Speech stress recognition using semi-eager learning

Homo-sapiens suffer from psychogenic pain due to current day lifestyle. According to psychologists, stress is the most destructive form of psychalgia and it is a vicious companion for this species. Immoderate levels of stress may lead to the death of many individuals. Normally, the presence of stress gives rise to certain emotions which can be detected to predict stress levels of a person. This paper proposes the development of mechanized and efficient Speech Emotion Recognition (SER) for stress level analysis. The paper investigates the performance of perceptual based speech features like Revised Perceptual Linear Prediction Coefficients, Bark Frequency Cepstral Coefficients, Perceptual Linear Predictive Cepstrum, Gammatone Frequency Cepstral coefficient, Mel Frequency Cepstral Coefficient, Gammatone Wavelet Cepstral Coefficient and Inverted Mel Frequency Cepstral Coefficients on SER. The novelty of this work involves application of a SemiEager (SemiE) learning algorithm for evaluating auditory cues. SemiE offers advantages over eager and lazy based learning by reducing the computational cost. Stress level recognition being the main objective, the Speech Under Simulated and Actual Stress (SUSAS) benchmark database is used for performance analysis. A comparative analysis is presented to demonstrate the improvement in the SED performance. An overall accuracy of 90.66% recognition of stress related emotions is achieved.     

How translations of Freud’s writings have influenced French psychoanalytic thinking1

Translations of Freud ’s writings have had a lasting influence on psychoanalytic thinking in France. They have, all the same, given rise to some conceptual distortions as regards the ego and the id, the ideal ego and the ego ideal, and splitting. Lacan’s ‘return to Freud ’ certainly reawakened interest in Freud ’s writings; however, by focusing mainly on Freud ’s early work, Lacan’s personal reading played down the importance of the texts Freud wrote after his metapsychological papers of 1915. The fact that there is no French edition of Freud ’s complete works makes it difficult for French psychoanalysts to put them in a proper context with respect to his developments as a whole. The Oeuvres Complètes [Complete Works] edition may well turn out to be the equivalent of the Standard Edition, but it is as yet far from complete – and, since the vocabulary employed is far removed from everyday language, those volumes already in print tend to make the general public less likely to read Freud. In this paper, the author evokes certain questions that go beyond the French example, such as the impact that translations have within other psychoanalytic contexts. Now that English has become more or less the lingua franca for communication between psychoanalysts, we have to face up to new challenges if we are to avoid a twofold risk: that of mere standardization, as well as that of a ‘Babelization’ of psychoanalysis.     

On some footnotes to Catharine Trotter Cockburn’s Defence of the Essay Of Human Understanding

ABSTRACT

Two footnotes added to the version of Catharine Cockburn’s Defence of the Essay Of Human Understanding (1702) reprinted in her Works (1751) have led to various accusations, including that she was confused and an inadequate interpreter of Locke’s moral epistemology. In particular, it is claimed that she did not recognize the gulf that separated her own intellectualist and internalist views from Locke’s more voluntarist and hedonistic position. This paper defends Cockburn’s interpretation of Locke, arguing that the evidence for Locke being a voluntarist and hedonist is not compelling, and that Cockburn’s interpretation of his moral epistemology is well grounded in the Essay Of Human Understanding.     

Sense of agency disturbances in movement disorders: A comprehensive review

Sense of agency refers to the experience that one’s self-generated action causes an event in the external environment. Here, we review the behavioural and brain evidence of aberrant experiences of agency in movement disorders, clinical conditions characterized by either a paucity or an excess of movements unrelated to the patient’s intention. We show that specific abnormal agency experiences characterize several movement disorders. Those manifestations are typically associated with structural and functional brain abnormalities. However, the evidence is sometimes conflicting, especially when considering results obtained through different agency measures. The present review aims to create order in the existing literature on sense of agency investigations in movement disorders and to provide a coherent overview framed within current neurocognitive models of motor awareness.     

