Personalising speech-to-speech translation: Unsupervised cross-lingual speaker adaptation for HMM-based speech synthesis

In this paper we present results of unsupervised cross-lingual speaker adaptation applied to text-to-speech synthesis. The application of our research is the personalisation of speech-to-speech translation in which we employ a HMM statistical framework for both speech recognition and synthesis. This framework provides a logical mechanism to adapt synthesised speech output to the voice of the user by way of speech recognition. In this work we present results of several different unsupervised and cross-lingual adaptation approaches as well as an end-to-end speaker adaptive speech-to-speech translation system. Our experiments show that we can successfully apply speaker adaptation in both unsupervised and cross-lingual scenarios and our proposed algorithms seem to generalise well for several language pairs. We also discuss important future directions including the need for better evaluation metrics.     

Preparation of Ca-α SiAlON hollow spheres by carbothermal reduction-nitridation of CaO-Al2O3-SiO2 glass

Ca-α SiAlON powders were prepared by carbothermal reduction-nitridation of CaO-Al₂O₃-SiO₂ glasses at 1450 °C for 2 h in nitrogen. The content of Ca-α SiAlON phase was 65-81% in the products, and the other phases were AlN and β-SiAlON. The products contained hollow spheres with the size of around 5 μm in diameter. The particle morphology was almost identical to that of Ca-α SiAlON prepared from CaCO₃-Al₂O₃-SiO₂ powder mixtures.     

Acoustic phonon modulation and electron�Cphonon interaction in?semiconductor slabs and nanowires

The acoustic phonon modulation (confinement) in semiconductor nanostructures and their interaction with electrons are reviewed. Special emphasis will be placed on free-standing and layered slabs, as well as nanowires. Analysis includes acoustic phonon dispersion relations, displacement wave functions, amplitudes, form factor, electron-phonon scattering rate, and electron mobility.     

Development of the Water Cooled Ceramic Breeder Test Blanket Module in Japan

The development of a Water Cooled Ceramic Breeder (WCCB) Test Blanket Module (TBM) is being performed as one of the most important steps toward DEMO blanket in Japan. For the TBM testing and evaluation toward DEMO blanket, the module fabrication technology development by a candidate structural material, reduced activation martensitic/ferritic steel, F82H, is one of the most critical items from the viewpoint of realization of TBM testing in ITER. In Japan, fabrication of a real scale first wall, side walls, a breeder pebble bed box and assembling of the first wall and side walls have succeeded. Recently, the real scale partial mockup of the back wall was fabricated. The fabrication procedure of the back wall, whose thickness is up to 90 mm, was confirmed toward the fabrication of the real scale back wall by F82H. Important key technologies are almost clarified for the fabrication of the real scale TBM module mockup. From the view point of testing and evaluation, development of the technology of the blanket tritium recovery, development of advanced breeder and multiplier pebbles and the development of the blanket neutronics measurement technology are also performed. Also, tritium production and recovery test using D-T neutron in the Fusion Neutronics Source (FNS) facility has been started as the verification test of tritium production performance. This paper overviews the recent achievements of the development of the WCCB TBM in Japan.     

金属结合剂#600金刚石砂轮的接触放电修锐实验研究

针对微细金刚石磨粒很难从金属结合剂砂轮的胎体中出刃的问题，开发出一种新修锐方法一接触放电修锐、它采用一种旋转复合电极修整轮与砂轮接触磨削，在金属结合剂胎体与电极间产生微小的脉冲放电，逐渐去除砂轮的金属结合剂，使微细金刚石在砂轮工作表面出刃，达到精密修锐的目的。通过对金属结合剂#600金刚石砂轮进行修锐实验，研究其有效性、修锐条件和实际应用。实验表明，该修锐方法不仅不损伤微细金刚石磨粒出刃刃角，而且还可以消除磨粒周围的结合剂尾状物，产生较好的容屑空间。磨削光学玻璃(BK10)的试验结果显示它比机械修锐能够更好地提高磨削表面质量，Ra达到0．12μm。     

Sintering Kinetics at Constant Rates of Heating: Effect of Al2O3 on the Initial Sintering Stage of Fine Zirconia Powder

The sinterabilities of fine zirconia powders including 5 mass% Y₂O₃ were investigated, with emphasis on the effect of Al₂O₃ at the initial sintering stage. The shrinkage of powder compact was measured under constant rates of heating (CRH). The powder compact including a small amount of Al₂O₃ increased the densification rate with elevating temperature. The activation energies at the initial stage of sintering were determined by analyzing the densification curves. The activation energy of powder compact including Al₂O₃ was lower than that of a powder compact without Al₂O₃. The diffusion mechanisms at the initial sintering stage were determined using the new analytical equation applied for CRH techniques. This analysis exhibited that Al₂O₃ included in a powder compact changed the diffusion mechanism from grain boundary to volume diffusions (VD). Therefore, it is concluded that the effect of Al₂O₃ enhanced the densification rate because of decrease in the activation energy of VD at the initial sintering stage.     

Mutants of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans that are defective specifically in their attraction to cycloheximide

The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans exhibits chemotaxis toward a wide variety of chemicals including water-soluble molecules and volatile organic compounds. We have previously discovered that C. elegans wild-type strain N2 is strongly attracted by cycloheximide which has long been known as a bitter tastant for humans and other mammals. We describe here the isolation and initial characterization of the first mutants which were defective specifically in their attraction to cycloheximide. In our screenings, we selected two mutants that were defective in chemotaxis to cycloheximide but normal in their attraction to NH4Cl and histidine. These mutants also avoided quinine hydrochloride, CuSO4 and high concentrations of NaCl similar to the wild-type strain N2. Furthermore, no observable defect was detected in their attraction to volatile odorants such as isoamyl alcohol and diacetyl. Dye-filling experiments suggested that they have no morphological defect in the sensory endings of the amphid neurons.     

3D computation of hydrogen-fueled combustion around turbine blade-effect of arrangement of injector holes-

Recently,a number of environmental problems caused from fossil fuel combustion have been focused on.Inaddition,with the eventual depletion of fossil energy resources,hydrogen gas is expected to be an alternativeenergy resource in the near future.It is characterized by high energy per unit weight,high reaction rate,widerange of flammability and the low emission property.On the other hand,many researches have been underway inseveral countries to improve a propulsion system for an advanced aircraft.The system is required to have higherpower,lighter weight and lower emissions than existing ones.In such a future propulsion system,hydrogen gaswould be one of the promising fuels for realizing the requirements.Considering these backgrounds,our group hasproposed a new cycle concept for hydrogen-fueled aircraft propulsion system.In the present study,we perform 3dimensional computations of turbulent flow fields with hydrogen-fueled combustion around a turbine blade.Themain objective is to clarify the influence of arrangement of hydrogen injector holes.Changing the chordwise andspanwise spacings of the holes,the 3 dimensional nature of the flow and thermal fields is numerically studied.