Sudden Noise Research Articles

Hyperekplexia

Hyperekplexia is a rare neurologic disorder, characterized by excessive startle response to unexpected stimuli. There are 3 cardinal features: generalized stiffness immediately after birth that normalizes during the first year of life; excessive startle reflex to unexpected (particularly auditory) stimuli; and a short period of generalized stiffness following the startle response while patient cannot elicit voluntary movements. Awareness of this condition will avoid misdiagnosis of disorders like epilepsy. Clonazepam is an effective medical treatment. We report a patient whose frequent falls triggered by sudden noise or tactile stimuli was initially misdiagnosed as epilepsy. The clinical diagnosis was subsequently revised to hyperekplexia and confirmed by mutation analysis of the GLRA1 gene, which showed c.497G>C (p.Cys166Ser) and c.526delG (p.Asp176Metfs*16). Both of them are novel mutations. His response to clonazepam is dramatic and has been able to engage in sports and social activities.

CHANGING PHENOTYPE OF FAMILIAL PAROXYSMAL KINESIGENIC DYSTONIA RELATED TO OXCARBAZEPINE TREATMENT

Changing Phenotype of Familial Paroxysmal Kinesigenic Dystonia when treated with Anti-epileptic Drugs Clare M Galtrey, Joseph Kaleyias, Antonia Clarke, Marie-Helene Marion Paroxysmal Kinesigenic Dystonia (PKD) typically presents with sudden, brief...

Optimization of Image Processing in Video-based Traffic Monitoring

The video-based traffic monitoring systems have been widely used. The system usually reads real time monitoring video and converts it into images for processing. However, such systems are often limited by image processing algorithms and don’t behavior as well as expected. We hereby propose optimization approaches for of image processing. As in image processing, getting a binary image is usually a fundamental step, we first present an adaptive thresholds approach for binary conversion. The approach takes into consideration the space information of the pixel and chooses thresholds by adaptively according to each pixel and its neighboring pixels. Then we introduce a three-dimension Gaussian filter, which has best quantity-time tradeoff, to remove noise in the image. Although widely used, background subtraction is limited by background refreshing. We propose a generative model approach that is based on Gaussian model and Gaussian distribution, to generate background so that we can update background at any time. We also add in moving objects shadow detection and removing mechanism in moving objects segmentation. In real world monitoring, removing disturbs from burst noise is a hard problem. We, taking advantage of the characteristic that most of the burst noise is sudden and short-term, put forward a burst noise eliminating algorithm that uses several continuous frames to wipe off such sudden noise. Particularly, we studied the characteristics of H, S and V component of reflection light band, and assert that removal of the reflection light band is to eliminate negative effect from high-energy reflection light. We use Gaussian model and Sobel operator to achieve reflection light band removing; we also as utilize Canny algorithm to wipe off edge corrosion. Finally we achieved an integrated optimized solution on traffic monitoring system by making a tradeoff between time and effect. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.eee.18.8.2634

Sleep promotes consolidation and generalization of extinction learning in simulated exposure therapy for spider fear

Simulated exposure therapy for spider phobia served as a clinically naturalistic model to study effects of sleep on extinction. Spider-fearing, young adult women (N = 66), instrumented for skin conductance response (SCR), heart rate acceleration (HRA) and corrugator electromyography (EMG), viewed 14 identical 1-min videos of a behaving spider before a 12-hr delay containing a normal night's Sleep (N = 20) or continuous daytime Wake (N = 23), or a 2-hr delay of continuous wake in the Morning (N = 11) or Evening (N = 12). Following the delay, all groups viewed this same video 6 times followed by six 1-min videos of a novel spider. After each video, participants rated disgust, fearfulness and unpleasantness. In all 4 groups, all measures except corrugator EMG diminished across Session 1 (extinction learning) and, excepting SCR to a sudden noise, increased from the old to novel spider in Session 2. In Wake only, summed subjective ratings and SCR to the old spider significantly increased across the delay (extinction loss) and were greater for the novel vs. the old spider when it was equally novel at the beginning of Session 1 (sensitization). In Sleep only, SCR to a sudden noise decreased across the inter-session delay (extinction augmentation) and, along with HRA, was lower to the novel spider than initially to the old spider in Session 1 (extinction generalization). None of the above differentiated Morning and Evening groups suggesting that intervening sleep, rather than time-of-testing, produced differences between Sleep and Wake. Thus, sleep following exposure therapy may promote retention and generalization of extinction learning.

