An analysis of the KEEP CLEAR pavement markings effects on queuing vehicles dynamic performance at urban signalised intersections

KEEP CLEAR pavement markings are widely used at urban signalised intersections to indicate to drivers to avoid entering blocked intersections. For example, ‘Box junctions’ are most widely used in the United Kingdom and other European countries. However, in Australia, KEEP CLEAR markings are mostly used to improve access from side roads onto a main road, especially when the side road is very close to a signalised intersection. This paper aims to reveal how the KEEP CLEAR markings affect the dynamic performance of the queuing vehicles on the main road, where the side road access is near a signalised intersection. Raw traffic field data was collected from an intersection at the Gold Coast, Australia, and the Kanade–Lucas–Tomasi (KLT) feature tracker approach was used to extract dynamic vehicle data from the raw video footage. The data analysis reveals that the KEEP CLEAR markings generate positive effects on the queuing vehicles in discharge on the main road. This finding refutes the traditional viewpoint that the KEEP CLEAR pavement markings will cause delay for the queuing vehicles’ departure due to the enlarged queue spacing. Further studies are suggested in this paper as well.

KLT - escala de Kettler, Laurent y Thireau : deficientes mentales adultos

En cubierta: Divisi??n I: Material de diagn??stico psicol??gico y f??sico. Serie I: Nivel intelectual y desarrollo. Fecha de publicaci??n aproximada

On KLT and SYM-supergravity relations from 5-point 1-loop amplitudes

We derive a new non-singular tree-level KLT relation for the n = 5-point amplitudes, with manifest 2(n-2)! symmetry, using information from one-loop amplitudes and IR divergences, and speculate how one might extend it to higher n-point functions. We show that the subleading-color N = 4 SYM 5-point amplitude has leading IR divergence of 1/epsilon, which is essential for the applications of this paper. We also propose a relation between the subleading-color N = 4 SYM and N = 8 supergravity 1-loop 5-point amplitudes, valid for the IR divergences and possibly for the whole amplitudes, using techniques similar to those used in our derivation of the new KLT relation.

Subspace Based Speech Enhancement Using Gaussian Mixture Model

Traditional subspace based speech enhancement (SSE)methods use linear minimum mean square error (LMMSE) estimation that is optimal if the Karhunen Loeve transform (KLT) coefficients of speech and noise are Gaussian distributed. In this paper, we investigate the use of Gaussian mixture (GM) density for modeling the non-Gaussian statistics of the clean speech KLT coefficients. Using Gaussian mixture model (GMM), the optimum minimum mean square error (MMSE) estimator is found to be nonlinear and the traditional LMMSE estimator is shown to be a special case. Experimental results show that the proposed method provides better enhancement performance than the traditional subspace based methods.Index Terms: Subspace based speech enhancement, Gaussian mixture density, MMSE estimation.

Reduced Rate Ultra Low Delay Audio Coder using Multistage Vector Quantization

Communication applications are usually delay restricted, especially for the instance of musicians playing over the Internet. This requires a one-way delay of maximum 25 msec and also a high audio quality is desired at feasible bit rates. The ultra low delay (ULD) audio coding structure is well suited to this application and we investigate further the application of multistage vector quantization (MSVQ) to reach a bit rate range below 64 Kb/s, in a scalable manner. Results at 32 Kb/s and 64 Kb/s show that the trained codebook MSVQ performs best, better than KLT normalization followed by a simulated Gaussian MSVQ or simulated Gaussian MSVQ alone. The results also show that there is only a weak dependence on the training data, and that we indeed converge to the perceptual quality of our previous ULD coder at 64 Kb/s.

