African American woman working towards better education Research Paper

African American woman working towards better education - Research Paper Example The intensity of pain and discrimination propelled the African American women to fight for liberation in the United States of America. This paper looks into the struggle for African American women to have access to education and voting rights during the civil rights movements. In doing that, this paper examines seven sources. Allen Zita’s account of black women leaders in the social privileges lobby groups contains details on the hardships racial segregation brought to the national stability. Bramlett-Solomon gave an account of Fannie Lou Hamer and civil struggle in the South. Holmes-Norton gives a detailed account of the civil struggle in the South but narrows down to Fannie Lou Hamer courage. She seems to agree with Bramlett-Solomon in many instances. Raymond D’Angelo shared readings and interpretations of the social privileges struggle and the power of political organizations during the struggle. Janice Hamlet gave a detailed account of the unrelenting spirit of the struggle and Fannie Lou Hamer. She appears to be more detailed that Bramlett-Solomon. They wanted to liberate themselves from social oppression. Davis Houck and Dixon analyze the civil unrest happenings from 1954-1965. They give an account of the women who participated in the civil lobby group and their contribution. Angela Jones sheds light of the Niagara movement and the social privileges movement. ... According to A. Zita (1996), the urge to liberate themselves caused them to agitate for freedom and equal rights in the society. The African American men faced similar oppression. The civil rights movement was marked by women being relegated to negligible positions in the society. The men were always at the front lines of leadership, in spite of the fact that it was women who spearheaded the Birmingham bus boycott. Analysis The source is credible since it been confirmed by other sources. The African American women instigated the freedom rides and demonstrations. Women rose to be significant political representatives. Men controlled positions of leadership in organizations and often ignored the contributions from their women counterparts. A telling example is in the year 1963, at the apex of the social constitutional rights lobby group, tens of thousands of black women participated in March on Washington. The women included Fannie Lou Hamer and Jon Ann Robinson. Ella Baker was a women activist who became influential in the movement. However, not a single woman was invited by all male march committee when it came to making a speech in front of the crowd. Bramle1tt-Solomon The women believed that they should be given equal chances with men in all avenues. T2he women were involved in the movements by supporting their male counterparts from behind the scenes. They were able to get fulfillment through supporting the male leaders and activists. Others like Ericka Huggins, Elaine Brown, Shakur and Cleaver remained stubborn. They rejected positions that were of little consequence. According to these women activists, preparing food, typing minutes for the meetings, providing moral support to the male activists, washing dishes and sexually gratifying men were

Development of Chinese economic Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 9500 words

Development of Chinese economic - Dissertation Example Phenomenal growth of Chinese economy over years significantly affects the world economy due to its sheer size and wider domestic market. The stability in domestic economy is very important for the Chinese companies to embark on programs to promote its products internationally. Any slowdown in domestic economy will severely affect the companies’ ability to carry forward its mission in development of international brands. The negative image created by counterfeiting consumer products by Chinese companies in the international markets is just one of the main obstacles in developing international brands. â€Å"Whenever you hear about counterfeit merchandise, you almost always think about China (Strusiewicz, 2012). The top international brands of EU, Japan and US have been assiduously developed over years and founded on quality and corporate social responsibility with concerns for all the stakeholders including consumers. â€Å"As a member of the World Trade Organization, China be nefits from access to foreign markets. But relations with trading partners have been strained over China's huge trade surplus and the piracy of goods† (BBC, 2013). ... Chinese Companies and Development of Global Brands Contents 1.0 Introduction 3 1.1 Background 3 1.2 Objectives of the study 4 1.3 Research questions 4 2.0 Literature Review 5 2.1 Chinese exports, development of global brands and economy 5 2.2 Motivations for internationalization strategies 12 2.3 Internationalization strategies