Variations In Tone Research Articles

Human Skin Tone Detection

Human skin tone variation can be easily seen from person to person within the same ethnic group or different ethnic group. The skin tone is analysed by melanosome size, significant and progressive variation in size and ethnicity. In face recognition the shape of the face gets identified but background used in real time is usually complex with varying lighting conditions. Automatic skin detection has been intensively studied for human-related recognition systems. The Gaussian model for skin detection is with its generality but they lack in their accuracy. Hence we suggest a new statistical colour model for skin detection called an elliptical boundary model. Detection and tracking of human face and hands are used for gesture recognition and to handle the domain transfer problem. The elliptical boundary model overcomes the limitations of the Gaussian model with better performance based on six chrominance spaces on the face, giving a much higher correct detection ratio with faster speed. For that, we are processing with two main domains that are Full stack development which handles the frontend and backend of the application and Machine Learning algorithms which handles the detection of the skin tone. Here we are dealing with image processing techniques for input and the output will find the skin tone of that particular image that we are processing. The applications that involve skin tone detection are face detection, gesture recognition and image filtering. Hence they overcome the different illumination conditions as different domains of skin pixels. The objective of the project is to detect the skin tone from a human face image with various tone characteristics. We are detecting the basic tone differentiation (Fair, Mild or Dark).

Unmasking Dermoscopic Evaluation of Melasma

Background: There exists a wide range of variations in skin tone around the world, with Asian and Indian subjects showing a greater susceptibility toward pigmentation disorder. Objective: This study was carried out with the objective to assess the clinical and dermoscopic findings among different types of melasma in a single center of Central India. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out among patients with clinical features of melasma attending the outpatient department at multispecialty hospital with a sample size of 100. A prestructured pro forma was used to collect the baseline data. Clinical and dermatological examination was done after taking a detailed history. Clinical pattern of melasma such as centrofacial, malar, and mandibular was noted. The areas of melasma were examined using a contact polarized Dermlite DL4 3rd Gen Dermoscope attached to an iPhone. Results: The mean age of study participants was 38.15 years with a standard deviation of 6.93. Seventeen percentage were of male gender. Thirty-one percentage of the female patients had a history of oral contraceptive pill (OCP) usage, and 22% of the female patients had a history of menstrual abnormalities. Fitzpatrick skin Type IV was the most commonly affected skin type. Centrofacial type of melasma is the most common clinical type and reticuloglobular pattern is the commonly seen pattern on dermoscopy. The color of dermoscopy was predominantly brown in malar (52.2%) and mandibular (57.1%) and mixed in Centrofacial (45.7%), which was followed by 26.1%–28.6% mixed color in malar and andibular types and 41.4% brown color in centrofacial type. The difference in the color of dermoscopy (P = 0.48), presence of telangiectasia on dermoscopy (P = 0.23), pattern of dermoscopy (P = 0.15), and mean Melasma Severity Index scores with different clinical types was not statistically significant. Similarly, the association between different clinical types of melasma with duration of sun exposure (P = 0.33) and topical photo protection (P = 0.34) was also not statistically significant. Conclusion: Our study findings concluded that melasma is common in women in the age group of 27–56 years range. Exposure to sunlight and the hormonal changes (due to OCP usage) were those among the various factors influencing the development of melasma. Centrofacial melasma was the most common pattern seen in our study group. Epidermal melasma features on dermoscopy were reticuloglobular patterns with a brownish hue, while the features of dermal melasma were irregular patterns with a bluish hue and mixed melasma had irregular patchy brown pigmentation. Perifollicular globules and telangiectasia were also seen.

Effects of Familiarity and Dialect Experience on the Description of Tonal Variant.

This study investigates the tonal variant description of the official dialect in China (Putonghua) as a factor in the coevolution of dialects. Three sociophonetic factors, target tone familiarity, tonal variant familiarity, and tonal inventory size, are included in order to raise interesting theoretical questions concerning the role of familiarity and dialect experience in sound change. Standard Putonghua tones are manipulated in height and shape in order to create systematically varying stimuli. Speakers from three Chinese dialect groups, Beijing Mandarin, Shanghai Wu, and Guangzhou Cantonese, are invited to rate the applicability of a description of pitch contour and height to the stimuli. The three dialects have different tonal inventory size, and their native speakers have different levels of familiarity with Putonghua tone or Putonghua tonal variants. The above three sociophonetic factors make different predictions about listeners' performances. The findings of the experimental analysis of data confirm the role of tonal variant familiarity in predicting participants' descriptive decisions on tone height variants. Tonal variant familiarity is also combined with tone inventory size to explain the assignment of descriptions of tone shape variations. This suggests that when variations still follow the phonetic pattern of the tone distribution of the Putonghua tonal system, listeners give phonetic patterns the primary role in acoustic decisions but still benefit from their dialect experiences in making more precise acoustic decisions. It also suggests that when variations violate the phonetic features of the target tonal system, they may depend on familiarity with the individual variant. This study applies an innovative sociophonetic method by conducting a perception experiment online with a self-paced procedure. The findings here are crucial for examining the relationship between sociophonetic factors and listeners' acoustic decisions and the cultural coevolution of cross-dialect tonal variation. The findings here also give support to the validity of the current web-based crowd perception experiment design and are also needed to facilitate research under restricted conditions, such as a pandemic situation.

Generational differences in the low tones of Black Lahu

Abstract We investigate apparent-time variation of the low falling (T21) and low level (T11) tones of the Black Lahu language of Yunnan, China. Linear mixed-effects modeling of spontaneous speech shows that both tones have a higher F0 trajectory among younger speakers and in certain phonetic environments. Since F0 is known to lower with increasing age, for comparison we also analyze variation in the high rising tone (T45) and find no evidence of generational difference. This suggests that the effect of age on low tones is not due to physiological change across the life span. We leave open the question of whether this result reflects a change in progress or a stable sociotonetic difference between older and younger speakers. This study contributes towards two underrepresented areas of sound change research: (1) sociotonetic approaches to tone variation in naturalistic speech styles, and (2) engagement with Indigenous scholars who are cultural insiders in small rural minority language communities.

Targeting Piezo1 channels to reverse pulmonary artery vasoconstriction in rat model of pulmonary hypertension

Piezo1, a stretch-activated calcium permeable channel is a sensor of mechanical stress present in endothelial cells (ECs) and vascular smooth muscle cells (SMCs). Our previous studies have shown that endothelial Piezo1 contributes to intrapulmonary artery (IPA) relaxation in mice. The present study was undertaken to investigate the implication of Piezo1 in both rat ECs and SMCs in pulmonary hypertension (PH). Chronically hypoxic rats, an animal model of PH, were exposed to chronic hypoxia (CH, −50% O 2 for 1 week), whereas normoxic rats were housed in normoxic condition (NX). NX or CH IPA tone variation induced by YODA1 was quantified by myograph. Intracellular calcium concentration ([Ca2+]i) was determined with Cal520-AM probes. Protein levels of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS), phosphorylated eNOS (peNOS), Akt and pAkt were quantified by Western blot analysis. Immunofluorescence labeling and patch-clamp revealed the presence of Piezo1 in both ECs and SMCs. In IPAs, YODA1 induced a contraction in NX condition. By contrast, YODA1 induced an endothelium and nitric oxide-dependent relaxation in CH IPAs. Activation of Piezo1 channels by its agonist YODA1 increased [Ca2+]i. However, the [Ca2+]i increase in ECs was greater in CH as compared to NX condition. In addition, CH condition increased level of eNOS proteins as compared to NX condition and YODA1 induced a phosphorylation of Akt (Ser 473) and eNOS (Ser 1177) in NX and CH conditions. The present study thus demonstrates that endothelial Piezo1 contributes to intrapulmonary vascular relaxation by controlling endothelial [Ca2+]i and Akt-eNOS- pathway activation that could counteract PH.

Intonational and Syntactic Innovations in a Language Contact Situation: An Explorative Study of Yes/No Questions in Paraguayan Guarani-Spanish Bilinguals.

