scholarly journals Effect of task and attention on neural tracking of speech

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonas Vanthornhout ◽  
Lien Decruy ◽  
Tom Francart
Keyword(s):  
Signal To Noise Ratio ◽  
Stimulus Presentation ◽  
Speech Understanding ◽  
Envelope Tracking ◽  
Signal To Noise ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Single Speaker ◽  
Highly Correlated ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Brain

AbstractEEG-based measures of neural tracking of natural running speech are becoming increasingly popular to investigate neural processing of speech and have applications in audiology. When the stimulus is a single speaker, it is usually assumed that the listener actively attends to and understands the stimulus. However, as the level of attention of the listener is inherently variable, we investigated how it affected neural envelope tracking. Using a movie as a distractor, we varied the level of attention while we estimated neural envelope tracking. We varied the intelligibility level by adding stationary noise. We found a significant difference in neural envelope tracking between the condition with maximal attention and the movie condition. This difference was most pronounced in the right-frontal region of the brain. The degree of neural envelope tracking was highly correlated with the stimulus signal-to-noise ratio, even in the movie condition. This could be due to residual neural resources to passively attend to the stimulus. When envelope tracking is used to objectively measure speech understanding this means that the procedure can be made more enjoyable and feasible by letting participants watch a movie during stimulus presentation.

scholarly journals Assessing Stability of Crutch Users by Non-Contact Methods

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (6) ◽  
pp. 3001
Author(s):  
Achilles Vairis ◽  
Suzana Brown ◽  
Maurice Bess ◽  
Kyu Hyun Bae ◽  
Jonathan Boyack
Keyword(s):  
Signal To Noise Ratio ◽  
Time Derivative ◽  
Assistive Devices ◽  
Signal To Noise ◽  
Physically Disabled ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Novice Users ◽  
Noise Ratio ◽  
Physically Disabled People

Enhancing gait stability in people who use crutches is paramount for their health. With the significant difference in gait compared to users who do not require an assistive device, the use of standard gait analysis tools to measure movement for temporary crush users and physically disabled people proves to be more challenging. In this paper, a novel approach based on video analysis is proposed as non-contact low-cost solution to the more expensive alternative with the data collected from processed videos, two values are calculated: the Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) of acceleration, and the Signal to Noise Ratio of the jerk (time derivative of acceleration), to assess the user’s stability while they walk with crutches. The adopted methodology has been tested on a total of 10 participants. Five are temporary users of assistive devices with one being a long-term user and the other four novice users, and five are disabled participants who use those assistive devices permanently. Preliminary results show differences between novice users, long-term users, and physically disabled users. The approach is promising and could improve the assessment of crutch user stability, allowing for the correction of gait for individuals while using an inexpensive non-contact setup and preventing unnecessary falls.

Clinical impact of ultra-high b-value (3000 s/mm2) diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging in prostate cancer at 3T: comparison with b-value of 2000 s/mm2

2021 ◽  
pp. 20210465
Author(s):  
Tsutomu Tamada ◽  
Ayumu Kido ◽  
Yu Ueda ◽  
Mitsuru Takeuchi ◽  
Takeshi Fukunaga ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prostate Cancer ◽  
Diagnostic Performance ◽  
Signal To Noise Ratio ◽  
B Value ◽  
Single Shot ◽  
Signal To Noise ◽  
High B Value ◽  
Diffusion Weighted ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Noise Ratio

Objective: High b-value diffusion-weighted imaging (hDWI) with a b-value of 2000 s/mm2 provides insufficient image contrast between benign and malignant tissues and an overlap of apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) between Gleason grades (GG) in prostate cancer (PC). We compared image quality, PC detectability, and discrimination ability for PC aggressiveness between ultra-high b-value DWI (uhDWI) of 3000 s/mm2 and hDWI. Methods: The subjects were 49 patients with PC who underwent 3T multiparametric MRI. Single-shot echo-planar DWI was acquired with b-values of 0, 2000, and 3000 s/mm2. Anatomical distortion of prostate (AD), signal intensity of benign prostate (PSI), and lesion conspicuity score (LCS) were assessed using a 4-point scale; and signal-to-noise ratio, contrast-to-noise ratio, and mean ADC (×10–3 mm2/s) of lesion (lADC) and surrounding benign region (bADC) were measured. Results: PSI was significantly lower in uhDWI than in hDWI (p < 0.001). AD, LCS, signal-to-noise ratio, and contrast-to-noise ratio were comparable between uhDWI and hDWI (all p > 0.05). In contrast, lADC was significantly lower than bADC in both uhDWI and hDWI (both p < 0.001). In comparison of lADC between tumors of ≤GG2 and those of ≥GG3, both uhDWI and hDWI showed significant difference (p = 0.007 and p = 0.021, respectively). AUC for separating tumors of ≤GG2 from those of ≥GG3 was 0.731 in hDWI and 0.699 in uhDWI (p = 0.161). Conclusion: uhDWI suppressed background signal better than hDWI, but did not contribute to increased diagnostic performance in PC. Advances in knowledge: Compared with hDWI, uhDWI could not contribute to increased diagnostic performance in PC.

The Influence of Alteration of kVp and mAs towards the Image Quality of Acrylic Using CBCT

2019 ◽  
Vol 829 ◽  
pp. 252-257
Author(s):  
Azhari ◽  
Yohanes Hutasoit ◽  
Freddy Haryanto
Keyword(s):  
Image Quality ◽  
Signal To Noise Ratio ◽  
Region Of Interest ◽  
Signal To Noise ◽  
Bite Block ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Noise Ratio ◽  
Post Hoc ◽  
Radiograph Image

CBCT is a modernized technology in producing radiograph image on dentistry. The image quality excellence is very important for clinicians to interpret the image, so the result of diagnosis produced becoming more accurate, appropriate, thus minimizing the working time. This research was aimed to assess the image quality using the blank acrylic phantom polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) (C­5H8O2)n in the density of 1.185 g/cm3 for evaluating the homogeneity and uniformity of the image produced. Acrylic phantom was supported with a tripod and laid down on the chin rest of the CBCT device, then the phantom was fixed, and the edge of the phantom was touched by the bite block. Furthermore, the exposure of the X-ray was executed toward the acrylic phantom with various kVp and mAs, from 80 until 90, with the range of 5 kV and the variation of mA was 3, 5, and 7 mA respectively. The time exposure was kept constant for 25 seconds. The samples were taken from CBCT acrylic images, then as much as 5 ROIs (Region of Interest) was chosen to be analyzed. The ROIs determination was analyzed by using the ImageJ® software for recognizing the influence of kVp and mAs towards the image uniformity, noise and SNR. The lowest kVp and mAs had the result of uniformity value, homogeneity and signal to noise ratio of 11.22; 40.35; and 5.96 respectively. Meanwhile, the highest kVp and mAs had uniformity value, homogeneity and signal to noise ratio of 16.96; 26.20; and 5.95 respectively. There were significant differences between the image uniformity and homogeneity on the lowest kVp and mAs compared to the highest kVp and mAs, as analyzed with the ANOVA statistics analysis continued with the t-student post-hoc test with α = 0.05. However, there was no significant difference in SNR as analyzed with the ANOVA statistic analysis. The usage of the higher kVp and mAs caused the improvement of the image homogeneity and uniformity compared to the lower kVp and mAs.

First and Second Language Patterns of Brain Activation in Korean Layrngeal Contrasts

2008 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
pp. 1-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haeil Park ◽  
Gregory Iverson
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Occipital Lobe ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Second Language Speakers ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Native Speakers Of English ◽  
Specific Activities ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Brain

Abstract. This study aims to localize the brain regions involved in the apprehension of Korean laryngeal contrasts and to investigate whether the Internal Model advanced by Callan et al. (2004) extends to first versus second language perception of these unique three-way laryngeal distinctions. The results show that there is a significant difference in activation between native and second-language speakers, consistent with the findings of Callan et al. Specific activities unique to younger native speakers of Korean relative to native speakers of English were seen in the cuneus (occipital lobe) and the right middle frontal gyrus (Brodmann Area [BA] 10), areas of the brain associated with pitch perception. The current findings uphold Silva's (2006) conclusion that the laryngeal contrasts of Korean are increasingly distinguished less by VOT differences than by their effect on pitch in the following vowel. A subsequent experiment was conducted to establish whether more traditional, older native speakers of Korean who still make clear VOT distinctions also activate both the cuneus and BA 10 in the same task. Preliminary results indicate that they do not, whereas speakers with overlapping VOT distinctions do show intersecting activations in these areas, thus corroborating Silva's claim of emergent pitch sensitivity in the Korean laryngeal system.

Response variability of single cells in the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus of the cat. Comparison with retinal input and effect of brain stem stimulation

1994 ◽  
Vol 72 (3) ◽  
pp. 1278-1289 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Hartveit ◽  
P. Heggelund
Keyword(s):  
Firing Rate ◽  
Brain Stem ◽  
Signal To Noise Ratio ◽  
Single Cells ◽  
Response Variability ◽  
Dorsal Lateral Geniculate Nucleus ◽  
Signal To Noise ◽  
Retinal Input ◽  
Dorsal Lateral Geniculate ◽  
The Brain

