Automatic speech recognition technology is becoming increasingly widespread in many applications. For dictation tasks, where a single talker is to use the system for long periods of time, the high recognition accuracies obtained are in part due to the user performing a lengthy enrolment procedure to ‘tune’ the parameters of the recogniser to their particular voice characteristics and speaking style. Interactive speech systems, where the speaker is using the system for only a short period of time (for example to obtain information) do not have the luxury of long enrolments and have to adapt rapidly to new speakers and speaking styles. This thesis discusses the variations between speakers and speaking styles which result in decreased recognition performance when there is a mismatch between the talker and the systems models. An unsupervised method to rapidly identify and normalise differences in vocal tract length is presented and shown to give improvements in recognition accuracy for little computational overhead. Two unsupervised methods of identifying speakers with similar speaking styles are also presented. The first, a data-driven technique, is shown to accurately classify British and American accented speech, and is also used to improve recognition accuracy by clustering groups of similar talkers. The second uses the phonotactic information available within pronunciation dictionaries to model British and American accented speech. This model is then used to rapidly and accurately classify speakers.

No description available.

No description available.

To date, relatively little research has investigated participants’ ability to monitor their memory for faces and names. Four experiments were conducted with aim of developing a comprehensive profile of memory monitoring performance during face identification tasks. In each experiment, memory monitoring judgements were solicited during encoding and/or retrieval of unfamiliar face-name pairs. In general, subjective estimates of future and past memory performance were valid predictors of objective memory performance, regardless of whether a face or name was the item to be retrieved from memory. As a test of the stability of memory monitoring accuracy across different categories of stimuli, memory monitoring for face-name pairs was compared with noun-noun pairs. The predictive validity of estimates of future memory performance was similar across the categories of stimuli, but the predictive validity of estimates of past memory performance was superior for nouns compared with names. A subset of the studies examined the influence of face and name distinctiveness on memory and memory monitoring for face-name associations. This was done in an attempt to identify sources of information that individuals might use to monitor their memory during face-name learning. The beneficial effects of distinctiveness on associative memory were symmetrical between faces and names, such that relative to their typical counterparts, distinct faces enhanced memory for names, and distinct names enhanced memory for faces. These effects were also apparent in memory monitoring. Estimates of future and past memory performance were greater for face-name associations that contained a distinct face or name compared with a typical face or name, regardless of whether the distinct item was a cue or target. Moreover, the predictive validity of prospective monitoring improved with name distinctiveness, whereas the predictive validity of retrospective monitoring improved with facial distinctiveness. Altogether, the results of the dissertation indicate that participants can monitor their memory for faces and names at a level above chance, that retrospective metamemory is more accurate for nouns compared with names, and that distinctiveness not only affects the strength of the association between a face and a name, but also the ability to monitor that association.

Bibliography: leaves 283-323. / vi, 323 leaves ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Explores the social dynamics of and interconnections between identity, relatedness and kinship. Argues that identity is fundamentally implicated in understandings of, conflict over and practices around relatedness and kinship. To study identity with regard to the exigencies of relatedness and kinship, uses adoption as an ethnographic and conceptual vehicle and argues that the cultural constructions and interplays between the biogenetic and the social in circumstances associated with adoption are both contextual and potent in relation to multifarious claims to and persuits of identity. Identity and questions of agency are understood as sites for creative struggles by individual agents, within a matrix of competing, often contradictory social forces, tendencies and processes. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Anthropology, 1999

Title page, table of contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University of Adelaide Library. / The Australian almond improvement program was initiated in 1997 to develop improved cultivars that are adapted to local conditions and consumer demands. The program combines molecular techniques along with the traditional approach of controlled hybridisation with mass selection. This research project was carried out to assist the Australian almond improvement program in the areas of micropropagation, cryopreservation, and rapid identification of self-incompatibility genotypes of almond. Micropropagation was accomplished successfully for two commercially important almond cultivars ('Nonpareil' 15-1 and 'Ne Plus Ultra') and an almond/peach hybrid rootstock by culturing shoot tips, about 0.7 cm long with 3 - 5 leaves, on appropriate shoot multiplication media. For 'Nonpareil' 15-1, AP medium with 0.049 uM IBA, 3 uM BAP, 0.058 M sucrose, and 0.7% agar at pH 5.7 was effective. MS medium with 0.049 uM IBA, 5 uM BAP, 0.088 M sucrose, and 0.7% agar at pH 5.7 was suitable for 'Ne Plus Ultra'. For the almond/peach hybrid rootstock, MS medium supplemented with 10 uM BAP, 0.088 M sucrose, and 0.7% agar provided the best shoot proliferation. Shoots of the rootstock, about two cm long, readily produced roots after one week in the dark and two weeks in the light on half strength MS medium supplemented with 2.4 uM IBA, 0.088 M sucrose and 0.7% agar at pH 5.7, with 88.0% rooting efficiency. The two almond cultivars did not readily produce roots, but, at about 1.5 cm long, were micrografted successfully onto the rootstock. These micrografted plantlets were acclimatised and transferred to potting mix with 92% survival. Shoot tips of the two almond cultivars and the almond/peach hybrid rootstock were cryopreserved successfully using a one-step vitrification technique. Three-week-old in vitro cultures were cold-hardened at 4°C on multiplication media (Murashige and Skoog for 'Ne Plus Ultra' and the hybrid rootstock; Almehdi and Parfitt for 'Nonpareil' 15-1) for three weeks. Shoot tips, 2 - 2.5 mm long, were excised and precultured for one day at 4°C on the same basal medium, without plant growth regulators, supplemented with 0.7 M sucrose. After the preculture, the shoot tips were incubated in vitrification solution at 25°C for 45 min for the almond cultivars and 60 min for the almond/peach hybrid rootstock, and then stored under liquid nitrogen (LN) for up to 24 months. After rapid thawing at 30°C, the shoot tips were washed with the appropriate liquid basal medium containing 1.0 M sucrose and then cultured on the same basal medium, solidified with agar, but excluding NH₄N0₃ or (NH₄)₂S0₄. Shoot regeneration was usually observed within 2 - 3 weeks. Survival of shoots after thawing varied from 56-80% for 'Ne Plus Ultra', 35-53% for 'Nonpareil' 15-1, and 62 - 82% for the almond/peach hybrid rootstock. Non-vitrified shoots that were stored on basal medium at 3.5-5°C showed good survival up to six months, but thereafter survival decreased rapidly. Cryopreservation has considerable potential for long-term storage of almond germplasm, but future research should be aimed at improving the regeneration of 'Nonpareil' 15-1, the most important commercial cultivar grown in Australia. The genetic stability of almond DNA to both in vitro culture and the cryopreservation process was evaluated by comparing the fingerprints of the DNA from the original orchard trees, from the in vitro cultures before and after cryopreservation for up to 24 months, and from plants regenerated from in vitro cultures. The fingerprints were prepared by initially digesting the DNA with two isoschizomer pairs of restriction enzymes, one of each pair being 'methylation sensitive' and the other 'methylation insensitive', followed by amplification of the digested products using randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) with six different 10-mer primers. Changes in methylation were found between the original orchard trees and in vitro cultures, and there was also the possibility that some structural changes may have occurred. However, no methylation or structural changes could be attributed to the cryopreservation procedure. Plants regenerated from the in vitro cultures before and after cryopreservation should be monitored carefully in the future for changes in morphology compared to the original trees. Partial genomic and cDNA sequences of the self-incompatibility alleles S1, S2, S7, S8, S9, S10, S23, and Sf were obtained from Prunus dulcis cvs 'Anxaneta' (S2S9), 'Cristomorto' (S1S2), 'Ferragnes' (S1S3), 'Gabaix' (S5S10), 'Ne Plus ultra' (S/S7), 'Nonpareil' 15-1 (S7S8), 'Primorskiy'(S5S9), 'Ramilette' (S6S23), and IRTA Selection 12-2 (SfSf). Total DNA was extracted from leaves, and cDNA was prepared from total RNA extracted from styles. The partial cDNA sequences of the S1 allele from 'Ferragnes', and the S7 and S8 alleles from 'Nonpareil' 15-1 matched those reported in the literature for the alleles Sb, Sc, and Sd respectively. The sequences of the S1, S2, S7, S8, S9, S10, S23, and Sf alleles found in genomic DNA contained introns of 562, 253, 1,530, 2,208, 1,343, 710, 494, and 662 bp respectively, and partial exons of 510, 537, 489, 498, 486, 495, 489, and 543 bp respectively. In addition, one allele of the Australian cultivars, 'Johnston's Prolific' and 'Pierce', was identified and found to have the same sequence as S23 in 'Ramilette', suggesting that this cultivar may have been an early introduction to Australia from Spain. The exon/intron splice junction sites of all alleles followed the GT / AG consensus sequence rule, and the sequences were found to be highly conserved. Both the length and the sequence of each intron was unique, and a technique of identifying the S-alleles of almond was developed based on primers that targetted the intron sequences. The use of these primers has increased the speed, precision, and efficiency with which the incompatilibity genotypes of almond cultivars can be detected, compared to other published techniques. The primers confirmed the S-allele specificities for 26 out of 30 cultivars for which published information is available, and are currently in use in the Australian almond improvement program to identify incompatibility groups in the breeding progeny. Future work should be directed towards obtaining the sequences of the introns for the remaining known S-alleles, S3 to S6, and S11 to S22. / http://proxy.library.adelaide.edu.au/login?url= http://library.adelaide.edu.au/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=1051244 / Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, Dept. of Horticulture, 2002

