Nagoya Institute of Technology

About: Nagoya Institute of Technology is a education organization based out in Nagoya, Japan. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Thin film & Turbulence. The organization has 10766 authors who have published 19140 publications receiving 255696 citations. The organization is also known as: Nagoya Kōgyō Daigaku & Nitech.

The Nitech-NAIST HMM-Based Speech Synthesis System for the Blizzard Challenge 2006

Abstract: We describe a statistical parametric speech synthesis system developed by a joint group from the Nagoya Institute of Technology (Nitech) and the Nara Institute of Science and Technology (NAIST) for the annual open evaluation of text-to-speech synthesis systems named Blizzard Challenge 2006. To improve our 2005 system (Nitech-HTS 2005), we investigated new features such as mel-generalized cepstrum-based line spectral pairs (MGC-LSPs), maximum likelihood linear transform (MLLT), and a full covariance global variance (GV) probability density function (pdf). A combination of mel-cepstral coefficients, MLLT, and full covariance GV pdf scored highest in subjective listening tests, and the 2006 system performed significantly better than the 2005 system. The Blizzard Challenge 2006 evaluations show that Nitech-NAIST-HTS 2006 is competitive even when working with relatively large speech databases.

An introduction of trajectory model into HMM-based speech synthesis.

Abstract: In the synthesis part of a hidden Markov model (HMM) based speech synthesis system which we have proposed, a speech parameter vector sequence is generated from a sentence HMM corresponding to an arbitrarily given text by using a speech parameter generation algorithm. However, there is an inconsistency: although the speech parameter vector sequence is generated under the constraints between static and dynamic features, HMM parameters are trained without any constraints between them in the same way as standard HMM training. In the present paper, we introduce a trajectory-HMM, which has been derived from the HMM under the constraints between static and dynamic features, into the training part of the HMM-based speech synthesis system. Experimental results show that the use of trajectory-HMM training improves the quality of the synthesized speech.

Linear-Time Snapshot Using Multi-writer Multi-reader Registers

Abstract: We present a wait-free implementation of the atomic snapshot object on the shared memory system. A snapshot object shared by n processes is a data structure partitioned into n segments such that each process owns one segment. Each process can update its own segment, and instantaneously scan all segments. In our implementation, each object operation requires O(n) operations on atomic multi-writer multi-reader registers.

(R) salsolinol N‐methyltransferase activity increases in parkinsonian lymphocytes

Abstract: Recently, an endogenous catechol isoquinoline, 1(R),2(N)-dimethyl-6,7-dihydroxy-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinoline [N-methyl(R)salsolinol], was proved to be a neurotoxin specific for dopamine neurons by in vivo and in vitro experiments. This N-methyl(R)salsolinol was found to increase significantly in the cerebrospinal fluid of untreated parkinsonian patients, suggesting its possible involvement in the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease. To clarify the mechanism of the increase, the activity of enzymes related to the metabolism of the neurotoxin was examined in lymphocytes prepared from parkinsonian patients and controls. In patients with Parkinson's disease, the activity of a neutral N-methyltransferase, measured by using (R)salsolinol as a substrate, was found to increase significantly (100.2 +/- 81.8 pmol/min/mg of protein) in comparison with that in controls (18.9 +/- 15.0 pmol/min/mg of protein). The distribution of the activity was bimodal in the parkinsonian patients, whereas it was singular in controls. The activity of other related enzymes, an alkaline N-methyltransferase and N-methyl(R)salsolinol oxidase, in parkinsonian lymphocytes was the same as in controls. Increase of the neutral N-methyltransferase may be an endogenous factor in the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease.

Well-defined polystyrene grafted to polypropylene backbone by living radical polymerization with TEMPO

Abstract: A stable free radical (2,2,6,6-tertamethylpiperidinyl-1-oxy, TEMPO) polymerization technique was applied to a graft polymerization of styrene (ST) to polypropylene (PP). PP peroxides produced by γ-irradiation (7.2, 12, and 35 kGy) in air were used as macromolecular initiators for grafting. Grafted polystyrene (PSgraft) was cleaved from the main PP chain by reaction with trifluoroacetic acid. The molecular weight (Mn) and polydispersity of the PSgraft and the free (nongrafted) polystyrene (PSfree) were determined by GPC. These PS's have almost the same Mn (nearly theoretical Mn) and narrow polydispersity. Nitroxide-terminated PS grafted to the PP was chain extended by sequential activation of the dormant chain ends in the presence of additional ST monomer. The polydispersity of the extended PSgraft remained narrow. A controlled random graft copolymer of PP with ST and n-butyl methacrylate was also synthesized using this technique.