Cities and the real world

It is generally recognized that modern cities pose many problems for their inhabitants and contribute to environmental damage. However, neither planners nor scientists give adequate consideration to cities’ place in the evolutionary process and the planet's ecological system. By recognizing these connections and natural laws, planning would become more realistic, and meaningful progress could be made in solving serious social and environmental problems. Some basic problems influencing urban form are discussed, and a schematic example of how we might approach the planning of urban settlements is presented.     

Textured Foot Orthotics on Dynamic Stability and Turning Performance in Parkinson’s Disease

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to facilitate sensory feedback, with textured foot orthotics, to evaluate dynamic stability and turning behavior in Parkinson’s disease individuals. Seven participants with a diagnosis of idiopathic Parkinson’s disease, aged 55–80?years old, participated in this study. Participants completed three testing sessions; baseline, 4?weeks post-baseline, and 5?weeks post-baseline. Three experimental conditions were tested: footwear only (F), footwear?+?non-textured orthotic (FO), and footwear?+?textured orthotic (FOT). Kinematic, kinetic, and video data were collected during the steps preceding a turn task. Variables of interest included dynamic stability (maximum mediolateral (ML), minimum ML, and ML range of the center of mass (COM)-base of support (BOS) relationship) and turning performance (gait velocity and step count). There was a statistically significant increase in maximum ML COM-BOS distance (week 4 [0.1298 m?±?0.054] compared to week 0 [0.1069 m?±?0.050] p = .0076), and a significant decrease in step count (week 0-F [5.52 steps ± 1.08] to week 0-FO [5.23 steps ± 0.87] p = .0296) and (week 4-FO [5.24 steps ± 1.31] to week 4–FOT [4.67 steps ± 0.76] p = .0004). Textured foot orthotics modified dynamic stability and turning performance in Parkinson’s disease individuals completing a 180° degree turn. These preliminary results support this potential treatment option for rehabilitation professionals treating Parkinson’s disease.     

Perceived cadre behavior,basic psychological need satisfaction,and motivation of US Army ROTC cadets: A self-determination theory perspective

ABSTRACT

Since its inception in 1916 the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) has trained and commissioned more than half a million individuals and, therefore, produced more officers for the United States (US) Army than any other commissioning source (US Army, 2020a US Army . (2020a). Army ROTC. Retrieved from https://www.goarmy.com/rotc/legacy-and-value.html  [Google Scholar]). However, there have been high attrition rates among cadets. While the reasons for people’s engagement in the military are complex and include a multitude of tangible and intangible factors, motivation has been found to be a vital contributor to individuals’ ongoing service in the armed forces. Accordingly, utilizing the framework of self-determination theory, the current research was designed to: (a) examine the validity and reliability of existing instruments in measuring cadets’ perceived cadre behavior, basic psychological need satisfaction, and motivation, (b) assess cadets’ perceived cadre behavior, basic psychological need satisfaction, and motivation, and (c) explore potential differences in cadets’ perceived cadre behavior, basic psychological need satisfaction, and motivation based on their class in the program, age, gender, and race. A total of 728 US Army ROTC cadets participated in this survey-based study. Overall, individuals reported relatively high levels of involvement from their cadre, need fulfillment, and self-determined motivation. In contrast, they perceived limited autonomy support from their cadre. In sum, further research appears warranted to gain an in-depth understanding of cadets’ motivation.     

Étude des comportements-problèmes de 148 adultes atteints de troubles du spectre autistiques institutionnalisés

Objectives

We studied adults with autism spectrum disorder living in a specialized residential care home (n = 148). The participants’ behavioral problems were assessed using the French-language Scale for the Observation of Behavioral Problems in Adults with Autism (Échelle Pour l’Observation des Comportements-problèmes d’Adultes avec Autisme, EPOCAA; Recordon-Gaboriaud & Granier-Deferre). The study's main objectives were to (i) replicate the data from the EPOCAA reference group in a new sample of institutionalized adults, and (ii) study the impact of intellectual disability and medication on the EPOCAA scale. Our first hypothesis was that the severity of intellectual impairment would be associated with a greater likelihood of major behavioural problems. Our second hypothesis was that treatment (or the absence of treatment) with psychotropic and/or anti-epileptic medications would interact with the behavioural problems evaluated on the EPOCAA.