NextGen Flight Deck Data Comm: Auxiliary Synthetic Speech Phase I

Data Comm—a text-based controller-pilot communication system—is critical to many NextGen improvements. With Data Comm, communication becomes a visual task. Interacting with a visual Data Comm display may yield an unsafe increase in head-down time, particularly for single-pilot operations. This study examined the feasibility of supplementing Data Comm with synthetic speech. To this end, thirty-two pilots flew two experimental scenarios in a Cessna 172 Flight Training Device. In one scenario, ATC communication was with a text-only Data Comm display, in the other, communication was with a text Data Comm display with synthetic speech that read aloud each message (i.e., text+speech). Pilots heard traffic with similar call signs on the party line and received a conditional clearance (in both scenarios); in either scenario, pilots received a clearance that was countermanded by a live controller. Results indicated that relative to the text-only display, the text+speech display aided single-pilot performance by reducing head-down time, and may have prevented participants from acting early on the conditional clearance. Supplementing text Data Comm with speech did not introduce additional complications: participants were neither more likely to erroneously respond to similar call signs, nor to ignore a live ATC countermand

Impact of safety-related dose reductions or discontinuations on sustained virologic response in HCV-infected patients: Results from the GUARD-C Cohort

BACKGROUND: Despite the introduction of direct-acting antiviral agents for chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, peginterferon alfa/ribavirin remains relevant in many resource-constrained settings. The non-randomized GUARD-C cohort investigated baseline predictors of safety-related dose reductions or discontinuations (sr-RD) and their impact on sustained virologic response (SVR) in patients receiving peginterferon alfa/ribavirin in routine practice. METHODS: A total of 3181 HCV-mono-infected treatment-naive patients were assigned to 24 or 48 weeks of peginterferon alfa/ribavirin by their physician. Patients were categorized by time-to-first sr-RD (Week 4/12). Detailed analyses of the impact of sr-RD on SVR24 (HCV RNA <50 IU/mL) were conducted in 951 Caucasian, noncirrhotic genotype (G)1 patients assigned to peginterferon alfa-2a/ribavirin for 48 weeks. The probability of SVR24 was identified by a baseline scoring system (range: 0-9 points) on which scores of 5 to 9 and <5 represent high and low probability of SVR24, respectively. RESULTS: SVR24 rates were 46.1% (754/1634), 77.1% (279/362), 68.0% (514/756), and 51.3% (203/396), respectively, in G1, 2, 3, and 4 patients. Overall, 16.9% and 21.8% patients experienced 651 sr-RD for peginterferon alfa and ribavirin, respectively. Among Caucasian noncirrhotic G1 patients: female sex, lower body mass index, pre-existing cardiovascular/pulmonary disease, and low hematological indices were prognostic factors of sr-RD; SVR24 was lower in patients with 651 vs. no sr-RD by Week 4 (37.9% vs. 54.4%; P = 0.0046) and Week 12 (41.7% vs. 55.3%; P = 0.0016); sr-RD by Week 4/12 significantly reduced SVR24 in patients with scores <5 but not 655. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, sr-RD to peginterferon alfa-2a/ribavirin significantly impacts on SVR24 rates in treatment-naive G1 noncirrhotic Caucasian patients. Baseline characteristics can help select patients with a high probability of SVR24 and a low probability of sr-RD with peginterferon alfa-2a/ribavirin

Effect of Exterior Home Renovation on Community Lead Hazards: A Pilot Study in South Bend, Indiana

Communities across the US face challenges from legacy lead contamination. In South Bend, Indiana, over 68,000 homes were built before 1978, and most contain leaded paint. When these homes are repainted, repaired, or renovated, failure to use lead-safe practices can contaminate the surrounding soil with lead paint flakes and dust. In this study, we used X-ray fluorescence (XRF) to measure soil lead levels surrounding a home with exterior leaded paint (about 10% Pb w/w) after it was repainted in fall of 2019. The painted wooden exterior was prepared for painting by dry scraping without the use of tarps or plastic barriers. A total of 220 soil samples were collected from the home and its immediate neighbors, and an additional 102 samples were collected from 34 homes in the same neighborhood. The median lead level in dripline soil samples across the neighborhood was 434 ppm, but in the recently repainted house, the median soil lead was 1808.9 ppm, and it was 1,346.4 ppm in the four neighboring homes. The repainted house and its four neighbors were mulched by covering all bare soil to a 4-6 inch depth with chipped wood mulch. Two months later, another 100 soil samples were collected and analyzed. The surface lead level around the target house dropped to 13.8 ppm, showing that mulching is an effective strategy for interim control of high soil lead levels

