Fluency in dialogue: Turn‐taking behavior shapes perceived fluency in native and nonnative speech

Fluency is an important part of research on second language learning, but most research on language proficiency typically has not included oral fluency as part of interaction, even though natural communication usually occurs in conversations. The present study considered aspects of turn-taking behavior as part of the construct of fluency and investigated whether these aspects differentially influence perceived fluency ratings of native and non-native speech. Results from two experiments using acoustically manipulated speech showed that, in native speech, too ‘eager’ (interrupting a question with a fast answer) and too ‘reluctant’ answers (answering slowly after a long turn gap) negatively affected fluency ratings. However, in non-native speech, only too ‘reluctant’ answers led to lower fluency ratings. Thus, we demonstrate that acoustic properties of dialogue are perceived as part of fluency. By adding to our current understanding of dialogue fluency, these lab-based findings carry implications for language teaching and assessmen

Extraction of the beam elastic shape from uncertain FBG strain measurement points

Aim of the present paper is the analysis of the strain along the beam that is equipped with Glass Fibers Reinforced Polymers (GFRP) with an embedded set of optical Fiber Bragg Grating sensors (FBG), in the context of a project to equip with these new structural elements an Italian train bridge. Different problems are attacked, and namely: (i)during the production process [1] it is difficult to locate precisely the FBG along the reinforcement bar, therefore the following question appears: How can we associate the strain measurements to the points along the bar? Is it possible to create a signal analysis procedure such that this correspondence is found?(ii)the beam can be inflected and besides the strain at some points, we would like to recover the elastic shape of the deformed beam that is equipped with the reinforcement bars. Which signal processing do we use to determine the shape of the deformed beam in its inflection plane?(iii)if the beam is spatially inflected, in two orthogonal planes, is it possible to recover the beam spatial elastic shape? Object of the paper is to answer to these questions

FEC killed the cut-through switch

Latency penalty in Ethernet links beyond 10Gb/s is due to forward error correction (FEC) blocks. In the worst case a single-hop penalty approaches the latency of an entire cutthrough switch. Latency jitter is also introduced, making latency prediction harder, with large peak to peak variance. These factors stretch the tail of latency distribution in Rackscale systems and Data Centers, which in turn degrades performance of distributed applications. We analyse the underlying mechanisms, calculate lower bounds and propose a different approach that would reduce the penalty, allow control over latency and feedback for application level optimisation.Rudin foundation, Isaac Newton trust, Leverhulme trust, Microsoft researc

High speed adaptive rack-scale fabrics

Rack-scale systems contain thousands of densely packed con- nected components. While a data center may accommodate a fully provisioned network, rack-scale systems demand a more compact and versatile network that would even up within a heavily populated system. Unless the critical path between communicating hosts is made faster, distributed rack-scale applications cannot scale. We present adaptive rack-scale fabrics, an architecture that uses Physical Layer Primitives, coupled with a Closed Ring Control. The resulting fabric uses pre-fetching techniques, but at the physical layer of the interconnect, to optimize performance within strict power-budget limitations.This work was partly funded by Microsoft Research through its PhD Scholarship Programme, the Leverhulme Trust (ECF- 2016-289) and the the Isaac Newton Trus

Role of men in contraceptive use in Northern Nigeria: A cross sectional study

Background: Men take most or all important decisions in the home in most African societies and this includes contraception. It is therefore important that their role in this issue be investigated in our setting.Objectives: The objectives of this study are to directly determine the role of men in contraceptive use or non-use in the Zaria area of northern Nigeria, to indirectly increase the awareness of contraception amongst men and hopefully improve their contraceptive practice.Method: A descriptive cross-sectional study involving 900 men. Multistage sampling technique was used to select respondents. Trained male interviewers administered the questionnaires. Focus group discussions and an in-depth interview were also conducted.Results: Six hundred and seven (67.4%) of the men knew about contraception. Three hundred and thirty seven (37.4%) may use contraceptives if need be and 230 (25.6%) presently used contraception. If their wife/wives used contraceptives without their permission, 277 (30.8%) would scold her, 165 (18.3%) would beat her, 144 (16%) would divorce her, 128 (14.2%) would report to family members and 106 (11.8%) would do nothing. Focus group discussions and in-depth interview showed a high awareness rate and willingness to discuss contraception, but areluctance to practice it.Conclusion: There was a high level of awareness but a low level of contraceptive use amongst men in the environment. This has important implications for the success of contraceptive campaigns and programmes.Efforts need to be continued to encourage men in the setting to be more proactive towards contraception. Regular periodic surveys are necessary to help in the planning of educational and campaign programmes.Keywords: Contraception, men, role, awareness, practice, educatio

Hospital general con unidad cardiovascular en la ciudad de Ibagu?

