A user evaluation of speech/phrase recognition software in critically ill patients: a DECIDE-AI feasibility study.

OBJECTIVES: Evaluating effectiveness of speech/phrase recognition software in critically ill patients with speech impairments. DESIGN: Prospective study. SETTING: Tertiary hospital critical care unit in the northwest of England. PARTICIPANTS: 14 patients with tracheostomies, 3 female and 11 male. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Evaluation of dynamic time warping (DTW) and deep neural networks (DNN) methods in a speech/phrase recognition application. Using speech/phrase recognition app for voice impaired (SRAVI), patients attempted mouthing various supported phrases with recordings evaluated by both DNN and DTW processing methods. Then, a trio of potential recognition phrases was displayed on the screen, ranked from first to third in order of likelihood. RESULTS: A total of 616 patient recordings were taken with 516 phrase identifiable recordings. The overall results revealed a total recognition accuracy across all three ranks of 86% using the DNN method. The rank 1 recognition accuracy of the DNN method was 75%. The DTW method had a total recognition accuracy of 74%, with a rank 1 accuracy of 48%. CONCLUSION: This feasibility evaluation of a novel speech/phrase recognition app using SRAVI demonstrated a good correlation between spoken phrases and app recognition. This suggests that speech/phrase recognition technology could be a therapeutic option to bridge the gap in communication in critically ill patients. WHAT IS ALREADY KNOWN ABOUT THIS TOPIC: Communication can be attempted using visual charts, eye gaze boards, alphabet boards, speech/phrase reading, gestures and speaking valves in critically ill patients with speech impairments. WHAT THIS STUDY ADDS: Deep neural networks and dynamic time warping methods can be used to analyse lip movements and identify intended phrases. HOW THIS STUDY MIGHT AFFECT RESEARCH, PRACTICE AND POLICY: Our study shows that speech/phrase recognition software has a role to play in bridging the communication gap in speech impairment.

Wind waves in sea ice of the western Arctic and a global coupled wave-ice model.

The retreat of Arctic sea ice is enabling increased ocean wave activity at the sea ice edge, yet the interactions between surface waves and sea ice are not fully understood. Here, we examine in situ observations of wave spectra spanning 2012-2021 in the western Arctic marginal ice zone (MIZ). Swells exceeding 30 cm are rarely observed beyond 100 km inside the MIZ. However, local wind waves are observed in patches of open water amid partial ice cover during the summer. These local waves remain fetch-limited between ice floes with heights less than 1 m. To investigate these waves at climate scales, we conduct experiments varying wave attenuation and generation in ice with a global model including coupled interactions between waves and sea ice. A weak high-frequency attenuation rate is required to simulate the local waves in observations. The choices of attenuation scheme and wind input in ice have a remarkable impact on the extent of wave activity across ice-covered oceans, particularly in the Antarctic. As well as demonstrating the need for stronger constraints on wave attenuation, our results suggest that further attention should be directed towards locally generated wind waves and their role in sea ice evolution. This article is part of the theme issue 'Theory, modelling and observations of marginal ice zone dynamics: multidisciplinary perspectives and outlooks'.

Rational screening of biomineralisation peptides for colour-selected one-pot gold nanoparticle syntheses.

Biomineralisation peptides that facilitate the one-pot synthesis of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) with selected optical properties, were screened using a coherent peptide-spotted array consisting of a AuNP binding peptide library. As the biomineralised AuNPs were captured on each peptide spot, analysis of the images provided information on their collective optical properties.

Laterally mobile, functionalized self-assembled monolayers at the fluorous-aqueous interface in a plug-based microfluidic system: characterization and testing with membrane protein crystallization.

