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Purpose Method Results Conclusion WHAT THIS PAPER ADDS What is already known on this subject What this paper adds to existing knowledge What are the clinical implications of this work? This study was designed based on the need to verify the effectiveness of education in the vocology area concerning refining perceptual auditory skills. The purpose of the project described in this paper was to examine the effect of knowledge and skills training during a 2‐week voice disorders graduate course on auditory‐perceptual skills of pre‐professional speech‐language pathologists. The training effect was evaluated by comparing pre‐ and post‐course results of ratings of voice quality using auditory‐perceptual measures.A cohort of 24 graduate students in speech‐language pathology participated in this study. Each student rated a total of 24 voice samples of typical and disordered voice quality from a database using Consensus Auditory‐Perceptual Evaluation of Voice (CAPE‐V). The same voice samples were rated before and after the training, in randomised order. The speakers ranged in age from 35 to 80 years; 16 identified as females and 8 as males. A total of 16 samples were associated with various degrees of dysphonia of organic and functional aetiologies; the remaining 8 voice samples included in the study were classified as normal. The training involved different components including knowledge and auditory‐perceptual skills as part of a voice class offered as an intensive 2‐week course with daily blocks of 4 h sessions. Exploratory comparisons of results to objective outcomes were conducted through comparisons with computer‐generated indicators of the Cepstral Spectral Index of Dysphonia (CSID), a component of the Analysis of Dysphonia in Speech and Voice (ADSV) software from Pentax for capturing the CSID.There was a significant increase in ratings of roughness, breathiness, loudness, pitch and overall severity after the course. Furthermore, there was a significant increase in the intra‐ and interrater reliability post training. Statistically significant positive indications were found in correlations between mean perceptual ratings and the acoustic measure of CSID. Reliability of data was measured by using Pearson's correlations. Intrarater reliability resulted in values of ≥0.90 in all parameters. Similar findings were demonstrated by intraclass coefficients used to estimate interrater consistency: all values were >0.90 but in the Loudness parameter [r (22) = 0.60].Effectiveness of the training in improving the auditory perceptual skills of students was based on the increased reliability of ratings. Indications of successful implementation and outcomes on auditory‐perpetual training procedures in classroom environments will support the development of effective educational methods, which will in turn lead to increased efficacy of service delivery in voice disorders. The effects of training on perceptual assessment performance have been indicated in the literature. Past evidence has demonstrated that various types of training produce a significant impact on auditory perceptual skills. Although dedicated research has been advancing over the past decade, further aspects of auditory‐perceptual reliable assessment include queries about specific training approaches, optimal duration, and interval time for recalibration. While past research suggests that increased exposure in identifying voice characteristics impacts assessment skills, there are limited published data on the relationship of knowledge and skill in association with teaching and learning environments, particularly at the pre‐professional stage. Practical data from actual classroom application constitute an ideal scenario for inspecting effectiveness of graduate training in voice disorders involving acquiring knowledge and applied skills, including auditory‐perceptual voice evaluation. This study is an attempt to expand on previous literature, particularly by examining effects of auditory‐perceptual skills training in graduate students following teaching and learning in a systematic 2‐week voice disorders course. Outcomes indicative of successful training procedures in a classroom environment will support the development of effective educational methods to increase efficacy of service delivery in voice disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prism adaptation (PA) is both a visuomotor learning task and potential treatment for spatial neglect after stroke. While PA's aftereffects can improve neglect symptoms, therapeutic benefits vary across individuals, possibly due to differences in neglect subtypes. Neglect symptoms can be described along an information processing pathway, yielding perceptual (input) and premotor (output) neglect subtypes. There is some evidence that PA mainly benefits persons with premotor neglect. We investigated whether PA modulates the premotor stage of information processing by examining whether PA could induce a premotor bias in healthy adults. We measured perceptual and premotor biases using a speeded reach task that compares the initiation time of leftward and rightward reaches to lateralized targets from different hand start positions. Using a randomized mixed experimental design, 30 right-handed healthy adults completed this speeded reach task before and after either left-shifting (n = 15) or right-shifting (n = 15) PA. As hypothesized, left-shifting PA speeded initiation time specifically for reaches in the rightward direction, regardless of target location (p =.02, ηp2 =.18), suggesting that PA induced a premotor bias in the direction of the prism aftereffect. These findings have implications for PA's underlying mechanisms, which can inform visuomotor learning theories and PA's use as a treatment for spatial neglect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multimodal medical fusion images (MMFI) are formed by fusing medical images of two or more modalities with the aim of displaying as much valuable information as possible in a single image. However, due to the different strategies of various fusion algorithms, the quality of the generated fused images is uneven. Thus, an effective blind image quality assessment (BIQA) method is urgently required. The challenge of MMFI quality assessment is to enable the network to perceive the nuances between fused images of different qualities, and the key point for the success of BIQA is the availability of valid reference information. To this end, this work proposes a generative adversarial network (GAN) -guided nuance perceptual attention network (G2NPAN) to implement BIQA for MMFI. Specifically, we achieve the blind evaluation style via the design of a GAN and develop a Unique FeatureWarehouse module to learn the effective features of fused images from the pixel level. The redesigned loss function guides the network to perceive the image quality. In the end, the class activation mapping supervised quality assessment network is employed to obtain the MMFI quality score. Extensive experiments and validation have been conducted in a database of medical fusion images, and the proposed method is superior to the state-of-the-art BIQA method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an ongoing global pandemic and wearing face mask is recommended across the globe to break the transmission chain of infection. The masks available in the market are of different types and materials and tend to alter the voice characteristics of the speaker. This can therefore impair optimal communication and the present study is a systematic review exploring the effect of various masks on voice production parameters. Systematic review. The titles and abstracts screening was carried out for the inclusion of articles using eight electronic databases spanning the period from 1st January 2020 to 30th April 2021. 