Ultrax:An Animated Midsagittal Vocal Tract Display for Speech Therapy

Speech sound disorders (SSD) are the most common communication impairment in childhood, and can hamper social development and learning. Current speech therapy interventions rely predominantly on the auditory skills of the child, as little technology is available to assist in diagnosis and therapy of SSDs. Realtime visualisation of tongue movements has the potential to bring enormous benefit to speech therapy. Ultrasound scanning offers this possibility, although its display may be hard to interpret. Our ultimate goal is to exploit ultrasound to track tongue movement, while displaying a simplified, diagrammatic vocal tract that is easier for the user to interpret. In this paper, we outline a general approach to this problem, combining a latent space model with a dimensionality reducing model of vocal tract shapes. We assess the feasibility of this approach using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans to train a model of vocal tract shapes, which is animated using electromagnetic articulography (EMA) data from the same speaker. Index Terms: Ultrasound, speech therapy, vocal tract visualisation 1

Ellipsoidal-mirror reflectometer accurately measures infrared reflectance of materials

Reflectometer accurately measures the reflectance of specimens in the infrared beyond 2.5 microns and under geometric conditions approximating normal irradiation and hemispherical viewing. It includes an ellipsoidal mirror, a specially coated averaging sphere associated with a detector for minimizing spatial and angular sensitivity, and an incident flux chopper

Performance Bounds for Parameter Estimation under Misspecified Models: Fundamental findings and applications

Inferring information from a set of acquired data is the main objective of any signal processing (SP) method. In particular, the common problem of estimating the value of a vector of parameters from a set of noisy measurements is at the core of a plethora of scientific and technological advances in the last decades; for example, wireless communications, radar and sonar, biomedicine, image processing, and seismology, just to name a few. Developing an estimation algorithm often begins by assuming a statistical model for the measured data, i.e. a probability density function (pdf) which if correct, fully characterizes the behaviour of the collected data/measurements. Experience with real data, however, often exposes the limitations of any assumed data model since modelling errors at some level are always present. Consequently, the true data model and the model assumed to derive the estimation algorithm could differ. When this happens, the model is said to be mismatched or misspecified. Therefore, understanding the possible performance loss or regret that an estimation algorithm could experience under model misspecification is of crucial importance for any SP practitioner. Further, understanding the limits on the performance of any estimator subject to model misspecification is of practical interest. Motivated by the widespread and practical need to assess the performance of a mismatched estimator, the goal of this paper is to help to bring attention to the main theoretical findings on estimation theory, and in particular on lower bounds under model misspecification, that have been published in the statistical and econometrical literature in the last fifty years. Secondly, some applications are discussed to illustrate the broad range of areas and problems to which this framework extends, and consequently the numerous opportunities available for SP researchers.Comment: To appear in the IEEE Signal Processing Magazin

Communication, Affect, & Learning in the Classroom

The purpose of the handbook was to synthesize the first three decades of research in instructional communication into a single volume that could help both researchers and instructors understand the value of communication in the instructional process.Preface1.Teaching As a Communication Process The Instructional Communication Process The Teacher The Content The Instructional Strategy The Student The Feedback/Evaluation The Learning Environment/Instructional Context Kibler’s Model of Instruction The ADDIE Model of Instructional Design2.Communicating With Instructional Objectives Why Some Teachers Resent Objectives The Value of Objectives What Objectives Should Communicate3.Instructional Communication Strategies The Teacher As a Speaker The Teacher As a Moderator The Teacher As a Trainer The Teacher As a Manager The Teacher As a Coordinator & Innovator4.Communication, Affect, and Student Needs Measuring Student Affect Basic Academic Needs of Students Traditional Interpersonal Need Models Outcomes of Meeting Student Needs5.Learning Styles What is Learning Style? Dimensions of Learning Style and Their Assessment Matching, Bridging, and Style-Flexing6.Classroom Anxieties and Fears Communication Apprehension Receiver Apprehension Writing Apprehension Fear of Teacher Evaluation Apprehension Classroom Anxiety Probable Causes of Classroom Anxiety Communication Strategies for Reducing Classroom Anxiety7.Communication And Student Self-Concept Student Self-Concept: Some Definitions Characteristics of the Self Development of Student Self-Concept Dimensions of Student Self-Concept Self-Concept and Academic Achievement Effects of Self-Concept on Achievement Poker Chip Theory of Learning Communication Strategies for Nurturing and Building Realistic Student Self-Concept8.Instructional Assessment:Feedback,Grading, and Affect Defining the Assessment Process Evaluative Feedback Descriptive Feedback Assessment and Affect Competition and Cooperation in Learning Environments9.Traditional and Mastery Learning Systems Traditional Education Systems Mastery Learning Modified Mastery Learning10.Student Misbehavior and Classroom Management Why Students Misbehave Categories of Student Behaviors Students’ Effects on Affect in the Classroom Communication, Affect, and Classroom Management Communication Techniques for Increasing or Decreasing Student Behavior11.Teacher Misbehaviors and Communication Why Teachers Misbehave Common Teacher Misbehaviors Implications for the Educational Systems12.Teacher Self-Concept and Communication Dimensions of Teacher Self-Concept Development of Teacher Self-Concept Strategies for Increasing Teacher Self-Concept13.Increasing Classroom Affect Through Teacher Communication Style Communicator Style Concept Types of Communicator Styles Teacher Communication Style Teacher Communicator Behaviors That Build Affect14.Teacher Temperament in the Classroom Four Personality Types Popular Sanguine Perfect Melancholy Powerful Choleric Peaceful Phlegmatic Personality Blends15.Teacher Communication: Performance and Burnout Teaching: A Multifaceted Job Roles of an Instructional Manager Teacher Burnout Symptoms of Teacher Burnout Causes of Teacher Burnout Methods for Avoiding Burnout Mentoring to Prevent BurnoutAppendix A To Mrs. Russell: Without You This Never Would Have HappenedGlossaryInde