Fast model based feature matching technique applied to airport lighting

The use of image processing techniques to assess the performance of airport landing lighting using images of it collected from an aircraft-mounted camera is documented. In order to assess the performance of the lighting, it is necessary to uniquely identify each luminaire within an image and then track the luminaires through the entire sequence and store the relevant information for each luminaire, that is, the total number of pixels that each luminaire covers and the total grey level of these pixels. This pixel grey level can then be used for performance assessment. The authors propose a robust model-based (MB) featurematching technique by which the performance is assessed. The development of this matching technique is the key to the automated performance assessment of airport lighting. The MB matching technique utilises projective geometry in addition to accurate template of the 3D model of a landing-lighting system. The template is projected onto the image data and an optimum match found, using nonlinear least-squares optimisation. The MB matching software is compared with standard feature extraction and tracking techniques known within the community, these being the Kanade–Lucus–Tomasi (KLT) and scaleinvariant feature transform (SIFT) techniques. The new MB matching technique compares favourably with the SIFT and KLT feature-tracking alternatives. As such, it provides a solid foundation to achieve the central aim of this research which is to automatically assess the performance of airport lighting.

Happiness and Well-Being of Young Carers: Extent, Nature and Correlates of Caring Among 10 and 11 Year Old School Children

Young carers often take on practical and/or emotional caring responsibilities that would normally be expected of an adult. For many of these children and young people, caring has been shown to have a detrimental effect on their lives. For example, caring at a young age appears to be associated with poor health and well-being, bullying and poorer educational outcomes. However, previous research has tended to be retrospective, carried out using small surveys of secondary school-aged children or to use qualitative methods with young people associated with caring projects. In contrast, little is known about the extent and nature of caring undertaken by younger children. This paper reports findings from a random sample survey of 10 and 11 year old children in the final year of their primary school education. 4,192 children completed the Kids’ Life and Times (KLT) online survey in 2011. Twelve percent of respondents to KLT said they helped look after someone in their household who was sick, elderly or disabled. Supporting previous qualitative research, this survey showed that children who were carers had poorer health and well-being, reported less happiness with their lives, were more likely to be bullied at school and had poorer educational aspirations and outcomes than their peers who were not carers. These findings suggest that teachers need to discuss the issue of caring with children in the classroom in a general and supportive way so that young carers feel able to confide in them and seek support if they need it.

Helping the most vulnerable out of the poverty trap and reducing inequality: Policies, strategies, and services for individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder, including intellectual and neurodevelopmental disabilities: Benchmarking Autism Services Efficacy: BASE Project (Volume 3) Secondary Data analysis

1) Executive Summary
Legislation (Autism Act NI, 2011), a cross-departmental strategy (Autism Strategy 2013-2020) and a first action plan (2013-2016) have been developed in Northern Ireland in order to support individuals and families affected by Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) without a prior thorough baseline assessment of need. At the same time, there are large existing data sets about the population in NI that had never been subjected to a secondary data analysis with regards to data on ASD. This report covers the first comprehensive secondary data analysis and thereby aims to inform future policy and practice.
Following a search of all existing, large-scale, regional or national data sets that were relevant to the lives of individuals and families affected by Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in Northern Ireland, extensive secondary data analyses were carried out. The focus of these secondary data analyses was to distill any ASD related data from larger generic data sets. The findings are reported for each data set and follow a lifespan perspective, i.e., data related to children is reported first before data related to adults.
Key findings:
Autism Prevalence:
Of children born in 2000 in the UK,
• 0.9% (1:109) were reported to have ASD, when they were 5-year old in 2005;
• 1.8% (1:55) were reported to have ASD, when they were 7-years old in 2007;
• 3.5% (1:29) were reported to have ASD, when they were 11-year old in 2011.
In mainstream schools in Northern Ireland
• 1.2% of the children were reported to have ASD in 2006/07;
• 1.8% of the children were reported to have ASD in 2012/13.

Economic Deprivation:
• Families of children with autism (CWA) were 9%-18% worse off per week than families of children not on the autism spectrum (COA).
• Between 2006-2013 deprivation of CWA compared to COA nearly doubled as measured by eligibility for free school meals (from near 20 % to 37%)
• In 2006, CWA and COA experienced similar levels of deprivation (approx. 20%), by 2013, a considerable deprivation gap had developed, with CWA experienced 6% more deprivation than COA.
• Nearly 1/3 of primary school CWA lived in the most deprived areas in Northern Ireland.
• Nearly ½ of children with Asperger’s Syndrome who attended special school lived in the most deprived areas.

