Acoustics of the Vowel - Preliminaries

It seems as if the fundamentals of how we produce vowels and how they are acoustically represented have been clarified: we phonate and articulate. Using our vocal chords, we produce a vocal sound or noise which is then shaped into a specific vowel sound by the resonances of the pharyngeal, oral, and nasal cavities, that is, the vocal tract. Accordingly, the acoustic description of vowels relates to vowel-specific patterns of relative energy maxima in the sound spectra, known as patterns of formants. The intellectual and empirical reasoning presented in this treatise, however, gives rise to scepticism with respect to this understanding of the sound of the vowel. The reflections and materials presented provide reason to argue that, up to now, a comprehensible theory of the acoustics of the voice and of voiced speech sounds is lacking, and consequently, no satisfying understanding of vowels as an achievement and particular formal accomplishment of the voice exists. Thus, the question of the acoustics of the vowel—and with it the question of the acoustics of the voice itself—proves to be an unresolved fundamental problem

Agricultural Development Bank Reform: The Case of The Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC), Thailand

The Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC) in Thailand has gone through four major phases of reform: 1966-74, laying the foundation for individual lending to farmers through joint liability groups; 1975-87, expanding its lending operations through access to commercial bank and donor funds and consolidating its operations by reducing loan channeling through cooperatives; 1988-96, striving for viability and self-reliance, under conditions of controlled interest rates, through savings mobilization, improved loan recovery and increased staff productivity; since 1997, adjusting to prudential regulation by the central bank and diversifying into non-agricultural lending. The result of gradual reform has been the largest outreach by any Agricultural Development Bank: 88% of farm households in Thailand, combined with institutional viability. --

Tanniferous forage plants with anthelmintic properties: the example of sainfoin (Onobrychis viciifolia)

Introduction: Sainfoin is a high-quality condensed tannin containing forage plant. The knowledge about anthelmintic effects against sheep nematodes and about the influence of plant preservation (e.g. ensiling) on the anthelmintic activity is limited. Method: 36 parasite naïve lambs (6 groups of 6 animals each) were infected with H. contortus (7,000 L3) and C. curticei (15,000 L3). From day 28 until day 44 p.i., groups A1, B1 and C1 received fresh, dried or ensiled sainfoin. Groups A2, B2 and C2 served as respective tannin-free controls. Individual faecal egg counts on a dry matter basis (FECDM) were performed every 3-4 days. On day 44, all animals were slaughtered and adult worm populations were determined. Results: The consumption of sainfoin was associated with a reduction of adult H. contortus (35% (P<0.1), 47% (P<0.05) and 49% (P<0.1) for fresh, dried and ensiled sainfoin, respectively) but had little effect on adult C. curticei. Compared to the controls, H. contortus specific FECDM was reduced by 62% (P<0.05), 58% (P<0.01) and 48% (P<0.1) for fresh, dried and ensiled sainfoin. FECDM specific to C. curticei were decreased by sainfoin hay and silage (hay 81% , silage 74%, both tests P<0.001) but were unchanged when fresh sainfoin was administered. Conclusion: For H. contortus the FECDM decrease seemed to be due to a nematocidal effect towards adult H. contortus. In contrast for C. curticei, the reduction in FECDM appeared to be a result of a reduced per capita fecundity. The use of conserved tanniferous fodder offers promising perspectives as a complementary control approach against nematodes in sheep

Effect of sainfoin (Onobrychis viciifolia) silage and hay against gastrointestinal nematodes in lambs

