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The measurement of insulator leakage current in the field is necessary to have a better understanding of the electrical phenomena on the insulator surface. Since this electrical activity cannot be anticipated in advance, long term monitoring and storage of actual waveforms is necessary. This leads to significant accumulation of data. The presence of field noise in leakage current measurement further aggravates the problem of data size. The storage of noisy waveforms consumes available storage space without adding any significant information regarding the insulator condition. Therefore, it must be ensured that only the on-field recorded waveforms which reflect significant electrical activity on the surface are recorded. In this paper, the authors have proposed the use of Short- Time Modified Hilbert Transform (STMHT) to enhance the local characteristics of the field-recorded waveforms. It has been shown that the magnitude of the STMHT of a waveform at any instant has a good correlation with the slope of the waveform at that instant. Using this property, the proposed method is able to segregate the different types of field noise from waveforms portraying significant electrical activity. It is expected that this paper will contribute to the development of efficient devices for field monitoring of insulators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Institute of Ethnic Literature of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences is in the forefront of efforts to record, document, and analyze the living oral traditions of Chinas ethnic minorities, including works in the epic genre such as the three heroic epic cycles, namely the Gesar epic, the Janggar epic, and the Manas epic. In part, thanks to personal contacts between Chinese, North American, and European scholars, the Institute's current research initiatives are formulated in close interaction with theoretical models known in the West. Moreover, these initiatives are grounded in a threefold "archive/base/network" approach to the living oral traditions of China as vital elements of the intangible cultural heritage of humanity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

National memory is continuously contested in South Africa and archives and museums are often called upon to store objects or material remnants of similarly contested pasts or histories. In addition, these institutions may already have collections that could be seen as contentious. If we consider these institutions as places where history is produced, what should be done with these objects and collections in a democratic country? This article provides a critical enquiry into the systems through which these objects are produced/recorded, appraised, catalogued and preserved as one methodology through which we can engage more fully with how these resources can be mobilised in the present. As a case study, the article will look at the International Library of African Music (ILAM), arguably one of the most important music archives in South Africa. The largest portion of ILAM's holdings comprises field recordings collected by Hugh Tracey, a scholar who is both celebrated and contested. This paper proposes that through engaging with the processes and ambivalence inherent in Hugh Tracey's recording and classification methods, ILAM has the capacity to provide critical and nuanced insight into one of the most important collections of music in southern-Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author challenges perceptions of authorship within the practice of field recording, discussing sonic arts responses to political subject matters and examining the power dynamic among recordist/composer, subject and listener. He considers compositions drawing on recordings of protests as a medium to represent political content without recourse to language. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Excitation-inhibition balance is critical for maintaining proper functioning of the cerebral cortex, as evident from electrophysiological and modeling studies, and it is also important for animal behavior (Yizhar et al., 2011). In the cerebral cortex, excitation is provided by glutamate release from pyramidal neurons, while inhibition is provided by GABA release from several types of interneurons. Many neuropsychiatric disorders, such as epilepsy, anxiety, schizophrenia and autism exhibit an imbalance between the excitatory and inhibitory mechanisms of cortical circuits within key brain regions as prefrontal cortex or hippocampus, primarily through dysfunctions in the inhibitory system (Lewis, Volk, & Hashimoto, 2003; Marín, 2012) Given the significant role of GABAergic inhibition in shaping proper function of the cerebral cortex, we used a mouse model of developmentally decreased GABAergic inhibition in order to examine its effects in network properties, namely basal synaptic transmission, synaptic plasticity and dendritic morphology of pyramidal neurons. For our study, we used mice (postnatal day 20-30) in which the Rac1 protein was deleted from Nkx2.1-expressing neurons (Vidaki et al., 2012), (Rac1fl/flNkx2.1 +/cre) referred as Rac1 KO mice, and heterozygous (Rac1+/flNkx2.1 +/cre) or control (Rac1+/flNkx2.1 +/+) mice. The specific ablation of Rac1 protein from NKx2.1-expressing MGE-derived progenitors leads to a perturbation of their cell cycle exit resulting in decreased number of interneurons in the cortex(Vidaki et al, 2012). We prepared brain slices from the prefrontal cortex and recorded field excitatory postsynaptic potentials (fEPSPs) from layer II neurons while stimulating axons in layer II. We find that the evoked fEPSPs are decreased in Rac1 KO mice compared to Rac1 heterozygous or control mice. This could suggest that the decreased GABAergic inhibition causes network alterations that result in reduced glutamatergic function. Furthermore, we tested whether synaptic plasticity properties of intra-cortical layer II synapses are affected. In adult control mice, tetanic stimulation results in long-term potentiation that lasts at least 50 min (Konstantoudaki et al, 2013). In