Prosody in text-to-speech synthesis using fuzzy logic

For over a thousand years, inventors, scientists and researchers have tried to reproduce human speech. Today, the quality of synthesized speech is not equivalent to the quality of real speech. Most research on speech synthesis focuses on improving the quality of the speech produced by Text-to-Speech (TTS) systems. The best TTS systems use unit selection-based concatenation to synthesize speech. However, this method is very timely and the speech database is very large. Diphone concatenated synthesized speech requires less memory, but sounds robotic. This thesis explores the use of fuzzy logic to make diphone concatenated speech sound more natural. A TTS is built using both neural networks and fuzzy logic. Text is converted into phonemes using neural networks. Fuzzy logic is used to control the fundamental frequency for three types of sentences. In conclusion, the fuzzy system produces f0 contours that make the diphone concatenated speech sound more natural

Are coastal habitats important nurseries? A meta-analysis

Nearshore‐structured habitats—including underwater grasses, mangroves, coral, and other biogenic reefs, marshes, and complex abiotic substrates—have long been postulated to function as important nurseries for juvenile fishes and invertebrates. Here, we review the evolution of the “nursery habitat hypothesis” and use \u3e11,000 comparisons from 160 peer‐reviewed studies to test whether and which structured habitats increase juvenile density, growth, and survival. In general, almost all structured habitats significantly enhanced juvenile density—and in some cases growth and survival—relative to unstructured habitats. Underwater grasses and mangroves also promoted juvenile density and growth beyond what was observed in other structured habitats. These conclusions were robust to variation among studies, although there were significant differences with latitude and among some phyla. Our results confirm the basic nursery function of certain structured habitats, which lends further support to their conservation, restoration, and management at a time when our coastal environments are becoming increasingly impacted. They also reveal a dearth of evidence from many other systems (e.g., kelp forests) and for responses other than density. Although recent studies have advocated for increasingly complex approaches to evaluating nurseries, we recommend a renewed emphasis on more straightforward assessments of juvenile growth, survival, reproduction, and recruitment

Miscellany

Art Writings I Believe Roy F. Powell Awardshttps://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/miscell/1002/thumbnail.jp

Molecular Gas Properties on Cloud Scales across the Local Star-forming Galaxy Population

Using the PHANGS–ALMA CO(2–1) survey, we characterize molecular gas properties on ~100 pc scales across 102,778 independent sightlines in 70 nearby galaxies. This yields the best synthetic view of molecular gas properties on cloud scales across the local star-forming galaxy population obtained to date. Consistent with previous studies, we observe a wide range of molecular gas surface densities (3.4 dex), velocity dispersions (1.7 dex), and turbulent pressures (6.5 dex) across the galaxies in our sample. Under simplifying assumptions about subresolution gas structure, the inferred virial parameters suggest that the kinetic energy of the molecular gas typically exceeds its self-gravitational binding energy at ~100 pc scales by a modest factor (1.3 on average). We find that the cloud-scale surface density, velocity dispersion, and turbulent pressure (1) increase toward the inner parts of galaxies, (2) are exceptionally high in the centers of barred galaxies (where the gas also appears less gravitationally bound), and (3) are moderately higher in spiral arms than in inter-arm regions. The galaxy-wide averages of these gas properties also correlate with the integrated stellar mass, star formation rate, and offset from the star-forming main sequence of the host galaxies. These correlations persist even when we exclude regions with extraordinary gas properties in galaxy centers, which contribute significantly to the inter-galaxy variations. Our results provide key empirical constraints on the physical link between molecular cloud populations and their galactic environment

The Perioperative Quality Improvement Programme (PQIP patient study): protocol for a UK multicentre, prospective cohort study to measure quality of care and outcomes after major surgery

INTRODUCTION: Major surgery accounts for a substantial proportion of health service activity, due not only to the primary procedure, but the longer-term health implications of poor short-term outcome. Data from small studies or from outside the UK indicate that rates of complications and failure to rescue vary between hospitals, as does compliance with best practice processes. Within the UK, there is currently no system for monitoring postoperative complications (other than short-term mortality) in major non-cardiac surgery. Further, there is variation between national audit programmes, in the emphasis placed on quality assurance versus quality improvement, and therefore the principles of measurement and reporting which are used to design such programmes. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: The PQIP patient study is a multi-centre prospective cohort study which recruits patients undergoing major surgery. Patient provide informed consent and contribute baseline and outcome data from their perspective using a suite of patient-reported outcome tools. Research and clinical staff complete data on patient risk factors and outcomes in-hospital, including two measures of complications. Longer-term outcome data are collected through patient feedback and linkage to national administrative datasets (mortality and readmissions). As well as providing a uniquely granular dataset for research, PQIP provides feedback to participating sites on their compliance with evidence-based processes and their patients' outcomes, with the aim of supporting local quality improvement. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Ethical approval has been granted by the Health Research Authority in the UK. Dissemination of interim findings (non-inferential) will form a part of the improvement methodology and will be provided to participating centres at regular intervals, including near-real time feedback of key process measures. Inferential analyses will be published in the peer-reviewed literature, supported by a comprehensive multi-modal communications strategy including to patients, policy makers and academic audiences as well as clinicians

