@article {58472, title = {Acoustic Screening of the {\textquotedblleft}Wet voice{\textquotedblright}: Proof of Concept in an ex vivo Canine Laryngeal Model}, journal = {The Laryngoscope}, year = {2022}, month = {Dec-19-2022}, abstract = {

Background
Current protocols for bedside swallow evaluation have high rates of false negative results. Though experts are not consistently able to screen for aspiration risk by assessing vocal quality, there is emerging evidence that vocal acoustic parameters are significantly different in patients at risk of aspiration. Herein, we aimed to determine whether the presence of material on the vocal folds in an excised canine laryngeal model may have an impact on acoustic and aerodynamic measures.

Methods
Two ex vivo canine larynges were tested. Three liquids of different viscosities (1:100 diluted glycerin, pure glycerin, and honey-thick Varibar) were placed on the vocal folds at a constant volume. Acoustic and aerodynamic measures were obtained in both adducted and abducted vocal fold configurations. Intraglottal high-speed imaging was used to approximate the maximum divergence angle of the larynges in the studied conditions and examine its relationship to vocal efficiency (VE) and acoustic measures.

Results
In glottic insufficiency conditions only, we found that several acoustic parameters could predict the presence of material on the vocal folds. Based on the combination of the aerodynamic and acoustic data, we found that decreased spectral energy in the higher harmonics was associated with decreased VE in the presence of material on the vocal folds and/or glottic insufficiency.

Conclusion
Decreased spectral energy in the higher harmonics of the voice was found to be a potential biomarker of swallowing dysfunction, as it correlates with decreased vocal efficiency due to material on the vocal folds and/or glottic insufficiency, both of which are known risk factors for aspiration.

}, issn = {0023-852X, 1531-4995}, doi = {10.1002/lary.30525}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/lary.30525}, author = {Rameau, Ana{\"\i}s and Andreadis, Katerina and Ganesan, Vinayak and Lachs, Mark S and Rosen, Tony and Wang, Fei and Maddox, Alexandra and Klinck, Holger and Khosla, Sid M. and de Luzan, Charles Farbos and Madhusudhana, Shyam} } @article {57417, title = {Separation-related behaviour indicates the effect of functional breed selection in dogs (Canis familiaris)}, year = {2019}, abstract = {

The domestication of dogs resulted in several fundamental behavioural changes as compared to their closest wild living relative, the wolf. While these characteristics are considered to be fairly robust across dogs, dog breeds themselves manifest apparently strong behavioural differences. Thus far the functional roots of breed-specific behaviours are still less understood and supported by empirical research. We hypothesized that historical selection for the level of working interaction intimacy with their handlers, may have resulted in the fundamental differences between the main working dog types and their behavioural reactions when separated from their owner. In our study, dogs from breeds that were originally selected for either cooperative or independent work tasks, were tested in a short outdoor separation test. We included dogs with and without owner-reported separation-related disorder (SRD) to both groups. We found that SRD-status and the breed type were in significant association with various stress related behaviours during separation from the owner. Dogs from cooperative working breeds with SRD barked more frequently, meanwhile barking was less prevalent in independent breeds and also in cooperative breeds without owner-reported SRD symptoms. General movement (showing the dogs\’ intention to follow or find the disappearing, then absent owner) was uniformly strongest in cooperative dogs with SRD. Whining appeared most frequently in dogs with SRD, regardless to the breed type. These are the first results that support a functional evolutionary framework behind the association of particular dog breeds with the extent of their stressful reactions to separation from their owner.

