Shift-Invariant Kernel Additive Modelling for Audio Source Separation

A major goal in blind source separation to identify and separate sources is to model their inherent characteristics. While most state-of-the-art approaches are supervised methods trained on large datasets, interest in non-data-driven approaches such as Kernel Additive Modelling (KAM) remains high due to their interpretability and adaptability. KAM performs the separation of a given source applying robust statistics on the time-frequency bins selected by a source-specific kernel function, commonly the K-NN function. This choice assumes that the source of interest repeats in both time and frequency. In practice, this assumption does not always hold. Therefore, we introduce a shift-invariant kernel function capable of identifying similar spectral content even under frequency shifts. This way, we can considerably increase the amount of suitable sound material available to the robust statistics. While this leads to an increase in separation performance, a basic formulation, however, is computationally expensive. Therefore, we additionally present acceleration techniques that lower the overall computational complexity.Comment: Feedback is welcom

France and the EU under Sarkozy: between European ambitions and national objectives?

The early phase of Nicolas Sarkozy's presidency proved highly proactive, particularly during the French presidency of the European Union (EU). However, little of practical import resulted. Moreover, there is much that connects Sarkozy's policies to those of his predecessors. Constrained both at home and abroad, he was sometimes unable to carry through his preferred policies. In addition, Sarkozy has done nothing to resolve a long-standing tension of French EU policy between enormous ambitions for the Union and reluctance to empower its institutions. Intergovernmental co-operation has been the theme linking all of Sarkozy's initiatives. The jury is, of necessity, still out on the long-term impact Sarkozy will have. Early indications are that, whilst there has been no shortage of initiatives, it is open to question whether these either diverge much from those of his predecessors, or will have much impact on the workings and effectiveness of the Union itself

Long-frame-shift Neural Speech Phase Prediction with Spectral Continuity Enhancement and Interpolation Error Compensation

Speech phase prediction, which is a significant research focus in the field of signal processing, aims to recover speech phase spectra from amplitude-related features. However, existing speech phase prediction methods are constrained to recovering phase spectra with short frame shifts, which are considerably smaller than the theoretical upper bound required for exact waveform reconstruction of short-time Fourier transform (STFT). To tackle this issue, we present a novel long-frame-shift neural speech phase prediction (LFS-NSPP) method which enables precise prediction of long-frame-shift phase spectra from long-frame-shift log amplitude spectra. The proposed method consists of three stages: interpolation, prediction and decimation. The short-frame-shift log amplitude spectra are first constructed from long-frame-shift ones through frequency-by-frequency interpolation to enhance the spectral continuity, and then employed to predict short-frame-shift phase spectra using an NSPP model, thereby compensating for interpolation errors. Ultimately, the long-frame-shift phase spectra are obtained from short-frame-shift ones through frame-by-frame decimation. Experimental results show that the proposed LFS-NSPP method can yield superior quality in predicting long-frame-shift phase spectra than the original NSPP model and other signal-processing-based phase estimation algorithms.Comment: Published at IEEE Signal Processing Letter

Virtual Choir: To Sing Together, Individually

The pandemic has forced choir practitioners and enthusiasts to shift from in-person rehearsal and performance to online and virtual choir performance. The virtual choir is seen as an alternative to choir activity during the pandemic. However, it also generates another concern related to its inclination to reduce the role of the conductor, singers, and social interaction in achieving musical targets and enhance the so-called social skills, empathy. The study employs two conductors in an in-depth interview to understand the condition and dynamics of online rehearsal and virtual choir performance. The exploration of the data emphasized three important themes: (1) the role of virtual choir to choir continuity, (2) the impact of virtual choir technology in reducing individuals’ role, and (3) the absence of in-person social interaction in empathy enhancement. Paduan Suara Virtual: Bernyanyi bersama, seorang diri Abstrak Pandemi memaksa praktisi dan penggemar paduan suara untuk beralih dari latihan dan penampilan live menjadi skema latihan online dan pertunjukan virtual. Paduan suara virtual dipandang sebagai alternatif untuk tetap menjalankan aktivitas paduan suara di kala pandemi. Namun, paduan suara virtual juga memunculkan keprihatikan dan perhatian khusus terkait kecenderungan untuk mereduksi peran konduktor, penyanyi, dan interaksi sosial dalam mencapai target musikal dan juga peningkatan keterampilan sosial, salah satunya empati. Penelitian ini berupa wawancara terfokus pada dua konduktor paduan suara yang bertujuan untuk menggali pemahaman terkait kondisi dan dinamika latihan daring dan pertunjukan paduan suara virtual. Hasil ekspolasi data dan analisis menunjukkan tiga tema penting yakni (1) peran paduan suara virtual untuk keberlanjutan aktivitas paduan suara, (2) dampak teknologi yang digunakan dalam paduan suara virtual terhadap reduksi peran humanis, dan (3) ketiadaan interaksi interpersonal secara langsung dan dampaknya terhadap peningkatan empati

What fosters or prevents interprofessional teamworking in primary and community care? A literature review

Background: The increase in prevalence of long-term conditions in Western societies, with the subsequent need for non-acute quality patient healthcare, has brought the issue of collaboration between health professionals to the fore. Within primary care, it has been suggested that multidisciplinary teamworking is essential to develop an integrated approach to promoting and maintaining the health of the population whilst improving service effectiveness. Although it is becoming widely accepted that no single discipline can provide complete care for patients with a long-term condition, in practice, interprofessional working is not always achieved. Objectives: This review aimed to explore the factors that inhibit or facilitate interprofessional teamworking in primary and community care settings, in order to inform development of multidisciplinary working at the turn of the century. Design: A comprehensive search of the literature was undertaken using a variety of approaches to identify appropriate literature for inclusion in the study. The selected articles used both qualitative and quantitative research methods. Findings: Following a thematic analysis of the literature, two main themes emerged that had an impact on interprofessional teamworking: team structure and team processes. Within these two themes, six categories were identified: team premises; team size and composition; organisational support; team meetings; clear goals and objectives; and audit. The complex nature of interprofessional teamworking in primary care meant that despite teamwork being an efficient and productive way of achieving goals and results, several barriers exist that hinder its potential from becoming fully exploited; implications and recommendations for practice are discussed. Conclusions: These findings can inform development of current best practice, although further research needs to be conducted into multidisciplinary teamworking at both the team and organisation level, to ensure that enhancement and maintenance of teamwork leads to an improved quality of healthcare provision. © 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved