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The article pays tribute to Professor Julian Conrad Juergensmeyer, a law teacher and scholar at the University of Florida.

The article pays tribute to law professor Julian Conrad Juergensmeyer.

People working in noisy environments often complain of difficulty communicating when they wear hearing protection. It was hypothesized that part of the workers' communication difficulties stem from changes in speech production that occur when hearing protectors are worn. To address this possibility, overall and one-third-octave-band SPL measurements were obtained for 16 men and 16 women as they produced connected speech while wearing foam, flange, or no earplugs (open ears) in quiet and in pink noise at 60, 70, 80, 90, and 100 dB SPL. The attenuation and the occlusion effect produced by the earplugs were measured. The Speech Intelligibility Index (SII) was also calculated for each condition. The talkers produced lower overall speech levels, speech-to-noise ratios, and SII values, and less high-frequency speech energy, when they wore earplugs compared with the open-ear condition. Small differences in the speech measures between the talkers wearing foam and flange earplugs were observed. Overall, the results of the study indicate that talkers wearing earplugs (and consequently their listeners) are at a disadvantage when communicating in noise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing numbers of young children spend extended portions of their days in group care settings. However, little attention has been given to the acoustical properties of these settings and how these may affect development, particularly speech and language development. This article provides a review of how classroom acoustics are measured, what researchers have found, and why poor classroom acoustics are of concern, particularly for infants and toddlers. It concludes with recommendations for improving classroom acoustics and verbal communication in the classroom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Provides a historical perspective of the maximum permissible ambient noise levels (MPANL) specified by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). Rationale for the revising the MPANL; Computational method for determining MPANL; Comparison of the versions of MPANLs.

The article discusses the study on biogeography and phylogenetic relationships of North American Pedicularis with Asian Pedicularis by sampling sequences from nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions and plastid matK region. Topics discussed include two monophyletic North American clades derived from Asian ancestors, and biogeographic analysis suggesting Asia, Japan, Cascade Range, or Rocky Mountains as potential ancestral area without Beringia involvement for one clade.

In 2004, a NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) MF/HF radar or dynasonde was set up by the National Central University in Chung-Li (24.5°N, 121.0°E), Taiwan. The Chung-Li dynasonde employs an interferometric array (including four receivers) for receiving ionospherically reflected echoes, and is a fully digital research ionosonde, capable of providing high precision spatial and temporal ionospheric measurements. Utilizing a pulse set defined by four pulses transmitted at two closely spaced frequencies, the measured parameters are the time-of-flight and sixteen complex-amplitudes. Two types of observations are conducted by the Chung-Li dynasonde -- an active sounding mode and a passive sounding mode. The methods are utilized in observing the local ionosphere and RF environment above Chung-Li. The active sounding is capable of transmitting HF radio pulses for remote sensing of the ionosphere. Initial results from this study have revealed various special events for observing sporadic E and spread F, along with the distribution of foF2 in a single day. These initial results will be used to confirm the surveillance of the ionosphere from other instruments, and conduct statistical comparisons between seasons. On the other hand, passive sounding receives and records signals from RF environments. It is used to monitor the MF/HF band in real time, and is contrasted with the active results when the echo is weak. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the design and performance of two new high-resolution interline charge-coupled device image sensors for use in industrial, machine vision, and aerial photography applications. These sensors feature 4.5- $\mu \text{m}$ pixels, 4 outputs, fast dump gate, horizontal lateral overflow drain, and vertical electronic shutter. The 43-Mp sensor has a 35-mm optical format and the 50-Mp sensor has a larger format with a 2.175:1 aspect ratio that matches many modern mobile phone displays. This paper discusses the challenges and solutions to manufacture such large sensors with superior image quality such as uniformity, read noise, dark current, smear, transfer gate blooming, lag, and so on. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]