Can urban forests provide acoustic refuges for birds?Investigating the influence of vegetation structure and anthropogenic noise on bird sound diversity

As a crucial component of terrestrial ecosystems,urban forests play a pivotal role in protecting urban biodiversity by providing suitable habitats for acoustic spaces.Previous studies note that vegetation structure is a key factor influencing bird sounds in urban forests;hence,adjusting the frequency composition may be a strategy for birds to avoid anthropogenic noise to mask their songs.However,it is unknown whether the response mechanisms of bird vocalizations to vegetation structure remain consistent despite being impacted by anthropogenic noise.It was hypothesized that anthropogenic noise in urban forests occupies the low-frequency space of bird songs,leading to a possible reshaping of the acoustic niches of forests,and the vegetation structure of urban forests is the critical factor that shapes the acoustic space for bird vocalization.Passive acoustic monitoring in various urban forests was used to monitor natural and anthropogenic noises,and sounds were classified into three acoustic scenes(bird sounds,human sounds,and bird-human sounds)to determine interconnections between bird sounds,anthropogenic noise,and vegetation structure.Anthropogenic noise altered the acoustic niche of urban forests by intruding into the low-frequency space used by birds,and vegetation structures related to volume(trunk volume and branch volume)and density(number of branches and leaf area index)significantly impact the diversity of bird sounds.Our findings indicate that the response to low and high frequency signals to vegetation structure is distinct.By clarifying this relationship,our results contribute to understanding of how vegetation structure influences bird sounds in urban forests impacted by anthropogenic noise.

Experimental and numerical investigations on acoustic damping of monoclinic crystalline wideband sound absorbing structures

In order to overcome the limitations of traditional microperforated plate with narrow sound absorption bandwidth and a single structure,two multi-cavity composite sound-absorbing materials were designed based on the shape of monoclinic crystals:uniaxial oblique structure(UOS)and biaxial oblique structure(BOS).Through finite element simulation and experimental research,the theoretical models of UOS and BOS were verified,and their sound absorption mechanisms were revealed.At the same time,the influence of multi-cavity composites on sound absorption performance was analyzed based on the theoretical model,and the influence of structural parameters on sound absorption performance was discussed.The research results show that,in the range of 100-2000 Hz,UOS has three sound absorption peaks and BOS has five sound absorption peaks.The frequency range of the half-absorption bandwidth(α>0.5)of UOS and BOS increases by 242% and 229%,respectively.Compared with traditional microperforated sound-absorbing structures,the series and parallel hybrid methods significantly increase the sound-absorbing bandwidth of the sound-absorbing structure.This research has guiding significance for noise control and has broad application prospects in the fields of transportation,construction,and mechanical design.

ST-LSTM-SA:A New Ocean Sound Velocity Field Prediction Model Based on Deep Learning

The scarcity of in-situ ocean observations poses a challenge for real-time information acquisition in the ocean.Among the crucial hydroacoustic environmental parameters,ocean sound velocity exhibits significant spatial and temporal variability and it is highly relevant to oceanic research.In this study,we propose a new data-driven approach,leveraging deep learning techniques,for the prediction of sound velocity fields(SVFs).Our novel spatiotemporal prediction model,STLSTM-SA,combines Spatiotemporal Long Short-Term Memory(ST-LSTM) with a self-attention mechanism to enable accurate and real-time prediction of SVFs.To circumvent the limited amount of observational data,we employ transfer learning by first training the model using reanalysis datasets,followed by fine-tuning it using in-situ analysis data to obtain the final prediction model.By utilizing the historical 12-month SVFs as input,our model predicts the SVFs for the subsequent three months.We compare the performance of five models:Artificial Neural Networks(ANN),Long ShortTerm Memory(LSTM),Convolutional LSTM(ConvLSTM),ST-LSTM,and our proposed ST-LSTM-SA model in a test experiment spanning 2019 to 2022.Our results demonstrate that the ST-LSTM-SA model significantly improves the prediction accuracy and stability of sound velocity in both temporal and spatial dimensions.The ST-LSTM-SA model not only accurately predicts the ocean sound velocity field(SVF),but also provides valuable insights for spatiotemporal prediction of other oceanic environmental variables.