Whereas the intonation of Spanish varieties has received considerable attention in the past few decades, the research has so far not included the variety of Spanish spoken in Paraguay, where intensive language contact between the Indigenous Guarani language and Spanish since the 16th century has led to widespread bilingualism. This study compares the F0 patterns of yes/no questions in Guarani-dominant bilinguals with those of Spanish-dominant bilinguals and Spanish monolinguals, formalized within the Autosegmental-Metrical model of intonation phonology. Results show no particular differences between the three groups, with all groups producing an H+L*LH% pattern in all types of yes/no questions, the exception being counter-expectational and echo yes/no questions, which were also realized with an L+¡H* L% contour. In spite of the fact that Guarani-dominant bilinguals exhibited more tonal variation in biased yes/no questions, the findings appear on the whole to support the convergence of two intonational systems due to the long period of contact. Furthermore, both bilingual groups made use of Guarani question particles and other Guarani expressions in their productions. Interestingly, across all groups, some speakers occasionally used the calque expression ¿Será que . . . ("Will it be that . . .?") at the beginning of questions; this construction can be considered to have become grammaticalized as a question particle. Taken together, the intonational and syntactic innovations apparent in Paraguayan Spanish point toward language change brought about by intensive contact with Guarani and show how two levels of linguistic structure-intonation and syntax-may evolve differently.

The effect of second language experience on lexical encoding of segments and tones

While previous studies generally find that increasing second language (L2) experience contributes to more accurate phonetic perception of L2 sounds, whether it leads to more proficient lexical encoding remains an empirical question. The current study examines lexical encoding of Mandarin segments and tones by English speakers at different proficiency levels. Eleven English speakers naïve to Mandarin, fifteen intermediate and nine advanced L2 learners participated in a word-learning experiment. After learning 16 Mandarin disyllabic words, they judged the matching between sound and meaning pairs, with half of the pairs being complete matches while the other containing segmental or tonal mismatches. The results showed that all groups were more sensitive to segmental than to tonal mismatches. The two learner groups outperformed the Naïve group in detecting segmental mismatches, but the three groups were equally inaccurate in rejecting tonal mismatches. The reaction times revealed, however, that the learners but not the Naïve group attended to tonal variations. These findings suggest that L2 experience has a clearer benefit for L2 segmental encoding than for tonal encoding, probably due to learners’ non-tonal language background. Experience in a tonal L2 enhances learners’ attention to the tones, but does not necessarily improve their accuracy in tonal encoding.

SAGMAD—A Signature Agnostic Malware Detection System Based on Binary Visualisation and Fuzzy Sets

Image conversion of byte-level data, or binary visualisation, is a relevant approach to security applications interested in malicious activity detection. However, in practice, binary visualisation has always been seen to have great limitations when dealing with large volumes of data, and would be a reluctant candidate as the core building block of an intrusion detection system (IDS). This is due to the requirements of computational time when processing the flow of byte data into image format. Machine intelligence solutions based on colour tone variations that are intended for pattern recognition would overtax the process. In this paper, we aim to solve this issue by proposing a fast binary visualisation method that uses Fuzzy Set theory and the H-indexing space filling curve. Our model can assign different colour tones on a byte, allowing it to be influenced by neighbouring byte values while preserving optimal locality indexing. With this work, we wish to establish the first steps in pursuit of a signature-free IDS. For our experiment, we used 5000 malicious and benign files of different sizes. Our methodology was tested on various platforms, including GRNET’s High-Performance Computing services. Further improvements in computation time allowed larger files to convert in roughly 0.5 s on a desktop environment. Its performance was also compared with existing machine learning-based detection applications that used traditional binary visualisation. Despite lack of optimal tuning, SAGMAD was able to achieve 91.94% accuracy, 90.63% precision, 92.7% recall, and an F-score of 91.61% on average when tested within previous binary visualisation applications and following their parameterisation scheme. The results exceeded malware file-based experiments and were similar to network intrusion applications. Overall, the results demonstrated here prove our method to be a promising mechanism for a fast AI-based signature-agnostic IDS.

