Theory of the cubic autoproduct and its utility for noisy direction of arrival estimationa).

Autoproducts are quadratic or higher products of frequency-domain acoustic fields that can mimic genuine fields at frequencies within or outside the original field's bandwidth. Past studies have found a variety of interesting autoproduct properties but have been limited to quadratic autoproducts. This paper presents cubic autoproduct theory and documents how noise suppression may be attained with the cubic frequency-difference autoproduct, a product of three frequency-domain acoustic fields. The cubic autoproduct's field equations, developed from the inhomogeneous Helmholtz equation, and analytical results in single- and two-path environments justify interpretating the cubic autoproduct as a pseudofield and underscore its similarities to the quadratic autoproducts. For nonzero field bandwidth, many frequency triplets satisfy the relationship for a single cubic autoproduct frequency. Thus, bandwidth averaging can lead to serendipitous noise suppression and is shown herein to facilitate field-phase-structure recovery from ideal free space fields corrupted by Gaussian noise. Cubic-autoproduct-based direction of arrival (DOA) estimation using signal and noise recordings collected in the ocean are found to be more accurate than conventional DOA estimates from the same data. In particular, cubic autoproduct results showed a 3-5 dB noise suppression advantage for 4- and 6-kHz direct- and reflected-path sounds broadcast 200 m to a four-element receiving array.

Coherence of the frequency-difference autoproduct deduced from high-frequency acoustic fields scattered from a rough sea surfacea).

The prevalence of random scattering from a rough ocean surface increases with increasing χ=kh cos θ, where k is the acoustic wavenumber, h is the root-mean-square surface height, and θ is the incidence angle. Generally, when χ≫1, coherence between incident and surface-scattered fields is lost. However, such coherence may be recovered when χ≫1 by considering the frequency-difference autoproduct of the surface-scattered field, a quadratic product of complex fields at nearby frequencies. Herein, the autoproduct's coherent reflection coefficient for χ> 20 is determined from surface-scattered sound fields obtained from 50 independent realizations of the rough ocean surface measured in pelagic waters off the coast of California in January 1992. The recordings were made with a source at a depth of 147 m that broadcasted 30 and 40 kHz signals to a single receiver 576 m away at depth of 66 m. An analytic formula for the coherent reflection coefficient of the frequency-difference autoproduct, based on the Kirchhoff approximation and a Gaussian surface autocorrelation function, compares favorably with measurements. Improved agreement with the single-receiver measurements is possible via a minor adjustment to the surface autocorrelation length. The adjustment identified here matches that determined previously from horizontal spatial coherence estimates utilizing the experiment's eight-element receiving array.

Coherent reflection recovery in scattering from the ocean surface using the frequency-difference autoproducta).

The coherence of rough sea-surface-scattered acoustic fields decreases with increasing frequency. The frequency-difference autoproduct, a quadratic product of acoustic fields at nearby frequencies, mimics a genuine field at the difference frequency. In rough-surface scattering, the autoproduct's lower effective frequency decreases the apparent surface roughness, restoring coherent reflection. Herein, the recovery of coherent reflection in sea surface scattering via the frequency-difference autoproduct is examined for data collected off the coast of New Jersey during the Shallow Water '06 (SW06) experiment. An acoustic source at depth 40 m and receiver at depth 24.3 m and range 200 m interrogated 160 independent realizations of the ocean surface. The root mean square surface height h was 0.167 m, and broadcast frequencies were 14-20 kHz, so that 2.5 ≤kh cos θ≤ 3.7 for acoustic wavenumber k and incidence angle θ. Measured autoproducts, constructed from scattered constituent fields, show significant coherent reflection at sufficiently low difference frequencies. Theoretical results, using the Kirchhoff approximation and a non-analytic surface autocorrelation function, agree with experimental findings. The match is improved using a numerical strategy, exploiting the relationship between autoproduct-based coherence recovery, the ocean-surface autocorrelation function, and the ocean-surface height spectrum. Error bars computed from Monte Carlo scattering simulations support the validity of the measured coherence recovery.

Recovery of coherent reflection from rough-surface scattered acoustic fields via the frequency-difference autoproduct.

The acoustic field reflected from a random rough surface loses coherence with the incident field in the Kirchhoff approximation as kh cos θ increases, where k is the incident field wavenumber, h is the root mean square roughness height, and θ is the incidence angle. Thus, for fixed rough-surface properties and incidence angle, a reflected field at lower wavenumber should retain more coherence. Recent results suggest that the frequency-difference autoproduct formed from complex acoustic field amplitudes at two nearby frequencies can recover acoustic information at the difference of those frequencies even when the difference frequency is below the recorded field's bandwidth. Herein analytical, computational, and experimental results are presented for the extent to which the frequency-difference autoproduct recovers coherence from randomly rough-surface-scattered constituent fields that have lost coherence. The analytical results, developed from the Kirchhoff approximation and formal ensemble averaging over randomly rough surfaces with Gaussian height distributions and Gaussian correlation functions, indicate that the coherence of the rough-surface-reflected frequency-difference autoproduct depends on the surface correlation length and Δkh cos θ, where Δk is the difference of the autoproduct's constituent field wavenumbers. These results compare favorably with Monte Carlo simulations of rough surface scattering, and with laboratory experiments involving long surface correlation lengths where 1 ≤kh cos θ≤ 3.

Geospatial Analyses of Accessibility to Down Syndrome Specialty Care.

OBJECTIVE: To assess whether the location of 71 Down syndrome specialty care clinics in the US make them inaccessible to a considerable portion of the American population. STUDY DESIGN: Using a population-based representative sample of 64 761 individuals with Down syndrome and a Google Maps Application Programming Interface Python program, we calculated the distance each patient with Down syndrome would need to travel to reach the nearest clinic. Two conceptualizations were used-the state fluidity method, which allowed an individual to cross state lines for care and the state boundary method, which required individuals receive care in their state of residence. RESULTS: Almost 1 in 5 US individuals face significant geographic obstacles to receiving specialty care. This finding is especially prominent in the South, where >33% of patients with Down syndrome must travel >2 hours to reach their nearest clinic. CONCLUSIONS: Down syndrome specialty care clinics are inaccessible to a considerable portion of American society. Innovative usage of technology might be useful to minimize these disparities in healthcare accessibility.