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Supervised machine learning for audio emotion recognition: Enhancing film sound design using audio features, regression models and artificial neural networks
Get PDFThis version of the article has been accepted for publication, after peer review (when applicable) and is subject to Springer Nature’s AM terms of use, but is not the Version of Record and does not reflect post-acceptance improvements, or any corrections. The Version of Record is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00779-020-01389-0The field of Music Emotion Recognition has become and established research sub-domain of Music Information Retrieval. Less attention has been directed towards the counterpart domain of Audio Emotion Recognition, which focuses upon detection of emotional stimuli resulting from non-musical sound. By better understanding how sounds provoke emotional responses in an audience, it may be possible to enhance the work of sound designers. The work in this paper uses the International Affective Digital Sounds set. A total of 76 features are extracted from the sounds, spanning the time and frequency domains. The features are then subjected to an initial analysis to determine what level of similarity exists between pairs of features measured using Pearson’s r correlation coefficient before being used as inputs to a multiple regression model to determine their weighting and relative importance. The features are then used as the input to two machine learning approaches: regression modelling and artificial neural networks in order to determine their ability to predict the emotional dimensions of arousal and valence. It was found that a small number of strong correlations exist between the features and that a greater number of features contribute significantly to the predictive power of emotional valence, rather than arousal. Shallow neural networks perform significantly better than a range of regression models and the best performing networks were able to account for 64.4% of the variance in prediction of arousal and 65.4% in the case of valence. These findings are a major improvement over those encountered in the literature. Several extensions of this research are discussed, including work related to improving data sets as well as the modelling processes
Preparing Nurse Educators for the Nursing and Midwifery Council Standards for Student Supervision and Assessment: An Evaluation of Impact Four Years On
Get PDFThis document is the Accepted Manuscript version of a Published Work that appeared in final form in [British Journal of Nursing], copyright © MA Education, after peer review and technical editing by the publisher. To access the final edited and published work see [https://www.magonlinelibrary.com/doi/abs/10.12968/bjon.2023.32.3.130].Four years on from its launch in 2018, we provide an up-to-date efficacy assessment of the ongoing implementation of the Nursing and Midwifery Councils’ Future Nurse: Standards of proficiency for registered nurses (NMC, 2018a). Although these standards have comprehensively transformed the mentorship practices of nursing education courses within Higher Education, this article provides the first attempt to gauge and synthesise attitudes towards their roll-out. Presenting the results of an evaluative survey which collates educators’ current views on the implementation of these new NMC standards, we detail and
analyse the past and continuing impacts of this paradigm shift upon staff, students, and practice. The findings primarily cluster around four interlinked themes: slow acclimatisation to new models of assessment and supervision; variation in levels of preparation; prohibitive workloads; and skill mix. We conclude by providing a recommendation that more robust training resources around the NMC’s new standards are implemented nationally, in order to provide consistency of delivery by educators across the sector
Understanding Founders’ and Successors’ Expectations of British Higher Education Related to the Chinese Family Business: An Extrapolative Expectation Perspective
Get PDFThe importance of family business and thus family business succession is well supported in the literature. As part of their succession plan, Chinese family businesses tend to send the prospective successor to study in an overseas university. However, there is little attention paid to the effectiveness and efficiency of the successors’ overseas education and its impact on the family business succession. In particular there is a lack of attention on the expectation of the founders and successors’. This thesis is about exploring and explaining the similarities and differences in expectation of successors’ overseas education between founders and successors of family businesses in China. 60 informants comprising 30 pairs of
successors (who were studying a business course) and business founders completed identical questionnaires separately. This was then followed by in-depth one-to-one interviews with respondents.
Adopting extrapolative expectation theory, which holds that expectations are caused by prior experience, a comprehensive conceptual framework is developed, followed by corresponding hypotheses. The findings support the hypothesis that the business founders’ expectations about the business-related factors of a business degree course are significantly higher than the expectations of successors themselves. On the other hand, the expectations of founders and successors for non-business-related factors were similar, for instance: for the development of English skills. A follow-up in-depth qualitative research in the form of interviews was conducted with the business founders and successors. Qualitative data analysis helps to reveal that while
there are some interesting differences associated with respondents’ background, gender and personality, the result of the analysis shows that work experience plays a key role in explaining the difference in expectations of the founders and successors.
In addition, four competing theories (intention, relationship, gender and personality)
failed to explain such differences.