60 p. Recurso Electr?nicoEl hospital general con unidad cardiovascular localizado en la zona de expansi?n dispuesta por el plan de ordenamiento territorial (POT), es un proyecto que minimiza la crisis de salud por medio de infraestructura y cuerpo m?dico en la ciudad o departamento. Es producto al d?ficit de equipamientos de salud en Ibagu? y su prioridad o enfoque en las afecciones cardiovasculares, ya que es la principal causa de muerte en el Tolima. Est? compuesto por un juego de cinco vol?menes articulados, que concentran siete niveles; cada volumen adopta una funci?n espec?fica, lo mismo para cada nivel, donde se organizan las unidades puntuales del hospital; dando como resultado espacial, 15 consultorios m?dicos, una unidad de imagenologia general y otra cardiaca, la unidad de laboratorios y terapia, estos ubicados en el segundo nivel; en el tercer piso opera la unidad de quir?fanos y salas de recuperaci?n, el cuarto nivel la unidad de cuidados intensivos y del quinto al s?ptimo, la unidad de hospitalizaci?n. Continuo al volumen principal se ubica el volumen de servicios complementarios, dirigido a la pedagog?a m?dica, ?reas de comercio y zonas de estar. La propuesta ampliar?a la cobertura de salud de la ciudad y departamental, mejorando la calidad de vida para una falencia vigente; adem?s genera grandes oportunidades de orden f?sico, social, econ?mico y ambiental para un sector de futuro desarrollo de Ibagu?.The general hospital with a cardiovascular unit located in the expansion zone provided by the Territorial Order Plan (TOP) is a project that minimizes the health crisis through the infrastructure and the medical staff in the city or department. The project is a product of the deficit of health facilities in Ibagu?, Tolima and its priority are cardiovascular diseases, since it is the main cause of death in the region. It is composed of a set of five articulated volumes, which concentrate seven levels; each volume adopts a specific function, each level as well, where the specific units of the hospital are organized. As a result, in the second floor there are 15 medical clinics, a general imaging unit, a cardiac unit, laboratory and therapy unit. While in the third, there are the surgeon and recovery rooms. In the fourth there is the intensive care unit, and from the fifth to seventh, the hospitalization unit. The unit of complementary services is located next to the main unit; it is focused on medical pedagogy, areas of commerce, and living areas. The proposal will enhance the health coverage in the city and the department, improving the life quality. In addition, it generates great opportunities of physical, social, economic, and environmental order for a sector of future development in Ibagu?. Key words: health, hospital, unit, cardiology

Латинська Америка в дослідженнях російських етнографів за останні тридцять років

Статья посвящена истории исследований в области латиноамериканистики российскими и советскими учёными на примере научной деятельности сотрудников Института этнографии им. Н. Н. Миклухо-Маклая АН СССР (московское и ленинградское отделения).The article is dedicated to the Latin American researches provided by the Russian and Soviet scientists illustrated with the scientific activities of the representatives of the Soviet Academy of Science’s Myklukho-Maklai Ethnographical Institute (Moscow and Leningrad branches)

A complete characterization of plateaued Boolean functions in terms of their Cayley graphs

In this paper we find a complete characterization of plateaued Boolean functions in terms of the associated Cayley graphs. Precisely, we show that a Boolean function $f$ is $s$-plateaued (of weight $=2^{(n+s-2)/2}$) if and only if the associated Cayley graph is a complete bipartite graph between the support of $f$ and its complement (hence the graph is strongly regular of parameters $e=0,d=2^{(n+s-2)/2}$). Moreover, a Boolean function $f$ is $s$-plateaued (of weight $\neq 2^{(n+s-2)/2}$) if and only if the associated Cayley graph is strongly $3$-walk-regular (and also strongly $\ell$-walk-regular, for all odd $\ell\geq 3$) with some explicitly given parameters.Comment: 7 pages, 1 figure, Proceedings of Africacrypt 201