Tactual Display of Consonant Voicing to Supplement Lipreading

This research is concerned with the development of tactual displays to supplement the information available through lipreading. Because voicing carries a high informational load in speech and is not well transmitted through lipreading, the efforts are focused on providing tactual displays of voicing to supplement the information available on the lips of the talker. This research includes exploration of 1) signal-processing schemes to extract information about voicing from the acoustic speech signal, 2) methods of displaying this information through a multi-finger tactual display, and 3) perceptual evaluations of voicing reception through the tactual display alone (T), lipreading alone (L), and the combined condition (L+T). Signal processing for the extraction of voicing information used amplitude-envelope signals derived from filtered bands of speech (i.e., envelopes derived from a lowpass-filtered band at 350 Hz and from a highpass-filtered band at 3000 Hz). Acoustic measurements made on the envelope signals of a set of 16 initial consonants represented through multiple tokens of C1VC2 syllables indicate that the onset-timing difference between the low- and high-frequency envelopes (EOA: envelope-onset asynchrony) provides a reliable and robust cue for distinguishing voiced from voiceless consonants. This acoustic cue was presented through a two-finger tactual display such that the envelope of the high-frequency band was used to modulate a 250-Hz carrier signal delivered to the index finger (250-I) and the envelope of the low-frequency band was used to modulate a 50-Hz carrier delivered to the thumb (50T). The temporal-onset order threshold for these two signals, measured with roving signal amplitude and duration, averaged 34 msec, sufficiently small for use of the EOA cue. Perceptual evaluations of the tactual display of EOA with speech signal indicated: 1) that the cue was highly effective for discrimination of pairs of voicing contrasts; 2) that the identification of 16 consonants was improved by roughly 15 percentage points with the addition of the tactual cue over L alone; and 3) that no improvements in L+T over L were observed for reception of words in sentences, indicating the need for further training on this task

Uso de imagens digitais na avaliação do crescimento da taxa de cobertura do solo.

RESUMO: Existem vários métodos para avaliar o crescimento da vegetação e a taxa de cobertura do solo. Medidas precisas e rápidas podem ser obtidas do tratamento digital de imagens geradas de câmeras fotográficas ou de vídeo. Há disponível, no mercado, diversos processadores de imagens que apresentam funções básicas semelhantes, mas com certas particularidades que poderão trazer maior benefício para o usuário, dependendo da aplicação. O SPRING, desenvolvido pelo INPE, é de domínio público, sendo mais abrangente do que um processador de imagens, incluindo funções de geoprocessamento. O ENVI foi desenvolvido para a análise de imagens multiespectrais e hiperespectrais, podendo também ser utilizado para o processamento de imagens obtidas de câmeras de vídeo, por exemplo. O KS-300 é um conjunto de hardware e de software destinado ao processamento e à quantificação de imagens microscópicas, permitindo a captação direta das imagens geradas por meio de lupas, microscópios eletrônicos ou câmeras de vídeo. O SIARCS foi desenvolvido pela Embrapa Instrumentação Agropecuária para tornar mais ágil o processo de captação de dados de um sistema. Este trabalho apresenta os fundamentos teóricos básicos envolvidos na técnica de análise de imagens, com as principais características dos softwares citados acima e sua aplicação na quantificação da taxa de crescimento e da cobertura do solo por espécies vegetais. ABSTRACT: Several methods exist to evaluate the growth of the vegetation and the tax of covering of the soil. Necessary and fast measures can be obtained of the digital treatment of generated images of photographic cameras or of video. There is available, in the market, several processors of images that you/they present similar basic functions, but with certain particularities that can bring larger benefit for the user, depending on the application. SPRING, developed by INPE, it is public domain, being including than a processor of images, including functions. ENVI was developed for the analysis of images multiespectrais and hiperespectrais, could also be used for the processing of obtained images of video cameras, for instance. The KS-300 it is a hardware group and software destined to the processing and quantification of microscopic images, allowing the direct reception of the images generated through magnifying glasses, eletronic microscopes or video cameras. SIARCS was developed by Embrapa Agricultural Instrumentation to turn more agile the process of reception of data of a system. This work presents the basic theoretical foundations involved in the technique of analysis of images, with the main characteristics of the softwares mentioned above and his application in the quantification of the growth tax and of the covering of the soil for vegetable species.

Rings around the World: Notes on the Challenges, Problems & Possibilities of International Audience Projects

Egan, K., Barker, M. (2006). Rings around the World: Notes on the Challenges, Problems & Possibilities of International Audience Projects. Participations: Journal of Audience & Reception Studies, 3 (2). Sponsorship: This research was made possible by a grant from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC Grant No. 000-22-0323)

The Newgate Novel and Sensation Fiction 1830-1868

Pykett, Lyn. 'The Newgate Novel and Sensation Fiction 1830-1868', In: The Cambridge Companion to Crime fiction (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003), pp.19-39 RAE2008

Gadamer, History and the Classics: Fugard, Marowitz, Berkoff and Harrison Rewrite the Theatre

Forsyth, A. (2002). Gadamer, History and the Classics: Fugard, Marowitz, Berkoff and Harrison Rewrite the Theatre. Studies in Literary Criticism and Theory: Vol. 15. New York: Peter Lang. RAE2008

Watching the Lord of the Rings

Barker, Martin, Mathijs, Ernest, Watching the Lord of the Rings (Oxford, Peter Lang, 2008), pp.xiv+297 RAE2008

A Cult Film by Proxy: Space is the Place and the Sun Ra Mythos

Sexton, J. (2006). A Cult Film by Proxy: Space is the Place and the Sun Ra Mythos. New Review of Film and Television Studies. 4(3), pp.197-215. RAE2008