Title page, table of contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University of Adelaide Library. / The Australian almond improvement program was initiated in 1997 to develop improved cultivars that are adapted to local conditions and consumer demands. The program combines molecular techniques along with the traditional approach of controlled hybridisation with mass selection. This research project was carried out to assist the Australian almond improvement program in the areas of micropropagation, cryopreservation, and rapid identification of self-incompatibility genotypes of almond. Micropropagation was accomplished successfully for two commercially important almond cultivars ('Nonpareil' 15-1 and 'Ne Plus Ultra') and an almond/peach hybrid rootstock by culturing shoot tips, about 0.7 cm long with 3 - 5 leaves, on appropriate shoot multiplication media. For 'Nonpareil' 15-1, AP medium with 0.049 uM IBA, 3 uM BAP, 0.058 M sucrose, and 0.7% agar at pH 5.7 was effective. MS medium with 0.049 uM IBA, 5 uM BAP, 0.088 M sucrose, and 0.7% agar at pH 5.7 was suitable for 'Ne Plus Ultra'. For the almond/peach hybrid rootstock, MS medium supplemented with 10 uM BAP, 0.088 M sucrose, and 0.7% agar provided the best shoot proliferation. Shoots of the rootstock, about two cm long, readily produced roots after one week in the dark and two weeks in the light on half strength MS medium supplemented with 2.4 uM IBA, 0.088 M sucrose and 0.7% agar at pH 5.7, with 88.0% rooting efficiency. The two almond cultivars did not readily produce roots, but, at about 1.5 cm long, were micrografted successfully onto the rootstock. These micrografted plantlets were acclimatised and transferred to potting mix with 92% survival. Shoot tips of the two almond cultivars and the almond/peach hybrid rootstock were cryopreserved successfully using a one-step vitrification technique. Three-week-old in vitro cultures were cold-hardened at 4°C on multiplication media (Murashige and Skoog for 'Ne Plus Ultra' and the hybrid rootstock; Almehdi and Parfitt for 'Nonpareil' 15-1) for three weeks. Shoot tips, 2 - 2.5 mm long, were excised and precultured for one day at 4°C on the same basal medium, without plant growth regulators, supplemented with 0.7 M sucrose. After the preculture, the shoot tips were incubated in vitrification solution at 25°C for 45 min for the almond cultivars and 60 min for the almond/peach hybrid rootstock, and then stored under liquid nitrogen (LN) for up to 24 months. After rapid thawing at 30°C, the shoot tips were washed with the appropriate liquid basal medium containing 1.0 M sucrose and then cultured on the same basal medium, solidified with agar, but excluding NH₄N0₃ or (NH₄)₂S0₄. Shoot regeneration was usually observed within 2 - 3 weeks. Survival of shoots after thawing varied from 56-80% for 'Ne Plus Ultra', 35-53% for 'Nonpareil' 15-1, and 62 - 82% for the almond/peach hybrid rootstock. Non-vitrified shoots that were stored on basal medium at 3.5-5°C showed good survival up to six months, but thereafter survival decreased rapidly. Cryopreservation has considerable potential for long-term storage of almond germplasm, but future research should be aimed at improving the regeneration of 'Nonpareil' 15-1, the most important commercial cultivar grown in Australia. The genetic stability of almond DNA to both in vitro culture and the cryopreservation process was evaluated by comparing the fingerprints of the DNA from the original orchard trees, from the in vitro cultures before and after cryopreservation for up to 24 months, and from plants regenerated from in vitro cultures. The fingerprints were prepared by initially digesting the DNA with two isoschizomer pairs of restriction enzymes, one of each pair being 'methylation sensitive' and the other 'methylation insensitive', followed by amplification of the digested products using randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) with six different 10-mer primers. Changes in methylation were found between the original orchard trees and in vitro cultures, and there was also the possibility that some structural changes may have occurred. However, no methylation or structural changes could be attributed to the cryopreservation procedure. Plants regenerated from the in vitro cultures before and after cryopreservation should be monitored carefully in the future for changes in morphology compared to the original trees. Partial genomic and cDNA sequences of the self-incompatibility alleles S1, S2, S7, S8, S9, S10, S23, and Sf were obtained from Prunus dulcis cvs 'Anxaneta' (S2S9), 'Cristomorto' (S1S2), 'Ferragnes' (S1S3), 'Gabaix' (S5S10), 'Ne Plus ultra' (S/S7), 'Nonpareil' 15-1 (S7S8), 'Primorskiy'(S5S9), 'Ramilette' (S6S23), and IRTA Selection 12-2 (SfSf). Total DNA was extracted from leaves, and cDNA was prepared from total RNA extracted from styles. The partial cDNA sequences of the S1 allele from 'Ferragnes', and the S7 and S8 alleles from 'Nonpareil' 15-1 matched those reported in the literature for the alleles Sb, Sc, and Sd respectively. The sequences of the S1, S2, S7, S8, S9, S10, S23, and Sf alleles found in genomic DNA contained introns of 562, 253, 1,530, 2,208, 1,343, 710, 494, and 662 bp respectively, and partial exons of 510, 537, 489, 498, 486, 495, 489, and 543 bp respectively. In addition, one allele of the Australian cultivars, 'Johnston's Prolific' and 'Pierce', was identified and found to have the same sequence as S23 in 'Ramilette', suggesting that this cultivar may have been an early introduction to Australia from Spain. The exon/intron splice junction sites of all alleles followed the GT / AG consensus sequence rule, and the sequences were found to be highly conserved. Both the length and the sequence of each intron was unique, and a technique of identifying the S-alleles of almond was developed based on primers that targetted the intron sequences. The use of these primers has increased the speed, precision, and efficiency with which the incompatilibity genotypes of almond cultivars can be detected, compared to other published techniques. The primers confirmed the S-allele specificities for 26 out of 30 cultivars for which published information is available, and are currently in use in the Australian almond improvement program to identify incompatibility groups in the breeding progeny. Future work should be directed towards obtaining the sequences of the introns for the remaining known S-alleles, S3 to S6, and S11 to S22. / http://proxy.library.adelaide.edu.au/login?url= http://library.adelaide.edu.au/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=1051244 / Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, Dept. of Horticulture, 2002