1. We studied the degree and source of response variability in different classes of cell in the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus (dLGN). The response of single cells to a series of contrasts of a stationary flashing light spot was measured. The variability analyses were based on the mean and SD of the response to a number of repeated stimulus presentations. The relative variability was expressed by the coefficient of variation (Cv; SD/mean). 2. At a given contrast, the Cv for lagged cells was larger than for nonlagged cells. No difference was found between the Cv of X and Y cells. The magnitude of the Cv was about the same as previously found for cells in striate cortex. Accordingly, little variability is added at the cortical level. The Cv decreased with increasing contrast showing that the reliability of response and the signal-to-noise ratio was improved with increasing contrast. 3. For some cells, the retinal input was determined by recording S potentials in addition to action potentials. The Cv of the retinal input was smaller than the Cv of the dLGN cells at a given contrast. Thus in the paralyzed and anesthetized preparation, variability was added at the geniculate relay. 4. The additional variability was related to modulatory input from the brain stem. This was shown by comparing Cv versus contrast curves for the dLGN cells obtained during electrical stimulation of the peribrachial region of the brain stem (PBR) with corresponding curves obtained without PBR stimulation. During PBR stimulation, which presumably mimics the effects of arousal on the dLGN cell, the Cv at a given contrast was reduced toward the value for the retinal input to the cell. Furthermore PBR stimulation increased the signal-to-noise-ratio of the cell to the level of the retinal input. 5. When Cv was plotted against response rather than against contrast, approximately the same function was found for the various dLGN cell classes. This indicated that the variability basically depended on firing rate rather than on stimulus contrast. No difference of Cv was seen between lagged and nonlagged cells at a given level of response. The difference found at a given level of contrast reflected differences in firing rate of the two cell classes. During PBR stimulation, there was no clear difference between the Cvs of the dLGN cell and its retinal input at a given level of response.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

scholarly journals The Effect of Hearing Protection Devices on Speech Intelligibility of Persian Employees

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mina Karami ◽  
Mohsen Aliabadi ◽  
Rostam Golmohammadi ◽  
Morteza Hamidi Nahrani
Keyword(s):  
Noise Reduction ◽  
Speech Intelligibility ◽  
Signal To Noise Ratio ◽  
Work Environments ◽  
Hearing Protection ◽  
Speech Discrimination ◽  
Signal To Noise ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Protection Devices ◽  
Male Subjects

Abstract Objective This study aimed to investigate the effect of hearing protection devices (HPDs) on speech intelligibility in Persian work environments. Three current earmuffs and three earplugs and one of the prototype of molded earplug were tested on 15 male subjects which were randomly selected. The noise reduction of HPDs was measured based on the Real Ear attenuation at Threshold (REAT) method. Speech intelligibilities during using HPDs were determined based on the speech discrimination score (SDS). Data were analyzed using SPSS, version 22. Results The actual to nominal noise reduction rating values were from 47–84% for HPDs. The earmuffs show higher ratios of actual to nominal noise reduction compared with the earplugs. At two signal to noise ratios, no significant differences were observed in in speech intelligibility using HPDs (p > 0.05). However, at S/N = 0, the speech intelligibility descriptively has been improved by using common earmuffs up to 9.07%. There was a significant difference up to 21.27% in speech intelligibility for proposed molded earplugs at S/N = 0(p < 0.05). It is concluded that, if the trend of signal to noise ratio is positive, the HPDs will reduce the ability to understand speech.

Applying Smart Security Model to Protect Client Services From the Threats of the Optical Network

2021 ◽  
pp. 80-113
Author(s):  
Kamel H. Rahouma ◽  
Ayman A. Ali
Keyword(s):  
Signal To Noise Ratio ◽  
Optical Network ◽  
Optical Signal ◽  
Software Defined Network ◽  
Security Model ◽  
Signal To Noise ◽  
New Model ◽  
Intelligent Software ◽  
Optical Transport Network ◽  
The Right

The chapter discusses the security of the client signals over the optical network from any wiretapping or loosing. The physical layer of the optical transport network (OTN) is the weakest layer in the network; anyone can access the optical cables from any location and states his attack. A security layer is proposed to be added in the mapping of OTN frames. The detection of any intrusion is done by monitoring the variations in the optical signal to noise ratio (OSNR) by using intelligent software defined network. The signal cryptographic is done at the source and the destination only. The chapter shows how the multi-failure restorations in the multi-domains could be done. A new model is introduced by slicing the multi-domains to three layers to fit the needs of 5G. The results show that the multi-failure restoration improved from 25% to 100%, the revenue from some OTN domains increased by 50%, the switching time enhanced by 50%, the latency reduced from 27 msec to 742 usec, and it will take many years to figure out the right keys to perform the decryption process.