Radio i jego miejsce w życiu codziennym. Studium odbioru stacji radiowych w Polsce po 1989 roku. Analiza i interpretacja badań jakościowych

Wydział Historyczny: Instytut Etnologii i Antropologii Kulturowej

„Moja osobista przestrzeń” – prywatne wirtualne kolekcje sztuki

The phenomenon analyzed in the essay My Personal Space – The Private Virtual Collections of Art is the possibility of visiting the world’s museums by means of the Internet – visiting indirect, nevertheless enabling peaceful, profound, multiple and free contemplation of art. The function of Mon espace personnel (My Personal Space) of French museums of Louvre and Orsay that reveals some radical modifications in the perception, understanding and reception of art, is an illustration of this phenomenon. Using Mon espace personnel means traversing the virtual Louvre or Orsay and choosing works of art, their descriptions, analyses, publications etc. and then adding them to the internaut’s personal thematic albums. The phenomenon described is a starting point to the reflection on the significance of the space in which art exists (called, according to Golka, the form of art’s presence) with its ontology as well as its functions and the character of its reception. The identification of what this space is, in the context of the hybridization of the form and the content and the emergence of the computer culture (Manovich) as well as in the context of the popularization of the reality (Krajewski) and the decentralization of the world of art (Wójtowicz), is an important part of this essay. These phenomena are also inscribed in a wider context of the changes of the character, mission and role of the museum in the time of the digital revolution.

Det individuella möter det kollektiva. Självbiografiskt stoff i barndomsskildringar från det svenska folkhemmet

The subject of the article are autobiographical threads present in Swedish stories about childhood and adolescence published after 1986 that form part of the narrative pertaining to the origins, evolution and decline of the Swedish welfare state (folkhemmet). With reference to such concepts as autobiographical pact, autobiographical novel and auto-fiction, the author discusses the various ways six contemporary Swedish writers (PC Jersild, Kjell Johansson, Susanna Alakoski, Jonas Gardell and Lena Andersson) use their biographies. Special focus is given to the notion of how a cogitation upon individual fate becomes universal when placed in a social context. Another problem analysed by the author is the significance of autobiographical threads for building relationships between the writer and the reader and for the reception of a literary text.

Les tribulations parisiennes de l’officier écrivain : l’oeuvre autobiographique de Yasmina Khadra et son accueil en France

This article describes Yasmina Khadra’s autobiographical work composed of two books: "L’écrivain" and "L’imposture des mots" and its reception in France. The main purpose of this study was to establish the literary genre of these books, which implies determining whether Khandra’s work represents an autobiography or an autofiction with reference to P. Lejeune’s and V. Colonna’s theoretical studies. The dividing line between two genres in Khandra’s works refl ects his inner split between being either a solder or a writer. The presentation will also help to understand the controversy resulting from Khandra’s participation in Algerian civil war. Moreover the analysis is related to modern Algerian history.

Owidiusz polskich romantyków. Inspiracje, nawiązania, analogie

Wydział Filologii Polskiej i Klasycznej: Instytut Filologii Polskiej

La idiosincrasia del lenguaje almodovariano y su repercusión sobre la traducción. Analisis de algunas de las soluciones en el campo de la variación lingüística del subtitulado en polaco de “Volver” (2006)

The identification of an original and idiosyncratic style in the work of the Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar provides the tone of the speech with a semantic function: linguistic variation and specific registers help to transmit the message and intention of the author. As a consequence of this, the possibilities for the translation being carried away in similar linguistic terms to those of the original text will be higher than in texts without linguistic peculiarities or stylistically unmarked. The purpose of this paper is to reflect on the influence exerted by the original author in the reception of his work abroad and, consequently, in its translation. In this sense, we will analyse the informative value of certain linguistic uses as well as the importance of enriching stylistically the subtitles in these connotative texts through the example of Almodóvar’s film "Volver" and its translation into Polish (2006).

Rondom de Ander in "Na die geliefde land" van Karel Schoeman

The aim of this article is to analyse the novel "Na die geliefde land" (1972) by Karel Schoeman, by interpreting the function of 'hulle' ('they') as a category of alienation/distancing. Schoeman presented a future vision of South Africa controlled by an unidentified group of 'them' and showed Afrikaners as a marginalized group, forced to live on farms. A narrow political interpretation dominated in the reception of this book, which was treated as a simulation of the development of the political situation in South Africa. The key argument of this article is that the indeterminate representation of the situation after the revolution is not a weakness of this novel, but a conscious strategy of the author. The article argues that problems concerning political revolution ('Who', 'Why', 'When') are not that relevant in a reading of the novel because "Na die geliefde land" deals mainly with an Afrikaner community’s reactions to a changed situation.

Antyk w prozie J. R. R. Tolkiena

Tolkien’s oeuvre and its problematic relationships with classical tradition serve in my paper as an illustration of the diverse approaches, methods, and styles of lecture concerning the nature of literary allusivity. As a point of departure in the paper has been taken the reflection on the common phrase about “antiquity in something” deployed broadly in the reception studies. T he questions raised here are as follows: what does precisely “in” mean in that metaphor? O r, to put it in more general terms, when an allusion to another text can be treated as an inherent part of interpretation? Answer to these questions was possible due to U mberto E co’s statements in the well-known dispute relating to the interpretation and overinterpretation; in conclusion I was trying to show that his criterion of textual economy in interpretation justifies somehow (as I believe) the new look on the essential T olkien’s symbol, i.e. the ring of power, as a symbol of the R oman imperial rule. This means (in the context of the translatio imperii and cultural change from pagan to Christian empire) that The Lord of the Rings can be seen in a way as a novelistic version of Augustine’s The City of God.