Prediction of rectified diffusion during nonlinear bubble pulsations at biomedical frequencies

A computer study of rectified diffusion was made over the biomedical frequency range (1-10 MHz). Solutions of the Gilmore-Akulichev [E. Cramer, in Cavitation and Inhomogeneities in Underwater Acoustics, edited by W. Lauterborn (Springer, New York, 1980), pp. 54-63] formulation for bubble dynamics were combined with the Eller-Flynn [A. Eller and H.G. Flynn, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 37, 493-503 (1965)] approach to rectified diffusion in order to calculate thresholds and growth rates. It is found that: (1) for frequencies above 1 MHz, the widely held view that small bubbles grow by rectified diffusion to "resonance size" and then collapse violently is true only for narrow ranges of bubbles; (2) growth rates in the low megahertz range can be quite high for medically relevant pressures, approximately 20 micron/s at 1 MHz, 1 bar; (3) thresholds derived analytically are accurate for low frequencies over a wide range of bubble radii but, for high frequencies, only near the fundamental resonance radius; and (4) thresholds are quite sensitive to dissolved gas concentration at low frequencies.     

A comparison of broadband models for sand sediments

Chotiros and Isakson [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 116(4), 2011-2022 (2004)] recently proposed an extension of the Biot-Stoll model for poroelastic sediments that makes predictions for compressional wave speed and attenuation, which are in much better accord with the experimental measurements of these quantities extant in the literature than either those of the conventional Biot-Stoll model or the rival model of Buckingham [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 108(6), 2796-2815 (2000)]. Using a local minimizer, the Nelder-Mead simplex method, it is shown that there are generally at least two choices of the Chotiros-Isakson parameters which produce good agreement with experimental measurements. Since one postulate of the Chotiros-Isakson model is that, due to the presence of air bubbles in the pore space, the pore fluid compressibility is greater than that of water, an alternative model based on a conjecture by Biot [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 34(5), 1254-1264 (1962)], air bubble resonance, is considered. While this model does as well or better than the Chotiros-Isakson model in predicting measured values of wave speed and attenuation, the Rayleigh-Plesset theory of bubble oscillation casts doubt on its plausibility as a general explanation of large dispersion of velocity with respect to frequency.     

Evaluation of decay times in coupled spaces: reliability analysis of Bayeisan decay time estimation

This paper discusses quantitative tools to evaluate the reliability of "decay time estimates" and inter-relationships between multiple decay times for estimates made within a Bayesian framework. Previous works [Xiang and Goggans, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 110, 1415-1424 (2001); 113, 2685-2697 (2003)] have applied Bayesian framework to cope with the demanding tasks in estimating multiple decay times from Schroeder decay functions measured in acoustically coupled spaces. A parametric model of Schroeder decay function [Xiang, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 98, 2112-2121 (1995)] has been used for the Bayesian model-based analysis. The relevance of this work is that architectural acousticians need to know how well determined are the estimated decay times calculated within Bayesian framework using Schroeder decay function data. This paper will first address the estimation of global variance of the residual errors between the Schroeder function data and its model. Moreover, this paper discusses how the "landscape" shape of the posterior probability density function over the decay parameter space influences the individual decay time estimates, their associated variances, and their inter-relationships. This paper uses experimental results from measured room impulse responses in real halls to describe a model-based sampling method for an efficient estimation of decay times, and their individual variances. These parameters along with decay times are relevant decay parameters for evaluation and understanding of acoustically coupled spaces.     

