Laboratory measurements and modeling of microwave absorption by ammonia in gas mixtures applicable to giant planet atmospheres

Accurate knowledge of the microwave absorption behavior of ammonia is critical to the correct interpretation of radio astronomical and radio occultation data from the giant planets. New cavity resonator techniques developed at the Stanford Center for Radar Astronomy have allowed accurate laboratory measurements of the microwave absorptivity and refractivity spectra of gas mixtures containing trace amounts of ammonia. A parameterized version of the modified Ben-Reuven formalism of Berge and Bulkis was optimized to fit the new data. The new formalism produced by this method predicts ammonia absorptivity much more accurately than previous formalism over a significant range of conditions

Research on Architectures for Integrated Speech/Language Systems in Verbmobil

The German joint research project Verbmobil (VM) aims at the development of a speech to speech translation system. This paper reports on research done in our group which belongs to Verbmobil's subproject on system architectures (TP15). Our specific research areas are the construction of parsers for spontaneous speech, investigations in the parallelization of parsing and to contribute to the development of a flexible communication architecture with distributed control.Comment: 6 pages, 2 Postscript figure

Bird\u27s eye view of star formation in the local Milky Way - How perspective changes with scale, time and viewing angle

A crucial aspect in interpreting the scaling relations relevant for star formation—the Kennicutt-Schmidt relation and the Larson relations—is how those relations depend on size-scale. This is especially so when comparing relations derived from unresolved, extragalactic data to those derived from resolved, Galactic data. We present an experiment in which the Solar neighbourhood (distance < 2 kpc) is examined from the outside, with an aim to unveil the connection between the true, “resolved” properties of star-forming regions and their beam-averaged, “unresolved” properties. To do so, we examine the density, velocity and star formation statistics of the dust and molecular gas in the Solar neighbourhood and determine how it appears when viewed through apertures of various sizes. First, we employ sub-pc resolution dust column density maps and star formation rates of individual molecular clouds from the literature to study the scale dependencies of molecular cloud structure from sub-pc to kpc scales. Second, we study a complete three dimensional volume of the Milky Way between the scales of ∼ 2−800 pc, taking advantage of three dimensional dust maps and young stars from recent advances made using Gaia satellite data. This second dataset gives the possibility to study not only the scale dependency of star formation, but also the dependence on age and orientation angle in the Milky Way. In these two ways, we connect the average properties of the gas in the local Galactic environment to the resolved properties at cloud scales. Our results provide observational constraints for star formation models. They can also aid the interpretation of on-going and upcoming extragalactic observations, especially by shedding light on the sub-beam properties of the structures detected by them

Outdoor Play in Preschool Children: Parent attitudes and Loose Part Play in Urban Settings

Outdoor play is an important aspect of young children’s health social-cognitive development. However, play in natural environments is declining due to urbanization and various safety concerns. Many urban preschools have outdoor play spaces that lack natural elements that stimulate children’s autonomy, creativity, and imaginative play. Furthermore, parents who find outdoor environments intimidating and fraught with danger limit young children’s outdoor experiences that inhibit their motor fitness, socialization with peers, and ecological awareness. Two qualitative case studies examined preschool children’s outdoor play. Study one focused on preschool children’s loose parts play in urban settings while study two examined parent’s attitudes towards outdoor play with young children. Key findings included children engaged in dramatic play more with natural loose parts than manufactured loose parts. And playgrounds with age/developmentally appropriate equipment, barriers/fences, and open/centralized play spaces with clear views would make parents more comfortable in providing outdoor play. Advisor: Lisa Pennis

The Effectiveness of a Standardized Positioning Tools and Bedside Education on the Developmental Positioning Proficiency of NICU Nurses

Developmental positioning for preterm infants is an essential skill for neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) nurses. The benefits of developmental positioning are evident in the literature, but less is known about how NICU nurses learn about developmental positioning. This study examined the effect of the Infant Position Assessment Tool (IPAT) and informal education on the developmental positioning skills of NICU nurses. This quasi-experimental study measured IPAT scores before and after an educational intervention, and found a statistically significant increase in the means of the two groups. The use of the IPAT and bedside education is useful for improving the developmental positioning proficiency of NCU nurses