bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Predicting Color Development and Texture Changes in Tomatoes Treated With Hot Water and Exposed to High‐Temperature Ethylene Using Support Vector Regression
Authors: Madasamy Raja G. , Selvaraju P. , Pathmanaban P. , Vamsi Sagar P.
Published: January 2025

This study investigated the impacts of hot water treatment (HWT) at 50°C or 25°C for 5 min and high‐temperature ethylene (HTE) exposure at varying temperatures (20°C, 30°C, or 35°C) and durations (24, 48, or 72 h) on the postharvest quality and antioxidant properties of mature green tomatoes (MG). Color changes, physicochemical characteristics, antioxidant compounds, and overall antioxidant ability were assessed. HWT increased β‐carotene levels and oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) while preserving color metrics, despite later HTE exposure. Exposure to HTE delayed ripening, increased titratable acidity, and reduced dry matter content. The effects on antioxidant compounds varied depending on temperature and duration of exposure. A support vector regression (SVR) model predicted color parameters with high performance (R2 > 0.85) for lightness (L*), greenness‐redness (a*), blueness‐yellowness (b*), chroma, and hue values. The findings highlight the potential of HWT in postharvest quality management and underscore the complex interplay between HWT and HTE on tomato quality parameters.
External Validation of Two 10‐Year Stroke Risk Prediction Models Using Korean Genome and Epidemiology Study Data
Authors: Lee Eun Joo , Kim Seol Bin , Jeong Ihn Sook
Published: January 2025

This study aimed to externally validate two 10‐year stroke risk prediction models: one developed in Korea (Model 1) and the other in China (Model 2), using community‐based cohort data. Data from 8432 participants in Model 1 and 8915 participants in Model 2 were analyzed. Stroke risk was calculated based on each model's equations, and model performance was assessed using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC). Age, blood pressure, and diabetes mellitus were significant common risk factors for stroke in both men and women. The AUCs of Model 1 were 0.72 for men and 0.68 for women, while those of Model 2 were 0.70 for men and 0.66 for women. When simplified to include 3–5 significant factors, the AUCs of Model 1 remained almost unchanged for both sexes, while those of Model 2 were 0.68 for men and 0.63 for women. In conclusion, the performance of both models was insufficient for the participants in this study. Therefore, it is suggested that stroke prediction models be developed using the most significant risk factors of each target population.
More self‐efficacy is associated with longitudinally higher health‐related quality of life in mechanically ventilated COVID‐19 ICU survivors: The prospective MaastrICCht cohort
Authors: Tiels Laura M. , Wintjens Marieke S. J. N. , Waardenburg Sophie , van Rosmalen Frank , van Kuijk Sander M. J. , van der Horst Iwan C. C. , Luiten Regien , van Bussel Bas C. T. , van Mook Walther N. K. A. , Hemmen Bea , van Santen Susanne
Published: January 2025

Background

More self‐efficacy leads to greater confidence in one's ability to perform actions to achieve treatment goals. Therefore, self‐efficacy may affect patient recovery and health‐related quality of life (HRQoL) after ICU discharge.

Aim

In a cohort of mechanically ventilated COVID‐19 survivors, we examined the associations between self‐efficacy at 3 months and HRQoL at 3, 12 and 24 months after discharge.

Study Design

Mechanically ventilated survivors of the MaastrICCht cohort that completed a self‐efficacy assessment with the General Self‐Efficacy Scale (GSES) were included. HRQoL was measured using the EuroQol 5 Dimensions 5 Levels (EQ‐5D‐5L), subdivided into a health utility score (EQ‐HUS) and visual analogue scale (EQ‐VAS). Linear regression models were used to investigate associations between self‐efficacy and HRQoL and were adjusted for age, sex, body mass index (BMI), Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE II) score, ICU length of stay and hospital discharge location.

Results

In 87 ICU survivors, more self‐efficacy at 3 months after ICU discharge was associated with longitudinally higher EQ‐HUS (β = 0.01; 95% CI: 0.01–0.02; p < 0.001) and higher EQ‐VAS (β = 1.00; 95% CI: 0.66–1.35; p < 0.001) up to 2 years after ICU discharge. After adjustment for age, sex, BMI, APACHE II score, ICU length of stay, and hospital discharge location, associations were similar.

Conclusions

More self‐efficacy at 3 months after ICU discharge was associated with longitudinally higher HRQoL up to 2 years after ICU discharge in mechanically ventilated COVID‐19 survivors.

