Careful Whisper -- leveraging advances in automatic speech recognition for robust and interpretable aphasia subtype classification

This paper presents a fully automated approach for identifying speech anomalies from voice recordings to aid in the assessment of speech impairments. By combining Connectionist Temporal Classification (CTC) and encoder-decoder-based automatic speech recognition models, we generate rich acoustic and clean transcripts. We then apply several natural language processing methods to extract features from these transcripts to produce prototypes of healthy speech. Basic distance measures from these prototypes serve as input features for standard machine learning classifiers, yielding human-level accuracy for the distinction between recordings of people with aphasia and a healthy control group. Furthermore, the most frequently occurring aphasia types can be distinguished with 90% accuracy. The pipeline is directly applicable to other diseases and languages, showing promise for robustly extracting diagnostic speech biomarkers

Learning in High-Dimensional Feature Spaces Using ANOVA-Based Fast Matrix-Vector Multiplication

Kernel matrices are crucial in many learning tasks such as support vector machines or kernel ridge regression. The kernel matrix is typically dense and large-scale. Depending on the dimension of the feature space even the computation of all of its entries in reasonable time becomes a challenging task. For such dense matrices the cost of a matrix-vector product scales quadratically with the dimensionality N , if no customized methods are applied. We propose the use of an ANOVA kernel, where we construct several kernels based on lower-dimensional feature spaces for which we provide fast algorithms realizing the matrix-vector products. We employ the non-equispaced fast Fourier transform (NFFT), which is of linear complexity for fixed accuracy. Based on a feature grouping approach, we then show how the fast matrix-vector products can be embedded into a learning method choosing kernel ridge regression and the conjugate gradient solver. We illustrate the performance of our approach on several data sets.Comment: Official Code https://github.com/wagnertheresa/NFFT4ANOV

Circular 109

Introduction -- Explanation of Plant Evaluation Tables -- Table 1. Weather records for the test years -- Table 2. All plant materials evaluated in 1996 -- Table 3. All plants that have been evaluated but did not survive the minimum number of test years -- Table 4. Plantings from 1996 that have not yet been evaluated for winter survival -- Table 5. Annual flowers evaluated in 1996 -- Appendix 1. Commercial Sources and Organizations -- Map of GB

Theorising Indigenous Sociology: Australian perspectives

Indigenous social issues are a topic of regular media interest, but there is scope for much work to be done by Australian sociologists to provide new ways of understanding these issues. The contested terrain of the field, the need for new concepts and frameworks, debates about the possibilities for an Indigenous sociology, and the call for a specifically Australian approach, are some of the challenges and dilemmas for the field. A growing, but small group of Australian sociologist are responding to these dilemmas through a range of interesting and innovative theoretical approaches. To provide an opportunity to explore these developments and to encourage greater collaboration with other researchers in the field a two-day workshop was co-hosted by the Australian Sociological Association (TASA) Sociology of Indigenous Issues Thematic Group and the Department of Sociology and Social Policy at the University of Sydney. The workshop organisers were Dr Deirdre Howard-Wagner (University of Sydney), Dr Daphne Habibis (University of Tasmania) and Dr Theresa Petray (James Cook University). This double blind refereed edited workshop collection consists of six 3000 word full papers from the 18 papers presented at a two-day workshop held at the University of Sydney on Thursday 19 July and Friday 20 July 2012

Migrants, COVID-19, and Italy: A Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis of the Construction of and Resistance to Nationalist Discourses

Migration has historically been a controversial issue around the world and one that has often been harnessed by people in power (or people hoping to gain power) for their own political agendas. In times of a global pandemic, the scapegoating of migrants has only increased, often rooted in nationalist ideologies which lead to policies and practices that harm migrants and the larger society. The present paper employs multimodal critical discourse analysis to explore how nationalist ideologies supported by right-wing populism are constructed visually and verbally during COVID-19 on Italian social media in regard to migration. We analyze Giorgia Meloni’s (leader of the nationalist party “Fratelli D’Italia”) Twitter thread discussing the arrival and detention of migrants in Italy in July-August 2020 as a representative sample of the discourse. Findings show one example of how nationalist discourses scapegoat migrants visually and verbally, but also how this discourse can be countered by the public via social media. Additionally, subtle details revealed in the visual analysis show the importance of multimodal research in un-packing ideologies that are easy to deny and hence more dangerous because of social media’s capacity to spread (mis)information

The Drivers of Sustainable Apparel and Sportswear Consumption : A Segmented Kano Perspective

The steady increase of sustainable consumer behavior leads companies to strengthen their efforts to become socially and ecologically more sustainable. Particularly in the clothing and footwear industry, more and more companies are aware of their need to fundamentally adapt the way they create value. Sustainability offerings are developed, e.g., usage of upcycled materials (e.g., ocean plastic), circular business models (e.g., decomposition of returned products into components for new ones), as well as adapted product ranges (e.g., smaller or with fewer fashion cycles). However, it is frequently unclear in advance, which offerings will increase (or decrease) satisfaction and, consequently, drive (or not drive) sustainable consumption. The application of a segmented Kano perspective in an apparel and sportswear context that helps to answer these questions is presented: 17 potential offerings were assessed by a sample of 490 consumers. Our analysis demonstrates the usefulness of this methodology and that returning used products (to recycle them), discounts for buying sustainable products, sustainability level indicators, and biobased materials are highly attractive. However, the responsiveness varies across the derived consumer segments, from being decisive or attractive to indifferent or reverse. As assumed, gender and attitude towards sustainability are good predictors for segment membership

