bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Automatic detection and classification of nocturnal migrant bird calls
Authors: Mills Harold
Published: October 2005

Computer software was developed to detect the nocturnal flight calls of nine species of migrating warblers in digitized field recordings, and to classify the calls by species. The calls are frequency-modulated tones in the 5- to 9-kHz frequency band, and between 50 and 100 ms in duration. Detection was accompanied by locating temporal peaks in call band energy. Some false detections of insect calls were prevented by rejecting certain types of peaks. Classification is approached by tracking the frequencies of the calls over time and classifying the frequency tracks with an artificial neural network.
Bird flight call discrimination using machine learning
Authors: Taylor Andrew
Published: October 2005

The development of a software system which can detect and identify the flight calls of migrating birds is reported. The system first produces a spectrogram using a DFT. Calls are detected in the spectrogram using an adhoc combination of local peak-finding and a connectedness measure. Attributes are extracted both globally from the call and from a window moved incrementally through the call. Decision trees are then used to determine the bird species. These decision trees are induced from a training set using Quinlan’s C4.5 system [J. R. Quinlan, C4.5: Programs for Machine Learning, Morgan Kauffman (1993)]. The system has been tested on a set of 138 nocturnal flight calls from nine species of birds [W. R. Evans, personal communication]. Some calls are faint, and interfering insect noise is present in others. Tenfold resampling was used to classify the calls unseen. Seventy-eight percent of calls were identified correctly, 4% incorrectly and 18% were placed in an ‘‘uncertain’’ category. Neural network-based classifiers are commonly used in this general domain and would likely produce similar accuracy, but use of symbolic machine learning offers two important advantages: Training time is linear in the number of examples and the resulting classifier is less opaque. Both significantly ease classifier construction.
Detection of sinusoidal spectral envelopes by budgerigars (Melopsittacus undulatus)
Authors: Amagai Satoshi , Dooling Robert J. , Kidd Tracy L. , Shamma Shihab
Published: October 2005

Previous psychoacoustic measures of both critical ratios and critical bands in budgerigars indicate that the size of the auditory filters around 2–4 kHz approach or are even smaller than those of humans. Accordingly, budgerigars should excel at spectral discrimination tasks involving channels around 3 kHz. This study examined the ability of budgerigars to discriminate spectrally rich sounds by using rippled noise stimuli. Three budgerigars were trained in a repeating background procedure using operant conditioning to discriminate between a complex stimulus with a flat spectrum and one that had a sinusoidal ripple imposed on its spectrum. Each stimulus was composed of 201 spectral components logarithmically spaced from 500 Hz to 10 kHz, 100 ms in duration and sampled at 40 kHz. Ripple frequencies between 0.5 and 12 cycles/oct were tested using ripple amplitude steps of 1/2 to 2 dB. Overall levels of the stimuli were varied randomly from 55 dB to 65 dB SPL to remove intensity cues. Ripple amplitude detection thresholds for budgerigars were similar to those measured for humans with budgerigars slightly better at higher ripple frequencies. [Work supported by NIH Grants DC00198 and MH00982.]
The use of very low and very high frequencies in the development of an acoustical deterrent for bird–aircraft collisions
Authors: Lenhardt M. , Ochs A. , Genova J. , Castiglia N. , Kelley M.
Published: October 2005

Bird strikes have become an increasing problem at commercial and military airports. With the demand for reduced aircraft noise and increased speed, birds are presented with reduced auditory cues and less reaction time when confronted with planes. The major drawback to the use of acoustic deterrents is the rapid habituation. Caged sparrowhawks readily detected signals between 5 and 40 Hz with thresholds of detectability ranging from 76 to 64 dB SPL. No flying induced startles were noted, although the birds did try to localize the source. Habituation to low-frequency stimuli occurred with as little as three presentations. Free-ranging geese were presented with the same frequencies as substrate vibration along with sound pressure stimulation. In a limited sample (three geese) avoidance was noted. The application of low-frequency sound as substrate vibration on runways is promising. Alternatively, microwaves produce an auditory stimulus to the ear that can be altered by changes in frequency, pulse width, and overall power. Pulsed microwaves or microwaves modulated by low-frequency sound are potential sources alerting birds from a flying plane already carrying navigation radar.
Low-frequency auditory behavior in sea lampreys, primitive fish, and marine turtles
Authors: Lenhardt M. L.
Published: October 2005

Sea lampreys (Petromyzonmarinus) are one of only two species of living jawless fish. The brains and ears of lampreys are remarkably similar to that of fossil Ostracoderms, a group of fish that existed over 500 millions years ago. Jawed fish are derived from jawless fish which in turn radiated into primitive bony fish as gars (Lepisosteus) and teleosts and into the line leading to development of tetrapods. Marine turtles (Carettac. caretta; Lepidochelyskempi) are considered primitive in that they share many characteristics with stem reptilian stock from which birds and mammals also radiated. The three species responded behaviorally and electrophysiologically to very low frequencies in a similar fashion despite their obvious morphological differences. All appear to share an ability to detect substrate vibrations, suggesting that the primitive vertebrate ear was also a low-frequency vibration sensor. It is hypothesized that the first vertebrates evolved an otic organ for both equilibrium and vibration and each function was not separated until jawed vertebrates. In the primitive forms as in living lampreys, the brain must inhibit the ear function when detection of movement and gravity is needed.
Dynamic model of the goldfish peripheral auditory system
Authors: Finneran James J. , Hastings Mardi C.
Published: October 2005

