Switching Pauses Research Articles

The Association between Depression Severity, Prosody, and Voice Acoustic Features in Women with Depression

The aim was to define the association between the severity of depression, prosody, and voice acoustic features in women suffering from depression and its comparisons with nondepressed people. Prosody and acoustic features in 30 women with major depression hospitalized in a psychiatric ward and 30 healthy women were investigated in a cross-sectional study. To define the severity of depression, the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HRS-D) was applied. Acoustic parameters such as jitter, shimmer, cepstral peak prominence (CPP), standard deviation of fundamental frequency (SD F0), harmonic-to-noise ratio, and F0 and also some speech prosodic features including the speed of speech, switching pause duration means, and durations of produced sentences with different modals were measured quantitatively. Also, six raters judged the patient’s prosody qualitatively. SPSS V.28 was used for all statistical analyses ( p < 0.05 ). There was a significant correlation between HRS-D with jitter, SD F0, speed of speech, and switching pause means ( p ≤ 0.05 ). The means of CPP and duration of producing emotional sentences differed between the depression and control groups. The HRS-D scores were significantly correlated with switching pauses in patients (Pearson coefficient = 0.47, p = 0.05 ). The results of the perceptual evaluation of prosody judged by six raters showed an 85% correlation between them ( p ≤ 0.001 ). Some acoustic and prosodic parameters are different between healthy women and those with depression disorder (e.g., CPP and duration of emotional sentences) and may also have an association with the severity of depression (e.g., jitter, SD F0, speed of speech, and switching pause means) in women with depression disorder. It was indicated that the best sentence modal to assess prosody in patients with depression would be exclamatory ones compared to declarative and interrogative sentences.

Character expression of a conversational robot for adapting to user personality

User adaptation is important in conversational robots to enhance the user experience and engagement. One way of user adaptation is to change the dialogue behavior. A character (e.g. extrovert or agreeable) can be defined to achieve human-like behaviors and user adaptation, and the appropriate character differs depending on each user. In this study, we investigate user adaptation by character expression of conversational robots. Our character expression model adopts the Big Five traits for controlling four dialogue behaviors: amount of utterance, backchannel frequency, filler frequency, and switching pause length. We cluster the system character and user personality into four classes based on an analysis of a speed dating dialogue corpus, and we found the best combinations between the system character and user personality. We implemented the character expression model into a laboratory guide and a chit-chat robot and conducted subjective experiments, where the subjects talked with robots with four different characters and evaluated their impressions of each character. The results shows that the Role model character was preferred for the task-oriented dialogue of the laboratory guide, but a robot character complementary to the subject personality was preferred for the non-task-oriented dialogue of the speed dating and chit-chat.

Simulation of autonomous voltage inverters of power sources of single-phase asynchronous drives

Purpose. Development of original models of voltage inverters adapted to control a single-phase asynchronous motor with the subsequent prospect of creating automatic systems for improving the energy efficiency of household mechanisms, as well as developing educational complexes for studying the operation of frequency converters to form skills for their repair and tuning.Methodology. The provisions of the theory of electric machines, methods of synthesis of digital control systems, methods and methods of modeling in CAD electronic laboratory of the company NATIONAL INSTRUMENTS of the Multisim component, methods of circuit design were used for conducting research. Findings. Models of pulse distributors were developed and built for the cases of power supply of single-phase asynchronous motors with bridge inverters of separate and individual starting and working windings, half-bridge inverters with a bipolar power source and a three-phase inverter with control according to a 180-degree control diagram. Time diagrams of visual confirmation of the system's performance according to the declared principles have been obtained. Originality. A number of original switch diagrams of the power section of the models of impulse distributors of autonomous voltage inverters are proposed, taking into account the phase shift and the duration of the switching pauses of the switching arms of the power unit to avoid emergency modes, recommendations are given on the levels of generation frequencies that are fed to the input of the combinational circuit, the prospect of using this system as part of a single-phase asynchronous electric drive with the possibility of energy-efficient control is shown.Practical value. The proposed original model solutions for autonomous voltage inverters, which are adapted to work together with a single-phase IM, can be useful for developers of converter technology and become visual material for their use in the educational process for training specialists in specialty 141 "Electric power engineering, electrical engineering and electromechanics".