adopted by Chinese firms 17 2.4 Lack of Chinese global brands 22 2.5 Chinese economy and factors influencing competition and global markets 26 2.6 How Chinese can develop global brands 31 3.0 Methodology 35 4.0 Analysis and findings 37 5.0 Conclusion 41 6.0 References 43 7.0 Appendices 48 Internationalization of Chinese Companies and Development of Global Brands 1. Introduction 1.1 Introduction In the past 30 years, Chinese economic growth has become the world's third largest economy. Now China holds more than two trillion U.S. dollars of foreign exchange reserves, and has become the largest trading country and foreign direct investment destination. This proje ct analyzes the economic situation in China, its relationship to the development of global brands by Chinese companies and its impact on world markets. China is the world's third largest economy, currently accounting for about 5% of the world's GDP. However, the country consumes one-third of the world's coal, steel and cotton, as well as nearly half of the cement. Chinese coal consumption is more than sum total of the United States, India and Russia. Ten years ago, China was an oil exporting country, but now has become the world's third largest oil importer and the second largest oil consuming country. The growth of Chinese economy is very important from the global perspective due to its impact on world economy. Therefore, the main objectives of the proposed research are to study the status

Export Potential Of Thai Canned Tuna To Japan

Export Potential Of Thai Canned Tuna To Japan Chapter I: Introduction Canned sea foods industry is a value-added industry for both domestic and imported raw products before export to foreign countries. It has been one of Thais exported agricultural industries which grown in value continuously. Canned tuna industry is the most important canned sea foods in Thailand. It has a value of 84 percent of the total canned sea foods export value in 2008. Thailand has been the worlds largest exporter of canned tuna for the last ten years, represents about 40 percent of worlds canned tuna export amount (EXIM Bank, 2009). Japan has been one of the major markets of Thai canned tuna export for very long period of times. Japans rate of import has been increasing almost every year. It imported 1.6 million cartons in 1991 and increased to about 2.6 million cartons in 1995 which Thailand was the number one exporter. Thailand held the market shares of 53.4 percent in 1991, increased to the highest of 71.8 percent in1994, and decreased to 53.43 percent in 1995 (Boonmasu, 1998). More recently, Thailand still held most of the Japan canned tuna market shares (50.9 percent) in 2008, fallowed by Indonesia (23.2 percent) and Philippines (16.7 percent) (Global Trade, 2008). However, nowadays Thailand is facing the problems of quantity and price uncertainty including import tax in exportation of canned tuna to Japan. In the last quarter of 2008 (October December) the export of canned tuna from Thailand experienced a negative trend as a result of the economic crisis. Except for the USA, exports to other major markets showed sharp decline during this period including Japan which decreases about 7.8 percent (Josupeit, 2009). Even though Thailand is the worlds largest canned tuna exporter, amount of tuna in Thai water area alone is not enough for the canned tuna industry so Thailand has to import raw material (tuna) from other countries for up to 70 percent of the total tuna input, this results as the high cost of production because about 73 percent of canned tuna production cost come from chilled or frozen tuna (Jintatam, 1997) Indonesia and Philippines are the major competitors that have some advantages over Thailand. These two countries have abundance of tuna resource and low labor cost which give them the advantage of lower cost of production. However, their production forces are still far off Thais total canned tuna production. International trade agreements like the Japan-Thailand Economic Partnership Agreement (JTEPA) and the ASEAN-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (AJCEP) are the major factors affecting import tax of canned tuna in Japan that needed to be studied. Japan has decreased import tax for Thai canned tuna from 4.3 percent to 3.2 percent in 2009 and will decrease to 0 percent in 2012 under JTEPA. However, Thailand still has to import raw material (tuna) from other countries and JTEPA only affects tuna that been caught from Thais boat or IOTC (Indian Ocean Tuna Commission) members, so Thailand cannot get full advantage from the agreement. It is expected that AJCEP agreement will increase advantage of Thai canned tuna export to Japan after its enforcement in 2009. From the above reasons, it is important to study Japans canned tuna market nature, market share, comparative advantage of Thailand, and related trade agreements to make a decision of expansion the export of Thais canned