaborate effectively in designing spaces that meet the needs of their stakeholders.
Study of electronic band structure in a 75-nm-wide n-GaAs/AlGaAs quantum well by surface acoustic waves
Authors: Suslov Alexey , Drichko Irina , Smirnov Ivan , Nestoklon Mikhail , Kamburov Dobromir , Baldwin Kirk , Pfeiffer Loren , West Ken , Golub Leonid
Published: May 2022

From measured magnetic field dependences of attenuation and velocity of surface acoustic waves (SAW), we calculated the real part of electron the conductivity in a 75-nm-wide n-GaAs/AlGaAs quantum well in magnetic fields of up to 18 T at frequencies of 30–300 MHz in the temperature range 20–500 mK. We observed slow magneto-oscillations of the conductivity depended on SAW intensity and occurred due to elastic intersubband scattering between the symmetric (S) and antisymmetric (AS) subbands formed by Coulomb repulsion between the electrons. Our theoretical description of the magneto-oscillations allowed estimating the quantum and the intersubband scattering times. The experimentally obtained subband splitting value 0.42 meV was close to the theoretically found 0.57 meV. Additionally, in tilted magnetic fields of 0.5–1.5, T we observed crossings of the Landau levels between the S and AS subbands. According to the developed theory, the crossings at the in-plane field below 1.5 T occur due to different dependences of cyclotron energies in the subbands on the in-plane field. Namely, the cyclotron energy in the S (AS) subband decreases (increases) with the rising of the in-plane field. Work supported by “BASIS,” NSF DMR-1644779 and DMR-1420541, GBMF4420, and State of Florida.]
Modeling nonlinear acoustic damping due to flow separation
Authors: Day Joseph , Quinlan J. M.
Published: May 2022

Nonlinear acoustic damping has been observed in many high-amplitude acoustic systems as a result of flow separation and shear layer vortical motion, eventually transforming some of the acoustical energy into heat. The amount of nonlinear acoustic damping helps to determine the nonlinear limit cycle amplitude, e.g., damping caused by baffle blades in a liquid rocket engine to reduce combustion instabilities. The damping mechanism is dependent on both the location and phase of flow separation. Identifying the flow separation is a function of both the boundary layer growth and the acoustically imposed pressure gradient. When the acoustic pressure gradient is adverse, the boundary layer is more prone to separation. Using this as a basis, a model can be created that is applicable to general geometry, which will then be used to approximate the nonlinear acoustic damping in various situations. The constructed model will be compared to established cases, such as an orifice in a duct, to validate the model.
Phonetic entrainment of Cantonese-speaking children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD)
Authors: Hong Yitian , Zhou Fang , Chen Si , Chan Angel Wing Shan , Tang Tempo Po Yi , Chun Eunjin , Li Bei , Choi Phoebe , Ng Chakling , Cheng Fiona , Gou Xinrui
Published: May 2022

Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) typically show less engagement in social interactions. Previous studies in verbal communication found that they are less able to entrain the phonetic features to their interlocutors, compared to their Typically Developing (TD) counterparts. In this study, we examined the phonetic adjustment of 15 Cantonese-speaking ASD children (mean age = 8.5 years, range = 6–10.8) and 9 Cantonese-speaking TD children (mean age = 7.9 years, range = 6.4–9.6) when using the designed sentences to answer questions raised by the same experimenter. There are three main findings: (1) ASD children tended to disentrain the minimum f0 from the experimenter while TD children showed consistent minimum f0 through the experiment, possibly because TD children noticed the convergence made by the experimenter; (2) TD children significantly entrained the intensity towards the experimenter, but no entrainment was found in ASD children; and (3) both groups demonstrated an increase of speech rate, catching up with the speech rate of the experimenter. Although children at this age range might not fully acquire entrainment skills, our results suggested that compared to TD children, ASD children started to show atypicality of phonetic adjustment in conversations. This study of Cantonese speakers makes cross-linguistic contribution to the literature of ASD children's language acquisition.
Older adults’ perception of medically related sentences in three listening conditions
Authors: Bent Tessa , Baese-Berk Melissa M. , Ryherd Erica E. , Perry Sydney
Published: May 2022

