Florian Mayer – författare

An overview on the challenging new topic of phase-aware signal processingSpeech communication technology is a key factor in human-machine interaction, digital hearing aids, mobile telephony, and automatic speech/speaker recognition. With the proliferation of these applications, there is a growing requirement for advanced methodologies that can push the limits of the conventional solutions relying on processing the signal magnitude spectrum.Single-Channel Phase-Aware Signal Processing in Speech Communication provides a comprehensive guide to phase signal processing and reviews the history of phase importance in the literature, basic problems in phase processing, fundamentals of phase estimation together with several applications to demonstrate the usefulness of phase processing.Key features: Analysis of recent advances demonstrating the positive impact of phase-based processing in pushing the limits of conventional methods.Offers unique coverage of the historical context, fundamentals of phase processing and provides several examples in speech communication.Provides a detailed review of many references and discusses the existing signal processing techniques required to deal with phase information in different applications involved with speech.The book supplies various examples and MATLAB® implementations delivered within the PhaseLab toolbox.Single-Channel Phase-Aware Signal Processing in Speech Communication is a valuable single-source for students, non-expert DSP engineers, academics and graduate students.

An overview on the challenging new topic of phase-aware signal processing

Speech communication technology is a key factor in human-machine interaction, digital hearing aids, mobile telephony, and automatic speech/speaker recognition. With the proliferation of these applications, there is a growing requirement for advanced methodologies that can push the limits of the conventional solutions relying on processing the signal magnitude spectrum.

Single-Channel Phase-Aware Signal Processing in Speech Communication provides a comprehensive guide to phase signal processing and reviews the history of phase importance in the literature, basic problems in phase processing, fundamentals of phase estimation together with several applications to demonstrate the usefulness of phase processing.

Key features:

Analysis of recent advances demonstrating the positive impact of phase-based processing in pushing the limits of conventional methods. Offers unique coverage of the historical context, fundamentals of phase processing and provides several examples in speech communication. Provides a detailed review of many references and discusses the existing signal processing techniques required to deal with phase information in different applications involved with speech. The book supplies various examples and MATLAB® implementations delivered within the PhaseLab toolbox.

Single-Channel Phase-Aware Signal Processing in Speech Communication is a valuable single-source for students, non-expert DSP engineers, academics and graduate students.

An overview on the challenging new topic of phase-aware signal processing

Speech communication technology is a key factor in human-machine interaction, digital hearing aids, mobile telephony, and automatic speech/speaker recognition. With the proliferation of these applications, there is a growing requirement for advanced methodologies that can push the limits of the conventional solutions relying on processing the signal magnitude spectrum.

Single-Channel Phase-Aware Signal Processing in Speech Communication provides a comprehensive guide to phase signal processing and reviews the history of phase importance in the literature, basic problems in phase processing, fundamentals of phase estimation together with several applications to demonstrate the usefulness of phase processing.

Key features:

Analysis of recent advances demonstrating the positive impact of phase-based processing in pushing the limits of conventional methods. Offers unique coverage of the historical context, fundamentals of phase processing and provides several examples in speech communication. Provides a detailed review of many references and discusses the existing signal processing techniques required to deal with phase information in different applications involved with speech. The book supplies various examples and MATLAB® implementations delivered within the PhaseLab toolbox.

Single-Channel Phase-Aware Signal Processing in Speech Communication is a valuable single-source for students, non-expert DSP engineers, academics and graduate students.

Florian Mayer beleuchtet am Beispiel von vier OECD-Staaten den Funktionsverlust und Funktionswandel des Staates: die Veränderung der Arbeitsteilung zwischen Staat und Markt und den Wandel vom Leistungs- zum Regulierungs-/Gewährleistungsstaat. Im Mittelpunkt steht dabei die Privatisierungspolitik: Trotz des allgemeinen Privatisierungstrends lassen sich Unterschiede zwischen den Staatstätigkeitsprofilen der OECD-Länder erkennen. Der Autor stellt Gemeinsamkeiten, Differenzen und Konvergenzprozesse in der Privatisierungspolitik der vier OECD-Länder Frankreich, Großbritannien, Italien und Deutschland dar. Abschließend erörtert er die entscheidende Frage: Sind die Privatisierungen von Dauer oder ist eine Renationalisierungswelle zu erwarten?