tuna market to Japan in the future. Objectives To study market nature, change of growth rate and market shares, and competitiveness of Thai canned tuna in Japan. To study effects of international trade agreements; JTEPA and AJCEP to Thai canned tuna export to Japan. To analyze relationships between frozen tuna prices and amount of Thai canned tuna export to Japan. Contribution/Benefits This study provides knowledge of canned tuna market in Japan including growth rate and changes of market share to know potential and competitiveness of Thai exports. And also provides knowledge of factors effecting export value change to find errors which could be used by exporters and other researchers for further study. Methodology and Variables The study gathers related secondary data from previous researches, journals and thesis, including statistics from both the government and public sectors e.g. EXIM bank, Department of Export Promotion, Department of Business Economics, Department of Fisheries, and Food and Agriculture Organization (FOA). Descriptive Analysis will be used to describe nature of canned tuna market export from Thailand to Japan, effects of JTEPA and AJCEP on canned tuna export, growth rate and market shares of Thai canned tuna export to Japan, and SWOT analysis, to see competitiveness between Thailand and its major competitors; Indonesia and Philippines, by using statistic data in the form of chart, percentage, and table to support the description. Grangers Causality Test is used to examine relationship of frozen tuna price and amount of Thai canned tuna exports to Japan. If past X contains useful information (in addition to the information in past Y) to predict future Y, so X granger causes Y. Z fails to Granger-causes Y if: MSE[E(xt|It-1)] = MSE[E(xt|Jt-1)] Here It-1 contains past information on Y and Z while Jt-1 contains past information on Y only. Regression: xt=c+ÃŽÂ ±xt-1+ÃŽÂ ²yt-1+ut Test H0: ÃŽÂ ²=0 Chapter II: Literature Review Several published literatures had examined export potential of Thai canned tuna to foreign markets such as the study of Charoenkhwan (2003) which studied on the general condition of canned tuna marketing in U.S.A., market share of Thai canned tuna in U.S.A. and factors that impact on demand for input of U.S.A. to Thai canned tuna. The result of studying general condition indicated that Thailand was the first ranking of the world in canned tuna industry. They also analyzed on changing of export value of canned tuna by using Constant Market Share model (CMS) indicated that Albacore, Yellow fin and the other tuna of Thailand had exports average growth more than U.S.A. trade effect. For an analysis on factors that impact on demand for input of U.S.A. to Thai canned tuna was dependent on import price in Thai canned tuna adjusting by consumer price index of U.S.A. Boonmasu (1998) aimed to study the nature, together with the problem and the obstacles of the production and export, including the study of market competitive advantage of Thai canned tuna product by comparing among the majors competitors within this region; Philippines and Indonesia. Her study emphasized on important export markets; the USA, EU, Japan and the world markets. Quantitative analysis, descriptive analysis and revealed comparative advantage (RCA) are the major tools she used to analyze the gathered secondary data during 1991-1995. The outcome of the study shows that Thailand has to import the frozen tuna around 70 percent of the volume needed for production. The analysis of the main export markets of Thailand has found that the product is more competitive comparing to the other competitors. However, such competitive ability and advantage seem to be lessened consistently. Study of Kijboonchoo and Kalayanakupt (2003) attempted to measure the comparative advantage and competitive strength of Thailand in exporting canned tuna to the world market between 1982 and 1998. They also used revealed comparative advantage (RCA) as the major tool. Their study shows that Thailand was the largest exporter of canned tuna in the world market between 1982 and 1998. Thailands comparative advantage has been decreasing in all the studied periods. Also market shares in terms of export volume and value have fallen significantly in the studied periods. Kaewchuey (2007) studied production and marketing of palm fruit and crude palm oil in Thailand, and analyzed palm oil price relationship between different market levels. The Vector Error Correction Model (VECM) and the Ganger Causality Test were employed to examine the horizontal and vertical price relationships of palm oil. The results showed that all price series used in this study were integrated of order I. Therefore, the Cointegration Test was applied to test for long term price relationships between the markets. The results indicated that there were long term relationships between international prices of crude palm oil and wholesale