control mice of the age tested in this study (PD 20-30), LTP could not be induced with the same stimulation. However, we find that Rac1 KO mice do express long-term potentiation. We next studied the dendritic morphology of layer II neurons in the prefrontal cortex, in an effort to identify the mechanism by which Rac1 KO mice exhibit LTP, while the control mice of the same age do not. For this, we stained mouse brains of Rac1 KO and Rac1 heterozygous mice with the Golgi-Cox method. We analyzed the number of secondary apical dendrites, their thickness, as well as the number of spines. We find that the dendrites of pyramidal neurons of Rac1 KO mice have decreased thickness and increased number of spines compared to pyramidal neurons from Rac1 heterozygous mice. These findings could also provide a mechanistic explanation for the presence of LTP in Rac1 KO mice. In conclusion, we find that decreased inhibition during development alters the morphological and functional characteristics of pyramidal neurons in layer II prefrontal cortex of mice. These alterations could provide a cellular substrate for emotional and cognitive dysfunctions present in these mice (Konstantoudaki et al, 2012).

The field observation, an ethnographic practice of collecting data and information about a given social setting and situation is often used in preliminary research to have an understanding of the community one is researching. However, from an artist/musician's perspective, the field observation has many commonalities with techniques used in audio field recording. How can field recording be used in parallel with field observations to explore and understand a community through art? This essay will begin with a comparison of field observations and field recordings as methods in their own disciplines, and continue with the concept of "attention" in art, music, science and anthropology. It will follow and conclude with a project that looks at combining qualitative research and art to explore a community of gardeners through recorded interviews and sounds. The work of Pauline Oliveros, Walter S. Gershon, Clifford Geertz, Anne McCrary Sullivan, and Steven Feld will be important in making the connections across disciplines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author examines the significance of capturing and/or editorially weaving a sense of sonic narrative within field pieces, whether that happens naturally during the recording process or is creatively constructed by the producer as artist. This discussion presents a theoretical and practical understanding of considering intentions and interpretations of field works in various contexts, including purposes for radio, sound, and other applications involving urban soundscapes. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

For field recordings and user generated content recorded on phones, tablets, and other mobile devices nonlinear distortions caused by clipping and limiting at pre-amplification stages, and dynamic range control (DR) are common causes of poor audio quality. A single-ended method to detect these distortions and predict perceived degradation in speech, music, and soundscapes has been developed. This was done by training an ensemble of decision trees. During training, both clean and distorted audio was available and so the perceived quality could be gauged using HASQI (Hearing Aid Sound Quality Index). The new single-ended method can correctly predict HASQI from distorted samples to an accuracy of ±0.19 (95% confidence interval) using a quality range between 0.0 and 1.0. The method also has potential for estimating HASQI when other types of degradations are present. Subsequent perceptual tests validated the method for music and soundscapes. For the average mean opinion score for perceived audio quality on a scale from 0 to 1, the single ended method could estimate it within ±0.33. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article provides a brief survey of composition in which field recordings or other referential sounds are transcribed for acoustic instruments. Through a discussion of how electroacoustic music and scholarship have conceptualised the notion of mimesis, and how various forms of contemporary acoustic music have adopted electroacoustic techniques, it identifies a recent musical practice in which these concerns are brought together. The article proposes the term mimetic instrumental resynthesis as a way of describing the common threads behind works that employ electronic-assisted or computer-assisted techniques towards instrumental imitations of environmental and extra-musical sounds. The article also highlights some of the conceptual and aesthetic questions emerging from such a practice, including the idea of transformation, issues of referentiality, listening, the influence of different technologies and their aesthetic implications, and the tension between abstract and concrete conceptions of the works discussed. Finally, the article raises concerns surrounding the language of discussing what is necessarily an interdisciplinary venture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ear to the Earth was an idea that grew out of a power failure on the coast of Maine while I was on vacation. Back in New York, and using acoustic ecology as a conceptual basis, I proposed environmental-sound events to colleagues at the Electronic Music Foundation. The first major festival took place in October 2006. Dr. Cynthia Rosenzweig, Senior Research Scientist at the NASA Goddard Space Center and leader of the Climate Impacts Group, pointed out that climate change was a fact. The first festival, which took place at various venues in New York City, included seven concerts, three panels, and seven installations, among them Suspended Sounds, using sounds of extinct, endangered, and threatened species contributed by The Macaulay Library at the Cornell University Lab of Ornithology. The festival, as a program of the Electronic Music Foundation, became an annual event every October in New York until 2013. In November 2012, we recreated it with an enlarged mission as an independent non-profit corporation in New York. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the role of technology in integrating acoustic instruments within soundscape composition in a live and interactive context, thus encouraging an engagement with the sonic environment. The approaches to two compositions that combine instruments with live electronics and pre-composed soundscapes –Cold Wood(bass trombone) andArcando(alto saxophone) – are considered. These pieces create unique live performance scenarios in order to investigate how acoustic instruments might be positioned within, and reframed by, soundscape composition practice. Potential pitfalls inherent in mixed media works are explored, proposing technological solutions through sound processing and use of microphones, whilst ensuring that 'liveness' remains moreaestheticthanprocedural. Aspects of field recording practice influence the behaviour of the instruments, and improvisation is encouraged in both pieces to ensure unpredictability. Consequently, it is also proposed that the process of listening to, capturing, and processing the sound of the instrument in a live performance scenario is analogous to the practice of field recording, in which there is little control over the sound events. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper summarizes some accomplishments of the Teotihuacan Mapping Project, with particular attention to issues of accuracy and validity. I then describe experiences and lessons learned in creating electronic files derived from Mapping Project field records and collections. I sketch questions about the city and state of Teotihuacan that loom especially large in my own thinking. Finally, I list some specific field projects at Teotihuacan that I think should be given high priority, as well as opportunities with curated materials, records, and electronic files. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

There is a rich history of artists representing the visible world through imagery. What of the invisible? What if you could harness hidden voices of the natural environment? Artistic sonification is an emerging artistic endeavour at the intersection of mathematics and music, which sees big data transformed into sound. This paper describes the background and development of Coral Symphony - a Sound Art installa-tion unveiling voices from the Great Barrier Reef, Australia. Installation constituent materials evolved from the sonification of ecological data over twenty years, supplemented with field recordings.

Acoustic signals and associated behaviours of a number of fishes in the genus Cyprinella have been investigated and described in detail, but due to logistics, these studies have been done in the laboratory. We used C. venusta as a model for evaluating potential differences in acoustic signals in field versus laboratory settings. In addition to this analysis, a detailed description of acoustic signals and associated behaviours was produced. We found that males were the only sex to vocalize and did so during reproductively associated behaviours such as courtship, aggression, and spawning. Sounds were similar in gross structure to most other species of Cyprinella in that they were composed of bursts and knocks, but differed in a number of signal parameters including acoustic frequency, pulse duration, pulse period, and pulse rate. One of the more striking findings was that the acoustic frequency distributions of both growls and knocks in C. venusta were bi-modal, a characteristic not mentioned for any other species in the genus Cyprinella. Sounds recorded in the laboratory were also found to be significantly different from those recorded in the field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article responds to Alan Lomax's pronouncement that the mid-twentieth century constituted ‘the age of the golden ear’, when ‘a passionate aural curiosity overshadowed the ability to create music’. It examines a project born out of Lomax's own aural curiosity and his foregrounding of recording technology – the Columbia World Library of Folk and Primitive Music (1955) – using it to sound out the history of mid-century ethnographic field recording. By retracing the production of the World Library, this article explores the various agencies compressed into the audible exteriors of field recordings, as they were produced by and for specific technologies and formats, circulated through international networks, and as they became part of the aural public sphere of post-war Europe. It concludes by considering some of the implications of this sonic labour as field recordings find their way into new, digital, listening environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Composer and sonic artist Joanna Bailie has described her creative journey to date as a series of ‘not entirely reconcilable’ stages. This article introduces her work through a broadly chronological survey, tracing her career and offering a detailed consideration of her recent and current musico-aesthetic concerns. It will become evident that paradox and the juxtaposition of ‘not entirely reconcilable’ elements are, as it happens, key positive components of Bailie's art on many levels. Moreover, it will be seen that her work posits a conscious and highly personal response to certain perceived crises regarding ‘contemporary classical music’, a term which Bailie herself detests. Particular reference is made to Bailie's ongoing series of concert pieces combining acoustic instruments with field recordings, Artificial Environments, and a series of site-specific audio-visual installations, the place that you can see and hear. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article talks about sound curation that was introduced by The Pitt Rivers Museum (PRM), the University of Oxford's museum of anthropology and world archaeology. The author opines that museums can be places to exhibit ethnographic sound. Other topics explained are pro-active sound archiving, field recordings and audiences and sound elicitation. The Louis Sarno Collection of Baaka music and Soundscapes and pictures from the curating sound galleries have been presented.

