Automatic assessment of English learner pronunciation using discriminative classifiers

This paper presents a novel system for automatic assessment of pronunciation quality of English learner speech, based on deep neural network (DNN) features and phoneme specific discriminative classifiers. DNNs trained on a large corpus of native and non-native learner speech are used to extract phoneme posterior probabilities. A part of the corpus includes per phone teacher annotations, which allows training of two Gaussian Mixture Models (GMM), representing correct pronunciations and typical error patterns. The likelihood ratio is then obtained for each observed phone. Several models were evaluated on a large corpus of English-learning students, with a variety of skill levels, and aged 13 upwards. The cross-correlation of the best system and average human annotator reference scores is 0.72, with miss and false alarm rate around 19%. Automatic assessment is 81.6% correct with a high degree of confidence. The new approach significantly outperforms spectral distance based baseline systems

Native vegetation in Western Australia : extent, type and status

This report describes a new vegetation extent and type dataset for Western Australia prepared through the National Land and Water Resources Audit. Summary tables and maps prepared from these data are presented describing vegetation in relation to natural resource boundaries commonly used for environmental reporting. This present vegetation extent dataset builds on previous vegetation mapping exercises in Western Australia

Deep learning features for robust detection of acoustic events in sleep-disordered breathing

Sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) is a serious and prevalent condition, and acoustic analysis via consumer devices (e.g. smartphones) offers a low-cost solution to screening for it. We present a novel approach for the acoustic identification of SDB sounds, such as snoring, using bottleneck features learned from a corpus of whole-night sound recordings. Two types of bottleneck features are described, obtained by applying a deep autoencoder to the output of an auditory model or a short-term autocorrelation analysis. We investigate two architectures for snore sound detection: a tandem system and a hybrid system. In both cases, a `language model' (LM) was incorporated to exploit information about the sequence of different SDB events. Our results show that the proposed bottleneck features give better performance than conventional mel-frequency cepstral coefficients, and that the tandem system outperforms the hybrid system given the limited amount of labelled training data available. The LM made a small improvement to the performance of both classifiers

Explaining trends in alcohol-related harms in Scotland 1991–2011 (II): policy, social norms, the alcohol market, clinical changes and a synthesis

Objective: To provide a basis for evaluating post-2007 alcohol policy in Scotland, this paper tests the extent to which pre-2007 policy, the alcohol market, culture or clinical changes might explain differences in the magnitude and trends in alcohol-related mortality outcomes in Scotland compared to England & Wales (E&W). Study design: Rapid literature reviews, descriptive analysis of routine data and narrative synthesis. Methods: We assessed the impact of pre-2007 Scottish policy and policy in the comparison areas in relation to the literature on effective alcohol policy. Rapid literature reviews were conducted to assess cultural changes and the potential role of substitution effects between alcohol and illicit drugs. The availability of alcohol was assessed by examining the trends in the number of alcohol outlets over time. The impact of clinical changes was assessed in consultation with key informants. The impact of all the identified factors were then summarised and synthesised narratively. Results: The companion paper showed that part of the rise and fall in alcohol-related mortality in Scotland, and part of the differing trend to E&W, were predicted by a model linking income trends and alcohol-related mortality. Lagged effects from historical deindustrialisation and socio-economic changes exposures also remain plausible from the available data. This paper shows that policy differences or changes prior to 2007 are unlikely to have been important in explaining the trends. There is some evidence that aspects of alcohol culture in Scotland may be different (more concentrated and home drinking) but it seems unlikely that this has been an important driver of the trends or the differences with E&W other than through interaction with changing incomes and lagged socio-economic effects. Substitution effects with illicit drugs and clinical changes are unlikely to have substantially changed alcohol-related harms: however, the increase in alcohol availability across the UK is likely to partly explain the rise in alcohol-related mortality during the 1990s. Conclusions: Future policy should ensure that alcohol affordability and availability, as well as socio-economic inequality, are reduced, in order to maintain downward trends in alcohol-related mortality in Scotland

Fuel plate and fusion insulator irradiation test program

As the prices of fuel fabricating, shipping, and reprocessing continue to rise at rapid rates, research people look for alternate methods to keep their reactor fuel costs within limited funds. Extending fuel element lifetimes without jeopardizing reactor safety can reduce fuel costs by up to a factor of two. But to gain this factor, some fuel plate tests must be performed to the higher burnup to verify burnup fuel plate performance. In this proposed test, fuel plates will be constructed to a maximum fuel loading which can be produced on a commercial basis, contain a maximum boron content as used in ATR to reduce initial reactor reactivity, and will be loaded with UAl/sub 2/ to obtain higher uranium content and better operating performance over UAl/sub 3/

Extended life aluminide fuel. Final report

As the price of fuel fabrication, shipment of both new and spent fuel, and fuel reprocessing continue to rise at a rapid rate, researchers look for alternate methods to keep reactor fuel costs within their limited funding. Extended fuel element lifetimes, without jeopardizing reactor safety, can reduce fuel costs by up to a factor of two. The Extended Life Aluminide (ELAF) program was started at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL) as a joint project of the United States Department of Energy (DOE), the University of Missouri, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology research reactors. Fuel plates of Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) type construction were fabricated at Atomics International and irradiated in the ATR at the INEL. Four fuel matrix compositions were tested (i.e., 50 vol% UAl/sub x/ cores for reference, and 40, 45 and 50 vol% UAl/sub 2/ cores). The 50 vol% UAl/sub 2/ cores contained up to 3 grams U-235 per cm/sup 3/ of core. Three plates of each composition were irradiated to peak burnup levels of 3 x 10/sup 21/ fission/cm/sup 3/ of core. The only observed damage was due to external corrosion at similar rates experienced by UAl/sub x/ fuel elements in test reactors

