Robust natural language processing for urban trip planning.

Navigating large, urban transportation networks is a complicated task. A user needs to negotiate the available modes of transportation, their schedules, and how they are interconnected. In this paper we present a Natural Language interface for trip planning in complex multimodal urban transportation networks. Our objective is to provide robust understanding of complex requests while giving the user flexibility in their language. We designed TRANQUYL, a Transportation Query Language for trip planning; we developed a user-centric ontology, that defines the concepts covered by the interface and allows for a broad vocabulary. NL2TRANQUYL, the software system built on these foundations, translates English requests into formal TRANQUYL queries. Through a detailed intrinsic evaluation, we show that NL2TRANQUYL is highly accurate and robust with respect to paraphrasing of requests as well as handling fragmented or telegraphic requests

How have Cretan rivers responded to late Holocene uplift? A multi-millennial, multi-catchment field experiment to evaluate the applicability of Schumm and Parker's (1973) complex response model

‘Complex response’ (Schumm, 1973, Geomorphic thresholds and complex response of drainage systems. In Morisawa, M. (ed.), Fluvial Geomorphology. Binghamton: New York State University Publications: 299-310) describes situations in which a single event triggers a series of progressively damped morphological and sedimentary adjustments within a catchment. Schumm and Parker's (1973, Implications of complex response of drainage systems for Quaternary alluvial stratigraphy. Nature 243: 99–100) classic stream table experiment of drainage system development showed that one baselevel fall event could result in formation of two sets of paired river terraces that need not be related to additional external (e.g., climate) influences. Despite its enduring popularity in fluvial geomorphology, large-scale and long-term field evaluations of Schumm and Parker's complex response model are very limited. Here, we report on a multi-millennial, multi-catchment field experiment in south-western Crete where a high-magnitude earthquake (estimated magnitude 8.3–8.5) on 21 July 365 ce resulted in up to 9 m of instantaneous uplift over a land area exceeding 6000 km2. Geomorphological, sedimentological, and chronological investigations were used to investigate the erosional and depositional histories in three catchments with outlets uplifted by the 365 ce event. These catchments were compared with the Anapodaris catchment in south central Crete where baselevel was not significantly affected by the earthquake. Although all uplifted catchments experienced valley floor incision, this occurred hundreds of years after 365 ce during a period of wetter climate. The number and age of trunk stream incision and aggradation phases are similar in both uplifted and non-uplifted catchments, indicating that river responses following the 365 ce uplift event have not followed complex response trajectories in the form documented by Schumm and Parker (1973). This finding highlights the need for rigorous evaluation of other catchment or river response concepts, including through the combined use of laboratory experimental results, field data, and geochronology. In an era of rapid environmental change, characterizing and anticipating catchment and river system response increasingly will depend on a healthy interplay between different investigative approaches

Continuous glucose monitoring in pregnant women with type 1 diabetes (CONCEPTT): a multicentre international randomised controlled trial

Background Pregnant women with type 1 diabetes are a high-risk population who are recommended to strive for optimal glucose control, but neonatal outcomes attributed to maternal hyperglycaemia remain suboptimal. Our aim was to examine the effectiveness of continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) on maternal glucose control and obstetric and neonatal health outcomes. Methods In this multicentre, open-label, randomised controlled trial, we recruited women aged 18–40 years with type 1 diabetes for a minimum of 12 months who were receiving intensive insulin therapy. Participants were pregnant (≤13 weeks and 6 days' gestation) or planning pregnancy from 31 hospitals in Canada, England, Scotland, Spain, Italy, Ireland, and the USA. We ran two trials in parallel for pregnant participants and for participants planning pregnancy. In both trials, participants were randomly assigned to either CGM in addition to capillary glucose monitoring or capillary glucose monitoring alone. Randomisation was stratified by insulin delivery (pump or injections) and baseline glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c). The primary outcome was change in HbA1c from randomisation to 34 weeks' gestation in pregnant women and to 24 weeks or conception in women planning pregnancy, and was assessed in all randomised participants with baseline assessments. Secondary outcomes included obstetric and neonatal health outcomes, assessed with all available data without imputation. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT01788527. Findings Between March 25, 2013, and March 22, 2016, we randomly assigned 325 women (215 pregnant, 110 planning pregnancy) to capillary glucose monitoring with CGM (108 pregnant and 53 planning pregnancy) or without (107 pregnant and 57 planning pregnancy). We found a small difference in HbA1c in pregnant women using CGM (mean difference −0·19%; 95% CI −0·34 to −0·03; p=0·0207). Pregnant CGM users spent more time in target (68% vs 61%; p=0·0034) and less time hyperglycaemic (27% vs 32%; p=0·0279) than did pregnant control participants, with comparable severe hypoglycaemia episodes (18 CGM and 21 control) and time spent hypoglycaemic (3% vs 4%; p=0·10). Neonatal health outcomes were significantly improved, with lower incidence of large for gestational age (odds ratio 0·51, 95% CI 0·28 to 0·90; p=0·0210), fewer neonatal intensive care admissions lasting more than 24 h (0·48; 0·26 to 0·86; p=0·0157), fewer incidences of neonatal hypoglycaemia (0·45; 0·22 to 0·89; p=0·0250), and 1-day shorter length of hospital stay (p=0·0091). We found no apparent benefit of CGM in women planning pregnancy. Adverse events occurred in 51 (48%) of CGM participants and 43 (40%) of control participants in the pregnancy trial, and in 12 (27%) of CGM participants and 21 (37%) of control participants in the planning pregnancy trial. Serious adverse events occurred in 13 (6%) participants in the pregnancy trial (eight [7%] CGM, five [5%] control) and in three (3%) participants in the planning pregnancy trial (two [4%] CGM and one [2%] control). The most common adverse events were skin reactions occurring in 49 (48%) of 103 CGM participants and eight (8%) of 104 control participants during pregnancy and in 23 (44%) of 52 CGM participants and five (9%) of 57 control participants in the planning pregnancy trial. The most common serious adverse events were gastrointestinal (nausea and vomiting in four participants during pregnancy and three participants planning pregnancy). Interpretation Use of CGM during pregnancy in patients with type 1 diabetes is associated with improved neonatal outcomes, which are likely to be attributed to reduced exposure to maternal hyperglycaemia. CGM should be offered to all pregnant women with type 1 diabetes using intensive insulin therapy. This study is the first to indicate potential for improvements in non-glycaemic health outcomes from CGM use