16,880 research outputs found
To bin or not to bin? Deselecting print back-runs available electronically at Imperial College London Library
Accepted versio
The irrelevant sound effect: What needs modelling and a tentative model
Original article can be found at: http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/title~content=t713683590 Copyright Informa / Taylor and Francis GroupThis paper reviews the literature on the irrelevant sound effect and concludes that, contrary to some claims, the data consistently show that irrelevant sound and articulatory suppression are not functionally equivalent. We evaluate the contribution of Larsen and Baddeley (in press) and briefly discuss additional data in support of their position. We perform an error analysis on data from their third experiment and simulate detailed aspects of those data using our primacy model of immediate serial recall. Our model is briefly related to a number of fndings in the literature on irrelevant sound.Peer reviewe
Attributes of GRB Pulses: Bayesian Blocks Analysis of TTE Data; a Microburst in GRB 920229
Bayesian Blocks is a new time series algorithm for detecting localized
structures (spikes or shots), revealing pulse shapes, and generally
characterizing intensity variations. It maps raw counting data into a maximum
likelihood piecewise constant representation of the underlying signal. This
bin-free method imposes no lower limit on measurable time scales. Applied to
BATSE TTE data, it reveals the shortest know burst structure -- a spike
superimposed on the main burst in GRB 920229 = Trigger 1453, with rise and
decay timescales ~ few 100 microseconds.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures; presented at the 4th Huntsville Gamma-ray Burst
Symposiu
Heterogeneity in Short Gamma-ray Bursts
We analyze the Swift/BAT sample of short gamma-ray bursts, using an objective
Bayesian Block procedure to extract temporal descriptors of the bursts' initial
pulse complexes (IPCs). The sample comprises 12 and 41 bursts with and without
extended emission (EE) components, respectively. IPCs of non-EE bursts are
dominated by single pulse structures, while EE bursts tend to have two or more
pulse structures. The medians of characteristic timescales - durations, pulse
structure widths, and peak intervals - for EE bursts are factors of ~ 2-3
longer than for non-EE bursts. A trend previously reported by Hakkila and
colleagues unifying long and short bursts - the anti-correlation of pulse
intensity and width - continues in the two short burst groups, with non-EE
bursts extending to more intense, narrower pulses. In addition we find that
preceding and succeeding pulse intensities are anti-correlated with pulse
interval. We also examine the short burst X-ray afterglows as observed by the
Swift/XRT. The median flux of the initial XRT detections for EE bursts (~ 6 x
10^-10 erg cm^-2 s^-1) is ~> 20 x brighter than for non-EE bursts, and the
median X-ray afterglow duration for EE bursts (~ 60,000 s) is ~ 30 x longer
than for non-EE bursts.
The tendency for EE bursts toward longer prompt-emission timescales and
higher initial X-ray afterglow fluxes implies larger energy injections powering
the afterglows. The longer-lasting X-ray afterglows of EE bursts may suggest
that a significant fraction explode into more dense environments than non-EE
bursts, or that the sometimes-dominant EE component efficiently powers the
afterglow. Combined, these results favor different progenitors for EE and
non-EE short bursts.Comment: 30 pages, 11 figures, 3 tables; accepted to The Astrophysical Journa
Coping with speaker-related variation via abstract phonemic categories
Listeners can cope with considerable variation in the way that different speakers talk. We argue here that they can do so because of a process of phonological abstraction in the speech-recognition system. We review evidence that listeners adjust the bounds of phonemic categories after only very limited exposure to a deviant realisation of a given phoneme. This learning can be talker-specific and is stable over time; further, the learning generalizes to previously unheard words containing the deviant phoneme. Together these results suggest that the learning involves adjustment of prelexical phonemic representations which mediate between the speech signal and the mental lexicon during word recognition. We argue that such an abstraction process is inconsistent with claims made by some recent models of language processing that the mental lexicon consists solely of multiple detailed traces of acoustic episodes. Simulations with a purely episodic model without functional prelexical abstraction confirm that such a model cannot account for the evidence on lexical generalization of perceptual learning. We conclude that abstract phonemic categories form a necessary part of lexical access, and that the ability to store talker-specific knowledge about those categories provides listeners with the means to deal with cross-talker variation
The development of word recognition: The use of the possible-word constraint by 12-month-olds
A Review of Generalist and Specialist Community Health Workers for Delivering Adolescent Health Services in sub-Saharan Africa.
The health of adolescents is increasingly seen as an important international priority because the world's one point eight billion young people (aged 10 to 24 years) accounts for 15.5% of the global burden of disease and are disproportionately located in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Furthermore, an estimated 70% of premature adult deaths are attributable to unhealthy behaviors often initiated in adolescence (such as smoking, obesity, and physical inactivity). In order for health services to reach adolescents in LMICs, innovative service delivery models need to be explored and tested. This paper reviews the literature on generalist and specialist community health workers (CHWs) to assess their potential for strengthening the delivery of adolescent health services. We reviewed the literature on CHWs using Medline (PubMed), EBSCO Global Health, and Global Health Archive. Search terms (n = 19) were sourced from various review articles and combined with subject heading 'sub-Saharan Africa' to identify English language abstracts of original research articles on generalist and specialist CHWs. A total of 106 articles, from 1985 to 2012, and representing 24 African countries, matched our search criteria. A single study in sub-Saharan Africa used CHWs to deliver adolescent health services with promising results. Though few comprehensive evaluations of large-scale CHW programs exist, we found mixed evidence to support the use of either generalist or specialist CHW models for delivering adolescent health services. This review found that innovative service delivery approaches, such as those potentially offered by CHWs, for adolescents in sub-Saharan Africa are lacking, CHW programs have proliferated despite the absence of high quality evaluations, rigorous studies to establish the comparative effectiveness of generalist versus specialist CHW programs are needed, and further investigation of the role of CHWs in providing adolescent health services in sub-Saharan Africa is warranted
Experimental performance of a conical pressure probe at Mach numbers of 3.0, 4.5, and 6.0
Wind tunnel investigation of performance of conical pressure probe at hypersonic speed
Elimination of cracks in self-assembled photonic band gap crystals
Thin colloidal crystals (or synthetic opals) composed of Stober silica
spheres typically develop cracks when they are utilized to obtain photonic band
gap crystals (or inverted opals). We find that by sintering the silica spheres
prior to assembly of the opal these cracks can be avoided. We report the
effects of temperature and duration of the heat treatment on 850 nm silica
spheres using electron microscopy, thermogravimetry, and light scattering. We
also find a large dependence of the refractive index of the silica on the
temperature of the heat treatment. This may allow tuning of the refractive
index of silica spheres.Comment: REvTex: 4 pages, 3 figure
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