10 articles (8 published & 2 in pre-print) that met the inclusion criteria were considered for this systematic review and the pooled age range was 18 –69 years. Three primary studies from the USA, 2 each from Australia & Italy, one each from Brazil, China, and Germany were found to have investigated the influence of wearing N95, KN95, surgical and fabric masks on voice related measures. The users significantly reported vocal fatigue, discomfort, and also perceived voice problems. Attenuation of speech sound amplitude was highest for the transparent mask followed by cloth mask, N95, KN95, and surgical mask. The World Health Organization (WHO) has been repeatedly endorsing the need to use a face mask in the current COVID-19 pandemic. However, for an unintruded voice production, the surgical mask is recommended for everyone, including healthcare professionals when they are not in close contact with patients, and not involved in aerosol-generating procedures. For teachers, doing direct teaching (offline classes), 'surgical mask' can reduce the vocal load of teachers, smoothen the teacher-student interaction and thereby facilitate better learning by the students. Additionally, it would be useful to protect oneself from the risk of developing voice problems by following standard vocal healthcare tips. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although differential rating of perceived exertion (RPE) scales have been supported in quantifying internal load across various sports, their application in basketball remains to be comprehensively investigated. Consequently, we aimed to: (1) quantify and compare session- and weekly-RPE loads using global and differential RPE scales; and (2) compare session-RPE load between individual sessions across the week using each scale in basketball players. Ten semiprofessional, male players reported RPE using global and differential (respiratory and muscular) scales following each training session and game during the in-season. RPE was multiplied by session duration to derive session-RPE load, which were summed to determine weekly-RPE load. Weekly-RPE load was higher using global (P = 0.003, η2 = 0.343, large) and muscular (P = 0.004, η2 = 0.209, large) scales than the respiratory scale. Likewise, session-RPE load was higher using global (P = 0.049, η2 = 0.314, large) and muscular (P = 0.054, η2 = 0.298, large) scales than the respiratory scale only in games, with differences between scales during other sessions being trivial-to-medium (P >0.05). Across all scales, higher session-RPE loads were apparent in the second training session than all other sessions in the week (P <0.05, η2 = 0.105-0.561, medium-to-large), and during games than the first training session (P <0.001, η2 = 0.202-0.223, large). While session-to-session load changes were similarly detected across scales, the greater weekly and game muscular loads than respiratory loads support the potential for differential RPE scales to provide more detailed internal load data in basketball settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding and optimizing the complex action of dynamic soccer players is vital for various applications in sports analytics and training. This study focuses on integrating multi-channel perceptual visual attributes to describe images of soccer games, which often include complex spatial arrangements. Central to our approach is the development of a deep multi-layer architecture tailored to precisely analyze soccer players’ movements, which are subsequently optimized by a probabilistic model. We utilize the BING objectness metric to efficiently locate representative patches within these soccer-relevant sceneries, such as players, the ball, or goal areasąłacross different scales. Following the localization process, both multi-task and manifold-guided mathematical models are formulated to select visual features from these key patches adaptively. To emulate the observational skills of soccer coaches and players in recognizing crucial moments of play, we introduce a technique known as locality-preserved and interactive active detection (LIAD). This method systematically generates gaze dynamic sequence (GDS) for each soccer scene, enhancing our understanding of soccer tactical formations and player positioning. The advantages of LIAD include its ability to: 1) preserve the local context of diverse game situations effectively, and 2) engage system designer in an active selection process driven by interactive feedback. By implementing LIAD, we methodically construct a GDS for each soccer scene and compute its deep attributes, which are then integrated into a probabilistic Gaussian mixture model (GMM) for optimize each soccer scenery. Our methodology’s efficacy is confirmed through comprehensive empirical studies, demonstrating its effectiveness in soccer training education. Notably, our derived GDSs have shown exceptional discriminative capability within our collected data set of educational soccer images, providing valuable insights for training and tactical analysis.

Deciphering the complex semantics within varied dancing sceneries is crucial for a multitude of AI endeavors. It can facilitate applications like dancing action optimization and dancing education. In our research, we propose a sophisticated approach to discerning multi-faceted perceptual visual features for accurately identifying dancing scenic imagery with intricate spatial designs. Our work centers on crafting a deep hierarchical structure adept at simulating human gaze patterns, utilizing the BING metric to pinpoint objects and their components within scenes at different scales. To emulate human visual dynamics, we introduce a Robust Deep Active Learning (RDAL) methodology, systematically creating gaze shift paths (GSPs) and capturing their profound representations. A key novelty of RDAL is its resilience to inaccuracies in labeling, employing a strategically designed sparse penalty framework that facilitates the exclusion of non-informative or irrelevant deep GSP attributes. Furthermore, we propose a manifold-regularized feature selector (MRFS) to isolate premium deep GSP features, concurrently developing a linear SVM for dancing scene recognition. Our method’s efficacy, validated through rigorous testing, not only showcased its enhanced performance across conventional scenic datasets but also highlighted the exceptional discriminating power of deep GSP features in a specialized dataset for recognizing different dancing actions. Finally, the dancing actions can be optimized using a probabilistic model.