In this study, a dynamic, lumped parameter mathematical model was developed for the peripheral auditory system of the goldfish (Carassiusauratus). This model expands upon and couples existing models for the swimbladder (anterior chamber) and saccular otolith by including the swimbladder tunica interna and tunica externa, along with the Weberian apparatus. The viscoelastic properties of the tunica externa are based on data from Alexander [J. Exp. Biol. 38, 747–757 (1961)]. Model predictions correlate well with experimental data for swimbladder resonance frequency and damping and with audiograms obtained from behavioral conditioning experiments. Model results indicate that the Weberian apparatus has a major affect on auditory sensitivity throughout the audible frequency range of the goldfish. In addition, specific phase relationships between the Weberian, direct, and indirect contributions to saccular otolith motion are observed for changing source location. [Work supported by ONR Grant No. N00014-94-1-0337.]
Study of sound transmission in various types of stored grain for acoustic detection of insects
Authors: Hickling Robert , Wei Wei , Hagstrum David W.
Published: October 2005

In detecting insect infestations in bulk-stored grain using an array of acoustic sensors, it is important to know the range of sound transmission in grain. Preliminary tests [R. Hickling and W. Wei, Appl. Acoust. 44 (1995)] have shown that grain can be highly absorbing, depending on frequency, and this may limit the range at which insects can be detected. Tests were conducted with six different types of grain: hard and soft wheat, brown rice, soybeans, corn, and sorghum. The results were analyzed using sound-transmission theory in porous media. Transmission characteristics were determined and related to grain size and shape. Tests were conducted of the effect of grain depth. Data analysis provides a measure of the average spacing between grains. The relation of grain spacing to insect size is discussed.
Ultrasonic resonance techniques for materials characterization and external stress measurement in cylinders and spheres
Authors: Johnson Ward , Alers G. A.
Published: October 2005

Several applications have been explored for ultrasonic resonance measurements using electromagnetic-acoustic transduction on cylinders and spheres. Since the transduction is noncontacting, acoustic velocities and damping can be determined with great accuracy, and small changes in related material properties or the sample environment can be detected. The resonant frequencies of certain ‘‘axial-shear’’ modes in induction-hardened steel rods have been found to be highly correlated with case depth, providing a nondestructive measure of depth comparable in accuracy to destructive tests. Applied stress on an aluminum cylinder has been measured with automatic temperature compensation using the resonant frequencies of an axial-shear mode and a torsional mode, thus demonstrating the basis for an acoustic load cell. Elastic anisotropy in aluminum has been measured from the relative frequency splitting of axial-shear modes that would be degenerate in isotropic material. Also, electromagnetic-acoustic transduction has been incorporated in a system used to obtain basic data on the elastic constants and damping of metallic spheres at elevated temperatures.
Ultrasonic evaluation of dynamic strain, crack nucleation, and growth
Authors: Hazony D. , Welsch G. , Hailu S. , Halford G.
Published: October 2005

The method proposed is a further development of an earlier work described by Hazony etal. [‘‘Ultrasonic monitoring of tensile, fatigue, or creep specimens insitu,’’ 2279(A) (1993)]. Two transducers are imbedded at the front and back faces of the specimens along the principal axis. These transmit and receive arbitrarily sharp stress pulses that probe both the volume and the surface of the specimen. The respective times of flight are sufficient for the monitoring of longitudinal and transversal strains. Moreover, intensity tracking of the various received acoustic signals also serves well for monitoring onset and growth of cracks. Sensitivity and calibration issues will be discussed and experimental data on high-strength low-alloy steel and other alloy specimens will be presented. The method lends itself to high precision measurements of material deformation and damage and may be used at high temperatures and in aggressive environments. [Work supported by ONR and TecSonics, Inc. of Twinsburg, Ohio.]
Effect of particle shape on viscous attenuation of ultrasound in concentrated clay suspensions
Authors: Han Wei , Pendse Hemant P.
Published: October 2005

Acoustic wave propagation in concentrated suspensions is analyzed using a modified coupled-phase modeling approach. The particle, size, shape, and orientation are taken into account for estimation of viscous drag coefficient of spheroid particles over wide ranges of frequency and particle concentration. The study deals with frequency-dependent and concentration-dependent ultrasound attenuation coefficient of clay suspensions, with particular attention to the effect of particle size and shape distributions. For clay suspensions, the major loss of acoustic energy results from the viscous dissipation arising from the relative particle–fluid motion. Predicted results of sound-speed and attenuation coefficient based on consideration of particle shape factors agree well with the measurements available in literature for frequencies of 0.10–5.0 MHz and solid concentrations up to 40 vol%. Experimental results of attenuation spectra of plate-shaped kaolin clay slurries with solid concentrations of 0.6 to 16.9 vol% over 3 to 60 MHz are obtained using a newly developed AcoustoPhor System 8000. These attenuation spectra are interpreted in terms of realistic particle size and shape distributions. The effects of nonsphericity become dominant as particle concentrations and operating frequencies are increased. Realistic size-dependent shape factors are shown to explain the measured spectra.
Unified coupled-phase formulation for estimating complex wave-number spectra associated with ultrasound propagation through concentrated colloidal dispersions
Authors: Pendse Hemant P. , Han Wei
Published: October 2005

