Contributions of temporal encodings of voicing, voicelessness, fundamental frequency, and amplitude variation to audiovisual and auditory speech perception

Auditory and audio-visual speech perception was investigated using auditory signals of invariant spectral envelope that temporally encoded the presence of voiced and voiceless excitation, variations in amplitude envelope and F-0. In experiment 1, the contribution of the timing of voicing was compared in consonant identification to the additional effects of variations in F-0 and the amplitude of voiced speech. In audio-visual conditions only, amplitude variation slightly increased accuracy globally and for manner features. F-0 variation slightly increased overall accuracy and manner perception in auditory and audio-visual conditions. Experiment 2 examined consonant information derived from the presence and amplitude variation of voiceless speech in addition to that from voicing, F-0, and voiced speech amplitude. Binary indication of voiceless excitation improved accuracy overall and for voicing and manner. The amplitude variation of voiceless speech produced only a small increment in place of articulation scores. A final experiment examined audio-visual sentence perception using encodings of voiceless excitation and amplitude variation added to a signal representing voicing and F-0. There was a contribution of amplitude variation to sentence perception, but not of voiceless excitation. The timing of voiced and voiceless excitation appears to be the major temporal cues to consonant identity. (C) 1999 Acoustical Society of America. [S0001-4966(99)01410-1]

Physical activity and mental health in individuals with multimorbidity during COVID-19:an explanatory sequential mixed-method study

Objective: To understand the physical activity and mental health of individuals living with long-term conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic.Design: A sequential explanatory mixed-methods study with two phases: phase 1: quantitative survey and phase 2: qualitative follow-up interviews.Setting: For the quantitative phase, an online survey was launched in March 2021, using Microsoft Forms. For the qualitative phase, in-depth semistructured interviews were conducted via online.Participants: 368 adults over 18 years old living in the UK with at least one long-term condition completed the survey. Interviews were conducted in a subsample of participants from the previous quantitative phase, with 26 people. Data were analysed using thematic analysis.Results: Responses from the survey showed that people with one long-term condition were significantly more physically active and spent less time sitting, than those with two or more conditions, presenting with significantly higher well-being (p&lt;0.0001), and lower levels of anxiety (p&lt;0.01), and depression (p&lt;0.0001). Interviews found that people developed a range of strategies to cope with the impact of changeability and the consequences of their long-term condition on their physical activity.Conclusions: The number of long-term conditions influenced physical activity and how people coped with their condition during COVID-19. Findings will inform policy developments in preparation for future pandemics to support and remain people to remain physically active and mental health.</p

Acoustic cues to tonal contrasts in Mandarin: Implications for cochlear implants

The present study systematically manipulated three acoustic cues-fundamental frequency (f0), amplitude envelope, and duration-to investigate their contributions to tonal contrasts in Mandarin. Simplified stimuli with all possible combinations of these three cues were presented for identification to eight normal-hearing listeners, all native speakers of Mandarin from Taiwan. The f0 information was conveyed either by an f0-controlled sawtooth carrier or a modulated noise so as to compare the performance achievable by a clear indication of voice f0 and what is possible with purely temporal coding of f0. Tone recognition performance with explicit f0 was much better than that with any combination of other acoustic cues (consistently greater than 90% correct compared to 33%-65%; chance is 25%). In the absence of explicit f0, the temporal coding of f0 and amplitude envelope both contributed somewhat to tone recognition, while duration had only a marginal effect. Performance based on these secondary cues varied greatly across listeners. These results explain the relatively poor perception of tone in cochlear implant users, given that cochlear implants currently provide only weak cues to f0, so that users must rely upon the purely temporal (and secondary) features for the perception of tone. (c) 2008 Acoustical Society of America

A criteria-driven approach to the CO2 storage site selection of East Mey for the acorn project in the North Sea

Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) is an essential tool in the fight against climate change. Any prospective storage site must meet various criteria that ensure the effectiveness, safety and economic viability of the storage operations. Finding the most suitable site for the storage of the captured CO2 is an essential part of the CCS chain of activity. This work addresses the site selection of a second site for the Acorn CCS project, a project designed to develop a scalable, full-chain CCS project in the North Sea (offshore northeast Scotland). This secondary site has been designed to serve as a backup and upscaling option for the Acorn Site, and has to satisfy pivotal project requirements such as low cost and high storage potential. The methodology followed included the filtering of 113 input sites from the UK CO2Stored database, according to general and project-specific criteria in a multi-staged approach. This criteria-driven workflow allowed for an early filtering out of the less suitable sites, followed by a more comprehensive comparison and ranking of the 15 most suitable sites. A due diligence assessment was conducted of the top six shortlisted sites to produce detailed assessment of their storage properties and suitability, including new geological interpretation and capacity calculations for each site. With the new knowledge generated during this process, a critical comparison of the sites led to selection of East Mey as the most suitable site, due to its outstanding storage characteristics and long-lasting hydrocarbon-production history, that ensure excellent data availability to risk-assess storage structures. A workshop session was held to present methods and results to independent stakeholders; feedback informed the final selection criteria. This paper provides an example of a criteria-driven approach to site selection that can be applied elsewhere.Project ACT-Acorn is gratefully thanked for funding this study. ACT Acorn, project 271500, received funding from BEIS (UK), RCN (Norway) and RVO (Netherland), and was co-funded by the European Commission under the ERA-Net instrument of the Horizon 2020 programme. ACT Grant number 691712. J. Alcalde is funded by MICINN (Juan de la Cierva fellowship - IJC2018-036074-I). S. Ghanbari is currently supported by the Energi Simulation. Energi Simulation is also thanked for funding the chair in reactive transport simulation held by E. Mackay.Peer reviewe

Physical activity for cognitive and mental health in youth: A systematic review of mechanisms

Context: Physical activity can improve cognitive and mental health, but the underlying mechanisms have not been established. Objective: To present a conceptual model explaining the mechanisms for the effect of physical activity on cognitive and mental health in young people and to conduct a systematic review of the evidence. Data Sources: Six electronic databases (PubMed, PsycINFO, SCOPUS, Ovid Medline, SportDiscus, and Embase) were used. Study Selection: School-, home-, or community-based physical activity intervention or laboratory-based exercise interventions were assessed. Studies were eligible if they reported statistical analyses of changes in the following: (1) cognition or mental health; and (2) neurobiological, psychosocial, and behavioral mechanisms. Data Extraction: Data relating to methods, assessment period, participant characteristics, intervention type, setting, and facilitator/delivery were extracted. Results: Twenty-five articles reporting results from 22 studies were included. Mechanisms studied were neurobiological (6 studies), psychosocial (18 studies), and behavioral (2 studies). Significant changes in at least 1 potential neurobiological mechanism were reported in 5 studies, and significant effects for at least 1 cognitive outcome were also found in 5 studies. One of 2 studies reported a significant effect for self-regulation, but neither study reported a significant impact on mental health. Limitations: Small number of studies and high levels of study heterogeneity. Conclusions: The strongest evidence was found for improvements in physical self-perceptions, which accompanied enhanced self-esteem in the majority of studies measuring these outcomes. Few studies examined neurobiological and behavioral mechanisms, and we were unable to draw conclusions regarding their role in enhancing cognitive and mental health