Pitch Components Research Articles

Persuasion prosody in prosecutor’s speech: Ukrainian and english

This paper presents the research of prosodic means conveying the persuasion modality in a prosecutor’s speech in court. The material under study consists of English and Ukrainian speeches of the prosecutors (the total duration time is 16 hours). The results of the experimental material examination demonstrate common and specific characteristics of prosody components (melody, loudness, tempo, timber and sentence stress) in English and Ukrainian. Pragmatics of prosody semantics and correlation between its parameters have been proved. It has been stated that in both English and Ukrainian an utterance becomes emphatic due to the prosodic means of persuasion in a prosecutor’s speech as follows: 1) changes of tempo; 2) changes of the pitch of a voice; 3) replacements of the rising tone with the falling one and vice versa; 4) usage of complex tones; 5) use of an interrupted ascending or descending scale; 6) change of sentence stress type; 7) division of a sense group into two or more parts. The above mentioned facts enable us to conclude that: while describing the first of these aspects of typological similarity of prosody in the compared languages, the parameters of the pitch component of intonation are most informative when differentiating attitudinal ones. The specificity of interaction between prosodic and grammar means when expressing persuasion in Ukrainian and English prosecutor’s speech is caused by a degree of distinction between the grammatical and vocabulary systems of the compared languages.

Extrusion Dwell Time and Its Effect on the Mechanical and Thermal Properties of Pitch/LLDPE Blend Fibres

Mesophase pitch-based carbon fibres have excellent resistance to plastic deformation (up to 840 GPa); however, they have very low strain to failure (0.3) and are considered brittle. Hence, the development of pitch fibre precursors able to be plastically deformed without fracture is important. We have previously, successfully developed pitch-based precursor fibres with high ductility (low brittleness) by blending pitch and linear low-density polyethylene. Here, we extend our research to study how the extrusion dwell time (0, 6, 8, and 10 min) affects the physical properties (microstructure) of blend fibres. Scanning electron microscopy of the microstructure showed that by increasing the extrusion dwell from 0 to 10 min the pitch and polyethylene components were more uniformly dispersed. The tensile strength, modulus of elasticity, and strain at failure for the extruded fibres for different dwell times were measured. Increased dwell time resulted in an increase in strain to failure but reduced the ultimate tensile strength. Thermogravimetric analysis was used to investigate if increased dwell time improved the thermal stability of the samples. This study presents a useful guide to help with the selection of mixes of linear low-density polyethylene/pitch blend, with an appropriate extrusion dwell time to help develop a new generation of potential precursors for pitch-based carbon fibres.

Laser-Induced Forward Transfer (LIFT) Technique as an Alternative for Assembly and Packaging of Electronic Components

Current trends in microelectronics chip bonding and assembly encompass ultra-fine pitch components with flexible form factors and advanced die-attach materials, which can sustain conformal strain without compromise in adhesion and reliability. These trends have highlighted the need for advanced microfrabrication technologies, which allow the on-demand digital fabrication of interconnections and die-attach bumps on chip carriers and interposers with challenging topographies. Laser printing, based on the laser induced forward transfer (LIFT) technique, has addressed such micromanufacturing challenges over the past decade. Several previous demonstrations of highly resolved and conformal interconnections for the bonding and packaging of micro and opto-electronic components are summarized in this paper. Latest advances in the laser printing and laser sintering of highly viscous nanopastes for achieving planar or three-dimensional (3D) structures consisting of Ag paste are demonstrated. The latter is achieved by stacking of arrays or bumps in a digital manner. The reported results verify that LIFT offers control over both the lateral and vertical dimensions. This control can facilitate the soldering process of heterogeneous components, whose pads have significant height and pitch dissimilarities. The applicability of LIFT in the fields of packaging and assembly of flexible and heterogeneous integration schemes, is further validated.

