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The ability to understand speech in complex environments depends on the brain's ability to preserve the precise timing characteristics of the speech signal. Age-related declines in temporal processing may contribute to the older adult's experience of communication difficulty in challenging listening conditions. This study's purpose was to evaluate the effects of rate discrimination training on auditory temporal processing. A double-blind, randomized control design assigned 77 young normal-hearing, older normal-hearing, and older hearing-impaired listeners to one of two treatment groups: experimental (rate discrimination for 100- and 300-Hz pulse trains) and active control (tone detection in noise). All listeners were evaluated during pre- and post-training sessions using perceptual rate discrimination of 100-, 200-, 300-, and 400-Hz band-limited pulse trains and auditory steady-state responses (ASSRs) to the same stimuli. Training generalization was evaluated using several temporal processing measures and sentence recognition tests that included time-compressed and reverberant speech stimuli. Results demonstrated a session × training group interaction for perceptual and ASSR testing to the trained frequencies (100 and 300 Hz), driven by greater improvements in the training group than in the active control group. Further, post-test rate discrimination of the older listeners reached levels that were equivalent to those of the younger listeners at pre-test. Generalization was observed in significant improvement in rate discrimination of untrained frequencies (200 and 400 Hz) and in correlations between performance changes in rate discrimination and sentence recognition of reverberant speech. Further, non-auditory inhibition/attention performance predicted training-related improvement in rate discrimination. Overall, the results demonstrate the potential for auditory training to partially restore temporal processing in older listeners and highlight the role of cognitive function in these gains.

The microwave auditory effect has been widely recognized as one of the most interesting and significant biological phenomena from microwave exposure. The hearing of pulsed microwaves is a unique exception to the airborne or bone-conducted sound energy, normally encountered in human auditory perception. This chapter describes the research studies leading to scientific documentation that absorption of a single microwave pulse impinging on the head may be perceived as an acoustic zip, click, or knocking sound, depending on the incident microwave power. A train of microwave pulses to the head may be sensed as an audible buzz, chirp, or tone by humans. It discusses the neurophysiological, psychophysical, and behavioral observations from laboratory studies involving humans and animals as subjects. The objective is to present what is scientifically known about the microwave auditory effect.

This brief analyzes a linear characteristic of the highresolution counter-based frequency detector (CBFD) using sinusoidal jitter. The theoretical gain of the Vernier-type CBFD can be derived by observing the output responses for the tone input in the time domain. A type-I digital phase locked loop (DPLL) using the CBFD is free from the issues related to the input static phase offset and the loop is unconditionally stable. Based on the loop dynamics of a DPLL with a CBFD (CB-DPLL), a jitter optimization in presence of phase noise of in-band and oscillator 1/f 2 has been conducted. This analysis provides us with insights to design the CB-DPLL with the minimum output jitter.

Відомо, що прогресування нейродегенеративних захворювань значно обмежує повсякденну побутову й професійну активність хворих, суттєво впливаючи на функції, пов’язані з пересуванням, самообслуговуванням і когнітивним контролем. Незважаючи на значний прорив науки в галузі нейровізуалізації і патогенетичної терапії, діагностика й лікування цієї категорії пацієнтів залишається складним, а іноді й важко вирішуваним завданням. Один з базових принципів ідентифікації порушень функції нервової системи реалізується шляхом використання спеціалізованих індексів, тестів і шкал. Ці діагностичні маркери знаходять своє широке застосування в неврологів, лікарів фізичної і реабілітаційної медицини, ортопедів, ерготерапевтів, фізичних терапевтів, допомагаючи експертам визначити не лише факт наявності патології, але й еволюцію розвитку тих чи інших ознак захворювання з можливістю подальшого своєчасного динамічного контролю, що має особливе значення в реабілітології. Серед пацієнтів з руховими порушеннями окрему групу, що потребує реабілітаційної допомоги, становлять хворі з екстрапірамідними розладами. На жаль, питання лапідарної діагностики екстрапірамідних розладів залишаються актуальними і сьогодні. У доступній спеціалізованій науково-практичній літературі нам не вдалося виявити зручну шкалу для вимірювання вираженості екстрапірамідного тонусу з метою оцінки дієвості медикаментозного й комплексного немедикаментозного відновного лікування. Pекомендована до практичного застосування Шкала вираженості екстрапірамідного тонусу дозволить неврологам оволодіти нескладним, але разом з тим дієвим інструментом, що полегшує ранню ідентифікацію і визначення стадії розвитку дегенеративних захворювань нервової системи, які супроводжуються специ-фічною зміною м’язового тонусу, а фахівцям у галузі нейрореабілітації дасть надійний орієнтир, що вказує на правильність обраного шляху відновного лікування.

This paper investigates the cross-sectional relation between industry-level media tone and expected stock returns in China. Using a machine learning technique to establish a proxy for industry-level media tone, we find that stocks in industries with more positive media tone earn significantly higher future returns than these with more negative media tone. Specifically, relative to stock-specific media tone, industry media tone plays a dominant role in forecasting stock returns. Moreover, the return premium for higher industry-level media tone continues for two months, and the returns are positive though insignificant within half a year, indicating that the media contains fundamental information.

