Generating expressive speech for storytelling applications

Work on expressive speech synthesis has long focused on the expression of basic emotions. In recent years, however, interest in other expressive styles has been increasing. The research presented in this paper aims at the generation of a storytelling speaking style, which is suitable for storytelling applications and more in general, for applications aimed at children. Based on an analysis of human storytellers' speech, we designed and implemented a set of prosodic rules for converting "neutral" speech, as produced by a text-to-speech system, into storytelling speech. An evaluation of our storytelling speech generation system showed encouraging results

High frequency sampling of the 1984 spring bloom within the mid-Atlantic Bight: Synoptic shipboard, aircraft, and in situ perspectives of the SEEP-I experiment

Moorings of current meters, thermistors, transmissometers, and fluorometers on the mid-Atlantic shelf, south of Long Island, suggest a cumulative seaward export of perhaps 0.35 g C/sq m/day between the 80 and 120 m isobaths during February-April 1984. Such a horizontal loss of algal carbon over the lower third of the water column would be 23 to 78% of the March-April 1984 primary production. This physical carbon loss is similar to daily grazing losses from zooplankton of 32-40% of the algal fixation of carbon. Metabolic demands of the benthos could be met by just the estimated fecal pellet flux, without direct consumption of algal carbon, while bacterioplankton needs could be served by excretory release of dissolved organic matter during photosynthesis. Sediment traps tethered 10 m off the bottom at the 120 m isobath and 50 m above the 500 m isobath caught as much as 0.16 to 0.26 g C /sq m/day during March-April 1984, in reasonable agreement with the flux estimated from the other moored instruments

At what time does a quantum experiment have a result?

This paper provides a general method for defining a generalized quantum observable (or POVM) that supplies properly normalized conditional probabilities for the time of occurrence (i.e., of detection). This method treats the time of occurrence as a probabilistic variable whose value is to be determined by experiment and predicted by the Born rule. This avoids the problematic assumption that a question about the time at which an event occurs must be answered through instantaneous measurements of a projector by an observer, common to both Rovelli (1998) and Oppenheim et al. (2000). I also address the interpretation of experiments purporting to demonstrate the quantum Zeno effect, used by Oppenheim et al. (2000) to justify an inherent uncertainty for measurements of times.Comment: To appear in proceedings of 2015 ETH Zurich Workshop on Time in Physic

Die Rolle von alpha- und pi-GST im Urin bei der Vorhersage des Nierenversagens in der perioperativen Phase bei Herztransplantationen

Die Studie untersuchte prosp. 19 HTx-Empfänger auf ihre akute postop.Nierenfunktion.Es wurden das Serumkreatinin,alpha- und pi-GST sowie herkömmliche Urinproteine bestimmt. Von den 19 untersuchten HTx-Pat. entwickelten 6 ein Akutes Nierenversagen(Gruppe ANV), 4 wurden dialysiert,2 Personen an einem MOV. 13 Patienten entwickelten kein ANV. In dieser Gruppe SNF verschlechterte sich die Nierenfunktion direkt postop.reversibel mit einem maximalen mittl. S.-Kreatinin von 1,8 mg/dl und unauffälliger alpha-GST.In der Gruppe ANV stieg das mittl. S.-Kreatinin bis zum 3.POD. Ein früheres erhebliches Ansteigen direkt postop. konnte bei der alpha-GST festgestellt werden. Die Sensitivität der alpha-GST bezüglich des Auftreten eines ANV betrug 67%, die Spezifität 92%. So zeigte sich die alpha-GST als ein zuverlässiger Marker zur Bestimmung eines ANV; sie zeigte eine Nierenschädigung früher als herkömmliche Marker bei einer Eigendiurese an. Zur Ergänzung zum S.-Kreatinin halten wir die Bestimmung der alpha-GST im Urin als sehr sinnvoll,um ggf. eher einen Nierenschaden zu erkennen und so evtl. mit einer früher begonnenden Therapie eine Dialysepflichtigkeit vermeiden zu können

