762 research outputs found
Combining automatic speech recognition with semantic natural language processing in schizophrenia
Natural language processing (NLP) tools are increasingly used to quantify semantic anomalies in schizophrenia. Automatic speech recognition (ASR) technology, if robust enough, could significantly speed up the NLP research process. In this study, we assessed the performance of a state-of-the-art ASR tool and its impact on diagnostic classification accuracy based on a NLP model. We compared ASR to human transcripts quantitatively (Word Error Rate (WER)) and qualitatively by analyzing error type and position. Subsequently, we evaluated the impact of ASR on classification accuracy using semantic similarity measures. Two random forest classifiers were trained with similarity measures derived from automatic and manual transcriptions, and their performance was compared. The ASR tool had a mean WER of 30.4%. Pronouns and words in sentence-final position had the highest WERs. The classification accuracy was 76.7% (sensitivity 70%; specificity 86%) using automated transcriptions and 79.8% (sensitivity 75%; specificity 86%) for manual transcriptions. The difference in performance between the models was not significant. These findings demonstrate that using ASR for semantic analysis is associated with only a small decrease in accuracy in classifying schizophrenia, compared to manual transcripts. Thus, combining ASR technology with semantic NLP models qualifies as a robust and efficient method for diagnosing schizophrenia.</p
The evolutionary drivers of primate scleral coloration
The drivers of divergent scleral morphologies in primates are currently unclear, though white sclerae are often assumed to underlie human hyper-cooperative behaviours. Humans are unusual in possessing depigmented sclerae whereas many other extant primates, including the closely-related chimpanzee, possess dark scleral pigment. Here, we use phylogenetic generalized least squares (PGLS) analyses with previously generated species-level scores of proactive prosociality, social tolerance (both nâ=â15 primate species), and conspecific lethal aggression (nâ=â108 primate species) to provide the first quantitative, comparative test of three existing hypotheses. The âself-domesticationâ and âcooperative eyeâ explanations predict white sclerae to be associated with cooperative, rather than competitive, environments. The âgaze camouflageâ hypothesis predicts that dark scleral pigment functions as gaze direction camouflage in competitive social environments. Notably, the experimental evidence that non-human primates draw social information from conspecific eye movements is unclear, with the latter two hypotheses having recently been challenged. Here, we show that white sclerae in primates are associated with increased cooperative behaviours whereas dark sclerae are associated with reduced cooperative behaviours and increased conspecific lethal violence. These results are consistent with all three hypotheses of scleral evolution, suggesting that primate scleral morphologies evolve in relation to variation in social environment
Implementation of automatic speech analysis for early detection of psychiatric symptoms:What do patients want?
Psychiatry is in dire need of a method to aid early detection of symptoms. Recent developments in automatic speech analysis prove promising in this regard, and open avenues for implementation of speech-based applications to detect psychiatric symptoms. The current survey was conducted to assess positions with regard to speech recordings among a group (n = 675) of individuals who experience psychiatric symptoms. Overall, respondents are open to the idea of speech recordings in light of their mental welfare. Importantly, concerns with regard to privacy were raised. Given that speech recordings are privacy sensitive, this requires special attention upon implementation of automatic speech analysis techniques. Furthermore, respondents indicated a preference for speech recordings in the presence of a clinician, as opposed to a recording made at home without the clinician present. In developing a speech marker for psychiatry, close collaboration with the intended users is essential to arrive at a truly valid and implementable method
Isospin-mixing corrections for fp-shell Fermi transitions
Isospin-mixing corrections for superallowed Fermi transitions in {\it
fp}-shell nuclei are computed within the framework of the shell model. The
study includes three nuclei that are part of the set of nine accurately
measured transitions as well as five cases that are expected to be measured in
the future at radioactive-beam facilities. We also include some new
calculations for C. With the isospin-mixing corrections applied to the
nine accurately measured values, the conserved-vector-current hypothesis
and the unitarity condition of the Cabbibo-Kobayashi-Maskawa (CKM) matrix are
tested.Comment: 13 pages plus five tables. revtex macro
Gamow-Teller strength in 54Fe and 56Fe
Through a sequence of large scale shell model calculations, total
Gamow-Teller strengths ( and ) in Fe and Fe are
obtained. They reproduce the experimental values once the operator
is quenched by the standard factor of . Comparisons are made with recent
Shell Model Monte Carlo calculations. Results are shown to depend critically on
the interaction. From an analysis of the GT+ and GT strength functions it is
concluded that experimental evidence is consistent with the sum rule.Comment: 6 pages, RevTeX 3.0 using psfig, 7 Postscript figures included using
uufile
Treatment of advanced seminoma with cyclophosphamide, vincristine and carboplatin on an outpatient basis.
