1,727 research outputs found
Measuring Pitch Range
No full textThe literature offers at least two methods to annotators for characterizing the pitch range of a prosodic phrase. One method is in terms of the distance between the F0 maximum of the phrase (HiF0) and the speaker's utterance-final pitch (LoF0). The other method is in terms of the distance between pitch peaks and pitch valleys in the prosodic phrase. In this paper we address two questions. The first question concerns the reliability of the different methods. Five experienced phoneticians applied both methods on a set of forty utterances taken from read aloud text. We found that reliability was higher for HiF0 than for distances between pitch peaks and valleys. The second question is whether variation that is not captured by the first approach does actually occur in pitch contours. The results suggests that the HiF0 approach captures all the variation relevant to measuring pitch range that occurs in our small corpus. We conclude that the HiF0 method is methodologically more adequate, and at the same time sufficiently powerful to represent pitch range variation adequately for read aloud text
Constructing and Characterising Solar Structure Models for Computational Helioseismology
No full textIn local helioseismology, numerical simulations of wave propagation are useful to model the interaction of solar waves with perturbations to a background solar model. However, the solution to the linearised equations of motion include convective modes that can swamp the helioseismic waves that we are interested in. In this article, we construct background solar models that are stable against convection, by modifying the vertical pressure gradient of Model S (Christensen-Dalsgaard et al., 1996, Science 272, 1286) relinquishing hydrostatic equilibrium. However, the stabilisation affects the eigenmodes that we wish to remain as close to Model S as possible. In a bid to recover the Model S eigenmodes, we choose to make additional corrections to the sound speed of Model S before stabilisation. No stabilised model can be perfectly solar-like, so we present three stabilised models with slightly different eigenmodes. The models are appropriate to study the f and p 1 to p 4 modes with spherical harmonic degrees in the range from 400 to 900. Background model CSM has a modified pressure gradient for stabilisation and has eigenfrequencies within 2% of Model S. Model CSM_A has an additional 10% increase in sound speed in the top 1 Mm resulting in eigenfrequencies within 2% of Model S and eigenfunctions that are, in comparison with CSM, closest to those of Model S. Model CSM_B has a 3% decrease in sound speed in the top 5 Mm resulting in eigenfrequencies within 1% of Model S and eigenfunctions that are only marginally adversely affected. These models are useful to study the interaction of solar waves with embedded three-dimensional heterogeneities, such as convective flows and model sunspots. We have also calculated the response of the stabilised models to excitation by random near-surface sources, using simulations of the propagation of linear waves. We find that the simulated power spectra of wave motion are in good agreement with an observed SOHO/MDI power spectrum. Overall, our convectively stabilised background models provide a good basis for quantitative numerical local helioseismology. The models are available for download from http://www.mps.mpg.de/projects/seismo/NA4/
How do you count to 120 days with part-time sick leave? An analysis of the legal position before and after judgements U 2018 815 H and U 2018 822 H
No full textThis thesis contains an analysis and discussion of the 120-day rule. With a basis on how you count to 120 days with a part-time sick leave, including the legal position before and after judgements U 2018 815 H and U 2018 822 H.The 120-day rule gives the employer the opportunity to terminate a salaried employee with a reduced notice of one month, given that the conditions of the Salaried Employee Act § 5, part 2 are met. Court practice before judgements U 2018 815 H and U 2018 822 U, show that only actual leave can be counted during a part-time sick leave, albeit without the Supreme Court taking a position on work-free days, or whether an employer’s refusal to accept a salaried employee’s offer on working part-time, have any relevance in the calculation of the 120 sick days.Supreme Court judgements U 2018 815 and U 2018 822 conclude that only actual absence is counted during periods where a salaried employee is on part-time sick leave. Any days that the salaried employee has been working and received salary cannot be counted in the calculation of the 120 sick days. The conclusive element being the fact that the salaried employee has received a salary during sickness, thus making an averaging calculation – where the number of sick hours divided with the number of work hours, notwithstanding the number of work days per week – inapplicable. The employer is also not entitled to count estimated absence for Sundays, public holidays nor any other work-free days.Judgements U 2018 815 H and U 2018 822 H furthermore concludes that an employer is entitled to reject a salaried employee’s offer of working at a reduced time without giving a specific reason for the rejection. The rejection is without consequence for the calculation of the 120-day rule and the employer is entitled to full reimbursement of sickness benefits according to the Sickness Benefits Act.Based on an overall assessment, U 2018 815 H and U 2018 822 H are expected to set precedence for the future practice in this area based on the new and clear guidelines as well as the principle nature of the judgements for the calculation of the 120-day rule.<br/
The fear of bad smell: Health risk awareness related to using waste in agricultural production in Vietnam
No full textWaste watersWater reuseAgricultural productionFish farmingIrrigation waterPublic healthRisksSkin diseasesOrganic fertilizersWomen
Robustness - theoretical framework
No full textMore frequent use of advanced types of structures with limited redundancy and serious consequences in case of failure combined with increased requirements to efficiency in design and execution followed by increased risk of human errors has made the need of requirements to robustness of new structures essential. Further, the collapse of the World Trade Centre towers and a number of collapses of structural systems during the last 10 years has increased the interest in robustness. Typically modern structural design codes require that ‘the consequence of damages to structures should not be disproportional to the causes of the damages'. However, despite the importance of robustness for structural design such requirements are not substantiated in more detail, nor have the engineering profession been able to agree on an interpretation of robustness which facilitates for its quantification. The ain of this fact sheet is to describe a theoretical and risk based framework to form the basis for quantification of robustness and for pre-normative guidelines.More frequent use of advanced types of structures with limited redundancy and serious consequences in case of failure combined with increased requirements to efficiency in design and execution followed by increased risk of human errors has made the need of requirements to robustness of new structures essential. Further, the collapse of the World Trade Centre towers and a number of collapses of structural systems during the last 10 years has increased the interest in robustness. Typically modern structural design codes require that ‘the consequence of damages to structures should not be disproportional to the causes of the damages'. However, despite the importance of robustness for structural design such requirements are not substantiated in more detail, nor have the engineering profession been able to agree on an interpretation of robustness which facilitates for its quantification. The ain of this fact sheet is to describe a theoretical and risk based framework to form the basis for quantification of robustness and for pre-normative guidelines
Philosophy
No full textThe novels and short stories of Thomas Pynchon pose specific problems for philosophical readings of his works that are not seen in other authors. In fact, it would be fair to say that Pynchon is a writer who at once invites philosophical approaches to his work while, at the same time, his novels resist such readings. In this chapter I focus on the specific stances that Pynchon's novels evince with respect to a range of formal philosophical thinking and thinkers, which has been a constant thematic presence in his work since his earliest fiction
Challenge after 200 mg L<sup>−1</sup> H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub>.
