Acoustic Measures and Self-reports of Vocal Fatigue by Female Teachers

This study investigated the relation of symptoms of vocal fatigue to acoustic variables reflecting type of voice production and the effects of vocal loading. Seventy-nine female primary school teachers volunteered as subjects. Before and after a working day, (1) a 1-minute text reading sample was recorded at habitual loudness and loudly (as in large classroom), (2) a prolonged phonation on [a:] was recorded at habitual speaking pitch and loudness, and (3) a questionnaire about voice quality, ease, or difficulty of phonation and tiredness of throat was completed. The samples were analyzed for average fundamental frequency (F0), sound pressure level (SPL), and phonation type reflecting alpha ratio (SPL [1-5 kHz]-SPL [50 Hz-1 kHz]). The vowel samples were additionally analyzed for perturbation (jitter and shimmer). After a working day, F0, SPL, and alpha ratio were higher, jitter and shimmer values were lower, and more tiredness of throat was reported. The average levels of the acoustic parameters did not correlate with the symptoms. Increase in jitter and mean F0 in loud reading correlated with tiredness of throat. The results seem to suggest that, at least among experienced vocal professionals, voice production type had little relevance from the point of view of vocal fatigue reported. Differences in the acoustic parameters after a vocally loading working day mainly seem to reflect increased muscle activity as a consequence of vocal loading.     

Changes in Objective Acoustic Measurements and Subjective Voice Complaints in Call Center Customer-Service Advisors During One Working Day

SUMMARY: The aim of this study was to investigate how different acoustic parameters, extracted both from speech pressure waveforms and glottal flows, can be used in measuring vocal loading in modern working environments and how these parameters reflect the possible changes in the vocal function during a working day. In addition, correlations between objective acoustic parameters and subjective voice symptoms were addressed. The subjects were 24 female and 8 male customer-service advisors, who mainly use telephone during their working hours. Speech samples were recorded from continuous speech four times during a working day and voice symptom questionnaires were completed simultaneously. Among the various objective parameters, only F0 resulted in a statistically significant increase for both genders. No correlations between the changes in objective and subjective parameters appeared. However, the results encourage researchers within the field of occupational voice use to apply versatile measurement techniques in studying occupational voice loading.     

Synthesis, characterization, and saccharide binding studies of bile acid-porphyrin conjugates

Synthesis and characterization of bile acid-porphyrin conjugates (BAPs) are reported. Binding of saccharides with BAPs in aqueous methanol was studied by monitoring changes in the visible absorption spectral of the porphyrin-moieties. Although these studies clearly showed absorbance changes, suggesting quite high if non-selective binding, the mass spectral studies do not unambiguously support these results.     

Characterization of electronic properties of the Cr(CO)3 group in chromium, tricarbonyl [3-[(η-aryl)methylene]-Z-1(3H)-isobenzofuranones] using spectral and theoretical methods

The IR, ¹³C- and ¹⁷O-NMR spectral characteristics of the Cr(CO)₃ group in a series of eight chromium, tricarbonyl[3-[(η⁶-aryl)methylene]-Z-1(3H)-isobenzofuranones] were correlated mutually as well as with theoretical data obtained by optimized MMX force-field and EHT calculations. The net charges on the carbon and oxygen atoms of the CO group and their differences were found as the most appropriate quantitative characteristics for the electronic properties of the Cr(CO)₃ group. Using the results of the previously reported linear correlations, the electron-withdrawing effect of the PhCr(CO)₃ moiety, weakened by the back-donation effect, was estimated as σ0.45 on the scale of Hammett substituent constants.     

Isotopic pattern and accurate mass determination in urine drug screening by liquid chromatography/time-of-flight mass spectrometry

An efficient method was developed for toxicological drug screening in urine by liquid chromatography coupled with electrospray ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry. The method relies on a large target database of exact monoisotopic masses representing the elemental formulae of reference drugs and their metabolites. Mass spectral identification is based on matching measured accurate mass and isotopic pattern (SigmaFit) of a sample component with those in the database. Data post-processing software was developed for automated reporting of findings in an easily interpretable form. The mean and median of SigmaFit for true-positive findings were 0.0066 and 0.0051, respectively. The mean and median of mass error absolute values for true-positive findings were 2.51 and 2.17 ppm, respectively, corresponding to 0.65 and 0.60 mTh. For routine screening practice, a SigmaFit tolerance of 0.03 and a mass tolerance of 10 ppm were chosen. Ion abundance differences from urine extracts did not affect the accuracy of the automatically acquired SigmaFit or mass values. The results show that isotopic pattern matching by SigmaFit is a powerful means of identification in addition to accurate mass measurement.     

Multiobjective optimization of an ultrasonic transducer using NIMBUS

The optimal design of an ultrasonic transducer is a multiobjective optimization problem since the final outcome needs to satisfy several conflicting criteria. Simulation tools are often used to avoid expensive and time-consuming experiments, but even simulations may be inefficient and lead to inadequate results if they are based only on trial and error. In this work, the interactive multiobjective optimization method NIMBUS is applied in designing a high-power ultrasonic transducer. The performance of the transducer is simulated with a finite element model, and three design goals are formulated as objective functions to be minimized. To find an appropriate compromise solution, additional preference information is needed from a decision maker, who in our case is an expert in transducer design. A realistic design problem is formulated, and an interactive solution process is described. Our findings demonstrate that interactive multiobjective optimization methods, combined with numerical simulation models, can efficiently help in finding new solution approaches and possibilities as well as new understanding of real-life problems as entirenesses. In this case, the decision maker found a solution that was better with respect to all three objectives than the conventional unoptimized design.     

On Computation of Scattering Matrices and on Surface Waves for Diffraction Gratings

Summary.  A method for the numerical computation of the so-called augmented scattering matrices (ASM) is suggested for diffraction gratings. To construct such (unitary) matrices one has to take into account not only the oscillating modes but also those which exponentially grow (attenuate) in amplitude away from the grating. The method uses an optimization procedure to identify the coefficients in the asymptotics of such modes. A justification of the approach is given and its numerical implementation is discussed. Reliable numerical results allow us to study the occurrences of surface waves by means of a general existence criterion based on the properties of ASM. To illustrate the method we give some examples of surface waves in gratings. Received October 25, 2001 / Revised version received May 23, 2002 / Published online October 29, 2002 Mathematics Subject Classification (1991): 78M10, 78M50, 78A45     

On permutative grammars generating context-free languages

A grammar is said to be permutative if it has permutation productions of the formAB BA in addition to context-free productions. Szilard languages and label languages are studied as examples of languages generable by permutative grammars. Particularly, sufficient conditions for a permutative grammar to generate a context-free language are studied.This work was supported by the Academy of Finland.