The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of amplitude scaling on bimanual coordination in a circle drawing task. Eleven right-handed subjects traced the perimeter of 5 circles measuring 3, 6, 9, 12, and 15 cm in diameter under the following coordination conditions: (1) both hands move inward together (symmetric coordination pattern), and (2) both hands move counterclockwise together (asymmetric coordination pattern). In a set of self-paced trials, subjects traced each circle separately at a preferred frequency and separately for each coordination pattern. Although subjects matched the required amplitude of the target circles quite well, radial amplitude variability increased with increasing circle diameter. No transitions or movement reversals were observed in the self-paced trials, and the symmetric pattern was more stable than the asymmetric pattern. In a set of amplitude scaling trials, subjects continuously traced the 5 circles from small (3 cm) to big (15 cm) (SB) and from big to small (BS) at two fixed pacing frequencies (1.25 Hz and 1.5 Hz). Observed cycling frequency decreased with increasing circle diameter, and observed radial amplitude was most accurate when tracing the 9 cm diameter circle, with larger than required amplitude when tracing the 3 cm and 6 cm diameter circles, and smaller than required amplitude when tracing the 12 cm and 15 cm diameter circles. Radial amplitude variability also increased with increasing circle diameter in the amplitude scaling trials. The symmetric coordination pattern was more stable than the symmetric coordination pattern. Transitions from the asymmetric to symmetric coordination pattern as well as movement reversals were observed in both scaling directions. No transitions occurred while producing the symmetric pattern in any scaling direction or pacing frequency condition. The results show that amplitude scaling influenced the spatiotemporal aspects of bimanual circle drawing. Moreover, amplitude scaling induced more transitions than previous research that scaled movement frequency as a control parameter in bimanual circle drawing tasks.

No description available.

An updated silvics text for British Columbia. The need for an effective learning tool for silvics - one of the basic required courses in forestry - has been recognized by intructors as well as students across the province. The text prepared 18 years ago by Krajina et al. (1982) specifically for western Canada has become outdated. The silvics text by Burns and Honkala (1990) represents an up-to-date compendium but it is not an effective learning tool, particularly lacking in the linkage of silvics to ecological classification. Consequently, we revised and expanded “Distribution and Ecological Characteristics of Trees and Shrubs of British Columbia” (Krajina et al. 1982) using the available information on silvics, with some modification for BC and the results of recent silvics research done in BC. This material has been consolidated into a format that will help students understand the silvical attributes of tree species as well as the relationships between trees and their environments. To enhance learning, we have selected a series of slides illustrating the salient characteristics for each species and present this visual component on a CD-ROM included with the text. Also included is a large biogeoclimatic zone map of BC. The text, together with the CD-ROM, is intended to facilitate learning of silvics emphasizing its application to silviculture.

No description available.

Title:EFFECTS OF THE PROMINENCE OF FIRST HARMONIC ON THE PERCEPTION OF BREATHINESS AND VOWEL IDENTITY Authors: Emily Lin, Samuel Sloane,and Donal Sinex Background: Human communication relies on adequate speech intelligibility to enable the comprehension of verbal messages. Dysphonia (i.e., aberrant voice) may not only result in distraction during communication but also interfere with speech intelligibility leading to a communication barrier. One voice quality commonly found in dysphonia is breathiness, which is related to the presence of excessive airflow during phonation due to incomplete glottal closure. Breathiness has been associated with the prominence of the first harmonic (H1) in the acoustic analysis of voice. Objectives: This study aimed to determine whether excessiveness in the first harmonic (H1) dominance, which has been associated with breathy voice, may result in the perception of breathiness and compromise vowel intelligibility. Methods: Participants included 10 female and 10 male normal-hearing adults, aged between 19 to 40 years. Participant’s tasks included a “breathiness rating” and a “vowel identification” task. For the “breathiness rating” task, a direct magnitude method was employed for the participant to rate a 500-ms long vowel (/i/ and /a/) segmented from sustained vowel phonation. For the “vowel identification” task, the vowel stimuli were segmented out from running speech (“Rainbow passage”) and the participants were asked to listen to one vowel stimulus (/i/, /a/, or /o/; duration: 60 ms) at a time and indicate which vowel (i.e., /i/, /e/, /a/, /o/, or /u/) they perceived the stimulus to be. The vowel stimuli included processed and unprocessed voice recordings of individuals with and without voice disorders. Voices showing the lowest, median, and highest amplitude differences between the first two harmonics (H1-H2) were chosen from a voice database for female and male voices respectively. The 18 selected vowel signals (3 vowels X 3 H1-H2 levels X 2 speaker genders) were processed through 12 signal manipulation conditions. The 12 signal conditions involved increasing or decreasing the H1 amplitude of the original signals in six 2-dB interval steps in both directions. Results: For the “breathiness rating” task, the five-way (3 vowels X 2 speaker genders X 3 H1-H2 levels X 13 signal conditions X 2 listener genders) Mixed Model Analysis of variance (ANOVA) conducted on the breathiness scores for normal speakers and voice patients separately showed significant findings for various main and interaction effects, such as a significant speaker gender by signal condition by vowel interaction effect on the perception of breathiness [F(12, 96) = 1.95, p = 0.038] for normal voice. An increase of H1-H2 through signal manipulation led to an increase of perceived breathiness only when performed on the vowel /i/ produced by female normal speakers. As for the “vowel identification” task, a relationship between H1-H2 increment and vowel intelligibility was found but the relationship was affected by vowel type, speaker gender, and H1-H2 level. With all vowel types, speaker genders, and H1-H2 levels combined, a significant signal condition effect on the number of incorrect vowel identification was found (2 = 188.585, df = 10, p < 0.001). Generally, it appeared that an increase of H1-H2 would worsen the identification of /i/ but enhance that of /o/. Conclusion: The relationship between H1 dominance and perceived breathiness was non-linear. Factors found to disrupt the linear relationship included speaker gender, vowel type, and the extent of H1 dominance. In addition, there was evidence that acoustic manipulation of the H1 amplitude would affect vowel intelligibility and the relationship between vowel intelligibility and H1-H2 values also vary by speaker genders and vowel types.

