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Acoustic Analysis (acoustic + analysis)
Selected AbstractsAcoustic Analysis of the Voice in Pediatric Cochlear Implant Recipients: A Longitudinal Study,THE LARYNGOSCOPE, Issue 6 2005FRCSC, P Campisi MSc Abstract Objective: To characterize inherent acoustic abnormalities of the deaf pediatric voice and the effect of artificially restoring auditory feedback with cochlear implantation. Design: Inception cohort. Setting: Academic referral center. Patients: Twenty-one children with severe to profound hearing loss (15 prelingually deaf, 6 postlingually deaf) accepted into the cochlear implant program were followed for up to 6 months. Patients unable to perform the vocal exercises were excluded. Interventions: Objective voice analysis was performed using the Computerized Speech Laboratory (Kay Elemetrics) prior to cochlear implantation, at the time of implant activation and at 2 and 6 months postactivation. Assessments were based on sustained phonations and dynamic ranges. Main Outcome Measure: Fundamental frequency, long-term control of fundamental frequency (vF0) and long-term control of amplitude (vAM) were derived from sustained phonations. The dynamic frequency range was derived from scale exercises. Formant frequencies (F1, F2, F3) were determined using linear predictive coding. Results: Fundamental frequency was not altered by implant activation or experience (P = 0.342). With profoundly deaf subject, the most prevalent acoustic abnormality was a poor long-term control of frequency (vF0, 2.81%) and long-term control of amplitude (vAm, 23.58%). Implant activation and experience had no effect on the long-term control of frequency (P = 0.106) but normalized the long-term control of amplitude (P = 0.007). The mean frequency range increased from 311.9 Hz preimplantation to 483.5 Hz postimplantation (P = 0.08). The F1/F2 ratio remained stable (P = 0.476). Conclusion: In children, severe to profound deafness results in poor long-term control of frequency and amplitude. Cochlear implantation restores control of amplitude only and implies the need for additional rehabilitative strategies for restoration of control of frequency. [source] Vocalizations of Amazon River Dolphins, Inia geoffrensis: Insights into the Evolutionary Origins of Delphinid WhistlesETHOLOGY, Issue 7 2002Jeffrey Podos Oceanic dolphins (Odontoceti: Delphinidae) produce tonal whistles, the structure and function of which have been fairly well characterized. Less is known about the evolutionary origins of delphinid whistles, including basic information about vocal structure in sister taxa such as the Platanistidae river dolphins. Here we characterize vocalizations of the Amazon River dolphin (Inia geoffrensis), for which whistles have been reported but not well documented. We studied Inia at the Mamirauá Sustainable Development Reserve in central Brazilian Amazônia. During 480 5-min blocks (over 5 weeks) we monitored and recorded vocalizations, noted group size and activity, and tallied frequencies of breathing and pre-diving surfaces. Overall, Inia vocal output correlated positively with pre-diving surfaces, suggesting that vocalizations are associated with feeding. Acoustic analyses revealed Inia vocalizations to be structurally distinct from typical delphinid whistles, including those of the delphinid Sotalia fluviatilis recorded at our field site. These data support the hypothesis that whistles are a recently derived vocalization unique to the Delphinidae. [source] Acoustic measurement of intake and grazing behaviour of cattleGRASS & FORAGE SCIENCE, Issue 2 2000Acoustic analysis of grazing behaviour was found to allow accurate identification of chewing and biting, and estimation of intake by cattle. Four steers grazed six types of turves, three were short (14, 16 and 20 cm tall), leafy turves from mowed Setaria lutescens with high application of N fertilizer, and three were tall (36, 49 and 62 cm tall), mature turves from uncut areas with low application of N fertilizer. Each animal grazed ten bites from each turf type while behaviour was videotaped and grazing sounds were recorded with a wireless microphone taped to the animal's forehead. The intake was measured by the difference in pre- and post-grazing turf weight, corrected for water loss. Chews and bites differed in acoustic characteristics, with bites producing more output in the 3,8 kHz frequency band. Discriminant analysis of the acoustic characteristics correctly classified chews and bites with 94% accuracy. Intake was predicted with a high degree of accuracy by total energy flux density (fJ m,2) in chewing sounds (EFDC), EFDC per chew and average intensity of chewing sound in the 1,2 and 2,3 kHz bands (R2=0·90, CV=3·6%). Although bite mass ranged from 1·37 to 4·50 g, EFDC per g of intake (CV=0·015) was not affected by treatments or animals. Chewing sounds carried more information about intake than biting sounds and chews per bite. Analysis of grazing sounds has the potential to overcome many of the problems associated with the measurement of grazing intake. [source] Exploring the phonatory effects of external superior laryngeal nerve paralysis: An In vivo model,THE LARYNGOSCOPE, Issue 4 2009Nelson Roy PhD Abstract Objectives/Hypothesis: Little is known regarding the phonatory consequences of unilateral external superior laryngeal nerve (ESLN) paralysis. By selectively blocking the ESLN with lidocaine HCl (with laryngeal electromyography verification), we modeled acute, unilateral cricothyroid (CT) muscle dysfunction to explore possible acoustic, aerodynamic, auditory-perceptual