Differences and correlations between microstructure and macroscopic properties of mesophase cokes derived from the components of high temperature coal tar pitch

It has been universally believed that the soluble and insoluble components of coal tar pitch obtained by solvent extraction were good precursors to prepare mesophase cokes. The microstructure and macro properties of mesophase cokes derived from the soluble and insoluble components are varied in general. In order to study the differences and correlations between the microstructure and macro properties of mesophase cokes, 16 kinds of component in two categories have been prepared mesophase cokes as the raw materials. Briefly, Scanning electron microscope (SEM), Polarizing Microscope (PM), Raman spectroscopy, X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetry (TG) and Micro-strength intensity (MSI) have been used to characterize microstructure and macro properties of cokes. In fact, the graphite structure in extract-based cokes is larger and more orderly than that in residue-based cokes. The MSI of residue-based cokes (66 ∼ 81%) is higher than that of extract-based cokes (53 ∼ 60%), while Tmax (615 ∼ 645 ℃ and 680 ∼ 715 ℃) of the two are opposite. In a word, the results indicate that all data of the two categories of cokes go to bipolar distribution. And the results of this work were helpful for understanding and providing direction for the evaluation of cokes used to prepare isotropic and anisotropic graphite.

Eco-Friendly Lead-Free Solder Paste Printing via Laser-Induced Forward Transfer for the Assembly of Ultra-Fine Pitch Electronic Components.

Current challenges in printed circuit board (PCB) assembly require high-resolution deposition of ultra-fine pitch components (<0.3 mm and <60 μm respectively), high throughput and compatibility with flexible substrates, which are poorly met by the conventional deposition techniques (e.g., stencil printing). Laser-Induced Forward Transfer (LIFT) constitutes an excellent alternative for assembly of electronic components: it is fully compatible with lead-free soldering materials and offers high-resolution printing of solder paste bumps (<60 μm) and throughput (up to 10,000 pads/s). In this work, the laser-process conditions which allow control over the transfer of solder paste bumps and arrays, with form factors in line with the features of fine pitch PCBs, are investigated. The study of solder paste as a function of donor/receiver gap confirmed that controllable printing of bumps containing many microparticles is feasible for a gap < 100 μm from a donor layer thickness set at 100 and 150 μm. The transfer of solder bumps with resolution < 100 μm and solder micropatterns on different substrates, including PCB and silver pads, have been achieved. Finally, the successful operation of a LED interconnected to a pin connector bonded to a laser-printed solder micro-pattern was demonstrated.

Formation of mesophase from the components of high temperature coal tar pitch

Formation of mesophase from the components of high temperature coal tar pitch

Polymerization kinetics and control of the components of a mesophase pitch

Polymerization kinetics and control of the components of a mesophase pitch

Pitch as a business PR-text: Communicative and pragmatic aspect

The article discusses pitching as a communication technology and a pitch as a business PRtext. For a more complete and correct definition of the concepts of a pitch and pitching, the semantics of the multi-valued pitch lexeme underlying them are analyzed. The types of pitching are described by the field of activity, by the intended purpose and by the time of the presentation. The subject of the study was the textual features of the investment pitch as a PR communication tool. The main purpose of the work is to analyze the structural and content components of the investment pitch in the communicative and pragmatic aspect, including the characteristics of the addresser, addressee, object, goal, functions, etc. The material for the study was selected using the method of random sampling of 28 video recordings of pitch presentations presented on the foreign TV shows Shark Tank and Dragons’ Den, posted on the social network YouTube. The analysis of the material showed that the text of the pitch is based on the principle of combining standard and expression, noted by V. G. Kostomarov, in relation to the language of the newspaper. The tendency towards standardization is manifested in the typical structure of the pitch, the tendency towards expressiveness — in the use of certain verbal and paraverbal means, with the help of which the addresser seeks to express a subjective attitude not only to the content of speech, but also to the addressee, influencing his consciousness and stimulating him to make the necessary decisions. Based on the identified differential features, the definition of an investment pitch is proposed. It is concluded that the investment pitch can be included in a number of other proposals coming from the PR subject — proposals for cooperation, commercial proposals and proposals for sponsorship, calling it an offer for investors.

