Pitch Patterns Research Articles

(Invited) Post-CMOS Compatible Silicon MEMS Nano-Tactile Sensor for Touch Feeling Discrimination of Materials

Semiconductor silicon has realized various kinds of valuable electron devices. CMOS technology is the present standard silicon process to fabricate integrated circuits and systems. Therefore, the word “Post-CMOS” has been an important word which means that the technology makes it possible to fabricate various kinds of MEMS sensors/actuators/passives with highly sophisticated modern CMOS devices. Also, it emphasizes that MEMS devices fabricated by post-CMOS technology has “high compatibility” with “silicon FABs” that are most universal and distributed fabrication facilities in the world. High performance devices and fine microstructures can be fabricated by universal post-CMOS fabrication processes at present.Post-CMOS compatible process is a key technology to realize ultra-high-performance silicon MEMS tactile sensors in this study. We, humans have very sophisticated sense of touch on our fingertip skin, and we can recognize and distinguish various and delicate difference of touch feelings obtained by “sweep motion” of fingertip on various kinds of materials and objects. Our fingertip skin has the highest density of force and vibration (mechanical) receptors like Meissner’s corpuscles and Merkel disks under the surface skin layer where fine pitch patterns of fingerprint are formed on. It is known that human’s fingertip has a very high spatial resolution below 100µm or less, and can recognize existence of 13nm-pitch patterns as reported recently. The high performance of our fingertip sense of touch has never been realized by any tactile sensor device. In order to reproduce artificial sense of touch like the fingertip, very high performances on “spatial resolution” and “input sensitivities” are required to integrate all on a small tactile sensor. Therefore, CMOS-compatible fabrication technology is the most suitable process to fabricate such high-performance tactile sensors with integrated functions.Based on a silicon post-CMOS compatible process, we have realized high performance silicon MEMS tactile sensor called “Nano-tactile sensor”, which is comparable to the performance of fingertip sense of touch. In this tactile sensor device, all the mechanical structures are made from single crystalline silicon which is the active layer of SOI wafers. No elastomer/polymer structures are used in the mechanical sensing structure, and softness and elasticity necessary to tactile sensing are realized by silicon micro mechanical structures. All the fine mechanical movements and sensing circuits with strain-sensitive diffusion resistors (i.e. piezoresistors) are designed by 2D-CAD, and the characteristics can be controlled by layout pattern sizes. The contactor parts of the tactile sensor have curved shape which is similarly designed to the cross-section of a fingerprint, and its suspension springs are designed to have similar spring constant with human’s fingertip skin surface.In the latest version of our “Nano-tactile sensors”, six contactors with fingerprint-like shape are integrated at a pitch of 500µm to get distributed tactile images at a high spatial resolution. The pitch of 500µm corresponds to the average value of human’s fingerprint patterns. Each fingerprint-like contactor reproduces vertical motion (by micro roughness) and horizontal motion (by frictional force) of a fingerprint closely under sweeping motion of fingertip in touch feeling measurement. Spatial resolution of our tactile sensor reaches to sub-micron (200nm) in the finest version, and its force resolution of input reaches below 50µN range. These high performances are enough high to reproduce part of our fingertip sense of touch. The Nano-tactile sensors can get touch feeling waveforms of “hair surface condition”, “skin texture and the condition”, and touch feelings of various kinds of “papers” and “clothes” at a high spatial resolution like our fingertip skin. In the lecture, experimental results of very high-resolution tactile sensing are presented, and their importance and novelty are discussed.Machine learning based on deep neural network (DNN) has become very important for sensing data analysis. We think DNN is very important to understand/reproduce human sense of touch since a trained DNN behaves similarly with human’s senses based on our experiences. Since a lot of sample data are required for such applications, we have developed a measurement system called “Touch-Feeling Scanner”. A number of tactile sensing data can be measured by the touch-feeling scanner integrating a Nano-tactile sensor device. Obtained signals with the scanner were applied to train a DNN for discrimination of different kinds of clothes. 10 kinds of cloth samples have been successfully discriminated at a correct percentage over 95% as an example. Combination of high-resolution Nano-tactile sensors and state-of-the-art machine learning (DNN) is a strong approach to reproduce human fingertip sensation for various valuable applications. Figure 1

Impact of Auditory-Motor Musical Training on Melodic Pattern Recognition in Cochlear Implant Users.