Essay from the year 2001 in the subject Cultural Studies - Basics and Definitions, grade: 1 (A), University of Leeds (Department for Communication and Cultural Studies), course: Communication & Cultural Studies, language: English, abstract: After, what has been a `very long, uneven and complicated process and is currently called globalisation', world capitalism and the underlying system of sovereign states have become `the first historical system to include the entire globe within its geography'. The brands, images, and the cultural output of transnational companies of mainly North American origin are flooding almost every part of the world. What George Ritzer has called McDonaldization, `the rationalization of everyday interaction and individual identity' - the principles of a fast food restaurant that `more and more sectors of society are adopting transforms national economies into one global, interdependent economy'. As a consequence, activities, which were previously carried out within a national or regulated international framework, will from now on be carried out globally, in accordance with the needs of the global marketplace, which is steadily growing. By 1980, it was estimated that there were over 10.000 transnational corporations of all national origins, and by the early 1990s more than three times as many. In the media sector the vision or the nightmare of a global business would look like this: one single mega-corp, which delivers down its cable, to our homes, every intellectual morsel (it thinks) we need. The films, sit-coms and documentaries it has made; the news it makes; the information and e-mail services it controls; the chat-rooms it monitors and the celebrities it has made famous. In the following this essay will examine how true this fantasy of total control is in reality by looking at two German conglomerates, KirchGruppe and Bertelsmann AG, which are currently expanding in Europe and the United States. Furthermore, the cultural effetcs of globalisation will be looked at in this context.

Seminar paper from the year 2001 in the subject Communications - Movies and Television, grade: 1 (A), University of Leeds (Communication and Cultural Studies department), language: English, abstract: At the beginning of the new century, with the ever greater interconnectedness of people through communication technology and the shift from material resources to information as indicator of the wealth of a nation, the common cultural policy debate about the control and financing of broadcasting continues on a broad level. Fuelled by the mediated attacks on the United States on September 11th the debate about whether there should be public service broadcasting and a licence fee or whether broadcasting would be better served by the market alone, fills pages in newspapers again (e.g. the three-days special in the G2 section of The Guardian about the state of British television, 19., 20. and 21.11.2001). Common accusations public television faces are that it allows itself to become increasingly commercialised and that it converges with the choice of programmes of private companies, thus violating its own programme commitments. In the following the German media landscape will be looked at to find out how broadcasting is being served in this European country and if the system 'in some respects really has model features'.

Seminar paper from the year 2002 in the subject Sociology - Media, Art, Music, grade: 1 (A), University of Leeds (Culural Studies department), course: Media Theory, language: English, abstract: In many parts of our world today people dream a dream of magic and illusion, prosperity and happiness, which is essentially an American dream, exported by the wizards of branding, by companies like McDonald's, Nike, Coca-Cola and especially The Walt Disney Company (WDC). Known for being `the inventor of modern branding' and `modern synergy', the Disney company `has managed to insinuate its characters, stories, and image as good, clean, fun enterprise into the consciousness of millions around the earth'. The WDC today boasts revenue of more than $25 billion from its operations in media networks, consumer products, studio entertainment, Internet, and parks and resorts, and employs 120,000 people worldwide. Furthermore, it can be seen as `the single most powerful and influential force in the globalization of Western culture'. Having themed parks in California (Disneyland, Anaheim), Florida (Walt Disney World, Orlando), France (Disneyland and Disney Studios Paris), Japan (Tokyo Disney Resort), China (Hong Kong Disneyland), and as rumours suggest having plans for parks in Shanghai and Delhi, Disney spreads its `value-laden environments' across the world. Thereby, it is `extending and expanding Classic Disney - `the Disney universe' or `Disney vision' - into a material and physical existence, as well as 'providing a strong dose of All-American ideology'. Since the theme parks `contribute significantly to Disney's overall corporate goals, providing ongoing revenues and promotion for other parts of the corporate empire' it is worthwhile to closer examine the parks which are viewed by many observers as `showcases for postmodernism' and `panegyrics to capitalism'.