Kinder- und Jugendarbeit in sogenannten Entwicklungsländern anhand der Beispiele SOS-Kinderdorf und Child Care Centre in Gambia

Ziel der vorliegenden Diplomarbeit ist es, die Kinder- und Jugendarbeit in Gambia unter den Bedingungen eines sog. Entwicklungslandes zu untersuchen. Theoretische Auseinandersetzungen mit landesbezogenen Informationen (wie bspw. Bevölkerung und Gesellschaft, Wirtschaft, Bildungssystem und Gesundheitswesen) bilden eine bedeutende Grundlage. Entscheidende Impulse beinhaltet auch die Literaturarbeit zu den Bereichen Armut sowie Kinder- und Jugendarbeit, welche als Basis für die spätere Erforschung der beiden sozialpädagogischen Einrichtungen SOS-Kinderdorf und Child Care Centre in Gambia gilt. Im Rahmen eines insgesamt viereinhalbmonatigen Aufenthaltes in Gambia erforschte die Autorin die landesspezifischen Gegebenheiten bezüglich der Lebensbedingungen von sozial benachteiligten Kindern und Jugendlichen. Zudem konnte sie einen Einblick in die Praxis der Kinder- und Jugendarbeit der beiden Institutionen vor Ort gewinnen. Anhand des methodischen Vorgehens der ethnographischen Feldforschung wurde mittels teilnehmender Beobachtung, Interviews und Gespräche, Bildmaterial, Forschungstagebuch, Handouts und Dokumente empirisches Datenmaterial gesammelt. Die Auswertung dieser Daten erfolgte über die Methode der qualitativen Inhaltsanalyse nach Mayring. Die Ergebnisse der empirischen Forschung wurden mit den theoretischen Erkenntnissen in Verbindung gebracht und führten somit zur Beantwortung der leitenden Forschungsfrage.This diploma thesis has its focus on the social work with children and youths in the Gambia, considering the special conditions of a so called developing country. The evaluation of information concerning the country (for example population and society, economy, educational system and health care) delivers relevant aspects. Important suggestions provides also the use of literature about the topics poverty and social work with children and youths which are basics for the subsequent exploration of both social pedagogical institutions SOS-Children’s Village and Child Care Centre in the Gambia. During a four and a half months study trip the author could find out something about the circumstances concerning the living conditions of deprived children and youths in this country. Furthermore she could gain an insight into the practical work with children and youths of both local institutions. By using the methods and tools of ethnographic field study like participating observation, interviews and discussions, pictures, research diary, handouts and documents it was possible to collect data material. The empirically surveyed data was evaluated by using the qualitative content analysis according to Mayring. The results of the empirical study were linked to the theoretical aspects which enabled the author to answer the leading research question

Telework within the Bureau of Reclamation Lower Colorado Region office

A team of researchers from The University of Nevada, Las Vegas were invited by management to observe, assess, and offer recommendations. It was determined by the research team that the first step to improving participation would be to observe the functional telework policy, compare and contrast it with the Department of the Interior standards, and offer recommendations to generate data necessary to develop an updated telework policy by management. The recommendations made by this group include creating an employee eligibility list, tracking actual participation by creating a renewal policy for employees choosing to telework. It is also recommended that a database of employee status be created which tracks whether a telework arrangement is in place and in use

The Effect of Speed Limits and Traffic Signal Control on Emissions

Traffic signals strongly influence traffic in cities - in terms of delay but also in terms of the emissions emitted by traffic. This work analyzes the effect of different traffic control strategies on emissions like NOx and PMx. Simulations of an inner-city arterial show that reducing the speed limit leads to a lower production of NOx and PMx, but to an increase in delay. The impact of the traffic signal control on the emissions is less distinct: A carefully designed co-ordination reduces emissions, while a simple actuated control cannot improve traffic flow and therefore increases pollutant production

Enterococcal Membrane Vesicles as Vaccine Candidates

Enterococcus faecium is a leading cause of nosocomial infections, particularly in immunocompromised patients. The rise of multidrug-resistant E. faecium, including Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococci (VRE), is a major concern. Vaccines are promising alternatives to antibiotics, but there is currently no vaccine available against enterococci. In a previous study, we identified six protein vaccine candidates associated with extracellular membrane vesicles (MVs) produced by nosocomial E. faecium. In this study, we immunized rabbits with two different VRE-derived MV preparations and characterized the resulting immune sera. Both anti-MV sera exhibited high immunoreactivity towards the homologous strain, three additional VRE strains, and eight different unrelated E. faecium strains representing different sequence types (STs). Additionally, we demonstrated that the two anti-MV sera were able to mediate opsonophagocytic killing of not only the homologous strain but also three unrelated heterologous VRE strains. Altogether, our results indicate that E. faecium MVs, regardless of the purification method for obtaining them, are promising vaccine candidates against multidrug-resistant E. faecium and suggest that these naturally occurring MVs can be used as a multi-antigen platform to elicit protective immune responses against enterococcal infections