Vocal Turn-taking between Mothers and Their Toddlers with Cochlear Implants

Objectives: This study attempted to identify the quantitative characteristics that appear in vocal turn-taking between mothers and toddlers with cochlear implants (CIs) and to examine the relationships between variables of vocal turn-taking and the language development of the CI and typical hearing (TH) group.Methods: Ten pairs of mothers and toddlers with CIs and 12 pairs of mothers and toddlers with TH participated in this study. Their interactions during a 20-minute free-play task were recorded using a digital recorder. Their vocalizations were coded for vocalization, switching pause, turn-taking block, and overlap using the Praat program.Results: Toddlers with TH took more vocal turns with their mothers than did toddlers with CIs. Toddlers with TH produced significantly more vocalizations than toddlers with CIs; however, there was not a significant difference in the frequency of mothers’ vocalizations between the two groups. Mothers in the TH group produced a significantly highter proportion of vocalizations in turn-taking than mothers in the CI group; however, there was not a significant difference in the proportion of toddlers’ vocalizations between the two groups. Language scores were significantly correlated with the frequency of vocal turn-taking, toddlers’ vocalizations, and mothers’ vocalizations in the CI group.Conclusion: These results suggests that toddlers with CIs are not active partners in vocal turn-taking at an earlier age and that mothers are likely to adjust vocal turn-taking formats to their toddlers with CIs. The variables of vocal turn-taking can be a sensitive index to predict language skills in the CI group.

Novel Two-Phase PWM Scheme by Using Variable Switching Pause Period for Unbalanced Three-Phase Inverter

Novel Two-Phase PWM Scheme by Using Variable Switching Pause Period for Unbalanced Three-Phase Inverter

The vocal dialogue in 9/11 pregnant widows and their infants: Specificities of co-regulation

Mothers who were pregnant and widowed on September 11, 2001, and their 4–6-month infants (in utero on 9/11) were filmed during face-to-face interaction and their vocal dialogues were examined via microanalysis. Mothers were White, well-educated, mean age 34.3 years, and far from the World Trade Center site on 9/11; infants were 4–6 months, half female. We examined the bi-directional, moment-by-moment co-regulation of the timing of vocal dialogue, and particularly turn taking, in mother-infant and stranger-infant interactions, with time-series models. We analyzed the contingent coordination of durations of (1) vocalizations of the turn-holder, and (2) switching-pauses at the moment of the turn exchange. The switching pause is an aspect of the rhythm of the turn-holder who, after taking a turn, yields the floor to the partner through the switching pause. Turn taking is the lynchpin of dialogue, and the bi-directional contingent coordination of the switching-pause regulates the turn exchange. Both partners showed signs of risk and resilience. The 9/11 mothers did not coordinate the timing of turn taking with their infants, a highly unusual finding. In contrast, the 9/11 infants did coordinate the timing of turn taking with their mothers, and with the “stranger,” forms of resilience. We propose that the 9/11 mother’s difficulty coordinating with the infant’s turn taking rhythm is a mode of transmission of her trauma to the infant. This work expands our knowledge of the specificities of co-regulation in the context of the 9/11 trauma.

Character expression for spoken dialogue systems with semi-supervised learning using Variational Auto-Encoder

Character of spoken dialogue systems is important not only for giving a positive impression of the system but also for gaining rapport from users. We have proposed a character expression model for spoken dialogue systems. The model expresses three character traits (extroversion, emotional instability, and politeness) of spoken dialogue systems by controlling spoken dialogue behaviors: utterance amount, backchannel, filler, and switching pause length. One major problem in training this model is that it is costly and time-consuming to collect many pair data of character traits and behaviors. To address this problem, semi-supervised learning is proposed based on a variational auto-encoder that exploits both the limited amount of labeled pair data and unlabeled corpus data. It was confirmed that the proposed model can express given characters more accurately than a baseline model with only supervised learning. We also implemented the character expression model in a spoken dialogue system for an autonomous android robot, and then conducted a subjective experiment with 75 university students to confirm the effectiveness of the character expression for specific dialogue scenarios. The results showed that expressing a character in accordance with the dialogue task by the proposed model improves the user’s impression of the appropriateness in formal dialogue such as job interview.

Temporal Properties of Vocal Turn-Taking between Parents and Young Children with Typical Development: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Objectives: The temporal response characteristics in vocal turn-taking are related to the language and emotional development of infants. This study identified the temporal response patterns in the vocal turn-taking between parents and infants with typical development through systematic literature and meta-analysis.Methods: Using eight databases, the appropriateness of the literature was evaluated according to the Participants, Intervention, Comparison, Outcomes, and Study design (PICOS) criteria. As a result, seven articles which met the inclusive criteria were selected. A systematic review and meta-analysis of the literature was conducted. The effect sizes were calculated using Hedges’s g.Results: As a result of the systematic literature review, the selected literature had a low risk of bias. In a considerable number of articles, mothers and infants before 12 months of age participated. The duration of parents’ vocalization was significantly longer than that of infants. On the other hand, there was no significant difference in the switching pause between parents and infants.Conclusion: These results suggest that although infants have less duration of vocalization than their parents due to lack of linguistic experience, infants may know the rules of switching pause in verbal communication. Future research should examine parents and infants with diverse communication disorders such as hearing loss and autism spectrum disorders. In addition, these findings have implications for assessment and early intervention designed to target parents’ communication behaviors.

