A voice operated musical instrument.

Many mathematical formulas and algorithms exist to identify pitches formed by human voices, and this has continued to be popular in the fields of music and signal pro-cessing. Other systems and research perform real time pitch identification implemented by using PCs with system clocks faster than 400MHz. This thesis explores developing an embedded RPTI system using the average magnitude difference function (AMDF), which will also use MIDI commands to control a synthesizer to track the pitch in near real time. The AMDF algorithm was simulated and its performance analyzed in MATLAB with pre-recorded sound files from a PC. Errors inherent to the AMDF and the hardware constraints led to noticeable pitch errors. The MATLAB code was optimized and its performance verified for the Motorola 68000 assembly language. This stage of development led to realization that the original design would have to change for the processing time required for the AMDF implementation. Hardware was constructed to support an 8MHz Motorola 68000, analog input, and MIDI communications. The various modules were constructed using Vectorbord© prototyping board with soldered tracks, wires and sockets. Modules were tested individually and as a whole unit. A design flaw was noticed with the final design, which caused the unit to fail during program execution while operating in a stand-alone mode. This design is a proof of concept for a product that can be improved upon with newer components, more advanced algorithms and hardware construction, and a more aesthetically pleasing package. Ultimately, hardware limitations imposed by the available equipment in addition to a hidden design flaw contributed to the failure of this stand-alone prototype

Women in Artificial intelligence (AI)

This Special Issue, entitled "Women in Artificial Intelligence" includes 17 papers from leading women scientists. The papers cover a broad scope of research areas within Artificial Intelligence, including machine learning, perception, reasoning or planning, among others. The papers have applications to relevant fields, such as human health, finance, or education. It is worth noting that the Issue includes three papers that deal with different aspects of gender bias in Artificial Intelligence. All the papers have a woman as the first author. We can proudly say that these women are from countries worldwide, such as France, Czech Republic, United Kingdom, Australia, Bangladesh, Yemen, Romania, India, Cuba, Bangladesh and Spain. In conclusion, apart from its intrinsic scientific value as a Special Issue, combining interesting research works, this Special Issue intends to increase the invisibility of women in AI, showing where they are, what they do, and how they contribute to developments in Artificial Intelligence from their different places, positions, research branches and application fields. We planned to issue this book on the on Ada Lovelace Day (11/10/2022), a date internationally dedicated to the first computer programmer, a woman who had to fight the gender difficulties of her times, in the XIX century. We also thank the publisher for making this possible, thus allowing for this book to become a part of the international activities dedicated to celebrating the value of women in ICT all over the world. With this book, we want to pay homage to all the women that contributed over the years to the field of AI

Ways To Help And Ways To Hinder: Climate, Health, And Food Security In Alaska

Thesis (Ph.D.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2010This dissertation explores various ecological, socioeconomic, sociopolitical, and biophysical dimensions food security in Alaska. The context for this work is dramatic climatic change and ongoing demographic, socioeconomic and cultural transitions in Alaska's rural and urban communities. The unifying focus of the papers included here are human health. I provide multiple perspectives on how human health relates to community and ecosystem health, and of the roles of managers, policy makers, and researchers can play in supporting positive health outcomes. Topics include methylmercury (MeHg) contamination of wild fish, the impacts of changes to Alaskan landscapes and seascapes on subsistence and commercial activities, and on ways to design sustainable natural resource policies and co-management regimes such that they mimic natural systems. The operating premise of this work is that sustainability is ostensibly a matter of human health; the finding is that human health can provide a powerful point of integration for social and ecological sustainability research

Annotated bibliography on the economic effects of global climate change on fisheries

Fisheries, Bibliography, Climatic changes

Hysteria, Greed, and the Public Purse: The Litigation Impacting a Local Governmental Agency