Relevance to Clinical Practice

Screening for self‐efficacy in patients post‐ICU as well as developing interventions to improve self‐efficacy are a target post‐ICU to enhance HRQoL over the long term.
Early Initiation of Bundle Sheath Cells During Leaf Development as Visualised by SCARECROW Expression in Dicotyledonous C4 Plants
Authors: Munekage Yuri N. , Osawa Mei , Taniguchi Yukimi Y. , Okudono Ken , Sage Tammy L.
Published: January 2025

The C4 type of dicotyledonous plants exhibit a higher density of reticulate veins than the C3 type, with a nearly 1:1 ratio of mesophyll cells (MCs) to bundle sheath cells (BSCs). To understand how this C4‐type cell pattern is formed, we identified two SCARECROW (SCR) genes in C4 Flaveria bidentis, FbSCR1 and FbSCR2, that fully or partially complement the endodermal cell layer‐defective phenotype of Arabidopsis scr mutant. We then created FbSCRs promoter β‐glucuronidase reporter (GUS) lines of F. bidentis, which showed GUS expression in BSCs and their progenitor cells. The GUS expression pattern in F. bidentis transformants and comparison with the closely related C3‐type Flaveria pringlei revealed that higher‐order veins were initiated in the early leaf developmental stage. Treatment with an auxin polarity transport inhibitor decreased the MC area and led to vein formation without free ends, resulting in the formation of BSCs in positions adjacent to other BSCs. However, BSC differentiation was not affected, as evidenced by BSC specific FbSCR1 expression and RuBisCO accumulation. These results indicate that polar auxin transport is important for MC proliferation and/or differentiation, which leads to the formation of a C4‐type cell pattern in which MCs and BSCs are equally adjacent.
ABO incompatibility and component irradiation are independently associated with platelet transfusion reaction rate
Authors: Hogan Keenan O. , Mudunkotuwa Geethanjalee , Phadnis Milind , Zheng X. Long , Ye Zhan
Published: January 2025

Background

Allocating incompatible platelet components to avoid product wastage must be balanced against the risk of reduced efficacy and adverse outcomes. The impact of platelet compatibility in association with product irradiation or pathogen reduction is unknown. This study aims to determine the combined and independent impact of platelet compatibility and component modification on transfusion reaction rate.

Study Design and Methods

A retrospective review of all adult platelet transfusions from 2020 to 2022 was performed, including all reported reactions. Logistic regression was performed to evaluate the significance of ABO compatibility and unit modification for reaction rate.

Results

Out of 21,330 transfusions to 3450 patients, 285 (1.33%) reactions were reported and 178 (0.83%) were diagnosed as related to transfusion, predominantly febrile nonhemolytic (n = 59) and allergic (n = 102). The compatibility of transfusion was 67.7% ABO identical, 13.8% ABO minor incompatible, 17.2% ABO major incompatible, and 1.4% ABO bidirectionally incompatible. Irradiated, unmodified, and pathogen‐reduced single‐donor platelets were transfused in 70.9%, 21.8%, and 7.3% of cases, respectively. Univariable regression demonstrated increased odds of reaction for major incompatibility vs. ABO identical (OR: 1.92; 95% CI: 1.36–2.71) and irradiated vs. unmodified (OR: 2.34; 95% CI: 1.45–3.91), which were confirmed by multivariable analysis. The effect of compatibility and unit modification were independent in all analyses.

Conclusions

The results demonstrate a trend of increasing reaction rate associated with major incompatibility and product irradiation. This study provides additional data to inform institutional policies guiding product selection for individual patients.
The Integration of Technical and Social Humanism Dimension on the Construct of Digital Media Empowerment: A Study on Generation Z
Authors: Irwansyah Irwansyah , Ernungtyas Niken Febrina
Published: January 2025

The widespread incorporation of digital technology in education emphasizes the imperative to empower students with digital media skills. This study examined the integration of technical and social humanism dimensions of digital media empowerment construct for students of senior high school as a representative of Generation Z. The study implemented the digital media empowerment construct for student learning especially on Generation Z. The survey of digital media empowerment constructs was applied in several public and private senior high schools in Jakarta city. The finding showed the valid items of eight dimensions have high reliability. The results indicated that eight dimensions were successfully integrated into the digital media empowerment construct. When Generation Z deals with technical dimensions, they may consider social humanism dimensions to empower their media digital savvy. The findings of the integration between technical and social humanism dimensions were discussed in terms of Generation Z characteristics.
Participation in bioacoustics career discussion--Jennifer Miksis-Olds
Authors: Miksis-Olds Jennifer
Published: January 2025

This session will gather participants spanning students to late career professionals to have a conversation about work in bioacoustics. Each participant will give a brief introduction on their background and career path with ample time allotted for Q&A. Topics will include professional development, the importance of mentors, work/life balance, integrating family into careers, and more!
Amaro Tuninetti
Authors: Tuninetti Amaro
Published: January 2025

I am a postdoctoral researcher in Dr. Laura Kloepper's Ecological Acoustics and Behavior Lab at the University of New Hampshire. My educational background is in cognitive science and my research is on bat echolocation. This session will gather participants spanning students to late career professionals to have a conversation about work in bioacoustics. Each participant will give a brief introduction on their background and career path with ample time allotted for Q&A. Topics will include professional development, the importance of mentors, work/life balance, integrating family into careers, and more!
Conversation with Xavier Mouy (Assistant Scientist, WHOI)
Authors: Mouy Xavier
Published: January 2025