During hospital stays, crucial information about diagnoses, treatment plans, and discharge instructions is provided. Although understanding this information is essential, several barriers to successful communication exist that may have differing impacts depending on a patient’s age. First, hospitals are noisy places, which could challenge speech understanding for older adults due to the increased incidence of hearing loss. However, older adults’ larger vocabularies may support their comprehension of infrequent or less familiar medical words. To investigate how these factors impact intelligibility for older adults, recordings of medically related sentences with different familiarity/frequency types (low/low, high/low, high/high) were presented to 79 listeners (average age = 66 years; range 60–81) for transcription in quiet, speech-shaped noise, or hospital noise. Performance was best in quiet and worst in hospital noise. Both word frequency and familiarity impacted performance. Sentences with high familiarity but low frequency had lower accuracy than those with high familiarity and frequency; sentences with low frequency and familiarity showed low accuracy, particularly in hospital noise. Thus, hospital noise may impact the understanding of essential medical information. [Work by the IU Institute for Advanced Study and the James S. McDonnell Foundation, https://doi.org/10.37717/2021-3028.]
Perception of post-focus compression as a cue to focus in L2 English
Authors: Fishero Sheyenne , Zhang Jie
Published: May 2022

English and Mandarin both mark focus with post-focus compression (PFC) of F0 and intensity. Previous production research indicates PFC may be a universally marked feature difficult to transfer between languages, but the generally narrower pitch range and lack of fluency indicative of nonnative speech impede the ability to conclude the marked status of PFC based on production data alone. The present study utilized accuracy scores on a forced-choice prosodic restoration perception task to identify whether nonnative learners of a PFC language (English) with a native PFC language L1 (Mandarin) are capable of perceiving PFC as a cue to focus when no other focus cues are available. The role of L2 proficiency in the ability to use PFC as a cue to focus was also examined. Results indicate that native Mandarin listeners had significantly poorer accuracy compared to native English listeners at using PFC as a cue to focus in English regardless of proficiency, thus supporting PFC’s role as a marked feature not easily transferred into an L2, but some Mandarin listeners’ above chance performance on the task indicate it is not impossible to perceive PFC as a cue to focus in an L2 context.
Non-native talkers and listeners and perceptual benefits of clear speech
Authors: Jung Ye-Jee , Dmitrieva Olga
Published: May 2022

Native clear speech aids speech perception for various native populations such as hearing-impaired adults (Picheny et al., 1985). Compared to native speech, little is known about the benefit of non-native clear speech (Smijlanic and Bradlow, 2011). The current study investigates whether non-native clear speech can aid both native and non-native listeners, using every combination of talkers and listeners (native talker/listener, and non-native talker/listener). Non-native participants were L1 Korean speakers, while native participants were L1 American English speakers. Each group had 32 participants listening to semantically anomalous English sentences recorded by four native and four non-native talkers and presented with speech-shaped noise at 0 dB SNR in each speaking style (casual and clear). Each sentence had four keywords, and the number of correct keywords was converted to rationalized arcsine units. The results show significant effects of talker L1, listener L1, and speaking style. Native speech was more intelligible than non-native one and native listeners outperformed non-native listeners. Clear speech was more intelligible than casual speech. However, none of the interactions among the factors reached statistical significance, indicating the two groups of talkers and the two groups of listeners behaved in a parallel way in terms of producing and receiving clear speech benefits.
Mitigating ocean random medium effects in array processing by using a cross-correlator beamformer instrumentation
Authors: Kirsteins Ivars P.
Published: May 2022

Ocean random medium effects such as internal waves can cause distortions to signal wave fronts that are highly detrimental to detecting and localizing signals with acoustic arrays. Motivated by the lucky imaging techniques used in astronomy [1], we have previously found evidence in real array data that when the data are looked at a much finer time scales, there can be brief moments when the wave front has little distortion [2]. However, the challenge has been developing metrics for ranking the quality of the data frames in order to exploit these lucky scintillations. In this paper, we propose a simple frame quality metric based on a cross-correlator instrumentation of the delay-sum beamformer [3] evaluated by arithmetically averaging the higher-order spatial correlation lags along the time delay trajectory corresponding to the beamformer focal location and then utilizing only the highest ranked frames in the localization. We connect this metric to beamformer focus sharpness by showing that the main lobe curvature increases monotonically with the number of lags used and demonstrate the approach on real underwater acoustic array data. [1] https://www.ast.cam.ac. uk/research/lucky [2] I.P. Kirsteins, JASA 143, 1976 (2018). [3] E. Ruigrok et al., “Cross-correlation beamforming,” J. Seismol. 21, 495–508 (2017).
Joint equalizer and phase-locked loop for time variability in underwater acoustic communications
Authors: Kim Seunghwan , Ra Hyung-In , Jeong Hyun-Woo , Youn Chang-Hyun , Yang Kyeong pil , Kim In-Soo , Ko Seokjun
Published: May 2022