Background Recent studies show that vascular smooth muscle (VSM) is more important to elastic artery mechanics than previously believed. It remains unclear whether increased VSM tone increases or decreases arterial stiffness. Methods and results We developed a novel arterial mechanics model based on pressure-diameter relationships that incorporates the contributions of extracellular matrix (ECM) and VSM to arterial stiffness measures. This model is advantageous because it simple enough to use with limited clinical data but has biologically relevant parameters which include ECM stiffness, VSM stiffness, and VSM tone. The model was used to retrospectively analyze the effects of nitroglycerin-induced vasodilation in four clinical studies. Stiffness parameters were modeled for five arterial regions including both elastic and muscular arteries. The model describes complex experimental data with changing VSM tone and blood pressure. Our analysis found that when ECM is less stiff than VSM, increasing VSM tone increases arterial stiffness. The opposite is seen when ECM is stiffer than VSM, increasing VSM tone decreases stiffness. Our results also suggest that VSM tone is a compensatory mechanism for elevated ECM stiffness in hypertensive individuals. Conclusion Based on retrospective analysis of four clinical studies, we propose a simple hypothesis for the role of VSM tone on arterial stiffness: increased VSM tone increases arterial stiffness when VSM is stiffer than ECM and decreases arterial stiffness when ECM is stiffer than VSM. This hypothesis and the methods used in this study could have important implications for understanding arterial physiology in both hypertension and cardiovascular disease and deserve further exploration.

Attentional models of time perception assume that the perceived duration of a stimulus depends on the extent to which attentional resources are allocated to its temporal information. Here, we studied the effects of auditory distraction on time perception, using a combined attentional-distraction duration-discrimination paradigm. Participants were confronted with a random sequence of long and short tone stimuli, most of which having a uniform (standard) pitch and only a few a different (deviant) pitch. As observed in previous studies, pitch-deviant tones impaired the discrimination of tone duration and triggered a sequence of event-related potentials (ERPs) reflecting a cycle of deviance detection, involuntary attentional distraction, and reorientation (MMN, P3a, RON). Contrasting ERPs of short and long tone durations revealed that long tones elicited a more pronounced fronto-central contingent negative variation (CNV) in the time interval after the expected offset of the short tone as well as a more prominent centro-parietal late positive complex (LPC). Relative to standard-pitch tones, deviant-pitch tones especially impaired the correct discrimination of long tones, which was associated with a reduction of the CNV and LPC. These results are interpreted within the theoretical framework of resource-based models of time perception, in which involuntary distraction due to a deviant event led to a withdrawal of attentional resources from the processing of time information.

HMT shows a stronger effect on the parasympathetic nervous system as expressed by increase in HFnu with decrease in HR, diastolic blood pressure and body tension, compared with RR and also MHM. More studies are needed to understand how different relaxing interventions may modulate the autonomic nervous system

OBJECTIVES The primary goal of this study was to investigate the effects of reverberation on Mandarin tone and vowel recognition of cochlear implant (CI) users and normal-hearing (NH) listeners. To understand the performance of Mandarin tone recognition, this study also measured participants' pitch perception and the availability of temporal envelope cues in reverberation. DESIGN Fifteen CI users and nine NH listeners, all Mandarin speakers, were asked to recognize Mandarin single-vowels produced in four lexical tones and rank harmonic complex tones in pitch with different reverberation times (RTs) from 0 to 1 second. Virtual acoustic techniques were used to simulate rooms with different degrees of reverberation. Vowel duration and correlation between amplitude envelope and fundamental frequency (F0) contour were analyzed for different tones as a function of the RT. RESULTS Vowel durations of different tones significantly increased with longer RTs. Amplitude-F0 correlation remained similar for the falling Tone 4 but greatly decreased for the other tones in reverberation. NH listeners had robust pitch-ranking, tone recognition, and vowel recognition performance as the RT increased. Reverberation significantly degraded CI users' pitch-ranking thresholds but did not significantly affect the overall scores of tone and vowel recognition with CIs. Detailed analyses of tone confusion matrices showed that CI users reduced the flat Tone-1 responses but increased the falling Tone-4 responses in reverberation, possibly due to the falling amplitude envelope of late reflections after the original vowel segment. CI users' tone recognition scores were not correlated with their pitch-ranking thresholds. CONCLUSIONS NH listeners can reliably recognize Mandarin tones in reverberation using salient pitch cues from spectral and temporal fine structures. However, CI users have poorer pitch perception using F0-related amplitude modulations that are reduced in reverberation. Reverberation distorts speech amplitude envelopes, which affect the distribution of tone responses but not the accuracy of tone recognition with CIs. Recognition of vowels with stationary formant trajectories is not affected by reverberation for both NH listeners and CI users, regardless of the available spectral resolution. Future studies should test how the relatively stable vowel and tone recognition may contribute to sentence recognition in reverberation of Mandarin-speaking CI users.

This study aims to analyze the spectrum of the human voice based on the accents of several regions. This research is included in the type of experimental research. Data were collected from 4 male respondents aged 23 years as research subjects. Respondents come from Central Java, East Java, Jambi, and South Sulawesi or come from Javanese, Malay, and Bugis ethnicities. Each respondent pronounces the vowels /a/ and /e/ as well as the consonants /b/, /d/, and /g/ once in each sound under normal circumstances or does not have throat problems or other things that make the sound abnormal. Voice recording is done in a closed and quiet room without any disturbance by using a microphone connected to a laptop using the cool record edit pro application. The sound spectrum was analyzed using Praat verse 2 software, then the recording was converted to *wav format. Furthermore, the sound spectrum analysis procedure uses software to determine the shape of the spectrum, the maximum or minimum pitch frequency (F0), and the formant frequency of F1-F4 in each sample. The results showed that the response of men from South Sulawesi had the highest tone of 156 Hz in the letter /b/ and 145 Hz in the letters /d/ and /g/ respectively. while the lowest tone of voice owned by men from the Jambi area is 105 Hz, 109 Hz, and 102 Hz for each consonant and the output from F0 (pitch) to F1-F4 (formant) can change and does not describe the high pitch, meaning the formant will always high.

