Characterization of the 101-Kilobase-Pair Megaplasmid pKB1, Isolated from the Rubber-Degrading Bacterium Gordonia westfalica Kb1

PubMed Central

Bröker, Daniel; Arenskötter, Matthias; Legatzki, Antje; Nies, Dietrich H.; Steinbüchel, Alexander

2004-01-01

The complete sequence of the circular 101,016-bp megaplasmid pKB1 from the cis-1,4-polyisoprene-degrading bacterium Gordonia westfalica Kb1, which represents the first described extrachromosomal DNA of a member of this genus, was determined. Plasmid pKB1 harbors 105 open reading frames. The predicted products of 46 of these are significantly related to proteins of known function. Plasmid pKB1 is organized into three functional regions that are flanked by insertion sequence (IS) elements: (i) a replication and putative partitioning region, (ii) a putative metabolic region, and (iii) a large putative conjugative transfer region, which is interrupted by an additional IS element. Southern hybridization experiments revealed the presence of another copy of this conjugational transfer region on the bacterial chromosome. The origin of replication (oriV) of pKB1 was identified and used for construction of Escherichia coli-Gordonia shuttle vectors, which was also suitable for several other Gordonia species and related genera. The metabolic region included the heavy-metal resistance gene cadA, encoding a P-type ATPase. Expression of cadA in E. coli mediated resistance to cadmium, but not to zinc, and decreased the cellular content of cadmium in this host. When G. westfalica strain Kb1 was cured of plasmid pKB1, the resulting derivative strains exhibited slightly decreased cadmium resistance. Furthermore, they had lost the ability to use isoprene rubber as a sole source of carbon and energy, suggesting that genes essential for rubber degradation are encoded by pKB1. PMID:14679241

Characteristics of audio and sub-audio telluric signals

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Telford, W.M.

1977-06-01

Telluric current measurements in the audio and sub-audio frequency range, made in various parts of Canada and South America over the past four years, indicate that the signal amplitude is relatively uniform over 6 to 8 midday hours (LMT) except in Chile and that the signal anisotropy is reasonably constant in azimuth.

Audio-Vision: Audio-Visual Interaction in Desktop Multimedia.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Daniels, Lee

Although sophisticated multimedia authoring applications are now available to amateur programmers, the use of audio in of these programs has been inadequate. Due to the lack of research in the use of audio in instruction, there are few resources to assist the multimedia producer in using sound effectively and efficiently. This paper addresses the…

Three-Dimensional Audio Client Library

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rizzi, Stephen A.

2005-01-01

The Three-Dimensional Audio Client Library (3DAudio library) is a group of software routines written to facilitate development of both stand-alone (audio only) and immersive virtual-reality application programs that utilize three-dimensional audio displays. The library is intended to enable the development of three-dimensional audio client application programs by use of a code base common to multiple audio server computers. The 3DAudio library calls vendor-specific audio client libraries and currently supports the AuSIM Gold-Server and Lake Huron audio servers. 3DAudio library routines contain common functions for (1) initiation and termination of a client/audio server session, (2) configuration-file input, (3) positioning functions, (4) coordinate transformations, (5) audio transport functions, (6) rendering functions, (7) debugging functions, and (8) event-list-sequencing functions. The 3DAudio software is written in the C++ programming language and currently operates under the Linux, IRIX, and Windows operating systems.

Audio-visual biofeedback for respiratory-gated radiotherapy: Impact of audio instruction and audio-visual biofeedback on respiratory-gated radiotherapy

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

George, Rohini; Department of Biomedical Engineering, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA; Chung, Theodore D.

2006-07-01

Purpose: Respiratory gating is a commercially available technology for reducing the deleterious effects of motion during imaging and treatment. The efficacy of gating is dependent on the reproducibility within and between respiratory cycles during imaging and treatment. The aim of this study was to determine whether audio-visual biofeedback can improve respiratory reproducibility by decreasing residual motion and therefore increasing the accuracy of gated radiotherapy. Methods and Materials: A total of 331 respiratory traces were collected from 24 lung cancer patients. The protocol consisted of five breathing training sessions spaced about a week apart. Within each session the patients initially breathedmore » without any instruction (free breathing), with audio instructions and with audio-visual biofeedback. Residual motion was quantified by the standard deviation of the respiratory signal within the gating window. Results: Audio-visual biofeedback significantly reduced residual motion compared with free breathing and audio instruction. Displacement-based gating has lower residual motion than phase-based gating. Little reduction in residual motion was found for duty cycles less than 30%; for duty cycles above 50% there was a sharp increase in residual motion. Conclusions: The efficiency and reproducibility of gating can be improved by: incorporating audio-visual biofeedback, using a 30-50% duty cycle, gating during exhalation, and using displacement-based gating.« less

Metrological digital audio reconstruction

DOEpatents

Fadeyev,; Vitaliy, Haber [Berkeley, CA; Carl, [Berkeley, CA

2004-02-19

Audio information stored in the undulations of grooves in a medium such as a phonograph record may be reconstructed, with little or no contact, by measuring the groove shape using precision metrology methods coupled with digital image processing and numerical analysis. The effects of damage, wear, and contamination may be compensated, in many cases, through image processing and analysis methods. The speed and data handling capacity of available computing hardware make this approach practical. Two examples used a general purpose optical metrology system to study a 50 year old 78 r.p.m. phonograph record and a commercial confocal scanning probe to study a 1920's celluloid Edison cylinder. Comparisons are presented with stylus playback of the samples and with a digitally re-mastered version of an original magnetic recording. There is also a more extensive implementation of this approach, with dedicated hardware and software.

High-Fidelity Piezoelectric Audio Device

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Woodward, Stanley E.; Fox, Robert L.; Bryant, Robert G.

2003-01-01

ModalMax is a very innovative means of harnessing the vibration of a piezoelectric actuator to produce an energy efficient low-profile device with high-bandwidth high-fidelity audio response. The piezoelectric audio device outperforms many commercially available speakers made using speaker cones. The piezoelectric device weighs substantially less (4 g) than the speaker cones which use magnets (10 g). ModalMax devices have extreme fabrication simplicity. The entire audio device is fabricated by lamination. The simplicity of the design lends itself to lower cost. The piezoelectric audio device can be used without its acoustic chambers and thereby resulting in a very low thickness of 0.023 in. (0.58 mm). The piezoelectric audio device can be completely encapsulated, which makes it very attractive for use in wet environments. Encapsulation does not significantly alter the audio response. Its small size (see Figure 1) is applicable to many consumer electronic products, such as pagers, portable radios, headphones, laptop computers, computer monitors, toys, and electronic games. The audio device can also be used in automobile or aircraft sound systems.

Audio-visual interactions in environment assessment.

PubMed

Preis, Anna; Kociński, Jędrzej; Hafke-Dys, Honorata; Wrzosek, Małgorzata

2015-08-01

The aim of the study was to examine how visual and audio information influences audio-visual environment assessment. Original audio-visual recordings were made at seven different places in the city of Poznań. Participants of the psychophysical experiments were asked to rate, on a numerical standardized scale, the degree of comfort they would feel if they were in such an environment. The assessments of audio-visual comfort were carried out in a laboratory in four different conditions: (a) audio samples only, (b) original audio-visual samples, (c) video samples only, and (d) mixed audio-visual samples. The general results of this experiment showed a significant difference between the investigated conditions, but not for all the investigated samples. There was a significant improvement in comfort assessment when visual information was added (in only three out of 7 cases), when conditions (a) and (b) were compared. On the other hand, the results show that the comfort assessment of audio-visual samples could be changed by manipulating the audio rather than the video part of the audio-visual sample. Finally, it seems, that people could differentiate audio-visual representations of a given place in the environment based rather of on the sound sources' compositions than on the sound level. Object identification is responsible for both landscape and soundscape grouping. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Audio in Courseware: Design Knowledge Issues.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Aarntzen, Diana

1993-01-01

Considers issues that need to be addressed when incorporating audio in courseware design. Topics discussed include functions of audio in courseware; the relationship between auditive and visual information; learner characteristics in relation to audio; events of instruction; and audio characteristics, including interactivity and speech technology.…

Audio-visual speech experience with age influences perceived audio-visual asynchrony in speech.

PubMed

Alm, Magnus; Behne, Dawn

2013-10-01

Previous research indicates that perception of audio-visual (AV) synchrony changes in adulthood. Possible explanations for these age differences include a decline in hearing acuity, a decline in cognitive processing speed, and increased experience with AV binding. The current study aims to isolate the effect of AV experience by comparing synchrony judgments from 20 young adults (20 to 30 yrs) and 20 normal-hearing middle-aged adults (50 to 60 yrs), an age range for which a decline of cognitive processing speed is expected to be minimal. When presented with AV stop consonant syllables with asynchronies ranging from 440 ms audio-lead to 440 ms visual-lead, middle-aged adults showed significantly less tolerance for audio-lead than young adults. Middle-aged adults also showed a greater shift in their point of subjective simultaneity than young adults. Natural audio-lead asynchronies are arguably more predictable than natural visual-lead asynchronies, and this predictability may render audio-lead thresholds more prone to experience-related fine-tuning.

Audio-visual imposture

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Karam, Walid; Mokbel, Chafic; Greige, Hanna; Chollet, Gerard

2006-05-01

A GMM based audio visual speaker verification system is described and an Active Appearance Model with a linear speaker transformation system is used to evaluate the robustness of the verification. An Active Appearance Model (AAM) is used to automatically locate and track a speaker's face in a video recording. A Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM) based classifier (BECARS) is used for face verification. GMM training and testing is accomplished on DCT based extracted features of the detected faces. On the audio side, speech features are extracted and used for speaker verification with the GMM based classifier. Fusion of both audio and video modalities for audio visual speaker verification is compared with face verification and speaker verification systems. To improve the robustness of the multimodal biometric identity verification system, an audio visual imposture system is envisioned. It consists of an automatic voice transformation technique that an impostor may use to assume the identity of an authorized client. Features of the transformed voice are then combined with the corresponding appearance features and fed into the GMM based system BECARS for training. An attempt is made to increase the acceptance rate of the impostor and to analyzing the robustness of the verification system. Experiments are being conducted on the BANCA database, with a prospect of experimenting on the newly developed PDAtabase developed within the scope of the SecurePhone project.

Advances in audio source seperation and multisource audio content retrieval

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vincent, Emmanuel

2012-06-01

Audio source separation aims to extract the signals of individual sound sources from a given recording. In this paper, we review three recent advances which improve the robustness of source separation in real-world challenging scenarios and enable its use for multisource content retrieval tasks, such as automatic speech recognition (ASR) or acoustic event detection (AED) in noisy environments. We present a Flexible Audio Source Separation Toolkit (FASST) and discuss its advantages compared to earlier approaches such as independent component analysis (ICA) and sparse component analysis (SCA). We explain how cues as diverse as harmonicity, spectral envelope, temporal fine structure or spatial location can be jointly exploited by this toolkit. We subsequently present the uncertainty decoding (UD) framework for the integration of audio source separation and audio content retrieval. We show how the uncertainty about the separated source signals can be accurately estimated and propagated to the features. Finally, we explain how this uncertainty can be efficiently exploited by a classifier, both at the training and the decoding stage. We illustrate the resulting performance improvements in terms of speech separation quality and speaker recognition accuracy.

Audio Steganography with Embedded Text

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Teck Jian, Chua; Chai Wen, Chuah; Rahman, Nurul Hidayah Binti Ab.; Hamid, Isredza Rahmi Binti A.

2017-08-01

Audio steganography is about hiding the secret message into the audio. It is a technique uses to secure the transmission of secret information or hide their existence. It also may provide confidentiality to secret message if the message is encrypted. To date most of the steganography software such as Mp3Stego and DeepSound use block cipher such as Advanced Encryption Standard or Data Encryption Standard to encrypt the secret message. It is a good practice for security. However, the encrypted message may become too long to embed in audio and cause distortion of cover audio if the secret message is too long. Hence, there is a need to encrypt the message with stream cipher before embedding the message into the audio. This is because stream cipher provides bit by bit encryption meanwhile block cipher provide a fixed length of bits encryption which result a longer output compare to stream cipher. Hence, an audio steganography with embedding text with Rivest Cipher 4 encryption cipher is design, develop and test in this project.

Audio-Visual, Visuo-Tactile and Audio-Tactile Correspondences in Preschoolers.

PubMed

Nava, Elena; Grassi, Massimo; Turati, Chiara

2016-01-01

Interest in crossmodal correspondences has recently seen a renaissance thanks to numerous studies in human adults. Yet, still very little is known about crossmodal correspondences in children, particularly in sensory pairings other than audition and vision. In the current study, we investigated whether 4-5-year-old children match auditory pitch to the spatial motion of visual objects (audio-visual condition). In addition, we investigated whether this correspondence extends to touch, i.e., whether children also match auditory pitch to the spatial motion of touch (audio-tactile condition) and the spatial motion of visual objects to touch (visuo-tactile condition). In two experiments, two different groups of children were asked to indicate which of two stimuli fitted best with a centrally located third stimulus (Experiment 1), or to report whether two presented stimuli fitted together well (Experiment 2). We found sensitivity to the congruency of all of the sensory pairings only in Experiment 2, suggesting that only under specific circumstances can these correspondences be observed. Our results suggest that pitch-height correspondences for audio-visual and audio-tactile combinations may still be weak in preschool children, and speculate that this could be due to immature linguistic and auditory cues that are still developing at age five.

Could Audio-Described Films Benefit from Audio Introductions? An Audience Response Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Romero-Fresco, Pablo; Fryer, Louise

2013-01-01

Introduction: Time constraints limit the quantity and type of information conveyed in audio description (AD) for films, in particular the cinematic aspects. Inspired by introductory notes for theatre AD, this study developed audio introductions (AIs) for "Slumdog Millionaire" and "Man on Wire." Each AI comprised 10 minutes of…

Audio 2008: Audio Fixation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kaye, Alan L.

2008-01-01

Take a look around the bus or subway and see just how many people are bumping along to an iPod or an MP3 player. What they are listening to is their secret, but the many signature earbuds in sight should give one a real sense of just how pervasive digital audio has become. This article describes how that popularity is mirrored in library audio…

The UniProtKB guide to the human proteome

PubMed Central

Breuza, Lionel; Poux, Sylvain; Estreicher, Anne; Famiglietti, Maria Livia; Magrane, Michele; Tognolli, Michael; Bridge, Alan; Baratin, Delphine; Redaschi, Nicole

2016-01-01

Advances in high-throughput and advanced technologies allow researchers to routinely perform whole genome and proteome analysis. For this purpose, they need high-quality resources providing comprehensive gene and protein sets for their organisms of interest. Using the example of the human proteome, we will describe the content of a complete proteome in the UniProt Knowledgebase (UniProtKB). We will show how manual expert curation of UniProtKB/Swiss-Prot is complemented by expert-driven automatic annotation to build a comprehensive, high-quality and traceable resource. We will also illustrate how the complexity of the human proteome is captured and structured in UniProtKB. Database URL: www.uniprot.org PMID:26896845

Instrumental Landing Using Audio Indication

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Burlak, E. A.; Nabatchikov, A. M.; Korsun, O. N.

2018-02-01

The paper proposes an audio indication method for presenting to a pilot the information regarding the relative positions of an aircraft in the tasks of precision piloting. The implementation of the method is presented, the use of such parameters of audio signal as loudness, frequency and modulation are discussed. To confirm the operability of the audio indication channel the experiments using modern aircraft simulation facility were carried out. The simulated performed the instrument landing using the proposed audio method to indicate the aircraft deviations in relation to the slide path. The results proved compatible with the simulated instrumental landings using the traditional glidescope pointers. It inspires to develop the method in order to solve other precision piloting tasks.

A centralized audio presentation manager

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Papp, A.L. III; Blattner, M.M.

1994-05-16

The centralized audio presentation manager addresses the problems which occur when multiple programs running simultaneously attempt to use the audio output of a computer system. Time dependence of sound means that certain auditory messages must be scheduled simultaneously, which can lead to perceptual problems due to psychoacoustic phenomena. Furthermore, the combination of speech and nonspeech audio is examined; each presents its own problems of perceptibility in an acoustic environment composed of multiple auditory streams. The centralized audio presentation manager receives abstract parameterized message requests from the currently running programs, and attempts to create and present a sonic representation in themore » most perceptible manner through the use of a theoretically and empirically designed rule set.« less

Implementing Audio-CASI on Windows’ Platforms

PubMed Central

Cooley, Philip C.; Turner, Charles F.

2011-01-01

Audio computer-assisted self interviewing (Audio-CASI) technologies have recently been shown to provide important and sometimes dramatic improvements in the quality of survey measurements. This is particularly true for measurements requiring respondents to divulge highly sensitive information such as their sexual, drug use, or other sensitive behaviors. However, DOS-based Audio-CASI systems that were designed and adopted in the early 1990s have important limitations. Most salient is the poor control they provide for manipulating the video presentation of survey questions. This article reports our experiences adapting Audio-CASI to Microsoft Windows 3.1 and Windows 95 platforms. Overall, our Windows-based system provided the desired control over video presentation and afforded other advantages including compatibility with a much wider array of audio devices than our DOS-based Audio-CASI technologies. These advantages came at the cost of increased system requirements --including the need for both more RAM and larger hard disks. While these costs will be an issue for organizations converting large inventories of PCS to Windows Audio-CASI today, this will not be a serious constraint for organizations and individuals with small inventories of machines to upgrade or those purchasing new machines today. PMID:22081743

366-AAA_audio

NASA Image and Video Library

1969-11-17

Apollo 12 Public Affairs Officer (PAO) Mission Commentary, November 17, 1969. This is an hour of audio covering communications occurring between 64 hours, 38 minutes into the mission, through 79 hours, 2 minutes which was on November 17, 1969, from 0300-17:09 CST. Transcript of attached audio is available at http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/history/mission_trans/AS12_PAO.PDF, on pages 207-224 of the 979-page document.

36 CFR 1002.12 - Audio disturbances.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... 36 Parks, Forests, and Public Property 3 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Audio disturbances. 1002.12... RECREATION § 1002.12 Audio disturbances. (a) The following are prohibited: (1) Operating motorized equipment or machinery such as an electric generating plant, motor vehicle, motorized toy, or an audio device...

36 CFR 1002.12 - Audio disturbances.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 36 Parks, Forests, and Public Property 3 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Audio disturbances. 1002.12... RECREATION § 1002.12 Audio disturbances. (a) The following are prohibited: (1) Operating motorized equipment or machinery such as an electric generating plant, motor vehicle, motorized toy, or an audio device...

50 CFR 27.72 - Audio equipment.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 50 Wildlife and Fisheries 6 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Audio equipment. 27.72 Section 27.72 Wildlife and Fisheries UNITED STATES FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR (CONTINUED) THE... Audio equipment. The operation or use of audio devices including radios, recording and playback devices...

36 CFR 1002.12 - Audio disturbances.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 36 Parks, Forests, and Public Property 3 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Audio disturbances. 1002.12... RECREATION § 1002.12 Audio disturbances. (a) The following are prohibited: (1) Operating motorized equipment or machinery such as an electric generating plant, motor vehicle, motorized toy, or an audio device...

36 CFR 1002.12 - Audio disturbances.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 36 Parks, Forests, and Public Property 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Audio disturbances. 1002.12... RECREATION § 1002.12 Audio disturbances. (a) The following are prohibited: (1) Operating motorized equipment or machinery such as an electric generating plant, motor vehicle, motorized toy, or an audio device...

50 CFR 27.72 - Audio equipment.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... 50 Wildlife and Fisheries 8 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Audio equipment. 27.72 Section 27.72 Wildlife and Fisheries UNITED STATES FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR (CONTINUED) THE... Audio equipment. The operation or use of audio devices including radios, recording and playback devices...

50 CFR 27.72 - Audio equipment.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... 50 Wildlife and Fisheries 9 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false Audio equipment. 27.72 Section 27.72 Wildlife and Fisheries UNITED STATES FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR (CONTINUED) THE... Audio equipment. The operation or use of audio devices including radios, recording and playback devices...

The effect of context and audio-visual modality on emotions elicited by a musical performance

PubMed Central

Coutinho, Eduardo; Scherer, Klaus R.

2016-01-01

In this work, we compared emotions induced by the same performance of Schubert Lieder during a live concert and in a laboratory viewing/listening setting to determine the extent to which laboratory research on affective reactions to music approximates real listening conditions in dedicated performances. We measured emotions experienced by volunteer members of an audience that attended a Lieder recital in a church (Context 1) and emotional reactions to an audio-video-recording of the same performance in a university lecture hall (Context 2). Three groups of participants were exposed to three presentation versions in Context 2: (1) an audio-visual recording, (2) an audio-only recording, and (3) a video-only recording. Participants achieved statistically higher levels of emotional convergence in the live performance than in the laboratory context, and the experience of particular emotions was determined by complex interactions between auditory and visual cues in the performance. This study demonstrates the contribution of the performance setting and the performers’ appearance and nonverbal expression to emotion induction by music, encouraging further systematic research into the factors involved. PMID:28781419

36 CFR 2.12 - Audio disturbances.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 36 Parks, Forests, and Public Property 1 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Audio disturbances. 2.12... RESOURCE PROTECTION, PUBLIC USE AND RECREATION § 2.12 Audio disturbances. (a) The following are prohibited..., motorized toy, or an audio device, such as a radio, television set, tape deck or musical instrument, in a...

36 CFR 2.12 - Audio disturbances.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 36 Parks, Forests, and Public Property 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Audio disturbances. 2.12... RESOURCE PROTECTION, PUBLIC USE AND RECREATION § 2.12 Audio disturbances. (a) The following are prohibited..., motorized toy, or an audio device, such as a radio, television set, tape deck or musical instrument, in a...

36 CFR 2.12 - Audio disturbances.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... 36 Parks, Forests, and Public Property 1 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Audio disturbances. 2.12... RESOURCE PROTECTION, PUBLIC USE AND RECREATION § 2.12 Audio disturbances. (a) The following are prohibited..., motorized toy, or an audio device, such as a radio, television set, tape deck or musical instrument, in a...

36 CFR 2.12 - Audio disturbances.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... 36 Parks, Forests, and Public Property 1 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Audio disturbances. 2.12... RESOURCE PROTECTION, PUBLIC USE AND RECREATION § 2.12 Audio disturbances. (a) The following are prohibited..., motorized toy, or an audio device, such as a radio, television set, tape deck or musical instrument, in a...

36 CFR 2.12 - Audio disturbances.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 36 Parks, Forests, and Public Property 1 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Audio disturbances. 2.12... RESOURCE PROTECTION, PUBLIC USE AND RECREATION § 2.12 Audio disturbances. (a) The following are prohibited..., motorized toy, or an audio device, such as a radio, television set, tape deck or musical instrument, in a...

The priming function of in-car audio instruction.

PubMed

Keyes, Helen; Whitmore, Antony; Naneva, Stanislava; McDermott, Daragh

2018-05-01

Studies to date have focused on the priming power of visual road signs, but not the priming potential of audio road scene instruction. Here, the relative priming power of visual, audio, and multisensory road scene instructions was assessed. In a lab-based study, participants responded to target road scene turns following visual, audio, or multisensory road turn primes which were congruent or incongruent to the primes in direction, or control primes. All types of instruction (visual, audio, and multisensory) were successful in priming responses to a road scene. Responses to multisensory-primed targets (both audio and visual) were faster than responses to either audio or visual primes alone. Incongruent audio primes did not affect performance negatively in the manner of incongruent visual or multisensory primes. Results suggest that audio instructions have the potential to prime drivers to respond quickly and safely to their road environment. Peak performance will be observed if audio and visual road instruction primes can be timed to co-occur.

Audio Frequency Analysis in Mobile Phones

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Aguilar, Horacio Munguía

2016-01-01

A new experiment using mobile phones is proposed in which its audio frequency response is analyzed using the audio port for inputting external signal and getting a measurable output. This experiment shows how the limited audio bandwidth used in mobile telephony is the main cause of the poor speech quality in this service. A brief discussion is…

[Intermodal timing cues for audio-visual speech recognition].

PubMed

Hashimoto, Masahiro; Kumashiro, Masaharu

2004-06-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate the limitations of lip-reading advantages for Japanese young adults by desynchronizing visual and auditory information in speech. In the experiment, audio-visual speech stimuli were presented under the six test conditions: audio-alone, and audio-visually with either 0, 60, 120, 240 or 480 ms of audio delay. The stimuli were the video recordings of a face of a female Japanese speaking long and short Japanese sentences. The intelligibility of the audio-visual stimuli was measured as a function of audio delays in sixteen untrained young subjects. Speech intelligibility under the audio-delay condition of less than 120 ms was significantly better than that under the audio-alone condition. On the other hand, the delay of 120 ms corresponded to the mean mora duration measured for the audio stimuli. The results implied that audio delays of up to 120 ms would not disrupt lip-reading advantage, because visual and auditory information in speech seemed to be integrated on a syllabic time scale. Potential applications of this research include noisy workplace in which a worker must extract relevant speech from all the other competing noises.

Fuzzy Logic-Based Audio Pattern Recognition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Malcangi, M.

2008-11-01

Audio and audio-pattern recognition is becoming one of the most important technologies to automatically control embedded systems. Fuzzy logic may be the most important enabling methodology due to its ability to rapidly and economically model such application. An audio and audio-pattern recognition engine based on fuzzy logic has been developed for use in very low-cost and deeply embedded systems to automate human-to-machine and machine-to-machine interaction. This engine consists of simple digital signal-processing algorithms for feature extraction and normalization, and a set of pattern-recognition rules manually tuned or automatically tuned by a self-learning process.

Robust audio-visual speech recognition under noisy audio-video conditions.

PubMed

Stewart, Darryl; Seymour, Rowan; Pass, Adrian; Ming, Ji

2014-02-01

This paper presents the maximum weighted stream posterior (MWSP) model as a robust and efficient stream integration method for audio-visual speech recognition in environments, where the audio or video streams may be subjected to unknown and time-varying corruption. A significant advantage of MWSP is that it does not require any specific measurements of the signal in either stream to calculate appropriate stream weights during recognition, and as such it is modality-independent. This also means that MWSP complements and can be used alongside many of the other approaches that have been proposed in the literature for this problem. For evaluation we used the large XM2VTS database for speaker-independent audio-visual speech recognition. The extensive tests include both clean and corrupted utterances with corruption added in either/both the video and audio streams using a variety of types (e.g., MPEG-4 video compression) and levels of noise. The experiments show that this approach gives excellent performance in comparison to another well-known dynamic stream weighting approach and also compared to any fixed-weighted integration approach in both clean conditions or when noise is added to either stream. Furthermore, our experiments show that the MWSP approach dynamically selects suitable integration weights on a frame-by-frame basis according to the level of noise in the streams and also according to the naturally fluctuating relative reliability of the modalities even in clean conditions. The MWSP approach is shown to maintain robust recognition performance in all tested conditions, while requiring no prior knowledge about the type or level of noise.

Audio-visual affective expression recognition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Thomas S.; Zeng, Zhihong

2007-11-01

Automatic affective expression recognition has attracted more and more attention of researchers from different disciplines, which will significantly contribute to a new paradigm for human computer interaction (affect-sensitive interfaces, socially intelligent environments) and advance the research in the affect-related fields including psychology, psychiatry, and education. Multimodal information integration is a process that enables human to assess affective states robustly and flexibly. In order to understand the richness and subtleness of human emotion behavior, the computer should be able to integrate information from multiple sensors. We introduce in this paper our efforts toward machine understanding of audio-visual affective behavior, based on both deliberate and spontaneous displays. Some promising methods are presented to integrate information from both audio and visual modalities. Our experiments show the advantage of audio-visual fusion in affective expression recognition over audio-only or visual-only approaches.

Real World Audio

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1998-01-01

Crystal River Engineering was originally featured in Spinoff 1992 with the Convolvotron, a high speed digital audio processing system that delivers three-dimensional sound over headphones. The Convolvotron was developed for Ames' research on virtual acoustic displays. Crystal River is a now a subsidiary of Aureal Semiconductor, Inc. and they together develop and market the technology, which is a 3-D (three dimensional) audio technology known commercially today as Aureal 3D (A-3D). The technology has been incorporated into video games, surround sound systems, and sound cards.

Web Audio/Video Streaming Tool

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Guruvadoo, Eranna K.

2003-01-01

In order to promote NASA-wide educational outreach program to educate and inform the public of space exploration, NASA, at Kennedy Space Center, is seeking efficient ways to add more contents to the web by streaming audio/video files. This project proposes a high level overview of a framework for the creation, management, and scheduling of audio/video assets over the web. To support short-term goals, the prototype of a web-based tool is designed and demonstrated to automate the process of streaming audio/video files. The tool provides web-enabled users interfaces to manage video assets, create publishable schedules of video assets for streaming, and schedule the streaming events. These operations are performed on user-defined and system-derived metadata of audio/video assets stored in a relational database while the assets reside on separate repository. The prototype tool is designed using ColdFusion 5.0.

Semantic Context Detection Using Audio Event Fusion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chu, Wei-Ta; Cheng, Wen-Huang; Wu, Ja-Ling

2006-12-01

Semantic-level content analysis is a crucial issue in achieving efficient content retrieval and management. We propose a hierarchical approach that models audio events over a time series in order to accomplish semantic context detection. Two levels of modeling, audio event and semantic context modeling, are devised to bridge the gap between physical audio features and semantic concepts. In this work, hidden Markov models (HMMs) are used to model four representative audio events, that is, gunshot, explosion, engine, and car braking, in action movies. At the semantic context level, generative (ergodic hidden Markov model) and discriminative (support vector machine (SVM)) approaches are investigated to fuse the characteristics and correlations among audio events, which provide cues for detecting gunplay and car-chasing scenes. The experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approaches and provide a preliminary framework for information mining by using audio characteristics.

Detecting double compression of audio signal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Rui; Shi, Yun Q.; Huang, Jiwu

2010-01-01

MP3 is the most popular audio format nowadays in our daily life, for example music downloaded from the Internet and file saved in the digital recorder are often in MP3 format. However, low bitrate MP3s are often transcoded to high bitrate since high bitrate ones are of high commercial value. Also audio recording in digital recorder can be doctored easily by pervasive audio editing software. This paper presents two methods for the detection of double MP3 compression. The methods are essential for finding out fake-quality MP3 and audio forensics. The proposed methods use support vector machine classifiers with feature vectors formed by the distributions of the first digits of the quantized MDCT (modified discrete cosine transform) coefficients. Extensive experiments demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed methods. To the best of our knowledge, this piece of work is the first one to detect double compression of audio signal.

The Audio Description as a Physics Teaching Tool

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cozendey, Sabrina; Costa, Maria da Piedade

2016-01-01

This study analyses the use of audio description in teaching physics concepts, aiming to determine the variables that influence the understanding of the concept. One education resource was audio described. For make the audio description the screen was freezing. The video with and without audio description should be presented to students, so that…

Noise-Canceling Helmet Audio System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Seibert, Marc A.; Culotta, Anthony J.

2007-01-01

A prototype helmet audio system has been developed to improve voice communication for the wearer in a noisy environment. The system was originally intended to be used in a space suit, wherein noise generated by airflow of the spacesuit life-support system can make it difficult for remote listeners to understand the astronaut s speech and can interfere with the astronaut s attempt to issue vocal commands to a voice-controlled robot. The system could be adapted to terrestrial use in helmets of protective suits that are typically worn in noisy settings: examples include biohazard, fire, rescue, and diving suits. The system (see figure) includes an array of microphones and small loudspeakers mounted at fixed positions in a helmet, amplifiers and signal-routing circuitry, and a commercial digital signal processor (DSP). Notwithstanding the fixed positions of the microphones and loudspeakers, the system can accommodate itself to any normal motion of the wearer s head within the helmet. The system operates in conjunction with a radio transceiver. An audio signal arriving via the transceiver intended to be heard by the wearer is adjusted in volume and otherwise conditioned and sent to the loudspeakers. The wearer s speech is collected by the microphones, the outputs of which are logically combined (phased) so as to form a microphone- array directional sensitivity pattern that discriminates in favor of sounds coming from vicinity of the wearer s mouth and against sounds coming from elsewhere. In the DSP, digitized samples of the microphone outputs are processed to filter out airflow noise and to eliminate feedback from the loudspeakers to the microphones. The resulting conditioned version of the wearer s speech signal is sent to the transceiver.

Audio-Tutorial Instruction in Medicine.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Boyle, Gloria J.; Herrick, Merlyn C.

This progress report concerns an audio-tutorial approach used at the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Medicine. Instructional techniques such as slide-tape presentations, compressed speech audio tapes, computer-assisted instruction (CAI), motion pictures, television, microfiche, and graphic and printed materials have been implemented,…

Inhibition of the cardiac inward rectifier potassium currents by KB-R7943.

PubMed

Abramochkin, Denis V; Alekseeva, Eugenia I; Vornanen, Matti

2013-09-01

KB-R7943 (2-[2-[4-(4-nitrobenzyloxy)phenyl]ethyl]isothiourea) was developed as a specific inhibitor of the sarcolemmal sodium-calcium exchanger (NCX) with potential experimental and therapeutic use. However, KB-R7943 is shown to be a potent blocker of several ion currents including inward and delayed rectifier K(+) currents of cardiomyocytes. To further characterize KB-R7943 as a blocker of the cardiac inward rectifiers we compared KB-R7943 sensitivity of the background inward rectifier (IK1) and the carbacholine-induced inward rectifier (IKACh) currents in mammalian (Rattus norvegicus; rat) and fish (Carassius carassius; crucian carp) cardiac myocytes. The basal IK1 of ventricular myocytes was blocked with apparent IC50-values of 4.6×10(-6) M and 3.5×10(-6) M for rat and fish, respectively. IKACh was almost an order of magnitude more sensitive to KB-R7943 than IK1 with IC50-values of 6.2×10(-7) M for rat and 2.5×10(-7) M for fish. The fish cardiac NCX current was half-maximally blocked at the concentration of 1.9-3×10(-6) M in both forward and reversed mode of operation. Thus, the sensitivity of three cardiac currents to KB-R7943 block increases in the order IK1~INCXKB-R7943 to block inward rectifier potassium currents, in particular IKACh, should be taken into account when interpreting the data with this inhibitor from in vivo and in vitro experiments in both mammalian and fish models. © 2013.

Electrophysiological evidence for Audio-visuo-lingual speech integration.

PubMed

Treille, Avril; Vilain, Coriandre; Schwartz, Jean-Luc; Hueber, Thomas; Sato, Marc

2018-01-31

Recent neurophysiological studies demonstrate that audio-visual speech integration partly operates through temporal expectations and speech-specific predictions. From these results, one common view is that the binding of auditory and visual, lipread, speech cues relies on their joint probability and prior associative audio-visual experience. The present EEG study examined whether visual tongue movements integrate with relevant speech sounds, despite little associative audio-visual experience between the two modalities. A second objective was to determine possible similarities and differences of audio-visual speech integration between unusual audio-visuo-lingual and classical audio-visuo-labial modalities. To this aim, participants were presented with auditory, visual, and audio-visual isolated syllables, with the visual presentation related to either a sagittal view of the tongue movements or a facial view of the lip movements of a speaker, with lingual and facial movements previously recorded by an ultrasound imaging system and a video camera. In line with previous EEG studies, our results revealed an amplitude decrease and a latency facilitation of P2 auditory evoked potentials in both audio-visual-lingual and audio-visuo-labial conditions compared to the sum of unimodal conditions. These results argue against the view that auditory and visual speech cues solely integrate based on prior associative audio-visual perceptual experience. Rather, they suggest that dynamic and phonetic informational cues are sharable across sensory modalities, possibly through a cross-modal transfer of implicit articulatory motor knowledge. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Design of an audio advertisement dataset

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fu, Yutao; Liu, Jihong; Zhang, Qi; Geng, Yuting

2015-12-01

Since more and more advertisements swarm into radios, it is necessary to establish an audio advertising dataset which could be used to analyze and classify the advertisement. A method of how to establish a complete audio advertising dataset is presented in this paper. The dataset is divided into four different kinds of advertisements. Each advertisement's sample is given in *.wav file format, and annotated with a txt file which contains its file name, sampling frequency, channel number, broadcasting time and its class. The classifying rationality of the advertisements in this dataset is proved by clustering the different advertisements based on Principal Component Analysis (PCA). The experimental results show that this audio advertisement dataset offers a reliable set of samples for correlative audio advertisement experimental studies.

36 CFR § 1002.12 - Audio disturbances.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... 36 Parks, Forests, and Public Property 3 2013-07-01 2012-07-01 true Audio disturbances. § 1002.12... RECREATION § 1002.12 Audio disturbances. (a) The following are prohibited: (1) Operating motorized equipment or machinery such as an electric generating plant, motor vehicle, motorized toy, or an audio device...

43 CFR 8365.2-2 - Audio devices.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... 43 Public Lands: Interior 2 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Audio devices. 8365.2-2 Section 8365.2-2..., DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR RECREATION PROGRAMS VISITOR SERVICES Rules of Conduct § 8365.2-2 Audio devices. On... audio device such as a radio, television, musical instrument, or other noise producing device or...

43 CFR 8365.2-2 - Audio devices.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... 43 Public Lands: Interior 2 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false Audio devices. 8365.2-2 Section 8365.2-2..., DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR RECREATION PROGRAMS VISITOR SERVICES Rules of Conduct § 8365.2-2 Audio devices. On... audio device such as a radio, television, musical instrument, or other noise producing device or...

43 CFR 8365.2-2 - Audio devices.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... 43 Public Lands: Interior 2 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Audio devices. 8365.2-2 Section 8365.2-2..., DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR RECREATION PROGRAMS VISITOR SERVICES Rules of Conduct § 8365.2-2 Audio devices. On... audio device such as a radio, television, musical instrument, or other noise producing device or...

43 CFR 8365.2-2 - Audio devices.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... 43 Public Lands: Interior 2 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Audio devices. 8365.2-2 Section 8365.2-2..., DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR RECREATION PROGRAMS VISITOR SERVICES Rules of Conduct § 8365.2-2 Audio devices. On... audio device such as a radio, television, musical instrument, or other noise producing device or...

Design and implementation of an audio indicator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zheng, Shiyong; Li, Zhao; Li, Biqing

2017-04-01

This page proposed an audio indicator which designed by using C9014, LED by operational amplifier level indicator, the decimal count/distributor of CD4017. The experimental can control audibly neon and holiday lights through the signal. Input audio signal after C9014 composed of operational amplifier for power amplifier, the adjust potentiometer extraction amplification signal input voltage CD4017 distributors make its drive to count, then connect the LED display running situation of the circuit. This simple audio indicator just use only U1 and can produce two colors LED with the audio signal tandem come pursuit of the running effect, from LED display the running of the situation takes can understand the general audio signal. The variation in the audio and the frequency of the signal and the corresponding level size. In this light can achieve jump to change, slowly, atlas, lighting four forms, used in home, hotel, discos, theater, advertising and other fields, and a wide range of USES, rU1h life in a modern society.

Internet Audio Products (3/3)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schwartz, Linda; de Schutter, Adrienne; Fahrni, Patricia; Rudolph, Jim

2004-01-01

Two contrasting additions to the online audio market are reviewed: "iVocalize", a browser-based audio-conferencing software, and "Skype", a PC-to-PC Internet telephone tool. These products are selected for review on the basis of their success in gaining rapid popular attention and usage during 2003-04. The "iVocalize" review emphasizes the…

The Lowdown on Audio Downloads

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Farrell, Beth

2010-01-01

First offered to public libraries in 2004, downloadable audiobooks have grown by leaps and bounds. According to the Audio Publishers Association, their sales today account for 21% of the spoken-word audio market. It hasn't been easy, however. WMA. DRM. MP3. AAC. File extensions small on letters but very big on consequences for librarians,…

47 CFR 73.403 - Digital audio broadcasting service requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 4 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false Digital audio broadcasting service requirements... SERVICES RADIO BROADCAST SERVICES Digital Audio Broadcasting § 73.403 Digital audio broadcasting service requirements. (a) Broadcast radio stations using IBOC must transmit at least one over-the-air digital audio...

47 CFR 73.403 - Digital audio broadcasting service requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 4 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Digital audio broadcasting service requirements... SERVICES RADIO BROADCAST SERVICES Digital Audio Broadcasting § 73.403 Digital audio broadcasting service requirements. (a) Broadcast radio stations using IBOC must transmit at least one over-the-air digital audio...

47 CFR 73.403 - Digital audio broadcasting service requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 4 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Digital audio broadcasting service requirements... SERVICES RADIO BROADCAST SERVICES Digital Audio Broadcasting § 73.403 Digital audio broadcasting service requirements. (a) Broadcast radio stations using IBOC must transmit at least one over-the-air digital audio...

47 CFR 73.403 - Digital audio broadcasting service requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 4 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Digital audio broadcasting service requirements... SERVICES RADIO BROADCAST SERVICES Digital Audio Broadcasting § 73.403 Digital audio broadcasting service requirements. (a) Broadcast radio stations using IBOC must transmit at least one over-the-air digital audio...

Mining knowledge in noisy audio data

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Czyzewski, A.

1996-12-31

This paper demonstrates a KDD method applied to audio data analysis, particularly, it presents possibilities which result from replacing traditional methods of analysis and acoustic signal processing by KDD algorithms when restoring audio recordings affected by strong noise.

KB425796-A, a novel antifungal antibiotic produced by Paenibacillus sp. 530603.

PubMed

Kai, Hirohito; Yamashita, Midori; Takase, Shigehiro; Hashimoto, Michizane; Muramatsu, Hideyuki; Nakamura, Ikuko; Yoshikawa, Koji; Ezaki, Masami; Nitta, Kumiko; Watanabe, Masato; Inamura, Noriaki; Fujie, Akihiko

2013-08-01

The novel antifungal macrocyclic lipopeptidolactone, KB425796-A (1), was isolated from the fermentation broth of bacterial strain 530603, which was identified as a new Paenibacillus species based on morphological and physiological characteristics, and 16S rRNA sequences. KB425796-A (1) was isolated as white powder by solvent extraction, HP-20 and ODS-B column chromatography, and lyophilization, and was determined to have the molecular formula C79H115N19O18. KB425796-A (1) showed antifungal activities against Aspergillus fumigatus and the micafungin-resistant infectious fungi Trichosporon asahii, Rhizopus oryzae, Pseudallescheria boydii and Cryptococcus neoformans.

Soybean Knowledge Base (SoyKB): a Web Resource for Soybean Translational Genomics

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Joshi, Trupti; Patil, Kapil; Fitzpatrick, Michael R.

2012-01-17

Background: Soybean Knowledge Base (SoyKB) is a comprehensive all-inclusive web resource for soybean translational genomics. SoyKB is designed to handle the management and integration of soybean genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics and metabolomics data along with annotation of gene function and biological pathway. It contains information on four entities, namely genes, microRNAs, metabolites and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Methods: SoyKB has many useful tools such as Affymetrix probe ID search, gene family search, multiple gene/ metabolite search supporting co-expression analysis, and protein 3D structure viewer as well as download and upload capacity for experimental data and annotations. It has four tiers ofmore » registration, which control different levels of access to public and private data. It allows users of certain levels to share their expertise by adding comments to the data. It has a user-friendly web interface together with genome browser and pathway viewer, which display data in an intuitive manner to the soybean researchers, producers and consumers. Conclusions: SoyKB addresses the increasing need of the soybean research community to have a one-stop-shop functional and translational omics web resource for information retrieval and analysis in a user-friendly way. SoyKB can be publicly accessed at http://soykb.org/.« less

Audio fingerprint extraction for content identification

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shiu, Yu; Yeh, Chia-Hung; Kuo, C. C. J.

2003-11-01

In this work, we present an audio content identification system that identifies some unknown audio material by comparing its fingerprint with those extracted off-line and saved in the music database. We will describe in detail the procedure to extract audio fingerprints and demonstrate that they are robust to noise and content-preserving manipulations. The main feature in the proposed system is the zero-crossing rate extracted with the octave-band filter bank. The zero-crossing rate can be used to describe the dominant frequency in each subband with a very low computational cost. The size of audio fingerprint is small and can be efficiently stored along with the compressed files in the database. It is also robust to many modifications such as tempo change and time-alignment distortion. Besides, the octave-band filter bank is used to enhance the robustness to distortion, especially those localized on some frequency regions.

Predicting the Overall Spatial Quality of Automotive Audio Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Koya, Daisuke

The spatial quality of automotive audio systems is often compromised due to their unideal listening environments. Automotive audio systems need to be developed quickly due to industry demands. A suitable perceptual model could evaluate the spatial quality of automotive audio systems with similar reliability to formal listening tests but take less time. Such a model is developed in this research project by adapting an existing model of spatial quality for automotive audio use. The requirements for the adaptation were investigated in a literature review. A perceptual model called QESTRAL was reviewed, which predicts the overall spatial quality of domestic multichannel audio systems. It was determined that automotive audio systems are likely to be impaired in terms of the spatial attributes that were not considered in developing the QESTRAL model, but metrics are available that might predict these attributes. To establish whether the QESTRAL model in its current form can accurately predict the overall spatial quality of automotive audio systems, MUSHRA listening tests using headphone auralisation with head tracking were conducted to collect results to be compared against predictions by the model. Based on guideline criteria, the model in its current form could not accurately predict the overall spatial quality of automotive audio systems. To improve prediction performance, the QESTRAL model was recalibrated and modified using existing metrics of the model, those that were proposed from the literature review, and newly developed metrics. The most important metrics for predicting the overall spatial quality of automotive audio systems included those that were interaural cross-correlation (IACC) based, relate to localisation of the frontal audio scene, and account for the perceived scene width in front of the listener. Modifying the model for automotive audio systems did not invalidate its use for domestic audio systems. The resulting model predicts the overall spatial

47 CFR 87.483 - Audio visual warning systems.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 5 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Audio visual warning systems. 87.483 Section 87... AVIATION SERVICES Stations in the Radiodetermination Service § 87.483 Audio visual warning systems. An audio visual warning system (AVWS) is a radar-based obstacle avoidance system. AVWS activates...

Impact of audio-visual storytelling in simulation learning experiences of undergraduate nursing students.

PubMed

Johnston, Sandra; Parker, Christina N; Fox, Amanda

2017-09-01

Use of high fidelity simulation has become increasingly popular in nursing education to the extent that it is now an integral component of most nursing programs. Anecdotal evidence suggests that students have difficulty engaging with simulation manikins due to their unrealistic appearance. Introduction of the manikin as a 'real patient' with the use of an audio-visual narrative may engage students in the simulated learning experience and impact on their learning. A paucity of literature currently exists on the use of audio-visual narratives to enhance simulated learning experiences. This study aimed to determine if viewing an audio-visual narrative during a simulation pre-brief altered undergraduate nursing student perceptions of the learning experience. A quasi-experimental post-test design was utilised. A convenience sample of final year baccalaureate nursing students at a large metropolitan university. Participants completed a modified version of the Student Satisfaction with Simulation Experiences survey. This 12-item questionnaire contained questions relating to the ability to transfer skills learned in simulation to the real clinical world, the realism of the simulation and the overall value of the learning experience. Descriptive statistics were used to summarise demographic information. Two tailed, independent group t-tests were used to determine statistical differences within the categories. Findings indicated that students reported high levels of value, realism and transferability in relation to the viewing of an audio-visual narrative. Statistically significant results (t=2.38, p<0.02) were evident in the subscale of transferability of learning from simulation to clinical practice. The subgroups of age and gender although not significant indicated some interesting results. High satisfaction with simulation was indicated by all students in relation to value and realism. There was a significant finding in relation to transferability on knowledge and this

47 CFR 10.520 - Common audio attention signal.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 1 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Common audio attention signal. 10.520 Section... Equipment Requirements § 10.520 Common audio attention signal. A Participating CMS Provider and equipment manufacturers may only market devices for public use under part 10 that include an audio attention signal that...

47 CFR 10.520 - Common audio attention signal.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 1 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Common audio attention signal. 10.520 Section... Equipment Requirements § 10.520 Common audio attention signal. A Participating CMS Provider and equipment manufacturers may only market devices for public use under part 10 that include an audio attention signal that...

47 CFR 10.520 - Common audio attention signal.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 1 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Common audio attention signal. 10.520 Section... Equipment Requirements § 10.520 Common audio attention signal. A Participating CMS Provider and equipment manufacturers may only market devices for public use under part 10 that include an audio attention signal that...

47 CFR 10.520 - Common audio attention signal.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 1 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false Common audio attention signal. 10.520 Section... Equipment Requirements § 10.520 Common audio attention signal. A Participating CMS Provider and equipment manufacturers may only market devices for public use under part 10 that include an audio attention signal that...

Digital Audio: A Sound Design Element.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Barron, Ann; Varnadoe, Susan

1992-01-01

Discussion of incorporating audio into videodiscs for multimedia educational applications highlights a project developed for the Navy that used digital audio in an interactive video delivery system (IVDS) for training sonar operators. Storage constraints with videodiscs are explained, design requirements for the IVDS are described, and production…

Spatial domain entertainment audio decompression/compression

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chan, Y. K.; Tam, Ka Him K.

2014-02-01

The ARM7 NEON processor with 128bit SIMD hardware accelerator requires a peak performance of 13.99 Mega Cycles per Second for MP3 stereo entertainment quality decoding. For similar compression bit rate, OGG and AAC is preferred over MP3. The Patent Cooperation Treaty Application dated 28/August/2012 describes an audio decompression scheme producing a sequence of interleaving "min to Max" and "Max to min" rising and falling segments. The number of interior audio samples bound by "min to Max" or "Max to min" can be {0|1|…|N} audio samples. The magnitudes of samples, including the bounding min and Max, are distributed as normalized constants within the 0 and 1 of the bounding magnitudes. The decompressed audio is then a "sequence of static segments" on a frame by frame basis. Some of these frames needed to be post processed to elevate high frequency. The post processing is compression efficiency neutral and the additional decoding complexity is only a small fraction of the overall decoding complexity without the need of extra hardware. Compression efficiency can be speculated as very high as source audio had been decimated and converted to a set of data with only "segment length and corresponding segment magnitude" attributes. The PCT describes how these two attributes are efficiently coded by the PCT innovative coding scheme. The PCT decoding efficiency is obviously very high and decoding latency is basically zero. Both hardware requirement and run time is at least an order of magnitude better than MP3 variants. The side benefit is ultra low power consumption on mobile device. The acid test on how such a simplistic waveform representation can indeed reproduce authentic decompressed quality is benchmarked versus OGG(aoTuv Beta 6.03) by three pair of stereo audio frames and one broadcast like voice audio frame with each frame consisting 2,028 samples at 44,100KHz sampling frequency.

Effects of aging on audio-visual speech integration.