This research is a case study of the litigation in progress by hundreds of St. Bernard Parish families against the Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans and Browning Ferris Industries (BFI). The families are suing for personal and property damages sustained as a result of the poor operation and maintenance of the East Bank Sewerage Treatment Plant (EBSTP) and the Crescent Acres Landfill. The purpose of the study will be to examine the consequences, links, and process of interaction among three key units of analysis: the plaintiffs, their lawyers, and one of the major defendants in the litigation, the Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans; and, three basic concepts related to each study group: the hysteria of the neighborhood, the greed of the lawyers, and the vulnerability of the public sector to litigation. I postulate that the plaintiffs\u27 lawyers, originally retained to assist the neighborhood in their fight for closure of the landfill, became motivated by greed to expand the neighborhood fight and bring it to a more lucrative conclusion. By engaging their trust, the lawyers were able to organize the neighborhood and plant the seeds for mass psychogenic illness and neighborhood hysteria. The resulting litigation illustrates the vulnerability of the public sector to contrived litigation and the concomitant consequences to John Q. Citizen and the public purse. This research will contribute to our understanding of the concepts of greed and hysteria, will provide much needed insight on public service agency vulnerability, and will offer solutions to the problems encountered by public service agencies in providing legally mandated services

TOWARDS A MODEL OF TECHNOLOGY USAGE AND DIGITAL MATURITY IN CHILDREN: A GROUNDED-THEORY APPROACH

Increased use of digital technologies by children has raised some concerns about how digital technologies may be influencing multiple aspects of children’ lives. The purpose of this study is to investigate on how children use digital technologies, aiming at identifying factors that indicate how mature children are in the use of digital technologies. We conducted a qualitative study by collecting data from five children focus groups in Spain, with a total of 20 participants. We generated 10 factors that indicate digital maturity, namely digital literacy and technology awareness, perceived benefits and risks, types and patters of technology usage, managing tensions, adult interaction and mediation, regulation of emotional responses, needs satisfaction, and digital civic behaviour. The article also develops a high-level model showing interrelations between socio-technical environment, technology usage and experiences, and reactions to technology usag

Regulating for Resilience: Principled Flexibility and Environmental Co-Management in the Mackenzie Valley

The author examines the environmental regulatory regime in the Mackenzie Valley region of the Northwest Territories which includes the regulatory structure established by the Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act and the private contractual instruments of environmental agreements, impact benefit agreements and socio-economic agreements. The author concludes that these instruments work together to form a complex regulatory system that is sometimes maladapted to the adaptive management framework necessary for effective regulation in an increasingly unstable arctic environment. The author argues that effective environmental management in the Mackenzie Valley requires a regulatory approach grounded in principled flexibility and shared environmental goals across a multiplicity of instruments. The Mackenzie Valley region is better suited than other regions to develop this approach due to its history of integrated resource management and co-management with Aboriginal people and because of the protections provided to Aboriginal rights by Section 35 of the Canadian constitution

Perspectives On The Dynamic Human-Walrus Relationship

Thesis (Ph.D.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2008Changes in sea ice conditions have direct bearing on ice-associated species such as Pacific walrus (Odobenus rosmarus divergens), which are an important component of subsistence for Alaska Native communities in the Bering Sea. I explore the relationship between walrus, sea ice, and Alaska Native subsistence at Diomede, Gambell, and Savoonga between 1952 and 2004 to better understand walrus ecology and subsistence under different climatic regimes. I then consider how the inability to reliably and regularly count walrus and other ice-associated pinnipeds in this dynamic environment challenges effective management of walrus and subsistence under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA). However, the primary management goals of the MMPA, which are intended to be ecosystem-based, have been bypassed in favor of a numerical population assessment approach. Governance approaches such as adaptive co-management, using a suite of ecological and population indicators have theoretical promise for making management responsive to both observed ecosystem and population changes. Nevertheless, understanding outcomes of co-management has proven difficult. To address this, I argue that such an understanding requires not only a review of a statute's ecosystem-oriented goals, but also a critical consideration of the specific goals of each co-management partner. To sustain natural resources, mismatches between the scale of ecological processes regulating resources, and the social or political processes governing resource use should logically be reduced, thus improving what is termed "fit." I argue that failures to foster fit of these processes might better reflect underlying co-management partner goals, rather than a focus on the statutory goals of policy. I examine this claim by assessing the spatial and temporal "fit" of boundaries defining the political context of walrus co-management under the MMPA. I find that the ability to address the uncertainty of walrus population status in a manner benefiting adaptation of both walrus and Alaska Natives to a dynamic environment is compromised by a focus on values, rather than better matching policy with ecological and social conditions. My interdisciplinary findings are broadly applicable to community-based conservation partners seeking to foster resilience and adaptation of both natural resources and of the indigenous or rural communities dependent on them