This session will gather participants spanning students to late career professionals to have a conversation about work in bioacoustics. Each participant will give a brief introduction on their background and career path with ample time allotted for Q&A. Topics will include professional development, the importance of mentors, work/life balance, integrating family into careers, and more!
The journey from bench to bedside: Converting the science of acoustics into medical technologies for the benefit of patients
Authors: Coussios Constantin
Published: January 2025

The science of acoustics has extraordinary potential to enable the development of new therapies ranging from non-invasive surgery to oncological drug delivery, neuromodulation, transdermal immunization, and immune-modulation. However, these relatively complex medical devices or combination products often challenge established clinical pathways and face considerable regulatory, usability, adoption, and reimbursement challenges. Using case studies drawn from the clinical translation of novel ultrasound technologies for drug delivery and tissue fractionation, as well as other medical technologies, some of the generic choices and considerations that should be identified and mitigated early on in the technological and commercial development process will be highlighted. For example, products involving ultrasound-responsive injectables require an in-depth understanding of their stability and stimulus-responsiveness, accompanied by the ability to confirm these characteristics post scale-up and sterilization. For all ultrasound technologies, pre-clinical testing also needs to be expanded beyond animal models to address scale and other challenges unique to humans in order to ensure preparedness for a successful clinical trial. Last but not least, the design of early feasibility trials needs to enable confirmation of the mechanism of action of the proposed new therapy and quantification of its potential added benefit relative to the most appropriate current or emerging standard-of-care.
One lab to many: Commercialization of an automated 3D pre-clinical ultrasound imaging system
Authors: Dayton Paul A. , Gessner Ryan
Published: January 2025

The Vega preclinical ultrasound system (Revvity, Inc.) is now a popular imaging tool used worldwide for automated volumetric imaging of rodents. However, like many modern scientific products, the birth of this technology started in an academic research lab. In this panel discussion, the birth and evolution of the automated small animal ultrasound system will be discussed, as well as the path this technology followed from lab, to startup company, through acquisition, and now worldwide sales. We will discuss funding, leadership, and intellectual property highlights and challenges over the technology’s decade long journey.
Artificial intelligence versus human listening to music: Problems and solutions
Authors: Calilhanna Andrea
Published: January 2025

This session explores emerging innovations and challenges in artificial intelligence technology and practices. Panelists will present short papers on their work with AI and human interventions. A series of short talks about cutting-edge topics with insight into the research's benefits will be followed by a discussion. The audience will be encouraged to share their experience with AI and human listening. Does AI listen? How is human listening more advanced than AI? Where can AI and human listening intersect to improve outcomes? The session will provide opportunities for contributing to a broader conversation about solutions and progress in AI and human listening with topics from audio engineering, therapeutic applications, cultural heritage data, education, and AI-generated versus human music.
A virtual lab tour at Bose Corporation
Authors: Tengelsen Daniel , Dick David A.
Published: January 2025

Have you ever wondered what the research and development processes look like outside of academia? In this talk, we’ll provide one example by overviewing what the acoustics-related research and development work looks like at Bose Corporation. We’ll provide a general walkthrough of the facilities used to create acoustic prototypes as well as the labs that an acoustical engineer would use to do, and check, their work. These unique and specialized labs are key enablers in creating products and experiences that include headphones, portable speakers, home theater systems, and automotive audio systems.
Visualization of three-dimensional acoustic radiation of Stradivari and Guarneri Violins using finite element analysis
Authors: Asada Hitoshi
Published: January 2025

Antonio Stradivari (1644-1737) and Guarneri del Gesù (1698-1744) are known for their remarkable violins.In this study, FE models were generated from computed tomography scan data of Willmotte Stradivari and Plowden Guarneri violins to visualize acoustic radiation into the air based on calculations of frequency response and mode shapes considering string tension preloading by numerical simulation. The results of the numerical simulation of the frequency response and mode shapes, mainly in the signature mode such as A0, CBR, B1-, and B1+, agreed with the measured data from the laser Doppler velocimeter.Furthermore, the acoustic radiation analysis results showed that the Stradivari and Guarneri results showed a difference in the tendency of sound radiation and suggested that the string tension preload may affect the directivity of the acoustic radiation. These results suggest the need for obtaining measured mode shapes from actual measurements and the importance of the influence of string tension preloading in considering geometry differences in Stradivari and Guarneri violins using FEA and acoustic numerical simulation.
Enhancing Rayleigh-regime liquid jet breakup with MHz-order acoustic waves
Authors: Nguyen Kha , Friend James
Published: January 2025

We present a new device that effectively reduces the breakup of cylindrical Rayleigh-regime liquid jets in quiescent air. The device is made of lithium niobate, a piezoeletric material, to convert input electrical power into oscillation. A 10x10 mm crystal with a through hole of 1 mm in diameter placed at the outlet of the liquid's nozzle, the device creates 7 MHz acoustic waves that disrupt the stability of the jet. We show its effectiveness over a range of different input powers and Weber and Ohnesorge numbers. Furthermore, we show modelling results in COMSOL and equations that describe this new instability mechanism. This opens new doors for droplet-on-demand applications.
My favorite graph: Individual differences in cochlear implant outcomes
Authors: Moberly Aaron C. , Tamati Terrin N. , Pisoni David
Published: January 2025

