Sound Background Research Articles

Individual refresh ability modulates irrelevant speech effect in reading: Evidence from eye movements

This study randomly recruited 245 college students aged between 18 and 21 years old who had never studied Spanish and selected 60 subjects (30 with high refresh ability and 30 with low refresh ability) based on their scores on a refresh ability test. The mixed experimental design of 2 (refresh ability: high, low) ×3 (background sound: meaningful, meaningless, silent) was adopted. The Eyelink1000 eye tracker was used to record the eye movement data of the subjects when reading the sentences of scientific papers. At the same time, meaningful (news broadcasting) or meaningless (Spanish) background sounds are played. Based on this, the moderating effect of individual refresh ability with the impact of irrelevant speech was investigated. According to the results, the interaction between refresh ability and the meaningful background sound condition was significant, and it had an impact on the totalreading time, gaze count, regression count, total fixation time, and regression-path duration. However, the interaction with the meaningless background sound condition was not significant. The results showed that: (1) refresh ability significantly regulates the irrelevant speech effect in reading, compared with individuals with high refresh ability. The meaningful background sounds have a greater negative impact on the reading of individuals with low refresh ability; (2) the regulating effect of refresh ability occurs in the late stage of vocabulary processing and semantic integration. The results supported the attentional capture theory and found that the irrelevant speech effect in Chinese reading is modulated by individual refresh ability, which mainly acts on semantic components in late reading processing.

Designing for sonic citizenship in Danish nursing homes

With the aim of improving the soundscape in Danish nursing homes, this paper explores how a sonic citizenship perspective can be unfolded and discussed through a design-oriented research approach. Based on the experiences from an intervention study we argue that this perspective is important in expanding the focus further than formulating final solutions and making citizens proactive beyond the transformation phase. Building on thorough analysis of 45 nursing home soundscapes various interventions were implemented in 8 nursing homes from 2022-23. Evaluation of the interventions, through a mixed-method study, showed major improvements in perceived soundscape assessment. Through interventions that attenuate unwanted institutional sounds and introduce positive sound experiences, a better balance is found between foreground and background sounds, increasing the appropriateness of the soundscapes. The assessment also showed how the improvement of the soundscapes is closely connected to the engagement and behavioral changes of the staff and how they attune themselves to the soundscape. In that regard, the authors wish to emphasize the importance of anchoring soundscape interventions in the culture, and routines of the people being and living in the environments, to make sustainable changes in an environment and empower staff to become sonic citizens.

Interference of mid-level sound statistics underlie human speech recognition sensitivity in natural noise.

Recognizing speech in noise, such as in a busy restaurant, is an essential cognitive skill where the task difficulty varies across environments and noise levels. Although there is growing evidence that the auditory system relies on statistical representations for perceiving 1-5 and coding4,6-9 natural sounds, it's less clear how statistical cues and neural representations contribute to segregating speech in natural auditory scenes. We demonstrate that human listeners rely on mid-level statistics to segregate and recognize speech in environmental noise. Using natural backgrounds and variants with perturbed spectro-temporal statistics, we show that speech recognition accuracy at a fixed noise level varies extensively across natural backgrounds (0% to 100%). Furthermore, for each background the unique interference created by summary statistics can mask or unmask speech, thus hindering or improving speech recognition. To identify the neural coding strategy and statistical cues that influence accuracy, we developed generalized perceptual regression, a framework that links summary statistics from a neural model to word recognition accuracy. Whereas a peripheral cochlear model accounts for only 60% of perceptual variance, summary statistics from a mid-level auditory midbrain model accurately predicts single trial sensory judgments, accounting for more than 90% of the perceptual variance. Furthermore, perceptual weights from the regression framework identify which statistics and tuned neural filters are influential and how they impact recognition. Thus, perception of speech in natural backgrounds relies on a mid-level auditory representation involving interference of multiple summary statistics that impact recognition beneficially or detrimentally across natural background sounds.

