Voice responses to changes in pitch of voice or tone auditory feedback

The present study was undertaken to examine if a subject's voice F0 responded not only to perturbations in pitch of voice feedback but also to changes in pitch of a side tone presented congruent with voice feedback. Small magnitude brief duration perturbations in pitch of voice or tone auditory feedback were randomly introduced during sustained vowel phonations. Results demonstrated a higher rate and larger magnitude of voice F0 responses to changes in pitch of the voice compared with a triangular-shaped tone (experiment 1) or a pure tone (experiment 2). However, response latencies did not differ across voice or tone conditions. Data suggest that subjects responded to the change in F0 rather than harmonic frequencies of auditory feedback because voice F0 response prevalence, magnitude, or latency did not statistically differ across triangular-shaped tone or pure-tone feedback. Results indicate the audio-vocal system is sensitive to the change in pitch of a variety of sounds, which may represent a flexible system capable of adapting to changes in the subject's voice. However, lower prevalence and smaller responses to tone pitch-shifted signals suggest that the audio-vocal system may resist changes to the pitch of other environmental sounds when voice feedback is present.     

Insight into 3D micro‐CT data: exploring segmentation algorithms through performance metrics

Three‐dimensional (3D) micro‐tomography (µ‐CT) has proven to be an important imaging modality in industry and scientific domains. Understanding the properties of material structure and behavior has produced many scientific advances. An important component of the 3D µ‐CT pipeline is image partitioning (or image segmentation), a step that is used to separate various phases or components in an image. Image partitioning schemes require specific rules for different scientific fields, but a common strategy consists of devising metrics to quantify performance and accuracy. The present article proposes a set of protocols to systematically analyze and compare the results of unsupervised classification methods used for segmentation of synchrotron‐based data. The proposed dataflow for Materials Segmentation and Metrics (MSM) provides 3D micro‐tomography image segmentation algorithms, such as statistical region merging (SRM), k‐means algorithm and parallel Markov random field (PMRF), while offering different metrics to evaluate segmentation quality, confidence and conformity with standards. Both experimental and synthetic data are assessed, illustrating quantitative results through the MSM dashboard, which can return sample information such as media porosity and permeability. The main contributions of this work are: (i) to deliver tools to improve material design and quality control; (ii) to provide datasets for benchmarking and reproducibility; (iii) to yield good practices in the absence of standards or ground‐truth for ceramic composite analysis.     

Numerical solutions of the orbital equations for diatomic molecules

A basis of Hermite splines is used in conjunction with the collocation method to solve the orbital equations for diatomic molecules. Accurate solutions of the Hartree-Fock equations are obtained using iterative methods over most regions of space, while solving the equations by Gaussian elimination near the nuclear centres. In order to improve the speed and accuracy of our iterative scheme, a new self-adjoint form of the Hartree-Fock equation is derived. Using this new equation, our iterative subroutines solve the Hartree-Fock equations to one part in 10⁶. The Gaussian elimination routines are accurate to better than one part in 10⁸.     

Gas challenge-blood oxygen level-dependent (GC-BOLD) MRI in the rat Novikoff hepatoma model

Purpose

The purpose of the study was to investigate the relationship between gas challenge-blood oxygen level-dependent (GC-BOLD) response angiogenesis and tumor size in rat Novikoff hepatoma model.

Materials and Methods

Twenty adult male Sprague-Dawley rats (weighting 301-325 g) were used for our Animal Care and Use Committee-approved experiments. N1-S1 Novikoff hepatomas were grown in 14 rats with sizes ranging from 0.42 to 2.81 cm. All experiments were performed at 3.0 T using a custom-built rodent receiver coil. A multiple gradient-echo sequence was used for R2^? measurements, first during room air (78% N₂/20% O₂) breathing and then after 10 min of carbogen (95% O₂/5% CO₂) breathing. After image acquisition, rats were euthanized, and the tumors were harvested for histological evaluation.