Translated Nation: Rewriting the Dakhóta Oyáte by Christopher Pexa

Reviewed by: Translated Nation: Rewriting the Dakhóta Oyáte by Christopher Pexa David J. Carlson (bio) Translated Nation: Rewriting the Dakhóta Oyáte by Christopher Pexa University of Minnesota Press, 2019 IN TRANSLATED NATION, Christopher Pexa makes a substantial contribution to the growing body of scholarship focused on the work of Indigenous intellectuals active during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries—a period when tribal communities were under extraordinary pressure from the settler-colonial state and consequently framed by many as the nadir of tribal nationhood in the United States. While certainly acknowledging the potency of U.S. colonial discourse and institutions at this time, Pexa's tribal-centric study instead emphasizes Dakhóta resistance, highlighting forms of that resistance generally overlooked by previous scholars. Pexa's specific focus is on the ethos of thióšpaye (extended family), the "core relational [philosophy]" that shapes Dakhóta life (xi). He explores the ways that figures ranging from Charles Eastman to Ella Deloria encoded and bore subtle witness to that ethos within works that might first seem (especially to non-Indigenous readers) to be essentially assimilationist. And while other scholars have emphasized the existence of various rhetorics of resistance in Indigenous writing from this period (including in the work of some of the authors treated here), Pexa's deeply informed readings and his explorations of a rich and coherent tradition of Dakhóta survivance set Translated Nation apart as an exceptionally valuable study in the field. Pexa dialogically structures his exploration of what he variously refers to as "cultural camouflage" or "rusing accommodation," weaving together literary analysis, autobiographical reflection, and conversational interludes with his own Dakhóta relations (1, 4). Perhaps it would be better to say that he organizes Translated Nation relationally, highlighting how Indigenous peoplehood, in a Dakhóta context, challenges artificial, colonial boundaries between ways of knowing, discursive contexts, periods, and physical space. Pexa finds evidence of the persistent assertion of thióšpaye ethics in such diverse locations as the carceral writings of Dakhóta citizens held at Fort Snelling after the 1862 U.S.-Dakhóta War, Charles Eastman's retellings of traditional stories in Red Hunters and the Animal People (1904), the horse [End Page 160] dance portion of Black Elk's great vision (as recorded in the original transcripts), Ella Deloria's ethnographic novel Waterlily (written in the 1940s), and contemporary family reflections on the deep links between place, narrative, and identity. In each of these examples, Pexa develops his central claim: while Dakhóta expression may at first seem co-opted and fully legible from a colonial perspective, it is in fact dual voiced, "translat[ing] and re-working settler state mandates" into Indigenous understandings of kinship and relation (148). Translated Nation thus becomes a chronicle of what Pexa calls "unheroic decolonialisms," a term intended not to diminish the significance of these subtle forms of resistance but rather to highlight the importance of appreciating nonindividualistic forms of revolt not typically privileged in the settler-colonial worldview (147). In his account, the endurance of the Dakhóta people becomes a function less of periodic instances of exceptional activism (valuable as those may be) but rather of steady and persistent "caretaking" (235). In summarizing Pexa's core argument as I have here, it is not my intention to imply that Translated Nation overlooks the more equivocal aspects of some of the performances of personal and collective identity by its principal objects of study. Pexa's readings are never one-sided, and his critical discussions are always well grounded in current Indigenous studies scholarship. There are many examples of this care throughout the book. Pexa thoughtfully marks places where the conventionality of Ella Deloria's gender politics potentially conflicts with other aspects of her encoding of thióšpaye ethics. Elsewhere, he engages with some of the problematic elements of Black Elk's iconicity and popular reception. Perhaps considering the tremendous scope (and tonal variation) of Eastman's writings, one might have hoped that Pexa would consider a broader range of texts in that particular chapter (though it seems clear why, in the context of his argument, he made his specific selections). Pushing such a quibble...

Forehead, Temple and Wrist Temperature Assessment of Ethnic Groups using Infrared Technology

Non-contact infrared sensors are widely used as a diagnostic tool for elevated body temperature during initial screening for coronaviruses. The aim of this study was to investigate the thermal differences at three anatomical points: temple, forehead, and wrist, in the initial screening for temperature indicative of febrile and non-febrile states in skin pigmentation variations in Black, Half-Black and Caucasian skins, correlated with height and weight variables. Temperatures were obtained by means of an infrared thermometer in 289 volunteers with mean age of 18.30 ± 0.76, in a controlled environment according to Singapore Standard, SS582 part 1 and 2, normative standard IEC 80601-2-59, with standard technical protocols established by the International Organization for Standardization, ISO / TR 13154. The data were processed in MATLAB® R2021a, and data normality verified by Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, non-parametric data paired between temple / forehead / wrist were compared using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test. The results show different median temperatures in these anatomical regions, 37.2°C at the temple, 36.8°C at the forehead and 36.4°C at the wrist. As the temple region presents a temperature higher than the other investigated regions and, therefore, close to the core temperature, it should be considered for the initial screening of SARS-CoV-2 when using non-contact infrared thermometers. Furthermore, no significant changes were found due to variation in skin tone, height, or weight.