Complex research of the components of the coal tar pitch

The composition, structure and morphology of particles of β-and α2-fraction powders of medium-temperature coal tar pitch were studied using the methods of electron microscopy, adsorption porosimetry, NMR, IR-EPR spectroscopy, X-ray diffractometry, thermal analysis, and chromatography-mass spectrometry. The morphology and structure of coke residues were investigated depending on the heating temperature. It has been established that polyaromatic hydrocarbons in the composition of volatile products of thermolysis of coal tar pitch are formed mainly during the decomposition of the β-fraction components. The results obtained are of interest from the point of view of the directions of using the isolated fractions of coal tar pitch as precursors for obtaining functional carbon materials.

Творческий портрет Диззи Гиллеспи в контексте стилевых метаморфоз джаза 1940-1950-х годов

The paper presents Dizzy Gillespie’s creative portrait through the lens of the leading tendencies of jazz development in the crucial period of the 1940-1950s. The musician’s style is analysed taking into account tonal-phonic, rhythmic, pitch and structural-compositional components. Scientific originality of the study lies in the fact that Gillespie’s style is considered against the background of general tendencies of jazz development in the period of formation of the earliest jazz style - be-bop. The conducted research allows concluding that Dizzy Gillespie contributed significantly to the evolution of jazz - from light music, an attribute of mass culture, to elitist, artified jazz.

Studies of the characteristics of compounded pitch by chromatography-mass spectrometry and NMR of carcinogenic activity

The spectral characteristics of coal and oil pitch are compared among themselves. An insignificant contribution of aliphatic functional groups to the total spectrum intensity for coal pitch is noted. Analysis of the obtained 13C NMR spectra showed qualitative structural features of the pitch components, such as the absence of signals in the range of 150-200 ppm, which indicates the absence of carbonyl- and carboxyl-containing fragments in the components of the pitch components. The content of radiocarbon in the samples of oil pitch and carbon nanoparticles was measured.

Polymerization kinetics and control of the components of a mesophase pitch

It is important to increase the content of pyridine soluble in mesophase pitch to improve its spinnability. A naphthalene isotropic pitch was used as the raw material to prepare mesophase pitch by polymerization. The components of the polymerized products were analyzed by solvent extraction with benzene and pyridine, and classified as benzene soluble (BS), pyridine insoluble (PI) and benzene insoluble but pyridine soluble (BI-PS). The effects of polymerization temperature, time and the components of the raw material on the distribution of the components and optical texture of the mesophase pitch were investigated. The reaction kinetic constants were calculated assuming a consecutive reaction from BS to BI-PS, then to PI. Results show that a mesophase pitch with a relatively uniform distribution of components is obtained after reaction at 430 °C for 20 h from an isotropic pitch pre-polymerized at 400 °C for 10 h. The mesophase pitch synthesis reaction has a significant auto-acceleration effect in that the reaction rate constant of a heavy component is larger than a light one. The reaction rate becomes faster and faster as the molecular weight of the pitch increases in the latter stage of the synthesis reaction. Therefore, the initial component of raw pitch, reaction temperature and time have a decisive influence on the distribution of components in the mesophase pitch.

Получение графитоподобных материалов из каменноугольного пека

In the research, the study of precursors of graphite-like materials obtained from medium-temperature coal tar pitch was carried out on the individual components of coal tar pitch by separating the multicomponent composition of the pitch into separate fractions. Such approach, to study the physicochemical characteristics of the individual components of coal tar pitch, contributes to both the determination of the contribution of individual pitch components to the process of its structuring during carbonization and the development of new environmentally friendly methods for the synthesis of functional materials for various applications. The β-fraction was precipitated with n-hexane from toluene extract of coal tar pitch. γ-fraction was isolated from n-hexane by solvent evaporation. α2-fraction was isolated from the residue, insoluble in toluene, by quinoline extraction. The composition and structure of the isolated individual fractions of coal tar pitch were studied by physicochemical methods of analysis. The shape and morphology were investigated by electron microscopy. To study the composition and structure, the methods of elemental analysis, infrared spectroscopy, electron-paramagnetic resonance, XRD-analysis, and thermoanalysis were used in combination with methods of derivative analysis, chromatography, and mass spectrometry. The authors of the work propose new approaches to the use of individual fractions of coal tar pitch in order to obtain new graphite-like materials on their basis.

