Sensorimotor Adaptation of Speech Using Real-time Articulatory Resynthesis

Sensorimotor adaptation is an important focus in the study of motor learning for non-disordered speech, but has yet to be studied substantially for speech rehabilitation. Speech adaptation is typically elicited experimentally using LPC resynthesis to modify the sounds that a speaker hears himself producing. This method requires that the participant be able to produce a robust speech-acoustic signal and is therefore not well-suited for talkers with dysarthria. We have developed a novel technique using electromagnetic articulography (EMA) to drive an articulatory synthesizer. The acoustic output of the articulatory synthesizer can be perturbed experimentally to study auditory feedback effects on sensorimotor learning. This work aims to compare sensorimotor adaptation effects using our articulatory resynthesis method with effects from an established, acoustic-only method. Results suggest that the articulatory resynthesis method can elicit speech adaptation, but that the articulatory effects of the two methods differ

Smart II: The Spot Market Agent Research Tool version 2.0

Western Area Power Administration (Western) markets and delivers reliable, cost-based electric power from 56 power plants to millions of consumers in 15 states. Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) has worked closely with Western over many years to develop a variety of electric power marketing and transmission system models that are being used for ongoing system planning and operation as well as analytic studies. The Spot Market Agent Research Tool Version 2.0 (SMART II) implements parts of several existing ANL linear programming models including those used by Western in a Swarm agent-based framework (VanKuiken et al. 1994, Burkhart et al. 2000). SMART II agents model bulk electric power transaction dynamics with recognition for marginal costs as well as transmission and generation constraints. SMART II uses a sparse graph of nodes and links to model the electric power spot market. The nodes represent power generators and consumers with distinct marginal decision curves and varying investment capital as well individual learning parameters. The links represent transmission lines with individual capacities taken from a range of central distribution, outlying distribution and feeder line types. The application of SMART II to electric power systems studies has produced useful results different from those often found using more traditional techniques. Use of the advanced features offered by the Swarm modeling environment simplified the creation of the SMART II model (Burhart et al. 2000)

Speech Sensorimotor Learning through a Virtual Vocal Tract

Studies of speech sensorimotor learning often manipulate auditory feedback by modifying isolated acoustic parameters such as formant frequency or fundamental frequency using near real-time resynthesis of a participant\u27s speech. An alternative approach is to engage a participant in a total remapping of the sensorimotor working space using a virtual vocal tract. To support this approach for studying speech sensorimotor learning we have developed a system to control an articulatory synthesizer using electromagnetic articulography data. Articulator movement data from the NDI Wave System are streamed to a Maeda articulatory synthesizer. The resulting synthesized speech provides auditory feedback to the participant. This approach allows the experimenter to generate novel articulatory-acoustic mappings. Moreover, the acoustic output of the synthesizer can be perturbed using acoustic resynthesis methods. Since no robust speech-acoustic signal is required from the participant, this system will allow for the study of sensorimotor learning in any individuals, even those with severe speech disorders. In the current work we present preliminary results that demonstrate that typically-functioning participants can use a virtual vocal tract to produce diphthongs within a novel articulatory-acoustic workspace. Once sufficient baseline performance is established, perturbations to auditory feedback (formant shifting) can elicit compensatory and adaptive articulatory responses

Local forest structure variability increases resilience to wildfire in dry western U.S. coniferous forests.

A 'resilient' forest endures disturbance and is likely to persist. Resilience to wildfire may arise from feedback between fire behaviour and forest structure in dry forest systems. Frequent fire creates fine-scale variability in forest structure, which may then interrupt fuel continuity and prevent future fires from killing overstorey trees. Testing the generality and scale of this phenomenon is challenging for vast, long-lived forest ecosystems. We quantify forest structural variability and fire severity across >30 years and >1000 wildfires in California's Sierra Nevada. We find that greater variability in forest structure increases resilience by reducing rates of fire-induced tree mortality and that the scale of this effect is local, manifesting at the smallest spatial extent of forest structure tested (90 × 90 m). Resilience of these forests is likely compromised by structural homogenisation from a century of fire suppression, but could be restored with management that increases forest structural variability

Groundwater Flow andWater Quality – A Flowpath Study in the SeminoleWell Field, Cedar Rapids, Iowa

