Silent Speech Interfaces for Speech Restoration: A Review

This work was supported in part by the Agencia Estatal de Investigacion (AEI) under Grant PID2019-108040RB-C22/AEI/10.13039/501100011033. The work of Jose A. Gonzalez-Lopez was supported in part by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities under Juan de la Cierva-Incorporation Fellowship (IJCI-2017-32926).This review summarises the status of silent speech interface (SSI) research. SSIs rely on non-acoustic biosignals generated by the human body during speech production to enable communication whenever normal verbal communication is not possible or not desirable. In this review, we focus on the first case and present latest SSI research aimed at providing new alternative and augmentative communication methods for persons with severe speech disorders. SSIs can employ a variety of biosignals to enable silent communication, such as electrophysiological recordings of neural activity, electromyographic (EMG) recordings of vocal tract movements or the direct tracking of articulator movements using imaging techniques. Depending on the disorder, some sensing techniques may be better suited than others to capture speech-related information. For instance, EMG and imaging techniques are well suited for laryngectomised patients, whose vocal tract remains almost intact but are unable to speak after the removal of the vocal folds, but fail for severely paralysed individuals. From the biosignals, SSIs decode the intended message, using automatic speech recognition or speech synthesis algorithms. Despite considerable advances in recent years, most present-day SSIs have only been validated in laboratory settings for healthy users. Thus, as discussed in this paper, a number of challenges remain to be addressed in future research before SSIs can be promoted to real-world applications. If these issues can be addressed successfully, future SSIs will improve the lives of persons with severe speech impairments by restoring their communication capabilities.Agencia Estatal de Investigacion (AEI) PID2019-108040RB-C22/AEI/10.13039/501100011033Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities under Juan de la Cierva-Incorporation Fellowship IJCI-2017-3292

Uprolides N, O and P from the Panamanian Octocoral Eunicea succinea.

Three new diterpenes, uprolide N (1), uprolide O (2), uprolide P (3) and a known one, dolabellane (4), were isolated from the CH₂Cl₂-MeOH extract of the gorgonian octocoral Eunicea succinea, collected from Bocas del Toro, on the Caribbean coast of Panama. Their structures were determined using spectroscopic analyses, including 1D and 2D NMR and high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) together with molecular modeling studies. Compounds 1-3 displayed anti-inflammatory properties by inhibiting production of Tumor Necrosis Factor (TNF) and Interleukin (IL)-6 induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in murine macrophages

A Dynamic Kinetic Asymmetric Heck Reaction for the Simultaneous Generation of Central and Axial Chirality

A highly diastereo- and enantioselective, scalable Pd-catalyzed dynamic kinetic asymmetric Heck reaction of heterobiaryl sulfonates with electron-rich olefins is described. The coupling of 2,3-dihydrofuran or N-boc protected 2,3-dihydropyrrole with a variety of quinoline, quinazoline, phthalazine, and picoline derivatives takes place with simultaneous installation of central and axial chirality, reaching excellent diastereo- and enantiomeric excesses when in situ formed [Pd0/DM-BINAP] was used as the catalyst, with loadings reduced down to 2 mol % in large scale reactions. The coupling of acyclic, electron-rich alkenes can also be performed using a [Pd0/Josiphos ligand] to obtain axially chiral heterobiaryl α-substituted alkenes in high yields and enantioselectivities. Products from Boc-protected 2,3-dihydropyrrole can be easily transformed into N,N ligands or appealing axially chiral, bifunctional proline-type organocatalysts. Computational studies suggest that a β-hydride elimination is the stereocontrolling step, in agreement with the observed stereochemical outcome of the reaction.Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (Grants CTQ2016-76908-C2-1-P; CTQ2016-76908-C2-2-P; CTQ2016-78083-P; RYC-2013-12585)European Commission (FEDER Programme)Junta de Andalucía (Grant 2012/FQM 10787)Universidad de Sevilla (Grant No. 1800511201)European Union - Marie Skłodowska-Curie (COFUND—Grant Agreement nº 291780

Priority Water Rights for Irrigation at the River Basin Level. Do They Improve Economic Efficiency During Drought Periods?

This paper assesses the potential efficiency gains of reforming the water rights regime in the Spanish agricultural sector by replacing current allocation procedures based on the proportional rule with a priority allocation procedure based on two tiers of security-differentiated water rights. This assessment is useful for evaluating whether said change in water rights can be considered a suitable policy instrument to improve water management during droughts events. For this purpose, a mathematical programming model is built to simulate the performance of the proposed reform. The empirical analysis is implemented at the basin scale, where water rights holders are highly heterogeneous, considering different climate scenarios accounting for changes in water supply reliability. The Guadalquivir River Basin (GRB) in southern Spain is used as a case study. The results obtained show that this change in the water allocation regime would yield only modest economic efficiency gains under the current climate scenario. However, it is also evidenced that this policy instrument could play a more relevant role as an efficiency enhancer in a climate change scenario, given that more frequent and intense drought episodes are expected. Moreover, priority rights represent an interesting risk management instrument for farmers, allowing the most vulnerable farmers to reduce income volatility. These findings suggest that the combined implementation of the proposed shift in the allocation regime with spot or allocation water markets would lead to successful outcomes, significantly improving drought management in the irrigation sector

Priority water rights. Are they useful for improving water-use efficiency at the irrigation district level?