이중 주파수 대역 검출기반의 강인한 Audio Fingerprinting 시스템

In this paper, we present a new audio identification system which is robust to various attacks. The types of attacks employed are modification such as changes of tempo, pitch and speed and noise addition also low and high pass filtering. We proposed a two-dimensional representation for the audio signal called FFMAP. This consists of pitch components and frame components. We also employ Pearson’s correlation score to calculate similarity between original audio data and query. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm has a high performance.

Change in Molecular Mass of Pitch on Thermodestructive Polycondensation of Heavy Pyrolysis Tar

By determining the molecular mass of pitch from heavy pirolysis tar, additional information may be obtained regarding the thermal polycondensation and quality of pitch. The weighted mean molecular mass of toluene-soluble components of the pirolysis pitch is determined by gel-permeation chromatography. The molecular mass of the components in specific petroleum-pitch fractions is studied as a function of the time and temperature employed in isothermal holding of the heavy pirolysis tar. The weighted mean molecular mass of toluene-soluble components depends on the heat treatment of the pirolysis tar and the softening temperature of the petroleum pitch.

Pitch as the Main Determiner of Italian Lexical Stress Perception Across the Lifespan: Evidence From Typical Development and Dyslexia.

The study deals with the issue of lexical stress perception in both a developmental (comparing children and adults with typical development) and a clinical perspective (comparing typically developing children and children with dyslexia). The three parameters characterizing the acoustic profiles of words and non-words in a certain language are duration, pitch and intensity of its syllables. Based on (sparse) previous literature on Italian and other European languages, it was expected that syllable duration would be the parameter predominantly determining the perception of stress position. It was furthermore anticipated that children with dyslexia may be found to have an altered perception of lexical stress, due to their impairments in auditory processing of either pitch, duration or (more controversial) intensity. Systematic manipulation of the pitch, duration and intensity profiles of three Italian trisyllabic non-words produced a series of 81 stimuli, that were judged with respect to stress position (perceived on the ultimate, penultimate, or antepenultimate syllable) by the three groups of participants. The results showed, contrarily to expectations, that the pitch component is the most reliable acoustic cue in stress perception for both adults, in whom this dominance is very strong, and typically developing children, who showed a similar but quantitatively less marked pattern. As to children with dyslexia, they did not seem to rely on any parameter for their judgments, and rather gave random responses, which point to a general inability to process the various acoustic modulations that normally contribute to stress perception. Performance on the stress perception task strongly correlates with language (morphosyntactic) measures in the whole sample of children, and with reading abilities in the group with dyslexia, confirming the strict relationship between the two sets of skills. These findings seem to support a language-specific approach, suggesting that the set of acoustic parameters required for the development of stress perception is language-dependent rather than universal.

3-D realistic simulations over a Flatfish shaped AUV submitted to ocean currents

This work aims to analyze the torque effects produced by the hull-wake interaction on the maneuverability of a flatfish-shaped AUV, by 3-D realistic scale computational simulations. On account of the inertia, the AUV provides a self-averaging mechanism that erases the high frequency components. Following this line, we processed a high frequency filter on the torques time series. We concluded that the flatfish shape has an excellent capacity of maneuverability under low velocities, showed by its tiny torque variations over time as the inlet speed decreases. We also observe that the pitch component has high torque oscillations over time with drift (also called yaw) angles, showing a significant increment of amplitudes when this angle becomes 10°. This represents an important concern about flatfish maneuverability while, on the other hand, the roll component has shown the lowest oscillations among the three rotational degrees of freedom. The yaw component increases moderately with an increase in attack yaw angles. The description above, especially for low speeds, indicates that the flatfish-shaped AUV presents suitable conditions for missions executing scanning and filming tasks that require good stability and controllable maneuverability.