Computed tomography (CT) imaging is widely applied to identify tumors and internal injuries in the body. CT image retargeting involves reducing the size of less important areas (like normal organs) either horizontally or vertically, while maintaining the size of key areas (such as affected organs) in the CT image. This retargeting process can significantly improve the way CT images are displayed, which can be advantageous for further educational tasks, e.g., optimally displaying CT images to medical students. This paper focuses on effectively merging multiple channels of perceptual visual features for retargeting CT images with intricate spatial layouts. The key objective is to develop an active learning model that identifies where human attention is directed in a scenery. To capture both semantically and visually important elements in each CT image, we use the BING objectness descriptor, which quickly and accurately localize objects or their parts across multiple scales. Herein, multi-channel low-level features describe each object-aware patch. In an effort to characterize how humans perceive important scenic elements, we propose a locality-preserved and interactive active learning (LIAL) approach. This method sequentially generates gaze shift paths (GSP) for each CT image. Due to the high dimensionality of such GSP feature, a distribution-preserved feature selection (DPFS) is designed to acquire a few highly discriminative GSP features. Last, these refined GSP features are combined by a Gaussian mixture model (GMM) to retarget CT images. Extensive empirical studies demonstrate the power of the designed method.

In the artificial intelligence (AI) community, accurately interpreting the semantics of complex sceneries is a critical component across various systems. This paper introduces an effective pipeline that intelligently merges multi-channel perceptual visual features to identify scenic images with intricate spatial layouts. Our focus is on developing a deep hierarchical model that proactively identifies where human gaze is directed in a scenery. Overall, our method includes three key modules. First, we employ the BING objectness descriptor for the swift and precise localization of objects or their elements across multiple scales within a scene. Meanwhile, an algorithm for the local-global fusion of features is formulated to represent each BING patch, integrating various low-level attributes from different channels. Second, to mimic the human process of identifying semantically or visually significant patches within a scenery, we employee an active learning algorithm to localize those scenic patches that are semantically or visually salient. They further constitute the so-called Gaze Shift Path (GSP). Finally, an aggregation-guided deep neural network is designed to calculate the deep GSP features, which are subsequently applied to a multi-label SVM to distinguish among various scenic categories. Empirical evaluations reveal that our method’s categorization accuracy outperforms existing models on six generic scenic datasets by $2\%\sim 4.5\%$ . Besides, we observe a higher stability of our method according to the repetitive experiments. Furthermore, our method demonstrates exceptional discriminative power on a specially compiled sports educational image collection, wherein the accuracy exceeds the second best performer by 8%. These results showed the huge potential to computationally discover human gaze behavior in different visual recognition tasks.

Effectively understanding the semantics of sophisticated sceneries is a key module in plenty of artificial intelligence (AI) systems. In this article, we optimally fuse multi-channel perceptual visual features for recognizing scenic pictures with complex spatial configurations, focusing on formulating a deep hierarchical model to actively discover human gaze allocation. In detail, to uncover semantically/visually important patches within each scenery, we utilize the BING objectness descriptor to rapidly and accurately localize multi-scale objects or their components. Subsequently, a local-global feature fusion scenario is proposed to dynamically combine the multiple low-level features from multiple scenic patches. To simulate how humans perceiving semantically/visually important scenic patches, we design a robust deep active learning (RDAL) paradigm that sequentially derives gaze shift path (GSP) and hierarchically learns deep GSP features in a unified architecture. Notably, the key advantage of RDAL is the high tolerance of label noise by adding an elaborately-designed sparse penalty. That is, the contaminated and redundant deep GSP features can be implicitly abandoned. Finally, the refined deep GSP features are integrated into a multi-label SVM for recognizing sceneries of different categories. Empirical comparisons showed that: 1) our method performs competitively on six generic scenery set (average accuracy 2%~4.3% higher than the second best performer), and 2) our deep GSP feature is particularly discriminative to our compiled sport educational image set (average accuracy 7.7% higher than the second best performer).

