Evaluation of voice codecs for the Australian mobile satellite system

The evaluation procedure to choose a low bit rate voice coding algorithm is described for the Australian land mobile satellite system. The procedure is designed to assess both the inherent quality of the codec under 'normal' conditions and its robustness under 'severe' conditions. For the assessment, normal conditions were chosen to be random bit error rate with added background acoustic noise and the severe condition is designed to represent burst error conditions when mobile satellite channel suffers from signal fading due to roadside vegetation. The assessment is divided into two phases. First, a reduced set of conditions is used to determine a short list of candidate codecs for more extensive testing in the second phase. The first phase conditions include quality and robustness and codecs are ranked with a 60:40 weighting on the two. Second, the short listed codecs are assessed over a range of input voice levels, BERs, background noise conditions, and burst error distributions. Assessment is by subjective rating on a five level opinion scale and all results are then used to derive a weighted Mean Opinion Score using appropriate weights for each of the test conditions

Employment relations and human resource management.

This chapter locates the emergence and significance of key intersections of Human Resource Management (HRM) and Employment Relations (ER) in a threefold manner. First, the chapter traces the origins of HRM, highlighting the importance of longstanding domain assumptions which formed the conceptual heritage of the term. Second, the chapter explores key waves of research that have characterised the field since the mid-1980s, including an emphasis on strategy, HRM-Performance linkages, and employee outcomes. Third, the chapter draws on a 5C framework to provide a critical evaluation of HRM. Overall, this serves to illuminate the value of more employment relations grounded understanding and on-going conversation between related modes of thinking about the management of people at work in contemporary society

Fire safety education and training in architecture: an exploratory study

Studies have shown that building designs contribute greatly to the magnitude of fire in building with severe consequences on safety of life and property. Hence, fire safety is an important consideration in building design which architects seek to fulfil at the early stage of design. Knowledge of fire safety amongst architects can aid the design of safer buildings in terms of fire protection. Fire safety designs are expected to meet the provisions in Approved document B of the UK Building Regulations which specifies basic fire safety requirements. The main objective of this paper is to explore the educational underpinning of architects with respect to designing fire safe buildings. This paper is based on literature review and interviews conducted among architects both in academia and in practice to ascertain the need for fire safety education in architecture, and as a working knowledge for practicing architects. Findings show that architects undergo fire safety education under different modules, but not as a distinct course. Fire safety education provides architects with basic understanding of fire safety principles, and to determine when to consult fire experts. Recommendations include creating a separate course on fire safety and if taught as part of other modules, more time/ depth should be allocated to its contents

Construction and properties of a mutant of herpes simplex virus type 1 with glycoprotein H coding sequences deleted

A mutant of herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) in which glycoprotein H (gH) coding sequences were deleted and replaced by the Escherichia coli lacZ gene under the control of the human cytomegalovirus IE-1 gene promoter was constructed. The mutant was propagated in Vero cells which contained multiple copies of the HSV-1 gH gene under the control of the HSV-1 gD promoter and which therefore provide gH in trans following HSV-1 infection. Phenotypically gH-negative virions were obtained by a single growth cycle in Vero cells. These virions were noninfectious, as judged by plaque assay and by expression of I-galactosidase following high-multiplicity infection, but partial recovery of infectivity was achieved by using the fusogenic agent polyethylene glycol. Adsorption of gH-negative virions to cells blocked the adsorption of superinfecting wild-type virus, a result in contrast to that obtained with gD-negative virions (D. C. Johnson and M. W. Ligas, J. Virol. 62:4605-4612, 1988). The simplest conclusion is that gH is required for membrane fusion but not for receptor binding, a conclusion consistent with the conservation of gH in all herpesviruses

Pulse-phase resolved spectroscopy of continuum and reflection in SAX J1808.4-3658

We perform phase-resolved spectroscopy of the accreting millisecond pulsar, SAX J1808.4-3658, during the slow-decay phase of the 2002 outburst. Simple phenomenological fits to RXTE PCA data reveal a pulsation in the iron line at the spin frequency of the neutron star. However, fitting more complex spectral models reveals a degeneracy between iron-line pulsations and changes in the underlying hotspot blackbody temperature with phase. By comparing with the variations in reflection continuum, which are much weaker than the iron line variations, we infer that the iron-line is not pulsed. The observed spectral variations can be explained by variations in blackbody temperature associated with rotational Doppler shifts at the neutron star surface. By allowing blackbody temperature to vary in this way, we also find a larger phase-shift between the pulsations in the Comptonised and blackbody components than has been seen in previous work. The phase-shift between the pulsation in the blackbody temperature and normalisation is consistent with a simple model where the Doppler shift is maximised at the limb of the neutron star, ~90 degrees prior to maximisation of the hot-spot projected area.Comment: 8 pages, 10 figures, 2 tables. Accepted by MNRA