Experimental realization of fractal fretwork metasurface for sound anomalous modulation

Natural creatures and ancient cultures are full of potential sources to provide inspiration for applied sciences.Inspired by the fractal geometry in nature and the fretwork frame in ancient culture,here we design the acoustic metasurface to realize sound anomalous modulation,which manifests itself as an incident-dependent propagation behavior:sound wave propagating in the forward direction is allowed to transmit with high efficiency while in the backward direction is obviously suppressed.We quantitatively investigate the dependences of asymmetric transmission on the propagation direction,incident angle and operating frequency by calculating sound transmittance and energy contrast.This compact fractal fretwork metasurface for acoustic anomalous modulation would promote the development of integrated acoustic devices and expand versatile applications in acoustic communication and information encryption.

Characterization of Aquifers in Crystalline and Crystallophyll Basement Zones Using the Electrical Resistivity Method (Trails and Electrical Soundings) in the Gagnoa Region, (Central-Western Côte d’Ivoire)

Introduction: Located in the central-western part of Côte d’Ivoire, the subsoil of the Gagnoa region is made up of sedimentary volcano formations and granitoids with developed fracturing. This complex Precambrian basement contains most of the region’s water resources. This is at the origin of the high failure rate during the various hydrogeological prospecting campaigns. Methodology: The database consists of resistivities from 42 holes and 51 trails drilled as part of the implementation of high-throughput drilling in the study area. The objective of this study is to deepen the knowledge of the fissured basement by interpreting profile curves and electrical soundings. It will be a question of classifying the different types of anomalies obtained on the profiles and their shapes. The orientation of the lineaments observed on the profiles was determined. Results: The interpretation of the geophysical data revealed various anomalies, the main ones being of the CC (Conductor Compartment) and CEDP (Contact between two bearings) types. These types of anomalies are mainly expressed in various forms: the “V”, “W” and “U” shapes. From these anomalies and the appearance of the electrical profiles, lineaments and their orientations were identified with N90-100, N130-140, N170-180 as major orientations. Conclusion: These results could contribute to a better understanding of the fractured environment of the Gagnoa region.

Diagnostic Accuracy of Computerized Bowel Sound Analysis with Non-Invasive Devices for Irritable Bowel Syndrome:A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Objective To assess the diagnostic accuracy of bowel sound analysis for irritable bowel syndrome(IBS)with a systematic review and meta-analysis.Methods We searched MEDLINE,Embase,the Cochrane Library,Web of Science,and IEEE Xplore databases until September 2023.Cross-sectional and case-control studies on diagnostic accuracy of bowel sound analysis for IBS were identified.We estimated the pooled sensitivity,specificity,positive likelihood ratio,negative likeli-hood ratio,and diagnostic odds ratio with a 95% confidence interval(CI),and plotted a summary receiver operat-ing characteristic curve and evaluated the area under the curve.Results Four studies were included.The pooled diagnostic sensitivity,specificity,positive likelihood ratio,nega-tive likelihood ratio,and diagnostic odds ratio were 0.94(95%CI,0.87‒0.97),0.89(95%CI,0.81‒0.94),8.43(95%CI,4.81‒14.78),0.07(95%CI,0.03‒0.15),and 118.86(95%CI,44.18‒319.75),respectively,with an area under the curve of 0.97(95%CI,0.95‒0.98).Conclusions Computerized bowel sound analysis is a promising tool for IBS.However,limited high-quality data make the results'validity and applicability questionable.There is a need for more diagnostic test accuracy studies and better wearable devices for monitoring and analysis of IBS.

