Verifying student identity in oral assessments with deep speaker

Contract cheating, a form of academic misconduct in which students outsource assessment activities to third parties, is a topic of concern among educators. As similarity-detection systems are ineffective at detecting contract cheating, some institutions have turned to intensely criticised proctoring systems, however student and educator bodies report high costs and privacy concerns. Oral assessment is an alternative assessment approach that provides valuable interpersonal and communication skills in graduates and can naturally help detect and deter cheating. However, oral assessment is typically time-consuming, and in larger courses, it is challenging to validate respondents' identity. Advancements in machine learning approaches can scale time-consuming tasks that previously required prohibitive educator effort. One such system, Deep Speaker, is a speaker identification and verification system that can verify if two audio samples resemble speech from the same person with high accuracy. This paper presents an innovative tool that integrates an online oral assessment tool, Real Talk, with Deep Speaker. This proposed system facilitates scalable student-tutor discussions while providing longitudinal student identity validation with minimal cost and impact for institutions and addressing student privacy concerns. We evaluated the system and showed that student audio responses collected via oral discussion tools are suitable for verification. We then discuss the impact our system may have when applied in higher education. We posit that institutions can use such approaches to detect cases of contract cheating, enhance learning outcomes, and pave the way for more student-friendly assessment and discussion models in online education

Modelling and monitoring tools to evaluate the Urban Heat Island's contribution to the risk of indoor overheating

The growth of cit ies increases urban surface areas and anthropogenic heat generation, causing an Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect. In the UK , UHI effects may cause positive (winter) and negative (summer) health , comfort and energy consumption consequences . With the increasing focus on climate change - related heat exposure and consequent increased mortality risk, there is a need to better investigate the UHI during hot seasons. This paper reviews the current literature regarding UHI characterisation using monitoring, modelling, and remote sensing approaches, their limitations, and applications in building simulation and population heat exposure models . Ongoing and future research is briefly introduced in which downscaling techniques are proposed that provide higher temporal and spatial information to assess and locate heat - associated health risk in London

Cell sorting in a Petri dish controlled by computer vision.

Fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) applying flow cytometry to separate cells on a molecular basis is a widespread method. We demonstrate that both fluorescent and unlabeled live cells in a Petri dish observed with a microscope can be automatically recognized by computer vision and picked up by a computer-controlled micropipette. This method can be routinely applied as a FACS down to the single cell level with a very high selectivity. Sorting resolution, i.e., the minimum distance between two cells from which one could be selectively removed was 50-70 micrometers. Survival rate with a low number of 3T3 mouse fibroblasts and NE-4C neuroectodermal mouse stem cells was 66 +/- 12% and 88 +/- 16%, respectively. Purity of sorted cultures and rate of survival using NE-4C/NE-GFP-4C co-cultures were 95 +/- 2% and 62 +/- 7%, respectively. Hydrodynamic simulations confirmed the experimental sorting efficiency and a cell damage risk similar to that of normal FACS

Testing a Dutch web-based tailored lifestyle programme among adults: a study protocol

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Smoking, high alcohol consumption, unhealthy eating habits and physical inactivity often lead to (chronic) diseases, such as cardiovascular diseases and cancer. Tailored online interventions have been proven to be effective in changing health behaviours. The aim of this study is to test and compare the effectiveness of two different tailoring strategies for changing lifestyle compared to a control group using a multiple health behaviour web-based approach.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In our Internet-based tailored programme, the five lifestyle behaviours of smoking, alcohol intake, fruit consumption, vegetable consumption, and physical activity are addressed. This randomized controlled trial, conducted among Dutch adults, includes two experimental groups (i.e., a sequential behaviour tailoring condition and a simultaneous behaviour tailoring condition) and a control group. People in the sequential behaviour tailoring condition obtain feedback on whether their lifestyle behaviours meet the Dutch recommendations. Using a step-by-step approach, they are stimulated to continue with a computer tailored module to change only one unhealthy behaviour first. In the course of the study, they can proceed to change a second behaviour. People in the simultaneous behaviour tailoring condition receive computer tailored feedback about all their unhealthy behaviours during their first visit as a stimulation to change all unhealthy behaviours. The experimental groups can re-visit the website and can then receive ipsative feedback (i.e., current scores are compared to previous scores in order to give feedback about potential changes). The (difference in) effectiveness of the different versions of the programme will be tested and compared to a control group, in which respondents only receive a short health risk appraisal. Programme evaluations will assess satisfaction with and appreciation and personal relevance of the intervention among the respondents. Finally, potential subgroup differences pertaining to gender, age and socioeconomic status regarding the behaviour effects and programme evaluation will be assessed.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>Research regarding multiple behaviour change is in its infancy. We study how to offer multiple behaviour change interventions optimally. Using these results could strengthen the effectiveness of web-based computer-tailoring lifestyle programmes. This study will yield new results about the need for differential lifestyle approaches using Internet-based expert systems and potential differences in subgroups concerning the effectiveness and appreciation.</p> <p>Trial registration</p> <p>Dutch Trial Register <a href="http://www.trialregister.nl/trialreg/admin/rctview.asp?TC=2168">NTR2168</a>.</p