and auto-perceptive effects. Study Design: Prospective, repeated measures, experimental design. Methods: Ten, vocally-normal adult males underwent lidocaine block of the right ESLN. Multiple measures of phonatory function across a variety of vocal tasks/conditions were acquired before and during the block using standard data acquisition and analysis protocols. Results: During ESLN block, phonatory frequency range was significantly reduced with compression of both upper and lowermost regions of the pitch range. Mean speaking fundamental frequency increased significantly during oral reading. Acoustic analysis, aerodynamic assessment, and auditory- perceptual evaluation by blinded listeners revealed modest increases in phonatory instability (jitter), increased laryngeal airway resistance with no objective evidence of glottic insufficiency, and mild deterioration in voice quality most evident during high pitched voice productions, respectively. Participants uniformly rated their speaking and singing voices as worse during the block with significant weakness, effort, and tightness that they perceived as a mild level of impairment. Conclusions: These data support generally mild changes to the speaking voice, which extend beyond reductions in pitch range only, and shed light on the potential untoward phonatory effects of acute, unilateral CT dysfunction. Laryngoscope, 2009 [source] Production and perception of sex differences in vocalizations of Wied's black-tufted-ear marmosets (Callithrix kuhlii)AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PRIMATOLOGY, Issue 4 2009Adam S. Smith Abstract Males and females from many species produce distinct acoustic variations of functionally identical call types. Social behavior may be primed by sex-specific variation in acoustic features of calls. We present a series of acoustic analyses and playback experiments as methods for investigating this subject. Acoustic parameters of phee calls produced by Wied's black-tufted-ear marmosets (Callithrix kuhlii) were analyzed for sex differences. Discriminant function analyses showed that calls contained sufficient acoustic variation to predict the sex of the caller. Several frequency variables differed significantly between the sexes. Natural and synthesized calls were presented to male,female pairs. Calls elicited differential behavioral responses based on the sex of the caller. Marmosets became significantly more vigilant following the playback of male phee calls (both natural and synthetic) than following female phee calls. In a second playback experiment, synthesized calls were modified by independently manipulating three parameters that were known to differ between the sexes (low-, peak-, and end-frequency). When end-frequency-modified calls were presented, responsiveness was differentiable by sex of caller but did not differ from responses to natural calls. This suggests that marmosets did not use end-frequency to determine the sex of the caller. Manipulation of peak-and low-frequency parameters eliminated the discrete behavioral responses to male and female calls. Together, these parameters may be important features that encode for the sex-specific signal. Recognition of sex by acoustic cues seems to be a multivariate process that depends on the congruency of acoustic features. Am. J. Primatol. 71:324,332, 2009. © 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Variation in Vocal Performance in the Songs of a Wood-Warbler: Evidence for the Function of Distinct Singing ModesETHOLOGY, Issue 7 2004Martin D. Beebee Male North American wood-warblers (family Parulidae) subdivide their song repertoires into two different categories, or modes, of singing (first and second category songs). These two modes are thought to be specialized for interacting with females and males, although the data are inconclusive. I conducted an acoustic analysis of the song types used by yellow warblers (Dendroica petechia) for type I (first category) and type II (second category) singing to ask whether there are consistent structural differences between them which could provide insight into how they might function as separate signals. I found that type I songs are performed closer to the upper boundary of a song performance limit, measured in terms of the difficulty of production, compared with type II songs. By contrast, the performance of specific song types did not depend on whether they were used for type I singing vs. type II singing by different males. In addition, type I songs had a greater amplitude increase across the first two syllables compared with type II songs. There was no relationship between the performance of type I or type II songs and male condition. These results suggest that wood-warblers might subdivide their song repertoire into distinct categories to highlight the relative vocal performance of their songs. [source] Female Baboons' Responses to Male Loud CallsETHOLOGY, Issue 5 2003Dawn M. Kitchen Male baboons (Papio cynocephalus ursinus) give loud, two-syllable ,wahoo' calls in response to predators (alarm wahoos) and during aggressive displays that may include multiple males chasing each other or females (contest wahoos). Although acoustic analysis has revealed significant differences between the two calls, these differences are subtle and the two subtypes can be difficult for humans to distinguish. Whatever the evolutionary mechanisms that might have acted on the production of acoustically graded loud calls, it would seem to be adaptive for listeners to discriminate among calls that are given in qualitatively different contexts. This is particularly true in the case