Hearing loss: theoretical absence and visual bullying

The origins of Anglophone cultural theory in the mid-twentieth century were predominantly scopocentric, partly because of its epistemological history, and for the cognate reason that visual tropes are so deeply embedded in the English language. As this scopocentricity comprehensively colonised cultural research, studies of nonvisual practices and texts were both marginalised and deformed. The discipline of film studies was dominated by attention to visual theoretical models, centred for example on “the gaze”. Studies of film sound have burgeoned in recent times, but often have been hobbled by inappropriately scopic theoretical models, or they have eschewed these models by withdrawing into more purely empirical approaches, such as genre studies or atomised “case studies”. While disclosing what E.P. Thompson called “the poverty of theory”, such studies have often found themselves in a conceptual no-man’s land. Without proposing a return to theoretical “master narratives” which compromise the integrity of the text, we argue that studies of film sound should build on the work of scholars like Philip Tagg to develop further theoretical modelling based on the specificity of sound and its deployment in film

The Effect of Non-tightness on Bayesian Estimation of PCFGs

Probabilistic context-free grammars have the unusual property of not always defining tight distributions (i.e., the sum of the “probabilities” of the trees the grammar generates can be less than one). This paper reviews how this non-tightness can arise and discusses its impact on Bayesian estimation of PCFGs. We begin by presenting the notion of “almost everywhere tight grammars ” and show that linear CFGs follow it. We then propose three different ways of reinterpreting non-tight PCFGs to make them tight, show that the Bayesian estimators in Johnson et al. (2007) are correct under one of them, and provide MCMC samplers for the other two. We conclude with a discussion of the impact of tightness empirically.

Surface flux pinning in superconducting amorphous (Mo0.6Ru0.4)B18

Superconducting critical current density was measured as a function of a perpendicular applied magnetic field in glassy (Mo0.6Ru0.4)82B18. The pinning force density was observed to depend linearly on 1/w, where w is the sample width measured perpendicular to both the current and field. This dependence is attributed to pinning by the sample edges. The bulk pinning contribution can be separated from the edge pinning contribution by extrapolation of the Fp vs 1/w curve. The edge contribution of the flux pinning was nearly eliminated by electrolytically polishing the sample. The contribution of the flux pinning profile due to edge pinning is analyzed in terms of the dynamic pinning model modified for edge pinning

Hip-joint simulator accurately duplicates human walking pattern

Device simulates all three motions of walking and provides realistic variable loading during each step. Simulator will enable laboratory evaluation of all known types of total hip prostheses

Pion Light-Cone Wave Functions and Light-Front Quark Model

We discuss a relation between the light-front quark model and QCD. We argue that this model can be used for an evaluation of the light-cone wave functions for moderate values of "u", but that it is inapplicable for this purpose in the region near the ends points u=0,1. We find additional support for a recent analysis in which it was claimed that the twist-two pion wave function attains its asymptotic form. The asymptotic twist-four two-particle wave function is also in good agreement with the light-front quark model.Comment: 11 pages and 2 PS-figures in one gz-compressed .tar file. Minor chang

Sampling design for compliance monitoring of surface water quality: A case study in a Polder area

International agreements such as the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) ask for efficient sampling methods for monitoring natural resources. In this paper a general methodology for designing efficient, statistically sound monitoring schemes is described. An important decision is the choice between a design-based and a model-based method, implying the choice between probability (random) sampling and purposive sampling. For mapping purposes, model-based methods are more appropriate, whereas to obtain valid results for the universe as a whole, such as in testing water quality standards against legal standards, we generally prefer a design-based method. Four basic sampling patterns in space-time universe are described: static, synchronous, static-synchronous, and rotational. A case study is carried out for monitoring the quality of surface water at two farms in western Netherlands, wherein a synchronous sampling design is applied, with stratified simple random sampling in both space and time. To reduce laboratory costs the aliquots taken at the locations of a given sampling round are bulked to form a composite. To test the spatiotemporal mean N-total concentration during the summer half-year against the MAR standard with a power of 80% at a concentration 15% below the MAR standard and with a confidence of 95%, six to nine sampling rounds are needed with 50 to 75 locations per sampling round. For P-total the required number of sampling rounds differs strongly between the two farms, but is for both farms much larger than for N-total

A measurement of energetic test electron interactions with a plasma

Interaction of energetic test electrons with dense high temperature plasma and energy dissipation distributio

Testing the Role of Technical Information in Public Risk Perception

It is widely believed that more detail about health effects and likely exposure routes is apt to reduce citizens\u27 concerns about low-probability Risks. The authors\u27 study suggests that providing such detail may not be as useful as, e.g., addressing public concerns and keeping citizens current on officials\u27 actions