Femtosecond spectrotemporal magneto-optics

A new method to measure and analyze the time and spectrally resolved polarimetric response of magnetic materials is presented. It allows us to study the ultrafast magnetization dynamics of a CoPt3 ferromagnetic film. The analysis of the pump-induced rotation and ellipticity detected by a broad spectrum probe beam shows that magneto-optical signals predominantly reflect the spin dynamics in ferromagnets.     

Acoustic analysis of trill sounds

In this paper, the acoustic-phonetic characteristics of steady apical trills--trill sounds produced by the periodic vibration of the apex of the tongue--are studied. Signal processing methods, namely, zero-frequency filtering and zero-time liftering of speech signals, are used to analyze the excitation source and the resonance characteristics of the vocal tract system, respectively. Although it is natural to expect the effect of trilling on the resonances of the vocal tract system, it is interesting to note that trilling influences the glottal source of excitation as well. The excitation characteristics derived using zero-frequency filtering of speech signals are glottal epochs, strength of impulses at the glottal epochs, and instantaneous fundamental frequency of the glottal vibration. Analysis based on zero-time liftering of speech signals is used to study the dynamic resonance characteristics of vocal tract system during the production of trill sounds. Qualitative analysis of trill sounds in different vowel contexts, and the acoustic cues that may help spotting trills in continuous speech are discussed.     

Advection-induced spectrotemporal defects in a free-electron laser

We evidence numerically and experimentally that advection can induce spectrotemporal defects in a system presenting a localized structure. Those defects in the spectrum are associated with the breakings induced by the drift of the localized solution. The results are based on simulations and experiments performed on the super-ACO free-electron laser. However, we show that this instability can be generalized using a real Ginzburg-Landau equation with (i) advection and (ii) a finite-size supercritical region.     

Illusory spectrotemporal ripples created with binaurally correlated noise

Binaural disparities are the primary acoustic cues employed in sound localization tasks. However, the degree of binaural correlation in a sound serves as a complementary cue for detecting competing sound sources [J. F. Culling, H. S. Colburn, and M. Spurchise, "Interaural correlation sensitivity," J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 110(2), 1020-1029 (2001) and L. R. Bernstein and C. Trahiotis, "On the use of the normalized correlation as an index of interaural envelope correlation," J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 100, 1754-1763 (1996)]. Here a random chord stereogram (RCS) sound is developed that produces a salient pop-out illusion of a slowly varying ripple sound [T. Chi et al., "Spectro-temporal modulation transfer functions and speech intelligibility," J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 106(5), 2719-2732 (1999)], even though the left and right ear sounds alone consist of noise-like random modulations. The quality and resolution of this percept is systematically controlled by adjusting the spectrotemporal correlation pattern between the left and right sounds. The prominence and limited time-frequency resolution for resolving the RCS suggests that envelope correlations are a dominant binaural cue for grouping acoustic objects.     

A power-law transformation predicting masking by sounds with complex spectra

In a previous paper [R. Lutfi, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 73, 262-267 (1983)], the following rule was proposed for predicting masking by pairs of simultaneous maskers; Xab = [XPa + XPb]1/P, where in units of power, Xa and Xb are the individual masking effects of the maskers, Xab is the combined effect, and 0.20 less than or equal to p less than or equal to 0.33. In this paper, the rule is used to predict the results of studies in the literature that have measured masking by sounds with various other complex spectra. In most of these studies, the individual maskers comprising the complex have nominally nonoverlapping power spectra. A single value of p = 0.33 yields predictions in good agreement with the data of these studies. For a study in which the component maskers overlap more appreciably, a larger value of p = 0.50 produces equally accurate predictions. The rule also predicts some general features of the results of studies in which the individual effects of the maskers in the complex are not known but can be estimated. It is suggested that the general applicability of the rule reflects a conjoint analysis by the auditory system of two or more waveform statistics.     

