随机森林和大规模声学特征的噪声环境鸟声识别仿真

介绍了一种基于随机森林算法和大规模声学特征的噪声环境下鸟声识别方法。实验基于由德国柏林自然科学博物馆提供的真实鸟声数据以及人工加入信噪比依次为-10 d B、-5 d B、0 d B、5 d B和10 d B的2种类型噪声(即真实环境的背景噪声和高斯白噪声),对60类亚种鸟声进行大规模声学特征提取并进行基于随机森林算法的机器学习。结果表明:该方法对2类噪声环境均具有良好的鲁棒性,并能在较低信噪比时仍具有较好的识别性能。

Polar residual network model for assisting evaluation on rat myocardial infarction segment in myocardial contrast echocardiography

Objective To investigate the value of polar residual network(PResNet)model for assisting evaluation on rat myocardial infarction(MI)segment in myocardial contrast echocardiography(MCE).Methods Twenty-five male SD rats were randomly divided into MI group(n=15)and sham operation group(n=10).MI models were established in MI group through ligation of the left anterior descending coronary artery using atraumatic suture,while no intervention was given to those in sham operation group after thoracotomy.MCE images of both basal and papillary muscle levels on the short axis section of left ventricles were acquired after 1 week,which were assessed independently by 2 junior and 2 senior ultrasound physicians.The evaluating efficacy of MI segment,the mean interpretation time and the consistency were compared whether under the assistance of PResNet model or not.Results No significant difference of efficacy of evaluation on MI segment was found for senior physicians with or without assistance of PResNet model(both P>0.05).Under the assistance of PResNet model,the efficacy of junior physicians for diagnosing MI segment was significantly improved compared with that without the assistance of PResNet model(both P<0.01),and was comparable to that of senior physicians.Under the assistance of PResNet model,the mean interpretation time of each physician was significantly shorter than that without assistance(all P<0.001),and the consistency between junior physicians and among junior and senior physicians were both moderate(Kappa=0.692,0.542),which became better under the assistance(Kappa=0.763,0.749).Conclusion PResNet could improve the efficacy of junior physicians for evaluation on rat MI segment in MCE images,shorten interpretation time with different aptitudes,also improve the consistency to some extent.

南下访“淇淇”

我国独有的长江淡水白鱀豚“淇淇”及其同种的发声和听觉的特性，包括它们所发射超声信号（的答声）和可听声信号（哨叫声）以及它们的听觉区域，也介绍了白鱀豚当前频临灭绝的处境。

Self-contained in situ sediment acoustic measurement system based on hydraulic driving penetration

A novel self-contained in situ sediment acoustic measurement system based on hydraulic driving penetration is proposed to solve the problem of large disturbances to sediments of the in situ equipments already in existence. By using a hydraulic driving device, the system drives four acoustic probes into sediments at an even speed, and this decreases disturbances to sediments introduced by the penetration of acoustic probes. By means of the special design of the central control unit, the system can work full-automatically and the data are stored self-containedly, and this avoids the requirement of real-time remote controlling from the ship. Its operating water depth, measuring depth and measuring frequency is 500m, 1.0m and 30kHz respectively. A set of in situ sound speeds and attenuation coefficients of sediments are obtained at 40 stations using the system. The results confirm that the data obtained by the in situ sediment acoustic system are accurate and credible.

Experimental Research on the Low Frequency Wave That Radiates into the Air before the Failure of Rock

Experiments on sonic transmission show that a slabstone can directly transmit part of the energy of a wave excited by knocking or by a transducer into the air. The other part of the wave energy can generate the normal mode of vibration on the slabstone and excite measurable acoustic signals in the air. The dominant frequency is related to the size of the slabstone. These results indicate that the acoustic emission (AE) in rock also displays similar behavior if the source is shallow. It is demonstrated that with the nucleation and propagation of cracks, the dominant frequency of the radiated wave will be lower. When the frequency becomes very low, the wave can be transmitted through the rock into the air and be received by a microphone. According to the theory of similarity of size, there will be low-frequency waves before strong earthquakes because of nucleation of cracks, which can be received by special low-frequency transducers or infrasonic detectors. Before earthquakes, the mechanism of precursors could be very complicated. They might be produced by plastic creep or attributed to liquids but not brittle fracture in most cases. So the periods of the produced waves will be longer. This perhaps accounts for the lack of foreshocks before many strong earthquakes.

现代生物声学的学科发展趋势及中国机遇

随着数字录音技术、电子学和微电子学、人工智能、信息科学等跨学科领域的技术革新,现代生物声学逐渐与生物学、生态学等学科及关联学科之间形成了广泛的交叉前沿领域。现阶段,现代生物声学主要以生物学、生态学等基础学科的理论方法为指导,着重于揭示环境中各类声音在生物之间以及生物与人类、环境之间的相互作用及相关科学规律,为人类认识、保护和利用生物声学资源提供理论基础和解决方案。本文重点阐述了现代生物声学的学科内涵和学科特征,介绍了动物生物声学、生态声学、水下生物声学、环境生物声学、保护生物声学、计算生物声学以及现代生物声学研究的技术框架等前沿热点和发展趋势,评估了中国生物声学研究的学科现状与发展机遇,并对未来学科建设进行了展望。