The Childhood Development after Cochlear Implantation (CDaCI) study was a pivotal study of language development in children receiving cochlear implants (CIs) in the early 2000s. The main findings were that children receiving CIs developed better receptive and expressive language skills than would be predicted if they had not undergone implantation, presented in Niparko etal. (2010). Figure 1 from that publication showed the trajectories of language improvements after cochlear implantation, represented as spaghetti plots for individual CI children, relative to a group of normal-hearing (NH) peers. Figure 1 demonstrated enormous individual differences in receptive and expressive language scores for the CI children, spanning from zero (the minimal performance possible) to the maximal performance demonstrated by NH peers. Most research has focused on the significant group effect findings (CI versus NH), while neglecting a deep dive into the factors underlying the individual differences across participants. Yet, Figure 1 from Niparko et al. (2010) remains a valuable figure that has motivated work from our research groups to explain and predict CI outcomes, the longitudinal trajectories of outcomes following implantation, and sources of variability, which will be discussed at a high level and related back to Figure 1 by Niparko et al. (2010).
Characterizing porous materials using the two-cavity method: Numerical considerations and predictive accuracy
Authors: Ciletti Anthony , Godakawela Janith , Brown Martha C. , Sharma Bhisham
Published: January 2025

The characteristic impedance and propagation constant are intrinsic parameters for understanding the acoustic absorption performance of a porous material. These parameters can be characterized by testing a bulk absorber in a normal incidence impedance tube via the two-thickness or two-cavity method. The two-thickness method requires two samples backed by a hard wall. The two-cavity method requires only one sample to acquire these intrinsic parameters–a useful feature for characterizing materials expensive or difficult to manufacture. This study uses the two-cavity method to predict the surface impedance and absorption coefficient of various bulk materials. The samples tested include open-cell metallic and non-metallic foam, and additively manufactured diamond-type Triply Periodic Minimal Surface (TPMS) samples. The predictions derived from the two-cavity method are compared to the predictions derived from the two-thickness method and the measured results. Certain numerical conditions of impedance in the two-cavity calculations, dependent on selected cavity depths, impacted local predictive accuracy. Cavity depth sizing guidelines to avoid these numerical conditions and improve predictive accuracy are provided.
Reconsidering the formant correction formula in VoiceSauce
Authors: Chai Yuan , Keating Patricia A.
Published: January 2025

VoiceSauce (Shue et al., 2011) is an acoustic signal analysis software widely used for analyzing voice quality for various purposes (e.g., linguistic phonation acoustics: Keating et al., 2023; articulatory correlates: Wu & Zhang, 2023; speech disorder: Asiaee et al., 2022; singing: Meireles, 2016). One of the voice quality measurements provided by VoiceSauce is the amplitude difference between the first and second harmonics (H1–H2), a measurement widely used as a proxy for the degree of constriction of the vocal folds. The built-in formant correction formula (Iseli et al., 2007) in VoiceSauce enables users to remove the amplifying effect of vowel formants on harmonic energy, and consequently compare the harmonic energy across different vowel qualities. However, we found that the formant correction formula is unsuitable for correcting harmonics for formants much lower than the harmonic frequency. Such a correction will result in a large boost in the corrected harmonic energy. In this tutorial, we will demonstrate the rationale and problems of the formant correction formula used in VoiceSauce, how to modify the formant correction formula in VoiceSauce, and how to add additional harmonic parameters to VoiceSauce.
Time-frequency spectral optimization of underwater sonar acoustic returns for the purpose of characterization using spectral descriptors
Authors: Newcomb Wendy N. , Reddy Saaketh , Satish Aprameya , Medda Alessio
Published: January 2025

Underwater sonar acoustic returns of objects on the seafloor have many time varying components including the specular geometric backscatter, scattering from vibrational dynamics, helical, circumferential, and meridional Rayleigh waves, guided circumferential Lamb waves, and multipath from wave field reflections from both the object of interest and scene. These features of the acoustic return can reveal information about an object's shape, structure, material composition, and relationship to the background scene. Analysis of the acoustic return in the time-frequency domain is, therefore, useful for mine counter measure objectives.Optimizing the performance of various time-frequency transforms supports better understanding of the spectral behavior related to the time varying components of the acoustic return.This talk will examine the accuracy of several time-frequency representations including the short-time Fourier transform, the smoothed pseudo Wigner-Ville distribution, the empirical wavelet transform, and the chirplet transform.This work will take a detailed look at the relationships between measures of concentration, such as Renyi entropy, Stankovic concentration, frequency specificity, and resolution. Techniques are devised to improve the fidelity of the signal’s spectral content for each respective transform and to compare performance across transforms. The impact of this process is then assessed against a collection of time-frequency spectral descriptors.
Representation and temporal prediction of ocean states with fully complex autoencoders
Authors: Linhardt Timothy , Durofchalk Nicholas , Sen Gupta Ananya , Gemba Kay L. , Kirsteins Ivars
Published: January 2025