Unification and extension of monolithic state space and iterative cochlear models

Time domain cochlear models have primarily followed a method introduced by Allen and Sondhi [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 66, 123-132 (1979)]. Recently the "state space formalism" proposed by Elliott et al. [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 122, 2759-2771 (2007)] has been used to simulate a wide range of nonlinear cochlear models. It used a one-dimensional approach that is extended to two dimensions in this paper, using the finite element method. The recently developed "state space formalism" in fact shares a close relationship to the earlier approach. Working from Diependaal et al. [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 82, 1655-1666 (1987)] the two approaches are compared and the relationship formalized. Understanding this relationship allows models to be converted from one to the other in order to utilize each of their strengths. A second method to derive the state space matrices required for the "state space formalism" is also presented. This method offers improved numerical properties because it uses the information available about the model more effectively. Numerical results support the claims regarding fluid dimension and the underlying similarity of the two approaches. Finally, the recent advances in the state space formalism [Bertaccini and Sisto, J. Comp. Phys. 230, 2575-2587 (2011)] are discussed in terms of this relationship.     

Modifications of the equation for gas bubble dynamics in a soft elastic medium

A model equation for the oscillation of a pressurized gas bubble in a nonlinear incompressible elastic medium [Emelianov et al., J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 115, 581 (2004)] is extended to include effects of surface tension, viscosity, weak compressibility, and confinement by an elastic shell. The significance of this work is that starting from first principles, the full nonlinearity of the incompressible elastic medium surrounding the bubble and forming its shell is taken into account. Measurements of equilibrium radius as a function of external pressure for a gas bubble in a tissue-like gel are also presented. A general approach to including hysteresis is also discussed.     

Evaluation of decay times in coupled spaces: Bayesian decay model selection

This paper applies Bayesian probability theory to determination of the decay times in coupled spaces. A previous paper [N. Xiang and P. M. Goggans, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 110, 1415-1424 (2001)] discussed determination of the decay times in coupled spaces from Schroeder's decay functions using Bayesian parameter estimation. To this end, the previous paper described the extension of an existing decay model [N. Xiang, I. Acoust. Soc. Am. 98, 2112-2121 (1995)] to incorporate one or more decay modes for use with Bayesian inference. Bayesian decay time estimation will obtain reasonable results only when it employs an appropriate decay model with the correct number of decay modes. However, in architectural acoustics practice, the number of decay modes may not be known when evaluating Schroeder's decay functions. The present paper continues the endeavor of the previous paper to apply Bayesian probability inference for comparison and selection of an appropriate decay model based upon measured data. Following a summary of Bayesian model comparison and selection, it discusses selection of a decay model in terms of experimentally measured Schroeder's decay functions. The present paper, along with the Bayesian decay time estimation described previously, suggests that Bayesian probability inference presents a suitable approach to the evaluation of decay times in coupled spaces.     

Analyzing reverse middle-ear transmission: noninvasive Gedankenexperiments.

The phenomenological framework outlined in the companion paper [C. A. Shera and G. Zweig, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 92, 1356-1370 (1992)] characterizes both forward and reverse transmission through the middle ear. This paper illustrates its use in the analysis of noninvasive measurements of middle-ear and cochlear mechanics. A cochlear scattering framework is developed for the analysis of combination-tone and other experiments in which acoustic distortion products are used to drive the middle ear "in reverse." The framework is illustrated with a simple psychophysical Gedankenexperiment analogous to the neurophysiological experiments of P. F. Fahey and J. B. Allen [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 77, 599-612 (1985)].     

On the interpretability of speech/nonspeech comparisons: a reply to Fowler

Fowler [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 88, 1236-1249 (1990)] makes a set of claims on the basis of which she denies the general interpretability of experiments that compare the perception of speech sounds to the perception of acoustically analogous nonspeech sound. She also challenges a specific auditory hypothesis offered by Diehl and Walsh [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 85, 2154-2164 (1989)] to explain the stimulus-length effect in the perception of stops and glides. It will be argued that her conclusions are unwarranted.     

Pitch and rhythm paradoxes: comments on "Auditory paradox based on fractal waveform"

Schroeder [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 79, 186-189 (1986)] describes the paradox of acoustic waveforms that sound lower when reproduced at higher speeds. The author has also demonstrated this paradox [J.C. Risset, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 46, 88 (A) (1969); see also Seventh ICA, Budapest, S10, 613-616 (1971)]; in addition he has recently synthesized a rhythmic analog of the paradox, namely rhythmical sequences that can sound slower when reproduced at higher speeds.     