Efficient decision-making requires accounting for sources of uncertainty (noise, or variability). Many studies have shown how the nervous system is able to account for perceptual uncertainty (noise, variability) that arises from limitations in its own abilities to encode perceptual stimuli. However, many other sources of uncertainty exist, reflecting for example variability in the behaviour of other agents or physical processes. Here we review previous studies on decision making under uncertainty as a function of the different types of uncertainty that the nervous system encounters, showing that noise that is intrinsic to the perceptual system can often be accounted for near-optimally (i.e. not statistically different from optimally), whereas accounting for other types of uncertainty can be much more challenging. As an example, we present a study in which participants made decisions about multisensory stimuli with both intrinsic (perceptual) and extrinsic (environmental) uncertainty and show that the nervous system accounts for these differently when making decisions: they account for internal uncertainty but under-account for external. Human perceptual systems may be well equipped to account for intrinsic (perceptual) uncertainty because, in principle, they have access to this. Accounting for external uncertainty is more challenging because this uncertainty must be learned. This article is part of the theme issue 'Decision and control processes in multisensory perception'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As consumers demand ever-higher quality standards for agricultural products, the inspection of such goods has become an integral component of the agricultural production process. Unfortunately, traditional testing methods necessitate the deployment of numerous bulky machines and cannot accurately determine the quality of produce prior to harvest. In recent years, with the advancement of soft robot technology, stretchable electronic technology, and material science, integrating flexible plant wearable sensors on soft end-effectors has been considered an attractive solution to these problems. This paper critically reviews soft end-effectors, selecting the appropriate drive mode according to the challenges and application scenarios in agriculture: electrically driven, fluid power, and smart material actuators. In addition, a presentation of various sensors installed on soft end-effectors specifically designed for agricultural applications is provided. These sensors include strain, temperature, humidity, and chemical sensors. Lastly, an in-depth analysis is conducted on the significance of implementing soft end-effectors in agriculture as well as the potential opportunities and challenges that will arise in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The grace of sight is considered as one of the blessings that Allah has granted to human being as he cannot practice his life naturally unless he enjoys some degree of sight. But this grace is missed by those with visual disabilities who cannot deal with the surrounding environment. However, Allah has blessed them with the phenomenon of compensation, which led to increasing and strengthening the other remaining senses including hearing, touching, tasting, and smelling. Pottery is considered one of the fields of plastic arts which has many characteristics that makes it distinguished for the visually impaired than others in employing these senses and giving them the cognitive ability to understand the concept of form, size, space, distinguishing between these, and developing the skills of perception and imagination through the formation of holographic and flat works. Hence, the problem of research had appeared and led to use pottery syllabus skills to develop sensory perception among the visually impaired and use it in designing utilitarian forms which contribute to their life and provide a future source of income for them,and This study aims at: Preparing a program for using pottery syllabus skills in developing sensory perception for special needs (the visually impaired), and This study tried to test the following hypothesis: There is a statistically significant difference (favoring the experimental group) between the mean scores obtained by the experimental group and the control group on pottery syllabus skills with their five items. This research is based on the descriptive approach , and It also is based on the experimental approach through conducting an experiment on students with special needs (the visually impaired) in the preparatory stage. It helped to develop the sensory perception of people with special needs “the visually impaired” through two frameworks (theoretical – practical), The researcher had concluded the following results of the pottery artworks for the visually impaired students as follows Of which the skill of distinguishing between shapes, using the senses, and his ability to construct ceramic models using different manual forming methods through perceptual perception, and his ability to produce ceramic shapes in a good way despite his visual impairment.

Objective: To map the existing evidence regarding the masking ability of resin composites. Overview: The literature search was conducted electronically, based on the PRISMA Extension for Scoping Reviews—online protocol at https://osf.io/m2h67/ with no language or time restrictions. Two independent reviewers conducted the screening, and a third reviewer was consulted in case of disagreement. Studies that evaluated resin composite masking ability regardless of background, application technique, thickness, or number of layers were selected. The search found 2995 potentially eligible studies. After removal of duplicates (657), irrelevant articles (2323), 15 citations met the eligibility criteria based on title and abstract, and eight studies were included based on full text analysis (seven in vitro, and one case report). Acceptable masking ability is obtained by one layer of opaque shade resin composite or by the layering technique. A black background is masked with 1.0‐ to 2.0 mm‐thick layers of opaque shade resin composites. Masking of the C4 background is achieved with one layer of 0.5‐ to 1.5 mm‐thick opaque shade resin composite or by the layering technique using different combinations of enamel body and dentin shades with a final thickness of 1.5 mm. Conclusions: Acceptable masking of C4 shade background is achieved with one layer of opaque shade composite at least 0.5 mm‐thick or by different combinations of the layering technique, with a final thickness of 1.5 mm. Acceptable masking of the black background of the oral cavity is achieved with a resin composite of at least 1.0 mm opaque shade. Clinical Significance: The thickness of the resin composite layer required to achieve adequate masking is variable and depends on the translucency/opacity of the tested resin composites and the background shade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ability to make rapid and precise decisions regarding the presence or absence of threats in the environment is critical for survival. Although threatening stimuli may be detected more accurately and faster because of to the bottom-up salience of their features, in the real world, these stimuli are often encountered in familiar environments in which top-down cues signal their arrival. There has been significant progress in understanding of the mechanisms by which people make perceptual decisions regarding relatively routine stimuli; however, the mechanisms of threat-related perceptual decision making remain unclear. In this review, we discuss the psychological, computational, and neural mechanisms by which information from threatening stimuli is integrated with prior knowledge from cues and surrounding contexts to guide perceptual decision making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evidentiality has often been described in narrow terms as an independent grammatical category denoting an overt source of information (e.g., perception, inference, assumption and hearsay). Drawing on fieldwork data, this paper explores how evidentiality is encoded at the copula level in Chhitkul-Rākchham (West Himalayish). In doing so, it is argued that the relevant evidentials, part of a comparatively complex scheme consisting of nine elements, together with a negative sub-system, fall under the broader umbrella of epistemic modality. The contention finds an illustration in an egophoric marker following two inflectional tracks with two resulting degrees of assertiveness, and in a handful of combinatorial constructions. Evidentiality as expressed by copulas points to the self, which builds bridges with the study of consciousness. The latter term is underappreciated within linguistics and this work emphasizes the need for a broader cross-disciplinary outlook. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As consumers demand ever-higher quality standards for agricultural products, the inspection of such goods has become an integral component of the agricultural production process. Unfortunately, traditional testing methods necessitate the deployment of numerous bulky machines and cannot accurately determine the quality of produce prior to harvest. In recent years, with the advancement of soft robot technology, stretchable electronic technology, and material science, integrating flexible plant wearable sensors on soft end-effectors has been considered an attractive solution to these problems. This paper critically reviews soft end-effectors, selecting the appropriate drive mode according to the challenges and application scenarios in agriculture: electrically driven, fluid power, and smart material actuators. In addition, a presentation of various sensors installed on soft end-effectors specifically designed for agricultural applications is provided. These sensors include strain, temperature, humidity, and chemical sensors. Lastly, an in-depth analysis is conducted on the significance of implementing soft end-effectors in agriculture as well as the potential opportunities and challenges that will arise in the future.