„Mal in Ruhe lesen“: Wirkungen von Lärm auf das Lesen – Ergebnisse einer Laborstudie mit Beschäftigten

“Reading in peace”: Effects of noise on reading – results from a laboratory study with employees Background: It is a regular day-to-day requirement in many occupations to retrieve information from written material by reading. Therefore, a proofreading task was applied as one of two tasks in this study, in which the effects of different realistic sounds on cognitive performance were investigated. Method: Seventy participants worked on a self-developed reading task, once in a silent condition and once in a condition with one of three background sounds. The sounds, which were kindly provided for this study by other institutions, were recordings from a checkout at a fashion retailer, a multi-space office and a construction site. Thus, the sample for this study consisted of three sound groups. In addition, all participants gave subjective assessments referring to the processing of the tasks with respect to four different aspects. Results: For the entire group, the analysis showed the tendency of a lower number of correctly finished items in the sound condition than in the silent condition. The results were different in the separate sound groups. The subjective assessments showed higher experienced effort and disturbance as well as lower self-assessed concentration in the sound condition than in the silent condition. Conclusions: Adverse effects of background sounds on reading performance were detectable, and they were different in the three sound groups. However, clearer effects were identified for the subjective assessments, i.e., when persons were questioned about their impressions. This underlines the importance of asking people affected by noise, in order to get an insight how the interfering effects are experienced. More detailed survey tools would be required to find out more about the sound characteristics which are responsible for particular effects. Keywords: noise – cognitive performance – proofreading – subjective assessments – workplace

Multi-modal deep learning framework for damage detection in social media posts.

In crisis management, quickly identifying and helping affected individuals is key, especially when there is limited information about the survivors' conditions. Traditional emergency systems often face issues with reachability and handling large volumes of requests. Social media has become crucial in disaster response, providing important information and aiding in rescues when standard communication systems fail. Due to the large amount of data generated on social media during emergencies, there is a need for automated systems to process this information effectively and help improve emergency responses, potentially saving lives. Therefore, accurately understanding visual scenes and their meanings is important for identifying damage and obtaining useful information. Our research introduces a framework for detecting damage in social media posts, combining the Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers (BERT) architecture with advanced convolutional processing. This framework includes a BERT-based network for analyzing text and multiple convolutional neural network blocks for processing images. The results show that this combination is very effective, outperforming existing methods in accuracy, recall, and F1 score. In the future, this method could be enhanced by including more types of information, such as human voices or background sounds, to improve its prediction efficiency.

Research on blind source separation of operation sounds of metro power transformer through an Adaptive Threshold REPET algorithm

PurposeThe safe operation of the metro power transformer directly relates to the safety and efficiency of the entire metro system. Through voiceprint technology, the sounds emitted by the transformer can be monitored in real-time, thereby achieving real-time monitoring of the transformer’s operational status. However, the environment surrounding power transformers is filled with various interfering sounds that intertwine with both the normal operational voiceprints and faulty voiceprints of the transformer, severely impacting the accuracy and reliability of voiceprint identification. Therefore, effective preprocessing steps are required to identify and separate the sound signals of transformer operation, which is a prerequisite for subsequent analysis.Design/methodology/approachThis paper proposes an Adaptive Threshold Repeating Pattern Extraction Technique (REPET) algorithm to separate and denoise the transformer operation sound signals. By analyzing the Short-Time Fourier Transform (STFT) amplitude spectrum, the algorithm identifies and utilizes the repeating periodic structures within the signal to automatically adjust the threshold, effectively distinguishing and extracting stable background signals from transient foreground events. The REPET algorithm first calculates the autocorrelation matrix of the signal to determine the repeating period, then constructs a repeating segment model. Through comparison with the amplitude spectrum of the original signal, repeating patterns are extracted and a soft time-frequency mask is generated.FindingsAfter adaptive thresholding processing, the target signal is separated. Experiments conducted on mixed sounds to separate background sounds from foreground sounds using this algorithm and comparing the results with those obtained using the FastICA algorithm demonstrate that the Adaptive Threshold REPET method achieves good separation effects.Originality/valueA REPET method with adaptive threshold is proposed, which adopts the dynamic threshold adjustment mechanism, adaptively calculates the threshold for blind source separation and improves the adaptability and robustness of the algorithm to the statistical characteristics of the signal. It also lays the foundation for transformer fault detection based on acoustic fingerprinting.

Fast Inhibition Slows and Desynchronizes Mouse Auditory Efferent Neuron Activity.