Contributions of h- and Na+/K+ Pump Currents to the Generation of Episodic and Continuous Rhythmic Activities.

Developing spinal motor networks produce a diverse array of outputs, including episodic and continuous patterns of rhythmic activity. Variation in excitability state and neuromodulatory tone can facilitate transitions between episodic and continuous rhythms; however, the intrinsic mechanisms that govern these rhythms and their transitions are poorly understood. Here, we tested the capacity of a single central pattern generator (CPG) circuit with tunable properties to generate multiple outputs. To address this, we deployed a computational model composed of an inhibitory half-center oscillator (HCO). Following predictions of our computational model, we tested the contributions of key properties to the generation of an episodic rhythm produced by isolated spinal cords of the newborn mouse. The model recapitulates the diverse state-dependent rhythms evoked by dopamine. In the model, episodic bursting depended predominantly on the endogenous oscillatory properties of neurons, with Na+/K+ ATPase pump (IPump) and hyperpolarization-activated currents (Ih) playing key roles. Modulation of either IPump or Ih produced transitions between episodic and continuous rhythms and silence. As maximal activity of IPump decreased, the interepisode interval and period increased along with a reduction in episode duration. Decreasing maximal conductance of Ih decreased episode duration and increased interepisode interval. Pharmacological manipulations of Ih with ivabradine, and IPump with ouabain or monensin in isolated spinal cords produced findings consistent with the model. Our modeling and experimental results highlight key roles of Ih and IPump in producing episodic rhythms and provide insight into mechanisms that permit a single CPG to produce multiple patterns of rhythmicity.

Targeting Piezo1 channels to reverse pulmonary artery vasoconstriction in rat model of pulmonary hypertension

Piezo1, a stretch-activated calcium permeable channel is a sensor of mechanical stress present in endothelial cells (ECs) and vascular smooth muscle cells (SMCs). Our previous studies have shown that endothelial Piezo1 contributes to intrapulmonary artery (IPA) relaxation in mice. The present study was undertaken to investigate the implication of Piezo1 in both rat ECs and SMCs in pulmonary hypertension (PH). Chronically hypoxic rats, an animal model of PH, were exposed to chronic hypoxia (CH, −50% O2 for 1 weeks), whereas normoxic rats were housed in normoxic condition (NX). NX or CH IPA tone variation induced by YODA1 was quantified by myograph. Intracellular calcium concentration ([Ca2+]i) was determined with Cal520-AM probes. Protein levels of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS), phosphorylated eNOS (peNOS), Akt and pAkt were quantified by Western blot analysis. Immunofluorescence labeling and patch-clamp revealed the presence of Piezo1 in both ECs and SMCs. In IPAs, YODA1 induced a contraction in NX condition. By contrast, YODA1 induced an endothelium and nitric oxide-dependent relaxation in CH IPAs. Activation of Piezo1 channels by its agonist YODA1 increased [Ca2+]i. However, the [Ca2+]i increase in ECs was greater in CH as compared to NX condition. In addition, CH condition increased level of eNOS proteins as compared to NX condition and YODA1 induced a phosphorylation of Akt (Ser 473) and eNOS (Ser 1177) in NX and CH conditions. The present study thus demonstrates that endothelial Piezo1 contributes to intrapulmonary vascular relaxation by controlling endothelial [Ca2+]i and Akt-eNOS- pathway activation that could counteract PH.

An Overview of Lithuanian Intonation: A Linguistic and Modelling Perspective

Intonation is a complex suprasegmental phenomenon essential for speech processing. However, it is still largely understudied, especially in the case of under-resourced languages, such as Lithuanian. The current paper focuses on intonation in Lithuanian, a Baltic pitch-accent language with free stress and tonal variations on accented heavy syllables. Due to historical circumstances, the description and analysis of Lithuanian intonation were carried out within different theoretical frameworks and in several languages, which makes them hardly accessible to the international research community. This paper is the first attempt to gather research on Lithuanian intonation from both the Lithuanian and the Western traditions, the structuralist and generativist points of view, and the linguistic and modelling perspectives. The paper identifies issues in existing research that require special attention and proposes directions for future investigations both in linguistics and modelling.