Cochlear implant (CI) users struggle with tasks of pitch-based prosody perception. Pitch pattern recognition is vital for both music comprehension and understanding the prosody of speech, which signals emotion and intent. Research in normal-hearing individuals shows that auditory-motor training, in which participants produce the auditory pattern they are learning, is more effective than passive auditory training. We investigated whether auditory-motor training of CI users improves complex sound perception, such as vocal emotion recognition and pitch pattern recognition, compared with purely auditory training. Prospective cohort study. Tertiary academic center. Fifteen postlingually deafened adults with CIs. Participants were divided into 3 one-month training groups: auditory-motor (intervention), auditory-only (active control), and no training (control). Auditory-motor training was conducted with the "Contours" software program and auditory-only training was completed with the "AngelSound" software program. Pre and posttest examinations included tests of speech perception (consonant-nucleus-consonant, hearing-in-noise test sentence recognition), speech prosody perception, pitch discrimination, and melodic contour identification. Participants in the auditory-motor training group performed better than those in the auditory-only and no-training (p < 0.05) for the melodic contour identification task. No significant training effect was noted on tasks of speech perception, speech prosody perception, or pitch discrimination. These data suggest that short-term auditory-motor music training of CI users impacts pitch pattern recognition. This study offers approaches for enriching the world of complex sound in the CI user.

영월 방언의 거성형과 성조 변화

이 연구는 영월 방언 체언의 성조를 분석하고 약 30년이라는 시간차를 두고 거성형의 성조 실형을 비교하여 영월 방언 성조 변화를 설명하고자 했다. 그 결과, 영월 방언의 성조체계는 두 가지 성조 변화가 진행중임을 확인할 수 있었다. 하나는 성조체계 내에 영향을 주지 않는 단순한 음성 변화이고 다른 하나는 성조형 분포의 변화로 말미암아 성조체계 내에 재구조화가 일어나는 변화이다.<BR> 먼저, 단순한 음성 변화는 평복형과 상성형의 음조 변화이다. 최명옥(1999)의 자료에서는 평복형과 상성형의 음조는 어절의 둘째음절과 셋째음절에 어절에서 가장 높은 고조 [H]가 실현되었다. 그러나 30년 후인 현재 자료에서는 평복형과 상성형의 음조는 어절 끝에서 둘째음절에 어절에서 가장 높은 고조 [H]가 실현되었다.<BR> 다음, 영월 방언 성조체계 내에 재구조화를 촉발하는 성조형 분포의 변화이다. 30년 전 자료에서는 거성형이 분포의 제약 없이 안정적인 성조 실현을 보인다. 하지만, 현재 필자의 자료에서는 거성형이 매우 불안정한 성조 실현을 보인다. 즉, 영월 방언 거성형은 3음절 이상 어절에서 평2형(□□, □□ · □)에 합류해서 거성형이 존재하지 않고, ‘·말(斗)/M/[Mˉ ]’과 같이 1음절 단독형과 ‘·춤·이/M²/[HH]’처럼 2음절 어절에서도 첫소리가 강자음으로 시작하는 단어에서만 실현된다. 결국, 성조형 분포의 변화로 인해서 2음절 어절에서 거성형은 A유형(·춤·이/M²/[HH]), B유형(·풀·이/M²/[HH]~풀이/H²/[MH]), C유형(물이/H²/[MH]) 등이 공존한다.

The impact of vocal tuning in the perceptual auditory judgment of normal and deviated voice qualities.