PubMed

Huyse, Aurélie; Leybaert, Jacqueline; Berthommier, Frédéric

2014-10-01

This study investigated the impact of aging on audio-visual speech integration. A syllable identification task was presented in auditory-only, visual-only, and audio-visual congruent and incongruent conditions. Visual cues were either degraded or unmodified. Stimuli were embedded in stationary noise alternating with modulated noise. Fifteen young adults and 15 older adults participated in this study. Results showed that older adults had preserved lipreading abilities when the visual input was clear but not when it was degraded. The impact of aging on audio-visual integration also depended on the quality of the visual cues. In the visual clear condition, the audio-visual gain was similar in both groups and analyses in the framework of the fuzzy-logical model of perception confirmed that older adults did not differ from younger adults in their audio-visual integration abilities. In the visual reduction condition, the audio-visual gain was reduced in the older group, but only when the noise was stationary, suggesting that older participants could compensate for the loss of lipreading abilities by using the auditory information available in the valleys of the noise. The fuzzy-logical model of perception confirmed the significant impact of aging on audio-visual integration by showing an increased weight of audition in the older group.

Audio computer-assisted self interview compared to traditional interview in an HIV-related behavioral survey in Vietnam.

PubMed

Le, Linh Cu; Vu, Lan T H

2012-10-01

Globally, population surveys on HIV/AIDS and other sensitive topics have been using audio computer-assisted self interview for many years. This interview technique, however, is still new to Vietnam and little is known about its application and impact in general population surveys. One plausible hypothesis is that residents of Vietnam interviewed using this technique may provide a higher response rate and be more willing to reveal their true behaviors than if interviewed with traditional methods. This study aims to compare audio computer-assisted self interview with traditional face-to-face personal interview and self-administered interview with regard to rates of refusal and affirmative responses to questions on sensitive topics related to HIV/AIDS. In June 2010, a randomized study was conducted in three cities (Ha Noi, Da Nan and Can Tho), using a sample of 4049 residents aged 15 to 49 years. Respondents were randomly assigned to one of three interviewing methods: audio computer-assisted self interview, personal face-to-face interview, and self-administered paper interview. Instead of providing answers directly to interviewer questions as with traditional methods, audio computer-assisted self-interview respondents read the questions displayed on a laptop screen, while listening to the questions through audio headphones, then entered responses using a laptop keyboard. A MySQL database was used for data management and SPSS statistical package version 18 used for data analysis with bivariate and multivariate statistical techniques. Rates of high risk behaviors and mean values of continuous variables were compared for the three data collection methods. Audio computer-assisted self interview showed advantages over comparison techniques, achieving lower refusal rates and reporting higher prevalence of some sensitive and risk behaviors (perhaps indication of more truthful answers). Premarital sex was reported by 20.4% in the audio computer-assisted self-interview survey

Audio-video feature correlation: faces and speech

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Durand, Gwenael; Montacie, Claude; Caraty, Marie-Jose; Faudemay, Pascal

1999-08-01

This paper presents a study of the correlation of features automatically extracted from the audio stream and the video stream of audiovisual documents. In particular, we were interested in finding out whether speech analysis tools could be combined with face detection methods, and to what extend they should be combined. A generic audio signal partitioning algorithm as first used to detect Silence/Noise/Music/Speech segments in a full length movie. A generic object detection method was applied to the keyframes extracted from the movie in order to detect the presence or absence of faces. The correlation between the presence of a face in the keyframes and of the corresponding voice in the audio stream was studied. A third stream, which is the script of the movie, is warped on the speech channel in order to automatically label faces appearing in the keyframes with the name of the corresponding character. We naturally found that extracted audio and video features were related in many cases, and that significant benefits can be obtained from the joint use of audio and video analysis methods.

Engaging Practical Students through Audio Feedback

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pearson, John

2018-01-01

This paper uses an action research intervention in an attempt to improve student engagement with summative feedback. The intervention delivered summative module feedback to the students as audio recordings, replacing the written method employed in previous years. The project found that students are keen on audio as an alternative to written…

CERN automatic audio-conference service

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sierra Moral, Rodrigo

2010-04-01

Scientists from all over the world need to collaborate with CERN on a daily basis. They must be able to communicate effectively on their joint projects at any time; as a result telephone conferences have become indispensable and widely used. Managed by 6 operators, CERN already has more than 20000 hours and 5700 audio-conferences per year. However, the traditional telephone based audio-conference system needed to be modernized in three ways. Firstly, to provide the participants with more autonomy in the organization of their conferences; secondly, to eliminate the constraints of manual intervention by operators; and thirdly, to integrate the audio-conferences into a collaborative working framework. The large number, and hence cost, of the conferences prohibited externalization and so the CERN telecommunications team drew up a specification to implement a new system. It was decided to use a new commercial collaborative audio-conference solution based on the SIP protocol. The system was tested as the first European pilot and several improvements (such as billing, security, redundancy...) were implemented based on CERN's recommendations. The new automatic conference system has been operational since the second half of 2006. It is very popular for the users and has doubled the number of conferences in the past two years.

Multimodal audio guide for museums and exhibitions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gebbensleben, Sandra; Dittmann, Jana; Vielhauer, Claus

2006-02-01

In our paper we introduce a new Audio Guide concept for exploring buildings, realms and exhibitions. Actual proposed solutions work in most cases with pre-defined devices, which users have to buy or borrow. These systems often go along with complex technical installations and require a great degree of user training for device handling. Furthermore, the activation of audio commentary related to the exhibition objects is typically based on additional components like infrared, radio frequency or GPS technology. Beside the necessity of installation of specific devices for user location, these approaches often only support automatic activation with no or limited user interaction. Therefore, elaboration of alternative concepts appears worthwhile. Motivated by these aspects, we introduce a new concept based on usage of the visitor's own mobile smart phone. The advantages in our approach are twofold: firstly the Audio Guide can be used in various places without any purchase and extensive installation of additional components in or around the exhibition object. Secondly, the visitors can experience the exhibition on individual tours only by uploading the Audio Guide at a single point of entry, the Audio Guide Service Counter, and keeping it on her or his personal device. Furthermore, since the user usually is quite familiar with the interface of her or his phone and can thus interact with the application device easily. Our technical concept makes use of two general ideas for location detection and activation. Firstly, we suggest an enhanced interactive number based activation by exploiting the visual capabilities of modern smart phones and secondly we outline an active digital audio watermarking approach, where information about objects are transmitted via an analog audio channel.

Digital Audio Application to Short Wave Broadcasting

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chen, Edward Y.

1997-01-01

Digital audio is becoming prevalent not only in consumer electornics, but also in different broadcasting media. Terrestrial analog audio broadcasting in the AM and FM bands will be eventually be replaced by digital systems.

3D Audio System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1992-01-01

Ames Research Center research into virtual reality led to the development of the Convolvotron, a high speed digital audio processing system that delivers three-dimensional sound over headphones. It consists of a two-card set designed for use with a personal computer. The Convolvotron's primary application is presentation of 3D audio signals over headphones. Four independent sound sources are filtered with large time-varying filters that compensate for motion. The perceived location of the sound remains constant. Possible applications are in air traffic control towers or airplane cockpits, hearing and perception research and virtual reality development.

Video content parsing based on combined audio and visual information

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Tong; Kuo, C.-C. Jay

1999-08-01

While previous research on audiovisual data segmentation and indexing primarily focuses on the pictorial part, significant clues contained in the accompanying audio flow are often ignored. A fully functional system for video content parsing can be achieved more successfully through a proper combination of audio and visual information. By investigating the data structure of different video types, we present tools for both audio and visual content analysis and a scheme for video segmentation and annotation in this research. In the proposed system, video data are segmented into audio scenes and visual shots by detecting abrupt changes in audio and visual features, respectively. Then, the audio scene is categorized and indexed as one of the basic audio types while a visual shot is presented by keyframes and associate image features. An index table is then generated automatically for each video clip based on the integration of outputs from audio and visual analysis. It is shown that the proposed system provides satisfying video indexing results.

Audio signal processor

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hymer, R. L.

1970-01-01

System provides automatic volume control for an audio amplifier or a voice communication system without introducing noise surges during pauses in the input, and without losing the initial signal when the input resumes.

Structuring Broadcast Audio for Information Access

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gauvain, Jean-Luc; Lamel, Lori

2003-12-01

One rapidly expanding application area for state-of-the-art speech recognition technology is the automatic processing of broadcast audiovisual data for information access. Since much of the linguistic information is found in the audio channel, speech recognition is a key enabling technology which, when combined with information retrieval techniques, can be used for searching large audiovisual document collections. Audio indexing must take into account the specificities of audio data such as needing to deal with the continuous data stream and an imperfect word transcription. Other important considerations are dealing with language specificities and facilitating language portability. At Laboratoire d'Informatique pour la Mécanique et les Sciences de l'Ingénieur (LIMSI), broadcast news transcription systems have been developed for seven languages: English, French, German, Mandarin, Portuguese, Spanish, and Arabic. The transcription systems have been integrated into prototype demonstrators for several application areas such as audio data mining, structuring audiovisual archives, selective dissemination of information, and topic tracking for media monitoring. As examples, this paper addresses the spoken document retrieval and topic tracking tasks.

Digital Advances in Contemporary Audio Production.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shields, Steven O.

Noting that a revolution in sonic high fidelity occurred during the 1980s as digital-based audio production methods began to replace traditional analog modes, this paper offers both an overview of digital audio theory and descriptions of some of the related digital production technologies that have begun to emerge from the mating of the computer…

Aircraft noise synthesis system: Version 4 user instructions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mccurdy, David A.; Sullivan, Brenda M.; Grandle, Robert E.

1987-01-01

A modified version of the Aircraft Noise Synthesis System with improved directivity and tonal content modeling has been developed. The synthesis system is used to provide test stimuli for studies of community annoyance to aircraft flyover noise. The computer-based system generates realistic, time-varying audio simulations of aircraft flyover noise at a specified observer location on the ground. The synthesis takes into account the time-varying aircraft position relative to the observer; specified reference spectra consisting of broadband, narrowband, and pure tone components; directivity patterns; Doppler shift; atmospheric effects; and ground effects. These parameters can be specified and controlled in such a way as to generate stimuli in which certain noise characteristics such as duration or tonal content are independently varied while the remaining characteristics such as broadband content are held constant. The modified version of the system provides improved modeling of noise directivity patterns and an increased number of pure tone components. User instructions for the modified version of the synthesis system are provided.

Audio CAPTCHA for SIP-Based VoIP

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Soupionis, Yannis; Tountas, George; Gritzalis, Dimitris

Voice over IP (VoIP) introduces new ways of communication, while utilizing existing data networks to provide inexpensive voice communications worldwide as a promising alternative to the traditional PSTN telephony. SPam over Internet Telephony (SPIT) is one potential source of future annoyance in VoIP. A common way to launch a SPIT attack is the use of an automated procedure (bot), which generates calls and produces audio advertisements. In this paper, our goal is to design appropriate CAPTCHA to fight such bots. We focus on and develop audio CAPTCHA, as the audio format is more suitable for VoIP environments and we implement it in a SIP-based VoIP environment. Furthermore, we suggest and evaluate the specific attributes that audio CAPTCHA should incorporate in order to be effective, and test it against an open source bot implementation.

Investigating the impact of audio instruction and audio-visual biofeedback for lung cancer radiation therapy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

George, Rohini

Lung cancer accounts for 13% of all cancers in the Unites States and is the leading cause of deaths among both men and women. The five-year survival for lung cancer patients is approximately 15%.(ACS facts & figures) Respiratory motion decreases accuracy of thoracic radiotherapy during imaging and delivery. To account for respiration, generally margins are added during radiation treatment planning, which may cause a substantial dose delivery to normal tissues and increase the normal tissue toxicity. To alleviate the above-mentioned effects of respiratory motion, several motion management techniques are available which can reduce the doses to normal tissues, thereby reducing treatment toxicity and allowing dose escalation to the tumor. This may increase the survival probability of patients who have lung cancer and are receiving radiation therapy. However the accuracy of these motion management techniques are inhibited by respiration irregularity. The rationale of this thesis was to study the improvement in regularity of respiratory motion by breathing coaching for lung cancer patients using audio instructions and audio-visual biofeedback. A total of 331 patient respiratory motion traces, each four minutes in length, were collected from 24 lung cancer patients enrolled in an IRB-approved breathing-training protocol. It was determined that audio-visual biofeedback significantly improved the regularity of respiratory motion compared to free breathing and audio instruction, thus improving the accuracy of respiratory gated radiotherapy. It was also observed that duty cycles below 30% showed insignificant reduction in residual motion while above 50% there was a sharp increase in residual motion. The reproducibility of exhale based gating was higher than that of inhale base gating. Modeling the respiratory cycles it was found that cosine and cosine 4 models had the best correlation with individual respiratory cycles. The overall respiratory motion probability distribution

47 CFR 73.403 - Digital audio broadcasting service requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... programming stream at no direct charge to listeners. In addition, a broadcast radio station must simulcast its analog audio programming on one of its digital audio programming streams. The DAB audio programming... analog programming service currently provided to listeners. (b) Emergency information. The emergency...

A Virtual Audio Guidance and Alert System for Commercial Aircraft Operations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Begault, Durand R.; Wenzel, Elizabeth M.; Shrum, Richard; Miller, Joel; Null, Cynthia H. (Technical Monitor)

1996-01-01

Our work in virtual reality systems at NASA Ames Research Center includes the area of aurally-guided visual search, using specially-designed audio cues and spatial audio processing (also known as virtual or "3-D audio") techniques (Begault, 1994). Previous studies at Ames had revealed that use of 3-D audio for Traffic Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) advisories significantly reduced head-down time, compared to a head-down map display (0.5 sec advantage) or no display at all (2.2 sec advantage) (Begault, 1993, 1995; Begault & Pittman, 1994; see Wenzel, 1994, for an audio demo). Since the crew must keep their head up and looking out the window as much as possible when taxiing under low-visibility conditions, and the potential for "blunder" is increased under such conditions, it was sensible to evaluate the audio spatial cueing for a prototype audio ground collision avoidance warning (GCAW) system, and a 3-D audio guidance system. Results were favorable for GCAW, but not for the audio guidance system.

Perceptual Audio Hashing Functions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Özer, Hamza; Sankur, Bülent; Memon, Nasir; Anarım, Emin

2005-12-01

Perceptual hash functions provide a tool for fast and reliable identification of content. We present new audio hash functions based on summarization of the time-frequency spectral characteristics of an audio document. The proposed hash functions are based on the periodicity series of the fundamental frequency and on singular-value description of the cepstral frequencies. They are found, on one hand, to perform very satisfactorily in identification and verification tests, and on the other hand, to be very resilient to a large variety of attacks. Moreover, we address the issue of security of hashes and propose a keying technique, and thereby a key-dependent hash function.

Horatio Audio-Describes Shakespeare's "Hamlet": Blind and Low-Vision Theatre-Goers Evaluate an Unconventional Audio Description Strategy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Udo, J. P.; Acevedo, B.; Fels, D. I.

2010-01-01

Audio description (AD) has been introduced as one solution for providing people who are blind or have low vision with access to live theatre, film and television content. However, there is little research to inform the process, user preferences and presentation style. We present a study of a single live audio-described performance of Hart House…

AUDIO-CASI

PubMed Central

Cooley, Philip C.; Turner, Charles F.; O'Reilly, James M.; Allen, Danny R.; Hamill, David N.; Paddock, Richard E.

2011-01-01

This article reviews a multimedia application in the area of survey measurement research: adding audio capabilities to a computer-assisted interviewing system. Hardware and software issues are discussed, and potential hardware devices that operate from DOS platforms are reviewed. Three types of hardware devices are considered: PCMCIA devices, parallel port attachments, and laptops with built-in sound. PMID:22096271

Power saver circuit for audio/visual signal unit

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Right, R. W.

1985-02-12

A combined audio and visual signal unit with the audio and visual components actuated alternately and powered over a single cable pair in such a manner that only one of the audio and visual components is drawing power from the power supply at any given instant. Thus, the power supply is never called upon to provide more energy than that drawn by the one of the components having the greater power requirement. This is particularly advantageous when several combined audio and visual signal units are coupled in parallel on one cable pair. Typically, the signal unit may comprise a hornmore » and a strobe light for a fire alarm signalling system.« less

Aeronautical audio broadcasting via satellite

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tzeng, Forrest F.

1993-01-01

A system design for aeronautical audio broadcasting, with C-band uplink and L-band downlink, via Inmarsat space segments is presented. Near-transparent-quality compression of 5-kHz bandwidth audio at 20.5 kbit/s is achieved based on a hybrid technique employing linear predictive modeling and transform-domain residual quantization. Concatenated Reed-Solomon/convolutional codes with quadrature phase shift keying are selected for bandwidth and power efficiency. RF bandwidth at 25 kHz per channel, and a decoded bit error rate at 10(exp -6) with E(sub b)/N(sub o) at 3.75 dB are obtained. An interleaver, scrambler, modem synchronization, and frame format were designed, and frequency-division multiple access was selected over code-division multiple access. A link budget computation based on a worst-case scenario indicates sufficient system power margins. Transponder occupancy analysis for 72 audio channels demonstrates ample remaining capacity to accommodate emerging aeronautical services.

Musical examination to bridge audio data and sheet music

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pan, Xunyu; Cross, Timothy J.; Xiao, Liangliang; Hei, Xiali

2015-03-01

The digitalization of audio is commonly implemented for the purpose of convenient storage and transmission of music and songs in today's digital age. Analyzing digital audio for an insightful look at a specific musical characteristic, however, can be quite challenging for various types of applications. Many existing musical analysis techniques can examine a particular piece of audio data. For example, the frequency of digital sound can be easily read and identified at a specific section in an audio file. Based on this information, we could determine the musical note being played at that instant, but what if you want to see a list of all the notes played in a song? While most existing methods help to provide information about a single piece of the audio data at a time, few of them can analyze the available audio file on a larger scale. The research conducted in this work considers how to further utilize the examination of audio data by storing more information from the original audio file. In practice, we develop a novel musical analysis system Musicians Aid to process musical representation and examination of audio data. Musicians Aid solves the previous problem by storing and analyzing the audio information as it reads it rather than tossing it aside. The system can provide professional musicians with an insightful look at the music they created and advance their understanding of their work. Amateur musicians could also benefit from using it solely for the purpose of obtaining feedback about a song they were attempting to play. By comparing our system's interpretation of traditional sheet music with their own playing, a musician could ensure what they played was correct. More specifically, the system could show them exactly where they went wrong and how to adjust their mistakes. In addition, the application could be extended over the Internet to allow users to play music with one another and then review the audio data they produced. This would be particularly

The Audio-Visual Equipment Directory. Seventeenth Edition.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Herickes, Sally, Ed.

The following types of audiovisual equipment are catalogued: 8 mm. and 16 mm. motion picture projectors, filmstrip and sound filmstrip projectors, slide projectors, random access projection equipment, opaque, overhead, and micro-projectors, record players, special purpose projection equipment, audio tape recorders and players, audio tape…

Audio stream classification for multimedia database search

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Artese, M.; Bianco, S.; Gagliardi, I.; Gasparini, F.

2013-03-01

Search and retrieval of huge archives of Multimedia data is a challenging task. A classification step is often used to reduce the number of entries on which to perform the subsequent search. In particular, when new entries of the database are continuously added, a fast classification based on simple threshold evaluation is desirable. In this work we present a CART-based (Classification And Regression Tree [1]) classification framework for audio streams belonging to multimedia databases. The database considered is the Archive of Ethnography and Social History (AESS) [2], which is mainly composed of popular songs and other audio records describing the popular traditions handed down generation by generation, such as traditional fairs, and customs. The peculiarities of this database are that it is continuously updated; the audio recordings are acquired in unconstrained environment; and for the non-expert human user is difficult to create the ground truth labels. In our experiments, half of all the available audio files have been randomly extracted and used as training set. The remaining ones have been used as test set. The classifier has been trained to distinguish among three different classes: speech, music, and song. All the audio files in the dataset have been previously manually labeled into the three classes above defined by domain experts.

How we give personalised audio feedback after summative OSCEs.

PubMed

Harrison, Christopher J; Molyneux, Adrian J; Blackwell, Sara; Wass, Valerie J

2015-04-01

Students often receive little feedback after summative objective structured clinical examinations (OSCEs) to enable them to improve their performance. Electronic audio feedback has shown promise in other educational areas. We investigated the feasibility of electronic audio feedback in OSCEs. An electronic OSCE system was designed, comprising (1) an application for iPads allowing examiners to mark in the key consultation skill domains, provide "tick-box" feedback identifying strengths and difficulties, and record voice feedback; (2) a feedback website giving students the opportunity to view/listen in multiple ways to the feedback. Acceptability of the audio feedback was investigated, using focus groups with students and questionnaires with both examiners and students. 87 (95%) students accessed the examiners' audio comments; 83 (90%) found the comments useful and 63 (68%) reported changing the way they perform a skill as a result of the audio feedback. They valued its highly personalised, relevant nature and found it much more useful than written feedback. Eighty-nine per cent of examiners gave audio feedback to all students on their stations. Although many found the method easy, lack of time was a factor. Electronic audio feedback provides timely, personalised feedback to students after a summative OSCE provided enough time is allocated to the process.

Growth characteristics of Lactobacillus brevis KB290 in the presence of bile.

PubMed

Kimoto-Nira, Hiromi; Suzuki, Shigenori; Suganuma, Hiroyuki; Moriya, Naoko; Suzuki, Chise

2015-10-01

Live Lactobacillus brevis KB290 have several probiotic activities, including immune stimulation and modulation of intestinal microbial balance. We investigated the adaptation of L. brevis KB290 to bile as a mechanism of intestinal survival. Strain KB290 was grown for 5 days at 37 °C in tryptone-yeast extract-glucose (TYG) broth supplemented with 0.5% sodium acetate (TYGA) containing 0.15%, 0.3%, or 0.5% bile. Growth was determined by absorbance at 620 nm or by dry weight. Growth was enhanced as the broth's bile concentration increased. Bile-enhanced growth was not observed in TYG broth or with xylose or fructose as the carbon source, although strain KB290 could assimilate these sugars. Compared with cells grown without bile, cells grown with bile had twice the cell yield (dry weight) and higher hydrophobicity, which may improve epithelial adhesion. Metabolite analysis revealed that bile induced more lactate production by glycolysis, thus enhancing growth efficiency. Scanning electron microscopy revealed that cells cultured without bile for 5 days in TYGA broth had a shortened rod shape and showed lysis and aggregation, unlike cells cultured for 1 day; cells grown with bile for 5 days had an intact rod shape and rarely appeared damaged. Cellular material leakage through autolysis was lower in the presence of bile than in its absence. Thus lysis of strain KB290 cells cultured for extended periods was suppressed in the presence of bile. This study provides new role of bile and sodium acetate for retaining an intact cell shape and enhancing cell yield, which are beneficial for intestinal survival. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Tune in the Net with RealAudio.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Buchanan, Larry

1997-01-01

Describes how to connect to the RealAudio Web site to download a player that provides sound from Web pages to the computer through streaming technology. Explains hardware and software requirements and provides addresses for other RealAudio Web sites are provided, including weather information and current news. (LRW)

Comparison of three orientation and mobility aids for individuals with blindness: Verbal description, audio-tactile map and audio-haptic map.

PubMed

Papadopoulos, Konstantinos; Koustriava, Eleni; Koukourikos, Panagiotis; Kartasidou, Lefkothea; Barouti, Marialena; Varveris, Asimis; Misiou, Marina; Zacharogeorga, Timoclia; Anastasiadis, Theocharis

2017-01-01

Disorientation and inability of wayfinding are phenomena with a great frequency for individuals with visual impairments during the process of travelling novel environments. Orientation and mobility aids could suggest important tools for the preparation of a more secure and cognitively mapped travelling. The aim of the present study was to examine if spatial knowledge structured after an individual with blindness had studied the map of an urban area that was delivered through a verbal description, an audio-tactile map or an audio-haptic map, could be used for detecting in the area specific points of interest. The effectiveness of the three aids with reference to each other was also examined. The results of the present study highlight the effectiveness of the audio-tactile and the audio-haptic maps as orientation and mobility aids, especially when these are compared to verbal descriptions.

OC-2-KB: A software pipeline to build an evidence-based obesity and cancer knowledge base.

PubMed

Lossio-Ventura, Juan Antonio; Hogan, William; Modave, François; Guo, Yi; He, Zhe; Hicks, Amanda; Bian, Jiang

2017-11-01

Obesity has been linked to several types of cancer. Access to adequate health information activates people's participation in managing their own health, which ultimately improves their health outcomes. Nevertheless, the existing online information about the relationship between obesity and cancer is heterogeneous and poorly organized. A formal knowledge representation can help better organize and deliver quality health information. Currently, there are several efforts in the biomedical domain to convert unstructured data to structured data and store them in Semantic Web knowledge bases (KB). In this demo paper, we present, OC-2-KB (Obesity and Cancer to Knowledge Base), a system that is tailored to guide the automatic KB construction for managing obesity and cancer knowledge from free-text scientific literature (i.e., PubMed abstracts) in a systematic way. OC-2-KB has two important modules which perform the acquisition of entities and the extraction then classification of relationships among these entities. We tested the OC-2-KB system on a data set with 23 manually annotated obesity and cancer PubMed abstracts and created a preliminary KB with 765 triples. We conducted a preliminary evaluation on this sample of triples and reported our evaluation results.

The power of digital audio in interactive instruction: An unexploited medium

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Pratt, J.; Trainor, M.

1989-01-01

Widespread use of audio in computer-based training (CBT) occurred with the advent of the interactive videodisc technology. This paper discusses the alternative of digital audio, which, unlike videodisc audio, enables one to rapidly revise the audio used in the CBT and which may be used in nonvideo CBT applications as well. We also discuss techniques used in audio script writing, editing, and production. Results from evaluations indicate a high degree of user satisfaction. 4 refs.

Sounding ruins: reflections on the production of an 'audio drift'.

PubMed

Gallagher, Michael

2015-07-01

This article is about the use of audio media in researching places, which I term 'audio geography'. The article narrates some episodes from the production of an 'audio drift', an experimental environmental sound work designed to be listened to on a portable MP3 player whilst walking in a ruinous landscape. Reflecting on how this work functions, I argue that, as well as representing places, audio geography can shape listeners' attention and bodily movements, thereby reworking places, albeit temporarily. I suggest that audio geography is particularly apt for amplifying the haunted and uncanny qualities of places. I discuss some of the issues raised for research ethics, epistemology and spectral geographies.

The sounds of handheld audio players.

PubMed

Rudy, Susan F

2007-01-01

Hearing experts and public health organizations have longstanding hearing safety concerns about personal handheld audio devices, which are growing in both number and popularity. This paper reviews the maximum sound levels of handheld compact disc players, MP3 players, and an iPod. It further reviews device factors that influence the sound levels produced by these audio devices and ways to reduce the risk to hearing during their use.

Diagnostic screening identifies a wide range of mutations involving the SHOX gene, including a common 47.5 kb deletion 160 kb downstream with a variable phenotypic effect.

PubMed

Bunyan, David J; Baker, Kevin R; Harvey, John F; Thomas, N Simon

2013-06-01

Léri-Weill dyschondrosteosis (LWD) results from heterozygous mutations of the SHOX gene, with homozygosity or compound heterozygosity resulting in the more severe form, Langer mesomelic dysplasia (LMD). These mutations typically take the form of whole or partial gene deletions, point mutations within the coding sequence, or large (>100 kb) 3' deletions of downstream regulatory elements. We have analyzed the coding sequence of the SHOX gene and its downstream regulatory regions in a cohort of 377 individuals referred with symptoms of LWD, LMD or short stature. A causative mutation was identified in 68% of the probands with LWD or LMD (91/134). In addition, a 47.5 kb deletion was found 160 kb downstream of the SHOX gene in 17 of the 377 patients (12% of the LWD referrals, 4.5% of all referrals). In 14 of these 17 patients, this was the only potentially causative abnormality detected (13 had symptoms consistent with LWD and one had short stature only), but the other three 47.5 kb deletions were found in patients with an additional causative SHOX mutation (with symptoms of LWD rather than LMD). Parental samples were available on 14/17 of these families, and analysis of these showed a more variable phenotype ranging from apparently unaffected to LWD. Breakpoint sequence analysis has shown that the 47.5 kb deletion is identical in all 17 patients, most likely due to an ancient founder mutation rather than recurrence. This deletion was not seen in 471 normal controls (P<0.0001), providing further evidence for a phenotypic effect, albeit one with variable penetration. Copyright © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Digital Audio Sampling for Film and Video.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stanton, Michael J.

Digital audio sampling is explained, and some of its implications in digital sound applications are discussed. Digital sound equipment is rapidly replacing analog recording devices as the state-of-the-art in audio technology. The philosophy of digital recording involves doing away with the continuously variable analog waveforms and turning the…

Modified DCTNet for audio signals classification

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xian, Yin; Pu, Yunchen; Gan, Zhe; Lu, Liang; Thompson, Andrew

2016-10-01

In this paper, we investigate DCTNet for audio signal classification. Its output feature is related to Cohen's class of time-frequency distributions. We introduce the use of adaptive DCTNet (A-DCTNet) for audio signals feature extraction. The A-DCTNet applies the idea of constant-Q transform, with its center frequencies of filterbanks geometrically spaced. The A-DCTNet is adaptive to different acoustic scales, and it can better capture low frequency acoustic information that is sensitive to human audio perception than features such as Mel-frequency spectral coefficients (MFSC). We use features extracted by the A-DCTNet as input for classifiers. Experimental results show that the A-DCTNet and Recurrent Neural Networks (RNN) achieve state-of-the-art performance in bird song classification rate, and improve artist identification accuracy in music data. They demonstrate A-DCTNet's applicability to signal processing problems.

Audio Motor Training at the Foot Level Improves Space Representation.

PubMed

Aggius-Vella, Elena; Campus, Claudio; Finocchietti, Sara; Gori, Monica

2017-01-01

Spatial representation is developed thanks to the integration of visual signals with the other senses. It has been shown that the lack of vision compromises the development of some spatial representations. In this study we tested the effect of a new rehabilitation device called ABBI (Audio Bracelet for Blind Interaction) to improve space representation. ABBI produces an audio feedback linked to body movement. Previous studies from our group showed that this device improves the spatial representation of space in early blind adults around the upper part of the body. Here we evaluate whether the audio motor feedback produced by ABBI can also improve audio spatial representation of sighted individuals in the space around the legs. Forty five blindfolded sighted subjects participated in the study, subdivided into three experimental groups. An audio space localization (front-back discrimination) task was performed twice by all groups of subjects before and after different kind of training conditions. A group (experimental) performed an audio-motor training with the ABBI device placed on their foot. Another group (control) performed a free motor activity without audio feedback associated with body movement. The other group (control) passively listened to the ABBI sound moved at foot level by the experimenter without producing any body movement. Results showed that only the experimental group, which performed the training with the audio-motor feedback, showed an improvement in accuracy for sound discrimination. No improvement was observed for the two control groups. These findings suggest that the audio-motor training with ABBI improves audio space perception also in the space around the legs in sighted individuals. This result provides important inputs for the rehabilitation of the space representations in the lower part of the body.

Audio Motor Training at the Foot Level Improves Space Representation

PubMed Central

Aggius-Vella, Elena; Campus, Claudio; Finocchietti, Sara; Gori, Monica

2017-01-01

Spatial representation is developed thanks to the integration of visual signals with the other senses. It has been shown that the lack of vision compromises the development of some spatial representations. In this study we tested the effect of a new rehabilitation device called ABBI (Audio Bracelet for Blind Interaction) to improve space representation. ABBI produces an audio feedback linked to body movement. Previous studies from our group showed that this device improves the spatial representation of space in early blind adults around the upper part of the body. Here we evaluate whether the audio motor feedback produced by ABBI can also improve audio spatial representation of sighted individuals in the space around the legs. Forty five blindfolded sighted subjects participated in the study, subdivided into three experimental groups. An audio space localization (front-back discrimination) task was performed twice by all groups of subjects before and after different kind of training conditions. A group (experimental) performed an audio-motor training with the ABBI device placed on their foot. Another group (control) performed a free motor activity without audio feedback associated with body movement. The other group (control) passively listened to the ABBI sound moved at foot level by the experimenter without producing any body movement. Results showed that only the experimental group, which performed the training with the audio-motor feedback, showed an improvement in accuracy for sound discrimination. No improvement was observed for the two control groups. These findings suggest that the audio-motor training with ABBI improves audio space perception also in the space around the legs in sighted individuals. This result provides important inputs for the rehabilitation of the space representations in the lower part of the body. PMID:29326564

Space Shuttle Orbiter audio subsystem. [to communication and tracking system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stewart, C. H.

1978-01-01

The selection of the audio multiplex control configuration for the Space Shuttle Orbiter audio subsystem is discussed and special attention is given to the evaluation criteria of cost, weight and complexity. The specifications and design of the subsystem are described and detail is given to configurations of the audio terminal and audio central control unit (ATU, ACCU). The audio input from the ACCU, at a signal level of -12.2 to 14.8 dBV, nominal range, at 1 kHz, was found to have balanced source impedance and a balanced local impedance of 6000 + or - 600 ohms at 1 kHz, dc isolated. The Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center (JSC) electroacoustic test laboratory, an audio engineering facility consisting of a collection of acoustic test chambers, analyzed problems of speaker and headset performance, multiplexed control data coupled with audio channels, and the Orbiter cabin acoustic effects on the operational performance of voice communications. This system allows technical management and project engineering to address key constraining issues, such as identifying design deficiencies of the headset interface unit and the assessment of the Orbiter cabin performance of voice communications, which affect the subsystem development.

Spatialized audio improves call sign recognition during multi-aircraft control.

PubMed

Kim, Sungbin; Miller, Michael E; Rusnock, Christina F; Elshaw, John J

2018-07-01

We investigated the impact of a spatialized audio display on response time, workload, and accuracy while monitoring auditory information for relevance. The human ability to differentiate sound direction implies that spatial audio may be used to encode information. Therefore, it is hypothesized that spatial audio cues can be applied to aid differentiation of critical versus noncritical verbal auditory information. We used a human performance model and a laboratory study involving 24 participants to examine the effect of applying a notional, automated parser to present audio in a particular ear depending on information relevance. Operator workload and performance were assessed while subjects listened for and responded to relevant audio cues associated with critical information among additional noncritical information. Encoding relevance through spatial location in a spatial audio display system--as opposed to monophonic, binaural presentation--significantly reduced response time and workload, particularly for noncritical information. Future auditory displays employing spatial cues to indicate relevance have the potential to reduce workload and improve operator performance in similar task domains. Furthermore, these displays have the potential to reduce the dependence of workload and performance on the number of audio cues. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

The MMPI-2 Computerized Adaptive Version (MMPI-2-CA) in a Veterans Administration Medical Outpatient Facility

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Forbey, Johnathan D.; Ben-Porath, Yossef S.; Arbisi, Paul A.

2012-01-01

The ability to screen quickly and thoroughly for psychological difficulties in existing and returning combat veterans who are seeking treatment for physical ailments would be of significant benefit. In the current study, item and time savings, as well as extratest correlations, associated with an audio-augmented version of the computerized…

Audio-guided audiovisual data segmentation, indexing, and retrieval

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Tong; Kuo, C.-C. Jay

1998-12-01

While current approaches for video segmentation and indexing are mostly focused on visual information, audio signals may actually play a primary role in video content parsing. In this paper, we present an approach for automatic segmentation, indexing, and retrieval of audiovisual data, based on audio content analysis. The accompanying audio signal of audiovisual data is first segmented and classified into basic types, i.e., speech, music, environmental sound, and silence. This coarse-level segmentation and indexing step is based upon morphological and statistical analysis of several short-term features of the audio signals. Then, environmental sounds are classified into finer classes, such as applause, explosions, bird sounds, etc. This fine-level classification and indexing step is based upon time- frequency analysis of audio signals and the use of the hidden Markov model as the classifier. On top of this archiving scheme, an audiovisual data retrieval system is proposed. Experimental results show that the proposed approach has an accuracy rate higher than 90 percent for the coarse-level classification, and higher than 85 percent for the fine-level classification. Examples of audiovisual data segmentation and retrieval are also provided.

Multi-channel spatialization systems for audio signals

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Begault, Durand R. (Inventor)

1993-01-01

Synthetic head related transfer functions (HRTF's) for imposing reprogrammable spatial cues to a plurality of audio input signals included, for example, in multiple narrow-band audio communications signals received simultaneously are generated and stored in interchangeable programmable read only memories (PROM's) which store both head related transfer function impulse response data and source positional information for a plurality of desired virtual source locations. The analog inputs of the audio signals are filtered and converted to digital signals from which synthetic head related transfer functions are generated in the form of linear phase finite impulse response filters. The outputs of the impulse response filters are subsequently reconverted to analog signals, filtered, mixed, and fed to a pair of headphones.

Multi-channel spatialization system for audio signals

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Begault, Durand R. (Inventor)

1995-01-01

Synthetic head related transfer functions (HRTF's) for imposing reprogramable spatial cues to a plurality of audio input signals included, for example, in multiple narrow-band audio communications signals received simultaneously are generated and stored in interchangeable programmable read only memories (PROM's) which store both head related transfer function impulse response data and source positional information for a plurality of desired virtual source locations. The analog inputs of the audio signals are filtered and converted to digital signals from which synthetic head related transfer functions are generated in the form of linear phase finite impulse response filters. The outputs of the impulse response filters are subsequently reconverted to analog signals, filtered, mixed and fed to a pair of headphones.

The Practical Audio-Visual Handbook for Teachers.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Scuorzo, Herbert E.

The use of audio/visual media as an aid to instruction is a common practice in today's classroom. Most teachers, however, have little or no formal training in this field and rarely a knowledgeable coordinator to help them. "The Practical Audio-Visual Handbook for Teachers" discusses the types and mechanics of many of these media forms and proposes…

Efficient audio signal processing for embedded systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chiu, Leung Kin

As mobile platforms continue to pack on more computational power, electronics manufacturers start to differentiate their products by enhancing the audio features. However, consumers also demand smaller devices that could operate for longer time, hence imposing design constraints. In this research, we investigate two design strategies that would allow us to efficiently process audio signals on embedded systems such as mobile phones and portable electronics. In the first strategy, we exploit properties of the human auditory system to process audio signals. We designed a sound enhancement algorithm to make piezoelectric loudspeakers sound ”richer" and "fuller." Piezoelectric speakers have a small form factor but exhibit poor response in the low-frequency region. In the algorithm, we combine psychoacoustic bass extension and dynamic range compression to improve the perceived bass coming out from the tiny speakers. We also developed an audio energy reduction algorithm for loudspeaker power management. The perceptually transparent algorithm extends the battery life of mobile devices and prevents thermal damage in speakers. This method is similar to audio compression algorithms, which encode audio signals in such a ways that the compression artifacts are not easily perceivable. Instead of reducing the storage space, however, we suppress the audio contents that are below the hearing threshold, therefore reducing the signal energy. In the second strategy, we use low-power analog circuits to process the signal before digitizing it. We designed an analog front-end for sound detection and implemented it on a field programmable analog array (FPAA). The system is an example of an analog-to-information converter. The sound classifier front-end can be used in a wide range of applications because programmable floating-gate transistors are employed to store classifier weights. Moreover, we incorporated a feature selection algorithm to simplify the analog front-end. A machine

Fall Detection Using Smartphone Audio Features.

PubMed

Cheffena, Michael

2016-07-01

An automated fall detection system based on smartphone audio features is developed. The spectrogram, mel frequency cepstral coefficents (MFCCs), linear predictive coding (LPC), and matching pursuit (MP) features of different fall and no-fall sound events are extracted from experimental data. Based on the extracted audio features, four different machine learning classifiers: k-nearest neighbor classifier (k-NN), support vector machine (SVM), least squares method (LSM), and artificial neural network (ANN) are investigated for distinguishing between fall and no-fall events. For each audio feature, the performance of each classifier in terms of sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, and computational complexity is evaluated. The best performance is achieved using spectrogram features with ANN classifier with sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy all above 98%. The classifier also has acceptable computational requirement for training and testing. The system is applicable in home environments where the phone is placed in the vicinity of the user.

Talker variability in audio-visual speech perception

PubMed Central

Heald, Shannon L. M.; Nusbaum, Howard C.

2014-01-01

A change in talker is a change in the context for the phonetic interpretation of acoustic patterns of speech. Different talkers have different mappings between acoustic patterns and phonetic categories and listeners need to adapt to these differences. Despite this complexity, listeners are adept at comprehending speech in multiple-talker contexts, albeit at a slight but measurable performance cost (e.g., slower recognition). So far, this talker variability cost has been demonstrated only in audio-only speech. Other research in single-talker contexts have shown, however, that when listeners are able to see a talker’s face, speech recognition is improved under adverse listening (e.g., noise or distortion) conditions that can increase uncertainty in the mapping between acoustic patterns and phonetic categories. Does seeing a talker’s face reduce the cost of word recognition in multiple-talker contexts? We used a speeded word-monitoring task in which listeners make quick judgments about target word recognition in single- and multiple-talker contexts. Results show faster recognition performance in single-talker conditions compared to multiple-talker conditions for both audio-only and audio-visual speech. However, recognition time in a multiple-talker context was slower in the audio-visual condition compared to audio-only condition. These results suggest that seeing a talker’s face during speech perception may slow recognition by increasing the importance of talker identification, signaling to the listener a change in talker has occurred. PMID:25076919

Talker variability in audio-visual speech perception.

PubMed

Heald, Shannon L M; Nusbaum, Howard C

2014-01-01

A change in talker is a change in the context for the phonetic interpretation of acoustic patterns of speech. Different talkers have different mappings between acoustic patterns and phonetic categories and listeners need to adapt to these differences. Despite this complexity, listeners are adept at comprehending speech in multiple-talker contexts, albeit at a slight but measurable performance cost (e.g., slower recognition). So far, this talker variability cost has been demonstrated only in audio-only speech. Other research in single-talker contexts have shown, however, that when listeners are able to see a talker's face, speech recognition is improved under adverse listening (e.g., noise or distortion) conditions that can increase uncertainty in the mapping between acoustic patterns and phonetic categories. Does seeing a talker's face reduce the cost of word recognition in multiple-talker contexts? We used a speeded word-monitoring task in which listeners make quick judgments about target word recognition in single- and multiple-talker contexts. Results show faster recognition performance in single-talker conditions compared to multiple-talker conditions for both audio-only and audio-visual speech. However, recognition time in a multiple-talker context was slower in the audio-visual condition compared to audio-only condition. These results suggest that seeing a talker's face during speech perception may slow recognition by increasing the importance of talker identification, signaling to the listener a change in talker has occurred.

Audio-Tutorial Instruction: A Strategy For Teaching Introductory College Geology.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fenner, Peter; Andrews, Ted F.

The rationale of audio-tutorial instruction is discussed, and the history and development of the audio-tutorial botany program at Purdue University is described. Audio-tutorial programs in geology at eleven colleges and one school are described, illustrating several ways in which programs have been developed and integrated into courses. Programs…

47 CFR 10.520 - Common audio attention signal.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Common audio attention signal. 10.520 Section 10.520 Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION GENERAL COMMERCIAL MOBILE ALERT SYSTEM Equipment Requirements § 10.520 Common audio attention signal. A Participating CMS Provider and equipment...

Subjective audio quality evaluation of embedded-optimization-based distortion precompensation algorithms.

PubMed

Defraene, Bruno; van Waterschoot, Toon; Diehl, Moritz; Moonen, Marc

2016-07-01

Subjective audio quality evaluation experiments have been conducted to assess the performance of embedded-optimization-based precompensation algorithms for mitigating perceptible linear and nonlinear distortion in audio signals. It is concluded with statistical significance that the perceived audio quality is improved by applying an embedded-optimization-based precompensation algorithm, both in case (i) nonlinear distortion and (ii) a combination of linear and nonlinear distortion is present. Moreover, a significant positive correlation is reported between the collected subjective and objective PEAQ audio quality scores, supporting the validity of using PEAQ to predict the impact of linear and nonlinear distortion on the perceived audio quality.

The amiodarone derivative KB130015 activates hERG1 potassium channels via a novel mechanism

PubMed Central

Gessner, Guido; Macianskiene, Regina; Starkus, John G.; Schönherr, Roland; Heinemann, Stefan H.

2010-01-01

Human ether à go-go related gene (hERG1) potassium channels underlie the repolarizing IKr current in the heart. Since they are targets of various drugs with cardiac side effects we tested whether the amiodarone derivative 2-methyl-3-(3,5-diiodo-4-carboxymethoxybenzyl)benzofuran (KB130015) blocks hERG1 channels like its parent compound. Using patch-clamp and two-electrode voltage-clamp techniques we found that KB130015 blocks native and recombinant hERG1 channels at high voltages, but it activates them at low voltages. The activating effect has an apparent EC50 value of 12 μM and is brought about by an about 4-fold acceleration of activation kinetics and a shift in voltage-dependent activation by −16 mV. Channel activation was not use-dependent and was independent of inactivation gating. KB130015 presumably binds to the hERG1 pore from the cytosolic side and functionally competes with hERG1 block by amiodarone, E4031 (N-[4-[[1-[2-(6-methyl-2-pyridinyl)ethyl] -4-piperidinyl] carbonyl] phenyl] methanesulfonamide dihydrochloride), and sertindole. Vice versa, amiodarone attenuates hERG1 activation by KB130015. Based on synergic channel activation by mallotoxin and KB130015 we conclude that the hERG1 pore contains at least two sites for activators that are functionally coupled among each other and to the cavity-blocker site. KB130015 and amiodarone may serve as lead structures for the identification of hERG1 pore-interacting drugs favoring channel activation vs. block. PMID:20097192

Improvements of ModalMax High-Fidelity Piezoelectric Audio Device

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Woodard, Stanley E.

2005-01-01

ModalMax audio speakers have been enhanced by innovative means of tailoring the vibration response of thin piezoelectric plates to produce a high-fidelity audio response. The ModalMax audio speakers are 1 mm in thickness. The device completely supplants the need to have a separate driver and speaker cone. ModalMax speakers can perform the same applications of cone speakers, but unlike cone speakers, ModalMax speakers can function in harsh environments such as high humidity or extreme wetness. New design features allow the speakers to be completely submersed in salt water, making them well suited for maritime applications. The sound produced from the ModalMax audio speakers has sound spatial resolution that is readily discernable for headset users.

Low-delay predictive audio coding for the HIVITS HDTV codec

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McParland, A. K.; Gilchrist, N. H. C.

1995-01-01

The status of work relating to predictive audio coding, as part of the European project on High Quality Video Telephone and HD(TV) Systems (HIVITS), is reported. The predictive coding algorithm is developed, along with six-channel audio coding and decoding hardware. Demonstrations of the audio codec operating in conjunction with the video codec, are given.

Paper-Based Textbooks with Audio Support for Print-Disabled Students.

PubMed

Fujiyoshi, Akio; Ohsawa, Akiko; Takaira, Takuya; Tani, Yoshiaki; Fujiyoshi, Mamoru; Ota, Yuko

2015-01-01

Utilizing invisible 2-dimensional codes and digital audio players with a 2-dimensional code scanner, we developed paper-based textbooks with audio support for students with print disabilities, called "multimodal textbooks." Multimodal textbooks can be read with the combination of the two modes: "reading printed text" and "listening to the speech of the text from a digital audio player with a 2-dimensional code scanner." Since multimodal textbooks look the same as regular textbooks and the price of a digital audio player is reasonable (about 30 euro), we think multimodal textbooks are suitable for students with print disabilities in ordinary classrooms.

Huffman coding in advanced audio coding standard

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brzuchalski, Grzegorz

2012-05-01

This article presents several hardware architectures of Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) Huffman noiseless encoder, its optimisations and working implementation. Much attention has been paid to optimise the demand of hardware resources especially memory size. The aim of design was to get as short binary stream as possible in this standard. The Huffman encoder with whole audio-video system has been implemented in FPGA devices.

Pressure derivatives of elastic moduli of fused quartz to 10 kb

USGS Publications Warehouse

Peselnick, L.; Meister, R.; Wilson, W.H.

1967-01-01

Measurements of the longitudinal and shear moduli were made on fused quartz to 10 kb at 24??5??C. The anomalous behavior of the bulk modulus K at low pressure, ???K ???P 0, at higher pressures. The pressure derivative of the rigidity modulus ???G ???P remains constant and negative for the pressure range covered. A 15-kb hydrostatic pressure vessel is described for use with ultrasonic pulse instrumentation for precise measurements of elastic moduli and density changes with pressure. The placing of the transducer outside the pressure medium, and the use of C-ring pressure seals result in ease of operation and simplicity of design. ?? 1967.

Sounding ruins: reflections on the production of an ‘audio drift’

PubMed Central

Gallagher, Michael

2014-01-01

This article is about the use of audio media in researching places, which I term ‘audio geography’. The article narrates some episodes from the production of an ‘audio drift’, an experimental environmental sound work designed to be listened to on a portable MP3 player whilst walking in a ruinous landscape. Reflecting on how this work functions, I argue that, as well as representing places, audio geography can shape listeners’ attention and bodily movements, thereby reworking places, albeit temporarily. I suggest that audio geography is particularly apt for amplifying the haunted and uncanny qualities of places. I discuss some of the issues raised for research ethics, epistemology and spectral geographies. PMID:29708107

Effective Use of Audio Media in Multimedia Presentations.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kerr, Brenda

This paper emphasizes research-based reasons for adding audio to multimedia presentations. The first section summarizes suggestions from a review of research on the effectiveness of audio media when accompanied by other forms of media; types of research studies (e.g., evaluation, intra-medium, and aptitude treatment interaction studies) are also…

47 CFR 73.9005 - Compliance requirements for covered demodulator products: Audio.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... products: Audio. 73.9005 Section 73.9005 Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (CONTINUED....9005 Compliance requirements for covered demodulator products: Audio. Except as otherwise provided in §§ 73.9003(a) or 73.9004(a), covered demodulator products shall not output the audio portions of...

Enhancing Navigation Skills through Audio Gaming.

PubMed

Sánchez, Jaime; Sáenz, Mauricio; Pascual-Leone, Alvaro; Merabet, Lotfi

2010-01-01

We present the design, development and initial cognitive evaluation of an Audio-based Environment Simulator (AbES). This software allows a blind user to navigate through a virtual representation of a real space for the purposes of training orientation and mobility skills. Our findings indicate that users feel satisfied and self-confident when interacting with the audio-based interface, and the embedded sounds allow them to correctly orient themselves and navigate within the virtual world. Furthermore, users are able to transfer spatial information acquired through virtual interactions into real world navigation and problem solving tasks.

A high efficiency PWM CMOS class-D audio power amplifier

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhangming, Zhu; Lianxi, Liu; Yintang, Yang; Han, Lei

2009-02-01

Based on the difference close-loop feedback technique and the difference pre-amp, a high efficiency PWM CMOS class-D audio power amplifier is proposed. A rail-to-rail PWM comparator with window function has been embedded in the class-D audio power amplifier. Design results based on the CSMC 0.5 μm CMOS process show that the max efficiency is 90%, the PSRR is -75 dB, the power supply voltage range is 2.5-5.5 V, the THD+N in 1 kHz input frequency is less than 0.20%, the quiescent current in no load is 2.8 mA, and the shutdown current is 0.5 μA. The active area of the class-D audio power amplifier is about 1.47 × 1.52 mm2. With the good performance, the class-D audio power amplifier can be applied to several audio power systems.

Audio-visual integration through the parallel visual pathways.

