Say Hi to Eliza. An Embodied Conversational Agent on the Web

The creation and support of Embodied Conversational Agents (ECAs) has been quite challenging, as features required might not be straight-forward to implement and to integrate in a single application. Furthermore, ECAs as desktop applications present drawbacks for both developers and users; the former have to develop for each device and operating system and the latter must install additional software, limiting their widespread use. In this paper we demonstrate how recent advances in web technologies show promising steps towards capable web-based ECAs, through some off-the-shelf technologies, in particular, the Web Speech API, Web Audio API, WebGL and Web Workers. We describe their integration into a simple fully functional web-based 3D ECA accessible from any modern device, with special attention to our novel work in the creation and support of the embodiment aspects.Comment: 4 Pages, 1 figure, 17th International Conference Intelligence Virtual Agents (IVA

Relationship between blood attributes and predicted breeding value for milk yield in calves

International audienc

Pragmatic controlled clinical trials in primary care: the struggle between external and internal validity

BACKGROUND: Controlled clinical trials of health care interventions are either explanatory or pragmatic. Explanatory trials test whether an intervention is efficacious; that is, whether it can have a beneficial effect in an ideal situation. Pragmatic trials measure effectiveness; they measure the degree of beneficial effect in real clinical practice. In pragmatic trials, a balance between external validity (generalizability of the results) and internal validity (reliability or accuracy of the results) needs to be achieved. The explanatory trial seeks to maximize the internal validity by assuring rigorous control of all variables other than the intervention. The pragmatic trial seeks to maximize external validity to ensure that the results can be generalized. However the danger of pragmatic trials is that internal validity may be overly compromised in the effort to ensure generalizability. We are conducting two pragmatic randomized controlled trials on interventions in the management of hypertension in primary care. We describe the design of the trials and the steps taken to deal with the competing demands of external and internal validity. DISCUSSION: External validity is maximized by having few exclusion criteria and by allowing flexibility in the interpretation of the intervention and in management decisions. Internal validity is maximized by decreasing contamination bias through cluster randomization, and decreasing observer and assessment bias, in these non-blinded trials, through baseline data collection prior to randomization, automating the outcomes assessment with 24 hour ambulatory blood pressure monitors, and blinding the data analysis. SUMMARY: Clinical trials conducted in community practices present investigators with difficult methodological choices related to maintaining a balance between internal validity (reliability of the results) and external validity (generalizability). The attempt to achieve methodological purity can result in clinically meaningless results, while attempting to achieve full generalizability can result in invalid and unreliable results. Achieving a creative tension between the two is crucial

Metallosis following implantation of magnetically controlled growing rods in the treatment of scoliosis: a case series

We present a case series of five patients who had revision surgery following magnetic controlled growing rods (MGCR) for early onset scoliosis. Metallosis was found during revision in four out of five patients and we postulated a mechanism for rod failure based on retrieval analysis. Patients and Methods Retrieval analysis was performed on the seven explanted rods. The mean duration of MCGR from implantation to revision was 35 months (17 to 46). The mean age at revision was 12 years (7 to 15; four boys, one girl). Results A total of six out of seven rods had tissue metallosis and pseudo-capsule surrounding the actuator. A total of four out of seven rods were pistoning. There were two rods which were broken. All rods had abrasive circumferential markings. A significant amount of metal debris was found when the actuators were carefully cut open. Analytical electron microscopy demonstrated metal fragments of predominantly titanium with a mean particle size of 3.36 microns (1.31 to 6.61). Conclusion This study highlights concerns with tissue metallosis in MCGR. We recommend careful follow-up of patients who have received this implant

Rechargeable Batteries of the Future—The State of the Art from a BATTERY 2030+ Perspective

The development of new batteries has historically been achieved through discovery and development cycles based on the intuition of the researcher, followed by experimental trial and error—often helped along by serendipitous breakthroughs. Meanwhile, it is evident that new strategies are needed to master the ever-growing complexity in the development of battery systems, and to fast-track the transfer of findings from the laboratory into commercially viable products. This review gives an overview over the future needs and the current state-of-the art of five research pillars of the European Large-Scale Research Initiative BATTERY 2030+, namely 1) Battery Interface Genome in combination with a Materials Acceleration Platform (BIG-MAP), progress toward the development of 2) self-healing battery materials, and methods for operando, 3) sensing to monitor battery health. These subjects are complemented by an overview over current and up-coming strategies to optimize 4) manufacturability of batteries and efforts toward development of a circular battery economy through implementation of 5) recyclability aspects in the design of the battery

What turns galaxies off? The different morphologies of star-forming and quiescent galaxies since z~2 from CANDELS

We use HST/WFC3 imaging from the CANDELS Multicycle Treasury Survey, in conjunction with the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, to explore the evolution of galactic structure for galaxies with stellar masses >3e10M_sun from z=2.2 to the present epoch, a time span of 10Gyr. We explore the relationship between rest-frame optical color, stellar mass, star formation activity and galaxy structure. We confirm the dramatic increase from z=2.2 to the present day in the number density of non-star-forming galaxies above 3e10M_sun reported by others. We further find that the vast majority of these quiescent systems have concentrated light profiles, as parametrized by the Sersic index, and the population of concentrated galaxies grows similarly rapidly. We examine the joint distribution of star formation activity, Sersic index, stellar mass, inferred velocity dispersion, and stellar surface density. Quiescence correlates poorly with stellar mass at all z<2.2. Quiescence correlates well with Sersic index at all redshifts. Quiescence correlates well with `velocity dispersion' and stellar surface density at z>1.3, and somewhat less well at lower redshifts. Yet, there is significant scatter between quiescence and galaxy structure: while the vast majority of quiescent galaxies have prominent bulges, many of them have significant disks, and a number of bulge-dominated galaxies have significant star formation. Noting the rarity of quiescent galaxies without prominent bulges, we argue that a prominent bulge (and perhaps, by association, a supermassive black hole) is an important condition for quenching star formation on galactic scales over the last 10Gyr, in qualitative agreement with the AGN feedback paradigm.Comment: The Astrophysical Journal, in press; 20 pages with 13 figure