The conducted research proposes a feature extraction and classification combination method that is used in a tone recognition system for musical instruments. It is expected that by implementing this combination, the tone recognition system will require fewer feature extraction coefficients than those previously investigated. The proposed combination comprises of feature extraction using discrete cosine transform (DCT) and classification using support vector machine (SVM). Bellyra, clarinet, and pianica tones were used in the experiment, with each indicating a tone with one, several, or many major local peaks in the transform domain. Based on the results of the tests, the proposed combination is efficient enough to be used in a tone recognition system for musical instruments. This is indicated in recognizing a tone, it only needs at least eight feature extraction coefficients.

Disregarding onset and offset effects, interaurally delaying a 500 Hz tone by 1.5 ms is identical to advancing it by 0.5 ms. When presented over headphones, humans indeed perceive such a tone lateralized toward the side of the nominal lag. Any stimulus other than a tone has more than one frequency component and is thus unambiguous. It has been shown that phase ambiguity can be resolved when increasing the stimulus bandwidth. This has mostly been attributed to the integration of information across frequencies. Additionally, interaural timing information conveyed in the stimulus envelope within a single frequency channel is a second possible cue that could help to resolve phase ambiguity. This study employs stimuli designed to differ in the amount of envelope fluctuation while retaining the same power spectral density as well as interaural differences. Any difference in lateralization must thus be a result of the difference in envelope. The results show that stimuli with strong envelope fluctuation require significantly smaller bandwidths to resolve phase ambiguity when compared to stimuli with weak envelope fluctuation. This suggests that within-channel information is an important cue used to resolve phase ambiguity.

Entre los profesionales dedicados a la adaptación protésica existe la idea generalizada de que la respuesta de los audífonos digitales no puede ser examinada. Esta idea es errónea toda vez que disponemos de la tecnología para poder llevar acabo estos estudios. En este artículo presentamos la metodología necesaria para el examen de audífonos digitales mediante el uso de señales de tonos puros y compuestos. Esta metodología permite el análisis de forma interactiva de la respuesta de los filtros de reducción de ruido característicos de los audífonos digitales. Así mimo se lleva a cabo una revisión del análisis de las respuestas mediante el uso de técnicas de espectografía.Traducido con autorización del autor por Franz Zenker. Referencia original del artículo: Frye GJ. Testing Digital Hearing Instruments [en linea]. Hearing Review. 13 link

In various embodiments, methods, systems, and vehicles are provided for masking a tonal noise of a motor. In certain embodiments, a vehicle includes a drive system and an active masking acoustic signal generator (AMAG). The drive system includes a motor generating a tonal noise. The AMAG is configured to at least facilitate masking the tonal noise, by introducing a complementary harmonic tone, injecting dithering into the motor, or both.

Musical intelligence is musical intelligence which is characterized by a person's ability in the field of music, both sensitivity and mastery of tones, rhythms, rhythm patterns, instruments, and musical expressions, so that a person can play musical instruments or sing songs. This study aims to analyze the musical intelligence of early childhood with angklung musical instruments in Hidayatullah Islamic Kindergarten Semarang. The benefit of this research is knowing how to apply the angklung musical instrument correctly so that it can develop children's musical intelligence. The method used is descriptive qualitative research with data collection methods, namely observation, interviews, and documentation. Based on the results of research that has been done that the activity of playing angklung musical instruments can play an active role in stimulating children's musical intelligence. This can be seen when playing angklung musical instruments, children have skills in playing angklung musical instruments, the ability to adjust the tempo, adjust the tone, adjust the rhythm/rhythm, and the ability to sing short songs with the right rhythm. The results of the study showed that the musical intelligence of children in group B of Hidayatullah Islamic Kindergarten Semarang through playing the angklung musical instrument developed as expected.

The article describes a new computational approach for timbre classification for ranking tone color based on weighted feature extraction enabling a meaningful quantitative granular timbral description. Using a quantitative approach for algorithm development paired with a normative survey and data-driven testing, the authors find the proposed method to be a highly viable approach for computational timbre classification. As an example, we illustrate the proposed method against results from a conducted perceptual experiment. Our approach allows for improved accuracy for timbral description using numerical representations. Our research results supplement and improve the existing practice of using semantic descriptors for timbral description and can be used as an assistive tool in digital music production practices. This study aims to introduce a computational approach for timbre classification, enabling granularity in the timbral description. Our study suggests the possibility of timbral classification by numerical representation as a novel method for a more accurate mode of description for timbre.

The article discusses the difference between the category of motivation and the modality, that is, it is a type of speech act in which the speaker's wishes, desires, wills, and intentions are given to the listener. While modality refers to the speaker’s response to the content of a sentence, the urge is expressed as the speaker’s command to the listener. The reason why motivation is separated from modality as a separate category is that it combines several elements under a common motivational semaphore, which on the one hand motivates the addressee to do something as part of a complex whole, but on the other hand they do not intersect. Each component has its own specific motivation, for example: command, request, permission, prohibition, advice, warning, and so on. Motivation as an independent category has a communicative semantic tone and its own structure. The structure of the motivation category consists of a combination of content, transmission, and expression. The content side consists of communicative pragmatic and semantic components, the delivery plan consists of a field of language units that reflect the meaning of the impulse, and the expressive aspect consists of phonological, intonation and graphic parts.

The priority works of V.I. Tikhonov in the study of the statistical characteristics of phase-locked loop (PLL) in the presence of the input noise are considered. In continuation of the Tikhonov works, the basic relations of the method of harmonic balance are derived with stages of simplification, which can be used to characterize the accuracy of the resulting relationships. In a particular case, the equations coincide with the expression that has been derived by the author. The output parameters of the proposed solution of the PLL DE are found.