The one-directional oceanic channel is very dynamic and complicated. Changing temperatures affect sound speed, the tidal effects of the lunar cycle change depth and pressure, and the physical aperturing from undersea terrain filters the ever-changing multipath scattering rays. All of these effect the impulse response of the channel. This is a time-variant system with a very high number of degrees of freedom, and thus difficult to model and make predictions for. Autoencoders allow for the projection of the space of the varying channel transfer functions to a much lower dimensional “encoding space” from which physical interpretations may be gleaned, and constructing an autoencoder with fully complex neuron layers allows a better representation of the complex-valued transfer function space. Within the encoding space, temporal trends can be observed at scales of minutes or days, and ongoing research explores the predictive capacity of trends at these scales. [Work is done in collaboration with the Naval Postgraduate School and funded by US Department of Defense NEEC grant N00174-20-1-0016.]
Addressing non-linearity in tomography using ray theory
Authors: Hursky Paul , Laferriere Alison B. , Coelho Emanuel F.
Published: January 2025

Ocean acoustic tomography has been formulated as a linearized inversion of a forward model based on ray tracing. In this formulation, we are solving for refinements of a zero-order sound speed model that reproduce measured travel times, travel times that are also being modeled by the ray tracer. The linear approximation is based on calculating travel time perturbations by integrating the sound speed refinements over the ray paths, assuming the ray paths themselves are not impacted by the sound speed refinements. Clearly, the offset between the presumed (zero-order) sound speed and the actual sound speed may be so great that the ray paths need to be modified, not just the sound speeds being integrated along these paths to reproduce the travel time perturbations. There has been a lot of work on using full wave propagation models to predict the sensitivity of travel times to sound speed perturbation throughout the medium. We will present the use of ray theory, leveraging dynamic ray tracing to gain practical insights into how to alert a user and to overcome non-linearities that arise in tomography.
The building material renaissance: A review of innovative low-carbon, healthy, and acoustically viable building materials
Authors: Broyles Jonathan M.
Published: January 2025

With the pressing need to curb carbon emissions in buildings, architects and designers are increasingly determining low-carbon mitigation strategies across all building disciplines. One solution is the selection of novel low-carbon construction materials, often composed of recycled materials, bio-based products, or wastes. These new building materials are commonly manufactured without harmful chemicals, thereby making the building safer for its occupants. Furthermore, many of the building materials have acoustic benefits, such as improved sound absorption at mid-frequencies. While this new era of building materials encourages low-carbon and healthy buildings, many designers are unaware of them and their advantages. This presentation aims to educate acousticians, designers, and other practitioners by providing a review of innovative building materials (e.g., Pliteq’s GenieMat, fSorb’s Acoustic Panels) that both aid decarbonization efforts and improve building acoustics. An additional outcome of this work is an early version of an open-access dataset of building materials and products for their carbon emissions and acoustic benefit. Overall, this presentation continues the theme of reducing the carbon emissions in the building environment while also considering occupant health and acoustic performance.
Acoustical oceanography curriculum at The University of Texas at Austin
Authors: Ballard Megan , Wilson Preston S. , Hamilton Mark F.
Published: January 2025

The acoustical oceanography (AO) curriculum at The University of Texas at Austin (UT) consists a number of courses and thesis research, which often includes field work. The core course is EE/ME 384N-5, Underwater Acoustics, which covers acoustic properties of the ocean, propagation, reflection, reverberation, scattering and target strength, ocean noise, array and signal processing and basic sonar design. The course is offered in alternate years and is cross-listed as both an electrical and mechanical engineering course. Prior to this, students usually take two semesters of physical acoustics: EE/ME 384N-1 and 2, Acoustics I and II, which covers plane waves in fluids, transient and steady-state reflection and transmission, lumped elements, refraction, ray acoustics, absorption and dispersion, spherical and cylindrical waves, radiation and scattering, multipole expansions, Green’s functions, waveguides, Fourier acoustics, and Kirchhoff theory of diffraction. Both are offered every year. Another course commonly taken by AO students is EE/ME 384N-3: Electromechanical Transducers, which covers basic modeling, analysis and design of acoustics and vibration transducers, including calibration. Recent student thesis topics have included marine acoustic ecology, the investigation of methane seeps, acoustic seagrass monitoring, and the assessment of glacial processes. Appropriate courses in UT’s natural and earth sciences departments supplement the acoustics courses.
Graduate programs in acoustics in the Physics and Oceanography Departments at the Naval Postgraduate School
Authors: Gemba Kay L. , Durofchalk Nicholas , Olson Derek , Godin Oleg A.
Published: January 2025