Exploring Indian stand-up comedy through the lens of ideology, identity and gender: a discourse analysis

Despite being a diverse, vibrant and multifaceted phenomenon, relatively little academic attention has been paid in analysing Indian stand-up comedy. This paper attempts to address this imbalance by offering pathways in the analysis of stand-up comedy. Employing examples from the performances of the comedians and adopting discourse analysis methodology, this paper focuses on the issues like language ideology, identity and gender embeddedness in Indian Stand-up comedy. We have argued that the comedy employs several performative techniques such as linguistic code switching and calculative pauses to create humor. Through our work, we have demonstrated how ideology and identity constructions are simultaneously reinforced and subverted within the same comic moment. Finally, the extracted portion of recorded performances shows that the whole event unfolds as an informal, naturally developing encounter between audience and comedian.

Analog self-powered harvester achieving switching pause control to increase harvested energy

In this paper, we propose a self-powered analog controller circuit to increase the efficiency of electrical energy harvesting from vibrational energy using piezoelectric materials. Although the existing synchronized switch harvesting on inductor (SSHI) method is designed to produce efficient harvesting, its switching operation generates a vibration-suppression effect that reduces the harvested levels of electrical energy. To solve this problem, the authors proposed—in a previous paper—a switching method that takes this vibration-suppression effect into account. This method temporarily pauses the switching operation, allowing the recovery of the mechanical displacement and, therefore, of the piezoelectric voltage. In this paper, we propose a self-powered analog circuit to implement this switching control method. Self-powered vibration harvesting is achieved in this study by attaching a newly designed circuit to an existing analog controller for SSHI. This circuit aims to effectively implement the aforementioned new switching control strategy, where switching is paused in some vibration peaks, in order to allow motion recovery and a consequent increase in the harvested energy. Harvesting experiments performed using the proposed circuit reveal that the proposed method can increase the energy stored in the storage capacitor by a factor of 8.5 relative to the conventional SSHI circuit. This proposed technique is useful to increase the harvested energy especially for piezoelectric systems having large coupling factor.

線画映像コミュニケーションにおける対話ストラテジーと対話特性

The characteristics of line drawing video communication are described in this paper. In the experiment, an original video and a line drawing video were compared. Subjects performed the same task using both video systems and their performances were assessed in terms of the number of utterances in the conversation and the subject's switching pause. The subject's conversation strategy was extracted based on gaze measurement. In the case of the subujects who often gaze at a partner's eyes during conversation, the switching pause for the line drawing video was significantly longer than for the original video. In both video formats, subjects who does not gaze at a partner's eyes had more switching pauses and utterances than the subjects who do.

The role of silence in interpreted police interviews

Silence is rarely treated as something that should be translated in the interpreting process. Drawing on the principles of conversation analysis, the article explores, the role which silence plays as a meaningful unit in police interviews mediated by Japanese–English interpreters. It also attempts to demonstrate that, despite the status of silence as an ‘uninterpretable’ unit, silent pauses are treated as meaningful units by interpreters. Silent switching pauses were found to function as repair initiators for interpreters, prompting self-repair of renditions. The analysis also reveals that, through the management of silent pauses before and after the suspect's utterances, interpreters exercise a certain extent of control over the questioning, sharing the power of interrogator with the police officer. On the other hand, there are opportunities for suspects to resist such power through silences once they hold the floor. The ambiguous, ‘untranslatable’ yet ‘interpretable’ nature of silent pauses was found to provide opportunities for participants in interpreted police interviews to break away from the questioning sequence typical of monolingual police interviews.

Discrimination of Phase of Meeting from Utterance Pattern in Group Meeting

In this study, we investigated the relationship between phases of meeting and non-verbal speech information. We considered that conversations at the meeting must show information to phases of the meeting as non-verbal features. We attempted to discriminate between the divergence phase and the convergence phase by the decision tree method using only non-verbal speech information. We performed an experiment with a group task based on a modification of the game Twenty-Questions and recorded participants' speech data. In a discrimination test, we used the recorded speech, and defined non-verbal speech features such as switching pauses (i.e. silent intervals between the utterance of two speakers), frequency for each turn-taking pattern and duration. We conducted the two discrimination tests for using parameters with friends group, with strangers group and with both groups. From the results, the accuracy of the open test is 77.3%, 85.2% and 77.3%, respectively. Taking into account only non-verbal speech information was used, we consider these results to be fairly good.

