Hesitation Markers in Sign Language of the Netherlands A Corpus-Based Study

We present one of the first detailed studies on hesitation marking in a sign language. Based on the analysis of a set of monologues and dialogues from the Corpus NGT (Crasborn and Zwitserlood 2008; Crasborn, Zwitserlood, and Ros 2008), we describe the form and position of manual and nonmanual markers of hesitation in Sign Language of the Netherlands (NGT). We show that palm-up, used as a hesitation marker, is akin to a "filled pause" in spoken language, both in its formal properties and its distribution. palm-up is regularly used to mark hesitation in dialogues, but far less commonly in monologues, which we suggest indicates that palm-up is used deliberately by signers to signal a delay in signing (cf. e.g., Maclay and Osgood 1959). Other manual markers of hesitation include sign holds and breaks in signing; their form and patterning in the data suggest they are closer to "unfilled pauses" in speech. As for nonmanuals, we show that all instances of hesitation in our data are marked by a change in the direction of eye gaze, suggesting that this is a clear pragmatic cue that signers use-intentionally or not-to signal a planning problem in signing. This fits well with previous observations that eye gaze plays an important role in turn-taking regulation in sign languages (e.g., Baker 1977)

A focus on cross-purpose tools, automated recognition of study design in multiple disciplines, and evaluation of automation tools: a summary of significant discussions at the fourth meeting of the International Collaboration for Automation of Systematic Reviews (ICASR)

The fourth meeting of the International Collaboration for Automation of Systematic Reviews (ICASR) was held 5–6 November 2019 in The Hague, the Netherlands. ICASR is an interdisciplinary group whose goal is to maximize the use of technology for conducting rapid, accurate, and efficient systematic reviews of scientific evidence. The group seeks to facilitate the development and acceptance of automated techniques for systematic reviews. In 2018, the major themes discussed were the transferability of automation tools (i.e., tools developed for other purposes that might be used by systematic reviewers), the automated recognition of study design in multiple disciplines and applications, and approaches for the evaluation of automation tools

Feasibility of using teleradiology to improve tuberculosis screening and case management in a district hospital in Malawi.

Malawi has one of the world's highest rates of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection (10.6%), and southern Malawi, where Thyolo district is located, bears the highest burden in the country (14.5%). Tuberculosis, common among HIV-infected people, requires radiologic diagnosis, yet Malawi has no radiologists in public service. This hinders rapid and accurate diagnosis and increases morbidity and mortality

Water-induced correlation between single ions imaged at the solid–liquid interface

When immersed into ​water, most solids develop a surface charge, which is neutralized by an accumulation of dissolved counterions at the interface. Although the density distribution of counterions perpendicular to the interface obeys well-established theories, little is known about counterions’ lateral organization at the surface of the solid. Here we show, by using atomic force microscopy and computer simulations, that single hydrated metal ions can spontaneously form ordered structures at the surface of homogeneous solids in aqueous solutions. The structures are laterally stabilized only by ​water molecules with no need for specific interactions between the surface and the ions. The mechanism, studied here for several systems, is controlled by the hydration landscape of both the surface and the adsorbed ions. The existence of discrete ion domains could play an important role in interfacial phenomena such as charge transfer, crystal growth, nanoscale self-assembly and colloidal stability

The existence of stepsize-coefficients for boundedness of linear multistep methods

Abstract. This paper deals with general linear multistep methods (LMMs) for the numerical solution of initial value problems. In the context of semi-discretizations of nonlinear time-dependent partial differential equations, much attention was paid to LMMs fulfilling special stability requirements, indicated by the terms total-variation-diminishing (TVD), strong stability preserving (SSP) and monotonicity. Stepsize restrictions, for the fulfillment of these requirements, were studied by Shu & Osher [J. Comput. Phys., 77 (1988) pp. 439-471 and in numerous subsequent papers. These special stability requirements imply essential boundedness properties for the numerical methods, among which the property of being total-variation-bounded (TVB). Unfortunately, for many LMMs, the above special requirements are violated, so that one cannot conclude via them that the methods are (totalvariation-)bounded. In this paper, we focus on stepsize restrictions for boundedness directly -rather than via the detour of the above special stability requirements. We present conditions by means of which one can check, for given LMMs, whether or not nontrivial stepsize restrictions exist guaranteeing boundedness. We illustrate the relevance of the above conditions by applying them to various classes of well-known LMMs, hereby supplementing earlier results, for these classes, given in the literature

What factors enable mid-life carers to re-enter the labour market in New Zealand?

