An Accessible Chat Prototype for Screen Reader Users in Mobile Devices

[Poster] 15th International Conference on Human–Computer Interaction (HCI International 2013), Las Vegas (Nevada, USA), 21–26 July 2013Chats present accessibility problems for screen reader users. This work presents a prototype of an accessible chat for Mobile Devices (MD). The main aim of this research is to remove the accessibility barriers that screen reader users face when they use a chat in a MD. Thus, this prototype is based on the requirements which have been elicited considering background research and with the use of Software Engineering (SE) and Human Computer Interaction (HCI) methods as well as accessibility standards and guidelines.This research work has been partially supported by MA2VICMR (S2009/TIC-1542) and MULTIMEDICA (TIN2010-20644-C03-01)Publicad

Methoden zur Analyse der vokalen Gestaltung populärer Musik

Although voice and singing play a crucial role in many genres of popular music, to date there are only few approaches to an in-depth exploration of vocal expression. The paper aims at presenting new ways for describing, analysing and visualizing several aspects of singing using computer-based tools. After outlining a theoretical framework for the study of voice and singing in popular music, some of those tools are introduced and exemplified by vocal recordings from various genres (blues, gospel music, country music, jazz). Firstly, pitch gliding (slurs, slides, bends, melismas) and vibrato are discussed referring to a computer-based visualization of pitch contour. Secondly, vocal timbre and phonation (e.g. vocal roughness) are explored and visualized using spectrograms

Do (and say) as I say: Linguistic adaptation in human-computer dialogs

© Theodora Koulouri, Stanislao Lauria, and Robert D. Macredie. This article has been made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund.There is strong research evidence showing that people naturally align to each other’s vocabulary, sentence structure, and acoustic features in dialog, yet little is known about how the alignment mechanism operates in the interaction between users and computer systems let alone how it may be exploited to improve the efficiency of the interaction. This article provides an account of lexical alignment in human–computer dialogs, based on empirical data collected in a simulated human–computer interaction scenario. The results indicate that alignment is present, resulting in the gradual reduction and stabilization of the vocabulary-in-use, and that it is also reciprocal. Further, the results suggest that when system and user errors occur, the development of alignment is temporarily disrupted and users tend to introduce novel words to the dialog. The results also indicate that alignment in human–computer interaction may have a strong strategic component and is used as a resource to compensate for less optimal (visually impoverished) interaction conditions. Moreover, lower alignment is associated with less successful interaction, as measured by user perceptions. The article distills the results of the study into design recommendations for human–computer dialog systems and uses them to outline a model of dialog management that supports and exploits alignment through mechanisms for in-use adaptation of the system’s grammar and lexicon

Parton distribution functions from nonlocal light-cone operators with definite twist

We introduce the chiral-even and chiral-odd quark distributions as forward matrix elements of related bilocal quark operators with well-defined (geometric) twist. Thereby, we achieve a Lorentz invariant classification of these distributions which differ from the conventional ones by explicitly taking into account the necessary trace terms. The relations between both kinds of distribution functions are given and the mismatch between their different definition of twist is discussed. Wandzura-Wilczek--like relations between the conventional distributions (based on dynamical twist) are derived by means of geometric twist distribution functions.Comment: 17 pages, REVTEX, Extended version, The Introduction has been rewritten, Setion V "Wandzura-Wilczek--like relations" and App. B are added; Sign errors are correcte

Zakonodavstvo Republike Slovačke vezano uz divljač i meso divljači

Basic legislative frame of breeding of game as farm animals is included in the Veterinary care law No. 488/2002 Z.z. with amendments, Food act No. 152/1995 Z.z. with amendments. Veterinary care law (488/2002 Z.z.) establishes veterinary requirements for live animals and also for products of animal origin, including animal products in relation to the public health protection. Government regulations were added to the Veterinary care law in the process of implementation of EU Directives into national legislation. Food act 152/1995 Z.z. establishes conditions of production of food and other animal products, their handling and placing on the market to support and protect consumers and their health, and the roles and organisation of food supervision and keeping of rules. Requirements for health safety, hygiene, composition and quality of food, ingredients, technological processes used in food production, packaging, marking, storage, transportation, handling and distribution, and also rules for sampling and sample analysis procedures are established in the Food code of the Slovak Republic.Osnovni zakonski okvir za uzgoj divljači na farmama uključen je u Zakon o veterinarskoj skrbi br. 488/2002 Z.z. s izmjenama, Zakon o hrani br. 152/1995 Z.z. s izmjenama. Zakon o veterinarskoj skrbi (488/2002 Z.z.) određuje veterinarske zahtjeve za žive životinje kao i za namirnice životinjskog porijekla, uključivši životinjske proizvode, a koji se odnose na zaštitu ljudskog zdravlja. U Zakon o veterinarskoj skrbi dodani su državni propisi u procesu primjene EU propisa u nacionalno zakonodavstvo. Zakon o hrani br. 152/1995 Z.z. određuje uvjete proizvodnje hrane i drugih životinjskih proizvoda, rukovanje s istima te stavljanje namirnica životinjskog porijekla na tržište u cilju potpore i zaštite potrošača i njihovog zdravlja, kao i ulogu i organizaciju zdravstvenog nadzora namirnica, te poštivanje propisa. Zakon o hrani Republike Slovačke određuje zahtjeve za zdravstvenu i higijensku ispravnost namirnica, njihov sastav i kakvoću, sastojke, tehnološke procese koji se primjenjuju u proizvodnji hrane, opremanje, označavanje, skladištenje, prijevoz, rukovanje i promet, kao i propise za uzorkovanje i postupke analize uzoraka

