Effects of deafness on acoustic characteristics of American English tense/lax vowels in maternal speech to infants

Recent studies have demonstrated that mothers exaggerate phonetic properties of infant-directed (ID) speech. However, these studies focused on a single acoustic dimension (frequency), whereas speech sounds are composed of multiple acoustic cues. Moreover, little is known about how mothers adjust phonetic properties of speech to children with hearing loss. This study examined mothers' production of frequency and duration cues to the American English tense/lax vowel contrast in speech to profoundly deaf (N?=?14) and normal-hearing (N?=?14) infants, and to an adult experimenter. First and second formant frequencies and vowel duration of tense (/i/,?/u/) and lax (/I/,?/?/) vowels were measured. Results demonstrated that for both infant groups mothers hyperarticulated the acoustic vowel space and increased vowel duration in ID speech relative to adult-directed speech. Mean F2 values were decreased for the /u/ vowel and increased for the /I/ vowel, and vowel duration was longer for the /i/, /u/, and /I/ vowels in ID speech. However, neither acoustic cue differed in speech to hearing-impaired or normal-hearing infants. These results suggest that both formant frequencies and vowel duration that differentiate American English tense/lx vowel contrasts are modified in ID speech regardless of the hearing status of the addressee.     

Operator algebras and a theorem of Dieudonne

LetA be aC*-algebra with second dualA″. Let (φ _n)(n=1,...) be a sequence in the dual ofA such that limφ _n(a) exists for eacha εA. In general, this does not imply that limφ _n(x) exists for eachx εA″. But if limφ _n(p) exists whenever p is the range projection of a positive self-adjoint element of the unit ball ofA, then it is shown that limφ _n(x) does exist for eachx inA″. This is a non-commutative generalisation of a celebrated theorem of Dieudonné. A new proof of Dieudonné’s theorem, for positive measures, is given here. The proof of the main result makes use of Dieudonné’s original theorem.     

Fluorescence measurements of expanding strongly coupled neutral plasmas

We report new detailed density profile measurements in expanding strongly coupled neutral calcium plasmas. Using laser-induced fluorescence techniques, we determine plasma densities in the range of 10(5) to 10(9) cm(-3) to with a time resolution limit as small as 7 ns. Strong coupling in the plasma ions is inferred directly from the fluorescence signals. Evidence for strong coupling at late times is presented, confirming a recent theoretical result.     

Recombination fluorescence in ultracold neutral plasmas

We present the first measurements and simulations of recombination fluorescence from ultracold neutral calcium plasmas. This method probes three-body recombination at times less than 1 micros, shorter than previously published time scales. For the lowest initial electron temperatures, the recombination rate scales with the density as n0(2.2), significantly slower than the predicted n0(3). Recombination fluorescence opens a new diagnostic window in ultracold plasmas. In most cases it probes deeply bound level populations that depend critically on electron energetics. However, a perturbation in the calcium 4snd Rydberg series allows our fluorescence measurements to probe the population in weakly bound levels that result just after recombination.     

Inversion of magnetoresistance in organic semiconductors

We report that organic semiconductors such as alpha-sexithiophene (alpha-6T) have magnetoresistance (MR) with unexpected sign changes; depending on applied voltage, temperature, and layer thickness, the resistance may either increase or decrease upon application of a small magnetic field (<100 mT). We propose that MR and the inversion of MR are due to the role of hyperfine interaction in a magnetic field, as illustrated by the recombination-limited regime.     

Radial oscillations of neutron stars in strong magnetic fields

The eigen frequencies of radial pulsations of neutron stars are calculated in a strong magnetic field. At low densities we use the magnetic BPS equation of state (EOS) similar to that obtained by Lai and Shapiro while at high densities the EOS obtained from the relativistic nuclear mean field theory is taken and extended to include strong magnetic field. It is found that magnetized neutron stars support higher maximum mass whereas the effect of magnetic field on radial stability for observed neutron star masses is minimal.     

Towards Stronger Coulomb Coupling in an Ultracold Neutral Plasma

Ultracold neutral plasmas are strongly coupled Coulomb systems that are generated by photoionizing lasercooled atoms close to the ionization threshold. The strong coupling parameter Γ is limited at times later than ～100 ns by disorder‐induced heating. A recent simulation predicted that higher values of Γ can be realized in ultracold neutral plasmas if the plasma ions are excited to higher ionization states. In this paper we present recent results from an experiment that increases the strong coupling of an ultracold neutral plasma by promoting the plasma ions to the second ionization state. Using laser‐induced fluorescence we map out the ion velocity distribution of the Ca⁺ ions in a partially doubly ionized plasma and show that the heating due to the second ionization depends on the timing of the second ionization laser pulses. We compare our results to MD simulations, which estimate that Γ increases from approximately 2.5 to 3.6. (© 2015 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)