scholarly journals Word and Mystery: The Acoustics of Cultural Transmission During the Protestant Reformation

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Braxton Boren
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Transmission ◽  
Speech Intelligibility ◽  
Order Approximation ◽  
Free Field ◽  
Semantic Content ◽  
Physical Acoustics ◽  
The West ◽  
Acoustic Environment ◽  
Worship Service ◽  
Catholic Faith

To a first-order approximation we can place most worship services on a continuum between clarity and mystery, depending on the setting and content of the service. This liturgical space can be thought of as a combination of the physical acoustics of the worship space and the qualities of the sound created during the worship service. A very clear acoustic channel emphasizes semantic content, especially speech intelligibility. An immersive, reverberant acoustic emphasizes mystery and music. One of the chief challenges in acoustical design is the fact that both clarity and immersion are subjectively preferred by audiences, yet these two goals are almost mutually exclusive of one another. The movement along this continuum in liturgical space can also be seen in the religious contexts for many of the worship spaces constructed in the West in the last two millennia. In the case of religious ceremony, a free field acoustic environment provides more clarity and precision in the spoken word received from God and given to the congregation. Yet a diffuse field environment provides an embodied, otherworldly sense of the supernatural: the mystery of the faith received which cannot merely be put into words. This tension is perceptible in many of the religious controversies in the West during this time period. This article examines the history of the spaces used by early Western Catholic Christians as well as those of the traditions—Lutheran and Calvinist—that left the Catholic faith during the 16th century Reformation. By considering the stated goals of these traditions alongside the architectural and liturgical innovations they created, it can be seen that emergent liturgical spaces mirror the assumptions of their respective traditions regarding the proper balance between semantic and aesthetic communication during the worship service. The Reformed faiths' emphasis on the power of the Word is reflected in the liturgical space of their services, while the Catholic faith gave greater priority to the role of Mystery, in their liturgical space as well as their explicit theology. Once constructed, these spaces also aid the cultural transmission of the sung or spoken liturgy of each tradition to future generations.

Determination of Bahasa Melayu Word List From Friday Sermon Transcripts Using PHP and MySQL

2013 ◽  
Vol 64 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mokhtar Harun ◽  
Muhammad ‘Aasim Asyafi’ie Ahmad ◽  
Siti Zaleha Abdul Hamid ◽  
Fareha Abdul Rahman ◽  
Puspa Inayat Khalid
Keyword(s):  
Programming Language ◽  
Speech Intelligibility ◽  
Word List ◽  
Kuala Lumpur ◽  
The West ◽  
Repeated Word ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Repeated Words

Almost all of the speech intelligibility (SI) assessors today are from the West. The words used in the development of these SI assessors are mainly English. However, recent finding has found that word components that contribute to intelligibility of speech is different from one language to another. The purpose of this study is to determine Bahasa Melayu (BM) word list from Friday sermon transcripts. The project was undertaken by deriving BM words spoken during 52 Friday sermons read in mosques in Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur. PHP is the programming language used to compute the frequency of words appears in the Friday sermon transcripts. These words were then stored into a database. The database used is MySQL. It has been found that the highest number of repeated word is 2509. The list is then truncated so that the numbers of repeated words range from 52 to 2509 times. The frequency of Bahasa Melayu words used in Friday sermons is an initial and important inventory that can be used in the development of SI assessor using BM words.

Long-term Outcomes of Clip Coupler Implantation in Patients with Unilateral Congenital Aural Atresia

2020 ◽  
Vol 129 (12) ◽  
pp. 1221-1228
Author(s):  
Chunli Zhao ◽  
Jinsong Yang ◽  
Yujie Liu ◽  
Mengdie Gao ◽  
Peiwei Chen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Speech Intelligibility ◽  
Signal To Noise Ratio ◽  
Bone Conduction ◽  
Free Field ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Aural Atresia ◽  
Long Term Follow Up ◽  
Congenital Aural Atresia

