On the Generalizability of Time-of-Flight Convolutional Neural Networks for Noninvasive Acoustic Measurements.

Bulk wave acoustic time-of-flight (ToF) measurements in pipes and closed containers can be hindered by guided waves with similar arrival times propagating in the container wall, especially when a low excitation frequency is used to mitigate sound attenuation from the material. Convolutional neural networks (CNNs) have emerged as a new paradigm for obtaining accurate ToF in non-destructive evaluation (NDE) and have been demonstrated for such complicated conditions. However, the generalizability of ToF-CNNs has not been investigated.

Genetic Algorithm-Wavelet Transform Feature Extraction for Data-Driven Acoustic Resonance Spectroscopy.

Acoustic resonance spectroscopy (ARS) enables highly accurate measurement of the properties (geometry/material) of a structure based on the structure's natural vibrational resonances. In general, measuring a specific property in multibody structures presents a significant challenge due to the complex overlapping peaks within the resonance spectrum. We present a technique for extracting useful features from a complex spectrum by isolating resonance peaks that are sensitive to the measured property and insensitive to other properties (noise peaks).

Specific resonance mode enhancement and suppression using non-uniform polarization of piezoelectric wafers: Theory and experiments.

We present experimental demonstration of specific resonance mode enhancement and suppression in circular and rectangular piezoelectric wafers with engineered non-uniform polarization profiles. The polarization profiles are designed based on the electromechanical impedance response of non-uniformly polarized wafers as obtained from the theory. The circular wafers are fabricated with non-uniform polarization profiles that involve a central polarized region surrounded by an unpolarized region.

Multilevel Frequency-Specific Information Storage Using Engineered Electromechanical Resonances in Piezoelectric Wafer Arrays.

Multilevel information storage methods have the potential for increasing storage density and improving information security through obfuscation. Taking inspiration from the color quick response codes, we have developed a method for encoding layers of information in an array of thin piezoelectric wafers. Information storage is accomplished by altering the size of the circular polarization domain of individual wafers to engineer the response of the electromechanical resonances.

The effect of a transducer's spatial averaging on an elastodynamic guided wave's wavenumber spectrum.

Elastodynamic guided waves propagate in an elastic solid which makes it difficult, if not impractical, to place a receiving transducer in the direct path of the propagating wave (as one would for an acoustic wave in a fluid medium). To account for this, receiving transducers are often placed on the surface of the solid waveguide such that the transducer surface is parallel to the wave propagation direction. This transducer orientation introduces spatial averaging, which causes the received signal to have an altered signal amplitude and mode bias.

Noninvasive Acoustic Measurements in Cylindrical Shell Containers.

Acoustic time-of-flight (ToF) measurements enable noninvasive material characterization, acoustic imaging, and defect detection and are commonly used in industrial process control, biomedical devices, and national security. When characterizing a fluid contained in a cylinder or pipe, ToF measurements are hampered by guided waves, which propagate around the cylindrical shell walls and obscure the waves propagating through the interrogated fluid. We present a technique for overcoming this limitation based on a broadband linear chirp excitation and cross correlation detection.

Multi-Level Information Storage Using Engineered Electromechanical Resonances of Piezoelectric Wafers: A Concept Piezoelectric Quick Response (PQR) Code.

A piezoelectric-based method for information storage is presented. It involves engineering the polarization profiles of multiple piezoelectric wafers to enhance/suppress specific electromechanical resonances. These enhanced/suppressed resonances can be used to represent multiple frequency-dependent bits, thus enabling multi-level information storage.

A Physics-Based Signal Processing Approach for Noninvasive Ultrasonic Characterization of Multiphase Oil-Water-Gas Flows in a Pipe.

A signal processing technique is presented for determining the composition of multiphase oil-water-gas flow in a pipe using noninvasive ultrasonic speed of sound measurements from a transmitter-receiver pair bonded to diametrically opposite sides of a pipe. A linear chirp excitation is used to send broadband ultrasonic energy that propagates in two paths from transmitter to receiver such as: 1) a wave through the pipe wall and then the multiphase mixture and 2) ultrasonic guided waves along the pipe wall in the circumferential direction. As the ultrasonic attenuation of the multiphase mixture increases, the amplitude of the signal through the fluid mixture decreases relative to that of circumferential guided waves, making it difficult to determine the time of arrival of the fluid-path signal and, hence, the speed of sound in the mixture.