Reconstruction of the Late Holocene climate and environmental history from North Bolgoda Lake, Sri Lanka, using lipid biomarkers and pollen records

The catastrophic impact and unpredictability of the Indian Ocean Monsoon (IOM) over South Asia are evident from devastating floods, mudslides and droughts in one of the most densely populated regions of the globe. However, our understanding as to how the IOM has varied in the past, as well as its impact on local environments, remains limited. This is particularly the case for Sri Lanka, where erosional landscapes have limited the availability of well-stratified, high-resolution terrestrial archives. Here, we present novel data from an undisturbed sediment core retrieved from the coastal Bolgoda Lake. This includes the presentation of a revised Late Holocene age model as well as an innovative combination of pollen, source-specific biomarkers, and compound-specific stable carbon isotopes of n-alkanes to reconstruct the shifts in precipitation, salinity and vegetation cover. Our record documents variable climate between 3000 years and the present, with arid conditions c. 2334 and 2067 cal a bp. This extreme dry period was preceded and followed by more wet conditions. The high-resolution palaeoenvironmental reconstruction fills a major gap in our knowledge on the ramifications of IOM shifts across South Asia and provides insights during a time of major redistribution of dense human settlements across Sri Lanka.Introduction Background, materials and methods - Study area and site - Sampling - Age–depth model - Biomarker analysis - Compound‐specific carbon isotope analysis - Pollen analysis Results - Chronology and climate zones - Biomarker trends and ratios of n‐alkanes - Triterpenols - δ13C isotopes in n‐alkanes - Pollen Discussion - Palaeoenvironmental implications - Mangrove vegetation, palaeosalinity changes and droughts - Palaeoclimate and palaeoenvironmental reconstruction - Zone 1 (2960 to 2390 cal a bp; 385–252 cm) - Zone 2 (2390 to 1800 cal a bp; 252–140 cm) - Zone 3 (1800 to 1318 cal a bp; 140–60 cm) - Zone 4 (1318 cal a bp to present; 60–0 cm) - South Asian comparisons and potential human implications Conclusion

The presence of B7-H4+ macrophages and CD25+CD4+ and FOXP3+ regulatory T cells in the microenvironment of nasal polyps - a preliminary report.

The nasal polyp (NP) seems to represent the end-stage of longstanding inflammation in patients with chronic rhinosinusitis. The aim of our study has been to evaluate the presence of two regulatory cell populations in the microenvironment of NP: CD4+CD25high Foxp3+ (Treg) cells and B7-H4-expressing macrophages. Treg cells are actively able to inhibit T lymphocytes, while the population of B7-H4-expressing macrophages has recently been described as characterized by a regulatory function similar to that of Treg cells. For our study, we evaluated 14 NP tissue samples. The samples were divided into two main groups, eosinophilic (NP) and lymphocytic (NP), according to the predominant type of immune cell infiltration. The presence of Treg cells and B7-H4 positive macrophages in the samples was analyzed by FACS. Treg cells and B7-H4-expressing macrophages were identified in all the examined nasal polyps. The percentages of both Treg cells and of B7H4 positive cells found in the eosinophilic nasal polyps were higher than those found in the lymphocytic nasal polyps. Treg cells and B7H4+ macrophage subpopulations were present in the NP microenvironment and the alterations in their percentages were related to a distinct pattern of immune cell infiltration

Genomic reconstruction of a novel, deeply branched sediment archaeal phylum with pathways for acetogenesis and sulfur reduction

Marine and estuary sediments contain a variety of uncultured archaea whose metabolic and ecological roles are unknown. De novo assembly and binning of high-throughput metagenomic sequences from the sulfate–methane transition zone in estuary sediments resulted in the reconstruction of three partial to near-complete (2.4–3.9 Mb) genomes belonging to a previously unrecognized archaeal group. Phylogenetic analyses of ribosomal RNA genes and ribosomal proteins revealed that this group is distinct from any previously characterized archaea. For this group, found in the White Oak River estuary, and previously registered in sedimentary samples, we propose the name ‘Thorarchaeota'. The Thorarchaeota appear to be capable of acetate production from the degradation of proteins. Interestingly, they also have elemental sulfur and thiosulfate reduction genes suggesting they have an important role in intermediate sulfur cycling. The reconstruction of these genomes from a deeply branched, widespread group expands our understanding of sediment biogeochemistry and the evolutionary history of Archaea