Development of methods to predict the discharge capacity in model and prototype meandering compound channels

The author developed two methods for predicting the discharge capacity of uniform meandering compound channels. The first method utilised an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) functional approximator which was taught to replicate the relationship between 9 of the key parameters and the magnitude of F* which was exhibited by the flow data gathered during the Series B extension (1993-1996) programme. The ANN approximator was constructed using a 'Matlab' software environment and was supported on a PC. The second method consisted of a semi-physical / semi-empirical method which was named the Enhanced zonal method. This method comprised formulations which explicitly determined the discharge capacity of the 3 individual flow zones in meandering compound channels whilst accounting for difference induced by the characteristic 4 flow region behaviour. The author demonstrated that both of these methods produce more accurate discharge capacity predictions than the James and Wark [1] [1992] method for the majority of available flow data sets. The James and Wark [1] [1992] method was the optimal method prior to the Series B extension (1993-1996) programme. The ANN approximator gave the most accurate predictions when the parameters of the compound channels to which it was applied fell within the range of the parameters incorporated in the ANN training data set. However, the author demonstrated that the Enhanced zonal method is the most reliable discharge capacity prediction method over the full range of uniform meandering compound channel configurations. The author developed two refined one-dimensional (1D) numerical models (for application to both steady and unsteady flow conditions) which incorporated the Ackers [1991] and James and Wark [1] [1992] methods to determine the conveyance characteristics at representative uniform cross-sections in natural meandering compound channels. The author demonstrated, using a case study of the River Dane, that these refined 1D models were able to predict the water surface profiles in natural channels to a high degree of accuracy

Avoiding unseen obstacles : Subcortical vision is not sufficient to maintain normal obstacle avoidance behaviour during reaching

Acknowledgement This work was funded by the RS MacDonald Charitable Trust (awarded to C. Hesse in June 2013). T. Schenk was supported by a grant from the German Research Council (DFG – SCHE 735/3-1). The authors would like to thank Dr Stefanie Biehl for her valuable advice on lesion localisation based on the CT and MRI scans of the patients. We would also like to thank all the patients for taking part in our experiments and for giving up so much of their free time.Peer reviewedPostprin

“My Vocal Cords are Made of Tweed”: Style-Shifting as Speaker Design

Intraspeaker variation is evaluated in terms of speaker design in a number of studies (Coupland 1985, Schilling-Estes 1998, Podesva 2008). This study explores possible motives for variation from a speaker design perspective through the analysis of three phonetic variables with differing social status. The variables occur in the speech of Stephen Fry, an intellectual whose public identity is closely linked with his Received Pronunciation (RP) speech. Fry uses more non-standard forms in contexts where his identity is more directly relevant, suggesting his desire to “accentuate the positive and eliminate the negative” associations of the RP register (Meyerhoff 2011:28). However not all the data fit this pattern, demonstrating the need for a broad model of speaker design incorporating multiple motives for style-shifting. It is proposed that the use of linguistic variables with differing social evaluation can give insight into prioritisation of speaker motives in future speaker-centred studies