Preferred levels for background ducking to produce esthetically pleasing audio for TV with clear speech

In audio production, background ducking facilitates speech intelligibility while allowing the background to fulfill its purpose, e.g., to create ambience, set the mood, or convey semantic cues. Technical details for recommended ducking practices are not currently documented in the literature. Hence, we first analyzed common practices found in TV documentaries. Second, a listening test investigated the preferences of 22 normal-hearing participants on the Loud- ness Difference (LD) between commentary and background during ducking. Highly personal preferences were observed, highlighting the importance of object-based personalization. Sta- tistically significant difference was found between non-expert and expert listeners. On average, non-experts preferred LDs that were 4 LU higher than the ones preferred by experts. A sta- tistically significant difference was also found between Commentary over Music (CoM) and Commentary over Ambience (CoA). Based on the test results, we recommend at least 10 LU difference for CoM and at least 15 LU for CoA. Moreover, a computational method based on the Binaural Distortion-Weighted Glimpse Proportion (BiDWGP) was found to match the median preferred LD for each item with good accuracy (mean absolute error = 1.97 LU ± 2.50)

Sleepiness and fatigue following traumatic brain injury

Objectives : To compare individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI) to healthy controls (CTLs) on measures of sleepiness, fatigue, and sleep, and explore correlates of sleepiness and fatigue separately for each group. Methods : Participants were 22 adults with moderate/severe TBI (time since injury ⩾1 year; mean = 53.0 ± 37.1 months) and 22 matched healthy CTLs. They underwent one night of polysomnographic (PSG) recording of their sleep followed the next day by the Maintenance of Wakefulness Test (MWT). They also completed a 14-day sleep diary, the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS), the Functional Outcomes of Sleep Questionnaire (FOSQ), and the Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory (MFI). Results : There were no significant group differences on measures of objective (MWT) or subjective (ESS) sleepiness, both groups being quite alert. However, TBI participants reported greater consequences of sleepiness on their general productivity (FOSQ), spent more time in bed at night, and napped more frequently and for a longer time during the day. Subjective fatigue was significantly higher in TBI participants on the general, physical, and mental fatigue MFI subscales. There were no between-group differences on any sleep parameters derived either from PSG or sleep diary. Conclusions : Fatigue appeared to be a more prominent symptom than sleepiness when assessed between 1 and 11 years after TBI. Participants with TBI used compensatory strategies such as increasing time spent in bed and daytime napping in this sample. Future research should document the time course of sleepiness and fatigue after TBI and investigate treatment options

Quotidiens d'information et lectorats la psychométrie comme outil de caractérisation

Ce mémoire s'attarde aux possibilités que peuvent présenter les tests psychométriques dans une perspective de caractérisation des publics et de mise en marché de produits de communication. Il s'intéresse tout particulièrement à la pertinence de tels outils dans le cas du marketing qui touche les quotidiens d'information de la presse écrite. Ainsi, les lectorats de trois quotidiens québécois francophones ont été évalués en fonction de leurs résultats au test de la version avancée des Matrices Progressives de Raven.Ce test tend à mesurer la capacité d'une personne à répondre à un problème inédit, et ce, par un raisonnement inductif Les résultats de cette première évaluation auront permis de déceler des différences entre certains groupes de lecteurs de journaux. Ceci tend à valider l'idée que les outils psychométriques seraient en mesure de fournir de l'information qui, combinée aux données sociodémographiques, pourrait participer à une meilleure connaissance des groupes de consommateurs et donc permettre un marketing mieux adapté et plus efficace

Architecture générique pour la découverte de la signification d'un message

Ce mémoire présente la conception, la réalisation et les tests effectués pour une architecture générique permettant à une machine de reconnaitre le sens d'un message en utilisant le modèle de la cognition linguistique de l'humain et un environnement commun à celui des humains. À ce jour, les machines reconnaissent des mots clés et répondent en suivant un modèle préfabriqué, tous deux préprogrammés par des humains. Donc, chaque agent informatique muni d'une forme d'interaction avec le public se voit attribuer un certain nombre de questions potentielles avec les réponses associées, parfois préconstruite. C'est-à-dire que la machine possède une base de mots avec un ordre prédéfini de ceux-ci qu'elle peut utiliser, parfois une phrase déjà entièrement construite, que la machine utilise telle qu'elle. L'objectif principal de ce projet est de démontrer qu'il est possible pour la machine de s'approcher du modèle proposé par les linguistes, principalement un modèle proposé par Kleiber, adjoint à un modèle de cognition, celui du STI, et d'extraire le sens d'un message dans le but de l'interpréter Ainsi, il est possible d'établir une forme de dialogue entre un être humain et une machine. Cet objectif est atteint en proposant une nouvelle architecture générique pour le traitement du langage naturel. Contrairement à ce qui est fait habituellement dans ce genre de problématique, les réponses obtenues ne doivent pas être des réponses préconçues, mais bien des phrases générées par la machine à partir de la grammaire de la langue. Les résultats obtenus montrent qu'il est possible de donner un sens aux mots composant un message de manière à ce qu'une machine soit en mesure de l'interpréter dans un langage qui lui est propre. Cela est fait de manière à ce que cette même machine puisse répondre à son interlocuteur, voire éventuellement prendre une décision en rapport avec la conversation

