Pushing exercise program to correct glottal incompetence

A voice therapy program using pushing exercises to correct glottal incompetence is described. The program utilizes various types of instrumentation to determine whether or not a given patient is likely to benefit from the treatment. The program also provides feedback of target voices. Three cases with incomplete glottal closure and subsequent vocal dysphonia characterized by an asthenic breathy quality are used to illustrate the program. Details of the program, termination criteria, and problems and precautions learned from treating 29 patients over a 3-year period are presented.     

Study of latent and etched tracks by a charged particle transmission technique

A recently suggested technique for non-destructive investigation of inhomogeneities in thin objects, which is based on the measurement of the energy spectra of charged particles transmitted through the object, is used for the study of thermal annealing of 10–20 μm thick polyethylene terephtalate, polypropylene and polycarbonate foils irradiated with 1–10 MeV/amu heavy ions. At elevated temperature a foil linear contraction is observed on pristine and irradiated material. Also the foil roughness increases with increasing temperature. On the same foils with etched pores 0.5–1.0 μm in diameter, the thermal annealing results in gradual closing of the pores up to about 30% of their initial diameter at the temperatures of 150–175°C. At higher temperatures the pore diameter increases and achieves its initial value.     

Disk Noise Measurement System for Optical Disks

We developed a system to measure disk noise as a function of both radial and angular position. In order to obtain an accurate disk noise measurement, crosstalk and intersymbol interference were avoided by recording regularly repeating pit patterns and the influence of electronic and laser noise was removed by averaging techniques. We found the system’s mapping ability and its high sensitivity to be very useful in investigating disk noise phenomena in the mastering process. We used the system to assess the accuracy and reproducibility of the photopolymerization replication and Al vapor deposition processes. Also, we investigated the choice of photoresist and found that photoresists with the combination of the narrowest molecular weight distribution and the highest photo-active compound content resulted in the lowest disk noise levels. Our system can, in principle, be adapted to evaluate magneto-optical and phase change disks.     

Formation and characterization of long-chained alkylsiloxane self-assembled monolayers on atomic-layer-deposited aluminum oxide surfaces

We report the formation of highly robust long-chained alkylsiloxane self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) on aluminum oxide films prepared by atomic-layer deposition (ALD). The surface chemistry and the morphological characteristics of the SAMs were examined by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, infrared spectroscopy, atomic-force microscopy, and contact-angle goniometry. The octadecylsiloxane-derived SAMs initially hydrolyze and deposit on the alumina surface as ∼1.8 nm thick, monolayer-high islands ≤50 nm in diameter. The size of these islands increases with time, likely through a surface-diffusion aggregation process. Coalescence of neighboring islands leads to a densely packed and robust monolayer on the alumina surface. The SAMs on ALD alumina are expected to be useful in a number of nanostructure applications where the combination of conformal alumina deposition and conformal coverage of the alumina by an organic layer is critical. PACS 81.16.Dn; 81.65.Kn; 82.45.Mp; 81.65.-b     

Listening difficulty as a subjective measure for evaluation of speech transmission performance in public spaces

Listening difficulty ratings, using words with high word familiarity, are proposed as a new subjective measure for the evaluation of speech transmission in public spaces to provide realistic and objective results. Two listening tests were performed to examine their validity, compared with intelligibility scores. The tests included a reverberant signal and noise as detrimental sounds. The subject was asked to repeat each word and simultaneously to rate the listening difficulty into one of four categories: (1) not difficult, (2) a little difficult, (3) fairly difficult, and (4) extremely difficult. After the tests, the four categories were reclassified into, not difficult [response (1)] and some level of difficulty, (the other 3 responses). Listening difficulty is defined as the percentage of the total number of responses indicating some level of difficulty [i.e. not (1)]. The results of two listening tests demonstrated that listening difficulty ratings can evaluate speech transmission performance more accurately and sensitively than intelligibility scores for sound fields with higher speech transmission performance.     

Reactions in Water Involving the “On-Water” Mechanism

Ever-evolving catalyst advances in synthetic protocols using water as a reaction medium have enriched the understanding of sustainable organic chemistry. Because conventional classification and definitions were ambivalent, it is proposed here that catalytic reactions using water be collectively called to be “in water”, with further classification into seven types. When accelerated in water as heterogeneous mixtures, the reactions can be regarded as following an “on-water” mechanism. The original term “on water” coined by Sharpless is incongruous with catalytic reactions, whereas on-water used in this review covers all the interfaces involving water where chemical reactions are accelerated. As a result of the unconcluded dispute on the antiquated catalyst-free “on water” model, the modified model defines three water layers: water molecules that are oriented to extrude protons toward the oil phase in the inner layer, those enwrapped by a secondary layer, and finally the bulk water layer. In light of the latitudinous outlook on the role of water at the interface, selected examples of reactions, in particular those reported over the past decade, that follow an “on-water” mechanism are reviewed herein.     

Numerical Verification Methods for Solutions of the Free Boundary Problem

We propose two methods to enclose the solution of an ordinary free boundary problem. The problem is reformulated as a nonlinear boundary value problem on a fixed interval including an unknown parameter. By appropriately setting a functional space that depends on the finite element approximation, the solution is represented as a fixed point of a compact map. Then, by using the finite element projection with constructive error estimates, a Newton-type verification procedure is derived. In addition, numerical examples confirming the effectiveness of current methods are given.     

Electronic structure of the organic conductors based on BMDT-TTF (BIS(methylenedithio)tetrathiafulvalene)

In the crystals of the cation radical salts based on the organic donor BMDT-TTF, the charge separation is observed. This comes from (1) nonequivalency of the site potential and (2) the long range electron-electron interaction, which are related to the two-dimensional nature of the molecular arrangement. The effects of the charge separation on the elctronic structure are discussed.     

Quantum coherence in quantum dot—Aharonov–Bohm ring hybrid systems

We investigate coherent transport through hybrid systems of quantum dots and Aharonov–Bohm (AB) rings. Strong coherence over the entire system leads to the Fano effect, which originates from the interference and the phase shift caused by the discrete states in the dots. The high controllability of the system parameters reveals that the Fano effect in mesoscopic transport can be a powerful tool for detecting the phase shift of electrons. We apply it to detect electrostatic phase modulation and the phase shift in a quantum wire with a side-coupled dot. Finally, we provide an experimental answer to the problem of “neighboring in-phase Coulomb peaks”.     

Polarization-mode dispersion measurement by an optical time-domain reflectometer with polarimetry assuming backscattering by randomly oriented nonspherical particles

In previous work on polarization-mode dispersion (PMD) measurement with an optical time-domain reflectometer with polarimetry (p-OTDR), scatterers were assumed to be a cloud of small spherical particles in a fiber. We have found that the p-OTDR waveforms were fitted well by modified Mueller matrices, assuming scattering by a cloud of nonspherical particles. We realized a PMD measurement based on the p-OTDR Jones matrix eigenanalysis (JME) method. The measured PMD was consistent with that of JME standard measurement with transmission-type polarimetry.