Speech errors have been utilized since the beginning of the last century to learn more about how speech is produced, both physically and cognitively. Collection of speech errors has progressed from writing down naturally occurring speech errors to recording experimentally induced speech errors to current studies, which are using instrumentation to record acoustic and kinematic information about experimentally induced speech errors. One type of instrumentation being used in articulatory research is ultrasound. Ultrasound is gaining popularity for use by those interested in learning how speech is physically produced because of its portability and noninvasiveness. Ultrasound of the tongue during speech provides visual access to the articulatory movements of the tongue. This study utilizes ultrasound recordings of speech errors in two ways. In Experiment 1, ultrasound images of participants’ tongues were recorded while they read tongue twisters designed to elicit speech errors. The tongue twisters were CVC words or CV syllables with onset velar or alveolar stops. Within the ultrasound video, the angle of the tongue blade and elevation of the tongue dorsum were measured during the onset stop closure. Measurements of tongue twisters were compared to baseline production measures to examine the ways in which erroneous productions differ from normal productions. It was found that an error could create normal productions of the other category (i.e., categorical errors) or abnormal productions that fell outside the normal categories (i.e., gradient errors). Consonant productions extracted from ultrasound video were presented auditory only to naïve listeners in Experiment 2. Listeners heard a variety of normal, gradient error, and categorical error productions. Participants were asked to judge what they heard as the onset sound. Overwhelmingly, the participants heard normal productions as well as gradient error productions as the target sound. Categorical error productions were judged to be different from the target (e.g., velar for alveolar). The only effect of erroneous production appears to be a slight increase in reaction time to respond with a choice of percept, which may suggest that error tokens are abnormal in some way not measured in this study.

Στη συγκεκριμένη εργασία γίνεται περιγραφή και ανάλυση ενός τμήματος του ορύγματος που κατασκευάζεται στη χιλιομετρική θέση από 18 + 540 έως 18 + 840 της Ιόνιας Οδού. Συγκεκριμένα κατά την μελέτη αυτή περιγράφεται μακροσκοπικά το πρανές, μετρούνται και προσδιορίζονται οι μηχανικές παράμετροι των ασυνεχειών του πρανούς (προσανατολισμός, απόσταση, συνέχεια, τραχύτητα, άνοιγμα, υλικό πλήρωσης), εκτιμούνται οι δυνητικές ολισθήσεις των βραχωδών τεμαχών, χαρακτηρίζεται ποιοτικά η βραχομάζα και εκτιμούνται τα ποιοτικά χαρακτηριστικά της (συνοχή, γωνία τριβής) με βάση το σύστημα ταξινόμησης RMR. / In my thesis I describe and analyze one of the parts of the trench that is being constructed at the chainage from 18+540 to 18+840 of the Ionian Highway. More specifically during this study the slope is being described macroscopically , the mechanical aspects of the discontinuities of the slope (orientation, spacing, continium, roughness, aperture, filling), are being measured and identified, the possible slips of the rocky blocks are being estimated, the quality of the rocky mass is being defined and its quality characteristics( consistency and friction angle)are being evaluated based on the RMR classification system.