Star Formation Laws and Efficiencies across 80 Nearby Galaxies

We measure empirical relationships between the local star formation rate (SFR) and properties of the star-forming molecular gas on 1.5 kpc scales across 80 nearby galaxies. These relationships, commonly referred to as "star formation laws," aim at predicting the local SFR surface density from various combinations of molecular gas surface density, galactic orbital time, molecular cloud free-fall time, and the interstellar medium dynamical equilibrium pressure. Leveraging a multiwavelength database built for the PHANGS survey, we measure these quantities consistently across all galaxies and quantify systematic uncertainties stemming from choices of SFR calibrations and the CO-to-H$_2$ conversion factors. The star formation laws we examine show 0.3-0.4 dex of intrinsic scatter, among which the molecular Kennicutt-Schmidt relation shows a $\sim$10% larger scatter than the other three. The slope of this relation ranges $\beta\approx0.9{-}1.2$, implying that the molecular gas depletion time remains roughly constant across the environments probed in our sample. The other relations have shallower slopes ($\beta\approx0.6{-}1.0$), suggesting that the star formation efficiency (SFE) per orbital time, the SFE per free-fall time, and the pressure-to-SFR surface density ratio (i.e., the feedback yield) may vary systematically with local molecular gas and SFR surface densities. Last but not least, the shapes of the star formation laws depend sensitively on methodological choices. Different choices of SFR calibrations can introduce systematic uncertainties of at least 10-15% in the star formation law slopes and 0.15-0.25 dex in their normalization, while the CO-to-H$_2$ conversion factors can additionally produce uncertainties of 20-25% for the slope and 0.10-0.20 dex for the normalization.Comment: 10 pages main text + 2 appendices. ApJL in press. Data products available at https://www.canfar.net/storage/list/phangs/RELEASES/Sun_etal_2023 . Slides summarizing key results can be found at https://www.dropbox.com/s/5gsegexeo9n0t05/Sun_et_PHANGS_2023.pptx?dl=

The state of the Martian climate

60°N was +2.0°C, relative to the 1981–2010 average value (Fig. 5.1). This marks a new high for the record. The average annual surface air temperature (SAT) anomaly for 2016 for land stations north of starting in 1900, and is a significant increase over the previous highest value of +1.2°C, which was observed in 2007, 2011, and 2015. Average global annual temperatures also showed record values in 2015 and 2016. Currently, the Arctic is warming at more than twice the rate of lower latitudes

Identification of novel loci associated with hip shape:a meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies

This study was funded by Arthritis Research UK project grant 20244, which also provided salary funding for DB and CVG. LP works in the MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit, a UK MRC‐funded unit (MC_ UU_ 12013/4 & MC_UU_12013/5). ALSPAC: We are extremely grateful to all the families who took part in this study, the midwives for their help in recruiting them, and the whole ALSPAC team, which includes interviewers, computer and laboratory technicians, clerical workers, research scientists, volunteers, managers, receptionists, and nurses. ALSPAC data collection was supported by the Wellcome Trust (grants WT092830M; WT088806; WT102215/2/13/2), UK Medical Research Council (G1001357), and University of Bristol. The UK Medical Research Council and the Wellcome Trust (102215/2/13/2) and the University of Bristol provide core support for ALSPAC. Framingham Heart Study: The Framingham Osteoporosis Study is supported by grants from the National Institute of Arthritis, Musculoskeletal, and Skin Diseases and the National Institute on Aging (R01 AR41398, R01 AR 061162, R01 AR050066, and R01 AR061445). The analyses reflect intellectual input and resource development from the Framingham Heart Study investigators participating in the SNP Health Association Resource project. The Framingham Heart Study of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health and Boston University School of Medicine were supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute's Framingham Heart Study (N01‐HC‐25195) and its contract with Affymetrix, Inc., for genotyping services (N02‐HL‐6‐4278). Analyses reflect intellectual input and resource development from the Framingham Heart Study investigators participating in the SNP Health Association Resource (SHARe) project. A portion of this research was conducted using the Linux Cluster for Genetic Analysis (LinGA‐II) funded by the Robert Dawson Evans Endowment of the Department of Medicine at Boston University School of Medicine and Boston Medical Center. DK was also supported by Israel Science Foundation grant #1283/14. TDC and DR thank Dr Claire Reardon and the entire Harvard University Bauer Core facility for assistance with ATAC‐seq next generation sequencing. This work was funded in part by the Harvard University Milton Fund, NSF (BCS‐1518596), and NIH NIAMS (1R01AR070139‐01A1) to TDC. MrOS: The Osteoporotic Fractures in Men (MrOS) Study is supported by National Institutes of Health funding. The following institutes provide support: the National Institute on Aging (NIA), the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), and NIH Roadmap for Medical Research under the following grant numbers: U01 AG027810, U01 AG042124, U01 AG042139, U01 AG042140, U01 AG042143, U01 AG042145, U01 AG042168, U01 AR066160, and UL1 TR000128. The National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) provides funding for the MrOS ancillary study “Replication of candidate gene associations and bone strength phenotype in MrOS” under the grant number R01 AR051124. The National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) provides funding for the MrOS ancillary study “GWAS in MrOS and SOF” under the grant number RC2 AR058973. SOF: The Study of Osteoporotic Fractures (SOF) is supported by National Institutes of Health funding. The National Institute on Aging (NIA) provides support under the following grant numbers: R01 AG005407, R01 AR35582, R01 AR35583, R01 AR35584, R01 AG005394, R01 AG027574, and R01 AG027576. TwinsUK: The study was funded by the Wellcome Trust; European Community's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007‐2013). The study also receives support from the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR)‐funded BioResource, Clinical Research Facility, and Biomedical Research Centre based at Guy's and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust in partnership with King's College London. SNP genotyping was performed by The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute and National Eye Institute via NIH/CIDR. This study was also supported by the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (project grants 1048216 and 1127156), the Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital RAC (SGW), and the iVEC/Pawsey Supercomputing Centre (project grants Pawsey0162 and Director2025 [SGW]). The salary of BHM was supported by a Raine Medical Research Foundation Priming Grant. The Umeå Fracture and Osteoporosis Study (UFO) is supported by the Swedish Research Council (K20006‐72X‐20155013), the Swedish Sports Research Council (87/06), the Swedish Society of Medicine, the Kempe‐Foundation (JCK‐1021), and by grants from the Medical Faculty of Umeå Unviersity (ALFVLL:968:22‐2005, ALFVL:‐937‐2006, ALFVLL:223:11‐2007, and ALFVLL:78151‐2009) and from the county council of Västerbotten (Spjutspetsanslag VLL:159:33‐2007). This publication is the work of the authors and does not necessarily reflect the views of any funders. None of the funders had any influence on data collection, analysis, interpretation of the results, or writing of the paper. DB will serve as the guarantor of the paper. Authors’ roles: Study conception and design: DAB, JSG, RMA, LP, DK, and JHT. Data collection: DJ, DPK, ESO, SRC, NEL, BHM, FMKW, JBR, SGW, TDC, BGF, DAL, CO, and UP‐L. Data analysis: DAB, DSE, FKK, JSG, FRS, CVG, RJB, RMA, SGW, EG, TDC, DR, and TB. Data interpretation: JSG, RMA, TDC, DR, DME, LP, DK, and JHT. Drafting manuscript: DAB and JHT. Revising manuscript content: JHT. All authors approved the final version of manuscript. DAB takes responsibility for the integrity of the data analysis.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Life-Course Genome-wide Association Study Meta-analysis of Total Body BMD and Assessment of Age-Specific Effects.

Bone mineral density (BMD) assessed by DXA is used to evaluate bone health. In children, total body (TB) measurements are commonly used; in older individuals, BMD at the lumbar spine (LS) and femoral neck (FN) is used to diagnose osteoporosis. To date, genetic variants in more than 60 loci have been identified as associated with BMD. To investigate the genetic determinants of TB-BMD variation along the life course and test for age-specific effects, we performed a meta-analysis of 30 genome-wide association studies (GWASs) of TB-BMD including 66,628 individuals overall and divided across five age strata, each spanning 15 years. We identified variants associated with TB-BMD at 80 loci, of which 36 have not been previously identified; overall, they explain approximately 10% of the TB-BMD variance when combining all age groups and influence the risk of fracture. Pathway and enrichment analysis of the association signals showed clustering within gene sets implicated in the regulation of cell growth and SMAD proteins, overexpressed in the musculoskeletal system, and enriched in enhancer and promoter regions. These findings reveal TB-BMD as a relevant trait for genetic studies of osteoporosis, enabling the identification of variants and pathways influencing different bone compartments. Only variants in ESR1 and close proximity to RANKL showed a clear effect dependency on age. This most likely indicates that the majority of genetic variants identified influence BMD early in life and that their effect can be captured throughout the life course

City of Hitchcock Comprehensive Plan 2020-2040

Hitchcock is a small town located in Galveston County (Figure 1.1), nestled up on the Texas Gulf Coast. It lies about 40 miles south-east of Houston. The boundaries of the city encloses an area of land of 60.46 sq. miles, an area of water of 31.64 sq. miles at an elevation just 16 feet above sea level. Hitchcock has more undeveloped land (~90% of total area) than the county combined. Its strategic location gives it a driving force of opportunities in the Houston-Galveston Region.The guiding principles for this planning process were Hitchcock’s vision statement and its corresponding goals, which were crafted by the task force. The goals focus on factors of growth and development including public participation, development considerations, transportation, community facilities, economic development, parks, and housing and social vulnerabilityTexas Target Communitie