Prosody takes over : towards a prosodically guided dialog system

The domain of the speech recognition and dialog system EVAR is train time table inquiry. We observed that in real human-human dialogs when the officer transmits the information, the customer very often interrupts. Many of these interruptions are just repetitions of the time of day given by the officer. The functional role of these interruptions is often determined by prosodic cues only. An important result of experiments where naive persons used the EVAR system is that it is hard to follow the train connection given via speech synthesis. In this case it is even more important than in human-human dialogs that the user has the opportunity to interact during the answer phase. Therefore we extended the dialog module to allow the user to repeat the time of day and we added a prosody module guiding the continuation of the dialog by analyzing the intonation contour of this utterance.Der Diskursbereich des Spracherkennungs- und Dialogsystems EVAR ist Fahrplanauskunft für Züge. Wir beobachteten, dass in realen Mensch-Mensch Dialogen der Kunde sehr oft den Auskunftsbeamten unterbricht, wenn dieser die Information übermittelt. Viele dieser Unterbrechungen sind ausschließlich Wiederholungen der Uhrzeitangabe des Beamten. Die funktionale Rolle dieser Unterbrechungen wird häufig alleine durch prosodische Mittel bestimmt. Ein wichtiges Ergebnis von Dialog Experimenten mit naiven Personen ergab, dass es schwer ist, den Verbindungsauskünften von EVAR via Sprachsynthese zu folgen. In diesem Fall ist es sogar noch wichtiger als in Mensch-Mensch Dialogen, dass der Benutzer die Möglichkeit hat, während der Antwortphase zu interagieren. Deshalb haben wir das Dialogmodul erweitert, um dem Benutzer die Möglichkeit zu geben, die Uhrzeitangaben zu wiederholen, und wir fügten ein Prosodiemodul hinzu, das die Fortführung des Dialogs steuert, indem die Intonation dieser Äußerung analysiert wir

Prosody takes over : a prosodically guided dialog system

In this paper first experiments with naive persons using the speech understanding and dialog system EVAR are discussed. The domain of EVAR is train table inquiry. We observed that in real human-human dialogs when the officer transmits the information the customer very often interrupts. Many of these interruptions are just repetitions of the time of day given by the officer. The functional role of these interruptions is determined by prosodic cues only. An important result of the experiments with EVAR is that it is hard to follow the system giving the train connection via speech synthesis. In this case it is even more important than in human-human dialogs that the user has the opportunity to interact during the answer phase. Therefore we extended the dialog module to allow the user to repeat the time of day and we added a prosody module guiding the continuation of the dialog

Heavy-Fermion Formation at the Metal-to-Insulator Transition in Gd1−x_{1-x}Srx_xTiO3_3

The perovskite-like transition-metal oxide Gd$_{1-x}$Sr$_x$TiO$_3$ is investigated by measurements of resistivity, specific-heat, and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR). Approaching the metal-to-insulator transition from the metallic regime ($x \geq 0.2$), the Sommerfeld coefficient $\gamma$ of the specific heat becomes strongly enhanced and the resistivity increases quadratically at low temperatures, which both are fingerprints of strong electronic correlations. The temperature dependence of the dynamic susceptibility, as determined from the Gd$^{3+}$-EPR linewidth, signals the importance of strong spin fluctuations, as observed in heavy-fermion compounds.Comment: 4pages, 3 figure

Qualifikations- und Arbeitsanalyse. Bericht über einen gemeinsamen Workshop des Bundesinstituts für Berufsbildungsforschung, des Instituts für Arbeitsmarktund Berufsforschung und des Referats Berufskunde der Bundesanstalt für Arbeit

"Mit dem Arbeitstreffen "Qualifikations- und Arbeitsanalyse" Ende 1973 wurde eine geplante Reihe regelmäßiger Veranstaltungen zwischen dem Bundesinstitut für Berufsbildungsforschung (BBF), dem Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB) sowie der für Berufskunde und berufliche Bildung zuständigen Unterabteilung der Bundesanstalt für Arbeit (BA) begonnen. Das Ziel dieser Zusammenarbeit liegt im intensivierten Austausch von Fragestellungen, theoretischen Ansätzen, Methoden und Forschungsinstrumentarien sowie in der verbesserten gegenseitigen Nutzung von Forschungsvorhaben und -ergebnissen. ... Es wurden zahlreiche Beiträge aus den beteiligten Institutionen und aus der Literatur zur Qualifikations- und Arbeitsanalyse darauf geprüft, wie man zu gemeinsam verwendbaren Begriffen, Kriterien und Nomenklaturen in einheitlich interpretierten Sachverhalten kommen kann. ... Aus dem Workshop folgt für die Forschung der beteiligten Institutionen, daß die ausgesprochen weitläufige qualifikationsund arbeitsanalytische Forschung nach einer Übergangsphase getrennt arbeitender Einzelvorhaben langfristig arbeitsteilig bewältigt werden sollte."Arbeitsanalyse, Qualifikation, Ausbildungsinhalt

Suppression of grasshopper sound production by nitric oxide-releasing neurons of the central complex

