Demonstrating Interaction: The Case of Assistive Technology

Technology 'demos' have become a staple in technology design practice, especially for showcasing prototypes or systems. However, demonstrations are also commonplace and multifaceted phenomena in everyday life, and thus have found their way into empirical research of technology use. In spite of their presence in HCI, their methodical character as a research tool has so far received little attention in our community. We analysed 102 video-recorded demonstrations performed by visually impaired people, captured in the context of a larger ethnographic study investigating their technology use. In doing so, we exhibit core features of demonstrational work and discuss the relevance of the meta-activities occurring around and within demonstrations. We reflect on their value as an approach to doing HCI research on assistive technologies, for enabling shared understanding and letting us identify opportunities for design. Lastly, we discuss their implications as a research instrument for accessibility and HCI research more broadly

Augmented robotic telepresence (ART): A prototype for enhancing remote interaction and participation

Mobile robotic telepresence (MRP) allows remote users’ access and mobility in a range of local environments. MRP devices have been adopted in societally significant domains such as workplaces, museums, commerce, education, and healthcare, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic to provide accessibility to these spaces when physical attendance was precluded. Although telepresence robots have autonomous systems features such as collision avoidance, they do not typically allow for physical manipulation of the environment, so they have been found to engender limited trustworthiness and have yet to achieve widespread adoption. This work presents a prototype exploring the potential of Augmented Robotic Telepresence (ART) to improve on inclusion, accessibility, and independence provided to remote users of MRP, broadening the space for interaction and participation, by augmenting affordances in the local environment via techniques such as Augmented Reality (AR), Internet of Things (IoT), and remote actuation. Herein we describe the ART prototype developed thus far, which is built on top of a commercial MRP robot, the Double 3 by Double Robotics; we elaborate on the ART prototype design, its implementation, and current capabilities. Lastly, we describe our research plans, including design workshops with museum stakeholders, and point towards directions for future work

Levetiracetam versus phenytoin for second-line treatment of paediatric convulsive status epilepticus (EcLiPSE): a multicentre, open-label, randomised trial

Background Phenytoin is the recommended second-line intravenous anticonvulsant for treatment of paediatric convulsive status epilepticus in the UK; however, some evidence suggests that levetiracetam could be an effective and safer alternative. This trial compared the efficacy and safety of phenytoin and levetiracetam for second-line management of paediatric convulsive status epilepticus.Methods This open-label, randomised clinical trial was undertaken at 30 UK emergency departments at secondary and tertiary care centres. Participants aged 6 months to under 18 years, with convulsive status epilepticus requiring second-line treatment, were randomly assigned (1:1) using a computer-generated randomisation schedule to receive levetiracetam (40 mg/kg over 5 min) or phenytoin (20 mg/kg over at least 20 min), stratified by centre. The primary outcome was time from randomisation to cessation of convulsive status epilepticus, analysed in the modified intention-to-treat population (excluding those who did not require second-line treatment after randomisation and those who did not provide consent). This trial is registered with ISRCTN, number ISRCTN22567894.Findings Between July 17, 2015, and April 7, 2018, 1432 patients were assessed for eligibility. After exclusion of ineligible patients, 404 patients were randomly assigned. After exclusion of those who did not require second-line treatment and those who did not consent, 286 randomised participants were treated and had available data: 152 allocated to levetiracetam, and 134 to phenytoin. Convulsive status epilepticus was terminated in 106 (70%) children in the levetiracetam group and in 86 (64%) in the phenytoin group. Median time from randomisation to cessation of convulsive status epilepticus was 35 min (IQR 20 to not assessable) in the levetiracetam group and 45 min (24 to not assessable) in the phenytoin group (hazard ratio 1·20, 95% CI 0·91–1·60; p=0·20). One participant who received levetiracetam followed by phenytoin died as a result of catastrophic cerebral oedema unrelated to either treatment. One participant who received phenytoin had serious adverse reactions related to study treatment (hypotension considered to be immediately life-threatening [a serious adverse reaction] and increased focal seizures and decreased consciousness considered to be medically significant [a suspected unexpected serious adverse reaction]). Interpretation Although levetiracetam was not significantly superior to phenytoin, the results, together with previously reported safety profiles and comparative ease of administration of levetiracetam, suggest it could be an appropriate alternative to phenytoin as the first-choice, second-line anticonvulsant in the treatment of paediatric convulsive status epilepticus

COVID19 Disease Map, a computational knowledge repository of virus-host interaction mechanisms.

