Perceptual and conceptual priming of environmental sounds.

It is still unknown whether sonic environments influence the processing of individual sounds in a similar way as discourse or sentence context influences the processing of individual words. One obstacle to answering this question has been the failure to dissociate perceptual (i.e.

ARTSTREAM: a neural network model of auditory scene analysis and source segregation.

Multiple sound sources often contain harmonics that overlap and may be degraded by environmental noise. The auditory system is capable of teasing apart these sources into distinct mental objects, or streams. Such an 'auditory scene analysis' enables the brain to solve the cocktail party problem.

Cordocentesis using the combined technique; needle guide-assisted and free-hand.

Two hundred and sixteen diagnostic cordocenteses were performed using the following technique: A guide was used to deliver the distal end of the needle to the immediate vicinity of the umbilical cord, after which the needle was released from the guide and a free-hand technique was used to enter the umbilical cord. The vessel punctured was identified by its sonographic appearance and flow direction using color Doppler technology. All procedure-related losses which occurred within 2 weeks were analyzed.