The thesis makes a significant contribution to knowledge in understanding the expectations of the family business on successors’ overseas education. It shows that, due to differences in work experience, the expectation of business founders and their successors differ significantly in many aspects related to the successors’ overseas education. This is important as literature tends to consider the multiple influences of various individuals within a family on major decisions as one decision-making unit. The differences in expectation have major implications in their choice of courses and satisfaction of successors’ overseas education, which in turn affects the effectiveness and efficiency of the longer-term family business succession process. The findings of this thesis help the family business, policymakers and researchers to see a potential issue in the family business succession process that is largely ignored. It is suggested that more resources can be put by policymakers into raising awareness of the different expectations that are identified. Family businesses should work on the differences in expectations including enhancing both understanding and the successors’ solid work experience before studying abroad. The findings of this thesis
highlight an important but unresearched area for researchers to be further explored. Finally, the project design, which adopts a complementary mixed-method approach and compares the views from business founders and successors, is unique and helpful
to understand the research question through different lenses
Electrical resistance tomography-based multi-modality sensor and drift flux model for measurement of oil-gas-water flow
Get PDFThis is the Accepted Manuscript version of an article accepted for publication in [Measurement Science and Technology]. IOP Publishing Ltd is not responsible for any errors or omissions in this version of the manuscript or any version derived from it. The Version of Record is available online at [https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6501/ac74a1].This paper proposes a novel method to measure each constituent of an oil-gas-water mixture in a water continuous flow, typically encountered in many processes. It deploys a dual-plane electrical resistance tomography sensor for measuring dispersed phase volume fraction and velocity; a gradiomanometer flow density meter and a drift flux model to estimate slip velocities; with absolute pressure and temperature measurements. These data are fused to estimate constituent volume flow rates. Other commonly used operational parameters can be further derived: Water Cut or Water Liquid Ratio and Gas Volume Fraction. Trials are described for flow rates of water 5-10 m3 h-1; oil 2-10 m3 h-1 and gas 1-15 m3 h-1. The comparative results are included with published data from the Schlumberger Gould Research flow facility. The paper proposes the use of the described configuration for measurement of volume flow rates in oil-gas-water flows with an absolute error of ±10 % within Gas Volume Fraction 9 % - 85 % and Water Liquid Ratio > 45 %
See you in spring: overwinter survival is higher than post summer in the Alpine marmot
Get PDFThis is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Ethology Ecology and Evolution on 09/01/2023, available online: https://doi.org/10.1080/03949370.2022.2157891Animal species living in highly seasonal environments developed different strategies to cope with the periodical drastic change of environmental conditions. Hibernating mammals survive the winter season by reducing their activity and metabolism, and by centring their activities during the favourable season. Thus, the demography of these species depends upon both hibernating and active periods. In this study, we explored the apparent survival of Alpine marmots monitored between 2007 and 2018 in the North-Western Italian Alps. We fit Cormack-Jolly-Seber (CJS) models to quantify changes in the apparent survival and capture probability of marmots, after the hibernation phase and at the end of the summer. Apparent survival after winter almost reached 100% and it was higher than post-summer survival. Moreover, while post-summer apparent survival remained almost stable over lifetime, with a slight increase with age, characterised however by wide confidence intervals, overwinter survival decreased with age, especially after 6 years of age. No temporal trends, nor changes between areas at different elevations, were found. We suggest that these results arise from a combination of climatic conditions, predation pressure and social dynamics, which is a pivotal feature of this species and cannot be ignored when considering population dynamics of Alpine marmots.
This study provides evidence of a higher survival in the hibernating mammals of the Alpine ecosystem, the Alpine marmot, compared to the survival of individuals during the summer season, providing the first evidence of different seasonal survival in this species.
High overwinter survival in Alpine marmo
Mechanisms of cell death induced by hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD) involves apoptosis, autophagy, and ER stress
No full textThis article is not available on ChesterRepHexabromocyclododecane (HBCD), was a widely utilized brominated flame retardant, commonly found in a wide range of household products. The pervasiveness of HBCD has identified the presence of this chemical in foods and in human tissues. Therefore, HBCD has been identified as a chemical of concern. The aim was to investigate the degree of cytotoxicity of HBCD in a range of cell lines derived from different tissues, (including hematopoietic, nerve, liver, and kidney-derived cells) with a view of determining any differential cell type effects. In addition, this study also investigated the mechanism(s) by which HBCD could cause cell death. The results showed that HCBD was considerably more toxic to leukocyte-derived (RBL2H3) and neuronal-derived (SHSY-5Y) cells with LC50 values of 1.5 and 6.1 µM, respectively, compared to cells derived from liver (HepG2) and kidney (Cos-7), which had LC50 values of 28.5 and 17.5 µM, respectively. A detailed investigation of the mechanism(s) of cell death showed that HBCD caused, at least in part, Ca2+-dependent cell death, caspase-activated apoptosis, and autophagy, but there was little evidence for either necrosis or necroptosis occurring. Furthermore, it was shown that HBCD can also induce the ER stress response which is a known trigger of both apoptosis and autophagy and therefore this could be one of the crucial events by which cell death is initiated. As each of these cell death mechanisms was investigated in at least two different cell lines and no differences were identified, it is likely that the mode of action is not cell-type specific
The self-perceived impact of parental suicide in adolescence, of a father, on his daughter’s intimate, heterosexual relationships in adulthood
Get PDFThis document is the Accepted Manuscript version of a published work that appeared in final form in [Illness, Crisis & Loss]. To access the final edited and published work see https://doi.org/10.1177/10541373231186608This research explores the self-perceived impact of parental suicide in adolescence, of a father, on his daughter’s intimate, heterosexual relationships in adulthood. The aim of the research was to ascertain if, and how, paternal suicide, in a young woman’s adolescence, affects her intimate, heterosexual relationships, in adulthood. Four participants who had lost their fathers to suicide between the ages of ten and nineteen, were interviewed, and transcripts were analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. The findings conclude that the majority of participants had experienced difficulties in establishing intimate relationships that fully met their needs. Participants perceived these factors were directly linked to their suicide loss. Four main Group Experiential Themes arose from the data: Isolation; connection with self and others; post-traumatic stress; and anxiety and shame. This research raises awareness for counsellors and helping professionals
Annual Health Checks for People with Intellectual Disabilities – What Needs to be Done?