The unified coupled phase continuum (UCPC) approach is utilized to analyze sound propagation through colloidal dispersions consisting of solid particles or liquid droplets suspended in a fluid. Attention is focused on the case of submicron particles at moderate to high (5% to 50%) volume fractions under ultrasonic frequencies. The governing equations involve equations of state, continuity, momentum, and energy for the discontinuous and continuous phases, respectively. The viscous (thermal) coupling between the two phases is accounted through matching terms in the equations of momentum (energy) formulated separately for each phase. Expressions for the viscous and thermal coupling coefficients explicitly account for the effects of particle size, shape factor, orientation, as well as concentration and the sound frequency. Theoretical predictions of sound speed and attenuation coefficient spectra are compared with several available experimental measurements on a variety of colloids including aqueous suspensions of polystyrene latex, TiO2 or kaolin pigment, as well as a toluene in water emulsion and an oleic acid in nitrogen aerosol. The UCPC approach can successfully predict the attenuation spectra of concentrated colloids covering a wide range of relative magnitudes of viscous versus thermal contributions. Its applications for particle size and shape characterization will be discussed.
Liquid-borne sub-micron particle detection through acoustic coaxing
Authors: Madanshetty Sameer I.
Published: October 2005

A novel approach to the detection of liquid-borne submicron particles in ultraclean liquids (used in semiconductor manufacture) is described. The key concept is to coax the submicron particles to soft cavitate and to detect the ensuing transient bubble activity acoustically rather than the particle itself. The method, therefore, relies on facilitating acoustic microcavitation through acoustic coaxing. Liquid-borne microparticles do not, ordinarily, cause any cavitation when exposed to strong sound fields (of 1 MHz). If, however, a very weak, high-frequency auxiliary acoustic field (e.g., 30 MHz) is added to this sound field, cavitation by the microparticles is readily facilitated. This technique of facilitating cavitation is termed ‘‘acoustic coaxing.’’ Results of preliminary experiments indicate that even smooth spherical microparticles can be coaxed to cause cavitation. An explanation of the ‘‘acoustic coaxing effect’’ is offered. This novel method based on the acoustic coaxing of microcavitation promises to be a good basis for an on-line, real-time monitor of liquid-borne submicronic particulate presence. This method is not limited to small sensing volumes, and, unlike optical methods, it has an intrinsic, location-specific, signal enhancement at the source particle.
The ultrasonic reflection from a flat-bottom hole
Authors: Manley Martin
Published: October 2005

The reference for calibration of ultrasonic measuring equipment used to detect flaws in metal is the reflection from a set of flat-bottom holes in metal blocks. Early experimental observation as well as an early analysis using a far-field assumption suggested that the response should vary linearly with the area of the hole. Recently, the validity of this linear result has been called into question by new analyses as well as experiment. This paper presents a new analysis of the reflected signal and evaluates the block set which is used for ASTM recommended practice E-127 in light of this analysis.
Transient signals-based sonar systems
Authors: Barger James E.
Published: October 2005

The detectability of signals (echoes) depends only upon the energy and bandwidth of the signals, in a wide variety of different interference backgrounds. This fact is represented in a sonar equation that is both written in terms of these quantities, and that also differs from the more traditional form that incorporated signal power and time span. Beyond this, fluctuations in the transient signal’s arrival times, time spreads, arrival angles, and angle spreads; all affect target localization processing. Since a transient signal has a shorter time span than does a longer waveform with equal energy, the effects of propagation-induced fluctuations between successive transient signals can be different than between successive long-waveform signals. The potential for these differences is discussed for four different causes of fluctuation; multipath, refraction, direct-path fluctuation, and reflected path fluctuation.
Transient sounds in marine seismology
Authors: Stephen R. A.
Published: October 2005

In marine seismology two types of transient sound sources are used. Controlled sources such as airguns or explosions are used in seismic reflection and refraction surveys to study geological structure below the seafloor. Naturally occurring earthquakes are also observed and they are used to study tectonic and regional and whole earth structure problems. In both cases three-component particle motion, either velocity or acceleration, is measured on or within the seafloor. However controlled source studies work in the VLF band (1.0–100 Hz) and earthquake studies generally run in the lower ULF band (0.001–5 Hz). A major advantage of transient sources versus harmonic sources is that multi-pathing can be distinguished by the time separation of phases. In fact, many schemes for inferring geological structure from transient seismic data are based solely on the arrival times of certain phases. Also time spread (coda or signal-generated noise) can be observed directly as reverberation after the coherent arrivals. The polarization of the separated phases can be used to study propagation effects. Examples of quantitative data of both controlled and earthquake sources will be shown and discussed.
Are ANSI standards for describing airborne impulses applicable to underwater transients?
Authors: Greene Charles R. , Awbrey Frank T.
Published: October 2005

