Similarity of Prosody Between Speech and Singing: A Methodological Study

Background: People with neurogenic communication disorders such as Parkinson’s Disease and Aphasia have language and speech abilities that are characterized by disturbances in speech prosody: abnormal variations of the intonation, stress, and duration of speech. Singing has been used as a therapeutic approach to help regulate and normalize prosody; however, little is known about how to best use the prosody of singing to meet the speech needs of different neuro pathologies. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to identify how the spoken and musical prosody of simple songs compare on measures of intensity, intonation, and duration as well as establish a method of assessing a song’s efficacy in speech therapy. Methods: An observational study compared the recordings of two singers and two speakers (4 participants total) who sang or read aloud the lyrics of three simple songs: “Row, Row, Row Your Boat”, “Happy Birthday To You”, and “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star”. Participants were asked to either sing or read aloud each selection three times. Analysis: The acoustic analyses of the recordings were performed using the software Praat and were assessed for the prosodic measures of intonation by the fundamental frequency contour (semitones), intensity by the decibel (dB) contour, and rhythm by syllabic duration (seconds). Results: Comparing the prosodic differences between sung and spoken lyrics, on average the highest similarity between speech and singing occurred for the measure of duration (SCP Row = 92%, SCP Twinkle = 85%, SCP Happy = 83)%, second highest similarity for intensity (SCP Row =65%, SCP Twinkle =56%, SCP Happy =54% ), and the least highest similarity of intonation (SCP Row = 69%, SCP Twinkle = 49% , SCP Happy = 42%). Out of the selections Row, Row, Row Your Boat was most speech like while Happy Birthday to you was least speech like. Conclusions: This methodological study for speech and singing helped to establish a basis for assessing how simple songs can be utilized as a tool in speech therapy

Evidence for a Long-period Planet Orbiting Epsilon Eridani

High precision radial velocity (RV) measurements spanning the years 1980.8--2000.0 are presented for the nearby (3.22 pc) K2 V star $\epsilon$ Eri. These data, which represent a combination of six independent data sets taken with four different telescopes, show convincing variations with a period of $\approx$ 7 yrs. A least squares orbital solution using robust estimation yields orbital parameters of period, $P$ = 6.9 yrs, velocity $K$-amplitude $=$ 19 {\ms}, eccentricity $e$ $=$ 0.6, projected companion mass $M$ sin $i$ = 0.86 $M_{Jupiter}$, and semi-major axis $a_2$ $=$ 3.3 AU. Ca II H&K S-index measurements spanning the same time interval show significant variations with periods of 3 and 20 yrs, yet none at the RV period. If magnetic activity were responsible for the RV variations then it produces a significantly different period than is seen in the Ca II data. Given the lack of Ca II variation with the same period as that found in the RV measurements, the long-lived and coherent nature of these variations, and the high eccentricity of the implied orbit, Keplerian motion due to a planetary companion seems to be the most likely explanation for the observed RV variations. The wide angular separation of the planet from the star (approximately 1 arc-second) and the long orbital period make this planet a prime candidate for both direct imaging and space-based astrometric measurements.Comment: To appear in Astrophysical Journal Letters. 9 pages, 2 figure

Reproductive strategy of male and female eastern spiny lizards Sceloporus spinosus (Squamata: Phrynosomatidae) from a region of the Chihuahuan Desert, México

We examined the reproductive strategy of male (n = 84) and female (n = 62) S. spinosus from a single population in San Luis Potosí, México. The male reproductive cycle peaked in March and April and declined from May to September, and was not correlated with fat body mass, but was positively correlated with liver mass. The female reproductive cycle peaked in April and May and declined from June through November, and was not correlated with fat body mass, but was correlated with liver mass. Mean clutch size based on oviductal eggs was 17.5 ± 1.9 (n = 12), and was not correlated with female snout-vent length. Our results for S. spinosus are generally similar to those of other populations of the S. spinosus species group. However, there are differences in some traits (e.g., timing of the initiation of the female reproductive cycle; clutch size), suggesting that the S. spinosus group could serve as another model group within Sceloporus to explore ecological and evolutionary causes of among population life history variation

Integrative mixture of experts to combine clinical factors and gene markers

Motivation: Microarrays are being increasingly used in cancer research to better characterize and classify tumors by selecting marker genes. However, as very few of these genes have been validated as predictive biomarkers so far, it is mostly conventional clinical and pathological factors that are being used as prognostic indicators of clinical course. Combining clinical data with gene expression data may add valuable information, but it is a challenging task due to their categorical versus continuous characteristics. We have further developed the mixture of experts (ME) methodology, a promising approach to tackle complex non-linear problems. Several variants are proposed in integrative ME as well as the inclusion of various gene selection methods to select a hybrid signature

Impact and Process Evaluation of Integrated Community and Clinic-Based HIV-1 Control: A Cluster-Randomised Trial in Eastern Zimbabwe

BACKGROUND: HIV-1 control in sub-Saharan Africa requires cost-effective and sustainable programmes that promote behaviour change and reduce cofactor sexually transmitted infections (STIs) at the population and individual levels. METHODS AND FINDINGS: We measured the feasibility of community-based peer education, free condom distribution, income-generating projects, and clinic-based STI treatment and counselling services and evaluated their impact on the incidence of HIV-1 measured over a 3-y period in a cluster-randomised controlled trial in eastern Zimbabwe. Analysis of primary outcomes was on an intention-to-treat basis. The income-generating projects proved impossible to implement in the prevailing economic climate. Despite greater programme activity and knowledge in the intervention communities, the incidence rate ratio of HIV-1 was 1.27 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.92–1.75) compared to the control communities. No evidence was found for reduced incidence of self-reported STI symptoms or high-risk sexual behaviour in the intervention communities. Males who attended programme meetings had lower HIV-1 incidence (incidence rate ratio 0.48, 95% CI 0.24–0.98), and fewer men who attended programme meetings reported unprotected sex with casual partners (odds ratio 0.45, 95% CI 0.28–0.75). More male STI patients in the intervention communities reported cessation of symptoms (odds ratio 2.49, 95% CI 1.21–5.12). CONCLUSIONS: Integrated peer education, condom distribution, and syndromic STI management did not reduce population-level HIV-1 incidence in a declining epidemic, despite reducing HIV-1 incidence in the immediate male target group. Our results highlight the need to assess the community-level impact of interventions that are effective amongst targeted population sub-groups

The state of the Martian climate

60°N was +2.0°C, relative to the 1981–2010 average value (Fig. 5.1). This marks a new high for the record. The average annual surface air temperature (SAT) anomaly for 2016 for land stations north of starting in 1900, and is a significant increase over the previous highest value of +1.2°C, which was observed in 2007, 2011, and 2015. Average global annual temperatures also showed record values in 2015 and 2016. Currently, the Arctic is warming at more than twice the rate of lower latitudes