Train-induced aerodynamic characteristics of vertical sound barriers influenced by several factors

Investigations into the aerodynamic properties of vertical sound barriers exposed to high-speed operations employ computational fluid dynamics.The primary focus of this research is to evaluate the influence of train speed and the distance(D)from the track centerline under various operating conditions.The findings elucidate a marked elevation in the aerodynamic effect amplitude on sound barriers as train speeds increase.In single-train passages,the aerodynamic effect amplitude manifests a direct relationship with the square of the train speed.When two trains pass each other,the aerodynamic amplitude intensifies due to an additional aerodynamic increment on the sound barrier.This increment exhibits an approximate quadratic correlation with the retrograde train speed.Notably,the impact of high-speed trains on sound barrier aerodynamics surpasses that of low-speed trains,and this discrepancy amplifies with larger speed differentials between trains.Moreover,the train-induced aerodynamic effect diminishes significantly with greater distance(D),with occurrences of pressure coefficient(CP)exceeding the standard thresholds during dual-train passages.This study culminates in the formulation of universal equations for quantifying the influence of train speed and distance(D)on sound barrier aerodynamic characteristics across various operational scenarios.

The influence of reflections from the train body and the ground on the sound radiation from a railway rail

Purpose – The vibration of the rails is a significant source of railway rolling noise, often forming the dominantcomponent of noise in the important frequency region between 400 and 2000 Hz. The purpose of the paper is toinvestigate the influence of the ground profile and the presence of the train body on the sound radiation fromthe rail.Design/methodology/approach – Two-dimensional boundary element calculations are used, in which therail vibration is the source. The ground profile and various different shapes of train body are introduced in themodel, and results are observed in terms of sound power and sound pressure. Comparisons are also made withvibro-acoustic measurements performed with and without a train present.Findings – The sound radiated by the rail in the absence of the train body is strongly attenuated by shieldingdue to the ballast shoulder. When the train body is present, the sound from the vertical rail motion is reflectedback down toward the track where it is partly absorbed by the ballast. Nevertheless, the sound pressure at thetrackside is increased by typically 0–5 dB. For the lateral vibration of the rail, the effects are much smaller. Oncethe sound power is known, the sound pressure with the train present can be approximated reasonably well withsimple line source directivities.Originality/value – Numerical models used to predict the sound radiation from railway rails have generallyneglected the influence of the ground profile and reflections from the underside of the train body on the soundpower and directivity of the rail. These effects are studied in a systematic way including comparisons with measurements.

An improved algorithm based on equivalent sound velocity profile method at large incident angle

With the development of ultra-wide coverage technology,multibeam echo-sounder(MBES)system has put forward higher requirements for localization accuracy and computational efficiency of ray tracing method.The classical equivalent sound speed profile(ESSP)method replaces the measured sound velocity profile(SVP)with a simple constant gradient SVP,reducing the computational workload of beam positioning.However,in deep-sea environment,the depth measurement error of this method rapidly increases from the central beam to the edge beam.By analyzing the positioning error of the ESSP method at edge beam,it is discovered that the positioning error increases monotonically with the incident angle,and the relationship between them could be expressed by polynomial function.Therefore,an error correction algorithm based on polynomial fitting is obtained.The simulation experiment conducted on an inclined seafloor shows that the proposed algorithm exhibits comparable efficiency to the original ESSP method,while significantly improving bathymetry accuracy by nearly eight times in the edge beam.

Intensifying International Beauty Brands' Game against China

The way in which international beauty giants are laying out the Chinese market seems to be quietly changing.I have recently observed that the pace of foreign beauty giants launching self-developed patented ingredients and technologies is accelerating.In particular,a number of relevant achievements have been focused on the November 2023 China International Import Expo.Among them,new patented ingredients/technologies launched in the past year accounted for six cases.They include Shiseido’s Neomyone,Unilever’s Glutathione meta-technology,Amore Pacific's Fonoin,Estee Lauder's Sertiin Age Reversal Technology,Kose’s IPS cell research technology,and Procter&Gamble’s OLAY’s“Collagen Visualization”technology,etc..