ANSI standards exist for measuring and assessing airborne impulsive sounds. This paper reviews those standards and considers their applicability and utility in measuring and assessing underwater transient sounds.
The Bragg condition limitation on inversion of normal incidence reflection data
Authors: Gilbert Kenneth E. , Kulbago Timothy J.
Published: October 2005

A simple analytic expression is derived for the impulse response of a continuously stratified sediment. The expression, which neglects multiple scattering, allows a straightforward calculation of both the forward and inverse problem, but more importantly, it clearly establishes the ‘‘Bragg condition’’ as a fundamental limitation on the inversion of acoustic data dominated by single scattering. (For normal incidence backscatter, the Bragg condition states that an acoustic probe signal of wavelength λ senses or ‘‘filters out’’ only the Fourier component of the impedance profile having wavelength λ/2, i.e., λmedium=λacoustic/2.) The validity of the analytic expression is demonstrated by comparing it with exact numerical calculations for both the forward and inverse problem. In particular, it is shown that to obtain trends in impedance that occur over meters, requires a probe signal with wavelengths of approximately twice the desired trend distance. Many high-frequency inversions reported in the literature show trends with wavelengths that are orders of magnitude larger than any wavelength in the probe signal. Consequently, it is worthwhile to ask whether the long wavelength trends, which cannot be acoustically sensed by the short wavelength probe signals, are physically meaningful, or whether they are artifacts of arbitrary underlying assumptions in the signal processing method. [Work supported by NRL and ONR.]
Localization of sources of acoustic transients using a broadband matched-field processing technique
Authors: Tappert F. D. , Nghiem-Phu L.
Published: October 2005

By matching, or correlating, a complex-demodulated (envelope) time series measured at a single hydrophone receiver to predicted envelope response functions obtained by back propagation using a full-physics broadband PE model, it is possible to remove multipath distortion effects and to determine the location of the source of an acoustic transient with good resolution and high processing gain. This ‘‘semi-coherent’’ broadband matched-field processing (BMFP) technique is demonstrated in several deep water and shallow water situations. [Work supported by ONR and ARPA.]
Timespread modeling of propagating pulsed and transient underwater signals
Authors: Daley Ellen M. , Keenan Ruth E. , Eller Anthony I.
Published: October 2005

Many Navy standard and other widely used underwater acoustic propagation models were developed through an evolutionary process to address applications featuring narrow-band or single-frequency cw signals. A consequence of this development process is that, although the models may handle the originally intended problem very well, they are not necessarily able to describe the propagation of high resolution pulses or transients, where time-domain or multi-frequency FFT approaches seem called for. This paper presents the results of an evaluation of several propagation models to characterize short duration signals. The models tested represent a variety of physics-based approaches: parabolic equation, rays and Gaussian beams, modes, and hybrid approaches. The evaluation criteria include an ability of the modeling system to accommodate real-world, in-situ environments, accuracy of the results in the context of intended applications, and reasonable execution time.
The effects of featural priming on word recognition
Authors: Morrish E.
Published: October 2005

The aim of this paper is to test the hypothesis that broad phonetic categories [V. Zue, Proc. IEEE 73, 1602–1615 (1985)] can act as a contact representation for lexical access. The results of this work will be considered in terms of implications for the neighborhood activation model. The technique used in this experiment was ‘‘phonetic priming’’ [A. Jongman and J. Sereno, Working Papers Cornell Phon. Lab. 7, 151–176 (1992)]. Subjects were asked to make a lexical decision about a target word which was preceded by a subphonemic prime (either an ambiguous fricative or an ambiguous stop). The prime either matched or mismatched the manner of articulation of the initial phoneme of the target. Reaction time results showed an interaction between initial and prime, so that when these matched, the subjects’ reaction time was inhibited. Furthermore the neighborhood effect [Goldinger etal., J. Memory Lang. 28, 501–518 (1989)], that words from a low-density similarity neighborhood are recognized faster than words from a high-density neighborhood, was enhanced by the presence of the phonetically related prime. These results suggest that broad phonetic features may activate lexical candidates.
Lexical influence on the perception and segmentation of speech: Evidence from the migration paradigm
Authors: Mattys Sven L. , Samuel Arthur G.
Published: October 2005