Unemployment:
• Mothers of CWA were 6% less likely to be employed than mothers of COA.
• Mothers of CWA earned 35%-56% less than mothers of COA.
• CWA were 9% less likely to live in two income families than COA.

Health:
• Pre-diagnosis, CWA were more likely than COA to have physical health problems, including walking on level ground, speech and language, hearing, eyesight, and asthma.
• Aged 3 years of age CWA experienced poorer emotional and social health than COA, this difference increased significantly by the time they were 7 years of age.
• Mothers of young CWA had lower levels of life satisfaction and poorer mental health than mothers of young COA.
Education:
• In mainstream education, children with ASD aged 11-16 years reported less satisfaction with their social relationships than COA.
• Younger children with ASD (aged 5 and 7 years) were less likely to enjoy school, were bullied more, and were more reluctant to attend school than COA.
• CWA attended school 2-3 weeks less than COA .
• Children with Asperger’s Syndrome in special schools missed the equivalent of 8-13 school days more than children with Asperger’s Syndrome in mainstream schools.
• Children with ASD attending mainstream schooling were less likely to gain 5+ GCSEs A*-C or subsequently attend university.



Further and Higher Education:
• Enrolment rates for students with ASD have risen in Further Education (FE), from 0% to 0.7%.
• Enrolment rates for students with ASD have risen in Higher Education (HE), from 0.28% to 0.45%.
• Students with ASD chose to study different subjects than students without ASD, although other factors, e.g., gender, age etc. may have played a part in subject selection.
• Students with ASD from NI were more likely than students without ASD to choose Northern Irish HE Institutions rather than study outside NI.

Participation in adult life and employment:
• A small number of adults with ASD (n=99) have benefitted from DES employment provision over the past 12 years.
• It is unknown how many adults with ASD have received employment support elsewhere (e.g. Steps to Work).
•
Awareness and Attitudes in the General Population:
• In both the 2003 and 2012 NI Life and Times Survey (NILTS), NI public reported positive attitudes towards the inclusion of children with ASD in mainstream education (see also BASE Project Vol. 2).

Gap Analysis Recommendations:
This was the first comprehensive secondary analysis with regards to ASD of existing large-scale data sets in Northern Ireland. Data gaps were identified and further replications would benefit from the following data inclusion:
• ASD should be recorded routinely in the following datasets:
o Census;
o Northern Ireland Survey of Activity Limitation (NISALD);
o Training for Success/Steps to work; Steps to Success;
o Travel survey;
o Hate crime; and
o Labour Force Survey.
• Data should be collected on the destinations/qualifications of special school leavers.
• NILT Survey autism module should be repeated in 5 years time (2017) (see full report of 1st NILT Survey autism module 2012 in BASE Project Report Volume 2).
• General public attitudes and awareness should be assessed for children and young people, using the Young Life and Times Survey (YLT) and the Kids Life and Times Survey (KLT); (this work is underway, Dillenburger, McKerr, Schubolz, & Lloyd, 2014-2015).
 

The inclusion of open-ended questions on quantitative surveys of children: Dealing with unanticipated responses relating to child abuse and neglect

Web surveys have been shown to be a viable, and relatively inexpensive, method of data collection with children. For this reason, the Kids’ Life and Times (KLT) was developed as an annual online survey of 10 and 11 year old children. Each year, approximately 4,000 children participate in the survey. Throughout the six years that KLT has been running, a range of questions has been asked that are both policy-relevant and important to the lives of children. Given the method employed by the survey, no extremely sensitive questions that might cause the children distress are included. The majority of questions on KLT are closed yielding quantitative data that are analysed statistically; however, one regular open-ended question is included at the end of KLT each year so that the children can suggest questions that they think should be asked on the survey the following year. While most of the responses are innocuous, each year a small minority of children suggest questions on child abuse and neglect. This paper reports the responses to this question and reflects on how researchers can, and should, deal with this issue from both a methodological and an ethical perspective.

