INSPIRE: Evaluation of a Smart-Home System for Infotainment Management and Device Control

This paper gives an overview of the assessment and evaluation methods which have been used to determine the quality of the INSPIRE smart home system. The system allows different home appliances to be controlled via speech, and consists of speech and speaker recognition, speech understanding, dialogue management, and speech output components. The performance of these components is first assessed individually, and then the entire system is evaluated in an interaction experiment with test users. Initial results of the assessment and evaluation are given, in particular with respect to the transmission channel impact on speech and speaker recognition, and the assessment of speech output for different system metaphors.Comment: 4 page

Emodepside targets SLO-1 channels of Onchocerca ochengi and induces broad anthelmintic effects in a bovine model of onchocerciasis

Onchocerciasis (river blindness), caused by the filarial worm Onchocerca volvulus, is a neglected tropical disease mostly affecting sub-Saharan Africa and is responsible for >1.3 million years lived with disability. Current control relies almost entirely on ivermectin, which suppresses symptoms caused by the first-stage larvae (microfilariae) but does not kill the long-lived adults. Here, we evaluated emodepside, a semi-synthetic cyclooctadepsipeptide registered for deworming applications in companion animals, for activity against adult filariae (i.e., as a macrofilaricide). We demonstrate the equivalence of emodepside activity on SLO-1 potassium channels in Onchocerca volvulus and Onchocerca ochengi, its sister species from cattle. Evaluation of emodepside in cattle as single or 7-day treatments at two doses (0.15 and 0.75 mg/kg) revealed rapid activity against microfilariae, prolonged suppression of female worm fecundity, and macrofilaricidal effects by 18 months post treatment. The drug was well tolerated, causing only transiently increased blood glucose. Female adult worms were mostly paralyzed; however, some retained metabolic activity even in the multiple high-dose group. These data support ongoing clinical development of emodepside to treat river blindness

Das system der kollektivverträge im Deutschen Arbeitsrecht

Birçok hukuk sisteminde toplu iş hukuku, sadece sendikaların işveren veya işveren birliklerinim toplu iş sözleşmesi müzakerelerinden oluşmaktadır. Alman Toplu İş Hukukunun yapısı ise bundan daha karmaşıktır Alman Toplu İş Hukuku'nun uç temel ayağı vardır: İlk olarak elbette Alman Toplu İş Sözleşmesi Sisteminde de toplu iş sözleşmesinin bir tarafında sendika diğer tarafında ise işveren veya işveren birlikleri bulunmaktadır. Toplu iş hukukunun bu ayağının tarihi kökeninde sanayileşme ile ortaya çıkan sendikal hareket yatmaktadır. Daha Weimar Cumhuriyeti döneminden beri, yani birinci dünya savaşının sonu ile Nasyonel sosyalistlerin iktidarı ele geçirmesine kadar olan dönemden beri. Alman Toplu İş Hukuku'nun diğer iki ayağı da mevcuttu Bunlardan ilki, yasa koyucu tarafından öngörülen işyeri teşkilatıdır^. İşyeri teşkilatında sendikalar esas aktör değildir. Aksine çalışanlar arasından secilen işyeri kurulu çalışanların haklarını kolektif olarak gözetmektedir. İşyeri teşkilatı bugüne kadar Almanya'da toplu iş hukukunun ikinci temel ayağı olmuştur

Application of Intensity-Based Coherent Optical Time Domain Reflectometry to Bridge Monitoring

Although distributed fiber sensing techniques have been widely used in structural health monitoring, the measurement results of bridge monitoring, particularly under destructive testing, have rarely been reported. To the best of our knowledge, this paper is the first report of distributed vibration measurement results, which we obtained during a three-day destructive test on an abolished bridge. A coherent optical time domain reflectometry (COTDR) was used to acquire the vibration information while the bridge was being sawed. The obtained signal was analyzed in time and frequency domain. Some characteristics of the sawing-induced vibration were retrieved by the short-time Fourier transform; the vibration exhibited several high frequency components within the measured range up to 20 kHz and all the components appeared in the same time slot. Some unexpected signals were also detected. Thorough analysis showed that they are quite different from the sawing-induced vibration and are believed to originate from internal damage to the bridge (probably the occurrence of cracks)

INSPIRE: Evaluation of a Smart-Home System for Infotainment Management and Device Control

This paper gives an overview of the assessment and evaluation methods which have been used to determine the quality of the INSPIRE smart home system. The system allows different home appliances to be controlled via speech, and consists of speech and speaker recognition, speech understanding, dialogue management, and speech output components. The performance of these components is first assessed individually, and then the entire system is evaluated in an interaction experiment with test users. Initial results of the assessment and evaluation are given, in particular with respect to the transmission channel impact on speech and speaker recognition, and the assessment of speech output for different system metaphors. 1