The present study addresses the issue of lexical influence on perception through a new paradigm based on the migration of linguistic units from one ear to the other when two stimuli are presented dichotically. For example, ‘‘dentast’’ and ‘‘kolbisk’’ could be presented dichotically, with subjects judging if ‘‘dentist’’ was presented. The migration of the vowel, leading to erroneous perception of a pre-specified target, occurred less often with word targets than with nonsense word targets. This result indicate that the lexical representation of a signal imposes some restriction on the acoustic-phonetic stage of processing of the signal. Furthermore, when the two items of the pairs were played binaurally rather than dichotically, the migration rate increased substantially, but the size of the lexical effect remained unchanged. However, the lexical effect disappeared when the migrating vowel was located in the stressed syllable of the stimuli. In this condition, the lexical resistance collapses and words become as susceptible to migrations as nonsense words. This second result may suggest that lexical access is initiated on strong syllables of words: when the stressed syllable is mispronounced, lexical access is impaired, eliminating the lexical effect. [Work supported by AFOSR, NIMH, and BAEF.]
Phonological and phonotactic influences on perception of two non-native vowel contrasts
Authors: Avery Robert A. , Best Catherine T.
Published: October 2005

Listeners’ native phonology constrains their perception of non-native phonetic distinctions. Although most non-native contrasts are discriminated poorly, recent findings that certain contrasts are discriminated well led to development of a ‘‘perceptual assimilation model’’ (PAM), which proposes that the perceptual assimilation of non-native phones to native categories predicts discrimination performance [e.g., Best etal., JEP:HPP 14, 345–360 (1988)]. The current study investigated native phonotactic influences on three assimilation patterns. Non-native contrasts that: (1) assimilate to two categories (TC) and show excellent discrimination; (2) assimilate equally to a single category (SC) and show poor discrimination; (3) assimilate as a category goodness difference (CG) and show good discrimination. American adults labeled and discriminated lip-rounding contrasts among Norwegian high front vowels [/i/–/y/; /barred you/–/y/] in CV’s and CVC’s. In both contexts, Norwegian /i/ of course was assimilated to English /i/; /barred you/ was assimilated to /u/. Although /y/ was assimilated equally to /barred you/ or /i/ in CVCs, it was virtually always called /i/ in CVs, compatible with the English phonotactic constraint against final lax vowels. Thus, /barred you/–/y/ showed TC assimilation and good discrimination in both syllabic contexts. In CVs, /i/–/y/ showed SC assimilation and poor discrimination; in CVCs, it showed TC or CG assimilation and good discrimination.
Phonotactic and metrical influences on subjective ratings of spoken nonsense words
Authors: Vitevitch Michael S. , Luce Paul A. , Charles-Luce Jan , Kemmerer David
Published: October 2005

This research examined English speakers’ intuitions about the phonological ‘‘goodness’’ of nonsense words. Subjects rated bisyllabic, CVCCVC nonsense words that varied in phonotactic probability and stress placement. Using a ten-point scale, subjects judged how English-like the nonsense words sounded. Although all nonsense words were phonotactically legal in English, subjects showed strong preferences for stimuli composed of highly probable phonotactic contributions. Moreover, subjects judged nonsense words with strong–weak stress patterns as constituting ‘‘better’’ sounding English words than nonsense words with weak–strong patterns. No interaction between phonotactic probability and stress was observed. These results will be discussed in light of recent findings regarding adults’ (Auer and Luce, 1993) and infants’ (Jusczyk, Luce, and Charles-Luce, 1994) sensitivity to the phonotactic configurations of spoken stimuli. [Work supported by NIDCD.]
The segmental representation of words as revealed by priming in a lexical decision task
Authors: Sawusch James R. , Palmer Nancy J.
Published: October 2005

In previous studies, a priming task has been used to explore the nature of the segmental representation of words. The phonetic overlap between a prime and a target was varied and the speed of naming or lexical decision to the target examined. The previous results showed that when phonemes occurred in the same syllable position in prime and target, responses to the target were faster than for control trials where the prime and target had no phonemes in common. In contrast, when prime and target shared phonemes but the positions of the phonemes in prime and target were different, no facilitation of target responses was found. In a new series of studies, this result is further examined using new stimuli and a dichotic priming format. Results will be discussed in terms of their implications for the nature of the abstract, segmental representation that underlies word recognition and lexical access. [Work supported by NIDCD Grant DC00219 to SUNY at Buffalo.]
The acoustic characteristics of babble produced by infants with and without early onset otitis media with effusion
Authors: Rvachew Susan , Slawinski Elzbieta B.
Published: October 2005

Prelinguistic speech development was studied longitudinally in two groups of infants: nine infants in the early onset group experienced their first episode of otitis media with effusion (OME) at or before the age of 6 months; nine infants in the late onset group experienced no OME before 9 months of age. All children were assessed at 6, 9, 12, 15, and 18 months of age. Each assessment consisted of an audiometric assessment and a recording of babble/speech produced by the infant. Acoustic analysis of the babble/speech samples revealed the following: all infants showed an increase in the frequency of canonical babble with age, when canonical babble is defined according to the acoustic criteria suggested by Oller [in B. Lindblom and R. Zetterstrom (Eds.) PrecursorsofEarlySpeech (1986)]; the mean canonical babble ratio was greater for the late onset group in comparison with the early onset group at all age levels; the vowels produced by some infants with recurring or chronic OME were characterized by a restricted range of second formant values. These findings suggest that the canonical babble ratio may be a useful measure for investigating the relationship between OME and speech delay in infants and young children. [Work supported by MRC.]
Effect of relative amplitude, presentation level, and vowel duration on perception of voiceless stop consonants by normal and impaired listeners
Authors: Hendrick Mark S. , Jesteadt Walt
Published: October 2005