What makes a cry a cry？ A review of infant distress vocalizations

In contrast to the cries of human infants, sounds made by non-human infants in different stressful behavioral contexts （hunger or physical discomfort, isolation, capture by humans or predators） are usually treated as distinct types of vocalizations. However, if distress vocalizations produced by different species and in different contexts share a common motivational state and associated neurochemical pathways, we can expect them to share a common acoustic structure and adaptive function, showing only limited variation that corresponds to the infant＇s level of arousal. Based on this premise, we review the acoustic structure and adaptive function of two types of distress calls, those given when infants were isolated from their mothers （isolation caUs） or captured by humans （capture calls）. We conducted a within-context comparison examining the two call types across a diverse se- lection of mammalian species and other vertebrate groups, followed by a comparison of how acoustic structure and function dif- fers between these contexts. In addition, we assessed acoustic traits that are critical to the response of caregivers. Across verte- brate species, distress vocalizations produced in these two behavioral contexts tend to be tonal with a simple chevron, flat or de- scending pattern of frequency modulation. Reports that both isolation and capture calls of vertebrate infants serve to attract care- givers are universal, and the fundamental frequency of infant vocalizations is often critical to this response. The results of our re- view are consistent with the hypothesis that differences in the acoustic structure of isolation and capture distress vocalizations re- flect differences in arousal, and not discrete functions. The similarity in acoustic structure and caregiver response observed across vertebrates adds support to the hypothesis that the production and processing of distress vocalizations are part of a highly-conserved system of social vocal behaviour in vertebrates. Bioacoustic research may move forward by recognizing the commonality among different forms of infant solicitations that attract caregivers, and the commonality of these solicitations with vocalizations that attract conspecifics in still other behavioral contexts [Current Zoology 58 （5）： 698-726, 2012].

Noise shapes the distribution pattern of an acoustic predator

Noise, an obvious effect of urbanization, has a negative impact on animal vocalizations and the hunting efficiency of acoustic predators. However, the influence of noise pollution on the spatial distribution of populations remains understudied. The aim was to assess the factors shaping the distribution pattern of an acoustic predator （long-eared owl Asio otus） in an urban-farmland matrix. We hypothesized that the probability of an acoustic predator occurring decreases with growing nocturnal noise emission. This owl survey was conducted in Krak6w （S Poland） on 79 ran- domly selected sample plots （1 km x 1 km）. Six habitat variables （area of parks, woodlands, grass- land, arable land, habitat diversity index, and noise pollution） were identified and correlated with the probability of the species＇ occurrence. Proximity to pedestrian routes and roads, habitat frag- mentation, and noise intensity was also defined at nest sites and random sites. Long-eared owls occurred on 37% of the sample plots. Occupied plots had a greater area of grassland and arable land as well as a lower level of noise pollution than the unoccupied ones. A multivariate model revealed that area of grassland and nocturnal noise emission was significantly correlated with the probability of long-eared owls occurring and that the high probability of occurrence recorded on plots with large areas of grassland was reduced by noise pollution. The noise intensity recorded at nest sites was also significantly lower than at random sites. This study suggests that apart from habitat factors, the distribution of acoustic predators in an urban matrix is driven by noise pollu- tion. This highlights the importance of proper landscape management, that is, maintaining large grassland areas and preventing noise from increasing within them.

What is the sound of fear？ Behavioral responses of white-crowned sparrows Zonotrichia leucophrys to synthesized nonlinear acoustic phenomena

Fear and anxiety may be adaptive responses to life-threatening situations, and animals may communicate fear to others vocally. A fundamental understanding of fear inducing sounds is important for both wildlife conservation and management because it helps us understand how to design repellents and also how （and why） animals may be negatively impacted by anthropogenic sounds. Nonlinear phenomena--sounds produced by the desynchronization of vibrations in a sound production system-are commonly found in stress-induced animal vocalizations, such as in alarm calls, mobbing calls, and fear screams. There are several functional hypotheses for these nonlinear phenomena. One specific hypothesis is the unpredictability hypothesis, which suggests that because nonlinear phenomena are more variable and somewhat unpredictable, animals are less likely to habituate to them. Animals should, therefore, have a prolonged response to sounds with nonlinear phenomena than sounds without them. Most of the studies involving nonlinear phenomena have used mammalian subjects and conspecific stimuli. Our study fo- cused on white-crowned sparrows （Zonotrichia leucophrys ssp. oriantha） and used synthesized acoustic stimuli to investigate behavioral responses to stimuli with and without nonlinear phenomena. We predicted that birds would be less relaxed after hearing a stimulus with a nonlinear component. We calculated the difference from baseline of proportion of time spent in relaxed behaviors and performed pair-wise comparisons between a pure tone control stimulus and each of three experimental stimuli, including a frequency jump up, a frequency jump down, and white noise. These comparisons showed that in the 30q50 s after the playback experiment, birds were significantly less relaxed after hearing noise or an abrupt frequency jump down an octave but not an abrupt frequency jump up an octave or a pure tone. Nonlinear phenomena, therefore, may be generally arousing to animals and may explain why these acoustic properties are commonly found in animal signals associated with fear [Current Zoology 60 （4）： 534-541, 2014].

Patient-specific modeling of left ventricle mechanics

We present a computational framework for the study of cardiac motion.The bio-mechanical model captures the passive and active properties of the cardiac tissue as well as the fiber architecture.We focus on the analysis of deformations of a beating left ventricle(LV),comparing numerical simulations with real data acquired by echocardiography.The goal is to determine the clinical relevance of the LV strains pattern and to investigate the relationships between that pattern and the arrangement of myocardial fibers.The proposed framework could in principle be used for a wide range of clinical applications.