prices, and between wholesale prices and palm fruit prices in local markets. The result from the Grangers Causality Tests revealed that vertical price relationships existed. International prices of crude palm oil Granger-caused wholesale prices, which, in turn, Granger-caused palm fruit prices in local markets. The results implied that the price of palm oil at a higher market level could influence the price at a lower market level. Chapter III: Japan Canned Tuna Market Market Characteristics Growth Rate and Market Shares Table 3.1: Market shares of canned tuna in major market countries in the year 2008 (Unit: percents) USA Australia Japan Thailand 46.4 96.2 50.9 Indonesia 6.2 1 23.2 Philippines 12.5 0.7 16.7 Others 34.9 2.1 9.2 Total 100 100 100 Source: Global Trade, 2008 Table 3.2: Thailands frozen tuna imports 2007-2008 (separated by species) (Unit: Q in 1,000 tons, V in billion Baht) Species 2007 Q 2007 V 2008 Q 2008 V % change Q % change V Skipjack 403.1 16,169.7 498.9 28,202.9 23.8 74.4 Yellow Fin 84 4,477.4 82.2 5,356.5 -2.1 19.6 Albacore 32.2 2,019.4 24.2 1,928.4 -24.8 -4.5 Big Eye 2.8 113.2 4.2 221.1 50 -95.3 Others 0.8 18.9 0.1 7.2 16.6 -61.9 Total 522.9 22,789.6 609.6 35,716.1 Source: INFOFISH Chapter IV: International Trade Agreements JTEPA AJCEP Chapter V: SWOT Analysis Strength Weakness Opportunity Threats Chapter VI: Grangers Causality Test If past X contains useful information (in addition to the information in past Y) to predict future Y, we say X granger causes Y. Note that Grangers causality test may or may not indicate causal effect of x on y (could you think of some examples?) Z fails to Granger-causes y if: MSE[E(xt|It-1)] = MSE[E(xt|Jt-1)] Here It-1 contains past information on Y and Z while Jt-1 contains past information on Y only. Regression: xt=c+ÃŽÂ ±xt-1+ÃŽÂ ²yt-1+ut Test H0: ÃŽÂ ²=0 Chapter VII: Conclusion and Discussion Kijboonchoo and Kalayanakupt (2003) had made suggestions of six possible ways to solve the Thais canned tuna problems and obstacles that should be done by both government and private sector; the problem of the lack of domestic raw materials should be eliminated or reduced, production plants and procedure should be upgraded, Thai producers and exporters should build up their own brands and trademarks, Producers and exporters should adjust their plants, products and production procedures to meet the importing countries standards and regulations, the related government unit should provide more information to the Thai producers and exporters, and they should have the web site in order to provide their information to customers.

Jean De Meun :: Essays Papers

Jean De Meun Jean de Meun, a French poet, was born in 1240 in Meung-sur-Loire and died in Paris around 1305. Some sources state that the name Clopinel comes from the fact that he was lame while others claim that it was his last name. Jean was a member of the bourgeois class, educated at the University of Paris, a Christian, and an admirer of Latin authors such as Cicero. He had knowledge of several languages and this is noted by the fact that he translated "The Consolation of Philosophy" into medieval French. Other than these facts, little is known about his life. His works were satirical and allegorical and influenced later authors such as Geoffrey Chaucer. Jean is most famously known for his work on the allegorical, 21,750-line poem, "The Roman de la Rose" ("Romance of the Rose"). This poem was started by Guillaume de Lorris in 1225 and completed by Jean de Meun four decades later. Lorris wrote roughly four thousand verses before his death and Jean added some 18,000 lines afterwards . This poem is considered to be the most important work to come from Old French literary tradition and it enjoyed a considerable amount of success among medieval scholars, with over two hundred manuscripts made of it at that time. However, scholars today have a hard time understanding the true meaning of the poem. "The Romance of the Rose" was translated into Italian, Dutch, and English by the late fourteenth century, a marvel for a literary work of that time period. Jean strove to convey to the nobility ideas of courtly love and other medieval ideas and as a result, his work converted the poem into a medium to communicate topics and ideas that would captivate his readers. The text contains topics ranging from classical heroes and theories on astronomy, to the importance of the middle class and problems such as greed. Some of these topics created controversy, but nonetheless held the reader's interest. In the poem, Jean tries to dissuade the lover, but the god of Love later reproaches the lover or lending an ear to Reason. In the course of the lover's turmoil he has occasion to reflect, among other things, that possessions are burdens, that charity and justice are by no means equal, that power and virtue never go together, and that, even in destroying, Nature carries on her struggle against death.