Sound event localization and detection based on deep learning

Acoustic source localization(ASL)and sound event detection(SED)are two widely pursued independent research fields.In recent years,in order to achieve a more complete spatial and temporal representation of sound field,sound event localization and detection(SELD)has become a very active research topic.This paper presents a deep learning-based multioverlapping sound event localization and detection algorithm in three-dimensional space.Log-Mel spectrum and generalized cross-correlation spectrum are joined together in channel dimension as input features.These features are classified and regressed in parallel after training by a neural network to obtain sound recognition and localization results respectively.The channel attention mechanism is also introduced in the network to selectively enhance the features containing essential information and suppress the useless features.Finally,a thourough comparison confirms the efficiency and effectiveness of the proposed SELD algorithm.Field experiments show that the proposed algorithm is robust to reverberation and environment and can achieve higher recognition and localization accuracy compared with the baseline method.

Reflections on the Improvement of Rural Human Settlement Environment from the Perspective of Beauty and Livability

The construction of beautiful and livable villages is one of the important tasks of ruralrevitalization in the new era, and the development of rural areas attaches more and more importanceto the improvement of human settlement environment. By investigating the construction status andexisting problems of Zhaoba Village in Nanjing, it tries to take “beauty” and “livability” as the planningrequirements. The village positioning is planned accurately, and the functional layout is carried outreasonably. According to the characteristic industries, landscape features and infrastructure of ZhaobaVillage, humanized construction strategies are put forward, thus improving the quality of human settlementenvironment in Zhaoba Village.

Sound Transmission Loss Analysis of a Double Plate-Acoustic Cavity Coupling System with In-Plane Functionally Graded Materials

In this paper, the isogeometric analysis (IGA) is employed to develop an acoustic radiation model for a double plate-acoustic cavity coupling system, with a focus on analyzing the sound transmission loss (STL). The functionally graded (FG) plate exhibits a different material properties in-plane, and the power-law rule is adopted as the governing principle for material mixing. To validate the harmonic response and demonstrate the accuracy and convergence of the isogeometric modeling, ANASYS is utilized to compare with numerical examples. A plane wave serves as the acoustic excitation, and the Rayleigh integral is applied to discretize the radiated plate. The STL results are compared with the literature, confirming the reliability of the coupling system. Finally, the investigation is conducted to study impact of cavity depth and power-law parameter on the STL.

“Three Beauties”Principle in the English Versions of“Jing Ye Si”--Translations by Xu and Fletcher as Examples

“Jing Ye Si”is a classical poem with international influence by the Chinese poet Li Bai in the Tang Dynasty,which expresses the poet’s deep nostalgia.This paper compares and analyzes its two English versions translated by the Chinese translator Xu Yuanchong and the British translator W.J.B.Fletcher based on the“three beauties”principle(beauty in sense,beauty in sound,and beauty in form),and discovers that the English version of Xu basically achieves the unity of the“three beauties”,while the English version of Fletcher realizes the“beauty in sound and form”,but deviates from the“beauty in sense”mainly owing to the inaccurate comprehension of the moon as an image and other factors.This analysis may afford us with certain reference in poetry translation.

A Comparative Study of Chinese Translations of Tagore’s Stray Birds From the Perspective of the“Three Beauties Theory”

For more than 60 years,Mr.Xu Yuanchong has been devoted to education.He has not only made remarkable achievements in translating from and into Chinese,English,French and other languages,but has also developed his own unique concept of translation.Since 1950,he has always adhered to the“Three Beauties Theory”,believing that translation should not only rely on the original text,but also realize the“beauty of meaning”,“beauty of sound”,and“beauty of form”.Based on Xu Yuanchong’s“Three Beauties Theory”,this paper takes Zheng Zhenduo’s and Feng Tang’s Chinese translations of Stray Birds as an example to explore in depth the specifics of poetry translation theory.The study summarizes the similarities and differences between these two translations in embodying the“three beauties”,providing insights into the Chinese translation techniques of philosophical prose poems.This endeavor seeks to offer valuable insights for the comparative study of Stray Birds translations。

