Mosquito sound communication: are male swarms loud enough to attract females?

Given the unsurpassed sound sensitivity of mosquitoes among arthropods and the sound source power required for long-range hearing, we investigated the distance over which female mosquitoes detect species-specific cues in the sound of station-keeping mating swarms. A common misunderstanding, that mosquitoes cannot hear at long range because their hearing organs are ‘particle-velocity’ receptors, has clouded the fact that particle velocity is an intrinsic component of sound whatever the distance to the sound source. We exposed free-flying Anopheles coluzzii females to pre-recorded sounds of male An. coluzzii and An. gambiae s.s. swarms over a range of natural sound levels. Sound levels tested were related to equivalent distances between the female and the swarm for a given number of males, enabling us to infer distances over which females might hear large male swarms. We show that females do not respond to swarm sound up to 48 dB sound pressure level (SPL) and that louder SPLs are not ecologically relevant for a swarm. Considering that swarms are the only mosquito sound source that would be loud enough to be heard at long range, we conclude that inter-mosquito acoustic communication is restricted to close-range pair interactions. We also showed that the sensitivity to sound in free-flying males is much enhanced compared to that of tethered ones.     

超磁致伸缩材料在骨传导听觉装置上的应用

超磁致伸缩材料(简称GMM)是制作低频换能器的理想功能材料。介绍了GMM的磁致伸缩机理及其本身特性;与传统磁致伸缩材料以及当前广泛应用在骨传导听觉装置上的电磁和压电材料进行了分析比较;综述了GMM在骨传导听觉装置上的应用现状;重点介绍了骨传导发音振子的设计构想,并且对超磁致伸缩式骨传导听觉装置在军事通信上的应用进行了展望。     

基于主成分分析的护听器优选方法研究

为了探究不同护听器对抽水蓄能电站内不同工作场所的降噪效果及适用情况,以便于工作人员根据不同需要选择合适的护听器,根据112种护听器的插入损失测试结果,应用主成分分析(Principal Component Analysis, PCA)对数据进行分析。结合某抽水蓄能电站10个工作场所的现场测试结果,得出文中所测试的112种护听器大部分适用于该蓄水电站中1#发电机隔声罩内、1#水车室外、1#水车室内、2#尾水锥管室外、2#尾水锥管检修门、3#尾水锥管室外和3#尾水锥管检修门7个工作场所,其他场所需要有针对性地选择适合的护听器。该文同时可以为其他不同工作场所情况下护听器的选择提供借鉴。     

燃气轮机火焰筒双耳孔冷却特性的分析

为进一步提高燃烧室火焰筒的冷却性能，提出一种具有更高冷却性能的双耳孔型气膜冷却结构。采用数值模拟方法对比分析吹风比在0.67～2.01时，传统圆柱孔、扩散孔、收敛孔、双耳孔的流动传热和冷却特性。计算结果表明：与其他3种孔型相比，冷却壁面长径比在0～40时，双耳孔出口冷却气流在高温主流作用下形成的肾形涡对尺寸较小，强度较弱，对涡中心的间距较大，且冷却气流横向分布更广，壁面换热系数比更低，提高了气膜冷却性能。在吹风比为2.01时，与圆柱孔相比，扩散孔的流量系数提高了13.7%,展向换热系数比降低了1.5%;收敛孔的流量系数没有变化，展向换热系数比降低了2.7%;但双耳孔的流量系数却降低3.1%,展向换热系数比降低了11.25%。在吹风比为1.33时，与扩散孔和收敛孔相比，双耳孔的流量系数更低，在长径比小于40时，双耳孔的换热系数比最低，冷却效果最好。     

IEC/TC29:电声学和全国电声学标委会标准动态(2008年9月～2011年6月)

给出了IEC/TC29自2008年9月～2011年6月的工作文件清单,以及IEC/TC29:电声学2009年～2011年6月发布的公告,介绍了IEC/TC29和全国电声学标准化技术委员会(SAC/TC23)目前标准和制修订情况.     

双耳托板螺钉断裂原因分析及改进措施

双耳托板螺钉装配过程中在托板与杆部结合处发生断裂。对断裂螺钉进行断口形貌分析,确定断裂性质为过载断裂;对同批次螺钉进行了金相、硬度、拉力试验、楔负载试验以及模拟安装试验,结果表明,螺钉断裂原因主要与断裂位置流线密集有关,同时热处理制度不匹配和流线被切断对断裂有促进作用。针对螺钉断裂有关原因提出了改进冷镦工艺、调整热处理制度和优化头(托板)杆加工工艺等改进措施,并对改进效果进行了验证,结果表明改进有效,新工艺加工的螺钉装配过程未再发生相同断裂现象。     

When hearing clients work with a deaf therapist.

Not being able to hear can present significant challenges for the therapist and for the deaf therapist/hearing client dyad. It can also create opportunities. Although the literature indicates that most culturally Deaf therapists work with Deaf clients due to their mutual use of American Sign Language, I describe (a) the background of an audiologically deaf therapist who relies on speech reading rather than sign language, and (b) this therapist's clinical work with hearing clients. Some of the relational dynamics of these treatments are identified, and I conclude by noting how attention to communication can benefit the work of all psychotherapists. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Response latencies in auditory sentence comprehension: Effects of linguistic versus perceptual challenge.

Older adults with good hearing and with mild-to-moderate hearing loss were tested for comprehension of spoken sentences that required perceptual effort (hearing speech at lower sound levels), and two degrees of cognitive load (sentences with simpler or more complex syntax). Although comprehension accuracy was equivalent for both participant groups and for young adults with good hearing, hearing loss was associated with longer response latencies to the correct comprehension judgments, especially for complex sentences heard at relatively low amplitudes. These findings demonstrate the need to take into account both sensory and cognitive demands of speech materials in older adults' language comprehension. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)