Ohio Conservation Plan, Revised 2019, for the Plains Gartersnake, Thamnophis radix

This plan outlines strategies and methods used in an ongoing study initiated in 1999 to restore a self- sustaining population of the Plains Gartersnake (Thamnophis radix) in Ohio. Restoring a self-sustaining population would require increases in the current population to where the ratios of T. radix to T. sirtalis are from 1:1 to 1:12.2 in multiple locations in Killdeer Plains Wildlife Area (KPWA). This range of ratios would be similar to what was seen between 1978-80 by Reichenbach and Dalrymple (1986) at one site in KPWA and then more recently (2002 to 2009) by Wynn and Reichenbach (2018) at two sites

The Effects of Timbering on Plethodon hubrichti over 12 Years

Clearcuts have been shown to adversely affect salamander populations, whereas impacts from milder forms of timbering are more variable. We determined the effects of clearcuts and shelterwood cuts on populations of the Peaks of Otter Salamander (Plethodon hubrichti) using counts of surface active salamanders found during multiple night collections. Sampling was done prior to and then periodically after timbering for 12 yr. Overall, the long-term trends in mean number of P. hubrichti at reference and shelterwood cut sites were not significantly different. In contrast, means at clearcut sites declined 41% during the first year posttimbering and then declined over the next three years to a low of 75% below pretimbering means. The means stabilized at 45% below pre-timbering means for the remainder of the study. Immediately after timbering 41% of the salamanders moved from transects established at the edge of clearcuts to reference transects that were 3–9 m away. Clearcuts had less canopy closure and dead leaf cover than reference and shelterwood cuts which likely degraded habitat for salamanders. Therefore, clearcutting forests is not advisable because of adverse impacts on salamanders, but forms of timbering that retain a portion of the forest canopy may be acceptable if it can be shown that the timbering method does not reduce salamander populations

Cochlear-bone wave can yield a hearing sensation as well as otoacoustic emission

A hearing sensation arises when the elastic basilar membrane inside the cochlea vibrates. The basilar membrane is typically set into motion through airborne sound that displaces the middle ear and induces a pressure difference across the membrane. A second, alternative pathway exists, however: stimulation of the cochlear bone vibrates the basilar membrane as well. This pathway, referred to as bone conduction, is increasingly used in the construction of headphones that bypass the ear canal and the middle ear. Furthermore, otoacoustic emissions, sounds generated inside the ear and measured in the ear canal, may not involve the usual wave on the basilar membrane, suggesting that additional cochlear structures are involved in their propagation. Here we describe a novel propagation mode that emerges through deformation of the cochlear bone. Through a mathematical and computational approach we demonstrate that this wave can explain bone conduction as well as numerous properties of otoacoustic emissions.Comment: 37 pages, 4 figures, Nature Communications 201

Note on clock synchronization and Edwards transformations

Edwards transformations relating inertial frames with arbitrary clock synchronization are reminded and put in more general setting. Their group theoretical context is described.Comment: 11 pages, no figures; final version, to appear in Foundations of Physics Letter

Discrimination of low-frequency tones employs temporal fine structure

An auditory neuron can preserve the temporal fine structure of a low-frequency tone by phase-locking its response to the stimulus. Apart from sound localization, however, little is known about the role of this temporal information for signal processing in the brain. Through psychoacoustic studies we provide direct evidence that humans employ temporal fine structure to discriminate between frequencies. To this end we construct tones that are based on a single frequency but in which, through the concatenation of wavelets, the phase changes randomly every few cycles. We then test the frequency discrimination of these phase-changing tones, of control tones without phase changes, and of short tones that consist of a single wavelets. For carrier frequencies below a few kilohertz we find that phase changes systematically worsen frequency discrimination. No such effect appears for higher carrier frequencies at which temporal information is not available in the central auditory system.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figure

Modulation of speech-in-noise comprehension through transcranial current stimulation with the phase-shifted speech envelope

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. For more information, see http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Neural activity tracks the envelope of a speech signal at latencies from 50 ms to 300 ms. Modulating this neural tracking through transcranial alternating current stimulation influences speech comprehension. Two important variables that can affect this modulation are the latency and the phase of the stimulation with respect to the sound. While previous studies have found an influence of both variables on speech comprehension, the interaction between both has not yet been measured. We presented 17 subjects with speech in noise coupled with simultaneous transcranial alternating current stimulation. The currents were based on the envelope of the target speech but shifted by different phases, as well as by two temporal delays of 100 ms and 250 ms. We also employed various control stimulations, and assessed the signal-to-noise ratio at which the subject understood half of the speech. We found that, at both latencies, speech comprehension is modulated by the phase of the current stimulation. However, the form of the modulation differed between the two latencies. Phase and latency of neurostimulation have accordingly distinct influences on speech comprehension. The different effects at the latencies of 100 ms and 250 ms hint at distinct neural processes for speech processing.Peer reviewe