The Missing Measure of Loneliness: A Case for Including Neededness in Loneliness Scales

Prominent tools used to measure loneliness such as the UCLA Scale and DJGS include no items related to being needed, i.e., neededness. More recent scales such as the DLS and SELSA do include items on neededness, but only within their romantic loneliness subscales. This paper proposes that new iterations of loneliness scales should include in all subscales two items on neededness: (a) whether a person feels important to someone else and (b) whether that person has good ways to serve others’ well-being. The paper surveys cognate studies that do not rely on loneliness scales but establish a link between neededness and feelings of social connection. It then highlights ways in which neededness items would improve the ability of loneliness scales to specify the risk profile, to delineate variations in the emotional tone and quality of loneliness, and to propose suitable interventions. The paper outlines a theoretical argument—drawing on moral philosophy—that prosociality and being needed are non-contingent, morally urgent human needs, postulating that the protective benefits of neededness vary according to at least four factors: the significance, persistence, non-instrumentality, and non-fungibility of the ways in which a person is needed. Finally, the paper considers implications for the design of appropriate remedies for loneliness.

Skin Tone and Perceived Discrimination: Health and Aging Beyond the Binary in NSHAP 2015.

This paper introduces new measures of skin tone (self-reported) and perceived discrimination that are included in the third round of the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP). We explain the rationale for these new measures, emphasizing, in particular, how they help researchers to conceptualize and measure the significance of race/ethnicity for health and aging beyond binary ethnoracial categories. We describe new measures of skin tone and perceived discrimination for use in NSHAP 2015. We provide descriptive statistics on the distribution of skin tone (self-reported) by race/ethnicity. As a proof of concept, we use logistic and ordinary least squares regression analyses to examine the relationship between skin tone, perceived discrimination, and perceived stress among ethnoracial minorities. We find that there is significant variation in skin tone among non-White respondents in NSHAP 2015 (e.g., non-Hispanic Black and Latinx). We also find that skin tone (self-reported) is a significant predictor of the frequency of perceived discrimination and perceived stress among African American, but not Latinx respondents in NSHAP. The inclusion of new skin tone and discrimination measures in NSHAP 2015 provides a unique and novel opportunity for researchers to more deeply understand how race/ethnicity is connected to health and aging among ethnoracial minorities. Furthermore, it will enable analyses of how stress and perceived discrimination also affect patterns of health and aging among Whites against the backdrop of steadily increasing socioeconomic inequalities and shifting ethnoracial demographics in the United States.

Autonomic Tone Variations Prior to Onset of Paroxysmal Atrial Fibrillation.

BackgroundVariations of heart rate variability (HRV) before paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (PAF) onset are still controversial. We aimed to observe the autonomic tone variations before PAF onset based on HRV analysis.Material/MethodsWe prospectively investigated 24-h Holter recordings of 60 patients with PAF (M/F: 34/26) and 40 healthy people in sinus rhythm (M/F: 18/12). According to clinical information and Poincaré scatter plot, 60 PAF patients were divided into sympathetic group (n=20) and vagus group (n=40). Time domain and frequency domain parameters of HRV were respectively measured before PAF episodes in 3 subgroups. Five time periods were studied using the ANOVA.ResultsNo significant variations were observed for the HRV parameters during 60 minutes preceding PAF in sympathetic group. A significant and linear change in SDNN, RMSSD, PNN50, HF and LF/HF during 60 minutes preceding PAF onset in vagus group. Compared with controls, RMSSD, LF and HF were significantly longer in patients with PAF during 60 minutes before PAF. Comparing sympathetic group and vagus group, we observed the same pattern of autonomic variations with a progressive decrease in LF and HF. A progressive decrease in PNN50 and LF/HF of sympathetic group and a significant increase in PNN50 and LF/HF of vagus group were also observed.ConclusionsPatients with PAF mediated by different autonomic nerves have HRV variations, especially vagus PAF, there was a progressive increase with vagal tone during 60 minutes before PAF onset. The findings may help clinicians better intervene in PAF.