Results

The R2^? change between air and carbogen breathing for small hepatomas was positive; R2^? changes changed to negative values for larger hepatomas. We found a significant positive correlation between tumor R2^? change and tumor microvessel density (MVD) (r=0.798, P=.001) and a significant inverse correlation between tumor R2^? change and tumor size (r=−0.840, P<.0001).

Conclusions

GC-BOLD magnetic resonance imaging measurements are well correlated to MVD levels and tumor size in the N1-S1 Novikoff hepatoma model; GC-BOLD measurements may serve as noninvasive biomarkers for evaluating angiogenesis and disease progression and/or therapy response.     

Ultrasonic pretreatment of corn slurry for saccharification: A comparison of batch and continuous systems

The effects of ultrasound on corn slurry saccharification yield and particle size distribution was studied in both batch and continuous-flow ultrasonic systems operating at a frequency of 20 kHz. Ground corn slurry (28% w/v) was prepared and sonicated in batches at various amplitudes (192–320 μm_{peak-to-peak (p–p)}) for 20 or 40 s using a catenoidal horn. Continuous flow experiments were conducted by pumping corn slurry at various flow rates (10–28 l/min) through an ultrasonic reactor at constant amplitude of 12 μm_p–p. The reactor was equipped with a donut shaped horn. After ultrasonic treatment, commercial alpha- and gluco-amylases (STARGEN^TM 001) were added to the samples, and liquefaction and saccharification proceeded for 3 h. The sonicated samples were found to yield 2–3 times more reducing sugars than unsonicated controls. Although the continuous flow treatments released less reducing sugar compared to the batch systems, the continuous flow process was more energy efficient. The reduction of particle size due to sonication was approximately proportional to the dissipated ultrasonic energy regardless of the type of system used. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images were also used to observe the disruption of corn particles after sonication. Overall, the study suggests that both batch and continuous ultrasonication enhanced saccharification yields and reduced the particle size of corn slurry. However, due to the large volume involve in full scale processes, an ultrasonic continuous system is recommended.     

A technique for simulating the amplifier-to-eardrum transfer function of an in situ hearing aid

There are numerous articles wherein mathematical models of various parts of an in situ hearing aid have been reported. Such parts include, for example, the microphone, receiver, cylindrical tubes carrying sound to the eardrum and out through the earmold vent, and the external path from the vent back to the microphone. This article extends these earlier works to include the hearing-aid amplifier. In particular, a mathematical technique for characterizing the amplifier in combination with the receiver is reported. Cascade parameters of a two-port model of one particular amplifier/receiver combination are obtained by this method. The cascade-parameter data and the method of obtaining this data are verified by two different experimental procedures. One procedure involves both computing and measuring the input driving-point impedance of the amplifier/receiver combination. In the second procedure, the amplifier-to-eardrum transfer function of a hearing aid incorporating this same amplifier/receiver combination and mounted on an artificial ear is both computed and measured. Experimental and computed values of this transfer function for three different earmold geometries are in reasonably close agreement. The amplifier/receiver model reported herein will be used in future studies of acoustic feedback in hearing aids.     

The constant-volume-velocity nature of hearing aids: conclusions based on computer simulations

In the literature there are several references which imply that various parts of a hearing aid are sources of constant volume velocity. Reported herein are the findings of an investigation of the validity of such statements. A computer scheme, referenced elsewhere, for modeling in situ hearing aids was utilized to test the constant-volume-velocity hypothesis. In particular, capabilities of the receiver, ear hook, and earmold tip to deliver constant volume velocity were investigated via a computer. To facilitate such an investigation, a universal receiver/earmold model was created. This model was broken down into "source" and "load"at three locations: the receive output, output of the ear hook, and medial tip of the earmold. At each location comparisons were made between computed values of source and load impedance. The constant-volume-velocity hypothesis was assumed to be valid for those cases where source impedance was much, much greater than load impedance. Plots of such impedances show that, for the cases investigated, this rarely occurred, except over certain frequency bands. With the exception of in-the-ear hearing aids, these results appear to contradict inferences made in the literature about the constant-volume-velocity nature of hearing aids.