Structured codebook design in CELP

Codebook Excited Linear Protection (CELP) is a popular analysis by synthesis technique for quantizing speech at bit rates from 4 to 6 kbps. Codebook design techniques to date have been largely based on either random (often Gaussian) codebooks, or on known binary or ternary codes which efficiently map the space of (assumed white) excitation codevectors. It has been shown that by introducing symmetries into the codebook, good complexity reduction can be realized with only marginal decrease in performance. Codebook design algorithms are considered for a wide range of structured codebooks

MAX-consensus in open multi-agent systems with gossip interactions

We study the problem of distributed maximum computation in an open multi-agent system, where agents can leave and arrive during the execution of the algorithm. The main challenge comes from the possibility that the agent holding the largest value leaves the system, which changes the value to be computed. The algorithms must as a result be endowed with mechanisms allowing to forget outdated information. The focus is on systems in which interactions are pairwise gossips between randomly selected agents. We consider situations where leaving agents can send a last message, and situations where they cannot. For both cases, we provide algorithms able to eventually compute the maximum of the values held by agents.Comment: To appear in the proceedings of the 56th IEEE Conference on Decision and Control (CDC 17). 8 pages, 3 figure

Los sueños rotos de los refugiados sudaneses en El Cairo

Al menos 28 sudaneses murieron en diciembre de 2005 cuando la policía antidisturbios egipcia dispersó violentamente una sentada cerca de las oficinas del Alto Comisionado de Naciones Unidas para los Refugiados (ACNUR) en El Cairo. Un año después, los responsables de esa violación de los derechos humanos aún no han sido llamados para responder de sus acciones y algunos refugiados continúan desaparecidos

A low-delay 8 Kb/s backward-adaptive CELP coder

Code excited linear prediction coding is an efficient technique for compressing speech sequences. Communications quality of speech can be obtained at bit rates below 8 Kb/s. However, relatively large coding delays are necessary to buffer the input speech in order to perform the LPC analysis. A low delay 8 Kb/s CELP coder is introduced in which the short term predictor is based on past synthesized speech. A new distortion measure that improves the tracking of the formant filter is discussed. Formal listening tests showed that the performance of the backward adaptive coder is almost as good as the conventional CELP coder

Recurrence Relations for Moments of Dual Generalized Order Statistics from Weibull Gamma Distribution and Its Characterizations

In this paper, we establish explicit forms and new recurrence relations satisfied by the single and product moments of dual generalized order statistics from Weibull gamma distribution (WGD). The results include as particular cases the relations for moments of reversed order statistics and lower records.We present characterizations ofWGD based on (i) recurrence relation for single moments, (ii) truncated moments of certain function of the variable and (iii) hazrad function

Exploring Personal Experience of Wartime Crisis Effects on Job Insecurity in Syria

The present research was conducted in Syria during the crisis conditions facing the nation in the years 2011-2014. We hypothesized that the broad effects of the Personal Experience of Wartime Crisis (PEoWTC) would be strongly and positively associated with increased job insecurity. We reasoned that employees are likely to experience intense unpredictability at work as a direct or indirect function of the national crisis. This line of inquiry represents a first in job insecurity research because PEoWTC has not previously been examined as a predictor of job insecurity. Thus, this research analyzes a new predictor of job insecurity, i.e., PEoWTC, and how its effects are indirectly transmitted via job insecurity to several organizational outcomes. Using a cross-sectional design, our preliminary data come from a sample consisting of 129 professionals, managers, and administrators. Our results show that PEoWTC positively predicts job insecurity. Additionally, our findings indicate that job insecurity significantly mediates the relationships between PEoWTC and job satisfaction, affective commitment, intention to quit, and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB)

A Hierarchal Planning Framework for AUV Mission Management in a Spatio-Temporal Varying Ocean