Purpose: The study's objectives were to assess the effect of articulation therapy for bilabials on SODA errors, cleft type errors (CTEs), and percentage of correct consonants-revised (PCC-R) in children with repaired cleft lip and palate. Methods: Single-subject with multiple baselines research design was used to investigate the changes in bilabials across four-time points. Four participants with repaired cleft lip and palate (RCLP) between 4 and 7.11 years were considered. For the assessment, pictures of six words were visually presented, and the participants were asked to name them. Three speech-language pathologists identified SODA errors and cleft type errors (CTE), based on which PCC-R was calculated. Participants underwent ten intensive articulation therapy sessions: phase I focused on auditory discrimination training and phase II on production training. The production training mainly focused on the phonetic placement approach, shaping the target sound, and improving the oral airflow. Results: Overall, SODA error analysis revealed substitution and distortion errors during the baseline assessment. CTE analysis indicated weak oral pressure consonant followed by a glottal stop, nasalization of voiced pressure, nasal consonants for oral pressure consonants, and voicing errors. PCC-R scores ranged from 0% to 83.33%. Assessment 4 indicated only distortion errors during SODA error analysis, weak oral pressure consonants during CTE analysis PCC-R was 100%. The obtained results indicate an improvement in the articulation placement and oral airflow; thus, the participants benefited from the intervention program.

In the practical application of medical service system, under the short supply of doctor seats, traditional doublequeue independent queuing system is inadequate for sufficient utilization of hospital resources. In this regard, it built a dynamic system to allocate reasonably the capacity of each outpatient queuing system without increasing the current hospital resources. Furthermore, it modeled the dynamic overflow outpatient queuing system to improve the traditional double-queue independent queuing system, and considered the probability of exiting system under perceptual and rational factors to analyze accurately the real condition of system. With the help of ProModel, a flexible and reliable discrete event simulation software, it analyzed and compared visually the dynamic model with traditional outpatient queuing model. The simulation results show that the average queue length, waiting time of patients and other service indices of the new overflow queuing model are superior to those of traditional queuing model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The presented concept affirms the central role of the observer in building an information picture of the world. Theoretically, the lack of objectivity in the perception of reality has been proven, due to the cognitive properties of observers. The key paradox of the observer's consciousness, based on Gödel's logic, has been formulated. Three theorems about the observer have been presented, reinforcing the position on the leading role of consciousness in the appearance of information as a phenomenon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Face masks have become important after the pandemic, but the change in voice when wearing a face mask is still unclear. The study investigated the effect of face masks on the acoustic and perceptual characteristics of voice quality associated with young and older Chinese adults., Methods: Voice samples of the sustained vowel /a/ and continuous speech produced by 44 older and 61 young adults with and without an ASTM level-3 surgical face mask were recorded and analyzed. Perceptual and acoustic parameters including mean fundamental frequency (F0) and intensity, perturbation measures (jitter and shimmer), harmonic-to-noise ratio (HNR), smoothed cepstral peak prominence (CPPs), and long-term average spectrum (LTAS) measures were obtained and compared., Results: When comparing masked to unmasked voices, for both male and female speakers, F0 and intensity showed no significant changes, except for F0 of continuous speech, which increased significantly. Meanwhile, perturbation measures such as jitter and shimmer were reduced, while HNR and CPPs increased. In addition, LTAS measures included low-frequency mean spectral energy (MSE), high-frequency MSE, and spectral tilt (ST), which were different. For perceptual measures, the overall grade of dysphonia, and roughness were reduced, except for the breathiness among older male speakers, while the other vocal qualities were not changed. Between young and older speakers, significant differences in shimmer, CPPs, and perceived breathiness among male speakers, and low-frequency MSE among female speakers were found., Conclusion: Wearing a surgical mask appeared to change the perceived voice quality. This is supported by the change in perturbation and LTAS measures, and HNR and CPPs values. In addition, some differences between young and older adults were observed. Oral Communication effectiveness may be affected when wearing surgical masks due to changes in voice quality. Additionally, clinicians need to exercise hightened caution in evaluating the voice quality of clients when wearing face masks., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Voice Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Multimodal medical fusion images (MMFI) are formed by fusing medical images of two or more modalities with the aim of displaying as much valuable information as possible in a single image. However, due to the different strategies of various fusion algorithms, the quality of the generated fused images is uneven. Thus, an effective blind image quality assessment (BIQA) method is urgently required. The challenge of MMFI quality assessment is to enable the network to perceive the nuances between fused images of different qualities, and the key point for the success of BIQA is the availability of valid reference information. To this end, this work proposes a generative adversarial network (GAN) -guided nuance perceptual attention network (G2NPAN) to implement BIQA for MMFI. Specifically, we achieve the blind evaluation style via the design of a GAN and develop a Unique Feature Warehouse module to learn the effective features of fused images from the pixel level. The redesigned loss function guides the network to perceive the image quality. In the end, the class activation mapping supervised quality assessment network is employed to obtain the MMFI quality score. Extensive experiments and validation have been conducted in a database of medical fusion images, and the proposed method is superior to the state-of-the-art BIQA method., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Tian and Zhang.)

