一种语音变速不变调处理算法的FPGA实现

文章介绍了一种对语音进行变速不变调处理的系统。该系统与ADPCM编解码技术相结合,能更精确地检测和分割“音元”,并通过音元的复制和抽取实现了对播放语速的控制,达到了变速不变调的目的。该系统用FPGA实现,结果表明:采用改进后的音元处理算法,可以大大减少语音处理中所引入的噪声;该算法与ADPCM相结合实现的语音变速系统,具有速度快、占用资源少、芯片面积小和成本低等特点。

《五方元音》六韵三母下两套小韵对立新论

《五方元音》在六韵三母下对立原因从来源上分析有中古声母、韵母的差异,从近代语音方面来看,都是继承和发展《中原音韵》等表现北方官话音系性质韵书的语音特征的;从语音区别特征方面看有的是体现韵母是否有[i]音,有的是表现韵母[i]与[]的对立。

樊腾凤原本《五方元音》音节统计与分析

《五方元音》一书在汉语语音史上有重要价值,本文系首次对原本《五方元音》的音节数和所收字数做了详尽的统计与初步探讨。以韵图为纲,对照韵书,逐一统计韵书各小韵的收字情况,并进行勘定,在韵图的各小韵首字下标出该小韵的下收音节的数目,整理出一个精细、严密的韵图版本,供音韵研究者参考。

《回回药方》阿汉对音与元代汉语北方话“影、云、以”三母的读音

利用《回回药方》的阿汉对音材料,构勒了元代汉语北方话影、云、以三母的语音情况,讨论了它的演变机制。

Effect of music on procedure time and sedation during colonoscopy:A meta-analysis

AIM:To integrate results from different studies in examining the effectiveness of music in reducing the procedure time and the amount of sedation used during colonoscopic procedure. METHODS: An electronic search in various databases was performed to identify related articles. Study quality was evaluated by the Jadad’s scale. The random effect model was used to pool the effect from individual trials and the Cohen Q-statistic was used to determine heterogeneity. Egger’s regression was used to detect publication bias. RESULTS: Eight studies with 722 subjects were included in this meta-analysis. The combined mean difference for the time taken for the colonoscopy procedure between the music and control groups was -2.84 with 95% CI (-5.61 to -0.08), implying a short time for the music group. The combined mean difference for the use of sedation was -0.46 with 95%CI (-0.91 to -0.01), showing a significant reduction in the use of sedation in the music group. Heterogeneity was observed in both analyses but no publication bias was detected. CONCLUSION: Listening to music is effective in reducing procedure time and amount of sedation during colonoscopy and should be promoted.

Virtual design and performance prediction of a silencing air cleaner used in an I.C.engine intake system

This paper reports results of the authors’ studies on the virtual design method used in the development of low noise intake system of I.C. engine. The resulting high pass-by noise at level above the legislative target at full throttle when engine speed was around 5200 r/min necessitated a BEM-aided redesign task, following the typical process of design and development of an intake system. During the initial design, based on the acoustic theory and the requirements (1. The air flux of the redesigned should equal to or exceed the value of the original flux; 2. The filtering area must not be degraded), and considering the constraint of space in the engine compartment, total volume and rough internal dimensions were determined. During the detailed design, the exact internal dimensions of the air cleaner were determined, and an effective method was applied to improve the acoustic performance at low frequency. The predicted sound power of the intake system indicated that the objective of reducing the overall engine noise by minimizing intake system noise was achieved.

Numerical Investigation of Transmission of Low Frequency Sound Through a Smooth Air-water Interface

It is the traditional belief that sound transmission from water to the air is very weak due to a large contrast between air and water impedances. Recently, the enhanced sound transmission and anomalous transparency of air-water interface have been introduced. Anomalous transparency of air-water interface states that the sound generated by a submerged shallow depth monopole point source localized at depths less than 1/10 sound wavelength, can be transmitted into the air with omni-directional pattern. The generated sound has 35 times higher power compared to the classical ray theory prediction. In this paper, sound transmission through air-water interface for a localized underwater shallow depth source is examined. To accomplish this, two-phase coupled Helmholtz wave equations in two-phase media of air-water are solved by the commercial finite element based COMSOL Multiphysics software. Ratios of pressure amplitudes of different sound sources in two different underwater and air coordinates are computed and analyzed against non-dimensional ratio of the source depth （D） to the sound wavelength （λ）. The obtained results are compared with the experimental data and good agreement is displayed.

A new formant feature and its application in Mandarin vowel pronunciation quality assessment

In order to improve the Mandarin vowel pronunciation quality assessment, a nox/el formant feature was proposed and applied to formant classification for Chinese Mandarin vowel pronunciation quality evaluation. Formant candidates of each frame were plotted on the time-frequency plane to form a bitmap, and its Gabor feature was extracted to represent the formant trajectory. The feature was then classified by using GMM model and the classification posterior probability was mapped to pronunciation quality grade. The experiments of comparing the Gabor transformation based formant trajectory feature with several other kinds of traditionally used features show that with this method, a human-machine scoring correlation coefficient （CC） of 0.842 can be achieved, which is better than the result of 0.832 by traditional speech recognition techniques. At the same time, considering that the long-term information of formant classification and the short-term information of speech recognition technique are complementary to each other, it is investigated to combine their results with linear or nonlinear methods to further improve the evaluation performance. As a result, experiments on PSK show that the best CC of 0.913, which is very close to the correlation of inter-human rating of 0.94, is gotten by using neural network.