of female baboons. Alarm wahoos, which are given during predator encounters, demand qualitatively different responses from contest wahoos, which are given in contexts when females are at risk of harassment and infanticide by males. In playback experiments, females responded for significantly longer durations to alarm than to contest wahoos. Moreover, only alarm wahoos caused females to flee. Despite their acoustic similarity, female baboons appear to associate alarm and contest wahoos with qualitatively different events. [source] Responses of Redfronted Lemurs to Experimentally Modified Alarm Calls: Evidence for Urgency-Based Changes in Call StructureETHOLOGY, Issue 9 2002Claudia Fichtel Alarm calls can serve as model systems with which to study this general question. Therefore, we examined the information content of terrestrial predator alarm calls of redfronted lemurs (Eulemur fulvus rufus), group-living Malagasy primates. Redfronted lemurs give specific alarm calls only towards raptors, whereas calls given in response to terrestrial predators (woofs) are also used in other situations characterized by high arousal. Woofs may therefore have the potential to express the perceived risk of a given threat. In order to examine whether different levels of arousal are expressed in call structure, we analysed woofs given during inter-group encounters or in response to playbacks of a barking dog, assuming that animals engaged in inter-group encounters experience higher arousal than during the playbacks of dog barks. A multivariate acoustic analysis revealed that calls given during group encounters were characterized by higher frequencies than calls given in response to playbacks of dog barks. In order to examine whether this change in call structure is salient to conspecifics, we conducted playback experiments with woofs, modified in either amplitude or frequencies. Playbacks of calls with increased frequency or amplitude elicited a longer orienting response, suggesting that different levels of arousal are expressed in call structure and provide meaningful information for listeners. In conclusion, the results of our study indicate that the information about the sender's affective state is expressed in the structure of vocalizations. [source] A survey of the 2001 to 2005 quartz crystal microbalance biosensor literature: applications of acoustic physics to the analysis of biomolecular interactionsJOURNAL OF MOLECULAR RECOGNITION, Issue 3 2007Matthew A. Cooper Abstract The widespread exploitation of biosensors in the analysis of molecular recognition has its origins in the mid-1990s following the release of commercial systems based on surface plasmon resonance (SPR). More recently, platforms based on piezoelectric acoustic sensors (principally ,bulk acoustic wave' (BAW), ,thickness shear mode' (TSM) sensors or ,quartz crystal microbalances' (QCM)), have been released that are driving the publication of a large number of papers analysing binding specificities, affinities, kinetics and conformational changes associated with a molecular recognition event. This article highlights salient theoretical and practical aspects of the technologies that underpin acoustic analysis, then reviews exemplary papers in key application areas involving small molecular weight ligands, carbohydrates, proteins, nucleic acids, viruses, bacteria, cells and lipidic and polymeric interfaces. Key differentiators between optical and acoustic sensing modalities are also reviewed. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Sociological consciousness as a component of linguistic variation1JOURNAL OF SOCIOLINGUISTICS, Issue 1 2008Robin Dodsworth While practice theory has provided a valuable framework for establishing connections between individual-level sociolinguistic variation and social structures, Bourdieu's (1977) formulation of practice theory has been argued to inadequately address subjectivity. The sociologist C. Wright Mills' (1959) concept of the sociological imagination , consciousness of links among personal experiences, social structures, and historical processes , is posited as a partial solution, as it offers a framework for modeling one aspect of subjectivity. Use of the sociological imagination concept is demonstrated through a quantitative acoustic analysis of /o/ fronting in Worthington, Ohio, a Columbus suburb confronting acute urban sprawl. The distribution of /o/ fronting across 21 speakers largely resists traditional sociolinguistic explanations. A close analysis of four speakers' mental representations of the local tensions surrounding urban sprawl reveals significant differences which are argued to account for their variable use of fronted /o/. [source] Ethnic patterns in the phonetics of Montreal EnglishJOURNAL OF SOCIOLINGUISTICS, Issue 4 2004Charles Boberg Most North American cities no longer display strong ethnic differentiation of speech within the European-origin population. This is not true in the English-speaking community of Montreal, Canada, where English is a minority language. Differences in the phonetic realization of vowels by Montrealers of Irish, Italian, and Jewish ethnic origin are investigated by means of acoustic analysis. A statistical analysis of ethnic differences in formant frequencies shows that ethnicity has a significant effect on several variables, particularly the phonetic position of /u:/ and /ou/ and the allophonic conditioning of /æ/ and /au/ before nasal consonants. The unusual tenacity of ethnophonetic variation in Montreal English is explained in light of the minority status of English, and the social and residential segregation