Body Language Without a Body: Nonverbal Communication in Technology Mediated Settings

Humans are wired for face-to-face interaction because this was the only possible and available setting during the long evolutionary process that has led to Homo Sapiens. At the moment an increasingly significant fraction of our interactions take place in technology mediated settings, it is important to investigate how such a wiring - mainly corresponding to neural processes - reacts and adapts to them. This talk focuses in particular on how nonverbal communication - one of the main channels through which people convey socially and psychologically relevant information - plays a role in settings where natural nonverbal cues (facial expressions, vocalizations, gestures, etc.) are no longer available. Such an issue is important not only from a technological point of view (it can help to design interaction and communication technologies that better address human needs), but also from a societal one (it can help to understand major phenomena such as cyberbullyism and virality)

Crystallization in Systems of Hard Polyhedra.

Hard particle Monte Carlo computer simulations can be used to study both the equilibrium crystal phases of polyhedra and the crystallization pathways in a simplified model system. We present simulations of elongated lithium yttrium fluoride square bipyramids, explain the assembly behavior of gold rhombic dodecahedra, cubes, and octahedra, and investigate in detail the thermodynamics and driving forces for nucleation of a continuous family of polyhedra. In the work on bipyramids we found that either truncation or particle interactions are required to form a novel antiparallel phase. In the study of gold nanopolyhedra we found that the nucleation behavior and structural quality for each polyhedra is strongly dependent on novel properties arising from each shape. Following this, we delved into the nucleation process studying the thermodynamics and free energy barriers to crystallization in rhombic dodecahedra and spheres, and found that the polyhedral faceting stabilized the nucleation pathway. We then demonstrated the importance of this faceting by studying truncations of the rhombic dodecahedra and found that the truncation undermined the local symmetry of the fluid and increased the driving forces required for nucleation. This work demonstrates the role of simulation in understanding experimental systems and how perturbations to shape can alter the pathway to crystallization.PhDChemical EngineeringUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/133471/1/newmanrs_1.pd

Seasonal Occurrence of the Sod Webworm Moths (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) of Ohio

While nearly 100 species of sod webworms are known to occur in North America, the species complex and seasonal occurrence of these moths has been documented in relatively few states. For Ohio, there is little published record of the sod webworm species complex, and the seasonal occurrence of only a few economically important species has been documented. Using black light traps, sod web worm adult flight activity was monitored over the course of three to five years at four different locations throughout Ohio. In this paper we report the seasonal occurrence of sod web worms species captured at these locations. These data provide a historical benchmark of sod web­worm species diversity, local abundance, and seasonal occurrence in Ohio

A Discontinuity in the Distribution of Fixed Point Sums

The quantity $f(n,r)$, defined as the number of permutations of the set $[n]=\{1,2,... n\}$ whose fixed points sum to $r$, shows a sharp discontinuity in the neighborhood of $r=n$. We explain this discontinuity and study the possible existence of other discontinuities in $f(n,r)$ for permutations. We generalize our results to other families of structures that exhibit the same kind of discontinuities, by studying $f(n,r)$ when ``fixed points'' is replaced by ``components of size 1'' in a suitable graph of the structure. Among the objects considered are permutations, all functions and set partitions.Comment: 1 figur