Novel loading tests on full-scale tapered member portal frames

This paper presents the experimental results of loading tests on two 18m span tapered member portal frames designed to BS 5950. Deflection test results for vertical, lateral and combined loading cases are compared with the predictions given by elastic analysis to BS 5950 and shown to be favourable. The predicted ultimate capacities and modes of failure, which were by lateral-torsional buckling of the columns, were also found to agree with the experimental behaviour. It was found that the method of modelling the tapered members as a series of prismatic elements gave good comparison with test results.

‘Med Hondo’s Sarraounia: The musical articulation of cultural transformation’

This article examines music in Med Hondo’s Sarraounia, considering how it contributes to the dramatic form of the movie while concurrently articulating narratives regarding cultural transformation through both its extrinsic (cultural) and intrinsic (formal) dimensions. Examining how the use of traditional and contemporary African music politicises diegetic space by referring us to the relationships between indigenous musical forms and their global, culturally hybrid descendents, it then demonstrates the complex manner in which the film uses the formal specificities of African and Western musical idioms to articulate a narrative regarding the cultural transformations that occur when an oral culture (Africa) encounters a literate, modernised culture (the West).

Validity and reliability of cardiorespiratory measurements recorded by the LifeShirt during exercise tests

The LifeShirt is a novel ambulatory monitoring system that records cardio respiratory measurements outside the laboratory. Validity and reliability of cardiorespiratory measurements recorded by the LifeShirt were assessed and two methods of calibrating the LifeShirt were compared. Participants performed an incremental treadmill test and a constant work rate test (65% peak oxygen uptake) on four occasions (>48 In apart) and wore the LifeShirt, COSMED system and Polar Sport Tester simultaneously. The LifeShirt was calibrated using two methods: comparison to a spirometer; and 800 ml fixed-volume bag. Ventilation, respiratory rate, expiratory time and heart rate recorded by the LifeShirt were compared to measurements recorded by laboratory equipment. Sixteen adults participated (6M: 10F); mean (SD) age 23.1 (2.9) years. Agreement between the LifeShirt and laboratory equipment was acceptable. Agreement for ventilation was improved by calibrating the LifeShirt using a spirometer. Reliability was similar for the LifeShirt and the laboratory equipment. This study suggests that the LifeShirt provides a valid and reliable method of ambulatory monitoring. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Inter-Frame Contextual Modelling For Visual Speech Recognition

In this paper, we present a new approach to visual speech recognition which improves contextual modelling by combining Inter-Frame Dependent and Hidden Markov Models. This approach captures contextual information in visual speech that may be lost using a Hidden Markov Model alone. We apply contextual modelling to a large speaker independent isolated digit recognition task, and compare our approach to two commonly adopted feature based techniques for incorporating speech dynamics. Results are presented from baseline feature based systems and the combined modelling technique. We illustrate that both of these techniques achieve similar levels of performance when used independently. However significant improvements in performance can be achieved through a combination of the two. In particular we report an improvement in excess of 17% relative Word Error Rate in comparison to our best baseline system.