Objective: To evaluate the long-term safety and efficacy of the Clip coupler attached to the stapes head in patients with unilateral congenital aural atresia (CAA). Methods: This single-center retrospective study included 16 Mandarin-speaking patients who had unilateral microtia accompanied by CAA. All patients were divided into two groups: the short-term follow-up group (n = 9) and the long-term follow-up group (n = 7). The floating mass transducer of the Vibrant Soundbridge (VSB) was positioned in the stapes head by the Clip coupler. The safety of the VSB was investigated by comparing preoperative and postoperative bone-conduction (BC) thresholds as well as by complications. The effectiveness was evaluated by functional gain (FG), word recognition score (WRS), speech reception threshold (SRT) and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). Results: Pre- and post-operative BC thresholds were no different in all patients. And no complications developed. VSB-aided thresholds in the free-field had improved significantly in both short- and long-term follow-up groups. The improvements of WRS were observed in two groups. The monosyllabic VSB-aided WRS in the long-term follow-up group was significantly higher than that in the short-term follow-up group. When speech was from the impaired ear and noise presented to the side of normal ear (SVSBNCL), lower SNRs were found in two groups after VSB implantation. However, there was no statistical difference in aided SNR between the two groups at SVSBNCL status. Conclusions: Our results show that the FMT connected to the stapes head is a secure and useful device for patients with unilateral CHL/MHL, not only in terms of improved hearing thresholds, but also improved speech intelligibility in quiet and noisy environments.

scholarly journals The Mun Valley and Central Thailand in prehistory: integrating two cultural sequences

2014 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles Franklin Higham ◽  
Fiorella Rispoli
Keyword(s):  
Population Growth ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Cultural Transmission ◽  
Agricultural Intensification ◽  
The West ◽  
Copper Ore ◽  
Copper Base ◽  
Prestige Goods ◽  
Gold Silver ◽  
Central Thailand

AbstractThis paper compares the later prehistory in two regions of Thailand. The Mun Valley lies on the eastern side of the Phetchabun Range, the Lopburi Region (LR) to the west. They are linked by a major pass. While the Lopburi area is rich in copper ore, the Mun Valley has none. Quality salt is abundantly available in the Mun Valley but less so in the LR. This study explores the inter-relationships between the areas over a period of 2300 years which sharpens our understanding of both, and presents explanations and possibilities in the context of cultural transmission theories. Neolithic farmers with ultimate origins in China, arrived in the first half of the second millennium BC. Widespread exchange in prestige goods was a factor in the adoption of copper-base metallurgy in the late 11th century BC, when the LR became a producer, the Mun Valley an importer. With the Iron Age, (from about 500 BC), sites grew in size. During the course of this period, gold, silver, agate, carnelian and glass ornaments were ritually placed with dead elites. It is in these powerful and wealthy Iron Age communities that we can identify the early transition into states with population growth, agricultural intensification, conflict and increased production and competition over salt and metal for exchange.

scholarly journals Physical and Psychoacoustic Characteristics of Typical Noise on Construction Site: “How Does Noise Impact Construction Workers’ Experience?”

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xinhao Yang ◽  
Yitong Wang ◽  
Ruining Zhang ◽  
Yuan Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Correlation Analysis ◽  
Subjective Evaluation ◽  
Construction Workers ◽  
Quality Analysis ◽  
Construction Site ◽  
Physical And Mental Health ◽  
Construction Sites ◽  
Physical Acoustics ◽  
Acoustic Environment ◽  
The Impact