Case Study: King of the Hill Essay

1) What leadership traits account for Denny Hill’s success? Denny is using the perfect traits of a teacher keeping the swim team interested so they do not lose focus in the meeting or the workouts. Denny also shows his team confidence, in himself as well as in his team. Due to this Denny has the faith of his team behind him and their truest in his abilities. 2) How would you describe Denny Hill’s leadership abilities? I believe Denny developed leadership abilities through hard work and practice, because the first year swim team did not do so good. Denny learned from his mistakes and took various steps to make himself a better leader. He also encouraged his swim team members to pick up leadership roles. 3) Leadership includes administrative skills, interpersonal skills, and conceptual skills. How does Denny Hill stack up on these skills? As a teacher Denny is well versed in administrative skills as he has to see to grades, progress reports, and even evaluating student progress on a daily basis. Denny’s interpersonal skills get tested on a daily basis with peer and student interaction. Denny has conceptual skills in that what he did for the swim team the previous year did not work. He had to re-evaluate the situation and come up with another workable plan for the swimmers. Denny is doing a good job utilizing these skills and taking the swim team in the right direction. 4) How does Denny Hill integrate task and relationship behaviors in his leadership? Denny does have task behaviors in his leadership as he has planning to do for the swim team which include team meetings. There is also relationship behaviors included in his leadership when he assigns the students to become a part of the leadership team. 5) From a relational perspective, how would you describe Denny Hill’s leadership? Denny Hill’s leadership is interactive where the swim team has the ability to share leadership roles, authority, and influence. 6) In what way does Denny Hill’s coaching exemplify leadership as an influence process? Denny utilized his influence on the swim team so they can reach common goals. Denny wants a winning swim team and the swimmers want to win, as well as, want to make their leader proud. Reference Northouse, P. (2015). Introduction to leadership: Concepts and practice (Third ed.). Los Angeles: Sage.

Introduction to Ambisonics

The development of Ambisonic surround sound systems started in the 1970’s. They were based on a mathematical model of directional psychoacoustics, which was developed by Michael Gerzon. The model which he developed, described directional psychoacoustics in a mathematical form, so that it could conveniently be used in calculations relating to surround sound system (Mallham 10) Ambisonics can be defined as a method of recording information about a soundfield and reproducing it over some form of loudspeaker array so as to produce the impression of hearing a true three dimensional sound image.Simply put, Ambisionics is a system of recording and playback of sound fields. The model was developed by Gerzon. It used several previous theories of loaclization, and hence was more directional as compared to other systems, resulting in benefits such as reduced listening fatigue, good inter-loudspeaker imaging with reduced susceptibility to the detent effect – the tendency for appare nt source locations to be pulled towards the closest loudspeaker. This later feature improved image stability (Cotterell ch-1 16)Ambisonics is basically a two-part system of recording and playback, which is built upon strong mathematical foundations and theories of human hearing. The term soundfield, mentioned above, is a word used for describing sounds in the environment. It usually implies 3 dimensions. For recording in Ambisonics, an array of microphone capsules are built into one microphone called a Soundfield microphone. This Soundfield mike recording are then processed and encoded into a special format, called B-format, which may be written on and distributed using many different types of media.In the endy, a decoder is used to process and recover the soundfield, This can be played back in many types of listening setup, giving a unique output for every speaker available (Adams 2) As is seen in above, Ambisonics employs a signal set, known as â€Å"B-format†. This is bas ed on the principle of encoding direction, without reference to the loudspeaker layout used for reproduction. This results in Ambisonic systems being adaptable to multiple loudspeaker layouts. Using an Ambisonic decoder, appropriate loudspeaker feed signals can be derived from the transmitted B-format signals.Generally the number of loudspeakers exceeds the number of B-format signals. This is done to obtain good performance from Ambisonic systems, since in the number loudspeakers usually gives better results (Adams 2) It is observed that the Brain can process Soundfield information in several ways. However, much of this processing is seen to rely on the differences between sounds reaching the ears. As an example, if a sound is played to on the right side, because the right ear is closer, it will first receive the sound than the other ear.This is