A Presente dissertação apresenta uma aplicação de Inteligência Computacional na área de Geotecnia, com a utilização da Técnica de Neuro-Fuzzy para indicar a suscetibilidade de escorregamento de taludes no município do Rio de Janeiro, a partir de inspeção visual. Neste trabalho, a suscetibilidade corresponde à possibilidade de ocorrência de escorregamento sem considerar os danos relacionados ao evento. Adotou-se como variável de saída a Previsão de Escorregamento (PE) com três adjetivos que correspondem a Suscetibilidades Alta, Média e Baixa. A metodologia utilizada consistiu em, inicialmente, montar um banco de dados com informações preliminares de análise de estabilidade, com a indicação dos condicionantes de escorregamento relacionados à geomorfologia, pluviosidade, capacidade de drenagem, vegetação e ocupação com seus respectivos graus de suscetibilidades de escorregamento obtidos em um conjunto de Laudos de Vistoria da Geo Rio. O banco de dados foi aplicado em um algoritmo de Neuro-Fuzzy. Diversos testes foram realizados com as alterações dos parâmetros do modelo Neuro-Fuzzy para uma combinação de fatores condicionantes de escorregamento e refinamento do banco de dados. Os testes apresentaram diminuição do erro fornecido pelo programa com o aumento de tipos de condicionantes utilizados no treinamento, o que permite inferir que o escorregamento ocorre por uma complexa relação entre diversos fatores condicionantes. O banco de dados utilizado nos testes apresenta descontinuidades nas relações entre os diversos condicionantes, ou seja, para uma mesma faixa de valores de Altura do talude, não é possível obter uma relação para todas as faixas de outro condicionante e, até mesmo, para todas as faixas da Previsão de Escorregamento. As PEs obtidas na validação do modelo tiveram seus valores próximos aos desejados somente nos conjuntos de variáveis utilizadas para o treinamento. O modelo não foi capaz de apresentar valores de suscetibilidades dentro da faixa de valores utilizados no treinamento para combinação de variáveis com pequenos ruídos, o que indica a necessidade de ampliação do banco de dados tanto quantitativamente quanto qualitativamente de modo a cobrir as descontinuidades apresentadas nas relações entre as variáveis. / This paper is an application of Computational Intelligence in the Geotechnical Engineering, with the use of Neuro-Fuzzy Technique to indicate the susceptibility of landslide slopes in the city of Rio de Janeiro, from visual inspection. In this work, the susceptibility corresponds to the possibility of slipping without considering the damage related to the event. Adopted as the output variable Forecast Slip (PE Previsão de Escorregamento) with three adjectives that correspond to susceptibilities High, Medium and Low. The methodology used was to initially build a database with preliminary information for stability analysis, indicating the slip constraints related to geomorphology, rainfall, drainage capacity, vegetation, and occupation with their respective degrees of susceptibilities slip obtained on a set of the Reports of Condition Geo Rio. The database was implemented in a Neuro-Fuzzy algorithm. Several tests were conducted with the changes of model parameters Neuro-Fuzzy for a combination of conditioning factors of slipping and refinement of the database. The tests showed a decrease of the error provided by the program with increasing types of constraints used in the training, which allows us to infer that the slip occurs by a complex relationship between various conditioning factors. The database used in the tests discontinuities present in relations between the different conditions, ie, for the same range of height values of the slope, it is not possible to obtain a relationship for all the tracks of another condition, and even for all tracks from Forecast Slip. The PEs obtained in the validation of the model values were close to the desired only in sets of variables used for training. The model was not able to present values of susceptibilities in the range of values used in training for the combination of variables with small noise, which presents the need to expand the database so quantitatively and qualitatively in order to cover the discontinuities presented in relations between the variables.