Narrative evaluation in patient feedback

Abstract This study examines how patients use narratives to evaluate their experiences of healthcare services online. The analysis draws on corpus linguistic techniques, specifically annotation, applying Labov and Waletzky’s (1967) framework to a sample of online comments about the NHS in England. Narratives are pervasive in this context, being present more than absent in the patients’ comments, but are particularly prominent in comments which evaluate care negatively. Evaluations can be accomplished through all the structural elements of the narrative, including in combination with one another. However, the presence and ordering of these elements does not seem to be influenced by the type of evaluation given (i.e. positive, negative or more neutral). As mediated social practice, the narratives are shaped by the technological affordances and social dynamics of this context, for instance in the placement of particular structural elements and the design of narratives for particular “imagined” audiences

A prospective cohort study investigating the effects of the combined scarf and akin osteotomy, with or without 2/3 digital correction, on pain and quality of life 6 months post-surgery

Derek Santos - ORCID: 0000-0001-9936-715X https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9936-715XBackground: Hallux valgus is a common deformity of the forefoot that affects the first ray and may lead to pain. The mainstay of treatment is operative correction and this commonly involves a combination of scarf and Akin osteotomies. The aim of the study was to investigate the effects of the combined scarf and Akin osteotomy for Hallux valgus deformity (with or without 2/3 digital correction) on pain levels and health related quality of life 6 months postoperative.Methods: A prospective cohort study was carried out. Thirty adult participants with a clinical and radiographic diagnosis of hallux valgus were recruited, one was lost to follow-up. A combined scarf and Akin osteotomy with or without 2/3 digital correction was carried out. Participants were asked to complete the outcomes of VAS for foot pain and the health Manchester-Oxford Foot Questionnaire (MOXFQ) for quality of life before and six months post-surgery.Results: Mean age was 59 (SD10) years with 14% males and 86% females. Median VAS pain score reduced from 6 to 0 (p<0.0001). The health MOXFQ domains for foot pain decreased from 60 to 5 (p<0.0001), walking/standing from 50 to 0 (p<0.0001) and social interaction from 50 to 0 (p<0.0001).Conclusion: This study has international impact and contributes to current evidence that the combined scarf and Akin osteotomy with or without 2/3 digital correction is effective in the operative management of symptomatic hallux valgus foot deformity with improvements in pain and health related quality of life by 6 months post-surgery.https://sciencevolks.com/neurology/pdf/SVOA-NE-02-017.pdf2pubpub

Health, Wealth, and Air Pollution: Advancing Theory and Methods

The effects of both ambient air pollution and socioeconomic position (SEP) on health are well documented. A limited number of recent studies suggest that SEP may itself play a role in the epidemiology of disease and death associated with exposure to air pollution. Together with evidence that poor and working-class communities are often more exposed to air pollution, these studies have stimulated discussion among scientists, policy makers, and the public about the differential distribution of the health impacts from air pollution. Science and public policy would benefit from additional research that integrates the theory and practice from both air pollution and social epidemiologies to gain a better understanding of this issue. In this article we aim to promote such research by introducing readers to methodologic and conceptual approaches in the fields of air pollution and social epidemiology; by proposing theories and hypotheses about how air pollution and socioeconomic factors may interact to influence health, drawing on studies conducted worldwide; by discussing methodologic issues in the design and analysis of studies to determine whether health effects of exposure to ambient air pollution are modified by SEP; and by proposing specific steps that will advance knowledge in this field, fill information gaps, and apply research results to improve public health in collaboration with affected communities

Hydrodynamic characterization of soil compaction using integrated electrical resistivity and X‐ray computed tomography

Modern agricultural practices can cause significant stress on soil, which ultimately has degrading effects, such as compaction. There is an urgent need for fast, noninvasive methods to characterize and monitor compaction and its impact on hydraulic processes. Electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) is a well-established method used for the assessment of soil hydraulic properties due to its high temporal resolution and sensitivity to changes in moisture content and salinity, whereas X-ray computed tomography (CT) can be used for high-spatial-resolution imaging of soil structure. We used the combined strengths of both methods to study soil under three different levels of compaction. The soils were X-ray scanned and electrically monitored after the application of a saline solution to the soil surface. The scans revealed the pore network architecture and allowed us to compute its size and connectivity. The ERT models revealed inhibited percolation rates for soils with a lower bulk density, but also how resistivity changes are spatiotemporally distributed within the soil columns. Furthermore, we obtained a quantitative link between the two methods, by which voxels more densely populated with pores were associated with higher temporal variations in electrical resistivity. Building on this, we established a spatial collocation between pore structure and distribution of solution during percolation. This demonstrates the potential of the combined strengths of the two tomographic methods to obtain an enhanced characterization of soil hydrodynamic properties