Title page, abstract and table of contents only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University of Adelaide Library. / In this thesis, I present and analyze two of the most fundamental constraints of Radio Frequency Identification Systems (RFID), power rectification and signaling. These two issues play an important role in the continuing development of RFID systems. A passive RFID tag draws power from the RF field created by an RFID reader and uses it to energize its circuitry. It does this by rectification of the reader's radiated RF field using rectifying circuitry. The power then available to the tag is dependent upon both the available field strength and the efficiency of the rectification process. One option for increasing the operating range of an RFID system without increasing the reader's field strength is to increase the efficiency of the tag's rectification structure. A major component of any rectification circuit is a diode type device and so, the first part of the thesis focuses on the design and implementation of a novel high efficiency Schottky Barrier Diode (SBD) on a standard CMOS process. The forward voltage drop of the SBD diode was investigated and analytic equations formulated considering the Schottky barrier drift region resistance and the contributions from the p⁺ guard-grid. A design procedure to minimize the drift region resistance for any blocking voltage was derived. The fundamental trade-off between the forward voltage and leakage current in the novel SBD concept was determined. Based on the critical review of the Schottky diodes fabricated in the first part, new structures of novel SBD were designed to address most of the open issues related to its reverse break-down voltage and series resistance. Detailed analysis of the important design parameters of the novel Schottky barrier diode were performed using HSPICE with the parameter set used in the calibration process. The novel structure was also compared to an alternative fabrication approach, specifically, a NMOS and PMOS gate-cross-connected bridge. The comparison shows that the novel structure provides a 10% higher figure of merit for power rectification. In the later part of the thesis, an analysis of circuit advantages enabled by the novel SBD is given. The circuit simulation showed that by utilizing the novel SBD the operating frequency of the circuit can be increased to the UHF region while maintaining approximately the same power efficiency as that achievable when using a discrete Schottky diode. This leads to the possibility of dramatic improvements in size, weight and cost of the RFID transponder circuits. Signaling also plays an important role in the development of RFID systems. The choice of signaling methods and protocols determines not only the spectrum bandwidth usage, but also the data throughput. Also with constantly changing standards and regulations, it is important to be able to characterize and optimize these issues. Therefore the second part of this dissertation presents the design, implementation and evaluation of a novel RFID data logging reader architecture based on software radio concepts. The system is designed to overcome the many challenges and exploit the advantages of performing real-time signal processing and data logging in an RFID environment. The proposed concept has a unique multi-band RFID tag reader platform and has been designed to read tags conforming to the Electronic Product Code (EPC ) specifications in both the HF and UHF frequency bands. The hardware architecture consists of a general purpose analogue front end up/down-converter for each band, followed by a software radio based architecture allowing easy adaptation to new frequencies and protocols if required. The last chapter presents the results of investigations conducted to determine the ability of the proposed reader architecture to communicate with tags in typical channel noise and environmental conditions present in an RFID operational environment. Studies of the effects of reader interference in multi-reader environments and the development of an anti-collision protocol signaling to address and mitigate those effects are also presented. / http://proxy.library.adelaide.edu.au/login?url= http://library.adelaide.edu.au/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=1222149 / Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, 2006

