39,013 research outputs found
Speaker-normalized sound representations in the human auditory cortex
The acoustic dimensions that distinguish speech sounds (like the vowel differences in ābootā and āboatā) also differentiate speakersā voices. Therefore, listeners must normalize across speakers without losing linguistic information. Past behavioral work suggests an important role for auditory contrast enhancement in normalization: preceding context affects listenersā perception of subsequent speech sounds. Here, using intracranial electrocorticography in humans, we investigate whether and how such context effects arise in auditory cortex. Participants identified speech sounds that were preceded by phrases from two different speakers whose voices differed along the same acoustic dimension as target words (the lowest resonance of the vocal tract). In every participant, target vowels evoke a speaker-dependent neural response that is consistent with the listenerās perception, and which follows from a contrast enhancement model. Auditory cortex processing thus displays a critical feature of normalization, allowing listeners to extract meaningful content from the voices of diverse speakers
Prediction of stall characteristics of straight wing aircraft
Digital computer program considers an unswept wing with a circular or elliptical fuselage. Wing has partial or full span deflected flaps and must have an aspect ratio of 6 or greater
Optical monitoring system
Instrument can measure optical transmission, reflectance, and scattering. This information can be used to identify changes in optical properties or deviations from required optical standards. Device consists of monochromatic source, photo detector, transfer mirror, and hemiellipsoid. System might be used to measure optical properties of thin film
Indeterminacy of Spatiotemporal Cardiac Alternans
Cardiac alternans, a beat-to-beat alternation in action potential duration
(at the cellular level) or in ECG morphology (at the whole heart level), is a
marker of ventricular fibrillation, a fatal heart rhythm that kills hundreds of
thousands of people in the US each year. Investigating cardiac alternans may
lead to a better understanding of the mechanisms of cardiac arrhythmias and
eventually better algorithms for the prediction and prevention of such dreadful
diseases. In paced cardiac tissue, alternans develops under increasingly
shorter pacing period. Existing experimental and theoretical studies adopt the
assumption that alternans in homogeneous cardiac tissue is exclusively
determined by the pacing period. In contrast, we find that, when calcium-driven
alternans develops in cardiac fibers, it may take different spatiotemporal
patterns depending on the pacing history. Because there coexist multiple
alternans solutions for a given pacing period, the alternans pattern on a fiber
becomes unpredictable. Using numerical simulation and theoretical analysis, we
show that the coexistence of multiple alternans patterns is induced by the
interaction between electrotonic coupling and an instability in calcium
cycling.Comment: 20 pages, 10 figures, to be published in Phys. Rev.
Reformulation in planning
Reformulation of a problem is intended to make the problem more amenable to efficient solution. This is equally true in the special case of reformulating a planning problem. This paper considers various ways in which reformulation can be exploited in planning
Polynomial Cointegration among Stationary Processes with Long Memory
n this paper we consider polynomial cointegrating relationships among
stationary processes with long range dependence. We express the regression
functions in terms of Hermite polynomials and we consider a form of spectral
regression around frequency zero. For these estimates, we establish consistency
by means of a more general result on continuously averaged estimates of the
spectral density matrix at frequency zeroComment: 25 pages, 7 figures. Submitted in August 200
Deconstructing therapy outcome measurement with Rasch analysis of a measure of general clinical distress: the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised
Rasch analysis was used to illustrate the usefulness of item-level analyses for evaluating a common therapy outcome measure of general clinical distress, the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-90-R; Derogatis, 1994). Using complementary therapy research samples, the instrument's 5-point rating scale was found to exceed clients' ability to make reliable discriminations and could be improved by collapsing it into a 3-point version (combining scale points 1 with 2 and 3 with 4). This revision, in addition to removing 3 misfitting items, increased person separation from 4.90 to 5.07 and item separation from 7.76 to 8.52 (resulting in alphas of .96 and .99, respectively). Some SCL-90-R subscales had low internal consistency reliabilities; SCL-90-R items can be used to define one factor of general clinical distress that is generally stable across both samples, with two small residual factors
PTF11kx: A Type Ia Supernova with Hydrogen Emission Persisting After 3.5 Years
The optical transient PTF11kx exhibited both the characteristic spectral
features of Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) and the signature of ejecta interacting
with circumstellar material (CSM) containing hydrogen, indicating the presence
of a nondegenerate companion. We present an optical spectrum at days
after peak from Keck Observatory, in which the broad component of H
emission persists with a similar profile as in early-time observations. We also
present IRAC detections obtained and days after peak,
and an upper limit from ultraviolet imaging at days. We interpret
our late-time observations in context with published results - and reinterpret
the early-time observations - in order to constrain the CSM's physical
parameters and compare to theoretical predictions for recurrent nova systems.
We find that the CSM's radial extent may be several times the distance between
the star and the CSM's inner edge, and that the CSM column density may be two
orders of magnitude lower than previous estimates. We show that the H
luminosity decline is similar to other SNe with CSM interaction, and
demonstrate how our infrared photometry is evidence for newly formed,
collisionally heated dust. We create a model for PTF11kx's late-time CSM
interaction and find that X-ray reprocessing by photoionization and
recombination cannot reproduce the observed H luminosity, suggesting
that the X-rays are thermalized and that H radiates from collisional
excitation. Finally, we discuss the implications of our results regarding the
progenitor scenario and the geometric properties of the CSM for the PTF11kx
system.Comment: 15 pages, 8 figures, 3 tables; submitted to Ap
Search Tool Implementation for Historical Archive
Dr. Linda Arnold's archival project "Mexican-American War and the Media" is an underutilized resource. Providing contrasting primary sources on the War, it is the only archive of its kind. In order to make the archive's massive amount of information more accessible to researchers and students, I added search functionality to the site. Several tools were implemented and tested. Perlfect, a Perl-based open-source approach, was determined to be the best option. This report includes an outline of the steps taken to implement the search tool, a user's manual, a developer's manual, and options for future work. The archive may be accessed at http://www.majbill.vt.edu/history/mxamwar/index.htm
- ā¦