PubMed

Kaposvári, Péter; Csete, Gergő; Bognár, Anna; Csibri, Péter; Tóth, Eszter; Szabó, Nikoletta; Vécsei, László; Sáry, Gyula; Tamás Kincses, Zsigmond

2015-10-22

Audio-visual integration has been shown to be present in a wide range of different conditions, some of which are processed through the dorsal, and others through the ventral visual pathway. Whereas neuroimaging studies have revealed integration-related activity in the brain, there has been no imaging study of the possible role of segregated visual streams in audio-visual integration. We set out to determine how the different visual pathways participate in this communication. We investigated how audio-visual integration can be supported through the dorsal and ventral visual pathways during the double flash illusion. Low-contrast and chromatic isoluminant stimuli were used to drive preferably the dorsal and ventral pathways, respectively. In order to identify the anatomical substrates of the audio-visual interaction in the two conditions, the psychophysical results were correlated with the white matter integrity as measured by diffusion tensor imaging.The psychophysiological data revealed a robust double flash illusion in both conditions. A correlation between the psychophysical results and local fractional anisotropy was found in the occipito-parietal white matter in the low-contrast condition, while a similar correlation was found in the infero-temporal white matter in the chromatic isoluminant condition. Our results indicate that both of the parallel visual pathways may play a role in the audio-visual interaction. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier B.V.

A Role for the NF-kb/Rel Transcription Factors in Human Breast Cancer

DTIC Science & Technology

1998-07-01

binding proteins present in a series of nuclear extracts from cell lines and from breast tumor tissues as well as normal mammary epithelium. Finally, we...RelA is nuclear in several examples. Our recent data on nuclear extracts of breast tumors shows that there is a significant increase in NF-KB binding...Figure 2 in the appendix). Additionally, immunoblotting of nuclear extracts versus adjacent tissue controls showed that NF-KB p50, p52 and c-Rel were

A review of lossless audio compression standards and algorithms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Muin, Fathiah Abdul; Gunawan, Teddy Surya; Kartiwi, Mira; Elsheikh, Elsheikh M. A.

2017-09-01

Over the years, lossless audio compression has gained popularity as researchers and businesses has become more aware of the need for better quality and higher storage demand. This paper will analyse various lossless audio coding algorithm and standards that are used and available in the market focusing on Linear Predictive Coding (LPC) specifically due to its popularity and robustness in audio compression, nevertheless other prediction methods are compared to verify this. Advanced representation of LPC such as LSP decomposition techniques are also discussed within this paper.

Teaching Audio Playwriting: The Pedagogy of Drama Podcasting

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Eshelman, David J.

2016-01-01

This article suggests how teaching artists can develop practical coursework in audio playwriting. To prepare students to work in the reemergent audio drama medium, the author created a seminar course called Radio Theatre Writing, taught at Arkansas Tech University in the fall of 2014. The course had three sections. First, it focused on…

WebGL and web audio software lightweight components for multimedia education

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chang, Xin; Yuksel, Kivanc; Skarbek, Władysław

2017-08-01

The paper presents the results of our recent work on development of contemporary computing platform DC2 for multimedia education usingWebGL andWeb Audio { the W3C standards. Using literate programming paradigm the WEBSA educational tools were developed. It offers for a user (student), the access to expandable collection of WEBGL Shaders and web Audio scripts. The unique feature of DC2 is the option of literate programming, offered for both, the author and the reader in order to improve interactivity to lightweightWebGL andWeb Audio components. For instance users can define: source audio nodes including synthetic sources, destination audio nodes, and nodes for audio processing such as: sound wave shaping, spectral band filtering, convolution based modification, etc. In case of WebGL beside of classic graphics effects based on mesh and fractal definitions, the novel image processing analysis by shaders is offered like nonlinear filtering, histogram of gradients, and Bayesian classifiers.

Genomic organization of the 260 kb surrounding the waxy locus in a Japonica rice

PubMed

Nagano; Wu; Kawasaki; Kishima; Sano

1999-12-01

The present study was carried out to characterize the molecular organization in the vicinity of the waxy locus in rice. To determine the structural organization of the region surrounding waxy, contiguous clones covering a total of 260 kb were constructed using a bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) library from the Shimokita variety of Japonica rice. This map also contains 200 overlapping subclones, which allowed construction of a fine physical map with a total of 64 HindIII sites. During the course of constructing the map, we noticed the presence of some repeated regions which might be related to transposable elements. We divided the 260-kb region into 60 segments (average size of 5.7 kb) to use as probes to determine their genomic organization. Hybridization patterns obtained by probing with these segments were classified into four types: class 1, a single or a few bands without a smeared background; class 2, a single or a few bands with a smeared background; class 3, multiple discrete bands without a smeared background; and class 4, only a smeared background. These classes constituted 6.5%, 20.9%, 3.7%, and 68.9% of the 260-kb region, respectively. The distribution of each class revealed that repetitive sequences are a major component in this region, as expected, and that unique sequence regions were mostly no longer than 6 kb due to interruption by repetitive sequences. We discuss how the map constructed here might be a powerful tool for characterization and comparison of the genome structures and the genes around the waxy locus in the Oryza species.

Digital Audio Radio Broadcast Systems Laboratory Testing Nearly Complete

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2005-01-01

Radio history continues to be made at the NASA Lewis Research Center with the completion of phase one of the digital audio radio (DAR) testing conducted by the Consumer Electronics Group of the Electronic Industries Association. This satellite, satellite/terrestrial, and terrestrial digital technology will open up new audio broadcasting opportunities both domestically and worldwide. It will significantly improve the current quality of amplitude-modulated/frequency-modulated (AM/FM) radio with a new digitally modulated radio signal and will introduce true compact-disc-quality (CD-quality) sound for the first time. Lewis is hosting the laboratory testing of seven proposed digital audio radio systems and modes. Two of the proposed systems operate in two modes each, making a total of nine systems being tested. The nine systems are divided into the following types of transmission: in-band on-channel (IBOC), in-band adjacent-channel (IBAC), and new bands. The laboratory testing was conducted by the Consumer Electronics Group of the Electronic Industries Association. Subjective assessments of the audio recordings for each of the nine systems was conducted by the Communications Research Center in Ottawa, Canada, under contract to the Electronic Industries Association. The Communications Research Center has the only CCIR-qualified (Consultative Committee for International Radio) audio testing facility in North America. The main goals of the U.S. testing process are to (1) provide technical data to the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) so that it can establish a standard for digital audio receivers and transmitters and (2) provide the receiver and transmitter industries with the proper standards upon which to build their equipment. In addition, the data will be forwarded to the International Telecommunications Union to help in the establishment of international standards for digital audio receivers and transmitters, thus allowing U.S. manufacturers to compete in the

Loss of retrovirus production in JB/RH melanoma cells transfected with H-2Kb and TAP-1 genes.

PubMed

Li, M; Xu, F; Muller, J; Huang, X; Hearing, V J; Gorelik, E

1999-01-20

JB/RH1 melanoma cells, as well as other melanomas of C57BL/6 mice (B16 and JB/MS), express a common melanoma-associated antigen (MAA) encoded by an ecotropic melanoma-associated retrovirus (MelARV). JB/RH1 cells do not express the H-2Kb molecules due to down-regulation of the H-2Kb and TAP-1 genes. When JB/RH1 cells were transfected with the H-2Kb and cotransfected with the TAP-1 gene, it resulted in the appearance of H-2Kb molecules and an increase in their immunogenicity, albeit they lost expression of retrovirus-encoded MAA recognized by MM2-9B6 mAb. Loss of MAA was found to result from a complete and stable elimination of ecotropic MelARV production in the H-2Kb/TAP-1-transfected JB/RH1 cells. Northern blot analysis showed no differences in ecotropic retroviral messages in MelARV-producing and -nonproducing melanoma cells, suggesting that loss of MelARV production was not due to down-regulation of MelARV transcription. Southern blot analysis revealed several rearrangements in the proviral DNA of H-2Kb-positive JB/RH1 melanoma cells. Sequence analysis of the ecotropic proviral DNA from these cells showed numerous nucleotide substitutions, some of which resulted in the appearance of a novel intraviral PstI restriction site and the loss of a HindIII restriction site in the pol region. PCR amplification of the proviral DNAs indicates that an ecotropic provirus found in the H-2Kb-positive cells is novel and does not preexist in the parental H-2Kb-negative melanoma cells. Conversely, the ecotropic provirus of the parental JB/RH1 cells was not amplifable from the H-2Kb-positive cells. Our data indicate that stable loss of retroviral production in the H-2Kb/TAP-1-transfected melanoma cells is probably due to the induction of recombination between a productive ecotropic MelARV and a defective nonecotropic provirus leading to the generation of a defective ecotropic provirus and the loss of MelARV production and expression of the retrovirus-encoded MAA. Copyright 1999

Direct broadcast satellite-audio, portable and mobile reception tradeoffs

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Golshan, Nasser

1992-01-01

This paper reports on the findings of a systems tradeoffs study on direct broadcast satellite-radio (DBS-R). Based on emerging advanced subband and transform audio coding systems, four ranges of bit rates: 16-32 kbps, 48-64 kbps, 96-128 kbps and 196-256 kbps are identified for DBS-R. The corresponding grades of audio quality will be subjectively comparable to AM broadcasting, monophonic FM, stereophonic FM, and CD quality audio, respectively. The satellite EIRP's needed for mobile DBS-R reception in suburban areas are sufficient for portable reception in most single family houses when allowance is made for the higher G/T of portable table-top receivers. As an example, the variation of the space segment cost as a function of frequency, audio quality, coverage capacity, and beam size is explored for a typical DBS-R system.

INM. Integrated Noise Model Version 4.11. User’s Guide - Supplement

DTIC Science & Technology

1993-12-01

KB of Random Access Memory (RAM) or 3 MB of RAM, if operating the INM from a RAM disk, as discussed in Section 1.2.1 below; 0 Math co-processor, Series... accessible from the Data Base using the ACDB11.EXE computer program, supplied with the Version 4.11 release. With the exception of INM airplane numbers 1, 6...9214 10760 -- -.-- 27 7053 6215 9470 10703 --- --- - 28 SS7 5940 SS94 729S . ... ... 29 4223 4884 7897 9214 10760 ..... 30 sots 6474 7939 8774

Robot Command Interface Using an Audio-Visual Speech Recognition System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ceballos, Alexánder; Gómez, Juan; Prieto, Flavio; Redarce, Tanneguy

In recent years audio-visual speech recognition has emerged as an active field of research thanks to advances in pattern recognition, signal processing and machine vision. Its ultimate goal is to allow human-computer communication using voice, taking into account the visual information contained in the audio-visual speech signal. This document presents a command's automatic recognition system using audio-visual information. The system is expected to control the laparoscopic robot da Vinci. The audio signal is treated using the Mel Frequency Cepstral Coefficients parametrization method. Besides, features based on the points that define the mouth's outer contour according to the MPEG-4 standard are used in order to extract the visual speech information.

StirMark Benchmark: audio watermarking attacks based on lossy compression

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Steinebach, Martin; Lang, Andreas; Dittmann, Jana

2002-04-01

StirMark Benchmark is a well-known evaluation tool for watermarking robustness. Additional attacks are added to it continuously. To enable application based evaluation, in our paper we address attacks against audio watermarks based on lossy audio compression algorithms to be included in the test environment. We discuss the effect of different lossy compression algorithms like MPEG-2 audio Layer 3, Ogg or VQF on a selection of audio test data. Our focus is on changes regarding the basic characteristics of the audio data like spectrum or average power and on removal of embedded watermarks. Furthermore we compare results of different watermarking algorithms and show that lossy compression is still a challenge for most of them. There are two strategies for adding evaluation of robustness against lossy compression to StirMark Benchmark: (a) use of existing free compression algorithms (b) implementation of a generic lossy compression simulation. We discuss how such a model can be implemented based on the results of our tests. This method is less complex, as no real psycho acoustic model has to be applied. Our model can be used for audio watermarking evaluation of numerous application fields. As an example, we describe its importance for e-commerce applications with watermarking security.

Communicative Competence in Audio Classrooms: A Position Paper for the CADE 1991 Conference.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Burge, Liz

Classroom practitioners need to move their attention away from the technological and logistical competencies required for audio conferencing (AC) to the required communicative competencies in order to advance their skills in handling the psychodynamics of audio virtual classrooms which include audio alone and audio with graphics. While the…

Enhancing Navigation Skills through Audio Gaming

PubMed Central

Sánchez, Jaime; Sáenz, Mauricio; Pascual-Leone, Alvaro; Merabet, Lotfi

2014-01-01

We present the design, development and initial cognitive evaluation of an Audio-based Environment Simulator (AbES). This software allows a blind user to navigate through a virtual representation of a real space for the purposes of training orientation and mobility skills. Our findings indicate that users feel satisfied and self-confident when interacting with the audio-based interface, and the embedded sounds allow them to correctly orient themselves and navigate within the virtual world. Furthermore, users are able to transfer spatial information acquired through virtual interactions into real world navigation and problem solving tasks. PMID:25505796

The Use of Asynchronous Audio Feedback with Online RN-BSN Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

London, Julie E.

2013-01-01

The use of audio technology by online nursing educators is a recent phenomenon. Research has been conducted in the area of audio technology in different domains and populations, but very few researchers have focused on nursing. Preliminary results have indicated that using audio in place of text can increase student cognition and socialization.…

PGen: large-scale genomic variations analysis workflow and browser in SoyKB.

PubMed

Liu, Yang; Khan, Saad M; Wang, Juexin; Rynge, Mats; Zhang, Yuanxun; Zeng, Shuai; Chen, Shiyuan; Maldonado Dos Santos, Joao V; Valliyodan, Babu; Calyam, Prasad P; Merchant, Nirav; Nguyen, Henry T; Xu, Dong; Joshi, Trupti

2016-10-06

With the advances in next-generation sequencing (NGS) technology and significant reductions in sequencing costs, it is now possible to sequence large collections of germplasm in crops for detecting genome-scale genetic variations and to apply the knowledge towards improvements in traits. To efficiently facilitate large-scale NGS resequencing data analysis of genomic variations, we have developed "PGen", an integrated and optimized workflow using the Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment (XSEDE) high-performance computing (HPC) virtual system, iPlant cloud data storage resources and Pegasus workflow management system (Pegasus-WMS). The workflow allows users to identify single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and insertion-deletions (indels), perform SNP annotations and conduct copy number variation analyses on multiple resequencing datasets in a user-friendly and seamless way. We have developed both a Linux version in GitHub ( https://github.com/pegasus-isi/PGen-GenomicVariations-Workflow ) and a web-based implementation of the PGen workflow integrated within the Soybean Knowledge Base (SoyKB), ( http://soykb.org/Pegasus/index.php ). Using PGen, we identified 10,218,140 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and 1,398,982 indels from analysis of 106 soybean lines sequenced at 15X coverage. 297,245 non-synonymous SNPs and 3330 copy number variation (CNV) regions were identified from this analysis. SNPs identified using PGen from additional soybean resequencing projects adding to 500+ soybean germplasm lines in total have been integrated. These SNPs are being utilized for trait improvement using genotype to phenotype prediction approaches developed in-house. In order to browse and access NGS data easily, we have also developed an NGS resequencing data browser ( http://soykb.org/NGS_Resequence/NGS_index.php ) within SoyKB to provide easy access to SNP and downstream analysis results for soybean researchers. PGen workflow has been optimized for the most

TECHNICAL NOTE: Portable audio electronics for impedance-based measurements in microfluidics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wood, Paul; Sinton, David

2010-08-01

We demonstrate the use of audio electronics-based signals to perform on-chip electrochemical measurements. Cell phones and portable music players are examples of consumer electronics that are easily operated and are ubiquitous worldwide. Audio output (play) and input (record) signals are voltage based and contain frequency and amplitude information. A cell phone, laptop soundcard and two compact audio players are compared with respect to frequency response; the laptop soundcard provides the most uniform frequency response, while the cell phone performance is found to be insufficient. The audio signals in the common portable music players and laptop soundcard operate in the range of 20 Hz to 20 kHz and are found to be applicable, as voltage input and output signals, to impedance-based electrochemical measurements in microfluidic systems. Validated impedance-based measurements of concentration (0.1-50 mM), flow rate (2-120 µL min-1) and particle detection (32 µm diameter) are demonstrated. The prevailing, lossless, wave audio file format is found to be suitable for data transmission to and from external sources, such as a centralized lab, and the cost of all hardware (in addition to audio devices) is ~10 USD. The utility demonstrated here, in combination with the ubiquitous nature of portable audio electronics, presents new opportunities for impedance-based measurements in portable microfluidic systems.

Design of batch audio/video conversion platform based on JavaEE

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cui, Yansong; Jiang, Lianpin

2018-03-01

With the rapid development of digital publishing industry, the direction of audio / video publishing shows the diversity of coding standards for audio and video files, massive data and other significant features. Faced with massive and diverse data, how to quickly and efficiently convert to a unified code format has brought great difficulties to the digital publishing organization. In view of this demand and present situation in this paper, basing on the development architecture of Sptring+SpringMVC+Mybatis, and combined with the open source FFMPEG format conversion tool, a distributed online audio and video format conversion platform with a B/S structure is proposed. Based on the Java language, the key technologies and strategies designed in the design of platform architecture are analyzed emphatically in this paper, designing and developing a efficient audio and video format conversion system, which is composed of “Front display system”, "core scheduling server " and " conversion server ". The test results show that, compared with the ordinary audio and video conversion scheme, the use of batch audio and video format conversion platform can effectively improve the conversion efficiency of audio and video files, and reduce the complexity of the work. Practice has proved that the key technology discussed in this paper can be applied in the field of large batch file processing, and has certain practical application value.

Licochalcone A induces apoptosis in KB human oral cancer cells via a caspase-dependent FasL signaling pathway

PubMed Central

KIM, JAE-SUNG; PARK, MI-RA; LEE, SOOK-YOUNG; KIM, DO KYOUNG; MOON, SUNG-MIN; KIM, CHUN SUNG; CHO, SEUNG SIK; YOON, GOO; IM, HEE-JEONG; YOU, JAE-SEEK; OH, JI-SU; KIM, SU-GWAN

2014-01-01

Licochalcone A (Lico-A) is a natural phenol licorice compound with multiple bioactivities, including anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial, anti-fungal and osteogenesis-inducing properties. In the present study, we investigated the Lico-A-induced apoptotic effects and examined the associated apoptosis pathway in KB human oral cancer cells. Lico-A decreased the number of viable KB oral cancer cells. However, Lico-A did not have an effect on primary normal human oral keratinocytes. In addition, the IC50 value of Lico-A was determined to be ~50 μM following dose-dependent stimulation. KB oral cancer cells stimulated with Lico-A for 24 h showed chromatin condensation by DAPI staining, genomic DNA fragmentation by agarose gel electrophoresis and a gradually increased apoptotic cell population by FACS analysis. These data suggest that Lico-A induces apoptosis in KB oral cancer cells. Additionally, Lico-A-induced apoptosis in KB oral cancer cells was mediated by the expression of factor associated suicide ligand (FasL) and activated caspase-8 and −3 and poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP). Furthermore, in the KB oral cancer cells co-stimulation with a caspase inhibitor (Z-VAD-fmk) and Lico-A significantly abolished the apoptotic phenomena. Our findings demonstrated that Lico-A-induced apoptosis in KB oral cancer cells involves the extrinsic apoptotic signaling pathway, which involves a caspase-dependent FasL-mediated death receptor pathway. Our data suggest that Lico-A be developed as a chemotherapeutic agent for the management of oral cancer. PMID:24337492

Audio-visual temporal perception in children with restored hearing.

PubMed

Gori, Monica; Chilosi, Anna; Forli, Francesca; Burr, David

2017-05-01

It is not clear how audio-visual temporal perception develops in children with restored hearing. In this study we measured temporal discrimination thresholds with an audio-visual temporal bisection task in 9 deaf children with restored audition, and 22 typically hearing children. In typically hearing children, audition was more precise than vision, with no gain in multisensory conditions (as previously reported in Gori et al. (2012b)). However, deaf children with restored audition showed similar thresholds for audio and visual thresholds and some evidence of gain in audio-visual temporal multisensory conditions. Interestingly, we found a strong correlation between auditory weighting of multisensory signals and quality of language: patients who gave more weight to audition had better language skills. Similarly, auditory thresholds for the temporal bisection task were also a good predictor of language skills. This result supports the idea that the temporal auditory processing is associated with language development. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Audio-visual presentation of information for informed consent for participation in clinical trials.

PubMed

Synnot, Anneliese; Ryan, Rebecca; Prictor, Megan; Fetherstonhaugh, Deirdre; Parker, Barbara

2014-05-09

Informed consent is a critical component of clinical research. Different methods of presenting information to potential participants of clinical trials may improve the informed consent process. Audio-visual interventions (presented, for example, on the Internet or on DVD) are one such method. We updated a 2008 review of the effects of these interventions for informed consent for trial participation. To assess the effects of audio-visual information interventions regarding informed consent compared with standard information or placebo audio-visual interventions regarding informed consent for potential clinical trial participants, in terms of their understanding, satisfaction, willingness to participate, and anxiety or other psychological distress. We searched: the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), The Cochrane Library, issue 6, 2012; MEDLINE (OvidSP) (1946 to 13 June 2012); EMBASE (OvidSP) (1947 to 12 June 2012); PsycINFO (OvidSP) (1806 to June week 1 2012); CINAHL (EbscoHOST) (1981 to 27 June 2012); Current Contents (OvidSP) (1993 Week 27 to 2012 Week 26); and ERIC (Proquest) (searched 27 June 2012). We also searched reference lists of included studies and relevant review articles, and contacted study authors and experts. There were no language restrictions. We included randomised and quasi-randomised controlled trials comparing audio-visual information alone, or in conjunction with standard forms of information provision (such as written or verbal information), with standard forms of information provision or placebo audio-visual information, in the informed consent process for clinical trials. Trials involved individuals or their guardians asked to consider participating in a real or hypothetical clinical study. (In the earlier version of this review we only included studies evaluating informed consent interventions for real studies). Two authors independently assessed studies for inclusion and extracted data. We synthesised the findings

Review of Audio Interfacing Literature for Computer-Assisted Music Instruction.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Watanabe, Nan

1980-01-01

Presents a review of the literature dealing with audio devices used in computer assisted music instruction and discusses the need for research and development of reliable, cost-effective, random access audio hardware. (Author)

A 11.7-kb deletion triggers intersexuality and polledness in goats.

PubMed

Pailhoux, E; Vigier, B; Chaffaux, S; Servel, N; Taourit, S; Furet, J P; Fellous, M; Grosclaude, F; Cribiu, E P; Cotinot, C; Vaiman, D

2001-12-01

Mammalian sex determination is governed by the presence of the sex determining region Y gene (SRY) on the Y chromosome. Familial cases of SRY-negative XX sex reversal are rare in humans, often hampering the discovery of new sex-determining genes. The mouse model is also insufficient to correctly apprehend the sex-determination cascade, as the human pathway is much more sensitive to gene dosage. Other species might therefore be considered in this respect. In goats, the polled intersex syndrome (PIS) mutation associates polledness and intersexuality. The sex reversal affects exclusively the XX individuals in a recessive manner, whereas the absence of horns is dominant in both sexes. The syndrome is caused by an autosomal gene located at chromosome band 1q43 (ref. 9), shown to be homologous to human chromosome band 3q23 (ref. 10). Through a positional cloning approach, we demonstrate that the mutation underlying PIS is the deletion of a critical 11.7-kb DNA element containing mainly repetitive sequences. This deletion affects the transcription of at least two genes: PISRT1, encoding a 1.5-kb mRNA devoid of open reading frame (ORF), and FOXL2, recently shown to be responsible for blepharophimosis ptosis epicanthus inversus syndrome (BPES) in humans. These two genes are located 20 and 200 kb telomeric from the deletion, respectively.

A Case Study on Audio Feedback with Geography Undergraduates

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rodway-Dyer, Sue; Knight, Jasper; Dunne, Elizabeth

2011-01-01

Several small-scale studies have suggested that audio feedback can help students to reflect on their learning and to develop deep learning approaches that are associated with higher attainment in assessments. For this case study, Geography undergraduates were given audio feedback on a written essay assignment, alongside traditional written…

Audio Teleconferencing: Low Cost Technology for External Studies Networking.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Robertson, Bill

1987-01-01

This discussion of the benefits of audio teleconferencing for distance education programs and for business and government applications focuses on the recent experience of Canadian educational users. Four successful operating models and their costs are reviewed, and it is concluded that audio teleconferencing is cost efficient and educationally…

High performance MPEG-audio decoder IC

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Thorn, M.; Benbassat, G.; Cyr, K.; Li, S.; Gill, M.; Kam, D.; Walker, K.; Look, P.; Eldridge, C.; Ng, P.

1993-01-01

The emerging digital audio and video compression technology brings both an opportunity and a new challenge to IC design. The pervasive application of compression technology to consumer electronics will require high volume, low cost IC's and fast time to market of the prototypes and production units. At the same time, the algorithms used in the compression technology result in complex VLSI IC's. The conflicting challenges of algorithm complexity, low cost, and fast time to market have an impact on device architecture and design methodology. The work presented in this paper is about the design of a dedicated, high precision, Motion Picture Expert Group (MPEG) audio decoder.

DWT-Based High Capacity Audio Watermarking

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fallahpour, Mehdi; Megías, David

This letter suggests a novel high capacity robust audio watermarking algorithm by using the high frequency band of the wavelet decomposition, for which the human auditory system (HAS) is not very sensitive to alteration. The main idea is to divide the high frequency band into frames and then, for embedding, the wavelet samples are changed based on the average of the relevant frame. The experimental results show that the method has very high capacity (about 5.5kbps), without significant perceptual distortion (ODG in [-1, 0] and SNR about 33dB) and provides robustness against common audio signal processing such as added noise, filtering, echo and MPEG compression (MP3).

Enhanced Optical Breakdown in KB Cells Labeled with Folate-Targeted Silver/Dendrimer Composite Nanodevices

PubMed Central

Tse, Christine; Zohdy, Marwa J.; Ye, Jing Yong; O'Donnell, Matthew; Lesniak, Wojciech; Balogh, Lajos

2010-01-01

Enhanced optical breakdown of KB cells (a human oral epidermoid cancer cell known to overexpress folate receptors) targeted with silver/dendrimer composite nanodevices (CNDs) is described. CNDs {(Ag0}25-PAMAM_E5.(NH2)42(NGly)74(NFA)2.7} were fabricated by reactive encapsulation, using a biocompatible template of dendrimer-folic acid (FA) conjugates. Preferential uptake of the folate-targeted CNDs (of various treatment concentrations and surface functionality) by KB cells was visualized with confocal microscopy and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Intracellular laser-induced optical breakdown (LIOB) threshold and dynamics were detected and characterized by high-frequency ultrasonic monitoring of resulting transient bubble events. When irradiated with a near-infrared (NIR), femtosecond laser, the CND-targeted KB cells acted as well-confined activators of laser energy, enhancing nonlinear energy absorption, exhibiting a significant reduction in breakdown threshold, and thus selectively promoting intracellular LIOB. PMID:20883823

Realization of guitar audio effects using methods of digital signal processing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Buś, Szymon; Jedrzejewski, Konrad

2015-09-01

The paper is devoted to studies on possibilities of realization of guitar audio effects by means of methods of digital signal processing. As a result of research, some selected audio effects corresponding to the specifics of guitar sound were realized as the real-time system called Digital Guitar Multi-effect. Before implementation in the system, the selected effects were investigated using the dedicated application with a graphical user interface created in Matlab environment. In the second stage, the real-time system based on a microcontroller and an audio codec was designed and realized. The system is designed to perform audio effects on the output signal of an electric guitar.

Highlight summarization in golf videos using audio signals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Hyoung-Gook; Kim, Jin Young

2008-01-01

In this paper, we present an automatic summarization of highlights in golf videos based on audio information alone without video information. The proposed highlight summarization system is carried out based on semantic audio segmentation and detection on action units from audio signals. Studio speech, field speech, music, and applause are segmented by means of sound classification. Swing is detected by the methods of impulse onset detection. Sounds like swing and applause form a complete action unit, while studio speech and music parts are used to anchor the program structure. With the advantage of highly precise detection of applause, highlights are extracted effectively. Our experimental results obtain high classification precision on 18 golf games. It proves that the proposed system is very effective and computationally efficient to apply the technology to embedded consumer electronic devices.

The Effect of Audio and Animation in Multimedia Instruction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Koroghlanian, Carol; Klein, James D.

2004-01-01

This study investigated the effects of audio, animation, and spatial ability in a multimedia computer program for high school biology. Participants completed a multimedia program that presented content by way of text or audio with lean text. In addition, several instructional sequences were presented either with static illustrations or animations.…

Audio Design: Creating Multi-sensory Images for the Mind.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ferrington, Gary

1994-01-01

Explores the concept of "theater of the mind" and discusses design factors in creating audio works that effectively stimulate mental pictures, including: narrative format in audio scripting; qualities of voice; use of concrete language; music; noise versus silence; and the creation of the illusion of space using monaural, stereophonic,…

Audio-Visual Temporal Recalibration Can be Constrained by Content Cues Regardless of Spatial Overlap.

PubMed

Roseboom, Warrick; Kawabe, Takahiro; Nishida, Shin'ya

2013-01-01

It has now been well established that the point of subjective synchrony for audio and visual events can be shifted following exposure to asynchronous audio-visual presentations, an effect often referred to as temporal recalibration. Recently it was further demonstrated that it is possible to concurrently maintain two such recalibrated estimates of audio-visual temporal synchrony. However, it remains unclear precisely what defines a given audio-visual pair such that it is possible to maintain a temporal relationship distinct from other pairs. It has been suggested that spatial separation of the different audio-visual pairs is necessary to achieve multiple distinct audio-visual synchrony estimates. Here we investigated if this is necessarily true. Specifically, we examined whether it is possible to obtain two distinct temporal recalibrations for stimuli that differed only in featural content. Using both complex (audio visual speech; see Experiment 1) and simple stimuli (high and low pitch audio matched with either vertically or horizontally oriented Gabors; see Experiment 2) we found concurrent, and opposite, recalibrations despite there being no spatial difference in presentation location at any point throughout the experiment. This result supports the notion that the content of an audio-visual pair alone can be used to constrain distinct audio-visual synchrony estimates regardless of spatial overlap.

Audio-Visual Temporal Recalibration Can be Constrained by Content Cues Regardless of Spatial Overlap

PubMed Central

Roseboom, Warrick; Kawabe, Takahiro; Nishida, Shin’Ya

2013-01-01

It has now been well established that the point of subjective synchrony for audio and visual events can be shifted following exposure to asynchronous audio-visual presentations, an effect often referred to as temporal recalibration. Recently it was further demonstrated that it is possible to concurrently maintain two such recalibrated estimates of audio-visual temporal synchrony. However, it remains unclear precisely what defines a given audio-visual pair such that it is possible to maintain a temporal relationship distinct from other pairs. It has been suggested that spatial separation of the different audio-visual pairs is necessary to achieve multiple distinct audio-visual synchrony estimates. Here we investigated if this is necessarily true. Specifically, we examined whether it is possible to obtain two distinct temporal recalibrations for stimuli that differed only in featural content. Using both complex (audio visual speech; see Experiment 1) and simple stimuli (high and low pitch audio matched with either vertically or horizontally oriented Gabors; see Experiment 2) we found concurrent, and opposite, recalibrations despite there being no spatial difference in presentation location at any point throughout the experiment. This result supports the notion that the content of an audio-visual pair alone can be used to constrain distinct audio-visual synchrony estimates regardless of spatial overlap. PMID:23658549

Design and analysis of ultrasonic monaural audio guiding device for the visually impaired.

PubMed

Kim, Keonwook; Kim, Hyunjai; Yun, Gihun; Kim, Myungsoo

2009-01-01

The novel Audio Guiding Device (AGD) based on the ultrasonic, which is named as SonicID, has been developed in order to localize point of interest for the visually impaired. The SonicID requires the infrastructure of the transmitters for broadcasting the location information over the ultrasonic carrier. The user with ultrasonic headset receives the information with variable amplitude upon the location and direction of the user due to the ultrasonic characteristic and modulation method. This paper proposes the monaural headset form factor of the SonicID which improves the daily life of the beneficiary compare to the previous version which uses the both ears. Experimental results from SonicID, Bluetooth, and audible sound show that the SonicID demonstrates comparable localization performance to the audible sound with silence to others.

A Longitudinal, Quantitative Study of Student Attitudes towards Audio Feedback for Assessment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Parkes, Mitchell; Fletcher, Peter

2017-01-01

This paper reports on the findings of a three-year longitudinal study investigating the experiences of postgraduate level students who were provided with audio feedback for their assessment. Results indicated that students positively received audio feedback. Overall, students indicated a preference for audio feedback over written feedback. No…

Effect of Audio Coaching on Correlation of Abdominal Displacement With Lung Tumor Motion

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Nakamura, Mitsuhiro; Narita, Yuichiro; Matsuo, Yukinori

2009-10-01

Purpose: To assess the effect of audio coaching on the time-dependent behavior of the correlation between abdominal motion and lung tumor motion and the corresponding lung tumor position mismatches. Methods and Materials: Six patients who had a lung tumor with a motion range >8 mm were enrolled in the present study. Breathing-synchronized fluoroscopy was performed initially without audio coaching, followed by fluoroscopy with recorded audio coaching for multiple days. Two different measurements, anteroposterior abdominal displacement using the real-time positioning management system and superoinferior (SI) lung tumor motion by X-ray fluoroscopy, were performed simultaneously. Their sequential images were recorded using onemore » display system. The lung tumor position was automatically detected with a template matching technique. The relationship between the abdominal and lung tumor motion was analyzed with and without audio coaching. Results: The mean SI tumor displacement was 10.4 mm without audio coaching and increased to 23.0 mm with audio coaching (p < .01). The correlation coefficients ranged from 0.89 to 0.97 with free breathing. Applying audio coaching, the correlation coefficients improved significantly (range, 0.93-0.99; p < .01), and the SI lung tumor position mismatches became larger in 75% of all sessions. Conclusion: Audio coaching served to increase the degree of correlation and make it more reproducible. In addition, the phase shifts between tumor motion and abdominal displacement were improved; however, all patients breathed more deeply, and the SI lung tumor position mismatches became slightly larger with audio coaching than without audio coaching.« less

Selective Attention Modulates the Direction of Audio-Visual Temporal Recalibration

PubMed Central

Ikumi, Nara; Soto-Faraco, Salvador

2014-01-01

Temporal recalibration of cross-modal synchrony has been proposed as a mechanism to compensate for timing differences between sensory modalities. However, far from the rich complexity of everyday life sensory environments, most studies to date have examined recalibration on isolated cross-modal pairings. Here, we hypothesize that selective attention might provide an effective filter to help resolve which stimuli are selected when multiple events compete for recalibration. We addressed this question by testing audio-visual recalibration following an adaptation phase where two opposing audio-visual asynchronies were present. The direction of voluntary visual attention, and therefore to one of the two possible asynchronies (flash leading or flash lagging), was manipulated using colour as a selection criterion. We found a shift in the point of subjective audio-visual simultaneity as a function of whether the observer had focused attention to audio-then-flash or to flash-then-audio groupings during the adaptation phase. A baseline adaptation condition revealed that this effect of endogenous attention was only effective toward the lagging flash. This hints at the role of exogenous capture and/or additional endogenous effects producing an asymmetry toward the leading flash. We conclude that selective attention helps promote selected audio-visual pairings to be combined and subsequently adjusted in time but, stimulus organization exerts a strong impact on recalibration. We tentatively hypothesize that the resolution of recalibration in complex scenarios involves the orchestration of top-down selection mechanisms and stimulus-driven processes. PMID:25004132

Selective attention modulates the direction of audio-visual temporal recalibration.

PubMed

Ikumi, Nara; Soto-Faraco, Salvador

2014-01-01

Temporal recalibration of cross-modal synchrony has been proposed as a mechanism to compensate for timing differences between sensory modalities. However, far from the rich complexity of everyday life sensory environments, most studies to date have examined recalibration on isolated cross-modal pairings. Here, we hypothesize that selective attention might provide an effective filter to help resolve which stimuli are selected when multiple events compete for recalibration. We addressed this question by testing audio-visual recalibration following an adaptation phase where two opposing audio-visual asynchronies were present. The direction of voluntary visual attention, and therefore to one of the two possible asynchronies (flash leading or flash lagging), was manipulated using colour as a selection criterion. We found a shift in the point of subjective audio-visual simultaneity as a function of whether the observer had focused attention to audio-then-flash or to flash-then-audio groupings during the adaptation phase. A baseline adaptation condition revealed that this effect of endogenous attention was only effective toward the lagging flash. This hints at the role of exogenous capture and/or additional endogenous effects producing an asymmetry toward the leading flash. We conclude that selective attention helps promote selected audio-visual pairings to be combined and subsequently adjusted in time but, stimulus organization exerts a strong impact on recalibration. We tentatively hypothesize that the resolution of recalibration in complex scenarios involves the orchestration of top-down selection mechanisms and stimulus-driven processes.

Audio-based queries for video retrieval over Java enabled mobile devices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ahmad, Iftikhar; Cheikh, Faouzi Alaya; Kiranyaz, Serkan; Gabbouj, Moncef

2006-02-01

In this paper we propose a generic framework for efficient retrieval of audiovisual media based on its audio content. This framework is implemented in a client-server architecture where the client application is developed in Java to be platform independent whereas the server application is implemented for the PC platform. The client application adapts to the characteristics of the mobile device where it runs such as screen size and commands. The entire framework is designed to take advantage of the high-level segmentation and classification of audio content to improve speed and accuracy of audio-based media retrieval. Therefore, the primary objective of this framework is to provide an adaptive basis for performing efficient video retrieval operations based on the audio content and types (i.e. speech, music, fuzzy and silence). Experimental results approve that such an audio based video retrieval scheme can be used from mobile devices to search and retrieve video clips efficiently over wireless networks.

Audio aided electro-tactile perception training for finger posture biofeedback.

PubMed

Vargas, Jose Gonzalez; Yu, Wenwei

2008-01-01

Visual information is one of the prerequisites for most biofeedback studies. The aim of this study is to explore how the usage of an audio aided training helps in the learning process of dynamical electro-tactile perception without any visual feedback. In this research, the electrical simulation patterns associated with the experimenter's finger postures and motions were presented to the subjects. Along with the electrical stimulation patterns 2 different types of information, verbal and audio information on finger postures and motions, were presented to the verbal training subject group (group 1) and audio training subject group (group 2), respectively. The results showed an improvement in the ability to distinguish and memorize electrical stimulation patterns correspondent to finger postures and motions without visual feedback, and with audio tones aid, the learning was faster and the perception became more precise after training. Thus, this study clarified that, as a substitution to visual presentation, auditory information could help effectively in the formation of electro-tactile perception. Further research effort needed to make clear the difference between the visual guided and audio aided training in terms of information compilation, post-training effect and robustness of the perception.

Laboratory and in-flight experiments to evaluate 3-D audio display technology

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ericson, Mark; Mckinley, Richard; Kibbe, Marion; Francis, Daniel

1994-01-01

Laboratory and in-flight experiments were conducted to evaluate 3-D audio display technology for cockpit applications. A 3-D audio display generator was developed which digitally encodes naturally occurring direction information onto any audio signal and presents the binaural sound over headphones. The acoustic image is stabilized for head movement by use of an electromagnetic head-tracking device. In the laboratory, a 3-D audio display generator was used to spatially separate competing speech messages to improve the intelligibility of each message. Up to a 25 percent improvement in intelligibility was measured for spatially separated speech at high ambient noise levels (115 dB SPL). During the in-flight experiments, pilots reported that spatial separation of speech communications provided a noticeable improvement in intelligibility. The use of 3-D audio for target acquisition was also investigated. In the laboratory, 3-D audio enabled the acquisition of visual targets in about two seconds average response time at 17 degrees accuracy. During the in-flight experiments, pilots correctly identified ground targets 50, 75, and 100 percent of the time at separation angles of 12, 20, and 35 degrees, respectively. In general, pilot performance in the field with the 3-D audio display generator was as expected, based on data from laboratory experiments.

78 FR 38093 - Seventh Meeting: RTCA Special Committee 226, Audio Systems and Equipment

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-06-25

... Committee 226, Audio Systems and Equipment AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). ACTION: Meeting Notice of RTCA Special Committee 226, Audio Systems and Equipment. SUMMARY... 226, Audio Systems and Equipment [[Page 38094

Audio Podcasting in a Tablet PC-Enhanced Biochemistry Course

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lyles, Heather; Robertson, Brian; Mangino, Michael; Cox, James R.

2007-01-01

This report describes the effects of making audio podcasts of all lectures in a large, basic biochemistry course promptly available to students. The audio podcasts complement a previously described approach in which a tablet PC is used to annotate PowerPoint slides with digital ink to produce electronic notes that can be archived. The fundamentals…

Capacity-optimized mp2 audio watermarking

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Steinebach, Martin; Dittmann, Jana

2003-06-01

Today a number of audio watermarking algorithms have been proposed, some of them at a quality making them suitable for commercial applications. The focus of most of these algorithms is copyright protection. Therefore, transparency and robustness are the most discussed and optimised parameters. But other applications for audio watermarking can also be identified stressing other parameters like complexity or payload. In our paper, we introduce a new mp2 audio watermarking algorithm optimised for high payload. Our algorithm uses the scale factors of an mp2 file for watermark embedding. They are grouped and masked based on a pseudo-random pattern generated from a secret key. In each group, we embed one bit. Depending on the bit to embed, we change the scale factors by adding 1 where necessary until it includes either more even or uneven scale factors. An uneven group has a 1 embedded, an even group a 0. The same rule is later applied to detect the watermark. The group size can be increased or decreased for transparency/payload trade-off. We embed 160 bits or more in an mp2 file per second without reducing perceived quality. As an application example, we introduce a prototypic Karaoke system displaying song lyrics embedded as a watermark.

Animation, audio, and spatial ability: Optimizing multimedia for scientific explanations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Koroghlanian, Carol May

This study investigated the effects of audio, animation and spatial ability in a computer based instructional program for biology. The program presented instructional material via text or audio with lean text and included eight instructional sequences presented either via static illustrations or animations. High school students enrolled in a biology course were blocked by spatial ability and randomly assigned to one of four treatments (Text-Static Illustration Audio-Static Illustration, Text-Animation, Audio-Animation). The study examined the effects of instructional mode (Text vs. Audio), illustration mode (Static Illustration vs. Animation) and spatial ability (Low vs. High) on practice and posttest achievement, attitude and time. Results for practice achievement indicated that high spatial ability participants achieved more than low spatial ability participants. Similar results for posttest achievement and spatial ability were not found. Participants in the Static Illustration treatments achieved the same as participants in the Animation treatments on both the practice and posttest. Likewise, participants in the Text treatments achieved the same as participants in the Audio treatments on both the practice and posttest. In terms of attitude, participants responded favorably to the computer based instructional program. They found the program interesting, felt the static illustrations or animations made the explanations easier to understand and concentrated on learning the material. Furthermore, participants in the Animation treatments felt the information was easier to understand than participants in the Static Illustration treatments. However, no difference for any attitude item was found for participants in the Text as compared to those in the Audio treatments. Significant differences were found by Spatial Ability for three attitude items concerning concentration and interest. In all three items, the low spatial ability participants responded more positively

Content-based audio authentication using a hierarchical patchwork watermark embedding

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gulbis, Michael; Müller, Erika

2010-05-01

Content-based audio authentication watermarking techniques extract perceptual relevant audio features, which are robustly embedded into the audio file to protect. Manipulations of the audio file are detected on the basis of changes between the original embedded feature information and the anew extracted features during verification. The main challenges of content-based watermarking are on the one hand the identification of a suitable audio feature to distinguish between content preserving and malicious manipulations. On the other hand the development of a watermark, which is robust against content preserving modifications and able to carry the whole authentication information. The payload requirements are significantly higher compared to transaction watermarking or copyright protection. Finally, the watermark embedding should not influence the feature extraction to avoid false alarms. Current systems still lack a sufficient alignment of watermarking algorithm and feature extraction. In previous work we developed a content-based audio authentication watermarking approach. The feature is based on changes in DCT domain over time. A patchwork algorithm based watermark was used to embed multiple one bit watermarks. The embedding process uses the feature domain without inflicting distortions to the feature. The watermark payload is limited by the feature extraction, more precisely the critical bands. The payload is inverse proportional to segment duration of the audio file segmentation. Transparency behavior was analyzed in dependence of segment size and thus the watermark payload. At a segment duration of about 20 ms the transparency shows an optimum (measured in units of Objective Difference Grade). Transparency and/or robustness are fast decreased for working points beyond this area. Therefore, these working points are unsuitable to gain further payload, needed for the embedding of the whole authentication information. In this paper we present a hierarchical extension

Audio Feedback -- Better Feedback?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Voelkel, Susanne; Mello, Luciane V.

2014-01-01

National Student Survey (NSS) results show that many students are dissatisfied with the amount and quality of feedback they get for their work. This study reports on two case studies in which we tried to address these issues by introducing audio feedback to one undergraduate (UG) and one postgraduate (PG) class, respectively. In case study one…

News video story segmentation method using fusion of audio-visual features

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wen, Jun; Wu, Ling-da; Zeng, Pu; Luan, Xi-dao; Xie, Yu-xiang

2007-11-01

News story segmentation is an important aspect for news video analysis. This paper presents a method for news video story segmentation. Different form prior works, which base on visual features transform, the proposed technique uses audio features as baseline and fuses visual features with it to refine the results. At first, it selects silence clips as audio features candidate points, and selects shot boundaries and anchor shots as two kinds of visual features candidate points. Then this paper selects audio feature candidates as cues and develops different fusion method, which effectively using diverse type visual candidates to refine audio candidates, to get story boundaries. Experiment results show that this method has high efficiency and adaptability to different kinds of news video.

Enhanced Salt Tolerance Conferred by the Complete 2.3 kb cDNA of the Rice Vacuolar Na+/H+ Antiporter Gene Compared to 1.9 kb Coding Region with 5′ UTR in Transgenic Lines of Rice

PubMed Central

Amin, U. S. M.; Biswas, Sudip; Elias, Sabrina M.; Razzaque, Samsad; Haque, Taslima; Malo, Richard; Seraj, Zeba I.

2016-01-01

Soil salinity is one of the most challenging problems that restricts the normal growth and production of rice worldwide. It has therefore become very important to produce more saline tolerant rice varieties. This study shows constitutive over-expression of the vacuolar Na+/H+ antiporter gene (OsNHX1) from the rice landrace (Pokkali) and attainment of enhanced level of salinity tolerance in transgenic rice plants. It also shows that inclusion of the complete un-translated regions (UTRs) of the alternatively spliced OsNHX1 gene provides a higher level of tolerance to the transgenic rice. Two separate transformation events of the OsNHX1 gene, one with 1.9 kb region containing the 5′ UTR with CDS and the other of 2.3 kb, including 5′ UTR, CDS, and the 3′ UTR regions were performed. The transgenic plants with these two different constructs were advanced to the T3 generation and physiological and molecular screening of homozygous plants was conducted at seedling and reproductive stages under salinity (NaCl) stress. Both transgenic lines were observed to be tolerant compared to WT plants at both physiological stages. However, the transgenic lines containing the CDS with both the 5′ and 3′ UTR were significantly more tolerant compared to the transgenic lines containing OsNHX1 gene without the 3′ UTR. At the seedling stage at 12 dS/m stress, the chlorophyll content was significantly higher (P < 0.05) and the electrolyte leakage significantly lower (P < 0.05) in the order 2.3 kb > 1.9 kb > and WT lines. Yield in g/plant in the best line from the 2.3 kb plants was significantly more (P < 0.01) compared, respectively, to the best 1.9 kb line and WT plants at stress of 6 dS/m. Transformation with the complete transcripts rather than the CDS may therefore provide more durable level of tolerance. PMID:26834778

Reducing audio stimulus presentation latencies across studies, laboratories, and hardware and operating system configurations.

PubMed

Babjack, Destiny L; Cernicky, Brandon; Sobotka, Andrew J; Basler, Lee; Struthers, Devon; Kisic, Richard; Barone, Kimberly; Zuccolotto, Anthony P

2015-09-01

Using differing computer platforms and audio output devices to deliver audio stimuli often introduces (1) substantial variability across labs and (2) variable time between the intended and actual sound delivery (the sound onset latency). Fast, accurate audio onset latencies are particularly important when audio stimuli need to be delivered precisely as part of studies that depend on accurate timing (e.g., electroencephalographic, event-related potential, or multimodal studies), or in multisite studies in which standardization and strict control over the computer platforms used is not feasible. This research describes the variability introduced by using differing configurations and introduces a novel approach to minimizing audio sound latency and variability. A stimulus presentation and latency assessment approach is presented using E-Prime and Chronos (a new multifunction, USB-based data presentation and collection device). The present approach reliably delivers audio stimuli with low latencies that vary by ≤1 ms, independent of hardware and Windows operating system (OS)/driver combinations. The Chronos audio subsystem adopts a buffering, aborting, querying, and remixing approach to the delivery of audio, to achieve a consistent 1-ms sound onset latency for single-sound delivery, and precise delivery of multiple sounds that achieves standard deviations of 1/10th of a millisecond without the use of advanced scripting. Chronos's sound onset latencies are small, reliable, and consistent across systems. Testing of standard audio delivery devices and configurations highlights the need for careful attention to consistency between labs, experiments, and multiple study sites in their hardware choices, OS selections, and adoption of audio delivery systems designed to sidestep the audio latency variability issue.

Holographic disk with high data transfer rate: its application to an audio response memory.

PubMed

Kubota, K; Ono, Y; Kondo, M; Sugama, S; Nishida, N; Sakaguchi, M

1980-03-15

This paper describes a memory realized with a high data transfer rate using the holographic parallel-processing function and its application to an audio response system that supplies many audio messages to many terminals simultaneously. Digitalized audio messages are recorded as tiny 1-D Fourier transform holograms on a holographic disk. A hologram recorder and a hologram reader were constructed to test and demonstrate the holographic audio response memory feasibility. Experimental results indicate the potentiality of an audio response system with a 2000-word vocabulary and 250-Mbit/sec bit transfer rate.

Let Their Voices Be Heard! Building a Multicultural Audio Collection.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tucker, Judith Cook

1992-01-01

Discusses building a multicultural audio collection for a library. Gives some guidelines about selecting materials that really represent different cultures. Audio materials that are considered fall roughly into the categories of children's stories, didactic materials, oral histories, poetry and folktales, and music. The goal is an authentic…

47 CFR 73.4275 - Tone clusters; audio attention-getting devices.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 4 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Tone clusters; audio attention-getting devices. 73.4275 Section 73.4275 Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (CONTINUED) BROADCAST... clusters; audio attention-getting devices. See Public Notice, FCC 76-610, dated July 2, 1976. 60 FCC 2d 920...

47 CFR 73.4275 - Tone clusters; audio attention-getting devices.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 4 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false Tone clusters; audio attention-getting devices. 73.4275 Section 73.4275 Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (CONTINUED) BROADCAST... clusters; audio attention-getting devices. See Public Notice, FCC 76-610, dated July 2, 1976. 60 FCC 2d 920...