Subjective listening tests are routinely conducted by academic researchers and industry professionals to assess the quality of various speech and audio processing algorithms and transmission services. Listening tests often take place in controlled environments for the sake of consistency, but in many cases, listening tests could be undertaken remotely using a suitable web interface. Despite the work of several projects in the past, there is no publicly available, fully hosted listening test platform which allows for easy test creation, deployment and data collection. Here, we present a fully functional end-to-end listening test platform which allows a user to create and share MUSHRA, ACR and A/B tests within minutes. Collected data can then be downloaded in various forms. For users who would prefer to host the system on their own servers, we provide Docker and AWS images for easy installation.

Keywords: neural; mechanism; perceptual; cognitive; elite; performers; expertise EN neural mechanism perceptual cognitive elite performers expertise 1 3 3 05/19/22 20220516 NES 220516 Perception of sensory information and accompanying cognitive processing are crucial for human interactions with the environment. The authors suggest that this approach may be useful in translating fundamental research and theory into methods to improve real-world sports performance. Hopefully, the authors in future research will look to move these results from the lab to on-field or on-ice sports performance; to establish an I in-vivo i benefit to the athlete. [Extracted from the article]

Introduction: This study aimed to investigate the effect of Mathieson laryngeal manual therapy (MLMT) following a therapeutic course in patients with primary muscle tension dysphonia (MTD). Materials and Methods: Twelve patients with primary MTD participated in this study. At first, videostroboscopy and perceptual voice assessment was performed, and the Persian version of vocal tract discomfort (VTDp) scale was completed. After two and a half weeks that patients received no treatment, the assessments were repeated to evaluate the effect of spontaneous recovery. For studying the effect of MLMT, it was presented in five sessions. Then, all assessments were repeated. The frequency of supraglottic activity was elicited. For the perceptual evaluation and VTDp, the Wilcoxon nonparametric test was used to study and compare the effect of spontaneous recovery and MLMT. Results: After spontaneous recovery, a significant difference was observed only in strain (P0.05). There was no significant difference between spontanous recovery and MLMT based on the paerceptual voice evaluation and VTDp scale (p>0.05). Conclusion: The MLMT can remarkably improve the supraglottic activity and perceptual characteristics of voice in primary MTD after a therapeutic course. Further studies are recommended to confirm the effectiveness of MLMT on decreasing VTD sensations.

This work traces some of the main researches in the field of developmental psychology, initiated by the first collaborators of Renzo Canestrari in the 1950s. In particular, it traces the academic path of Marco Walter Battacchi and Giuliana Giovanelli, who have been the first two Full Professors of Developmental Psychology at the University of Bologna, by presenting their main scientific and didactic contributions. Among these, Battacchi's works (on mental retardation, difficulties of the children of Italian immigrants in Germany, ethnic prejudice, youth delinquency, development of thought, emotions, their relationships with language and theory of mind) and Giovanelli's works (on methods of assessment and communication to enhance the potential of each pupil, psychology of perception, time, at term and preterm newborn and early perceptual, cognitive and linguistic processes) have given an innovative and widely recognized contribution to this discipline and to the first 50 years of history of the Institute, then Department, of Psychology. Their ideas and their pioneering works have constituted a fundamental reference for research groups in the field of developmental psychology at University of Bologna, national and international level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: This study aimed to investigate the effect of Mathieson Laryngeal Manual Therapy (MLMT) following a therapeutic course in patients with primary Muscle Tension Dysphonia (MTD). Materials and Methods: Twelve patients with primary MTD participated in this study. At first, videostroboscopy and perceptual voice assessment was performed, and the Persian version of Vocal Tract Discomfort (VTDp) scale was completed. After two and a half weeks that patients received no treatment, the assessments were repeated to evaluate the effect of spontaneous recovery. For studying the effect of MLMT, it was presented in five sessions. Then, all assessments were repeated. The frequency of supraglottic activity was elicited. For the perceptual evaluation and VTDp, the Wilcoxon nonparametric test was used to study and compare the effect of spontaneous recovery and MLMT. Results: After spontaneous recovery, a significant difference was observed only in strain (P<0.05). After MLMT, the frequency of supraglottic activity decreased, and perceptual voice parameters significantly changed (P<0.05), but the VTDp showed no significant difference (P>0.05). There was no significant difference between spontanous recovery and MLMT based on the paerceptual voice evaluation and VTDp scale (P>0.05). Conclusion: The MLMT can remarkably improve the supraglottic activity and perceptual characteristics of voice in primary MTD after a therapeutic course. Further studies are recommended to confirm the effectiveness of MLMT on decreasing VTD sensations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to assess the general course of acoustic, patient rated, and clinician-rated voice outcomes from pre- up to 12 months post total laryngectomy. Methods: Patients admitted to a total laryngectomy in five participating hospitals in Australia and The Netherlands were included. Assessments took place at pre-, 3 months, 6 months, and 12 months post-surgery. Voice outcomes are evaluated with the Acoustic Voice Quality Index (AVQI), perceptual scales, and patient-reported outcome measures including