StorySpinner: Controlling Narrative Pace in Hyperfiction

This paper describes the StorySpinner system, a sculptural hypertext reader used as a test bed for experimenting with the authoring of narrative flow in automatically generated stories. An overview of the system is presented along with discussion and conclusions arising from initial user trials

Linking Locations: Storytelling with Pervasive Technology

With online location-aware smart phones in more and more pockets, storytelling is moving to the streets. Simultaneously, an increasing abundance of Linked Data is being made available, complete with geographical information. In this paper, we review the state of the art and suggest approaches to, and issues with, a storytelling system that combines these two technologies

Science vs. science: the complexities of interdisciplinary research

Human-Computer Interaction and Web Science are radically interdisciplinary fields, but what does this mean in practical terms? Undertaking research (and writing papers) that encompass multiple disciplinary perspectives and methods is a serious challenge and it is difficult to maintain conferences that fairly review and host contributions from multiple disciplines. The colocation of the ACM WebSci conference with CHI in Paris, offers an unusual opportunity to bring these two communities together. Previous discussions have considered how to conduct interdisciplinary work that bridges HCI/WebSci with specific areas. Our objective is to provide a space for interested researchers from both communities to share their views and approaches to tackling the tensions and complexities associated with interdisciplinary work, whatever fields are being bridged

A disciplinary analysis of Internet Science

Internet Science is an interdisciplinary field. Motivated by the unforeseen scale and impact of the Internet, it addresses Internet-related research questions in a holistic manner, incorporating epistemologies from a broad set of disciplines. Nonetheless, there is little empirical evidence of the levels of disciplinary representation within this field.This paper describes an analysis of the presence of different disciplines in Internet Science based on techniques from Natural Language Processing and network analysis. Key terms from Internet Science are identified, as are nine application contexts. The results are compared with a disciplinary analysis of Web Science, showing a surprisingly low amount of overlap between these two related fields. A practical use of the results within Internet Science is described. Finally, next steps are presented that will consolidate the analysis regarding representation of less technologically-oriented disciplines within Internet Science

Dissecting the Butterfly: Representation of Disciplines Publishing at the Web Science Conference Series

International audienceWeb Science is an interdisciplinary arena. Motivated by the unforeseen scale and impact of the web, it addresses web-related research questions in a holistic manner, incorporating perspectives from a broad set of disciplines. There has been ongoing discussion about which disciplines are more or less present in the community, and about defining Web Science itself: there is, however, a dearth of empirical work in this area. This research note presents an early analysis of the presence of different disciplines in the Web Science community. To gain insight into this area, we applied Natural Language Processing and topic extraction to Web Science papers from 2009 to 2011. We compare the results to two current representations of Web Science: the 'Web Science butterfly' diagram and the Web Science Subject Categorization. We discuss the benefits of such an exploratory analysis, our early results, and steps for producing more robust results

Results from a pilot plant using un-promoted potassium carbonate for carbon capture

A pilot plant facility has been designed and built to trial potassium carbonate solvent technology for carbon capture under a range of conditions. The rig is capable of capturing 4 - 10 kg/hr of CO2 from 30 - 55 kg/hr of an air-CO2 mixture, with different packings. A series of trials have been completed with a range of solvent concentrations from 20 wt% to 30 wt% potassium carbonate. The experimental holdup, solvent loading and absorber temperatures have been matched with rate-based simulations in Aspen Plus® software

The role of serum procalcitonin in establishing the diagnosis and prognosis of pleural infection