This paper examines the effectiveness of reforming water rights regimes in the agricultural sector by replacing allocation procedures based on the proportional rule with the implementation of a priority rule that establishes security-differentiated water rights. The main objective is to assess whether this change improves the economic efficiency of water allocation at the irrigation district level, particularly during cyclical scarcity events. To this end, a Positive Mathematical Programming model is built to simulate the performance of the proposed reform in an irrigation district in southern Spain. The results show that the efficiency gains brought about by this change are very small, which casts doubt on its ability to improve water-use efficiency in the agricultural sector at the local level (i.e., irrigation district) under current local climate and water availability conditions. In any case, further research is needed to assess the suitability of this change in allocations rules at basin scale with greater farm heterogeneity, especially given the likelihood of more frequent, more intense droughts due to climate change

A psychometric study of a Spanish version of the negative acts questionnaire-revised: confirmatory factor analysis.

Background: The NAQ (Negative Acts Questionnaire) has been widely used in more than 40 countries to measure the mobbing phenomenon. This research aims to present a psychometric study based on the Spanish version of the NAQ-R carried out by González-Trijueque and Graña (2013). As opposed to the original scale, this sample contains 23 items and a three-dimension model (personal bullying, work-related bullying, and physically intimidating forms of bullying). Methods: We used a heterogeneous occupational sample of 2,538 Spanish employees to analyze internal consistency and concurrent validity. In addition, a Confirmatory Factor Analysis was carried out based on the GLS (generalized least squares) method. Results: Results showed high internal reliability (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.91) and high correlations containing clinical symptoms, burn-out indicators, and coping resources. The Confirmatory Factor Analysis developed upon the heterogeneous occupational sample validates the three-dimension structure in the Spanish version of the NAQ-R aimed to measure harassment behaviors at the workplace. Conclusion: The NAQ-R reaffirms its validity and reliability as a measure for mobbing-related behaviors. Hence, the scale may become a useful tool in research and forensic practice.post-print779 K

Agricultural Water Allocation Under Cyclical Scarcity: The Role of Priority Water Rights

Water is becoming an increasingly scarce resource worldwide, suggesting that water rationing methods should be revised to improve water allocation efficiency, especially during cyclical scarcity events (droughts). The proportional rule is the most widely used rationing method to allocate water in cases of water scarcity. However, this method fails to achieve Pareto-efficient allocation arrangements. Economic theory and international experience demonstrate that implementing security-differentiated water rights could improve allocative efficiency during cyclical scarcity periods. Moreover, it has been proven that this kind of priority rights regime is an efficient instrument to share risks related to water supply reliability, and can thus be considered as an adaptation measure to climate change. This evidence has enabled the development of an operational proposal for the implementation of security-differentiated water rights in the irrigation sector in Spain, as an alternative to the current rights based on the proportional rule. This proposal draws on the Australian case study, which is the most successful experience worldwide. Nevertheless, the insights obtained from the analysis performed and the proposal for reforming the water rights regime are applicable to any country with a mature water economy

Self-financed water bank for resource reallocation to the environment and within the agricultural sector

In closed river basins, economic activities commonly threaten instream flows, especially during drought episodes. In such situations, a suitable policy option is to recover water for the environment by purchasing water allocations from farmers through a water bank. However, the purchase of temporary water rights strongly depends on the public budget available for this purpose. We propose a self-financed water bank with the twofold objective of reallocating water within the agricultural sector and recovering a share of the purchased water for the environment. The main feature of this water bank is that it will operate in a monopsony-monopoly setting, using its market power to recover water for environmental purposes, and working with a balanced budget (expenditure on purchases will equal revenues from sales). A mathematical programming model is developed to simulate the potential performance of the proposed water bank in the Guadalquivir River Basin (southern Spain), considering society’s demand for environmental water and different water scarcity scenarios. Results show that a maximum of between 5.8% and 10.4% of total water availability can be recovered for the environment, depending on the severity of the drought, while total economic efficiency is increased, yielding a beneficial result for farmers and society

Cognitive Fusion Mediates the Relationship between Dispositional Mindfulness and Negative Affects: A Study in a Sample of Spanish Children and Adolescent School Students

Nowadays, mindfulness-based interventions (MBI) have experienced a remarkable development of studies among childhood and adolescent interventions. For this reason, dispositional mindfulness (DM) measures for children and adolescents have been developed to determine the e ectiveness of MBI at this age stage. However, little is known about how key elements of DM (for example, cognitive de/fusion or experiential avoidance that both confirm psychological inflexibility) are involved in the mechanisms of the children and adolescents’ mental health outcomes. This research examined the mediating e ect of cognitive fusion between DM and anxiety and other negative emotional states in a sample of 318 Spanish primary-school students (aged between 8 and 16 years, M = 11.24, SD = 2.19, 50.8% males). Participants completed the AFQ-Y (Avoidance and Fusion Questionnaire for youth), which is a measure of psychological inflexibility that encompasses cognitive defusion and experiential avoidance; CAMM (DM for children and adolescents), PANAS-N (positive and negative a ect measure for children, Spanish version of PANASC), and STAIC (an anxiety measure for children). The study accomplished ethical standards. As MBI relevant literature has suggested, cognitive defusion was a significant mediator betweenDMand symptoms of both negative emotions and anxiety in children and adolescents. However, experiential avoidance did not show any significant mediating relationship. Probably, an improvement of the assessment of experiential avoidance is needed. MBI programs for children and adolescents may include more activities for reducing e ects of the cognitive defusion on their emotional distress