This paper describes a method to generate functionalizable, mobile self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) in plug-based microfluidics. Control of interfaces is advancing studies of biological interfaces, heterogeneous reactions, and nanotechnology. SAMs have been useful for such studies, but they are not laterally mobile. Lipid-based methods, though mobile, are not easily amenable to setting up the hundreds of experiments necessary for crystallization screening. Here we demonstrate a method, complementary to current SAM and lipid methods, for rapidly generating mobile, functionalized SAMs. This method relies on plugs, droplets surrounded by a fluorous carrier fluid, to rapidly explore chemical space. Specifically, we implemented his-tag binding chemistry to design a new fluorinated amphiphile, RfNTA, using an improved one-step synthesis of RfOEG under Mitsunobu conditions. RfNTA introduces specific binding of protein at the fluorous-aqueous interface, which concentrates and orients proteins at the interface, even in the presence of other surfactants. We then applied this approach to the crystallization of a his-tagged membrane protein, Reaction Center from Rhodobacter sphaeroides, performed 2400 crystallization trials, and showed that this approach can increase the range of crystal-producing conditions, the success rate at a given condition, the rate of nucleation, and the quality of the crystal formed.

Hydrated silicate minerals on Mars observed by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter CRISM instrument.

Phyllosilicates, a class of hydrous mineral first definitively identified on Mars by the OMEGA (Observatoire pour la Mineralogie, L'Eau, les Glaces et l'Activitié) instrument, preserve a record of the interaction of water with rocks on Mars. Global mapping showed that phyllosilicates are widespread but are apparently restricted to ancient terrains and a relatively narrow range of mineralogy (Fe/Mg and Al smectite clays). This was interpreted to indicate that phyllosilicate formation occurred during the Noachian (the earliest geological era of Mars), and that the conditions necessary for phyllosilicate formation (moderate to high pH and high water activity) were specific to surface environments during the earliest era of Mars's history. Here we report results from the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM) of phyllosilicate-rich regions. We expand the diversity of phyllosilicate mineralogy with the identification of kaolinite, chlorite and illite or muscovite, and a new class of hydrated silicate (hydrated silica). We observe diverse Fe/Mg-OH phyllosilicates and find that smectites such as nontronite and saponite are the most common, but chlorites are also present in some locations. Stratigraphic relationships in the Nili Fossae region show olivine-rich materials overlying phyllosilicate-bearing units, indicating the cessation of aqueous alteration before emplacement of the olivine-bearing unit. Hundreds of detections of Fe/Mg phyllosilicate in rims, ejecta and central peaks of craters in the southern highland Noachian cratered terrain indicate excavation of altered crust from depth. We also find phyllosilicate in sedimentary deposits clearly laid by water. These results point to a rich diversity of Noachian environments conducive to habitability.

Controlling nonspecific protein adsorption in a plug-based microfluidic system by controlling interfacial chemistry using fluorous-phase surfactants.

Control of surface chemistry and protein adsorption is important for using microfluidic devices for biochemical analysis and high-throughput screening assays. This paper describes the control of protein adsorption at the liquid-liquid interface in a plug-based microfluidic system. The microfluidic system uses multiphase flows of immiscible fluorous and aqueous fluids to form plugs, which are aqueous droplets that are completely surrounded by fluorocarbon oil and do not come into direct contact with the hydrophobic surface of the microchannel. Protein adsorption at the aqueous-fluorous interface was controlled by using surfactants that were soluble in fluorocarbon oil but insoluble in aqueous solutions. Three perfluorinated alkane surfactants capped with different functional groups were used: a carboxylic acid, an alcohol, and a triethylene glycol group that was synthesized from commercially available materials. Using complementary methods of analysis, adsorption was characterized for several proteins (bovine serum albumin (BSA) and fibrinogen), including enzymes (ribonuclease A (RNase A) and alkaline phosphatase). These complementary methods involved characterizing adsorption in microliter-sized droplets by drop tensiometry and in nanoliter plugs by fluorescence microscopy and kinetic measurements of enzyme catalysis. The oligoethylene glycol-capped surfactant prevented protein adsorption in all cases. Adsorption of proteins to the carboxylic acid-capped surfactant in nanoliter plugs could be described by using the Langmuir model and tensiometry results for microliter drops. The microfluidic system was fabricated using rapid prototyping in poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS). Black PDMS microfluidic devices, fabricated by curing a suspension of charcoal in PDMS, were used to measure the changes in fluorescence intensity more sensitively. This system will be useful for microfluidic bioassays, enzymatic kinetics, and protein crystallization, because it does not require surface modification during fabrication to control surface chemistry and protein adsorption.

