The Orion spacecraft undergoing development at NASA and Lockheed Martin aims to launch the first humans to set foot on asteroids and Mars.' Sensors onboard Orion must transmit back to Earth astronomical amounts of data recording almost everything in 50,231 lb. (22,784 kg)2 of spacecraft, down to the temperatures, voltages, or torsions of even the most minor components. This report introduces the new Orion Scripted Interface Generator (OrionSIG) software created by summer 2013 NASA interns Robert Dooling and Samuel Harris. OrionSIG receives a list of Orion variables and produces a script to graph these measurements regardless of their size or type. The program also accepts many other input options to manipulate displays, such as limits on the graph's range or commands to graph different values in a reverse sawtooth wave. OrionSIG paves the way for monitoring stations on Earth to process, display, and test Orion data much more efficiently, a helpful asset in preparation for Orion's first test mission in 2014. Figure I.

Animals that thrive both on land and underwater are faced with the task of interpreting stimuli in different media. This becomes a challenge to the sensory receptors in that stimuli (e.g., sound, motion) may convey the same type of information but are transmitted with different physical characteristics. We used auditory brainstem responses to examine hearing abilities of a species that makes full use of these two environments, the American alligator (Alligator mississipiensis). In water, alligators responded to tones from 100 Hz to 2,000 Hz, with peak sensitivity at 800 Hz. In air, they responded to tones from 100 Hz to 8,000 Hz, with peak sensitivity around 1,000 Hz. We also examined the contribution to hearing of an air bubble that becomes trapped in the middle ear as the animal submerges. This bubble has been previously implicated in underwater hearing. Our studies show that the trapped air bubble has no affect on auditory thresholds, suggesting the bubble is not an important adaptation for underwater hearing in this species.

Many bird vocalizations contain elements consisting of both frequency-modulated (FM) and/or amplitude-modulated (AM) compo- nents. In humans, differences in perception of FM versus AM sounds are related to other psychoacoustic phenomena and have provided an interesting test of the excitation pattern model of hearing. Here, budgerigars were trained by operant conditioning and tested with the method of constant stimuli to detect FM and AM. The birds were tested at three carrier frequencies (1.0, 2.86, and 4.0 kHz) and the threshold for detecting modulation was measured at eight different modulation frequencies from 5 to 640 Hz. The threshold for detection of frequency modulation decreased with increasing modulation frequency, while the threshold for detecting amplitude modulation was fairly constant over the entire range of modulation frequencies. This pattern of results is similar to that found for humans. Critical modulation frequencies calculated from these functions will be compared to other psychoacoustic phenomena in budgerigars and the relevance of these findings for mechanisms of hearing in birds and the characteristics of vocal signals will be discussed. [Work supported by NIH DC-00198 and MH-00982 to RJD.]

Objective. —To provide clinicians and other health care providers with a current consensus on the benefits, limitations, and technical and safety issues that need to be considered in the use of cochlear implants. Participants. —A nonfederal, nonadvocate, 14-member consensus panel representing the fields of otolaryngology, audiology, speech-language pathology, pediatrics, psychology, and education, and including a public representative. In addition, 24 experts in auditory anatomy and physiology, otolaryngology, audiology, aural rehabilitation, education, speech-language pathology, and bioengineering presented data to the consensus panel and a conference audience of 650. Evidence. —The literature was searched through MEDLINE and an extensive bibliography of references was provided to the panel and the conference audience. Experts prepared abstracts with relevant citations from the literature. Scientific evidence was given precedence over clinical anecdotal experience. Consensus. —The panel, answering predefined consensus questions, developed its conclusions based on the scientific evidence presented in open forum and the scientific literature. Consensus Statement. —The panel composed a draft statement that was read in its entirety and circulated to the experts and the audience for comment. Thereafter, the panel resolved conflicting recommendations and released a revised statement at the end of the conference. The panel finalized the revisions within a few weeks after the conference. Conclusions. —Cochlear implantation improves communication ability in most adults with severe-to-profound deafness and frequently leads to positive psychological and social benefits as well. Currently, children at least 2 years old and adults with profound deafness are candidates for implantation. Cochlear implant candidacy should be extended to adults with severe hearing impairment and open-set sentence discrimination that is less than or equal to 30% in the best-aided condition. Access to optimal education and (re)habilitation services is important for adults and is critical for children to maximize the benefits available from cochlear implantation. (JAMA. 1995;274:1955-1961)

Budgerigars (parakeets) were trained using operant conditioning procedures to detect changes in a repeating background of synthetic speech sounds. Response latencies for detection were used to construct similarity matrices, and multidimensional scaling procedures were then used to produce spatial maps of these speech stimuli reflecting perceptual organization. Birds were tested on the same alveolar, velar, and bilabial synthetic VOT stimuli previously used to test humans and chinchillas [P. K. Kuhl and J. D. Miller, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 63, 905–917 (1978)]. Results indicate that budgerigars partition each of these continua into two perceptual categories with an abrupt perceptual change occurring at roughly the same VOT location as observed in humans and chinchillas. It is concluded that the perceptual mechanisms underlying the categorigal perception of VOT stimuli are sufficiently general so as to be common to the mammalian and avian auditory systems. [Work supported by NIH.]

The cardiac orienting response to species-specific songs was measured in young swamp sparrows and song sparrows. Swamp sparrows respond with significantly greater deceleration to conspecific songs than to songs of the sympatric song sparrow. This discriminatory ability is operating during the sensitive period for song learning and is evident upon initial exposures to conspecific song. These results are the 1st direct evidence for a sensory component in the process of selective vocal learning in birds.

Parakeets exposed for 72 hr to a 1/3-octave band of noise centered at 2.0 kHz have a maximum threshold shift at 2.0 kHz with little or no spread of threshold shift to lower or higher frequencies. These results differ from those observed in mammals and suggest significant differences between avian and mammalian peripheral auditory processing.