The objective of the study was to examine the effect of dried and ensiled sainfoin (Onobrychis viciifolia) against two species of gastrointestinal nematodes (Haemonchus contortus, Cooperia curticei) in lambs. Twenty-four days post experimental infection, 24 lambs were allocated to 4 equal groups. Group A and B received sainfoin silage and control silage respectively for 16 days. Groups C and D were fed on sainfoin hay or control hay for the same period. Feeds were administered ad libitum and mean refusals and live weight were regularly recorded. Individual faecal egg counts (FEC) were performed twice weekly. After the feeding period all lambs were slaughtered for post mortem investigation. The consumption of sainfoin hay was associated with a significant reduction of the adult H. contortus burden by 47 % (P < 0.05) whereas no significant difference was seen when feeding sainfoin silage (49 %, P = 0.112). The C. curticei worm burden was not significantly reduced by either sainfoin hay or silage. At slaughter FEC were significantly reduced by sainfoin hay by 64 % (P < 0.001) compared to the control feed. After feeding sainfoin silage FEC decreased by 48 % (P = 0.056). There was a tendency of better live weight gain in sainfoin hay fed animals compared to the control fed ones (P=0.07). These results demonstrate a nematocidal effect of a tanniferous forage legume against gastrointestinal nema¬¬todes, which was more pronounced against H. contortus. The antiparasitic effects were largely preserved when feeding sainfoin silage, suggesting this conservation procedure to be a valuable alternative to hay

Individual administration of three tanniferous forage plants to lambs artificially infected with Haemonchus contortus and Cooperia curticei

We investigated direct anthelmintic effects associated with the feeding of fresh tanniferous forages against established populations of Haemonchus contortus and Cooperia curticei in lambs. Twenty-four parasite naive lambs were inoculated with a single dose of infective larvae of these two parasites 27 days prior to the start of the feeding experiment. Lambs were individually fed with either chicory (Cichorium intybus), birdsfoot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus), sainfoin (Onobrychis viciifolia) or a ryegrass/ lucerne mixture (control) for 17 days. Animals where then united to one flock and subjected to control feeding for another 11 days to test the sustainability of potentially lowered egg excretion generated by tanniferous forage feeding. When compared to the control, administration of all tanniferous forages was associated with significant reductions of total daily faecal egg output specific to H. contortus (chicory: 89%; birdsfoot trefoil: 63%; sainfoin: 63%; all tests P < 0.05) and a tendency of reduced H. contortus worm burden (chicory: 15%; birdsfoot trefoil: 49% and sainfoin: 35% reduction). Irrespective of the condensed tannin (CT) containing fodder, no anthelmintic effects were found against C. curticei. Cessation of CT-feeding followed by non-CT control feeding did not result in a re-emergence of faecal egg counts based on faecal dry matter (FECDM) in any group, suggesting that egg output reductions are sustainable. The moderate to high concentrations of CTs in birdsfoot trefoil (15.2 g CTs kg-1 dry matter (DM)) and sainfoin (26.1 g CTs kg-1 DM) were compatible with the hypothesis that the antiparasitic effect of these forages is caused by their content of CTs. For chicory (3 g CTs kg-1 DM), however, other secondary metabolites need to be considered. Overall, birdsfoot trefoil and in particular sainfoin seem promising candidates in contributing to an integrated control strategy against H. contortus not only by mitigating parasite related health disturbances of the host but also by a sustained reduction of pasture contamination. # 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Agricultural Development Bank Reform: The Case of The Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC), Thailand

The Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC) in Thailand has gone through four major phases of reform: 1966-74, laying the foundation for individual lending to farmers through joint liability groups; 1975-87, expanding its lending operations through access to commercial bank and donor funds and consolidating its operations by reducing loan channeling through cooperatives; 1988-96, striving for viability and self-reliance, under conditions of controlled interest rates, through savings mobilization, improved loan recovery and increased staff productivity; since 1997, adjusting to prudential regulation by the central bank and diversifying into non-agricultural lending. The result of gradual reform has been the largest outreach by any Agricultural Development Bank: 88% of farm households in Thailand, combined with institutional viability

Multiple Knowledge Acquisition Strategies in MOLTKE

In this paper we will present a design model (in the sense of KADS) for the domain of technical diagnosis. Based on this we will describe the fully implemented expert system shell MOLTKE 3.0, which integrates common knowledge acquisition methods with techniques developed in the fields of Model-Based Diagnosis and Machine Learning, especially Case-Based Reasoning

Are Measured Differences Between the Formants of Men, Women and Children Due to F0 Differences?

Formant measurements show sex and age differences in the formant patterns of a single vowel category. Comparisons of the formant frequency values of men, women and children indicate low, middle and high values, respectively (Chiba & Kajiyama 1941, Potter & Steinberg 1950, Peterson & Barney 1952). The differences are found for all vowel categories, and they have generally been interpreted as a consequence of different vocal tract siz