Sensory attenuation is the phenomenon that stimuli generated by willed motor actions elicit a smaller neurophysiological response than those generated by external sources. It has mostly been investigated in the auditory domain, by comparing ERPs evoked by self-initiated (active condition) and externally-generated (passive condition) sounds. The mechanistic basis of sensory attenuation has been argued to involve a duplicate of the motor command being used to predict sensory consequences of self-generated movements. An alternative possibility is that the effect is driven by between-condition differences in participants’ sense of agency over the sound. In this paper, we disambiguated the effects of motor-action and sense of agency on sensory attenuation with a novel experimental paradigm. In Experiment 1, participants watched a moving, marked tickertape while EEG was recorded. In the active condition, participants chose whether to press a button by a certain mark on the tickertape. If a button-press had not occurred by the mark, then a tone would be played 1 s later. If the button was pressed prior to the mark, the tone was not played. In the passive condition, participants passively watched the animation, and were informed about whether a tone would be played on each trial. The design for Experiment 2 was identical, except that the contingencies were reversed (i.e., a button-press by the mark led to a tone). The results were consistent across the two experiments: while there were no differences in N1 amplitude between the active and passive conditions, the amplitude of the Tb component was suppressed in the active condition. The amplitude of the P2 component was enhanced in the active condition in both Experiments 1 and 2. These results suggest that motor-actions and sense of agency have differential effects on sensory attenuation to sounds and are indexed with different ERP components.

Previous studies have examined whether audio-visual integration changes in older age, with some studies reporting age-related differences and others reporting no differences. Most studies have either used very basic and ambiguous stimuli (e.g., flash/beep) or highly contextualized, causally related stimuli (e.g., speech). However, few have used tasks that fall somewhere between the extremes of this continuum, such as those that include contextualized, causally related stimuli that are not speech-based; for example, audio-visual impact events. The present study used a paradigm requiring duration estimates and temporal order judgements (TOJ) of audio-visual impact events. Specifically, the Schutz–Lipscomb illusion, in which the perceived duration of a percussive tone is influenced by the length of the visual striking gesture, was examined in younger and older adults. Twenty-one younger and 21 older adult participants were presented with a visual point-light representation of a percussive impact event (i.e., a marimbist striking their instrument with a long or short gesture) combined with a percussive auditory tone. Participants completed a tone duration judgement task and a TOJ task. Five audio-visual temporal offsets (−400 to +400 ms) and five spatial offsets (from −90 to +90°) were randomly introduced. Results demonstrated that the strength of the illusion did not differ between older and younger adults and was not influenced by spatial or temporal offsets. Older adults showed an ‘auditory first bias’ when making TOJs. The current findings expand what is known about age-related differences in audio-visual integration by considering them in the context of impact-related events.

Purpose Auditory training is important in pedagogical and clinical settings. In search of a more effective perceptual program for training new suprasegmental categories, this study examined the effect of two auditory programs that incorporated five elements that have previously been identified to be effective for training nonnative segmental and suprasegmental speech sounds on the identification of a complex foreign lexical tone system (Cantonese) that contrasts both pitch shapes and pitch heights. To investigate the training outcomes in learners with different tonal systems, monolingual Mandarin-speaking learners who have a smaller native tonal system that contrasts pitch shapes only and bilingual Mandarin-Taiwanese–speaking learners who have a larger native tonal system that contrasts both pitch shapes and pitch heights were recruited for training. Method Thirty Mandarin-speaking monolinguals and 33 Mandarin-Taiwanese–speaking bilinguals in Taiwan were randomly assigned to two training programs, one with different tones and the other with the same tone preceding the target words in the same training block, and received six 90-min training sessions within 2 weeks. They took a Cantonese Tone Identification Test before training and after each training session. Twenty Cantonese native speakers in Hong Kong served as the reference group and took the same Cantonese Tone Identification Test. Results The two training programs were equally effective. Before training, the monolinguals performed poorer than the bilinguals. After training, the monolinguals and bilinguals in both training programs identified the six Cantonese tones in new words, new utterances, and novel speakers with comparable results, and their overall accuracy did not differ from that of the Cantonese native speakers. Conclusions Though learners with a larger and more complex native tonal system have initial advantage in learning nonnative tones, the intensive high-variability full-set training programs that provide explicit phonetic instruction and contrastive feedback of nonnative tones effectively promote nonnative tone acquisition in learners of different tone languages. The findings revealed factors affecting nonnative tone acquisition in tone speakers. The design of the two programs can be adopted in future programs for effective auditory training of segmental and suprasegmental speech sounds.

SOX requires the establishment of anonymous whistleblowing channels for public companies, but private companies are free to implement the channel(s) of their choosing. Although anonymous channels have long been considered a “best practice,” the evidence on their efficacy is mixed, creating confusion as to how private companies should proceed. Additionally, most studies comparing non-anonymous and anonymous channels have used a within-participants design, where both channels are available, limiting their ability to determine the incremental effectiveness of different whistleblowing systems. We find that offering either an anonymous channel or dual channels improves reporting intentions, relative to a non-anonymous channel, but primarily when tone at the top is weak. When tone at the top is strong, reporting intentions are not statistically different across the three systems. We also find no evidence that dual channels improve whistleblowing intentions relative to an anonymous channel, regardless of the tone at the top.

Owing to the continuous and rapid evolution of telecommunication equipment, the demand for a more efficient and noise-robust detection of Dual-tone multi-frequency (DTMF) signals is conspicuous. In this research article, a novel machine learning based approach to detect DTMF tones perturbed by noise, frequency and time variations by employing the K-Nearest Neighbour (KNN) algorithm is proposed. The features required for training the proposed KNN classifier are extracted using Goertzel’s Algorithm employed to estimate the absolute Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) coefficient values for the fundamental DTMF frequencies with or without their secondary harmonic frequencies. The proposed KNN classifier model is configured in four different manners which differ in being trained with or without augmented data, as well as, with or without inclusion of secondary harmonic frequency DFT coefficient values as features. These models are validated with an unseen test data set created to simulate real-time noise as observed in telecommunication channels. We found that the model which is trained using the augmented dataset and additionally includes the absolute DFT values pertaining to the secondary harmonic frequency values of the eight fundamental DTMF frequencies as the features, achieved the best performance with a macro classification F1 score of 0.980835, a 5-fold stratified cross-validation accuracy of 98.47% and test dataset detection accuracy of 98.1053%. Additionally, the proposed KNN classifier has been compared with existing models to ascertain its superiority and proclaim its state-of-the-art performance. It has proven itself utterly reliable and accurate whilst being relatively lightweight.