Heat-conserving postures hinder escape: a thermoregulation–predation trade-off in wintering birds

Wintering birds may conserve body heat by adopting postures with minimal leg exposure or significant ptiloerection. However, maximally heat-conserving postures may hinder a bird’s ability to escape attack, leading to a trade-off between predation risk and thermoregulation. Such a trade-off implies that birds should use the most heat-conserving postures only at very cold temperatures. Feeding in a relatively low-risk environment should also facilitate the use of such heat-conserving postures. In this experiment, we examined the effect of thermoregulatory postures on the time to initiate escape in feeding dark-eyed juncos (Junco hyemalis) exposed to a sudden sharp noise. Birds using progressively more heat-conserving postures required significantly more time to initiate flight, with a 50% increase or more for certain cumbersome postures when compared with the most ‘‘flightready’’ posture. This increase in the time needed to become airborne likely leads to an increase in the predation risk during an attack. Although this increase in risk could not be quantified, the delays associated with the most heat-conserving postures could allow a hawk to approach approximately 1.7 m closer to its prey during an attack. Postures that limit escape were used to a greater degree when feeding near cover and in cold conditions, lending additional support to a predation-thermoregulation trade-off. However, the effect of flock size was inconsistent and no effect of the nearest neighbor distance on thermoregulatory posture was detected. Overall, the results of this study provide insight into the seemingly intuitive observation that birds use maximally heatconserving postures only under very cold winter conditions. Key words: antipredator behavior, escape flight, predation risk, thermoregulation, thermoregulatory posture, trade-off. [Behav Ecol]

Anthropogenic noise affects song structure in red-winged blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus)

Anthropogenic noise can mask animal signals that are crucial for communicating information about food, predators and mating opportunities. In response to noise masking, signallers can potentially improve acoustic signal transmission by adjusting the timing, frequency or amplitude of their signals. These changes can be a short-term modification in response to transient noise or a long-term modification in response to chronic noise. An animal's ability to adapt to anthropogenic noise can be crucial to its success. In this study, we evaluated the effects of anthropogenic noise on the structure of red-winged blackbird song. First, we manipulated the presence of anthropogenic noise by experimentally broadcasting either silence or low-frequency white noise to subjects inhabiting quiet marshes located away from roadsides. Subjects exhibited increased signal tonality when temporarily exposed to low-frequency white noise, suggesting that red-winged blackbirds can alter their signals rapidly in response to sudden noise. Second, we compared songs produced in quiet marshes located away from roadsides with songs produced during quiet periods at roadside marshes that are normally noisy. This allowed us to test whether birds that are exposed to chronic anthropogenic noise exhibit altered song structure during temporarily quiet periods. Subjects residing in roadside marshes that are normally polluted with anthropogenic noise sang songs with increased tonality during quiet periods. Overall, our results show that anthropogenic noise influences the structure of birdsong. These effects should be considered in conservation and wildlife management.

Value-driven attentional capture

Attention selects which aspects of sensory input are brought to awareness. To promote survival and well-being, attention prioritizes stimuli both voluntarily, according to context-specific goals (e.g., searching for car keys), and involuntarily, through attentional capture driven by physical salience (e.g., looking toward a sudden noise). Valuable stimuli strongly modulate voluntary attention allocation, but there is little evidence that high-value but contextually irrelevant stimuli capture attention as a consequence of reward learning. Here we show that visual search for a salient target is slowed by the presence of an inconspicuous, task-irrelevant item that was previously associated with monetary reward during a brief training session. Thus, arbitrary and otherwise neutral stimuli imbued with value via associative learning capture attention powerfully and persistently during extinction, independently of goals and salience. Vulnerability to such value-driven attentional capture covaries across individuals with working memory capacity and trait impulsivity. This unique form of attentional capture may provide a useful model for investigating failures of cognitive control in clinical syndromes in which value assigned to stimuli conflicts with behavioral goals (e.g., addiction, obesity).

MIMO fuzzy sliding mode controlled dual arm robot in load transportation

The control problem of the cooperative motion of a two-link dual arm robot during handling and transportation of an object was studied in this paper. Since these types of robots are frequently preferred for hazardous applications such as transportation of radioactive materials and disposal of explosives, a robust non-chattering sliding mode controller (SMC) improved by a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) fuzzy logic unit was applied to the robot to track the desired trajectory with high accuracy and transport the load safely. In order to assess the performance of the proposed MIMO fuzzy sliding mode controller (MIMO-FSMC) in presence of parameter variations and external disturbances, a sudden load variation and noise were introduced to the robot system. If compared with classical SMC, tracking errors with smaller magnitudes and faster convergence to zero were obtained by using the proposed MIMO-FSMC. Numerical results suggest that this type of control method may safely be used for cooperative motion control of dual arm robots in load handling and transport applications in hazardous environments with high accuracy.