The encoding of acoustic stimuli requires precise neuron timing. Auditory neurons in the cochlear nucleus (CN) and brainstem arewell suited for accurate analysis of fast acoustic signals, given their physiological specializations of fast membrane time constants, fast axonal conduction, and reliable synaptic transmission. The medial olivocochlear (MOC) neurons that provide efferent inhibition of the cochlea reside in the ventral brainstem and participate in these fast neural circuits. However, their modulation of cochlear function occurs over time scales of a slower nature. This suggests the presence of mechanisms that reduce MOC inhibition of cochlear function. To determine how monaural excitatory and inhibitory synaptic inputs integrate to affect the timing of MOC neuron activity, we developed a novel in vitro slice preparation ("wedge-slice"). The wedge-slice maintains the ascending auditory nerve root, the entire CN and projecting axons, while preserving the ability to perform visually guided patch-clamp electrophysiology recordings from genetically identified MOC neurons. The "in vivo-like" timing of the wedge-slice demonstrates that the inhibitory pathway accelerates relative to the excitatory pathway when the ascending circuit is intact, and the CN portion of the inhibitory circuit is precise enough to compensate for reduced precision in later synapses. When combined with machine learning PSC analysis and computational modeling, we demonstrate a larger suppression of MOC neuron activity when the inhibition occurs with in vivo-like timing. This delay of MOC activity may ensure that the MOC system is only engaged by sustained background sounds, preventing a maladaptive hypersuppression of cochlear activity.

Humans (Homo sapiens) but not baboons (Papio papio) demonstrate crossmodal pitch-luminance correspondence.

Humans spontaneously and consistently map information coming from different sensory modalities. Surprisingly, the phylogenetic origin of such cross-modal correspondences has been under-investigated. A notable exception is the study of Ludwig et al. (Visuoauditory mappings between high luminance and high pitch are shared by chimpanzees [Pan troglodytes] and humans. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 108(51), 20661-20665) which reports that both humans and chimpanzees spontaneously map high-pitched sounds with bright objects and low-pitched sounds with dark objects. Our pre-registered study aimed to directly replicate this research on both humans and baboons (Papio papio), an old world monkey which is more phylogenetically distant from humans than chimpanzees. Following Ludwig et al.participants were presented with a visual classification task where they had to sort black and white square (low and high luminance), while background sounds (low or high-pitched tones) were playing. Whereas we replicated the finding that humans' performance on the visual task was affected by congruency between sound and luminance of the target, we did not find any of those effects on baboons' performance. These results question the presence of a shared cross-modal pitch-luminance mapping in other nonhuman primates.

Validation of auralized impulse responses considering masking, loudness and background noise

The use of outdoor virtual scenarios promises to have a lot of potential to facilitate reproducible sensory evaluation experiments in laboratory. Auralizations allow for the integration of simulated or measured sound sources and transfer paths between the sources and receivers. Nonetheless, pure simulations can lack perfect plausibility. This contribution investigates the augmentation of auralized outdoor scenes based on simulated impulse responses (IRs) by ambient or background sounds. For this purpose, foreground events such as car pass-bys are created by simplified simulation of impulse responses. Due to their large number of events, however, ambient sounds are typically not simulated. Instead, spherical microphone array recordings can be used to capture the background sound. Using synthesized car sounds, we examine how much the augmentation by background sound improves the auditory plausibility of simulated impulse responses in comparison with the equivalent measured ones.

Urban background sound recordings for virtual acoustics under various weather conditions

One of the major challenges in the auralization of complex urban simulations is the presence of ambience, for example background sounds. Omitting them can result in a sterile and implausible impression. In this work we present a dataset of spatially recorded ambient sounds with metadata on meteorological and acoustical parameters. The recordings are ready to be admixed with simulated soundscapes corresponding to various weather conditions. In particular, 28 soundscapes have been recorded at the IHTApark (green space next to the Institute for Hearing Technology and Acoustics) in Aachen (Germany) in winter and spring. They have been segmented into 30-s auralizable snippets. Moreover, the database contains a statistical and psychoacoustical evaluation of the recordings.

