Application-Level QoS: Improving video conferencing quality through sending the best packet next

In a traditional network stack, data from an application is transmitted in the order that it is received. An algorithm is proposed where information about the priority of packets and expiry times is used by the transport layer to reorder or discard packets at the time of transmission to optimise the use of available bandwidth. This can be used for video conferencing to prioritise important data. This scheme is implemented and compared to unmodified datagram congestion control protocol (DCCP). This algorithm is implemented as an interface to DCCP and tested using traffic modelled on video conferencing software. The results show improvement can be made to video conferencing during periods of congestion - substantially more audio packets arrive on time with the algorithm, which leads to higher quality video conferencing. In many cases video packet arrival rate also increases and adopting the algorithm gives improvements to video conferencing that are better than using unmodified queuing for DCCP. The algorithm proposed is implemented on the server only, so benefits can be obtained on the client without changes being required to the client

A Regional Assessment of Florida Manatees (Trichechus manatus latirostris) and the Caloosahatchee River, Florida

(58pp.

Development of a Prototype Electron Detector for Use in UCNA+

The UCNA Experiment at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (LANSCE) uses an electron spectrometer to observe angular correlations between the neutron spin and the momenta of β particles emitted during the process of β decay. These angular correlations give rise to an asymmetry determined by the ratio of two coupling constants, gA and gV . Combined with neutron lifetime measurements, these observations probe physics beyond the standard model through unitarity tests of the Cabbibo-Kobayashi-Maskawa Matrix. UCNA’s current spectrometer uses a multi-wire proportional chamber and a plastic scintillator coupled to four photomultiplier tubes (PMTs) by 2 meters of light guides to record energy, position, and time data. The UCNA Collaboration is exploring ways to modernize the detector package using silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs) to increase the sensitivity of the experiment. The new configuration of the spectrometer is expected to improve systematic uncertainties; namely the 2 meter path the produced light must travel to reach the PMTs and the SiPMs’ quantum efficiency being a factor of 2 greater than the prior PMTs’. The subject of this paper is a prototype detector for evaluating the SiPMs as the only detectors present, the goal being to compare the position and energy resolution with that of the current spectrometer in use at UCNA

Effect of 405 nm high-intensity narrow-spectrum light on osteoblast function

A significant portion of medical devices fail due to acquired infection, with infection rates after arthroplasty surgery between 1-4%, and considerably higher after revision surgery. To reduce the associated costs of infection, a new preventative method is required. High intensity narrow spectrum (HINS) 405 nm light is a new technology shown to have bactericidal effects on a range of medically important bacteria[1]. The effect of HINS-light on osteoblasts and bacteria were investigated to determine the potential of this technology to contribute to infection prevention in operating theatres, during surgery and postoperative dressing changes

Discrete language models for video retrieval

Finding relevant video content is important for producers of television news, documentanes and commercials. As digital video collections become more widely available, content-based video retrieval tools will likely grow in importance for an even wider group of users. In this thesis we investigate language modelling approaches, that have been the focus of recent attention within the text information retrieval community, for the video search task. Language models are smoothed discrete generative probability distributions generally of text and provide a neat information retrieval formalism that we believe is equally applicable to traditional visual features as to text. We propose to model colour, edge and texture histogrambased features directly with discrete language models and this approach is compatible with further traditional visual feature representations. We provide a comprehensive and robust empirical study of smoothing methods, hierarchical semantic and physical structures, and fusion methods for this language modelling approach to video retrieval. The advantage of our approach is that it provides a consistent, effective and relatively efficient model for video retrieval

The link between exercise dependence and eating disturbance in females

Bibliography: leaves 62-69.Although it has been known for some time that excessive exercise is one of the features of eating disorders, it is only in more recent years that specific attempts have been made to explore the link between exercise dependence (compulsive exercising) and eating disturbance. This study explored the relationship between exercise dependence and eating disturbance in females and compared the relative influence on level of eating disturbance of exercise dependence, pressure for thinness, and competitiveness. In order to examine the relationships between these vari~bles, four groups were included in the study: ballet students (n=32), competitive swimmers (n=34), music students (n=33), and a control group of psychology students (n=51). Each group was hypothesised to have different levels of and combinations of exercise dependence, pressures for thinness, and competitiveness: ballet students (pressures to be thin, pressures to exercise, and competitive); swimmers (pressures to exercise and competitive); music students (competitive); and psychology students (control group, presumed to be comparably lower on all three variables). Results indicated that groups with higher levels of exercise dependence did not necessarily show greater eating disturbance (swimmers had relatively high scores on exercise dependence, but had the lowest eating disturbance). Pressures for thinness and factors related to concerns with weight and dieting appeared to be the strongest determinant of eating difficulties, with competitiveness showing little influence on level of eating disturbance

The Select Seminar Process: A Program that Works

Select seminars follow a very simple structure based upon a set of guiding principles. (Program Approaches to Administrative Training and Development.

Measurement of Volume Scattering functions in turbid Water and Its Correlation with MTF Degradation

Scattering of light in turbid water is a major source of image degradation. The intention of this experiment was to construct a small angle scattering meter and measure the volume scattering functions for specific turbid conditions. These experimentally derived volume scattering functions were used to correlate a mathematical modulation transfer function derivation with previously measured modulation transfer functions for a specific turbid medium. Due to design shortcomings, errors were produced in the production of the volume scattering functions. This produced a lack of correlation between our mathematically derived MTF\u27s and those measured in the past. The validity of the mathematical transformation from the VSF to MTF cannot be attested to until more accurate data and sophisticated analysis are obtained