In situ data collection and structure refinement from microcapillary protein crystallization.

In situ X-ray data collection has the potential to eliminate the challenging task of mounting and cryocooling often fragile protein crystals, reducing a major bottleneck in the structure determination process. An apparatus used to grow protein crystals in capillaries and to compare the background X-ray scattering of the components, including thin-walled glass capillaries against Teflon, and various fluorocarbon oils against each other, is described. Using thaumatin as a test case at 1.8 Å resolution, this study demonstrates that high-resolution electron density maps and refined models can be obtained from in situ diffraction of crystals grown in microcapillaries.

Screening of protein crystallization conditions on a microfluidic chip using nanoliter-size droplets.

Protein crystallization is a major bottleneck in determining tertiary protein structures from genomic sequence data. This paper describes a microfluidic system for screening hundreds of protein crystallization conditions using less than 4 nL of protein solution for each crystallization droplet. The droplets are formed by mixing protein, precipitant, and additive stock solutions in variable ratios in a flow of water-immiscible fluids inside microchannels. Each droplet represents a discrete trial testing different conditions. The system has been validated by crystallization of several water-soluble proteins.

Multidimensional screening and design of pharmaceuticals by using endocrine pharmacophores.

A novel computational technology derived from gene structure has been developed for screening, selecting, and designing pharmaceutical candidates. Pharmacophores, or three-dimensional molecular blueprints, were created by docking known active structures into specific sites in partially unwound DNA. The pharmacophores are composites of the van der Waals surfaces and hydrogen bonding functional groups of active molecules. Once created, molecules can be inserted into the pharmacophores and degree of fit quantitated by the volume of the molecule that fits within the composite surface and the magnitude of electrostatic interactions with charged atoms on the pharmacophore. Here, we describe endocrine pharmacophores and in particular the estrogen pharmacophore derived by docking active ligands into partially unwound DNA. Fit of candidate structures into the estrogen pharmacophore correlated with estrogenic (uterotropic) activity. For example, the super active estrogens moxestrol and 11beta-acetoxyestradiol fit better within the site than estradiol. Bisphenol A, a putative endocrine disrupter with suspected estrogenic activity, was a poor fit in the pharmacophore. Consistent with this prediction, bisphenol A was recently shown to lack uterotropic activity. The capacity of the endocrine pharmacophores to predict certain nontarget activities was demonstrated by using the antiandrogen cyproterone acetate that did not fit the estrogen or thyroid pharmacophores but fit partially into the progestin and glucocorticoid pharmacophores. Cyproterone acetate has been reported to have weak progestational and glucocorticoid activities. The pharmacophores provide for the first time a multidimensional computational method that can simultaneously predict multiple activities of diverse molecular structures.

Failure to induce reactive hypoglycaemia by drinking a starch-based alcohol beverage (sorghum beer).

Alcohol is a well-recognised cause of fasting hypoglycaemia but may also provoked reactive hypoglycaemia when drunk together with a carbohydratee mixer. In this study the ability of sorghum beer (an 'in-built' alcohol-starch beverage widely enjoyed in Southern Africa) to induce reactive hypoglycaemia was compared with "gin and tonic' in eight non-obese health African men. After an overnight fast, each subject drank, in random sequence on their different occasions, 2 litres of sorghum beer (carbohydrat content approximately 5% and alcohol concentration 2.24 g/dl-2.8% v/v), the same volume of a control solution providing a similar carbohydrate load, or a gin and standard tonic water mixture. No evidence of reactive hypoglycaemia was apparent during the 5 hours after the beginning of the sorghum beer tolerance tests, despite a mean peak blood alcohol level reaching 80 mg/dl. both the peak and total plasma insulin responses were significantly reduced (p less than or equal to 0.05) when compared to the brisk responses elicited by the carbohydrate solution alone and the gin and tonic drinks, with consequent hypoglycaemia. These data suggest that African home-brews are not potent causes of reactive hypoglycaemia, although they may be implicated in the development of ethanol-induced hypoglycaemia in the fasting state.