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Cost-efficient HEVC-based quadtree splitting (HEQUS) for VVC Video Transcoding
Get PDFThe release of the latest video coding standard, known as Versatile Video Coding (VVC), has created the need to convert current High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) content to this new standard. However, the traditional cascade transcoding pipeline is not effective due to the exorbitant computational complexity of VVC. With this in mind, this paper proposes a fast HEVC-VVC transcoder that implements a probabilistic classifier based on Naïve-Bayes at the first partitioning level (128 × 128 pixels). This model uses features extracted from the 128 × 128 size blocks of the residual and reconstructed frames in the HEVC bitstream, and their correlation with the block partitioning structure. For the subsequent VVC coding depth levels, partitioning decisions are derived from the HEVC structure. The results achieve a 57.08% transcoding time reduction with a BD-rate penalty of 2.40%, compared with a traditional transcoding approach for the random access encoding configuration
Cultivating health in martial arts and combat sports pedagogies: A theoretical framework on the care of the self
Get PDF“Martial arts and combat sports” (MACS) are a myriad of systems of embodied movements and underlying philosophy and pedagogies. Due to the intrinsic complexity of MACS, they have the potential to both reshape practitioners’ selves and improve their wellbeing, as well as to hamper the pursuit of sustainable, healthy lifestyles. This article provides an interdisciplinary theoretical framework to critically approach both the “light” and the “dark” sides of martial pedagogies. The model we propose develops the Foucauldian notion of “the care of the self,” which has been considerably overlooked in martial arts scholarship. Furthermore, by viewing health as a goal for cultivation, this proposal places the situated practices linked to materiality and discourses at the centre of the theoretical and empirical analyses. The article thus takes into account the internal diversity and cross-institutional variance of martial pedagogies by allowing scholars to explore four forms of cultivation (self, shared, social, ecological) prompted on a day-to-day basis. To conclude, we discuss the main methodological implications for multimodal research arising from the framework in order to foster future inquiries
Mental well-being and physical activity of young people experiencing homelessness before and during COVID-19 lockdown: A longitudinal study
No full textBackground
While lockdown restrictions in response to COVID-19 indisputably mitigated virus transmission, the aim of this longitudinal study was to establish indirect effects on vulnerable young people's mental well-being and physical activity (PA) levels.
Methods
Surveys conducted at time 1 (February 2020), and time 2 (April 2020) comprised of the short Warwick Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale, the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, and self-reported moderate and vigorous PA levels. Repeated measures analyses established changes pre-post lockdown restrictions, and differences between sub-groups. Associations between changes in well-being, self-esteem and PA over time were explored through further regression analyses.
Results
65 respondents completed the survey at time 1, and 50 respondent at time 2. Wellbeing increased significantly over time, yet remained significantly lower than the population average. Self-esteem increased significantly post-lockdown, however remained significantly lower for females, compared with males. Overall, PA levels increased-whereby ‘inactive’ participants at time 1 reported significant increases in moderate and total activity levels at time 2. Increased PA levels significantly predicted increased well-being: F(1, 48) = 4.15, p < .05; while participants who had become less active accounted for 69.2% with low self-esteem at time 2.
Conclusions
Findings indicate that increased PA accounted for improved mental well-being, while decreased PA was associated with reduced levels of self-esteem. PA may represent a modifiable means of mitigating risk, and promoting resilience for vulnerable young people experiencing adverse condition
Luxury hospitality — Is this the time to rethink the ethical stance?
Get PDFThe term “luxury” — and thus “luxury hospitality” — has positive connotations for many; however, the
demand of trying to meet the needs and wants of others is questionable. This article discusses the nature of luxury
along and the need for future research on luxury hospitalit
Exploring the relationship between conductive hearing loss and cleft speech characteristics in children born with cleft palate
No full textBackground
Children with cleft palate are at high risk of both conductive hearing loss and cleft speech characteristics (CSCs) yet there is limited research to understand whether hearing loss impacts speech development in this population by contributing to the development of CSCs.
Aims
This study used data from a large national cohort study in the UK (The Cleft Collective) to explore the relationship between those with a history of diagnosed hearing loss and presence of CSCs in children with cleft palate (+/- cleft lip) aged between 18 to 24 months.
Method
Speech and Language Therapists (SLTs) provided uniformed information from assessment for 123 participants who had been recruited to the Cleft Collective study. History of diagnosed hearing loss, intervention for hearing loss, and presence of CSCs were reported. A consonant inventory for each participant was completed. Statistical analysis of relationships between hearing loss and CSCs and analysis of consonant inventories was undertaken to provide information related to speech acquisition and its relationship with hearing.
Results
There was a statistically significant relationship between history of diagnosed hearing loss and presence of CSCs (p <0.05). Analysis of the consonant inventories highlighted that children with diagnosed hearing loss used fewer oral consonants compared to those with normal hearing (p <0.05)
Conclusion
This study provides some evidence that a conductive hearing loss can affect speech in children with cleft palate resulting in CSCs developing. Therefore, children with cleft palate should be closely monitored by audiology from birth to ensure that hearing is optimised for speech and language development. SLT services should also closely monitor the speech development of those children where a hearing loss has been identified, so that early intervention can be provided if appropriate.