The purpose of this paper is to provide a hierarchical dynamic mission planning framework for a single autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) to accomplish task-assign process in a limited time interval while operating in an uncertain undersea environment, where spatio-temporal variability of the operating field is taken into account. To this end, a high level reactive mission planner and a low level motion planning system are constructed. The high level system is responsible for task priority assignment and guiding the vehicle toward a target of interest considering on-time termination of the mission. The lower layer is in charge of generating optimal trajectories based on sequence of tasks and dynamicity of operating terrain. The mission planner is able to reactively re-arrange the tasks based on mission/terrain updates while the low level planner is capable of coping unexpected changes of the terrain by correcting the old path and re-generating a new trajectory. As a result, the vehicle is able to undertake the maximum number of tasks with certain degree of maneuverability having situational awareness of the operating field. The computational engine of the mentioned framework is based on the biogeography based optimization (BBO) algorithm that is capable of providing efficient solutions. To evaluate the performance of the proposed framework, firstly, a realistic model of undersea environment is provided based on realistic map data, and then several scenarios, treated as real experiments, are designed through the simulation study. Additionally, to show the robustness and reliability of the framework, Monte-Carlo simulation is carried out and statistical analysis is performed. The results of simulations indicate the significant potential of the two-level hierarchical mission planning system in mission success and its applicability for real-time implementation

Dissents and Concurrences: Seven Debates in Charter Jurisprudence

The Supreme Court of Canada released seven Charter decisions in 2012 that were not unanimous. When compared to the non-Charter cases released the same year, the Charter dissents represented a higher rate of disagreement between the justices. This should not come as a surprise. The Charter is an open-textured instrument that admits of flexibility and growth. Dissents and differing approaches are expected as Charter jurisprudence continues to develop. This paper argues that the seven Charter dissents/concurrences released in 2012 provide a rich illustration of the various functions of dissenting opinions. As articulated by Justice L’Heureux-Dubé, these are: to prophesize, to stir dialogue, and to safeguard the integrity of the law and judicial institutions. Each of these functions takes on a special dimension in the realm of Charter jurisprudence. In their prophetic function, dissents are intimately connected to the doctrine of the living tree — recognizing, as it does, that there will be a future audience of constitutional opinions that will not necessarily share the constraints of our more dated institutions. The dialogic function of dissents, likewise, takes on additional significance in this context. Charter dissents are a fundamental part of the forward-looking conversation between courts and society, giving the m the potential to shape, over the long term, the societal values they engage. Finally, dissents in Charter cases essentially promote the integrity of our judicial institutions. The “fierce independence” of the justices on constitutional matters necessitates real opportunities to dissent

In Most 6-regular Toroidal Graphs All 5-colorings are Kempe Equivalent

A Kempe swap in a proper coloring interchanges the colors on some maximal connected 2-colored subgraph. Two $k$-colorings are $k$-equivalent if we can transform one into the other using Kempe swaps. The triangulated toroidal grid, $T[m\times n]$, is formed from (a toroidal embedding of) the Cartesian product of $C_m$ and $C_n$ by adding parallel diagonals inside all 4-faces. Mohar and Salas showed that not all 4-colorings of $T[m\times n]$ are 4-equivalent. In contrast, Bonamy, Bousquet, Feghali, and Johnson showed that all 6-colorings of $T[m\times n]$ are 6-equivalent. They asked whether the same is true for 5-colorings. We answer their question affirmatively when $m,n\ge 6$. Further, we show that if $G$ is 6-regular with a toroidal embedding where every non-contractible cycle has length at least 7, then all 5-colorings of $G$ are 5-equivalent. Our results relate to the antiferromagnetic Pott's model, in statistical mechanics.Comment: 17 pages, 16 figures; revised introduction; updated abstrac

Dissents and Concurrences: Seven Debates in Charter Jurisprudence

The Supreme Court of Canada released seven Charter decisions in 2012 that were not unanimous. When compared to the non-Charter cases released the same year, the Charter dissents represented a higher rate of disagreement between the justices. This should not come as a surprise. The Charter is an open-textured instrument that admits of flexibility and growth. Dissents and differing approaches are expected as Charter jurisprudence continues to develop. This paper argues that the seven Charter dissents/concurrences released in 2012 provide a rich illustration of the various functions of dissenting opinions. As articulated by Justice L’Heureux-Dubé, these are: to prophesize, to stir dialogue, and to safeguard the integrity of the law and judicial institutions. Each of these functions takes on a special dimension in the realm of Charter jurisprudence. In their prophetic function, dissents are intimately connected to the doctrine of the living tree — recognizing, as it does, that there will be a future audience of constitutional opinions that will not necessarily share the constraints of our more dated institutions. The dialogic function of dissents, likewise, takes on additional significance in this context. Charter dissents are a fundamental part of the forward-looking conversation between courts and society, giving the m the potential to shape, over the long term, the societal values they engage. Finally, dissents in Charter cases essentially promote the integrity of our judicial institutions. The “fierce independence” of the justices on constitutional matters necessitates real opportunities to dissent