To evaluate the ability that in tune and out of tune individuals have to identify normal and deviated voice qualities and to compare it with their performance in auditory processing tests and perceptual judgment. The study investigated 15 in tune and 15 out of tune individuals. Participants were matched for age and sex, were amateur choir singers, had normal hearing thresholds and normal vocal quality. All individuals underwent Pitch-matching scanning to be classified as in or out of tune. Next, they performed the Pitch Pattern Sequence (PPS) and the Duration Pattern Sequence (DPS) tests and the perceptual judgment of 36 voices plus 20% of repetition for reliability analysis. The out of tune individuals had worse performance in the PPS and DPS for both ears (p=0.002 RE; p=0.001 LE; p=0.009 DPS); no difference was observed in the perceptual judgment and the reliability (p=0.153). However, participants with normal PPS and DPS had better performance in the perceptual judgment and better reliability (p=0.033). Thus, individuals with disorders in temporal auditory processing skills have greater difficulty in the perceptual judgment and have lower intra-rater reliability, despite being in or out of tune. It can be observed that voice tone is not required to guarantee good perceptual judgment. However, temporal patterns and intra-rater reliability are essential to perceptually assess normal and altered voice qualities. Therefore, auditory training should be included in programs that aim to develop voice perceptual judgment abilities.

Central auditory processing: behavioral and electrophysiological assessment of children and adolescents diagnosed with stroke

IntroductionCentral auditory processing refers to the efficiency and effectiveness with which the central nervous system uses auditory information: it may be altered in neurological disorders and brain injuries, such as strokes. However, despite evidence of probable alterations in the pediatric population, functional abilities and post-stroke limitations are still not well documented in the literature. ObjectiveTo analyze the findings of the electrophysiological and behavioral evaluations of central auditory processing of children and adolescents diagnosed with stroke from a reference outpatient clinic, as well as to investigate possible associations with the variables: type and location of the stroke and age group. MethodsThe present study is characterized as comparative cross-sectional. The sample, for convenience, included individuals aged 7–18 years divided into two groups: study group, composed of individuals with a diagnosis of stroke, and control group, composed of individuals with typical development. The evaluation consisted of the following procedures: anamnesis, basic audiological evaluation, behavioral evaluation of the auditory processing disorder (dichotic digit test, dichotic consonant-vowel, synthetic sentence identification/pediatric speech intelligibility, gaps in noise, pitch pattern sequence, masking level difference), and electrophysiological evaluation (P300 and mismatch negativity). ResultsNineteen children and adolescents were included in the study group. The control group was composed of 19 children and adolescents with typical development. In the comparison between the groups, a worse performance is observed for the study group in all the evaluated tests, behavioral and electrophysiological. In the behavioral evaluation of central auditory processing, there was a statistical difference for all tests, except for masking level difference and dichotic digit test, binaural separation step on the left. In the electrophysiological evaluation, there was a statistical difference in the latency of mismatch negativity and P300. No associations were found between the behavioral and electrophysiological findings and the location of the stroke and age group variables. ConclusionChildren and adolescents diagnosed with stroke present a worse performance in the electrophysiological and behavioral evaluations of central auditory processing when compared to a control group.

Pitch Pattern Analysis in Speech of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a multifaceted neurodevelopmental condition. Atypical communication mostly occurs in tandem with ASD. We compared voice pitch of 16 Marathi children and adolescents with ASD of age of 7 to 18 with 27 Typically Developing (TD). Speech samples have been recorded and stored in .wav format with sampling frequency of 48000 Hz. For analysis we used PRAAT, a program for speech analysis, manipulation and synthesis. We divided the ASD and TD group into total 4 groups on basis of age and gender for comparison. We found that differences in voice pitch are present in these comparison groups, and male ASD group have more pitch variation than respective comparison groups. In future we look forward to include more ASD participants in study to increase the Marathi speech database for ASD.

Exploring variation in nonnative Japanese learners’ perception of lexical pitch accent: The roles of processing resources and learning context

AbstractThis article reports findings on the effects of processing resources and learning context on the perceptual learning of lexical pitch accent in beginning nonnative Japanese learners. Native English speakers in at-home and study-abroad contexts were tested twice during a semester of Japanese study on their ability to judge the correctness of and categorize nouns by their pitch pattern. Regression analyses indicated that the ability to store nonnative-like sound sequences in phonological short-term memory (PSTM), as well as auditory processing ability, predicted a significant degree of perceptual gains made over a 12-week interval. However, these predictors were task specific in that PSTM capacity predicted correctness judgment gains, while auditory processing accounted for variation in categorization. Furthermore, despite learners in the at-home context performing slightly better overall, processing resources adhered to the same predictive pattern when context was taken into account. The results suggest that (a) neither increased input during study-abroad nor targeted instruction is sufficient for most learners to acquire lexical accent; (b) processing resources support the acquisition of lexical prosody, but these may depend on how learning is assessed; and (c) PSTM operates across learning contexts, suggesting it to be a domain-general capacity in early-stage nonnative language acquisition.