A broadband wavelet implementation for rapid ultrasound pulse-echo time-of-flight measurements.

A broadband wavelet approach to ultrasonic pulse-echo time-of-flight measurements is described. The broadband approach significantly reduces the time required for frequency-dependent pulse-echo measurements, enabling studies of dynamic systems ranging from biological systems to solid-state phase transitions. The described broadband approach is demonstrated in parallel with the more traditional frequency stepping approach to perform ultrasound time-of-flight measurements inside a large volume Paris-Edinburgh press in situ at a synchrotron source.

Ultrasonic Bessel beam generation from radial modes of piezoelectric discs.

We present comprehensive analytical and experimental investigations on ultrasonic Bessel beam generation from radial modes of piezoelectric disc transducers. The Bessel vibration pattern of the radial modes was experimentally measured using Laser Doppler Vibrometry and was found to be in very good agreement with those obtained from numerical simulations. Ultrasonic beam profiles from the first four radial modes of the piezoelectric disc were measured using a hydrophone in a water tank.

Maternal ambient heat exposure during early pregnancy in summer and spring and congenital heart defects - A large US population-based, case-control study.

Background/objective: Few studies have assessed the effect of ambient heat during the fetal development period on congenital heart defects (CHDs), especially in transitional seasons. We examined and compared the associations between extreme heat and CHD phenotypes in summer and spring, assessed their geographical differences, and compared different heat indicators.

Methods: We identified 5848 CHD cases and 5742 controls (without major structural defects) from the National Birth Defects Prevention Study, a US multicenter, population-based case-control study.

Association of fine particulate air pollution with cardiopulmonary morbidity in Western Coast of Saudi Arabia.

To assess cardiopulmonary morbidity associated with daily exposures to PM2.5 in Western Coast of Saudi Arabia. Methods: We monitored 24-h PM2.

Prevalence and Clinical Attributes of Congenital Microcephaly - New York, 2013-2015.

Congenital Zika virus infection can cause microcephaly and other severe fetal neurological anomalies (1). To inform microcephaly surveillance efforts and assess ascertainment sources, the New York State Department of Health and the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene sought to determine the prevalence of microcephaly in New York during 2013-2015, before known importation of Zika virus infections. Suspected newborn microcephaly diagnoses were identified from 1) reports submitted by birth hospitals in response to a request and 2) queries of a hospital administrative discharge database for newborn microcephaly diagnoses.

High frequency signal acquisition using a smartphone in an undergraduate teaching laboratory: Applications in ultrasonic resonance spectra.

A simple and inexpensive approach to acquiring signals in the megahertz frequency range using a smartphone is described. The approach is general, applicable to electromagnetic as well as acoustic measurements, and makes available to undergraduate teaching laboratories experiments that are traditionally inaccessible due to the expensive equipment that are required. This paper focuses on megahertz range ultrasonic resonance spectra in liquids and solids, although there is virtually no upper limit on frequencies measurable using this technique.

Effect of Hurricane Sandy on Health Care Services Utilization Under Medicaid.

Objective: This investigation assessed changes in utilization of inpatient, outpatient, emergency department, and pharmacy services in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy in 8 counties in New York affected by the storm.

Methods: Medicaid data for enrollees residing in 8 counties in New York were used to obtain aggregated daily counts of claims for 4 service types over immediate, 3-month, and 1-year periods following the storm. Negative binomial regression was used to compare service utilization in the storm year with the 2 prior years, within areas differentially affected by the storm.

The acoustic nonlinearity parameter in Fluorinert up to 381 K and 13.8 MPa.

