Language modelling for speaker diarization in telephonic interviews

The aim of this paper is to investigate the benefit of combining both language and acoustic modelling for speaker diarization. Although conventional systems only use acoustic features, in some scenarios linguistic data contain high discriminative speaker information, even more reliable than the acoustic ones. In this study we analyze how an appropriate fusion of both kind of features is able to obtain good results in these cases. The proposed system is based on an iterative algorithm where a LSTM network is used as a speaker classifier. The network is fed with character-level word embeddings and a GMM based acoustic score created with the output labels from previous iterations. The presented algorithm has been evaluated in a Call-Center database, which is composed of telephone interview audios. The combination of acoustic features and linguistic content shows a 84.29% improvement in terms of a word-level DER as compared to a HMM/VB baseline system. The results of this study confirms that linguistic content can be efficiently used for some speaker recognition tasks.This work was partially supported by the Spanish Project DeepVoice (TEC2015-69266-P) and by the project PID2019-107579RBI00/ AEI /10.13039/501100011033.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Manejo terapéutico y comorbilidades del paciente con dependencia a opiáceos, en programa de terapia sustitutiva: Estudio PROTEUS

Resumen Objetivo Analizar la necesidad de realizar un estudio epidemiológico de pacientes dependientes de opiáceos centrado en conocer más sus tratamientos, comorbilidades médicas y psiquiátricas. Material y métodos Se examinó la necesidad de tener datos disponibles en nuestro medio sobre el manejo clínico de estos pacientes, el tipo de tratamiento y las posibles comorbilidades. No existen datos completos, representativos de los pacientes españoles. Por ello se seleccionó una muestra representativa a nivel nacional, a partir de la población de pacientes dependientes de opiáceos en programas de mantenimiento con agonistas opiáceos que acudían a los centros asistenciales de drogodependencias. Resultados El estudio final incluyó una población representativa de 624 pacientes dependientes a opiáceos en programas de mantenimiento con agonistas, procedentes de 74 centros de asistencia al dependiente de opiáceos de toda España. Conclusiones Se conocen poco los datos sobre la comorbilidad psicopatológica y médica y los tratamientos farmacológicos en pacientes dependientes de opiáceos. Es necesario realizar un estudio epidemiológico amplio que actualice la realidad de la práctica clínica habitual del paciente dependiente de opiáceos en España (manejo terapéutico, comorbilidades, etc.) valore la gravedad de su adicción, la repercusión sobre el tipo de tratamiento, la presencia de patología dual y las repercusiones médicas. Abstract Background The purpose of this study was to analyze the need for an epidemiological study of opiate-dependent patients aiming to improve the knowledge about their treatment and medical and psychiatric comorbidities. Matherial and methods Data on clinical management, treatment type, and comorbidities in Spain were examined. There are no comprehensive data, representative of the Spanish patients. Therefore, a national representative sample was selected from opiate-dependent patients ongoing replacement therapy programs, attending care centers for opiatedependent patients. Results The representative sample included 624 opiate-dependent patients ongoing opiate replacement therapy programs from 74 drug-dependent rehabilitation centers in Spain. Conclusions Data on therapeutic management and psychiatric and medical comorbidities in opiate-dependent patients are not well known. There is a need for a comprehensive epidemiological study to update the reality of clinical practice of opioiddependent patients in Spain (therapeutic management, comorbidities, etc.) assessing the severity of their addiction, the impact on the type of treatment, the presence of dual pathology and medical implications

El discurso de los objetos. Museos y comunicación pública de la ciencia

Reality is eminently symbolic. But that feature is not only exclusive of textual and discursive realms. There are more practices beyond that dimension which produce sense and meaning. Meaning has to do with objects and things, as well. In this text we argue that to introduce materiality and objects' semiotic action in our concerns a1low us to explain social reality in richer and more complex ways than those related onlly with a discursive linguistic dimension. If there is a paradigmatic example of those regards, that is what concerns the named object's collections and their inclusion ni the spaces what we call museums. Those constitute complex machine wich produces social laces. So as to get that goal we focus on some data collected,for loger than one year, in El Museu de la Ciencia de la Fundació "La Caixa" de Barcelona. The text will argue inside the science museum. the objects and material realms play a crucial role in scientific knowledge production and in the social order prodUtion, as well