Grammarly’s Tone Detector is included in the free version of the application and is available for major phone and computer program platforms. Its strength is in helping students compose pragmatically appropriate texts which could substantially increase their confidence and the feeling of autonomy. It accomplishes this by providing writers with tone indications of their text paired with emojis to help navigate the sometimes opaque waters of pragmatics. However, this tool does not provide indications of which words or phrases contribute to an indicated tone, nor does it offer suggestions for improvement. It is a perpetual beta tool in that it asks for user input to continually adapt and learn to the changing communicative situation. Although there are some areas for improvement, it is a useful tool that teachers could recommend to their students to support their ability to raise their confidence about the pragmatic appropriateness when writing emails and other texts where pragmatics are important.

Congruent visual information enhances auditory speech perception. This visual benefit has been\ud widely observed in perception of segments and linked to reduced amplitudes and latencies of\ud auditory N1 and P2 event-related potential (ERP) components when visual information was\ud present. However, it remains unclear whether lexical tone perception in Mandarin also shows\ud this visual benefit. This question is theoretically important given the low visual saliency of\ud lexical tones. The current study compared the N1/P2 reduction in Mandarin lexical tones and\ud consonants perception with a discrimination task. Result showed amplitude reductions in N1/P2\ud and a latency reduction in N1 for audiovisual lexical tone perception. These findings suggest that\ud lexical tone perception was also helped by visual information as found in consonants.\ud Furthermore, this visual benefit in N1 for lexical tone perception was delayed relative to\ud consonants.

The perplexing acoustical properties of a landscape architecture feature of Academy Park on the Purdue University campus have long been the subject of speculation. The feature, known informally as the “Clapping Circle,” consists of sixty-six concentric rings of stone tiles. When someone claps while at the middle of the circle, they hear a high-pitched squeak immediately afterwards. Experiments were conducted by the Purdue student chapter of the Acoustical Society of America to characterize this effect. The response to a clap played from an omnidirectional speaker placed at the center of the circle was recorded using a microphone positioned above the loudspeaker. Spectrograms of the recorded responses revealed the squeak to consist of a descending tone and its harmonics. This tone disappeared from the spectrogram when the tiles were covered with absorbing blankets. A model based on scattering from the bevels between the tile rings reproduced the descending frequency of the squeak. Similarly to famous stepped structures with notable acoustics, the tiles were found to scatter sound best when the wavelength was not larger than the tiles' spatial period. Thus, it was concluded that the squeak is an example of an acoustical diffraction grating which creates a repetition pitch caused by scattering from the tile formation. © 2021 Institute of Noise Control Engineering.

Blowing a recorder at a low to moderate blowing speed with the toneholes all closed yields the lowest note in the range of the instrument. As the blowing speed is increased, the tone abruptly changes to the tone an octave higher. This "jump" in the frequency of the dominant spectral component of the tone is referred to as "regime change." Interestingly, in conversations with recorder players, several have mentioned that regime change seems to occur at a significantly lower blowing speed for bass recorders than for instruments that sound an octave or more higher. In this paper we study regime change in the recorder and use Navier-Stokes modeling to confirm and study differences in the behavior of different instruments in the recorder family. We show, using modeling, how the regime change threshold in a model of the bass recorder can be increased by changing the geometry in the vicinity of the labium. These results are then confirmed through experimental studies of real recorders with designs inspired by the modeling results. The insights gained from these results suggest new recorder designs that may produce instruments that in some respects are more playable than current instruments.

In generative phonology, tone and nasality are described as suprasegmental phonological units. This implies that their survival depends on the segments on which they are grounded. Thus, when a tone bearing unit or nasality bearing unit disappears, any of these segments also disappears. In autosegmental theory, however, tone or nasality survives after the deletion of segment to which it is attached. This phenomenon is termed ‘stability’ which is the foundation for autosegmental phonological theory. Stability is the survival of tone and nasality after the deletion of segments on which they are grounded. Tone and nasality exhibit stability in Ikhin, a North-Central Edoid language spoken in Edo State, South-South, Nigeria. Previous study on Ikhin dwells mainly on the phonetics of the language. This study, therefore, investigates phonological processes such as vowel elision, glide formation and nasalization with a view to determining the stability or otherwise of tone and nasality. This paper confirms that in Ikhin, any process that involves the removal of a tone bearing unit must relate to stability and relate to the creation of contour tones. The study further confirms that nasality remains stable even in the absence of segment to which it is linked. Based on available data, it is argued that the deletion of a Tone Bearing Unit (TBU) or a Nasality Bearing Unit (NBU) does not necessarily involve the deletion of tone or nasality. Infact, it usual does not. The study concludes that tone and nasality are independent segments. They are as independent as consonant and vowel.

ON 25 JUNE 1912, the Irish writer, inventor, and physicist Edmund Edward Fournier d'Albe demonstrated a curious machine at the Optical Society Convention in London. He called it an “exploring optophone,” and his remarkable claim was that it allowed people who were completely blind to “hear” light. The optophone's sensing apparatus-a cell that relied on the photoelectric properties of selenium-was housed in a long, slender wooden box, to which was attached a pair of headphones. While holding the box, the user would listen for modulations in tone as the cell detected light; the device was surprisingly good at distinguishing light from dark spaces and even the flickering of a match. Fournier d'Albe pitched it as an important new mobility tool that would allow people with limited vision to safely explore their environments. In a newspaper interview, the inventor went as far as to hail it as “the first stage in making the eye dispensable.”

