Recognition of Putonghua voiceless stop like initials based on speech main periods

I.Intr0ductionNowadays,thereismuchadvancemcntinthcrcsearchintospeechrecognition.Manyresearchershavebecninterestedintheimplementationofareliab1crealtimerec-ognitionsystemofunlimitedv0cabu1ary.Thercareafewproductsconversingsyl1ablesintoChinesecharactersinthemarket.However,theimp1ementationofarobustrealtAnerecognitionsystemofunlimitcdvocabularyisvcrydifficu1t,anditisthcgreataimofourresearch.WehaveaTMS32O-C25signa1processingboardattachedtoacomputerofthM-PC/AT80386.Wehopcthatourspeechrecognit…     

A Comparative Study of Acoustic Voice Measurements by Means of Dr. Speech and Computerized Speech Lab

In this study, the calculations and results of acoustic voice analysis as calculated by two different analysis systems (Doctor Speech (DRS), Tiger Electronics, Neu-Anspach, Germany, and Computerized Speech Lab (CSL), Kay Elemetrics Corporation, Lincoln Park, NJ) are compared. A group of 120 normal voices was selected for analysis of the objective parameters: fundamental frequency (F(0)), variation of F(0) (F(0)SD), jitter, shimmer, and harmonics-to-noise ratio (HNR). The subject group was a random selection of normal voices of adults. The aim of this comparison was to find determined differences and similarities in data measurements between both systems to make data transfer possible. A significant correlation was found for F(0), HNR, and shimmer relative. The correlation for jitter (relative and absolute) and F(0)SD was weak. DRS and CSL are not comparable in absolute figures, but their judgment against normative data is identical. Further research is necessary to explore the affect on pathological voices or child voices.     

The abduction quotient related to vocal quality

The abduction quotient, a measure of effective glottal width, was obtained for electroglottographic recordings from a professional operatic baritone singer. The subject produced repeated tokens of the voice qualities breathy, normal, and pressed (or constricted) in both a speech and a singing manner. In the singing manner, the subject produced the three vocal qualities at three pitch levels and three loudness levels. The abduction quotient decreased from breathy to pressed voice, suggesting that the measure corresponds to effective glottal width. The measure was found to be consistently low during all conditions of singing, suggesting that the subject produced all singing tokens with relatively strong laryngeal adduction at the vocal process level. Although the results of this study support the validity and usefulness of the abduction quotient, further verification is needed.     

流动注射化学发光增强法测定焦性没食子酸

在较低 p H值的 Na OH介质中 ,焦性没食子酸对 Luminol- K3 Fe(CN) 6化学发光体系有很强的增敏作用 ,据此建立了焦性没食子酸的测定方法——流动注射化学发光增强法。该法的化学发光增强值 (ΔI)与焦性没食子酸浓度 (在 3.0× 10 -9— 1.0× 10 -6mol/ L范围内 )呈良好的线性关系 ,检出限为 1.0× 10 -9mol/ L(n=11) ,对 5× 10 -8mol/ L焦性没食子酸测定的相对标准偏差为 2 .8%。用于没食子酸热解产物中的焦性没食子酸测定 ,结果令人满意     

Effects of frequency modulated tones and vowel formants on perioral muscle activity during isometric lip rounding

Two studies were conducted to assess the sensitivity of perioral muscles to vowel-like auditory stimuli. In one study, normal young adults produced an isometric lip rounding gesture while listening to a frequency modulated tone (FMT). The fundamental of the FMT was modulated over time in a sinusoidal fashion near the frequency ranges of the first and second formants of the vowels /u/ and /i/ (rate of modulation = 4.5 or 7 Hz). In another study, normal young adults produced an isometric lip rounding gesture while listening to synthesized vowels whose formant frequencies were modulated over time in a sinusoidal fashion to simulate repetitive changes from the vowel /u/ to /i/ (rate of modulation = 2 or 4 Hz). The FMTs and synthesized vowels were presented binaurally via headphones at 75 and 60 dB SL, respectively. Muscle activity from the orbicularis oris superior and inferior and from lip retractors was recorded with surface electromyography (EMG). Signal averaging and spectral analysis of the rectified and smoothed EMG failed to show perioral muscle responses to the auditory stimuli. Implications for auditory feedback theories of speech control are discussed.     

Estimation of forced-selection word intelligibility by comparing objective distances between candidates

We proposed and evaluated an estimation method for the forced selection speech intelligibility tests. Our proposal takes into account the forced selection manner of the Diagnostic Rhyme Test (DRT), which forces selection from a pair of rhyming words. A distance measure is calculated between the test word and the two candidate words, respectively, and the distance is compared to select the most likely word. We compared two distance measures. The first objective distance measure used here was based on the Articulation index Band Correlation (ABC). The ABC is the correlation of time–frequency (T–F) patterns between the test word and the template word speech of the two words in the candidate word pair. The word with the higher correlation was decided to be the likely candidate word. The T–F pattern was calculated in the Articulation Index (AI) bands, and the correlation was calculated between the corresponding bands of the test and candidate word sample. In order to estimate the intelligibility, we calculate the ratio of the number of bands in which higher correlation is seen for the correct word vs. the total number of bands (named ABC-est). This ratio quantifies how well the test word matches the correct word in the word pair. For the second objective distance, we used a measure based on the frequency-weighted segmental SNR (fwSNR_seg). Segmental SNR (SNR_seg) was calculated in AI bands, and compared among the candidate word templates. We then calculated the frequency-weighted ratio of the number of bands in which higher SNR_seg was observed for the correct word vs. the total number of bands (named fwSNR_seg-est), again to quantify how well the test word matches the selected candidate word in the pair. We estimated a logistic mapping function from the above two ratios to intelligibility scores using speech mixed with known noise. The mapping functions were then used to estimate the intelligibility of speech mixed with unknown noise. This estimation was compared to another measure that we previously evaluated, the conventional fwSNR_seg, which directly maps the measure to intelligibility. Both proposed measures were proven to be significantly more accurate than conventional fwSNR_seg. For most cases, the accuracy was comparable between the two proposed distance measures, ABC-est and fwSNR_seg-est, with the latter showing correlation between the subjective and estimated intelligibility as high as 0.97, and root mean square as low as 0.11 for one of the test sets, but not as accurate for other sets. The ABC-est showed more stable accuracy for all sets. However, both measures show practical accuracies in all conditions tested. Thus, it should be possible to “screen” the intelligibility in many of the noise conditions to be tested, and cut down on the scale of the subjective test needed.     

A new regularized forward blind source separation algorithm for automatic speech quality enhancement

This paper addresses the problem of speech enhancement and acoustic noise reduction by adaptive filtering algorithms in a moving car through blind source separation (BSS) structures. In this paper we propose a new regularized forward blind source separation (RFBSS) algorithm that does not need voice activity detection (VAD) systems, and allows getting efficient speech enhancement performances with low complexity.     

Speech enhancement in dual-microphone mobile phones using Kalman filter

In this paper, a dual-microphone speech enhancement algorithm for the mobile phones is proposed. The adopted method exploits the coherence function algorithm and the Kalman filter. This algorithm has a simple implementation that does not need a prediction of interfering signals statistics. In addition, this algorithm can be used in small devices with so closely distance between the two microphones. Moreover, the use of such algorithm allows reducing multiple noise sources at many azimuths positions. Finally, the new algorithm proves its performances referring to the perceptual evaluation of speech quality and the time domain waveforms.     

Fast estimation of speech transmission index using the reverberation time

The paper presents the function of STI in the domain of reverberation time. Through the application of the said function, we can quickly estimate the speech transmission index, knowing only the time of room reverberation. For that purpose we applied a known method which consists in physical estimation of speech intelligibility basing on the modulation transfer function (MTF) determined in a room. Then, the STI was described using a logarithmic function whereof argument was the room reverberation time. To verify the model, reverberation times of six rooms were measured. The selected rooms were very different deliberately. They had different cubature and shape. The selection included a small cuboid, lecture halls and a church. Then, the same rooms were modeled in the ODEON version 11.23 and their reverberation times were determined. Furthermore, the STI was determined in the ODEON and then compared with the reverberation time obtained in effect of fast estimation. The statistical verification with the use of correlation index and regression equation has demonstrated that the fast estimation yields results close to those obtained in the computer simulation in ODEON. We obtained the correlation index at the level close to 1. Furthermore, the test probability at the level lower than 0.05 bespeaks of a statistically significant linear relation for the confidence level of 95%.     

Uniform Colloidal Polymer Rods by Stabilizer-Assisted Liquid-Crystallization-Driven Self-Assembly

The synthesis of anisotropic colloidal building blocks is essential for their self-assembly into hierarchical materials. Here, a highly efficient stabilizer-assisted liquid-crystallization-driven self-assembly (SA-LCDSA) strategy was developed to achieve monodisperse colloidal polymer rods. This strategy does not require the use of block copolymers, but only homopolymers or random copolymers. The resulting rods have tunable size and aspect ratios, as well as well-defined columnar liquid crystal structures. The integrated triphenylene units enable the rods to exhibit unusual photo-induced fluorescence enhancement and accompanying irradiation memory effect, which, as demonstrated, are attractive for information encryption/decryption of paper documents. In particular, unwanted document decryption during delivery can be examined by fluorescence kinetics. This SA-LCDSA-based approach can be extended to synthesize other functional particles with desired π-molecular units.