In this paper, we verify the performance of the equalizer and phase-locked loop (PLL) operating jointly for channel time variability in underwater acoustic communications. We apply the decision feedback equalizer in order to eliminate channel multipath and PLL to phase rotation due to Doppler effects. In the PLL, a decision-directed tan−1 type phase detector is adopted. As shown in previous papers, it is difficult to make PLL to be steady state because of time-varying ISI occurred by multipath. Also, the phase rotation incurs the equalizer tap rotation. Therefore, we can see that the two subsystems of equalizer and PLL complement each other perfectly. Another issue is the convergence speed; how quickly we can make the joint equalizer and PLL to be stable state within the preamble period (known data). In order to verify the performance, the sea experiments were conducted in the condition of moving transmitter. The transmitted signal is modulated by using PSK and consists of five burst frames that are composed of preamble of PN code and random data. As a result, if we use the initial multipath value and Doppler frequency offset, we can make the joint equalizer and PLL to be the steady state more quickly.
ASB4 modulates central melanocortinergic neurons and calcitonin signaling to control satiety and glucose homeostasis
Authors: Vagena Eirini , Crneta Jasmina , Engström Pauline , He Li , Yulyaningsih Ernie , Korpel Nikita L. , Cheang Rachel T. , Bachor Tomas P. , Huang Alyssa , Michel Guillermina , Attal Kush , Berrios David I. , Valdearcos Martin , Koliwad Suneil K. , Olson David P. , Yi Chun-Xia , Xu Allison W.
Published: May 2022

Variants in the gene encoding ankyrin repeat and SOCS box–containing 4 (
ASB4
) are linked to human obesity. Here, we characterized the pathways underlying the metabolic functions of ASB4. Hypothalamic
Asb4
expression was suppressed by fasting in wild-type mice but not in mice deficient in
AgRP
, which encodes Agouti-related protein (AgRP), an appetite-stimulating hormone, suggesting that ASB4 is a negative target of AgRP. Many ASB4 neurons in the brain were adjacent to AgRP terminals, and feeding induced by AgRP neuronal activation was disrupted in
Asb4
-deficient mice. Acute knockdown of
Asb4
in the brain caused marked hyperphagia due to increased meal size, and
Asb4
deficiency led to increased meal size and food intake at the onset of refeeding, when very large meals were consumed.
Asb4
-deficient mice were resistant to the meal-terminating effects of exogenously administered calcitonin and showed decreased neuronal expression of
Calcr
, which encodes the calcitonin receptor. Pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC) neurons in the arcuate nucleus in mice are involved in glucose homeostasis, and
Asb4
deficiency specifically in POMC neurons resulted in glucose intolerance that was independent of obesity. Furthermore, individuals with type 2 diabetes showed reduced ASB4 abundance in the infundibular nuclei, the human equivalent of the arcuate nucleus. Together, our results indicate that ASB4 acts in the brain to improve glucose homeostasis and to induce satiety after substantial meals, particularly those after food deprivation.
Antiplatelet Therapy in Staphylococcus aureus Bacteremia: No Time Like the Past?
Authors: Mourad Ahmad , Holland Thomas L. , Turner Nicholas A.
Published: May 2022

In this invited commentary, we reflect on the accompanying study by A. R. Caffrey, H. J. Appaneal, K. L. LaPlante, V. V. Lopes, et al. (Antimicrob Agents Chemother 66:e02117-21, 2022,
https://doi.org/10.1128/aac.02117-21
), which analyzed the impact of clopidogrel use on clinical outcomes in
Staphylococcus aureus
bacteremia.
Ferrous Iron Uptake Is Required for Salmonella to Persist within Vacuoles of Host Cells
Authors: Domínguez-Acuña Lorena , García-del Portillo Francisco
Published: May 2022

Iron is an essential oligoelement that incorporates into proteins as a biocatalyst or electron carrier. The intracellular pathogen
Salmonella enterica
serovar Typhimurium (
S.
Typhimurium) takes iron as free reduced ferrous cation or as oxidized ferric cation complexed to siderophores or ferrichromes.
Evolutionary Principles of Bacterial Signaling Capacity and Complexity
Authors: Mo Ran , Liu Yugeng , Chen Yuanyuan , Mao Yingjin , Gao Beile
Published: May 2022