(Re)examining the relationship between children's subjective wellbeing and their perceptions of participation rights

In recent years wellbeing has been linked increasingly with children’s rights, often characterised as central to their realisation. Indeed it has been suggested that the two concepts are so intertwined that their pairing has become something of a mantra in the literature on childhood. This paper seeks to explore the nature of the relationship between wellbeing and participation rights, using a recently developed ‘rights-based’ measure of children’s participation in school and community, the Children’s Participation Rights Questionnaire (CPRQ), and an established measure of subjective wellbeing – KIDSCREEN-10. The data for the study came from the Kids’ Life and Times (KLT) which is an annual online survey of Primary 7 children carried out in Northern Ireland. In 2013 approximately 3,800 children (51% girls; 49% boys) from 212 schools participated in KLT. The findings showed a statistically significant positive correlation between children’s overall scores on the KIDSCREEN-10 subjective wellbeing measure and their perceptions that their participation rights are respected in school and community settings. Further, the results indicated that it is the social relations/autonomy questions on KIDSCREEN-10 which are most strongly related to children’s perceptions that their participation rights are respected. Exploration of the findings by gender showed that there were no significant differences in overall wellbeing; however girls had higher scores than boys on the social relations/autonomy domain of KIDSCREEN-10. Girls were also more positive than boys about their participation in school and community. In light of the findings from this study, it is suggested that what lies at the heart of the relationship between child wellbeing and children’s participation rights is the social/relational aspects of both participation and wellbeing.

Aspectos educativos de la integración laboral del deficiente mental ligero en Mallorca.

Establecer los elementos que intervienen en el proceso de tránsito de los deficientes mentales ligeros entre el mundo escolar y el laboral, en el caso concreto de Mallorca, prestando especial atención a la dimensión educativa de este proceso. Estudio de las características y posibilidades laborales de los sujetos estudiados como una aproximación a los factores que pueden condicionar su integración laboral, como son la familia o las posibilidades del mercado de trabajo. Para el grupo de observación: 30 alumnos del centro de aprendizaje de tareas (CAT) de Son Ferriol que no superan el 65 por ciento de minusvalía. Para el grupo control: 30 sujetos de las mismas edades y condición social, escolarizados en Formación Profesional o BUP. Para el estudio de casos: 4 alumnos de CAT. Los datos se recogen en el curso 1992-93. Tras analizar la evolución de las concepciones sobre las capacidades laborales de los deficientes mentales y diferenciar los términos: deficiencia, discapacidad y minusvalía, se describen las distintas etapas y modelos aplicados a la integración laboral de las personas afectadas de deficiencia mental para superar así su minusvalía laboral. Por otra parte, se analizan los apoyos institucionales contemplando tanto los servicios de calificación, formación y colocación como los incentivos. A continuación se pasa revista a los diferentes servicios, programas e instrumentos que trabajan para la integración laboral de los deficientes mentales, en Mallorca. Finalmente, se observan las aptitudes y capacidades laborales de un grupo de sujetos con deficiencia mental ligera o media alta, en el momento del tránsito entre la escuela y el mundo del trabajo para, poder establecer los factores individuales