Characterizing speech rhythm using spectral coherence between jaw displacement and speech temporal envelope

Lower modulation rates in the temporal envelope (ENV) of the acoustic signal are believed to be the rhythmic backbone in speech, facilitating speech comprehension in terms of neuronal entrainments at δ- and θ-rates (these rates are comparable to the foot- and syllable-rates phonetically). The jaw plays the role of a carrier articulator regulating mouth opening in a quasi-cyclical way, which correspond to the low-frequency modulations as a physical consequence. This paper describes a method to examine the joint roles of jaw oscillation and ENV in realizing speech rhythm using spectral coherence. Relative powers in the frequency bands corresponding to the δ-and θ-oscillations in the coherence (respectively notated as %δ and %θ) were quantified as one possible way of revealing the amount of concomitant foot- and syllable-level rhythmicities carried by both acoustic and articulatory domains. Two English corpora (mngu0 and MOCHA-TIMIT) were used for the proof of concept. %δ and %θ were regressed on utterance duration for an initial analysis. Results showed that the degrees of foot- and syllable-sized rhythmicities are different and are contingent upon the utterance length.

Learning from the physical consequences of our actions improves motor memory

Actions have consequences. Motor learning involves correcting actions that lead to movement errors and remembering these actions for future behavior. In most laboratory situations, movement errors have no physical consequences and simply indicate the progress of learning. Here we asked how experiencing a physical consequence when making a movement error affects motor learning. Two groups of participants adapted to a new, prism-induced mapping between visual input and motor output while performing a precision walking task. Importantly, one group experienced an unexpected slip perturbation when making foot-placement errors during adaptation. Because of our innate drive for safety, and the fact that balance is fundamental to movement, we hypothesized that this experience would enhance motor memory. Learning generalized to different walking tasks to a greater extent in the group who experienced the adverse physical consequence. This group also showed faster relearning one week later despite exposure to a competing mapping during initial learning—evidence of greater memory consolidation. The group differences in generalization and consolidation occurred even though they both experienced similar magnitude foot-placement errors and adapted at similar rates. Our results suggest the brain considers the potential physical consequences of movement error when learning and that balance-threatening consequences serve to enhance this process.

Reexamining the Thomas precession

We review the Thomas precession exhibiting the exact form of the Thomas rotation in the axis-angle parameterization. Assuming three inertial frames S, S', S'' moving with arbitrary velocities and with S, S'' having their axis parallel to the axis of S' we focus our attention on the two essential elements of the Thomas precession: (i) there is a rotation between the axis of frames S, S'' and (ii) the combination of two Lorentz transformations from S to S' and from S' to S'' fails to produce a pure Lorentz transformation from S to S''. The physical consequence of (i) and (ii) refers to the impossibility of arbitrary frames S, S', S'' moving with non-paralell relative velocities have their axis mutually parallel. Then, we reexamine the validity of (i) and (ii) under the conjecture that time depends on the state of motion of the frames and we show that the Thomas precession assumes a different form as formulated in (i) and (ii).

The Physical Consequence to Knowing: A speculative report

This is my first attempt at approaching the notion of agency as a practice though the mode of dancing and writing; deconstructing and reconstructing what I know experientially and what I am trying to comprehend theoretically. I am looking for a way of releasing bodily capacities from the jurisdiction of the mind, whose cartesian definition I don't attempt to deny, as most people I have the chance to work with and teach exhibit in one way or another proof of the fact they’ve embodied the concept. All the while, I am considering philosophical texts, anatomical texts, and (science) fiction; I am taking into account my bodily experience, I am dancing and I am writing, I am teaching, conversing, occasionally making progress, occasionally falling back to the embrace of old habits, making unnecessary assumptions, and failing. Repetition is a part of the study. Minimal difference is a part of the study. Changing perspective is a part of the study. My strategy includes not trying to fix but approach with care and attention every step I am taking; every achievement, every set-back; every question and every answer. I assume my learning curve to be cyclical, as I continue to practice in public, always vulnerable but eager to engage in an exchange.

Impact of the spatial structure of the hydraulic conductivity field on vorticity in three-dimensional flows

A material fluid element within a porous medium experiences deformations due to the disordered spatial distribution of the Darcy scale velocity field, caused by the heterogeneity of hydraulic conductivity. A physical consequence of this heterogeneity is the presence of localized kinematical features such as straining, shearing and vorticity in the fluid element. These kinematical features will influence the shape of solute clouds and their fate. Studies on the deformation of material surfaces highlighted the importance of stretching and shearing, whereas vorticity received so far less attention, though it determines folding, a deformation associated with the local rotation of the velocity field. We study vorticity in a three-dimensional porous formation exploring how its fluctuations are influenced by the spatial structure of the porous media, obtained by immersing spheroidal inclusions into a matrix of constant hydraulic conductivity. By comparing porous formations with the same spatial statistics, we analyse how vorticity is affected by the different shape and arrangement of inclusions, defined as the medium ‘microstructure’. We conclude that, as microstructure has a significant impact on vorticity fluctuations, the usual second-order statistical description of the conductivity field is unable to capture local deformations of the plume.

When the Perpetrator Gets Killed: Effects of Observing the Death of a Handgun User in a Televised Public Service Announcement

This study evaluates the cognitive effects of an anti–handgun violence public service announcement (PSA) on sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-grade students ( N = 294). Participants were randomly assigned to a treatment group, which viewed a PSA depicting the death of an aggressive handgun user, or a comparison group, which viewed identical content except that the PSA showed no negative consequence for the handgun user. Logistic regression analysis, adjusting for race and gender, revealed that the treatment group was more likely to report negative expected outcomes for aggressively using a handgun and lower behavioral intentions to aggressively use a handgun compared with the comparison group. These findings suggest that observing handgun violence on television that depicts death as a negative physical consequence for the perpetrator may produce lower handgun-encouraging beliefs compared with observing no consequence for the perpetrator—the norm for most televised violence today.