This article explores elements of tonal production in acoustic drums to support an argument for its use in the learning environment, as opposed to electronic drums. Aspects discussed include tonal production, range of dynamics, dynamics between components of the drum kit, articulation, specific sticks, specific types of strokes and stylistic elements. The argument focuses on describing how each of these factors work on acoustic drum kits, in what ways they differ on electronic kits and how auditory perception and training can work hand in hand with developing technical facility. Tonal quality is an important aspect for all musicians, irrespective of the instrument. An important thread in this discussion is tonal quality on the drum kit and how it is valuable in the process of training musical drummers.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to reemphasize the validity of developing a small sized skin-care tool that is convenient to use in common households, and to objectively prove whether an at-home skin-care device with personal mobility can have the positive effects on skin (especially whitening effect) and psychological satisfaction. Methods: This study required the test subjects to use at least two functions including hypoallergenic peeling function and dead skin cell care for more than once a day. Afterward the changes in skin whitening was measured (changes in skin brightness and tone) and survey responses were collected. The study was conducted for 8 weeks’ period, and the skin color and tone was measured twice, before and after the study. The survey was taken once in a form of 5 point Likert scale. Result: First, measuring changes in skin tone after the use of the product showed that in 66% in age group of 18 to 19, and 83% in age group of over 20, the product was effective. So, in total 79% experienced increase in brightness of the skin. Among the 29% of the subjects that showed decrease in skin tone using the toolkit, some admitted that there was an error during self-measurement process, and some expressed that with naked eyes the skin appears to be brighter after using the product. This may be due to changes in colors of the skin that was not part of the measurement. Secondly, in the survey assessing the psychological satisfaction from using the product, test subjects gave 79% to 100% positive responses. Conclusion: The study confirmed that an at-home skin-care device has a positive effect on the user’s skin beauty (especially whitening effect) and psychological satisfaction of the user.

To understand the principal functioning of binaural beats signals and the way it can affect the brain, eight drugs were used. This study was carried out on three groups: the first one contains four binaural beats signals, each one refers to a specific tone: alpha, beta, theta, and delta waves. The second group holds three records, representing three separate meditation binaural beats; however, the third one contains only one record that stands for the Marijuana e-drugs. Two types of analyses were performed on these groups, the temporal and the frequency analyses. In the first one, Hilbert transform was used to detect the envelope of the signal; we then determined the cross correlation function to understand the relationship between the two signals of the left and the right ears. However, in the frequency analysis, Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) was applied to extract binaural and carrier frequencies. The obtained results are very satisfactory and show that there is a delay between the two signals of the left and the right ears. Nevertheless, the frequency analysis shows that in the second group, Solfeggio frequencies lambda, theta and delta waves are used to obtain the meditation state, were gamma, lambda, alpha, and delta waves are applied to get the Marijuana effect in the third group.

The main purpose of the article is to study the set of P. Schaeffer’s views on the specifics of aural perception of acousmatic music. The research methodology is a comparative method used to determine the innovative value of P. Schaeffer’s research thought on the specifics of the perception of acousmatic works and how to educate ear to music. The composer’s views are compared to the traditional methods of ear training in Western classical music and linked with the musical notation. The scientific novelty is that for the first time in Ukrainian musicology P. Schaeffer’s views on the perception of acousmatic works were studied, and the theoretical work “Solfege de l’objet sonore” was introduced into scientific use. It is an audio presentation of the composer basic concepts and can serve as a manual for ear training. The differentiation of types of aural perception proposed by P. Schaefer from the point of view of concentration on certain properties of sound is investigated, the term “reduced listening” introduced by the composer is analysed. P. Schaeffer’s theoretical work “Solfege de l’objet sonore” is considered, in which the author demonstrates a new approach to the perception of colourful sonorous sound created with the help of electronic technologies. P. Schaeffer’s innovation consists in abstracting from the determination of pitch and focusing on the fundamental elements of electronic music – the sound object, which replaces the tone of a certain pitch as the basic unit of traditional music and must be analysed from the standpoint of internal structural properties. P. Schaeffer’s “Solfege” teaches musicians to distinguish sound objects outside the hierarchical organisation, such as pitch and rhythm. The importance of perceiving musical objects as integral sound formations with their own acoustic content, structure and physical properties has been proved. Conclusions. “Solfege de l’objet sonore” demonstrates the author’s vision of the aural competencies needed to perceive acousmatic music. P. Schaeffer considers the purpose of the new approach to the perception of acousmatic works to train in the reduced listening skill, which can be developed in the same way as in traditional solfeggio the skills of pitch perception are trained.

Vision is typically dominant over audition or touch in human adults. One classic example is the Colavita visual dominance effect: The presentation of a tone sometimes goes undetected when it is paired with a flash even though it is well detected when presented alone. We investigated whether the Colavita visual dominance effect is modulated by stimulus uncertainty in the temporal and spatial domains. In a simple discrimination task, participants were asked to press a predesignated key when detecting a flash, another key when detecting a tone, and both keys when detecting both a flash and a tone. Temporal uncertainty was increased by introducing temporal jitter between trials (Experiment 1), and spatial uncertainty was increased by shifting the flash to different locations (Experiment 2). The Colavita visual dominance effect was reduced when temporal uncertainty was increased, while it remained similar when spatial uncertainty was increased. We therefore demonstrate a novel consideration, where increasing temporal uncertainty balances the competition between vision and audition, suggesting that people's degree of sensory dominance is malleable. Our result therefore highlights the concept that intersensory competition is susceptible to the temporal predictability of the stimulus, which provides critical insights into the design of effective warning systems in the field of ergonomics.

