Models and Analysis of Vocal Emissions for Biomedical Applications

The MAVEBA Workshop proceedings, held on a biannual basis, collect the scientific papers presented both as oral and poster contributions, during the conference. The main subjects are: development of theoretical and mechanical models as an aid to the study of main phonatory dysfunctions, as well as the biomedical engineering methods for the analysis of voice signals and images, as a support to clinical diagnosis and classification of vocal pathologies

Sensorimotor Modulations by Cognitive Processes During Accurate Speech Discrimination: An EEG Investigation of Dorsal Stream Processing

Internal models mediate the transmission of information between anterior and posterior regions of the dorsal stream in support of speech perception, though it remains unclear how this mechanism responds to cognitive processes in service of task demands. The purpose of the current study was to identify the influences of attention and working memory on sensorimotor activity across the dorsal stream during speech discrimination, with set size and signal clarity employed to modulate stimulus predictability and the time course of increased task demands, respectively. Independent Component Analysis of 64–channel EEG data identified bilateral sensorimotor mu and auditory alpha components from a cohort of 42 participants, indexing activity from anterior (mu) and posterior (auditory) aspects of the dorsal stream. Time frequency (ERSP) analysis evaluated task-related changes in focal activation patterns with phase coherence measures employed to track patterns of information flow across the dorsal stream. ERSP decomposition of mu clusters revealed event-related desynchronization (ERD) in beta and alpha bands, which were interpreted as evidence of forward (beta) and inverse (alpha) internal modeling across the time course of perception events. Stronger pre-stimulus mu alpha ERD in small set discrimination tasks was interpreted as more efficient attentional allocation due to the reduced sensory search space enabled by predictable stimuli. Mu-alpha and mu-beta ERD in peri- and post-stimulus periods were interpreted within the framework of Analysis by Synthesis as evidence of working memory activity for stimulus processing and maintenance, with weaker activity in degraded conditions suggesting that covert rehearsal mechanisms are sensitive to the quality of the stimulus being retained in working memory. Similar ERSP patterns across conditions despite the differences in stimulus predictability and clarity, suggest that subjects may have adapted to tasks. In light of this, future studies of sensorimotor processing should consider the ecological validity of the tasks employed, as well as the larger cognitive environment in which tasks are performed. The absence of interpretable patterns of mu-auditory coherence modulation across the time course of speech discrimination highlights the need for more sensitive analyses to probe dorsal stream connectivity

Classificação de falhas em maquinas eletricas usando redes neurais, modelos wavelet e medidas de informação

This work presents a methodology for diagnosis and classification of faults in three-phase induction motors connected directly to the power grid. The proposed method is based on the analysis of the stator current signals, with and without the presence of faults in the bearings, stator and rotor. These faults cause the presence of specific frequency components that are related to the machine rotational speed. The signals were analyzed using wavelet-packet decomposition, which allows a multiresolution evaluation of the signals. Using this decomposition, we estimated some predictability measures, such as relative entropy, predictive power and normalized error variance, obtained with the predictability component analysis. With this measures, we verified which were the most predictable components. In this work, normalized error variance and the predictive power were used as inputs to three topologies of artificial neural networks used as classifiers: multilayer perceptron, radial basis function and Kohonen self-organizing maps. We tested six different input vectors to the artificial neural networks, in which we vary the predictability measures and the number of elements of the vectors. The studies were performed considering samples of signals from different motors, with various kinds of faults, working under several load conditions and with voltage unbalance. The signals were firstly classified in two patterns: with and without the presence of faults. After, we detected the kind of fault was present in the signal: bearing, stator or rotor fault. Last, the samples were classified inside the subgroup in which they were.CAPES; CNPqEste trabalho apresenta uma proposta de metodologia para detecção e classificação de falhas em motores de indução trifásicos ligados diretamente à rede elétrica. O método proposto é baseado na análise dos sinais de corrente do estator, com e sem a presença de falhas nos rolamentos, estator e rotor. Um dos efeitos desses tipos de falhas é o aparecimento de componentes de frequência específicas, relacionados à velocidade de rotação da máquina. Os sinais foram analisados usando a decomposição wavelet-packet, que permite a avaliação dos sinais em bandas de frequência de tamanhos variáveis. A partir dessa decomposição, aplicaram-se medidas de previsibilidade, como entropia relativa, potência de previsão e variância de erro normalizada, obtida com a análise de componentes previsíveis. Com essas medidas, foi possível verificar quais componentes da decomposição são mais previsíveis. Neste trabalho, a variância de erro normalizada e a potência de previsão foram utilizadas como entradas para três topologias de redes neurais artificiais classificadoras: perceptron multicamadas, redes de funções de base radial e mapas auto-organizáveis de Kohonen. Foram testados seis diferentes vetores de entrada para as redes neurais, utilizando medidas de previsibilidade e número de elementos dos vetores variados. Os ensaios foram realizados considerando amostras de sinal de diferentes motores, com vários tipos de falha, operando sob diversos regimes de torque e condições de desequilíbrio de tensão. Primeiramente, os sinais foram classificados em dois padrões: com e sem a presença de falhas. Posteriormente, detectou-se o tipo de falha presente nos sinais: rolamento, estator ou rotor. Por último, as amostras foram classificadas dentro do subgrupo de falha em que estavam presentes

Error Signals from the Brain: 7th Mismatch Negativity Conference

The 7th Mismatch Negativity Conference presents the state of the art in methods, theory, and application (basic and clinical research) of the MMN (and related error signals of the brain). Moreover, there will be two pre-conference workshops: one on the design of MMN studies and the analysis and interpretation of MMN data, and one on the visual MMN (with 20 presentations). There will be more than 40 presentations on hot topics of MMN grouped into thirteen symposia, and about 130 poster presentations. Keynote lectures by Kimmo Alho, Angela D. Friederici, and Israel Nelken will round off the program by covering topics related to and beyond MMN