47 CFR 73.4275 - Tone clusters; audio attention-getting devices.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 4 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Tone clusters; audio attention-getting devices. 73.4275 Section 73.4275 Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (CONTINUED) BROADCAST... clusters; audio attention-getting devices. See Public Notice, FCC 76-610, dated July 2, 1976. 60 FCC 2d 920...

47 CFR 73.4275 - Tone clusters; audio attention-getting devices.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 4 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Tone clusters; audio attention-getting devices. 73.4275 Section 73.4275 Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (CONTINUED) BROADCAST... clusters; audio attention-getting devices. See Public Notice, FCC 76-610, dated July 2, 1976. 60 FCC 2d 920...

47 CFR 73.4275 - Tone clusters; audio attention-getting devices.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Tone clusters; audio attention-getting devices. 73.4275 Section 73.4275 Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (CONTINUED) BROADCAST... clusters; audio attention-getting devices. See Public Notice, FCC 76-610, dated July 2, 1976. 60 FCC 2d 920...

High capacity reversible watermarking for audio by histogram shifting and predicted error expansion.

PubMed

Wang, Fei; Xie, Zhaoxin; Chen, Zuo

2014-01-01

Being reversible, the watermarking information embedded in audio signals can be extracted while the original audio data can achieve lossless recovery. Currently, the few reversible audio watermarking algorithms are confronted with following problems: relatively low SNR (signal-to-noise) of embedded audio; a large amount of auxiliary embedded location information; and the absence of accurate capacity control capability. In this paper, we present a novel reversible audio watermarking scheme based on improved prediction error expansion and histogram shifting. First, we use differential evolution algorithm to optimize prediction coefficients and then apply prediction error expansion to output stego data. Second, in order to reduce location map bits length, we introduced histogram shifting scheme. Meanwhile, the prediction error modification threshold according to a given embedding capacity can be computed by our proposed scheme. Experiments show that this algorithm improves the SNR of embedded audio signals and embedding capacity, drastically reduces location map bits length, and enhances capacity control capability.

LiveDescribe: Can Amateur Describers Create High-Quality Audio Description?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Branje, Carmen J.; Fels, Deborah I.

2012-01-01

Introduction: The study presented here evaluated the usability of the audio description software LiveDescribe and explored the acceptance rates of audio description created by amateur describers who used LiveDescribe to facilitate the creation of their descriptions. Methods: Twelve amateur describers with little or no previous experience with…

The Use of Audio and Animation in Computer Based Instruction.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Koroghlanian, Carol; Klein, James D.

This study investigated the effects of audio, animation, and spatial ability in a computer-based instructional program for biology. The program presented instructional material via test or audio with lean text and included eight instructional sequences presented either via static illustrations or animations. High school students enrolled in a…

17 CFR 232.304 - Graphic, image, audio and video material.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... video material. 232.304 Section 232.304 Commodity and Securities Exchanges SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE... Submissions § 232.304 Graphic, image, audio and video material. (a) If a filer includes graphic, image, audio or video material in a document delivered to investors and others that is not reproduced in an...

17 CFR 232.304 - Graphic, image, audio and video material.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... video material. 232.304 Section 232.304 Commodity and Securities Exchanges SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE... Submissions § 232.304 Graphic, image, audio and video material. (a) If a filer includes graphic, image, audio or video material in a document delivered to investors and others that is not reproduced in an...

17 CFR 232.304 - Graphic, image, audio and video material.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... video material. 232.304 Section 232.304 Commodity and Securities Exchanges SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE... Submissions § 232.304 Graphic, image, audio and video material. (a) If a filer includes graphic, image, audio or video material in a document delivered to investors and others that is not reproduced in an...

17 CFR 232.304 - Graphic, image, audio and video material.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... video material. 232.304 Section 232.304 Commodity and Securities Exchanges SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE... Submissions § 232.304 Graphic, image, audio and video material. (a) If a filer includes graphic, image, audio or video material in a document delivered to investors and others that is not reproduced in an...

17 CFR 232.304 - Graphic, image, audio and video material.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... video material. 232.304 Section 232.304 Commodity and Securities Exchanges SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE... Submissions § 232.304 Graphic, image, audio and video material. (a) If a filer includes graphic, image, audio or video material in a document delivered to investors and others that is not reproduced in an...

Audio-Visual Speaker Diarization Based on Spatiotemporal Bayesian Fusion.

PubMed

Gebru, Israel D; Ba, Sileye; Li, Xiaofei; Horaud, Radu

2018-05-01

Speaker diarization consists of assigning speech signals to people engaged in a dialogue. An audio-visual spatiotemporal diarization model is proposed. The model is well suited for challenging scenarios that consist of several participants engaged in multi-party interaction while they move around and turn their heads towards the other participants rather than facing the cameras and the microphones. Multiple-person visual tracking is combined with multiple speech-source localization in order to tackle the speech-to-person association problem. The latter is solved within a novel audio-visual fusion method on the following grounds: binaural spectral features are first extracted from a microphone pair, then a supervised audio-visual alignment technique maps these features onto an image, and finally a semi-supervised clustering method assigns binaural spectral features to visible persons. The main advantage of this method over previous work is that it processes in a principled way speech signals uttered simultaneously by multiple persons. The diarization itself is cast into a latent-variable temporal graphical model that infers speaker identities and speech turns, based on the output of an audio-visual association process, executed at each time slice, and on the dynamics of the diarization variable itself. The proposed formulation yields an efficient exact inference procedure. A novel dataset, that contains audio-visual training data as well as a number of scenarios involving several participants engaged in formal and informal dialogue, is introduced. The proposed method is thoroughly tested and benchmarked with respect to several state-of-the art diarization algorithms.

[Ventriloquism and audio-visual integration of voice and face].

PubMed

Yokosawa, Kazuhiko; Kanaya, Shoko

2012-07-01

Presenting synchronous auditory and visual stimuli in separate locations creates the illusion that the sound originates from the direction of the visual stimulus. Participants' auditory localization bias, called the ventriloquism effect, has revealed factors affecting the perceptual integration of audio-visual stimuli. However, many studies on audio-visual processes have focused on performance in simplified experimental situations, with a single stimulus in each sensory modality. These results cannot necessarily explain our perceptual behavior in natural scenes, where various signals exist within a single sensory modality. In the present study we report the contributions of a cognitive factor, that is, the audio-visual congruency of speech, although this factor has often been underestimated in previous ventriloquism research. Thus, we investigated the contribution of speech congruency on the ventriloquism effect using a spoken utterance and two videos of a talking face. The salience of facial movements was also manipulated. As a result, when bilateral visual stimuli are presented in synchrony with a single voice, cross-modal speech congruency was found to have a significant impact on the ventriloquism effect. This result also indicated that more salient visual utterances attracted participants' auditory localization. The congruent pairing of audio-visual utterances elicited greater localization bias than did incongruent pairing, whereas previous studies have reported little dependency on the reality of stimuli in ventriloquism. Moreover, audio-visual illusory congruency, owing to the McGurk effect, caused substantial visual interference to auditory localization. This suggests that a greater flexibility in responding to multi-sensory environments exists than has been previously considered.

Interactive MPEG-4 low-bit-rate speech/audio transmission over the Internet

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Fang; Kim, JongWon; Kuo, C.-C. Jay

1999-11-01

The recently developed MPEG-4 technology enables the coding and transmission of natural and synthetic audio-visual data in the form of objects. In an effort to extend the object-based functionality of MPEG-4 to real-time Internet applications, architectural prototypes of multiplex layer and transport layer tailored for transmission of MPEG-4 data over IP are under debate among Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), and MPEG-4 systems Ad Hoc group. In this paper, we present an architecture for interactive MPEG-4 speech/audio transmission system over the Internet. It utilities a framework of Real Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP) over Real-time Transport Protocol (RTP) to provide controlled, on-demand delivery of real time speech/audio data. Based on a client-server model, a couple of low bit-rate bit streams (real-time speech/audio, pre- encoded speech/audio) are multiplexed and transmitted via a single RTP channel to the receiver. The MPEG-4 Scene Description (SD) and Object Descriptor (OD) bit streams are securely sent through the RTSP control channel. Upon receiving, an initial MPEG-4 audio- visual scene is constructed after de-multiplexing, decoding of bit streams, and scene composition. A receiver is allowed to manipulate the initial audio-visual scene presentation locally, or interactively arrange scene changes by sending requests to the server. A server may also choose to update the client with new streams and list of contents for user selection.

78 FR 18416 - Sixth Meeting: RTCA Special Committee 226, Audio Systems and Equipment

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-03-26

... 226, Audio Systems and Equipment AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). ACTION: Meeting Notice of RTCA Special Committee 226, Audio Systems and Equipment. SUMMARY... 226, Audio Systems and Equipment. DATES: The meeting will be held April 15-17, 2013 from 9:00 a.m.-5...

78 FR 57673 - Eighth Meeting: RTCA Special Committee 226, Audio Systems and Equipment

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-09-19

... Committee 226, Audio Systems and Equipment AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). ACTION: Meeting Notice of RTCA Special Committee 226, Audio Systems and Equipment. SUMMARY... Committee 226, Audio Systems and Equipment. DATES: The meeting will be held October 8-10, 2012 from 9:00 a.m...

77 FR 37732 - Fourteenth Meeting: RTCA Special Committee 224, Audio Systems and Equipment

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-06-22

... Committee 224, Audio Systems and Equipment AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). ACTION: Meeting Notice of RTCA Special Committee 224, Audio Systems and Equipment. SUMMARY... Committee 224, Audio Systems and Equipment. DATES: The meeting will be held July 11, 2012, from 10 a.m.-4 p...

Audio Spatial Representation Around the Body

PubMed Central

Aggius-Vella, Elena; Campus, Claudio; Finocchietti, Sara; Gori, Monica

2017-01-01

Studies have found that portions of space around our body are differently coded by our brain. Numerous works have investigated visual and auditory spatial representation, focusing mostly on the spatial representation of stimuli presented at head level, especially in the frontal space. Only few studies have investigated spatial representation around the entire body and its relationship with motor activity. Moreover, it is still not clear whether the space surrounding us is represented as a unitary dimension or whether it is split up into different portions, differently shaped by our senses and motor activity. To clarify these points, we investigated audio localization of dynamic and static sounds at different body levels. In order to understand the role of a motor action in auditory space representation, we asked subjects to localize sounds by pointing with the hand or the foot, or by giving a verbal answer. We found that the audio sound localization was different depending on the body part considered. Moreover, a different pattern of response was observed when subjects were asked to make actions with respect to the verbal responses. These results suggest that the audio space around our body is split in various spatial portions, which are perceived differently: front, back, around chest, and around foot, suggesting that these four areas could be differently modulated by our senses and our actions. PMID:29249999

Digital Audio Radio Field Tests

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hollansworth, James E.

1997-01-01

Radio history continues to be made at the NASA Lewis Research Center with the beginning of phase two of Digital Audio Radio testing conducted by the Consumer Electronic Manufacturers Association (a sector of the Electronic Industries Association and the National Radio Systems Committee) and cosponsored by the Electronic Industries Association and the National Association of Broadcasters. The bulk of the field testing of the four systems should be complete by the end of October 1996, with results available soon thereafter. Lewis hosted phase one of the testing process, which included laboratory testing of seven proposed digital audio radio systems and modes (see the following table). Two of the proposed systems operate in two modes, thus making a total of nine systems for testing. These nine systems are divided into the following types of transmission: in-band on channel (IBOC), in-band adjacent channel (IBAC), and new bands - the L-band (1452 to 1492 MHz) and the S-band (2310 to 2360 MHz).

Genetic variation in RPS6KA1, RPS6KA2, RPS6KB1, RPS6KB2, and PDK1 and risk of colon or rectal cancer

PubMed Central

Slattery, Martha L.; Lundgreen, Abbie; Herrick, Jennifer S.; Wolff, Roger K.

2010-01-01

RPS6KA1, RPS6KA2, RPS6KB1, RPS6KB2, and PDK1 are involved in several pathways central to the carcinogenic process, including regulation of cell growth, insulin, and inflammation. We evaluated genetic variation in their candidate genes to obtain a better understanding of their association with colon and rectal cancer. We used data from two population-based case-control studies of colon (n=1574 cases, 1940 controls) and rectal (n=791 cases, 999 controls) cancer. We observed genetic variation in RPS6KA1, RPS6KA2, and PRS6KB2 were associated with risk of developing colon cancer while only genetic variation in RPS6KA2 was associated with altering risk of rectal cancer. These genes also interacted significantly with other genes operating in similar mechanisms, including Akt1, FRAP1, NFκB1, and PIK3CA. Assessment of tumor markers indicated that these genes and this pathway may importantly contributed to CIMP+ tumors and tumors with KRAS2 mutations. Our findings implicate these candidate genes in the etiology of colon and rectal cancer and provide information on how these genes operate with other genes in the pathway. Our data further suggest that this pathway may lead to CIMP+ and KRAS2-mutated tumors. PMID:21035469

ASTP video tape recorder ground support equipment (audio/CTE splitter/interleaver). Operations manual

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1974-01-01

A descriptive handbook for the audio/CTE splitter/interleaver (RCA part No. 8673734-502) was presented. This unit is designed to perform two major functions: extract audio and time data from an interleaved video/audio signal (splitter section), and provide a test interleaved video/audio/CTE signal for the system (interleaver section). It is a rack mounting unit 7 inches high, 19 inches wide, 20 inches deep, mounted on slides for retracting from the rack, and weighs approximately 40 pounds. The following information is provided: installation, operation, principles of operation, maintenance, schematics and parts lists.

Perceptually controlled doping for audio source separation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mahé, Gaël; Nadalin, Everton Z.; Suyama, Ricardo; Romano, João MT

2014-12-01

The separation of an underdetermined audio mixture can be performed through sparse component analysis (SCA) that relies however on the strong hypothesis that source signals are sparse in some domain. To overcome this difficulty in the case where the original sources are available before the mixing process, the informed source separation (ISS) embeds in the mixture a watermark, which information can help a further separation. Though powerful, this technique is generally specific to a particular mixing setup and may be compromised by an additional bitrate compression stage. Thus, instead of watermarking, we propose a `doping' method that makes the time-frequency representation of each source more sparse, while preserving its audio quality. This method is based on an iterative decrease of the distance between the distribution of the signal and a target sparse distribution, under a perceptual constraint. We aim to show that the proposed approach is robust to audio coding and that the use of the sparsified signals improves the source separation, in comparison with the original sources. In this work, the analysis is made only in instantaneous mixtures and focused on voice sources.

Responding Effectively to Composition Students: Comparing Student Perceptions of Written and Audio Feedback

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bilbro, J.; Iluzada, C.; Clark, D. E.

2013-01-01

The authors compared student perceptions of audio and written feedback in order to assess what types of students may benefit from receiving audio feedback on their essays rather than written feedback. Many instructors previously have reported the advantages they see in audio feedback, but little quantitative research has been done on how the…

47 CFR Figure 2 to Subpart N of... - Typical Audio Wave

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 1 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Typical Audio Wave 2 Figure 2 to Subpart N of Part 2 Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION GENERAL FREQUENCY ALLOCATIONS AND RADIO... Audio Wave EC03JN91.006 ...

Nonlinear dynamic macromodeling techniques for audio systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ogrodzki, Jan; Bieńkowski, Piotr

2015-09-01

This paper develops a modelling method and a models identification technique for the nonlinear dynamic audio systems. Identification is performed by means of a behavioral approach based on a polynomial approximation. This approach makes use of Discrete Fourier Transform and Harmonic Balance Method. A model of an audio system is first created and identified and then it is simulated in real time using an algorithm of low computational complexity. The algorithm consists in real time emulation of the system response rather than in simulation of the system itself. The proposed software is written in Python language using object oriented programming techniques. The code is optimized for a multithreads environment.

rsfMRI effects of KB220Z™ on Neural Pathways in Reward Circuitry of Abstinent Genotyped Heroin Addicts

PubMed Central

Blum, Kenneth; Liu, Yijun; Wang, Wei; Wang, Yarong; Zhang, Yi; Oscar-Berman, Marlene; Smolen, Andrew; Febo, Marcelo; Han, David; Simpatico, Thomas; Cronjé, Frans J; Demetrovics, Zsolt; Gold, Mark S.

2016-01-01

Recently Willuhn et al. reported that cocaine use and even non-substance related addictive behavior, increases, as dopaminergic function is reduced. Chronic cocaine exposure has been associated with decreases in D2/D3 receptors, also associated with lower activation to cues in occipital cortex and cerebellum in a recent PET study from Volkow’s group. Therefore, treatment strategies, like dopamine agonist therapy, that might conserve dopamine function may be an interesting approach to relapse prevention in psychoactive drug and behavioral addictions. To this aim, we evaluated the effect of KB220Z™ on reward circuitry of ten heroin addicts undergoing protracted abstinence, an average 16.9 months. In a randomized placebo-controlled crossover study of KB220Z™ five subjects completed a triple blinded–experiment in which the subject, the person administering the treatment and the person evaluating the response to treatment were blinded as to which treatment any particular subject was receiving. In addition, nine subjects total were genotyped utilizing the GARSRX™ test. We preliminarily report that KB220Z ™ induced an increase in BOLD activation in caudate-accumbens-dopaminergic pathways compared to placebo following one-hour acute administration. Furthermore, KB220Z™ also reduced resting state activity in the putamen of abstinent heroin addicts. In the second phase of this pilot study of all ten abstinent heroin-dependent subjects, three brain regions of interest (ROIs) we observed to be significantly activated from resting state by KB220Z compared to placebo (P < 0.05). Increased functional connectivity was observed in a putative network that included the dorsal anterior cingulate, medial frontal gyrus, nucleus accumbens, posterior cingulate, occipital cortical areas and cerebellum. These results and other qEEG study results suggest a putative anti-craving/anti-relapse role for KB220Z in addiction by direct or indirect dopaminergic interaction. Due to

Steganalysis for Audio Data

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-03-31

from existing image steganography and steganalysis techniques, the overall objective of Task (b) is to design and implement audio steganography in...general design of the VoIP steganography algorithm is based on known LSB hiding techniques (used for example in StegHide (http...system. Nasir Memon et. al. described a steganalyzer based on image quality metrics [AMS03]. Basically, the main idea to detect steganography by

Engaging Students with Audio Feedback

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cann, Alan

2014-01-01

Students express widespread dissatisfaction with academic feedback. Teaching staff perceive a frequent lack of student engagement with written feedback, much of which goes uncollected or unread. Published evidence shows that audio feedback is highly acceptable to students but is underused. This paper explores methods to produce and deliver audio…

Audio-vocal interaction in single neurons of the monkey ventrolateral prefrontal cortex.

PubMed

Hage, Steffen R; Nieder, Andreas

2015-05-06

Complex audio-vocal integration systems depend on a strong interconnection between the auditory and the vocal motor system. To gain cognitive control over audio-vocal interaction during vocal motor control, the PFC needs to be involved. Neurons in the ventrolateral PFC (VLPFC) have been shown to separately encode the sensory perceptions and motor production of vocalizations. It is unknown, however, whether single neurons in the PFC reflect audio-vocal interactions. We therefore recorded single-unit activity in the VLPFC of rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) while they produced vocalizations on command or passively listened to monkey calls. We found that 12% of randomly selected neurons in VLPFC modulated their discharge rate in response to acoustic stimulation with species-specific calls. Almost three-fourths of these auditory neurons showed an additional modulation of their discharge rates either before and/or during the monkeys' motor production of vocalization. Based on these audio-vocal interactions, the VLPFC might be well positioned to combine higher order auditory processing with cognitive control of the vocal motor output. Such audio-vocal integration processes in the VLPFC might constitute a precursor for the evolution of complex learned audio-vocal integration systems, ultimately giving rise to human speech. Copyright © 2015 the authors 0270-6474/15/357030-11$15.00/0.

Instructional Audio Guidelines: Four Design Principles to Consider for Every Instructional Audio Design Effort

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carter, Curtis W.

2012-01-01

This article contends that instructional designers and developers should attend to four particular design principles when creating instructional audio. Support for this view is presented by referencing the limited research that has been done in this area, and by indicating how and why each of the four principles is important to the design process.…

SNR-adaptive stream weighting for audio-MES ASR.

PubMed

Lee, Ki-Seung

2008-08-01

Myoelectric signals (MESs) from the speaker's mouth region have been successfully shown to improve the noise robustness of automatic speech recognizers (ASRs), thus promising to extend their usability in implementing noise-robust ASR. In the recognition system presented herein, extracted audio and facial MES features were integrated by a decision fusion method, where the likelihood score of the audio-MES observation vector was given by a linear combination of class-conditional observation log-likelihoods of two classifiers, using appropriate weights. We developed a weighting process adaptive to SNRs. The main objective of the paper involves determining the optimal SNR classification boundaries and constructing a set of optimum stream weights for each SNR class. These two parameters were determined by a method based on a maximum mutual information criterion. Acoustic and facial MES data were collected from five subjects, using a 60-word vocabulary. Four types of acoustic noise including babble, car, aircraft, and white noise were acoustically added to clean speech signals with SNR ranging from -14 to 31 dB. The classification accuracy of the audio ASR was as low as 25.5%. Whereas, the classification accuracy of the MES ASR was 85.2%. The classification accuracy could be further improved by employing the proposed audio-MES weighting method, which was as high as 89.4% in the case of babble noise. A similar result was also found for the other types of noise.

Use of Video and Audio Texts in EFL Listening Test

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Basal, Ahmet; Gülözer, Kaine; Demir, Ibrahim

2015-01-01

The study aims to discover whether audio or video modality in a listening test is more beneficial to test takers. In this study, the posttest-only control group design was utilized and quantitative data were collected in order to measure participant performances concerning two types of modality (audio or video) in a listening test. The…

106-17 Telemetry Standards Digitized Audio Telemetry Standard Chapter 5

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-07-01

RCC Standard 106-17 Chapter 5, July 2017 5-3 5.8 CVSD Bit Rate Determination The following discussion provides a procedure for determining the...Telemetry Standards , RCC Standard 106-17 Chapter 5, July 2017 CHAPTER 5 Digitized Audio Telemetry Standard Table of Contents Chapter 5...Digitized Audio Telemetry Standard ............................................................... 5-1 5.1 General

Development and Assessment of Web Courses That Use Streaming Audio and Video Technologies.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ingebritsen, Thomas S.; Flickinger, Kathleen

Iowa State University, through a program called Project BIO (Biology Instructional Outreach), has been using RealAudio technology for about 2 years in college biology courses that are offered entirely via the World Wide Web. RealAudio is a type of streaming media technology that can be used to deliver audio content and a variety of other media…

Hearing You Loud and Clear: Student Perspectives of Audio Feedback in Higher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gould, Jill; Day, Pat

2013-01-01

The use of audio feedback for students in a full-time community nursing degree course is appraised. The aim of this mixed methods study was to examine student views on audio feedback for written assignments. Questionnaires and a focus group were used to capture student opinion of this pilot project. The majority of students valued audio feedback…

Diagnostic accuracy of sleep bruxism scoring in absence of audio-video recording: a pilot study.

PubMed

Carra, Maria Clotilde; Huynh, Nelly; Lavigne, Gilles J

2015-03-01

Based on the most recent polysomnographic (PSG) research diagnostic criteria, sleep bruxism is diagnosed when >2 rhythmic masticatory muscle activity (RMMA)/h of sleep are scored on the masseter and/or temporalis muscles. These criteria have not yet been validated for portable PSG systems. This pilot study aimed to assess the diagnostic accuracy of scoring sleep bruxism in absence of audio-video recordings. Ten subjects (mean age 24.7 ± 2.2) with a clinical diagnosis of sleep bruxism spent one night in the sleep laboratory. PSG were performed with a portable system (type 2) while audio-video was recorded. Sleep studies were scored by the same examiner three times: (1) without, (2) with, and (3) without audio-video in order to test the intra-scoring and intra-examiner reliability for RMMA scoring. The RMMA event-by-event concordance rate between scoring without audio-video and with audio-video was 68.3 %. Overall, the RMMA index was overestimated by 23.8 % without audio-video. However, the intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) between scorings with and without audio-video was good (ICC = 0.91; p < 0.001); the intra-examiner reliability was high (ICC = 0.97; p < 0.001). The clinical diagnosis of sleep bruxism was confirmed in 8/10 subjects based on scoring without audio-video and in 6/10 subjects with audio-video. Although the absence of audio-video recording, the diagnostic accuracy of assessing RMMA with portable PSG systems appeared to remain good, supporting their use for both research and clinical purposes. However, the risk of moderate overestimation in absence of audio-video must be taken into account.

Audio-Visual Perception System for a Humanoid Robotic Head

PubMed Central

Viciana-Abad, Raquel; Marfil, Rebeca; Perez-Lorenzo, Jose M.; Bandera, Juan P.; Romero-Garces, Adrian; Reche-Lopez, Pedro

2014-01-01

One of the main issues within the field of social robotics is to endow robots with the ability to direct attention to people with whom they are interacting. Different approaches follow bio-inspired mechanisms, merging audio and visual cues to localize a person using multiple sensors. However, most of these fusion mechanisms have been used in fixed systems, such as those used in video-conference rooms, and thus, they may incur difficulties when constrained to the sensors with which a robot can be equipped. Besides, within the scope of interactive autonomous robots, there is a lack in terms of evaluating the benefits of audio-visual attention mechanisms, compared to only audio or visual approaches, in real scenarios. Most of the tests conducted have been within controlled environments, at short distances and/or with off-line performance measurements. With the goal of demonstrating the benefit of fusing sensory information with a Bayes inference for interactive robotics, this paper presents a system for localizing a person by processing visual and audio data. Moreover, the performance of this system is evaluated and compared via considering the technical limitations of unimodal systems. The experiments show the promise of the proposed approach for the proactive detection and tracking of speakers in a human-robot interactive framework. PMID:24878593

Audio/ Videoconferencing Packages: Low Cost

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Treblay, Remy; Fyvie, Barb; Koritko, Brenda

2005-01-01

A comparison was conducted of "Voxwire MeetingRoom" and "iVocalize" v4.1.0.3, both Web-conferencing products using voice-over-Internet protocol (VoIP) to provide unlimited, inexpensive, international audio communication, and high-quality Web-conferencing fostering collaborative learning. The study used the evaluation criteria used in earlier…

Radioactive Decay: Audio Data Collection

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Struthers, Allan

2009-01-01

Many phenomena generate interesting audible time series. This data can be collected and processed using audio software. The free software package "Audacity" is used to demonstrate the process by recording, processing, and extracting click times from an inexpensive radiation detector. The high quality of the data is demonstrated with a simple…

Music Identification System Using MPEG-7 Audio Signature Descriptors

PubMed Central

You, Shingchern D.; Chen, Wei-Hwa; Chen, Woei-Kae

2013-01-01

This paper describes a multiresolution system based on MPEG-7 audio signature descriptors for music identification. Such an identification system may be used to detect illegally copied music circulated over the Internet. In the proposed system, low-resolution descriptors are used to search likely candidates, and then full-resolution descriptors are used to identify the unknown (query) audio. With this arrangement, the proposed system achieves both high speed and high accuracy. To deal with the problem that a piece of query audio may not be inside the system's database, we suggest two different methods to find the decision threshold. Simulation results show that the proposed method II can achieve an accuracy of 99.4% for query inputs both inside and outside the database. Overall, it is highly possible to use the proposed system for copyright control. PMID:23533359

Say What? The Role of Audio in Multimedia Video

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Linder, C. A.; Holmes, R. M.

2011-12-01

Audio, including interviews, ambient sounds, and music, is a critical-yet often overlooked-part of an effective multimedia video. In February 2010, Linder joined scientists working on the Global Rivers Observatory Project for two weeks of intensive fieldwork in the Congo River watershed. The team's goal was to learn more about how climate change and deforestation are impacting the river system and coastal ocean. Using stills and video shot with a lightweight digital SLR outfit and audio recorded with a pocket-sized sound recorder, Linder documented the trials and triumphs of working in the heart of Africa. Using excerpts from the six-minute Congo multimedia video, this presentation will illustrate how to record and edit an engaging audio track. Topics include interview technique, collecting ambient sounds, choosing and using music, and editing it all together to educate and entertain the viewer.

Effect of Audio vs. Video on Aural Discrimination of Vowels

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McCrocklin, Shannon

2012-01-01

Despite the growing use of media in the classroom, the effects of using of audio versus video in pronunciation teaching has been largely ignored. To analyze the impact of the use of audio or video training on aural discrimination of vowels, 61 participants (all students at a large American university) took a pre-test followed by two training…

Making the Most of Audio. Technology in Language Learning Series.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Barley, Anthony

Prepared for practicing language teachers, this book's aim is to help them make the most of audio, a readily accessible resource. The book shows, with the help of numerous practical examples, how a range of language skills can be developed. Most examples are in French. Chapters cover the following information: (1) making the most of audio (e.g.,…

37 CFR 202.22 - Acquisition and deposit of unpublished audio and audiovisual transmission programs.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... unpublished audio and audiovisual transmission programs. 202.22 Section 202.22 Patents, Trademarks, and... REGISTRATION OF CLAIMS TO COPYRIGHT § 202.22 Acquisition and deposit of unpublished audio and audiovisual... and copies of unpublished audio and audiovisual transmission programs by the Library of Congress under...

37 CFR 202.22 - Acquisition and deposit of unpublished audio and audiovisual transmission programs.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... unpublished audio and audiovisual transmission programs. 202.22 Section 202.22 Patents, Trademarks, and... REGISTRATION OF CLAIMS TO COPYRIGHT § 202.22 Acquisition and deposit of unpublished audio and audiovisual... and copies of unpublished audio and audiovisual transmission programs by the Library of Congress under...

37 CFR 202.22 - Acquisition and deposit of unpublished audio and audiovisual transmission programs.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... unpublished audio and audiovisual transmission programs. 202.22 Section 202.22 Patents, Trademarks, and... REGISTRATION OF CLAIMS TO COPYRIGHT § 202.22 Acquisition and deposit of unpublished audio and audiovisual... and copies of unpublished audio and audiovisual transmission programs by the Library of Congress under...

37 CFR 202.22 - Acquisition and deposit of unpublished audio and audiovisual transmission programs.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... unpublished audio and audiovisual transmission programs. 202.22 Section 202.22 Patents, Trademarks, and... REGISTRATION OF CLAIMS TO COPYRIGHT § 202.22 Acquisition and deposit of unpublished audio and audiovisual... and copies of unpublished audio and audiovisual transmission programs by the Library of Congress under...

Defining Audio/Video Redundancy from a Limited Capacity Information Processing Perspective.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lang, Annie

1995-01-01

Investigates whether audio/video redundancy improves memory for television messages. Suggests a theoretical framework for classifying previous work and reinterpreting the results. Suggests general support for the notion that redundancy levels affect the capacity requirements of the message, which impact differentially on audio or visual…

Biological Control Potential of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens KB3 Isolated from the Feces of Allomyrina dichotoma Larvae

PubMed Central

Nam, Hyo-Song; Yang, Hyun-Ju; Oh, Byung Jun; Anderson, Anne J.; Kim, Young Cheol

2016-01-01

Most biocontrol agents for plant diseases have been isolated from sources such as soils and plants. As an alternative source, we examined the feces of tertiary larvae of the herbivorous rhino beetle, Allomyrina dichotoma for presence of biocontrol-active microbes. The initial screen was performed to detect antifungal activity against two common fungal plant pathogens. The strain with strongest antifungal activity was identified as Bacillus amyloliquefaciens KB3. The inhibitory activity of this strain correlated with lipopeptide productions, including iturin A and surfactin. Production of these surfactants in the KB3 isolate varied with the culture phase and growth medium used. In planta biocontrol activities of cell-free culture filtrates of KB3 were similar to those of the commercial biocontrol agent, B. subtilis QST-713. These results support the presence of microbes with the potential to inhibit fungal growth, such as plant pathogens, in diverse ecological niches. PMID:27298603

Securing Digital Audio using Complex Quadratic Map

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Suryadi, MT; Satria Gunawan, Tjandra; Satria, Yudi

2018-03-01

In This digital era, exchanging data are common and easy to do, therefore it is vulnerable to be attacked and manipulated from unauthorized parties. One data type that is vulnerable to attack is digital audio. So, we need data securing method that is not vulnerable and fast. One of the methods that match all of those criteria is securing the data using chaos function. Chaos function that is used in this research is complex quadratic map (CQM). There are some parameter value that causing the key stream that is generated by CQM function to pass all 15 NIST test, this means that the key stream that is generated using this CQM is proven to be random. In addition, samples of encrypted digital sound when tested using goodness of fit test are proven to be uniform, so securing digital audio using this method is not vulnerable to frequency analysis attack. The key space is very huge about 8.1×l031 possible keys and the key sensitivity is very small about 10-10, therefore this method is also not vulnerable against brute-force attack. And finally, the processing speed for both encryption and decryption process on average about 450 times faster that its digital audio duration.

Virtual environment display for a 3D audio room simulation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chapin, William L.; Foster, Scott H.

1992-01-01

The development of a virtual environment simulation system integrating a 3D acoustic audio model with an immersive 3D visual scene is discussed. The system complements the acoustic model and is specified to: allow the listener to freely move about the space, a room of manipulable size, shape, and audio character, while interactively relocating the sound sources; reinforce the listener's feeling of telepresence in the acoustical environment with visual and proprioceptive sensations; enhance the audio with the graphic and interactive components, rather than overwhelm or reduce it; and serve as a research testbed and technology transfer demonstration. The hardware/software design of two demonstration systems, one installed and one portable, are discussed through the development of four iterative configurations.

Identification of Cannabis sativa L. using the 1-kbTHCA synthase-fluorescence in situ hybridization probe.

PubMed

Jeangkhwoa, Pattraporn; Bandhaya, Achirapa; Umpunjun, Puangpaka; Chuenboonngarm, Ngarmnij; Panvisavas, Nathinee

2017-03-01

This study reports a successful application of fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) technique in the identification of Cannabis sativa L. cells recovered from fresh and dried powdered plant materials. Two biotin-16-dUTP-labeled FISH probes were designed from the Cannabis-specific tetrahydrocannabinolic acid synthase (THCAS) gene and the ITS region of the 45S rRNA gene. Specificity of probe-target hybridization was tested against the target and 4 non-target plant species, i.e., Humulus lupulus, Mitragyna speciosa, Papaver sp., and Nicotiana tabacum. The 1-kb THCA synthase hybridization probe gave Cannabis-specific hybridization signals, unlike the 700-bp Cannabis-ITS hybridization probe. Probe-target hybridization was also confirmed against 20 individual Cannabis plant samples. The 1-kb THCA synthase and 700-bp Cannabis-ITS hybridization probes clearly showed 2 hybridization signals per cell with reproducibility. The 1-kb THCA synthase probe did not give any FISH signal when tested against H. lupulus, its closely related member of the Canabaceae family. It was also showed that 1-kb THCA synthase FISH probe can be applied to identify small amount of dried powdered Cannabis material with an addition of rehydration step prior to the experimental process. This study provided an alternative identification method for Cannabis trace. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Effects of Audio-Visual Information on the Intelligibility of Alaryngeal Speech

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Evitts, Paul M.; Portugal, Lindsay; Van Dine, Ami; Holler, Aline

2010-01-01

Background: There is minimal research on the contribution of visual information on speech intelligibility for individuals with a laryngectomy (IWL). Aims: The purpose of this project was to determine the effects of mode of presentation (audio-only, audio-visual) on alaryngeal speech intelligibility. Method: Twenty-three naive listeners were…

How actions shape perception: learning action-outcome relations and predicting sensory outcomes promote audio-visual temporal binding

PubMed Central

Desantis, Andrea; Haggard, Patrick

2016-01-01

To maintain a temporally-unified representation of audio and visual features of objects in our environment, the brain recalibrates audio-visual simultaneity. This process allows adjustment for both differences in time of transmission and time for processing of audio and visual signals. In four experiments, we show that the cognitive processes for controlling instrumental actions also have strong influence on audio-visual recalibration. Participants learned that right and left hand button-presses each produced a specific audio-visual stimulus. Following one action the audio preceded the visual stimulus, while for the other action audio lagged vision. In a subsequent test phase, left and right button-press generated either the same audio-visual stimulus as learned initially, or the pair associated with the other action. We observed recalibration of simultaneity only for previously-learned audio-visual outcomes. Thus, learning an action-outcome relation promotes temporal grouping of the audio and visual events within the outcome pair, contributing to the creation of a temporally unified multisensory object. This suggests that learning action-outcome relations and the prediction of perceptual outcomes can provide an integrative temporal structure for our experiences of external events. PMID:27982063

How actions shape perception: learning action-outcome relations and predicting sensory outcomes promote audio-visual temporal binding.

PubMed

Desantis, Andrea; Haggard, Patrick

2016-12-16

To maintain a temporally-unified representation of audio and visual features of objects in our environment, the brain recalibrates audio-visual simultaneity. This process allows adjustment for both differences in time of transmission and time for processing of audio and visual signals. In four experiments, we show that the cognitive processes for controlling instrumental actions also have strong influence on audio-visual recalibration. Participants learned that right and left hand button-presses each produced a specific audio-visual stimulus. Following one action the audio preceded the visual stimulus, while for the other action audio lagged vision. In a subsequent test phase, left and right button-press generated either the same audio-visual stimulus as learned initially, or the pair associated with the other action. We observed recalibration of simultaneity only for previously-learned audio-visual outcomes. Thus, learning an action-outcome relation promotes temporal grouping of the audio and visual events within the outcome pair, contributing to the creation of a temporally unified multisensory object. This suggests that learning action-outcome relations and the prediction of perceptual outcomes can provide an integrative temporal structure for our experiences of external events.

MedlinePlus FAQ: Is audio description available for videos on MedlinePlus?

MedlinePlus

... audiodescription.html Question: Is audio description available for videos on MedlinePlus? To use the sharing features on ... page, please enable JavaScript. Answer: Audio description of videos helps make the content of videos accessible to ...

Impact of audio narrated animation on students' understanding and learning environment based on gender

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nasrudin, Ajeng Ratih; Setiawan, Wawan; Sanjaya, Yayan

2017-05-01

This study is titled the impact of audio narrated animation on students' understanding in learning humanrespiratory system based on gender. This study was conducted in eight grade of junior high school. This study aims to investigate the difference of students' understanding and learning environment at boys and girls classes in learning human respiratory system using audio narrated animation. Research method that is used is quasy experiment with matching pre-test post-test comparison group design. The procedures of study are: (1) preliminary study and learning habituation using audio narrated animation; (2) implementation of learning using audio narrated animation and taking data; (3) analysis and discussion. The result of analysis shows that there is significant difference on students' understanding and learning environment at boys and girls classes in learning human respiratory system using audio narrated animation, both in general and specifically in achieving learning indicators. The discussion related to the impact of audio narrated animation, gender characteristics, and constructivist learning environment. It can be concluded that there is significant difference of students' understanding at boys and girls classes in learning human respiratory system using audio narrated animation. Additionally, based on interpretation of students' respond, there is the difference increment of agreement level in learning environment.

Revealing the ecological content of long-duration audio-recordings of the environment through clustering and visualisation.

PubMed

Phillips, Yvonne F; Towsey, Michael; Roe, Paul

2018-01-01

Audio recordings of the environment are an increasingly important technique to monitor biodiversity and ecosystem function. While the acquisition of long-duration recordings is becoming easier and cheaper, the analysis and interpretation of that audio remains a significant research area. The issue addressed in this paper is the automated reduction of environmental audio data to facilitate ecological investigations. We describe a method that first reduces environmental audio to vectors of acoustic indices, which are then clustered. This can reduce the audio data by six to eight orders of magnitude yet retain useful ecological information. We describe techniques to visualise sequences of cluster occurrence (using for example, diel plots, rose plots) that assist interpretation of environmental audio. Colour coding acoustic clusters allows months and years of audio data to be visualised in a single image. These techniques are useful in identifying and indexing the contents of long-duration audio recordings. They could also play an important role in monitoring long-term changes in species abundance brought about by habitat degradation and/or restoration.

Revealing the ecological content of long-duration audio-recordings of the environment through clustering and visualisation

PubMed Central

Towsey, Michael; Roe, Paul

2018-01-01

Audio recordings of the environment are an increasingly important technique to monitor biodiversity and ecosystem function. While the acquisition of long-duration recordings is becoming easier and cheaper, the analysis and interpretation of that audio remains a significant research area. The issue addressed in this paper is the automated reduction of environmental audio data to facilitate ecological investigations. We describe a method that first reduces environmental audio to vectors of acoustic indices, which are then clustered. This can reduce the audio data by six to eight orders of magnitude yet retain useful ecological information. We describe techniques to visualise sequences of cluster occurrence (using for example, diel plots, rose plots) that assist interpretation of environmental audio. Colour coding acoustic clusters allows months and years of audio data to be visualised in a single image. These techniques are useful in identifying and indexing the contents of long-duration audio recordings. They could also play an important role in monitoring long-term changes in species abundance brought about by habitat degradation and/or restoration. PMID:29494629

Deutsch Durch Audio-Visuelle Methode: An Audio-Lingual-Oral Approach to the Teaching of German.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dickinson Public Schools, ND. Instructional Media Center.

This teaching guide, designed to accompany Chilton's "Deutsch Durch Audio-Visuelle Methode" for German 1 and 2 in a three-year secondary school program, focuses major attention on the operational plan of the program and a student orientation unit. A section on teaching a unit discusses four phases: (1) presentation, (2) explanation, (3)…

Audio Restoration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Esquef, Paulo A. A.

The first reproducible recording of human voice was made in 1877 on a tinfoil cylinder phonograph devised by Thomas A. Edison. Since then, much effort has been expended to find better ways to record and reproduce sounds. By the mid-1920s, the first electrical recordings appeared and gradually took over purely acoustic recordings. The development of electronic computers, in conjunction with the ability to record data onto magnetic or optical media, culminated in the standardization of compact disc format in 1980. Nowadays, digital technology is applied to several audio applications, not only to improve the quality of modern and old recording/reproduction techniques, but also to trade off sound quality for less storage space and less taxing transmission capacity requirements.

Anti and Androgenic Activities in MDA-KB2 Cells: A Comparison of Performance in 96 Well Versus HTS Assays

EPA Science Inventory

We developed the MDA-kb2 cell line to screen androgen agonists/antagonists (Wilson et al., ToxSci 66:69, 2002). MDA-kb2 has been used to quantify anti- and androgenic activities of chemicals, mixtures, combustion by-products, oil dispersants and waste, source and drinking water s...

Active Learning for Automatic Audio Processing of Unwritten Languages (ALAPUL)

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-07-01

AFRL-RH-WP-TR-2016-0074 ACTIVE LEARNING FOR AUTOMATIC AUDIO PROCESSING OF UNWRITTEN LANGUAGES (ALAPUL) Dimitra Vergyri Andreas Kathol Wen Wang...June 2015-July 2016 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE Active Learning for Automatic Audio Processing of Unwritten Languages (ALAPUL) 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER...5430, 27 October 2016 1. SUMMARY The goal of the project was to investigate development of an automatic spoken language processing (ASLP) system

Guidelines for the Production of Audio Materials for Print Handicapped Readers.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Library of Australia, Canberra.

Procedural guidelines developed by the Audio Standards Committee of the National Library of Australia to help improve the overall quality of production of audio materials for visually handicapped readers are presented. This report covers the following areas: selection of narrators and the narration itself; copyright; recording of books, magazines,…

Rethinking the Red Ink: Audio-Feedback in the ESL Writing Classroom.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Johanson, Robert

1999-01-01

This paper describes audio-feedback as a teaching method for English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) writing classes. Using this method, writing instructors respond to students' compositions by recording their comments onto an audiocassette, then returning the paper and cassette to the students. The first section describes audio-feedback and explains…

Performance enhancement for audio-visual speaker identification using dynamic facial muscle model.

PubMed

Asadpour, Vahid; Towhidkhah, Farzad; Homayounpour, Mohammad Mehdi

2006-10-01

Science of human identification using physiological characteristics or biometry has been of great concern in security systems. However, robust multimodal identification systems based on audio-visual information has not been thoroughly investigated yet. Therefore, the aim of this work to propose a model-based feature extraction method which employs physiological characteristics of facial muscles producing lip movements. This approach adopts the intrinsic properties of muscles such as viscosity, elasticity, and mass which are extracted from the dynamic lip model. These parameters are exclusively dependent on the neuro-muscular properties of speaker; consequently, imitation of valid speakers could be reduced to a large extent. These parameters are applied to a hidden Markov model (HMM) audio-visual identification system. In this work, a combination of audio and video features has been employed by adopting a multistream pseudo-synchronized HMM training method. Noise robust audio features such as Mel-frequency cepstral coefficients (MFCC), spectral subtraction (SS), and relative spectra perceptual linear prediction (J-RASTA-PLP) have been used to evaluate the performance of the multimodal system once efficient audio feature extraction methods have been utilized. The superior performance of the proposed system is demonstrated on a large multispeaker database of continuously spoken digits, along with a sentence that is phonetically rich. To evaluate the robustness of algorithms, some experiments were performed on genetically identical twins. Furthermore, changes in speaker voice were simulated with drug inhalation tests. In 3 dB signal to noise ratio (SNR), the dynamic muscle model improved the identification rate of the audio-visual system from 91 to 98%. Results on identical twins revealed that there was an apparent improvement on the performance for the dynamic muscle model-based system, in which the identification rate of the audio-visual system was enhanced from 87

Effectiveness and Comparison of Various Audio Distraction Aids in Management of Anxious Dental Paediatric Patients.

PubMed

Navit, Saumya; Johri, Nikita; Khan, Suleman Abbas; Singh, Rahul Kumar; Chadha, Dheera; Navit, Pragati; Sharma, Anshul; Bahuguna, Rachana

2015-12-01

Dental anxiety is a widespread phenomenon and a concern for paediatric dentistry. The inability of children to deal with threatening dental stimuli often manifests as behaviour management problems. Nowadays, the use of non-aversive behaviour management techniques is more advocated, which are more acceptable to parents, patients and practitioners. Therefore, this present study was conducted to find out which audio aid was the most effective in the managing anxious children. The aim of the present study was to compare the efficacy of audio-distraction aids in reducing the anxiety of paediatric patients while undergoing various stressful and invasive dental procedures. The objectives were to ascertain whether audio distraction is an effective means of anxiety management and which type of audio aid is the most effective. A total number of 150 children, aged between 6 to 12 years, randomly selected amongst the patients who came for their first dental check-up, were placed in five groups of 30 each. These groups were the control group, the instrumental music group, the musical nursery rhymes group, the movie songs group and the audio stories group. The control group was treated under normal set-up & audio group listened to various audio presentations during treatment. Each child had four visits. In each visit, after the procedures was completed, the anxiety levels of the children were measured by the Venham's Picture Test (VPT), Venham's Clinical Rating Scale (VCRS) and pulse rate measurement with the help of pulse oximeter. A significant difference was seen between all the groups for the mean pulse rate, with an increase in subsequent visit. However, no significant difference was seen in the VPT & VCRS scores between all the groups. Audio aids in general reduced anxiety in comparison to the control group, and the most significant reduction in anxiety level was observed in the audio stories group. The conclusion derived from the present study was that audio distraction

Musical stairs: the impact of audio feedback during stair-climbing physical therapies for children.

PubMed

Khan, Ajmal; Biddiss, Elaine

2015-05-01

Enhanced biofeedback during rehabilitation therapies has the potential to provide a therapeutic environment optimally designed for neuroplasticity. This study investigates the impact of audio feedback on the achievement of a targeted therapeutic goal, namely, use of reciprocal steps. Stair-climbing therapy sessions conducted with and without audio feedback were compared in a randomized AB/BA cross-over study design. Seventeen children, aged 4-7 years, with various diagnoses participated. Reports from the participants, therapists, and a blinded observer were collected to evaluate achievement of the therapeutic goal, motivation and enjoyment during the therapy sessions. Audio feedback resulted in a 5.7% increase (p = 0.007) in reciprocal steps. Levels of participant enjoyment increased significantly (p = 0.031) and motivation was reported by child participants and therapists to be greater when audio feedback was provided. These positive results indicate that audio feedback may influence the achievement of therapeutic goals and promote enjoyment and motivation in young patients engaged in rehabilitation therapies. This study lays the groundwork for future research to determine the long term effects of audio feedback on functional outcomes of therapy. Stair-climbing is an important mobility skill for promoting independence and activities of daily life and is a key component of rehabilitation therapies for physically disabled children. Provision of audio feedback during stair-climbing therapies for young children may increase their achievement of a targeted therapeutic goal (i.e., use of reciprocal steps). Children's motivation and enjoyment of the stair-climbing therapy was enhanced when audio feedback was provided.

Quick Response (QR) Codes for Audio Support in Foreign Language Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vigil, Kathleen Murray

2017-01-01

This study explored the potential benefits and barriers of using quick response (QR) codes as a means by which to provide audio materials to middle-school students learning Spanish as a foreign language. Eleven teachers of Spanish to middle-school students created transmedia materials containing QR codes linking to audio resources. Students…

Validation of a digital audio recording method for the objective assessment of cough in the horse.

PubMed

Duz, M; Whittaker, A G; Love, S; Parkin, T D H; Hughes, K J

2010-10-01

To validate the use of digital audio recording and analysis for quantification of coughing in horses. Part A: Nine simultaneous digital audio and video recordings were collected individually from seven stabled horses over a 1 h period using a digital audio recorder attached to the halter. Audio files were analysed using audio analysis software. Video and audio recordings were analysed for cough count and timing by two blinded operators on two occasions using a randomised study design for determination of intra-operator and inter-operator agreement. Part B: Seventy-eight hours of audio recordings obtained from nine horses were analysed once by two blinded operators to assess inter-operator repeatability on a larger sample. Part A: There was complete agreement between audio and video analyses and inter- and intra-operator analyses. Part B: There was >97% agreement between operators on number and timing of 727 coughs recorded over 78 h. The results of this study suggest that the cough monitor methodology used has excellent sensitivity and specificity for the objective assessment of cough in horses and intra- and inter-operator variability of recorded coughs is minimal. Crown Copyright 2010. Published by Elsevier India Pvt Ltd. All rights reserved.

NFL Films audio, video, and film production facilities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Berger, Russ; Schrag, Richard C.; Ridings, Jason J.

2003-04-01

The new NFL Films 200,000 sq. ft. headquarters is home for the critically acclaimed film production that preserves the NFL's visual legacy week-to-week during the football season, and is also the technical plant that processes and archives football footage from the earliest recorded media to the current network broadcasts. No other company in the country shoots more film than NFL Films, and the inclusion of cutting-edge video and audio formats demands that their technical spaces continually integrate the latest in the ever-changing world of technology. This facility houses a staggering array of acoustically sensitive spaces where music and sound are equal partners with the visual medium. Over 90,000 sq. ft. of sound critical technical space is comprised of an array of sound stages, music scoring stages, audio control rooms, music writing rooms, recording studios, mixing theaters, video production control rooms, editing suites, and a screening theater. Every production control space in the building is designed to monitor and produce multi channel surround sound audio. An overview of the architectural and acoustical design challenges encountered for each sophisticated listening, recording, viewing, editing, and sound critical environment will be discussed.