Seminar paper from the year 2002 in the subject Cultural Studies - European Studies, grade: 1 (A), University of Leeds (Cultural Studies department), course: Carnival, language: English, abstract: Carnival, as an ideal type identified by Cohen, 'is a season of festive popular events that are characterized by revelry, playfulness, and overindulgence in eating, drinking and sex, culminating in one or two days of massive street processions by masqued individuals and groups, playing or dancing ecstatically to the accompaniment of loud and cheerful music. Also, every carnival is a place in which 'hegemonous and opposition political formations [...], alliance and enmity, consensus and conflict are expressed like a grand joking relationship'. In the light of this it is worthwhile to examine contemporary carnivals as movements of cultural production and places of cultural policy and contestation. In this case study the author focusses on a very recent offspring of carnival culture, which has in a short period of time outnumbered the traditional carnivals in London's Notting Hill district and Trinidad, and has at one time been the biggest street dance event and youth meeting in the world. The Love Parade in Berlin, initially held as a birthday party for a Berlin DJ, Dr Motte (Mathias Roeingh) in 1989, has developed from an underground electronic dance music event (or better demonstration) and the voice of the (German) techno and rave scene, often referred to as 'Generation X', to a mass event with 1.5 million visitors in 1999. Today, the parade, has been turned into a 'global brand' with offshoot events held in Vienna, Mexico City, Leeds, Tel Aviv and plans for parades in Cape Town and Hong Kong. In the following the origins, the increasing commodification and the cultural as well as political significance of the Love Parade are being examined.

Essay from the year 2003 in the subject Cultural Studies - Basics and Definitions, grade: 81/100, University of Leeds (Trinity and All Saints College), course: Advanced Cultural Analysis, language: English, abstract: By a general sense, 'globalisation' has been referred to the emergence of a 'global cultural system'. It suggests that 'global culture' is brought about by a variety of social and cultural developments such as the existence of a world satellite information system, the emergence of global patterns of consumption and consumerism, the cultivation of cosmopolitan life-styles, the emergence of global sports such as football and cricket world cups, spread of world tourism, the decline of the sovereignty of nation-states, world wide health problems such as AIDS, establishment of systems like League of Nations, United Nations and more importantly, the global consciousness of a single space - the 'global village'. Much academic labour has been expended on the question of whether globalisation in itself means homogenisation, or whether we are seeing a much more complex process of proactive and reactive patterns emerging, sometimes giving prominence to levelling factors, at other times privileging local, regional or national adaptive, transformative or oppositional countercurrents - or possibly even giving rise to multicultural arrangements and practices or different strategies of identity negotiation. It has been noted that the emerging global culture is not only homogenising but also creating new forms of literature, music, and art, in which, for example, the former colonies 'write back' - to use the expression of Edward Said. Salman Rushdie is perhaps one of the most prominent examples, mixing traditional Indian myths and experiences with cosmopolitan London views. Also, new music emerges in cosmopolitan centres like Paris and London and also in Germany - where, amongst others, African, Afro-American, Asian and European rhythms, styles, languages and dialects meet. This hybridisation of cultures is being discussed here in more detail by examining the music genre of hip-hop and its development in Germany.

Research Paper (undergraduate) from the year 2003 in the subject Communications - Media and Politics, Politic Communications, grade: 84, University of Leeds (Communication and Cultural Studies), course: Advanced Cultural Production and Policy, language: English, abstract: The early internet, whose invention some authors compare to the revolution the exploitation of the power of steam brought about, was developed in the US in an university and military context and mainly financed by ARPA, the US Department of Defence Research Agency. In the 1970s in the US thought was given to the need to back up computing systems in case of nuclear attack which resulted in yoking the machines together, which then formed part of what we today call the internet. Its development from there has been viewed as being in the hands of its users. The fundamental principles of the internet were 'free circulation of information, belief in the productiveness of confrontation and interaction, autonomy, and individual responsibility'. What is more, because the academic and countercultural computing cultures were made up of intellectuals, these cultures were able to produce accounts of themselves with some advocates highlighting the capacity of the internet to (re)establish community and foster local cultures. In the following pages we will be looking at how the internet has altered existing social relations of production and consumption. It is being examined in how far the internet offers the opportunity to challenge the authority of the producer, democratise production capability, and empower consumers and in how far it remains a public space free of interference, both from government control and commercialism.