A Presente dissertação apresenta uma aplicação de Inteligência Computacional na área de Geotecnia, com a utilização da Técnica de Neuro-Fuzzy para indicar a suscetibilidade de escorregamento de taludes no município do Rio de Janeiro, a partir de inspeção visual. Neste trabalho, a suscetibilidade corresponde à possibilidade de ocorrência de escorregamento sem considerar os danos relacionados ao evento. Adotou-se como variável de saída a Previsão de Escorregamento (PE) com três adjetivos que correspondem a Suscetibilidades Alta, Média e Baixa. A metodologia utilizada consistiu em, inicialmente, montar um banco de dados com informações preliminares de análise de estabilidade, com a indicação dos condicionantes de escorregamento relacionados à geomorfologia, pluviosidade, capacidade de drenagem, vegetação e ocupação com seus respectivos graus de suscetibilidades de escorregamento obtidos em um conjunto de Laudos de Vistoria da Geo Rio. O banco de dados foi aplicado em um algoritmo de Neuro-Fuzzy. Diversos testes foram realizados com as alterações dos parâmetros do modelo Neuro-Fuzzy para uma combinação de fatores condicionantes de escorregamento e refinamento do banco de dados. Os testes apresentaram diminuição do erro fornecido pelo programa com o aumento de tipos de condicionantes utilizados no treinamento, o que permite inferir que o escorregamento ocorre por uma complexa relação entre diversos fatores condicionantes. O banco de dados utilizado nos testes apresenta descontinuidades nas relações entre os diversos condicionantes, ou seja, para uma mesma faixa de valores de Altura do talude, não é possível obter uma relação para todas as faixas de outro condicionante e, até mesmo, para todas as faixas da Previsão de Escorregamento. As PEs obtidas na validação do modelo tiveram seus valores próximos aos desejados somente nos conjuntos de variáveis utilizadas para o treinamento. O modelo não foi capaz de apresentar valores de suscetibilidades dentro da faixa de valores utilizados no treinamento para combinação de variáveis com pequenos ruídos, o que indica a necessidade de ampliação do banco de dados tanto quantitativamente quanto qualitativamente de modo a cobrir as descontinuidades apresentadas nas relações entre as variáveis. / This paper is an application of Computational Intelligence in the Geotechnical Engineering, with the use of Neuro-Fuzzy Technique to indicate the susceptibility of landslide slopes in the city of Rio de Janeiro, from visual inspection. In this work, the susceptibility corresponds to the possibility of slipping without considering the damage related to the event. Adopted as the output variable Forecast Slip (PE Previsão de Escorregamento) with three adjectives that correspond to susceptibilities High, Medium and Low. The methodology used was to initially build a database with preliminary information for stability analysis, indicating the slip constraints related to geomorphology, rainfall, drainage capacity, vegetation, and occupation with their respective degrees of susceptibilities slip obtained on a set of the Reports of Condition Geo Rio. The database was implemented in a Neuro-Fuzzy algorithm. Several tests were conducted with the changes of model parameters Neuro-Fuzzy for a combination of conditioning factors of slipping and refinement of the database. The tests showed a decrease of the error provided by the program with increasing types of constraints used in the training, which allows us to infer that the slip occurs by a complex relationship between various conditioning factors. The database used in the tests discontinuities present in relations between the different conditions, ie, for the same range of height values of the slope, it is not possible to obtain a relationship for all the tracks of another condition, and even for all tracks from Forecast Slip. The PEs obtained in the validation of the model values were close to the desired only in sets of variables used for training. The model was not able to present values of susceptibilities in the range of values used in training for the combination of variables with small noise, which presents the need to expand the database so quantitatively and qualitatively in order to cover the discontinuities presented in relations between the variables.

S-metolachlor is an effective herbicide used to control/suppress annual grasses, nutsedges and several broadleaf weeds in sweetpotato. However, a decline in storage root quality and yield has been reported under certain environmental conditions. Information is limited on the effect of S-metolachlor application followed immediately by rainfall on sweetpotato growth and development under different temperatures, as well as the optimum application time. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to evaluate sweetpotato responses to interactive effects of S-metolachlor, temperature and rainfall, and to determine S-metolachlor optimum application time. A sunlit, controlled environment experiment was conducted to investigate sweetpotato response to S-metolachlor and rainfall immediately after application under different temperatures. Sweetpotato slips were transplanted into sandy soil filled pots. Treatment combinations included five levels of S-metolachlor, 0.00, 0.86, 1.72, 2.58 and 3.44 kg ha-1, two levels of rainfall, 0 and 38 mm and three temperatures, 25/17, 30/22 and 35/27 °C, day/night. After POST application of S-metolachlor and rainfall, all plants were transferred to sunlit growth chambers that were maintained at their respective temperatures and ambient CO2 concentration for 60 days. In another experiment, S-metolachlor application time was varied to investigate sweetpotato growth and development. Two levels of S-metolachlor 0.0 and 1.0 kg ha-1 and three application times 0, 5 and 10 days after transplanting (DAT) were used and plants were harvested five times, 5, 10, 15, 20 and 80 DAT to estimate plant growth and development. Shoot, root and total plant biomass yields declined with increasing concentration of S-metolachlor across temperatures. In addition, storage root yield and quality decline was S-metolachlor rate dependent and aggravated by rainfall immediately after herbicide treatment across temperatures. S-metolachlor was more injurious on most plant component parameters in the optimum and high temperatures where plant growth was vigorous than in the low temperatures. S-metolachlor application at 0 and 5 days affected sweetpotato growth, including storage roots, but delaying until 10 days minimized the injury. These results can be used to weigh the risk of crop injury against the weed control benefits of S-metolachlor when making management decisions, and to determine application time based on weather information.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the accuracy in real time measurements acquired from GPS and GLONASS satellite observations using RTK techniques in an urban and forested environment. To determine this accuracy, 2 data sets of 3-dimensional coordinates were created and compared at 14 stations situated at East Tennessee State University. One data set included coordinates determined by conventional land survey methods; the second was solved by RTK GPS/GLONASS. Once the magnitude of any deviation in the coordinate positions was determined, the contributions to the accuracies from cycle slips, multipath, satellite availability, PDOP, and fixed or float solutions were evaluated. Three points in the urban environment varied from the conventional data set. Multipath was assumed to be the major bias in these points. Seven points in the forested environment varied from the conventional data set. The use of float solutions and high PDOP may have caused this bias.

No description available.

Slips, trips, and falls are a serious public health concern, particularly among older adults and within occupational settings, given that falls contribute to a large number of injuries and associate with high medical costs. To reduce the number of falls, there is a need to better understand risk factors contributing to falls, and to develop and evaluate improved balance training interventions to prevent falls. To address these needs, this work has two primary goals: first, to better understand risk factors contributing to falls, including fatigue and balance reactions after a large postural perturbation, and, second, to develop and evaluate improved reactive balance training (RBT) interventions to reduce risk of falls due to slipping and tripping. The first study investigated the effects of performing occupationally-relevant fatigue-inducing physical work on trip and fall risk. Healthy young adults performed a simulated manual material handling (MMH) task, using either heavy or light boxes, for two hours. Gait measures related to risk of tripping and slipping were assessed before and after the task. Reactive balance during one laboratory-induced trip was also assessed after the task. Results showed that performing the heavy MMH task did not affect risk of tripping or slipping, or reactive balance after tripping. These results may have resulted from insufficient fatigue due to the MMH task. The second study investigated the relationship between feet kinematics upon slipping while walking, and the outcome of the slip. Seventy-one laboratory-induced slips were analyzed, which included recoveries, feet-split falls, feet-forward falls, and lateral falls. Feet kinematics differed between these four slip outcomes, and a discriminant model including six measures of feet kinematics correctly predicted 87% of slip outcomes. Two potentially modifiable characteristics of feet kinematics upon slipping that can improve the likelihood of successfully averting a fall were identified: (1) quickly arresting the motion of the slipping foot; and (2) a recovery step that places the trailing toe approximately 0-10% body height anterior to the sacrum. This information may be used to guide the development of improved RBT interventions to reduce risk of slip-induced falls. The third study evaluated the efficacy of two low-cost, low-tech RBT methods for improving reactive balance after slipping. The two methods were: unexpected slip training (UST), which involved repeated unexpected slips while walking and volitional slip-recovery training (VST), which involved practicing balance reactions after volitionally inducing a slip-like perturbation. Young adults completed one session of an assigned intervention (UST, VST, or control), followed by one unexpected, laboratory-induced slip while walking. Compared to controls, UST and VST resulted in a higher proportion of successful balance recoveries from the laboratory-induced slips. UST improved both proactive control and reactive stepping after slipping, while