Funder: Bundesministerium für Bildung und ForschungFunder: Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF)We need to effectively combine the knowledge from surging literature with complex datasets to propose mechanistic models of SARS-CoV-2 infection, improving data interpretation and predicting key targets of intervention. Here, we describe a large-scale community effort to build an open access, interoperable and computable repository of COVID-19 molecular mechanisms. The COVID-19 Disease Map (C19DMap) is a graphical, interactive representation of disease-relevant molecular mechanisms linking many knowledge sources. Notably, it is a computational resource for graph-based analyses and disease modelling. To this end, we established a framework of tools, platforms and guidelines necessary for a multifaceted community of biocurators, domain experts, bioinformaticians and computational biologists. The diagrams of the C19DMap, curated from the literature, are integrated with relevant interaction and text mining databases. We demonstrate the application of network analysis and modelling approaches by concrete examples to highlight new testable hypotheses. This framework helps to find signatures of SARS-CoV-2 predisposition, treatment response or prioritisation of drug candidates. Such an approach may help deal with new waves of COVID-19 or similar pandemics in the long-term perspective

Retrospective evaluation of whole exome and genome mutation calls in 746 cancer samples

Funder: NCI U24CA211006Abstract: The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) curated consensus somatic mutation calls using whole exome sequencing (WES) and whole genome sequencing (WGS), respectively. Here, as part of the ICGC/TCGA Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium, which aggregated whole genome sequencing data from 2,658 cancers across 38 tumour types, we compare WES and WGS side-by-side from 746 TCGA samples, finding that ~80% of mutations overlap in covered exonic regions. We estimate that low variant allele fraction (VAF < 15%) and clonal heterogeneity contribute up to 68% of private WGS mutations and 71% of private WES mutations. We observe that ~30% of private WGS mutations trace to mutations identified by a single variant caller in WES consensus efforts. WGS captures both ~50% more variation in exonic regions and un-observed mutations in loci with variable GC-content. Together, our analysis highlights technological divergences between two reproducible somatic variant detection efforts

Multiancestry analysis of the HLA locus in Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases uncovers a shared adaptive immune response mediated by HLA-DRB1*04 subtypes

Across multiancestry groups, we analyzed Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) associations in over 176,000 individuals with Parkinson’s disease (PD) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) versus controls. We demonstrate that the two diseases share the same protective association at the HLA locus. HLA-specific fine-mapping showed that hierarchical protective effects of HLA-DRB1*04 subtypes best accounted for the association, strongest with HLA-DRB1*04:04 and HLA-DRB1*04:07, and intermediary with HLA-DRB1*04:01 and HLA-DRB1*04:03. The same signal was associated with decreased neurofibrillary tangles in postmortem brains and was associated with reduced tau levels in cerebrospinal fluid and to a lower extent with increased Aβ42. Protective HLA-DRB1*04 subtypes strongly bound the aggregation-prone tau PHF6 sequence, however only when acetylated at a lysine (K311), a common posttranslational modification central to tau aggregation. An HLA-DRB1*04-mediated adaptive immune response decreases PD and AD risks, potentially by acting against tau, offering the possibility of therapeutic avenues

Remote thermal IR surveying to detect abandoned mineshafts in former mining areas

In former mining areas it is critical to locate unknown, abandoned mineshafts prior to the development of a site. Abandoned mineshafts are ground disturbances that have very localized effects on the morphology and the physical, chemical, drainage and moisture properties of the surface geological materials and thus thermo-physical properties. Remotely sensed thermal IR surveys provide the potential for a rapid, inexpensive and non-intrusive technique for mineshaft detection. The key parameters of thermal IR radiation and the application of remote thermal IR surveys to planning are described, using case histories from former mining areas in Lancashire, Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire. Field-measured IR temperature differences correlated well with different ground conditions caused by changes in vegetation, disturbance, compaction and moisture-drainage regimes. A thermal anomaly over an area of c. 6 m2 above a known mineshaft was characterized by traces of methane and temperatures higher by 0.5–1 °C than those of the adjacent ground surface. Using thermal IR images, collected with the Daedalus 1260 Airborne Thematic Mapper, a scheme was developed to classify and map mineshafts with and without any observed visual characteristics. When applied using thermal imagery obtained from commercial flights the scheme identified several potential sites of abandoned mineshafts in an area designated for the redevelopment of the Nottingham Business Park, East Midlands. The thermal anomalies were associated with minor topographic features such as mounds, depressions and dereliction, as well as compositional features caused by coal enrichment and Coal Measures mudstone infill. These features had very little surface expression and were confirmed only using soil stripping