Title page, abstract and table of contents only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University of Adelaide Library. / In this thesis, I present and analyze two of the most fundamental constraints of Radio Frequency Identification Systems (RFID), power rectification and signaling. These two issues play an important role in the continuing development of RFID systems. A passive RFID tag draws power from the RF field created by an RFID reader and uses it to energize its circuitry. It does this by rectification of the reader's radiated RF field using rectifying circuitry. The power then available to the tag is dependent upon both the available field strength and the efficiency of the rectification process. One option for increasing the operating range of an RFID system without increasing the reader's field strength is to increase the efficiency of the tag's rectification structure. A major component of any rectification circuit is a diode type device and so, the first part of the thesis focuses on the design and implementation of a novel high efficiency Schottky Barrier Diode (SBD) on a standard CMOS process. The forward voltage drop of the SBD diode was investigated and analytic equations formulated considering the Schottky barrier drift region resistance and the contributions from the p⁺ guard-grid. A design procedure to minimize the drift region resistance for any blocking voltage was derived. The fundamental trade-off between the forward voltage and leakage current in the novel SBD concept was determined. Based on the critical review of the Schottky diodes fabricated in the first part, new structures of novel SBD were designed to address most of the open issues related to its reverse break-down voltage and series resistance. Detailed analysis of the important design parameters of the novel Schottky barrier diode were performed using HSPICE with the parameter set used in the calibration process. The novel structure was also compared to an alternative fabrication approach, specifically, a NMOS and PMOS gate-cross-connected bridge. The comparison shows that the novel structure provides a 10% higher figure of merit for power rectification. In the later part of the thesis, an analysis of circuit advantages enabled by the novel SBD is given. The circuit simulation showed that by utilizing the novel SBD the operating frequency of the circuit can be increased to the UHF region while maintaining approximately the same power efficiency as that achievable when using a discrete Schottky diode. This leads to the possibility of dramatic improvements in size, weight and cost of the RFID transponder circuits. Signaling also plays an important role in the development of RFID systems. The choice of signaling methods and protocols determines not only the spectrum bandwidth usage, but also the data throughput. Also with constantly changing standards and regulations, it is important to be able to characterize and optimize these issues. Therefore the second part of this dissertation presents the design, implementation and evaluation of a novel RFID data logging reader architecture based on software radio concepts. The system is designed to overcome the many challenges and exploit the advantages of performing real-time signal processing and data logging in an RFID environment. The proposed concept has a unique multi-band RFID tag reader platform and has been designed to read tags conforming to the Electronic Product Code (EPC ) specifications in both the HF and UHF frequency bands. The hardware architecture consists of a general purpose analogue front end up/down-converter for each band, followed by a software radio based architecture allowing easy adaptation to new frequencies and protocols if required. The last chapter presents the results of investigations conducted to determine the ability of the proposed reader architecture to communicate with tags in typical channel noise and environmental conditions present in an RFID operational environment. Studies of the effects of reader interference in multi-reader environments and the development of an anti-collision protocol signaling to address and mitigate those effects are also presented. / http://proxy.library.adelaide.edu.au/login?url= http://library.adelaide.edu.au/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=1222149 / Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, 2006

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2007. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.