Multimodal language acquisition based on motor learning and interaction

In this work we propose a methodology for language acquisition in humanoid robots that mimics that in children. Language acquisition is a complex process that involves mastering several different tasks, such as producing speech sounds, learning how to group different sounds into a consistent and manageable number of classes or speech units, grounding speech, and recognizing the speech sounds when uttered by other persons. While it is not known to which extent those abilities are learned or written in our genetic code, this work aims at two intertwined goals: (i) to investigate how much of linguistic structure that can be derived directly from the speech signal directed to infants by (ii) designing, building and testing biological plausible models for language acquisition in a humanoid robot. We have therefore chosen to avoid implementing any pre-programmed linguistic knowledge, such as phonemes, into these models. Instead we rely on general methods such as pattern matching and hierarchical clustering techniques, and show that it is possible to acquire important linguistic structures directly from the speech signal through the interaction with a caregiver. We also show that this process can be facilitated through the use of motor learning

Interactions Among Fire, Insects and Pathogens in Coniferous Forests of the Interior Western United States and Canada

1 Natural and recurring disturbances caused by fire, native forest insects and pathogens have interacted for millennia to create and maintain forests dominated by seral or pioneering species of conifers in the interior regions of the western United States and Canada. 2 Changes in fire suppression and other factors in the last century have altered the species composition and increased the density of trees in many western forests, leading to concomitant changes in how these three disturbance agents interact. 3 Two- and three-way interactions are reviewed that involve fire, insects and pathogens in these forests, including fire-induced pathogen infection and insect attack, the effects of tree mortality from insects and diseases on fuel accumulation, and efforts to model these interactions. 4 The emerging concern is highlighted regarding how the amount and distribution of bark beetle-caused tree mortality will be affected by large-scale restoration of these fire-adapted forest ecosystems via prescribed fire. 5 The effects of fire on soil insects and pathogens, and on biodiversity of ground-dwelling arthropods, are examined. 6 The effects of fire suppression on forest susceptibility to insects and pathogens, are discussed, as is the use of prescribed fire to control forest pests

The NOvA Technical Design Report

This Technical Design Report (TDR) describes the preliminary design of the NOνA accelerator upgrades, NOνA detectors, detector halls and detector sites. Compared to the March 2006 and November 2006 NOνA Conceptual Design Reports (CDR), critical value engineering studies have been completed and the alternatives still active in the CDR have been narrowed to achieve a preliminary technical design ready for a Critical Decision 2 review. Many aspects of NOνA described this TDR are complete to a level far beyond a preliminary design. In particular, the access road to the NOvA Far Detector site in Minnesota has an advanced technical design at a level appropriate for a Critical Decision 3a review. Several components of the accelerator upgrade and new neutrino detectors also have advanced technical designs appropriate for a Critical Decision 3a review