Evaluation of acoustical conditions for speech communication in working elementary school classrooms

Detailed acoustical measurements were made in 41 working elementary school classrooms near Ottawa, Canada to obtain more representative and more accurate indications of the acoustical quality of conditions for speech communication during actual teaching activities. This paper describes the room acoustics characteristics and noise environment of 27 traditional rectangular classrooms from the 41 measured rooms. The purpose of the work was to better understand how to improve speech communication between teachers and students. The study found, that on average, the students experienced: teacher speech levels of 60.4 dB A, noise levels of 49.1 dB A, and a mean speech-to-noise ratio of 11 dB A during teaching activities. The mean reverberation time in the occupied classrooms was 0.41 s, which was 10% less than in the unoccupied rooms. The reverberation time measurements were used to determine the average absorption added by each student. Detailed analyses of early and late-arriving speech sounds showed these sound levels could be predicted quite accurately and suggest improved approaches to room acoustics design.     

From squeezed atom lasers to teleportation of massive articles

The development of the Raman atom laser promises to make available new techniques for accessing and manipulating the quantum statistical properties of Bose-Einstein condensates. In this work we show how, combined with the already existing methods for the manipulation of quantum states of light which are central to quantum optics, the Raman input-output coupling mechanisms potentially enable the production of quadrature squeezed and sub-Poissonian atomic beams, and entanglement between atomic and optical fields. We also propose a method of measuring the quantum statistics of the atomic beam by transferring them to an optical field. Finally, by combning these techniques, we propose a method of teleporting the atom laser beam from one trapped condensate to another.     

Free radical entry in emulsion polymerizations

Measurements of the rate coefficients characterising the entry of free radicals into seed particles in styrene emulsion polymerizations has allowed the rate determining step for entry to be identified. This was found to be the rate of production of oligomeric species in the aqueous phase by monomer addition to the primary free radicals. Once formed the subsequent diffusion of these species to the latex particles (and their incorporation within these particles) is relatively fast, contrary to the assumptions of the previous diffusion controlled theories. The experimental results imply that the entering free radicals contain only two or three monomer units. Thermodynamic considerations show that such species should be both water soluble and surface active. Similar conclusions have been reached for other sparingly water soluble monomers, such as butyl acrylate and butyl methacrylate.     

Is the intrinsic thermoelectric power of carbon nanotubes positive?

The thermoelectric power (TEP) of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) is extremely sensitive to gas exposure history. Samples exposed to air or oxygen have an always positive TEP, suggestive of holelike carriers. However, at fixed temperature the TEP crosses zero and becomes progressively more negative as the SWNTs are stripped of oxygen. The time constant for oxygen adsorption/desorption is strongly temperature dependent and ranges from seconds to many days, leading to apparently "variable" TEP for a given sample at a given temperature. The saturated TEP can be accounted for within a model of strong oxygen doping of the semiconducting nanotubes.     

Predicting reverberation times in a simulated classroom

By varying the sound-absorption treatments in a simulated classroom, experimental results were compared with analytical and computer predictions of reverberation time. Analytical predictions were made with different absorption exponents, which are the result of different weighting procedures involving room surface areas and the sound-absorption coefficients. Sound scattering was found to influence measured reverberation times. With the amount of sound scattering provided, more accurate analytical predictions were obtained with absorption exponents that give reverberation times longer than those obtained with the Sabine absorption exponent, which consistently underpredicted reverberation times. However, none of the absorption exponents could be singled out as more adequate because of similar average accuracy. Computer predictions of reverberation time were accomplished with two commercially available ray-based programs, RAYNOISE 3.0 and ODEON 2.6, with specular and calibrated diffuse reflection procedures. Neither type of procedure, in either program, was more accurate than the best analytical predictions. With RAYNOISE, neither the specular nor the calibrated diffuse reflection procedure could be singled out as more adequate. For ODEON, the calibrated diffuse reflection procedure gave consistently more accurate predictions than its specular reflection procedure, with the best accuracy of the computer predictions.     

A <Emphasis Type="Italic">p</Emphasis>-adic RANSAC algorithm for stereo vision using Hensel lifting

A p-adic variation of the Ran(dom) Sa(mple) C(onsensus) method for solving the relative pose problem in stereo vision is developed. From two 2-adically encoded images a random sample of five pairs of corresponding points is taken, and the equations for the essential matrix are solved by lifting solutions modulo 2 to the 2-adic integers. A recently devised p-adic hierarchical classification algorithm imitiating the known LBG quantization method classifies the solutions for all the samples after having determined the number of clusters using the known intra-inter validity of clusterings. In the successful case, a cluster ranking will determine the cluster containing a 2-adic approximation to the “true” solution of the problem.     

Ruthenium (II) complexes bearing thioether-appended α-iminopyridine ligands: Arene precursors permit access to κ2-N,N and κ3-N,N,S complexes

Herein we report the preparation of a series of Ru(II) complexes featuring α-iminopyridine ligands bearing thioether functionality (NNS^R, where R = Me, CH₂Ph, Ph). Metallation using [(p-cymene)RuCl]₂ permits access to Ru complexes with a κ²-N,N donor set in which the thioether moiety remains uncoordinated. In the presence of a strong field ligand such as acetonitrile or triphenylphosphine, the p-cymene moiety is displaced, and the ligand adopts a κ³-N,N,S binding mode. These complexes are characterized using a combination of solution and solid state methods, including the crystal structure of [(NNS^Me)Ru (NCMe)₂Cl]Cl. The κ²-N,N-Ru(II) complexes are shown to serve as efficient precatalysts for the oxidation of sec-phenethyl alcohol at modest loadings (alcohol: Ru = 20:1), using a variety of external oxidants and solvents. The complex bearing an S-Ph donor was found to be the most active oxidation catalyst of those surveyed, suggesting that the thioether donor plays an active role in the catalytic cycle.