Climbing Fiber Burst Size and Olivary Sub-threshold Oscillations in a Network Setting

The inferior olivary nucleus provides one of the two main inputs to the cerebellum: the so-called climbing fibers. Activation of climbing fibers is generally believed to be related to timing of motor commands and/or motor learning. Climbing fiber spikes lead to large all-or-none action potentials in cerebellar Purkinje cells, overriding any other ongoing activity and silencing these cells for a brief period of time afterwards. Empirical evidence shows that the climbing fiber can transmit a short burst of spikes as a result of an olivary cell somatic spike, potentially increasing the information being transferred to the cerebellum per climbing fiber activation. Previously reported results from in vitro studies suggested that the information encoded in the climbing fiber burst is related to the occurrence of the spike relative to the ongoing sub-threshold membrane potential oscillation of the olivary cell, i.e. that the phase of the oscillation is reflected in the size of the climbing fiber burst. We used a detailed three-compartmental model of an inferior olivary cell to further investigate the possible factors determining the size of the climbing fiber burst. Our findings suggest that the phase-dependency of the burst size is present but limited and that charge flow between soma and dendrite is a major determinant of the climbing fiber burst. From our findings it follows that phenomena such as cell ensemble synchrony can have a big effect on the climbing fiber burst size through dendrodendritic gap-junctional coupling between olivary cells

Noninvasive laser-induced photoacoustic tomography for structural and functional in vivo imaging of the brain

Imaging techniques based on optical contrast analysis can be used to visualize dynamic and functional properties of the nervous system via optical signals resulting from changes in blood volume, oxygen consumption and cellular swelling associated with brain physiology and pathology. Here we report in vivo noninvasive transdermal and transcranial imaging of the structure and function of rat brains by means of laser-induced photoacoustic tomography (PAT). The advantage of PAT over pure optical imaging is that it retains intrinsic optical contrast characteristics while taking advantage of the diffraction-limited high spatial resolution of ultrasound. We accurately mapped rat brain structures, with and without lesions, and functional cerebral hemodynamic changes in cortical blood vessels around the whisker-barrel cortex in response to whisker stimulation. We also imaged hyperoxia- and hypoxia-induced cerebral hemodynamic changes. This neuroimaging modality holds promise for applications in neurophysiology, neuropathology and neurotherapy

Remote Detection of Coral \u27Bleaching\u27 Using Pulsed-Laser Fluorescence Spectroscopy

Despite their biological and economic importance coral reefs are increasingly threatened by human activities. Recently, \u27bleaching\u27 of reefs, i.e. loss of photosynthetic pigmentation, has occurred at numerous globally-distributed sites. A number of environmental stressors, including increased water temperature, can induce bleaching. Several investigators have suggested that the widespread occurrence of coral bleaching represents an early warning signal of global greenhouse warming. Regardless of the cause, the extent of coral bleaching, both regionally and globally, needs to be documented and monitored. We conducted laboratory studies to evaluate the potential of using remotely-sensed laser-induced fluorescence to monitor coral pigmentation. Five species of Caribbean corals were collected, transported to the laboratory, and maintained in aquaria. Coral samples were irradiated at either 532 nm or 337 nm with pulsed-laser light and spectral scans of fluorescence were collected at 1 nm intervals. Dlstinct chlorophyll fluorescence peaks at 685 and 740 nm were observed in all species examined. In corals exposed to temperature-induced stress, incipient changes In the fluorescence spectra could be detected prior to visible bleaching and coral death. Remotely-measured (aircraft or ship) laser-induced fluorescence provides a potentially useful tool for monitoring the pigmentation status of coral reefs. Field validation will be necessary, but our results suggest that it may be possible to distinguish bleaching, or even partial bleaching, over large geographical areas with sensitivity and rapidity