y sociales que determinan sus posibilidades de acceso al mundo laboral. Metodología cuantitativa y cualitativa. Se ha combinado la descripción general de los distintos factores que influyen en el problema con el estudio de casos individuales. Los instrumentos han sido diversos: revisión documental de los expedientes académicos e informes escolares. Entrevistas a padres o tutores y a los encargados o empresarios que han tratado a los sujetos durante sus prácticas formativas. Observación directa, realizada por los profesores y un observador no implicado, de las características de los sujetos en la actividad habitual del centro: buscar información en el periódico, cumplimentar un formulario impreso, devolver cabio de 1000 ptas., preparar café, etc. y cuestionario rellenado por los alumnos al inicio de la semana para analizar las actividades realizadas por éstos fuera del centro, durante los fines de semana: elección de actividades de ocio, participación en actividades familiares, manejo de dinero, utilización de medios de transporte y realización de tareas domésticas; ambos instrumentos se utilizan para evaluar las habilidades sociales, laborales y de vida diaria. Batería de orientación socio-profesional para deficientes mentales adultos, KLT, de Kettler, Laurent y Thireau. Se compone de una serie de pruebas que forman dos bloques: el bloque de tests discriminativos (tachado, cubos de Kohs, test de frases y una prueba de información) y el bloque de tests manipulativos (test de Knox, reproducción de modelo con cubos, construcción de cubos con modelos -espacial- y pruebas del cuadrado-triángulo -ensamblaje-). Análisis de contenido. Anotaciones ocasionales o evaluaciones sistemáticas de las conductas en la observación. Distribución de las puntuaciones de las pruebas de evaluación y psicométricas en tres zonas de debilidad: media, ligera y profunda. Nuestro entorno laboral acepta la necesidad de que las personas minusválidas se integren socialmente y puedan acceder a un puesto de trabajo en las condiciones más normalizadas posibles. La restricción de puestos de trabajo observada en la última década en la mayoría de países afecta especialmente a los colectivos con menores capacidades laborales, entre ellos, los deficientes mentales. A pesar de la capacidad demostrada por éstos, especialmente por los ligeros, para ocuparse de las tareas laborales es preciso prestar una atención educativa especializada y constante. No tiene por qué existir relación directa entre deficiencia, discapacidad y minusvalía. A veces la deficiencia puede ser superada con apoyos educativos o tecnológicos sin dar lugar a minusvalía. La demanda de esta formación ha motivado el desarrollo de diversos modelos de actuación y programas de intervención para incidir en algunas o en todas las etapas que intervienen en el proceso de integración, de forma individualizada. Los programas integrales de inserción socio-laboral coordinan todos los ámbitos que intervienen en el proceso, se desarrollan mediante el modelo de gestión de casos y son los más adecuados. Su desarrollo se encuentra aún en una fase muy incipiente, estan por definir tanto el tipo de servicio como el tipo de profesional. El sistema de diagnóstico y clasificación establecido en España, junto con la normativa sobre pensiones no protege suficientemente a los deficientes mentales ligeros y medios; en la mayoría de casos su calificación de minusvalía no supera el mínimo fijado en la legislación para tener derecho a las prestaciones; los programas de integración laboral están poco desarrollados; la reserva de plazas e incentivos a la contratación se muestran poco eficaces. En Mallorca, los servicios de transición al mundo laboral apenas comienzan a desarrollarse, no existe ningún plan global de coordinación.