The Departments of Physics and Oceanography at the Naval Postgraduate School offer graduate programs leading to MS and PhD degrees. The acoustic track within the Department of Physics offers degrees in applied physics and engineering acoustics. Engineering acoustics degrees can be completed in either resident or distance learning modes. The department also offers stand-alone academic certificate programs in fundamentals of engineering acoustics, underwater acoustics, and sonar system applications, with a set of three certificates leading to a MS degree in engineering acoustics. MS and PhD programs are interdisciplinary, with coursework, traditional lectures, and laboratory exercises drawn primarily from the fields of physics, electrical engineering, and fundamental acoustics. The Oceanography Department offers degrees in both Physical Oceanography and a joint degree with Meteorology that are interdisciplinary. Both oceanography degrees contain a fundamentals of ocean acoustics course which is tightly coupled to the curriculum through dispersion relations. Connections between ocean processes and detection theory are made through a course on tactical oceanography. Subjects covered in both departments include fundamentals of acoustics; the generation, propagation, and reception of sound in the ocean; acoustic signal processing; and detection fundamentals.
Effective distinction of lipid microbubbles in pediatric bone phantom using a machine learning approach
Authors: Farid Mark , Brown Katherine , Tartis Michaelann , Hernandez Sonia , Sirsi Shashank
Published: January 2025

This study investigates the ability to detect microbubble attenuation signals across a bone phantom (meant to mimic a pediatric femur) using ultrasound and machine learning. Lipid microbubbles were fabricated and injected through a hollow capillary fiber (200 μm) in a water tank attached to a syringe pump. Focused ultrasound (1.1 MHz, 1–10 MPa, 500 pulses) was applied to the flowing bubbles in the presence or absence of a custom 3-D-printed bone phantom. A co-aligned passive cavitation detector (PCD) captured the reflected ultrasound signals. Ultrasound signals were compared using Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) to process the data. Eleven spectral features were extracted and used as the basis for machine learning algorithms. The results confirm that despite strong signal interference from the bone, machine learning can effectively distinguish the presence of lipid microbubbles. The study signifies the potential of lipid microbubbles for targeted drug delivery to bone marrow using PCD, a method often deemed challenging due to the hard barrier posed by bone structures. This method has important implications for medical treatments such as chemotherapy or gene therapy, which often struggle to reach the bone marrow due to its protective nature.
Miniature histotripsy device to treat human pathologies
Authors: Centner Connor , Mallay Matthew , Brown Jeremy , Kopechek Jonathan A.
Published: January 2025

A high-frequency (6 MHz), miniature histotripsy device was developed to treat human pathologies using bubble-based focused ultrasound therapy to mechanically ablate tissue. The goal of this study was to determine the effect of pulses per treatment point on bubble formation and subsequent tissue ablation area using tissue-mimicking phantoms. These phantoms were designed to closely simulate the mechanical and acoustic properties of human tissues. Fibrinogen and thrombin, along with 5% fetal bovine serum, were added to form a fibrin gel incubated at 37 °C for 1 h to ensure fibrin formation. Subsequently, human MC38 cells were co-cultured with the fibrin gel for at least 1 day prior to treatment. Histotripsy pulses above the cavitation threshold were applied ranging from 500 to 5000 pulses. Bubble formation and dynamics were monitored in real-time using ultrasound imaging to detect the extent of ablation and was compared to post hoc optic imaging. The results indicated that the number of pulses applied, and ultrasound pressure influenced bubble dynamics, which in turn affected the ablation area. Increased number of pulses applied was correlated with larger ablation areas, highlighting the importance of optimizing bubble detection under real-time imaging to maximize histotripsy treatment efficacy.
An advanced physics laboratory based on the compound string
Authors: Ratner Philip L. , Hoffman Kurt R.
Published: January 2025

The compound string is a simple one dimensional system that we are developing as an advanced undergraduate laboratory experiment. Experimentally, the winding of an overwound guitar string is unwrapped to create a discontinuity of the mass per unit length. When plucked at different positions along the string, the anharmonic frequencies of the normal modes create an unusual tone. The experiments to characterize the compound string expose students to high resolution FFT measurements, careful data analysis, and a non-trivial system to practice solving differential equations.
Thankful for a unique career path and trying to pay it forward
Authors: Hoover K. Anthony
Published: January 2025

It is so interesting to learn how someone found their career, especially a career in acoustics. Often, as was the author’s case, that path is a winding road filled with challenges and surprises. Especially unforeseen and fulfilling is the vast amount of teaching, with a number of students changing their own career paths toward grad school and consulting in acoustics.
Acoustically driven rapid flow through microporous media
Authors: Jayakumar Sujith , Manor Ofer , Friend James
Published: January 2025

Porous media provides numerous useful capabilities, including absorption, filtration, separation, and large surface areas for reactions and diagnostics. Acoustofluidic techniques have been tentatively explored to enhance flow in such media, but the majority of such work has problems, including flows that bypass the medium, irregular pores, slow or opposing flows, and non-directional random flow. Of particular interest is the porous material's significant acoustic losses; therefore, attenuation is greater when pore dimensions are small and non-directional. In this work, we drive fluids through randomly oriented pores as small as 12 micrometers. Acoustic streaming phenomena generated by the attenuation of traveling surface acoustic waves in the medium are used to pump the fluid. The media is carefully laminated with the sides sealed to facilitate flow solely through the media. The flow rates generated by a unique floating electrode unidirectional transducer (FEUDT) are compared with a typical interdigital transducer. Because the FEUDT is specifically designed to continuously generate unidirectional acoustic waves, we show that the flow is 3 times faster than the diffusion rate. Furthermore, we reveal new evidence of homogeneous mixing caused by acoustic streaming inside the porous media.
Acoustic streaming
Authors: Friend James
Published: January 2025