Search algorithms as a framework for the optimization of drug combinations

Combination therapies are often needed for effective clinical outcomes in the management of complex diseases, but presently they are generally based on empirical clinical experience. Here we suggest a novel application of search algorithms, originally developed for digital communication, modified to optimize combinations of therapeutic interventions. In biological experiments measuring the restoration of the decline with age in heart function and exercise capacity in Drosophila melanogaster, we found that search algorithms correctly identified optimal combinations of four drugs with only one third of the tests performed in a fully factorial search. In experiments identifying combinations of three doses of up to six drugs for selective killing of human cancer cells, search algorithms resulted in a highly significant enrichment of selective combinations compared with random searches. In simulations using a network model of cell death, we found that the search algorithms identified the optimal combinations of 6-9 interventions in 80-90% of tests, compared with 15-30% for an equivalent random search. These findings suggest that modified search algorithms from information theory have the potential to enhance the discovery of novel therapeutic drug combinations. This report also helps to frame a biomedical problem that will benefit from an interdisciplinary effort and suggests a general strategy for its solution.Comment: 36 pages, 10 figures, revised versio

Community ecology of the Middle Miocene primates of La Venta, Colombia: the relationship between ecological diversity, divergence time, and phylogenetic richness

It has been suggested that the degree of ecological diversity that characterizes a primate community correlates positively with both its phylogenetic richness and the time since the members of that community diverged (Fleagle and Reed in Primate communities. Cambridge University Press, New York, pp 92–115, 1999). It is therefore questionable whether or not a community with a relatively recent divergence time but high phylogenetic richness would be as ecologically variable as a community with similar phylogenetic richness but a more distant divergence time. To address this question, the ecological diversity of a fossil primate community from La Venta, Colombia, a Middle Miocene platyrrhine community with phylogenetic diversity comparable with extant platyrrhine communities but a relatively short time since divergence, was compared with that of modern Neotropical primate communities. Shearing quotients and molar lengths, which together are reliable indicators of diet, for both fossil and extant species were plotted against each other to describe the dietary “ecospace” occupied by each community. Community diversity was calculated as the area of the minimum convex polygon encompassing all community members. The diversity of the fossil community was then compared with that of extant communities to test whether the fossil community was less diverse than extant communities while taking phylogenetic richness into account. Results indicate that the La Ventan community was not significantly less ecologically diverse than modern communities, supporting the idea that ecological diversification occurred along with phylogenetic diversification early in platyrrhine evolution

Germline genetic variants of the renin-angiotensin system, hypoxia and angiogenesis in non-small cell lung cancer progression: Discovery and validation studies

Introduction: The renin–angiotensin system (RAS) is involved in cell proliferation, immunoinflammatory response, hypoxia and angiogenesis, which are critical biological processes in lung cancer. Our aim was to study the association of putatively functional genetic polymorphisms in genes coding for proteins involved in RAS, hypoxia and angiogenesis with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) prognosis. Methods: Genotyping of 52 germline variants from genes of the RAS and hypoxic/angiogenic factors/receptors was performed using MassARRAY iPLEX Gold in a retrospective cohort (n = 167) of advanced NSCLC patients. Validation of the resulting genetic markers was conducted in an independent group (n = 190), matched by clinicopathological characteristics. Results: Multivariate analysis on the discovery set revealed that MME rs701109 C carriers were protected from disease progression in comparison with homozygous T (hazard ratio (HR) = 0.5, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.2–0.8, p = 0.010). Homozygous A and T genotypes for KDR rs1870377 were at increased risk for disease progression and death compared to heterozygous (HR = 1.7, 95% CI = 1.2–2.5, p = 0.005 and HR = 2.1, 95% CI = 1.2–3.4, p = 0.006, respectively). Carriers of homozygous genotypes for ACE2 rs908004 presented increased risk for disease progression, only in the subgroup of patients without tumour actionable driver mutations (HR = 2.9, 95% CI = 1.3–6.3, p = 0.010). Importantly, the association of homozygous genotypes in MME rs701109 with risk for disease progression was confirmed after multivariate analysis in the validation set. Conclusion: This study provides evidence that MME polymorphism, which encodes neprilysin, may modulate progression-free survival in advanced NSCLC. Present genetic variation findings will foster basic, translational, and clinical research on their role in NSCLC.M.J.C. was supported by the Associação de Estudos Respiratórios and the Portuguese Pulmonology Society

