Talk your way round: a speech interface to a virtual museum

Purpose: To explore the development of a speech interface to a Virtual World and to consider its relevance for disabled users. Method: The system was developed using mainly software that is available at minimal cost. How well the system functioned was assessed by measuring the number of times a group of users with a range of voices had to repeat commands in order for them to be successfully recognised. During an initial session, these users were asked to use the system with no instruction to see how easy this was. Results: Most of the spoken commands had to be repeated less than twice on average for successful recognition. For a set of ‘teleportation’ commands this figure was higher (2.4), but it was clear why this was so and could easily be rectified. The system was easy to use without instruction. Comments on the system were generally positive. Conclusions: While the system has some limitations, a Virtual World with a reasonably reliable speech interface has been developed almost entirely from software which is available at minimal cost. Improvements and further testing are considered. Such a system would clearly improve access to Virtual Reality technologies for those without the skills or physical ability to use a standard keyboard and mouse. It is an example of both Assistive Technology and Universal Design

Slicing and contours generation for fabricating heterogeneous objects

A contour sub-division algorithm on each layer arising from slicing a heterogeneous object is proposed. Within each slice, the material grading is decomposed into subcontours according to the different grading variation. A parameter called 'grading step-width' is defined to control the number of sub-contours and resolution of the grading. With such discretization, it is, therefore, possible to build a heterogeneous object on layered manufacturing machines of different fabricating precision specification.published_or_final_versio

Post-radiation sarcoma of the neck treated with re-irradiation followed by wide excision

BACKGROUND: Post-radiation sarcoma (PRS) is an uncommon disease manifesting as sarcoma in a previously irradiated field, usually with a latent period of 5 years or more. Literature is limited to small series. Optimal management of this disease is unclear. Positive margins are common following attempted curative surgery and outcomes are poor. Radiotherapy is hardly used and its effect on PRS is not known. We described a case of PRS treated with preoperative radiotherapy followed by margin-negative wide excision. CASE PRESENTATION: The 59-year-old patient presented with a mass in the left supraclavicular fossa and numbness in the arm, six years following radical irradiation of the head and neck for nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Open biopsy showed pleomorphic spindle cell sarcoma. She was treated with pre-operative hyperfractionated radiotherapy followed by margin-negative wide excision and nerve grafting. Cumulative radiation dose to the supraclavicular fossa was 98 Gy. Histological examination of the post-irradiation tumor specimens showed evidence of significant tumor response to re-irradiation. The patient remained free of disease five years after surgery with excellent functional outcome. CONCLUSION: Role of radiotherapy in PRS is uncertain. We described a case that was successfully managed with preoperative radiotherapy and margin-negative wide excision in terms of tumor control and functional outcomes. The impact of radiotherapy was demonstrated in the post-irradiation resected specimen. Further investigation using re-irradiation and surgery in PRS is warranted

Unlocking supply chain disruption risk within the Thai beverage industry [forthcoming]

Purpose: A growing need for global sourcing of business has subjected firms to higher levels of uncertainty and increased risk of supply disruption. Differences in industry and infrastructure make it more difficult for firms to manage supply disruption risks effectively. This study aims to extend developing research in this area by addressing gaps within existing literature related to environmental turbulence and uncertainties. Design/Methodology/Approach: We test our model using data collected from 253 senior managers and directors in the Thai beverage industry using advanced statistical techniques to explore the relationship between representations of supply disruption risk and uncertainty. Findings: The results show that both magnitude and probability of risk impact on the disruption risk, but the probability of loss is a dominant determinant. We also find that demand uncertainty and quality uncertainty affect the risk perception of purchasing managers, and are related to the magnitude of disruption risk, rather than the frequency of occurrence. Interestingly, our results show that quality uncertainty negatively impacts on the severity of disruption risk. Research limitations/implication: The construct validity of demand uncertainty was under the required threshold, intimating the need for further construct development. Practical Implications: The framework provides managers with direction on how to formulate and target their disruption risk management strategies. The work also allows practitioners to critically reflect on implicit risk management strategies they may already employ and their effectiveness. Originality/Value: The paper identifies key antecedents of supply disruption risk and tests them within a novel industrial context of the beverage industry and a novel national context of Thailand

Verified Compilation of CakeML to Multiple Machine-Code Targets

This paper describes how the latest CakeML compiler supports verified compilation down to multiple realistically modelled target architectures. In particular, we describe how the compiler definition, the various language semantics, and the correctness proofs were organised to minimize target-specific overhead. With our setup we have incorporated compilation to four 64-bit architectures, ARMv8, x86-64, MIPS-64, RISC-V, and one 32-bit architecture, ARMv6. Our correctness theorem allows interference from the environment: the top-level correctness statement takes into account execution of foreign code and per-instruction interference from external processes, such as interrupt handlers in operating systems. The entire CakeML development is formalised in the HOL4 theorem prover.Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC); Swedish Research Counci