Differences of Vowel Pronunciation in China English and American English： A Case Study of [i] and [I]

This paper investigates the differences between vowels [i] and [ I] pronounced by Chinese English speakers and American English speakers. Seven people consisting of two natives and five Chinese have read a list of sentences and their voices were recorded. A software program is used to analyze their voices. In spectrograms generated by Praat, the connection between formant values and articulation features is used to investigate how native speakers pronounce these two vowels and what the differences are between native speakers and Chinese speakers. Through this investigation, it is discovered that Chinese speakers have lower tongue position in [i] and their tongues are more forward in [I], thus making it hard to differentiate these two vowels. Moreover, the length of [i] is much shorter than those in American pronunciation, suggesting that Chinese speakers differentiate [i] and [I] largely by length. However, the comparison of Chinese speakers and native speakers proved otherwise.

Filter algorithm based on cochlear mechanics and neuron filter mechanism and application on enhancement of audio signals

A filter algorithm based on cochlear mechanics and neuron filter mechanism is proposed from the view point of vibration.It helps to solve the problem that the non-linear amplification is rarely considered in studying the auditory filters.A cochlear mechanical transduction model is built to illustrate the audio signals processing procedure in cochlea,and then the neuron filter mechanism is modeled to indirectly obtain the outputs with the cochlear properties of frequency tuning and non-linear amplification.The mathematic description of the proposed algorithm is derived by the two models.The parameter space,the parameter selection rules and the error correction of the proposed algorithm are discussed.The unit impulse responses in the time domain and the frequency domain are simulated and compared to probe into the characteristics of the proposed algorithm.Then a 24-channel filter bank is built based on the proposed algorithm and applied to the enhancements of the audio signals.The experiments and comparisons verify that,the proposed algorithm can effectively divide the audio signals into different frequencies,significantly enhance the high frequency parts,and provide positive impacts on the performance of speech enhancement in different noise environments,especially for the babble noise and the volvo noise.

Bill Morphology Does Not Influence Vocal Performance in Darwin’s Small Tree Finch on Floreana Island

Bird song is used for mate attraction and is important for establishing reproductive isolation. Current research highlights performance constraints on song production that may be influenced by variation in bill morphology. Darwin＇s finches are a model system for studying the relationship between morphology and song performance, with previous studies suggesting that lower vocal performance is correlated with larger bill size. Here, we tested for a relationship between bill morphology and vocal performance in Darwin＇s Small Tree Finch （Camarhynchus parvulus） on Floreana Island. We found no evidence of a correlation between bill morphology and vocal performance. This finding is in agreement with prior study of the Small Tree Finch, but contrasts a greater body of work addressing song in Darwin＇s Finches. We discussed our findings in the context of ecological divergence, and ecological variation across species.

Segregation of voiced and unvoiced components from residual of speech signal

In conventional source-filter models, voiced and unvoiced components were considered independently. However, in practice it was difficult to separate the source into two parts. An actual source consists of a mixture of two sources and the ratio varies according to the content or the intention of speaker. It had been investigated to separate the voiced and unvoiced components for different source models. Source signals were modeled based on the residual signal measured from inverse filtering. Three different source models were assumed. The parameters of each model were optimized for the original speech signal using a genetic algorithm. The resulting parameters were compared in terms of the mel-cepstral distance to the original signal, the spectrogram and the spectral envelope from the synthesized signal. The optimization method achieves an improvement of 15% for the Klatt model, but there is little improvement in the modified residual case.

Structural-acoustic optimization of stiffened panels based on a genetic algorithm

For the structural-acoustic radiation optimization problem under external loading,acoustic radiation power was considered to be an objective function in the optimization method. The finite element method(FEM) and boundary element method(BEM) were adopted in numerical calculations,and structural response and the acoustic response were assumed to be de-coupled in the analysis. A genetic algorithm was used as the strategy in optimization. In order to build the relational expression of the pressure objective function and the power objective function,the enveloping surface model was used to evaluate pressure in the acoustic domain. By taking the stiffened panel structural-acoustic optimization problem as an example,the acoustic power and field pressure after optimized was compared. Optimization results prove that this method is reasonable and effective.

Multicultural Women＇s Views on the First World War in Virginia Woolf＇ s Mrs. Dalloway

This year highlights the centenary of the outbreak of World War I and this paper aims at comparing and contrasting multicultural views on the First World War in Virginia Woolf＇s Mrs. Dalloway （1925）. The views on the First War are portrayed by a plurality of voices, most of which are women＇s, and they allow readers to think of the war experience in a more subjective but also more plural way. In this novel, voices from both sides of the First War resonate, i.e., the hegemonic side of the war--the Allies--is compared and contrasted to the subjectivity of the voices of the ＂others＂--the Axis, although they do not necessarily work in harmony. Such innovation in point of view has, in great part, contributed to converging story and history, allowing this literary work to partake in the production of historical knowledge and cultural memory of the War.