VHI-10 and EQ-5D-5L. Statistical analyses include descriptive statistics, t tests (pre- to 6 months post-surgery), Linear Mixed Effect models. Results: The study included 43 participants. A significant worsening of AVQI is seen from pre- to post-surgery evaluated with t test (p < 0.001). The Linear Mixed Effect model confirmed Time as a significant factor in predicting AVQI score (p ≤ 0.001), as well as perceptual rated voice quality by the clinician (p = 0.015) and patient-reported perceptual rated voice quality (p = 0.002). No statistical significance was found in VHI-10 scores over time. Conclusion: Successful TE-speech was achieved in most participants, some had to rely on augmentative alternative communication methods. Patient-reported outcomes indicate acceptance of the condition and sufficient coping in the long term. However, acoustic rated voice quality is abnormal at all post-surgery time-points. AVQI proved to be a useful instrument to evaluate TE-speech. There is a need for validation and determination of cut-off values for VHI-10 and AVQI for use in TE-speech. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over-estimation of body size, a core feature of eating disorders (EDs), has been well-documented both in young healthy and ED individuals. Yet, evidence that altered body perception might also affect older women is limited. Here, we examined whether attitudinal components of body image (i.e. the feelings an individual has about their body size and shape) might affect perceived actual and ideal body shape self-estimates in midlife, similarly to younger women. Thirty-two younger (mean age, 24.22 years) and 33 middle-aged (mean age, 53.79 years) women took part to a computerized body perception assessment of perceived, actual and ideal aspects of body image. Body mass index (BMI), societal and interpersonal aspects of appearance ideals, measured by means of Sociocultural Attitudes towards Appearance Questionnaire (SATAQ-4), and assessment of body uneasiness and concerns for specific body parts, measured by Body Uneasiness Test (BUT-A/B) scales, were also investigated. Younger and middle-aged women with larger BMI showed greater discrepancy in perceptual distortions from their perceived actual body size. However, middle-aged women with greater body part concerns overestimated their perceived body size, as opposed to younger women who were almost accurate. Unlike middle-aged women, younger women with higher body part concerns desired slimmer ideal body image than their perceived actual. Results suggest that distortions in the perceived actual and ideal body size self-estimates of younger and middle-aged women are best explained by a combination of BMI, body part concerns and the particular age group to which a participant belonged. In the future, a personalized approach for the assessment of women's perceptions and concerns of specific body areas during lifespan should be adopted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mat is a specific domain of Russian obscene vocabulary including words related to sexuality. The first sociolinguistic studies on mat emerged after the fall of the Soviet Union, concomitantly with the formation of Russian gender studies in the early 1990s (Tëmkina & Zdravomyslova 2003: 51). Until today, research on gender and taboo in Russian has been exiguous. Many scholars claim that the use of mat is a male prerogative (Uspenskiĭ 1994: 56, Doleschal & Schmid 2001: 274), whereas women's use of mat is heavily sanctioned in society. Through data from a survey I carried out with 772 participants, I illustrate that mat is strongly present in women's language use and that stereotypical gender conceptualizations are undergoing change. From the participants' answers it emerges that discussions about the use of obscene language play a critical role in the multifaceted process of renegotiation of gender roles in post-Soviet contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Subjective listening tests are routinely conducted by academic researchers and industry professionals to assess the quality of various speech and audio processing algorithms and transmission services. Listening tests often take place in controlled environments for the sake of consistency, but in many cases, listening tests could be undertaken remotely using a suitable web interface. Despite the work of several projects in the past, there is no publicly available, fully hosted listening test platform which allows for easy test creation, deployment and data collection. Here, we present a fully functional end-to-end listening test platform which allows a user to create and share MUSHRA, ACR and A/B tests within minutes. Collected data can then be downloaded in various forms. For users who would prefer to host the system on their own servers, we provide Docker and AWS images for easy installation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Repetition priming is a form of implicit memory, whereby classification or identification of a stimulus is improved by prior presentation of the same stimulus. Repetition priming is accompanied with a deceased fMRI signal for primed vs. unprimed stimuli in various brain regions, often called “repetition suppression,” or RS. Previous studies proposed that RS in posterior regions is associated with priming of perceptual processes, whereas RS in more anterior (prefrontal) regions is associated with priming of conceptual processes. To clarify which regions exhibit reliable RS associated with perceptual and conceptual priming, we conducted a quantitative meta-analysis using coordinate-based activation likelihood estimation. This analysis included 65 fMRI studies that (i) employed visual repetition priming during either perceptual or conceptual tasks, (ii) demonstrated behavioral priming, and (iii) reported the results from whole-brain analyses. Our results showed that repetition priming was mainly associated with RS in left inferior frontal gyrus and fusiform gyrus. Importantly, RS in these regions was found for both perceptual and conceptual tasks, and no regions show RS that was selective to one of these tasks. These results question the simple distinction between conceptual and perceptual priming, and suggest consideration of other factors such as stimulus-response bindings.