Objective: This study examines the effect of “tone of feedback” on student pilot flight performance.Background: Corrective feedback is primarily given verbally in flight training to facilitate trai...

Merely seeing large objects (e.g., apples) potentiates power grip whereas seeing small objects (e.g., strawberries) potentiates precision grip. According to the embodied cognition account, this potentiation effect reflects automatic access to object representation, including the grip usually associated with the object. Alternatively, this effect might be due to an overlap between magnitude codes used to code manipulable objects and magnitude codes used to code responses outcomes. In Experiment 1, participants saw objects usually grasped with a power or precision grip and had to press keys either with their forefinger or with their palm, each response generating a low or high tone (i.e., a large vs. small perceptual outcome, respectively). Tones were automatically delivered by headphones after the responses have been made in line with the ideomotor theories according to which voluntary actions are carried out due to the anticipation of their outcomes. Consistent with the magnitude-coding hypothesis, response times were shorter when the object and the anticipated response outcome were of the same magnitude than when they were not. These results were also consistent with a between-experiment analysis. In Experiments 2 and 3, we investigated to what extent removing or switching the outcomes during the experiment influence the potentiation effect. Our results support that the potentiation effect of grasping behaviours could be due to the compatibility between magnitude codes rather than to the involvement of motor representations. Our results also suggest a spontaneous use of the magnitude of response outcomes to code responses, as well as the flexibility of this coding processes when responses outcomes are altered.

Three experiments explored the effects of abrupt changes in stimulus properties on streaming dynamics. Listeners monitored 20-s-long low- and high-frequency (LHL-) tone sequences and reported the number of streams heard throughout. Experiments 1 and 2 used pure tones and examined the effects of changing triplet base frequency and level, respectively. Abrupt changes in base frequency (±3-12 semitones) caused significant magnitude-related falls in segregation (resetting), regardless of transition direction, but an asymmetry occurred for changes in level (±12 dB). Rising-level transitions usually decreased segregation significantly, whereas falling-level transitions had little or no effect. Experiment 3 used pure tones (unmodulated) and narrowly spaced (±25 Hz) tone pairs (dyads); the two evoke similar excitation patterns, but dyads are strongly modulated with a distinctive timbre. Dyad-only sequences induced a strongly segregated percept, limiting scope for further build-up. Alternation between groups of pure tones and dyads produced large, asymmetric changes in streaming. Dyad-to-pure transitions caused substantial resetting, but pure-to-dyad transitions sometimes elicited even greater segregation than for the corresponding interval in dyad-only sequences (overshoot). The results indicate that abrupt changes in timbre can strongly affect the likelihood of stream segregation without introducing significant peripheral-channeling cues. These asymmetric effects of transition direction are reminiscent of subtractive adaptation in vision.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of physical activity on changes in lower limb muscle tone and body balance ability in people with developmental disabilities. In this study, subjects with developmental disabilities who showed voluntary participation as those diagnosed as developmental disabilities through medical examination were selected as subjects. These subjects were randomly assigned to the trampoline group (n=10) and the yoga group (n=10) as those who did not participate in the recent regular exercise program. The trampoline and yoga were performed twice a week for a total of 20 times for 10 weeks with 60 minutes each. The intensity of exercise was divided into 3 steps, and rating of perceived exertion(RPE) of 8-9, 10-11, and 12-13 were performed, respectively. Muscle tone was measured at rest in a total of three muscle groups of the quadriceps muscle, hamstring, and calf. Also, one leg standing test was used to test the static balance ability, and linear gait test was performed to test dynamic balance ability. Based on the results of the study, the following results were obtained. First, in the trampoline and yoga group, the quadriceps muscle tone increased(p

Under the current COVID‐19 global pandemic, most of the world is operating online, which has increased the importance of better understanding the perceived color quality of video conference calls We performed two experiments to evaluate the white balance appearance preference for images simulating a scene from a video conference call where a person is using a virtual background Due to the dissimilarities of the light sources used for the subject and the background scene, the overall picture may look aesthetically unappealing The first experiment was designed to assess the preference of white balance for images containing a foreground subject, with three different skin tones: light, medium, and dark, and a background scene, with five different color temperature appearances, cool to warm The background scenes include famous attractions in the United States, water bodies, foliage, and a few less common scenes like a sculpture at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) and a ColorChecker Observers were presented with a pair of images of the same subject with same background scene, but with different white balance appearance These comparisons were performed for each foreground subject with all background scenes Both experiments were performed by naive observers, who were from around the globe with no knowledge of color science and observers from the Munsell Color Science Lab (MCSL) at the RIT The results show that observers' preference increases as we go from cooler to warmer appearance for the Canyon, RIT, Snow, Flower, and Autumn backgrounds, and vice versa for the Lake background The Golden Gate background results are the most scattered among all scenes with very small differences in their scale values MCSL observers show a strong agreement in preference to warmer appearance for light and dark skin tones for the RIT scene, and neutral and warmer appearance for medium skin tone for the RIT and Golden Gate scenes, respectively To understand the relation between the background scene and foreground subject's white balance appearance, a second experiment was performed The subjects had three different appearances: cool, neutral, and warm Based on the results of the first experiment, five scenes with two white balance appearances, the most preferred rendition and the neutral rendition (original appearance at the time of the scene was captured), were used for the second paired comparison study The results indicated that preference varied based on the foreground subject skin tone and background scene However, the background preferences follow similar trends to the first experiment There were variations in the degree of agreement, some showed very strong agreement, like dark skin tone with the RIT background, whereas for others, like autumn background with light skin tone, preferences were more scattered Overall, the differences in the scale values were smaller as compared to the first experiment, which indicates that, as we present the observers with more options, the decision became harder [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Color Research & Application is the property of John Wiley & Sons, Inc and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use This abstract may be abridged No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract (Copyright applies to all Abstracts )

Pencil drawing is recognized as a typical non-photorealistic visual art form. It is attractive to automatically generate high-quality pencil drawings from real-world photographs. Traditional model-based methods are highlighted in their interpretability, but are limited in modeling scene semantics, leading to weak sketch lines or limited pencil tone rendering effects. To address this issue, we propose a novel pencil drawing generation method via explicitly leveraging image semantic information. Specifically, the sketch lines generated from the weak boundaries can be boosted by fusing the segmented boundaries. In addition, the segmentation mask provides the spatial guidance for diversifying the tone shading effects. By combining the enhanced pencil drawing patterns, the visual quality of the generated pencil drawings can be therefore strengthened. We conduct several experiments to validate the effectiveness of our method, including ablation studies and comparison with other methods, in which promising results can be obtained.

