Automatic conversion from lexical words to prosodic words for mandarin text-to-speech system

In real speech, not like lexical words (LWs), prosodic words (PWs) are basic rhythmic units. The naturalness of a Text-to-Speech (TTS) system is directly influenced by the segmentation of the PWs. Most of the PWs are the combination of several LWs. In this paper, three Lexical Combination Models are proposed to combine LWs into PWs, including a Directed Acyclic Graph Model, a Segmentation Model and a Markov Model (MM). To cope with the situation where some long LWs should be segmented into two or more PWs, a Lexical Split Model (LSM) is applied to the long LWs. Experimental results prove that relatively constant results with various training data can be obtained from a MM. The Transformation-Based Error Driven Learning (TBED) algorithm, for its high performance of individual property, is applied in combination with the MM to improve the precision of PW segmentation. Experiments show that among the three proposed models, the MM combined with TBED and LSM, leads to the best performance, in which a precision of 93.00% and a recall of 93.23% are achieved. The perception test indicates that by using PWs as the lowest prosodic units a speech sounds more natural and acceptable than by using LWs. This paper is supported by NSFC Project (60503071); 973 Natural Basic Research Program of China (2004CB318102); Postdoctor Science Foundation of P. R. China (20070420275).     

Template-assisted synthesis of lamellar mesostructured hydroxyapatites

Novel lamellar mesostructured hydroxyapatites have firstly been synthesized by template-assisted technique. The mild and nontoxic surfactant, phosphoric acid monododecyl ester (MAP), is used to act as a structure-directing template. The structure of sample was characterized by X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, Scanning electron microscope and Transmission electron microscopy. The results indicate that the obtained sample is a well-organized lamellar mesostructured hydroxyapatite with a uniform layer spacing of 3.64 nm.     

Critical Configurations for 1-View in Projections from ℙ<Superscript>k</Superscript> → ℙ<Superscript>2</Superscript>

In this paper we describe, from a theoretical point of view, critical configurations for the projective reconstruction of a set of points, for a single view, i.e. for calibration of a camera, in the case of projections from ℙ^k to ℙ² for k ≥ 4. We give first a general result describing these critical loci in ℙ^k, which, if irreducible, are algebraic varieties of dimension k−2 and degree 3. If k=4 they can be either a smooth ruled surface or a cone and if k = 5 they can be a smooth three dimensional variety, ruled in planes, or a cone. If k≥ 6, the variety is always a cone, the vertex of which has dimension at least k − 6. The reducible cases are studied in Appendix A. These results are then applied to determine explicitly the critical loci for the projections from ℙ^k which arise from the dynamic scenes in ℙ³ considered in [13]. Marina Bertolini is currently Associate Professor of Geometry at the Department of Mathematics at the Università degli Studi di Milano, Italy. Her main field of research is Complex Projective Algebraic Geometry, with particular interest for the classification of projective varieties and for the geometry of Grassmann varieties. On these topics M. Bertolini has published more than twenty reviewed papers on national and international journals. She has been for some years now interested also in applications of Algebraic Geometry to Computer Vision problems. Cristina Turrini is Associate Professor of Geometry at the Department of Mathematics of Università degli Studi di Milano, Italy. Her main research interest is Complex Projective Algebraic Geometry: subvarieties of Grassmannians, special varieties, automorphisms, classification. In the last two years she has started to work on applications of Algebraic Geometry to problems of Computer Vision. She is author or co-author of about thirty reviewed papers. She is also involved in popularization of Mathematics, and on this subject she is co-editor of some books.     

国际工程承包项目中的银行保函实务

在国际工程承包中,银行保函是一种常用的担保形式,也是商业银行表外业务的一种。笔者主要介绍保函的种类、办理银行保函的一般程序、开具银行保函的注意事项等内容,为从事国际工程承包业务的管理提供参考。     

钨合金废料的资源再生利用技术

钨是一种稀有金属，钨合金具有高的强度、硬度，较好的耐高温性、耐密性和良好的电性能。广泛应用于航空航天工业、兵器工业、核工业、信息产业、汽车工业和钢铁工业等行业。目前，钨资源短缺，钨合金价格高、用量大，因此各国都把废弃的钨合金作为宝贵的第二钨资源加以再生利用。本文综述了钨合金的再生利用现状，分别总结了硬质合金、高比重合金、钨铜合金和钨材的再生利用技术，并利用生态环境材料的观点。对每种再生利用技术作了简单的评价。     

The hot blow forming of AZ31 Mg sheet: Formability assessment and application development

The hot blow forming of magnesium sheet offers significant opportunity for forming complex, lightweight parts for automotive applications. This paper characterizes the elevated-temperature formability of AZ31 magnesium sheet materials and the effect of processing conditions on the performance of these materials. In addition, magnesium sheet application development at General Motors Corporation is reviewed.     

Simulation of Strength Distribution in Ground Ceramics by Incorporating Residual Stress Effect

Strength of ground ceramics may be affected by residual stress as well as surface flaws induced by grinding. Strength prediction for ground ceramics is convenient for mechanical design of ceramic components. In this article, a numerical procedure based on fracture mechanics was proposed to estimate strength distribution of ground ceramics by considering grinding-induced residual stress. Bending strength and residual stress of ground ceramics were measured for three grinding-conditions. By comparison of simulated results with experimental ones, it was revealed that strength characteristics in experiments were well simulated by using the proposed procedure.