State of Immigration in a Multicultural Society

This article partially reflects the research supported by JSPS KAKENHI, #17K03572

Investigation the Capability of Neural Network in Predicting Reverberation Time on Classroom

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the capability of neural network in predicting a classroom’s reverberation time. A classroom in Oita University was chosen as a sample to obtain the virtual data (reverberation time) based on 20 types of sound absorptions coefficients using Finite Element Method (FEM) and Sabine equation. The capability of FEM has shown that it is able to simulate virtual data in each location of a classroom. To develop a neural network model, virtual data (721 data) was taken from FEM for the learning process. The assessment was made by using testing subset (20% from 721 data) to verify the performance. The testing’s means square error (MSE) was 3.7751×10-4 and correlation coefficient (R2) was 0.992 approximately to 1. The optimum network used was 4 hidden nodes. Extended assessment was made using the unseen data (35 data) and it showed that neural network prediction was approximately close to the actual data with MSE is 4.154×10-4. Basically, the capability of reverberation time prediction using neural network is shown in this paper.&nbsp

Auditory sustained field responses to periodic noise

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Auditory sustained responses have been recently suggested to reflect neural processing of speech sounds in the auditory cortex. As periodic fluctuations below the pitch range are important for speech perception, it is necessary to investigate how low frequency periodic sounds are processed in the human auditory cortex. Auditory sustained responses have been shown to be sensitive to temporal regularity but the relationship between the amplitudes of auditory evoked sustained responses and the repetitive rates of auditory inputs remains elusive. As the temporal and spectral features of sounds enhance different components of sustained responses, previous studies with click trains and vowel stimuli presented diverging results. In order to investigate the effect of repetition rate on cortical responses, we analyzed the auditory sustained fields evoked by periodic and aperiodic noises using magnetoencephalography.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Sustained fields were elicited by white noise and repeating frozen noise stimuli with repetition rates of 5-, 10-, 50-, 200- and 500 Hz. The sustained field amplitudes were significantly larger for all the periodic stimuli than for white noise. Although the sustained field amplitudes showed a rising and falling pattern within the repetition rate range, the response amplitudes to 5 Hz repetition rate were significantly larger than to 500 Hz.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The enhanced sustained field responses to periodic noises show that cortical sensitivity to periodic sounds is maintained for a wide range of repetition rates. Persistence of periodicity sensitivity below the pitch range suggests that in addition to processing the fundamental frequency of voice, sustained field generators can also resolve low frequency temporal modulations in speech envelope.</p

Hiroshima as Symbol, Hiroshima as Reality : Challenges for Integration in the Post-War City of Peace

This paper is based on research funded by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Scientific (JSPS) Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (A) # 14201024

[Note] Gender Balance under the Obama Administration

Although we weren\u27t able to shatter that highest, hardest glass ceiling this time, thanks to you, it\u27s got about 18 million cracks in it. And the light is shining through like never before, filling us all with the hope and the sure knowledge that the path will be a little easier next time. -Hillary Clinto

Executive Actions in the Balance of Power : Their Historical and Political Meanings

This article partially reflects the research supported by JSPS KAKENHI, #17K03572

U. S. Immigration Reform in a Historical Perspective

This article partially reflects the research supported by JSPS KAKENHI, #26380197

Experimenting Multicultural Citizenship : A Case of the Minneapolis-St. Paul Area

This paper is based on the research funded by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) Grantsin-Aid for Scientific Research (A) #16203032 and Grantsin-Aid for Scientific Research (B) #17330033

Debating Immigration in Polarized America : The DREAM Act, DACA, and Undocumented Immigrants

This article partially reflects the research supported by JSPS KAKENHI, #26380197