A noise-robust voice conversion method with controllable background sounds

Background noises are usually treated as redundant or even harmful to voice conversion. Therefore, when converting noisy speech, a pretrained module of speech separation is usually deployed to estimate clean speech prior to the conversion. However, this can lead to speech distortion due to the mismatch between the separation module and the conversion one. In this paper, a noise-robust voice conversion model is proposed, where a user can choose to retain or to remove the background sounds freely. Firstly, a speech separation module with a dual-decoder structure is proposed, where two decoders decode the denoised speech and the background sounds, respectively. A bridge module is used to capture the interactions between the denoised speech and the background sounds in parallel layers through information exchanging. Subsequently, a voice conversion module with multiple encoders to convert the estimated clean speech from the speech separation model. Finally, the speech separation and voice conversion module are jointly trained using a loss function combining cycle loss and mutual information loss, aiming to improve the decoupling efficacy among speech contents, pitch, and speaker identity. Experimental results show that the proposed model obtains significant improvements in both subjective and objective evaluation metrics compared with the existing baselines. The speech naturalness and speaker similarity of the converted speech are 3.47 and 3.43, respectively.

A pair of primary colorectal cancer-derived and corresponding synchronous liver metastasis-derived organoid cell lines.

Proper preclinical models for the research of colorectal cancer (CRC) and CRC liver metastases (CLM) are a clear and unmet need. Patient-derived organoids have recently emerged as a robust preclinical model, but are not available to all scientific researchers. Here, we present paired 3D organoid cell lines of CWH22 (CRC-derived) and CLM22 (CLM-derived) with sound background information and the short tandem repeats are identical to those of the normal tissue. Morphological and immunohistochemical staining, along with whole-exome sequencing (WES), confirmed that the organoids exhibited the same differentiation, molecular expression, and mutation status as the corresponding tumor tissue. Both organoids possessed mutated APC/KRAS/SMAD4/CDKN1B/KMT2C genes and wild-type TP53 and PIK3CA; stably secreted the tumor markers CEA and CA19-9, and possessed sound proliferation rates in vitro, as well as subcutaneous tumorigenicity and liver metastatic abilities in vivo. IC50 assays confirmed that both cell lines were sensitive to 5-fluorouracil, oxaliplatin, SN-38, and sotorasib. WES and karyotype analyses revealed the genomic instability status as chromosome instability. The corresponding adherent cultured CWH22-2D/CLM22-2D cells were established and compared with commonly used CRC cell lines from the ATCC. Both organoids are publicly available to all researchers and will be useful tools for specific human CRC/CLM studies both in vitro and in vivo.

ASSESMENT OF KNOWLEDGE OF LIGHT MICROSCOPIC ERGONOMICS AMONG PATHOLOGISTS

Back Ground Sound knowledge regarding ergonomics and their practical application are essential for prevention of musculoskeletal disorders (MSD). The role of microscopic ergonomics (ME) in preventing these work related ailments is significant. Methods Authors conducted a cross sectional survey among pathologist of Davangere city, Karnataka, India. The data was collected using 26 - item custom designed proforma, with questions evaluating pathologist’s basic knowledge about microscopic ergonomics. Results Of 100 subjects surveyed, 70% pathologists (staff and post graduate) stated that they came across microscopic ergonomics only through this survey. Also 100% pathologists of believed that the emphasis about microscopic ergonomics is less in the present dental curriculum. Conclusions The findings suggest that the pathologist’s comprehension regarding microscopic ergonomics is limited. This study advocates the revision of dental curricula regarding microscopic ergonomics to prevent musculoskeletal injuries. Practical Implications Increased importance should be given during formative years of dental education about this essential clinical entity either via textbook education or in continuing dental education (CDE) programs. Key Words Microscopic ergonomics; musculoskeletal disorders; micro breaks

Neural Mechanism Theories: Dissecting Mismatch Negativity and Stimulus-Specific Adaptation for a Deeper Understanding of Auditory Processing

The ability to automatically detect signal changes is essential to the survival for any organism. For example, an animal living in the forest can distinguish a relatively constant sound background, such as leaves blowing in the wind, from a sudden novel sound, such as a cracking branch, which might indicate the presence of a nearby predator. Distinct brain responses to novel sounds (as opposed to expected sounds) are known as mismatch negativity (MMN) in humans or stimulus-specific adaptation in animal. It is found that the neural response was attenuated by the repetitive stimulation of sound sequences, while the presentation of an unexpected stimulus enhances the neural responses. Three main hypotheses have been proposed concerning the this neural mechanisms: the model adjustment hypothesis, the neural adaptation hypothesis and predictive coding theory. The purpose of this study is to introduce theoretical perspectives within a fundamental scientific approach in order to elucidate MMN mechanisms. Additionally, we will review the literature that explains MMN from an audiological perspective through these theories.

