Evaluating the efficacy of Prosody-lab Aligner for a study of vowel variation in Cantonese

In this talk, we discuss the effectiveness of using Prosody-lab Aligner (Gorman, Howell, & Wagner, 2011) as a tool for the study of vowel variation and change in Cantonese. Automated (Forced-)aligner programs have recently been introduced as a computational tool for facilitating the process of creating time-aligned transcripts of speech data. The most widely used program, FAVE (Rosenfelder, Fruehwald, Evanini, & Yuan, 2011), however, is designed to work only on English. We therefore use Prosody-lab Aligner (Gorman et al., 2011) as an alternative because of its ability to train models for alignment of any language. Speech samples used in this project come from sociolinguistic interviews that were collected as part of the Heritage Language Variation and Change in Toronto (HLVC) project (Nagy, 2011). We investigate two questions for evaluating the efficacy of this methodology for use in a larger project on intergenerational change in Heritage Cantonese vowels: 1) Is Prosody-lab aligner effective at producing sufficiently accurate transcript alignment to permit automated measurement of vowel data? 2) What sort of data used to train models for Prosodylab-aligner is most effective at producing results that require minimal manual adjustments? We address these questions by running Prosodylab on 10 speakers, including four GEN 1 speakers (born and raised in Hong Kong), and six GEN 2 speakers (raised in Toronto). For each speaker, 50% of their transcript data was set aside for model training, and on each speaker the aligner was run using 3 different models: once with data from that speaker alone in the model training, once with data from all speakers in the respective generation used in model training, and a final time with data from all speakers used in model training. The three types of model training were compared for their efficacy quantitatively by measuring the differential between the automatically-generated boundaries of 468 monophthong vowel tokens, and “gold-standard” manually-aligned vowel boundaries for the same vowels. On this data, the root-meansquare-deviation was calculated for the time-aligned results of each model type (Chen, Liu, Harper, Maia, & McRoy, 2004). The percentage of occurrences in which the center of the automatically-aligned vowel segment lay within the manually-aligned target vowel area was also calculated for each instance. Our results show that models trained on the individual speakers alone produced the least-deviant data from the ideal manually aligned vowel targets, and the model trained on data from all speakers produced the most deviant results. However, as requirements on a minimum amount of data to be made available for model training would necessitate up to 50% loss in analyzable vowel tokens if taken from one speaker’s interview alone, an individual based training model is rejected as impractical. A model trained on data from the respective generational cohort is accepted as the best compromise that produces results requiring the least manual adjustment post-alignment, without sacrificing large amounts of data to model training

Current Trends in Cancer Support Within the Religious Community

Living with cancer is associated with significant psychological strain. The prevalence and severity of this distress varies according to the time, type, and stage of cancer, as well as other variables including treatment regimen, side effects, and prognosis. More often than not, these struggles are neglected as part of the traditional cancer care plan. Yet, if left unaddressed, emotional strain can add to the suffering caused by cancer by negatively affecting treatment compliance. Faith communities, such as churches, provide an ideal atmosphere to serve and support individuals battling cancer. However, research indicates that spiritual care is often a neglected component in cancer care. Therefore, the purpose of this investigation was to describe felt needs of current cancer patients, availability of psychological services within religious settings, and the capacity of pastors to provide emotional support to cancer patients. Our investigation showed that the majority of church leaders recognize this need and desire training in this particular area. Therefore, a need for an effective church-equipping program is evident and should be a priority of cancer care providers

Associations of Premenopausal Hysterectomy and Oophorectomy With Breast Cancer Among Black and White Women: The Carolina Breast Cancer Study, 1993–2001

Black women experience higher rates of hysterectomy than other women in the United States. Although research indicates that premenopausal hysterectomy with bilateral oophorectomy decreases the risk of breast cancer in black women, it remains unclear how hysterectomy without ovary removal affects risk, whether menopausal hormone therapy use attenuates inverse associations, and whether associations vary by cancer subtype. In the population-based, case-control Carolina Breast Cancer Study of invasive breast cancer in 1,391 black (725 cases, 666 controls) and 1,727 white (939 cases, 788 controls) women in North Carolina (1993–2001), we investigated the associations of premenopausal hysterectomy and oophorectomy with breast cancer risk. Compared with no history of premenopausal surgery, bilateral oophorectomy and hysterectomy without oophorectomy were associated with lower odds of breast cancer (for bilateral oophorectomy, multivariable-adjusted odds ratios = 0.60, 95% confidence interval: 0.47, 0.77; for hysterectomy without oophorectomy, multivariable-adjusted odds ratios = 0.68, 95% confidence interval: 0.55, 0.84). Estimates did not vary by race and were similar for hormone receptor–positive and hormone receptor–negative cancers. Use of estrogen-only menopausal hormone therapy did not attenuate the associations. Premenopausal hysterectomy, even without ovary removal, may reduce the long-term risk of hormone receptor–positive and hormone receptor–negative breast cancers. Varying rates of hysterectomy are a potentially important contributor to differences in breast cancer incidence among racial/ethnic groups

Alcohol intake and invasive breast cancer risk by molecular subtype and race in the Carolina Breast Cancer Study

Alcohol is an established breast cancer risk factor, but there is little evidence on whether the association differs between African Americans and whites