Acoustic Measurement of Change in Voice Quality with Treatment for Chronic Posterior Laryngitis

1997 ◽  
Vol 106 (4) ◽  
pp. 279-285 ◽  
Author(s):  
David G. Hanson ◽  
Judy Chen ◽  
Jack J. Jiang ◽  
Barbara Roa Pauloski
Keyword(s):  
Acoustic Signal ◽  
Signal To Noise Ratio ◽  
Voice Quality ◽  
Smoking History ◽  
Signal To Noise ◽  
Perceptual Analysis ◽  
Acoustic Measures ◽  
Analysis Group ◽  
Noise Ratio ◽  
Highly Correlated

Sixteen patients who had symptoms and signs of chronic posterior laryngitis were evaluated before, during, and after treatment with omeprazole and nocturnal antireflux precautions. Data were analyzed for patients who complained of some hoarseness, who had no smoking history, and who completed all of the voice recording protocol. The patients' voices were recorded before, during, and following treatment with omeprazole and nocturnal antireflux precautions. Voice quality was analyzed by perceptual analysis, and acoustic signal data were measured for jitter, shimmer, and signal-to-noise ratio. Measures of jitter, shimmer, and signal-to-noise ratio changed significantly with treatment of posterior laryngitis (p < .01 for change in each of the measures). Acoustic measures showed some trend of deterioration with cessation of treatment, although the overall improvement in acoustic measures of voice quality was still statistically significant after treatment with omeprazole was discontinued. Although perceived abnormality of voice increased and decreased with the magnitude of measured perturbation of the acoustic signal for some patients, the perceptual assessments were not highly correlated with acoustic measures for individual patients, and the perceptual analysis group data did not show a significant change with time during treatment, in contrast to the significance of change in acoustic measures. The data demonstrate that acoustic measures of jitter, shimmer, and signal-to-noise ratio improve significantly with antisecretory and antireflux treatment of chronic posterior laryngitis, and that for individual patients, these are changes that are detected by trained listeners, but not at statistically high levels of confidence.

Pseudoneglect of Males and Females on a Spatial Short-Term Memory Task

1997 ◽  
Vol 84 (1) ◽  
pp. 99-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erhan Nalçaci ◽  
Metehan Çiçek ◽  
Canan Kalaycioglu ◽  
Sema Yavuzer
Keyword(s):  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Indirect Evidence ◽  
Spatial Task ◽  
Strongly Correlated ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Males And Females ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Brain

The effect of sex on the phenomenon of pseudoneglect was assessed in 60 male and 61 female right-handed subjects using a modified form of Corsi's block-tapping test. A significant right-lateralized pseudoneglect for both sexes was found, and the level of pseudoneglect strongly correlated with neglect in the right hemispace. Men were significantly more accurate in the left hemispace than women, whereas no difference was seen between the sexes in the right hemispace. Although we found some indirect evidence from which to infer that the men's brain may be functionally more lateralized than the women's for this spatial task, there was no significant difference between the sexes in correct responses for the left hemispace, i.e., right pseudoneglect. Therefore, the results suggest that pseudoneglect phenomenon can be partly explained by a functional asymmetric feature of the brain, and the other factors probably play a role in producing the similar patterns of asymmetric perception of space in males and females.

scholarly journals Automated segmentation of thick confocal microscopy 3D images for the measurement of white matter volumes in zebrafish brains

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-45 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sylvain Lempereur ◽  
Arnim Jenett ◽  
Elodie Machado ◽  
Ignacio Arganda-Carreras ◽  
Matthieu Simion ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
White Matter ◽  
Signal To Noise Ratio ◽  
Light Attenuation ◽  
Automated Image Analysis ◽  
High Signal ◽  
Signal To Noise ◽  
Tissue Clearing ◽  
Brain White Matter ◽  
Noise Ratio ◽  
The Brain

AbstractTissue clearing methods have boosted the microscopic observations of thick samples such as whole-mount mouse or zebrafish. Even with the best tissue clearing methods, specimens are not completely transparent and light attenuation increases with depth, reducing signal output and signal-to-noise ratio. In addition, since tissue clearing and microscopic acquisition techniques have become faster, automated image analysis is now an issue. In this context, mounting specimens at large scale often leads to imperfectly aligned or oriented samples, which makes relying on predefined, sample-independent parameters to correct signal attenuation impossible.Here, we propose a sample-dependent method for contrast correction. It relies on segmenting the sample, and estimating sample depth isosurfaces that serve as reference for the correction. We segment the brain white matter of zebrafish larvae. We show that this correction allows a better stitching of opposite sides of each larva, in order to image the entire larva with a high signal-to-noise ratio throughout. We also show that our proposed contrast correction method makes it possible to better recognize the deep structures of the brain by comparing manual vs. automated segmentations. This is expected to improve image observations and analyses in high-content methods where signal loss in the samples is significant.

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