Cortical Zinc Signaling Is Necessary for Changes in Mouse Pupil Diameter That Are Evoked by Background Sounds with Different Contrasts.

Luminance-independent changes in pupil diameter (PD) during wakefulness influence and are influenced by neuromodulatory, neuronal, and behavioral responses. However, it is unclear whether changes in neuromodulatory activity in a specific brain area are necessary for the associated changes in PD or whether some different mechanisms cause parallel fluctuations in both PD and neuromodulation. To answer this question, we simultaneously recorded PD and cortical neuronal activity in male and female mice. Namely, we measured PD and neuronal activity during adaptation to sound contrast, which is a well-described adaptation conserved in many species and brain areas. In the primary auditory cortex (A1), increases in the variability of sound level (contrast) induce a decrease in the slope of the neuronal input-output relationship, neuronal gain, which depends on cortical neuromodulatory zinc signaling. We found a previously unknown modulation of PD by changes in background sensory context: high stimulus contrast sounds evoke larger increases in evoked PD compared with low-contrast sounds. To explore whether these changes in evoked PD are controlled by cortical neuromodulatory zinc signaling, we imaged single-cell neural activity in A1, manipulated zinc signaling in the cortex, and assessed PD in the same awake mouse. We found that cortical synaptic zinc signaling is necessary for increases in PD during high-contrast background sounds compared with low-contrast sounds. This finding advances our knowledge about how cortical neuromodulatory activity affects PD changes and thus advances our understanding of the brain states, circuits, and neuromodulatory mechanisms that can be inferred from pupil size fluctuations.

The diversity of speech-perception difficulties among autistic individuals.

Communicative and sensory differences are core autistic traits, yet speech-perception abilities and difficulties among autistic individuals remain poorly understood. Laboratory studies have produced mixed and inconclusive results, in part because of the lack of input from autistic individuals in defining the hypotheses and shaping the methods used in this field of research. Little in-depth qualitative research on autistic experiences of speech perception has been published, yet such research could form the basis for better laboratory research, for improved understanding of autistic experiences, and for the development of interventions. Existing qualitative research describes widespread autistic listening differences with significant impacts, but these results rely on data gathered via oral interviews in a small sample. The present study addresses these limitations and employs a mixed-methods approach to explore autistic listening experiences. We gathered survey data from 79 autistic individuals aged 18-55 without diagnosed hearing loss. The questionnaire included 20 closed-set questions on listening abilities and difficulties and three free-text questions on listening experiences. The free-text questions underwent deductive content analysis using a framework composed of themes from previous interview data on listening experiences (including auditory differences, contributing factors, impacts, and coping strategies). Concepts in the free-text data that were not part of the analysis framework were analyzed inductively. In the closed-set data, participants reported listening difficulties in most specified environments, but complex background sounds and particularly background voices caused the most difficulty. Those who reported listening difficulties expressed having substantially greater difficulties than other people the same age. Participants indicated multiple impacts from listening difficulties, most prominently in their social lives. Concepts in the free-text data strongly supported previous interview data on listening differences and factors that affect listening ability, especially the diversity of types of listening difficulties. Consistent with the closed-set data, background-sound complexity and concurrent voices were especially troubling. Some concepts in the free-text data were novel, particularly difficulties with remote, broadcast, and recorded audio, prompting the creation of new themes. Both forms of data indicate widespread listening differences-predominantly listening difficulties-affecting most autistic adults. Diverse types of listening difficulty are evident, potentially indicating heterogeneous underlying mechanisms, and complexity of background noise is consistently identified as an important factor. Listening difficulties are said to have substantial and varied impacts. Autistic adults are keen to share coping strategies, which are varied and usually self-devised. Based on both the quantitative and qualitative results, we provide recommendations to improve future research and support the autistic community. The data-revealing types of listening difficulties can guide better quantitative research into underlying mechanisms. Such research should take into account potential heterogeneity in listening difficulties. Suggestions for optimized collection of self-report data are also offered. Additionally, our results could be used to improve societal understanding of autistic listening differences and to create beneficial interventions for and with autistic individuals. Moreover, given the willingness of the autistic community to share coping strategies, systematic collation of these strategies could form the basis for self-help and clinical guidance.

