Auditory brainstem response with alternative transducers: implications for newborn hearing screening

This paper studies the efficacy of a bone-conducted transducer compared to a traditional air conduction transducer for auditory brainstem response screening of newborns.

Performance limitations of piezoelectric and force feedback electrostatic transducers in different applications

Current limitations in piezoelectric and electrostatic transducers are discussed. A force-feedback electrostatic transducer capable of operating at bandwidths up to 20 kHz is described. Advantages of the proposed design are a linearised operation which simplifies the feedback control aspects and robustness of the performance characteristics to environmental perturbations. Applications in nanotechnology, optical sciences and acoustics are discussed.

Access and excess in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre

Much is made of the viscerally disturbing qualities embedded in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre - human bodies are traumatised, mutilated and distorted – and the way these are matched by close and often intense access to the performers involved. Graphic violence focused on the body specifically indicates the film as a key contemporary horror text. Yet, for all this closeness to the performers, it soon becomes clear in undertaking close-analysis of the film that access to them is equally characterised by extreme distance, both spatially and cognitively. The issue of distance is particularly striking, not least because of its ramifications on engagement, which throws up various aesthetic and methodological questions concerning performers’ expressive authenticity. This article considers the lack of access to performance in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, paying particular attention to how this fits in with contemporaneous presentations of performance more generally, as seen in films such as Junior Bonner (Sam Peckinpah, 1972). As part of this investigation I consider the affect of such a severe disruption to access on engagement with, and discussion of, performance. At the heart of this investigation lie methodological considerations of the place of performance analysis in the post-studio period. How can we perceive anything of a character’s interior life, and therefore engage with performers who we fundamentally lack access to? Does such an apparently significant difference in the way performers and their embodiment is treated mean that they can even be thought of as delivering a performance?

Assessment of the ergonomic design of diagnostic ultrasound transducers through wrist movements and subjective evaluation

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Efficacy of linear and convex transducers for ultrasound-guided transvaginal follicle aspiration

A new device was developed to hold linear transducers for transvaginal follicle aspiration. Efficacy of follicle aspiration was compared using a linear 6 MHz and a convex 5 MHz transducer. Fifty-five cows were submitted to follicle aspiration at random days of the estrous cycle. Aspirations were conducted with linear (n = 28) and convex (n = 38) transducers with 18 G needles at a negative pressure corresponding to 13 ml H2O/min. A greater number of follicles were aspirated using convex than to linear probe (12.4 versus 7.8, respectively, P < 0.05). Mean number of oocytes and recovery rates were similar for convex (5.4 and 48.6%) and linear (4.6 and 59.3%) transducers. Limited space between the linear transducer and needle guide restricted access to some portions of the ovary, reducing the number of follicles aspirated using a linear transducer. The newly developed adaptor allowed greater stability, holding the ovaries firmly against the linear transducer. This diminished mobility permitted a similar number of oocytes to be recovered with both transducers. In conclusion, this new adaptor provided a low cost alternative for routine follicle aspiration and oocyte recovery in cattle. (C) 2002 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Layer-by-Layer Technique as a New Approach to Produce Nanostructured Films Containing Phospholipids as Transducers in Sensing Applications

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

The presence of fungi on contact electrical stimulation electrodes and ultrasound transducers in physiotherapy clinics

Objectives To evaluate the presence of fungi on contact electrodes and ultrasound transducers from physiotherapy clinics.Design Quantitative study conducted at the Laboratory of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Health Sciences and Technology of Piaui - NOVAFAPI, Teresina, Brazil.Setting Sample collection was performed in 10 clinics ( 20 ultrasound transducers and 20 contact electrodes).Main outcome measures Swabs were soaked with saline solution, inoculated in culture and incubated for filamentous fungi and yeast growth.Results Fourteen taxons were identified: Acremomium hyalinulum (Sacc.), Aspergillus terreus, Candida albicans, Cladosporium cladosporioides, Cladosporium elatum, Cladosporium oxysporum, Cladosporium sphaerospermum, Cladosphialophora bantiana, Curvularia clavata, Curvularia senegalensis, Fusarium oxysporum, Penicillium decumbens, Scopulariopsis candida and Sporothrix schenckii. Aspergillus terreus, Cladosporium oxysporum, Sporothrix shenckii and Candida albicans were found most often on contact electrodes, and Penicillium decumbens and Cladosporium cladosporioides were found most often on ultrasound transducers.Conclusion Fungi were found on all of the contact electrodes and ultrasound transducers. Physiotherapy professionals need to improve the disinfection procedures for this equipment. (C) 2010 Chartered Society of Physiotherapy. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Sizing PZT Transducers in Impedance-Based Structural Health Monitoring

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Optimal Frequency Range Selection for PZT Transducers in Impedance-Based SHM Systems

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Affinities of the Saw-billed Hermit (Ramphodon naevius) determined by cytochrome-b sequence data

We sequenced 912 bp of the cytochrome-b gene to examine phylogenetic relationships of the enigmatic Saw-billed Hermit (Ramphodon naevius), a large and distinctive hummingbird endemic to tropical forests of southeastern Brazil. Bootstrapped maximum parsimony and maximum likelihood analyses of sequence data from 11 hummingbirds and several outgroups (two swifts, one goatsucker) support: (a) monophyly of the traditional hermit (Phaethornithinae) and nonhermit (Trochilinae) subfamilies, (b) placement of Ramphodon among hermits, and (c) a sister relationship between Ramphodon and an exemplar of the widespread polytypic hermit genus Glaucis. The association of Ramphodon with derived hermit lineages is concordant with subfamilial patterns of wing anatomy and nest architecture. However, the unusual plumages (striped underparts) and male bills (long, serrated, hooked) shared by Ramphodon and the Tooth-billed Hummingbird (Androdon aequatorialis) appear to have evolved within separate hermit and nonhermit tooth-billed clades. Distal placement of the Ramphodon-Glaucis clade within hermits implies that even distinctive Brazilian endemics such as Ramphodon are derived forms that evolved relatively recently.

Dielectric and ferroelectric properties of PZT and PT thin films for saw sensors applications

It is very important for the building of the SAW devices to study dielectric and ferroelectrics properties because every SAW device is based in piezoelectric effect that it is made up to transform an electric sign in the mechanical or acoustic sign and a mechanical or acoustic sign in an electric sign. Thus, the purpose of the present work is to prepare PbZr 0,53Ti0.47O3 (PZT) and PbTiO3 (PT) thin films on the Si (100) substrates across spin-coating using a chemical method based in polymeric precursors. After conventional treatment in the furnace, the films were characterized by impedance spectroscopy and hysteresis loops to know its dielectric and ferroelectric properties.

Architecture for publication and universal access to smart transducers

This paper proposes a simple and powerful architecture for publication and universal access to smart transducers, through existing and established open standards. Smart transducers are put to work on standards and styles already included in the Web, exploring resources in Cloud Computing and simplifying access to data. © 2012 IEEE.