This study describes the efficacy and toxicity of a combination regimen consisting of cyclophosphamide, vincristine (oncovin) and carboplatin (COC) for advanced seminoma on an outpatient basis. Twenty-seven patients (mean age 43 years, range 28-63 years) were classified as stage IIC (n = 5), stage IID (n = 12), stage III (n = 9) or stage IV (n = 1). Six had been treated with prior radiotherapy; elevated beta-HCG and elevated LDH serum levels were observed in 15 and 25 patients respectively. Patients were treated with four cycles of 750 mg m-2 cyclophosphamide intravenously (i.v.), 1.4 mg m-2 vincristine i.v. (maximum 2 mg) and carboplatin adjusted to creatinine clearance. Cycles were given at 3 week intervals. The median dose of carboplatin administered was 400 mg m-2 (range 300-450 mg m-2). Six patients [22%; 95% confidence interval (CI), 6-38%] achieved a complete response (CR), 19 (70%; 95% CI, 51-88%) a partial response and two (8%; 95% CI, 0 18%) showed only a response in tumour markers but not a reduction of retroperitoneal mass (NR). Post-chemotherapeutic masses were not removed surgically or irradiated. After a median follow-up of 26 months (range 5-69 months), two patients have died, one from cardiac arrest 2 years after achieving CR, the other with relapsed seminoma 5 months after therapy. None of the other patients relapsed. Main toxicity was haematological, with 22 patients (81%) experiencing thrombocytopenia WHO grade III/IV and 27 (100%) leucocytopenia WHO grade III/IV, requiring dose reduction in five patients. Seven patients experienced granulocytopenic fever. Non-haematological toxicity was rare. Peripheral neuropathy grade I was observed in four patients and grade III in one. Haemorrhagic cystitis occurred once. In conclusion, despite considerable haematological toxicity, COC is feasible on an outpatient basis, even after prior radiotherapy, and is an effective regimen for advanced seminoma with only 1/27 treatment failures after a median follow-up of 26 months
Calculated corrections to superallowed Fermi beta decay: New evaluation of the nuclear-structure-dependent terms
The measured -values for superallowed nuclear
-decay can be used to obtain the value of the vector coupling constant
and thus to test the unitarity of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix. An
essential requirement for this test is accurate calculations for the radiative
and isospin symmetry-breaking corrections that must be applied to the
experimental data. We present a new and consistent set of calculations for the
nuclear-structure-dependent components of these corrections. These new results
do not alter the current status of the unitarity test -- it still fails by more
than two standard deviations -- but they provide calculated corrections for
eleven new superallowed transitions that are likely to become accessible to
precise measurements in the future. The reliability of all calculated
corrections is explored and an experimental method indicated by which the
structure-dependent corrections can be tested and, if necessary, improved.Comment: Revtex4, one figur
Experimental Test of the Inter-Layer Pairing Models for High-Tc Superconductivity Using Grazing Incidence Infrared Reflectometry
From measurements of the far-infrared reflectivity at grazing angles of
incidence with p-polarized light we determined the c-axis Josephson plasma
frequencies of the single layer high T_c cuprates Tl_2Ba_2CuO_6 and
La_{2-x}Sr_xCuO_4. We detected a strong plasma resonance at 50 cm^{-1} for
La_{2-x}Sr_xCuO_4 in excellent agreement with previously published results. For
Tl_2Ba_2CuO_6 we were able to determine an upper limit of the unscreened c-axis
Josephson plasma frequency 100 cm^{-1} or a c-axis penetration depth > 15 \mu
m. The small value of stands in contrast to recent a prediction
based on the inter-layer tunneling mechanism of superconductivity.Comment: 4 pages, Phys. Rev. B, in press, Revtex, 4 postscript figure
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