The voice is a fundamental method of communication and as such, helps in our efforts to define our identity. Projection of the appropriate voice is crucially important to transgender individuals in transition for acceptance as their identified gender. This study attempts to identify and examine the relationship between acoustic measurements of voice quality and the perception of speaker gender from audio recordings, including the male-to-female transgender voice, based on several acoustic properties that have been identified by previous studies. Recordings of female, male and transgender voices were acoustically analyzed for properties relating to differences in voice quality between men and women. Listeners then identified the gender of the recorded voices, with the intention of evaluating which voices are perceived as either male or female along with a corresponding rating of masculinity or femininity. What acoustic measurements of voice quality cue listeners to gender and do they correlate with gender perception?

Car speed measurement using the Doppler effect

No description available.

Les sondages téléphoniques visent habituellement l’enregistrement de réponses selon leur contenu linguistique littéral (« oui », « jamais », nom de politiciens, etc.). Cependant, les réponses orales contiennent également des aspects acoustiques qui expriment le degré de conviction des répondants. Dans les techniques actuelles de sondage, cette information, dite « extralinguistique », n’est pas retenue bien qu’elle puisse servir à la prédiction des comportements des répondants. Le présent mémoire a pour objectif de démontrer que des mesures acoustiques de la conviction exprimée par les répondants peuvent servir à améliorer la prédiction de comportements telle qu’estimée par les techniques de sondage. Cette démonstration se fait en deux étapes et implique deux expériences. L’Expérience 1, réalisée en laboratoire (n = 25), avait pour but d’isoler les variables vocales associées à l’expression de la conviction. Ce test a permis d’isoler des variables mesurables pertinentes et les distributions catégoriques de valeurs permettant une catégorisation des réponses selon un « degré de conviction ». L’Expérience 2 a porté sur l’application de ces mesures acoustiques dans l’analyse de réponses enregistrées lors d’un sondage téléphonique préélectoral fait par la firme Léger en 2010 (un corpus de 400 entrevues). Cette deuxième expérience a démontré qu’une catégorisation des réponses nominatives (n = 188) sur la base des variables associées à l’expression de la conviction (telles que définies à l’Expérience 1) peut améliorer la prédiction des comportements des électeurs. Les résultats suggèrent que les réponses orales à un sondage contiennent des indices acoustiques mesurables qui expriment un degré de conviction relié à une volonté de produire certains comportements. La nature de ces variables présente aussi la possibilité d’une détection automatique. / Surveys by phone usually involve the recording of responses in terms of their literal linguistic content ("yes", "never", politician name, etc.). However, oral responses also possess acoustic aspects that express a degree of conviction of respondents. In current survey techniques, this "extralinguistic" information is not considered although it can be used to predict the respondent’s behavior. This paper aims to demonstrate that acoustic measures of the conviction expressed by respondents can be used to improve the prediction of behaviors as estimated by survey techniques. This demonstration is done in two steps involving two experiments. Experiment 1, conducted in a laboratory setting (n = 25), was designed to isolate the vocal variables associated with the expression of the conviction. This first test served to isolate the relevant measurable variables and "categorical" values that could be used to categorize oral responses. Experiment 2 involved the application of these acoustic measures in the analysis of responses recorded during a pre-election telephone survey conducted by Leger in 2010 (a corpus of 400 interviews). This second experiment showed that a categorization of oral responses (n = 188) based on the basis of values of expressed conviction (as defined in Experiment 1) can improve the prediction of the behavior of voters. The results suggest that oral-survey responses contain measurable acoustic cues that express a degree of conviction, which can be associated with a willingness to produce certain behaviors. The nature of the variables also presents the possibility of an automatic detection. The nature of the variables also presents the possibility of an automatic detection.