Get PDFThis document is the Accepted Manuscript version of a published work that appeared in final form in [Learning Disability Practice].
The title of the published article was changed after the Author Accepted Manuscript was submitted to ChesterRep.BACKGROUND: Annual Health Checks have been introduced to reduce health inequalities between
people with intellectual disabilities and the general population
AIMS: To identify key aspects of the Annual Health Check that need to be considered in order to make it effective.
FINDINGS: Understanding of the communication, health and individual needs of people with
intellectual disabilities and their families and carers is essential in order to enhance their health care and address the inequalities in health outcomes.
CONCLUSION: More intellectual disabilities nurses are needed in order to support professionals and
service users to carry out effective Annual Health Checks
Realizing Green Airport Performance through Green Management Intransigence, Airport Reputation, Biospheric Value, and Eco-Design
Get PDFStudies on the effect of biospheric value, eco-design, and green management intransigence on perceived green performance in the tourism and hospitality industry are gradually emerging. However, more evidence is needed from the aviation industry or airport context, especially in Africa. This cross-sectional study aims to probe and demonstrate the effect of biospheric value on green management intransigence and perceived green performance, the mediating role of management intransigence and biospheric value, and the influence on pro-environmental behavior among airport management and employees. The extended theory of planned behavior (TPBe) and triple bottom line theory (TBL)/sustainable economic development theory (SED) (TBL/SED) set the foundation for this research study. With the case study approach, data were collected through online questionnaires from employees and management staff of two international airports in Lagos and Abuja, Nigeria. This scientific study contributes to the literature on green energy by shedding light on the importance of integrating green practices into airport operations with environmentally friendly programs. Its focus on green management intransigence and its implications on employees’ behavior has received little or no attention. The data were analyzed using PLS-SEM and Importance–performance matrix analysis (IPMA). The IPMA is innovative as it helps to extend the results of PLS-SEM by also taking the importance and performance of each construct into account graphically as it relates to green airport management. IPMA posits that management tends to take actions to improve conditions that enhance factors of most significant concern to stakeholders. Our results reveal the effect of biospheric value and the behaviors of management and nonmanagement staff of the selected airports on the green performance with apparent differences in the group-specific performance. In practice, this implies an urgent need for airport management to review their approach and strategy to sustainable practices, airports’ resilience, and adaptation to climate change for sustainable tourism development. This study advances scientific and practical knowledge of eco-design of airport buildings (EAB), biospheric-value (BV), and green management intransigence (GMI). The findings can assist decision makers and practitioners in embracing green technologies and practices in airport management and operations
Sample size assessments for thermal physiology studies: An R package and R Shiny application
Get PDFRequired sample sizes for a study need to be carefully assessed to account for logistics, cost, ethics and statistical rigour. For example, many studies have shown that methodological variations can impact the critical thermal limits (CTLs) recorded for a species, although studies on the impact of sample size on these measures are lacking. Here, we present ThermalSampleR; an R CRAN package and Shiny application that can assist researchers in determining when adequate sample sizes have been reached for their data. The method is particularly useful because it is not taxon specific. The Shiny application offers a user‐friendly interface equivalent to the package for users not familiar with R programming. ThermalSampleR is accompanied by an in‐built example dataset, which we use to guide the user through the workflow with a fully worked tutorial.Funder: National Research Foundation; doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100001321
Funder: South African Research Chairs Initiative of the Department of Science and Technology
Funder: Working for Water (WfW) programme of the Department of Environmental Affairs: Natural Resource Management programme (DEA: NRM
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