Listening to speech in the presence of other sounds

Although most research on the perception of speech has been conducted with speech presented without any competing sounds, we almost always listen to speech against a background of other sounds which we are adept at ignoring. Nevertheless, such additional irrelevant sounds can cause severe problems for speech recognition algorithms and for the hard of hearing as well as posing a challenge to theories of speech perception. A variety of different problems are created by the presence of additional sound sources: detection of features that are partially masked, allocation of detected features to the appropriate sound sources and the recognition of sounds on the basis of partial information. The separation of sounds is arousing substantial attention in psychoacoustics and in computer science. An effective solution to the problem of separating sounds would have important practical applications

Dynamic of a papuã pasture under two grazing intensities and two nitrogen levels Dinâmica de uma pastagem de capim-papuã sob duas intensidades de pastejo e dois níveis de nitrogênio

This work aimed to evaluate the effects of grazing intensities and nitrogen fertilization levels on the dynamics of a Brachiaria plantaginea pasture. The experiment was laid out as a random block design, in a 3 × 2 factorial scheme, composed of three nitrogen levels (0, 200 and 400 kg/ha nitrogen in urea form) and two grazing intensities termed low mass (LM; forage mass of 1500 kg of DM/ha) and high mass (HM; forage mass of 3000 kg of DM/ha) in a continuously stocked swards with two replications. Animals used were half-blood Boer goats averaging five months old and 21 kg body weight (BW) for adjustment of the target forage mass. Real forage mass, average height of the plants and animal stocking rates were of 2,567 and 3,862 kg DM/ha; 23.6 and 31.2 cm and 2,804 and 2,089 kg BW/ha respectively for low and high mass. Accumulation rate was of 100, 147 and 132 kg DM/ha/day and total production 13,659; 19,834 and 17,820 kg DM/ha, respectively to the 0, 200 and 400 kg N/ha. There were no differences on pasture yield among grazing intensities suggesting that higher stocking rates can be used. The level of 200 kg N/ha promotes the best response on papuã grass pastures. Papuã grass shows high yield, good production distribution during the plant cycle and excellent nutritional value.<br>Objetivou-se avaliar a influência da intensidade de pastejo e dos níveis de abubação nitrogenada sobre a dinâmica de uma pastagem de Brachiaria plantaginea. O delineamento experimental adotado foi o de blocos ao acaso, em esquema fatorial 3 × 2, composto de três níveis de adubação nitrogenada (0, 200 e 400 kg/ha de nitrogênio na forma de ureia) e duas intensidades de pastejo (1.500 e 3.000 kg de MS/ha, respectivamente, para as massas baixa e alta em pastejo com lotação contínua e taxa de lotação variável), totalizando seis tratamentos, cada um com duas repetições. Foram utilizados caprinos meio-sangue Boer com 5 meses de idade e peso médio de 21 kg de peso vivo (PV) para ajuste das massas de forragem preconizadas. A massa de forragem real, a altura média das plantas e a carga animal foram de 2.567 e 3.862 kg de MS/ha; 23,6 e 31,2 cm; e 2.804 e 2.089 kg de PV/ha respectivamente para as massas baixa e alta. A taxa de acúmulo foi de 100, 147 e 132 kg de MS/ha/dia e a produção total, de 13.659, 19.834 e 17.820 kg de MS/ha, respectivamente para as doses de 0, 200 e 400 kg de N/ha. Não houve diferença na produtividade da pastagem entre as intensidades de pastejo, logo maior carga animal pode ser utilizada. O nível de 200 kg de N/ha promove a melhor resposta em pastagens de capim-papuã. O capimpapuã tem alta produtividade, boa distribuição da produção ao longo do ciclo e excelente valor nutricional

Contributions of binaural information to the separation of different sound sources

Binaural hearing aids potentially provide binaural cues that can improve the dectability and the spatial separation of multiple sound sources. This paper considers the use of binaural cues and the resultant spatial percepts on listeners ability to separate simultaneous sound sources. In continuous noise backgrounds or backgrounds with multiple talkers, the main problem is the detection of the individual acoustic components. On the other hand, if a single masking sound is very similar to the target, and both target and mask are spectro-temporally sparse, as is the case with speech, the main problem, at least for listeners with normal hearing, is to decide whether a particular spectro-temporal feature belongs to the target source and to track that source across time. Although the subjective location of a sound source can help in grouping features across time, its effect is most easily observed in the absence of other differences between the sound sources

Complexity revealed in the greening of the Arctic

As the Arctic warms, vegetation is responding, and satellite measures indicate widespread greening at high latitudes. This ‘greening of the Arctic’ is among the world’s most important large-scale ecological responses to global climate change. However, a consensus is emerging that the underlying causes and future dynamics of so-called Arctic greening and browning trends are more complex, variable and inherently scale-dependent than previously thought. Here we summarize the complexities of observing and interpreting high-latitude greening to identify priorities for future research. Incorporating satellite and proximal remote sensing with in-situ data, while accounting for uncertainties and scale issues, will advance the study of past, present and future Arctic vegetation change

Complexity revealed in the greening of the Arctic

As the Arctic warms, vegetation is responding, and satellite measures indicate widespread greening at high latitudes. This ‘greening of the Arctic’ is among the world’s most important large-scale ecological responses to global climate change. However, a consensus is emerging that the underlying causes and future dynamics of so-called Arctic greening and browning trends are more complex, variable and inherently scale-dependent than previously thought. Here we summarize the complexities of observing and interpreting high-latitude greening to identify priorities for future research. Incorporating satellite and proximal remote sensing with in-situ data, while accounting for uncertainties and scale issues, will advance the study of past, present and future Arctic vegetation change

Measurement of the b quark forward backward asymmetry around the Z0 peak using an inclusive tag

The b quark forward-backward asymmetry has been measured using hadronic Z0 decays collected by the OPAL experiment at LEP. Z0 -> bbbar decays were selected using a combination of secondary vertex and lepton tags, and the sign of the b quark charge was determined using an inclusive tag based on jet, vertex and kaon charges. The results, corrected to the quark level, are: A^b_FB = 0.0582 +- 0.0153 +- 0.0012 at sqrt(s) = 89.50 GeV A^b_FB = 0.0977 +- 0.0036 +- 0.0018 at sqrt(s) = 91.26 GeV A^b_FB = 0.1221 +- 0.0123 +- 0.0025 at sqrt(s) = 92.91 GeV where the first error is statistical and the second systematic in each case. Within the framework of the Standard Model, the result is interpreted as a measurement of the effective weak mixing angle for electrons of sin2theta_W^eff,e = 0.23205 +- 0.00068.Comment: 23 pages, 5 figure