Insight into the oxidative reactivity of pitch fractions for predicting and optimizing the oxidation stabilization of pitch

Oxidative stability is of particular importance to maintain the morphology and adjust physicochemical properties of pitch-based carbon products. Due to the complex composition of pitch, the oxidative reactivity of the pitch components has rarely been reported to date, so that the oxidative stabilization conditions of pitch have been mainly selected from experience. In the study, a coal tar pitch was fractionated into toluene-soluble (TS), toluene-insoluble and pyridine-soluble (PS), pyridine-insoluble and quinoline-soluble (QS), and quinoline-insoluble (QI) fractions. The molecular structural features of each fraction and their reactivity with oxygen at varying oxidation temperature were characterized and evaluated. The results reveal that light fractions (TS and PS) with more alkyl side chains exhibit a higher reactivity at the low oxidation temperature range from 200 to 250 °C, leading to the formation of more cross-linked structures. Meanwhile heavy fractions (QS and QI), with relatively rich isolated aromatic hydrogen, seem to be remarkable in O2 uptake and the formation of C–O structures until the oxidation temperature rises above 250 °C. Insight into group composition of the pitch allows predicting its oxidative stability characteristics and further allowing it to quickly fine-tune operational conditions for time-effective and energy-saving stabilization.

Hierarchical deficits in auditory information processing in schizophrenia

Deficits in auditory processing contribute significantly to impaired functional outcome in schizophrenia (SZ), but mediating factors remain under investigation. Here we evaluated two hierarchical components of early auditory processing: pitch-change detection (i.e. identifying if 2 tones have “same” or “different” pitch), which is preferentially associated with early auditory cortex, and serial pitch-pattern detection (i.e. identifying if 3 tones have “same” or “different” pitch, and, if “different”, which one differed from the others), which depends also on auditory association regions.Deficits in pitch-change detection deficits in SZ have been widely reported and correlated with higher auditory disturbances such as Auditory Emotion Recognition (AER). Deficits in serial pitch-pattern discrimination have been less studied. Here, we investigated both pitch perception components, along with integrity of AER in SZ patients vs. controls using behavioral paradigms. We hypothesized that the deficits could be viewed as hierarchically organized in SZ, with deficits in low-level function propagating sequentially through subsequent levels of processing.Participants included 27 SZ and 40 controls. The magnitude of the deficits in SZ participants was large in both the pitch-change (d = 1.15) and serial pitch-pattern tasks (d = 1.21) with no significant differential task effect. The effect size of the AER deficits was extremely large (d = 2.82). In the SZ group, performance in both pitch tasks correlated significantly with impaired AER performance. However, a mediation analysis showed that serial pitch-pattern detection mediated the relationship between simpler pitch-change detection and AER in patients.Findings are consistent with hierarchical models of cognitive dysfunction in SZ with deficits in early information processing contributing to higher level impairments. Furthermore, findings are consistent with recent neurophysiological results suggesting similar level impairments for processing of simple vs. more complex tonal dysfunction in SZ.

There is music in repetition: Looped segments of speech and nonspeech induce the perception of music in a time-dependent manner.

While many techniques are known to music creators, the technique of repetition is one of the most commonly deployed. The mechanism by which repetition is effective as a music-making tool, however, is unknown. Building on the speech-to-song illusion (Deutsch, Henthorn, & Lapidis in Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 129(4), 2245-2252, 2011), we explore a phenomenon in which perception of musical attributes are elicited from repeated, or "looped," auditory material usually perceived as nonmusical such as speech and environmental sounds. We assessed whether this effect holds true for speech stimuli of different lengths; nonspeech sounds (water dripping); and speech signals decomposed into their rhythmic and spectral components. Participants listened to looped stimuli (from 700 to 4,000 ms) and provided continuous as well as discrete perceptual ratings. We show that the regularizing effect of repetition generalizes to nonspeech auditory material and is strongest for shorter clip lengths in the speech and environmental cases. We also find that deconstructed pitch and rhythmic speech components independently elicit a regularizing effect, though the effect across segment duration is different than that for intact speech and environmental sounds. Taken together, these experiments suggest repetition may invoke active internal mechanisms that bias perception toward musical structure.