"Compression-only" behavior: a second-order nonlinear response of ultrasound contrast agent microbubbles

Oscillating phospholipid-coated ultrasound contrast agent microbubbles display a so-called "compression-only" behavior, where it is observed that the bubbles compress efficiently while their expansion is suppressed. Here, a theoretical understanding of the source of this nonlinear behavior is provided through a weakly nonlinear analysis of the shell buckling model proposed by Marmottant et al. [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 118, 3499-3505 (2005)]. It is shown that the radial dynamics of the bubble can be considered as a superposition of a linear response at the fundamental driving frequency and a second-order nonlinear low-frequency response that describes the negative offset of the mean bubble radius. The analytical solution deduced from the weakly nonlinear analysis shows that the compression-only behavior results from a rapid change of the shell elasticity with bubble radius. In addition, the radial dynamics of single phospholipid-coated microbubbles was recorded as a function of both the amplitude and the frequency of the driving pressure pulse. The comparison between the experimental data and the theory shows that the magnitude of compression-only behavior is mainly determined by the initial phospholipids concentration on the bubble surface, which slightly varies from bubble to bubble.     

Target detection and location with ambient noise

By placing a vertical array in an ambient noise field and forming an upward and a downward beam one obtains two time series which can be cross correlated to reveal a subbottom profile of the seabed [Siderius et al., J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 120, 1315-1323 (2006)]. Here the cross-correlation approach is applied to the location in range and bearing of a point target. An experiment was designed using floats and weights mounted (and dismounted) on the same cable as the vertical array. Careful measurements were made of the location of all likely floats, ballast weights, array terminations, and so on. After suitable coherent averaging, peaks were seen at delays (correlation offsets) agreeing with the reflector positions and were shown to be absent when reflectors were removed. A trivial extension of the theory developed in Harrison and Siderius [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 123, 1282-1296 (2008)] is used to explain the rough amplitudes of the reflections. The approach differs from "acoustic daylight" principally in having a capability to determine a target range.     

Some remarks on Pastore (1988)

Pastore [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 84, 2262-2266 (1988)] has written a lengthy response to Kewley-Port, Watson, and Foyle [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 83, 1133-1145 (1988)]. In this reply to Pastore's letter, several of his arguments are addressed, and new data are reported which support the conclusion of the original article. That conclusion is, basically, that the temporal acuity of the auditory system does not appear to be the origin of categorical perception of speech or nonspeech sounds differing in temporal onsets.     

Parabolic equation solution of seismo-acoustics problems involving variations in bathymetry and sediment thickness

Recent improvements in the parabolic equation method are combined to extend this approach to a larger class of seismo-acoustics problems. The variable rotated parabolic equation [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 120, 3534-3538 (2006)] handles a sloping fluid-solid interface at the ocean bottom. The single-scattering solution [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 121, 808-813 (2007)] handles range dependence within elastic sediment layers. When these methods are implemented together, the parabolic equation method can be applied to problems involving variations in bathymetry and the thickness of sediment layers. The accuracy of the approach is demonstrated by comparing with finite-element solutions. The approach is applied to a complex scenario in a realistic environment.     

