The effects of difficulty and gain versus loss on vocal physiology and acoustics

To examine the basis of emotional changes to the voice, physiological and electroglottal measures were combined with acoustic speech analysis of 30 men performing a computer task in which they lost or gained points under two levels of difficulty. Predictions of the main effects of difficulty and reward on the voice were not borne out by the data. Instead, vocal changes depended largely on interactions between gain versus loss and difficulty. The rate at which the vocal folds open and close (fundamental frequency; f0) was higher for loss than for gain when difficulty was high, but not when difficulty was low. Electroglottal measures revealed that f0 changes corresponded to shorter glottal open times for the loss conditions. Longer closed and shorter open phases were consistent with raised laryngeal tension in difficult loss conditions. Similarly, skin conductance indicated higher sympathetic arousal in loss than gain conditions, particularly when difficulty was high. The results provide evidence of the physiological basis of affective vocal responses, confirming the utility of measuring physiology and voice in the study of emotion.

Identification of novel expressed sequences, up-regulated in the leucocytes of chronic fatigue syndrome patients

BACKGROUND: Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is an increasing medical phenomenon of unknown aetiology leading to high levels of chronic morbidity. Of the many hypotheses that purport to explain this disease, immune system activation, as a central feature, has remained prominent but unsubstantiated. Supporting this, a number of important cytokines have previously been shown to be over-expressed in disease subjects. The diagnosis of CFS is highly problematic since no biological markers specific to this disease have been identified. The discovery of genes relating to this condition is an important goal in seeking to correctly categorize and understand this complex syndrome. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to screen for changes in gene expression in the lymphocytes of CFS patients. METHODS: 'Differential Display' is a method for comparing mRNA populations for the induction or suppression of genes. In this technique, mRNA populations from control and test subjects can be 'displayed' by gel electrophoresis and screened for differing banding patterns. These differences are indicative of altered gene expression between samples, and the genes that correspond to these bands can be cloned and identified. Differential display has been used to compare expression levels between four control subjects and seven CFS patients. RESULTS: Twelve short expressed sequence tags have been identified that were over-expressed in lymphocytes from CFS patients. Two of these correspond to cathepsin C and MAIL1 - genes known to be upregulated in activated lymphocytes. The expression level of seven of the differentially displayed sequences have been verified by quantifying relative level of these transcripts using TAQman quantitative PCR. CONCLUSION: Taken as a whole, the identification of novel gene tags up-regulated in CFS patients adds weight to the idea that CFS is a disease characterized by subtle changes in the immune system.

The fatigue and degradation mechanisms of hoisting ropes

Based upon specialised experience of rope mechanics spanning over 20 years, this paper reviews the processes of degradation and fatigue that are relevant to hoisting ropes in mines. The review is brought up to date with an account of the most recent work in this field, which identifies a torsional fatigue process and quantifies the impact of degradation upon the residual service life. A proper understanding of these processes is important in determining how different parameters of hoist design and operation interact to determine rope life. This knowledge is also important in informing decisions relating to rope discard based upon observed condition, as well is identifying the critical features that must be quantified reliably during inspection.

Modelling fatigue damage distribution to inform slip and cut policy for riser tensioner ropes

The paper describes a method whereby the distribution of fatigue damage along riser tensioner ropes is calculated, taking account of heave motion, set tension, system geometry, tidal range and rope specification. From these data the distribution of damage along the rope is calculated for a given time period using a Miner’s summation method. This information can then be used to help the operator decide on the length of rope to ‘slip and cut’ whereby a length from the end of the rope is removed and the rope moved through the system from a storage drum such that sections of rope that have already suffered significant fatigue damage are not moved to positions where there is another peak in the distribution. There are two main advantages to be gained by using the fatigue damage model. The first is that it shows the amount of fatigue damage accumulating at different points along the rope, enabling the most highly damaged section to be removed well before failure. The second is that it makes for greater efficiency, as damage can be spread more evenly along the rope over time, avoiding the need to scrap long sections of undamaged rope.

Damage rate is a predictor of fatigue life and creep strain rate in fatigue of tensile human cortical bone samples

We present results on the growth of damage in 29 fatigue tests of human femoral cortical bone from four individuals, aged 53–79. In these tests we examine the interdependency of stress, cycles to failure, rate of creep strain, and rate of modulus loss. The behavior of creep rates has been reported recently for the same donors as an effect of stress and cycles (Cotton, J. R., Zioupos, P., Winwood, K., and Taylor, M., 2003, "Analysis of Creep Strain During Tensile Fatigue of Cortical Bone," J. Biomech. 36, pp. 943–949). In the present paper we first examine how the evolution of damage (drop in modulus per cycle) is associated with the stress level or the "normalized stress" level (stress divided by specimen modulus), and results show the rate of modulus loss fits better as a function of normalized stress. However, we find here that even better correlations can be established between either the cycles to failure or creep rates versus rates of damage than any of these three measures versus normalized stress. The data indicate that damage rates can be excellent predictors of fatigue life and creep strain rates in tensile fatigue of human cortical bone for use in practical problems and computer simulations.

Analysis of creep strain during tensile fatigue of cortical bone

During fatigue tests of cortical bone specimens, at the unload portion of the cycle (zero stress) non-zero strains occur and progressively accumulate as the test progresses. This non-zero strain is hypothesised to be mostly, if not entirely, describable as creep. This work examines the rate of accumulation of this strain and quantifies its stress dependency. A published relationship determined from creep tests of cortical bone (Journal of Biomechanics 21 (1988) 623) is combined with knowledge of the stress history during fatigue testing to derive an expression for the amount of creep strain in fatigue tests. Fatigue tests on 31 bone samples from four individuals showed strong correlations between creep strain rate and both stress and “normalised stress” (σ/E) during tensile fatigue testing (0–T). Combined results were good (r2=0.78) and differences between the various individuals, in particular, vanished when effects were examined against normalised stress values. Constants of the regression showed equivalence to constants derived in creep tests. The universality of the results, with respect to four different individuals of both sexes, shows great promise for use in computational models of fatigue in bone structures.

A new rapid detection threshold method for use with older adults: reducing fatigue whilst maintaining accuracy

Taste and smell detection threshold measurements are frequently time consuming especially when the method involves reversing the concentrations presented to replicate and improve accuracy of results. These multiple replications are likely to cause sensory and cognitive fatigue which may be more pronounced in elderly populations. A new rapid detection threshold methodology was developed that quickly located the likely position of each individuals sensory detection threshold then refined this by providing multiple concentrations around this point to determine their threshold. This study evaluates the reliability and validity of this method. Findings indicate that this new rapid detection threshold methodology was appropriate to identify differences in sensory detection thresholds between different populations and has positive benefits in providing a shorter assessment of detection thresholds. The results indicated that this method is appropriate at determining individual as well as group detection thresholds.