In recent years, the need for accurate analysis of acoustic streaming has become urgent, as classical methods fail to quantify flows generated by acoustic waves beyond a few hundred kHz. This problem, identified since Lighthill’s seminal 1978 namesake publication, remains unresolved. Researchers, including myself, have relied on computational analysis and approximations to address some of these challenges. Few have examined the dynamic behavior of acoustic streaming—such as delayed onset, response to inharmonic excitation, and flows sustained after the acoustic wave stops—despite their importance in experiments. The difficulty lies in analyzing these flows. However, after extensive work on an alternative approach, we now have a method for closed-form analysis of one-dimensional acoustic streaming that includes transient behavior and accounts for nonlinear compressibility and viscous effects. We offer a coherent and straightforward plan for analyzing simple acoustic streaming cases where classical theories fail. This method can model both steady-state and transient acoustic streaming, potentially eliminating the need for computational analysis and providing enough physical insight for design purposes. Our goal is to equip listeners with the tools to perform this analysis themselves without need for tedious computational methods.
Can resting electroencephalography index the development of listening-related fatigue?
Authors: Hunter Cynthia , McMullen Lydia , Magee Kiana
Published: January 2025

Sustained exertion of listening effort by people with hearing loss in order to recognize speech is thought to lead to mental fatigue. Listening-related fatigue has been measured primarily with self-reports. The current study tests the hypothesis that an objective neural measure of increased post-task power of alpha (8-12 Hz) and theta (4-8 Hz) neural rhythms from the resting electroencephalogram (EEG) can index the development of listening-related fatigue. Before and after a challenging listening task, 2 min of eyes-closed and eyes-open resting EEG and self-reports of fatigue on a visual-analogue scale were collected from older adults (n = 28) with age-appropriate hearing (pure-tone average hearing loss from 1, 2, and 4 kHz M = 31.94, SD = 16.74). A numerical trend for the expected post-task increase in power was observed for all EEG measures. However, the difference was significant only for the alpha-band measures. Self-reported fatigue also increased significantly post-task, confirming that the listening task induced the subjective experience of fatigue. These findings indicate that oscillatory power collected from resting EEG before and after a listening task has potential to serve as an objective, brain-based indicator of listening-related fatigue in older adults, with alpha as the most promising frequency band.
Stroop task response time: A comparison between sequential bilinguals
Authors: Launay-Fallasse Sophia , Siren Kathleen , Fossett Tepanta
Published: January 2025

Research on bilingual individuals provides evidence of a cognitive advantage compared with monolingual speakers. The dominant hypothesis is that language switching for bilingual individuals stimulates the executive function system helping to minimize cognitive interference and allow for multitasking situations. That is, bilingual individuals likely need to actively suppress interference from one language when they are in another language environment. Utilizing the Stroop task, a neuropsychological experiment measuring the brain’s speed and capacity to process competing information, researchers have demonstrated that bilingual speakers perform better than monolingual speakers. However, there is a paucity of research investigating the effect of order of language acquisition. This investigation examines accuracy and speed of verbal responses during a written word Stroop task for bilingual individuals who learned English first compared to bilingual individuals who learned English second. Twenty participants, ten whose language acquisition order was English then Spanish and ten whose language acquisition order was Spanish then English, completed the Stroop task in English. Preliminary results demonstrate no differences between the groups, suggesting language acquisition order does not impact the bilingual advantage in executive functioning.
Investigating speech articulatory control through dynamical model fitting
Authors: Stern Michael C. , Shaw Jason A.
Published: January 2025

Dynamical models of speech articulation link the continuous trajectories of articulators with stable parameters of phonological knowledge (e.g., Browman & Goldstein, 1989). We examined the fit of a recently proposed dynamical model (Stern & Shaw, 2024) to electromagnetic articulography (EMA) recordings of twelve English speakers and twelve Mandarin speakers. While fits to (labial) consonant constrictions were excellent (mean R 2 = .97), fits to consonant release movements and vowel constrictions were slightly worse (mean R 2 = .91 and.89, respectively). We explore two implications of this result. (1) Consonant release and vowel constriction target achievement may be coordinated in time, unlike consonant constriction target achievement (Kramer et al., 2023). The addition of a coupling term may improve model fit, constituting evidence for target-based gestural coordination in speech (Turk & Shattuck-Hufnagel, 2020). (2) Vowel constriction movements may be governed by two separate tasks, one controlling constriction location and one controlling constriction degree (Saltzman & Munhall, 1989). Model fit may be improved by separating vowel constriction dynamics into two systems, shedding light on the dimensionality of articulatory control.
Multi-atlas-based segmentation of vocal tract anatomy for children using label fusion techniques from dynamic MRI
Authors: Kang Hahn , Xing Fangxu , Gilbert Imani , Kim Jiyoon , Kostolansky Abigail R. , Perry Jamie , Sutton Bradley P. , Woo Jonghye
Published: January 2025