Construction noise is an integral part of urban social noise. Construction workers are more directly and significantly affected by construction noise. Therefore, the construction noise situation within construction sites, the acoustic environment experience of construction workers, and the impact of noise on them are highly worthy of attention. This research conducted a 7-month noise level (LAeq) measurement on a construction site of a reinforced concrete structure high-rise residential building in northern China. The noise conditions within the site in different spatial areas and temporal stages was analyzed. Binaural recording of 10 typical construction noises, including earthwork machinery, concrete machinery, and hand-held machinery, were performed. The physical acoustics and psychoacoustic characteristics were analyzed with the aid of a sound quality analysis software. A total of 133 construction workers performing 12 types of tasks were asked about their subjective evaluation of the typical noises and given a survey on their noise experience on the construction site. This was done to explore the acoustic environment on the construction site, the environmental experience of construction workers, the impact of noise on hearing and on-site communications, and the corresponding influencing factors. This research showed that the noise situation on construction sites is not optimistic, and the construction workers have been affected to varying degrees in terms of psychological experience, hearing ability, and on-site communications. Partial correlation analysis showed that the construction workers’ perception of noise, their hearing, and their on-site communications were affected by the noise environment, which were correlated to varying degrees with the individual’s post-specific noise, demand for on-site communications, and age, respectively. Correlation analysis and cluster analysis both showed that the annoyance caused by typical construction noise was correlated to its physical and psychoacoustic characteristics. To maintain the physical and mental health of construction workers, there is a need to improve on the fronts of site management, noise reduction, equipment and facility optimization, and occupational protection.

Audiological Results with the SAMBA Audio Processor in Comparison to the Amadé for the Vibrant Soundbridge

2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 164-172
Author(s):  
Denise Zimmermann ◽  
Susan Busch ◽  
Thomas Lenarz ◽  
Hannes Maier
Keyword(s):  
Speech Intelligibility ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Bone Conduction ◽  
Free Field ◽  
Trial Period ◽  
Vibrant Soundbridge ◽  
Speech Processor ◽  
Level Of Satisfaction ◽  
Oldenburg Sentence Test ◽  
Flexible Adaptation

Background: Since its introduction in 1996, the Vibrant Soundbridge (VSB) has been upgraded with several improved generations of processors. As all systems are compatible, implanted patients can benefit from new technologies by upgrading to the newest processor type available. Objectives: The aim of this study was to compare the performance of the new (current) SAMBA processor with the previous Amadé processor. Methods: Twenty subjects monaurally implanted with a VSB and the Amadé processor tested the new SAMBA processor for a trial period of 4 weeks. We measured air conduction and bone conduction thresholds, unaided thresholds, and aided free field thresholds with both devices. Speech performance in quiet using the Freiburg monosyllabic test at 65 dB SPL (S0) was compared. The speech intelligibility in noise was determined using the Oldenburg sentence test measured in different listening conditions (S0NVSB/S0Ncontra) and microphone settings (omni/directional vs. adaptive directivity). Results: Word recognition scores in quiet with the SAMBA were still significantly lower than with the Amadé after the 4 weeks trial period but improved over the following year. Speech intelligibility with the SAMBA was significantly better than with the Amadé in omnidirectional mode and comparable with the Amadé in directional mode. Hence, the adaptive directionality provides an advantage in difficult hearing situations such as noisy environments. The subjective benefit was evaluated using the Abbreviated Profile of Hearing Aid Benefit and the Speech, Spatial and Qualities-C questionnaire. Results of the questionnaires demonstrate an overall higher level of satisfaction with the new SAMBA speech processor than with the older processor. Conclusion: The SAMBA enables similar speech perception in quiet but more flexible adaptation in acoustically challenging environments compared to the previous Amadé processor.

Peace in Non-Western Theory

2021 ◽  
pp. 189-203
Author(s):  
Necati Polat
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Transmission ◽  
Mediterranean Basin ◽  
The West ◽  
Peace Research ◽  
Cultural Terms ◽  
Western Theory ◽  
Ancient Times ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
The Mediterranean Basin

This chapter looks critically into the exhortations in recent peace thinking to accommodate visions of peace outside European modernity, called the West. The discussion problematizes the premise of a radical distinction in cultural terms between the West and the non-West, questioning for each front the notion of a linear cultural transmission from ancient times onward. The binary, the chapter argues, is premised effectively on an oblivion of hybridities, especially in the Mediterranean basin, already before modernity and, later, under modernity, of the virtual recasting of much of what has been out there in the periphery, however named or classified, in the image of modernity. The chapter then considers some of the characteristic oversimplifications in peace research around the theme, which, albeit with a strong anti-ethnocentric posture to begin with, end up largely reproducing the classical Orientalism in its reductionisms.

