Research of whispered speech vocal tract system conversion based on universal background model and effective Gaussian components

Directing to the weakness of the present fixed values mapping methods （method_F）, a vocal tract system conversion method based on the universal background model （UBM） is proposed for improving the performance of the speech conversion system from Chinese whis- pered speech to normal speech. For the numerous components of UBM, the errors produced by the acoustical probability density statistical model can＇t be ignored. Thus an effective Gaus- sian mixture components chosen method based on the posterior probability summation of the minimum spectral distortion is developed to optimizing the system performance. The proposed method （method_U） is analyzed and compared using the performance index （PI） based on Itakura-Saito spectral distortion measure. It is shown experimentally that the performance of method_U is more stability for different speakers and different phonemes than that of method_F. The average PI of method_U is better than method_F. It is shown that by selecting effective Gaussian mixture components, the PI of method_U can be further improved 5.11%. Subjective auditory tests also show that the proposed method can improve the definition and intelligibility of conversion speech.

Classification of Surface Quality of Automobile Lamp-Reflector

This paper introduces an installation for quickly classifying automobile's metal reflectors based on their roughness. The measuring principle and the mechanical structure are presented. Schematics of circuits and experimental results are given. Elimination and reduction of the effect of background lights or different bulbs on the measuring results are also described in detail.

Influence of background pressure on the microstructure and optical properties of Mo/Si multilayers fabricated by magnetron sputtering

Mo/Si multilayers were fabricated by using magnetron sputtering method at different background pressures:6×10-5 Torr,3×10-5 Torr,and 3×10-6 Torr.The reflectivity of the Mo/Si multilayers increased from 1.93% to 16.63%,and the center wavelength revealed a blue shift to 0.12 nm with the decrease of background pressure.Grazing incident X-ray diffraction(GIXRD) indicated that multilayers fabricated at high background pressure possessed better periodic structure and thinner Mo-on-Si interlayers.Low crystallization degree in(110) preferred the orientation of Mo layers and serious interdiffusion in the Mo/Si multilayers fabricated at low background pressure were observed by transmission electron microscopy(TEM).According to quantitative analysis of microstructural parameters,the Mo layers thickness and thickness ratio of Mo/Si multilayers both decreased and approached the design value gradually by the decrease of background pressure.In addition,the thicknesses of Mo-on-Si and Si-on-Mo interlayers were 1.17 nm and 0.85 nm respectively.It is suggested that the influence of background pressures on the microstructure has a critical role in determining the optical properties of Mo/Si multilayers.

A RESEARCH INTO THE EFFECT OF BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE ON BUSINESS ENGLISH READING COMPREHENSION

With the arrival of the new millennium,the demand fortalented people with both professional knowledge and excellentlanguage abilities is getting stronger and stronger.For business major students,reading is paramount inBusiness English teaching and learning.And their reading abilityis often assessed by a text of reading comprehension.However,from my experience as a college teacher ofBusiness English,I have noticed some problems among studentswho have little knowledge of business.They seem to readBusiness English materials at a slower rate and with lessunderstanding than general English materials.Then there is the question:is Business English reading"simply"a problem of language competence? Or are there anyother more important factors?This article is an investigation into the effect of backgroundknowledge on Business English reading comprehension.Thestudy attempts to assess to what extent L2 readers might beaffected because of their lack of a background schematapresupposed by the author by comparing the test results of twopassages comparable in language lightness or heaviness.Morecomparable passages like these can be used in investigating intothe rival effects of background knowledge and linguisticcompetence.The implications of comprehension theory for L2pedagogy are discussed and suggestions for Business Englishteaching is put forward.