On Using Backpropagation for Speech Texture Generation and Voice Conversion

Inspired by recent work on neural network image generation which rely on backpropagation towards the network inputs, we present a proof-of-concept system for speech texture synthesis and voice conversion based on two mechanisms: approximate inversion of the representation learned by a speech recognition neural network, and on matching statistics of neuron activations between different source and target utterances. Similar to image texture synthesis and neural style transfer, the system works by optimizing a cost function with respect to the input waveform samples. To this end we use a differentiable mel-filterbank feature extraction pipeline and train a convolutional CTC speech recognition network. Our system is able to extract speaker characteristics from very limited amounts of target speaker data, as little as a few seconds, and can be used to generate realistic speech babble or reconstruct an utterance in a different voice.Comment: Accepted to ICASSP 201

The Effect of Acute and Chronic Ethanol on Dopamine Turnover in the Caudate Nucleus of the Rat

It is generally believed that acute and chronic ethanol (EtOH) administration alters the activity of catecholamines in the brain, however, the specific effects of EtOH on the dopaminergic system are disputed (I). Acute EtOH administration has been variously reported to decrease (2,3), increase (4,5), and cause no change (6 ,7) in dopamine (DA) synthesis and turnover. Likewise, chronic EtOH treatments have been reported to decrease (2,8) and increase (9, 10) DA synthesis and turnover. Many of these apparently conflicting results are explained by the use of different animal models (rat (2, 3,6,7,10), rabbit (6), and mouse (4,5,9)), different methods of EtOH administration (intraperitoneal (3 ,4,6,7), oral (2,5) , and inhalation (9)), and no assurance of alcoholic dependence with chronic exposure (2, I0). Further, the majority of these studies were carried out prior to the development of a very sensitive high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) technique which can detect minute amounts of DA, dihyroxyphenylalanine (DO PA), and dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC) (11 ,12)

GAMBARAN PERSEPSI IBU TENTANG PERUBAHAN FISIK MENOPAUSE DI RT.01 RW.02 DESA TEMU PRAMBON SIDOARJO

Pandangan dan penilaian wanita tentang menopause banyak dipengaruhi oleh mitos atau keyakinan yang tidak rasional yang berkembang di masyarakat yang begitu diyakininya. Menurut hasil wawancara dari 10 orang ibu menopause didapatkan data sebanyak 6 orang (60%) mempunyai persepsi masa menopause sangat tidak menyenangkan. Sedangakan 4 orang (40%) lainnya berpendapat bahwa menopause adalah suatu masa yang tidak perlu ditakutkan. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui persepsi ibu tentang perubahan fisik menopause. Desain penelitian ini adalah deskriptif. Sampel pada penelitian ini adalah seluruh ibu menopause yang berjumlah 22 orang. Besar sampel adalah 22 responden. Cara pengambilan sampel yang digunakan adalah non probability sampling, dengan teknik total sampling. Variabel penelitian ini adalah persepsi ibu tentang perubahan fisik menopause. Instrumen penelitian menggunakan kuesioner. Data diolah dengan mengunakan editing, skoring, coding, dan tabulating dan dianalisis dengan analisis deskriptif dalam bentuk tabel distribusi frekuensi. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan sebagian besar (54,5%) responden memiliki persepsi positif dan hampir setengahnya (45,5%) memiliki persepsi negatif. Simpulan dari penelitian ini adalah sebagian besar ibu memiliki persepsi positif. diharapkan petugas kesehatan untuk tetap mampu menjembatani masyarakat dan selalu memberikan informasi mengenai masa menopause untuk mengatasi gangguan fisik dan mental yang terjadi saat menopause

The Human Auditory Sensory Memory Trace Persists about 10 sec: Neuromagnetic Evidence

Neuromagnetic responses were recorded to frequent "standard tones of l000 Hz and to infrequent 1100-Hz "deviant" tones with a 24-channel planar SQUID gradiometer. Stimuli were presented at constant interstimulus intervals (ISIs) ranging from 0.75 to 12 sec. The standards evoked a prominent 100-msec response, N100m, which increased in amplitude with increasing ISI. N100m could be dissociated into two subcomponents with different source areas. The posterior component, N100m2, increased when the ISI grew up to 6 sec, whereas the more anterior component, N100m2, probably continued its growth beyond the 12-sec ISI. At ISIs from 0.75 to 9 sec, the deviants elicited additionally a mismatch field (MMF). The equivalent sources of both N100m and MMF were at the supra-temporal auditory cortex. We assume that auditory stimuli leave in the auditory system a trace that affects the processing of the subsequent stimuli. The decrement of the N100m amplitude as well as elicitation of MMF can be considered as indirect evidence of active traces. A behavioral estimate of the persistence of the sensory auditory memory was obtained in a separate experiment in which the subject compared, without attending to the stimuli, tones presented at the daerent ISIs. The subjects discriminated the stimuli better than merely by chance at ISIs of 0.75-9 sec. The ISI dependence of the behavioral estimate as well as of N100m2 and MMF are similar enough to suggest a common underlying mechanism that retains information for a period of about 10 sec.Peer reviewe