RHETORIC ANALYSIS ON STAND UP COMEDY

This kind of discourse has some specific characteristics in terms of its creation and language use. A qualitative study was conducted with the data source from stand-up comedy records. The data were reduced to obtain the funniest humor discourse. Furthermore, the data were analyzed based on the creation technique and the construction elements of humor discourse in terms of linguistic and non-linguistic context. The research findings showed that the creation technique and the construction elements of stand-up comedy humor discourse in local perspective in Indonesia were in line with the general concepts and theories of humor discourse creation techniques namely: (a) rhetoric, (b) tone variation, (c) irony, (d) language misunderstanding, (e) wordplay, (f) verbal jokes, (g) sarcasm, (h) satire, (i) sexual satire, and (j) deception. In addition, the results confirmed that the most widely used of creation techniques were rhetoric, wordplay, and deception. The three techniques are more pronounced than other techniques due to the local comics circumscribed public speaking capability.

Neural responses in novice learners’ perceptual learning and generalization of lexical tones: The effect of training variability

The acoustics of lexical tones are highly variable across talkers, and require second-language (L2) learners’ flexibility in accommodating talker-specific tonal variations for successful learning. This study investigated how tone training with high vs. low talker-variability modulated novice learners’ neural responses to non-native tones. A passive oddball paradigm tested Mandarin-speaking participants’ neural responses to Cantonese low–high and low-mid tonal contrasts in the pretest and posttest. Participants were trained using a tone identification task with feedback, either with high or low talker-variability. The results of mismatch negativity (MMN) showed no group difference in the pretest whereas the high-variability group demonstrated greater neural sensitivity to the low–high tonal contrast produced by a novel talker and a trained talker in the posttest. The finding provides (tentative) novel evidence that training variability may benefit perceptual learning of the relatively easy tone pair and facilitate the formation of talker-independent representations of non-native tones by novice learners.

Stimulus onset asynchrony effects on perceptual learning

Listeners use lexical knowledge to guide the perception of phonetically ambiguous speech sounds and for retuning phonetic category boundaries. While phonetic ambiguity has many sources, diachronic sound changes represent a more systematic form of phonetic variation. Sound changes may neutralize the phonetic and phonological contrast between two lexical competitors, rendering lexical knowledge in perceptual learning paradigms an unreliable scaffold for boundary retuning, particularly in languages with a high proportion of monosyllabic lexical items (e.g., Cantonese). We present pilot results of an auditory-object-to-picture matching task for perceptual learning of English vowels in monosyllabic words. Seven-step [æ]-[ɑ] continua were created for three minimal pairs (e.g., “gnat”—“knot”). Images corresponding to the real word endpoints were presented at three different stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) intervals: −250, 0, +250 ms. Participants responded as to whether the visual image matched the auditory token. Preliminary findings indicate that listeners deem the auditory token and picture a congruent match at higher proportions in the 0 ms SOA condition. Our future work analyzes the subsequent learning in response to this exposure method and uses this SOA in a Cantonese perceptual learning study focused on adaptation to lexical tone variation.

Analysis of Images Produced by Smoky Makeup Using a Color Image Scale for Female Eyes

Purpose: In order to analyze the images to be produced by tone variations in the smoky makeup, according to the forms of eyes, this study evaluated them by applying adjective image scales as the tool for quantitative assessment.Methods: By categorizing female eyes into seven forms, we examined images in which the tones of smoky makeup changed across five stages, ranging from the highest to the lowest brightness. We varied the positions of the eyes on the image map.Results: The eyes without makeup have different images, depending on the forms of eyes: standard eyes with folded eyelids and large eyes have dynamic and soft images, while drooping eyes have static and stiff images. The positions of eyes were varied on the image map. Although the standard eyes which were evaluated as having the most soft images could express very various images, by changing the tones of the smoky makeup, those which could be expressed by drooping eyes were very restricted, even though the tones of the smoky makeup were changed.Conclusion: It is consequently found that there are large variations in image areas to be produced by makeup, and that the image map is a tool useful for systematically analyzing the dynamic characteristics of variations in eyes’ images, as the tones of makeup are changed.