Language recovery and evidence of residual deficits after nonthalamic subcortical stroke: A 1 year follow-up study

A variety of language disturbances including aphasia have been described after subcortical stroke but less is known about the factors that influence the long-term recovery of stroke-induced language dysfunction. We prospectively examined the role of the affected hemisphere and the lesion site in the occurrence and recovery of language deficits in nonthalamic subcortical stroke. Forty patients with unilateral basal gangliastroke underwent language assessment within 1 week, 3 months and 1 year after stroke. Disturbances in at least one language domain were observed in 35 patients during the first week post stroke including aphasia diagnosed in 11 patients. Importantly, the appearance of deficits after stroke onset and the improvement of language function were not determined by the site of subcortical lesion, but instead were critically influenced by the affected hemisphere. In fact, the language impairments following left and right basal ganglia stroke mirrored the language dysfunction observed after cortical lesions in the same hemisphere. A significant overall language improvement was observed at 3 months after stroke, although residual deficits in languageexecutive function were the most commonly observed impairment at 1 year follow-up. Although a substantial improvement of language function can be expected after nonthalamic subcortical stroke, our findings suggest that language recovery may not be fully achieved at 1 year pos

Descripció del sistema dunar d’es Codolar (Eivissa, Illes Balears)

En el present treball es realitza una descripció geoambiental del sistema dunar d’es Codolar, Eivissa. Aquesta àrea està situada dins l’àrea de Parc Natural de ses Salines d’Eivissa i Formentera (Illes Balears). Aquest sistema platja-duna era desconegut i té la particularitat que es troba desvinculat de la seva font d’alimentació, constituint un veritable mant eòlic. La platja arenosa actualment està coberta per distintes barres de còdols i graves. El sistema dunar, separat de la platja, presenta elevats símptomes regressius, on es pot observar la fragmentació del sistema amb la presència de dos nuclis arenosos independents un de l’altre que en temps pretèrits eren tot un, d’extensió molt superior a l’actual. A més de la descripció geomorfològica també s’incorpora un inventari florístic i una breu discussió sobre les característiques de la vegetació

Diásporas y transiciones en la Teoría del Actor-Red Diasporas and transitions in Actor- Network Theory

Resumen Abstract Este texto es una presentación del monográfico Diásporas y transiciones en la teoría del actor-red. Sus páginas presentan las principales características de esta teoría, una manera de entender sus orígenes y una descripción de su presente estableciendo un paralelismo con la etnometodología. El texto finaliza con una valoración del estado de la teoría del actor-red en España y un comentario sobre un congreso que llevó el título de Presente y futuro de la teoría del actorred y que constituye el embrión del presente monográfico. En el texto se defiende una tesis muy simple: la teoría del actor-red nace con cierta relevancia para el pensamiento social en el momento en que se difracta en una miríada de usos y aplicaciones diferentes. El principal corolario de este hecho también es muy sencillo: la gran diferencia entre la teoría del actor-red y otras propuestas del pensamiento social es su permanente estado de diáspora y transición. This paper is an introduction to the monograph titled Diasporas and Transitions in the Actor-Network Theory. Drawing a parallel with ethnomethodology, its pages present the main features of this theory, a way to figure out its origins and a description of its present. The text ends with a brief look at the state of art of actor-network theory in Spain and an appraisal of a meeting titled Present and Future of Actor-Networ

Wastewater treatment improvement through an intelligent integrated supervisory system

