Quantifying complex patterns of bioacoustic variation: use of a neural network to compare killer whale (Orcinus orca) dialects

A quantitative measure of acoustic similarity is crucial to any study comparing vocalizations of different species, social groups, or individuals. The goal of this study was to develop a method of extracting frequency contours from recordings of pulsed vocalizations and to test a nonlinear index of acoustic similarity based on the error of an artificial neural network at classifying them. Since the performance of neural networks depends on the amount of consistent variation in the training data, this technique can be used to assess such variation from samples of acoustic signals. The frequency contour extraction and the neural network index were tested on samples of one call type shared by nine social groups of killer whales. For comparison, call similarity was judged by three human subjects in pairwise classification tasks. The results showed a significant correlation between the neural network index and the similarity ratings by the subjects. Both measures of acoustic similarity were significantly correlated with the groups' association patterns, indicating that both methods of quantifying acoustic similarity are biologically meaningful. An index based on neural network analysis therefore represents an objective and repeatable means of measuring acoustic similarity, and allows comparison of results across studies, species and time.     

A high temperature Mössbauer effect study of iron-doped YBa2Cu3O7 superconductor

Superconducting YBa₂Cu_2.955Fe_0.045O₇ has been studied at temperatures between 300 and 1000 K. Spectra were recorded on a sample which was sealed as a pellet pressed with boron nitride. An atmosphere of oxygen was maintained in the sample region at all times. At temperatures up to 900 K, we observed the four iron sites A, (Cu(1) chain-site; square planar oxygen coordination with O(5) vacancy on thea-axis), B, (Cu(2) plane-site; square pyramidal oxygen coordination), C, (Cu(1) chain-site; square pyramidal oxygen coordination with O(5) site occupied) and D, (Cu(1) chain-site; quasi-tetrahedral oxygen coordination with O(4) vacancy along theb-axis). At temperatures up to 700 K, the relative area of the B and C sites remained nearly constant as the temperature was increased. However, the area of the A site decreased while, the D site area increased with increasing temperature. At all times, the total area of sites A and D remained constant, thereby indicating the possibility of oxygen atom hopping in thea-b plane. The quadrupole splitting of each site, except the B site, decreased linearly with increasing temperature.Research supported in part by the Old Dominion University Undergraduate Research Program.     

Shift and broadening of the vibrational mode for a diatomic molecule adsorbed on a metal surface

The shift and broadening of the vibrational frequency of a diatomic molecule adsorbed on a metal surface are calculated on the basis of electromagnetic interactions. Finite molecular size and nonlocal metal response are included in a calculation of the response function, whose pole is the complex normal mode frequency. Finite molecular size is described by a model of a point-like vibrational mode within a polarizable sphere. Nonlocal metal response is described by a semiclassical infinite barrier model with a Lindhard dielectric constant generalized to include core polarization and finite electron lifetime. When applied to the case of CO adsorbed on Cu and if the molecule is positioned so as to fit the observed width, it is found the predicted shift is a factor of three or more greater than that observed.     

The 110Pd, 116Cd(p,p'γ) reactions

The possibility of extending our knowledge about higher-energy collective-type states among the vibrational nuclei by observing γ-rays from states excited by inelastically scattered protons has been examined. Gamma rays from ¹¹⁰Pd and ¹¹⁶Cd were detected in coincidence with inelastically scattered protons; the incident protons had energies of 12 and 13 MeV. Gamma rays, most of them previously unreported, were observed from 17 levels in ¹¹⁰Pd and 14 levels in ¹¹⁶Cd below ≈ 2.5 MeV. The results are compared to predictions of a phonon- model interpretation of the levels. Evidence is shown for the existence of the three-quadrupole phonon quintet in ¹¹⁰Pd.     

Analysis of the kinetics of the thermal and chemically activated elimination of HF from 1,1,1-trifluoroethane: the C?C bond dissociation energy and the heat of formation of 1,1,1-trifluoroethane

The thermal, unimolecular elimination of HF from CH₃CF₃ was studied by three different groups over the temperature range 1000° to 1800°K. While the reported kinetic parameters varied greatly, it is shown here that these data may be satisfactorily correlated in terms of a four-center transition state. This correlation results in ΔE = 69.2 kcal/mol, and log (k/s^?1) = 14.6 – 72.6/θ. These results may then be combined with the kinetics of the chemically activated elimination of HF from CH₃CF₃ formed by the recombination of methyl and trifluoromethyl radicals. The data from three different laboratories are shown to be in excellent agreement. These data, combined with extant thermal data, yield as a best value DH(CH₃? CF₃) = 99.6 ± 1.1 kcal/mol. This gives the unexpectedly high value of DH₂₉₈°(CH₃? CF₃) = 101.2 ± 1.1 kcal/mol. It is suggested that dipoledipole interactions, primarily in CH₃CF₃, account for this surprisingly strong C? C bond dissociation energy. These results also yield δH(CH₃CF₃; g, 298) = ?178.6 ± 1.5 kcal/mol.     

Improved Measurement of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa angle alpha using B0(B) --> rho+rho- decays

We present results from an analysis of B(0)B(0)--> rho(+)rho(-) using 232 x 10(6) Gamma (4S) --> BB decays collected with the BABAR detector at the PEP-II asymmetric-energy B factory at SLAC. We measure the longitudinal polarization fraction f(L) = 0.978 +/- 0.014(stat) + 0.021 / -0.029(syst) and the CP-violating parameters S(L)= -0.33 +/- 0.24(stat) + 0.08 / -0.14(syst) and C(L)= -0.03 +/- 0.18(stat) +/- 0.09(syst). Using an isospin analysis of B --> rhorho decays, we determine the unitarity triangle parameter alpha. The solution compatible with the standard model is alpha = (100 +/- 13) degrees.