Audio Control Handbook For Radio and Television Broadcasting. Third Revised Edition.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Oringel, Robert S.

Audio control is the operation of all the types of sound equipment found in the studios and control rooms of a radio or television station. Written in a nontechnical style for beginners, the book explains thoroughly the operation of all types of audio equipment. Diagrams and photographs of commercial consoles, microphones, turntables, and tape…

Video-assisted segmentation of speech and audio track

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pandit, Medha; Yusoff, Yusseri; Kittler, Josef; Christmas, William J.; Chilton, E. H. S.

1999-08-01

Video database research is commonly concerned with the storage and retrieval of visual information invovling sequence segmentation, shot representation and video clip retrieval. In multimedia applications, video sequences are usually accompanied by a sound track. The sound track contains potential cues to aid shot segmentation such as different speakers, background music, singing and distinctive sounds. These different acoustic categories can be modeled to allow for an effective database retrieval. In this paper, we address the problem of automatic segmentation of audio track of multimedia material. This audio based segmentation can be combined with video scene shot detection in order to achieve partitioning of the multimedia material into semantically significant segments.

Three dimensional audio versus head down TCAS displays

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Begault, Durand R.; Pittman, Marc T.

1994-01-01

The advantage of a head up auditory display was evaluated in an experiment designed to measure and compare the acquisition time for capturing visual targets under two conditions: Standard head down traffic collision avoidance system (TCAS) display, and three-dimensional (3-D) audio TCAS presentation. Ten commercial airline crews were tested under full mission simulation conditions at the NASA Ames Crew-Vehicle Systems Research Facility Advanced Concepts Flight Simulator. Scenario software generated targets corresponding to aircraft which activated a 3-D aural advisory or a TCAS advisory. Results showed a significant difference in target acquisition time between the two conditions, favoring the 3-D audio TCAS condition by 500 ms.

Providing Students with Formative Audio Feedback

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brearley, Francis Q.; Cullen, W. Rod

2012-01-01

The provision of timely and constructive feedback is increasingly challenging for busy academics. Ensuring effective student engagement with feedback is equally difficult. Increasingly, studies have explored provision of audio recorded feedback to enhance effectiveness and engagement with feedback. Few, if any, of these focus on purely formative…

Audio-visual sensory deprivation degrades visuo-tactile peri-personal space.

PubMed

Noel, Jean-Paul; Park, Hyeong-Dong; Pasqualini, Isabella; Lissek, Herve; Wallace, Mark; Blanke, Olaf; Serino, Andrea

2018-05-01

Self-perception is scaffolded upon the integration of multisensory cues on the body, the space surrounding the body (i.e., the peri-personal space; PPS), and from within the body. We asked whether reducing information available from external space would change: PPS, interoceptive accuracy, and self-experience. Twenty participants were exposed to 15 min of audio-visual deprivation and performed: (i) a visuo-tactile interaction task measuring their PPS; (ii) a heartbeat perception task measuring interoceptive accuracy; and (iii) a series of questionnaires related to self-perception and mental illness. These tasks were carried out in two conditions: while exposed to a standard sensory environment and under a condition of audio-visual deprivation. Results suggest that while PPS becomes ill defined after audio-visual deprivation, interoceptive accuracy is unaltered at a group-level, with some participants improving and some worsening in interoceptive accuracy. Interestingly, correlational individual differences analyses revealed that changes in PPS after audio-visual deprivation were related to interoceptive accuracy and self-reports of "unusual experiences" on an individual subject basis. Taken together, the findings argue for a relationship between the malleability of PPS, interoceptive accuracy, and an inclination toward aberrant ideation often associated with mental illness. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Inc.

The relationship between basic audio quality and overall listening experience.

PubMed

Schoeffler, Michael; Herre, Jürgen

2016-09-01

Basic audio quality (BAQ) is a well-known perceptual attribute, which is rated in various listening test methods to measure the performance of audio systems. Unfortunately, when it comes to purchasing audio systems, BAQ might not have a significant influence on the customers' buying decisions since other factors, like brand loyalty, might be more important. In contrast to BAQ, overall listening experience (OLE) is an affective attribute which incorporates all aspects that are important to an individual assessor, including his or her preference for music genre and audio quality. In this work, the relationship between BAQ and OLE is investigated in more detail. To this end, an experiment was carried out, in which participants rated the BAQ and the OLE of music excerpts with different timbral and spatial degradations. In a between-group-design procedure, participants were assigned into two groups, in each of which a different set of stimuli was rated. The results indicate that rating of both attributes, BAQ and OLE, leads to similar rankings, even if a different set of stimuli is rated. In contrast to the BAQ ratings, which were more influenced by timbral than spatial degradations, the OLE ratings were almost equally influenced by timbral and spatial degradations.

MPEG-7 audio-visual indexing test-bed for video retrieval

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gagnon, Langis; Foucher, Samuel; Gouaillier, Valerie; Brun, Christelle; Brousseau, Julie; Boulianne, Gilles; Osterrath, Frederic; Chapdelaine, Claude; Dutrisac, Julie; St-Onge, Francis; Champagne, Benoit; Lu, Xiaojian

2003-12-01

This paper reports on the development status of a Multimedia Asset Management (MAM) test-bed for content-based indexing and retrieval of audio-visual documents within the MPEG-7 standard. The project, called "MPEG-7 Audio-Visual Document Indexing System" (MADIS), specifically targets the indexing and retrieval of video shots and key frames from documentary film archives, based on audio-visual content like face recognition, motion activity, speech recognition and semantic clustering. The MPEG-7/XML encoding of the film database is done off-line. The description decomposition is based on a temporal decomposition into visual segments (shots), key frames and audio/speech sub-segments. The visible outcome will be a web site that allows video retrieval using a proprietary XQuery-based search engine and accessible to members at the Canadian National Film Board (NFB) Cineroute site. For example, end-user will be able to ask to point on movie shots in the database that have been produced in a specific year, that contain the face of a specific actor who tells a specific word and in which there is no motion activity. Video streaming is performed over the high bandwidth CA*net network deployed by CANARIE, a public Canadian Internet development organization.

Audio Feedback: Richer Language but No Measurable Impact on Student Performance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chalmers, Charlotte; MacCallum, Janis; Mowat, Elaine; Fulton, Norma

2014-01-01

Audio feedback has been shown to be popular and well received by students. However, there is little published work to indicate how effective audio feedback is in improving student performance. Sixty students from a first year science degree agreed to take part in the study; thirty were randomly assigned to receive written feedback on coursework,…

Authenticity examination of compressed audio recordings using detection of multiple compression and encoders' identification.

PubMed

Korycki, Rafal

2014-05-01

Since the appearance of digital audio recordings, audio authentication has been becoming increasingly difficult. The currently available technologies and free editing software allow a forger to cut or paste any single word without audible artifacts. Nowadays, the only method referring to digital audio files commonly approved by forensic experts is the ENF criterion. It consists in fluctuation analysis of the mains frequency induced in electronic circuits of recording devices. Therefore, its effectiveness is strictly dependent on the presence of mains signal in the recording, which is a rare occurrence. Recently, much attention has been paid to authenticity analysis of compressed multimedia files and several solutions were proposed for detection of double compression in both digital video and digital audio. This paper addresses the problem of tampering detection in compressed audio files and discusses new methods that can be used for authenticity analysis of digital recordings. Presented approaches consist in evaluation of statistical features extracted from the MDCT coefficients as well as other parameters that may be obtained from compressed audio files. Calculated feature vectors are used for training selected machine learning algorithms. The detection of multiple compression covers up tampering activities as well as identification of traces of montage in digital audio recordings. To enhance the methods' robustness an encoder identification algorithm was developed and applied based on analysis of inherent parameters of compression. The effectiveness of tampering detection algorithms is tested on a predefined large music database consisting of nearly one million of compressed audio files. The influence of compression algorithms' parameters on the classification performance is discussed, based on the results of the current study. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Chromosomal insertion and excision of a 30 kb unstable genetic element is responsible for phase variation of lipopolysaccharide and other virulence determinants in Legionella pneumophila.

PubMed

Lüneberg, E; Mayer, B; Daryab, N; Kooistra, O; Zähringer, U; Rohde, M; Swanson, J; Frosch, M

2001-03-01

We recently described the phase-variable expression of a virulence-associated lipopolysaccharide (LPS) epitope in Legionella pneumophila. In this study, the molecular mechanism for phase variation was investigated. We identified a 30 kb unstable genetic element as the molecular origin for LPS phase variation. Thirty putative genes were encoded on the 30 kb sequence, organized in two putative opposite transcription units. Some of the open reading frames (ORFs) shared homologies with bacteriophage genes, suggesting that the 30 kb element was of phage origin. In the virulent wild-type strain, the 30 kb element was located on the chromosome, whereas excision from the chromosome and replication as a high-copy plasmid resulted in the mutant phenotype, which is characterized by alteration of an LPS epitope and loss of virulence. Mapping and sequencing of the insertion site in the genome revealed that the chromosomal attachment site was located in an intergenic region flanked by genes of unknown function. As phage release could not be induced by mitomycin C, it is conceivable that the 30 kb element is a non-functional phage remnant. The protein encoded by ORF T on the 30 kb plasmid could be isolated by an outer membrane preparation, indicating that the genes encoded on the 30 kb element are expressed in the mutant phenotype. Therefore, it is conceivable that the phenotypic alterations seen in the mutant depend on high-copy replication of the 30 kb element and expression of the encoded genes. Excision of the 30 kb element from the chromosome was found to occur in a RecA-independent pathway, presumably by the involvement of RecE, RecT and RusA homologues that are encoded on the 30 kb element.

16 CFR 307.8 - Requirements for disclosure in audiovisual and audio advertising.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 16 Commercial Practices 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Requirements for disclosure in audiovisual and audio advertising. 307.8 Section 307.8 Commercial Practices FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION REGULATIONS... ACT OF 1986 Advertising Disclosures § 307.8 Requirements for disclosure in audiovisual and audio...

Deletion of 2.7 kb near HOXD3 in an Arabian horse with occipitoatlantoaxial malformation

PubMed Central

Bordbari, MH; Penedo, MCT; Aleman, M.; Valberg, SJ; Mickelson, J.; Finno, CJ

2017-01-01

Summary In the horse, the term occipitoatlantoaxial malformation (OAAM) is used to describe a developmental defect in which the first cervical vertebra (atlas) resembles the base of the skull (occiput) and the second cervical vertebra (axis) resembles the atlas. Affected individuals demonstrate an abnormal posture and varying degrees of ataxia. The homeobox (HOX) gene cluster is involved in the development of both the axial and appendicular skeleton. Hoxd3-null mice demonstrate a strikingly similar phenotype to Arabian foals with OAAM. Whole-genome sequencing was performed in an OAAM-affected horse (OAAM1) and seven unaffected Arabian horses. Visual inspection of the raw reads within the region of HOXD3 identified a 2.7-kb deletion located 4.4 kb downstream of the end of HOXD4 and 8.2 kb upstream of the start of HOXD3. A genotyping assay revealed that both parents of OAAM1 were heterozygous for the deletion. Additional genotyping identified two of 162 heterozygote Arabians, and the deletion was not present in 371 horses of other breeds. Comparative genomics studies have revealed that this region is highly conserved across species and that the entire genomic region between Hoxd4 and Hoxd3 is transcribed in mice. Two additional Arabian foals diagnosed with OAAM (OAAM 2 and 3) were genotyped and did not have the 2.7-kb deletion. Closer examination of the phenotype in these cases revealed notable variation. OAAM3 also had facial malformations and a patent ductus arteriosus, and the actual malformation at the craniocervical junction differed. Genetic heterogeneity may exist across the HOXD locus in Arabian foals with OAAM. PMID:28111759

[Development of Audio Indicator System for Respiratory Dynamic CT Imaging].

PubMed

Muramatsu, Shun; Moriya, Hiroshi; Tsukagoshi, Shinsuke; Yamada, Norikazu

We created the device, which can conduct a radiological technologist's voice to a subject during CT scanning. For 149 lung cancer, dynamic respiratory CT were performed. 92 cases were performed using this device, the others were without this device. The respiratory cycle and respiratory amplitude were analyzed from the lung density. A stable respirating cycle was obtained by using the audio indicator system. The audio indicator system is useful for respiratory dynamic CT.

Concurrent emotional pictures modulate temporal order judgments of spatially separated audio-tactile stimuli.

PubMed

Jia, Lina; Shi, Zhuanghua; Zang, Xuelian; Müller, Hermann J

2013-11-06

Although attention can be captured toward high-arousal stimuli, little is known about how perceiving emotion in one modality influences the temporal processing of non-emotional stimuli in other modalities. We addressed this issue by presenting observers spatially uninformative emotional pictures while they performed an audio-tactile temporal-order judgment (TOJ) task. In Experiment 1, audio-tactile stimuli were presented at the same location straight ahead of the participants, who had to judge "which modality came first?". In Experiments 2 and 3, the audio-tactile stimuli were delivered one to the left and the other to the right side, and participants had to judge "which side came first?". We found both negative and positive high-arousal pictures to significantly bias TOJs towards the tactile and away from the auditory event when the audio-tactile stimuli were spatially separated; by contrast, there was no such bias when the audio-tactile stimuli originated from the same location. To further examine whether this bias is attributable to the emotional meanings conveyed by the pictures or to their high arousal effect, we compared and contrasted the influences of near-body threat vs. remote threat (emotional) pictures on audio-tactile TOJs in Experiment 3. The bias manifested only in the near-body threat condition. Taken together, the findings indicate that visual stimuli conveying meanings of near-body interaction activate a sensorimotor functional link prioritizing the processing of tactile over auditory signals when these signals are spatially separated. In contrast, audio-tactile signals from the same location engender strong crossmodal integration, thus counteracting modality-based attentional shifts induced by the emotional pictures. © 2013 Published by Elsevier B.V.

Audio-video decision support for patients: the documentary genré as a basis for decision aids.

PubMed

Volandes, Angelo E; Barry, Michael J; Wood, Fiona; Elwyn, Glyn

2013-09-01

Decision support tools are increasingly using audio-visual materials. However, disagreement exists about the use of audio-visual materials as they may be subjective and biased. This is a literature review of the major texts for documentary film studies to extrapolate issues of objectivity and bias from film to decision support tools. The key features of documentary films are that they attempt to portray real events and that the attempted reality is always filtered through the lens of the filmmaker. The same key features can be said of decision support tools that use audio-visual materials. Three concerns arising from documentary film studies as they apply to the use of audio-visual materials in decision support tools include whose perspective matters (stakeholder bias), how to choose among audio-visual materials (selection bias) and how to ensure objectivity (editorial bias). Decision science needs to start a debate about how audio-visual materials are to be used in decision support tools. Simply because audio-visual materials may be subjective and open to bias does not mean that we should not use them. Methods need to be found to ensure consensus around balance and editorial control, such that audio-visual materials can be used. © 2011 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Stress Reduction through Audio Distraction in Anxious Pediatric Dental Patients: An Adjunctive Clinical Study.

PubMed

Singh, Divya; Samadi, Firoza; Jaiswal, Jn; Tripathi, Abhay Mani

2014-01-01

The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the eff-cacy of 'audio distraction' in anxious pediatric dental patients. Sixty children were randomly selected and equally divided into two groups of thirty each. The first group was control group (group A) and the second group was music group (group B). The dental procedure employed was extraction for both the groups. The children included in music group were allowed to hear audio presentation throughout the treatment procedure. Anxiety was measured by using Venham's picture test, pulse rate, blood pressure and oxygen saturation. 'Audio distraction' was found efficacious in alleviating anxiety of pediatric dental patients. 'Audio distraction' did decrease the anxiety in pediatric patients to a significant extent. How to cite this article: Singh D, Samadi F, Jaiswal JN, Tripathi AM. Stress Reduction through Audio Distraction in Anxious Pediatric Dental Patients: An Adjunctive Clinical Study. Int J Clin Pediatr Dent 2014;7(3):149-152.

Temporal Structure and Complexity Affect Audio-Visual Correspondence Detection

PubMed Central

Denison, Rachel N.; Driver, Jon; Ruff, Christian C.

2013-01-01

Synchrony between events in different senses has long been considered the critical temporal cue for multisensory integration. Here, using rapid streams of auditory and visual events, we demonstrate how humans can use temporal structure (rather than mere temporal coincidence) to detect multisensory relatedness. We find psychophysically that participants can detect matching auditory and visual streams via shared temporal structure for crossmodal lags of up to 200 ms. Performance on this task reproduced features of past findings based on explicit timing judgments but did not show any special advantage for perfectly synchronous streams. Importantly, the complexity of temporal patterns influences sensitivity to correspondence. Stochastic, irregular streams – with richer temporal pattern information – led to higher audio-visual matching sensitivity than predictable, rhythmic streams. Our results reveal that temporal structure and its complexity are key determinants for human detection of audio-visual correspondence. The distinctive emphasis of our new paradigms on temporal patterning could be useful for studying special populations with suspected abnormalities in audio-visual temporal perception and multisensory integration. PMID:23346067

Estimation of inhalation flow profile using audio-based methods to assess inhaler medication adherence.

PubMed

Taylor, Terence E; Lacalle Muls, Helena; Costello, Richard W; Reilly, Richard B

2018-01-01

Asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients are required to inhale forcefully and deeply to receive medication when using a dry powder inhaler (DPI). There is a clinical need to objectively monitor the inhalation flow profile of DPIs in order to remotely monitor patient inhalation technique. Audio-based methods have been previously employed to accurately estimate flow parameters such as the peak inspiratory flow rate of inhalations, however, these methods required multiple calibration inhalation audio recordings. In this study, an audio-based method is presented that accurately estimates inhalation flow profile using only one calibration inhalation audio recording. Twenty healthy participants were asked to perform 15 inhalations through a placebo Ellipta™ DPI at a range of inspiratory flow rates. Inhalation flow signals were recorded using a pneumotachograph spirometer while inhalation audio signals were recorded simultaneously using the Inhaler Compliance Assessment device attached to the inhaler. The acoustic (amplitude) envelope was estimated from each inhalation audio signal. Using only one recording, linear and power law regression models were employed to determine which model best described the relationship between the inhalation acoustic envelope and flow signal. Each model was then employed to estimate the flow signals of the remaining 14 inhalation audio recordings. This process repeated until each of the 15 recordings were employed to calibrate single models while testing on the remaining 14 recordings. It was observed that power law models generated the highest average flow estimation accuracy across all participants (90.89±0.9% for power law models and 76.63±2.38% for linear models). The method also generated sufficient accuracy in estimating inhalation parameters such as peak inspiratory flow rate and inspiratory capacity within the presence of noise. Estimating inhaler inhalation flow profiles using audio based methods may be

Estimation of inhalation flow profile using audio-based methods to assess inhaler medication adherence

PubMed Central

Lacalle Muls, Helena; Costello, Richard W.; Reilly, Richard B.

2018-01-01

Asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients are required to inhale forcefully and deeply to receive medication when using a dry powder inhaler (DPI). There is a clinical need to objectively monitor the inhalation flow profile of DPIs in order to remotely monitor patient inhalation technique. Audio-based methods have been previously employed to accurately estimate flow parameters such as the peak inspiratory flow rate of inhalations, however, these methods required multiple calibration inhalation audio recordings. In this study, an audio-based method is presented that accurately estimates inhalation flow profile using only one calibration inhalation audio recording. Twenty healthy participants were asked to perform 15 inhalations through a placebo Ellipta™ DPI at a range of inspiratory flow rates. Inhalation flow signals were recorded using a pneumotachograph spirometer while inhalation audio signals were recorded simultaneously using the Inhaler Compliance Assessment device attached to the inhaler. The acoustic (amplitude) envelope was estimated from each inhalation audio signal. Using only one recording, linear and power law regression models were employed to determine which model best described the relationship between the inhalation acoustic envelope and flow signal. Each model was then employed to estimate the flow signals of the remaining 14 inhalation audio recordings. This process repeated until each of the 15 recordings were employed to calibrate single models while testing on the remaining 14 recordings. It was observed that power law models generated the highest average flow estimation accuracy across all participants (90.89±0.9% for power law models and 76.63±2.38% for linear models). The method also generated sufficient accuracy in estimating inhalation parameters such as peak inspiratory flow rate and inspiratory capacity within the presence of noise. Estimating inhaler inhalation flow profiles using audio based methods may be

An ESL Audio-Script Writing Workshop

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Miller, Carla

2012-01-01

The roles of dialogue, collaborative writing, and authentic communication have been explored as effective strategies in second language writing classrooms. In this article, the stages of an innovative, multi-skill writing method, which embeds students' personal voices into the writing process, are explored. A 10-step ESL Audio Script Writing Model…

Attention to and Memory for Audio and Video Information in Television Scenes.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Basil, Michael D.

A study investigated whether selective attention to a particular television modality resulted in different levels of attention to and memory for each modality. Two independent variables manipulated selective attention. These were the semantic channel (audio or video) and viewers' instructed focus (audio or video). These variables were fully…

An Analysis of Certain Elements of an Audio-Tape Approach to Instruction.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bell, Ronald Ernest

This study was designed to determine the association between selected variables and an audio-tape approach to instruction. Fifty sophomore students enrolled in a physical anthropology course at Shoreline Community College (Washington) participated in an experimental instructional program that consisted of thirty-two audio-tapes and three optional…

One Message, Many Voices: Mobile Audio Counselling in Health Education.

PubMed

Pimmer, Christoph; Mbvundula, Francis

2018-01-01

Health workers' use of counselling information on their mobile phones for health education is a central but little understood phenomenon in numerous mobile health (mHealth) projects in Sub-Saharan Africa. Drawing on empirical data from an interpretive case study in the setting of the Millennium Villages Project in rural Malawi, this research investigates the ways in which community health workers (CHWs) perceive that audio-counselling messages support their health education practice. Three main themes emerged from the analysis: phone-aided audio counselling (1) legitimises the CHWs' use of mobile phones during household visits; (2) helps CHWs to deliver a comprehensive counselling message; (3) supports CHWs in persuading communities to change their health practices. The findings show the complexity and interplay of the multi-faceted, sociocultural, political, and socioemotional meanings associated with audio-counselling use. Practical implications and the demand for further research are discussed.

Comparison between audio-only and audiovisual biofeedback for regulating patients' respiration during four-dimensional radiotherapy.

PubMed

Yu, Jesang; Choi, Ji Hoon; Ma, Sun Young; Jeung, Tae Sig; Lim, Sangwook

2015-09-01

To compare audio-only biofeedback to conventional audiovisual biofeedback for regulating patients' respiration during four-dimensional radiotherapy, limiting damage to healthy surrounding tissues caused by organ movement. Six healthy volunteers were assisted by audiovisual or audio-only biofeedback systems to regulate their respirations. Volunteers breathed through a mask developed for this study by following computer-generated guiding curves displayed on a screen, combined with instructional sounds. They then performed breathing following instructional sounds only. The guiding signals and the volunteers' respiratory signals were logged at 20 samples per second. The standard deviations between the guiding and respiratory curves for the audiovisual and audio-only biofeedback systems were 21.55% and 23.19%, respectively; the average correlation coefficients were 0.9778 and 0.9756, respectively. The regularities between audiovisual and audio-only biofeedback for six volunteers' respirations were same statistically from the paired t-test. The difference between the audiovisual and audio-only biofeedback methods was not significant. Audio-only biofeedback has many advantages, as patients do not require a mask and can quickly adapt to this method in the clinic.

Impact of Audio-Coaching on the Position of Lung Tumors

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Haasbeek, Cornelis J.A.; Spoelstra, Femke; Lagerwaard, Frank J.

2008-07-15

Purpose: Respiration-induced organ motion is a major source of positional, or geometric, uncertainty in thoracic radiotherapy. Interventions to mitigate the impact of motion include audio-coached respiration-gated radiotherapy (RGRT). To assess the impact of coaching on average tumor position during gating, we analyzed four-dimensional computed tomography (4DCT) scans performed both with and without audio-coaching. Methods and Materials: Our RGRT protocol requires that an audio-coached 4DCT scan is performed when the initial free-breathing 4DCT indicates a potential benefit with gating. We retrospectively analyzed 22 such paired scans in patients with well-circumscribed tumors. Changes in lung volume and position of internal target volumesmore » (ITV) generated in three consecutive respiratory phases at both end-inspiration and end-expiration were analyzed. Results: Audio-coaching increased end-inspiration lung volumes by a mean of 10.2% (range, -13% to +43%) when compared with free breathing (p = 0.001). The mean three-dimensional displacement of the center of ITV was 3.6 mm (SD, 2.5; range, 0.3-9.6mm), mainly caused by displacement in the craniocaudal direction. Displacement of ITV caused by coaching was more than 5 mm in 5 patients, all of whom were in the subgroup of 9 patients showing total tumor motion of 10 mm or more during both coached and uncoached breathing. Comparable ITV displacements were observed at end-expiration phases of the 4DCT. Conclusions: Differences in ITV position exceeding 5 mm between coached and uncoached 4DCT scans were detected in up to 56% of mobile tumors. Both end-inspiration and end-expiration RGRT were susceptible to displacements. This indicates that the method of audio-coaching should remain unchanged throughout the course of treatment.« less

Audio Adapted Assessment Data: Does the Addition of Audio to Written Items Modify the Item Calibration?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Snyder, James

2010-01-01

This dissertation research examined the changes in item RIT calibration that occurred when adding audio to a set of currently calibrated RIT items and then placing these new items as field test items in the modified assessments on the NWEA MAP test platform. The researcher used test results from over 600 students in the Poway School District in…

Automatic Detection and Classification of Audio Events for Road Surveillance Applications.

PubMed

Almaadeed, Noor; Asim, Muhammad; Al-Maadeed, Somaya; Bouridane, Ahmed; Beghdadi, Azeddine

2018-06-06

This work investigates the problem of detecting hazardous events on roads by designing an audio surveillance system that automatically detects perilous situations such as car crashes and tire skidding. In recent years, research has shown several visual surveillance systems that have been proposed for road monitoring to detect accidents with an aim to improve safety procedures in emergency cases. However, the visual information alone cannot detect certain events such as car crashes and tire skidding, especially under adverse and visually cluttered weather conditions such as snowfall, rain, and fog. Consequently, the incorporation of microphones and audio event detectors based on audio processing can significantly enhance the detection accuracy of such surveillance systems. This paper proposes to combine time-domain, frequency-domain, and joint time-frequency features extracted from a class of quadratic time-frequency distributions (QTFDs) to detect events on roads through audio analysis and processing. Experiments were carried out using a publicly available dataset. The experimental results conform the effectiveness of the proposed approach for detecting hazardous events on roads as demonstrated by 7% improvement of accuracy rate when compared against methods that use individual temporal and spectral features.

Reconstruction of audio waveforms from spike trains of artificial cochlea models

PubMed Central

Zai, Anja T.; Bhargava, Saurabh; Mesgarani, Nima; Liu, Shih-Chii

2015-01-01

Spiking cochlea models describe the analog processing and spike generation process within the biological cochlea. Reconstructing the audio input from the artificial cochlea spikes is therefore useful for understanding the fidelity of the information preserved in the spikes. The reconstruction process is challenging particularly for spikes from the mixed signal (analog/digital) integrated circuit (IC) cochleas because of multiple non-linearities in the model and the additional variance caused by random transistor mismatch. This work proposes an offline method for reconstructing the audio input from spike responses of both a particular spike-based hardware model called the AEREAR2 cochlea and an equivalent software cochlea model. This method was previously used to reconstruct the auditory stimulus based on the peri-stimulus histogram of spike responses recorded in the ferret auditory cortex. The reconstructed audio from the hardware cochlea is evaluated against an analogous software model using objective measures of speech quality and intelligibility; and further tested in a word recognition task. The reconstructed audio under low signal-to-noise (SNR) conditions (SNR < –5 dB) gives a better classification performance than the original SNR input in this word recognition task. PMID:26528113

Audio-visual speech processing in age-related hearing loss: Stronger integration and increased frontal lobe recruitment.

PubMed

Rosemann, Stephanie; Thiel, Christiane M

2018-07-15

Hearing loss is associated with difficulties in understanding speech, especially under adverse listening conditions. In these situations, seeing the speaker improves speech intelligibility in hearing-impaired participants. On the neuronal level, previous research has shown cross-modal plastic reorganization in the auditory cortex following hearing loss leading to altered processing of auditory, visual and audio-visual information. However, how reduced auditory input effects audio-visual speech perception in hearing-impaired subjects is largely unknown. We here investigated the impact of mild to moderate age-related hearing loss on processing audio-visual speech using functional magnetic resonance imaging. Normal-hearing and hearing-impaired participants performed two audio-visual speech integration tasks: a sentence detection task inside the scanner and the McGurk illusion outside the scanner. Both tasks consisted of congruent and incongruent audio-visual conditions, as well as auditory-only and visual-only conditions. We found a significantly stronger McGurk illusion in the hearing-impaired participants, which indicates stronger audio-visual integration. Neurally, hearing loss was associated with an increased recruitment of frontal brain areas when processing incongruent audio-visual, auditory and also visual speech stimuli, which may reflect the increased effort to perform the task. Hearing loss modulated both the audio-visual integration strength measured with the McGurk illusion and brain activation in frontal areas in the sentence task, showing stronger integration and higher brain activation with increasing hearing loss. Incongruent compared to congruent audio-visual speech revealed an opposite brain activation pattern in left ventral postcentral gyrus in both groups, with higher activation in hearing-impaired participants in the incongruent condition. Our results indicate that already mild to moderate hearing loss impacts audio-visual speech processing

Comparing Learning Gains: Audio Versus Text-based Instructor Communication in a Blended Online Learning Environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shimizu, Dominique

Though blended course audio feedback has been associated with several measures of course satisfaction at the postsecondary and graduate levels compared to text feedback, it may take longer to prepare and positive results are largely unverified in K-12 literature. The purpose of this quantitative study was to investigate the time investment and learning impact of audio communications with 228 secondary students in a blended online learning biology unit at a central Florida public high school. A short, individualized audio message regarding the student's progress was given to each student in the audio group; similar text-based messages were given to each student in the text-based group on the same schedule; a control got no feedback. A pretest and posttest were employed to measure learning gains in the three groups. To compare the learning gains in two types of feedback with each other and to no feedback, a controlled, randomized, experimental design was implemented. In addition, the creation and posting of audio and text feedback communications were timed in order to assess whether audio feedback took longer to produce than text only feedback. While audio feedback communications did take longer to create and post, there was no difference between learning gains as measured by posttest scores when student received audio, text-based, or no feedback. Future studies using a similar randomized, controlled experimental design are recommended to verify these results and test whether the trend holds in a broader range of subjects, over different time frames, and using a variety of assessment types to measure student learning.

Students' Attitudes to and Usage of Academic Feedback Provided via Audio Files

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Merry, Stephen; Orsmond, Paul

2008-01-01

This study explores students' attitudes to the provision of formative feedback on academic work using audio files together with the ways in which students implement such feedback within their learning. Fifteen students received audio file feedback on written work and were subsequently interviewed regarding their utilisation of that feedback within…

Tensorial dynamic time warping with articulation index representation for efficient audio-template learning.

PubMed

Le, Long N; Jones, Douglas L

2018-03-01

Audio classification techniques often depend on the availability of a large labeled training dataset for successful performance. However, in many application domains of audio classification (e.g., wildlife monitoring), obtaining labeled data is still a costly and laborious process. Motivated by this observation, a technique is proposed to efficiently learn a clean template from a few labeled, but likely corrupted (by noise and interferences), data samples. This learning can be done efficiently via tensorial dynamic time warping on the articulation index-based time-frequency representations of audio data. The learned template can then be used in audio classification following the standard template-based approach. Experimental results show that the proposed approach outperforms both (1) the recurrent neural network approach and (2) the state-of-the-art in the template-based approach on a wildlife detection application with few training samples.

Reliability and validity of an audio signal modified shuttle walk test.

PubMed

Singla, Rupak; Rai, Richa; Faye, Abhishek Anil; Jain, Anil Kumar; Chowdhury, Ranadip; Bandyopadhyay, Debdutta

2017-01-01

The audio signal in the conventionally accepted protocol of shuttle walk test (SWT) is not well-understood by the patients and modification of the audio signal may improve the performance of the test. The aim of this study is to study the validity and reliability of an audio signal modified SWT, called the Singla-Richa modified SWT (SWTSR), in healthy normal adults. In SWTSR, the audio signal was modified with the addition of reverse counting to it. A total of 54 healthy normal adults underwent conventional SWT (CSWT) at one instance and two times SWTSRon the same day. The validity was assessed by comparing outcomes of the SWTSRto outcomes of CSWT using the Pearson correlation coefficient and Bland-Altman plot. Test-retest reliability of SWTSRwas assessed using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). The acceptability of the modified test in comparison to the conventional test was assessed using Likert scale. The distance walked (mean ± standard deviation) in the CSWT and SWTSRtest was 853.33 ± 217.33 m and 857.22 ± 219.56 m, respectively (Pearson correlation coefficient - 0.98; P < 0.001) indicating SWTSRto be a valid test. The SWTSRwas found to be a reliable test with ICC of 0.98 (95% confidence interval: 0.97-0.99). The acceptability of SWTSRwas significantly higher than CSWT. The SWTSRwith modified audio signal with reverse counting is a reliable as well as a valid test when compared with CSWT in healthy normal adults. It better understood by subjects compared to CSWT.

Acceptance Inspection for Audio Cassette Recorders.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Edgar A.

A series of inspections for cassette recorders that can be performed to assure that the devices are acceptable is described. The inspections can be completed in 20 minutes and can be performed by instructional personnel. The series of inspection procedures includes tests of the intelligibility of audio, physical condition, tape speed, impulse…

Apollo 11 Mission Audio - Day 1

NASA Image and Video Library

1969-07-16

Audio from mission control during the launch of Apollo 11, which was the United States' first lunar landing mission. While astronauts Armstrong and Aldrin descended in the Lunar Module "Eagle" to explore the Sea of Tranquility region of the moon, astronaut Collins remained with the Command and Service Modules "Columbia" in lunar orbit.

Spatial Audio on the Web: Or Why Can't I hear Anything Over There?

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wenzel, Elizabeth M.; Schlickenmaier, Herbert (Technical Monitor); Johnson, Gerald (Technical Monitor); Frey, Mary Anne (Technical Monitor); Schneider, Victor S. (Technical Monitor); Ahunada, Albert J. (Technical Monitor)

1997-01-01

Auditory complexity, freedom of movement and interactivity is not always possible in a "true" virtual environment, much less in web-based audio. However, a lot of the perceptual and engineering constraints (and frustrations) that researchers, engineers and listeners have experienced in virtual audio are relevant to spatial audio on the web. My talk will discuss some of these engineering constraints and their perceptual consequences, and attempt to relate these issues to implementation on the web.

Influence of audio triggered emotional attention on video perception

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Torres, Freddy; Kalva, Hari

2014-02-01

Perceptual video coding methods attempt to improve compression efficiency by discarding visual information not perceived by end users. Most of the current approaches for perceptual video coding only use visual features ignoring the auditory component. Many psychophysical studies have demonstrated that auditory stimuli affects our visual perception. In this paper we present our study of audio triggered emotional attention and it's applicability to perceptual video coding. Experiments with movie clips show that the reaction time to detect video compression artifacts was longer when video was presented with the audio information. The results reported are statistically significant with p=0.024.

TaxKB: a knowledge base for new taxane-related drug discovery.

PubMed

Murugan, Kasi; Shanmugasamy, Sangeetha; Al-Sohaibani, Saleh; Vignesh, Naga; Palanikannan, Kandavel; Vimala, Antonydhason; Kumar, Gopal Ramesh

2015-01-01

Taxanes are naturally occurring compounds which belong to a powerful group of chemotherapeutic drugs with anticancer properties. Their current use, clinical efficacy, and unique mechanism of action indicate their potentiality for cancer drug discovery and development thereby promising to reduce the high economy associated with cancer worldwide. Extensive research has been carried out on taxanes with the aim to combat issues of drug resistance, side effects, limited natural supply, and also to increase the therapeutic index of these molecules. These efforts have led to the isolation of many naturally occurring compounds belonging to this family (more than 350 different kinds), and the synthesis of semisynthetic analogs of the naturally existing molecules (>500), and has also led to the characterization of many (>1000) of them. A web-based database system on clinically exploitable taxanes, providing a link between the structure and the pharmacological property of these molecules could help to reduce the druggability gap for these molecules. Taxane knowledge base (TaxKB, http://bioinfo.au-kbc.org.in/taxane/Taxkb/), is an online multi-tier relational database that currently holds data on 42 parameters of 250 natural and 503 semisynthetic analogs of taxanes. This database provides researchers with much-needed information necessary for drug development. TaxKB enables the user to search data on the structure, drug-likeness, and physicochemical properties of both natural and synthetic taxanes with a "General Search" option in addition to a "Parameter Specific Search." It displays 2D structure and allows the user to download the 3D structure (a PDB file) of taxanes that can be viewed with any molecular visualization tool. The ultimate aim of TaxKB is to provide information on Absorption, Distribution, Metabolism, and Excretion/Toxicity (ADME/T) as well as data on bioavailability and target interaction properties of candidate anticancer taxanes, ahead of expensive clinical

A multi-layer steganographic method based on audio time domain segmented and network steganography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xue, Pengfei; Liu, Hanlin; Hu, Jingsong; Hu, Ronggui

2018-05-01

Both audio steganography and network steganography are belong to modern steganography. Audio steganography has a large capacity. Network steganography is difficult to detect or track. In this paper, a multi-layer steganographic method based on the collaboration of them (MLS-ATDSS&NS) is proposed. MLS-ATDSS&NS is realized in two covert layers (audio steganography layer and network steganography layer) by two steps. A new audio time domain segmented steganography (ATDSS) method is proposed in step 1, and the collaboration method of ATDSS and NS is proposed in step 2. The experimental results showed that the advantage of MLS-ATDSS&NS over others is better trade-off between capacity, anti-detectability and robustness, that means higher steganographic capacity, better anti-detectability and stronger robustness.

Audio-Visual Speech Perception Is Special

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tuomainen, J.; Andersen, T.S.; Tiippana, K.; Sams, M.

2005-01-01

In face-to-face conversation speech is perceived by ear and eye. We studied the prerequisites of audio-visual speech perception by using perceptually ambiguous sine wave replicas of natural speech as auditory stimuli. When the subjects were not aware that the auditory stimuli were speech, they showed only negligible integration of auditory and…

Fluorescent Inhibitors as Tools To Characterize Enzymes: Case Study of the Lipid Kinase Phosphatidylinositol 4-Kinase IIIβ (PI4KB).

PubMed

Humpolickova, Jana; Mejdrová, Ivana; Matousova, Marika; Nencka, Radim; Boura, Evzen

2017-01-12

The lipid kinase phosphatidylinositol 4-kinase IIIβ (PI4KB) is an essential host factor for many positive-sense single-stranded RNA (+RNA) viruses including human pathogens hepatitis C virus (HCV), Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), coxsackie viruses, and rhinoviruses. Inhibitors of PI4KB are considered to be potential broad-spectrum virostatics, and it is therefore critical to develop a biochemical understanding of the kinase. Here, we present highly potent and selective fluorescent inhibitors that we show to be useful chemical biology tools especially in determination of dissociation constants. Moreover, we show that the coumarin-labeled inhibitor can be used to image PI4KB in cells using fluorescence-lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM) microscopy.

Computerized Audio-Visual Instructional Sequences (CAVIS): A Versatile System for Listening Comprehension in Foreign Language Teaching.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Aleman-Centeno, Josefina R.

1983-01-01

Discusses the development and evaluation of CAVIS, which consists of an Apple microcomputer used with audiovisual dialogs. Includes research on the effects of three conditions: (1) computer with audio and visual, (2) computer with audio alone and (3) audio alone in short-term and long-term recall. (EKN)

Audio-Visual and Meaningful Semantic Context Enhancements in Older and Younger Adults.

PubMed

Smayda, Kirsten E; Van Engen, Kristin J; Maddox, W Todd; Chandrasekaran, Bharath

2016-01-01

Speech perception is critical to everyday life. Oftentimes noise can degrade a speech signal; however, because of the cues available to the listener, such as visual and semantic cues, noise rarely prevents conversations from continuing. The interaction of visual and semantic cues in aiding speech perception has been studied in young adults, but the extent to which these two cues interact for older adults has not been studied. To investigate the effect of visual and semantic cues on speech perception in older and younger adults, we recruited forty-five young adults (ages 18-35) and thirty-three older adults (ages 60-90) to participate in a speech perception task. Participants were presented with semantically meaningful and anomalous sentences in audio-only and audio-visual conditions. We hypothesized that young adults would outperform older adults across SNRs, modalities, and semantic contexts. In addition, we hypothesized that both young and older adults would receive a greater benefit from a semantically meaningful context in the audio-visual relative to audio-only modality. We predicted that young adults would receive greater visual benefit in semantically meaningful contexts relative to anomalous contexts. However, we predicted that older adults could receive a greater visual benefit in either semantically meaningful or anomalous contexts. Results suggested that in the most supportive context, that is, semantically meaningful sentences presented in the audiovisual modality, older adults performed similarly to young adults. In addition, both groups received the same amount of visual and meaningful benefit. Lastly, across groups, a semantically meaningful context provided more benefit in the audio-visual modality relative to the audio-only modality, and the presence of visual cues provided more benefit in semantically meaningful contexts relative to anomalous contexts. These results suggest that older adults can perceive speech as well as younger adults when both

Audio-Visual and Meaningful Semantic Context Enhancements in Older and Younger Adults

PubMed Central

Smayda, Kirsten E.; Van Engen, Kristin J.; Maddox, W. Todd; Chandrasekaran, Bharath

2016-01-01

Speech perception is critical to everyday life. Oftentimes noise can degrade a speech signal; however, because of the cues available to the listener, such as visual and semantic cues, noise rarely prevents conversations from continuing. The interaction of visual and semantic cues in aiding speech perception has been studied in young adults, but the extent to which these two cues interact for older adults has not been studied. To investigate the effect of visual and semantic cues on speech perception in older and younger adults, we recruited forty-five young adults (ages 18–35) and thirty-three older adults (ages 60–90) to participate in a speech perception task. Participants were presented with semantically meaningful and anomalous sentences in audio-only and audio-visual conditions. We hypothesized that young adults would outperform older adults across SNRs, modalities, and semantic contexts. In addition, we hypothesized that both young and older adults would receive a greater benefit from a semantically meaningful context in the audio-visual relative to audio-only modality. We predicted that young adults would receive greater visual benefit in semantically meaningful contexts relative to anomalous contexts. However, we predicted that older adults could receive a greater visual benefit in either semantically meaningful or anomalous contexts. Results suggested that in the most supportive context, that is, semantically meaningful sentences presented in the audiovisual modality, older adults performed similarly to young adults. In addition, both groups received the same amount of visual and meaningful benefit. Lastly, across groups, a semantically meaningful context provided more benefit in the audio-visual modality relative to the audio-only modality, and the presence of visual cues provided more benefit in semantically meaningful contexts relative to anomalous contexts. These results suggest that older adults can perceive speech as well as younger adults when

Behavioral Science Design for Audio-Visual Software Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Foster, Dennis L.

1974-01-01

A discussion of the basic structure of the behavioral audio-visual production which consists of objectives analysis, approach determination, technical production, fulfillment evaluation, program refinement, implementation, and follow-up. (Author)

Incorporating Auditory Models in Speech/Audio Applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Krishnamoorthi, Harish

2011-12-01

Following the success in incorporating perceptual models in audio coding algorithms, their application in other speech/audio processing systems is expanding. In general, all perceptual speech/audio processing algorithms involve minimization of an objective function that directly/indirectly incorporates properties of human perception. This dissertation primarily investigates the problems associated with directly embedding an auditory model in the objective function formulation and proposes possible solutions to overcome high complexity issues for use in real-time speech/audio algorithms. Specific problems addressed in this dissertation include: 1) the development of approximate but computationally efficient auditory model implementations that are consistent with the principles of psychoacoustics, 2) the development of a mapping scheme that allows synthesizing a time/frequency domain representation from its equivalent auditory model output. The first problem is aimed at addressing the high computational complexity involved in solving perceptual objective functions that require repeated application of auditory model for evaluation of different candidate solutions. In this dissertation, a frequency pruning and a detector pruning algorithm is developed that efficiently implements the various auditory model stages. The performance of the pruned model is compared to that of the original auditory model for different types of test signals in the SQAM database. Experimental results indicate only a 4-7% relative error in loudness while attaining up to 80-90 % reduction in computational complexity. Similarly, a hybrid algorithm is developed specifically for use with sinusoidal signals and employs the proposed auditory pattern combining technique together with a look-up table to store representative auditory patterns. The second problem obtains an estimate of the auditory representation that minimizes a perceptual objective function and transforms the auditory pattern back to

Applications of ENF criterion in forensic audio, video, computer and telecommunication analysis.

PubMed

Grigoras, Catalin

2007-04-11

This article reports on the electric network frequency criterion as a means of assessing the integrity of digital audio/video evidence and forensic IT and telecommunication analysis. A brief description is given to different ENF types and phenomena that determine ENF variations. In most situations, to reach a non-authenticity opinion, the visual inspection of spectrograms and comparison with an ENF database are enough. A more detailed investigation, in the time domain, requires short time windows measurements and analyses. The stability of the ENF over geographical distances has been established by comparison of synchronized recordings made at different locations on the same network. Real cases are presented, in which the ENF criterion was used to investigate audio and video files created with secret surveillance systems, a digitized audio/video recording and a TV broadcasted reportage. By applying the ENF Criterion in forensic audio/video analysis, one can determine whether and where a digital recording has been edited, establish whether it was made at the time claimed, and identify the time and date of the registering operation.

Comparison between audio-only and audiovisual biofeedback for regulating patients' respiration during four-dimensional radiotherapy

PubMed Central

Yu, Jesang; Choi, Ji Hoon; Ma, Sun Young; Jeung, Tae Sig

2015-01-01

Purpose To compare audio-only biofeedback to conventional audiovisual biofeedback for regulating patients' respiration during four-dimensional radiotherapy, limiting damage to healthy surrounding tissues caused by organ movement. Materials and Methods Six healthy volunteers were assisted by audiovisual or audio-only biofeedback systems to regulate their respirations. Volunteers breathed through a mask developed for this study by following computer-generated guiding curves displayed on a screen, combined with instructional sounds. They then performed breathing following instructional sounds only. The guiding signals and the volunteers' respiratory signals were logged at 20 samples per second. Results The standard deviations between the guiding and respiratory curves for the audiovisual and audio-only biofeedback systems were 21.55% and 23.19%, respectively; the average correlation coefficients were 0.9778 and 0.9756, respectively. The regularities between audiovisual and audio-only biofeedback for six volunteers' respirations were same statistically from the paired t-test. Conclusion The difference between the audiovisual and audio-only biofeedback methods was not significant. Audio-only biofeedback has many advantages, as patients do not require a mask and can quickly adapt to this method in the clinic. PMID:26484309

Method for reading sensors and controlling actuators using audio interfaces of mobile devices.

PubMed

Aroca, Rafael V; Burlamaqui, Aquiles F; Gonçalves, Luiz M G

2012-01-01

This article presents a novel closed loop control architecture based on audio channels of several types of computing devices, such as mobile phones and tablet computers, but not restricted to them. The communication is based on an audio interface that relies on the exchange of audio tones, allowing sensors to be read and actuators to be controlled. As an application example, the presented technique is used to build a low cost mobile robot, but the system can also be used in a variety of mechatronics applications and sensor networks, where smartphones are the basic building blocks.

Method for Reading Sensors and Controlling Actuators Using Audio Interfaces of Mobile Devices

PubMed Central

Aroca, Rafael V.; Burlamaqui, Aquiles F.; Gonçalves, Luiz M. G.

2012-01-01

This article presents a novel closed loop control architecture based on audio channels of several types of computing devices, such as mobile phones and tablet computers, but not restricted to them. The communication is based on an audio interface that relies on the exchange of audio tones, allowing sensors to be read and actuators to be controlled. As an application example, the presented technique is used to build a low cost mobile robot, but the system can also be used in a variety of mechatronics applications and sensor networks, where smartphones are the basic building blocks. PMID:22438726

Cross-Modal Matching of Audio-Visual German and French Fluent Speech in Infancy

PubMed Central

Kubicek, Claudia; Hillairet de Boisferon, Anne; Dupierrix, Eve; Pascalis, Olivier; Lœvenbruck, Hélène; Gervain, Judit; Schwarzer, Gudrun

2014-01-01

The present study examined when and how the ability to cross-modally match audio-visual fluent speech develops in 4.5-, 6- and 12-month-old German-learning infants. In Experiment 1, 4.5- and 6-month-old infants’ audio-visual matching ability of native (German) and non-native (French) fluent speech was assessed by presenting auditory and visual speech information sequentially, that is, in the absence of temporal synchrony cues. The results showed that 4.5-month-old infants were capable of matching native as well as non-native audio and visual speech stimuli, whereas 6-month-olds perceived the audio-visual correspondence of native language stimuli only. This suggests that intersensory matching narrows for fluent speech between 4.5 and 6 months of age. In Experiment 2, auditory and visual speech information was presented simultaneously, therefore, providing temporal synchrony cues. Here, 6-month-olds were found to match native as well as non-native speech indicating facilitation of temporal synchrony cues on the intersensory perception of non-native fluent speech. Intriguingly, despite the fact that audio and visual stimuli cohered temporally, 12-month-olds matched the non-native language only. Results were discussed with regard to multisensory perceptual narrowing during the first year of life. PMID:24586651

When patients take the initiative to audio-record a clinical consultation.

PubMed

van Bruinessen, Inge Renske; Leegwater, Brigit; van Dulmen, Sandra

2017-08-01

to get insight into healthcare professionals' current experience with, and views on consultation audio-recordings made on patients' initiative. 215 Dutch healthcare professionals (123 physicians and 92 nurses) working in oncology care completed a survey inquiring their experiences and views. 71% of the respondents had experience with the consultation audio-recordings. Healthcare professionals who are in favour of the use of audio-recordings seem to embrace the evidence-based benefits for patients of listing back to a consultation again, and mention the positive influence on their patients. Opposing arguments relate to the belief that is confusing for patients or that it increases the chance that information is misinterpreted. Also the lack of control they have over the recording (fear for misuse), uncertainty about the medico-legal status, inhibiting influence on the communication process and feeling of distrust was mentioned. For almost one quarter of respondents these arguments and concerns were reason enough not to cooperate at all (9%), to cooperate only in certain cases (4%) or led to doubts about cooperation (9%). the many concerns that exist among healthcare professionals need to be tackled in order to increase transparency, as audio-recordings are expected to be used increasingly. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Transcript of Audio Narrative Portion of: Scandinavian Heritage. A Set of Five Audio-Visual Film Strip/Cassette Presentations.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Anderson, Gerald D.; Olson, David B.

