Speech characteristics of monozygotic twins and a same-sex sibling: an acoustic case study of coarticulation patterns in read speech

This case study reports on an acoustic investigation of the motor speech characteristics of a set of young adult male monozygotic (MZ) twins and compares them to those of an age- and sex-matched sibling who participated in the study 2 years later to match for demographic factors. Coarticulation patterns were investigated from read samples of consonant-vowel sequences in monosyllabic words containing a variety of consonants and vowels. This was done by examining F2 vowel onsets and F2 vowel targets, plotted as F2 locus equations. Data were processed for between-sibling differences using a number of statistical tests. Results indicated that the MZ twins displayed F2 parameters and coarticulation patterns which were more similar than those of their age- and sex-matched sibling. The results of this case study therefore suggest that acoustic phonetic parameters used to index coarticulation patterns have the potential to profile some of the similarities and differences in the speech characteristics of genetically related individuals

The Power of “Small Stories:” Narratives and Notions of Gender Equality in Conversations About Sport

This study examines narratives by young adults about sport and gender in relation to equality. Specifically, we explore how focus-group participants used small stories to situate male and female athletes and Title IX. The U.S. law has been credited for increasing opportunities for girls and women but is considered a source of tension for gender relations. Our findings suggest that participants’ stories ultimately did not support emancipatory goals for girls and women because they positioned equality as a right women had not earned. We argue that feminists cannot underestimate the need to inject counternarratives into public discourse at every level, including stories shared with children about sport. These narratives must address misconceptions about equality and gender equity and, ultimately, challenge gender ideology

Use of ERTS data for a multidisciplinary analysis of Michigan resources

The author has identified the following significant results. The results of this investigation of ratioing simulated ERTS spectral bands and several non-ERTS bands (all collected by an airborne multispectral scanner) indicate that significant terrain information is available from band-ratio images. Ratio images, which are based on the relative spectral changes which occur from one band to another, are useful for enhancing differences and aiding the image interpreter in identifying and mapping the distribution of such terrain elements as seedling crops, all bare soil, organic soil, mineral soil, forest and woodlots, and marsh areas. In addition, the ratio technique may be useful for computer processing to obtain recognition images of large areas at lower costs than with statistical decision rules. The results of this study of ratio processing of aircraft MSS data will be useful for future processing and evaluation of ERTS-1 data for soil and landform studies. Additionally, the results of ratioing spectral bands other than those currently collected by ERTS-1 suggests that some other bands (particularly a thermal band) would be useful in future satellites

Hormones and temporal components of speech: sex differences and effects of menstrual cyclicity on speech

Voice onset time (VOT) is a salient acoustic parameter of speech which signals the “voiced” and “voiceless” status of plosives in English (e.g. the initial sound in ‘bat’ vs. the initial sound in ‘pat’). As a micro-temporal acoustic parameter, VOT may be sensitive to changes in hormones which may affect the neuromuscular systems involved in speech production. This study adopted a novel approach by investigating the effects of menstrual cycle phase and sex on VOT. VOT data representing the 6 plosives of English (/p b t d k g/) were examined for 7 women (age 20-23 years) at two phases of the menstrual cycle (day 18-25: High Estrogen and Progesterone; day 2-5: Low Estrogen and Progesterone). Results indicated that menstrual cycle phase had a significant interaction with the identity of the plosive (F (5,30) = 5.869, P .05), or the contrast between voiced and voiceless cognates (F (1,10) = .407, P > .05). In contrast, the high hormone phase VOT samples displayed significant plosive by sex interactions (F (5,50) = 4.442, P < .005). In addition, significant sex differences were found for the contrasts between cognate voiced and voiceless plosives (F (1,10) = 5.019, P < .05); the women displayed a more marked voiced/voiceless contrast. The findings suggest that ovarian hormones play some role in shaping some temporal components of speech