termed as Interaural Time Delay (ITD). Again, in this case the sound would be quieter in the left ear, not only because it is farther away, but because the body and head will absorb some of the sound. This is termed as Interaural Level Difference (ILD). The brain also pays attention to the timing between and relative loudness of sounds coming directly from the source and sounds reflected off of walls and other surfaces. This means that sources that are farther away tend to have more reflected energy than direct energy reaching the ears.These ear-brain interactions are called psychoacoustics (Adams 2). When a Soundfield recording is done, more efforts are made to gather and record as much information about a very small volume of space, as possible. This information comprises of just – measurements of air pressure and air pressure changes. By just adding an omnidirectional microphone to the pair of figure eight units, it is seen that one can capture all this information, with simple low order microphones. The three hree capsules should be acoustically at exactly the same place in the soundfield i.e. , The capsules are arranged to be truly coincident. This becomes even more difficult when theer is an addition of an up-down oriented figure eight capsule in order to record height information.. This problem has been overcome in the Soundfield microphone which uses four small capsules situated on the surface of a notional sphere to sample the incoming sounds (Mallham 12) Building upon recording techniques for stereo developed by Alan Blumlein in the 1930s, Ambisonics extends this recording of information into the third dimension.The idea is to record not only the pressure at a location, but also the pressure changes in different directions – front-back, left-right, and up-down. With proper decoding of this information using mathematics as well as psychoacoustics, a soundfield can be produced by speakers in the room, which reconstructs what was going on in that small volume at the listener's location (Adams 2). In Ambisonics the horizontal figure eight units are mounted front-back and side- to-side rather than at 45 degrees (Adams 2).Basic Ambisonics Technology The Ambisonic surround sound system can be considered as a two part technological solution to the problems of encoding sound directions, and reproducing them over loudspeaker systems in such a way that the listeners ears are under the impression that the sounds they are gearing are from speakers which are correctly located. Technically speaking, this can take place over a 360 degree horizontal only soundstage i. e. pantophonic systems or over the full sphere i. e. periphonic systems (Mallham 14)Ambisonic offers a hierarchy of encoding schemes from a stereo compatible UHJ format (Sinclair 27) There is no need to consider the actual details of the reproduction system when doing the original recording or synthesis Encoding Equations – The position of a sound within a three dimensional soundfield is encoded in the four signals which make up the B format: X = cosA. cosB (front-back) Y = sinA. cosB (left-right) Z = sinB (up-down) W = 0. 707 (pressure signal) Where, A is the anti-clockwise angle from centre front and B is elevation (Mallham 14)B- Format A number of different signal sets may be used at some stage of an Ambisonic system: A-format signals – The output signals of the microphone capsules making up a soundfield microphone. This signal set is not available to the outside world; it is utilised only within the soundfield microphone itself. C-format signal – The signal set which is conveyed to the listener via a recording or transmission medium, when it differs from B-format, is termed C- format. The â€Å"C† is sometimes said to stand for â€Å"consumer†.The C-format signal sets were proposed as part of the initial development of Ambisonics are together known as the UHJ hierarchy (Cotterell Ap-2 16) With Ambisonics, a sound field is decomposed into spherical harmonic components, termed W, X, Y and Z. These are collectively called B-Format (Leese 7). B-fo rmat is based on the principle of encoding direction, without reference to the loudspeaker layout used for reproduction. As a result of this, ambisonic systems are adaptable to multiple loudspeaker layouts; an ambisonic decoder derives appropriate loudspeaker feed signals from the transmitted B-format signals.To obtain good performance from ambisonic systems, the number of loudspeakers should exceed the number of B-format signals used; a further increase in the number of loudspeakers will usually give improved results (Cotterell ch-1 18) B- format signals can also be expressed in terms of derivatives of sound pressure. The nth-order B-format signal set consists of the signals obtained from coincident microphones having polar patterns corresponding to the (n +1) linearly independent spherical harmonics of all orders up to and including n.A signal set of any order can be extended to a higher order merely by augmenting it with additional signals; it is not necessary to change any of th e existing signals. Thus, an nth order soundfield microphone is distinguished by its ability to provide outputs which are the nth-order B-format signal (Cotterell ch-4 1) B-format signal is the primary signal format for Ambisonic use. Ideally, the B-format signals would be communicated directly to the listener.Unfortunately, this has not always been possible – in particular, the need to distribute recordings via two-channel media, retaining compatibility with existing stereo and mono equipment, led to the need for alternative signal formats to be employed (Cotterell Ap-2 16) Enhanced B-Format; BE-, BF- & BEF-Format Enhanced B-format signal sets have been proposed in connection with B-format decoders, which are optimized specifically for use with HDTV, or more generally for use in support of visual media (Cotterell Ap-2 19)The primary motivation is to produce a frontal sound stage which is more stable with respect to movement by the listener, and specifically to lock centre-fr ont acoustic images in place with respect to a screen. Thus, the motivation is substantially the same as for the use of the centre channel in cinema-oriented surround sound formats. Hence, two extra signals are defined, denoted as E and F, which have directional response patterns. (Cotterell Ap-2 16) Ambisonics and Stereo The B format signals are not at all stereo compatible.However, it is possible to combine the three (X,W,Y) components required for horizontal work in such a way that not only is a good stereo compatible two channel system produced but with a suitable decoder much of the original surround sound image can be recovered. This resulting Soundfield is also not perfect, but carefully designing the encoding equations can make it possible to place the defects in areas where the ear is less susceptible (Mallham 10) This encoding method, called UHJ coding, is used to produce stereo compatible Ambisonic records, tapes and broadcasts.The X,Y and W signals are combined in the fo rm of a two-channel compatible stereo signal (Brice 225). This is done using the following equations Left = (0. 0928 + 0. 255j)X + (0. 4699 – 0. 171j)W + (0. 3277)Y Right= (0. 0928 – 0. 255j)X + (0. 4699 + 0. 171j)W – (0. 3277)Y The above decoding equations are such that a decoder for any of the levels will always extract the correct information from high level inputs – in other words the system is upward compatible (Mallham 10) B+ format Another extension of the B-format, mentioned above, was developed by Dr. Thomas Chen.He calls it as â€Å"B+format†. This gives an optional enhancement to the Ambisonics listening experience. Definition B+ format is the standard 4 channels of B format material known as W, X, Y, and Z plus 2 channels of L/R dry stereo recording. This method of recording separates the dry/direct sound from the ambient/room sound in recording and reproduction. Each serves a distinct purpose and is ideally suited to it. (Chen 1) The à ¢â‚¬Å"+† which is seen in B+ Format denotes the presence of a close-miked standard stereo recording simultaneous with a soundfield recording.This is decoded to the front-half of the rig to give the impression that there is a set of stereo speakers on its surface in front of the listener. The angle between them is around 60 degrees (Adams 2) Chen is the inventor of B+ format. This format extends Ambisonic B format with two additional channels. Going by his definition of the format, one can see that, Chen suggested B+ format by combining the 1st order ambisonic B-format with two additional channels L/R dry channel recording (Trond 2) One way to look at this idea is that the format separates the dry signal and ambience.This means that the dry and ambient signal can be dynamically mixed depending on the space used for playback as well as the preferences of the listener (Trond 3) Why use the B+ format Chen considers that the sound system he ahs created, would provide the following feature:. †¢ Ambient – The system would be ambient. This means that the whole acoustic event could be captured and regenerated, such that it manages to give convincing impression to the listener’s ears, which a conventional stereo sound systems doe not. A soundfield must be present on reproduction.†¢ Accurate – The system would be accurate. This means that the direction of the sounds must be exact, as per the specifications or requirements i. e. front-stage, to the sides, above or below, behind. †¢ Sounds would be free from audible distortions of tone, timbre or position. The system must equally suit all types of singers, without any particular voice sounding good or bad. †¢ Scaleable – The system would support the group listening no matter the size of the group, and the same system could be used by an individual without compromising on the sound quality.The scaling factor would be adjustable †¢ Approachable – The system wo uld be easy use without any complications, physical or otherwise, on the behalf of the listener. For e. g. – No head clamps or enforced body positions or forbidden head directions or microscopic sweet spots or compulsory narrow listening seat. †¢ Practical – The system would be easily tailored to suit the ordinary domestic listening environments, at least as good as what conventional a stereo does.