Epidemiología y perdurabilidad empresarial en Colombia: Grupo Éxito

La muerte empresarial es un proceso que se ha venido presentando en compañías de las diferentes industrias a nivel nacional. La causa son los diferentes factores externos que impactan directamente las operaciones y estructura de estas. Con base en lo anterior es importante resaltar que existen diferentes tipos de muerte empresarial que para efectos de este trabajo se encontraron importante referenciar, pues son el marco del análisis de caso sobre Almacenes Éxito S.A. perteneciente al sector retail, donde se buscaba determinar cuál fue el tipo de cesión que tuvo, como consecuencia de la venta de acciones a la Compañía Francesa Casino Guichard-Perrachon S.A. Además del marco teórico empleado, se encontró importante realizar una reseña histórica de las diferentes empresas que han integrado el sector con el fin de entender posibles generalidades que se han venido replicando y que han llevado a la muerte empresarial de importantes compañías. Este trabajo permite la comprensión de las diferentes transformaciones que pueden tener los entes económicos a lo largo de su vida empresarial, no solo con lo que puede entenderse como el cese de operaciones sino también como apertura a nuevas estrategias de crecimiento y expansión.

Posibilidades de integraci??n laboral del deficiente mental ligero en Mallorca y consecuencias educativas

Estudiar la problem??tica que se plantea en relaci??n con la integraci??n laboral de los deficientes mentales ligeros desde el punto de vista del marco legal, de sus propias capacidades y de la actitud de sus familias y de los empresarios. 30 alumnos entre 17 y 20 a??os del centro de aprendizaje de tareas de Son Ferriol afectados por deficiencia mental ligera. Se han utilizado diversos recursos metodol??gicos, como la comparaci??n entre los distintos modelos de inserci??n laboral y marcos legales que se dan en los pa??ses de nuestro entorno cultural; la observaci??n de las capacidades laborales de los sujetos y su medici??n mediante pruebas psicom??tricas como la bateria KLT u otras especificamente dise??adas para medir su habilidad en la realizaci??n de tareas habituales en el mundo laboral; entrevistas y encuestas con los padres y empresarios; y el an??lisis de las opiniones de los propios sujetos, de sus maestros y de los monitores que les atendieron durante sus pr??cticas formativas. Expedientes escolares, opiniones, pruebas escolares, actividades extraescolares, bateria KLT; prueba de tachado, cubos de Kohs, prueba de frases, test de informaci??n, test de Knox, reproducci??n de modelos con cubos, construcci??n de cubos con modelos, prueba del cuadrado-tri??ngulo. Porcentajes, tablas. 1. Para abordar con ??xito la integraci??n laboral y social de las personas con minusval??a causada por una deficiencia mental, es preciso establecer con m??s claridad y profundidad las caracter??sticas de estos sujetos. El deficiente mental, especialmente el ligero y medio, sigue despertando recelo, desconfianza o l??stima entre grandes sectores de la poblaci??n lo que reduce sus posibilidades laborales. Adem??s, como todo colectivo fronterizo, su especificidad no est?? suficientemente reconocida por los sistemas de est??mulo y apoyo a la integraci??n laboral y, en muchos casos, existe hacia ellos una cierta discriminaci??n frente a otros tipos de minusv??lidos con m??s posibilidades de paliar, a efectos laborales, sus discapacidades. 2. El an??lisis psicom??trico tradicional no ha contribuido a eliminar estereotipos y prejuicios. Los programas de FP para este colectivo deben partir de sus capacidades e incidir en la formaci??n de h??bitos laborales y en el aprendizaje espec??fico de aquellas tareas que son exigidas en cualquier trabajo normalizado. 3. La resoluci??n de los problemas laborales de las personas afectadas por una deficiencia mental s??lo puede hacerse mediante programas personalizados que tengan en cuenta las condiciones espec??ficas del mercado, las posibilidades de cada individuo y su circunstancia familiar y social globalmente considerada. Tan s??lo desde este enfoque ser?? posible poner las bases para su integraci??n socio-laboral y encontrar los instrumentos adecuados para que estas personas alcancen plenamente, su condici??n de adultos.

Estudo comparativo da transformada Karhunen-Loève na compressão de imagens

A representação de funções através da utilização de bases (KERNEL) de representação tem sido fundamental no processamento digital de sinais. A Transformada KARHUNEN-LOÈVE (KLT), também conhecida como Transformada HOTELLING, permite a representação de funções utilizando funções-base formadas pelos autovetores da matriz de correlação do sinal considerado. Nesse aspecto essa transformada fornece uma base ótima, isto é, aquela que proporciona o menor valor de Erro Quadrático Médio entre o sinal reconstruído e o original, para um determinado número de coeficientes. A dificuldade na utilização da KLT está no tempo adicional para calcular os autovetores (base) da matriz de correlação, o que muitas vezes inviabiliza a sua utilização nas aplicações em tempo real. Em muitas aplicações a KLT é utilizada em conjunto com outras transformadas melhorando os resultados destas aplicações. Sendo considerada a transformada ótima no sentido do Erro Quadrático Médio, este trabalho apresenta um estudo da Transformada KARHUNEN-LOÈVE nas aplicações de compressão de imagens bidimensionais estáticas e em tons de cinza, realizando também a comparação desta técnica com outras técnicas (DCT e WAVELET) buscando avaliar os pontos fortes e fracos da utilização da KLT para este tipo de aplicação. Duas técnicas importantes para solucionar o problema de cálculo dos autovalores e autovetores da matriz de correlação (Método de JACOBI e Método QL) são também apresentadas neste trabalho. Os resultados são comparados utilizando a Razão Sinal/Ruído de Pico (PSNR), a Razão de Compressão (CR) e os tempos de processamento (em segundos) para geração dos arquivos compactados.