The aim of this study was to examine the neural bases for perceptual-cognitive superiority in a soccer anticipation task using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Thirty-nine participants lay in an MRI scanner while performing a video-based task in which they predicted an oncoming opponent's movements. Video clips were occluded at four time points, and participants were grouped according to in-task performance. Early occlusion reduced prediction accuracy significantly for all participants, as did the opponent's execution of a deceptive maneuver; however, high-skill participants were significantly more accurate than their low-skill counterparts under deceptive conditions. This perceptual-cognitive superiority was associated with greater activation of cortical and subcortical structures involved in executive function and oculomotor control. The contributions of the present findings to an existing neural model of anticipation in sport are highlighted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study examined the validity and reliability of two new soccer tests: the Passing Accuracy Test (PAT), which assesses ball passing accuracy in combination with visual stimulus recognition and the Passing and Visual Recognition test (PVR), which assesses player's space detection skill in a 360 degrees range along with the frequency and the accuracy of ball passing technique. Participants were allocated in four (4) groups based on their age: the Under 11 (U11) group consisted of 101 players, the Under 14 (U14) group consisted of 100 players, the Under 17 (U17) group consisted of 118 players and the Adults (AD) group consisted of 43 players. The typical error, the limits of agreement and the ICC of PAT and PVR test were examined. The results of the study showed high validity and reliability for both tests with the exception in PAT for adult group (ICC = 0.33–0.83; P < 0.05). Therefore, both tests could be valuable tools to assess the accuracy of ball passing technique and the space detection skill in players of different ages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Repetition priming is a form of implicit memory, whereby classification or identification of a stimulus is improved by prior presentation of the same stimulus. Repetition priming is accompanied with a deceased fMRI signal for primed vs. unprimed stimuli in various brain regions, often called "repetition suppression," or RS. Previous studies proposed that RS in posterior regions is associated with priming of perceptual processes, whereas RS in more anterior (prefrontal) regions is associated with priming of conceptual processes. To clarify which regions exhibit reliable RS associated with perceptual and conceptual priming, we conducted a quantitative meta-analysis using coordinate-based activation likelihood estimation. This analysis included 65 fMRI studies that (i) employed visual repetition priming during either perceptual or conceptual tasks, (ii) demonstrated behavioral priming, and (iii) reported the results from whole-brain analyses. Our results showed that repetition priming was mainly associated with RS in left inferior frontal gyrus and fusiform gyrus. Importantly, RS in these regions was found for both perceptual and conceptual tasks, and no regions show RS that was selective to one of these tasks. These results question the simple distinction between conceptual and perceptual priming, and suggest consideration of other factors such as stimulus-response bindings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

People attend to the same event or object by using a global or local processing style across different environments. Different physical environmental conditions, such as orderliness and disorderliness, activate different psychological states and produce different kinds of outcomes. However, previous work has rarely examined whether individuals exposed to different orderly or disorderly environments attend to the "global" or the "local" differently. Thus, in the current study, we conducted three behavioral experiments to directly examine the impact of disorder versus order cues on people's types of perceptual and conceptual processing (global vs. local). We asked participants to perform a typical Kimchi–Palmer figures task or a categorization task: with pre‐primed disorderly or orderly physical environmental pictures (Experiment 1), with basic visual pictures (Experiment 2), and imagining a real environment (Experiment 3). The results revealed that in any of the above operations, orderly experience led to global perceptual processing, whereas disorderly experience led to local perceptual processing. This difference in processing style was not influenced by the participants' daily habits or their preference for the need for structure. However, this difference in perceptual processing style did not spill over to the conceptual processing style. These findings provide direct evidence of the effects of disorderliness versus orderliness on global versus local perceptual and conceptual processing and imply that environmental orderliness or disorderliness may functionally affect cognitive processing (i.e., how we see and think about events and objects). Thus, the findings creatively bridge several lines of research and shed light on a basic cognitive mechanism responsible for perceptions of order/disorder. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The definition of delusion is usually couched in terms of false beliefs held with conviction despite evidence to the contrary. Such beliefs are usually seen as impossible or implausible by others. In order to be classed as clinically significant, a delusion would lead a person to be distressed or to have significant problems with functioning. We note that a person ordinarily understands and negotiates the world based on familiar patterns derived from her cultural and historical experience. Thus, when her lived experience is altered, these assumptions about how the world works may be called in to question. Drawing on interviews conducted with people experiencing clinically significant delusions, we show how this alteration in lived experience manifests as emotional, affective and/or perceptual anomalies. We adopt the framework of the Enactive Approach which posits that a person interacts with her environment in terms of sense-making and we argue that radical alterations in lived experience can demand a renegotiating of how a person makes sense of this new world. We suggest that if the alteration in lived experience is sufficiently radical, then delusion formation is inevitable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Baba Malay speakers perceive words ending with [al], [aɾ], and [as] as kasar 'coarse', and their counterparts ending with [ɛ] as halus 'refined'. The contrast is neither phonetic, phonological or morphological. Instead, it may be mitigated by sound symbolism operationalized by F2. The frontness of [ɛ] is associated with a smaller articulatory space in the oral cavity, and hence refinedness, as compared to the more backwards coarse forms. This study employs a matched-guise perceptual task. Refined forms are elicited from speakers. The F2 in the relevant endings is adjusted twice upwards and twice downwards in steps of 100Hz. Listeners rate these guises on a scale of 1 to 5, 5 being most associated with 'refined' values. Results show that the higher F2 is, the more likely listeners are to associate the guise with 'refined' values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]