5,761 research outputs found
Prosodic transcription of Glasgow English: an evaluation study of GlaToBI
GlaToBI, a version of the ToBI prosodic transcription system which can be used to transcribe the intonation patterns of western Scottish (Glasgow) English, is currently under development. An assessment of GlaToBI, similar to the evaluation studies that were undertaken for the original ToBI system [7], and for GToBI, a version developed for German [4], has been carried out to test the new system 's reliability, learnability and comprehensiveness. The results of this study show that this adaptation of the ToBI system can be applied with the expected level of reliability to the transcription of Glasgow English. 1. INTRODUCTION Very little corpus based work has been done on the prosodic features of English dialects other than Standard American and southern British (Received Pronunciation). However, with the creation of databases such as the University of Edinburgh's HCRC Map Task corpus [1], the predominant dialect of which is western Scottish (Glasgow) English, the opportunity has arisen..
Spectroscopic study of unique line broadening and inversion in low-pressure microwave generated water plasmas
It was demonstrated that low pressure (~0.2 Torr) water vapor plasmas
generated in a 10 mm inner diameter quartz tube with an Evenson microwave
cavity show at least two features which are not explained by conventional
plasma models. First, significant (> 0.25 nm) hydrogen Balmer_ line broadening,
of constant width, up to 5 cm from the microwave coupler was recorded. Only
hydrogen, and not oxygen, showed significant line broadening. This feature,
observed previously in hydrogen-containing mixed gas plasmas generated with
high voltage dc and rf discharges was explained by some researchers to result
from acceleration of hydrogen ions near the cathode. This explanation cannot
apply to the line broadening observed in the (electrodeless) microwave plasmas
generated in this work, particularly at distances as great as 5 cm from the
microwave coupler. Second, inversion of the line intensities of both the Lyman
and Balmer series, again, at distances up to 5 cm from the coupler, were
observed. The line inversion suggests the existence of a hitherto unknown
source of pumping of the optical power in plasmas. Finally, it is notable that
other aspects of the plasma including the OH* rotational temperature and low
electron concentrations are quite typical of plasmas of this type.Comment: 27 pages, 7 figure
A magnetically rotated electric arc air heater employing a strong magnetic field and copper electrodes
Magnetically rotated electric arc air heater using strong magnetic field and copper electrode
Small high-temperature nuclear reactors for space power
Criticality calculations for small, cylindrical, lithium cooled reactors for space power system
Fronts in randomly advected and heterogeneous media and nonuniversality of Burgers turbulence: Theory and numerics
A recently established mathematical equivalence--between weakly perturbed
Huygens fronts (e.g., flames in weak turbulence or geometrical-optics wave
fronts in slightly nonuniform media) and the inviscid limit of
white-noise-driven Burgers turbulence--motivates theoretical and numerical
estimates of Burgers-turbulence properties for specific types of white-in-time
forcing. Existing mathematical relations between Burgers turbulence and the
statistical mechanics of directed polymers, allowing use of the replica method,
are exploited to obtain systematic upper bounds on the Burgers energy density,
corresponding to the ground-state binding energy of the directed polymer and
the speedup of the Huygens front. The results are complementary to previous
studies of both Burgers turbulence and directed polymers, which have focused on
universal scaling properties instead of forcing-dependent parameters. The
upper-bound formula can be heuristically understood in terms of renormalization
of a different kind from that previously used in combustion models, and also
shows that the burning velocity of an idealized turbulent flame does not
diverge with increasing Reynolds number at fixed turbulence intensity, a
conclusion that applies even to strong turbulence. Numerical simulations of the
one-dimensional inviscid Burgers equation using a Lagrangian finite-element
method confirm that the theoretical upper bounds are sharp within about 15% for
various forcing spectra (corresponding to various two-dimensional random
media). These computations provide a new quantitative test of the replica
method. The inferred nonuniversality (spectrum dependence) of the front speedup
is of direct importance for combustion modeling.Comment: 20 pages, 2 figures, REVTeX 4. Moved some details to appendices,
added figure on numerical metho
Q-FANSTM for general aviation aircraft
Continued growth of general aviation over the next 10 to 15 years is dependent on continuing improvement in aircraft safety, utility, performance and cost. Moreover, these advanced aircraft will need to conform to expected government regulations controlling propulsion system emissions and noise levels. An attractive compact low noise propulsor concept, the Q-FANTM when matched to piston, rotary combustion, or gas turbine engines opens up the exciting prospect of new, cleaner airframe designs for the next generation of general aviation aircraft which will provide these improvements and meet the expected noise and pollution restriction of the 1980 time period. New Q-FAN methodology which was derived to predict Q-FAN noise, weight and cost is presented. Based on this methodology Q-FAN propulsion system performance, weight, noise, and cost trends are discussed. Then the impact of this propulsion system type on the complete aircraft is investigated for several representative aircraft size categories. Finally, example conceptual designs for Q-FAN/engine integration and aircraft installations are presented
Field theory of the inverse cascade in two-dimensional turbulence
A two-dimensional fluid, stirred at high wavenumbers and damped by both
viscosity and linear friction, is modeled by a statistical field theory. The
fluid's long-distance behavior is studied using renormalization-group (RG)
methods, as begun by Forster, Nelson, and Stephen [Phys. Rev. A 16, 732
(1977)]. With friction, which dissipates energy at low wavenumbers, one expects
a stationary inverse energy cascade for strong enough stirring. While such
developed turbulence is beyond the quantitative reach of perturbation theory, a
combination of exact and perturbative results suggests a coherent picture of
the inverse cascade. The zero-friction fluctuation-dissipation theorem (FDT) is
derived from a generalized time-reversal symmetry and implies zero anomalous
dimension for the velocity even when friction is present. Thus the Kolmogorov
scaling of the inverse cascade cannot be explained by any RG fixed point. The
beta function for the dimensionless coupling ghat is computed through two
loops; the ghat^3 term is positive, as already known, but the ghat^5 term is
negative. An ideal cascade requires a linear beta function for large ghat,
consistent with a Pad\'e approximant to the Borel transform. The conjecture
that the Kolmogorov spectrum arises from an RG flow through large ghat is
compatible with other results, but the accurate k^{-5/3} scaling is not
explained and the Kolmogorov constant is not estimated. The lack of scale
invariance should produce intermittency in high-order structure functions, as
observed in some but not all numerical simulations of the inverse cascade. When
analogous RG methods are applied to the one-dimensional Burgers equation using
an FDT-preserving dimensional continuation, equipartition is obtained instead
of a cascade--in agreement with simulations.Comment: 16 pages, 3 figures, REVTeX 4. Material added on energy flux,
intermittency, and comparison with Burgers equatio
The Supreme Court as the Grand Mediator in Social Regulation of the Media - De Gustibus Non Disputandum Est: Or Are They
This article presents a study of administrative and statutory schemes designed to regulate various aspects of the media in considering broad questions of indecency, obscenity, and societal and parental controls over content in various forms of media broadcasting. The article then provides an important historical back-drop by referencing Burstyn v. Wilson (a 1950s case involving an alleged secular sacrilege ) and Pacifica Foundation (the George Carlin Filthy Words monologue case). It then turns to a discussion of the litigation and controversy spurred by passage of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 and the Child Online Protection Act of 1998 as the focus of congressional attention turned to regulating the Internet. In this context, the article discusses Reno v. ACLU and American Library Association v. United States, two cases which provided direct challenges to Congressional regulatory responses. This article concludes by noting important international implications of the attempts to place restrictions on the Internet, and offers several tentative conclusions by bringing to the forefront the debate on the use of filtering technology designed to provide controls and supervision over this new media
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