Diploma Thesis from the year 2003 in the subject Communications - Public Relations, Advertising, Marketing, Social Media, grade: 75, University of Leeds (Trinity & All Saints College), course: Media Dissertation, language: English, abstract: For better or for worse, we live in what has been called a brandscape - a branded world - today. We are at a time in history when brands go beyond being business platforms to becoming symbols of our times. An increasing proportion of our lives is mediated by brands like McDonald's, Sony and Budweiser, which often reflect the changing values of our society. Brands are more than just advertising, they are part of our culture. Think of Andy Warhol and Campbell's Soup and Norman Rockwell and Coca-Cola. Think of the digital brandscape with Google, Facebook and YouTube - brands knowing more about who we are, what we look like, who our friends are and what our dreams and wishes are, than any other brand, organisation or company, ever knew before. Products, people, countries - Britain, for example, tried to become a brand with its "e;Cool Britannia"e; slogan - and companies are all racing to turn themselves into brands - to make their image more likeable and understandable. Furthermore, brands dominate our working lives, and corporate logos are now in every civic space, from schools, universities and playgrounds to hospitals and art galleries. And this brandscape can be considered to be global: walk down a street in any city in the world and there will be enough brands to make you feel at home. At the same time, brands and branding culture represents, among other things, an issue of culture and politics. In some cases, brands have rightly or wrongly become a political battleground. Most recently in 2007, demonstrating left-wing youths in Copenhagen smashed outlets of global food and entertainment chains, over a conflict with the city government that sold their youth centre (Ungdomshuset) to a Christian sect, which tore it down. Thus, to discuss the role and future of (international and global) brands in society has become even more important. The following text examines whether brands as we know them are dead and makes recommendations to brand-owners over and beyond corporate social responsibility (CSR).

Seminar paper from the year 2003 in the subject Business economics - Offline Marketing and Online Marketing, grade: 79, University of Leeds (Trinity & All Saints College), course: Advanced Marketing, language: English, abstract: This paper presents a thorough marketing plan for the no-frills, low-cost airline EasyJet by following a professional and widely-used and accepted marketing planning structure. To familiarise the reader with the airline industry as well as EasyJet, the company under study here, the text starts with an introduction to EasyJet's corporate history and its current position within the airline industry. Then, an external and internal analysis of EasyJet s business follows which culminates in a SWOT analysis. The paper concludes with a marketing plan recommendation to further EasyJet s growth in international air transport.

Essay from the year 2003 in the subject Cultural Studies - European Studies, grade: 86, University of Leeds (Trinity & All Saints College), course: National and Global Culture, language: English, abstract: For at least the last two-and-a-half decades, critical theory in the humanities and social sciences has been concerned, amongst other things, with exploring the myths and fictions of nationalist thought. Instead of the coherence of 'imagined communities', or even the unity of the individual subject, it emphasises the multiple, shifting, fragmented and often contradictory modes of identification that characterise what are referred to variously as the 'postmodern', 'postcolonial', 'posthistorical' or 'postideological' conditions of the contemporary world. Yet recent history, specifically the decade following the end of the Cold War, has seen a rise in nationalist sentiments and struggles, and numerous wars have been fought over inclusive and exclusive conceptions of identity. Far from disappearing, arguments about national belonging and cultural difference have had increased prominence in the 1990s. In Europe, the reunified Germany, which had been at the centre of the ideological struggle between the East and the West during the Cold War has seen a resurgence of nationalism often manifested in aggression and discrimination against minorities. Contemporary bias crime in Germany increased significantly after reunification and remained at a relatively high, though fluctuating, level for the past decade. As a consequence, Germany today is not only struggling to come to terms with its National-Socialist past but also with the recent uprisings in nationalism and xenophobia and competing demands of difference and unity as it seeks to reconstruct itself in more humane and equitable ways. These issues are no less relevant today as we approach the end of 2007 - one year after a celebrated World Cup event, were Germany proclaimed "e;Zu Gast bei Freunden"e; - a year which saw racist incidents against minorities at so-called "e;Volksfesten"e; and other places erupt once again. In the following pages an attempt has been made to examine the causes and roots of the lasting crisis in German society by putting forward economic, psychological, political, historical, and cultural explanations.

Essay from the year 2003 in the subject Cultural Studies - Basics and Definitions, grade: 80, University of Leeds (Trinity & All Saints College), course: Cultural Analysis, language: English, abstract: At the beginning of the new century the perception that we are living at a time of deep change, in practise as well as in thought, is widespread. In recent years the social and human sciences proclaimed that we are entering a time of 'endism', a period of post-capitalism, post-industrialism, post-socialism and above all of post-modernism and post-modernity. The number of different 'post' labels suggests a deep uncertainty about the present as well as the future and agreement between the different theories exist only in the view that 'things are not what they used to be'. In the following, this paper aims to examine in what sense we might be living through posthistorical times.

Examination Thesis from the year 2003 in the subject Business economics - Offline Marketing and Online Marketing, grade: 78, University of Leeds (Trinity and All Saints College), course: Adnaced Marketing, language: English, abstract: At the heart of the traditional approach to business strategy lies the assumption that by applying a set of analytical tools, executives can predict the future of any business accurately enough to allow them to choose a clear strategic direction. However, what happens when the environment is so uncertain as is more and more the case today in our fast-paced society that no amount of backward-oriented amount of data and analysis will allow business leaders to predict the future. One approach that has been applied successfully more frequently over the last couple of years is future scenario planning, where different business environment scenarios are imagined, developed and possible business stratgies planned out by internal and external experts. In this paper firstly a thourough competitive analysis of the German beer market as well as the company under study - Karlsberg Brauerei, a local South-West German brewery - is performed. Then, two distinct future scenarios are being developed from the data and analysis. These future business scenarios are followed by detailed strategic plans that recommend different ways the company can move to take advantage of future developments in its market.

Essay from the year 2003 in the subject Cultural Studies - Basics and Definitions, grade: 82, University of Leeds (Trinity and All Saints College), course: National and Global Culture, language: English, abstract: It has been argued that individual and national identities are becoming increasingly fragmented under conditions of globalisation, that with accelerated global flows of commodities, culture and people, we become increasingly disembedded and rootless. It is argued here that amid this increasing fragmentation, or perhaps in reaction to it, certain narratives work to anchor national identities and local culture in what is perceived to be tradition. This paper examines the relationship between globalisation and the construction of national and local identities in the advertisements of several Western and non-Western countries, like Canada and Germany and Malaysia, Thailand and Ladakh in the western Himalayas. In this paper advertising is being seen as a part of the culture industries, which play an important role in the creation of community. In many scholarly accounts it has been asserted that globalisation and the spread of multinational corporations and their products and services are leading to a homogenisation of cultural diversity and to an increasing uniformity of tastes, fashions and thoughts around the world. The globalisation of advertising, which we are going to look at in the following pages, however, produces different outcomes for national and local cultures and identities in many cases.

Seminar paper from the year 2003 in the subject Leadership and Human Resources - Miscellaneous, grade: 80 - very good, University of Leeds (Leeds Business School), course: Interpersonal Communications, language: English, abstract: As the world is more and more becoming a 'global village', meaning that goods, people and ideas move more easily and frequently between places, it has become of great importance for successful businesses in the international arena to employ a range of staff that are able to communicate effectively with people from different national and cultural backgrounds. It has been said that 'effective communication is the hallmark of dynamic, productive leadership' (Fisher, 2002). Furthermore, a dynamic leader is one who not only takes responsibility for what he or she says, but for how it is heard and experienced by others. By definition, communication is the exchange of thoughts, messages or information. More importantly however, our oral communications are revelations of who or where we are in any given moment, whether directly or indirectly expressed. An effective communicator is described to be a person 'who has the ability to detect and use such revelations to achieve a mutually beneficial outcome' (ibid.) for all parties involved. In the following, this essay aims to establish what steps an individual can take to become a more effective communicator with a range of people from different countries. Firstly, we will be looking at the meta-dimension of culture, where people s different behaviours, values and worldviews are formed to better understand sources for potential conflict between different cultures. Then, we move on to the interpersonal dimension of communication by introducing the Johari window model, which illustrates relationships in terms of awareness. Following from this, we will be looking at individual s different learning styles and motivational factors which have an influence on interpersonal work relations. Subsequently, more concrete advice for effective communication, such as how to behave assertively in negotiations, is given.