VST primarily improved the ability to arrest slipping foot motion. These results support the use of UST and VST as practical, low-tech methods of slip training. The fourth study evaluated the efficacy of RBT that targets both slipping and tripping. Community-dwelling, healthy older adults (61-75 years) completed four sessions of either RBT (treadmill-based trip-recovery training and VST) or control training (general strength and balance exercises). Reactive balance during unexpected laboratory-induced slips and trips was assessed before and after RBT, and compared between subjects at baseline (before the intervention), after control training, and after RBT. The incidence of slip-induced falls differed between groups in that 80% fell at baseline, 60% fell after control training, and 18% fell after RBT. Post-RBT subjects also exhibited less severe slips, compared to baseline and post-control subjects. The incidence of trip-induced falls did not differ between groups, but margin of stability after tripping was greater for post-RBT subjects, compared to post-control subjects. These results show promise for the use of RBT applied to both slipping and tripping to reduce fall risk among older adults. / Doctor of Philosophy / Slips, trips, and falls are a serious public health concern, given that falls contribute to a large number of injuries and deaths. Falls are particularly concerning among older adults, who are reported to fall more frequently, and within occupational settings, where falls cause a larger number of injuries and a significant economic burden. To reduce the number of falls, there is a need to better understand risk factors contributing to falls, and to develop and evaluate improved balance training interventions to prevent falls. Four studies were conducted to address these needs: two studies aimed to better understand risk factors contributing to falls, including fatigue and balance reactions after slipping, and two studies aimed to develop and evaluate improved balance training interventions to reduce risk of falls due to slipping and tripping. This work focused on slipping and tripping, because slips and trips are reported to cause a large number of injuries and falls among both workers and older adults. The first study investigated the effect of performing occupationally-relevant fatigue-inducing physical work on trip and fall risk among healthy young adults, and results showed that performing a simulated manual material handling task (i.e. moving and stacking boxes using a two-wheeled dolly) did not affect risk of tripping and falling. The second study investigated the relationship between balance reactions after slipping and the outcome of the slip. Results showed that balance reactions of the feet predicted the outcome of the slip (i.e. recovering balance or one of three types of slip-induced falls) with 87% accuracy. We also identified characteristics of balance reactions that can improve the likelihood of successfully averting a fall. The third study evaluated the efficacy of two low-tech reactive balance training (RBT) methods for reducing slip-induced fall risk among young adults. These methods involved practicing balance reactions after slip-like perturbations, induced either unexpectedly or volitionally. Results showed that both RBT methods improved reactive balance after slipping, but through different mechanisms. The fourth study evaluated the efficacy of a RBT intervention targeting both slipping and tripping among older adults. Results showed that RBT improved reactive balance during both slipping and tripping, and reduced the incidence of slip-induced falls. In conclusion, these results help to better understand risk factors contributing to falls, and support the use of practical reactive balance training interventions targeting both slipping and tripping to reduce fall risk.

Nonwetting surfaces including superhydrophobic (SHS) and liquid infused surfaces (SLIPS) exhibit diverse exceptional characteristics promoting numerous application opportunities. Engineered textured surfaces demonstrate multiple features including drag reduction, fouling reduction, corrosion resistance, anti-fogging, anti-icing, and condensation enhancement. Integrating these properties, nonwetting surfaces have shown significant potential in improving the efficiency of energy applications. The first part of the thesis work aims at developing a fundamental mathematical understanding of the wetting process on the solid surface followed by presenting fabrication methodologies specifically focused on metallic substrates. The second part of this thesis presents an exhaustive survey on recent advancements and researches about features of nonwetting surfaces that could be implemented in major industrial applications. To establish how realistically these features could enhance the real-life applications, the third part of this work investigates the dynamic performance and economic benefits of using textured surfaces fabricated using an electrodeposition process for condenser tubes in thermoelectric power plants. The textured surfaces are expected to provide enhanced performance by deterring fouling and promoting dropwise condensation of the steam on the shell side. Using a thermal resistance network of a shell and tube condenser, detailed parametric studies are carried out to investigate the effect of various design