Investigating cognitive workload in irrelevant speech-based information communication with visual distractions: Pleasant or distracted?

Irrelevant background sounds have been proven to decrease efficiency while working, while the perception may be different when people actively listen to pleasant background sounds at work. This study aims to investigate the cognitive workload in irrelevant speech-based information communication (live streaming, white noise, movie, songs, and quiet environment) with visual distractions under different reading tasks (familiar and unfamiliar reading material) using NASA-TLX and eye-tracking metrics. The results showed the main effect of irrelevant speech-based information type on NASA-TLX was not significant. Participants tended to show a higher preference for quiet-based information and the live-based information was the opposite. Revisits and fixation duration had a similar trend for a small window and movie-based information had the most revisits and fixation duration and white noise was the opposite. The results of this experiment will contribute to helping improve the pleasure perception while working and make communication information more efficient.

Mice prone to tinnitus after acoustic trauma show increased pre-exposure sensitivity to background noise.

Noise-induced tinnitus is generally associated with hearing impairment caused by traumatic acoustic overexposure. Previous studies in laboratory animals and human subjects, however, have observed differences in tinnitus susceptibility, even among individuals with similar hearing loss. The mechanisms underlying increased sensitivity or, conversely, resistance to tinnitus are still incompletely understood. Here, we used behavioral tests and ABR audiometry to compare the sound-evoked responses of mice that differed in the presence of noise-induced tinnitus. The aim was to find a specific pre-exposure neurophysiological marker that would predict the development of tinnitus after acoustic trauma. Noise-exposed mice were screened for tinnitus-like behavior with the GPIAS paradigm and subsequently divided into tinnitus (+T) and non-tinnitus (-T) groups. Both groups showed hearing loss after exposure, manifested by elevated audiometric thresholds along with reduced amplitudes and prolonged latencies of ABR waves. Prior to exposure, except for a slightly increased slope of growth function for ABR amplitudes in +T mice, the two groups did not show significant audiometric differences. Behavioral measures, such as the magnitude of the acoustic startle response and its inhibition by gap pre-pulse, were also similar before exposure in both groups. However, +T mice showed significantly increased suppression of the acoustic startle response in the presence of background noise of moderate intensity. Thus, increased modulation of startle by background sounds may represent a behavioral correlate of susceptibility to noise-induced tinnitus, and its measurement may form the basis of a simple non-invasive method for predicting tinnitus development in laboratory rodents.

Filmora Video Editing Application Training to Improve Students' Ability to Make Learning Videos in the Unima Sociology Education Study Program

This service is carried out to improve the competency of students in the Unima Sociology Education Study Program, especially as well as students outside Unima who are interested in taking part in this training with the aim of being able to understand how to use the Filmora editing application to create learning videos and in fact this competency can also be used as a basis for becoming a content creator. The methods used in this activity include lectures, discussions, questions and answers and of course direct practice. After carrying out the training, it can be concluded that there are several steps in implementing this training, namely making and distributing electronic pamphlets, several things directed by the lecturer regarding tools and materials that must be prepared by participants are (bring a laptop, install the Filmora application on the participant's laptop, prepare a learning video will be edited), implementation of training (checking participants' software and hardware completeness, opening the Filmora video editing application, uploading videos, adding videos to projects, adding video text, dividing videos, adding filters, adding overlays, adding elements, adding split screens, adding sound background, exporting video).

Objective evaluation of voice quality by intermittent recording of sound on English voice

Continuous sound surveillance have the problem of unintentionally recording conversational content. On the other hand, if only coarse features are stored so that speech cannot be recovered, the use of the accumulated recorded information is very limited. In this study, we propose a method to record raw background sounds while making the conversational content inaudible by periodically repeating recording and stopping. In this presentation, we will show the results of an objective evaluation using a speech recognition model by varying the ratio of recording time and the recording stop frequency. The results showed that the recording time ratio can be maximized by selecting appropriate recording stop frequency even for the same objective voice quality.