Objective.- To assess the characteristics of carers and the caregiving situation associated with return to paid employment among older unemployed carers in New Zealand. Methods.- A baseline sample of 280 unemployed carers was identified from responses by people aged 55-70 to the 2012-2016 biennial waves of the New Zealand Health, Work and Retirement longitudinal survey. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to assess characteristics uniquely predicting employment status at two-year follow-up. Results.- Sixteen percent were employed at follow-up. Economic living standards, physical health and preference to be in paid employment were positively associated with being employed at follow-up. There were no statistical differences according to age, gender, ethnicity, marital status, education and care characteristics. Conclusion.- Individual preferences were the strongest predictor of return to paid employment. Despite New Zealand employment legislation allowing all employees to request flexible working arrangements, economic and health differences in workforce retention among carers persist

A distantly supervised dataset for automated data extraction from diagnostic studies

International audienceSystematic reviews are important in evidencebased medicine, but are expensive to produce.Automating or semi-automating the data extractionof index test, target condition, and referencestandard from articles has the potentialto decrease the cost of conducting systematicreviews of diagnostic test accuracy, but relevanttraining data is not available. We create adistantly supervised dataset of approximately90,000 sentences, and let two experts manuallyannotate a small subset of around 1,000sentences for evaluation. We evaluate the performanceof BioBERT and logistic regressionfor ranking the sentences, and compare theperformance for distant and direct supervision.Our results suggest that distant supervision canwork as well as, or better than direct supervisionon this problem, and that distantly trainedmodels can perform as well as, or better thanhuman annotators

Practical use, effects and complications of prehospital treatment of acute cardiogenic pulmonary edema using the Boussignac CPAP system

Background: Early use of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) has been shown to be beneficial within the setting of acute cardiogenic pulmonary edema (ACPE). The Boussignac CPAP system (BCPAP) was therefore introduced into the protocols of emergency medical services (EMS) in a large urban region. This study evaluates the implementation, practical use and complications of this prehospital treatment. Methods: This was a retrospective case series study. The study was carried out in a period shortly after the implementation of the BCPAP system on all EMS ambulances in the The Hague region. According to protocol, diagnosis of ACPE in the prehospital setting was left to the discretion of the EMS paramedics and the facial mask was applied immediately after the diagnosis had been made. Patients were selected through hospital registration and diagnostic criteria for ACPE. Only those patients showing evident clinical signs of ACPE were included. Patient characteristics, physiologic variables, clinical outcomes and complications were collected from EMS transport reports and hospital records. Results: Between 1 June 2008 and 30 April 2009 a total of 180 patients were admitted for ACPE. Of these, 76 (42%) had evident clinical signs of ACPE upon presentation and were included. Three patients were transferred and in 14 cases data were missing. Out of the remaining 59 patients, 16 (27%) received BCPAP. In 43 (73%) cases the mask was not applied. For 7 out of 43 cases that were eligible for BCPAP treatment but did not receive the facial mask, an explanation was found in the EMS transport record. No complications were recorded pertaining to using the BCPAP system. Conclusions: A significant portion of patients with clinical signs of acute cardiogenic pulmonary edema in the prehospital setting is not treated according to protocol using BCPAP. Based on the small group of patients that actually received BCPAP treatment, the facial mask seems feasible and effective for the treatment of acute cardiogenic pulmonary edema in the prehospital setting