Speech Intelligibility Differences across Sound Classes with in-the-Ear and Free-Field Microphones in Quiet

2011 ◽  
Vol 112 (3) ◽  
pp. 845-859
Author(s):  
Julie M. Estis ◽  
Julie A. Parisi ◽  
Robert E. Moore ◽  
Douglas S. Brungart
Keyword(s):  
Speech Intelligibility ◽  
Free Field

scholarly journals Knappach Toll, Balbridie: a late 3rd-millennium bc Beaker burial on Deeside, Aberdeenshire

2019 ◽  
Vol 83 ◽  
pp. 1-36
Author(s):  
Olivia Lelong ◽  
Iraia Arabaolaza ◽  
Torben Ballin ◽  
Jane Evans ◽  
Richard P Evershed ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Transmission ◽  
Radiocarbon Dating ◽  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Residue Analysis ◽  
Isotope Analysis ◽  
The Body ◽  
The West ◽  
Animal Fat ◽  
North East ◽  
And Migration

A short cist discovered during ploughing at Knappach Toll on Balbridie Farm, Aberdeenshire held the remains of an adult accompanied by a Beaker, fragments of a copper awl and 11 struck flints. Little survived of the skeleton except for cranial fragments, but these indicate that the person had been placed with the head to the west, with the artefacts also at that end. While the sex of the person is indeterminate, with the single surviving sexual dimorphic trait suggesting a male, the position of the body and the presence of the awl are more usually indicative of a female. Radiocarbon dating shows that the person died between 3775±35 years bp (SUERC-30852) and 2330–2040 cal bc (95.4% probability). Stable isotope analysis indicates that he or she grew up on basalt geology, like that of the region, or on chalk. Residue analysis of the Beaker has established that it had held ruminant animal fat such as butter or milk, probably for some time, and some of the flint pieces had been lightly used. The composition and constituents of the burial suggest links between north-east Scotland and East Yorkshire. They also evoke the cultural practices that were spreading across eastern Britain in the later 3rd millennium bc through the mechanisms of cultural transmission and migration.  

scholarly journals Binaural Speech Intelligibility in a Real Elementary Classroom

2021 ◽  
Vol 2069 (1) ◽  
pp. 012165
Author(s):  
G Minelli ◽  
G E Puglisi ◽  
A Astolfi ◽  
C Hauth ◽  
A Warzybok
Keyword(s):  
Speech Intelligibility ◽  
Noise Source ◽  
Signal To Noise Ratio ◽  
Spatial Separation ◽  
Elementary Classrooms ◽  
Acoustic Environment ◽  
Acoustic Measures ◽  
Speech Reception ◽  
Speech Intelligibility Model ◽  
Speech Reception Thresholds

Abstract Since the fundamental phases of the learning process take place in elementary classrooms, it is necessary to guarantee a proper acoustic environment for the listening activity to children immersed in them. In this framework, speech intelligibility is especially important. In order to better understand and objectively quantify the effect of background noise and reverberation on speech intelligibility various models have been developed. Here, a binaural speech intelligibility model (BSIM) is investigated for speech intelligibility predictions in a real classroom considering the effect of talker-to-listener distance and binaural unmasking due to the spatial separation of noise and speech source. BSIM predictions are compared to the well-established room acoustic measures as reverberation time (T30), clarity or definition. Objective acoustical measurements were carried out in one Italian primary school classroom before (T30= 1.43s±0.03 s) and after (T30= 0.45±0.02 s) the acoustical treatment. Speech reception thresholds (SRTs) corresponding to signal-to-noise ratio yielding 80% of speech intelligibility will be obtained through the BSIM simulations using the measured binaural room impulse responses (BRIRs). A focus on the effect of different speech and noise source spatial positions on the SRT values will aim to show the importance of a model able to deal with the binaural aspects of the auditory system. In particular, it will be observed how the position of the noise source influences speech intelligibility when the target speech source lies always in the same position.

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