Segmentation of oral and velopharyngeal anatomy is essential for quantifying anatomical structures and analyzing the dynamic and discrete movements of these structures during speech production. This aids in the diagnosis and treatment of speech-related disorders as the different speech articulators are able to be analyzed independently and in relation to their co-articulatory movements. Direct visualization of structures and musculature important for speech production is best attained using MRI. Manual segmentation, however, is labor-intensive and often suffers from poor reproducibility, requiring automatic segmentation techniques to enhance efficiency. To address this, we aim to compare multi-atlas-based segmentation techniques to delineate the tongue, velum, and adenoid. We first constructed five spatiotemporal atlases of speech tasks, each with over 80 time frames. We treated each time frame as a single atlas, with diffeomorphic registration of 10 to 40 time frames in steps of 10 from the anchor spatiotemporal atlas with the other four atlases. Manual labels were propagated across the four atlases. Two label fusion techniques were compared: majority voting and joint label fusion, evaluated using the Dice Similarity Coefficient (DSC). Our results demonstrate that joint label fusion outperformed majority voting, achieving a DSC of over 0.84 on all four atlases, with the highest reaching a DSC of 0.87. These findings indicate that joint label fusion offers a promising tool for velopharyngeal and vocal tract motion analysis.
Contextual effects on the perception of English interdental fricatives /
θ
/ by Mandarin Chinese learners
Authors: Sheng Yuou
Published: January 2025

Mandarin Chinese lacks interdental fricatives, causing Mandarin Chinese learners to struggle in perceiving these sounds in English. This study explores how word position and vocalic context affect the perception of /θ/ by Mandarin Chinese learners. We test Mandarin Chinese learners and native English speakers using words containing the sound /θ/ in word-initial, medial, and final positions (e.g., think, nothing, bath), and in different vocalic contexts (e.g., think vs. thank). Participants complete a forced-choice identification task, listening to the target words in a carrier sentence and selecting the perceived word from two options. We record reaction time and accuracy for statistical analysis. We use generalized additive mixed modeling for reaction time and logistic mixed-effects modeling for response accuracy. We expect Mandarin Chinese learners to show longer reaction times and higher accuracy in perceiving /θ/ in the word-initial position than in media and final positions. Additionally, we anticipate that Mandarin Chinese learners perceive /θ/ more accurately when it is followed or preceded by a high vowel rather than a non-high vowel. Understanding these perception differences and contextual influences can inform more effective language teaching strategies, particularly in pronunciation training for Mandarin Chinese learners.
Mapping the sounds of New Orleans: Acoustic measurements of vowel mergers
Authors: Serditova Dana
Published: January 2025

New Orleans is a city with a complex history, tumultuous social landscape, and distinctive linguistic features. Nevertheless, it shares some phonetic trends with other urban centers in the US South, such as the de-merger of vowel mergers (Tillery & Bailey, 2004; Labov et al., 2006; and Austen, 2020). This talk aims to discuss methods for acoustically measuring vowel mergers and to interpret the sociolinguistic implications of these measurements. I will examine the PIN∼PEN and the FEEL∼FILL mergers acoustically, drawing on a socially balanced and representative dataset of 115 sociolinguistic interviews. Using Pillai scores and Bhattacharyya’s affinity to measure overlap, I will first demonstrate why the latter is preferred for statistical analysis. Additionally, for the FEEL∼FILL merger, generalized additive mixed models (GAMMs) are employed to model formant movement directly, and I will highlight the flexibility and nuanced nature of this methodology. Through acoustic analysis, linear mixed models, and GAMMs, I will show that there are overlapping trends influenced by factors such as age, gender, ethnoracial affiliation, vowel duration, and phonetic environment. Geographic variation in formant movement will be modeled directly and visualized on geospatial maps. This study advances our understanding of vowel mergers in the urban US South and provides a model for investigating merging in other socially diverse environments.
Phonetic imitation of a reduced voice onset time on word-initial voiceless stops by native English speakers
Authors: Dagar Erica
Published: January 2025

This paper investigated whether native English speakers with exposure to a true voicing language (Spanish) would imitate a reduced voice onset time (VOT) on word-initial voiceless stops in English. Nielsen (2011) indicates native English speakers will not imitate a reduced VOT on word-initial voiceless stops since it is approaching the phonological boundary with voiced stops. However, there have been several studies that have found imitation toward a phonological boundary (Mitterer and Enertus 2008, Podlipsky and Simackova 2015). There were nine Native English speakers, some with Spanish language exposure. They completed an imitation study with word initial /p/ and /k/ words with a reduced and enhanced VOT in English. Results indicate that those with and without Spanish exposure do imitate a reduced VOT on word initial voiceless stops in English. The results from the English speakers without Spanish exposure conflict with previous studies that found that native English speakers will not imitate a reduced VOT on word initial voiceless stops to preserve the phonological boundary with voiced stops. The results indicate that native English speakers, whether they have exposure to a true voicing language or not, will approach the phonological boundary with voiced stops in a VOT imitation task.