Nonstandard limit theorem for infinite variance functionals

We consider functionals of long-range dependent Gaussian sequences with infinite variance and obtain nonstandard limit theorems. When the long-range dependence is strong enough, the limit is a Hermite process, while for weaker long-range dependence, the limit is $\alpha$-stable L\'{e}vy motion. For the critical value of the long-range dependence parameter, the limit is a sum of a Hermite process and $\alpha$-stable L\'{e}vy motion.Comment: Published in at http://dx.doi.org/10.1214/07-AOP345 the Annals of Probability (http://www.imstat.org/aop/) by the Institute of Mathematical Statistics (http://www.imstat.org

THE PACIFIC RIM BEEF TRADE: IMPACTS OF LIFTING FOOT-AND-MOUTH DISEASE TRADE BARRIERS

International Relations/Trade,

Acoustic Signal Encoding in Children with Auditory Processing Disorders

Auditory perception has been shown to be a problem for some children with diagnosed learning, language, reading, or attention disorders. Evaluation of discrimination abilities, as part of an auditory processing test battery, has been recommended but few commercial tools are available for the audiologist to accomplish this task. Few studies have investigated signal feature encoding with children at risk for an auditory processing disorder (APD). The purpose of this project was to investigate signal encoding abilities in children suspected of having APD. School-aged children, part of a clinical population referred for assessment of their auditory processing skills, participated in the project. To assess signal encoding abilities, an adaptive procedure with feedback was combined with a three alternative forced choice task and presented with graphics in a game-like format. A series of five studies was designed to represent the spectral, level, and temporal features of sound. The series included evaluation of frequency resolution, frequency discrimination, intensity discrimination, temporal resolution and temporal integration. Results demonstrated that some children in the clinical population have difficulty accurately and efficiently encoding acoustic signal features. Poor performance varied on an individual and group basis across signal encoding tasks but most listeners demonstrated difficulty with spectral and temporal encoding. Elevated and outlying thresholds were not restricted only to the children receiving an APD diagnosis. In addition to the threshold values, trial-by-trial data provided qualitative information about the nature of the poor performance and assisted in differentiating poor signal encoders from children that were inattentive

Cognitive behaviour therapy for health anxiety

Commentary on: Clinical and cost-effectiveness of cognitive behaviour therapy for health anxiety in medical patients (Tyrer et al THE LANCET-D-13-04564R2

Towards the Temporal Streaming of Graph Data on Distributed Ledgers

We present our work-in-progress on handling temporal RDF graph data using the Ethereum distributed ledger. The motivation for this work are scenarios where multiple distributed consumers of streamed data may need or wish to verify that data has not been tampered with since it was generated – for example, if the data describes something which can be or has been sold, such as domestically-generated electricity. We describe a system in which temporal annotations, and information suitable to validate a given dataset, are stored on a distributed ledger, alongside the results of fixed SPARQL queries executed at the time of data storage. The model adopted implements a graph-based form of temporal RDF, in which time intervals are represented by named graphs corresponding to ledger entries. We conclude by discussing evaluation, what remains to be implemented, and future directions

Everyday imagery: Users' reflections on smartphone cameras and communication

User-based research into the lived experiences associated with smartphone camera practices – in particular, the taking, storing, curating and sharing of personal imagery in the digital media sphere – remains scarce, especially in contrast to its increasing ubiquity. Accordingly, this article’s detailed analysis of open-ended questionnaires from ‘millennial’ smartphone users elucidates the varied experiential, compositional and technological aspects associated with smartphone imagery in everyday life. It argues that the associated changes do more than just update previous technologies but rather open space up for emergent forms of visual communication. Specifically, our close interpretive reading indicates four key factors underlying the moments privileged when using smartphone cameras, namely: they deviate from the mundane, are related to ‘positive’ emotions, evince strong social bonds and encompass a future-oriented perspective. Relatedly, in terms of photographic composition, visual content tends to circulate around: the social presence of others, boundedness of event, perceived aesthetic value and intended shareability. Our findings question certain formulations about the gradual disappearance of media from personal consciousness in a digital age. If ceaselessness is a defining characteristic of the current era, our analysis reveals that the use of smartphone cameras is indicative of people affectively and self-consciously deploying the technology to try to arrest the ephemerality of daily life, however fleetingly. This article thus pinpoints the theoretical and methodological value of research approaches moving beyond a narrow focus on the usage patterns to uncover the spatio-temporal specificities shaping (and being shaped by) smartphone imagery and its communicative resonances

Visual truths of citizen reportage: Four research problematics

In striving to better understand issues associated with citizen contributions to newsmaking in crisis situations, this article identifies and elaborates four specific research problematics – bearing witness, technologies of truth-telling, mediating visualities and affectivities of othering – in order to recast more familiar modes of enquiry. Specifically, it provides an alternative heuristic to theorize the journalistic mediation of citizen imagery, and the myriad ways this process of negotiation maintains, repairs and at times disrupts the interstices of professional–amateur boundaries. Rather than centring analysis on how crisis events highlight change, it discerns the basis for a critical tracing of the material configurations and contingencies shaping journalistic imperatives towards generating visually truthful reportage. In seeking to move debates about how best to enliven digital journalism's future beyond the polarities of new media advocacy and criticism alike, we emphasize the importance of developing a collaborative, co-operative ethos of connectivity between journalists as citizens and citizens as journalists. Accordingly, each proposed problematic is examined in a manner alert to pinpointing its prospective value for theory-building, and in so doing elucidating its potential utility for scholarship in the years ahead

Visual truths of citizen reportage:Four research problematics

In striving to better understand issues associated with citizen contributions to newsmaking in crisis situations, this article identifies and elaborates four specific research problematics – bearing witness, technologies of truth-telling, mediating visualities and affectivities of othering – in order to recast more familiar modes of enquiry. Specifically, it provides an alternative heuristic to theorize the journalistic mediation of citizen imagery, and the myriad ways this process of negotiation maintains, repairs and at times disrupts the interstices of professional–amateur boundaries. Rather than centring analysis on how crisis events highlight change, it discerns the basis for a critical tracing of the material configurations and contingencies shaping journalistic imperatives towards generating visually truthful reportage. In seeking to move debates about how best to enliven digital journalism's future beyond the polarities of new media advocacy and criticism alike, we emphasize the importance of developing a collaborative, co-operative ethos of connectivity between journalists as citizens and citizens as journalists. Accordingly, each proposed problematic is examined in a manner alert to pinpointing its prospective value for theory-building, and in so doing elucidating its potential utility for scholarship in the years ahead

Journalism’s Digital Publics:Researching the ‘Visual Citizen’

Set against a backdrop of wider debates about journalism and democratic cultures, this chapter interweaves diverse, yet complementary strands of research to help discern, first, the ways in which journalism’s digital publics are becoming increasingly image-ready, willing and able, and second, the implications for remediations of authority, objectivity and transparency. It argues there is heuristic value in reversing familiar emphases by adopting bottom-up, citizen-centred perspectives to explore civic modes of seeing, particularly in and through the generation, deployment, and use of digital imagery. To substantiate this claim, this chapter strives to map the broad features of scholarly investigations into the ongoing changes between journalism, citizens, and the politics of digital imagery. Given there is a variety of useful research schematics around citizen witnessing, social movements, audience practices, and internet cultures (among others), which emphasize the growing importance of the visual, bringing them together offers a valuable holistic, interdisciplinary overview and periodization. Moreover, doing so allows us to clarify image-related technological affordances and constraints, news organizations’ interactions with citizens in newsmaking and critique, and the envisioned potentials of news reporting for political engagement