In the present study, previous work on the influence of relative amplitude and presentation level in listeners with normal hearing and those with sensorineural hearing loss is extended to include (1) a comparison of relative amplitude manipulation in the presence of neutral formant transitions versus manipulation of both formant transition and relative amplitude and (2) the additional variable of vowel duration. Synthetic CV stimuli were used, and the amplitude of the burst relative to the vowel in the F4–F5 frequency range was varied across a 20-dB range. In experiment 1, some stimuli had neutral formant transition values and relative amplitude manipulations; other stimuli had both formant transition and relative amplitude manipulations. For stimuli in experiment 2, neutral formant transition values were used, relative amplitude was manipulated, and vowel duration ranged from 14 to 200 ms. Results from experiment showed no significant difference between subject groups when only relative amplitude information was manipulated, but significant differences when both relative amplitude and formant transition information was present. Results from experiment 2 indicated that vowel duration influenced the use of relative amplitude by listeners with normal hearing, but did not have this effect for listeners with sensorineural hearing loss. [Work supported by NIH.]
Reading disability: A deficit in the processing of rapid spectral changes or in phonological coding?
Authors: Mody Maria , Studdert-Kennedy Michael
Published: October 2005

Reading-impaired children have been said to suffer from an auditory deficit, indexed by difficulties in processing formant transitions [P. Tallal, Brain & Lang. 9, 182–198 (1980)]. Having established that poor readers (n=20) made significantly more errors than good readers (n=20) on discrimination between stop-vowel syllables, contrasting in initial F2 and F3 transitions (/ba/ and /da/), but not between nonspeech sinewave analogs of F2 and F3, the present study compared the same groups on identification of (i) a /sei-stei/ synthetic continuum, where F1 transition cued the contrast, and (ii) two hybrid /su–sh/ continua, each icative series by the formant transitions of naturally spoken vowels. Poor readers did not differ from good readers in phoneme boundaries, but did exhibit shallower identification functions, significantly so on the fricative continua. The results do not support the hypothesized auditory deficit: Less consistent discrimination or identification by poor readers on speech tasks but not on the nonspeech control task, suggests phonological rather than auditory difficulties.
Speaking rate and alcohol intoxication
Authors: DeJong Gea , Hollien Harry , Martin Camilo , Alderman G. Allan
Published: October 2005

Eighteen subjects were recorded at five different levels of intoxication: i.e., at BrAC levels of 0.00, 0.04–0.05, 0.08–0.09, 0.12–0.13, and 0.09–0.08. Two of the speech tasks completed were: reading a standard passage and repeating diadochokinetic syllables as fast as possible. The effects of intoxication on speaking rate were measured by the time needed to read the rainbow passage and produce 20 utterances of ‘‘pataka,’’ ‘‘shapupi,’’ and ‘‘buttercup.’’ The first of these reflects the subjects’ ability to sustain motor speech and the second their motor speech competence. Although variation was observed among speakers, the overall tendency was for both the diadochokinetic test and the rainbow passage to increase in length (s) from sober (BrAC=0.00) to the intoxicated level (BrAC=0.12). Further, the aural perceptual experiments carried out in parallel suggest that listeners might use rate when judging the level of intoxication. That is, speakers judged as highly intoxicated at 0.12 BrAC (ratings were performed by 50 auditors using a 5-pt. scale) exhibited a mean difference of 3.05 s between sober and intoxicated utterances, whereas those speakers who did not sound intoxicated showed a mean difference of 0.05 s. [Research supported by NIH.]
Acoustic and perceptual effects of endoscopic nasal surgery
Authors: Chen Marilyn Y. , Metson Ralph
Published: October 2005

The aim of this paper is to determine the effects of surgical alterations of nasal anatomy on the spectral characteristics and perceptual attributes of speech. Five patients who underwent endoscopic nasal surgery were recorded prior to surgery, and 1 week and 1 month after surgery. The utterances were six vowel types adjacent to nasal consonants and stop consonants. In addition to endonasal surgery enlarging the sinus openings, some patients had a correction of deviated septum, resection of a turbinate, or removal of polyps. Acoustic analysis was carried out for nasalized vowels, non-nasalized vowels, and the nasal consonants /m/ and /n/. Significant differences in spectral properties were observed in the consonants and nasalized vowels recorded before and after surgery. For example, changes were found in the prominence of extra peaks due to nasalization and the first formant bandwidth was narrower for the nasal consonants and nasalized vowels. All except one patient perceived a change in their speech post-operatively. Attempts were made to account for the speech changes by incorporating the anatomical alterations caused by surgery into a speech production model. [Work supported by NSF NIH, and LeBel fellowship.]
EMMA and x-ray microbeam comparison
Authors: Byrd Dani , Browman Catherine P. , Goldstein Louis , Honorof Douglas
Published: October 2005

In the past, much articulatory movement data have been obtained using the x-ray microbeam. Currently, however, magnetometer systems such as EMMA are becoming predominant. A unique data set, addressing concerns of consistency between these instruments is reported. A single speaker was recorded with both instruments reading the same utterances: ‘‘It’s a [pV’CVp] again.’’ Data from two x-ray microbeam (XRMB) runs were collected on the same day (pellets re-placed for the second run); 27 months later the parallel EMMA data were collected. Vertical movement of the lower lip, tongue tip, and tongue body during the VCV’s was analyzed. Extrema positions (amplitudes) and distance and time between these positions (gestural displacements and durations) were obtained. The results demonstrate that the correlation between EMMA and XRMB runs is very high, almost as high as that between the two XRMB runs. Using further analyses of variance it was concluded confidently that the results obtained using EMMA for articulatory data collection do not differ substantially from those obtained for similar data collected at different time with the x-ray microbeam. [Work supported by NIH].
An acoustic and articulatory study of anticipatory labial coarticulation
Authors: Fourakis Marios , Xu Ying
Published: October 2005

The acoustic and articulatory aspects of anticipatory labial coarticulation were examined. One female native speaker of American English read a list containing ten repetitions of nonsense V1CV2 sequences where V1 was always [i], C was one of [s], [sh], [z], [yog], and V2 was one of [i], [u], or [a]. The movement of upper and lower lip and jaw were recorded using the strain gauge apparatus developed by Barlow and colleagues, and the acoustic signal was also recorded. Short term spectra were taken of the fricative noise at the beginning and at intervals spaced at 0.25, 0.50, and 0.75 of the duration of the fricative. Two spectral peaks were identified at each point. It was predicted that the frequencies of those peaks would be affected by the nature of the following vowel and that the coarse spectral track would show a downward movement when the following vowel was [u]. Neither of these predictions obtained. This result is in agreement with the EMG data of Gelfer etal. [ 2443–2445 (1989)] but not with the acoustic data of, among others. Sereno etal. [ 512–519 (1987)]. Results from a second speaker and from the analysis of the lip movement data will also be presented.
Correlating movement and acoustic measures of nasalization
Authors: Manuel Sharon Y. , Krakow Rena A.
Published: October 2005

Previous research using physiological instrumentation (e.g., Velotrace) has shown systematic effects of syllable structure and stress on velum movements [Krakow, in PhoneticsandPhonologyV (Nasals, Nasalization, andtheVelum, edited by Huffmann and Krakow (Academic, San Diego, 1993), pp. 87–113]. However, what has not been investigated previously is the correspondence between the time-varying position of the velum in such data and the timing and magnitude of acoustically detectable nasalization. A new technique developed by Chen [ 3283 (A) (1994)] for identifying the spectral effects of nasal coupling was found to provide a valuable way of linking the acoustic and articulatory changes related to velopharyngeal port aperture. This paper reports on acoustic-to-articulatory mapping using acoustic data collected in concert with Velotrace data for a number of different utterance types, including those with stressed versus unstressed syllables and those with syllable-initial versus syllable-final nasals. One consistent observation is that velum lowering can be quite extensive before acoustic effects are observed. [Work supported in part by NIH.]
Use of a spiking neural model to simulate lip motor unit activity and movements in speech
Authors: McClean Michael D. , Clay John L.
Published: October 2005

In order to clarify the nature of EMG-kinematic relationships involved in speech production, a rudimentary computer model of the lower lip as a neuromechanical system was developed. The model consists of three muscles having forcing functions that act on a common point. Each muscle is treated as a set of single motor units with associated motoneuron spike activity and muscle-unit twitch forces. The temporal patterns of motoneuron spike trains, which serve as the system input, are based on single motor unit EMG recordings obtained during syllable repetition [M. McClean and J. Clay, Society for Neuroscience Abstracts 19, 229.15 (1993)]. System output is evaluated in terms of lower-lip movement through the midsagittal plane. Simulations produce realistic movement patterns when they are constrained by reasonable assumptions about motor unit intrinsic properties, muscle force angles, and relative timing of motoneuron spike trains. Initial applications of the model have focused on the mechanisms of speech rate control. Different rates of syllable production are established by the overall temporal patterns of motoneuron spike trains, and the effects of varying system parameters are evaluated at each rate.
Clarity versus effort in speech production: Initial results of a pilot study
Authors: Perkell Joseph , Matthies Melanie , Svirsky Mario , Wilhelms-Tricarico Reiner
Published: October 2005