The document presents the transcript of the audio narrative portion of approximately 100 interviews with first and second generation Scandinavian immigrants to the United States. The document is intended for use by secondary school classroom teachers as they develop and implement educational programs related to the Scandinavian heritage in…

Comparing the Effects of Classroom Audio-Recording and Video-Recording on Preservice Teachers' Reflection of Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bergman, Daniel

2015-01-01

This study examined the effects of audio and video self-recording on preservice teachers' written reflections. Participants (n = 201) came from a secondary teaching methods course and its school-based (clinical) fieldwork. The audio group (n[subscript A] = 106) used audio recorders to monitor their teaching in fieldwork placements; the video group…

Audio Spectrogram Representations for Processing with Convolutional Neural Networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wyse, L.

2017-05-01

One of the decisions that arise when designing a neural network for any application is how the data should be represented in order to be presented to, and possibly generated by, a neural network. For audio, the choice is less obvious than it seems to be for visual images, and a variety of representations have been used for different applications including the raw digitized sample stream, hand-crafted features, machine discovered features, MFCCs and variants that include deltas, and a variety of spectral representations. This paper reviews some of these representations and issues that arise, focusing particularly on spectrograms for generating audio using neural networks for style transfer.

Ornithine aminotransferase (OAT): recombination between an X-linked OAT sequence (7.5 kb) and the Norrie disease locus.

PubMed

Ngo, J T; Bateman, J B; Spence, M A; Cortessis, V; Sparkes, R S; Kivlin, J D; Mohandas, T; Inana, G

1990-01-01

A human ornithine aminotransferase (OAT) locus has been mapped to the Xp11.2, as has the Norrie disease locus. We used a cDNA probe to investigate a 3-generation UCLA family with Norrie disease; a 4.2-kb RFLP was detected and a maximum lod score of 0.602 at zero recombination fraction was calculated. We used the same probe to study a second multigeneration family with Norrie disease from Utah. A different RFLP of 7.5 kb in size was identified and a recombinational event between the OAT locus represented by this RFLP and the disease loci was observed. Linkage analysis of these two loci in this family revealed a maximum load score of 1.88 at a recombination fraction of 0.10. Although both families have affected members with the same disease, the lod scores are reported separately because the 4.2- and 7.5-kb RFLPs may represent two different loci for the X-linked OAT.

PheKB: a catalog and workflow for creating electronic phenotype algorithms for transportability

PubMed Central

Kirby, Jacqueline C; Speltz, Peter; Rasmussen, Luke V; Basford, Melissa; Gottesman, Omri; Peissig, Peggy L; Pacheco, Jennifer A; Tromp, Gerard; Pathak, Jyotishman; Carrell, David S; Ellis, Stephen B; Lingren, Todd; Thompson, Will K; Savova, Guergana; Haines, Jonathan; Roden, Dan M; Harris, Paul A

2016-01-01

Objective Health care generated data have become an important source for clinical and genomic research. Often, investigators create and iteratively refine phenotype algorithms to achieve high positive predictive values (PPVs) or sensitivity, thereby identifying valid cases and controls. These algorithms achieve the greatest utility when validated and shared by multiple health care systems. Materials and Methods We report the current status and impact of the Phenotype KnowledgeBase (PheKB, http://phekb.org), an online environment supporting the workflow of building, sharing, and validating electronic phenotype algorithms. We analyze the most frequent components used in algorithms and their performance at authoring institutions and secondary implementation sites. Results As of June 2015, PheKB contained 30 finalized phenotype algorithms and 62 algorithms in development spanning a range of traits and diseases. Phenotypes have had over 3500 unique views in a 6-month period and have been reused by other institutions. International Classification of Disease codes were the most frequently used component, followed by medications and natural language processing. Among algorithms with published performance data, the median PPV was nearly identical when evaluated at the authoring institutions (n = 44; case 96.0%, control 100%) compared to implementation sites (n = 40; case 97.5%, control 100%). Discussion These results demonstrate that a broad range of algorithms to mine electronic health record data from different health systems can be developed with high PPV, and algorithms developed at one site are generally transportable to others. Conclusion By providing a central repository, PheKB enables improved development, transportability, and validity of algorithms for research-grade phenotypes using health care generated data. PMID:27026615

Detection of emetic activity in the cat by monitoring venous pressure and audio signals

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nagahara, A.; Fox, Robert A.; Daunton, Nancy G.; Elfar, S.

1991-01-01

To investigate the use of audio signals as a simple, noninvasive measure of emetic activity, the relationship between the somatic events and sounds associated with retching and vomiting was studied. Thoracic venous pressure obtained from an implanted external jugular catheter was shown to provide a precise measure of the somatic events associated with retching and vomiting. Changes in thoracic venous pressure monitored through an indwelling external jugular catheter with audio signals, obtained from a microphone located above the animal in a test chamber, were compared. In addition, two independent observers visually monitored emetic episodes. Retching and vomiting were induced by injection of xylazine (0.66mg/kg s.c.), or by motion. A unique audio signal at a frequency of approximately 250 Hz is produced at the time of the negative thoracic venous pressure change associated with retching. Sounds with higher frequencies (around 2500 Hz) occur in conjunction with the positive pressure changes associated with vomiting. These specific signals could be discriminated reliably by individuals reviewing the audio recordings of the sessions. Retching and those emetic episodes associated with positive venous pressure changes were detected accurately by audio monitoring, with 90 percent of retches and 100 percent of emetic episodes correctly identified. Retching was detected more accurately (p is less than .05) by audio monitoring than by direct visual observation. However, with visual observation a few incidents in which stomach contents were expelled in the absence of positive pressure changes or detectable sounds were identified. These data suggest that in emetic situations, the expulsion of stomach contents may be accomplished by more than one neuromuscular system and that audio signals can be used to detect emetic episodes associated with thoracic venous pressure changes.

Agency Video, Audio and Imagery Library

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Grubbs, Rodney

2015-01-01

The purpose of this presentation was to inform the ISS International Partners of the new NASA Agency Video, Audio and Imagery Library (AVAIL) website. AVAIL is a new resource for the public to search for and download NASA-related imagery, and is not intended to replace the current process by which the International Partners receive their Space Station imagery products.

A Robust Zero-Watermarking Algorithm for Audio

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Ning; Zhu, Jie

2007-12-01

In traditional watermarking algorithms, the insertion of watermark into the host signal inevitably introduces some perceptible quality degradation. Another problem is the inherent conflict between imperceptibility and robustness. Zero-watermarking technique can solve these problems successfully. Instead of embedding watermark, the zero-watermarking technique extracts some essential characteristics from the host signal and uses them for watermark detection. However, most of the available zero-watermarking schemes are designed for still image and their robustness is not satisfactory. In this paper, an efficient and robust zero-watermarking technique for audio signal is presented. The multiresolution characteristic of discrete wavelet transform (DWT), the energy compression characteristic of discrete cosine transform (DCT), and the Gaussian noise suppression property of higher-order cumulant are combined to extract essential features from the host audio signal and they are then used for watermark recovery. Simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of our scheme in terms of inaudibility, detection reliability, and robustness.

Audio feature extraction using probability distribution function

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Suhaib, A.; Wan, Khairunizam; Aziz, Azri A.; Hazry, D.; Razlan, Zuradzman M.; Shahriman A., B.

2015-05-01

Voice recognition has been one of the popular applications in robotic field. It is also known to be recently used for biometric and multimedia information retrieval system. This technology is attained from successive research on audio feature extraction analysis. Probability Distribution Function (PDF) is a statistical method which is usually used as one of the processes in complex feature extraction methods such as GMM and PCA. In this paper, a new method for audio feature extraction is proposed which is by using only PDF as a feature extraction method itself for speech analysis purpose. Certain pre-processing techniques are performed in prior to the proposed feature extraction method. Subsequently, the PDF result values for each frame of sampled voice signals obtained from certain numbers of individuals are plotted. From the experimental results obtained, it can be seen visually from the plotted data that each individuals' voice has comparable PDF values and shapes.

Worldwide survey of direct-to-listener digital audio delivery systems development since WARC-1992

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Messer, Dion D.

1993-01-01

Each country was allocated frequency band(s) for direct-to-listener digital audio broadcasting at WARC-92. These allocations were near 1500, 2300, and 2600 MHz. In addition, some countries are encouraging the development of digital audio broadcasting services for terrestrial delivery only in the VHF bands (at frequencies from roughly 50 to 300 MHz) and in the medium-wave broadcasting band (AM band) (from roughly 0.5 to 1.7 MHz). The development activity increase was explosive. Current development, as of February 1993, as it is known to the author is summarized. The information given includes the following characteristics, as appropriate, for each planned system: coverage areas, audio quality, number of audio channels, delivery via satellite/terrestrial or both, carrier frequency bands, modulation methods, source coding, and channel coding. Most proponents claim that they will be operational in 3 or 4 years.

When the third party observer of a neuropsychological evaluation is an audio-recorder.

PubMed

Constantinou, Marios; Ashendorf, Lee; McCaffrey, Robert J

2002-08-01

The presence of third parties during neuropsychological evaluations is an issue of concern for contemporary neuropsychologists. Previous studies have reported that the presence of an observer during neuropsychological testing alters the performance of individuals under evaluation. The present study sought to investigate whether audio-recording affects the neuropsychological test performance of individuals in the same way that third party observation does. In the presence of an audio-recorder the performance of the participants on memory tests declined. Performance on motor tests, on the other hand, was not affected by the presence of an audio-recorder. The implications of these findings in forensic neuropsychological evaluations are discussed.

Multidimensional QoE of Multiview Video and Selectable Audio IP Transmission

PubMed Central

Nunome, Toshiro; Ishida, Takuya

2015-01-01

We evaluate QoE of multiview video and selectable audio (MVV-SA), in which users can switch not only video but also audio according to a viewpoint change request, transmitted over IP networks by a subjective experiment. The evaluation is performed by the semantic differential (SD) method with 13 adjective pairs. In the subjective experiment, we ask assessors to evaluate 40 stimuli which consist of two kinds of UDP load traffic, two kinds of fixed additional delay, five kinds of playout buffering time, and selectable or unselectable audio (i.e., MVV-SA or the previous MVV-A). As a result, MVV-SA gives higher presence to the user than MVV-A and then enhances QoE. In addition, we employ factor analysis for subjective assessment results to clarify the component factors of QoE. We then find that three major factors affect QoE in MVV-SA. PMID:26106640

Development and Evaluation of a Feedback Support System with Audio and Playback Strokes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Li, Kai; Akahori, Kanji

2008-01-01

This paper describes the development and evaluation of a handwritten correction support system with audio and playback strokes used to teach Japanese writing. The study examined whether audio and playback strokes have a positive effect on students using honorific expressions in Japanese writing. The results showed that error feedback with audio…

A rare case of 46, XX SRY-negative male with approximately 74-kb duplication in a region upstream of SOX9.

PubMed

Xiao, Bing; Ji, Xing; Xing, Ya; Chen, Ying-Wei; Tao, Jiong

2013-12-01

The 46, XX male disorder of sex development (DSD) is a rare genetic condition. Here, we report the case of a 46, XX SRY-negative male with complete masculinization. The coding region and exon/intron boundaries of the DAX1, SOX9 and RSPO1 genes were sequenced, and no mutations were detected. Using whole genome array analysis and real-time PCR, we identified a approximately 74-kb duplication in a region approximately 510-584 kb upstream of SOX9 (chr17:69,533,305-69,606,825, hg19). Combined with the results of previous studies, the minimum critical region associated with gonadal development is a 67-kb region located 584-517 kb upstream of SOX9. The amplification of this region might lead to SOX9 overexpression, causing female-to-male sex reversal. Gonadal-specific enhancers in the region upstream of SOX9 may activate the SOX9 expression through long-range regulation, thus triggering testicular differentiation. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Berberine induces FasL-related apoptosis through p38 activation in KB human oral cancer cells

PubMed Central

KIM, JAE-SUNG; OH, DAHYE; YIM, MIN-JI; PARK, JIN-JU; KANG, KYEONG-ROK; CHO, IN-A; MOON, SUNG-MIN; OH, JI-SU; YOU, JAE-SEEK; KIM, CHUN SUNG; KIM, DO KYUNG; LEE, SOOK-YOUNG; LEE, GYEONG-JE; IM, HEE-JEONG; KIM, SU-GWAN

2015-01-01

In the present study, we examined the anticancer properties of berberine in KB oral cancer cells with a specific focus on its cellular mechanism. Berberine did not affect the cell viability of the primary human normal oral keratinocytes that were used as a control. However, the viability of KB cells was found to decrease significantly in the presence of berberine in a dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, in KB cells, berberine induced the fragmentation of genomic DNA, changes in cell morphology, and nuclear condensation. In addition, caspase-3 and -7 activation, and an increase in apoptosis were observed. Berberine was also found to upregulate significantly the expression of the death receptor ligand, FasL. In turn, this upregulation triggered the activation of pro-apoptotic factors such as caspase-8, -9 and -3 and poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP). Furthermore, pro-apoptotic factors such as Bax, Bad and Apaf-1 were also significantly upregulated by berberine. Anti-apoptotic factors such as Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL were downregulated. Z-VAD-FMK, a cell-permeable pan-caspase inhibitor, suppressed the activation of caspase-3 and PARP. These results clearly indicate that berberine-induced cell death of KB oral cancer cells was mediated by both extrinsic death receptor-dependent and intrinsic mitochondrial-dependent apoptotic signaling pathways. In addition, berberine-induced upregulation of FasL was shown to be mediated by the p38 MAPK signaling pathway. We also found that berberine-induced migration suppression was mediated by downregulation of MMP-2 and MMP-9 through phosphorylation of p38 MAPK. In summary, berberine has the potential to be used as a chemotherapeutic agent, with limited side-effects, for the management of oral cancer. PMID:25634589

SPACE FOR AUDIO-VISUAL LARGE GROUP INSTRUCTION.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

GAUSEWITZ, CARL H.

WITH AN INCREASING INTEREST IN AND UTILIZATION OF AUDIO-VISUAL MEDIA IN EDUCATION FACILITIES, IT IS IMPORTANT THAT STANDARDS ARE ESTABLISHED FOR ESTIMATING THE SPACE REQUIRED FOR VIEWING THESE VARIOUS MEDIA. THIS MONOGRAPH SUGGESTS SUCH STANDARDS FOR VIEWING AREAS, VIEWING ANGLES, SEATING PATTERNS, SCREEN CHARACTERISTICS AND EQUIPMENT PERFORMANCES…

Improving Audio Quality in Distance Learning Applications.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Richardson, Craig H.

This paper discusses common causes of problems encountered with audio systems in distance learning networks and offers practical suggestions for correcting the problems. Problems and discussions are divided into nine categories: (1) acoustics, including reverberant classrooms leading to distorted or garbled voices, as well as one-dimensional audio…

HomeBank: An Online Repository of Daylong Child-Centered Audio Recordings

PubMed Central

VanDam, Mark; Warlaumont, Anne S.; Bergelson, Elika; Cristia, Alejandrina; Soderstrom, Melanie; De Palma, Paul; MacWhinney, Brian

2017-01-01

HomeBank is introduced here. It is a public, permanent, extensible, online database of daylong audio recorded in naturalistic environments. HomeBank serves two primary purposes. First, it is a repository for raw audio and associated files: one database requires special permissions, and another redacted database allows unrestricted public access. Associated files include metadata such as participant demographics and clinical diagnostics, automated annotations, and human-generated transcriptions and annotations. Many recordings use the child-perspective LENA recorders (LENA Research Foundation, Boulder, Colorado, United States), but various recordings and metadata can be accommodated. The HomeBank database can have both vetted and unvetted recordings, with different levels of accessibility. Additionally, HomeBank is an open repository for processing and analysis tools for HomeBank or similar data sets. HomeBank is flexible for users and contributors, making primary data available to researchers, especially those in child development, linguistics, and audio engineering. HomeBank facilitates researchers’ access to large-scale data and tools, linking the acoustic, auditory, and linguistic characteristics of children’s environments with a variety of variables including socioeconomic status, family characteristics, language trajectories, and disorders. Automated processing applied to daylong home audio recordings is now becoming widely used in early intervention initiatives, helping parents to provide richer speech input to at-risk children. PMID:27111272

Active Learning in the Online Environment: The Integration of Student-Generated Audio Files

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bolliger, Doris U.; Armier, David Des, Jr.

2013-01-01

Educators have integrated instructor-produced audio files in a variety of settings and environments for purposes such as content presentation, lecture reviews, student feedback, and so forth. Few instructors, however, require students to produce audio files and share them with peers. The purpose of this study was to obtain empirical data on…

Automatic summarization of soccer highlights using audio-visual descriptors.

PubMed

Raventós, A; Quijada, R; Torres, Luis; Tarrés, Francesc

2015-01-01

Automatic summarization generation of sports video content has been object of great interest for many years. Although semantic descriptions techniques have been proposed, many of the approaches still rely on low-level video descriptors that render quite limited results due to the complexity of the problem and to the low capability of the descriptors to represent semantic content. In this paper, a new approach for automatic highlights summarization generation of soccer videos using audio-visual descriptors is presented. The approach is based on the segmentation of the video sequence into shots that will be further analyzed to determine its relevance and interest. Of special interest in the approach is the use of the audio information that provides additional robustness to the overall performance of the summarization system. For every video shot a set of low and mid level audio-visual descriptors are computed and lately adequately combined in order to obtain different relevance measures based on empirical knowledge rules. The final summary is generated by selecting those shots with highest interest according to the specifications of the user and the results of relevance measures. A variety of results are presented with real soccer video sequences that prove the validity of the approach.

Audio-visual speech intelligibility benefits with bilateral cochlear implants when talker location varies.

PubMed

van Hoesel, Richard J M

2015-04-01

One of the key benefits of using cochlear implants (CIs) in both ears rather than just one is improved localization. It is likely that in complex listening scenes, improved localization allows bilateral CI users to orient toward talkers to improve signal-to-noise ratios and gain access to visual cues, but to date, that conjecture has not been tested. To obtain an objective measure of that benefit, seven bilateral CI users were assessed for both auditory-only and audio-visual speech intelligibility in noise using a novel dynamic spatial audio-visual test paradigm. For each trial conducted in spatially distributed noise, first, an auditory-only cueing phrase that was spoken by one of four talkers was selected and presented from one of four locations. Shortly afterward, a target sentence was presented that was either audio-visual or, in another test configuration, audio-only and was spoken by the same talker and from the same location as the cueing phrase. During the target presentation, visual distractors were added at other spatial locations. Results showed that in terms of speech reception thresholds (SRTs), the average improvement for bilateral listening over the better performing ear alone was 9 dB for the audio-visual mode, and 3 dB for audition-alone. Comparison of bilateral performance for audio-visual and audition-alone showed that inclusion of visual cues led to an average SRT improvement of 5 dB. For unilateral device use, no such benefit arose, presumably due to the greatly reduced ability to localize the target talker to acquire visual information. The bilateral CI speech intelligibility advantage over the better ear in the present study is much larger than that previously reported for static talker locations and indicates greater everyday speech benefits and improved cost-benefit than estimated to date.

Reasons to Rethink the Use of Audio and Video Lectures in Online Courses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stetz, Thomas A.; Bauman, Antonina A.

2013-01-01

Recent technological developments allow any instructor to create audio and video lectures for the use in online classes. However, it is questionable if it is worth the time and effort that faculty put into preparing those lectures. This paper presents thirteen factors that should be considered before preparing and using audio and video lectures in…

Dynamic and scalable audio classification by collective network of binary classifiers framework: an evolutionary approach.

PubMed

Kiranyaz, Serkan; Mäkinen, Toni; Gabbouj, Moncef

2012-10-01

In this paper, we propose a novel framework based on a collective network of evolutionary binary classifiers (CNBC) to address the problems of feature and class scalability. The main goal of the proposed framework is to achieve a high classification performance over dynamic audio and video repositories. The proposed framework adopts a "Divide and Conquer" approach in which an individual network of binary classifiers (NBC) is allocated to discriminate each audio class. An evolutionary search is applied to find the best binary classifier in each NBC with respect to a given criterion. Through the incremental evolution sessions, the CNBC framework can dynamically adapt to each new incoming class or feature set without resorting to a full-scale re-training or re-configuration. Therefore, the CNBC framework is particularly designed for dynamically varying databases where no conventional static classifiers can adapt to such changes. In short, it is entirely a novel topology, an unprecedented approach for dynamic, content/data adaptive and scalable audio classification. A large set of audio features can be effectively used in the framework, where the CNBCs make appropriate selections and combinations so as to achieve the highest discrimination among individual audio classes. Experiments demonstrate a high classification accuracy (above 90%) and efficiency of the proposed framework over large and dynamic audio databases. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Design and Implementation of a Video-Zoom Driven Digital Audio-Zoom System for Portable Digital Imaging Devices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Park, Nam In; Kim, Seon Man; Kim, Hong Kook; Kim, Ji Woon; Kim, Myeong Bo; Yun, Su Won

In this paper, we propose a video-zoom driven audio-zoom algorithm in order to provide audio zooming effects in accordance with the degree of video-zoom. The proposed algorithm is designed based on a super-directive beamformer operating with a 4-channel microphone system, in conjunction with a soft masking process that considers the phase differences between microphones. Thus, the audio-zoom processed signal is obtained by multiplying an audio gain derived from a video-zoom level by the masked signal. After all, a real-time audio-zoom system is implemented on an ARM-CORETEX-A8 having a clock speed of 600 MHz after different levels of optimization are performed such as algorithmic level, C-code, and memory optimizations. To evaluate the complexity of the proposed real-time audio-zoom system, test data whose length is 21.3 seconds long is sampled at 48 kHz. As a result, it is shown from the experiments that the processing time for the proposed audio-zoom system occupies 14.6% or less of the ARM clock cycles. It is also shown from the experimental results performed in a semi-anechoic chamber that the signal with the front direction can be amplified by approximately 10 dB compared to the other directions.

Real-time implementation of second generation of audio multilevel information coding

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ali, Murtaza; Tewfik, Ahmed H.; Viswanathan, V.

1994-03-01

This paper describes real-time implementation of a novel wavelet- based audio compression method. This method is based on the discrete wavelet (DWT) representation of signals. A bit allocation procedure is used to allocate bits to the transform coefficients in an adaptive fashion. The bit allocation procedure has been designed to take advantage of the masking effect in human hearing. The procedure minimizes the number of bits required to represent each frame of audio signals at a fixed distortion level. The real-time implementation provides almost transparent compression of monophonic CD quality audio signals (samples at 44.1 KHz and quantized using 16 bits/sample) at bit rates of 64-78 Kbits/sec. Our implementation uses two ASPI Elf boards, each of which is built around a TI TMS230C31 DSP chip. The time required for encoding of a mono CD signal is about 92 percent of real time and that for decoding about 61 percent.

A haptic-inspired audio approach for structural health monitoring decision-making

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mao, Zhu; Todd, Michael; Mascareñas, David

2015-03-01

Haptics is the field at the interface of human touch (tactile sensation) and classification, whereby tactile feedback is used to train and inform a decision-making process. In structural health monitoring (SHM) applications, haptic devices have been introduced and applied in a simplified laboratory scale scenario, in which nonlinearity, representing the presence of damage, was encoded into a vibratory manual interface. In this paper, the "spirit" of haptics is adopted, but here ultrasonic guided wave scattering information is transformed into audio (rather than tactile) range signals. After sufficient training, the structural damage condition, including occurrence and location, can be identified through the encoded audio waveforms. Different algorithms are employed in this paper to generate the transformed audio signals and the performance of each encoding algorithms is compared, and also compared with standard machine learning classifiers. In the long run, the haptic decision-making is aiming to detect and classify structural damages in a more rigorous environment, and approaching a baseline-free fashion with embedded temperature compensation.

37 CFR 201.28 - Statements of Account for digital audio recording devices or media.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... digital audio recording devices or media. 201.28 Section 201.28 Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights COPYRIGHT OFFICE, LIBRARY OF CONGRESS COPYRIGHT OFFICE AND PROCEDURES GENERAL PROVISIONS § 201.28 Statements of Account for digital audio recording devices or media. (a) General. This section prescribes rules...

37 CFR 201.28 - Statements of Account for digital audio recording devices or media.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... digital audio recording devices or media. 201.28 Section 201.28 Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights COPYRIGHT OFFICE, LIBRARY OF CONGRESS COPYRIGHT OFFICE AND PROCEDURES GENERAL PROVISIONS § 201.28 Statements of Account for digital audio recording devices or media. (a) General. This section prescribes rules...

37 CFR 201.28 - Statements of Account for digital audio recording devices or media.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... digital audio recording devices or media. 201.28 Section 201.28 Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights COPYRIGHT OFFICE, LIBRARY OF CONGRESS COPYRIGHT OFFICE AND PROCEDURES GENERAL PROVISIONS § 201.28 Statements of Account for digital audio recording devices or media. (a) General. This section prescribes rules...

PheKB: a catalog and workflow for creating electronic phenotype algorithms for transportability.

PubMed

Kirby, Jacqueline C; Speltz, Peter; Rasmussen, Luke V; Basford, Melissa; Gottesman, Omri; Peissig, Peggy L; Pacheco, Jennifer A; Tromp, Gerard; Pathak, Jyotishman; Carrell, David S; Ellis, Stephen B; Lingren, Todd; Thompson, Will K; Savova, Guergana; Haines, Jonathan; Roden, Dan M; Harris, Paul A; Denny, Joshua C

2016-11-01

Health care generated data have become an important source for clinical and genomic research. Often, investigators create and iteratively refine phenotype algorithms to achieve high positive predictive values (PPVs) or sensitivity, thereby identifying valid cases and controls. These algorithms achieve the greatest utility when validated and shared by multiple health care systems.Materials and Methods We report the current status and impact of the Phenotype KnowledgeBase (PheKB, http://phekb.org), an online environment supporting the workflow of building, sharing, and validating electronic phenotype algorithms. We analyze the most frequent components used in algorithms and their performance at authoring institutions and secondary implementation sites. As of June 2015, PheKB contained 30 finalized phenotype algorithms and 62 algorithms in development spanning a range of traits and diseases. Phenotypes have had over 3500 unique views in a 6-month period and have been reused by other institutions. International Classification of Disease codes were the most frequently used component, followed by medications and natural language processing. Among algorithms with published performance data, the median PPV was nearly identical when evaluated at the authoring institutions (n = 44; case 96.0%, control 100%) compared to implementation sites (n = 40; case 97.5%, control 100%). These results demonstrate that a broad range of algorithms to mine electronic health record data from different health systems can be developed with high PPV, and algorithms developed at one site are generally transportable to others. By providing a central repository, PheKB enables improved development, transportability, and validity of algorithms for research-grade phenotypes using health care generated data. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Medical Informatics Association. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Development of a good-quality speech coder for transmission over noisy channels at 2.4 kb/s

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Viswanathan, V. R.; Berouti, M.; Higgins, A.; Russell, W.

1982-03-01

This report describes the development, study, and experimental results of a 2.4 kb/s speech coder called harmonic deviations (HDV) vocoder, which transmits good-quality speech over noisy channels with bit-error rates of up to 1%. The HDV coder is based on the linear predictive coding (LPC) vocoder, and it transmits additional information over and above the data transmitted by the LPC vocoder, in the form of deviations between the speech spectrum and the LPC all-pole model spectrum at a selected set of frequencies. At the receiver, the spectral deviations are used to generate the excitation signal for the all-pole synthesis filter. The report describes and compares several methods for extracting the spectral deviations from the speech signal and for encoding them. To limit the bit-rate of the HDV coder to 2.4 kb/s the report discusses several methods including orthogonal transformation and minimum-mean-square-error scalar quantization of log area ratios, two-stage vector-scalar quantization, and variable frame rate transmission. The report also presents the results of speech-quality optimization of the HDV coder at 2.4 kb/s.

Reduction in time-to-sleep through EEG based brain state detection and audio stimulation.

PubMed

Zhuo Zhang; Cuntai Guan; Ti Eu Chan; Juanhong Yu; Aung Aung Phyo Wai; Chuanchu Wang; Haihong Zhang

2015-08-01

We developed an EEG- and audio-based sleep sensing and enhancing system, called iSleep (interactive Sleep enhancement apparatus). The system adopts a closed-loop approach which optimizes the audio recording selection based on user's sleep status detected through our online EEG computing algorithm. The iSleep prototype comprises two major parts: 1) a sleeping mask integrated with a single channel EEG electrode and amplifier, a pair of stereo earphones and a microcontroller with wireless circuit for control and data streaming; 2) a mobile app to receive EEG signals for online sleep monitoring and audio playback control. In this study we attempt to validate our hypothesis that appropriate audio stimulation in relation to brain state can induce faster onset of sleep and improve the quality of a nap. We conduct experiments on 28 healthy subjects, each undergoing two nap sessions - one with a quiet background and one with our audio-stimulation. We compare the time-to-sleep in both sessions between two groups of subjects, e.g., fast and slow sleep onset groups. The p-value obtained from Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test is 1.22e-04 for slow onset group, which demonstrates that iSleep can significantly reduce the time-to-sleep for people with difficulty in falling sleep.

Description of Audio-Visual Recording Equipment and Method of Installation for Pilot Training.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Neese, James A.

The Audio-Video Recorder System was developed to evaluate the effectiveness of in-flight audio/video recording as a pilot training technique for the U.S. Air Force Pilot Training Program. It will be used to gather background and performance data for an experimental program. A detailed description of the system is presented and construction and…

Building Digital Audio Preservation Infrastructure and Workflows

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Young, Anjanette; Olivieri, Blynne; Eckler, Karl; Gerontakos, Theodore

2010-01-01

In 2009 the University of Washington (UW) Libraries special collections received funding for the digital preservation of its audio indigenous language holdings. The university libraries, where the authors work in various capacities, had begun digitizing image and text collections in 1997. Because of this, at the onset of the project, workflows (a…

Melting relations in the Fe-rich portion of the system FeFeS at 30 kb pressure

USGS Publications Warehouse

Brett, R.; Bell, P.M.

1969-01-01

The melting relations of FeFeS mixtures covering the composition range from Fe to Fe67S33 have been determined at 30 kb pressure. The phase relations are similar to those at low pressure. The eutectic has a composition of Fe72.9S27.1 and a temperature of 990??C. Solubility of S in Fe at elevated temperatures at 30 kb is of the same order of magnitude as at low pressure. Sulfur may have significantly lowered the melting point of iron in the upper mantle during the period of coalescence of metal prior to core formation in the primitive earth. ?? 1969.

37 CFR 201.28 - Statements of Account for digital audio recording devices or media.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... digital audio recording devices or media. 201.28 Section 201.28 Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights U.S. COPYRIGHT OFFICE, LIBRARY OF CONGRESS COPYRIGHT OFFICE AND PROCEDURES GENERAL PROVISIONS § 201.28 Statements of Account for digital audio recording devices or media. (a) General. This section prescribes rules...

Effects of audio-visual presentation of target words in word translation training

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Akahane-Yamada, Reiko; Komaki, Ryo; Kubo, Rieko

2004-05-01

Komaki and Akahane-Yamada (Proc. ICA2004) used 2AFC translation task in vocabulary training, in which the target word is presented visually in orthographic form of one language, and the appropriate meaning in another language has to be chosen between two choices. Present paper examined the effect of audio-visual presentation of target word when native speakers of Japanese learn to translate English words into Japanese. Pairs of English words contrasted in several phonemic distinctions (e.g., /r/-/l/, /b/-/v/, etc.) were used as word materials, and presented in three conditions; visual-only (V), audio-only (A), and audio-visual (AV) presentations. Identification accuracy of those words produced by two talkers was also assessed. During pretest, the accuracy for A stimuli was lowest, implying that insufficient translation ability and listening ability interact with each other when aurally presented word has to be translated. However, there was no difference in accuracy between V and AV stimuli, suggesting that participants translate the words depending on visual information only. The effect of translation training using AV stimuli did not transfer to identification ability, showing that additional audio information during translation does not help improve speech perception. Further examination is necessary to determine the effective L2 training method. [Work supported by TAO, Japan.

Synchronized and noise-robust audio recordings during realtime magnetic resonance imaging scans.

PubMed

Bresch, Erik; Nielsen, Jon; Nayak, Krishna; Narayanan, Shrikanth

2006-10-01

This letter describes a data acquisition setup for recording, and processing, running speech from a person in a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner. The main focus is on ensuring synchronicity between image and audio acquisition, and in obtaining good signal to noise ratio to facilitate further speech analysis and modeling. A field-programmable gate array based hardware design for synchronizing the scanner image acquisition to other external data such as audio is described. The audio setup itself features two fiber optical microphones and a noise-canceling filter. Two noise cancellation methods are described including a novel approach using a pulse sequence specific model of the gradient noise of the MRI scanner. The setup is useful for scientific speech production studies. Sample results of speech and singing data acquired and processed using the proposed method are given.

UniProtKB/Swiss-Prot, the Manually Annotated Section of the UniProt KnowledgeBase: How to Use the Entry View.

PubMed

Boutet, Emmanuel; Lieberherr, Damien; Tognolli, Michael; Schneider, Michel; Bansal, Parit; Bridge, Alan J; Poux, Sylvain; Bougueleret, Lydie; Xenarios, Ioannis

2016-01-01

The Universal Protein Resource (UniProt, http://www.uniprot.org ) consortium is an initiative of the SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics (SIB), the European Bioinformatics Institute (EBI) and the Protein Information Resource (PIR) to provide the scientific community with a central resource for protein sequences and functional information. The UniProt consortium maintains the UniProt KnowledgeBase (UniProtKB), updated every 4 weeks, and several supplementary databases including the UniProt Reference Clusters (UniRef) and the UniProt Archive (UniParc).The Swiss-Prot section of the UniProt KnowledgeBase (UniProtKB/Swiss-Prot) contains publicly available expertly manually annotated protein sequences obtained from a broad spectrum of organisms. Plant protein entries are produced in the frame of the Plant Proteome Annotation Program (PPAP), with an emphasis on characterized proteins of Arabidopsis thaliana and Oryza sativa. High level annotations provided by UniProtKB/Swiss-Prot are widely used to predict annotation of newly available proteins through automatic pipelines.The purpose of this chapter is to present a guided tour of a UniProtKB/Swiss-Prot entry. We will also present some of the tools and databases that are linked to each entry.

Effects of audio compression in automatic detection of voice pathologies.

PubMed

Sáenz-Lechón, Nicolás; Osma-Ruiz, Víctor; Godino-Llorente, Juan I; Blanco-Velasco, Manuel; Cruz-Roldán, Fernando; Arias-Londoño, Julián D

2008-12-01

This paper investigates the performance of an automatic system for voice pathology detection when the voice samples have been compressed in MP3 format and different binary rates (160, 96, 64, 48, 24, and 8 kb/s). The detectors employ cepstral and noise measurements, along with their derivatives, to characterize the voice signals. The classification is performed using Gaussian mixtures models and support vector machines. The results between the different proposed detectors are compared by means of detector error tradeoff (DET) and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves, concluding that there are no significant differences in the performance of the detector when the binary rates of the compressed data are above 64 kb/s. This has useful applications in telemedicine, reducing the storage space of voice recordings or transmitting them over narrow-band communications channels.

Audio spectrum and sound pressure levels vary between pulse oximeters.

PubMed

Chandra, Deven; Tessler, Michael J; Usher, John

2006-01-01

The variable-pitch pulse oximeter is an important intraoperative patient monitor. Our ability to hear its auditory signal depends on its acoustical properties and our hearing. This study quantitatively describes the audio spectrum and sound pressure levels of the monitoring tones produced by five variable-pitch pulse oximeters. We compared the Datex-Ohmeda Capnomac Ultima, Hewlett-Packard M1166A, Datex-Engstrom AS/3, Ohmeda Biox 3700, and Datex-Ohmeda 3800 oximeters. Three machines of each of the five models were assessed for sound pressure levels (using a precision sound level meter) and audio spectrum (using a hanning windowed fast Fourier trans-form of three beats at saturations of 99%, 90%, and 85%). The widest range of sound pressure levels was produced by the Hewlett-Packard M1166A (46.5 +/- 1.74 dB to 76.9 +/- 2.77 dB). The loudest model was the Datex-Engstrom AS/3 (89.2 +/- 5.36 dB). Three oximeters, when set to the lower ranges of their volume settings, were indistinguishable from background operating room noise. Each model produced sounds with different audio spectra. Although each model produced a fundamental tone with multiple harmonic overtones, the number of harmonics varied with each model; from three harmonic tones on the Hewlett-Packard M1166A, to 12 on the Ohmeda Biox 3700. There were variations between models, and individual machines of the same model with respect to the fundamental tone associated with a given saturation. There is considerable variance in the sound pressure and audio spectrum of commercially-available pulse oximeters. Further studies are warranted in order to establish standards.

Virtual environment display for a 3D audio room simulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chapin, William L.; Foster, Scott

1992-06-01

Recent developments in virtual 3D audio and synthetic aural environments have produced a complex acoustical room simulation. The acoustical simulation models a room with walls, ceiling, and floor of selected sound reflecting/absorbing characteristics and unlimited independent localizable sound sources. This non-visual acoustic simulation, implemented with 4 audio ConvolvotronsTM by Crystal River Engineering and coupled to the listener with a Poihemus IsotrakTM, tracking the listener's head position and orientation, and stereo headphones returning binaural sound, is quite compelling to most listeners with eyes closed. This immersive effect should be reinforced when properly integrated into a full, multi-sensory virtual environment presentation. This paper discusses the design of an interactive, visual virtual environment, complementing the acoustic model and specified to: 1) allow the listener to freely move about the space, a room of manipulable size, shape, and audio character, while interactively relocating the sound sources; 2) reinforce the listener's feeling of telepresence into the acoustical environment with visual and proprioceptive sensations; 3) enhance the audio with the graphic and interactive components, rather than overwhelm or reduce it; and 4) serve as a research testbed and technology transfer demonstration. The hardware/software design of two demonstration systems, one installed and one portable, are discussed through the development of four iterative configurations. The installed system implements a head-coupled, wide-angle, stereo-optic tracker/viewer and multi-computer simulation control. The portable demonstration system implements a head-mounted wide-angle, stereo-optic display, separate head and pointer electro-magnetic position trackers, a heterogeneous parallel graphics processing system, and object oriented C++ program code.

76 FR 57923 - Establishment of Rules and Policies for the Satellite Digital Audio Radio Service in the 2310...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-09-19

... Rules and Policies for the Satellite Digital Audio Radio Service in the 2310-2360 MHz Frequency Band... Digital Audio Radio Service (SDARS) Second Report and Order. The information collection requirements were... of these rule sections. See Satellite Digital Audio Radio Service (SDARS) Second Report and Order...

Data reduction for cough studies using distribution of audio frequency content

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background Recent studies suggest that objectively quantifying coughing in audio recordings offers a novel means to understand coughing and assess treatments. Currently, manual cough counting is the most accurate method for quantifying coughing. However, the demand of manually counting cough records is substantial, demonstrating a need to reduce record lengths prior to counting whilst preserving the coughs within them. This study tested the performance of an algorithm developed for this purpose. Methods 20 subjects were recruited (5 healthy smokers and non-smokers, 5 chronic cough, 5 chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and 5 asthma), fitted with an ambulatory recording system and recorded for 24 hours. The recordings produced were divided into 15 min segments and counted. Periods of inactive audio in each segment were removed using the median frequency and power of the audio signal and the resulting files re-counted. Results The median resultant segment length was 13.9 s (IQR 56.4 s) and median 24 hr recording length 62.4 min (IQR 100.4). A median of 0.0 coughs/h (IQR 0.0-0.2) were erroneously removed and the variability in the resultant cough counts was comparable to that between manual cough counts. The largest error was seen in asthmatic patients, but still only 1.0% coughs/h were missed. Conclusions These data show that a system which measures signal activity using the median audio frequency can substantially reduce record lengths without significantly compromising the coughs contained within them. PMID:23231789

Spanish for Agricultural Purposes: The Audio Program.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mainous, Bruce H.; And Others

The manual is meant to accompany and supplement the basic manual and to serve as support to the audio component of "Spanish for Agricultural Purposes," a one-semester course for North American agriculture specialists preparing to work in Latin America, consists of exercises to supplement readings presented in the course's basic manual and to…

Digital Audio Broadcasting in the Short Wave Bands

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vaisnys, Arvydas

1998-01-01

For many decades the Short Wae broadcasting service has used high power, double-sideband AM signals to reach audiences far and wide. While audio quality was usually not very high, inexpensive receivers could be used to tune into broadcasts fro distant countries.

Audio-Visual Communications, A Tool for the Professional

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Journal of Environmental Health, 1976

1976-01-01

The manner in which the Cuyahoga County, Ohio Department of Environmental Health utilizes audio-visual presentations for communication with business and industry, professional public health agencies and the general public is presented. Subjects including food sanitation, radiation protection and safety are described. (BT)

Improvement of information fusion-based audio steganalysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kraetzer, Christian; Dittmann, Jana

2010-01-01

In the paper we extend an existing information fusion based audio steganalysis approach by three different kinds of evaluations: The first evaluation addresses the so far neglected evaluations on sensor level fusion. Our results show that this fusion removes content dependability while being capable of achieving similar classification rates (especially for the considered global features) if compared to single classifiers on the three exemplarily tested audio data hiding algorithms. The second evaluation enhances the observations on fusion from considering only segmental features to combinations of segmental and global features, with the result of a reduction of the required computational complexity for testing by about two magnitudes while maintaining the same degree of accuracy. The third evaluation tries to build a basis for estimating the plausibility of the introduced steganalysis approach by measuring the sensibility of the models used in supervised classification of steganographic material against typical signal modification operations like de-noising or 128kBit/s MP3 encoding. Our results show that for some of the tested classifiers the probability of false alarms rises dramatically after such modifications.

Information-Driven Active Audio-Visual Source Localization

PubMed Central

Schult, Niclas; Reineking, Thomas; Kluss, Thorsten; Zetzsche, Christoph

2015-01-01

We present a system for sensorimotor audio-visual source localization on a mobile robot. We utilize a particle filter for the combination of audio-visual information and for the temporal integration of consecutive measurements. Although the system only measures the current direction of the source, the position of the source can be estimated because the robot is able to move and can therefore obtain measurements from different directions. These actions by the robot successively reduce uncertainty about the source’s position. An information gain mechanism is used for selecting the most informative actions in order to minimize the number of actions required to achieve accurate and precise position estimates in azimuth and distance. We show that this mechanism is an efficient solution to the action selection problem for source localization, and that it is able to produce precise position estimates despite simplified unisensory preprocessing. Because of the robot’s mobility, this approach is suitable for use in complex and cluttered environments. We present qualitative and quantitative results of the system’s performance and discuss possible areas of application. PMID:26327619

No, There Is No 150 ms Lead of Visual Speech on Auditory Speech, but a Range of Audiovisual Asynchronies Varying from Small Audio Lead to Large Audio Lag

PubMed Central

Schwartz, Jean-Luc; Savariaux, Christophe

2014-01-01

An increasing number of neuroscience papers capitalize on the assumption published in this journal that visual speech would be typically 150 ms ahead of auditory speech. It happens that the estimation of audiovisual asynchrony in the reference paper is valid only in very specific cases, for isolated consonant-vowel syllables or at the beginning of a speech utterance, in what we call “preparatory gestures”. However, when syllables are chained in sequences, as they are typically in most parts of a natural speech utterance, asynchrony should be defined in a different way. This is what we call “comodulatory gestures” providing auditory and visual events more or less in synchrony. We provide audiovisual data on sequences of plosive-vowel syllables (pa, ta, ka, ba, da, ga, ma, na) showing that audiovisual synchrony is actually rather precise, varying between 20 ms audio lead and 70 ms audio lag. We show how more complex speech material should result in a range typically varying between 40 ms audio lead and 200 ms audio lag, and we discuss how this natural coordination is reflected in the so-called temporal integration window for audiovisual speech perception. Finally we present a toy model of auditory and audiovisual predictive coding, showing that visual lead is actually not necessary for visual prediction. PMID:25079216

Computationally Efficient Clustering of Audio-Visual Meeting Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hung, Hayley; Friedland, Gerald; Yeo, Chuohao

This chapter presents novel computationally efficient algorithms to extract semantically meaningful acoustic and visual events related to each of the participants in a group discussion using the example of business meeting recordings. The recording setup involves relatively few audio-visual sensors, comprising a limited number of cameras and microphones. We first demonstrate computationally efficient algorithms that can identify who spoke and when, a problem in speech processing known as speaker diarization. We also extract visual activity features efficiently from MPEG4 video by taking advantage of the processing that was already done for video compression. Then, we present a method of associating the audio-visual data together so that the content of each participant can be managed individually. The methods presented in this article can be used as a principal component that enables many higher-level semantic analysis tasks needed in search, retrieval, and navigation.

Robust Audio Watermarking by Using Low-Frequency Histogram

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xiang, Shijun

In continuation to earlier work where the problem of time-scale modification (TSM) has been studied [1] by modifying the shape of audio time domain histogram, here we consider the additional ingredient of resisting additive noise-like operations, such as Gaussian noise, lossy compression and low-pass filtering. In other words, we study the problem of the watermark against both TSM and additive noises. To this end, in this paper we extract the histogram from a Gaussian-filtered low-frequency component for audio watermarking. The watermark is inserted by shaping the histogram in a way that the use of two consecutive bins as a group is exploited for hiding a bit by reassigning their population. The watermarked signals are perceptibly similar to the original one. Comparing with the previous time-domain watermarking scheme [1], the proposed watermarking method is more robust against additive noise, MP3 compression, low-pass filtering, etc.

Proper Use of Audio-Visual Aids: Essential for Educators.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dejardin, Conrad

1989-01-01

Criticizes educators as the worst users of audio-visual aids and among the worst public speakers. Offers guidelines for the proper use of an overhead projector and the development of transparencies. (DMM)

Investigating Perceptual Biases, Data Reliability, and Data Discovery in a Methodology for Collecting Speech Errors From Audio Recordings.

PubMed

Alderete, John; Davies, Monica

2018-04-01

This work describes a methodology of collecting speech errors from audio recordings and investigates how some of its assumptions affect data quality and composition. Speech errors of all types (sound, lexical, syntactic, etc.) were collected by eight data collectors from audio recordings of unscripted English speech. Analysis of these errors showed that: (i) different listeners find different errors in the same audio recordings, but (ii) the frequencies of error patterns are similar across listeners; (iii) errors collected "online" using on the spot observational techniques are more likely to be affected by perceptual biases than "offline" errors collected from audio recordings; and (iv) datasets built from audio recordings can be explored and extended in a number of ways that traditional corpus studies cannot be.

The simplest possible design for a KB microfocus mirror system?

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Collins, S. P., E-mail: steve.collins@diamond.ac.uk; Scott, S. M.; Hawkins, D. M.

2016-07-27

We report a design for a Kirkpatrick-Baez (KB) microfocussing mirror system. The main components are described, with emphasis on a ‘tripod’ manipulator, where we outline the required coordinate transformation calculations. The merit of this device lies in its simplicity of design, minimal degrees of freedom, and speed and ease of setup on a beamline. Test results and an example of the mirrors in use on Diamond Beamline I16, showing a high-resolution polar domain map of KTiOPO{sub 4} with a spot size of 1.25 µm × 1.5 µm, are presented.

Audio-based bolt-loosening detection technique of bolt joint

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Yang; Zhao, Xuefeng; Su, Wensheng; Xue, Zhigang

2018-03-01

Bolt joint, as the commonest coupling structure, is widely used in electro-mechanical system. However, it is the weakest part of the whole system. The increase of preload tension force can raise the reliability and strength of the bolt joint. Therefore, the pretension force is one of the most important factors to ensure the stability of bolt joint. According to the way of generating pretension force, the pretension force can be monitored by bolt torque, degrees and elongation. The existing bolt-loosening monitoring methods all require expensive equipment, which greatly restricts the practicality of the bolt-loosening monitoring. In this paper, a new method of bolt-loosening detection technique based on audio is proposed. The sound that bolt is hit by a hammer is recorded on the Smartphone, and the collected audio signal is classified and identified by support vector machine algorithm. First, a verification test was designed and the results show that this new method can identify the damage of bolt looseness accurately. Second, a variety of bolt-loosening was identified. The results indicate that this method has a high accuracy in multiclass classification of the bolt looseness. This bolt-loosening detection technique based on audio not only can reduce the requirements of technical and professional experience, but also make bolt-loosening monitoring simpler and easier.

"Listen to This!" Utilizing Audio Recordings to Improve Instructor Feedback on Writing in Mathematics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Weld, Christopher

2014-01-01

Providing audio files in lieu of written remarks on graded assignments is arguably a more effective means of feedback, allowing students to better process and understand the critique and improve their future work. With emerging technologies and software, this audio feedback alternative to the traditional paradigm of providing written comments…

Toward Personal and Emotional Connectivity in Mobile Higher Education through Asynchronous Formative Audio Feedback

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rasi, Päivi; Vuojärvi, Hanna

2018-01-01

This study aims to develop asynchronous formative audio feedback practices for mobile learning in higher education settings. The development was conducted in keeping with the principles of design-based research. The research activities focused on an inter-university online course, within which the use of instructor audio feedback was tested,…

Understanding Cognitive Engagement in Online Discussion: Use of a Scaffolded, Audio-Based Argumentation Activity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Oh, Eunjung Grace; Kim, Hyun Song

2016-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to explore how adult learners engage in asynchronous online discussion through the implementation of an audio-based argumentation activity. The study designed scaffolded audio-based argumentation activities to promote students' cognitive engagement. The research was conducted in an online graduate course at a liberal…

Cortical Integration of Audio-Visual Information

PubMed Central

Vander Wyk, Brent C.; Ramsay, Gordon J.; Hudac, Caitlin M.; Jones, Warren; Lin, David; Klin, Ami; Lee, Su Mei; Pelphrey, Kevin A.

2013-01-01

We investigated the neural basis of audio-visual processing in speech and non-speech stimuli. Physically identical auditory stimuli (speech and sinusoidal tones) and visual stimuli (animated circles and ellipses) were used in this fMRI experiment. Relative to unimodal stimuli, each of the multimodal conjunctions showed increased activation in largely non-overlapping areas. The conjunction of Ellipse and Speech, which most resembles naturalistic audiovisual speech, showed higher activation in the right inferior frontal gyrus, fusiform gyri, left posterior superior temporal sulcus, and lateral occipital cortex. The conjunction of Circle and Tone, an arbitrary audio-visual pairing with no speech association, activated middle temporal gyri and lateral occipital cortex. The conjunction of Circle and Speech showed activation in lateral occipital cortex, and the conjunction of Ellipse and Tone did not show increased activation relative to unimodal stimuli. Further analysis revealed that middle temporal regions, although identified as multimodal only in the Circle-Tone condition, were more strongly active to Ellipse-Speech or Circle-Speech, but regions that were identified as multimodal for Ellipse-Speech were always strongest for Ellipse-Speech. Our results suggest that combinations of auditory and visual stimuli may together be processed by different cortical networks, depending on the extent to which speech or non-speech percepts are evoked. PMID:20709442

Sound for Film: Audio Education for Filmmakers.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lazar, Wanda

1998-01-01

Identifies the specific, unique, and important elements of audio education required by film professionals. Presents a model unit to be included in a film studies program, either as a separate course or as part of a film production or introduction to film course. Offers a model syllabus for such a course or unit on sound in film. (SR)

Audio-Visual Aid in Teaching "Fatty Liver"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dash, Sambit; Kamath, Ullas; Rao, Guruprasad; Prakash, Jay; Mishra, Snigdha

2016-01-01

Use of audio visual tools to aid in medical education is ever on a rise. Our study intends to find the efficacy of a video prepared on "fatty liver," a topic that is often a challenge for pre-clinical teachers, in enhancing cognitive processing and ultimately learning. We prepared a video presentation of 11:36 min, incorporating various…

Infant Perception of Audio-Visual Speech Synchrony

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lewkowicz, David J.