Este trabalho expõe e analisa resultados de medições acústicas de aeronaves; realizadas dentro da Área II do Plano Específico de Zoneamento de Ruído- PEZR. O plano restringe o uso do solo em decorrência das emissões sonoras, oriundas da movimentação das aeronaves para cada um dos 66 aeroportos brasileiros administrados pela INFRAERO. As medições acústicas foram realizadas entre segunda e sexta feira, no período diurno (entre 7 e 22 horas) registrando um total de 697 eventos sonoros aeronáuticos, gerados por 62 modelos diferentes de aeronaves. Os procedimentos de aquisição de dados atendem a ISO 3891 (Procedimentos para descrever o ruído aeronáutico percebido no solo), e o Guia de Monitoramento de Ruído Aeronáutico, Francês, elaborado pelo Serviço Técnico da Navegação Aérea- STNA. Com o uso de softwares, discriminaram-se os Eventos Aeronáuticos (passagem de aviões) do Ruído de Fundo. Assim, quantificou-se, com razoável precisão, o impacto sonoro causado por ruído aeronáutico e definiram-se os índices: L50 (Ruído de Fundo) e o índice L1 (Eventos Aeronáuticos). São apresentados os níveis de ruído (SEL, LMáx, LMín e Leq em dB (A)) e as análises espectrais (de 10 a 20.000 Hz, relacionados às curvas NCB, presentes na NBR 12314(ABNT, 1997)), para cada tipo de aeronave registrada. Verificou-se que o Fluxo Geral tem significativa influência nos níveis de ruído emitidos e deve ser levado em consideração nas abordagens de cunho acústico, para este aeródromo. Os níveis diários de exposição ao ruído aeronáutico não atendem aos níveis recomendados pela NBR 10151 (ABNT, 2000). Também foi verificado que, no caso de se utilizar o descritor LMáx (recomendado pelas instituições internacionais, consagradas, de aviação), os índices de isolamento acústico requeridos na NBR 8572 (ABNT, 1984), não atendem aos níveis de conforto acústico, dentro de edificações, estabelecidos pela NBR 10152 (ABNT, 1987), dependendo do tipo de procedimento (pouso ou decolagem) e aeronave analisada. / The present work presents and analyzes results of acoustic measurements of aircraft, carried out within Area II of the Specific Noise Zoning Plan (PEZR). This plan restricts the use of land as a result of sound emissions originated from aircraft movement for each one of the 66 Brazilian airports administered by INFRAERO. The acoustic measurements have been taken between Monday and Friday, in the day period (between 07:00 AM and 10:00 PM), registering a total of 697 aircraft sound events, caused by 62 different aircraft models. The data acquisition procedures meet ISO 3891 (Procedures for describing the aircraft noise perceived on land), and the French Aeronautic Noise Monitoring guidebook, elaborated by STNA – Air Navigation Technical Service. By using software, the “aircraft events” (flying by aircraft) were discriminated from the background noise. Thus, with a reasonable degree of precision, the sound impact caused by aircraft noise has been quantified, and the rates have been defined: L50 (background noise) and rate L1 (aircraft events). Noise levels are presented (SEL, Lmax, Lmin and Leq in dB(A)), and the spectral analyses (from 10 to 20,000 Hz), related to NCB curves present in NBR 12314 (ABNT, 1997) for each type of registered aircraft. It has been verified that the general flow has a significant influence on the levels of issued noise, and it must be taken into consideration in the acoustic area approaches, for this airport. The daily levels of exposure to aircraft noise do not meet the levels recommended by NBR 10151 (ABNT 2000a). It was also verified that if the Lmax describer is utilized (recommended by the international aviation institutions), the acoustic insulation levels required by NBR 8572 (ABNT, 1984), do not fully meet the levels of acoustic comfort inside buildings, as set by NBR 10152 (ABNT, 1987), according to the type of analyzed aircraft.

