Importance sampling is a classical Monte Carlo technique in which a random sample from one probability density, π1, is used to estimate an expectation with respect to another, π. The importance sampling estimator is strongly consistent and, as long as two simple moment conditions are satisfied, it obeys a central limit theorem (CLT). Moreover, there is a simple consistent estimator for the asym...

Since the introduction of Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), many textbooks have been written to incorporate communicative activities, authentic materials and personalized contexts. However, where the teaching and learning of grammar is concerned, most textbooks do not reflect CLT principles. As demonstrated in this paper, grammar activities in some Malaysian and Taiwanese textbooks retain ...

We prove that a recurrent random walk (RW) in i.i.d. random environment (RE) on a strip which does not obey the Sinai law exhibits the Central Limit asymptotic behaviour. We also show that there exists a collection of proper subvarieties in the space of transition probabilities such that • If RE is stationary and ergodic and the transition probabilities are concentrated on one of subvarieties f...

This paper deals with the conception and characterization of an innovative connection for cross-laminated timber (CLT) panels. The connection is designed to provide an adequate level of dissipative capacity to CLT structures also when realized with large horizontal panels and therefore prone to fragile shear sliding failure. The connector, named X-bracket, has been theorized and designed by mea...

In the last few years, cryptographic multilinear maps have proved their tremendous potential as building blocks for new constructions, in particular the first viable approach to general program obfuscation. After the first candidate construction by Garg, Gentry and Halevi (GGH) based on ideal lattices, a second construction over the integers was described by Coron, Lepoint and Tibouchi (CLT). H...

This paper provides a new method for automatically generating speech synthesis units. The algorithm, called Closed-Loop Training (CLT), is based on evaluating and reducing the distortion in synthesized speech. It minimizes distortion caused by synthesis process such as prosodic modification in an analytic way. The distortion is measured by calculating the error between synthesized speech units ...

This paper proposes a new method for automatically generating speech synthesis units. A small set of synthesis units is selected from a large speech database by the proposed Closed-Loop Training method (CLT). Because CLT is based on the evaluation and minimization of the distortion caused by the synthesis process such as prosodic modi cation, the selected synthesis units are most suitable for s...

We investigate the probability density of rescaled sums of iterates of deterministic dynamical systems, a problem relevant for many complex physical systems consisting of dependent random variables. A Central Limit Theorem (CLT) is only valid if the dynamical system under consideration is sufficiently mixing. For the fully developed logistic map and a cubic map we analytically calculate the lea...

This article discusses a range of current issues and future research possibilities in Communicative Language Testing (CLT) using, as its departure point, the key questions which emerged during the CLT symposium at the 2010 Language Testing Forum (LTF). The paper begins with a summary of the 2010 symposium discussion in which three main issues related to CLT are identified: (1) the “mainstreamin...

Foreign language teaching in many Asian-Pacific countries in recent decades has shifted toward communicative-focused instruction. However, researchers have reported a gap between policy and practice. To incorporate teachers’ voices in adopting the communicative approach in the curriculum, this study explores factors that promote or hinder EFL teachers’ implementation of Communicative Language T...