Research Progress of Underwater Soundabsorbing Material

This article provides an overview of underwater sound-absorbing materials mainly applied with polyurethane matrix.It mainly elaborates on the underwater sound mecha-nism,commonly used underwater sound-absorbing materials and structures,as well as new underwater sound-absorbing material structures derived from local resonance pho-nonic crystals,such as phononic crystals,local resonance phonon wood piles,and meta-material sound-absorbing structures.This provides a broader development space and direction for the future development of underwater sound-absorbing materials.

Beauty in Sense, Sound and Form in Poetry Translation —— Translation of Tang Poems From Chinese to English

本文对诗歌翻译的三要素 :意美、声美、形美作一简要的介绍和分析。其中主要以唐诗的翻译为例 ,说明翻译是一种再创作的过程。

Improvement of Seafloor Positioning Through Correction of Sound Speed Profile Temporal Variation

Dear Editor,This letter proposes a high-precision seafloor transponder positioning method based on the correction of sound speed profile(SSP)temporal variation.In the proposed method,the ocean sound speed error is modeled as the temporal variation of a background SSP,and the linearized expression of the acoustic travel time with respect to the sound speed coefficient is derived based on the ray acoustic model.Moreover,the proposed method introduces the constraint of acoustic ranging observations between seafloor transponders and determines the weights of travel time and ranging observations using Akaike’s Bayesian information criterion(ABIC)to reduce the positioning error caused by the correlation between sound speed and position parameters.The experimental results in the South China Sea show that the proposed method performs better than the global navigation satellite system-acoustic ranging combined positioning solver(GARPOS)[1],in terms of rigid distance errors and long baseline positioning accuracy.

Organic Optoelectronic Synapses for Sound Perception

The neuromorphic systems for sound perception is under highly demanding for the future bioinspired electronics and humanoid robots.However,the sound perception based on volume,tone and timbre remains unknown.Herein,organic optoelectronic synapses(OOSs)are constructed for unprecedented sound recognition.The volume,tone and timbre of sound can be regulated appropriately by the input signal of voltages,frequencies and light intensities of OOSs,according to the amplitude,frequency,and waveform of the sound.The quantitative relation between recognition factor(ζ)and postsynaptic current(I=I_(light)−I_(dark))is established to achieve sound perception.Interestingly,the bell sound for University of Chinese Academy of Sciences is recognized with an accuracy of 99.8%.The mechanism studies reveal that the impedance of the interfacial layers play a critical role in the synaptic performances.This contribution presents unprecedented artificial synapses for sound perception at hardware levels.

Sub-Terahertz Channel Sounder: Review and Future Challenges

Due to the large amount of unused and unexplored spectrum resources, the so-called subTerahertz(sub-THz) frequency bands from 100 to 300 GHz are seen as promising bands for the next generation of wireless communication systems. Channel modeling at sub-THz bands is essential for the design and deployment of future wireless communication systems. Channel measurement is a widely adopted method to obtain channel characteristics and establish mathematical channel models. Channel measurements depend on the design and construction of channel sounders. Thus, reliable channel sounding techniques and accurate channel measurements are required. In this paper, the requirements of an ideal channel sounder are discussed and the main channel sounding techniques are described for the subTHz frequency bands. The state-of-the-art sub-THz channel sounders reported in the literature and respective channel measurements are presented. Moreover, a vector network analyzer(VNA) based channel sounder, which supports frequency bands from 220 to330 GHz is presented and its performance capability and limitation are evaluated. This paper also discussed the challenge and future outlook of the sub-THz channel sounders and measurements.