Whodunnit – Searching for the most important feature types signalling emotion-related user states in speech

In this article, we describe and interpret a set of acoustic and linguistic features that characterise emotional/emotion-related user states – confined to the one database processed: four classes in a German corpus of children interacting with a pet robot. To this end, we collected a very large feature vector consisting of more than 4000 features extracted at different sites. We performed extensive feature selection (Sequential Forward Floating Search) for seven acoustic and four linguistic types of features, ending up in a small number of ‘most important’ features which we try to interpret by discussing the impact of different feature and extraction types. We establish different measures of impact and discuss the mutual influence of acoustics and linguistics.     

Attachment theory and rections to others' needs: Evidence that activiation of the sense of attachment security promotes empathic responses.

Five studies examined the effects of chronic and contextual activation of attachment security on reactions to others' needs. The sense of attachment security was contextually primed by asking participants to recollect personal memories, read a story, or look at a picture of supportive others or by subliminally exposing them to proximity-related words. This condition was compared against the priming of neutral themes, positive affect, or attachment-insecurity schemas. Then reports of empathy and personal distress or the accessibility of empathy and personal-distress memories were assessed. Attachment-security priming strengthened empathic reactions and inhibited personal distress. Self-reports of attachment anxiety and avoidance were inversely related to empathy, and attachment anxiety was positively related to personal distress. The discussion emphasizes the relevance of attachment theory for explaining reactions to others' needs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Phonological universals constrain the processing of nonspeech stimuli.

Domain-specific systems are hypothetically specialized with respect to the outputs they compute and the inputs they allow (Fodor, 1983). Here, we examine whether these 2 conditions for specialization are dissociable. An initial experiment suggests that English speakers could extend a putatively universal phonological restriction to inputs identified as nonspeech. A subsequent comparison of English and Russian participants indicates that the processing of nonspeech inputs is modulated by linguistic experience. Striking, qualitative differences between English and Russian participants suggest that they rely on linguistic principles, both universal and language-particular, rather than generic auditory processing strategies. Thus, the computation of idiosyncratic linguistic outputs is apparently not restricted to speech inputs. This conclusion presents various challenges to both domain-specific and domain-general accounts of cognition. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The economics of cell phone reuse and recycling

There is widespread consensus that landfill of waste electronic and electric equipment is not an acceptable end-of-use management option. Diversion from landfill, either through voluntary or mandatory take-back and collection programs, overwhelmingly leads to the recycling of e-waste, which typically consists of the recovery of a limited number of metals. Cell phones are currently one of the few electronic products, if not the only one, that also have a thriving reuse market. In fact, more handsets are reused than recycled. Cell phones therefore offer the rare opportunity to compare closed-loop supply chains for e-waste reuse and recycling. In this paper, we examine the economics of cell phone reuse and recycling based on detailed primary data collected from reverse logistics, reuse and recycling operations in 2003 in the UK and in 2006 in the US. We show that while cell phone reuse has a healthy profit margin, handset recycling is currently a by-product of reuse.     

Blunt trauma to the trachea

A 5-year-old child sustained blunt trauma to the cervical trachea. Diffuse subcutaneous emphysema of the neck and thorax developed rapidly. Anaesthesia was induced with halothane through a face-piece and the patient breathed spontaneously until the lesion has been evaluated. This course is advocated in the management of such injuries.     

Effects of localized pontine lesions on auditory brain-stem evoked potentials and binaural processing in humans

Potassium channels are involved in the control of neuronal excitability by fixing the membrane potential, shaping the action potential, and setting firing rates. Recently, attention has been focused on identifying the factors influencing excitability in second-order auditory and vestibular neurons. Located in the brainstem, second-order auditory and vestibular neurons are sites for convergence of inputs from first-order auditory or vestibular ganglionic cells with other sensory systems and also motor areas. Typically, second-order auditory neurons exhibit two distinct firing patterns in response to depolarization: tonic, with a repetitive firing of action potentials, and phasic, characterized by only one or a few action potentials. In contrast, all mature vestibular second-order neurons fire tonically on depolarization. Already, certain fundamental roles have emerged for potassium currents in these neurons. In mature auditory and vestibular neurons, I(K), the delayed rectifier, is required for the fast repolarization of action potentials. In tonically firing auditory neurons, I(A), the transient outward rectifier, defines the discharge pattern. I(DS), a delayed rectifier-like current distinguished by its low threshold of activation, is found in phasically firing auditory and some developing vestibular neurons where it limits firing to one or a few spikes, and also may contribute to forming short-duration excitatory postsynaptic potential (EPSPs). Also, I(DS) sets the threshold for action potential generation rather high, which may prevent spontaneous discharge in phasically firing cells. During development, there is a gradual acquisition and loss of some potassium conductances, suggesting developmental regulation. As there are similarities in membrane properties of second-order auditory and vestibular neurons, investigations on firing pattern and its underlying mechanisms in one system should help to uncover fundamental properties of the other.     

