48,091 research outputs found
A frequency-selective feedback model of auditory efferent suppression and its implications for the recognition of speech in noise
The potential contribution of the peripheral auditory efferent system to our understanding of speech in a background of competing noise was studied using a computer model of the auditory periphery and assessed using an automatic speech recognition system. A previous study had shown that a fixed efferent attenuation applied to all channels of a multi-channel model could improve the recognition of connected digit triplets in noise [G. J. Brown, R. T. Ferry, and R. Meddis, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 127, 943?954 (2010)]. In the current study an anatomically justified feedback loop was used to automatically regulate separate attenuation values for each auditory channel. This arrangement resulted in a further enhancement of speech recognition over fixed-attenuation conditions. Comparisons between multi-talker babble and pink noise interference conditions suggest that the benefit originates from the model?s ability to modify the amount of suppression in each channel separately according to the spectral shape of the interfering sounds
Urban Regeneration of Industrial Areas: Affordable Housing for Low Income Populations in Cities
The UK-China Sustainable Development Dialogue (SDD) is a partnership between the UK and Chinese Governments to promote collaboration and good practice on sustainable development. It is framed by a 2004 joint Prime Ministerial declaration and was formally established in 2005 by an agreement signed by UK Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott and State Councillor Tang. The SDD was founded on the recognition that, in an interdependent world, international co-operation is needed to ensure that learning is shared and efforts are made collectively towards achieving common goals. This report is the 13th and Final Paper in the SDD (Urban Strand. It draws together the core conclusions from the previous twelve papers and offers recommendations for taking the dialogue forward
Subglacial floods beneath ice sheets.
Subglacial floods (jökulhlaups) are well documented as occurring beneath present day glaciers and ice caps. In addition, it is known that massive floods have occurred from ice-dammed lakes proximal to the Laurentide ice sheet during the last ice age, and it has been suggested that at least one such flood below the waning ice sheet was responsible for a dramatic cooling event some 8000 years ago. We propose that drainage of lakes from beneath ice sheets will generally occur in a time-periodic fashion, and that such floods can be of severe magnitude. Such hydraulic eruptions are likely to have caused severe climatic disturbances in the past, and may well do so in the future
A quantitative study of quasiparticle traps using the single-Cooper-pair-transistor
We use radio-frequency reflectometry to measure quasiparticle tunneling rates
in the single-Cooper-pair-transistor. Devices with and without quasiparticle
traps in proximity to the island are studied. A to -fold reduction
in the quasiparticle tunneling rate onto the island is observed in the case of
quasiparticle traps. In the quasiparticle trap samples we also measure a
commensurate decrease in quasiparticle tunneling rate off the island.Comment: 4 pages, 4 fig
Microsecond resolution of quasiparticle tunneling in the single-Cooper-pair-transistor
We present radio-frequency measurements on a single-Cooper-pair-transistor in
which individual quasiparticle poisoning events were observed with microsecond
temporal resolution. Thermal activation of the quasiparticle dynamics is
investigated, and consequently, we are able to determine energetics of the
poisoning and un-poisoning processes. In particular, we are able to assign an
effective quasiparticle temperature to parameterize the poisoning rate.Comment: 4 pages, 4 fig
Synthesis of a Molecular Charm Bracelet via Click Cyclization and Olefin Metathesis Clipping
We describe the synthesis of a polycatenated cyclic polymer, a structure that resembles a
molecular charm bracelet. Ruthenium-catalyzed ring-opening metathesis polymerization of an aminocontaining
cyclic olefin monomer in the presence of a chain transfer agent generated an α,ω-diazide
functionalized polyamine. Cyclization of the resulting linear polyamine using pseudo-high-dilution coppercatalyzed
click cyclization produced a cyclic polymer in 19% yield. The click reaction was then further
employed to remove linear contaminants from the cyclic polymer using azide- and alkyne-functionalized
scavenging resins, and the purified cyclic polymer product was characterized by gel permeation
chromatography, ^1H NMR spectroscopy, and IR spectroscopy. Polymer hydrogenation and conversion to
the corresponding polyammonium species enabled coordination and interlocking of diolefin polyether
fragments around the cyclic polymer backbone using ruthenium-catalyzed ring-closing olefin metathesis to
afford a molecular charm bracelet structure. This charm bracelet complex was characterized by ^1H NMR
spectroscopy, and the catenated nature of the small rings was confirmed using two-dimensional diffusion-ordered
NMR spectroscopy
Proton NMR measurements of the local magnetic field in the paramagnetic metal and antiferromagnetic insulator phases of -(BETS)FeCl
Measurements of the H-NMR spectrum of a small ( 4 g) single
crystal of the organic conductor -(BETS)FeCl are reported
with an applied magnetic field = 9 T parallel to the a-axis in
the -plane over a temperature range 2.0 180 K. They provide the
distribution of the static local magnetic field at the proton sites in the
paramagnetic metal (PM) and antiferromagnetic insulator (AFI) phases, along
with the changes that occur at the PMAFI phase transition. The spectra have
six main peaks that are significantly broadened and shifted at low . The
origin of these features is attributed to the large dipolar field from the 3d
Fe ion moments (spin = 5/2). Their amplitude and
dependence are modeled using a modified Brillouin function that includes a
mean field approximation for the total exchange interaction () between
one Fe ion and its two nearest neighbors. A good fit is obtained using
= 1.7 K. At temperatures below the PMAFI transition temperature
= 3.5 K, an extra peak appears on the high frequency side of the
spectrum and the details of the spectrum become smeared. Also, the rms
linewidth and the frequency shift of the spectral distribution are
discontinuous, consistent with the transition being first-order. These
measurements verify that the dominant local magnetic field contribution is from
the Fe ions and indicate that there is a significant change in the
static local magnetic field distribution at the proton sites on traversing the
PM to AFI phase transition.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures. Revised version of cond-mat/0605044 resubmitted
to Phys. Rev. B in response to comments of Editor and reviewer
Probing the Super Star Cluster Environment of NGC 1569 Using FISICA
We present near-IR JH spectra of the central regions of the dwarf starburst
galaxy NGC 1569 using the Florida Image Slicer for Infrared Cosmology and
Astrophysics (FISICA). The dust-penetrating properties and available spectral
features of the near-IR, combined with the integral field unit (IFU) capability
to take spectra of a field, make FISICA an ideal tool for this work. We use the
prominent [He I] (1.083\mu m) and Pa\beta (1.282 \mu m) lines to probe the
dense star forming regions as well as characterize the general star forming
environment around the super star clusters (SSCs) in NGC 1569. We find [He I]
coincident with CO clouds to the north and west of the SSCs, which provides the
first, conclusive evidence for embedded star clusters here.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in the MNRA
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