Sudden Noise Reduction Based on GMM with Noise Power Estimation

This paper describes a method for reducing sudden noise using noise detection and classification methods, and noise power estimation. Sudden noise detection and classification have been dealt with in our previous study. In this paper, GMM-based noise reduction is performed using the detection and classification results. As a result of classification, we can determine the kind of noise we are dealing with, but the power is unknown. In this paper, this problem is solved by combining an estimation of noise power with the noise reduction method. In our experiments, the proposed method achieved good performance for recognition of utterances overlapped by sudden noises.

Focused ultrasound treatment of VX2 tumors controlled by local harmonic motion

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of using localized harmonic motion (LHM) to monitor and control focused ultrasound surgery (FUS) in VX2 tumors in vivo. FUS exposures were performed on 13 VX2 tumors implanted in nine rabbits. The same transducer induced coagulation and generated a localized oscillatory motion by periodically varying the radiation force. A separate diagnostic ultrasound transducer tracked motion by cross-correlating echo signals at different instances. A threshold in motion amplitude was instituted to cease exposure. Coagulation was confirmed by T2-weighted MR images, thermal dose obtained through MR thermometry and histological examinations. For tumor locations achieving coagulation, the LHM amplitude was 9% (p = 0.04) to 57% (p < 0.0001) lower than that before exposure. Control was successful for 74 (69%) out of 108 cases, with 52 (48%) reaching the threshold and achieving coagulation and 22 (21%) never reaching threshold nor coagulating. For the 34 (31%) unsuccessful exposures, 16 (15%) never reached the threshold but coagulation occurred, and 18 (16%) reached threshold without coagulation confirmed. Noise or radio-frequency signal changes explained motion over- or underestimation in 24 (22%) cases; the remaining 10 (9%) had other causes of error. The control was generally successful, but sudden change or noise in the acquired echo signal caused failure. Coagulation after exposure could be validated by comparing amplitudes before and after exposure.

Pupil evaluation as a test for autonomic disorders

Pupil tests provide a convenient and simple method for evaluation of autonomic function. Most patients with autonomic disorders show evidence of sympathetic or parasympathetic deficits in the pupil, and these can be detected using a combination of clinical signs, pupillometric tests (measuring the responses to light, or an accommodative effort, or a sudden noise) and pharmacological tests (using topically applied drugs both to confirm a deficit and to localize the lesion). Caution is needed in the interpretation of these tests, particularly if the deficits are mixed (i.e. sympathetic and parasympathetic) or bilateral. The pattern of autonomic disturbance in the pupils often correlates poorly with autonomic function elsewhere, but may have diagnostic value in discriminating between different underlying conditions.

Evaluation of young and adult dogs' reactivity

Many authors have tested puppies' behavior early to detect adult behavioral disorders. Our pilot study aims to investigate puppies' reactivity toward tolerance of new situations and the consistency of behavior between puppy and adult dog. Seven tests (tunnel, direct looking, sudden noise, retrieving buster-ball, problem solving, bowl removal, and approaching) were used to evaluate the reactivity of 32 German shepherd dogs at 5, 7, and 9 months of age. Among these dogs, 17 were chosen by physical and behavioral traits to continue the training program up to adulthood (choice group) and administered the same tests at the age of 2 years. Through the observation of behaviors, the tests aim to assess sociality, exploratory and retrieving tendency, learning ability, playing aptitude, and tendency toward offensive aggression. The behaviors were ranked by degree of reactivity, and ranks were used as scores. The effects of gender and group on the 5- to 9-month reactivity profiles of all the puppies were estimated with a repeated-measures model. In the choice group, the behavior changes from 9 to 24 months and their dependence on gender were estimated with an analogous model. All puppies became more self-confident between 5 and 9 months. At 9 months, behavior was slightly better in males and in the choice group. Between 9 and 24 months, self-confidence, attentiveness, and ability to solve problems and retrieve objects improved, whereas playfulness decrease. Behaviors at 9 and 24 months showed very low variability, which indicated their very high similarity.