Verified Compilation of CakeML to Multiple Machine-Code Targets

This paper describes how the latest CakeML compiler supports verified compilation down to multiple realistically modelled target architectures. In particular, we describe how the compiler definition, the various language semantics, and the correctness proofs were organised to minimize target-specific overhead. With our setup we have incorporated compilation to four 64-bit architectures, ARMv8, x86-64, MIPS-64, RISC-V, and one 32-bit architecture, ARMv6. Our correctness theorem allows interference from the environment: the top-level correctness statement takes into account execution of foreign code and per-instruction interference from external processes, such as interrupt handlers in operating systems. The entire CakeML development is formalised in the HOL4 theorem prover.Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC); Swedish Research Counci

The clinical impact of chromosomal microarray on paediatric care in Hong Kong

Objective To evaluate the clinical impact of chromosomal microarray (CMA) on the management of paediatric patients in Hong Kong. Methods We performed NimbleGen 135k oligonucleotide array on 327 children with intellectual disability (ID)/developmental delay (DD), autism spectrum disorders (ASD), and/or multiple congenital anomalies (MCAs) in a university-affiliated paediatric unit from January 2011 to May 2013. The medical records of patients were reviewed in September 2013, focusing on the pathogenic/likely pathogenic CMA findings and their “clinical actionability” based on established criteria. Results Thirty-seven patients were reported to have pathogenic/likely pathogenic results, while 40 had findings of unknown significance. This gives a detection rate of 11% for clinically significant (pathogenic/likely pathogenic) findings. The significant findings have prompted clinical actions in 28 out of 37 patients (75.7%), while the findings with unknown significance have led to further management recommendation in only 1 patient (p<0.001). Nineteen out of the 28 management recommendations are “evidence-based” on either practice guidelines endorsed by a professional society (n = 9, Level 1) or peer-reviewed publications making medical management recommendation (n = 10, Level 2). CMA results impact medical management by precipitating referral to a specialist (n = 24); diagnostic testing (n = 25), surveillance of complications (n = 19), interventional procedure (n = 7), medication (n = 15) or lifestyle modification (n = 12). Conclusion The application of CMA in children with ID/DD, ASD, and/or MCAs in Hong Kong results in a diagnostic yield of ∼11% for pathogenic/likely pathogenic results. Importantly the yield for clinically actionable results is 8.6%. We advocate using diagnostic yield of clinically actionable results to evaluate CMA as it provides information of both clinical validity and clinical utility. Furthermore, it incorporates evidence-based medicine into the practice of genomic medicine. The same framework can be applied to other genomic testing strategies enabled by next-generation sequencing.published_or_final_versio

The highly rearranged mitochondrial genomes of the crabs Maja crispata and Maja squinado (Majidae) and gene order evolution in Brachyura

Abstract We sequenced the mitochondrial genomes of the spider crabs Maja crispata and Maja squinado (Majidae, Brachyura). Both genomes contain the whole set of 37 genes characteristic of Bilaterian genomes, encoded on both \u3b1- and \u3b2-strands. Both species exhibit the same gene order, which is unique among known animal genomes. In particular, all the genes located on the \u3b2-strand form a single block. This gene order was analysed together with the other nine gene orders known for the Brachyura. Our study confirms that the most widespread gene order (BraGO) represents the plesiomorphic condition for Brachyura and was established at the onset of this clade. All other gene orders are the result of transformational pathways originating from BraGO. The different gene orders exhibit variable levels of genes rearrangements, which involve only tRNAs or all types of genes. Local homoplastic arrangements were identified, while complete gene orders remain unique and represent signatures that can have a diagnostic value. Brachyura appear to be a hot-spot of gene order diversity within the phylum Arthropoda. Our analysis, allowed to track, for the first time, the fully evolutionary pathways producing the Brachyuran gene orders. This goal was achieved by coupling sophisticated bioinformatic tools with phylogenetic analysis

Quenching Measurements and Modeling of a Boron-Loaded Organic Liquid Scintillator

Organic liquid scintillators are used in a wide variety of applications in experimental nuclear and particle physics. Boron-loaded scintillators are particularly useful for detecting neutron captures, due to the high thermal neutron capture cross section of 10B. These scintillators are commonly used in neutron detectors, including the DarkSide-50 neutron veto, where the neutron may produce a signal when it scatters off protons in the scintillator or when it captures on 10B. Reconstructing the energy of these recoils is complicated by scintillation quenching. Understanding how nuclear recoils are quenched in these scintillators is an important and difficult problem. In this article, we present a set of measurements of neutron-induced proton recoils in a boron-loaded organic liquid scintillator at recoil energies ranging from 57–467 keV, and we compare these measurements to predictions from different quenching models. We find that a modified Birks’ model whose denominator is quadratic in dE/dx best describes the measurements, with χ 2 /NDF= 1.6. This result will help model nuclear recoil scintillation in similar detectors and can be used to improve their neutron tagging efficiency