2010-01-01

Three experiments investigated perception of audio-visual (A-V) speech synchrony in 4- to 10-month-old infants. Experiments 1 and 2 used a convergent-operations approach by habituating infants to an audiovisually synchronous syllable (Experiment 1) and then testing for detection of increasing degrees of A-V asynchrony (366, 500, and 666 ms) or by…

Objective Assessment of Patient Inhaler User Technique Using an Audio-Based Classification Approach.

PubMed

Taylor, Terence E; Zigel, Yaniv; Egan, Clarice; Hughes, Fintan; Costello, Richard W; Reilly, Richard B

2018-02-01

Many patients make critical user technique errors when using pressurised metered dose inhalers (pMDIs) which reduce the clinical efficacy of respiratory medication. Such critical errors include poor actuation coordination (poor timing of medication release during inhalation) and inhaling too fast (peak inspiratory flow rate over 90 L/min). Here, we present a novel audio-based method that objectively assesses patient pMDI user technique. The Inhaler Compliance Assessment device was employed to record inhaler audio signals from 62 respiratory patients as they used a pMDI with an In-Check Flo-Tone device attached to the inhaler mouthpiece. Using a quadratic discriminant analysis approach, the audio-based method generated a total frame-by-frame accuracy of 88.2% in classifying sound events (actuation, inhalation and exhalation). The audio-based method estimated the peak inspiratory flow rate and volume of inhalations with an accuracy of 88.2% and 83.94% respectively. It was detected that 89% of patients made at least one critical user technique error even after tuition from an expert clinical reviewer. This method provides a more clinically accurate assessment of patient inhaler user technique than standard checklist methods.

Impact of Audio-Visual Asynchrony on Lip-Reading Effects -Neuromagnetic and Psychophysical Study-

PubMed Central

Yahata, Izumi; Kanno, Akitake; Sakamoto, Shuichi; Takanashi, Yoshitaka; Takata, Shiho; Nakasato, Nobukazu; Kawashima, Ryuta; Katori, Yukio

2016-01-01

The effects of asynchrony between audio and visual (A/V) stimuli on the N100m responses of magnetoencephalography in the left hemisphere were compared with those on the psychophysical responses in 11 participants. The latency and amplitude of N100m were significantly shortened and reduced in the left hemisphere by the presentation of visual speech as long as the temporal asynchrony between A/V stimuli was within 100 ms, but were not significantly affected with audio lags of -500 and +500 ms. However, some small effects were still preserved on average with audio lags of 500 ms, suggesting similar asymmetry of the temporal window to that observed in psychophysical measurements, which tended to be more robust (wider) for audio lags; i.e., the pattern of visual-speech effects as a function of A/V lag observed in the N100m in the left hemisphere grossly resembled that in psychophysical measurements on average, although the individual responses were somewhat varied. The present results suggest that the basic configuration of the temporal window of visual effects on auditory-speech perception could be observed from the early auditory processing stage. PMID:28030631

An Audio-Visual Resource Notebook for Adult Consumer Education. An Annotated Bibliography of Selected Audio-Visual Aids for Adult Consumer Education, with Special Emphasis on Materials for Elderly, Low-Income and Handicapped Consumers.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Virginia State Dept. of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Richmond, VA.

This document is an annotated bibliography of audio-visual aids in the field of consumer education, intended especially for use among low-income, elderly, and handicapped consumers. It was developed to aid consumer education program planners in finding audio-visual resources to enhance their presentations. Materials listed include 293 resources…

Collusion-Resistant Audio Fingerprinting System in the Modulated Complex Lapped Transform Domain

PubMed Central

Garcia-Hernandez, Jose Juan; Feregrino-Uribe, Claudia; Cumplido, Rene

2013-01-01

Collusion-resistant fingerprinting paradigm seems to be a practical solution to the piracy problem as it allows media owners to detect any unauthorized copy and trace it back to the dishonest users. Despite the billionaire losses in the music industry, most of the collusion-resistant fingerprinting systems are devoted to digital images and very few to audio signals. In this paper, state-of-the-art collusion-resistant fingerprinting ideas are extended to audio signals and the corresponding parameters and operation conditions are proposed. Moreover, in order to carry out fingerprint detection using just a fraction of the pirate audio clip, block-based embedding and its corresponding detector is proposed. Extensive simulations show the robustness of the proposed system against average collusion attack. Moreover, by using an efficient Fast Fourier Transform core and standard computer machines it is shown that the proposed system is suitable for real-world scenarios. PMID:23762455

Hierarchical structure for audio-video based semantic classification of sports video sequences

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kolekar, M. H.; Sengupta, S.

2005-07-01

A hierarchical structure for sports event classification based on audio and video content analysis is proposed in this paper. Compared to the event classifications in other games, those of cricket are very challenging and yet unexplored. We have successfully solved cricket video classification problem using a six level hierarchical structure. The first level performs event detection based on audio energy and Zero Crossing Rate (ZCR) of short-time audio signal. In the subsequent levels, we classify the events based on video features using a Hidden Markov Model implemented through Dynamic Programming (HMM-DP) using color or motion as a likelihood function. For some of the game-specific decisions, a rule-based classification is also performed. Our proposed hierarchical structure can easily be applied to any other sports. Our results are very promising and we have moved a step forward towards addressing semantic classification problems in general.

Perceptual congruency of audio-visual speech affects ventriloquism with bilateral visual stimuli.

PubMed

Kanaya, Shoko; Yokosawa, Kazuhiko

2011-02-01

Many studies on multisensory processes have focused on performance in simplified experimental situations, with a single stimulus in each sensory modality. However, these results cannot necessarily be applied to explain our perceptual behavior in natural scenes where various signals exist within one sensory modality. We investigated the role of audio-visual syllable congruency on participants' auditory localization bias or the ventriloquism effect using spoken utterances and two videos of a talking face. Salience of facial movements was also manipulated. Results indicated that more salient visual utterances attracted participants' auditory localization. Congruent pairing of audio-visual utterances elicited greater localization bias than incongruent pairing, while previous studies have reported little dependency on the reality of stimuli in ventriloquism. Moreover, audio-visual illusory congruency, owing to the McGurk effect, caused substantial visual interference on auditory localization. Multisensory performance appears more flexible and adaptive in this complex environment than in previous studies.

Audio visual speech source separation via improved context dependent association model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kazemi, Alireza; Boostani, Reza; Sobhanmanesh, Fariborz

2014-12-01

In this paper, we exploit the non-linear relation between a speech source and its associated lip video as a source of extra information to propose an improved audio-visual speech source separation (AVSS) algorithm. The audio-visual association is modeled using a neural associator which estimates the visual lip parameters from a temporal context of acoustic observation frames. We define an objective function based on mean square error (MSE) measure between estimated and target visual parameters. This function is minimized for estimation of the de-mixing vector/filters to separate the relevant source from linear instantaneous or time-domain convolutive mixtures. We have also proposed a hybrid criterion which uses AV coherency together with kurtosis as a non-Gaussianity measure. Experimental results are presented and compared in terms of visually relevant speech detection accuracy and output signal-to-interference ratio (SIR) of source separation. The suggested audio-visual model significantly improves relevant speech classification accuracy compared to existing GMM-based model and the proposed AVSS algorithm improves the speech separation quality compared to reference ICA- and AVSS-based methods.

The effect of audio tours on learning and social interaction: An evaluation at Carlsbad Caverns National Park

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Novey, Levi T.; Hall, Troy E.

2007-03-01

Auditory forms of nonpersonal communication have rarely been evaluated in informal settings like parks and museums. This study evaluated the effect of an interpretive audio tour on visitor knowledge and social behavior at Carlsbad Caverns National Park. A cross-sectional pretest/posttest quasi-experimental design compared the responses of audio tour users (n = 123) and nonusers (n = 131) on several knowledge questions. Observations (n = 700) conducted at seven sites within the caverns documented sign reading, time spent listening to the audio, within group conversation, and other social behaviors for a different sample of visitors. Pretested tour users and nonusers did not differ in visitor characteristics, knowledge, or attitude variables, suggesting the two populations were similar. On a 12-item knowledge quiz, tour users' scores increased from 5.7 to 10.3, and nonusers' scores increased from 6.2 to 8.4. Most visitors were able to identify some of the park's major messages when presented with a multiple-choice question, but more audio users than nonusers identified resource preservation as a primary message in an open-ended question. Based on observations, audio tour users and nonusers did not differ substantially in their interactions with other members of their group or in their reading of interpretive signs in the cave. Audio tour users had positive reactions to the tour, and these reactions, coupled with the positive learning outcomes and negligible effects on social interaction, suggest that audio tours can be an effective communication medium in informal educational settings.

Coinheritance of hemoglobin D-Punjab and β0-thalassemia 3.4 kb deletion in a Thai girl

PubMed Central

Panyasai, Sitthichai; Rahad, Sarinna; Pornprasert, Sakorn

2017-01-01

Hemoglobin (Hb) D. Punjab [β121(GH4) Glu→Gln; HBB: C.364G>C] and β0-thalassemia 3.4 kb deletion are very rare in the Thai population. For the first time, the coinheritance of HbD-Punjab with β0-thalassemia 3.4 kb deletion was reported in a 7-year-old Thai girl. She had mild anemia (Hb 115.0 g/L and mean corpuscular hemoglobin 18.1 pg) with red blood cell microcytosis (mean corpuscular volume 52.5 fL). By capillary electrophoresis (CE), HbD-Punjab was found at a migration position of 180 s with the value of 81.9% while the level of HbA2 was 7.3%. Based on the elevated HbA2, the molecular analysis for detection of β0-thalassemia mutations was performed. The 490 bp amplified fragments from β0-thalassemia 3.4 kb deletion was observed. Thus, the coinheritance of HbD-Punjab with β0-thalassemia can be found in the Thai population. The HbA2 measured on CE is a reliable parameter for differentiating the homozygote of HbD-Punjab and compound heterozygote of HbD-Punjab and β0-thalassemia. PMID:28970692

Paracetamol - toxicity and microbial utilization. Pseudomonas moorei KB4 as a case study for exploring degradation pathway.

PubMed

Żur, Joanna; Wojcieszyńska, Danuta; Hupert-Kocurek, Katarzyna; Marchlewicz, Ariel; Guzik, Urszula

2018-09-01

Paracetamol, a widely used analgesic and antipyretic drug, is currently one of the most emerging pollutants worldwide. Besides its wide prevalence in the literature only several bacterial strains able to degrade this compound have been described. In this study, we isolated six new bacterial strains able to remove paracetamol. The isolated strains were identified as the members of Pseudomonas, Bacillus, Acinetobacter and Sphingomonas genera and characterized phenotypically and biochemically using standard methods. From the isolated strains, Pseudomonas moorei KB4 was able to utilize 50 mg L -1 of paracetamol. As the main degradation products, p-aminophenol and hydroquinone were identified. Based on the measurements of specific activity of acyl amidohydrolase, deaminase and hydroquinone 1,2-dioxygenase and the results of liquid chromatography analyses, we proposed a mechanism of paracetamol degradation by KB4 strain under co-metabolic conditions with glucose. Additionally, toxicity bioassays and the influence of various environmental factors, including pH, temperature, heavy metals at no-observed-effective-concentrations, and the presence of aromatic compounds on the efficiency and mechanism of paracetamol degradation by KB4 strain were determined. This comprehensive study about paracetamol biodegradation will be helpful in designing a treatment systems of wastewaters contaminated with paracetamol. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Anonymous marker loci within 400 kb of HLA-A generate haplotypes in linkage disequilibrium with the hemochromatosis gene (HFE)

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Yaouanq, J.; Perichon, M.; Treut, A.L.

1994-02-01

The hemochromatosis gene (HFE) maps to 6p21.3 and is less than 1 cM from the HLA class I gene; however, the precise physical location of the gene has remained elusive and controversial. The unambiguous identification of a crossover event within hemochromatosis families is very difficult; it is particularly hampered by the variability of the phenotypic expression as well as by the sex- and age-related penetrance of the disease. For these considerations, traditional linkage analysis could prove of limited value in further refining the extrapolated physical position of HFE. The authors therefore embarked upon a linkage-disequilibrium analysis of HFE and normalmore » chromosomes for the Brittany population. In this report, 66 hemochromatosis families yielding 151 hemochromatosis chromosomes and 182 normal chromosomes were RFLP-typed with a battery of probes, including two newly derived polymorphic markers from the 6.7 and HLA-F loci located 150 and 250 kb telomeric to HLA-A, respectively. The results suggest a strong peak of existing linkage disequilibrium focused within the i82-to-6.7 interval (approximately 250 kb). The zone of linkage disequilibrium is flanked by the i97 locus, positioned 30 kb proximal to i82, and the HLA-F gene, found 250 kb distal to HLA-A, markers of which display no significant association with HFE. These data support the possibility that HFE resides within the 400-kb expanse of DNA between i97 and HLA-F. Alternatively, the very tight association of HLA-A3 and allele 1 of the 6.7 locus, both of which are comprised by the major ancestral or founder HFE haplotype in Brittany, supports the possibility that the disease gene may reside immediately telomeric to the 6.7 locus within the linkage-disequilibrium zone. Additionally, hemochromatosis haplotypes possessing HLA-A11 and the low-frequency HLA-F polymorphism (allele 2) are supportive of a separate founder chromosome containing a second, independently arising mutant allele. 69 refs., 1 fig., 5

Audio-visual synchrony and feature-selective attention co-amplify early visual processing.

PubMed

Keitel, Christian; Müller, Matthias M

2016-05-01

Our brain relies on neural mechanisms of selective attention and converging sensory processing to efficiently cope with rich and unceasing multisensory inputs. One prominent assumption holds that audio-visual synchrony can act as a strong attractor for spatial attention. Here, we tested for a similar effect of audio-visual synchrony on feature-selective attention. We presented two superimposed Gabor patches that differed in colour and orientation. On each trial, participants were cued to selectively attend to one of the two patches. Over time, spatial frequencies of both patches varied sinusoidally at distinct rates (3.14 and 3.63 Hz), giving rise to pulse-like percepts. A simultaneously presented pure tone carried a frequency modulation at the pulse rate of one of the two visual stimuli to introduce audio-visual synchrony. Pulsed stimulation elicited distinct time-locked oscillatory electrophysiological brain responses. These steady-state responses were quantified in the spectral domain to examine individual stimulus processing under conditions of synchronous versus asynchronous tone presentation and when respective stimuli were attended versus unattended. We found that both, attending to the colour of a stimulus and its synchrony with the tone, enhanced its processing. Moreover, both gain effects combined linearly for attended in-sync stimuli. Our results suggest that audio-visual synchrony can attract attention to specific stimulus features when stimuli overlap in space.

Bridging music and speech rhythm: rhythmic priming and audio-motor training affect speech perception.

PubMed

Cason, Nia; Astésano, Corine; Schön, Daniele

2015-02-01

Following findings that musical rhythmic priming enhances subsequent speech perception, we investigated whether rhythmic priming for spoken sentences can enhance phonological processing - the building blocks of speech - and whether audio-motor training enhances this effect. Participants heard a metrical prime followed by a sentence (with a matching/mismatching prosodic structure), for which they performed a phoneme detection task. Behavioural (RT) data was collected from two groups: one who received audio-motor training, and one who did not. We hypothesised that 1) phonological processing would be enhanced in matching conditions, and 2) audio-motor training with the musical rhythms would enhance this effect. Indeed, providing a matching rhythmic prime context resulted in faster phoneme detection, thus revealing a cross-domain effect of musical rhythm on phonological processing. In addition, our results indicate that rhythmic audio-motor training enhances this priming effect. These results have important implications for rhythm-based speech therapies, and suggest that metrical rhythm in music and speech may rely on shared temporal processing brain resources. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A scheme for racquet sports video analysis with the combination of audio-visual information

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xing, Liyuan; Ye, Qixiang; Zhang, Weigang; Huang, Qingming; Yu, Hua

2005-07-01

As a very important category in sports video, racquet sports video, e.g. table tennis, tennis and badminton, has been paid little attention in the past years. Considering the characteristics of this kind of sports video, we propose a new scheme for structure indexing and highlight generating based on the combination of audio and visual information. Firstly, a supervised classification method is employed to detect important audio symbols including impact (ball hit), audience cheers, commentator speech, etc. Meanwhile an unsupervised algorithm is proposed to group video shots into various clusters. Then, by taking advantage of temporal relationship between audio and visual signals, we can specify the scene clusters with semantic labels including rally scenes and break scenes. Thirdly, a refinement procedure is developed to reduce false rally scenes by further audio analysis. Finally, an exciting model is proposed to rank the detected rally scenes from which many exciting video clips such as game (match) points can be correctly retrieved. Experiments on two types of representative racquet sports video, table tennis video and tennis video, demonstrate encouraging results.

Audio teleconferencing: creative use of a forgotten innovation.

PubMed

Mather, Carey; Marlow, Annette

2012-06-01

As part of a regional School of Nursing and Midwifery's commitment to addressing recruitment and retention issues, approximately 90% of second year undergraduate student nurses undertake clinical placements at: multipurpose centres; regional or district hospitals; aged care; or community centres based in rural and remote regions within the State. The remaining 10% undertake professional experience placement in urban areas only. This placement of a large cohort of students, in low numbers in a variety of clinical settings, initiated the need to provide consistent support to both students and staff at these facilities. Subsequently the development of an audio teleconferencing model of clinical facilitation to guide student teaching and learning and to provide support to registered nurse preceptors in clinical practice was developed. This paper draws on Weimer's 'Personal Accounts of Change' approach to describe, discuss and evaluate the modifications that have occurred since the inception of this audio teleconferencing model (Weimer, 2006).

The Multimedia Piers-Harris Children's Self-Concept Scale 2: Its Psychometric Properties, Equivalence with the Paper-and-Pencil Version, and Respondent Preferences.

PubMed

Flahive, Mon-hsin Wang; Chuang, Ying-Chih; Li, Chien-Mo

2015-01-01

A multimedia version of Piers-Harris Children's Self-Concept Scale 2 (Piers-Harris 2) was created with audio and cartoon animation to facilitate the measurement of self-concept among younger children. This study aimed to assess the psychometric qualities of the computer version of Piers-Harris 2 scores, examine its score equivalence with the paper-and-pencil version, and survey the respondent preference of the two versions. Two hundred and forty eight Taiwanese students from the first to fourth grade were recruited. In regard to the psychometric properties, high internal consistency (α = .91) was found for the total score of multimedia Piers-Harris 2. High interscale correlations (.77 to .83) of the multimedia Piers-Harris 2 scores and the results of confirmatory factor analysis suggested the multimedia Piers-Harris 2 contained good structural characteristics. The scores of the multimedia Piers-Harris 2 also had significant correlations with the scores of the Elementary School Children's Self Concept Scale. The equality of convergence and criterion-related validities of Piers-Harris 2 scores for the multimedia and paper-and-pencil versions and the results of ICCs between the scores of the multimedia and paper-and-pencil Piers-Harris 2 suggested their high level of equivalence. Participants showed more positive attitudes towards the multimedia version.

The Multimedia Piers-Harris Children's Self-Concept Scale 2: Its Psychometric Properties, Equivalence with the Paper-and-Pencil Version, and Respondent Preferences

PubMed Central

Flahive, Mon-hsin Wang; Chuang, Ying-Chih; Li, Chien-Mo

2015-01-01

A multimedia version of Piers-Harris Children's Self-Concept Scale 2 (Piers-Harris 2) was created with audio and cartoon animation to facilitate the measurement of self-concept among younger children. This study aimed to assess the psychometric qualities of the computer version of Piers-Harris 2 scores, examine its score equivalence with the paper-and-pencil version, and survey the respondent preference of the two versions. Two hundred and forty eight Taiwanese students from the first to fourth grade were recruited. In regard to the psychometric properties, high internal consistency (α = .91) was found for the total score of multimedia Piers-Harris 2. High interscale correlations (.77 to .83) of the multimedia Piers-Harris 2 scores and the results of confirmatory factor analysis suggested the multimedia Piers-Harris 2 contained good structural characteristics. The scores of the multimedia Piers-Harris 2 also had significant correlations with the scores of the Elementary School Children’s Self Concept Scale. The equality of convergence and criterion-related validities of Piers-Harris 2 scores for the multimedia and paper-and-pencil versions and the results of ICCs between the scores of the multimedia and paper-and-pencil Piers-Harris 2 suggested their high level of equivalence. Participants showed more positive attitudes towards the multimedia version. PMID:26252499

Reaching Out: The Role of Audio Cassette Communication in Rural Development. Occasional Paper 19.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Adhikarya, Ronny; Colle, Royal D.

This report describes the state-of-the-art of audio cassette technology (ACT) and reports findings from field tests, case studies, and pilot projects in several countries which demonstrate the potential of audio cassettes as a medium for communicating with rural people. Specific guidance is also offered on how a project can use cassettes as a…

Melting relations and elemental distribution of portion of the system Fe-S-Si-O to 32 KB with planetary application

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Huang, W. L.

1980-01-01

The melting relations and distribution of K and Cs in portions of the system was determined at high pressures. Ferrosilite is stable as a primary phase at high pressures because of the incongruent melting of ferrosilite to quartz plus liquid and the boundary between the one and two liquid fields on the joint Fe(1-x) O-FeS-SiO2 shifts away from silica with increasing pressures. Potassium K was found to have limited solubility in metal sulfide liquids at pressures up to 45 kb. The speculation that K may dissolve significantly in metal-metal sulfide liquids after undergoing first order isomorphic transition was tested by determining the distribution of Cs between sulfide and silicate liquids as an analogy to K. At 45 kb, 1400 C and 27 kb, 1300 C only limited amounts of Cs were detected in quench sulfide liquids even at pressures beyond the isomorphic transition of Cs.

Voice over: Audio-visual congruency and content recall in the gallery setting

PubMed Central

Fairhurst, Merle T.; Scott, Minnie; Deroy, Ophelia

2017-01-01

Experimental research has shown that pairs of stimuli which are congruent and assumed to ‘go together’ are recalled more effectively than an item presented in isolation. Will this multisensory memory benefit occur when stimuli are richer and longer, in an ecological setting? In the present study, we focused on an everyday situation of audio-visual learning and manipulated the relationship between audio guide tracks and viewed portraits in the galleries of the Tate Britain. By varying the gender and narrative style of the voice-over, we examined how the perceived congruency and assumed unity of the audio guide track with painted portraits affected subsequent recall. We show that tracks perceived as best matching the viewed portraits led to greater recall of both sensory and linguistic content. We provide the first evidence that manipulating crossmodal congruence and unity assumptions can effectively impact memory in a multisensory ecological setting, even in the absence of precise temporal alignment between sensory cues. PMID:28636667

Voice over: Audio-visual congruency and content recall in the gallery setting.

PubMed

Fairhurst, Merle T; Scott, Minnie; Deroy, Ophelia

2017-01-01

Experimental research has shown that pairs of stimuli which are congruent and assumed to 'go together' are recalled more effectively than an item presented in isolation. Will this multisensory memory benefit occur when stimuli are richer and longer, in an ecological setting? In the present study, we focused on an everyday situation of audio-visual learning and manipulated the relationship between audio guide tracks and viewed portraits in the galleries of the Tate Britain. By varying the gender and narrative style of the voice-over, we examined how the perceived congruency and assumed unity of the audio guide track with painted portraits affected subsequent recall. We show that tracks perceived as best matching the viewed portraits led to greater recall of both sensory and linguistic content. We provide the first evidence that manipulating crossmodal congruence and unity assumptions can effectively impact memory in a multisensory ecological setting, even in the absence of precise temporal alignment between sensory cues.

The Impact of Audio Book on the Elderly Mental Health.

PubMed

Ameri, Fereshteh; Vazifeshenas, Naser; Haghparast, Abbas

2017-01-01

The growing elderly population calls mental health professionals to take measures concerning the treatment of the elderly mental disorders. Today in developed countries, bibliotherapy is used for the treatment of the most prevalent psychiatric disorders. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the effects of audio book on the elderly mental health of Retirement Center of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences. This experimental study was conducted on 60 elderly people participated in 8 audio book presentation sessions, and their mental health aspects were evaluated through mental health questionnaire (SCL-90-R). Data were analyzed using SPSS 24. Data analysis revealed that the mean difference of pretest and posttest of control group is less than 5.0, so no significant difference was observed in their mental health, but this difference was significant in the experimental group (more than 5.0). Therefore, a significant improvement in mental health and its dimensions have observed in elderly people participated in audio book sessions. This therapeutic intervention was effective on mental health dimensions of paranoid ideation, psychosis, phobia, aggression, depression, interpersonal sensitivity, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive and somatic complaints. Considering the fact that our population is moving toward aging, the obtained results could be useful for policy makers and health and social planners to improve the health status of the elderly.

Integrating voice evaluation: correlation between acoustic and audio-perceptual measures.

PubMed

Vaz Freitas, Susana; Melo Pestana, Pedro; Almeida, Vítor; Ferreira, Aníbal

2015-05-01

This article aims to establish correlations between acoustic and audio-perceptual measures using the GRBAS scale with respect to four different voice analysis software programs. Exploratory, transversal. A total of 90 voice records were collected and analyzed with the Dr. Speech (Tiger Electronics, Seattle, WA), Multidimensional Voice Program (Kay Elemetrics, NJ, USA), PRAAT (University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands), and Voice Studio (Seegnal, Oporto, Portugal) software programs. The acoustic measures were correlated to the audio-perceptual parameters of the GRBAS and rated by 10 experts. The predictive value of the acoustic measurements related to the audio-perceptual parameters exhibited magnitudes ranging from weak (R(2)a=0.17) to moderate (R(2)a=0.71). The parameter exhibiting the highest correlation magnitude is B (Breathiness), whereas the weaker correlation magnitudes were found to be for A (Asthenia) and S (Strain). The acoustic measures with stronger predictive values were local Shimmer, harmonics-to-noise ratio, APQ5 shimmer, and PPQ5 jitter, with different magnitudes for each one of the studied software programs. Some acoustic measures are pointed as significant predictors of GRBAS parameters, but they differ among software programs. B (Breathiness) was the parameter exhibiting the highest correlation magnitude. Copyright © 2015 The Voice Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Studies on a Spatialized Audio Interface for Sonar

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-10-03

addition of spatialized audio to visual displays for sonar is much akin to the development of talking movies in the early days of cinema and can be...than using the brute-force approach. PCA is one among several techniques that share similarities with the computational architecture of a

37 CFR 201.27 - Initial notice of distribution of digital audio recording devices or media.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... distribution of digital audio recording devices or media. 201.27 Section 201.27 Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights COPYRIGHT OFFICE, LIBRARY OF CONGRESS COPYRIGHT OFFICE AND PROCEDURES GENERAL PROVISIONS § 201.27 Initial notice of distribution of digital audio recording devices or media. (a) General. This section...

37 CFR 201.27 - Initial notice of distribution of digital audio recording devices or media.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... distribution of digital audio recording devices or media. 201.27 Section 201.27 Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights U.S. COPYRIGHT OFFICE, LIBRARY OF CONGRESS COPYRIGHT OFFICE AND PROCEDURES GENERAL PROVISIONS § 201.27 Initial notice of distribution of digital audio recording devices or media. (a) General. This...

37 CFR 201.27 - Initial notice of distribution of digital audio recording devices or media.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... distribution of digital audio recording devices or media. 201.27 Section 201.27 Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights COPYRIGHT OFFICE, LIBRARY OF CONGRESS COPYRIGHT OFFICE AND PROCEDURES GENERAL PROVISIONS § 201.27 Initial notice of distribution of digital audio recording devices or media. (a) General. This section...

37 CFR 201.27 - Initial notice of distribution of digital audio recording devices or media.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... distribution of digital audio recording devices or media. 201.27 Section 201.27 Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights COPYRIGHT OFFICE, LIBRARY OF CONGRESS COPYRIGHT OFFICE AND PROCEDURES GENERAL PROVISIONS § 201.27 Initial notice of distribution of digital audio recording devices or media. (a) General. This section...

37 CFR 201.27 - Initial notice of distribution of digital audio recording devices or media.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... distribution of digital audio recording devices or media. 201.27 Section 201.27 Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights COPYRIGHT OFFICE, LIBRARY OF CONGRESS COPYRIGHT OFFICE AND PROCEDURES GENERAL PROVISIONS § 201.27 Initial notice of distribution of digital audio recording devices or media. (a) General. This section...

Semantic congruency but not temporal synchrony enhances long-term memory performance for audio-visual scenes.

PubMed

Meyerhoff, Hauke S; Huff, Markus

2016-04-01

Human long-term memory for visual objects and scenes is tremendous. Here, we test how auditory information contributes to long-term memory performance for realistic scenes. In a total of six experiments, we manipulated the presentation modality (auditory, visual, audio-visual) as well as semantic congruency and temporal synchrony between auditory and visual information of brief filmic clips. Our results show that audio-visual clips generally elicit more accurate memory performance than unimodal clips. This advantage even increases with congruent visual and auditory information. However, violations of audio-visual synchrony hardly have any influence on memory performance. Memory performance remained intact even with a sequential presentation of auditory and visual information, but finally declined when the matching tracks of one scene were presented separately with intervening tracks during learning. With respect to memory performance, our results therefore show that audio-visual integration is sensitive to semantic congruency but remarkably robust against asymmetries between different modalities.

Full Mesh Audio Conferencing Using the Point-to-Multipoint On-Board Switching Capability of ACTS

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rivett, Mary L.; Sethna, Zubin H.

1996-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to describe an implementation of audio conferencing using the ACTS T1-VSAT network. In particular, this implementation evaluates the use of the on-board switching capability of the satellite as a viable alternative for providing the multipoint connectivity normally provided by terrestrial audio bridge equipment The system that was implemented provides full mesh, full-duplex audio conferencing, with end-to-end voice paths between all participants requiring only a single hop (i.e. 250 msec. delay). Moreover, it addresses the lack of spontaneity in current systems by allowing a user to easily start a conference from any standard telephone handset connected to an ACTS earth station, and quickly add new members to the conference at any time using the 'hook flash' capability. No prior scheduling of resources is required and there is no central point of control, thereby providing the user with the spontaneity desired in audio conference control.

Audio-visual speech cue combination.

PubMed

Arnold, Derek H; Tear, Morgan; Schindel, Ryan; Roseboom, Warrick

2010-04-16

Different sources of sensory information can interact, often shaping what we think we have seen or heard. This can enhance the precision of perceptual decisions relative to those made on the basis of a single source of information. From a computational perspective, there are multiple reasons why this might happen, and each predicts a different degree of enhanced precision. Relatively slight improvements can arise when perceptual decisions are made on the basis of multiple independent sensory estimates, as opposed to just one. These improvements can arise as a consequence of probability summation. Greater improvements can occur if two initially independent estimates are summated to form a single integrated code, especially if the summation is weighted in accordance with the variance associated with each independent estimate. This form of combination is often described as a Bayesian maximum likelihood estimate. Still greater improvements are possible if the two sources of information are encoded via a common physiological process. Here we show that the provision of simultaneous audio and visual speech cues can result in substantial sensitivity improvements, relative to single sensory modality based decisions. The magnitude of the improvements is greater than can be predicted on the basis of either a Bayesian maximum likelihood estimate or a probability summation. Our data suggest that primary estimates of speech content are determined by a physiological process that takes input from both visual and auditory processing, resulting in greater sensitivity than would be possible if initially independent audio and visual estimates were formed and then subsequently combined.

Characterization of a hydroxyurea-resistant human KB cell line with supersensitivity to 6-thioguanine.

PubMed

Yen, Y; Grill, S P; Dutschman, G E; Chang, C N; Zhou, B S; Cheng, Y C

1994-07-15

Hydroxyurea (HU) is currently used in the clinic for the treatment of chronic myelogenous leukemia, head and neck carcinoma, and sarcoma. One of its drawbacks, however, is the development of HU resistance. To study this problem, we developed a HU-resistant human KB cell line which exhibits a 15-fold resistance to HU. The characterization of this HU-resistant phenotype revealed a gene amplification of the M2 subunit of ribonucleotide reductase (RR), increased levels of M2 mRNA and protein, and a 3-fold increase of RR activity. This HU-resistant cell line also expressed a "collateral sensitivity" to 6-thioguanine (6-TG), with a 10-fold decrease in the dose inhibiting cell growth by 50% as compared to the KB parental line. The mechanism responsible for this supersensitivity to 6-TG is believed to be related to an increasingly efficient conversion of 6-TG to its triphosphate form, which is subsequently incorporated into DNA. After passage of the resistant cells in the absence of HU, the cell line reverts. The revertant cells lose their resistance to HU and concomitantly their sensitivity to 6-TG. This phenomenon is due to the return of RR to levels comparable to that of the KB parental cell line. These observations and their relevance to cancer chemotherapy will be discussed in this paper. Our results suggest that a clinical protocol could be designed which would allow for a lower dose of 6-TG to be used by taking advantage of the increased RR activity in HU-refractory cancer patients. Two drugs which display collateral sensitivity are known as a "Ying-Yang" pair. Alternate treatment with two different Ying-Yang pairs is the rationale for the "Ying-Yang Ping-Pong" theory in cancer treatment. This rationale allows for effective cancer chemotherapy with reduced toxicity.

Establishing a gold standard for manual cough counting: video versus digital audio recordings

PubMed Central

Smith, Jaclyn A; Earis, John E; Woodcock, Ashley A

2006-01-01

Background Manual cough counting is time-consuming and laborious; however it is the standard to which automated cough monitoring devices must be compared. We have compared manual cough counting from video recordings with manual cough counting from digital audio recordings. Methods We studied 8 patients with chronic cough, overnight in laboratory conditions (diagnoses were 5 asthma, 1 rhinitis, 1 gastro-oesophageal reflux disease and 1 idiopathic cough). Coughs were recorded simultaneously using a video camera with infrared lighting and digital sound recording. The numbers of coughs in each 8 hour recording were counted manually, by a trained observer, in real time from the video recordings and using audio-editing software from the digital sound recordings. Results The median cough frequency was 17.8 (IQR 5.9–28.7) cough sounds per hour in the video recordings and 17.7 (6.0–29.4) coughs per hour in the digital sound recordings. There was excellent agreement between the video and digital audio cough rates; mean difference of -0.3 coughs per hour (SD ± 0.6), 95% limits of agreement -1.5 to +0.9 coughs per hour. Video recordings had poorer sound quality even in controlled conditions and can only be analysed in real time (8 hours per recording). Digital sound recordings required 2–4 hours of analysis per recording. Conclusion Manual counting of cough sounds from digital audio recordings has excellent agreement with simultaneous video recordings in laboratory conditions. We suggest that ambulatory digital audio recording is therefore ideal for validating future cough monitoring devices, as this as this can be performed in the patients own environment. PMID:16887019

Can Inferred Provenance and Its Visualisation Be Used to Detect Erroneous Annotation? A Case Study Using UniProtKB

PubMed Central

Bell, Michael J.; Collison, Matthew; Lord, Phillip

2013-01-01

A constant influx of new data poses a challenge in keeping the annotation in biological databases current. Most biological databases contain significant quantities of textual annotation, which often contains the richest source of knowledge. Many databases reuse existing knowledge; during the curation process annotations are often propagated between entries. However, this is often not made explicit. Therefore, it can be hard, potentially impossible, for a reader to identify where an annotation originated from. Within this work we attempt to identify annotation provenance and track its subsequent propagation. Specifically, we exploit annotation reuse within the UniProt Knowledgebase (UniProtKB), at the level of individual sentences. We describe a visualisation approach for the provenance and propagation of sentences in UniProtKB which enables a large-scale statistical analysis. Initially levels of sentence reuse within UniProtKB were analysed, showing that reuse is heavily prevalent, which enables the tracking of provenance and propagation. By analysing sentences throughout UniProtKB, a number of interesting propagation patterns were identified, covering over sentences. Over sentences remain in the database after they have been removed from the entries where they originally occurred. Analysing a subset of these sentences suggest that approximately are erroneous, whilst appear to be inconsistent. These results suggest that being able to visualise sentence propagation and provenance can aid in the determination of the accuracy and quality of textual annotation. Source code and supplementary data are available from the authors website at http://homepages.cs.ncl.ac.uk/m.j.bell1/sentence_analysis/. PMID:24143170

VenomKB, a new knowledge base for facilitating the validation of putative venom therapies

PubMed Central

Romano, Joseph D.; Tatonetti, Nicholas P.

2015-01-01

Animal venoms have been used for therapeutic purposes since the dawn of recorded history. Only a small fraction, however, have been tested for pharmaceutical utility. Modern computational methods enable the systematic exploration of novel therapeutic uses for venom compounds. Unfortunately, there is currently no comprehensive resource describing the clinical effects of venoms to support this computational analysis. We present VenomKB, a new publicly accessible knowledge base and website that aims to act as a repository for emerging and putative venom therapies. Presently, it consists of three database tables: (1) Manually curated records of putative venom therapies supported by scientific literature, (2) automatically parsed MEDLINE articles describing compounds that may be venom derived, and their effects on the human body, and (3) automatically retrieved records from the new Semantic Medline resource that describe the effects of venom compounds on mammalian anatomy. Data from VenomKB may be selectively retrieved in a variety of popular data formats, are open-source, and will be continually updated as venom therapies become better understood. PMID:26601758

The Effects of Audio-Visual Recorded and Audio Recorded Listening Tasks on the Accuracy of Iranian EFL Learners' Oral Production

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Drood, Pooya; Asl, Hanieh Davatgari

2016-01-01

The ways in which task in classrooms has developed and proceeded have receive great attention in the field of language teaching and learning in the sense that they draw attention of learners to the competing features such as accuracy, fluency, and complexity. English audiovisual and audio recorded materials have been widely used by teachers and…

Simple Solutions for Space Station Audio Problems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wood, Eric

2016-01-01

Throughout this summer, a number of different projects were supported relating to various NASA programs, including the International Space Station (ISS) and Orion. The primary project that was worked on was designing and testing an acoustic diverter which could be used on the ISS to increase sound pressure levels in Node 1, a module that does not have any Audio Terminal Units (ATUs) inside it. This acoustic diverter is not intended to be a permanent solution to providing audio to Node 1; it is simply intended to improve conditions while more permanent solutions are under development. One of the most exciting aspects of this project is that the acoustic diverter is designed to be 3D printed on the ISS, using the 3D printer that was set up earlier this year. Because of this, no new hardware needs to be sent up to the station, and no extensive hardware testing needs to be performed on the ground before sending it to the station. Instead, the 3D part file can simply be uploaded to the station's 3D printer, where the diverter will be made.

Synchronized and noise-robust audio recordings during realtime magnetic resonance imaging scans (L)

PubMed Central

Bresch, Erik; Nielsen, Jon; Nayak, Krishna; Narayanan, Shrikanth

2007-01-01

This letter describes a data acquisition setup for recording, and processing, running speech from a person in a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner. The main focus is on ensuring synchronicity between image and audio acquisition, and in obtaining good signal to noise ratio to facilitate further speech analysis and modeling. A field-programmable gate array based hardware design for synchronizing the scanner image acquisition to other external data such as audio is described. The audio setup itself features two fiber optical microphones and a noise-canceling filter. Two noise cancellation methods are described including a novel approach using a pulse sequence specific model of the gradient noise of the MRI scanner. The setup is useful for scientific speech production studies. Sample results of speech and singing data acquired and processed using the proposed method are given. PMID:17069275

Inter-individual differences in audio-motor learning of piano melodies and white matter fiber tract architecture.

PubMed

Engel, Annerose; Hijmans, Brenda S; Cerliani, Leonardo; Bangert, Marc; Nanetti, Luca; Keller, Peter E; Keysers, Christian

2014-05-01

Humans vary substantially in their ability to learn new motor skills. Here, we examined inter-individual differences in learning to play the piano, with the goal of identifying relations to structural properties of white matter fiber tracts relevant to audio-motor learning. Non-musicians (n = 18) learned to perform three short melodies on a piano keyboard in a pure audio-motor training condition (vision of their own fingers was occluded). Initial learning times ranged from 17 to 120 min (mean ± SD: 62 ± 29 min). Diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging was used to derive the fractional anisotropy (FA), an index of white matter microstructural arrangement. A correlation analysis revealed that higher FA values were associated with faster learning of piano melodies. These effects were observed in the bilateral corticospinal tracts, bundles of axons relevant for the execution of voluntary movements, and the right superior longitudinal fasciculus, a tract important for audio-motor transformations. These results suggest that the speed with which novel complex audio-motor skills can be acquired may be determined by variability in structural properties of white matter fiber tracts connecting brain areas functionally relevant for audio-motor learning. Copyright © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Digital Audio/Video for Computer- and Web-Based Instruction for Training Rural Special Education Personnel.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ludlow, Barbara L.; Foshay, John B.; Duff, Michael C.

Video presentations of teaching episodes in home, school, and community settings and audio recordings of parents' and professionals' views can be important adjuncts to personnel preparation in special education. This paper describes instructional applications of digital media and outlines steps in producing audio and video segments. Digital audio…

Investigating Expectations and Experiences of Audio and Written Assignment Feedback in First-Year Undergraduate Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fawcett, Hannah; Oldfield, Jeremy

2016-01-01

Previous research suggests that audio feedback may be an important mechanism for facilitating effective and timely assignment feedback. The present study examined expectations and experiences of audio and written feedback provided through "turnitin for iPad®" from students within the same cohort and assignment. The results showed that…

The Use of Audio in Computer-Based Instruction.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Koroghlanian, Carol M.; Sullivan, Howard J.

This study investigated the effects of audio and text density on the achievement, time-in-program, and attitudes of 134 undergraduates. Data concerning the subjects' preexisting computer skills and experience, as well as demographic information, were also collected. The instruction in visual design principles was delivered by computer and included…

The Audio-Visual Marketing Handbook for Independent Schools.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Griffith, Tom

This how-to booklet offers specific advice on producing video or slide/tape programs for marketing independent schools. Five chapters present guidelines for various stages in the process: (1) Audio-Visual Marketing in Context (aesthetics and economics of audiovisual marketing); (2) A Question of Identity (identifying the audience and deciding on…

Evaluation of an Audio Cassette Tape Lecture Course

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Blank, Jerome W.

1975-01-01

An audio-cassette continuing education course (Selected Topics in Pharmacology) from Extension Services in Pharmacy at the University of Wisconsin was offered to a selected test market of pharmacists and evaluated using a pre-, post-test design. Results showed significant increase in cognitive knowledge and strong approval of students. (JT)

Audio Visual Integration with Competing Sources in the Framework of Audio Visual Speech Scene Analysis.

PubMed

Ganesh, Attigodu Chandrashekara; Berthommier, Frédéric; Schwartz, Jean-Luc

2016-01-01

We introduce "Audio-Visual Speech Scene Analysis" (AVSSA) as an extension of the two-stage Auditory Scene Analysis model towards audiovisual scenes made of mixtures of speakers. AVSSA assumes that a coherence index between the auditory and the visual input is computed prior to audiovisual fusion, enabling to determine whether the sensory inputs should be bound together. Previous experiments on the modulation of the McGurk effect by audiovisual coherent vs. incoherent contexts presented before the McGurk target have provided experimental evidence supporting AVSSA. Indeed, incoherent contexts appear to decrease the McGurk effect, suggesting that they produce lower audiovisual coherence hence less audiovisual fusion. The present experiments extend the AVSSA paradigm by creating contexts made of competing audiovisual sources and measuring their effect on McGurk targets. The competing audiovisual sources have respectively a high and a low audiovisual coherence (that is, large vs. small audiovisual comodulations in time). The first experiment involves contexts made of two auditory sources and one video source associated to either the first or the second audio source. It appears that the McGurk effect is smaller after the context made of the visual source associated to the auditory source with less audiovisual coherence. In the second experiment with the same stimuli, the participants are asked to attend to either one or the other source. The data show that the modulation of fusion depends on the attentional focus. Altogether, these two experiments shed light on audiovisual binding, the AVSSA process and the role of attention.

Audio-visual presentation of information for informed consent for participation in clinical trials.

PubMed

Ryan, R E; Prictor, M J; McLaughlin, K J; Hill, S J

2008-01-23

Informed consent is a critical component of clinical research. Different methods of presenting information to potential participants of clinical trials may improve the informed consent process. Audio-visual interventions (presented for example on the Internet, DVD, or video cassette) are one such method. To assess the effects of providing audio-visual information alone, or in conjunction with standard forms of information provision, to potential clinical trial participants in the informed consent process, in terms of their satisfaction, understanding and recall of information about the study, level of anxiety and their decision whether or not to participate. We searched: the Cochrane Consumers and Communication Review Group Specialised Register (searched 20 June 2006); the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), The Cochrane Library, issue 2, 2006; MEDLINE (Ovid) (1966 to June week 1 2006); EMBASE (Ovid) (1988 to 2006 week 24); and other databases. We also searched reference lists of included studies and relevant review articles, and contacted study authors and experts. There were no language restrictions. Randomised and quasi-randomised controlled trials comparing audio-visual information alone, or in conjunction with standard forms of information provision (such as written or oral information as usually employed in the particular service setting), with standard forms of information provision alone, in the informed consent process for clinical trials. Trials involved individuals or their guardians asked to participate in a real (not hypothetical) clinical study. Two authors independently assessed studies for inclusion and extracted data. Due to heterogeneity no meta-analysis was possible; we present the findings in a narrative review. We included 4 trials involving data from 511 people. Studies were set in the USA and Canada. Three were randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and the fourth a quasi-randomised trial. Their quality was mixed and

A disputed evidence on obesity: comparison of the effects of Rcan2(-/-) and Rps6kb1(-/-) mutations on growth and body weight in C57BL/6J mice.

PubMed

Zhao, Jing; Li, Shi-Wei; Gong, Qian-Qian; Ding, Ling-Cui; Jin, Ye-Cheng; Zhang, Jian; Gao, Jian-Gang; Sun, Xiao-Yang

2016-09-01

It is widely accepted that body weight and adipose mass are tightly regulated by homeostatic mechanisms, in which leptin plays a critical role through hypothalamic pathways, and obesity is a result of homeostatic disorder. However, in C57BL/6J mice, we found that Rcan2 increases food intake and plays an important role in the development of age- and diet-induced obesity through a leptin-independent mechanism. RCAN2 was initially identified as a thyroid hormone (T3)-responsive gene in human fibroblasts. Expression of RCAN2 is regulated by T3 through the PI3K-Akt/PKB-mTOR-Rps6kb1 signaling pathway. Intriguingly, both Rcan2(-/-) and Rps6kb1(-/-) mutations were reported to result in lean phenotypes in mice. In this study we compared the effects of these two mutations on growth and body weight in C57BL/6J mice. We observed reduced body weight and lower fat mass in both Rcan2(-/-) and Rps6kb1(-/-) mice compared to the wild-type mice, and we reported other differences unique to either the Rcan2(-/-) or Rps6kb1(-/-) mice. Firstly, loss of Rcan2 does not directly alter body length; however, Rcan2(-/-) mice exhibit reduced food intake. In contrast, Rps6kb1(-/-) mice exhibit abnormal embryonic development, which leads to smaller body size and reduced food intake in adulthood. Secondly, when fed a normal chow diet, Rcan2(-/-) mice weigh significantly more than Rps6kb1(-/-) mice, but both Rcan2(-/-) and Rps6kb1(-/-) mice develop similar amounts of epididymal fat. On a high-fat diet, Rcan2(-/-) mice gain body weight and fat mass at slower rates than Rps6kb1(-/-) mice. Finally, using the double-knockout mice (Rcan2(-/-) Rps6kb1(-/-)), we demonstrate that concurrent loss of Rcan2 and Rps6kb1 has an additive effect on body weight reduction in C57BL/6J mice. Our data suggest that Rcan2 and Rps6kb1 mutations both affect growth and body weight of mice, though likely through different mechanisms.

Transana Qualitative Video and Audio Analysis Software as a Tool for Teaching Intellectual Assessment Skills to Graduate Psychology Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rush, S. Craig

2014-01-01

This article draws on the author's experience using qualitative video and audio analysis, most notably through use of the Transana qualitative video and audio analysis software program, as an alternative method for teaching IQ administration skills to students in a graduate psychology program. Qualitative video and audio analysis may be useful for…

The SWRL Audio Laboratory System (ALS): An Integrated Configuration for Psychomusicology Research. Technical Report 51.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Williams, David Brian; Hoskin, Richard K.

This report describes features of the Audio Laboratory System (ALS), a device which supports research activities of the Southwest Regional Laboratory's Music Program. The ALS is used primarily to generate recorded audio tapes for psychomusicology research related to children's perception and learning of music concepts such as pitch, loudness,…

Inhibition of the reverse mode of the Na+/Ca2+ exchange by KB-R7943 augments arrhythmogenicity in the canine heart during rapid heart rates.

PubMed

Shinada, Takuro; Hirayama, Yoshiyuki; Maruyama, Mitsunori; Ohara, Toshihiko; Yashima, Masaaki; Kobayashi, Yoshinori; Atarashi, Hirotsugu; Takano, Teruo

2005-07-01

To test the hypothesis that the reverse mode of the Na+/Ca2+ exchange augmented by a rapid heart rate has an antiarrhythmic effect by shortening the action potential duration, we examined the effects of KB-R7943 (2-[2-[4-(4-nitrobenzyloxy)phenyl]ethyl] isothiourea methanesulfonate), a selective inhibitor of the reverse mode of the Na+/Ca2+ exchange, to attenuate this effect. We recorded the electrocardiogram, monophasic action potential (MAP), and left ventricular pressure in canine beating hearts. In comparison to the control, KB-R7943 significantly increased the QTc value and MAP duration. MAP alternans and left ventricular pressure alternans were observed after changing the cycle length to 300 milliseconds in the control studies. KB-R7943 magnified both types of alternans and produced spatially discordant alternans between right and left ventricles. Early after-depolarizations and nonsustained ventricular tachycardia occurred in the presence of KB-R7943. Our data suggest that the reverse mode of the Na+/Ca2+ exchange may contribute to suppression of arrhythmias by abbreviating action potential duration under pathophysiological conditions. This conclusion is based on further confirmation by future studies of the specificity of KB-R7943 for block of the reverse mode of the Na+/Ca2+ exchange.

Prediction of water-rock interaction to 50 kb and 1,000 °C with equations of state for aqueous species

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sverjensky, D. A.; Harrison, B. W.; Azzolini, D.

2012-12-01

Comprehensive quantitative theoretical evaluation of water-rock interactions under deep crustal and upper mantle conditions has long been restricted to a pressure of 5.0 kb - too low to address mantle metasomatism in subduction zones or the origin of diamond. The reason for this restriction is the lack of information on the dielectric constant of water (ɛH2O) needed for the revised Helgeson-Kirkham-Flowers (HKF) equations for aqueous species [1]. Equation of state coefficients are available for hundreds of aqueous species in SUPCRT92 [2], but calculations can only be made to 5.0 kb. One way around this involves empirical extrapolation of equilibrium constants as functions of the logarithm of the density of water (ρH2O) [3]. However, this approach is best suited to simple systems. In order to model water-rock interactions, scores of equilibrium constants involving minerals and aqueous species must be known and internal consistency maintained. In the present study, the applicability of the HKF equations for aqueous species was extended to 50 kb by developing estimates of ɛH2O. We used a statistical mechanically-based equation for ɛ of a hard-sphere fluid applicable to water and other fluids [4]. It was calibrated with experimental data [5] and data from a comprehensive analysis of the literature [6] and extrapolated to a density of 1.1 g.cm-3. Values of ln(ɛH2O) were found to be linear with ln(ρH2O) enabling estimation of ɛH2O to 50 kb. Values of ρH2O were computed with a comprehensive evaluation [7] chosen because it is closely consistent with experimental data at less than 10 kb [8] as well as fluid inclusion studies to 40 kb [9]. Standard Gibbs free energies of water as a function of temperature and pressure were also calculated using volumes from [7]. The resulting dielectric constants were tested at 727 °C and 50 kb by comparison with the results of molecular dynamics [10] and ab initio quantum chemical calculations [11]. Additional testing was carried

Robust High-Capacity Audio Watermarking Based on FFT Amplitude Modification

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fallahpour, Mehdi; Megías, David

This paper proposes a novel robust audio watermarking algorithm to embed data and extract it in a bit-exact manner based on changing the magnitudes of the FFT spectrum. The key point is selecting a frequency band for embedding based on the comparison between the original and the MP3 compressed/decompressed signal and on a suitable scaling factor. The experimental results show that the method has a very high capacity (about 5kbps), without significant perceptual distortion (ODG about -0.25) and provides robustness against common audio signal processing such as added noise, filtering and MPEG compression (MP3). Furthermore, the proposed method has a larger capacity (number of embedded bits to number of host bits rate) than recent image data hiding methods.

Audio signal encryption using chaotic Hénon map and lifting wavelet transforms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roy, Animesh; Misra, A. P.

2017-12-01

We propose an audio signal encryption scheme based on the chaotic Hénon map. The scheme mainly comprises two phases: one is the preprocessing stage where the audio signal is transformed into data by the lifting wavelet scheme and the other in which the transformed data is encrypted by chaotic data set and hyperbolic functions. Furthermore, we use dynamic keys and consider the key space size to be large enough to resist any kind of cryptographic attacks. A statistical investigation is also made to test the security and the efficiency of the proposed scheme.

Mathematical Audio-Podcasts for Teacher Education and School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schreiber, Christof; Klose, Rebecca

2017-01-01

Audio-podcasts offer notable opportunities for oral representation of mathematical content through digital media--not only for teacher education but also in primary schools. This article deals with the process of creating such podcasts, as well as their uses in schools, university teaching and research. We allow for various learning groups--which…

Chemical News Via Audio Tapes: Chemical Industry News

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hanford, W. E.; And Others

1972-01-01

Tape coverage of internal R&D news now has a broader scope with improved features. A new tape series covering external news of broad interest has been initiated. The use of tape in a Continuing Education Program is discussed as the future plans for expanding the audio tape program. (1 reference) (Author)

Audio and Video Reflections to Promote Social Justice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Boske, Christa

2011-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine how 15 graduate students enrolled in a US school leadership preparation program understand issues of social justice and equity through a reflective process utilizing audio and/or video software. Design/methodology/approach: The study is based on the tradition of grounded theory. The researcher…

Subjective evaluation and electroacoustic theoretical validation of a new approach to audio upmixing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Usher, John S.

Audio signal processing systems for converting two-channel (stereo) recordings to four or five channels are increasingly relevant. These audio upmixers can be used with conventional stereo sound recordings and reproduced with multichannel home theatre or automotive loudspeaker audio systems to create a more engaging and natural-sounding listening experience. This dissertation discusses existing approaches to audio upmixing for recordings of musical performances and presents specific design criteria for a system to enhance spatial sound quality. A new upmixing system is proposed and evaluated according to these criteria and a theoretical model for its behavior is validated using empirical measurements. The new system removes short-term correlated components from two electronic audio signals using a pair of adaptive filters, updated according to a frequency domain implementation of the normalized-least-means-square algorithm. The major difference of the new system with all extant audio upmixers is that unsupervised time-alignment of the input signals (typically, by up to +/-10 ms) as a function of frequency (typically, using a 1024-band equalizer) is accomplished due to the non-minimum phase adaptive filter. Two new signals are created from the weighted difference of the inputs, and are then radiated with two loudspeakers behind the listener. According to the consensus in the literature on the effect of interaural correlation on auditory image formation, the self-orthogonalizing properties of the algorithm ensure minimal distortion of the frontal source imagery and natural-sounding, enveloping reverberance (ambiance) imagery. Performance evaluation of the new upmix system was accomplished in two ways: Firstly, using empirical electroacoustic measurements which validate a theoretical model of the system; and secondly, with formal listening tests which investigated auditory spatial imagery with a graphical mapping tool and a preference experiment. Both electroacoustic

ChloroKB: A Web Application for the Integration of Knowledge Related to Chloroplast Metabolic Network.

PubMed

Gloaguen, Pauline; Bournais, Sylvain; Alban, Claude; Ravanel, Stéphane; Seigneurin-Berny, Daphné; Matringe, Michel; Tardif, Marianne; Kuntz, Marcel; Ferro, Myriam; Bruley, Christophe; Rolland, Norbert; Vandenbrouck, Yves; Curien, Gilles

2017-06-01

Higher plants, as autotrophic organisms, are effective sources of molecules. They hold great promise for metabolic engineering, but the behavior of plant metabolism at the network level is still incompletely described. Although structural models (stoichiometry matrices) and pathway databases are extremely useful, they cannot describe the complexity of the metabolic context, and new tools are required to visually represent integrated biocurated knowledge for use by both humans and computers. Here, we describe ChloroKB, a Web application (http://chlorokb.fr/) for visual exploration and analysis of the Arabidopsis ( Arabidopsis thaliana ) metabolic network in the chloroplast and related cellular pathways. The network was manually reconstructed through extensive biocuration to provide transparent traceability of experimental data. Proteins and metabolites were placed in their biological context (spatial distribution within cells, connectivity in the network, participation in supramolecular complexes, and regulatory interactions) using CellDesigner software. The network contains 1,147 reviewed proteins (559 localized exclusively in plastids, 68 in at least one additional compartment, and 520 outside the plastid), 122 proteins awaiting biochemical/genetic characterization, and 228 proteins for which genes have not yet been identified. The visual presentation is intuitive and browsing is fluid, providing instant access to the graphical representation of integrated processes and to a wealth of refined qualitative and quantitative data. ChloroKB will be a significant support for structural and quantitative kinetic modeling, for biological reasoning, when comparing novel data with established knowledge, for computer analyses, and for educational purposes. ChloroKB will be enhanced by continuous updates following contributions from plant researchers. © 2017 American Society of Plant Biologists. All Rights Reserved.

Auditory and audio-vocal responses of single neurons in the monkey ventral premotor cortex.

PubMed

Hage, Steffen R

2018-03-20

Monkey vocalization is a complex behavioral pattern, which is flexibly used in audio-vocal communication. A recently proposed dual neural network model suggests that cognitive control might be involved in this behavior, originating from a frontal cortical network in the prefrontal cortex and mediated via projections from the rostral portion of the ventral premotor cortex (PMvr) and motor cortex to the primary vocal motor network in the brainstem. For the rapid adjustment of vocal output to external acoustic events, strong interconnections between vocal motor and auditory sites are needed, which are present at cortical and subcortical levels. However, the role of the PMvr in audio-vocal integration processes remains unclear. In the present study, single neurons in the PMvr were recorded in rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) while volitionally producing vocalizations in a visual detection task or passively listening to monkey vocalizations. Ten percent of randomly selected neurons in the PMvr modulated their discharge rate in response to acoustic stimulation with species-specific calls. More than four-fifths of these auditory neurons showed an additional modulation of their discharge rates either before and/or during the monkeys' motor production of the vocalization. Based on these audio-vocal interactions, the PMvr might be well positioned to mediate higher order auditory processing with cognitive control of the vocal motor output to the primary vocal motor network. Such audio-vocal integration processes in the premotor cortex might constitute a precursor for the evolution of complex learned audio-vocal integration systems, ultimately giving rise to human speech. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The roar of Yasur: Handheld audio recorder monitoring of Vanuatu volcanic vent activity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lorenz, Ralph D.; Turtle, Elizabeth P.; Howell, Robert; Radebaugh, Jani; Lopes, Rosaly M. C.

2016-08-01

We describe how near-field audio recording using a pocket digital sound recorder can usefully document volcanic activity, demonstrating the approach at Yasur, Vanuatu in May 2014. Prominent emissions peak at 263 Hz, interpreted as an organ-pipe mode. High-pass filtering was found to usefully discriminate volcano vent noise from wind noise, and autocorrelation of the high pass acoustic power reveals a prominent peak in exhalation intervals of 2.5, 4 and 8 s, with a number of larger explosive events at 200 s intervals. We suggest that this compact and inexpensive audio instrumentation can usefully supplement other field monitoring such as seismic or infrasound. A simple estimate of acoustic power interpreted with a dipole jet noise model yielded vent velocities too low to be compatible with pyroclast emission, suggesting difficulties with this approach at audio frequencies (perhaps due to acoustic absorption by volcanic gases).

Enhanced audio-visual interactions in the auditory cortex of elderly cochlear-implant users.

PubMed

Schierholz, Irina; Finke, Mareike; Schulte, Svenja; Hauthal, Nadine; Kantzke, Christoph; Rach, Stefan; Büchner, Andreas; Dengler, Reinhard; Sandmann, Pascale

2015-10-01

Auditory deprivation and the restoration of hearing via a cochlear implant (CI) can induce functional plasticity in auditory cortical areas. How these plastic changes affect the ability to integrate combined auditory (A) and visual (V) information is not yet well understood. In the present study, we used electroencephalography (EEG) to examine whether age, temporary deafness and altered sensory experience with a CI can affect audio-visual (AV) interactions in post-lingually deafened CI users. Young and elderly CI users and age-matched NH listeners performed a speeded response task on basic auditory, visual and audio-visual stimuli. Regarding the behavioral results, a redundant signals effect, that is, faster response times to cross-modal (AV) than to both of the two modality-specific stimuli (A, V), was revealed for all groups of participants. Moreover, in all four groups, we found evidence for audio-visual integration. Regarding event-related responses (ERPs), we observed a more pronounced visual modulation of the cortical auditory response at N1 latency (approximately 100 ms after stimulus onset) in the elderly CI users when compared with young CI users and elderly NH listeners. Thus, elderly CI users showed enhanced audio-visual binding which may be a consequence of compensatory strategies developed due to temporary deafness and/or degraded sensory input after implantation. These results indicate that the combination of aging, sensory deprivation and CI facilitates the coupling between the auditory and the visual modality. We suggest that this enhancement in multisensory interactions could be used to optimize auditory rehabilitation, especially in elderly CI users, by the application of strong audio-visually based rehabilitation strategies after implant switch-on. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Audio-visual communication and its use in palliative care.

PubMed

Coyle, Nessa; Khojainova, Natalia; Francavilla, John M; Gonzales, Gilbert R

2002-02-01

The technology of telemedicine has been used for over 20 years, involving different areas of medicine, providing medical care for the geographically isolated patients, and uniting geographically isolated clinicians. Today audio-visual technology may be useful in palliative care for the patients lacking access to medical services due to the medical condition rather than geographic isolation. We report results of a three-month trial of using audio-visual communications as a complementary tool in care for a complex palliative care patient. Benefits of this system to the patient included 1) a daily limited physical examination, 2) screening for a need for a clinical visit or admission, 3) lip reading by the deaf patient, 4) satisfaction by the patient and the caregivers with this form of communication as a complement to telephone communication. A brief overview of the historical prospective on telemedicine and a listing of applied telemedicine programs are provided.

Audio-vestibular signs and symptoms in Chiari malformation type i. Case series and literature review.

PubMed

Guerra Jiménez, Gloria; Mazón Gutiérrez, Ángel; Marco de Lucas, Enrique; Valle San Román, Natalia; Martín Laez, Rubén; Morales Angulo, Carmelo

2015-01-01

Chiari malformation is an alteration of the base of the skull with herniation through the foramen magnum of the brain stem and cerebellum. Although the most common presentation is occipital headache, the association of audio-vestibular symptoms is not rare. The aim of our study was to describe audio-vestibular signs and symptoms in Chiari malformation type i (CM-I). We performed a retrospective observational study of patients referred to our unit during the last 5 years. We also carried out a literature review of audio-vestibular signs and symptoms in this disease. There were 9 patients (2 males and 7 females), with an average age of 42.8 years. Five patients presented a Ménière-like syndrome; 2 cases, a recurrent vertigo with peripheral features; one patient showed a sudden hearing loss; and one case suffered a sensorineural hearing loss with early childhood onset. The most common audio-vestibular symptom indicated in the literature in patients with CM-I is unsteadiness (49%), followed by dizziness (18%), nystagmus (15%) and hearing loss (15%). Nystagmus is frequently horizontal (74%) or down-beating (18%). Other audio-vestibular signs and symptoms are tinnitus (11%), aural fullness (10%) and hyperacusis (1%). Occipital headache that increases with Valsalva manoeuvres and hand paresthesias are very suggestive symptoms. The appearance of audio-vestibular manifestations in CM-I makes it common to refer these patients to neurotologists. Unsteadiness, vertiginous syndromes and sensorineural hearing loss are frequent. Nystagmus, especially horizontal and down-beating, is not rare. It is important for neurotologists to familiarise themselves with CM-I symptoms to be able to consider it in differential diagnosis. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier España, S.L.U. y Sociedad Española de Otorrinolaringología y Patología Cérvico-Facial. All rights reserved.

The Impact of Audio Book on the Elderly Mental Health

PubMed Central

Ameri, Fereshteh; Vazifeshenas, Naser; Haghparast, Abbas

2017-01-01

Introduction: The growing elderly population calls mental health professionals to take measures concerning the treatment of the elderly mental disorders. Today in developed countries, bibliotherapy is used for the treatment of the most prevalent psychiatric disorders. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the effects of audio book on the elderly mental health of Retirement Center of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences. Methods: This experimental study was conducted on 60 elderly people participated in 8 audio book presentation sessions, and their mental health aspects were evaluated through mental health questionnaire (SCL-90-R). Data were analyzed using SPSS 24. Results: Data analysis revealed that the mean difference of pretest and posttest of control group is less than 5.0, so no significant difference was observed in their mental health, but this difference was significant in the experimental group (more than 5.0). Therefore, a significant improvement in mental health and its dimensions have observed in elderly people participated in audio book sessions. This therapeutic intervention was effective on mental health dimensions of paranoid ideation, psychosis, phobia, aggression, depression, interpersonal sensitivity, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive and somatic complaints. Conclusion: Considering the fact that our population is moving toward aging, the obtained results could be useful for policy makers and health and social planners to improve the health status of the elderly. PMID:29167723

Prx1 and 3.2 kb Col1a1 promoters target distinct bone cell populations in transgenic mice

PubMed Central

Ouyang, Zhufeng; Chen, Zhijun; Ishikawa, Masakazu; Yue, Xiuzhen; Kawanami, Aya; Leahy, Patrick; Greenfield, Edward M.; Murakami, Shunichi

2014-01-01

Bones consist of a number of cell types including osteoblasts and their precursor cells at various stages of differentiation. To analyze cellular organization within the bone, we generated Col1a1CreER-DsRed transgenic mice that express, in osteoblasts, CreER and DsRed under the control of a mouse 3.2 kb Col1a1 promoter. We further crossed Col1a1CreER-DsRed mice with Prx1CreER-GFP mice that express CreER and GFP in osteochondro progenitor cells under the control of a 2.4 kb Prx1 promoter. Since the 3.2 kb Col1a1 promoter becomes active in osteoblasts at early stages of differentiation, and Prx1CreER-GFP-expressing periosteal cells show endogenous Col1a1 expression, we expected to find a cell population in which both the 2.4 kb Prx1 promoter and the 3.2 kb Col1a1 promoter are active. However, our histological and flow cytometric analyses demonstrated that these transgenes are expressed in distinct cell populations. In the periosteum of long bones, Col1a1CreER-DsRed is expressed in the innermost layer directly lining the bone surface, while Prx1CreER-GFP-expressing cells are localized immediately outside of the Col1a1CreER-DsRed-expressing osteoblasts. In the calvaria, Prx1CreER-GFP-expressing cells are also localized in the cranial suture mesenchyme. Our experiments further showed that Col1a1CreER-DsRed-expressing cells lack chondrogenic potential, while the Prx1CreER-GFP-expressing cells show both chondrogenic and osteogenic potential. Our results indicate that Col1a1CreER-DsRed-expressing cells are committed osteoblasts, while Prx1CreER-GFP-expressing cells are osteochondro progenitor cells. The Prx1CreER-GFP and Col1a1CreER-DsRed transgenes will offer novel approaches for analyzing lineage commitment and early stages of osteoblast differentiation under physiologic and pathologic conditions. PMID:24513582

Sounds Good: Using Digital Audio for Evaluation Feedback

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rotheram, Bob

2009-01-01

Feedback on student work is problematic for faculty and students in British higher education. Evaluation feedback takes faculty much time to produce and students are often dissatisfied with its quantity, timing, and clarity. The Sounds Good project has been experimenting with the use of digital audio for feedback, aiming to save faculty time and…

Audio-Visual Stimulation in Conjunction with Functional Electrical Stimulation to Address Upper Limb and Lower Limb Movement Disorder.

PubMed

Kumar, Deepesh; Verma, Sunny; Bhattacharya, Sutapa; Lahiri, Uttama

2016-06-13

Neurological disorders often manifest themselves in the form of movement deficit on the part of the patient. Conventional rehabilitation often used to address these deficits, though powerful are often monotonous in nature. Adequate audio-visual stimulation can prove to be motivational. In the research presented here we indicate the applicability of audio-visual stimulation to rehabilitation exercises to address at least some of the movement deficits for upper and lower limbs. Added to the audio-visual stimulation, we also use Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES). In our presented research we also show the applicability of FES in conjunction with audio-visual stimulation delivered through VR-based platform for grasping skills of patients with movement disorder.

Grouping and Segregation of Sensory Events by Actions in Temporal Audio-Visual Recalibration.

PubMed

Ikumi, Nara; Soto-Faraco, Salvador

2016-01-01

Perception in multi-sensory environments involves both grouping and segregation of events across sensory modalities. Temporal coincidence between events is considered a strong cue to resolve multisensory perception. However, differences in physical transmission and neural processing times amongst modalities complicate this picture. This is illustrated by cross-modal recalibration, whereby adaptation to audio-visual asynchrony produces shifts in perceived simultaneity. Here, we examined whether voluntary actions might serve as a temporal anchor to cross-modal recalibration in time. Participants were tested on an audio-visual simultaneity judgment task after an adaptation phase where they had to synchronize voluntary actions with audio-visual pairs presented at a fixed asynchrony (vision leading or vision lagging). Our analysis focused on the magnitude of cross-modal recalibration to the adapted audio-visual asynchrony as a function of the nature of the actions during adaptation, putatively fostering cross-modal grouping or, segregation. We found larger temporal adjustments when actions promoted grouping than segregation of sensory events. However, a control experiment suggested that additional factors, such as attention to planning/execution of actions, could have an impact on recalibration effects. Contrary to the view that cross-modal temporal organization is mainly driven by external factors related to the stimulus or environment, our findings add supporting evidence for the idea that perceptual adjustments strongly depend on the observer's inner states induced by motor and cognitive demands.

Grouping and Segregation of Sensory Events by Actions in Temporal Audio-Visual Recalibration

PubMed Central

Ikumi, Nara; Soto-Faraco, Salvador

2017-01-01

Perception in multi-sensory environments involves both grouping and segregation of events across sensory modalities. Temporal coincidence between events is considered a strong cue to resolve multisensory perception. However, differences in physical transmission and neural processing times amongst modalities complicate this picture. This is illustrated by cross-modal recalibration, whereby adaptation to audio-visual asynchrony produces shifts in perceived simultaneity. Here, we examined whether voluntary actions might serve as a temporal anchor to cross-modal recalibration in time. Participants were tested on an audio-visual simultaneity judgment task after an adaptation phase where they had to synchronize voluntary actions with audio-visual pairs presented at a fixed asynchrony (vision leading or vision lagging). Our analysis focused on the magnitude of cross-modal recalibration to the adapted audio-visual asynchrony as a function of the nature of the actions during adaptation, putatively fostering cross-modal grouping or, segregation. We found larger temporal adjustments when actions promoted grouping than segregation of sensory events. However, a control experiment suggested that additional factors, such as attention to planning/execution of actions, could have an impact on recalibration effects. Contrary to the view that cross-modal temporal organization is mainly driven by external factors related to the stimulus or environment, our findings add supporting evidence for the idea that perceptual adjustments strongly depend on the observer's inner states induced by motor and cognitive demands. PMID:28154529

Lyme Disease Data

MedlinePlus

... County-level Lyme disease data from 2000-2016 Microsoft Excel file [Excel CSV – 209KB] ––Right–click the link ... PDF file Microsoft PowerPoint file Microsoft Word file Microsoft Excel file Audio/Video file Apple Quicktime file RealPlayer ...

Cytotoxic agents for KB and SiHa cells from n-hexane fraction of Cissampelos pareira and its chemical composition.

PubMed

Bala, Manju; Pratap, Kunal; Verma, Praveen Kumar; Padwad, Yogendra; Singh, Bikram

2015-01-01

Eleven constituents were characterised by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis, and five molecules were isolated using column chromatography. The in vitro study of the extract and isolated molecules against KB and SiHa cell lines revealed oleanolic acid (1) and oleic acid (2) as potent cytotoxic molecules with potential anticancer activity. The IC50 values of n-hexane extract (CPHF), oleanolic acid (1) and oleic acid (2) were >300, 56.08 and 70.7 μg/mL (μM), respectively, against KB cell lines and >300, 47.24 and 80.2 μg/mL (μM), respectively, against SiHa cell lines.

Changes of the Prefrontal EEG (Electroencephalogram) Activities According to the Repetition of Audio-Visual Learning.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kim, Yong-Jin; Chang, Nam-Kee

2001-01-01

Investigates the changes of neuronal response according to a four time repetition of audio-visual learning. Obtains EEG data from the prefrontal (Fp1, Fp2) lobe from 20 subjects at the 8th grade level. Concludes that the habituation of neuronal response shows up in repetitive audio-visual learning and brain hemisphericity can be changed by…

A Unique Testing System for Audio Visual Foreign Language Laboratory.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stama, Spelios T.

1980-01-01

Described is the design of a low maintenance, foreign language laboratory at Ithaca College, New York, that provides visual and audio instruction, flexibility for testing, and greater student involvement in the lessons. (Author/CS)

Astronaut Garneau working with Audio Control System panel

NASA Image and Video Library

1996-06-05

STS077-392-007 (19-29 May 1996) --- Inside the Spacehab Module onboard the Earth-orbiting Space Shuttle Endeavour, Canadian astronaut Marc Garneau, mission specialist, joins astronaut Curtis L. Brown, Jr., pilot, in checking out the audio control system for Spacehab. The two joined four other NASA astronauts for nine days of research and experimentation in Earth-orbit.

Weaving together peer assessment, audios and medical vignettes in teaching medical terms.

PubMed

Allibaih, Mohammad; Khan, Lateef M

2015-12-06

The current study aims at exploring the possibility of aligning peer assessment, audiovisuals, and medical case-report extracts (vignettes) in medical terminology teaching. In addition, the study wishes to highlight the effectiveness of audio materials and medical history vignettes in preventing medical students' comprehension, listening, writing, and pronunciation errors. The study also aims at reflecting the medical students' attitudes towards the teaching and learning process. The study involved 161 medical students who received an intensive medical terminology course through audio and medical history extracts. Peer assessment and formative assessment platforms were applied through fake quizzes in a pre- and post-test manner. An 18-item survey was distributed amongst students to investigate their attitudes and feedback towards the teaching and learning process. Quantitative and qualitative data were analysed using the SPSS software. The students did better in the posttests than on the pretests for both the quizzes of audios and medical vignettes showing a t-test of -12.09 and -13.60 respectively. Moreover, out of the 133 students, 120 students (90.22%) responded to the survey questions. The students gave positive attitudes towards the application of audios and vignettes in the teaching and learning of medical terminology and towards the learning process. The current study revealed that the teaching and learning of medical terminology have more room for the application of advanced technologies, effective assessment platforms, and active learning strategies in higher education. It also highlights that students are capable of carrying more responsibilities of assessment, feedback, and e-learning.

Attention to sound improves auditory reliability in audio-tactile spatial optimal integration.

PubMed

Vercillo, Tiziana; Gori, Monica

2015-01-01

The role of attention on multisensory processing is still poorly understood. In particular, it is unclear whether directing attention toward a sensory cue dynamically reweights cue reliability during integration of multiple sensory signals. In this study, we investigated the impact of attention in combining audio-tactile signals in an optimal fashion. We used the Maximum Likelihood Estimation (MLE) model to predict audio-tactile spatial localization on the body surface. We developed a new audio-tactile device composed by several small units, each one consisting of a speaker and a tactile vibrator independently controllable by external software. We tested participants in an attentional and a non-attentional condition. In the attentional experiment, participants performed a dual task paradigm: they were required to evaluate the duration of a sound while performing an audio-tactile spatial task. Three unisensory or multisensory stimuli, conflictual or not conflictual sounds and vibrations arranged along the horizontal axis, were presented sequentially. In the primary task participants had to evaluate in a space bisection task the position of the second stimulus (the probe) with respect to the others (the standards). In the secondary task they had to report occasionally changes in duration of the second auditory stimulus. In the non-attentional task participants had only to perform the primary task (space bisection). Our results showed an enhanced auditory precision (and auditory weights) in the auditory attentional condition with respect to the control non-attentional condition. The results of this study support the idea that modality-specific attention modulates multisensory integration.

Weaving together peer assessment, audios and medical vignettes in teaching medical terms

PubMed Central

Khan, Lateef M.

2015-01-01

Objectives The current study aims at exploring the possibility of aligning peer assessment, audiovisuals, and medical case-report extracts (vignettes) in medical terminology teaching. In addition, the study wishes to highlight the effectiveness of audio materials and medical history vignettes in preventing medical students' comprehension, listening, writing, and pronunciation errors. The study also aims at reflecting the medical students' attitudes towards the teaching and learning process. Methods The study involved 161 medical students who received an intensive medical terminology course through audio and medical history extracts. Peer assessment and formative assessment platforms were applied through fake quizzes in a pre- and post-test manner. An 18-item survey was distributed amongst students to investigate their attitudes and feedback towards the teaching and learning process. Quantitative and qualitative data were analysed using the SPSS software. Results The students did better in the posttests than on the pretests for both the quizzes of audios and medical vignettes showing a t-test of -12.09 and -13.60 respectively. Moreover, out of the 133 students, 120 students (90.22%) responded to the survey questions. The students gave positive attitudes towards the application of audios and vignettes in the teaching and learning of medical terminology and towards the learning process. Conclusions The current study revealed that the teaching and learning of medical terminology have more room for the application of advanced technologies, effective assessment platforms, and active learning strategies in higher education. It also highlights that students are capable of carrying more responsibilities of assessment, feedback, and e-learning. PMID:26637986

A Novel Method for Real-Time Audio Recording With Intraoperative Video.

PubMed

Sugamoto, Yuji; Hamamoto, Yasuyoshi; Kimura, Masayuki; Fukunaga, Toru; Tasaki, Kentaro; Asai, Yo; Takeshita, Nobuyoshi; Maruyama, Tetsuro; Hosokawa, Takashi; Tamachi, Tomohide; Aoyama, Hiromichi; Matsubara, Hisahiro

2015-01-01

Although laparoscopic surgery has become widespread, effective and efficient education in laparoscopic surgery is difficult. Instructive laparoscopy videos with appropriate annotations are ideal for initial training in laparoscopic surgery; however, the method we use at our institution for creating laparoscopy videos with audio is not generalized, and there have been no detailed explanations of any such method. Our objectives were to demonstrate the feasibility of low-cost simple methods for recording surgical videos with audio and to perform a preliminary safety evaluation when obtaining these recordings during operations. We devised a method for the synchronous recording of surgical video with real-time audio in which we connected an amplifier and a wireless microphone to an existing endoscopy system and its equipped video-recording device. We tested this system in 209 cases of laparoscopic surgery in operating rooms between August 2010 and July 2011 and prospectively investigated the results of the audiovisual recording method and examined intraoperative problems. Numazu City Hospital in Numazu city, Japan. Surgeons, instrument nurses, and medical engineers. In all cases, the synchronous input of audio and video was possible. The recording system did not cause any inconvenience to the surgeon, assistants, instrument nurse, sterilized equipment, or electrical medical equipment. Statistically significant differences were not observed between the audiovisual group and control group regarding the operating time, which had been divided into 2 slots-performed by the instructors or by trainees (p > 0.05). This recording method is feasible and considerably safe while posing minimal difficulty in terms of technology, time, and expense. We recommend this method for both surgical trainees who wish to acquire surgical skills effectively and medical instructors who wish to teach surgical skills effectively. Copyright © 2015 Association of Program Directors in Surgery

Facilitating support groups for siblings of children with neurodevelopmental disorders using audio-conferencing: a longitudinal feasibility study.

PubMed

Gettings, Sheryl; Franco, Fabia; Santosh, Paramala J

2015-01-01

Siblings of children with chronic illness and disabilities are at increased risk of negative psychological effects. Support groups enable them to access psycho-education and social support. Barriers to this can include the distance they have to travel to meet face-to-face. Audio-conferencing, whereby three or more people can connect by telephone in different locations, is an efficient means of groups meeting and warrants exploration in this healthcare context. This study explored the feasibility of audio-conferencing as a method of facilitating sibling support groups. A longitudinal design was adopted. Participants were six siblings (aged eight to thirteen years) and parents of children with complex neurodevelopmental disorders attending the Centre for Interventional Paediatric Psychopharmacology (CIPP). Four of the eight one-hour weekly sessions were held face-to-face and the other four using audio-conferencing. Pre- and post-intervention questionnaires and interviews were completed and three to six month follow-up interviews were carried out. The sessions were audio-recorded, transcribed and thematic analysis was undertaken. Audio-conferencing as a form of telemedicine was acceptable to all six participants and was effective in facilitating sibling support groups. Audio-conferencing can overcome geographical barriers to children being able to receive group therapeutic healthcare interventions such as social support and psycho-education. Psychopathology ratings increased post-intervention in some participants. Siblings reported that communication between siblings and their family members increased and siblings' social network widened. Audio-conferencing is an acceptable, feasible and effective method of facilitating sibling support groups. Siblings' clear accounts of neuropsychiatric symptoms render them reliable informants. Systematic assessment of siblings' needs and strengthened links between Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services, school counsellors and

Digital audio watermarking using moment-preserving thresholding

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Choi, DooSeop; Jung, Hae Kyung; Choi, Hyuk; Kim, Taejeong

2007-09-01

The Moment-Preserving Thresholding technique for digital images has been used in digital image processing for decades, especially in image binarization and image compression. Its main strength lies in that the binary values that the MPT produces as a result, called representative values, are usually unaffected when the signal being thresholded goes through a signal processing operation. The two representative values in MPT together with the threshold value are obtained by solving the system of the preservation equations for the first, second, and third moment. Relying on this robustness of the representative values to various signal processing attacks considered in the watermarking context, this paper proposes a new watermarking scheme for audio signals. The watermark is embedded in the root-sum-square (RSS) of the two representative values of each signal block using the quantization technique. As a result, the RSS values are modified by scaling the signal according to the watermark bit sequence under the constraint of inaudibility relative to the human psycho-acoustic model. We also address and suggest solutions to the problem of synchronization and power scaling attacks. Experimental results show that the proposed scheme maintains high audio quality and robustness to various attacks including MP3 compression, re-sampling, jittering, and, DA/AD conversion.

A randomized controlled trial of an audio-based treatment program for child anxiety disorders.

PubMed

Infantino, Alyssa; Donovan, Caroline L; March, Sonja

2016-04-01

The aim of this study was to investigate the efficacy of an audio-based cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) program for child anxiety disorders. Twenty-four children aged 5-11 years were randomly allocated into either the audio-based CBT program condition (Audio, n = 12) or a waitlist control (WL; n = 12) group. Outcome measures included a clinical diagnostic interview, clinician-rated global assessment of functioning, and parent and child self-report ratings of anxiety and internalisation. Assessments were conducted prior to treatment, 12 weeks following treatment, and at 3-month follow-up. Results indicated that at post-assessment, 58.3% of children receiving treatment compared to 16.7% of waitlist children were free of their primary diagnosis, with this figure rising to 66.67% at the 3-month follow-up time point. Additionally, at post-assessment, 25.0% of children in the treatment condition compared to .0% of the waitlist condition were free of all anxiety diagnoses, with this figure rising to 41.67% for the treatment group at 3-month follow-up. Overall, the findings suggest that the audio program tested in this study has the potential to be an efficacious treatment alternative for anxious children. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Version pressure feedback mechanisms for speculative versioning caches

DOEpatents

Eichenberger, Alexandre E.; Gara, Alan; O& #x27; Brien, Kathryn M.; Ohmacht, Martin; Zhuang, Xiaotong

2013-03-12

Mechanisms are provided for controlling version pressure on a speculative versioning cache. Raw version pressure data is collected based on one or more threads accessing cache lines of the speculative versioning cache. One or more statistical measures of version pressure are generated based on the collected raw version pressure data. A determination is made as to whether one or more modifications to an operation of a data processing system are to be performed based on the one or more statistical measures of version pressure, the one or more modifications affecting version pressure exerted on the speculative versioning cache. An operation of the data processing system is modified based on the one or more determined modifications, in response to a determination that one or more modifications to the operation of the data processing system are to be performed, to affect the version pressure exerted on the speculative versioning cache.

Inhibition of spontaneous activity of rabbit atrioventricular node cells by KB-R7943 and inhibitors of sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ ATPase

PubMed Central

Cheng, Hongwei; Smith, Godfrey L.; Hancox, Jules C.; Orchard, Clive H.

2011-01-01

The atrioventricular node (AVN) can act as a subsidiary cardiac pacemaker if the sinoatrial node fails. In this study, we investigated the effects of the Na–Ca exchange (NCX) inhibitor KB-R7943, and inhibition of the sarcoplasmic reticulum calcium ATPase (SERCA), using thapsigargin or cyclopiazonic acid (CPA), on spontaneous action potentials (APs) and [Ca2+]i transients from cells isolated from the rabbit AVN. Spontaneous [Ca2+]i transients were monitored from undialysed AVN cells at 37 °C using Fluo-4. In separate experiments, spontaneous APs and ionic currents were recorded using the whole-cell patch clamp technique. Rapid application of 5 μM KB-R7943 slowed or stopped spontaneous APs and [Ca2+]i transients. However, in voltage clamp experiments in addition to blocking NCX current (INCX) KB-R7943 partially inhibited L-type calcium current (ICa,L). Rapid reduction of external [Na+] also abolished spontaneous activity. Inhibition of SERCA (using 2.5 μM thapsigargin or 30 μM CPA) also slowed or stopped spontaneous APs and [Ca2+]i transients. Our findings are consistent with the hypothesis that sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) Ca2+ release influences spontaneous activity in AVN cells, and that this occurs via [Ca2+]i-activated INCX; however, the inhibitory action of KB-R7943 on ICa,L means that care is required in the interpretation of data obtained using this compound. PMID:21163524

Publisher Correction: Polymorphic design of DNA origami structures through mechanical control of modular components.

PubMed

Lee, Chanseok; Lee, Jae Young; Kim, Do-Nyun

2018-02-07

The originally published version of this Article contained an error in Figure 5. In panel f, the right y-axis 'Strain energy (kbT)' was labelled 'Probability' and the left y-axis 'Probability' was labelled 'Strain energy (kbT)'. This error has now been corrected in both the PDF and HTML versions of the Article.

Evaluation of listener-based anuran surveys with automated audio recording devices

USGS Publications Warehouse

Shearin, A. F.; Calhoun, A.J.K.; Loftin, C.S.

2012-01-01

Volunteer-based audio surveys are used to document long-term trends in anuran community composition and abundance. Current sampling protocols, however, are not region- or species-specific and may not detect relatively rare or audibly cryptic species. We used automated audio recording devices to record calling anurans during 2006–2009 at wetlands in Maine, USA. We identified species calling, chorus intensity, time of day, and environmental variables when each species was calling and developed logistic and generalized mixed models to determine the time interval and environmental variables that optimize detection of each species during peak calling periods. We detected eight of nine anurans documented in Maine. Individual recordings selected from the sampling period (0.5 h past sunset to 0100 h) described in the North American Amphibian Monitoring Program (NAAMP) detected fewer species than were detected in recordings from 30 min past sunset until sunrise. Time of maximum detection of presence and full chorusing for three species (green frogs, mink frogs, pickerel frogs) occurred after the NAAMP sampling end time (0100 h). The NAAMP protocol’s sampling period may result in omissions and misclassifications of chorus sizes for certain species. These potential errors should be considered when interpreting trends generated from standardized anuran audio surveys.

Audio Implementation of Still and Motion Pictures. Final Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Allen, William H.; And Others

An experiment comparing the pedagogical effectiveness of five different modes of audio narration in motion and still pictures showed only small differences in sixth graders' learning. Ten experimental groups were formed in which the 351 subjects viewed motion pictures and still slides accompanied by supplementary, redundant, directive,…

When I Stopped Writing on Their Papers: Accommodating the Needs of Student Writers with Audio Comments

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bauer, Sara

2011-01-01

The author finds using software to make audio comments on students' writing improves students' understanding of her responses and increases their willingness to take her suggestions for revision more seriously. In the process of recording audio comments, she came to a new understanding of her students' writing needs and her responsibilities as…

An Introduction to Boiler Water Chemistry for the Marine Engineer: A Text of Audio-Tutorial Instruction.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schlenker, Richard M.; And Others

Presented is a manuscript for an introductory boiler water chemistry course for marine engineer education. The course is modular, self-paced, audio-tutorial, contract graded and combined lecture-laboratory instructed. Lectures are presented to students individually via audio-tapes and 35 mm slides. The course consists of a total of 17 modules -…

Neuromorphic audio-visual sensor fusion on a sound-localizing robot.

PubMed

Chan, Vincent Yue-Sek; Jin, Craig T; van Schaik, André

2012-01-01

This paper presents the first robotic system featuring audio-visual (AV) sensor fusion with neuromorphic sensors. We combine a pair of silicon cochleae and a silicon retina on a robotic platform to allow the robot to learn sound localization through self motion and visual feedback, using an adaptive ITD-based sound localization algorithm. After training, the robot can localize sound sources (white or pink noise) in a reverberant environment with an RMS error of 4-5° in azimuth. We also investigate the AV source binding problem and an experiment is conducted to test the effectiveness of matching an audio event with a corresponding visual event based on their onset time. Despite the simplicity of this method and a large number of false visual events in the background, a correct match can be made 75% of the time during the experiment.

The use of ambient audio to increase safety and immersion in location-based games

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kurczak, John Jason

The purpose of this thesis is to propose an alternative type of interface for mobile software being used while walking or running. Our work addresses the problem of visual user interfaces for mobile software be- ing potentially unsafe for pedestrians, and not being very immersive when used for location-based games. In addition, location-based games and applications can be dif- ficult to develop when directly interfacing with the sensors used to track the user's location. These problems need to be addressed because portable computing devices are be- coming a popular tool for navigation, playing games, and accessing the internet while walking. This poses a safety problem for mobile users, who may be paying too much attention to their device to notice and react to hazards in their environment. The difficulty of developing location-based games and other location-aware applications may significantly hinder the prevalence of applications that explore new interaction techniques for ubiquitous computing. We created the TREC toolkit to address the issues with tracking sensors while developing location-based games and applications. We have developed functional location-based applications with TREC to demonstrate the amount of work that can be saved by using this toolkit. In order to have a safer and more immersive alternative to visual interfaces, we have developed ambient audio interfaces for use with mobile applications. Ambient audio uses continuous streams of sound over headphones to present information to mobile users without distracting them from walking safely. In order to test the effectiveness of ambient audio, we ran a study to compare ambient audio with handheld visual interfaces in a location-based game. We compared players' ability to safely navigate the environment, their sense of immersion in the game, and their performance at the in-game tasks. We found that ambient audio was able to significantly increase players' safety and sense of immersion compared to a

Towards Structural Analysis of Audio Recordings in the Presence of Musical Variations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Müller, Meinard; Kurth, Frank

2006-12-01

One major goal of structural analysis of an audio recording is to automatically extract the repetitive structure or, more generally, the musical form of the underlying piece of music. Recent approaches to this problem work well for music, where the repetitions largely agree with respect to instrumentation and tempo, as is typically the case for popular music. For other classes of music such as Western classical music, however, musically similar audio segments may exhibit significant variations in parameters such as dynamics, timbre, execution of note groups, modulation, articulation, and tempo progression. In this paper, we propose a robust and efficient algorithm for audio structure analysis, which allows to identify musically similar segments even in the presence of large variations in these parameters. To account for such variations, our main idea is to incorporate invariance at various levels simultaneously: we design a new type of statistical features to absorb microvariations, introduce an enhanced local distance measure to account for local variations, and describe a new strategy for structure extraction that can cope with the global variations. Our experimental results with classical and popular music show that our algorithm performs successfully even in the presence of significant musical variations.

Disruption of a -35kb enhancer impairs CTCF binding and MLH1 expression in colorectal cells.

PubMed

Liu, Qing; Thoms, Julie A; Nunez, Andrea C; Huang, Yizhou; Knezevic, Kathy; Packham, Deborah; Poulos, Rebecca C; Williams, Rachel; Beck, Dominik; Hawkins, Nicholas J; Ward, Robyn L; Wong, Jason W H; Hesson, Luke B; Sloane, Mathew A; Pimanda, John

2018-06-13

MLH1 is a major tumour suppressor gene involved in the pathogenesis of Lynch syndrome and various sporadic cancers. Despite their potential pathogenic importance, genomic regions capable of regulating MLH1 expression over long distances have yet to be identified. Here we use chromosome conformation capture (3C) to screen a 650-kb region flanking the MLH1 locus to identify interactions between the MLH1 promoter and distal regions in MLH1 expressing and non-expressing cells. Putative enhancers were functionally validated using luciferase reporter assays, chromatin immunoprecipitation and CRISPR-Cas9 mediated deletion of endogenous regions. To evaluate whether germline variants in the enhancer might contribute to impaired MLH1 expression in patients with suspected Lynch syndrome, we also screened germline DNA from a cohort of 74 patients with no known coding mutations or epimutations at the MLH1 promoter. A 1.8kb DNA fragment, 35kb upstream of the MLH1 transcription start site enhances MLH1 gene expression in colorectal cells. The enhancer was bound by CTCF and CRISPR-Cas9 mediated deletion of a core binding region impairs endogenous MLH1 expression. 5.4% of suspected Lynch syndrome patients have a rare single nucleotide variant (G>A; rs143969848; 2.5% in gnomAD European, non-Finnish) within a highly conserved CTCF binding motif, which disrupts enhancer activity in SW620 colorectal carcinoma cells. A CTCF bound region within the MLH1 -35 enhancer regulates MLH1 expression in colorectal cells and is worthy of scrutiny in future genetic screening strategies for suspected Lynch syndrome associated with loss of MLH1 expression. Copyright ©2018, American Association for Cancer Research.

Audio Visual Technology and the Teaching of Foreign Languages.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Halbig, Michael C.

Skills in comprehending the spoken language source are becoming increasingly important due to the audio-visual orientation of our culture. It would seem natural, therefore, to adjust the learning goals and environment accordingly. The video-cassette machine is an ideal means for creating this learning environment and developing the listening…

Creating accessible science museums with user-activated environmental audio beacons (ping!).

PubMed

Landau, Steven; Wiener, William; Naghshineh, Koorosh; Giusti, Ellen

2005-01-01

In 2003, Touch Graphics Company carried out research on a new invention that promises to improve accessibility to science museums for visitors who are visually impaired. The system, nicknamed Ping!, allows users to navigate an exhibit area, listen to audio descriptions, and interact with exhibits using a cell phone-based interface. The system relies on computer telephony, and it incorporates a network of wireless environmental audio beacons that can be triggered by users wishing to travel to destinations they choose. User testing indicates that the system is effective, both as a way-finding tool and as a means of providing accessible information on museum content. Follow-up development projects will determine if this approach can be successfully implemented in other settings and for other user populations.

Hierarchical vs non-hierarchical audio indexation and classification for video genres

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dammak, Nouha; BenAyed, Yassine

2018-04-01

In this paper, Support Vector Machines (SVMs) are used for segmenting and indexing video genres based on only audio features extracted at block level, which has a prominent asset by capturing local temporal information. The main contribution of our study is to show the wide effect on the classification accuracies while using an hierarchical categorization structure based on Mel Frequency Cepstral Coefficients (MFCC) audio descriptor. In fact, the classification consists in three common video genres: sports videos, music clips and news scenes. The sub-classification may divide each genre into several multi-speaker and multi-dialect sub-genres. The validation of this approach was carried out on over 360 minutes of video span yielding a classification accuracy of over 99%.

Audio Haptic Videogaming for Developing Wayfinding Skills in Learners Who are Blind

PubMed Central

Sánchez, Jaime; de Borba Campos, Marcia; Espinoza, Matías; Merabet, Lotfi B.

2014-01-01

Interactive digital technologies are currently being developed as a novel tool for education and skill development. Audiopolis is an audio and haptic based videogame designed for developing orientation and mobility (O&M) skills in people who are blind. We have evaluated the cognitive impact of videogame play on O&M skills by assessing performance on a series of behavioral tasks carried out in both indoor and outdoor virtual spaces. Our results demonstrate that the use of Audiopolis had a positive impact on the development and use of O&M skills in school-aged learners who are blind. The impact of audio and haptic information on learning is also discussed. PMID:25485312

Antiproliferative activity of flower hexane extract obtained from Mentha spicata associated with Mentha rotundifolia against the MCF7, KB, and NIH/3T3 cell lines.

PubMed

Nedel, Fernanda; Begnini, Karine; Carvalho, Pedro Henrique de Azambuja; Lund, Rafael Guerra; Beira, Fátima T A; Del Pino, Francisco Augusto B

2012-11-01

This study assessed the antiproliferative effect in vitro of the flower hexane extract obtained from Mentha spicata associated with Mentha rotundifolia against the human breast adenocarcinoma (MCF-7), human mouth epidermal carcinoma (KB), and mouse embryonic fibroblast (NIH 3T3) cell lines, using sulforhodamine B (SRB) assay. A cell density of 2×10(4)/well was seeded in 96-well plates, and samples at different concentrations ranging from 10 to 500 mg/mL were tested. The optical density was determined in an ELISA multiplate reader (Thermo Plate TP-Reader). Results demonstrated that the hexane extract presented antiproliferative activity against both the tumor cell lines KB and MCF-7, presenting a GI(50) (MCF-7=13.09 mg/mL), TGI (KB=37.76 mg/mL), and IL(50) (KB=291.07 mg/mL). Also, the hexane extract presented antiproliferative activity toward NIH 3T3 cells GI(50) (183.65 mg/mL), TGI (280.54 mg/mL), and IL(50) (384.59 mg/mL). The results indicate that the flower hexane extract obtained from M. spicata associated with M. rotundifolia presents an antineoplastic activity against KB and MCF-7, although an antiproliferative effect at a high concentration of the extract was observed toward NIH 3T3.

Effect of audio instruction on tracking errors using a four-dimensional image-guided radiotherapy system.

PubMed

Nakamura, Mitsuhiro; Sawada, Akira; Mukumoto, Nobutaka; Takahashi, Kunio; Mizowaki, Takashi; Kokubo, Masaki; Hiraoka, Masahiro

2013-09-06

The Vero4DRT (MHI-TM2000) is capable of performing X-ray image-based tracking (X-ray Tracking) that directly tracks the target or fiducial markers under continuous kV X-ray imaging. Previously, we have shown that irregular respiratory patterns increased X-ray Tracking errors. Thus, we assumed that audio instruction, which generally improves the periodicity of respiration, should reduce tracking errors. The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of audio instruction on X-ray Tracking errors. Anterior-posterior abdominal skin-surface displacements obtained from ten lung cancer patients under free breathing and simple audio instruction were used as an alternative to tumor motion in the superior-inferior direction. First, a sequential predictive model based on the Levinson-Durbin algorithm was created to estimate the future three-dimensional (3D) target position under continuous kV X-ray imaging while moving a steel ball target of 9.5 mm in diameter. After creating the predictive model, the future 3D target position was sequentially calculated from the current and past 3D target positions based on the predictive model every 70 ms under continuous kV X-ray imaging. Simultaneously, the system controller of the Vero4DRT calculated the corresponding pan and tilt rotational angles of the gimbaled X-ray head, which then adjusted its orientation to the target. The calculated and current rotational angles of the gimbaled X-ray head were recorded every 5 ms. The target position measured by the laser displacement gauge was synchronously recorded every 10 msec. Total tracking system errors (ET) were compared between free breathing and audio instruction. Audio instruction significantly improved breathing regularity (p < 0.01). The mean ± standard deviation of the 95th percentile of ET (E95T ) was 1.7 ± 0.5 mm (range: 1.1-2.6mm) under free breathing (E95T,FB) and 1.9 ± 0.5 mm (range: 1.2-2.7 mm) under audio instruction (E95T,AI). E95T,AI was larger than E95T,FB for

Identification of herpes simplex virus type 1 proteins encoded within the first 1.5 kb of the latency-associated transcript.

PubMed

Henderson, Gail; Jaber, Tareq; Carpenter, Dale; Wechsler, Steven L; Jones, Clinton

2009-09-01

Expression of the first 1.5 kb of the latency-associated transcript (LAT) that is encoded by herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) is sufficient for wild-type (wt) levels of reactivation from latency in small animal models. Peptide-specific immunoglobulin G (IgG) was generated against open reading frames (ORFs) that are located within the first 1.5 kb of LAT coding sequences. Cells stably transfected with LAT or trigeminal ganglionic neurons of mice infected with a LAT expressing virus appeared to express the L2 or L8 ORF. Only L2 ORF expression was readily detected in trigeminal ganglionic neurons of latently infected mice.

47 CFR 25.214 - Technical requirements for space stations in the Satellite Digital Audio Radio Service and...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 2 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Technical requirements for space stations in the Satellite Digital Audio Radio Service and associated terrestrial repeaters. 25.214 Section 25.214... Technical Standards § 25.214 Technical requirements for space stations in the Satellite Digital Audio Radio...