of ethnic groups in distinct neighborhoods, which limits their exposure to speakers of Standard Canadian English who might otherwise serve as models for assimilation. [source] Time course of vocal modulation during isolation in common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus)AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PRIMATOLOGY, Issue 8 2010Chieko Yamaguchi Abstract Common marmosets vocalize phee calls as isolation calls, which seem to facilitate their reunion with family groups. To identify multiple acoustic properties with different time courses, we examined acoustic modulations of phees during different social contexts of isolation. Subject marmosets were totally isolated in one condition, were visually isolated and could exchange vocalizations in another condition, and were visually isolated and subsequently totally isolated in a third condition. We recorded 6,035 phees of 10 male,female marmoset pairs and conducted acoustic analysis. The marmosets frequently vocalized phees that were temporally elongated and louder during isolation, with varying time courses of these changes in acoustic parameters. The vocal rates and sound levels of the phees increased as soon as the marmosets saw their pair mates being taken away, and then gradually calmed down. The phee duration was longer in conditions during which there were no vocal responses from their pair mates. Louder vocalizations are conspicuous and seem to be effective for long-distance transmission, whereas shorter call duration during vocal exchanges might avoid possible vocal overlap between mates. Am. J. Primatol. 72:681,688, 2010. © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Sex differences in the vocal repertoire of adult red-capped mangabeys (Cercocebus torquatus): a multi-level acoustic analysisAMERICAN JOURNAL OF PRIMATOLOGY, Issue 4 2010Hélène Bouchet Abstract Sex differences in the vocal behavior of nonhuman primates can take various forms: sex-specific call types, differential production of shared call types, or sex discrepancy in phonation. Also, a growing literature is evidencing that systematically analyzing the vocal repertoires of primates at the call level might lead to underestimating their communicative abilities. Here, we present an extensive multi-level analysis of the still unknown vocal repertoire of adult red-capped mangabeys (Cercocebus torquatus), with a special emphasis on sex differences. We collected recordings from seven adult males and seven adult females housed in captivity. We present a structurally-based classification of mangabey calls that we cross-validated by an analysis of the associated contexts of emission. We found 12 sound units (including six sex-specific) that were concatenated to form eight call types (including four sex-specific), which were produced either singularly or in sequences composed of one ("repetition") or several ("combination") call types. We extracted organizational principles that ruled call composition and calling patterns. This revealed a high degree of potentially meaningful variability in terms of semantics and syntax. Male,female discrepancy in terms of phonation could be related to morphological dimorphism and would enable listeners to behave appropriately according to the sex of the caller. Sex differences in repertoire size, structural gradation, and call usage could reflect specificities of male,female social roles. We discuss the pertinence of these sex differences according to social system and habitat quality. Am. J. Primatol. 72:360,375, 2010. © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Multidimensional assessment of female tracheoesophageal prosthetic speechCLINICAL OTOLARYNGOLOGY, Issue 6 2006R. Kazi Objective:, The objective of this study was to undertake a multidimensional assessment of female tracheoesophageal prosthetic speech. Study Design:, A cross-sectional cohort study. Setting:, Head and Neck Unit in a tertiary oncology referral centre. Patients:, Ten female and 10 male total laryngectomy patients with no signs of recurrence and using voice prosthesis were compared to 10 normal female speakers. Intervention(s):, Electroglottographic and acoustic analysis of voice parameters for both sustained vowel /i/ and connected speech, perceptual evaluation using GRBAS (with 2 experienced raters) and questionnaire assessment using the University of Washington Quality of Life and the Voice Handicap Index. Statistical analysis was done using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences, (v. 14, SPSS Inc., Chicago III). Results:, Median age of the female larygectomy patiemts was 65 years (range: 41-81), that of male laryngectomees was 66.5 years (range: 40-79) and that of the normal female subjects was 47.5 years (range: 35-72). All electroglottographic, acoustic parameters and GRBAS ratings of the female laryngectomy patients were significantly worse as compared with the normal female subjects. The median fundamental frequency (111.8 Hz) was comparable to male tracheoesophageal speakers (115.8 Hz). Mean composite University of Washington Quality of Life score and overall Voice Handicap Index score was 79.3(12.5) and 47.5(27.6) for the female laryngectomy patients and for the males was 81.2 (9.6) and 39.4(18.7). Conclusions:, Gender frequency differences as seen in normal subjects are lost following a laryngectomy operation as evidenced by electroglottographic and perceptual data. Although the quality of life scores are comparable to the male tracheoesophageal speakers, they exhibit a greater voice handicap as compared to their male counterparts. [source] | |||||||||||||