The central complex of acridid grasshoppers integrates sensory information pertinent to reproduction-related acoustic communication. Activation of nitric oxide (NO)/cyclic GMP-signaling by injection of NO donors into the central complex of restrained Chorthippus biguttulus females suppresses muscarine-stimulated sound production. In contrast, sound production is released by aminoguanidine (AG)-mediated inhibition of nitric oxide synthase (NOS) in the central body, suggesting a basal release of NO that suppresses singing in this situation. Using anti-citrulline immunocytochemistry to detect recent NO production, subtypes of columnar neurons with somata located in the pars intercerebralis and tangential neurons with somata in the ventro-median protocerebrum were distinctly labeled. Their arborizations in the central body upper division overlap with expression patterns for NOS and with the site of injection where NO donors suppress sound production. Systemic application of AG increases the responsiveness of unrestrained females to male calling songs. Identical treatment with the NOS inhibitor that increased male song-stimulated sound production in females induced a marked reduction of citrulline accumulation in central complex columnar and tangential neurons. We conclude that behavioral situations that are unfavorable for sound production (like being restrained) activate NOS-expressing central body neurons to release NO and elevate the behavioral threshold for sound production in female grasshoppers

Prosody takes over : towards a prosodically guided dialog system

The domain of the speech recognition and dialog system EVAR is train time table inquiry. We observed that in real human-human dialogs when the officer transmits the information, the customer very often interrupts. Many of these interruptions are just repetitions of the time of day given by the officer. The functional role of these interruptions is often determined by prosodic cues only. An important result of experiments where naive persons used the EVAR system is that it is hard to follow the train connection given via speech synthesis. In this case it is even more important than in human-human dialogs that the user has the opportunity to interact during the answer phase. Therefore we extended the dialog module to allow the user to repeat the time of day and we added a prosody module guiding the continuation of the dialog by analyzing the intonation contour of this utterance.Der Diskursbereich des Spracherkennungs- und Dialogsystems EVAR ist Fahrplanauskunft für Züge. Wir beobachteten, dass in realen Mensch-Mensch Dialogen der Kunde sehr oft den Auskunftsbeamten unterbricht, wenn dieser die Information übermittelt. Viele dieser Unterbrechungen sind ausschließlich Wiederholungen der Uhrzeitangabe des Beamten. Die funktionale Rolle dieser Unterbrechungen wird häufig alleine durch prosodische Mittel bestimmt. Ein wichtiges Ergebnis von Dialog Experimenten mit naiven Personen ergab, dass es schwer ist, den Verbindungsauskünften von EVAR via Sprachsynthese zu folgen. In diesem Fall ist es sogar noch wichtiger als in Mensch-Mensch Dialogen, dass der Benutzer die Möglichkeit hat, während der Antwortphase zu interagieren. Deshalb haben wir das Dialogmodul erweitert, um dem Benutzer die Möglichkeit zu geben, die Uhrzeitangaben zu wiederholen, und wir fügten ein Prosodiemodul hinzu, das die Fortführung des Dialogs steuert, indem die Intonation dieser Äußerung analysiert wir

Neurochemical Architecture of the Central Complex Related to Its Function in the Control of Grasshopper Acoustic Communication

The central complex selects and coordinates the species- and situation-specific song production in acoustically communicating grasshoppers. Control of sound production is mediated by several neurotransmitters and modulators, their receptors and intracellular signaling pathways. It has previously been shown that muscarinic cholinergic excitation in the central complex promotes sound production whereas both GABA and nitric oxide/cyclic GMP signaling suppress its performance. The present immunocytochemical and pharmacological study investigates the question whether GABA and nitric oxide mediate inhibition of sound production independently. Muscarinic ACh receptors are expressed by columnar output neurons of the central complex that innervate the lower division of the central body and terminate in the lateral accessory lobes. GABAergic tangential neurons that innervate the lower division of the central body arborize in close proximity of columnar neurons and thus may directly inhibit these central complex output neurons. A subset of these GABAergic tangential neurons accumulates cyclic GMP following the release of nitric oxide from neurites in the upper division of the central body. While sound production stimulated by muscarine injection into the central complex is suppressed by co-application of sodium nitroprusside, picrotoxin-stimulated singing was not affected by co-application of this nitric oxide donor, indicating that nitric oxide mediated inhibition requires functional GABA signaling. Hence, grasshopper sound production is controlled by processing of information in the lower division of the central body which is subject to modulation by nitric oxide released from neurons in the upper division

Presolar He and Ne Isotopes in Single Circumstellar SiC Grains

Noble gas isotopes in presolar silicon carbide (SiC) dust grains from primitive meteorites provide, together with major element isotopic compositions, insight into the nucleosynthetic output of different types of evolved stars >4.5 Gyr ago. We report here new results from helium and neon isotopic analyses of single presolar SiC grains with sizes between 0.6 and 6.3 μm using an ultrahigh sensitivity mass spectrometer. These noble gas studies were complemented by an ion microprobe study (NanoSIMS) of Si, C, and N isotopic compositions of the same grains. About 40%, or 46 of the 110 grains analyzed, contain nucleosynthetic 22Ne and/or 4He from their parent stars above our mass spectrometer's detection limit. We discuss the possible stellar sources using isotopic ratios as constraints combined with new model predictions for low- to intermediate-mass (1.5, 2, 3, and 5 M☉) asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars of different metallicities (1, 1/2, 1/3, and 1/6 Z☉). Most SiC grains are of the mainstream type and originated in low-mass AGB stars. We find a higher-than-expected percentage of A/B type grains, with some containing 22Ne and/or 4He. In addition, we find one noble gas-rich nova grain candidate, one supernova grain (X-type grain), and one 22Ne-rich X- or Z-type grain candidate