The inverse problem for the vocal tract: numerical methods, acoustical experiments, and speech synthesis

In this article we will describe our recent experiments on the estimation of vocal tract area functions from transient acoustical measurements at the lips. Since the theoretical basis for such measurements has been discussed in several earlier publications we will concentrate on the measurement technique and the numerical procedures used to estimate the area functions from the measurements. The two main accomplishments we will report on are (1) We are now able to make measurements and compute and display the area function about 18 times per second. Such a display, which has not been possible before, allow one to visualize the shape of one's vocal tract as one changes the position of one's articulators. This display could form the basis of a visual aid for the improvement of the speech of profoundly deaf persons. (2) We have synthesized intelligible though not yet high quality speech from several sentence-length sequences of measured area functions. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first instance of continuous speech synthesized from direct measurements of area functions.     

Determination of the impurity concentration in heavily doped inhomogeneous semiconductors from the measurement of the low-temperature conductivity

A method has been developed for determining the effective concentration of shallow impuritiesN ^* reponsible for the low-temperature conductivity in the vicinity of the metal-insulator transition for inhomogeneous samples of n-Ge:As. The method is based on the measurement of two ratios of sample resistance -R(4.2 K)/R(300 K), =R(2.0 K)/R(4.2 K) and the conductivity (4.2 K). The next step consists of plotting and (4.2) vs . Assuming that is the most reliable parameter, one can calculate, after an averaging procedare, the corrected values of ^*, ^*(4.2) and the resistivity at room temperature ^*(300)=[ ^{* *}(4.2)]^–1. Finally, using the known dependence (300)=f(N) for homogeneous samples, one can obtain the values ofN ^*. The dependences ofN ^* on and on are plotted. The scaling behavior of the conductivity of the Ge:As samples with corrected values of ^*(4.2) andN ^* has been observed down toT=100 mK.     

Elucidating Diphosphoinositol Polyphosphate Function with Nonhydrolyzable Analogues

The diphosphoinositol polyphosphates (PP‐IPs) represent a novel class of high‐energy phosphate‐containing messengers which control a wide variety of cellular processes. It is thought that PP‐IPs exert their pleiotropic effects as allosteric regulators and through pyrophosphorylation of protein substrates. However, most details of PP‐IP signaling have remained elusive because of a paucity of suitable tools. We describe the synthesis of PP‐IP bisphosphonate analogues (PCP‐IPs), which are resistant to chemical and biochemical degradation. While the two regioisomers 1PCP‐IP₅ and 5PCP‐IP₅ inhibited Akt phosphorylation with similar potencies, 1PCP‐IP₅ was much more effective at inhibiting its cognate phosphatase hDIPP1. Furthermore, the PCP analogues inhibit protein pyrophosphorylation because of their inability to transfer the β‐phosphoryl group, and thus enable the distinction between PP‐IP signaling mechanisms. As such, the PCP analogues will find widespread applications for the structural and biochemical characterization of PP‐IP signaling properties.