Auditory Perception: Relative Universals for Musical Pitch.

Do members of a remote Amazonian tribe and Boston-trained musicians share similarities in their mental representations of auditory pitch? According to an impressive new set of psychoacoustic evidence they do, a finding which highlights the universal importance of relative pitch patterns.

Experimental Study on Active Interface Debonding Detection for Rectangular Concrete-Filled Steel Tubes with Surface Wave Measurement.

Concrete-filled steel tube (CFST) members have been widely employed as major structural members carrying axial or vertical loads and the interface bond condition between steel tube and concrete core plays key roles in ensuring the confinement effect of steel tube on concrete core. An effective interface debonding defect detection approach for CFSTs is critical. In this paper, an active interface debonding detection approach using surface wave measurement with a piezoelectric lead zirconate titanate (PZT) patch as sensor mounted on the outer surface of the CFST member excited with a PZT actuator mounted on the identical surface is proposed in order to avoid embedding PZT-based smart aggregates (SAs) in concrete core. In order to validate the feasibility of the proposed approach and to investigate the effect of interface debonding defect on the surface wave measurement, two rectangular CFST specimens with different degrees of interface debonding defects on three internal surfaces are designed and experimentally studied. Surface stress waves excited by the PZT actuator and propagating along the steel tube of the specimens are measured by the PZT sensors with a pitch and catch pattern. Results show that the surface-mounted PZT sensor measurement is sensitive to the existence of interface debonding defect and the interface debonding defect leads to the increase in the voltage amplitude of surface wave measurement. A damage index defined with the surface wave measurement has a linear relationship with the heights of the interface debonding defects.

Comparative Hydrodynamic Analysis of Narrow and Pilot‐Scale Bubble Columns with Internals

AbstractFor a stable operation of exothermic processes in bubble column reactors, an appropriate heat control is required, e.g., through dense internal tube bundle heat exchangers. Their impact on hydrodynamic characteristics and scaling approaches is studied for columns of different scales. Two different column dimensions (DN100 and DN400) were equipped with two common tube patterns of triangular and square pitches to study local fluid dynamics. Based on geometrical tube bundle scaling quantities, hydrodynamic similarity as a scale‐up criterion with respect to average holdups, phase distributions, and local gas structures can be reached.

Male Vocal Quality and Its Relation to Females' Preferences.

In both correlational and experimental settings, studies on women's vocal preferences have reported negative relationships between perceived attractiveness and men's vocal pitch, emphasizing the idea of an adaptive preference. However, such consensus on vocal attractiveness has been mostly conducted with native English speakers, but a few evidence suggest that it may be culture-dependent. Moreover, other overlooked acoustic components of vocal quality, such as intonation, perceived breathiness and roughness, may influence vocal attractiveness. In this context, the present study aims to contribute to the literature by investigating vocal attractiveness in an underrepresented language (i.e., French) as well as shedding light on its relationship with understudied acoustic components of vocal quality. More specifically, we investigated the relationships between attractiveness ratings as assessed by female raters and male voice pitch, its variation, the formants' dispersion and position, and the harmonics-to-noise and jitter ratios. Results show that women were significantly more attracted to lower vocal pitch and higher intonation patterns. However, they did not show any directional preferences for all the other acoustic features. We discuss our results in light of the adaptive functions of vocal preferences in a mate choice context.