parameters on the annual condenser performance measured in terms of its electric energy output of a representative 550 MW coal-fired power plant. A cost modeling tool and a new Levelized cost of condenser (LCOC) metric have been developed to evaluate the economic and performance benefits of enhanced condenser designs. The LCOC is defined as the ratio of the lifetime cost of the condenser (and associated costs such as coating, operation and maintenance) to the total electric energy produced by the thermoelectric power plant. The physical model is coupled with a numerical optimization method to identify the optimal design and operating parameters of the textured tubes that minimizes LCOC. Altogether, the study presents the first effort to construct and analyze enhanced condenser design with textured tube surfaces on annual thermoelectric power plant performance and compares it against the baseline condenser design with plain tubes. / Master of Science / Liquid repellant surfaces have attracted lots of attention due to their numerous promising characteristics including promoting condensation, drag reduction, prohibiting fouling/deposition, corrosion, and fog/dew harvesting. These attributes have the potential to inspire a variety of applications for these surfaces in power plants, automotive and aviation industries, oils/organic solvents clean-up, fuel cells, solar panels, membrane distillation, stone/concrete protection, surgical fabrics, and biological applications, to name a few. Some of these applications have reached their potential for real-life implementation and more are still at the research phase needing more experimental and fundamental studies to get them ready. The first part of this study presents the fundamentals of the wetting process. Next, fabrication methods for metallic surfaces have been explored to identify the most scalable and cost-effective approaches which could be administered in large scale industrial applications. A comprehensive review of recent publications on features of nonwetting surfaces has been carried out and presented in the second part of this thesis. To establish how realistically these features could enhance the real-life applications of a thermo-economic a performance model is developed for a powerplant condenser in the third section. Through a simple and cost-effective electrodeposition process, the common condenser tubes are modified to achieve textured tubes with superhydrophobic properties. The influence of using textured tubes on the plant's performance and its economic benefits are investigated to predict the potential promises of nonwetting surfaces.

L'image du corps dessine les contours de la féminité, mais il ne semble possible d'entrevoir une expression proprement féminine qu'à travers les failles de celle-ci. Semblable à une expression incontrôlée de l'inconscient, le féminin se déploie comme le lapsus ou l'acte manqué. Pour ce faire, il semble nécessaire de passer par le rapport différent que semble entretenir une femme à la pulsion. C'est à travers une possible liaison entre pulsion et image du corps que le féminin semble s'exprimer. Aussi, l'inconscient maternel et de ce fait le regard de la mère, nécessitent une particulière attention, dans la mesure où la pulsion scopique de la mère investira différemment le corps de l'enfant fille. A travers un regard non limité par le signifiant, il sera question pour la fille d'un investissement de tout le corps et de ce fait, d'un rapport diffus et difficilement contenable d'avec la pulsion. La multiplicité des inscriptions phalliques sur le corps de la fille rend autre son rapport à l'image – le surinvestissement marque, entre autre, une fragilité. Le regard que suscite l'expression par images dénature l'appel au féminin qui ne peut s'articuler que dans l'absence du dire. Le nouvel impératif social paraît difficilement s'articuler à l'enracinement du discours familial ; il est pourtant possible d'entrevoir une inhibition de la pensée par le biais d'un surplus d'images sans référant. / It's through the body image that the femininity contours draws itself but, it seems possible to catch a glimpse of feminine expression only through the flaw or the rift of it. Similar to the uncontrolled expression of the unconscious, feminine expression displays itself like the slip of the tongue or the parapraxis. Consequently, it seems necessary to point the different relation a woman maintains to her drives. It's through a potential link between drive and body image that the feminine expression seems to take place. To do so, maternal unconscious and the mother's look requires particular attention; insofar as, the mother's optic drive will be differently investing a girl child body. Through a look non-limited by the signifier, it will be question for the girl to invest her whole body and this will lead her to a diffuse and hardly containable relation to her own drive. The multiplicity of phallic inscriptions on the girl's body renders differently her relation to images – the overinvestment signs, beside all, fragility. The look that the expression by images sparks off distorts the feminine call, which can only rise in the absence of words and sayings. The new social requirement seems hardly articulate itself with the roots of familial discourse; it is, though, possible to glimpse the inhibition of thoughts by the way images are overinvested.