This work reports on the determination of the acoustic nonlinearity parameter, B/A, from measured sound speed data, in Fluorinert FC-43 at temperatures up to 381 K and pressures up to 13.8 MPa using the thermodynamic method. Sound speed was measured using Swept Frequency Acoustic Interferometry at 11 pressures between ambient and 13.

Linking air pollution data and adverse birth outcomes: environmental public health tracking in New York State.

Background: Studies investigating associations between ambient air pollution and fetal growth and gestational duration have reported inconclusive findings.

Objectives: The study goal was to use the Environmental Public Health Tracking Network to describe the association between exposure to particulate matter (PM2.5) and ozone and term low birth weight (TLBW) in New York State.

Cold spells and the risk of hospitalization for asthma: New York, USA 1991-2006.

Purpose: A study was conducted to investigate whether prolonged periods of very cold temperatures were associated with an increased risk of hospitalization for asthma.

Methods: Hospitalization admissions with a principal diagnosis of asthma were identified in New York State, USA, for the months November through April from 1991 to 2006. A cold spell was defined as three or more consecutive days where the daily mean of universal apparent temperature (UAT) within a week prior to admission was at the 10th percentile or less.

Evaluation of the transmission line model for couplant layer corrections in pulse-echo measurements.

An acoustic couplant layer plays an integral role in many ultrasonic nondestructive testing and material characterization applications. It is important to account for this layer for accurate time-delay measurements. In pulse-echo measurements, the couplant layer can be accounted for by modeling the frequency dependence of phase delay.

Determination of acoustical nonlinear parameter β of water using the finite amplitude method.

The acoustic nonlinearity of water is investigated using a variation of the finite amplitude method with harmonic generation. The finite amplitude method provides information on the coefficient of nonlinearity, β, through the ratio of the amplitude of the fundamental and that of the second harmonic. The pressure of both the fundamental, p1, and that of the second harmonic, p2, are determined experimentally at different transmitter-receiver separation distances, eliminating the need for knowledge of the sound absorption in the medium.

An acoustic resonance measurement cell for liquid property determinations up to 250 °C.

This paper reports on the development of a compact, rugged, and portable measurement cell design for the determination of liquid sound speed at temperatures up to 250 °C and pressures up to 3000 psi. Although a significant amount of work exists in the literature on the characterization of fluids, primarily pure water, over a wide range of pressures and temperatures, the availability of experimentally determined sound speed in water between 100 °C and 250 °C is very limited. The need to measure sound speed in liquids up to 250 °C is of both fundamental interest, as in the case of basic equations of state, and applied interest, such as for characterizing geothermal or petroleum downhole environments.

Impact of NO(x) emissions reduction policy on hospitalizations for respiratory disease in New York State.

To date, only a limited number of studies have examined the impact of ambient pollutant policy on respiratory morbidities. This accountability study examined the effect of a regional pollution control policy, namely, the US Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) nitrogen oxides (NO(x)) Budget Trading Program (NBP), on respiratory health in New York State (NYS). Time-series analysis using generalized additive models was applied to assess changes in daily hospitalizations for respiratory diseases in NYS after the implementation of the NBP policy.

Creating a collimated ultrasound beam in highly attenuating fluids.

We have devised a method, based on a parametric array concept, to create a low-frequency (300-500 kHz) collimated ultrasound beam in fluids highly attenuating to sound. This collimated beam serves as the basis for designing an ultrasound visualization system that can be used in the oil exploration industry for down-hole imaging in drilling fluids. We present the results of two different approaches to generating a collimated beam in three types of highly attenuating drilling mud.

Reproductive outcomes among former Love Canal residents, Niagara Falls, New York.

Love Canal, located in Niagara Falls, NY, and among the earliest and most significant hazardous waste sites in the United States, first came to public attention in 1978. In this study, researchers evaluated 1,799 live births from 1960 through 1996 to 980 women who formerly lived in the Love Canal Emergency Declaration Area and were of reproductive age sometime during that time period. Using Upstate New York and Niagara County as external comparison populations, standardized incidence ratios with 95% confidence intervals were calculated for low birth weight, preterm birth, small for gestational age, and congenital malformations, and unadjusted proportions of male to female births were calculated.