Reduced prediction error responses in high-as compared to low-uncertainty musical contexts

Theories of predictive processing propose that prediction error responses are modulated by the certainty of the predictive model or precision. While there is some evidence for this phenomenon in the visual and, to a lesser extent, the auditory modality, little is known about whether it operates in the complex auditory contexts of daily life. Here, we examined how prediction error responses behave in a more complex and ecologically valid auditory context than those typically studied. We created musical tone sequences with different degrees of pitch uncertainty to manipulate the precision of participants' auditory expectations. Magnetoencephalography was used to measure the magnetic counterpart of the mismatch negativity (MMNm) as a neural marker of prediction error in a multi-feature paradigm. Pitch, slide, intensity and timbre deviants were included. We compared high-entropy stimuli, consisting of a set of non-repetitive melodies, with low-entropy stimuli consisting of a simple, repetitive pitch pattern. Pitch entropy was quantitatively assessed with an information-theoretic model of auditory expectation. We found a reduction in pitch and slide MMNm amplitudes in the high-entropy as compared to the low-entropy context. No significant differences were found for intensity and timbre MMNm amplitudes. Furthermore, in a separate behavioral experiment investigating the detection of pitch deviants, similar decreases were found for accuracy measures in response to more fine-grained increases in pitch entropy. Our results are consistent with a precision modulation of auditory prediction error in a musical context, and suggest that this effect is specific to features that depend on the manipulated dimension—pitch information, in this case.

Efficacy of a newly developed auditory-cognitive training system on speech recognition, central auditory processing and cognitive ability among older adults with normal cognition and with neurocognitive impairment.

To evaluate the efficacy of a newly developed auditory-cognitive training system on speech recognition, central auditory processing and cognition among older adults with normal cognition (NC) and with neurocognitive impairment (NCI). A double-blind quasi-experiment was carried out on NC (n = 43) and NCI (n = 33) groups. Participants in each group were randomly assigned into treatment and control programs groups. The treatment group underwent auditory-cognitive training, whereas the control group was assigned to watch documentary videos, three times per week, for 8 consecutive weeks. Study outcomes that included Montreal Cognitive Assessment, Malay Hearing in Noise Test, Dichotic Digit Test, Gaps in Noise Test and Pitch Pattern Sequence Test were measured at 4-week intervals at baseline, and weeks 4, 8 and 12. Mixed design anova showed significant training effects in total Montreal Cognitive Assessment and Dichotic Digit Test in both groups, NC (P < 0.001) and NCI (P < 0.01). The NC group also showed significant training effects in the Malay Hearing in Noise Test (quiet) (P < 0.01), Gaps in Noise Test (P < 0.001) and Pitch Pattern Sequence Test (humming) (P < 0.05). All training effects were sustained up to 4 weeks after the training ended. The present study suggests that the newly developed auditory-cognitive training system has the potential to improve general cognition and some of the auditory processing abilities in both the NC and NCI groups. Because of the short test-retest intervals used in the present study, it is possible that the training effects were influenced by learning effect and, therefore, should be considered cautiously. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2019; 19: 768-773.

Jet fuel exposure and auditory outcomes in Australian air force personnel

BackgroundAnimal data suggest that jet fuels such as JP-8 are associated with hearing deficits when combined with noise and that the effect is more pronounced than with noise exposure alone. Some studies suggest peripheral dysfunction while others suggest central auditory dysfunction. Human data are limited in this regard. The aim of this study was to investigate the possible chronic adverse effects of JP-8 combined with noise exposure on the peripheral and central auditory systems in humans.MethodsFifty-seven participants who were current personnel from the Royal Australian Air Force were selected. Based on their levels of exposure to jet fuels, participants were divided into three exposure groups (low, moderate, high). Groups were also categorised based on their noise exposure levels (low, moderate, high). All participants were evaluated by tympanometry, pure-tone audiometry (1–12 kHz), distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAEs), auditory brainstem response (ABR), words-in-noise, compressed speech, dichotic digit test, pitch pattern sequence test, duration pattern sequence test and adaptive test of temporal resolution. All auditory tests were carried out after the participants were away from the Air Force base for a minimum of two weeks, thus two weeks without jet fuel and noise exposure.ResultsJet fuel exposure was significantly associated with hearing thresholds at 4 and 8 kHz; average hearing thresholds across frequencies in the better ear; DPOAEs at 2.8, 4 and 6 kHz; ABR wave V latency in the right ear; compressed speech and words-in-noise. Further analyses revealed that participants with low exposure level to jet fuels showed significantly better results for the aforementioned procedures than participants with moderate and high exposure levels. All results were controlled for the covariates of age and noise exposure levels.ConclusionsThe results suggest that jet fuel exposure, when combined with noise exposure, has an adverse effect on audibility in humans. Taking all the test results into consideration, jet fuel exposure combined with noise exposure specifically seems to affect the peripheral hearing system in humans.