BACKGROUND: Bacterial pleural infection requires prompt identification to enable appropriate investigation and treatment. In contrast to commonly used biomarkers such as C-reactive protein (CRP) and white cell count (WCC), which can be raised due to non-infective inflammatory processes, procalcitonin (PCT) has been proposed as a specific biomarker of bacterial infection. The utility of PCT in this role is yet to be validated in a large prospective trial. This study aimed to identify whether serum PCT is superior to CRP and WCC in establishing the diagnosis of bacterial pleural infection. METHODS: Consecutive patients presenting to a tertiary pleural service between 2008 and 2013 were recruited to a well-established pleural disease study. Consent was obtained to store pleural fluid and relevant clinical information. Serum CRP, WCC and PCT were measured. A diagnosis was agreed upon by two independent consultants after a minimum of 12 months. The study was performed and reported according to the STARD reporting guidelines. RESULTS: 80/425 patients enrolled in the trial had a unilateral pleural effusion secondary to infection. 10/80 (12.5%) patients had positive pleural fluid microbiology. Investigations for viral causes of effusion were not performed. ROC curve analysis of 425 adult patients with unilateral undiagnosed pleural effusions showed no statistically significant difference in the diagnostic utility of PCT (AUC 0.77), WCC (AUC 0.77) or CRP (AUC 0.85) for the identification of bacterial pleural infection. Serum procalcitonin >0.085 μg/l has a sensitivity, specificity, negative predictive value and positive predictive value of 0.69, 0.80, 0.46 and 0.91 respectively for the identification of pleural infection. The diagnostic utility of procalcitonin was not affected by prior antibiotic use (p = 0.80). CONCLUSIONS: The study presents evidence that serum procalcitonin is not superior to CRP and WCC for the diagnosis of bacterial pleural infection. The study suggests routine procalcitonin testing in all patients with unilateral pleural effusion is not beneficial however further investigation may identify specific patient subsets that may benefit. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The trial was registered with the UK Clinical Research Network (UKCRN ID 8960). The trial was approved by the South West Regional Ethics Committee (Ethical approval number 08/H0102/11). ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12931-017-0501-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

Predicting survival in malignant pleural effusion: development and validation of the LENT prognostic score

BACKGROUND: Malignant pleural effusion (MPE) causes debilitating breathlessness and predicting survival is challenging. This study aimed to obtain contemporary data on survival by underlying tumour type in patients with MPE, identify prognostic indicators of overall survival and develop and validate a prognostic scoring system. METHODS: Three large international cohorts of patients with MPE were used to calculate survival by cell type (univariable Cox model). The prognostic value of 14 predefined variables was evaluated in the most complete data set (multivariable Cox model). A clinical prognostic scoring system was then developed and validated. RESULTS: Based on the results of the international data and the multivariable survival analysis, the LENT prognostic score (pleural fluid lactate dehydrogenase, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance score (PS), neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio and tumour type) was developed and subsequently validated using an independent data set. Risk stratifying patients into low-risk, moderate-risk and high-risk groups gave median (IQR) survivals of 319 days (228–549; n=43), 130 days (47–467; n=129) and 44 days (22–77; n=31), respectively. Only 65% (20/31) of patients with a high-risk LENT score survived 1 month from diagnosis and just 3% (1/31) survived 6 months. Analysis of the area under the receiver operating curve revealed the LENT score to be superior at predicting survival compared with ECOG PS at 1 month (0.77 vs 0.66, p<0.01), 3 months (0.84 vs 0.75, p<0.01) and 6 months (0.85 vs 0.76, p<0.01). CONCLUSIONS: The LENT scoring system is the first validated prognostic score in MPE, which predicts survival with significantly better accuracy than ECOG PS alone. This may aid clinical decision making in this diverse patient population

Defining Terms Used for Animals Working in Support Roles for People with Support Needs

The nomenclature used to describe animals working in roles supporting people can be confusing. The same term may be used to describe different roles, or two terms may mean the same thing. This confusion is evident among researchers, practitioners, and end users. Because certain animal roles are provided with legal protections and/or government-funding support in some jurisdictions, it is necessary to clearly define the existing terms to avoid confusion. The aim of this paper is to provide operationalized definitions for nine terms, which would be useful in many world regions: “assistance animal”, “companion animal”, “educational/school support animal”, “emotional support animal”, “facility animal”, “service animal”, “skilled companion animal”, “therapy animal”, and “visiting/visitation animal”. At the International Society for Anthrozoology (ISAZ) conferences in 2018 and 2020, over 100 delegates participated in workshops to define these terms, many of whom co-authored this paper. Through an iterative process, we have defined the nine terms and explained how they differ from each other. We recommend phasing out two terms (i.e., “skilled companion animal” and “service animal”) due to overlap with other terms that could potentially exacerbate confusion. The implications for several regions of the world are discussed