This paper shows the result of years of work by a cooperative research group including chemical engineers, environmental scientists and computer scientists. This research has been focused on the development and implementation of new techniques for the optimisation of complex process management, mainly related to wastewater treatment plants (WWTP). The experience obtained indicates that the best approach is a Supervisory System that combines and integrates classical control of WWTP (automatic controller for maintaining a fixed dissolved oxygen level in the aeration tank, use of mathematical models to describe the process...) with the application of knowledge-based systems (mainly expert systems and case-based systems). The first part is an introduction to wastewater treatment processes and an explanation of the complexity of the management and control of such complex processes. The next section illustrates the architecture of the supervisory system and the work carried out to develop and build the expert system, the casebased system and the simulation model for implementation in a real plant (the Granollers WWTP). Finally, some results of the field validation phase of the Supervisory System when dealing with real situations in the plant are described.Aquest article mostra el resultat de la col·laboració portada a terme durant els darrers anys entre grups d'enginyeria química, enginyeria ambiental i intel·ligència artificial. El treball se centra en el desenvolupament de tècniques per a la millora i supervisió de processos complexos, especialment del tractament biològic d'aigües residuals. L'experiència demostra que la millor opció requereix desenvolupar un sistema supervisor que combini i integri tècniques de control clàssic (controlador automàtic del nivell d'oxigen dissolt en el reactor biològic, ús de models descriptius del procés, etc.) amb sistemes basats en el coneixement (concretament sistemes experts i sistemes basats en casos). El present article descriu la complexitat de la gestió del procés de tractament de les aigües residuals, l'arquitectura integrada que es proposa i el desenvolupament i la construcció de cadascun dels mòduls d'aquesta proposta per a la implementació real a l'estació depuradora d'aigües residuals de Granollers. Finalment, es detallen alguns resultats del procés de validació del seu funcionament enfront de situacions quotidianes de la planta

An estimate of the cost of administering intravenous biological agents in Spanish day hospitals

Objective: to estimate the unit costs of administering intravenous (IV) biological agents in day hospitals (DHs) in the Spanish National Health System. Patients and methods: data were obtained from 188 patients with rheumatoid arthritis, collected from nine DHs, receiving one of the following IV therapies: infliximab (n=48), rituximab (n=38), abatacept (n=41), or tocilizumab (n=61). The fieldwork was carried out between March 2013 and March 2014. The following three groups of costs were considered: 1) structural costs, 2) material costs, and 3) staff costs. Staff costs were considered a fixed cost and were estimated according to the DH theoretical level of activity, which includes, as well as personal care of each patient, the DH general activities (complete imputation method, CIM). In addition, an alternative calculation was performed, in which the staff costs were considered a variable cost imputed according to the time spent on direct care (partial imputation method, PIM). All costs were expressed in euros for the reference year 2014. Results: The average total cost was is an element of 146.12 per infusion (standard deviation [SD] +/- 87.11; CIM) and is an element of 29.70 per infusion (SD +/- 11.42; PIM). The structure-related costs per infusion varied between is an element of 2.23 and is an element of 62.35 per patient and DH; the cost of consumables oscillated between is an element of 3.48 and is an element of 20.34 per patient and DH. In terms of the care process, the average difference between the shortest and the longest time taken by different hospitals to administer an IV biological therapy was 113 minutes. Conclusion: the average total cost of infusion was less than that normally used in models of economic evaluation coming from secondary sources. This cost is even less when the staff costs are imputed according to the PIM. A high degree of variability was observed between different DHs in the cost of the consumables, in the structure-related costs, and in those of the care process

High-throughput screen with the l,d-transpeptidase LdtMt2 of Mycobacterium tuberculosis reveals novel classes of covalently reacting inhibitors

Disruption of bacterial cell wall biosynthesis in Mycobacterium tuberculosis is a promising target for treating tuberculosis. The L,D-transpeptidase LdtMt2, which is responsible for the formation of 3 → 3 cross-links in the cell wall peptidoglycan, has been identified as essential for M. tuberculosis virulence. We optimised a high-throughput assay for LdtMt2, and screened a targeted library of ∼10 000 electrophilic compounds. Potent inhibitor classes were identified, including established (e.g., β-lactams) and unexplored covalently reacting electrophilic groups (e.g., cyanamides). Protein-observed mass spectrometric studies reveal most classes to react covalently and irreversibly with the LdtMt2 catalytic cysteine (Cys354). Crystallographic analyses of seven representative inhibitors reveal induced fit involving a loop enclosing the LdtMt2 active site. Several of the identified compounds have a bactericidal effect on M. tuberculosis within macrophages, one with an MIC50 value of ∼1 μM. The results provide leads for the development of new covalently reaction inhibitors of LdtMt2 and other nucleophilic cysteine enzymes