The Acquisition of Mandarin Tonal Processes by Children With Cochlear Implants.

Purpose Children with cochlear implants (CIs) face challenges in acquiring tonal languages, as CIs do not efficiently code pitch information. Mandarin is a tonal language with lexical tones and tonal processes such as neutral tone and tone sandhi, exhibiting contextually conditioned tonal realizations. Previous studies suggest that early implantation and long CI experience facilitate the acquisition of lexical tones by children with CIs. However, there is lack of acoustic evidence on children's tonal productions demonstrating that this is the case, and it is unclear whether and how children with CIs are able to acquire contextual tones. This study therefore examined the acoustic realization of both lexical tones and contextual tones as produced by children fitted with CIs, exploring the potential effects of age at implantation and length of CI experience on their acquisition of the Mandarin tonal system. Method Seventy-two Mandarin-learning preschoolers with CIs, varying in age at implantation (13-42 months) and length of CI experience (2-49 months), and 44 normal hearing 3-year-old controls were recruited. Tonal productions were elicited from both groups using picture-naming tasks and acoustically compared. Results Only the early implanted group (i.e., implanted before the age of 2 years) produced normal-like lexical tones and generally had contextual tones approximating those of the normal-hearing children. The other children, including those with longer CI experience, did not have typical tonal productions; their pitch patterns for lexical tones tended to be flatter, and contextual tone productions were unchanged across tonal contexts. Conclusion Children with CIs face challenges in acquiring Mandarin tones, but early implantation may help them to develop normal-like lexical tone categories, which further facilitates their implementation of contextual tones. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.8038889.

Pspan: A New Tool for Assessing Pitch Temporal Processing and Patterning Capacity.

Purpose The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether merging the clinical pitch pattern test procedure with psychoacoustic adaptive methods would create a new tool feasible to capture individual differences in pitch temporal processing and patterning capacity of children and adults. Method Sixty-six individuals, young children (ages 10-12 years, n = 22), older children (ages 13-15 years, n = 23), and adults (ages 18-33 years, n = 21), were recruited and assigned to subgroups based on reported duration (years) of instrumental music instruction. Additional background information was collected in order to assess if the pitch temporal processing and patterning span developed, the Pspan, was sensitive to individual differences across participants. Results The evaluation of the Pspan task as a scale indicated good parallel reliability across runs assessed by Cronbach's alpha, and scores were normally distributed. Between-subjects analysis of variance indicated main effects for both age groups and music groups recruited for the study. A multiple regression analysis with the Pspan scores as the dependent variable found that 3 measures of music instruction, age in years, and paternal education were predictive of enhanced temporal processing and patterning capacity for pitch input. Conclusions The outcomes suggest that the Pspan task is a time-efficient data collection tool that is sensitive to the duration of instrumental music instruction, maturation, and paternal education. In addition, results indicate that the task is sensitive to age-related auditory temporal processing and patterning performance changes during adolescence when children are 10-15 years old.

АНАЛИЗ ОТЕЧЕСТВЕННОЙ АВАНГАРДНОЙ МУЗЫКИ В ВУЗОВСКОМ КУРСЕ «ОСНОВЫ ТЕОРЕТИЧЕСКОГО МУЗЫКОЗНАНИЯ»

The article is devoted to a relevant problem of the modern pedagogy of special and general musical education - insufficient attention to avant-garde music in the process of future music teachers’ professional training. The paper provides a survey of modern domestic music experts’ views on this issue. The author identifies the reasons for a relatively insignificant place of avant-garde music in the educational process of the musical faculties of pedagogical higher education establishments. The author argues that in the process of studying the discipline “Fundamental Concepts of Theoretical Musicology”, future music teachers should acquire competence in analysing domestic avant-garde compositions. As an example of the practical usage of a domestic avant-garde composition in educational process the author analyses the vocal cycle “Blätter” by E. Denisov. The paper examines the specificity of the composer’s interpretation of the poetical original source, the form of the composition, its pitch pattern, tone and texture peculiarities determined by the principles of serial technique, micro-chromatics and sonorism. The analysis of this composition allows identifying the original combination of traditional composition principles and modern composer’s technique.