†¢ Compatible – The system would be able to satisfactorily replay the recordings of mono and stereo material; while sound recorded using the technology would replay satisfactorily on conventional stereo systems or would be able to readily convert to match them. For example, FM stereo being broadcast as a mono-compatible Sum and Difference rather than directly as a Left and Right signal. (Chen 2) As mentioned above, B+ Format consists of B format ambient-recorded signal plus two channels of L/R direct recorded signal. It is recorded on 6 channels and when repr oduced it is decoded into as many channels as the listeners wishes. (Chen 3)By using the two channels of L/R direct recorded signal , the directional sound clues from the direct signal as well as the sound of the instrument are present only in the front i. e. – instrument setting experience. There is no vertical height information in this pair, which is added to the frontal speaker array (Chen 3) By enabling the ambient and direct information to be stored separately, the listener can choose the balance of direct and ambient information at the time of reproduction. This will allow for many different sized reproduction spaces. The larger space will need less ambient information while the smaller spaces will need more.In addition the listener can choose the amount of preferred ambience (Chen 3) Time, Location and Spatial Representation The direct sound gives the best directional and instrumental timbre information. Hence, the direct sound should arrive earlier than the ambient s ignal. Also, the direct sound doesn't have any spacious or enveloping qualities (Chen 4) The ambient sound best gives spaciousness, spatial depth and envelopment to the reproduction of sound. B format presentation is known to be inaccurate in presenting location and therefore many scientists are trying to improve the reproduction with higher order of B format decoding.Also, first order of B format is considered to be satisfactory for presenting the ambient sound because it is not well localized (Chen 4). Storage Requirements As mentioned in the section above, B+ Format recordings require 6 channels of storage. This can be obtained with either SACD or DVD-A using MLP compression. Chen says that the advantage of using B+ format disks is that one is not limited to the speaker arrangement that the format will dictate but rather a decoder will determine your listening set up or you can set the decoder for your listening set up (Chen 5) Recording Techniques for B+ FormatDirect Recording S tereo Mics – Recording of the direct channel done by conventional means. Can use stereo microphone techniques: X/Y, M/S or OCT. Stored as L/R or M/S. Direct signal should contain little reverberant information. Recorded using direction microphones. Spot Mics – Spot microphones or flanking microphones to balance recorded sound. Need to add ambience to the spot microphones and to flanking microphones. The ambience added should be in B format and added to the B format channel. Multi Track Techniques – Multi-track techniques used to generate the direct signal and to add ambience in B format.B-Format Recording Room Recording – Room ambient recording done with the Soundfield microphone generating a B format output. The location of the Soundfield microphone is typically at the location in the room where the direct and reverberant sounds are equal. B-Format ambience by convolution –This is a digital technique where a room ambience is measured in B format a nd then is impressed upon another signal. B format ambient information can also be obtained with multiple reverberation devices. At least 3 engines are needed to generate B format reverberance, one for each axis (Chen 5)Techniques for Monitoring B+ Format Ideal decoding with 16 channels Decoding of the B+ format is ideally presented as 16 channels. This is arranged as two rings of 8 speakers with 45 degrees of separation between them. From stereo, it is known that the maximum separation between speakers without a hole in the middle is 60 degrees Thus by using an upper and lower ring of eight speakers vertical/height information can be presented. The listener usually presents the L/R stereo on the front speakers without height information.In this case the listener should be able to adjust the balance of dry versus ambient sound. For this Chen has developed decoders for 16, 12, 10 channels of 3D surround or without height as 8, 6, or 5 channels (Chen 6) Decoding in the present control room The listener can use the present control room to work in B+ format. In this case the decoding is done with 60-degree speaker spacing with two rings of 6 speakers. The front up and down speakers will be combined and the present control room speakers will be used for the sum of the front up and down signals.After this listener can use his present console to obtain the L/R stereo mix and use a pair of auxiliary sends to sent to the B format ambience generator (Chen 6) Software for the B+ format Dr Thomas Chen has developed exciting and powerful software for the Creamware Pulsar system, providing multiple, configurable B-format and B+ format decoding, mixing and signal manipulation subsystems. He intends to make this software available commercially, either through Creamware or direct, in the near future.