In Iowa, alluvial aquifers near major rivers are a source of water for many communities. The City of Cedar Rapids withdraws water from wells completed in the Cedar River alluvium, a shallow alluvial aquifer adjacent to the Cedar River. The City of Cedar Rapids is located within Linn County in east-central Iowa, and water for the City is supplied by four well fields (East, Northwest, Seminole, and West well fields) along the Cedar River. The City has a population of about 121,000, and several large industries are major water users. Currently, per capita water usage in the City is nearly three times the national average. The City is committed to providing both a high quality and quantity of water to its customers. The USGS and Cedar Rapids Water Department have been working together in an ongoing research program to better understand water quality and flow in the Cedar River and alluvial well fields. Work has been done on both a basin and well-field approach and has involved dye tracing/time-of-travel studies on the Cedar River, water-quality sampling, geochemical modeling, and groundwater-flow modeling

Valorization of Carbon Dioxide into Oxazolidinones by Reaction with Aziridines

The reduction of carbon dioxide has gained much attention due to increasing environmental concerns about global warming associated with carbon emissions from industrial effluents and public transport etc. In this regard, considerable attention has been devoted to the chemical conversion of carbon dioxide, and its incorporation into synthetic organic molecules under mild and “green” conditions. In recent years, significant effort has been dedicated to studying the fixation of carbon dioxide with aziridines to afford oxazolidinones, which is an environmental friendly and atom economical process. In this review, we discuss the efficiency of different catalytic systems, by comparing and analyzing each reaction parameter such as pressure, temperature, substrate scope and product selectivity

Geophysical investigation of the tectonic and volcanic history of the Nauru Basin, Western Pacific

In the western Pacific, oceanic crust is Jurassic in age based on magnetic anomaly lineations. However, drilling expeditions have instead recovered mid-Cretaceous age basalts in deep, supposedly Jurassic age basins such as the Nauru, East Mariana, and Pigafetta. In the southern Nauru Basin, mulitchannel seismic reflection and sonobuoy refraction data support an off-ridge tectonic setting for the emplacement of mid-Cretaceous flood basalts over original Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous oceanic crust. Forward modeling of refraction data provide velocity structure for coincident seismic reflection data to determine the types and thickness of materials overlying oceanic crust in the southern Nauru Basin. From these models the detection of thin, high velocity sills/flows within a thick, lower velocity layer are evident over a rough reflection surface interpreted as oceanic crust, with an age given by Mesozoic magnetic anomaly lineations. Oceanic crust clearly exists in the southernmost Nauru Basin without the overburden of high velocity sills/flows. Observations of thin sills/flows and oceanic crust beneath reflections from the mid-Cretaceous material cored at Deep Sea Drilling Project Site 462 indicate the presence of previously unsampled lithologic units in the Nauru Basin, notably oceanic crust

It's a big old goofy world view : John Prine as a modern-day Mark Twain

This thesis, entitled “It’s a Big Old Goofy World View: John Prine As a Modern-Day Mark Twain,” makes the connection between Mark Twain, the nineteenth-century writer and lecturer, and John Prine, a contemporary songwriter and performer. Like Twain, Prine views the world with joy and pity: with humor and disdain. While Twain utilizes literary techniques to advance his impressions, Prine’s musical compositions demonstrate his unique outlook. In my discussion of Prine’s songs, I will analyze not only lyrics but also musical characteristics. Lyrically, the songs demonstrate poetic characteristics and narrative devices. For this reason, I will closely examine the lyrics as one would examine poetry or prose. While musically the songs are simple, Prine’s choices of accompaniment, instrumentation, dynamics, and musical genre greatly affect how the lyrics are perceived and are no less important. Born in 1946 and recording and performing music for more than thirty-four years, Prine’s observations of the world around him reflect the attitudes and practices of modern American culture. His views on love, social issues, politics, and religion are presented in a vernacular language that is made accessible by melodies that are both poignant and memorable. Because Prine’s song, “It’s a Big Old Goofy World” is a microcosm of his world view, I have employed the lyrics to this song as a frame for each chapter. The characters which inhabit this song, and indeed many Prine songs, are described with a unique blend of wit and pathos: they can make you smile and they can break your heart