Dynamic adjustment of audio playback speed

Many applications used for listening to audio provide mechanisms to adjust the speed of audio playback. Due to variation in speaking speeds of speakers in the audio, users often need to keep adjusting the playback speed during playback to achieve a desired speed or have to tolerate listening to the audio at a speed different from their preferred listening speed. Both situations result in a suboptimal user experience. This disclosure describes techniques to standardize the rate of speech in audio to improve a user’s audio listening experience. The standardization of speech can be performed to achieve audio playback based on one or more listening parameters such as words per minute, speech speed multiplier, etc. The appropriate audio playback speed is then determined based on the metrics extracted from analyzing the audio. This enables the audio to be sped up or slowed down automatically during playback to provide the user-preferred audio listening user experience

The earlier political career of Thomas Hart Benton 1820-1833

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of ArtsText from page 3: The purpose of this study is to consider the part that was taken by Benton in the political affairs of Missouri during the earlier years of his service in the Senate, to determine what were the influences and factors that tended to bring him into power, and to account for the prominent position that he held in state politics for so many years.Includes bibliographical references (pages 78-81

OMKRING »FYSIKOLOGI«, OG HVAD DERTIL HØRER, TANKER VED EN VIDENSKAB

Hormoner, køn og samfund – videnskaben om fysikologi, er titlen på den bog, af århusprofessoren Helmuth Nyborg, som er anledningen til nedenstående betragtninger. Dansk psykologisk Forlag, 1997, 307 sider, kr. 298,-.Hormoner, køn og samfund – videnskaben om fysikologi, er titlen på den bog, af århusprofessoren Helmuth Nyborg, som er anledningen til nedenstående betragtninger. Dansk psykologisk Forlag, 1997, 307 sider, kr. 298,-

The influence of global and local iconic brand positioning on advertising persuasion in an emerging market setting

This study explores how positioning a brand as global and/or local iconic can moderate the impact of advertising frequency (AF) on brand attitudes in an emerging market context. We argue that brands may be seen as the source of an advertisement and that the positioning of a brand can thus enhance source attractiveness, and/or source credibility, which in turn facilitate the impact of AF on brand attitudes. Our results support that both a global and a local iconic positioning enhance the AF – brand image relationship, but they do not have an effect on the AF – brand quality relationship. Additionally, we examine whether source attractiveness and source credibility mediate these moderation effects and find that only source attractiveness is a significant mediator. Additionally, we investigate whether a hybrid positioning strategy (i.e., positioning as both global and local iconic) is beneficial. Results indicate that a separate positioning (i.e., global or local iconic) is a better strategy to increase the attractiveness of the advertising source and in turn to facilitate the effect of advertising frequency to create brand image

Time savings and accuracy of a simulated flexible and conditional administration of the MMPI-2-RF in presurgical psychological evaluations of bariatric surgery candidates

Background: The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2-Restructured Form (MMPI-2- RF) has empirically validated utility in presurgical psychological evaluations of bariatric surgery patients. However, clinicians may prefer shorter, symptom-focused measures. Objectives: The purpose of the present study is to evaluate the feasibility and potential administration time savings of a proposed flexible and conditional (FCA) administration of the MMPI-2-RF in presurgical evaluations of bariatric surgery candidates. Setting: Bariatric surgery candidates evaluated at a large hospital as well as a private practice in the Midwest. Methods: MMPI-2-RF scores were available for a total of 4099 adult bariatric surgery candidates from 2 separate samples. The hospital sample included 911 males and 2430 females. The average BMI was 49.3 kg/m2 (SD=11.0). The private practice sample included 105 males, 640 females, and 13 individuals who did not report gender. The average BMI was 48.8 kg/m2 (SD=8.4). The authors used a simulation design in which existing MMPI-2-RF responses were used to simulate an FCA administration. Results: The findings indicated that an FCA of the MMPI-2-RF closely approximates the amount of information typically gained from a full administration of the test in the 2 samples of bariatric surgery candidates. Items savings and estimated time savings ranged from 44% to 88% in both samples, depending on the number of conditionally administered scales. Conclusions: The present study supports the feasibility of an FCA of the MMPI-2-RF, potentially shortening administration time and reducing patient burden. However, the findings are limited because the accuracy and time savings are based on a simulation, not actual FCA administration

Using the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2-Restructured Form Cutoffs to Predict Lack of Pre-surgical Exercise

Previous studies suggest the importance of understanding what factors increase risk of lack of physical activity (PA) prior to bariatric surgery, which may increase risk of suboptimal postoperative outcomes. Therefore, the current study sought to explore which Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2-Restructured Form (MMPI-2-RF) scales were associated with lack of pre-surgical PA. The mean age of the sample (N=1170) was 45.97 years [standard deviation (SD)=11.59]. Bivariate correlations and relative risk ratios were utilized to examine associations between MMPI-2-RF scale scores and regular preoperative PA. Of the ten hypothesized associations, seven MMPI-2-RF scales in the internalizing and somatic domains were associated with increased risk of preoperative lack of PA. Interventions designed to increase levels of preoperative PA are especially important because individuals with higher levels of preoperative cardiorespiratory fitness experience less complications in surgery and greater weight loss postoperativel

How nostalgic brand positioning shapes brand equity: differences between emerging and developed markets

Extant research has established the effects of nostalgic brand positioning on brand equity, but studies have only examined individual nostalgic brand relationship dimensions separately. Combining these strands, we offer a holistic perspective of the mediating processes and identify contextual and firm-related moderators that affect the individual linkages. We draw on construal level theory and develop a multilevel model in which emotional attachment, brand local iconness, and brand authenticity explain how nostalgic brand positioning creates brand equity. We posit that country differences between emerging and developed markets and brand innovativeness moderate these mediating effects. The results from large consumer samples suggest that emotional attachment and brand local iconness play a weaker role in mediating the connection of nostalgic brand positioning and brand equity in emerging markets. However, this disadvantage in creating brand equity through nostalgic brand positioning in emerging markets can be attenuated with increasing levels of brand innovativeness