Stimulus set effects in the similarity ratings of unfamiliar complex sounds

This study examined the effect of the distribution of values for various acoustic properties on the similarity ratings obtained in a paired-comparison study of complex sounds. Listeners rated the similarity of tones and tone complexes in one of four sets. Across the four sets both component frequency and the number of components in the stimuli were drawn from distributions that were either categorical or noncategorical. Other acoustic properties were distributed similarly in all sets. Solutions suggested that frequency was most important to the ratings, followed by the number of components in each critical band. Results suggest that when the values of an acoustic property are distributed categorically, its importance to similarity ratings increases relative to that observed with a less categorical distribution.     

电磁脉冲对细线耦合的时域多分辨分析

 对利用时域多分辨分析(MRTD)方法计算电磁脉冲(EMP)与细线耦合的问题进行了研究。将传统Holland细线算法应用到时域多分辨分析当中,推导出了MRTD方法中对细线结构处理的一种算法,并给出了具体的计算步骤和相关参数的选取方法。计算表明,采用MRTD方法计算细线问题,可以取较大的空间步长,一般可以取到最短工作波长的1/4左右,有效地节约了计算资源;MRTD方法也可以较方便地处理细线位于大地附近的情况,为计算地面铺设较长细线的EMP耦合提供了一种途径。     

Multiresolution analysis of fluctuations in non-stationary time series through discrete wavelets

We illustrate the efficacy of a discrete wavelet based approach to characterize fluctuations in non-stationary time series. The present approach complements the multifractal detrended fluctuation analysis (MF-DFA) method and is quite accurate for small size data sets. As compared to polynomial fits in the MF-DFA, a single Daubechies wavelet is used here for detrending purposes. The natural, built-in variable window size in wavelet transforms makes this procedure well suited for non-stationary data. We illustrate the working of this method through the analysis of binomial multifractal model. For this model, our results compare well with those calculated analytically and obtained numerically through MF-DFA. To show the efficacy of this approach for finite data sets, we also do the above comparison for Gaussian white noise time series of different sizes. In addition, we analyze time series of three experimental data sets of tokamak plasma and also spin density fluctuations in 2D Ising model.     

电磁脉冲对细线耦合的时域多分辨分析

对利用时域多分辨分析(MRTD)方法计算电磁脉冲(EMP)与细线耦合的问题进行了研究。将传统Holland细线算法应用到时域多分辨分析当中,推导出了MRTD方法中对细线结构处理的一种算法,并给出了具体的计算步骤和相关参数的选取方法。计算表明,采用MRTD方法计算细线问题,可以取较大的空间步长,一般可以取到最短工作波长的1/4左右,有效地节约了计算资源;MRTD方法也可以较方便地处理细线位于大地附近的情况,为计算地面铺设较长细线的EMP耦合提供了一种途径。     

Detection and discrimination of simple and complex sounds by hearing-impaired Belgian Waterslager canaries

Belgian Waterslager canaries (BWC) are bred to produce a distinctive low-pitched song with energy restricted to a lower range of frequencies than in other types of canaries. Previous studies have shown a high frequency hearing loss primarily above 2000 Hz that is related to hair cell abnormalities in BWC, but little is known about auditory perception in these birds. Here, frequency, duration, and intensity discrimination, temporal integration, gap detection, and discrimination of temporally reversed harmonic complexes in BWC were measured and compared to normal-hearing non-BWC. BWC had excellent frequency discrimination ability at 1000 Hz, but showed poor frequency discrimination compared to non-BWC at frequencies in the region of hearing loss. Duration and intensity discrimination were not adversely affected in BWC. Temporal integration was reduced in BWC, except at 2000 Hz. Gap detection and discrimination of temporally reversed stimuli were somewhat better in BWC than in non-BWC. Those tests that relied primarily on temporal processing were less affected by the cochlear damage in BWC than tests that probably relied more on audibility and spectral analysis. Thus, despite significant high frequency hearing loss and extensive damage along the basilar papilla, BWC retain relatively good hearing abilities under many conditions.     