Photo-antagonism of the GABAA receptor

Neurotransmitter receptor trafficking is fundamentally important for synaptic transmission and neural network activity. GABAA receptors and inhibitory synapses are vital components of brain function, yet much of our knowledge regarding receptor mobility and function at inhibitory synapses is derived indirectly from using recombinant receptors, antibody-tagged native receptors and pharmacological treatments. Here we describe the use of a set of research tools that can irreversibly bind to and affect the function of recombinant and neuronal GABAA receptors following ultraviolet photoactivation. These compounds are based on the competitive antagonist gabazine and incorporate a variety of photoactive groups. By using site-directed mutagenesis and ligand-docking studies, they reveal new areas of the GABA binding site at the interface between receptor β and α subunits. These compounds enable the selected inactivation of native GABAA receptor populations providing new insight into the function of inhibitory synapses and extrasynaptic receptors in controlling neuronal excitation

Oxygen Isotope Effect Resulting from Polaron-induced Superconductivity in Cuprates

The planar oxygen isotope effect coefficient measured as a function of hole doping in the Pr- and La-doped YBa2Cu3O7 (YBCO) and the Ni-doped La1.85Sr0.15CuO4 (LSCO) superconductors quantitatively and qualitatively follows the form originally proposed by Kresin and Wolf, which was derived for polarons perpendicular to the superconducting planes. Interestingly, the inverse oxygen isotope effect coefficient at the pseudogap temperature also follows the same formula. These findings allow the conclusion that the superconductivity in YBCO and LSCO results from polarons or rather bipolarons in the CuO2 plane. The original formula, proposed for the perpendicular direction only, is obviously more generally valid and accounts for the superconductivity in the CuO2 planes.Comment: Dedicated to Alex M\"uller on the occasion of his 90th birthda

Cognitive function in a randomized trial of evolocumab

Inga Stuķēna as well as a complete list of investigators is provided in the Supplementary Appendix, available at NEJM.org. https://www.nejm.org/doi/suppl/10.1056/NEJMoa1701131/suppl_file/nejmoa1701131_appendix.pdf Funding Information: (Funded by Amgen; EBBINGHAUS ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT02207634.) Supported by Amgen. We thank Sarah T. Farias, Ph.D., at UC Davis Health for providing the English-language and translated versions of the Everyday Cognition (ECog) tool. Publisher Copyright: Copyright © 2017 Massachusetts Medical Society.BACKGROUND: Findings from clinical trials of proprotein convertase subtilisin–kexin type 9 (PCSK9) inhibitors have led to concern that these drugs or the low levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol that result from their use are associated with cognitive deficits. METHODS: In a subgroup of patients from a randomized, placebo-controlled trial of evolocumab added to statin therapy, we prospectively assessed cognitive function using the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery. The primary end point was the score on the spatial working memory strategy index of executive function (scores range from 4 to 28, with lower scores indicating a more efficient use of strategy and planning). Secondary end points were the scores for working memory (scores range from 0 to 279, with lower scores indicating fewer errors), episodic memory (scores range from 0 to 70, with lower scores indicating fewer errors), and psychomotor speed (scores range from 100 to 5100 msec, with faster times representing better performance). Assessments of cognitive function were performed at baseline, week 24, yearly, and at the end of the trial. The primary analysis was a noninferiority comparison of the mean change from baseline in the score on the spatial working memory strategy index of executive function between the patients who received evolocumab and those who received placebo; the noninferiority margin was set at 20% of the standard deviation of the score in the placebo group. RESULTS: A total of 1204 patients were followed for a median of 19 months; the mean (±SD) change from baseline over time in the raw score for the spatial working memory strategy index of executive function (primary end point) was −0.21±2.62 in the evolocumab group and −0.29±2.81 in the placebo group (P<0.001 for noninferiority; P=0.85 for superiority). There were no significant between-group differences in the secondary end points of scores for working memory (change in raw score, −0.52 in the evolocumab group and −0.93 in the placebo group), episodic memory (change in raw score, −1.53 and −1.53, respectively), or psychomotor speed (change in raw score, 5.2 msec and 0.9 msec, respectively). In an exploratory analysis, there were no associations between LDL cholesterol levels and cognitive changes. CONCLUSIONS: In a randomized trial involving patients who received either evolocumab or placebo in addition to statin therapy, no significant between-group difference in cognitive function was observed over a median of 19 months.publishersversionPeer reviewe