Donor/Acceptor‐Modified Electrodes for Photoelectrochemical and Photobioelectrochemical Applications

A 7‐pyrrolidino‐7‐benzylamino‐8,8‐dicyanoquinodimethane, PBEDQ, ( 1 ), donor–acceptor–modified electrode yields, in the presence of hydroquinone, ( 2 ), an anodic photocurrent with quantum efficiency of 1.5%. The PBEDQ‐functionalized electrode yields, in the presence of the electron acceptor diquat, ( 3 ), a cathodic photocurrent with a quantum efficiency corresponding to 2.1%. The electron transfer cascades leading to the anodic or cathodic photocurrents in the different systems are discussed. It is further demonstrated that the integration of 1,4‐dihydronicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, NADH, as electron donor, with the PBEDQ‐modified electrode leads to an anodic photocurrent. This allowed the assembly of a photobioelectrochemical integrated electrode composed of the photoactive PBEDQ donor–acceptor compound, NAD⁺ as cofactor, and the NAD⁺‐dependent glucose dehydrogenase, GDH. Irradiation of the integrated electrode in the presence of glucose results in the GDH–biocatalyzed oxidation of glucose to gluconic acid with the concomitant generation of NADH that acts as electron donor for the photoactive donor–acceptor PBEDQ units, leading to the generation of steady‐state anodic photocurrent. The photocurrent intensities are controlled by the concentrations of glucose. The integrated PBEDQ/NAD⁺/GDH electrodes introduces a functional photobioelectrochemical electrode for the detection of glucose, and demonstrates the assembly of a functional photo‐biofuel cell that uses light and a biomass product (glucose) for the generation of electric power.     

Automatic computation of histogram threshold for lip segmentation using feedback of shape information

Threshold-based segmentation methods provide a simple and efficient way to implement lip segmentation. However, automatic computation of robust thresholds presents a major challenge. This research proposes an adaptive method for selecting the histogram threshold, based on feedback of shape information. The proposed method reduces unnecessary overhead by first comparing the initial segmentation to a reference lip shape model to decide if optimisation is required. In cases where optimisation is required, the algorithm adjusts the threshold until the segmentation is sufficiently similar to a reference shape model. The algorithm is tested on the AR Face Database by comparing the segmentation accuracy before and after optimisation. The proposed method increases the number of segmentations classified as ‘good’ (overlap above 90 %) by 7.1 % absolute, and significantly improves the segmentation in challenging cases containing facial hair.     

Photosystem I (PSI)/Photosystem II (PSII)‐Based Photo‐Bioelectrochemical Cells Revealing Directional Generation of Photocurrents

Layered assemblies of photosystem I, PSI, and/or photosystem II, PSII, on ITO electrodes are constructed using a layer‐by‐layer deposition process, where poly N,N′‐dibenzyl‐4,4′‐bipyridinium (poly‐benzyl viologen, PBV²⁺) is used as an inter‐protein “glue”. While the layered assembly of PSI generates an anodic photocurrent only in the presence of a sacrificial electron donor system, such as dichlorophenol indophenol (DCPIP)/ascorbate, the PSII‐modified electrode leads, upon irradiation, to the formation of an anodic photocurrent (while evolving oxygen), in the absence of any sacrificial component. The photocurrent is generated by transferring the electrons from the PSII units to the PBV²⁺ redox polymer. The charge‐separated species allow, then, the injection of the electrons to the electrode, with the concomitant evolution of O₂. A layered assembly, consisting of a PSI layer attached to a layer of PSII by the redox polymer PBV²⁺, leads to an anodic photocurrent that is 2‐fold higher, as compared to the anodic photocurrent generated by a PSII‐modified electrode. This observation is attributed to an enhanced charge separation in the two‐photosystem assembly. By the further nano‐engineering of the two photosystems on the electrode using two different redox polymers, vectorial electron transfer to the electrode is demonstrated, resulting in a ca. 6‐fold enhancement in the photocurrent. The reversed bi‐layer assembly, consisting of a PSII layer linked to a layer of PSI by the PBV²⁺ redox polymer, yields, upon irradiation, an inefficient cathodic current. This observation is attributed to a mixture of photoinduced electron transfer reactions of opposing effects on the photocurrent directions in the two‐photosystem assembly.