Evaluation of Friction Force, Wear Volume and Scuffing Life of Piston Rings and Cylinder Blocks with Different Surface Roughness for Low Friction Diesel Engine

Wear and scuffing tests were conducted using friction and wear measurement of piston rings and cylinder blocks for the low friction diesel engine. Scuffing, described as sudden catastrophic failure of lubricated sliding surfaces, usually characterized by a sudden rapid increase in friction, temperature and noise, is an important failure mode on sliding surfaces. In this study, the frictional forces, wear amounts and cycles to scuffing in boundary lubricated sliding condition were measured using the reciprocating wear tester. The cylinder blocks with several values of surface roughness were used as reciprocating specimens, and a piece of piston ring was used as fixed pin. As increasing load by several steps in lubricated sliding, the friction signals indicated the state of surface interactions, such as friction forces, changes of lubricating films and scuffing. There were some rapid increases in friction forces just before the scuffing would occur. It was found that there was the optimum value of initial surface roughness to prolong the wear life of sliding surfaces. As decreasing the surface roughness of cylinder blocks, the wear amounts were decreased due to increasing the contact area. There was also the optimum surface roughness to reduce the friction and to prolong the scuffing life.

Robust Speech Recognition Using Factorial HMMs for Home Environments

We focus on the problem of speech recognition in the presence of nonstationary sudden noise, which is very likely to happen in home environments. As a model compensation method for this problem, we investigated the use of factorial hidden Markov model (FHMM) architecture developed from a clean-speech hidden Markov model (HMM) and a sudden-noise HMM. While in conventional studies this architecture is defined only for static features of the observation vector, we extended it to dynamic features. In addition, we performed home-environment adaptation of FHMMs to the characteristics of a given house. A database recorded by a personal robot called PaPeRo in home environments was used for the evaluation of the proposed method. Isolated word recognition experiments demonstrated the effectiveness of the proposed method under noisy conditions. Home-dependent word FHMMs (HD-FHMMs) reduced the word error rate by 20.5% compared to that of the clean-speech word HMMs.

Robust speech recognition for home environments using factorial hidden Markov models

In this paper we present a speech recognition system for the home environment that is robust to nonstationary sudden noise such as doors slamming, knocking, and falling objects. This noise appears rapidly and lasts for a short period of time. Additionally the SNR is difficult to estimate. As a compensation model for this task, we investigated the use of the factorial hidden Markov model (FHMM) architecture proposed by Deoras (2004). In our method, a hidden Markov Model (HMM) for each word in a dictionary and an HMM for sudden noise are employed to build a factorial HMM to recognize noisy speech. Since the factorial HMM defined by Deoras applies only to static features of the observation vector during the recognition process, we extended it to work with dynamic features. The proposed method was evaluated with a database recorded by a personal robot, PaPeRo, in the houses of 12 Japanese families. The experiments were conducted for both synthesized speech (at different SNRs) and real noisy speech, which was recorded by the robot. In both cases, our method showed significant improvement over HMMs trained with clean speech data.

Relationship between PPI and baseline startle response

Prepulse inhibition (PPI) of the startle response to a sudden noise is the reduction in startle observed when the noise is preceded shortly by a mild sensory event, which is often a tone. A part of the literature is based on the assumption that PPI is independent of the baseline startle. A simple model is presented and experimental validation provided. The model is based on the commonly accepted observation that the neuronal circuit of PPI differs from that of startle. But, by using a common output, the measures of both phenomena become linked to each other. But, how can we interpret the numerous experimental data showing PPI to be independent of the startle level? It is suggested that in a number of such cases the baseline startle would have been stabilized by a ceiling effect in the startle/PPI neuronal networks. Reducing the startle level, for example in a PPI evaluation procedure, may disclose properties of startle masked by this ceiling effect. Disclosure of habituation to the startle eliciting noise produced an increase of PPI along its initial measurements. Taken together, even if the neuronal process that sustains startle and PPI are distinct, separating them experimentally requires careful parametric methods and caution in the interpretation of the corresponding observations.

A Noise-Sensor Light Alarm Reduces Noise in the Newborn Intensive Care Unit

This one-group pre-post test design was to evaluate sound distribution and sudden peak noise frequencies (SPNs) and the associated events after using a noise-sensor light alarm in a tertiary neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). The alarm is activated as the sound level reaches>or=65 A-weighted decibel (dBA). The environmental sound level was monitored continuously for a period of 1 week before and 1 month after using the alarm. The mean sound level in the incubator of patients receiving ventilator support before and after using the device were 58.0+/-0.6 and 56.4+/-0.7 dBA (t=8.619; p<0.001), whereas those at the radiant heated bed were 58.0+/-2.4 and 58.1+/-2.0 dBA (t=0.715; p=0.476). The percentage of observation time of sound levels<58 dBA increased by 28% in the incubator and 4% at the radiant heated bed (p<0.001). Episodes of SPN decreased from 630 to 185 times/d in the incubator and from 2069 to 748 times/d at the radiant heated bed after using the device. The noise-sensor light alarm effectively reduces sound level and episodes of SPN in the NICU. This may alleviate stress of noise for newborns with critical illness.

CAP Orals 2005

Given that hearing ability can be challenged in diverse ways, it is necessary to develop an easily conducted, high-throughput method for assessing potential auditory risks. Measuring the acoustic startle response (ASR) has become a critical behavioral method in hearing research using zebrafish (Danio rerio). In this study, changes in the activity of zebrafish larvae (10 days post fertilization (dpf)) due to exposure to a sudden easily-generated broad-band noise were automatically and objectively recorded and analyzed without building sophisticated equipments. A significant increase in activity was induced by the noise stimulation and the alterations were impaired by gentamicin. In addition, a clear dose-response trend was observed between gentamicin exposure and the impaired activity, and a similar phenomenon was observed between gentamicin exposure and damage to hair cells. Our results suggested that alterations in the activity induced by a broad-band noise can potentially be used as an efficient assay for assessing hearing ability.

Prepulse inhibition of acoustic startle response in mild cognitive impairment and mild dementia of Alzheimer type

Amnestic mild cognitive impairment (MCI) describes the condition of memory-impaired individuals who otherwise function well and do not meet the clinical criteria for dementia. Such individuals are considered to represent a transitional stage between normal aging and dementia of Alzheimer type (DAT). Neurobiologic changes in amnestic MCI, and their significance for psychophysiologic function, are poorly understood. In this study, the authors compared acoustic prepulse inhibition (PPI) between subjects with amnestic MCI and mild DAT to characterize sensorimotor gating. The acoustic startle reflex, which the authors measured using an accelerometer and electromyogram, involves whole-body movement and eye blink in response to a sudden loud noise (115 dB). PPI is inhibition of this reflex by a softer noise (prepulse; 85 dB) preceding the startle stimulus by 30 ms. PPI was examined in 30 controls, 20 subjects with amnestic MCI, and 20 subjects with mild DAT. Neither amnestic MCI nor mild DAT affected startle movement amplitude. Subjects with amnestic MCI showed significantly enhanced PPI (gating facilitation), while subjects with mild DAT exhibited significantly less PPI than controls (gating deficit). This pattern of PPI changes suggests that neuropathologic changes in the limbic cortex, mainly the entorhinal cortex, at the earliest stage of DAT might be responsible for PPI abnormalities via disturbed regulation of the limbic cortico-striato-pallido-pontine circuitry. Startle PPI changes could be used as a biologic marker for amnestic MCI and mild DAT.

Stiff-Person Syndrome Presenting with Headache

Stiff-person (or stiff-man) syndrome (SPS) is a rare neuromuscular disorder characterized by axial and limb muscle rigidity and spasm. Painful spasms of muscle can be provoked by sudden noise, strong emotional or other startle stimuli. Electrophysiological studies show continuous low-frequency firing of motor units and simultaneous activity in agonist and antagonist muscles of the affected region that can be abolished by central or peripherally acting agents or neuromuscular blockade (1). An autoimmune basis for the disorder is postulated, based on the presence of antibodies against glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD) found in 90% of cases defined by strict criteria (2). GAD is the rate-limiting enzyme involved in the synthesis of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), an inhibitory neurotransmitter. Many affected patients have other autoimmune disorders such as pernicious anaemia, vitiligo and thyroid malfunctions (3). A reduction in brain levels of GABA has been demonstrated on magnetic resonance (MR) spectroscopy scans (3). The loss of inhibitory input from spinal interneurons is theorized to lead to an impaired balance between inhibitory and excitatory influences on muscle activity (4). SPS usually begins insidiously with persistent aching and stiffening of axial muscles. Involvement of the face, neck, abdomen and arms is less typical. Headache as a presenting or major feature of the illness has not been described. Examination generally shows global muscle stiffness, with no other neurological abnormalities, and no abnormalities on computed tomography (CT) or MR imaging of the brain. Treatment is based on enhancing inhibitory activity in the spinal cord through the use of drugs such as diazepam, baclofen and vigabitrin that boost GABA neurotransmission. Steroids, plasmapheresis and intravenous immunoglobulin are also helpful (3). There are reports of improvement in severe muscle spasms and dystonia with the use of botulinum toxin (5). The authors report the case of a 34-year-old male with SPS in whom headache was the presenting feature, and a complicating feature throughout the illness.