Transmission mode time-reversal super-resolution imaging

The theory of time-reversal super-resolution imaging of point targets embedded in a reciprocal background medium [A. J. Devaney, "Super-resolution imaging using time-reversal and MUSIC," J. Acoust. Soc. Am. (to be published)] is generalized to the case where the transmitter and receiver sensor arrays need not be coincident and for cases where the background medium can be nonreciprocal. The new theory developed herein is based on the singular value decomposition of the generalized multistatic data matrix of the sensor system rather than the standard eigenvector/eigenvalue decomposition of the time-reversal matrix as was employed in the above-mentioned work and other treatments of time-reversal imaging [Prada, Thomas, and Fink, "The iterative time reversal process: Analysis of the convergence," J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 97, 62 (1995); Prada et al., "Decomposition of the time reversal operator: Detection and selective focusing on two scatterers," J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 99, 2067 (1996)]. A generalized multiple signal classification (MUSIC) algorithm is derived that allows super-resolution imaging of both well-resolved and non-well-resolved point targets from arbitrary sensor array geometries. MUSIC exploits the orthogonal nature of the scatterer and noise subspaces defined by the singular vectors of the multistatic data matrix to form scatterer images. The time-reversal/MUSIC algorithm is tested and validated in two computer simulations of offset vertical seismic profiling where the sensor sources are aligned along the earth's surface and the receiver array is aligned along a subsurface borehole. All results demonstrate the high contrast, high resolution imaging capabilities of this new algorithm combination when compared with "classical" backpropagation or field focusing. Above and beyond the application of seismo-acoustic imaging, the time-reversal super-resolution theory has applications in ocean acoustics for target location, and ultrasonic nondestructive evaluation of parts.     

Spectral weighting strategies for sentences measured by a correlational method

Listeners' ability to understand speech in adverse listening conditions is partially due to the redundant nature of speech. Natural redundancies are often lost or altered when speech is filtered, such as done in AI/SII experiments. It is important to study how listeners recognize speech when the speech signal is unfiltered and the entire broadband spectrum is present. A correlational method [R. A. Lutfi, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 97, 1333-1334 (1995); V. M. Richards and S. Zhu, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 95, 423-424 (1994)] has been used to determine how listeners use spectral cues to perceive nonsense syllables when the full speech spectrum is present [K. A. Doherty and C. W. Turner, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 100, 3769-3773 (1996); C. W. Turner et al., J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 104, 1580-1585 (1998)]. The experiments in this study measured spectral-weighting strategies for more naturally occurring speech stimuli, specifically sentences, using a correlational method for normal-hearing listeners. Results indicate that listeners placed the greatest weight on spectral information within bands 2 and 5 (562-1113 and 2807-11,000 Hz), respectively. Spectral-weighting strategies for sentences were also compared to weighting strategies for nonsense syllables measured in a previous study (C. W. Turner et al., 1998). Spectral-weighting strategies for sentences were different from those reported for nonsense syllables.     

The acoustic reflex threshold in aging ears

This study investigates the controversy regarding the influence of age on the acoustic reflex threshold for broadband noise, 500-, 1000-, 2000-, and 4000-Hz activators between Jerger et al. [Mono. Contemp. Audiol. 1 (1978)] and Jerger [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 66 (1979)] on the one hand and Silman [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 66 (1979)] and others on the other. The acoustic reflex thresholds for broadband noise, 500-, 1000-, 2000-, and 4000-Hz activators were evaluated under two measurement conditions. Seventy-two normal-hearing ears were drawn from 72 subjects ranging in age from 20-69 years. The results revealed that age was correlated with the acoustic reflex threshold for BBN activator but not for any of the tonal activators; the correlation was stronger under the 1-dB than under the 5-dB measurement condition. Also, the mean acoustic reflex thresholds for broadband noise activator were essentially similar to those reported by Jerger et al. (1978) but differed from those obtained in this study under the 1-dB measurement condition.     

Source ranging with minimal environmental information using a virtual receiver and waveguide invariant theory