飞机舱音记录器背景声的联合时频分析研究

飞机舱音记录器记录的舱音主要是由话语音、噪声和具有不同物理意义的背景声组成的复杂混合体,用传统的辨听和分析方法难以获取较多的舱音特征参数。本文以一个舱音记录器记录的主告警声为例,针对传统短时傅立叶变换在舱音辨听、分析的不足,将联合时频分析引入到飞机舱音分析中,扩展了舱音分析方法。对比分析结果表明:时频分布及其重排,在时频分辨率、时频凝聚性、交叉项干扰的抑制上各有所长,都适合分析非平稳舱音背景声,从而为飞行事故调查提供一种值得采用的方法。     

Perception of complex sounds in budgerigars (Melopsittacus undulatus) with temporary hearing loss

Songbirds and parrots deafened as nestlings fail to develop normal vocalizations, while birds deafened as adults show a gradual deterioration in the quality and precision of vocal production. Beyond this, little is known about the effect of hearing loss on the perception of vocalizations. Here, we induced temporary hearing loss in budgerigars with kanamycin and tested several aspects of the hearing, including the perception of complex, species-specific vocalizations. The ability of these birds to discriminate among acoustically distinct vocalizations was not impaired but the ability to make fine-grain discriminations among acoustically similar vocalizations was affected, even weeks after the basilar papilla had been repopulated with new hair cells. Interestingly, these birds were initially unable to recognize previously familiar contact calls in a classification task-suggesting that previously familiar vocalizations sounded unfamiliar with new hair cells. Eventually, in spite of slightly elevated absolute thresholds, the performance of birds on discrimination and perceptual recognition of vocalizations tasks returned to original levels. Thus, even though vocalizations may initially sound different with new hair cells, there are only minimal long-term effects of temporary hearing loss on auditory perception, recognition of species-specific vocalizations, or other aspects of acoustic communication in these birds.     

Intrusive sounds

The aim of this paper is to propose measures of intrusiveness of sound. Intrusiveness is understood here as that feature of sound which determines a high degree of annoyance in spite of the low value of noise rating. The paper discusses existing noise ratings and shows that they do not give satisfactory results as applied to sounds estimated as irritating or unpleasant. It is proposed that noise ratings should be extended to cover measures of intrusiveness.     

Differences in chewing sounds of dry-crisp snacks by multivariate data analysis

Chewing sounds of different types of dry-crisp snacks (two types of potato chips, prawn crackers, cornflakes and low calorie snacks from extruded starch) were analysed to assess differences in sound emission patterns. The emitted sounds were recorded by a microphone placed over the ear canal. The first bite and the first subsequent chew were selected from the time signal and a fast Fourier transformation provided the power spectra. Different multivariate analysis techniques were used for classification of the snack groups. This included principal component analysis (PCA) and unfold partial least-squares (PLS) algorithms, as well as multi-way techniques such as three-way PLS, three-way PCA (Tucker3), and parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC) on the first bite and subsequent chew. The models were evaluated by calculating the classification errors and the root mean square error of prediction (RMSEP) for independent validation sets.It appeared that the logarithm of the power spectra obtained from the chewing sounds could be used successfully to distinguish the different snack groups. When different chewers were used, recalibration of the models was necessary. Multi-way models distinguished better between chewing sounds of different snack groups than PCA on bite or chew separately and than unfold PLS. From all three-way models applied, N-PLS with three components showed the best classification capabilities, resulting in classification errors of 14-18%. The major amount of incorrect classifications was due to one type of potato chips that had a very irregular shape, resulting in a wide variation of the emitted sounds.     