Active smoking and risk of Luminal and Basal-like breast cancer subtypes in the Carolina Breast Cancer Study

Growing evidence suggests an association between active cigarette smoking and increased breast cancer risk. However, the weak magnitude of association and conflicting results have yielded uncertainty and it is unknown whether associations differ by breast cancer subtype

Low dose rituximab is no less effective for nephrotic syndrome measured by 12-month outcome

Objective: Rituximab is an effective treatment for children with steroid dependent or frequently relapsing nephrotic syndrome. The optimum dosing schedule for rituximab has not been established. We hypothesized that a single low dose of 375 mg/m2 would have comparable outcomes to higher doses in reducing the frequency of relapse and time to B cell reconstitution. Methods: We conducted a multicenter retrospective observational cohort study of children with steroid-sensitive frequently relapsing nephrotic syndrome. Data were extracted from clinical records including the dates of diagnosis, treatment, relapses, the use of concomitant immunosuppression, and lymphocyte subset profiling. Patients treated earlier received variable doses of rituximab, although typically two doses of 750 mg/m2. Later, patients received the current regimen of a single dose of 375 mg/m2. The primary outcome was an absence of clinically confirmed relapse 12 months following rituximab administration. Secondary outcomes were median time to relapse, probability of being relapse-free at 6 and 24 months and time to reconstitution of CD19+ B cells. Results: Sixty patients received 143 courses of rituximab. Seven different dosing regimen strategies were used, ranging between 375 and 750 mg/m2 per dose, with administration of 1–4 doses. There was no significant difference in event-free survival at 12 months between dosing strategies. The median time to reconstitution of B cells was not significantly different between groups. Conclusions: Use of a single low-dose regimen of rituximab in the management of frequently relapsing nephrotic syndrome does not affect the probability of relapse at 12 months or time to B cell reconstitution compared to a conventional higher dose

PolyRad -- Protection Against Free Radical Damage

The effects of elevated levels of radiation contribute to the instability of pharmaceutical formulations in space compared to those on earth. Existing technologies are ineffective at maintaining the therapeutic efficacies of drugs in space. Thus, there is an urgent need to develop novel space-hardy formulations for preserving the stability and efficacy of drug formulations. This work aims to develop a novel approach for the protection of space pharmaceutical drug molecules from the radiation-induced damage to help extend or at least preserve their structural integrity and potency. To achieve this, free radical scavenging antioxidant, Trolox was conjugated on the surface of poly-lactic-co-glycolic acid (PLGA) nanoparticles for the protection of a candidate drug, melatonin that is used as a sleep aid medication in International Space Station (ISS). Melatonin-PLGA-PLL-Trolox nanoparticle as named as PolyRad was synthesized employing single oil in water (o/w) emulsion solvent evaporation method. PolyRad is spherical in shape and has an average diameter of ~600 nm with a low polydispersity index of 0.2. PolyRad and free melatonin (control) were irradiated by UV light after being exposed to a strong oxidant, hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). Bare melatonin lost ~80% of the active structure of the drug following irradiation with UV light or treatment with H2O2. In contrast, PolyRad protected \u3e 80% of the active structure of melatonin. The ability of PolyRad to protect melatonin structure was also carried out using 0, 1, 5 and 10 Gy gamma radiation. Gamma irradiation showed \u3e 98% active structures of melatonin encapsulated in PolyRads. Drug release and effectiveness of melatonin using PolyRad were evaluated on human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) in vitro. Non-irradiated PolyRad demonstrated maximum drug release of ~70% after 72 h, while UV-irradiated and H2O2-treated PolyRad showed a maximum drug release of ~85%. Cytotoxicity of melatonin was carried out using both live/dead and MTT assays. Melatonin, non-radiated PolyRad and irradiated PolyRad inhibited the viability of HUVEC in a dose-dependent manner. Cell viability of melatonin, PolyRad alone without melatonin (PolyRad carrier control), non-radiated PolyRad, and irradiated PolyRad were ~98, 87, 75 and 70%, respectively at a concentration ~ 0.01 mg/ ml (10 μg/ ml). Taken together, PolyRad nanoparticle provides an attractive formulation platform for preventing damage to pharmaceutical drugs in potential space mission applications

Benefit Sanctions: Detailed Methodology

This paper, which accompanies the National Audit Office report on benefit sanctions in the UK, provides an evaluation of the labour market impact of benefit sanctions for Work Programme claimants, a large welfare-to-work programme targeting the long-term unemployed in the UK. We use rich administrative data from the Department for Work & Pensions which include information on the benefit and employment history of claimants. We exploit the random assignment of claimants to different Work Programme providers and the variation in sanction referrals, across providers, to estimate an instrumental variables model. The model allows us to identify the impact of sanctions on benefit receipt, likelihood of employment and earnings. We find that sanctions make jobs more likely for Jobseeker’s Allowance claimants but less likely for sick and disabled claimants of Employment and Support Allowance. In addition, our results on earnings suggest that Jobseeker’s Allowance claimants are often moving to jobs with shorter hours and/or lower wages. Our analysis provides the first UK evidence, using individual level data, on the impact of benefit sanctions on the labour market outcomes of sanctioned claimants and contributes to the very limited research on the impact of benefit sanctions on the labour market outcomes of claimants with disabilities