A method is presented for estimating the range of an unknown broadband acoustic source in a waveguide, using a vertical array and a signal sample from another broadband source at a known location relative to the array. The method requires no modeling of the acoustic field, and little to no environmental information for flat bathymetries. Waveguide invariant theory [e.g., D'Spain and Kuperman, J. Acoust. Soc. Am 106, 2454-2468 (1999)] is applied to the "virtual receiver" [Siderius et al., J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 102, 3439-3449 (1997)] to create a "virtual aperture" (VA). In effect, the method effectively converts a source at known range r(g) into a continuum of receivers lying between ranges (1 +/- alpha/beta)*r(g), where beta is a scalar parameter called the acoustic invariant, and alpha approximately 0.1. This effective displacement is achieved by correlating the known source field, measured at frequency component omega, with the unknown source field, measured at frequency component omega + omegas. When the VA output is plotted as a function of omega and omegas, the slope of the resulting correlation contours yields the unknown source range. The concept is illustrated via both simulation and analysis of data collected from a pseudo-random noise source with 75-150-Hz bandwidth during SWellEx-3, a shallow water experiment conducted off the San Diego coast. The virtual aperture can be reformulated for range-dependent environments, if adiabatic propagation assumptions are valid, and if the bathymetry surrounding the array is known.     

Modeling the effect of suppression on the periodicity of stimulus frequency otoacoustic emissions

The distributed roughness theory of the origins of spectral periodicity in stimulus frequency otoacoustic emissions (SFOAEs) predicts that the spectral period will be altered by suppression of the traveling wave (TW) [Zweig and Shera, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 98, 2018-2047 (1995)]. In order to investigate this effect in more detail, simulations of the variation of the spectral period under conditions of self-suppression and two-tone suppression are obtained from nonlinear cochlear models based on this theory. The results show that during self-suppression the spectral period is increased, while during high-side two-tone suppression, the period is reduced, indicating that the detailed pattern of disruption of the cochlear amplifier must be examined if the nonlinear behavior of SFOAEs is to be understood. The model results suggest that the SFOAE spectral period may be sensitive to changes in the state of the cochlear amplifier. A companion paper [Lineton and Lutman, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 114, 871-882 (2003)] presents experimental data which are compared with the results of the above models with a view to testing the underlying theory of Zweig and Shera.     

Reply to comment on "Auditory-nerve first-spike latency and auditory absolute threshold: a computer model"

Krisha [J. Acoust. Soc. Am., in press (2006)] has commented that an explanation based on presynaptic calcium accumulation at the inner hair cell is an incorrect explanation for the success of a model of the auditory periphery [Meddis, R., J. Acoustic. Soc. Am. 119, 406-417 (2006)] in explaining data on first-spike auditory nerve latency. This reply accepts the criticism and accepts the strength of an alternative explanation based on expected latencies in random sequences of low-probability events. This reply also goes on briefly to explore the application of this argument to other phenomena, including the dependence of absolute auditory threshold on the duration of the stimulus. This has wide-ranging implications for the concept of "temporal integration" in psychophysics.     

The normalized interaural correlation: accounting for NoS pi thresholds obtained with Gaussian and "low-noise" masking noise.

Recently, Eddins and Barber [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 103, 2578-2589 (1998)] and Hall et al. [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 103, 2573-2577 (1998)] independently reported that greater masking of interaurally phase-reversed (S pi) tones was produced by diotic low-noise noise than by diotic Gaussian noise. Based on quantitative analyses, Eddins and Barber suggested that their results could not be accounted for by assuming that listeners' judgments were based on constant-criterion changes in the normalized interaural correlation produced by adding the S pi signal to the diotic masker. In particular, they showed that a model like the one previously employed by Bernstein and Trahiotis [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 100, 3774-3784 (1996)] predicted an ordering of thresholds between the conditions of interest that was opposite to that observed. Bernstein and Trahiotis computed the normalized interaural correlation subsequent to half-wave, square-law rectification and low-pass filtering, the parameters of which were chosen to mimic peripheral auditory processing. In this report, it is demonstrated that augmenting the model by adding a physiologically valid stage of "envelope compression" prior to rectification and low-pass filtering provides a remedy. The new model not only accounts for the data obtained by Eddins and Barber (and the similar data obtained by Hall et al.), but also does not diminish the highly successful account of the comprehensive set of data that gave rise to the original form of the model. Therefore, models based on the computation of the normalized interaural correlation appear to remain valid because they can account, both quantitatively and qualitatively, for a wide variety of binaural detection and discrimination data.