Insomnia and daytime cognitive performance : a meta-analysis

Objectives : Individuals with insomnia consistently report difficulties pertaining to their cognitive functioning (e.g., memory, concentration). However, objective measurements of their performance on neuropsychological tests have produced inconsistent findings. This meta-analysis was conducted to provide a quantitative summary of evidence regarding the magnitude of differences between individuals with primary insomnia and normal sleepers on a broad range of neuropsychological measures. Methods : Reference databases (PubMed, PsycInfo, Dissertation Abstracts International) were searched for studies comparing adults with primary insomnia to normal sleepers on neuropsychological measures. Dependent variables related to cognitive and psychomotor performance were extracted from each study. Variables were classified independently by two licensed neuropsychologists according to the main cognitive function being measured. Individual effect sizes (Cohen's d) were weighted by variability and combined for each cognitive function using a fixed effects model. Average effect sizes and their 95% confidence intervals were computed for each cognitive function. Results : Twenty-four studies met inclusion criteria, for a total of 639 individuals with insomnia and 558 normal sleepers. Significant impairments (p < 0.05) of small to moderate magnitude were found in individuals with insomnia for tasks assessing episodic memory (ES = −0.51), problem solving (ES = −0.42), manipulation in working memory (ES = −0.42), and retention in working memory (ES = −0.22). No significant group differences were observed for tasks assessing general cognitive function, perceptual and psychomotor processes, procedural learning, verbal functions, different dimensions of attention (alertness, complex reaction time, speed of information processing, selective attention, sustained attention/vigilance) and some aspects of executive functioning (verbal fluency, cognitive flexibility). Conclusion : Individuals with insomnia exhibit performance impairments for several cognitive functions, including working memory, episodic memory and some aspects of executive functioning. While the data suggests that these impairments are of small to moderate magnitude, further research using more ecologically valid measures and normative data are warranted to establish their clinical significance

Using neighborhood observation to support public housing tenants’ empowerment

Although public housing is often described as a negative and stigmatized environment, tenants living in such an environment can cultivate a positive sense of community, which enhances their individual and collective well-being. The present study describes the second phase of a large action research, aiming to facilitate the empowerment of public housing\ud tenants acting as peer-researchers Following a Photovoice phase, this second phase focuses on the development and first implementation of a participatory observation method as a tool for evaluating their collective environment fit. A group of nine tenants contributed to\ud develop and later completed an observation grid. The observations were then discussed in decision-making sessions. The participatory observation method proved useful in supporting tenants in their reflection process, promoting the depiction of a nuanced portrait of their residential environment while also prioritizing capacity building. Results are currently used to inform an action phase in which tenants are taking increasingly more\ud power. Triangulating the results from multiple sites is needed to establish more firmly the added-value of this observation method in a larger research project. Key challenges and lessons learned are described in a reflective section, sharing experiential knowledge with researchers that consider using a similar method

Hierarchical Topic Models for Language-based Video Hyperlinking

International audienceWe investigate video hyperlinking based on speech transcripts , leveraging a hierarchical topical structure to address two essential aspects of hyperlinking, namely, serendipity control and link justification. We propose and compare different approaches exploiting a hierarchy of topic models as an intermediate representation to compare the transcripts of video segments. These hierarchical representations offer a basis to characterize the hyperlinks, thanks to the knowledge of the topics who contributed to the creation of the links, and to control serendipity by choosing to give more weights to either general or specific topics. Experiments are performed on BBC videos from the Search and Hyperlinking task at MediaEval. Link precisions similar to those of direct text comparison are achieved however exhibiting different targets along with a potential control of serendipity