Comparison of Pitch Accent in Native Speakers of English &amp; Mandarin Learners of English

This research project was conducted as a pilot study to explore how pitch accent is used by NCES (Native Canadian English Speakers) and MLE (Mandarin Learners of English). Pitch accents are the prominent high or low tones, that are predominantly found on content words (N, V, Adv, Adj, etc.) in English. In order to compare how both speech communities use pitch accent in English, participants were given an EI (Elicited Imitation) Task. The EI involved participants hearing and then repeating a sentence. It is also reconstructive in nature meaning that the participants process the sentence, then reconstruct it with their own grammar, and finally reproduce it. The results showed that Mandarin speakers had more pitch accents than English speakers, adding pitch accents on function words (Art, Pro, Prep, etc.) as well. The results also demonstrated that Mandarin speakers had less creaky words (words said in a very low pitch, also known as laryngealization or vocal fry) than the English participants. Implications of this study concern ESL Education; such as should English pitch accent patterns and creak in English be taught to English language learners.

Effects of Focus of Attention on Performance by Second-Year Band Students

This study tested the effect of the motor learning paradigm of internal and external focus of attention (FOA) with middle school band students. A total of 56 second-year band students (woodwinds n = 28; valved brass n = 18; trombones n = 10) practiced isochronous, alternating pitch patterns (e.g., eighth notes C–A–C–A–C–A–C) in three conditions: control (no FOA), internal (“think about your fingers”), and external (“think about your sound”). At retention testing approximately 24 hr later, students played each stimulus three times with no directed FOA. Performance trials were scored for the average duration of each pitch per trial, or evenness. No significant differences were found between conditions (control, internal, external) on Day 1 or Day 2 ( p &gt; .05). Likewise, no significant differences were found within instrument groups from Day 1 to Day 2 ( p &gt; .05). When evenness scores were examined at the level of the individual student, more woodwind and valved brass players benefited from the internal (fingers) FOA than from control or external conditions. Individual differences among trombone players were less pronounced, slightly favoring the external (sound) condition. Music teachers should consider implementing both internal and external FOAs with their beginning wind students.

FEASIBILITY OF SMART HEMODIALYSIS PATIENT CARE USING SENSORS EMBEDDED IN PERSONALIZED 3D PRINTING CAST

The ever-increasing incidence of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) has already become a major burden to health budgets and a threat to public health nationwide in Taiwan. According to the United States Renal Data System Annual Data Report in 2015, the prevalence and incidence of ESRD in Taiwan are the highest in the world. Moreover, for the population of 82 thousand ESRD patients receiving hemodialysis treatments, the total cost is up to NT$34.2 billion annually out of the National Health Insurance (NHI) program budget. This project is to design a wearable medical device which can measure and monitor the fluid dynamics of the dialysis access using sensor of phonoangiography (PAG) for exploring vascular pitch pattern and sensor of Photoplethysmography (PPG) for estimating the flow volume as a double checking of the AV access condition. We use arteriovenous access (AVA) stenosis detector based on phonoangiography technique and autoregressive model to detect access stenosis and simultaneously estimate the status of AVA life cycle by tracking and obtaining changes in frequency spectra domain. It helps hemodialysis patients to be aware earlier of the dysfunction of AVA and reminds them to make a return visit. The purpose of the complement deployment of vital sign sensors is to improve the prognosis and optimize overall health by providing analysis of physiological signals, including water content index, pulse oximetry, and blood pressure at the same time. With these sensors, the concept of holistic hemodialysis patient care (HHPC) might be proved.