Sequential Complexity as a Descriptor for Musical Similarity

We propose string compressibility as a descriptor of temporal structure in audio, for the purpose of determining musical similarity. Our descriptors are based on computing track-wise compression rates of quantised audio features, using multiple temporal resolutions and quantisation granularities. To verify that our descriptors capture musically relevant information, we incorporate our descriptors into similarity rating prediction and song year prediction tasks. We base our evaluation on a dataset of 15500 track excerpts of Western popular music, for which we obtain 7800 web-sourced pairwise similarity ratings. To assess the agreement among similarity ratings, we perform an evaluation under controlled conditions, obtaining a rank correlation of 0.33 between intersected sets of ratings. Combined with bag-of-features descriptors, we obtain performance gains of 31.1% and 10.9% for similarity rating prediction and song year prediction. For both tasks, analysis of selected descriptors reveals that representing features at multiple time scales benefits prediction accuracy.Comment: 13 pages, 9 figures, 8 tables. Accepted versio

Dynamic weight parameter for the Random Early Detection (RED) in TCP networks

This paper presents the Weighted Random Early Detection (WTRED) strategy for congestion handling in TCP networks. WTRED provides an adjustable weight parameter to increase the sensitivity of the average queue size in RED gateways to the changes in the actual queue size. This modification, over the original RED proposal, helps gateways minimize the mismatch between average and actual queue sizes in router buffers. WTRED is compared with RED and FRED strategies using the NS-2 simulator. The results suggest that WTRED outperforms RED and FRED. Network performance has been measured using throughput, link utilization, packet loss and delay

Shear horizontal (SH) ultrasound wave propagation around smooth corners

Shear horizontal (SH) ultrasound guided waves are being used in an increasing number of non-destructive testing (NDT) applications. One advantage SH waves have over some wave types, is their ability to propagate around curved surfaces with little energy loss; to understand the geometries around which they could propagate, the wave reflection must be quantified. A 0.83 mm thick aluminium sheet was placed in a bending machine, and a shallow bend was introduced. Periodically-poled magnet (PPM) electromagnetic acoustic transducers (EMATs), for emission and reception of SH waves, were placed on the same side of the bend, so that reflected waves were received. Additional bending of the sheet demonstrated a clear relationship between bend angles and the reflected signal. Models suggest that the reflection is a linear superposition of the reflections from each bend segment, such that sharp turns lead to a larger peak-to-peak amplitude, in part due to increased phase coherence

Atmospheric effects on remote sensing of non-uniform temperature sources

The equations of transfer, for a plane-parallel scattering atmosphere with a point source of energy on the lower bounding surface, were solved for various values of sensor/point source orientation and optical depths. Applications of this analysis to Skylab and ERTS mission are discussed, and requirements for atmospheric property data and radiation transfer properties are considered

The Dynamics of a Classical Spinning Particle in Vaidya Space-Time

Based on the Mathisson-Papapetrou-Dixon (MPD) equations and the Vaidya metric, the motion of a spinning point particle orbiting a non-rotating star while undergoing radiation-induced gravitational collapse is studied in detail. A comprehensive analysis of the orbital dynamics is performed assuming distinct central mass functions which satisfy the weak energy condition, in order to determine a correspondence between the choice of mass function and the spinning particle's orbital response, as reflected in the gravitational waves emitted by the particle. The analysis presented here is likely most beneficial for the observation of rotating solar mass black holes or neutron stars in orbit around intermediate-sized Schwarzschild black holes undergoing radiation collapse. The possibility of detecting the effects of realistic mass accretion based on this approach is considered. While it seems unlikely to observe such effects based on present technology, they may perhaps become observable with the advent of future detectors.Comment: REVTeX file, 20 pages, 26 figure

The orbifold transform and its applications

We discuss the notion of the orbifold transform, and illustrate it on simple examples. The basic properties of the transform are presented, including transitivity and the exponential formula for symmetric products. The connection with the theory of permutation orbifolds is addressed, and the general results illustrated on the example of torus partition functions

Self-forces on extended bodies in electrodynamics

In this paper, we study the bulk motion of a classical extended charge in flat spacetime. A formalism developed by W. G. Dixon is used to determine how the details of such a particle's internal structure influence its equations of motion. We place essentially no restrictions (other than boundedness) on the shape of the charge, and allow for inhomogeneity, internal currents, elasticity, and spin. Even if the angular momentum remains small, many such systems are found to be affected by large self-interaction effects beyond the standard Lorentz-Dirac force. These are particularly significant if the particle's charge density fails to be much greater than its 3-current density (or vice versa) in the center-of-mass frame. Additional terms also arise in the equations of motion if the dipole moment is too large, and when the `center-of-electromagnetic mass' is far from the `center-of-bare mass' (roughly speaking). These conditions are often quite restrictive. General equations of motion were also derived under the assumption that the particle can only interact with the radiative component of its self-field. These are much simpler than the equations derived using the full retarded self-field; as are the conditions required to recover the Lorentz-Dirac equation.Comment: 30 pages; significantly improved presentation; accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

Radiation-induced nucleic acid synthesis in L cells under energy deprivation

Radiation induced nucleic acid synthesis in energy deprived L cell

Proceed with caution: an economic perspective on the UK's value based pricing proposals

The shift from the Pharmaceutical Pricing Regulation Scheme to Value Based Pricing (VBP) is an important change in the way that medicines will be priced, and consequently, reimbursed in the United Kingdom. Whilst the opportunity to purchase new medicines based on value to society is one that should be welcomed, we should proceed with caution. We highlight ten issues that should be considered relating to innovation, the role and meaning of funding threshold and the adjustments to reflect burden of illness, therapeutic innovation and improvement and wider societal factors. Most importantly, the assessment of value should continue to be based on the characteristics of the displaced activities (e.g. the health produced). To a large extent, all that is changing under VBP are the characteristics being considered; weighted health rather than unweighted health. In addition, we should not totally abandon a cost-utility framework for appraisal just because its current formulation does not match the wider perspective now desired by government