This paper describes one part of an EU project, ENABL, in which speech recognition systems are used to provide access by voice to computer software. An acoustic analysis of the speech of fourteen motorically disabled persons, twelve with dysarthria and two without, is presented. The analysis is based on a standard description of dysarthric speech and parameters such as fundamental frequency, sy...

Rework in construction development projects can significantly degrade project cost and schedule performance. In a typical construction development project which involves design and construction, rework in the construction phase could increase construction cost by 10%-15% of the contract price (Burati. 1992, Josephson & Hammerlund 1999, Love & Li 2000). The proportion of money and time spent on ...

The primary reasons for conducting fundamental research are satisfying curiosity, acquiring knowledge, and achieving understanding. Here we develop why we believe it is essential to promote basic ecological research, despite increased impetus for ecologists to conduct and present their research in the light of potential applications. This includes the understanding of our environment, for intel...

We focus on the -nite-sample behavior of heteroskedasticity-consistent covariance matrix estimators and associated quasi-t tests. The estimator most commonly used is that proposed by Halbert White. Its -nite-sample behavior under both homoskedasticity and heteroskedasticity is analyzed using Monte Carlo methods. We also consider two other consistent estimators, namely: the HC3 estimator, which ...

In a recent study by Ginther et al., the probability of receiving a U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) RO1 award was related to the applicant’s race/ethnicity. The results indicate black/African-American applicants were 10% less likely than white peers to receive an award, after controlling for background and qualifications. It has generated a widespread debate regarding the unfairness of...

This paper outlines ongoing research that is investigating ways to increase the supply of high quality planting materials for smallholder forestry in the Philippines. A Bayesian Belief Network (BBN) of the nursery sector that had been developed previously by one of the authors was further refined during a planning and implementation workshop for the ACIAR Smallholder Nursery project. The refine...

PURPOSE The acoustic measure relative fundamental frequency (RFF) was investigated as a potential objective measure to track variations in vocal effort within and across individuals. METHOD Twelve speakers with healthy voices created purposeful modulations in their vocal effort during speech tasks. RFF and an aerodynamic measure of vocal effort, the ratio of sound pressure level to subglottal...

Voice imitation is one of the potential threats to security systems that use automatic speaker recognition. Since prosodic features have been considered for state-of-the-art recognition systems in recent years, the question arises as to how vulnerable these features are to voice mimicking. In this study, two experiments are conducted for twelve individual features in order to determine how a pr...

A bilaterally symmetrical convex dodecahedron consisting of twelve quadrilateral faces is derived from the icosahedron via a process akin to Fuller’s Jitterbug Transformation. The unusual zygomorphic dodecahedron so obtained is shown to harbor a bilaterally symmetrical jazz/blues harmonic code on its twelve faces that is related to such fundamental music theoretical constructs as the Circle of ...

There are several examples of heuristic rules first proposed from empirical observation, which eventually earned physicochemical validity after the fundamental derivation of a posteriori. This may be the case of Sherwood’s plot – for which a sound rationalization from first principles, entailing enthalpy and mass balances, is provided here; it applies to (fine) chemicals undergoing concentr...