The article highlights the creation of the atmosphere of the film in the broadest sense of the word as a basis, background for the main objects of the frame and events of the film. The composition and interaction of the components of the sound series, such as noise, sound, pause, echo, music, which form an acoustic-symbolic or melodic-harmonic emotional environment - silence, are determined. It is substantiated that the creation of a rich musical and sound score is directly related to the dramatic development and richness of action. Consequently, for a scene where there are central objects (by analogy with the composition of objects in the image frame) and psychologically or emotionally important monologues / dialogues, it is advisable to form an atmosphere in the sonority of silence. Specific features are formulated, such as multicomponentity and the need for a "spotlight effect" to draw attention to the key elements as bread crumbs. On the other hand, it is noted that the absence or inconsistency of the acoustic, sound and emotional environment of the main objects significantly impoverishes, leaves the volume and naturalness, the perception of the picture by the viewer. Polyphonic development between micro-acts, actor's facial expressions and changes of timbre, reflection of sound in space are overtone vibrations, echoes that resonate in the viewer's mind and are responsible for its inclusion, immersion in the events of the film. Aspects of creating the atmosphere are considered, such as: the existence of a stereo base in the middle of multi-channel systems on the example of creating music in a format familiar to the viewer; amplitude-frequency characteristics, where the cloning of a quality object or compliance with certain rules and guidelines is not enough today (the sound a priori should be high quality) and processing by the sound director is based on considerable experience and compliance with style and genre; critical bands of hearing perception in terms of arranging, frequency delimitation and band release for a solo or an important element of action; mid-Side sound analogy by analogy with the composition of the frame, the sound can create oversaturation of the center and literally squeeze the viewer into a chair with a sound, attention is paid to special changing behavior in quiet objects, the influence of echoes on the tone and perception during active movement in close-up and removal and dissolution in the environment. Special attention is paid to the review of the transfer of psychological perception of the environment by the viewer and the formation of the so-called "comfortable background". This function is most often performed by film music without bright melodies and changes that will attract attention in combination with dynamic and bright sound effects - elements of the frame. In the final part, it is also proposed to pay attention to the environmental friendliness of film sound: an overview of the immersiveness of sound simulations, experience and technology of creating sound landscapes that can be used in the film industry, especially in genres involving such "constructors" - fantasy, fantastic, horror and more. Also involve the use of the classification of virtual landscapes, as: imitation (realistic), compositionally artificially created (emotional or sensory), personalized (subjective), integrated scale (diegetic), hybrid. Introduced into professional circulation sound directors terminological definitions and structure of the virtual landscape, formulated in ecological design: keynote tonal center, sound labels (looped objects with reverberation response), sound components (single sounds).

The video management system in colleges and universities has become one of the most important platforms for video communication. In order to improve the storage and sharing of teaching video resource system in colleges and universities, this paper designs a teaching video resource management system based on micro grid technology. Through the construction of microtechnology + NAS network storage, the video network storage is realized, and the network sharing efficiency is improved. In addition, ASP.NET is used to develop video release and on-demand module, to meet the needs of users; through a variety of terminals in the presentation layer to display the relevant content, the design of video resource management system in line with the teaching needs of colleges and universities is completed. The experimental results show that the image processed by the system is smooth and delicate, the tone is realistic, and the system has good storage performance and high sharing efficiency.

Audio forensics is a field of science that analyzes audio such as sound recordings. Voice recordings always have information in the form of frequency characteristics, the identities of these frequencies can be identified. Furthermore, an analysis of changes in pitch and formant will be carried out. This study used pitch analysis and analysis of variance on formants. With the correct procedure for handling recorded sound evidence which is then followed by procedural examination and analysis, it is hoped that the results of the voice recognition examination can scientifically show the ownership of the voice in the recording. Based on the results of the overall analysis of the sound recordings of evidence and comparison after carrying out various stages of analysis, the voice recordings are "not identical" from the same person. The thing that causes the inequality in voice identification is the difference in intonation or tone of the subject's speech when the voice is recorded.

A fundamental property of mammalian hearing is the conversion of sound pressure into a frequency-specific place of maximum vibration along the cochlear length, thereby creating a tonotopic map. The tonotopic map makes possible systematic frequency tuning across auditory-nerve fibers, which enables the brain to use pitch to separate sounds from different environmental sources and process the speech and music that connects us to people and the world. Sometimes a tone has a different pitch in the left and right ears, a perceptual anomaly known as diplacusis. Diplacusis has been attributed to a change in the cochlear frequency-place map, but the hypothesized abnormal cochlear map has never been demonstrated. Here we assess cochlear frequency-place maps in guinea-pig ears with experimentally-induced endolymphatic hydrops, a hallmark of Ménière’s disease. Our findings are consistent with the hypothesis that diplacusis is due to an altered cochlear map. Map changes can lead to altered pitch, but the size of the pitch change is also affected by neural synchrony. Our data show that the cochlear frequency-place map is not fixed but can be altered by endolymphatic hydrops. Map changes should be considered in assessing hearing pathologies and treatments.