The Emotional Approach of Foreign Vowel Acquisition Within the Example of British English Vowels

The aim of the article is to present results of research that was performed with 97 Polish students of the second and third year of English Philology. The purpose of the research is to examine how conscious manipulation of facial expressions aids acquisition of foreign vowels by learners, regardless of their native language and the culture they have been brought up in. Taking advantage of achievements derived from such disciplines as psychology of emotions and phonetics depicted as a physical process, an attempt is made to find a tool that improves teaching/learning of foreign vowels, that is to say, an effort is put in search of a useful method to make the phonetic process faster and more accurate. Teachers of English are encouraged to put the method, which is described in detail in the paper, into practice with their own mother languages and to share opinions about the method with colleagues. Similarly, it is believed that it can be applied to courses of other languages than just English. Teachers of those languages are encouraged to try to use it, too.

Research on the Novel Pattern of Soft Music Creation based on High-Pitched Melody Element and Aesthetic Point of View

In this paper, we conduct research on the novel pattern of soft music creation based on high-pitched melody element and aesthetic point of view. Music is the music creation, music is a kind of creation and it is not a simple thing, because music is an expression of human thoughts and feelings which reflect the social life of an art. Music creation and other artistic creation need perceptual and rational psychological elements such as the creation principle of participation. This involves the music creation that the relationship between the perceptual thinking and rational thinking. Our research proposed the novel paradigm of art creation which will obtain significant meaning.

Impacts of Public Support and Voices Pluralism in Macao Newspapers

The economic and financial sustainability of regional press companies is extremely relevant for the dynamism of this important sector in promoting pluralism of ideas and decentralization of information. In this context, the work presented here intends, on one hand, to analyze the importance of the press support system in Macao for its economic and financial sustainability and, on the other hand, to try to understand how they contribute to promoting information pluralism with Portuguese speaking community in a Chinese territory--with special regime. With this purpose, three methodologies were implemented, namely： （1） review of literature and documentary research--reports, articles in the press, scientific articles and academic books related to the topic; （2） analysis of contents of interviews of privileged informants-directors and editors of newspapers addressed to the Portuguese community in the Macao region; and （3） analysis of the impact of support from the Macao Regional Government based on the principles of the Office of Fair Trading （OFT） model.

A Great Citizen Is Still ＂Under-Construction＂： The Conflicting Self-Identity in Sayonara 1945

Sayonara 1945, performed by Golden Bough Theatre in 2010 in Taipei, was claimed to be a ＂Heart Taiwan Magical Musical＂. This ＂Heart Taiwan Magical Musical＂ is actually an adaptation ofTaiwan Residents Opela, a reformed and adapted style of Taiwan Residents local opera （gezaixi）, which has been strongly influenced by Japanese Colonization. Sayanara 1945 fictionalizes a troop of Taiwan Residents youths who join the Imperial Army being lied and cheated to dig gold for the Japanese Emperor after the war is over. This play gives a conflicting scenario of being Taiwan Residents in 1945, while everything that defined Taiwan Residents suddenly turned out to be treason to the country. By adapting the form of Opela, the play structurally presents a society where diverse and plural cultural elements counteract each other in Taiwan. Furthermore, as the title suggests, the play says Sayonara （＂Goodbye＂ in Japanese） to 1945, yet the confusion and conflict generated in 1945 still haunt Taiwan Residents society. In other words, the play responds to an on-going self-conflict of being Taiwan Residents that still continues even after the war and unto the present symbolically. Presented in the year before ＂the Republic of China＂ celebrated her hundredth birthday, this play portrays the anxiety about who the Taiwan Residents really are over the island, just like in the summer of 1945 when everything was also uncertain and confusing. This paper intends to discuss, by adopting the form and techniques of Opela, how this reformed Opela speaks for Taiwan Residents local arts and culture, and how the Taiwan Residents identity is framed and shaped ever since the colonization era.

Synthesis and characterization of Nd doped M-type hexagonal barium ferrite ultrafine powders

The hexagonal BaNd x Fe12?x O19(x=0.1?1.0) fine powders with M-type structure were synthesized by sol-gel auto-combustion high-temperature synthesis method. The structure of powders, gels’ combustion and magnetic properties of powders were respectively studied by means of X-ray diffractometer (XRD), differential thermal analysis-thermogravimetric analysis (DTA-TG) and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). The powders before and after combustion and calcination at 450–850 °C with different mole ratio of Nd to Ba (0.1–1.0) were compared in terms of XRD. In addition, the effects of different synthesis conditions on magnetic properties of powders were also discussed. The results show that at pH 7.0 or so, mole ratio of citrate to nitrate (1–3) and calcination temperature of 850 °C for 1 h, M-type BaNd x Fe12?x O19(x=0.1?1.0) fine powders can be obtained, and the coercive force reaches 436880 A·m?1 at x=1, which is far greater than that of barium permanent ferrite (BaFe12O19).