Este trabalho expõe e analisa resultados de medições acústicas de aeronaves; realizadas dentro da Área II do Plano Específico de Zoneamento de Ruído- PEZR. O plano restringe o uso do solo em decorrência das emissões sonoras, oriundas da movimentação das aeronaves para cada um dos 66 aeroportos brasileiros administrados pela INFRAERO. As medições acústicas foram realizadas entre segunda e sexta feira, no período diurno (entre 7 e 22 horas) registrando um total de 697 eventos sonoros aeronáuticos, gerados por 62 modelos diferentes de aeronaves. Os procedimentos de aquisição de dados atendem a ISO 3891 (Procedimentos para descrever o ruído aeronáutico percebido no solo), e o Guia de Monitoramento de Ruído Aeronáutico, Francês, elaborado pelo Serviço Técnico da Navegação Aérea- STNA. Com o uso de softwares, discriminaram-se os Eventos Aeronáuticos (passagem de aviões) do Ruído de Fundo. Assim, quantificou-se, com razoável precisão, o impacto sonoro causado por ruído aeronáutico e definiram-se os índices: L50 (Ruído de Fundo) e o índice L1 (Eventos Aeronáuticos). São apresentados os níveis de ruído (SEL, LMáx, LMín e Leq em dB (A)) e as análises espectrais (de 10 a 20.000 Hz, relacionados às curvas NCB, presentes na NBR 12314(ABNT, 1997)), para cada tipo de aeronave registrada. Verificou-se que o Fluxo Geral tem significativa influência nos níveis de ruído emitidos e deve ser levado em consideração nas abordagens de cunho acústico, para este aeródromo. Os níveis diários de exposição ao ruído aeronáutico não atendem aos níveis recomendados pela NBR 10151 (ABNT, 2000). Também foi verificado que, no caso de se utilizar o descritor LMáx (recomendado pelas instituições internacionais, consagradas, de aviação), os índices de isolamento acústico requeridos na NBR 8572 (ABNT, 1984), não atendem aos níveis de conforto acústico, dentro de edificações, estabelecidos pela NBR 10152 (ABNT, 1987), dependendo do tipo de procedimento (pouso ou decolagem) e aeronave analisada. / The present work presents and analyzes results of acoustic measurements of aircraft, carried out within Area II of the Specific Noise Zoning Plan (PEZR). This plan restricts the use of land as a result of sound emissions originated from aircraft movement for each one of the 66 Brazilian airports administered by INFRAERO. The acoustic measurements have been taken between Monday and Friday, in the day period (between 07:00 AM and 10:00 PM), registering a total of 697 aircraft sound events, caused by 62 different aircraft models. The data acquisition procedures meet ISO 3891 (Procedures for describing the aircraft noise perceived on land), and the French Aeronautic Noise Monitoring guidebook, elaborated by STNA – Air Navigation Technical Service. By using software, the “aircraft events” (flying by aircraft) were discriminated from the background noise. Thus, with a reasonable degree of precision, the sound impact caused by aircraft noise has been quantified, and the rates have been defined: L50 (background noise) and rate L1 (aircraft events). Noise levels are presented (SEL, Lmax, Lmin and Leq in dB(A)), and the spectral analyses (from 10 to 20,000 Hz), related to NCB curves present in NBR 12314 (ABNT, 1997) for each type of registered aircraft. It has been verified that the general flow has a significant influence on the levels of issued noise, and it must be taken into consideration in the acoustic area approaches, for this airport. The daily levels of exposure to aircraft noise do not meet the levels recommended by NBR 10151 (ABNT 2000a). It was also verified that if the Lmax describer is utilized (recommended by the international aviation institutions), the acoustic insulation levels required by NBR 8572 (ABNT, 1984), do not fully meet the levels of acoustic comfort inside buildings, as set by NBR 10152 (ABNT, 1987), according to the type of analyzed aircraft.