Sveikas žmogus užmiega vidutiniškai per 15 min, o miegas prasideda lėtojo miego fazėje. Patologinis užmigimas yra diagnozuojamas narkolepsija sergantiems pacientams, kurie užmiega paradoksinio miego fazėje. Šiam miego sutrikimui diagnozuoti yra atliekamas - Pakartotinas Miego Latencijos Testas (anlg. Multiply sleep latency test (MSLT)). Testas atliekamas tam pačiam pacientui keturis kartus per dieną. Vertinamos keturios užmigimo trukmės, analizuojant registruojamą paciento žievės bioelektrinį aktyvumą polisomnografiniu tyrimu miego laboratorijoje bei vertinant miego latenciją. Miegas ir epilepsija yra susiję. Miego metu provokuojami priepuoliai, tuo tarpu priepuoliai įtakoja miego vientisumą, jo fazes. Kai kurių epilepsijos formų (idiopatinės židininės, infantilinių spazmų ir kt.) epilepsiniai priepuoliai aktyvuojasi užmingant, kitų (juvenilinės miokloninės)- prabundant. Miego pradžios nustatymas yra reikalingas epilepsija sergančių ligonių miego struktūros analizei, ankstyvųjų epilepsinių iškrūvių atpažinimui bei tiksliai narkolepsijos diagnostikai. Todėl klinikinėje praktikoje yra reikalingas automatinis diagnostinis metodas, kuris padėtų objektyviai, greitai ir tiksliai įvertinti miego pradžią. Mūsų tyrimo tikslas - įvertinti integruotos amplitudės EEG (aEEG) metodo patikimumą nustatant miego pradžią narkolepsija ir epilepsija sergantiems pacientams Tyrime dalyvavo Kopenhagos universitetinėje ligoninėje gydyti 25 narkolepsija sergantys bei 23 Vilniaus universiteto vaikų... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The onset of sleep under normal circumstances in young adult humans is normally through Non-REM sleep after 15 minutes of being awake. The abnormal entry into sleep through REM sleep can be diagnostic in patients with narcolepsy. One important investigation in diagnosing narcolepsy is the Multiple Sleep Latency Test (MSLT), where onset of sleep and occurrence of REM – if any is measured 4 times per day. This test is traditionally scored by visual analysis of sleep onset and onset of REM sleep. There is tight relation between sleep and epilepsy. During sleep epileptiform activity is frequent and seizures make influence on the quality of sleep ant it’s phases. In some types of epilepsy (e.g. idiopathic focal) seizures occur during onset of sleep, in others (juvenile myoclonic) – short time after awaking. Detection of sleep onset is very important for the evaluation of the sleep quality of epilepsy patient’s and for accurate diagnosis of narcolepsy. EEG interpretation strongly depends on the skills of the EEG reader. Therefore automatic sleep onset detection could be useful diagnostic tool for EEG interpretation. We have found it of interest to investigate if an automatic analysis amplitude – integrated electroencephalography (aEEG) method could reliable identify sleep onset by comparing it with visual analysis in 25 narcolepsy patients, who were treated in Copenhagen University hospital and 23 children with epilepsy (idiopathic focal and juvenile myoclonic), who were treated in... [to full text]

Thesis (M.Eng.)--University of South Australia, 1995

Thesis (M.Eng.)--University of South Australia, 1995

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Texas at Dallas, 2007. / Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 103-107)

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Wyoming, 2007. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on July 28, 2008). Includes bibliographical references (p. 61-62).