}, keywords = {Barking, cooperation, Dog breeds, evolution, Frustration, Separation, Whining}, doi = {10.1016/j.applanim.2019.104884}, author = {Pongr{\'a}cz, P{\'e}ter and G{\'o}mez, Sara Alvarez and Lenkei, Rita} } @article {57352, title = {Pawsitively sad: pet-owners are more sensitive to negative emotion in animal distress vocalizations}, journal = {Royal Society Open Science}, volume = {6}, year = {2019}, month = {Jun-08-2021}, pages = {181555}, abstract = {

Pets have numerous, effective methods to communicate with their human hosts. Perhaps most conspicuous of these are distress vocalizations: in cats, the \‘miaow\’ and in dogs, the \‘whine\’ or \‘whimper\’. We compared a sample of young adults who owned cats and or dogs (\‘pet-owners\’ n = 264) and who did not (n=297) on their ratings of the valence of animal distress vocalizations, taken from a standardized database of sounds. We also examined these participants\’ self-reported symptoms of anxiety and depression, and their scores on a measure of interpersonal relationship functioning. Pet-owners rated the animal distress vocalizations as sadder than adults who did not own a pet. Cat-owners specifically gave the most negative ratings of cat miaows compared with other participants, but were no different in their ratings of other sounds. Dog sounds were rated more negatively overall, in fact as negatively as human baby cries. Pet-owning adults (cat only, dog only, both) were not significantly different from adults with no pets on symptoms of depression, anxiety or on self- reported interpersonal relationship functioning. We suggest that pet ownership is associated with greater sensitivity to negative emotion in cat and dog distress vocalizations.

}, keywords = {animal vocalizations, cat miaows, crying, dog whines, emotion perception, pet-owners}, issn = {2054-5703}, doi = {10.1098/rsos.181555}, url = {https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.181555https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rsos.181555}, author = {Parsons, Christine E. and LeBeau, Richard T. and Kringelbach, Morten L. and Young, Katherine S.} } @article {53520, title = {Seasonal Differences in Howling Response of Golden Jackals Canis aureus L., 1758 (Mammalia: Canidae) in Eastern Bulgaria}, journal = {ACTA ZOOLOGICA BULGARICA}, volume = {17}, year = {2018}, pages = {539-545}, chapter = {539}, abstract = {

The howling in golden jackals has a complex structure and is mostly used for territorial interactions. Due to the recent expansion of the golden jackal in Europe and the well-known fact that jackals respond to a playback howl, the bioacoustic stimulation has become an important method for data collection related to the jackal population density. This article describes changes in golden jackal response to a pre-recorded howl on a monthly basis throughout a monitoring period of one year. The study area was set in Eastern Bulgaria, in regions with already known high jackal population density. Data were collected from two transects located in different areas (Northeast and Southeast Bulgaria). The highest number of answers to the broadcasted howls was detected during June and July in Southeast Bulgaria and during July and August in Northeast Bulgaria. During these peaks, group-answers were registered mainly and the single individual-answers were very few or lacking. Based on jackal\’s ecology and biology, the results suggest that the howling response corresponds more to interactions between territorial groups rather than to com- munication signals during the breading season.

}, keywords = {Bulgaria, Canis aureus, golden jackal survey, howling, seasonality}, author = {Acosta-Pankov, Ilya and Spassov, Nikolai and Banea, Ovidiu C} } @article {53412, title = {Evidence of individual discrimination in the maned wolf long-distance extended-bark}, journal = {Behavioural Processes}, year = {2018}, month = {Jan-12-2018}, abstract = {

The acoustic channel is an efficient long-distance signalling system that may be especially effective for animals moving in the dark in a vast home range. The maned wolf\’s extended-bark is a long-range vocalization that functions as a mechanism to increase spatial distance among conspecifics as well as to enable pair-mate reunion. Individual variations in this vocalization have been reported, but the possibility that they can be perceived and used by the species has never been tested. In our study, we used ABAB playback experiments to test if captive maned wolves could perceive individual variations. We ran 19 playback sessions with ten different subjects from six different zoos. After discarding nine sessions that did not fulfil minimal experimental conditions, in all except two of the ten valid trials, the subjects responded with displaying Oriented Attention. To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration that the maned wolf is capable of discriminating among extended-barks of different individuals.

