Singing power ratio: Quantitative evaluation of singing voice quality

This paper presents a parameter for objectively evaluating singing voice quality. Power spectrum of vowel sound / a / was analyzed by Fast Fourier Transform. The greatest harmonics peak between 2 and 4 kHz and the greatest harmonics peak between 0 and 2 kHz were identified. Power ratio of these peaks, termed singing power ratio (SPR), was calculated in 37 singers and 20 nonsingers. SPR of sung / a / in singers was significantly greater than in nonsingers. In singers, SPR of sung / a / was significantly greater than that of spoken / a /. By digital signal processing, power spectrum of sung / a / was varied, and the processed sounds were perceptually analyzed. SPR had a significant relationship with perceptual scores of “ringing” quality. SPR provides an important quantitative measurement for evaluating singing voice quality for all voice types, including soprano.     

Cu(2)O nanowires in an alumina template: electrochemical conditions for the synthesis and photoluminescence characteristics.

Cu2O nanowires, mainly consisting of (100) and (200) polycrystalline structures with a length of 4 mum are prepared by electrochemical deposition using a porous alumina template. It is found that the optimized electrochemical conditions to prepare Cu2O nanowires are different from those for the formation of a bulk thin Cu2O layer since different pH values are found between the tip of the pores and the bulk, due to diffusion limits in porous alumina with an extremely high aspect ratio of 300. We point out that Cu2O (200), Cu2O (111), Cu, and co-deposited alloys can be obtained under specific electrochemical conditions. In addition, the optical band gap of the prepared Cu2O nanowires with a length of 4 microm and a diameter of 200 nm is estimated to be 2.17 eV from photoluminescence measurements.     

Solution growth of CuGaS2 and CuGaSe2 using CuI solvent

The phase diagrams of the CuGaS₂-CuI and CuGaSe₂-CuI pseudobinary systems are investigated. Both systems show eutectic behavior; liquids along the liquids curves for solute concentrations of more than 15 mol% are shown to be single phase and solids in equilibrium with the liquids are demonstrated to be CuGaS₂ and CuGaSe₂ chalcopyrite compounds. On the basis of the results, bulk crystals of CuGaS₂ and CuGaSe₂ are prepared from CuI solutions using the Bridgman technique. The photoluminescence spectra of these crystals are nearly the same as those of the crystals grown by iodine transport method.     

Determination of lead in seawater by flow-injection on-line preconcentration-electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry after coprecipitation with iron(III) hydroxide.

A flow-injection on-line preconcentration-electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometric (ETAAS) method coupled with a coprecipitation method has been developed for the determination of lead in seawater. The combination of two preconcentration procedures, coprecipitation with iron(II) hydroxide and solid-phase extraction with a lead-selective resin, Pb-Spec, allowed the determination of lead at the ng kg(-1) level. Lead in 250 g of a sample solution was collected by coprecipitation with 10 mg of iron. The precipitate was dissolved in 25 ml of 1 mol l(-1) nitric acid; then, a 4-ml aliquot of the sample solution was introduced into the flow-injection system to preconcentrate and separate lead from iron on a Pb.Spec microcolumn. The sorbed lead was eluted with a 1.0 x 10(-4) mol l(-1) EDTA solution. The 30-microl portion of the eluate corresponding to the highest analyte concentration zone was injected into a graphite furnace. The overall enhancement factor was about 200 for 250 g of the sample. The average and standard deviation of ten blank values obtained were 1.7 ng and 0.38 ng, respectively. The recovery was 93.7 +/- 5.0% for seawater spiked with 20 ng kg(-1) lead. The proposed method is applicable to the analysis of seawater for lead at slightly higher levels.     

Zincate-type enolate for radical α-trifluoromethylation

Ketone zincate-type enolates can be applied to radical trifluoromethylation for the general synthesis of α-CF₃-ketones, cyclopentanones in particular. The addition of diethylzinc to lithium enolates is the key in the preparation of the zincate-type enolates for efficient radical trifluoromethylation.