Vowel Intelligibility in Classical Singing

Vowel intelligibility during singing is an important aspect of communication during performance. The intelligibility of isolated vowels sung by Western classically trained singers has been found to be relatively low, in fact, decreasing as pitch rises, and it is lower for women than for men. The lack of contextual cues significantly deteriorates vowel intelligibility. It was postulated in this study that the reduced intelligibility of isolated sung vowels may be partly from the vowels used by the singers in their daily vocalises. More specifically, if classically trained singers sang only a few American English vowels during their vocalises, their intelligibility for American English vowels would be less than for those classically trained singers who usually vocalize on most American English vowels. In this study, there were 21 subjects (15 women, 6 men), all Western classically trained performers as well as teachers of classical singing. They sang 11 words containing 11 different American English vowels, singing on two pitches a musical fifth apart. Subjects were divided into two groups, those who normally vocalize on 4, 5, or 6 vowels, and those who sing all 11 vowels during their daily vocalises. The sung words were cropped to isolate the vowels, and listening tapes were created. Two listening groups, four singing teachers and five speech-language pathologists, were asked to identify the vowels intended by the singers. Results suggest that singing fewer vowels during daily vocalises does not decrease intelligibility compared with singing the 11 American English vowels. Also, in general, vowel intelligibility was lower with the higher pitch, and vowels sung by the women were less intelligible than those sung by the men. Identification accuracy was about the same for the singing teacher listeners and the speech-language pathologist listeners except for the lower pitch, where the singing teachers were more accurate.     

铁磁金属量子阱态的共振隧穿

非铁磁金属层中的量子阱态在磁输运过程中的重要性已被广泛认识．铁磁金属层中自旋极化的量子阱态以前并没有详尽的理论研究；实验上也没有清晰地观测到自旋极化量子阱态的隧穿．文章介绍了最近由卢仲毅、张晓光和Pantelides预言的Fe／MgO／FeO／Fe／Cr和其他铁磁量子阱隧道结中的共振隧穿，并解释铁、钴、铬的△1能带的对称性在这种共振隧穿中的作用．     

频率受随机过程调制的体系中的光谱扩散

通过在Bloch方程中增加描述对频率微扰的随机过程项{ω(t)},我们讨论了系统在窄谱带的光激发后的光谱扩散。特别是以下两种情况:1)如果ω以相同的概率变化为系综中的任一ω’,光谱是一个指数式衰减的定域峰和指数式增长的动态非均匀背底的叠加。2)如果ω'到ω的概率仅与|ω’-ω|有关,非定域峰随时间变宽。作为一个例子,我们讨论了频率受多个独立随机电报过程调制的系统中的光谱扩散。     

Average speaking fundamental frequency in soprano singers with and without symptoms of vocal attrition

Nineteen trained soprano singers aged 18–30 years vocalized tasks designed to assess average speaking fundamental frequency (SFF) during spontaneous speaking and reading. Vocal range and perceptual characteristics while singing with low intensity and high frequency were also assessed, and subjects completed a survey of vocal habits/symptoms. Recorded signals were digitized prior to being analyzed for SFF using the Kay Computerized Speech Lab program. Subjects were assigned to a normal voice or impaired voice group based on ratings of perceptual tasks and survey results. Data analysis showed group differences in mean SFF, no differences in vocal range, higher mean SFF values for reading than speaking, and 58% ability to perceive speaking in low pitch. The role of speaking in too low pitch as causal for vocal symptoms and need for voice classification differentiation in vocal performance studies are discussed.     

Interval parameter perturbation method for evaluating the bounds on natural frequencies of structures with interval parameters

For structural parameters with uncertainties, interval mathematics can, in the case where the probabilistic distribution density of uncertain variables is unavailable, deal with the influence of uncertainties in structural parameters on the response of structures. In order to evaluate the region containing natural frequencies of structures with interval parameters, the interval parameter perturbation method is presented in this paper. The advantage of the present method is its computational efficiency in evaluating the region containing natural frequencies. A numerical example is used to illustrate the efficiency of the method proposed. The project is supported by National Youth Natural Science Foundation of China and National Outstanding Youth Science Foundation of China.     

The Büttiker-Landauer model generalized

Büttiker and Landauer studied scattering off an oscillating rectangular barrier in order to shed light on the time aspects of tunneling. The expression for the traversal time resulting from this study is controversial. In addition, doubts have recently been expressed on technical aspects of their work. In an attempt to clarify these issues, we investigate a generalization of their model to arbitrary oscillating barriers,V(x, t)=V ₀(x)+V ₁(x)cos t. In the process, we confirm that Büttiker and Landauer's work is technically sound. However, we show, by several examples, that no direct general relation exists between the characteristic frequency of an oscillating barrier and the duration of the tunneling process. For a wide range of realistic parameters this characteristic frequency does not even exist.This paper is dedicated to E. G. D. Cohen.     

1-烃基-1-硅杂环丁烷的合成及其Si—H键伸缩振动频率与结构关系的研究

硅杂环丁烷在有机硅化学中是一类非常重要的小分子环系化合物。由于硅杂环丁烷和环丁烷的环张力相似,因而显示出较高的反应活性。例如能与某些试剂作用,生成开环产物;在光解或热解条件下,产生具有Si=C结构的高活性中间体,可用以合成多种有机硅化合物。     

杂多阴离子[GeMo12O40]4-α/β异构体的密度泛函研究

采用密度泛函方法，在DND基组水平上，对[GeMo12O40]^4-杂多阴离子最常见的α和β异构体进行了几何构型优化，得到了与X射线晶体衍射实验结果相一致的结构参数，并在此基础上进行了振动频率分析，得到了杂多阴离子的电子结构、热力学特性和振动光谱，通过定义α，β异构体异构化反应的Gibbs函变△Gα-β与温度的关系，研究了这两种异构体的相对稳定性．结果表明：低温时α异构体更稳定，高温时β异构体更稳定些，550K左右为转变点．振动频率分析得到2种异构体的最强峰位于4个频率位置，分别指认为vax(Mo-Od)，vas(Mo-Od)，vas(Mo-Oc-Mo)，vas(Ge-Oa)，vas(Mo-Ob-Mo)振动，与红外光谱(IR)的特征振动峰相对应，观察到了特征频率的振动模式，从理论计算角度说明了Rocchiccioli—Deltcheff关于振动模式的设想是合理的．     

Structure, Stability and Vibrational Spectra of LaC_5~n(n=-1,0,+1) Clusters

用密度泛含方法研究了ＬａＣ５ｎ（ｎ＝－１，０，＋１）分子簇的结构和稳定性及振动光谱，对这个六原子体系提出了三种可能构型，点群结构为Ｃ２ｖ对称性．第一个构型为Ｌａ接在弯曲的Ｃ５链上，第二个是Ｌａ通过二个键与Ｃ５环相连第三个是Ｌａ通过一个键与Ｃ５环相连；结果表明，第一个构型即当Ｌａ接在弯曲的Ｃ５链上时能量最低．振动光谱分析指出，当ｎ＝－１时，第二个构型为局域极小值；当ｎ＝＋１时，第一个和第二个构型为局域极小值；对ｎ＝０，局域极小值没有找到．