Hydrological features above a Southern Ocean seamount inhibit larval dispersal and promote speciation: evidence from the bathyal mytilid Dacrydium alleni sp. nov. (Mytilidae: Bivalvia)

The Maud Rise seamount (65°07.80′S 2°39.60′E), a distinct habitat in the Southern Ocean, was studied during the ANDEEP-SYSTCO expedition in 2007–2008 to describe its unique benthic assemblage, characterised by higher biomass and lower diversity than other SO locations. Epibenthic sledge deployments during the expedition revealed exceptionally high abundances of the small bivalve genus Dacrydium with a total of 516 specimens collected from this seamount, resembling up to 1860 bivalve individuals per 1000 m−2. The Dacrydium specimens were examined for taxonomic identification, population and reproductive biology. Shell and soft part morphology as well as life history characteristics were compared with all known congeners for which data are available. Hinge dentition, prodissoconch size and adult gill structure are notably different, supporting classification as a separate species, herein formally described as Dacrydium alleni sp. nov. Dacrydium alleni sp. nov. produces lecithotrophic larvae, capable of long-distance dispersal, yet is apparently restricted to the Maud Rise area, supporting the hypothesis that larval dispersal at isolated seamounts may be constrained by hydrographic rather than biological features. In addition to providing insight into the benthic assemblage at Maud Rise, this work also summarises the current taxonomic status of the genus Dacrydium in the Southern Ocean

Informing investment to reduce inequalities: a modelling approach

Background: Reducing health inequalities is an important policy objective but there is limited quantitative information about the impact of specific interventions. Objectives: To provide estimates of the impact of a range of interventions on health and health inequalities. Materials and methods: Literature reviews were conducted to identify the best evidence linking interventions to mortality and hospital admissions. We examined interventions across the determinants of health: a ‘living wage’; changes to benefits, taxation and employment; active travel; tobacco taxation; smoking cessation, alcohol brief interventions, and weight management services. A model was developed to estimate mortality and years of life lost (YLL) in intervention and comparison populations over a 20-year time period following interventions delivered only in the first year. We estimated changes in inequalities using the relative index of inequality (RII). Results: Introduction of a ‘living wage’ generated the largest beneficial health impact, with modest reductions in health inequalities. Benefits increases had modest positive impacts on health and health inequalities. Income tax increases had negative impacts on population health but reduced inequalities, while council tax increases worsened both health and health inequalities. Active travel increases had minimally positive effects on population health but widened health inequalities. Increases in employment reduced inequalities only when targeted to the most deprived groups. Tobacco taxation had modestly positive impacts on health but little impact on health inequalities. Alcohol brief interventions had modestly positive impacts on health and health inequalities only when strongly socially targeted, while smoking cessation and weight-reduction programmes had minimal impacts on health and health inequalities even when socially targeted. Conclusions: Interventions have markedly different effects on mortality, hospitalisations and inequalities. The most effective (and likely cost-effective) interventions for reducing inequalities were regulatory and tax options. Interventions focused on individual agency were much less likely to impact on inequalities, even when targeted at the most deprived communities

Can programme theory be used as a 'translational tool’ to optimise health service delivery in a national early years’ initiative in Scotland: a case study

Background Theory-based evaluation (TBE) approaches are heralded as supporting formative evaluation by facilitating increased use of evaluative findings to guide programme improvement. It is essential that learning from programme implementation is better used to improve delivery and to inform other initiatives, if interventions are to be as effective as they have the potential to be. Nonetheless, few studies describe formative feedback methods, or report direct instrumental use of findings resulting from TBE. This paper uses the case of Scotland’s, National Health Service, early years’, oral health improvement initiative (Childsmile) to describe the use of TBE as a framework for providing feedback on delivery to programme staff and to assess its impact on programmatic action.<p></p> Methods In-depth, semi-structured interviews and focus groups with key stakeholders explored perceived deviations between the Childsmile programme 'as delivered’ and its Programme Theory (PT). The data was thematically analysed using constant comparative methods. Findings were shared with key programme stakeholders and discussions around likely impact and necessary actions were facilitated by the authors. Documentary review and ongoing observations of programme meetings were undertaken to assess the extent to which learning was acted upon.<p></p> Results On the whole, the activities documented in Childsmile’s PT were implemented as intended. This paper purposefully focuses on those activities where variation in delivery was evident. Differences resulted from the stage of roll-out reached and the flexibility given to individual NHS boards to tailor local implementation. Some adaptations were thought to have diverged from the central features of Childsmile’s PT, to the extent that there was a risk to achieving outcomes. The methods employed prompted national service improvement action, and proposals for local action by individual NHS boards to address this.<p></p> Conclusions The TBE approach provided a platform, to direct attention to areas of risk within a national health initiative, and to agree which intervention components were 'core’ to its hypothesised success. The study demonstrates that PT can be used as a 'translational tool’ to facilitate instrumental use of evaluative findings to optimise implementation within a complex health improvement programme.<p></p&gt