Vowel Devoicing in Tokyo Japanese

This paper proposes a phonological analysis for vowel devoicing in Tokyo Japanese using the framework of Optimality Theory (Prince and Smolensky, 1993). Generally speaking, in Japanese the high vowels /i, u/ are devoiced when they occur between two voiceless consonants. However, there are some contexts where such a simple generalization does not hold, e.g., so called “word-final devoicing” and when devoiceable vowels are accented. This paper attempts to provide a unified analysis for such issues as well as for the canonical context

Spreading with evaporation and condensation in one-component fluids

We investigate the dynamics of spreading of a small liquid droplet in gas in a one-component simple fluid, where the temperature is inhomogeneous around 0.9Tc and latent heat is released or generated at the interface upon evaporation or condensation (with Tc being the critical temperature). In the scheme of the dynamic van der Waals theory, the hydrodynamic equations containing the gradient stress are solved in the axisymmetric geometry. We assume that the substrate has a finite thickness and its temperature obeys the thermal diffusion equation. A precursor film then spreads ahead of the bulk droplet itself in the complete wetting condition. Cooling the substrate enhances condensation of gas onto the advancing film, which mostly takes place near the film edge and can be the dominant mechanism of the film growth in a late stage. The generated latent heat produces a temperature peak or a hot spot in the gas region near the film edge. On the other hand, heating the substrate induces evaporation all over the interface. For weak heating, a steady-state circular thin film can be formed on the substrate. For stronger heating, evaporation dominates over condensation, leading to eventual disappearance of the liquid region.Comment: 12 pages, 14 figure

Droplet evaporation in one-component fluids: Dynamic van der Waals theory

In a one-component fluid, we investigate evaporation of a small axysymmetric liquid droplet in the partial wetting condition on a heated wall at $T\sim 0.9 T_c$. In the dynamic van der Waals theory (Phys. Rev. E {\bf 75}, 036304 (2007)), we take into account the latent heat transport from liquid to gas upon evaporation. Along the gas-liquid interface, the temperature is nearly equal to the equilibrium coexisting temperature away from the substrate, but it rises sharply to the wall temperature close to the substrate. On an isothermal substrate, evaporation takes place mostly on a narrow interface region near the contact line in a late stage, which is a characteristic feature in one-component fluids.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figure

高速・高感度な滑り覚センサの研究開発

電気通信大学200

The Impact of Rhythmic Distortions in Speech on Personality Assessment

The perennial question as to how perceived otherness in speech projects into listener assessment of one’s personality has been systematically investigated within the field of foreign accentedness, vocal communication of affective states and vocal stereotyping. In the present study, we aimed at exploring non-native listeners’ capacity to respond to differences in natural and modified native speech, particularly whether the manipulation of temporal structure in both stressed and unstressed syllables gives rise to any changes in the perception of the speaker’s personality. The respondents’ intuitive judgements were captured in the domain of the ‘nervousness category’ taken from the five-factor model of personality. Our results indicate an effect of temporal modifications on the listeners’ judgements. Analysis of variance for repeated measures confirmed a highly significant shift of personality evaluations towards the undesired traits (e.g., nervousness, anxiety, querulousness). Several interesting interactions with the semantic contents of the utterances and with the intrinsic qualities of the speakers’ voices were also found. We argue that the effects of accented speech go beyond conscious willingness to accept “otherness” and suggest a method for studying them

エイゴ ニヨル センモン ジュギョウ ノ シツ コウジョウ オ メザシテ : センモン ジュギョウ タントウ キョウイン オ タイショウ トシタ エイゴ ジュギョウ ノ ジッシ ジョウキョウ

徳島大学大学院先端技術科学教育部では、2006 年度より海外の学術交流協定を結んでいる中国、 韓国、ニュージーランド、アメリカ、フランスの10 大学との共同学位プログラム（国際連携大学院プ ログラム）を順次開始している。本プログラムでは海外連携大学院からの学生受け入れに際し、英語 での教育指導を前提としている。そのため、指導に当たる教員にも必然的に英語での教育指導力が求 められる。そのような国際連携大学院担当教員には、英語で教育指導を今よりも円滑に行えるように なるための英語教育・支援が必要である。国際連携教育開発センターでは、英語による専門授業の教 授とその質向上を目指した取り組みとして、工学教員を対象とした英語授業の開講準備支援として「国 際連携大学院担当教員を対象とした英語コース」を2006 年6 月に開始し、現在までに5 回行っている。 本論文ではその取り組みを詳細に記述し、課題と今後のあり方について議論する。The University of Tokushima Graduate School of Advanced Technology and Science launched the International Affiliated Double-Degree Program, where students pursue double degrees in engineering at the graduate level organized between the Graduate School and one of its ten overseas partner institutions. Since our graduate school is committed to offering content lectures in English to incoming students to facilitate the students’ content learning, the faculty members involved need a good command of English. Strongly motivated by the commitment to offering content courses in English, the Center for International Cooperation in Engineering Education started offering the “English Course for Engineering Content Instructors Preparing to Teach in English” in June 2006. Since then, the course has been repeated five times with modifications. This paper describes our continuing efforts toward the provision and improvement of English language support for engineering instructors

Okayama University Survey of the current situation of community-based medical facilities supported by part-time work by physicians

　We investigated the situation of how physicians at Okayama University support local medical institutions by serving as a part-time worker, and analyzed the difference between the five medical districts of Okayama prefecture and other prefectures. Many physicians (actual number of physicians, full-time equivalent number of physicians) served in the southeastern region of the Okayama prefecture (339, 82.2). On the other hand, fewer physicians (42, 11.4) served in Takahashi・Niimi in the northwestern region of Okayama. Many physicians also served in Hiroshima prefecture (193, 48.8), Hyogo prefecture (109, 26.7), and the four prefectures of Shikoku Island (81, 23.6). 　It has been clarified that many physicians at Okayama University are working on a part-time basis to support local and community medical institutions in the wide area of Okayama prefecture, Hiroshima prefecture, Hyogo prefecture and the four prefectures of Shikoku Island