Accent rating by native and non-native listeners

This study investigates the influence of listener native language with respect to talker native language on perception of degree of foreign accent in English. Listeners from native English, Finnish, German and Mandarin backgrounds rated the accentedness of native English, Finnish, German and Mandarin talkers producing a controlled set of English sentences. Results indicate that non-native listeners, like native listeners, are able to classify non-native talkers as foreign-accented, and native talkers as unaccented. However, while non-native talkers received higher accentedness ratings than native talkers from all listener groups, non-native listeners judged talkers with non-native accents less harshly than did native English listeners. Similarly, non-native listeners assigned higher degrees of foreign accent to native English talkers than did native English listeners. It seems that non-native listeners give accentedness ratings that are less extreme, or closer to the centre of the rating scale in both directions, than those used by native listeners. Index Terms — Perceptual evaluation, native vs non-native listeners 1

Intelligibility-enhancing speech modifications: the Hurricane Challenge

Speech output is used extensively, including in situations where correct message reception is threatened by adverse listening conditions. Recently, there has been a growing interest in algorithmic modifications that aim to increase the intelligibility of both natural and synthetic speech when presented in noise. The Hurricane Challenge is the first large-scale open evaluation of algorithms designed to enhance speech intelligibility. Eighteen systems operating on a common data set were subjected to extensive listening tests and compared to unmodified natural and text-to-speech (TTS) baselines. The best-performing systems achieved gains over unmodified natural speech of 4.4 and 5.1 dB in competing speaker and stationary noise respectively, while TTS systems made gains of 5.6 and 5.1 dB over their baseline. Surprisingly, for most conditions the largest gains were observed for noise-independent algorithms, suggesting that performance in this task can be further improved by exploiting information in the masking signal. Index Terms: intelligibility, speech modification, TTS 1

Comparison of family health history in surveys vs electronic health record data mapped to the observational medical outcomes partnership data model in the All of Us Research Program

OBJECTIVE: Family health history is important to clinical care and precision medicine. Prior studies show gaps in data collected from patient surveys and electronic health records (EHRs). The All of Us Research Program collects family history from participants via surveys and EHRs. This Demonstration Project aims to evaluate availability of family health history information within the publicly available data from All of Us and to characterize the data from both sources. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Surveys were completed by participants on an electronic portal. EHR data was mapped to the Observational Medical Outcomes Partnership data model. We used descriptive statistics to perform exploratory analysis of the data, including evaluating a list of medically actionable genetic disorders. We performed a subanalysis on participants who had both survey and EHR data. RESULTS: There were 54 872 participants with family history data. Of those, 26% had EHR data only, 63% had survey only, and 10.5% had data from both sources. There were 35 217 participants with reported family history of a medically actionable genetic disorder (9% from EHR only, 89% from surveys, and 2% from both). In the subanalysis, we found inconsistencies between the surveys and EHRs. More details came from surveys. When both mentioned a similar disease, the source of truth was unclear. CONCLUSIONS: Compiling data from both surveys and EHR can provide a more comprehensive source for family health history, but informatics challenges and opportunities exist. Access to more complete understanding of a person\u27s family health history may provide opportunities for precision medicine

Fish-scale bio-inspired multifunctional ZnO nanostructures

Scales provide optical disguise, low water drag and mechanical protection to fish, enabling them to survive catastrophic environmental disasters, predators and microorganisms. The unique structures and stacking sequences of fish scales inspired the fabrication of artificial nanostructures with salient optical, interfacial and mechanical properties. Herein, we describe fish-scale bio-inspired multifunctional ZnO nanostructures that have similar morphology and structure to the cycloid scales of the Asian Arowana. These nanostructured coatings feature tunable light refraction and reflection, modulated surface wettability and damage-tolerant mechanical properties. The salient properties of these multifunctional nanostructures are promising for applications in: - (i) optical coatings, sensing or lens arrays for use in reflective displays, packing, advertising and solar energy harvesting; - (ii) self-cleaning surfaces, including anti-smudge, anti-fouling and anti-fogging, and self-sterilizing surfaces, and; - (iii) mechanical/chemical barrier coatings. This study provides a low-cost and large-scale production method for the facile fabrication of these bio-inspired nanostructures and provides new insights for the development of novel functional materials for use in 'smart' structures and applications

Additional file 4 of Worldwide clinical practices in perioperative antibiotic therapy for lung transplantation

Additional file 4. Answers to Case 2