Predicting fatigue and psychophysiological test performance from speech for safety-critical environments

Automatic systems for estimating operator fatigue have application in safety-critical environments. A system which could estimate level of fatigue from speech would have application in domains where operators engage in regular verbal communication as part of their duties. Previous studies on the prediction of fatigue from speech have been limited because of their reliance on subjective ratings and because they lack comparison to other methods for assessing fatigue. In this paper, we present an analysis of voice recordings and psychophysiological test scores collected from seven aerospace personnel during a training task in which they remained awake for 60 h. We show that voice features and test scores are affected by both the total time spent awake and the time position within each subject’s circadian cycle. However, we show that time spent awake and time-of-day information are poor predictors of the test results, while voice features can give good predictions of the psychophysiological test scores and sleep latency. Mean absolute errors of prediction are possible within about 17.5% for sleep latency and 5–12% for test scores. We discuss the implications for the use of voice as a means to monitor the effects of fatigue on cognitive performance in practical applications

A randomised controlled trial of PEGASUS, a psychoeducational programme for young people with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder.

Psychoeducation is an essential component of postdiagnostic care for people with ASD (autism spectrum disorder), but there is currently no evidence base for clinical practice. We designed, manualised and evaluated PEGASUS (psychoeducation group for autism spectrum understanding and support), a group psychoeducational programme aiming to enhance the self-awareness of young people with ASD by teaching them about their diagnosis

Effect of Iloprost® on endothelin-1-induced free radical activation in rabbit brain stem

PubMed: 15172678Iloprost, a stable analogue of prostacyclin, was used to reverse the early period of vasoconstriction provoked by Endothelin-1 by administering into the rabbit basilar artery. We observed if this produced an effect on the central nervous system parenchyma mediated by free radical system. The red neurons were counted in brain stem sections stained with haematoxylin and eosin, while superoxide dismutase and malondialdehyde levels were measured in brain stem tissue samples as a marker of reactive oxygen metabolites; both 30 and 90min after administration of either Endothelin-1 (0.25ng) alone or Endothelin-1 followed by Iloprost (0.5?g/kg) into the basilar artery. Endothelin-1 significantly increased the number of red neurons, while Iloprost significantly reduced them after 30 and 90min. However, regarding the reactive oxygen metabolites; a similar reversing effect of Iloprost was not observed although superoxide dismutase levels were significantly decreased after Endothelin-1 infusion. © 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved