Cross-Corpora Study of Smiles and Laughter Mimicry in Dyadic Interactions

In this paper, we present preliminary results of our ongoing work on cross-corpora analyses of smiles and laughter mimicry. For this, instead of recording new data, we leverage the ones produced and available. We analyze smiles and laughs mimicry in three different datasets and show results similar to our previous work.The data used here can be accessed at: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3820510

Cross-Corpora Study of Smiles and Laughter Mimicry in Dyadic Interactions

In this paper, we present preliminary results of our ongoing work on cross-corpora analyses of smiles and laughter mimicry. For this, instead of recording new data, we leverage the ones produced and available. We analyze smiles and laughs mimicry in three different datasets and show results similar to our previous work.The data used here can be accessed at: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3820510

The Theory behind Controllable Expressive Speech Synthesis: A Cross-Disciplinary Approach

As part of the Human-Computer Interaction field, Expressive speech synthesis is a very rich domain as it requires knowledge in areas such as machine learning, signal processing, sociology, and psychology. In this chapter, we will focus mostly on the technical side. From the recording of expressive speech to its modeling, the reader will have an overview of the main paradigms used in this field, through some of the most prominent systems and methods. We explain how speech can be represented and encoded with audio features. We present a history of the main methods of Text-to-Speech synthesis: concatenative, parametric and statistical parametric speech synthesis. Finally, we focus on the last one, with the last techniques modeling Text-to-Speech synthesis as a sequence-to-sequence problem. This enables the use of Deep Learning blocks such as Convolutional and Recurrent Neural Networks as well as Attention Mechanism. The last part of the chapter intends to assemble the different aspects of the theory and summarize the concepts

Focus sur les dispositifs biorésorbables dans la revascularisation de la maladie coronarienne

Les progrès en cardiologie interventionnelle ont permis d’améliorer la prise en charge symptomatique des patients, et d’assurer un avantage de survie dans plusieurs situations cliniques. Bien que le tuteur métallique permanent à élution médicamenteuse de deuxième génération soit le standard de la pratique en angioplastie coronarienne avec le meilleur rapport risque-bénéfice, plusieurs défis restent à surmonter avec ce dispositif. Dans cette visée, les tuteurs biorésorbables sont un concept très prometteur pour la communauté médicale, avec l’espoir de réduire les répercussions négatives à long terme de l’installation des stents permanents dans le territoire coronarien. De la pathophysiologie de la maladie coronarienne athérosclérotique aux différents moyens – pharmacologiques et interventionnels – de sa prise en charge, ce mémoire parcourra l’historique du développement de l’intervention coronarienne percutanée depuis sa naissance jusqu’à ce jour. Un focus sera accordé aux tuteurs biorésorbables (notamment le dispositif ABSORB) faisant l’objet des récents registres et études cliniques randomisées. Malgré les résultats montrant un taux de thrombose intra-stent et un taux d’échec de lésion cible plus importants avec le tuteur ABSORB comparativement au stent à élution médicamenteuse standard, les travaux effectués dans le cadre de ce mémoire visent à projeter une nouvelle perspective sur l’avenir de la technologie des tuteurs biorésorbables. Notre registre REABSORB, une étude de cohorte en temps réel de patients canadiens avec suivi extensif jusqu’à 4 ans, a permis de démontrer un avantage considérable de la technique procédurale afin de réduire les événements cardiaques adverses majeurs. Pour leur part, les caractéristiques cliniques et lésionnelles ne se sont pas avérées des prédicteurs d’événements cardiaques dans notre étude. Finalement, d’autres dispositifs biorésorbables seront discutés, notamment ceux à base d’alliage métallique, qui sembleraient très prometteurs pour réduire le taux de thrombose intra-stent, tout en offrant l’avantage d’une résorption complète à long terme tel qu’attendu de la technologie des tuteurs biorésorbables.Advances in interventional cardiology have led to improved symptomatic management of patients and survival in several clinical situations. Although the second-generation permanent drug-eluting metal stent is the standard for coronary angioplasty practice with the best risk to benefit ratio, several challenges remain to be overcome with this device. In this regard, bioresorbable stents are a very promising option for the medical community, with the hope of reducing the long-term negative impact of installing permanent stents in the coronary territory. From the pathophysiology of coronary artery disease to the various management and treatment options, both pharmacological and interventional, this thesis will review the development of percutaneous coronary intervention from its birth to the present day. A focus will be given to bioresorbable stents (in particular the ABSORB device) which are extensively studied in recent registries and randomized clinical trials. Despite the results showing a higher intra-stent thrombosis rate and a higher target lesion failure rate with the ABSORB stent compared to the standard drug-eluting stent, the work done in this thesis aims to project a new perspective on the future of bioresorbable stents technology. Our REABSORB registry, a real-time cohort study of Canadian patients with an extensive follow-up of up to 4 years, has demonstrated a considerable advantage of implantation techniques to reduce major adverse cardiac events. Clinical and lesional features were not predictors of cardiac events in our study. Finally, other bioresorbable devices will be discussed, including those based on metal alloy, which seem very promising in order to reduce the rate of intrastent thrombosis, while offering the advantage of complete long-term resorption such as expected from bioresorbable stents

Mental health nurses' attitudes towards the physical health care of people with severe and enduring mental illness: The development of a measurement tool

Background: It is well established that people with schizophrenia and related serious mental illnesses die prematurely and have significantly higher medical co-morbidity compared with the general population. Mental health nurses have a key role in improving the physical health of patients but their attitudes to this aspect of their role have not been systematically examined. Objectives: To develop and validate a measure of mental nurses’ attitudes towards physical health care. Design: The measurement tool was developed from a literature review, focus groups and responses to a postal questionnaire. Participants and setting: All registered nursing staff working within a NHS mental health trust in the UK were sent the questionnaire and 585 (52%) staff responded. Methods: Completed questionnaires were analysed by standard descriptive statistical methods. Exploratory factor analysis (principal component analysis) was used to examine and reduce attitude items to a coherent and parsimonious scale. Results: A 28-item measure comprised of four factors accounted for 42% of the variance. The factor solution appeared to provide meaningful dimensions, and the internal consistency of the measure and of its derived subscales was adequate (Cronbach’s alpha between 0.76 and 0.61). The factors were labelled nurses’ attitudes to involvement in physical health care; nurses’ confidence in delivering physical health care; perceived barriers to physical health care delivery and nurses’ attitudes to smoking. Validity was established by associations between the total scale and subscales with pre-determined respondent variables. Conclusion: The Physical Health Attitude Scale for mental health nurses (PHASe) is a first attempt to develop a valid and reliable measure of this important area. The initial development methods and its testing in a large sample provide indications of content and construct validity. Further testing in different samples and consequent refinement are necessary, however the PHASe appears to be a useful tool for measuring attitudes among this professional group and evaluating the effects of professional development