An analysis of switching pause duration as a paralinguistic feature in expressive dialogues

An analysis of switching pause duration as a paralinguistic feature in expressive dialogues

Vocal timing in face-to-face interaction of clinically depressed and nondepressed mothers and their 4-month-old infants

The timing of switching pauses is critical to mother-infant synchrony. The relation between switching-pause duration and maternal depression was studied in 15 depressed and 20 nondepressed mother-infant dyads. Switching pauses of depressed mothers were longer, more variable, and less consistent with scalar timing.

Neurobiology of Sleep Disturbances in Children With Atopic Dermatitis-Reply

Dr Friedman offers some interesting neurobiologic speculations regarding some of the findings in our recently published study 1 and suggests potential links to particular neurobehavioral systems. Specifically, the possibility of monitoring speech hesitation and switching pauses may represent an intriguing approach to examine a potential mechanism (at a level of specific neurochemical alteration). Further, some of the neurobehavioral systems described are a focus of interest within one of the research programs conducted at the University of Pittsburgh, Pa, actively investigating serotonergically mediated inhibition of dopamine in a study examining prolactin response to a serotonergic agonist in depressed children and normal controls. 2,3 We are also exploring the possibility that some sleep and mood changes relevant to affective disorders may be mediated by changes in frontal-striatal activation, as reflected by electroencephalographic frontal activity asymmetries. 4,5 However, it appears less clear to our interpretation whether the increased right frontal activity is a

Sequential dependencies in computer-aided conversation

The structure of computer-aided conversations obtained with a prototype system designed for use by physically handicapped, non-speaking people was investigated. The conversational aid requires speech acts suitable for use in a conversation on a fairly broad topic (e.g. holidays) to be generated by the computer user ahead of time. The potential speech acts are then organized to facilitate rapid selection of appropriate items for output via a voice synthesizer during subsequent conversations. Lag-sequential analyses were used to identify sequential dependencies between the speech acts of computer-aided and unaided participants. The obtained sequential dependencies were broadly similar to those found for normal conversations on the same topic. Where differences existed, they were readily explicable in terms of conversational goals appropriate to the different modes of discourse. The results of the discourse analyses were interpreted as evidence for the coherence of the computer-aided dialogues at the level of speech acts. It was suggested that the sequential dependencies found between speech acts, and between categories within alternative taxonomies, might be used to reduce switching pause times in computer-aided conversations by building them into the system as predictions.

The syntactic role of pauses in the speech of schizophrenic patients with alogia.

This study examines the relation between alogia and pausing. The authors analyzed the flow of speech of 17 male schizophrenic patients during an interview, particularly the pauses that occurred within and between syntactic clauses and those that occurred as the turn switched from the interviewer's question to the patient's response. The strongest predictor of alogia ratings was the duration of switching pauses; the frequency of long within-clause pauses was also significantly related to alogia, but the frequency of between-clause pauses showed a trend toward a negative relation with alogia. Words following within-clause pauses were more likely to be content words than function words, and the content words were less frequent in the English language than the speaker's other words. This suggests that alogic patients have difficulty in word finding and in thought formulation, as well as a general increase in the duration of all pauses.

Low serum cholesterol levels and morning suicide

The inverse association of serum cholesterol levels and noncardiovascular causes of death 1 may have been due to an increased risk in subjects lowering their cholesterol concentration by diet or drugs. 2 This hypothesis is supported by diurnal variation of serotonin and suicide 3-5 and by decreased serotonergic-mediated inhibition of dopamine 6,7 subserving alcohol-seeking behavior 8 and mood. 9,10 The fact that delay-dependent speeding of reaction time, reflecting motor readiness, is abolished by depletion of dopamine suggests monitoring behavioral correlates of mood, ie, speech hesitation and switching pauses, 11,12 to clarify the etiologic relationships of these inverse associations. 1

Switching pauses in adult-adult and child-child turn takings: An initial study

Based on the Japanese conversation obtained from five adult-adult and five child-child dyads, the present study investigated whether the duration of switching pause (silence between two different speakers) differed depending on the existence of linguistic cue (e.g., anaphoric reference) and/or the phonetic cue (rising intonation). Switching pause durations were measured acoustically whereas the phonetic cue was examined by a listening test. The results showed that switching pause durations are likely to be short when they are accompanied by the linguistic cue whereas they are likely to be long when accompanied by no cue. This tendency was observed both in adult and child dyads. The results also showed that the ratios of using the linguistic and/or the phonetic cue are almost the same for adults and children.