The article deals with recording techniques in linguistic field research. It aims at providing linguists with technical and practical knowledge on how to make a high quality speech recording in a non-laboratory setting. As the first step in field recording is to master the manipulation with the audio device, the paper starts with the presentation and the explanation of basic concepts related to digital audio signal processing. It goes on with the description of the basic technical equipment for speech recording as well as some of the supplementary components. This should help the readers handle the instruments in practice. A separate section is devoted to the classification and the description of external microphones which can be used as an effective extension of compact recording devices. Apart from technical aspects of field recording, practical issues such as the choice of an appropriate place and the organization of the recording session are also discussed. Attention is paid to the ways how to manage and store the recordings too, including proper treatment of the metadata. Finally, some suggestions on how to enhance the spontaneity of the respondents' speech behaviour are offered. The article draws primarily on the authors' own experience with field recording and it presupposes no previous knowledge of technical terms and audio processing techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

America's foreign-language folksongs are little known, for practical and ideological reasons, hence many folksongs performed in polyglot America have been hidden from view. This essay introduces non-English-language field recordings made from 1937 to 1946 for the Library of Congress by Sidney Robertson Cowell, Alan Lomax, and Helene Stratman-Thomas in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota; examines the challenges of translating three representative songs; and previews a project intended to present the full extent of field-recorded folksongs in America's Upper Midwest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the high biodiversity that characterizes the tropics, we know little about the behaviour of most tropical birds. Antbirds (Thamnophilidae) are a biodiverse family of more than 200 species found throughout Central and South America, yet their ecology and behaviour are poorly known. In this study, we provide the first detailed description of the vocalizations and vocal behaviour of Barred Antshrikes ( Thamnophilus doliatus), a widespread Neotropical suboscine passerine. We studied 38 territorial pairs in a population in Costa Rica from 2008 to 2010, using field recordings and observations to quantify their vocalizations and vocal behaviour. Males and females produced similar songs consisting of rapidly repeated chuckling notes. Several aspects of their songs distinguish the sexes: male songs were longer in duration, contained more syllables, and were lower in pitch. Males had a higher song output than females, but within song bouts males and females sang at similar rates. Barred Antshrike song output varied daily, with the highest song output occurring at dawn. Song output also varied seasonally, with increased song output occurring during the breeding period. Males and females combined songs to create duets, overlapping the terminal portion of their mate's song. Most duets were created by females responding to male songs (84 %), and the rest by males responding to female songs. The timing of duet responsiveness varied between the sexes; males responded more quickly to their partner's song (1.6 s) than females (2.0 s). This detailed account of the vocalizations and vocal behaviour of a population of Barred Antshrikes creates a foundation for future comparative studies of antbirds. Our study highlights similarities and differences in the behavioural patterns of tropical birds and contributes to our understanding of the function of vocal duets and the vocal behaviour of antbirds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The music library and archive literature suggests that ethnomusicological field recordings can have significant value to users not associated with the institution holding the material. This study gathered data from the websites of seventeen United States sound archives in order to determine what levels of physical and intellectual access to field recordings are currently available to different users. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

To build a low-cost, small, and wireless electroencephalogram ( EEG) system suitable for field recordings, we merged consumer EEG hardware with an EEG electrode cap. Auditory oddball data were obtained while participants walked outdoors on university campus. Single-trial P300 classification with linear discriminant analysis revealed high classification accuracies for both indoor (77%) and outdoor (69%) recording conditions. We conclude that good quality, single-trial EEG data suitable for mobile brain-computer interfaces can be obtained with affordable hardware. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One imagines composed music as originating in the mind of an author. Indeed, I have for the last five decades been composing music in this fashion. However, for the last four decades I have also been repeatedly attracted to various methods of deriving music from sources both inside and outside the field. These sources have been linguistic, acoustic (field recordings), visual and mathematical (parametric formulae) as well as other works of music. For most of these operations I have resorted to strict algorithmic means and the use of computer programming. In this paper I will outline the sources mentioned above and go a little into detail in some of them. For instance the linguistic: I have used text orthography, spectral analyses of human speech, digital recordings of the human voice, and synthetic semantic structures. In the case of the visual, it was the conversion of pixellated photographs, city silhouettes, abstract films and geometric models as well as the visualization of algorithmically generated music that played a central role in the compositional plan. In other words, the paper will provide a general overview and examples. This is the first time I have covered more than one type of source in a single article. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article considers the value of sound elicitation, taking ethnomusicological sound recordings out of archives and connecting them with the people whose music they capture. Discussing a case study that explored practical uses for a major collection of African field recordings—Hugh Tracey's Sound of Africa series—I argue for innovative ways to curate and circulate recordings amongst the source communities, who often have no meaningful access to academic archives. I consider how collaborative engagement of local social mechanisms can help re-insert recordings into people's daily lives. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The marine environment associated with the air--water interface (neuston) provides an important food source to pelagic organisms where subsurface prey is limited. However, studies on predator--prey interactions within this environment are lacking. Copepods are known to produce strong escape jumps in response to predators, but must contend with a low-Reynolds-number environment where viscous forces limit escape distance. All previous work on copepod interaction with predators has focused on a liquid environment. Here, we describe a novel anti-predator behaviour in two neustonic copepod species, where individuals frequently exit the water surface and travel many times their own body length through air to avoid predators. Using both field recordings with natural predators and high-speed laboratory recordings, we obtain detailed kinematics of this behaviour, and estimate energetic cost associated with this behaviour. We demonstrate that despite losing up to 88 per cent of their initial kinetic energy, cope- pods that break the water surface travel significantly further than those escaping underwater and successfully exit the perceptive field of the predator. This behaviour provides an effective defence mechanism against subsurface-feeding visual predators and the results provide insight into trophic interactions within the neustonic environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article I examine the contemporary relevance of the field recordings of sub-Saharan African music made by Hugh Tracey and stored at the International Library of African Music. I consider how ethnomusicological recordings from previous eras can be used to circulate knowledge and further understanding about African music and societies today. The current archival practice of digital preservation brings recordings to new and broader audiences, but can also further divorce sound recordings from their source communities. I consider the validity of “sound elicitation” work where recordings of Xhosa music from the 1950s were circulated among Xhosa communities in South Africa today in order to generate novel ethical approaches to the curation of archival sound recordings. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this paper, the authors describe and discuss UrbanRemix, a platform consisting of mobile-device applications and web-based tools to facilitate collaborative field recording, sound exploration, and soundscape creation. Reflecting on its use at workshops, festivals and community events, they evaluate the project in terms of its ability to enable participants to engage with their aural environments and to uncover their own creativity in the process. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This is an essay exploring issues of essentialism, sound-in-itself and representation that were central to a project I completed in 2010. It covers this project in the context of theory and work by Seth Kim-Cohen, CREED, Don Ihde and Annea Lockwood.The field recording is often presented in sound art as an unproblematic account of a sonic event or environment. It also prompts a particular kind of listening that approaches the sound as somehow real or accurate. This article, and my work in general, problematises this encounter and seeks to uncover the various approaches to listening that occur when dealing with field recordings, as well as the possibilities within field recordings for exploring essentialism, imagined sound and the conceptual. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Field recordings of echolocation signals produced by Heaviside's dolphins (Cephalorhynchus heavisidii) were made off the coast of South Africa using a hydrophone array system. The system consisted of three hydrophones and an A-tag (miniature stereo acoustic data-logger). The mean centroid frequency was 125 kHz, with a -3 dB bandwidth of 15 kHz and -10 dB duration of 74 μs. The mean back-calculated apparent source level was 173 dB re 1 μPap.-p.. These characteristics are very similar to those found in other Cephalorhynchus species, and such narrow-band high-frequency echolocation clicks appear to be a defining characteristic of the Cephalorhynchus genus. Click bursts with very short inter-click intervals (up to 2 ms) were also recorded, which produced the 'cry' sound reported in other Cephalorhynchus species. Since inter-click intervals correlated positively to click duration and negatively to bandwidth, Heaviside's dolphins may adjust their click duration and bandwidth based on detection range. The bimodal distribution of the peak frequency and stable bimodal peaks in spectra of individual click suggest a slight asymmetry in the click production mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the term 'sound installation' has been created and deployed to describe a variety of interdisciplinary artwork that, in one way or another, involves the phenomenon of sound. Sometimes, we encounter a piece of sound installation that seeks to heighten our auditory experience by removing any visual references.1 More often, we 'see' a piece of sound installation that incorporates visual elements that may or may not have direct relationship to the sound itself. It can be listened to through headphones to create an intimate relationship with the viewer/listener. Or it can be presented in a cacophonous manner that drives some viewers/listeners away whilst appealing to others. In any case, there is always the role of space that hosts the existence of sound. The concept of space can be seen as one of the fundamental elements within the art of sight and sound. Therefore, in this article, by reflecting upon my own practice, I will explore the concept of space within the structure of sound installation, and the interdependent relationship of elements of sight and sound by drawing upon the tradition of electro-acoustic music and installation art. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years predictions of athletic records have acquired a special significance in the scientific community. This article presents a method for calculation of probabilities of future records through modeling the tail of the distribution for performance measures. It utilizes an estimation method based on ideas from classical extreme-value theory that avoids difficulties associated with the maximum likelihood estimation. To improve the predictions, whenever possible, it utilizes information such as the survival time of the latest record and the time interval between the last two records. The article also presents alternative prediction methods based on order statistics and the theory of records, and includes a method for prediction of ultimate records. Application of tail modeling to men's long jump produces reasonable results. For long jump the last two records 8.95 meters and 8.90 meters are significantly greater than the third best record, 8.35 meters, which indicates a medium or long tail model. Data for 100 and 200 meter runs exhibit a similar characteristic as the present records for these events, 9.58 seconds and 19.19 seconds respectively, are significantly lower than the previous records. Application to the men's 100 meter data for the period starting January 1, 1977, when IAAF required fully automatic timing, to September 1, 2009 shows that the probabilities of setting a new record such as 9.55 seconds or less or 9.5 seconds or less are respectively:A. 0.0102 and 0.0052, when Bolt's three records are included.B. 0.0043 and 0.0023, when Bolt's three records are excluded.Also, excluding Bolt's records the probability of setting a record of 9.58 seconds or less by other runners is only 0.0064. Application of the method to Bolt's individual performance prior to the 2008 Olympics reveals the following:A. For him, the probability of running the 200 meter in the 19.30 seconds or less was only 0.00257, indicating that his Olympic record, 19.30 seconds, was completely unexpected.B. The probability of breaking his own best record, 19.75 seconds, was only 0.0738, indicating that his Olympic performance was exceptional.Also, application of the method to his individual performance including his 2008 Olympic record reveals that his new record 19.19 seconds was even more astonishing.Application of the method for estimation of ultimate record produces the following 90% prediction intervals:A. (9.40, 9.58) when Bolt's three records are included,B. (9.62, 9.71) when Bolt's three records are excluded.Note that Bolt's last record 9.58, falls outside the interval B. This demonstrates that Bolt is in a different league. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the problems encountered in the archiving and transcription of field record. It reflects on the issues of archiving and transcribing audio records of research reports related to folkoristic aspects of storytelling about childhood. It reports the end of archiving of ethnological material in the Special Collection of Ethnographic Material of the Institute for Ethnology and Folklore Research.