}, keywords = {acoustics, Chrysocyon brachyurus, discrimination, individuality, psychoacoustics, vocalization}, issn = {03766357}, doi = {10.1016/j.beproc.2018.12.004}, url = {https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0376635718301906https://api.elsevier.com/content/article/PII:S0376635718301906?httpAccept=text/xmlhttps://api.elsevier.com/content/article/PII:S0376635718301906?httpAccept=text/plain}, author = {Flora, Balieiro and Patr{\'\i}cia, Ferreira Monticelli} } @conference {53287, title = {Pr{\'e}-processamento de sinais ac{\'u}sticos para an{\'a}lise e caracteriza{\c c}{\~a}o de vocaliza{\c c}{\~o}es de lobos-guar{\'a}}, booktitle = {XXVIII ENCONTRO DA SOBRACXXVIII Encontro da SOBRAC}, year = {2018}, publisher = {Galoa}, organization = {Galoa}, abstract = {

The possibility of automatic species identification through their communication acoustic signals opens new possibilities for the study of behavior and the preservation of biodiversity. Although commercially available, automated analysis tools still lack success in terms of outcome and accuracy. The success of an automated method requires the validation of a process sequencing strategy aiming at the determination of vocal acoustic parameters in the middle of a complex soundscape. A challenge in this regard lies in the extraction of noise from field recordings, which sometimes makes difficult the correct interpretation of acoustic parameters. In this study, we explore a combination of signal pre-processing steps to extract the noise of recordings of roar bark vocalizations of maned wolves (Chrysocyon brachyurus) in recordings made by a digital recorder sampled at 44.1 kHz with 16-bit resolution, using processing tools of the software Audiosculpt 3.2.7 by IRCAM. The procedure involved a sequence of steps: selection of the best audios and file segmentation; loudness normalization; identification and removal of noise zones. The results include processing over 10 hours of field recording with the production of a body of more than 131 vocalizations, under conditions suitable for the individual characterization analysis that will be done next.

}, keywords = {Audiosculpt, automatic individual detection, bioacoustics, biodiversity conservation, sound signal processing}, doi = {10.17648/sobrac-87159}, url = {https://proceedings.science/proceedings/113/_papers/87159}, author = {Ferreira, Bruna and Rossi Faria, R{\'e}gis and Ferreira Monticelli, Patricia} } @article {53227, title = {Wolf howls encode both sender- and context-specific information}, journal = {Animal Behaviour}, volume = {145}, year = {2018}, month = {Jan-11-2018}, pages = {59 - 66}, abstract = {

Loud, long-distance calls serve varied functions across animal species including marking territory, attracting mates and signalling one\&$\#$39;s identity. Here, we examined the types of sender- and context-specific information encoded in the howls of captive timber wolves, Canis lupus. We analysed 913 howls from nine individuals across three packs and investigated whether howl structure varied consistently as a function of phenotypic factors (age class, sex, pack and identity of the caller) in addition to the context in which the call was produced: specifically, whether the call was produced in a \‘spontaneous\’ context just after sunrise or was \‘elicited\’ by the absence of a group member. Calls were correctly classified by individual identity and production context, but not by any other factors. Principal components analyses indicated that individual differences were primarily associated with frequency-based measures, whereas acoustic variation between production contexts was associated with a variety of frequency-, intensity- and energy-based measures. Recognition of individual differences in vocalizations is likely to be important for navigating social relationships in wolves and further work is required to determine which life history factors may shape these individual differences. Differences resulting from production context are suggestive that these howl variants may serve different functions. The extent to which these individual and contextual differences are understood by receivers remains an open question.

}, issn = {00033472}, doi = {10.1016/j.anbehav.2018.09.005}, url = {https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0003347218302756https://api.elsevier.com/content/article/PII:S0003347218302756?httpAccept=text/xmlhttps://api.elsevier.com/content/article/PII:S0003347218302756?httpAccept=text/plain}, author = {Watson, Stuart K. and Townsend, Simon W. and Range, Friederike} }