Rhythm in the speech of a person with right hemisphere damage: Applying the pairwise variability index

Although several aspects of prosody have been studied in speakers with right hemisphere damage (RHD), rhythm remains largely uninvestigated. This study compares the rhythm of an Australian English speaker with right hemisphere damage (due to a stroke, but with no concomitant dysarthria) to that of a neurologically unimpaired individual. The speakers' rhythm is compared using the pairwise variability index (PVI) which allows for an acoustic characterization of rhythm by comparing the duration of successive vocalic and intervocalic intervals. A sample of speech from a structured interview between a speech and language therapist and each participant was analysed. Previous research has shown that speakers with RHD may have difficulties with intonation production, and therefore it was hypothesized that there may also be rhythmic disturbance. Results show that the neurologically normal control uses a similar rhythm to that reported for British English (there are no previous studies available for Australian English), whilst the speaker with RHD produces speech with a less strongly stress-timed rhythm. This finding was statistically significant for the intervocalic intervals measured (t(8) = 4.7, p < .01), and suggests that some aspects of prosody may be right lateralized for this speaker. The findings are discussed in relation to previous findings of dysprosody in RHD populations, and in relation to syllable-timed speech of people with other neurological conditions

Feasibility study for a numerical aerodynamic simulation facility. Volume 1

A Numerical Aerodynamic Simulation Facility (NASF) was designed for the simulation of fluid flow around three-dimensional bodies, both in wind tunnel environments and in free space. The application of numerical simulation to this field of endeavor promised to yield economies in aerodynamic and aircraft body designs. A model for a NASF/FMP (Flow Model Processor) ensemble using a possible approach to meeting NASF goals is presented. The computer hardware and software are presented, along with the entire design and performance analysis and evaluation

Constraints on new interactions from neutron scattering experiments

Constraints for the constants of hypothetical Yukawa-type corrections to the Newtonian gravitational potential are obtained from analysis of neutron scattering experiments. Restrictions are obtained for the interaction range between 10^{-12} and 10^{-7} cm, where Casimir force experiments and atomic force microscopy are not sensitive. Experimental limits are obtained also for non-electromagnetic inverse power law neutron-nucleus potential. Some possibilities are discussed to strengthen these constraints.Comment: 18 pages, 3 figure

Gentle Perturbations of the Free Bose Gas I

It is demonstrated that the thermal structure of the noncritical free Bose Gas is completely described by certain periodic generalized Gaussian stochastic process or equivalently by certain periodic generalized Gaussian random field. Elementary properties of this Gaussian stochastic thermal structure have been established. Gentle perturbations of several types of the free thermal stochastic structure are studied. In particular new models of non-Gaussian thermal structures have been constructed and a new functional integral representation of the corresponding euclidean-time Green functions have been obtained rigorously.Comment: 51 pages, LaTeX fil

Electromagnetic Form Factors of the Nucleon in an Improved Quark Model

Nucleon electromagnetic form factors are studied in the cloudy bag model (CBM) with center-of-mass and recoil corrections. This is the first presentation of a full set of nucleon form factors using the CBM. The center of mass motion is eliminated via several different momentum projection techniques and the results are compared. It is found that the shapes of these form factors are significantly improved with respect to the experimental data if the Lorentz contraction of the internal structure of the baryon is also appropriately taken into account.Comment: revtex, 28 pages, 8 ps figs include

UV friendly T-parity in the SU(6)/Sp(6) little Higgs model

Electroweak precision tests put stringent constraints on the parameter space of little Higgs models. Tree-level exchange of TeV scale particles in a generic little Higgs model produce higher dimensional operators that make contributions to electroweak observables that are typically too large. To avoid this problem a discrete symmetry dubbed T-parity can be introduced to forbid the dangerous couplings. However, it was realized that in simple group models such as the littlest Higgs model, the implementation of T-parity in a UV completion could present some challenges. The situation is analogous to the one in QCD where the pion can easily be defined as being odd under a new $Z_2$ symmetry in the chiral Lagrangian, but this $Z_2$ is not a symmetry of the quark Lagrangian. In this paper we examine the possibility of implementing a T-parity in the low energy $SU(6)/Sp(6)$ model that might be easier to realize in the UV. In our model, the T-parity acts on the low energy non-linear sigma model field in way which is different to what was originally proposed for the Littlest Higgs, and lead to a different low energy theory. In particular, the Higgs sector of this model is a inert two Higgs doublets model with an approximate custodial symmetry. We examine the contributions of the various sectors of the model to electroweak precision data, and to the dark matter abundance.Comment: 21 pages,4 figures. Clarifications added, typos corrected and references added. Published in JHE

Multi-Photon Signals from Composite Models at LHC

We analyze the collider signals of composite scalars that emerge in certain little Higgs models and models of vectorlike confinement. Similar to the decay of the pion into photon pairs, these scalars mainly decay through anomaly-induced interactions into electroweak gauge bosons, leading to a distinct signal with three or more photons in the final state. We study the standard model backgrounds for these signals, and find that the LHC can discover these models over a large range of parameter space with 30 fb$^{-1}$ at 14 TeV. An early discovery at the current 7 TeV run is possible in some regions of parameter space. We also discuss possibilities to measure the spin of the particles in the $\gamma \gamma$ and $Z\gamma$ decay channels.Comment: 18 pages, LaTe

Dangerous Skyrmions in Little Higgs Models

Skyrmions are present in many models of electroweak symmetry breaking where the Higgs is a pseudo-Goldstone boson of some strongly interacting sector. They are stable, composite objects whose mass lies in the range 10-100 TeV and can be naturally abundant in the universe due to their small annihilation cross-section. They represent therefore good dark matter candidates. We show however in this work that the lightest skyrmion states are electrically charged in most of the popular little Higgs models, and hence should have been directly or indirectly observed in nature already. The charge of the skyrmion under the electroweak gauge group is computed in a model-independent way and is related to the presence of anomalies in the underlying theory via the Wess-Zumino-Witten term.Comment: 31 pages, 4 figures; v2: minor changes, one reference added, version to appear in JHEP; v3: erratum added, conclusions unchange

Where the Sidewalk Ends: Jets and Missing Energy Search Strategies for the 7 TeV LHC

This work explores the potential reach of the 7 TeV LHC to new colored states in the context of simplified models and addresses the issue of which search regions are necessary to cover an extensive set of event topologies and kinematic regimes. This article demonstrates that if searches are designed to focus on specific regions of phase space, then new physics may be missed if it lies in unexpected corners. Simple multiregion search strategies can be designed to cover all of kinematic possibilities. A set of benchmark models are created that cover the qualitatively different signatures and a benchmark multiregion search strategy is presented that covers these models.Comment: 30 pages, 8 Figures, 3 Tables. Version accepted at JHEP. Minor changes. Added figur

Mapping Vesta: First Results from Dawn’s Survey Orbit

The geologic objectives of the Dawn Mission [1] are to derive Vesta’s shape, map the surface geology, understand the geological context and contribute to the determination of the asteroids’ origin and evolution.Geomorphology and distribution of surface features will provide evidence for impact cratering, tectonic activity, volcanism, and regolith processes. Spectral measurements of the surface will provide evidence of the compositional characteristics of geological units. Age information, as derived from crater sizefrequency distributions, provides the stratigraphic context for the structural and compositional mapping results, thus revealing the geologic history of Vesta. We present here the first results of the Dawn mission from data collected during the approach to Vesta, and its first discrete orbit phase – the Survey Orbit, which lasts 21 days after the spacecraft had established a circular polar orbit at a radius of ~3000 km with a beta angle of 10°-15°