Single-channel speech enhancement method using reconstructive NMF with spectrotemporal speech presence probabilities

In this paper, a novel single microphone channel-based speech enhancement technique is presented. While most of the conventional nonnegative matrix factorization-based approaches focus on generating a basis matrix of speech and noise for enhancement, the proposed algorithm performs an additional process to reconstruct speech from noisy speech when these two elements are highly overlapped in selected spectral bands. This process involves a log-spectral amplitude based estimator, which provides the spectrotemporal speech presence probability to obtain a more accurate reconstruction. Moreover, the proposed algorithm applies an unsupervised learning method to the input noise, so it is adaptable to any type of environmental noise without a pre-trained dictionary. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm obtains improved speech enhancement performance compared with conventional single channel-based approaches.     

几类典型环境声的主观评价及感知特性分析

近年来,通过“注入”调控声以降低交通噪声烦恼感的声频注入法受到广泛关注。以交通噪声调控研究为背景,通过成对比较评价了4类典型声音(实验一)和4类典型交通噪声(实验二)的烦恼感。结果表明,有调声(纯音和复音)烦恼度最高,自然声最低(海潮声最佳),蓝色噪声是仅次于海潮声令人感觉舒适的声音;被试对交通噪声和白噪声的评价存在明显的分类偏好。分析心理声学特征发现人对声音的感知依赖于多方面因素,但声刺激的某一因素(如粗糙度或音调特别高)特别突出则会引起极大的反感。构建不相似度二维感知空间,维度1反映了声音类型间的差异,维度2表征了被试对不同类型声音的烦恼度评价;并且通过相关分析发现它们与谱结构参量相关性较强。接下来的研究中,可以通过调整交通噪声的谱下降值和时域上升时间等参量使其谱结构更接近于自然声,从而降低噪声烦恼度。     

Louder sounds can produce less forward masking: effects of component phase in complex tones

The influence of the degree of envelope modulation and periodicity on the loudness and effectiveness of sounds as forward maskers was investigated. In the first experiment, listeners matched the loudness of complex tones and noise. The tones had a fundamental frequency (F0) of 62.5 or 250 Hz and were filtered into a frequency range from the 10th harmonic to 5000 Hz. The Gaussian noise was filtered in the same way. The components of the complex tones were added either in cosine phase (CPH), giving a large crest factor, or in random phase (RPH), giving a smaller crest factor. For each F0, subjects matched the loudness between all possible stimulus pairs. Six different levels of the fixed stimulus were used, ranging from about 30 dB SPL to about 80 dB SPL in 10-dB steps. Results showed that, at a given overall level, the CPH and the RPH tones were louder than the noise, and that the CPH tone was louder than the RPH tone. The difference in loudness was larger at medium than at low levels and was only slightly reduced by the addition of a noise intended to mask combination tones. The differences in loudness were slightly smaller for the higher than for the lower F0. In the second experiment, the stimuli with the lower F0s were used as forward maskers of a 20-ms sinusoid, presented at various frequencies within the spectral range of the maskers. Results showed that the CPH tone was the least effective forward masker, even though it was the loudest. The differences in effectiveness as forward maskers depended on masker level and signal frequency; in order to produce equal masking, the level of the CPH tone had to be up to 35 dB above that of the RPH tone and the noise. The implications of these results for models of loudness are discussed and a model is presented based on neural activity patterns in the auditory nerve; this predicts the general pattern of loudness matches. It is suggested that the effects observed in the experiments may have been influenced by two factors: cochlear compression and suppression.     

Theory of heart sounds

A phenomenological theory of heart sounds is proposed. The left ventricular wall is modelled as an incompressible spherical shell and the heart valves as two-dimensional membranes. The solutions of the appropriate elasticity equations are matched with those of the hydrodynamical equations describing the propagation of the radiated sound through the soft body tissue. The predicted time plots and frequency spectra show significant resemblance with recorded ones, like equidistant peaks, directional dependence, relationship of sound amplitude and rate of pressure change inside the left ventricle, etc. Sets of parameters are singled out which influence the measured sound. The latter is the integral part of a diagnostic procedure.