Speech coding techniques capable of generating encoded representations which are robust against channel losses play an important role in enabling reliable voice communication over packet networks and mobile wireless systems. In this paper, we investigate the use of multiple description index assignments (MDIAs) for loss-tolerant transmission of line spectral frequency (LSF) coefficients, typica...

This paper examines the role of informal job search methods on the labour market outcomes of displaced workers. Informal job search methods could alleviate short-term labour market difficulties of displaced workers by providing information on job opportunities, allowing them to signal their productivity and may mitigate wage losses through better post-displacement job matching. However if displ...

Study 1 compared overweight adult women smokers (n = 50) and nonsmokers (n = 50) in an hypnosis-based, weight-loss program. Smokers and nonsmokers achieved significant weight losses and decreases in Body Mass Index. Study 2 treated 100 women either in an hypnosis only (n = 50) or an overt aversion and hypnosis (n = 50) program. This multicomponent follow-up study replicated significant weight l...

What would be the economic effects of the UK leaving the European Union on living standards of British people? We focus on the effects of trade on welfare net of lower fiscal transfers to the EU. We use a standard quantitative static general equilibrium trade model with multiple sectors, countries and intermediates, as in Costinot and Rodriguez-Clare (2013). Static losses range between 1.13% an...

We investigate bi-valued auctions in the digital good setting and construct an explicit polynomial time deterministic auction. We prove an unconditional tight lower bound which holds even for random superpolynomial auctions. The analysis of the construction uses the adoption of the finer lens of general competitiveness which considers additive losses on top of multiplicative ones. The result im...

We provide new lower bounds on the regret that must be suffered by adversarial bandit algorithms. The new results show that recent upper bounds that either (a) hold with high-probability or (b) depend on the total loss of the best arm or (c) depend on the quadratic variation of the losses, are close to tight. Besides this we prove two impossibility results. First, the existence of a single arm ...

Closed-ring operation of distribution grids has several advantages over more common distribution grid configurations incorporating normally-open points. As power flows are able to naturally balance out between feeders of a ring shaped distribution grid, it is expected that peak loading will be reduced, and with that, grid losses. As such, investment costs can be postponed or avoided and operati...

One out of six Americans under age sixty-five lacks health insurance, a situation that imposes sizable hidden costs upon society. The poorer health and shorter lives of those without coverage account for most of these costs. Other impacts are manifested by Medicare and disability support payments, demands on the public health infrastructure, and losses of local health service capacity. We concl...

From the fundamental requirement of causality, we derive a rigorous criterion of negative refraction (left-handedness). This criterion imposes the lower limits on the electric and magnetic losses in the region of the negative refraction. If these losses are eliminated or significantly reduced by any means, including the compensation by active (gain) media, then the negative refraction will disa...

We demonstrate the use of an area selective zinc in-diffusion process as a simple and efficient technique for the fabrication of integrated photonic devices. By controlling the profile of the diffusion front and the zinc depth the insertion losses of the devices can be minimized. Using this technique an integrated 1 2 Mach–Zehnder analog modulator was fabricated. Our experimental results demons...