The goal of this research is to test the hypothesis that there is a trading relation between clarity and effort in speech production. Midsagittal-plane articulatory movements of points on the tongue body, tongue blade, lips and mandible (with an EMMA system) and the acoustic signal from a male talker in five speaking conditions: normal, clear, clear plus fast, fast, and slow, were recorded. Different CVC words were embedded in two positions in a carrier phrase. Analyses were performed as a function of speaking condition and position in the phrase. As an example, CV movements of a point on the tongue body for the word ‘‘cab’’ have the following characteristics. Movement duration was shorter for position two; in both positions, it followed the order: slow≳clear≳normal≳clear plus fast≳fast. The range of distance traveled was greater for slow and for clear, than the other conditions. Peak velocity was higher for fast and clear plus fast than the other conditions. Midsagittal plane location at movement end was less variable with the longer duration movements of the word in position one. Effort was higher for clear, clear plus fast and fast, than for normal or slow, in both word positions. [Work supported by N.I.D.C.D.]
The gestural and temporal organization of assimilation
Authors: Wood Sidney A. J.
Published: October 2005

Ever since Wang and Fillmore [J. Speech Hear. Res. 4, 130 (1961)] phoneticians have distinguished between nonpredictable language-specific speech habits and predictable universal articulatory constraints, the former being cortical and extrinsic to the vocal tract, the latter intrinsic to the vocal tract and the consequence of articulation mechanics. Assimilation came to be seen as an intrinsic vocal tract process, explained in terms of Öhman’s model of coarticulation [ 151 (1966)]. This contrasts with classical phonetics where assimilation is the result of preplanned reorganization of articulation. The work reported in this paper favors the classical view. Gestures involved in an assimilation are initiated earlier, delayed, or are held longer, than in nonassimilated situations. It is argued that this revision of gesture timing in relation to adjacent activity is an expression of preplanning of motor commands that takes place in the cortex where there is access to larger portions of the utterance (the subcortical motor structures have limited access and cannot advance or delay gestures). Examples of palatalization of Bulgarian apico-alveolar stops and Swedish palatovelar stops are presented. The data are analyzed from x-ray motion films by procedures described by Wood [J. Phon. 19, 281 (1991)].
Modeling pathologic vocal quality. Part II
Authors: Gerratt Bruce R. , Kreiman Jody
Published: October 2005

The utility of acoustic measures of pathologic voice depends on their consistent correspondence to physiological states or to what listeners hear. Unfortunately, such consistent patterns of association have never emerged, despite many years’ reseach. Attempts to map from acoustics to physiology may never produce unique associations, because many physiological configurations may produce equivalent acoustic signals. Similarly, studies seeking correlations between acoustic and perceptual measures will never produce consistent, replicable associations, because individual differences in perceptual strategy are so great that unique mappings do not exist, as argued in Part I. It is believed that the difficulties in establishing acoustic–perceptual relations in voice research can be solved only by modeling quality as an interaction between a particular listener and voice, rather than as a property of the voices themselves. An analysis-by-synthesis method is described in which listeners construct a synthetic signal to match a particular natural voice. In this way, listeners’ perceptions are defined objectively by the values of the synthesizer parameters they select. This approach explicitly links acoustic representations to perceived qualities, thus reducing concerns about utility and validity in both domains.
Acoustic transients research at the Naval Research Laboratory
Authors: Finette Steven , Mignerey Peter C. , Field Robert L. , Franchi Edward R.
Published: October 2005

From 1988 to 1992 the Naval Research Laboratory conducted basic research in acoustic transients. This paper will summarize the key results of that research. First, the time-domain parabolic equation model was developed to predict the effects of the ocean environment on acoustic transient signals. Comparisons between modeled and measured ocean impulse responses will be reviewed and the ability of the model to predict signal feature distortion will be shown for data from an Atlantic, downward refracting, range-dependent environment. Second, the development of a multi-sensor deconvolution estimator which makes full use of an array aperture will be discussed. Use of the full array aperture ensures that no part of the impulse response spectrum drops out due to poor illumination. Multi-sensor deconvolution processors based on this principle have produced stable reconstructions of source time-series. Data will be shown that illustrate successful multi-sensor deconvolution that was obtained by a large, vertical, line-array in a deep Pacific environment for source–receiver separations of 1–2 convergence zones. Third, time-domain higher-order correlators were developed for the detection and time-delay estimation of short-time/broadband transients. The signal and environmental conditions required for higher-order processors to outperform conventional cross-correlators will be shown.
Experience predicting structure-borne noise within a prototype rectangular acoustical enclosure
Authors: Bernhard Robert J. , Franchek Nancy M.
Published: October 2005

Approximately 10 years ago a large rectangular enclosure was designed and constructed using a steel super-structure and sand-filled, double-panel plywood walls. The enclosure is approximately the size of a transportation vehicle passenger cabin (1.85 m by 1.05 m by 1.05 m). The enclosure was built such that any of the walls could be replaced with more realistic structures such as vehicle panel constructions. The enclosure has been modified many times to accommodate various experimental apparatus. In this paper, the design of the enclosure will be described and some of the original data used to verify its characteristics will be shown. Recently, the enclosure has been modified to resemble structure (f) described by the Structure-borne Noise Committee of INCE-USA. One wall of the structure has been replaced by a simply supported panel. Experimental results have been compared to analytical and numerical predictions for both internal acoustic excitation and mechanical excitation of the panel. These results will be discussed. In addition, an effort has been made to design a small version of this enclosure which could be used for round robin testing. Preliminary results of this effort will also be discussed.