NextGen Flight Deck Data Comm: Auxiliary Synthetic Speech--Phase I

Data Comm—a digital, text-based controller-pilot communication system—is critical to many NextGen improvements. With Data Comm, communication becomes a visual task. Although Data Comm brings many advantages, interacting with a visual display may yield an increase in head-down time, particularly for single-pilot operations. This study examined the feasibility of supplementing the visual Data Comm display with an auxiliary synthetic speech presentation. Thirty-two pilots flew two experimental scenarios in a Cessna 172 Flight Training Device. In one scenario, ATC communication was with a text-only Data Comm display; in the other, the text Data Comm display was supplemented with a synthetic speech display annunciating each message (i.e., text+speech). In both scenarios, pilots heard traffic with similar call signs on the party line and received a conditional clearance; however in just one scenario (counter-balanced between communication conditions), pilots received a clearance that was countermanded by a live controller before it was displayed. Results indicated that relative to the text-only display, the text+speech display aided single-pilot performance by reducing head-down time; and it may have prevented participants from acting prematurely on the conditional clearance. Supplementing text Data Comm with speech did not introduce additional complications: participants were neither more likely to erroneously respond to similar call signs, nor to ignore a live ATC voice countermand. The results suggest that the text+speech display did not hinder single-pilot performance and offered some benefits compared to the text-only display. --U.S. Department of Transportation websit

NextGen Flight Deck Data Comm: Auxiliary Synthetic Speech Phase I

Data Comm—a text-based controller-pilot communication system—is critical to many NextGen improvements. With Data Comm, communication becomes a visual task. Interacting with a visual Data Comm display may yield an unsafe increase in head-down time, particularly for single-pilot operations. This study examined the feasibility of supplementing Data Comm with synthetic speech. To this end, thirty-two pilots flew two experimental scenarios in a Cessna 172 Flight Training Device. In one scenario, ATC communication was with a text-only Data Comm display, in the other, communication was with a text Data Comm display with synthetic speech that read aloud each message (i.e., text+speech). Pilots heard traffic with similar call signs on the party line and received a conditional clearance (in both scenarios); in either scenario, pilots received a clearance that was countermanded by a live controller. Results indicated that relative to the text-only display, the text+speech display aided single-pilot performance by reducing head-down time, and may have prevented participants from acting early on the conditional clearance. Supplementing text Data Comm with speech did not introduce additional complications: participants were neither more likely to erroneously respond to similar call signs, nor to ignore a live ATC countermand

A novel neurodevelopmental syndrome caused by loss-of-function of the Zinc Finger Homeobox 3 gene (ZFHX3)

Intellectual disability (ID) is a very heterogeneous disorder, and hitherto, over 1000 genes have been described to be involved in the etiology of ID. Here, we report on 28 patients with ID and congenital anomalies, and a deletion or protein truncating variant in the ZFHX3 gene. Through a large international collaboration, phenotypical details of all patients were gathered, and the most consistent phenotype of ZFHX3 aberrations has herein been determined by ID, postnatal growth retardation, feeding difficulties and recognizable facial characteristics. ZFHX3 belongs to the family of zinc-finger homeodomain transcription factors and encodes the ATBF1 protein playing a role in multiple biological processes including tumorigenesis and cell differentiation. It has been previously linked to neural differentiation and shows high expression in the developing human brain, but hitherto has never been linked to intellectual disability. Publicly available and our own data confirm increased expression of ZFHX3 during neural differentiation. Using IP-MS, we identified ZFHX3 interactors belonging to the chromatin remodeling mSWI/SNF complex (BAF complex) and the cleavage and polyadenylation complex (CPC). Further research aims to determine the localization of ZFHX3 in the cell during neural differentiation and to identify the precise role and targets of ZFHX3 in chromatin remodeling and gene transcription. In conclusion our study identified ZFHX3 as a novel gene underlying syndromal ID and revealed novel targets in neuronal differentiation and functioning