The article discusses the developments in ethnomusicology and the contributions of early musicologists. An overview of the changes, from the collection and preservation of field recordings by music enthusiasts to the adaptations and improvements made by today's researchers using the World Wide Web is presented. It infers that these changes occurred with the emergence of audiovisual archivists who acts as promoters and must create the so-called sound environmentalists.

Brief test-pulse stimulation (0.2–0.05 Hz) of naïve (previously nonstimulated) developing hippocampal CA3–CA1 synapses leads to a substantial synaptic depression, explained by -amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA) silencing. Using field recordings in hippocampal slices from P8 to P12 rats, we examined this depression of naïve synapses using more prolonged test-pulse stimulation as well as low-frequency (1 Hz) stimulation (LFS). We found that 900 stimuli produced depression during stimulation to ∼40% of the naïve level independent of whether test-pulse stimulation or LFS was used. This result was also observed during combined blockade of N-methyl-D-aspartate/metabotropic glutamate receptors (NMDAR/mGluRs) although the depression was smaller (to ∼55% of naïve level). Using separate blockade of either NMDARs or mGluRs, we found that this impairment of the depression resulted from the NMDAR, and not from the mGluR, blockade. In fact, during NMDAR blockade alone, depression was smaller even than that observed during combined blockade. We also found that mGluR blockade alone facilitated the LFS-induced depression. In conclusion, test-pulse stimulation produced as much depression as LFS when applied to naïve synapses even when allowing for NMDAR and mGluR activation. Our results seem in line with the notion that NMDARs and mGluRs may exert a bidirectional control on AMPA receptor recruitment to synapses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the mid twentieth century, space was developed as a composable dimension. Composers used the three spatial dimensions in their own fashion, but space was understood primarily as an abstract concept. It was not until the development of sound installation art that space was discovered in a concrete manner, explored, performed in and could even acquire its own specificity, called site-sound (Ortsklang). The article shows consequences and strategies of site-sound installations in three sections - from spatial sound to site-sound, public space as performance venue, and public strategies (acoustic interventions, interactive installations and participatory projects) - with three examples of site-sound installations (Site-Sound Marl Mitte, meta.stases and towersounds.2: watch tower). Acoustic art in public spaces basically involves installing a space in another existing space, both physically and sensorially, and metaphysically and mentally - an interior space in an exterior space, so to speak. The original quality of sound art lies in the oscillation of interior and exterior space. Thus public spaces intensified by sound art cause transitional spaces to come into being, in a political and a psychoanalytic sense. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of sound for representation and narrative may go beyond what we might conventionally term musical. Film has gradually brought into focus the practice of sound art as something distinct from music yet existing at the end of a unified continuum between abstraction and representation. Music has gradually been subsumed into the soundtrack as another element of the film sound world, and sound design is often on an equal footing with it. Sound designers are now increasingly exploring the more psychological (as opposed to merely representational) dimensions of sound. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The commercially available field recordings of Francisco López and Toshiya Tsunoda are difficult to classify. These field recordings are not site specific in the conventional sense because they are not tied to a particular architectural or listening space. Nor can field recordings be categorised as just another subgenre of experimental electronic music. Whereas in musique concrète and acousmatic music, sounds are organised according to musical or thematic parameters, López's and Tsunoda's field recording sounds are subjected to minimal editing and processing, and are organised according to the innate traits of the sounds themselves. It would be insufficient, however, to offer the usual conciliatory conclusion that López's and Tsunoda's recordings straddle the sound art/music divide by possessing qualities of both. This article argues that these field recordings can best be understood in relation to the visual arts concept of objecthood, Michael Fried's term for deciphering minimalist sculpture of the late 1960s. Objecthood explains how these field recordings use appropriated sounds that are nonetheless treated as non-referential, autonomous materials. This strategy posits its own type of site specificity that purports to be acultural and ahistorical, yet is nevertheless steeped in culture and history. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bats use echolocatiori to exploit a variety of habitats and food types. Much research has documented how frequency-time features of echolocation calls are adapted to acoustic constraints imposed by habitat and prey but emitted sound intensities have received little attention. Bats from the family of Phyllostomidae have been categorised as low intensity (whispering) gleaners, assumed to emit echolocation calls with low source levels (approximately 70dBSPL measured 10cm from the bat's mouth). We used a multi-microphone array to determine intensities emitted from two phyllostomid bats from Panama with entirely different foraging strategies. MacrophyIIum macrophyllum hunts insects on the wing and gaffs them with its tail membrane and feet from or above water surfaces whereas Artibeus jamaicensis picks fruit from vegetation with its mouth. Recordings were made from bats foraging on the vying in a flight room. Both species emitted surprisingly intense signals with maximum source levels of 105dBSPLr.m.s. for 14. macrophyllum and 110dBSPLr.m.s. for A. jamaicensis, hence much louder than a 'whisper'. M. macrophyllum was consistently loud (mean source level 101 dBSPL) whereas A. jamaicensis showed a much more variable output, including many faint calls and a mean source level of 96dBSPL. Our results support increasing evidence that echolocating bats in general are much louder than previously thought. We discuss the importance of loud calls and large output flexibility for both species in an ecological context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contemporary sonic artworks often use field recordings from places of historic or social significance to address political issues. This article discusses relevant works for radio and fixed media by Peter Cusack, Jacob Kirkegaard, Eliška Cílková, Anna Friz and Public Studio, Stéphane Garin and Sylvestre Gobart, Ultra-red, and Matthew Herbert and outlines how they use both audio and visual/textual information to create awareness of the issues inscribed in these places, from current environmental concerns to the memory of genocide and displacement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the NFR system, since the gap between SIL and disc is under 100nm, the precise control of actuator is required. For the stable gap control, performance of actuator should be improved. When the mass center and centroid of actuator is not coincide with each other, coupling between linear and rotational motion appears and in near field recording system, it affects directly readout performance. Therefore, by constructing general mathematical model of actuator which can reflect coupling motion, quantity of coupling was analyzed. Moreover, by sensitivity analysis, critical variables which affect coupling motion were selected and by applying optimal value to the system, coupling effect was decreased effectively. By measuring transfer function of actuator, analytic approach was verified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The electrophysiology interest in the electrical properties of neurons is based on discover the way in which the brain stores and transfers the information, while the engineering interest tries to use the neuron as a pattern for the creation of neural networks and computer design. There are different techniques for studying the neuronal intrinsic properties as well as the form in which neurons establish connections between them. The more common are: the intracellular recording, the field recording, and the voltage-clamp and current-clamp whole cell recording techniques. There is a commercial tendency for develop hardware and software systems, which only use one of these techniques, increasing the cost of basic research. The present project: called DENDRON is a flexible tool that can be used with all the above techniques. It has two function generators and four input channels, even it allows the user to realize the on-line analysis of different protocols used commonly in electrophysiology. The acquired data and the analysis results are stored in the hard disk. The modular design of the software makes it easy adaptable for specific user requirements without drastic modifications nor new hardware. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A tolerance allocation and auto alignment algorithm for the optical head of the near-field recoding (NFR) system are presented. The optical head of the NFR system consists of a solid immersion lens (SIL) and an objective lens (OL). The effects of assembling and manufacturing tolerances of SIL and OL are simulated using CODE V. These analyses show that the tolerances are very tight. So we proposed to move the collimate lens (CL) back and forth to compensate and control these tolerances, especially in the optical axis direction. Also, we allocate the compound tolerance of decenter and tilt motions of the SIL and OL using the worst On worst analysis (WOW) model. In addition, to align SIL and OL under these tolerances, we propose an auto alignment algorithm between SIL and OL. The simulation results of the alignment algorithm are compared with the experimental results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The wake of modernity, urbanization and technological advancements constrained cultural borrowings as well as abandonment that have affected all aspects of Nigeria's culture and life. Unlike other cultural practices of Nigeria, folk music appears to be endangered in the contemporary scheme of Nigerian affairs. This owes its cause to the overdose of various musical genres and styles that are currently imported into the country. Taste-shift to and psychical tolerance of music of other lands as well as nonchalant attitude of most Nigerians towards the musical heritage of Nigeria, have constrained gradual disappearance of folk music of the country due to lack of practice and documentation. The project of the Library of folk music of Nigeria is a long-term, bold attempt to rescue Nigeria's folk music heritage from total disappearance through field recordings and preservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]