Continued data collection, with a large sample of children, will provide additional evidence regarding how this hearing loss is best managed. It will also allow increased knowledge of the long term impact of conductive hearing loss on speech development in children with cleft palate
Development and piloting of a support package to enable small and medium sized food and drink manufacturers to obtain third party food safety certification
Get PDFMultiple benefits exist for food and drink manufacturing businesses from obtaining third-party food safety certification. However, barriers to obtaining certification have been identified as ‘knowledge and skills’, ‘time, cost and resources’, and ‘communication and information’. Such barriers may prevent small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) food manufacturers meeting scheme requirements and obtaining certification. Research has identified the need for a support package incorporating online, off-site, on-site and financial support to assist and enable food manufacturing businesses to obtain food safety certification. This study created and piloted a support package for SME manufacturing businesses to obtain certification against the Safe and Local Supplier Approval (SALSA) scheme. The support package consisted of six mechanisms: (i) self-assessment tool, (ii) internal systems review, (iii) ‘audit-ready’ workshop, (iv) pre-audit factory inspection, (v) post-audit support and (vi) audit-fee contribution. Eligible manufacturers (n=11) joined the study. Five manufacturers completed the support package; all of which underwent the official SALSA audit and obtained certification within 12 months. The study has successfully created and piloted a support package that resulted in food manufacturing businesses obtaining SALSA certification. Launch of the support package may assist the growth of SME food and drink manufacturing businesses and help to ensure business longevity
“Maybe I’m just not good enough?”: British swimmers’ experiences of attempting to qualify for the Olympic Games
Get PDFThe purpose of this study was to explore the transitional experiences of British swimmers
as they attempted to qualify for the Olympic Games and gain a place in the British Swimming
World Class Performance Programme. An Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA)
approach was adopted.1 Six swimmers (aged 20-25 years), one of each of their parents, and
four coaches completed interviews leading up to and following Olympic trials over an eight month period. Audio recordings were transcribed verbatim and analysed following the guidelines set out by Smith and Osborne. 2 Results indicated that athletes’ transition experiences were characterised by a range of demands, which were categorised into five higher order themes (a) Questioning “Am I good enough?”; (b) Managing and fulfilling expectations; (c) Operating within an environment that is working against them; (d) Lacking support and understanding of self and demands; and (e) Maintaining balance versus being an international swimmer. Overall, the results indicate that this attempted transition is complex, challenging, and unique and largely influenced by self-confidence. Addressing the individual factors impacting on athletes’ self-confidence appears critical to enhancing swimmers’ transitional experiences at the highest level
Numerical study of pipeline leak detection for gas-liquid stratified flow
No full textMultiphase flows are of paramount importance in the oil and gas industry, considering that most petroleum industries produce and transport oil and gas simultaneously. However, systematic research on pipeline leakage conveying more than one phase at a time is lacking attention. In this work, a numerical method is proposed to investigate the effect of two-phase gas-liquid leak flow behaviour in a subsea natural gas pipeline. The results of the simulations have been validated against the latest experimental and numerical data reported in the literature, and a good agreement has been obtained. The effect of leak sizes, longitudinal leak locations, multiple leakages and axial leak positions on the pressure gradient, flow rate and volume fractions in the pipeline were systematically investigated. The results show that the flow field parameters provide pertinent indicators in pipeline leakage detection. In particular, the upstream pipeline pressure could serve as a critical indicator for detecting leakage even if the leak size is small. Whereas, the downstream flow rate is a dominant leakage indicator if the flow rate monitoring is chosen for leak detection. The results also reveal that when two leaks with different sizes co-occur in a single pipe, detecting the small leak becomes difficult if its size is below 25% of the large leak size. However, in the event of a double leak with equal sizes, the leak closer to the pipe upstream is easier to detect
Arts on prescription: observed changes in anxiety, depression, and well-being across referral cycles
Get PDFObjectives
Arts on prescription (AoP) interventions are part of mainstream social prescribing provision in primary health care. Whilst the body of evidence for AoP interventions has been developing, this has primarily focused on well-being.
Study design
The present work is an observational longitudinal study on a community-based AoP social prescribing intervention in the South West UK.
Method
The present study assessed changes in anxiety, depression, and well-being in a cohort of patients participating in up to two eight-week cycles of AoP. The sample consisted of 245 individuals referred into the programme from 2017 to 2019, with a sub-sample of participants (N = 110) with identifiable multimorbidity. Outcomes were measured pre- and post-intervention at both initial and re-referral.
Results
Anxiety, depression, and well-being were all significantly improved after initial referral, re-referral, and overall from initial to post re-referral for this intervention in the whole sample and multimorbid sub-sample. Multivariate analyses revealed that no participant variables appeared to account for the variance in outcome change scores.
Conclusion
The research provides further support for AoP interventions, finding associations with reduced anxiety and depression and increased well-being. Additionally, these outcomes are evidenced in those with multimorbidity, as well as across initial- and re-referral cycles
Kinematic factors associated with start performance in World-class male sprinters
No full textThe aim was to investigate the kinematic factors associated with successful performance in the initial acceleration phase of a sprint in the best male athletes in the World at the 2018 World Indoor Athletics Championships. High speed video (150 Hz) was captured for eight sprinters in the men’s 60 m final. Spatio-temporal and joint kinematic variables were calculated from the set position to the end of the first ground contact post-block exit (GC1). Normalised average horizontal external power (NAHEP) defined performance and was the dependent variable for a series of regression analyses. Clear relationships were found between GC1 NAHEP and 10-m time, 60-m time, change in velocity, acceleration and contact time in the first ground contact (r = –0.74, –0.64, 0.96, 0.91 and –0.56, respectively). Stepwise multiple linear regression of joint kinematic variables in the first ground contact revealed that trunk angle at take-off and thigh separation angle at take-off explained nearly 90% of variation in GC1 NAHEP (R2 = 0.89). The athletes’ projection at take-off with a forward leaning trunk and large thigh separation is characteristic therefore of excellent initial acceleration performance and this will be a good visual guide for technical coaching instruction. This was the first study of its kind to adopt such a research design in a World-class sample in a representative environment. Future studies that combine detailed kinematic and kinetic data capture and analysis in such a setting will add further insight to the findings of this investigatio