Automatic summarising: factors and directions

This position paper suggests that progress with automatic summarising demands a better research methodology and a carefully focussed research strategy. In order to develop effective procedures it is necessary to identify and respond to the context factors, i.e. input, purpose, and output factors, that bear on summarising and its evaluation. The paper analyses and illustrates these factors and their implications for evaluation. It then argues that this analysis, together with the state of the art and the intrinsic difficulty of summarising, imply a nearer-term strategy concentrating on shallow, but not surface, text analysis and on indicative summarising. This is illustrated with current work, from which a potentially productive research programme can be developed

Designing a virtual teacher for non-verbal children with autism: Pedagogical affordances and the influence of teacher voice

The prevalence of children with autism in Asia has been estimated as comparable to that in many other countries (Jeevanandam, 2009; William et al., 2005). Within this group, approximately one-third to one-half of these children will lack functional speech (Mirenda, 2003) and have severe learning difficulties. There have been recent technological developments for teaching children with autism, for example virtual worlds (Bignell, 2008) and socially intelligent agents (Dautenhahn & Werry, 2004). However, there has been relatively little research into the effectiveness of technologically supported approaches to language development for those children who are non-verbal. The Picture Exchange Communications System (PECS) is an augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) approach that has been used with children with little or no speech to develop language and communication skills. In essence the children gradually learn to communicate through exchanging pictures and symbols for desired items or outcomes. There is empirical evidence to support the value of this approach (Preston & Carter, 2009). This paper considers a technologically supported approach within this area: Computer Assisted Picture Exchange (CAPE). It examines the issue of teacher embodiment and the affordances arising from using an interactive virtual teacher avatar that responds to the child's manipulation of objects and symbols in the physical world. The paper discusses investigations to compare synthetic and natural teacher voices, and to assess their influence on the learning of communication skills by children with autism

An evaluation of the Wallasey Heart Centre

This project report discusses an evaluation of Wallasey Heart Centre, an intermediate cardiovascular clinic designed to provide accessible high-quality patient care to an area with a high prevalence of of coronary heart disease and poor access to existing secondary care services. The service began in October 2000 with funding for three years. The views of local GPs, local cardiologists, and Wallasey Heart Centre staff and patients were sought

Talking With Patients: How Hospitals Use Bilingual Clinicians and Staff to Care for Patients With Language Needs

Presents survey findings on bilingual clinicians, staff, interpreters, and volunteers providing language services; training and assessment; hospital policies; and their impact. Recommends explicit policies, robust assessments, and proactive approaches

Reading in the School: The Taming of the Crew

No abstract available

The remodelling of patient care pathway for e-health

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.The interdependencies within the health care system are seldom taken into account prior to implementation of e-health projects, and there tends to be little change management as part of the plan. Our proposal offers a systems analysis model that gives e-health a framework to consider and manage the introduction, changes and outcomes. This research describes the use of a modified Patient Care Pathway as a method to design and implement e-health projects, presenting as a case study the pre-implementation phase of a teleradiology project in rural Thailand. The proposal is that a modified version of Patient Care Pathways can be used as a prospective design model for e-health services. The method adopts systems engineering principles and applies a ―whole systems approach‖ thereby providing a much richer schematic representation of the patient care pathway illustrating both the patient‘s journey through the system and also the information flow. Our method was applied to the design of a new teleradiology service that was to be established in Thailand, to connect GP‘s in a rural hospital to the radiology department in a tertiary hospital with a further connection to a specialist radiologist in a medical school in Bangkok. By comparing the pre-implementation Patient Care Pathway with the proposed pathway using the teleradiology, a systems analysis model was developed to identify critical points in the system and identify and anticipate how the system would support the changes in clinical practices. The method produced a valuable framework to better understand and thereby manage the implications of change prior to implementation of an e-health project