Este trabalho expõe e analisa resultados de medições acústicas de aeronaves; realizadas dentro da Área II do Plano Específico de Zoneamento de Ruído- PEZR. O plano restringe o uso do solo em decorrência das emissões sonoras, oriundas da movimentação das aeronaves para cada um dos 66 aeroportos brasileiros administrados pela INFRAERO. As medições acústicas foram realizadas entre segunda e sexta feira, no período diurno (entre 7 e 22 horas) registrando um total de 697 eventos sonoros aeronáuticos, gerados por 62 modelos diferentes de aeronaves. Os procedimentos de aquisição de dados atendem a ISO 3891 (Procedimentos para descrever o ruído aeronáutico percebido no solo), e o Guia de Monitoramento de Ruído Aeronáutico, Francês, elaborado pelo Serviço Técnico da Navegação Aérea- STNA. Com o uso de softwares, discriminaram-se os Eventos Aeronáuticos (passagem de aviões) do Ruído de Fundo. Assim, quantificou-se, com razoável precisão, o impacto sonoro causado por ruído aeronáutico e definiram-se os índices: L50 (Ruído de Fundo) e o índice L1 (Eventos Aeronáuticos). São apresentados os níveis de ruído (SEL, LMáx, LMín e Leq em dB (A)) e as análises espectrais (de 10 a 20.000 Hz, relacionados às curvas NCB, presentes na NBR 12314(ABNT, 1997)), para cada tipo de aeronave registrada. Verificou-se que o Fluxo Geral tem significativa influência nos níveis de ruído emitidos e deve ser levado em consideração nas abordagens de cunho acústico, para este aeródromo. Os níveis diários de exposição ao ruído aeronáutico não atendem aos níveis recomendados pela NBR 10151 (ABNT, 2000). Também foi verificado que, no caso de se utilizar o descritor LMáx (recomendado pelas instituições internacionais, consagradas, de aviação), os índices de isolamento acústico requeridos na NBR 8572 (ABNT, 1984), não atendem aos níveis de conforto acústico, dentro de edificações, estabelecidos pela NBR 10152 (ABNT, 1987), dependendo do tipo de procedimento (pouso ou decolagem) e aeronave analisada. / The present work presents and analyzes results of acoustic measurements of aircraft, carried out within Area II of the Specific Noise Zoning Plan (PEZR). This plan restricts the use of land as a result of sound emissions originated from aircraft movement for each one of the 66 Brazilian airports administered by INFRAERO. The acoustic measurements have been taken between Monday and Friday, in the day period (between 07:00 AM and 10:00 PM), registering a total of 697 aircraft sound events, caused by 62 different aircraft models. The data acquisition procedures meet ISO 3891 (Procedures for describing the aircraft noise perceived on land), and the French Aeronautic Noise Monitoring guidebook, elaborated by STNA – Air Navigation Technical Service. By using software, the “aircraft events” (flying by aircraft) were discriminated from the background noise. Thus, with a reasonable degree of precision, the sound impact caused by aircraft noise has been quantified, and the rates have been defined: L50 (background noise) and rate L1 (aircraft events). Noise levels are presented (SEL, Lmax, Lmin and Leq in dB(A)), and the spectral analyses (from 10 to 20,000 Hz), related to NCB curves present in NBR 12314 (ABNT, 1997) for each type of registered aircraft. It has been verified that the general flow has a significant influence on the levels of issued noise, and it must be taken into consideration in the acoustic area approaches, for this airport. The daily levels of exposure to aircraft noise do not meet the levels recommended by NBR 10151 (ABNT 2000a). It was also verified that if the Lmax describer is utilized (recommended by the international aviation institutions), the acoustic insulation levels required by NBR 8572 (ABNT, 1984), do not fully meet the levels of acoustic comfort inside buildings, as set by NBR 10152 (ABNT, 1987), according to the type of analyzed aircraft.

Cette thèse porte sur le confort acoustique et, en particulier, sur les matériaux absorbants destinés au traitement des nuisances sonores dans le domaine de l’habitat. L’objectif est double : il s’agit de proposer un matériau bio-sourcé et absorbant dans la gamme des basses fréquences.Notre choix s’est porté sur un matériau poreux bio-sourcé basé sur la fabrication de céramiques poreuses. Il est constitué de cellulose homogène et isotrope. Son procédé de fabrication repose sur la construction d’une empreinte en polyméthacrylate de méthyle permettant un contrôle fin de sa structure interne. Ensuite, nous avons procédé à la caractérisation expérimentale de ses propriétés acoustiques et des paramètres intrinsèques du matériau. L’analyse de ces données, associée à la modélisation numérique, a permis de définir les caractéristiques physiques influant sur ses performances acoustiques et d’identifier les leviers d’amélioration de celles-ci.Enfin, une mise en œuvre de concepts empiriques est présentée, à savoir : (i) inclusion d’aérogel dans la matrice poreuse, (ii) exploitation de la double porosité dans deux configurations différentes, soit dans le cas d’un composite cellulose/aérogel, soit celui d’un matériau constitué d’un double réseau mésoporeux/microporeux et (iii) utilisation de matériaux à gradient de propriétés (interconnexions ou porosité). Pour chacune de ces trois approches, le procédé de fabrication et la caractérisation de ces nouveaux matériaux sont détaillés et leurs performances acoustiques sont discutées. / This thesis is about acoustic comfort and deals particularly with absorptive materials used to treat noise pollution in the housing environment. Our purpose is a double-sided one as the idea is to propose a bio based and absorptive material within the range of low frequencies.We have focused on porous bio based material on the same manufacturing process of porous ceramic. It is composed of homogeneous and isotropic cellulose. The making of a polymethyl methcrylate print enabling a thorough control of its internal structure. Then, we have dealt with the experimental characterization of its acoustic properties and of the intrinsic parameters of the material. The analysis of these data together with the numerical modelling permitted to define the physical characteristics having an influence on acoustic performances and to identify their means of improvement.Finally, the implementation of empirical means will be presented, namely: (i) the inclusion of aerogel in the porous mould, (ii) the exploitation of double porosity in two different configurations, either in the case of cellulose/aerogel composite, or the one of a material composed of a double mesoporous/microporous structure and (iii) the use of materials containing gradients of properties (interconnection or porosity). For each of these three approaches, the manufacturing process and the characterization of these new materials are detailed and their acoustic performances are discussed.

This study explores the possibilities of phonetic category formation in early bilingual Turkish-Swedish learners of English. Specifically, the high-front unrounded vowels across the three languages Turkish, Swedish and English are investigated. The bilinguals are compared to L2 learners of English with Turkish and Swedish as their first language, respectively, to aim to see if the English vowel categories /i/ and /ɪ/ would be harder to establish, since the bilinguals already have three similar categories across two languages. It is hypothesized that if the bilinguals have managed to keep the Turkish and Swedish categories separate, it will have made it more difficult to establish new categories for English, since having a larger phonological inventory is thought to increase the likelihood of equivalence classification in subsequent learning. The results reveal that all three groups of speakers produced English /ɪ/ similarly to one another, but the L1 Swedish speakers made the most consistent distinction of English /ɪ/ compared to the other vowels. Furthermore, the bilinguals produced the Swedish long allophone [iː] markedly differently than the monolingual Swedish speakers. The bilinguals’ categories for Turkish /i/, English /i/ and Swedish [ɪ] had merged except in one speaker, who produced Turkish /i/ slightly further back than the Swedish short allophone. This speaker had not established a new category for English /ɪ/, but since several of the bilinguals who had merged categories had not established a new category for English /ɪ/ either, the hypothesis is not directly supported. In other words, since L2 Swedish [ɪ] had merged with L1 Turkish /i/ for almost all bilinguals, this study does not provide evidence that bilinguals’ increased number of phonetic categories across two languages makes it easier or more difficult to establish new categories for an L3.

Диссертация посвящена исследованию акустических характеристик реверберационной камеры. Проведены измерения звукового давления с целью исследования звукового поля в помещениях низкого и высокого уровня реверберационной камеры. Для определения диффузности поля были проведены измерения звукового давления в точках, равномерно рассредоточенных по площади камер на четырех уровнях по высоте. Исследование времени реверберации проводилось с использованием метода прерываемого шума и фиксации измерительным прибором кривой спада. Для установления характерной корреляционной связи между уровнем звукового давления в измерительных точках и расстоянием до источника звука был проведен расчет коэффициента корреляции Пирсона. Исследована степень влияния отделки помещения на величину времени реверберации. / The thesis is devoted to the study of the acoustic characteristics of reverberation chamber. Sound pressure measurements have been carried out to study the sound field in low and high level rooms of reverberation chamber. To determine the diffuse field of sound, the sound pressure was measured at points uniformly distributed over the area of the chambers at four levels in height. The reverberation time was studied using the method of interrupted noise and fixing the decay curve by the measuring instrument. To establish the characteristic correlation between the sound pressure level at the measuring points and the distance to the sound source, the Pearson correlation coefficient was calculated. The degree of influence of the finishing room on the amount of reverberation time was investigated.