Bacteria are capable of sensing and responding to environmental changes by several signal transduction systems with different mechanisms. Much attention is paid to model organisms with complex signaling networks to understand their composition and function, but how a complicated network evolved from a simple one or vice versa lacks systematic studies.
Complete Genome Sequence of
Bacillus
sp. Strain TM2, Isolated from Ground
Tetragnatha
Spider Extract
Authors: Ito Masahiro , Hasunuma Satomu
Published: May 2022

Bacillus
sp. strain TM2, an aerobic Gram-positive bacterium, was isolated from a solution of ground
Tetragnatha maxillosa
spider in saline solution in Japan. Here, we report the complete genome sequence of this bacterium, which has a 3.67-Mbp genome containing 3,702 protein-coding sequences, 24 rRNA-coding sequences, and 81 tRNA-coding sequences.
Isolation and Annotation of the Genome Sequences of Bacteriophages InvictusManeo (Subcluster K5) and Netyap (Subcluster L2)
Authors: Flota Maximiliano F. , Delesalle Véronique A. , Moss Caitlyn R. , Beeson Davis S. , Bogatkevich Andrew M. , Burgess Clarissa C. , Carretero Lazcano Noemi , Carroll-Deaton Jayda A. , Deprill Hayden A. , Dickens Ivy S. , Gainey Maria D. , Gierszal Sophia G. , Goff Avery A. , Harris Brooke K. , LeBrun John B. , Lin Jim , McLaughlin Molly R. , Metts Brian C. , O’Rear Kristen L. , Osorio Hernandez Maria A. , Raieta Isabella E. , Schmidt Erica D. , Sinkway Thomas D. , Sok Kimberly S. , Ulrich Michael A. , Velez Isaiah T. , Wallen Jamie R. , Wardius Ayden R. , Byrum Christine A.
Published: May 2022

The mycobacteriophages InvictusManeo (K5 subcluster) and Netyap (L2 subcluster) were isolated from soils in Cullowhee Creek, Cullowhee, North Carolina. Both exhibit
Siphoviridae
morphology and infect
Mycobacterium smegmatis
mc
2
155. The InvictusManeo genome is 61,147 bp and contains 96 predicted protein-coding genes, whereas the Netyap genome is 76,366 bp with 131 predicted protein-coding genes.
Draft Reference Genome Sequence of Corynebacterium mastitidis RC, an Ocular Commensal, Isolated from Mouse Conjunctiva
Authors: Nagarajan Vijayaraj , St. Leger Anthony J. , Zhang Amy , Silver Phyllis , Caspi Rachel R.
Published: May 2022

Here, we report the genome sequence of a protective commensal,
Corynebacterium mastitidis
RC, isolated from mouse conjunctiva. The
C. mastitidis
RC genome sequence is 2,153,054 bp in size and 96.95% complete, and we believe that it can contribute to the understanding of the functional immune attributes of the ocular commensal microbiome.
Phage Cocktail Targeting STEC O157:H7 Has Comparable Efficacy and Superior Recovery Compared with Enrofloxacin in an Enteric Murine Model
Authors: Wang Yuxin , Subedi Dinesh , Li Jin , Wu Jiaoling , Ren Jianluan , Xue Feng , Dai Jianjun , Barr Jeremy J. , Tang Fang
Published: May 2022

With the increasing severity of antibiotic resistance and other adverse consequences, animal experiments and clinical trials investigating the use of phages for the control and prevention of enteric bacterial infections are growing. However, the effects of phages and antibiotics on organisms when treating intestinal infections have not been precisely studied.
Pneumococcal Phasevarions Control Multiple Virulence Traits, Including Vaccine Candidate Expression
Authors: Phillips Zachary N. , Trappetti Claudia , Van Den Bergh Annelies , Martin Gael , Calcutt Ainslie , Ozberk Victoria , Guillon Patrice , Pandey Manisha , von Itzstein Mark , Swords W. Edward , Paton James C. , Jennings Michael P. , Atack John M.
Published: May 2022

S. pneumoniae
is the world’s foremost bacterial pathogen.
S. pneumoniae
encodes a phasevarion (phase-variable regulon), that results in differential expression of multiple genes. Previous work demonstrated that the pneumococcal SpnIII phasevarion switches between six different expression states, generating six unique phenotypic variants in a pneumococcal population.