No full text<p>Cumulative mortality of the merged replicates is shown in the figure. The fish weighed 1.1 g and the temperature was 14±0.5°C. The experiment ran for 40 days. <b>⋄:</b> control, <b>▵:</b> H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub>, <b>□: </b><i>F. psychrophilum</i>, <b>○:</b> H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub>+ <i>F. psychrophilum</i>.</p
Challenge after 150 mg L<sup>−1</sup> H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub>.
No full text<p>Cumulative mortality of the merged replicates is shown in the figure. The fish weighed 1.2 g and the temperature was 16.8±0.5°C. The experiment ran for 50 days. <b>⋄:</b> control, <b>▵:</b> H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub>, <b>□: </b><i>F. psychrophilum</i>, <b>○:</b> H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub>+ <i>F. psychrophilum</i>.</p
Experimental anal infection of rainbow trout with Flavobacterium psychrophilum : A novel challenge model
No full textFlavobacterium psychrophilum is a Gram‐negative psychrophilic bacterium causing rainbow trout fry syndrome (RTFS) in fry and bacterial coldwater disease (BCWD) in older fish. Both diseases challenge fish welfare and economy in hatcheries and in on‐growing facilities. The bacteria enter hosts through gills, skin, and the gastrointestinal tract, and transfer horizontally in contaminated water and vertically with sexual products of both male and female fish (Madetoja, Dalsgaard, & Wiklund, 2002; Madsen & Dalsgaard, 1999; Nematollahi, Decostere, Pasmans, & Haesebrouck, 2003). Protection afforded by experimental vaccination (injection or immersion) using bacterins (formalin‐killed whole cell) has been described (Hoare, Ngo, Bartie, & Adams, 2017; Madetoja et al., 2006), although no commercial vaccine is presently available for control of RTFS and BCWD. Further research on RTFS/BCWD vaccinology will benefit from an improved challenge method as current methods comprising intraperitoneal (i.p.) injection, bath, and bath exposure after treatment with stressors such as hydrogen peroxide (Henriksen, Kania, Buchmann, & Dalsgaard, 2015; Madsen & Dalsgaard, 1999) remain difficult to reproduce and rely on wounding the structural integrity of mucosal surfaces. The present study compares different infection methods and evaluates systems where the rainbow trout surface (skin, gills, and gut) is kept intact or injured. We compared six different challenge methods comprising anal intubation, i.p. injection, co‐habitation, and bath challenge exposing either nontreated intact fish, fish chemically damaged by exposure to hydrogen peroxide or fish mechanically damaged by needle insertion in the tail‐fin. Disease development was subsequently recorded for 4 weeks
Haplorchis pumilio and H. taichui in Vietnam discriminated using ITS-2 DNA sequence data from adults and larvae
No full textSamples of Haplorchis taichui and Haplorchis pumilio of different life-stages (cercariae, metacercariae and adults) and from different host species (snail, fish, dog, cat and human) were collected in Nghe An and Nam Dinh Provinces in Vietnam. Samples from Thailand were available for comparison. All adults and metacercariae were initially identified using morphological criteria. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays were developed for discriminating between the species. The complete sequence for the nuclear
ribosomal internal transcribed spacer-2 (ITS-2) was obtained from one adult and one metacercaria of H. taichui and three adults and three metacercariae of H. pumilio from Vietnam. Sequences from cercariae from three different snails clustered with those of H. pumilio. Intra-individual variation in the ITS-2 region was detected by sequencing of cloned PCR products. These are the first sequences from Vietnamese Haplorchis spp. to be reported and demonstrate that H. taichui and H. pumilio can be identified unambiguously from any life-stage, including the cercarial stage that is difficult to identify using morphology. Discrepancies in the literature are discussed and examples of apparent misidentification highlighted. The data provide a resource to assist in taxonomic studies on heterophyids, in the design of probes for diagnosis and for field surveys to identify infection in snails
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