Enhancing the inclusivity and accessibility of your online calls

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yo Yehudi ◽  
Kaitlin Stack Whitney ◽  
Malvika Sharan
Keyword(s):  
Lived Experience ◽  
Real Time ◽  
Hard Of Hearing ◽  
Video Conferencing ◽  
Community Building ◽  
Online Training ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Hands On ◽  
Closed Captions ◽  
Post Hoc

Multinational video conferencing and online calls for training and community building have been commonplace for many organisations, even prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. These calls can be intended to be hands-on and interactive, but it requires conscious designing, pre-planning, and careful moderation in order to make them inclusive for a range of abilities. This article describes formats and tools for designing online training calls for accessibility. Measures include high-quality real-time or post-hoc transcriptions or closed-captions for spoken content in calls, providing writing-based interactive discussions, and consulting with experts and people with lived experience before any of these actions are implemented. Many of these options are cost-free, although sometimes for-pay alternatives may offer better accessibility if funding is possible. Finally, iteration and feedback are essential parts of accessibility design in participatory events including online calls. As organisers, we should accept that we may make mistakes and hence, ensure that we build pathways to enable evidence and experience-based improvements.These measures will aid participation for a broad audience but may be especially helpful for people who are deaf or hard of hearing, people for whom the call language isn’t their preferred language, and people who are not comfortable speaking in front of a group.

Sky Segmentation for Enhanced Depth Reconstruction and Bokeh Rendering with Efficient Architectures

2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 (14) ◽  
pp. 378-1-378-7
Author(s):  
Tyler Nuanes ◽  
Matt Elsey ◽  
Radek Grzeszczuk ◽  
John Paul Shen
Keyword(s):  
Real Time ◽  
Mobile Device ◽  
Computational Cost ◽  
False Positives ◽  
Compact Model ◽  
High Quality ◽  
False Negatives ◽  
Trade Off ◽  
Depth Reconstruction ◽  
Binary Classifiers

We present a high-quality sky segmentation model for depth refinement and investigate residual architecture performance to inform optimally shrinking the network. We describe a model that runs in near real-time on mobile device, present a new, highquality dataset, and detail a unique weighing to trade off false positives and false negatives in binary classifiers. We show how the optimizations improve bokeh rendering by correcting stereo depth misprediction in sky regions. We detail techniques used to preserve edges, reject false positives, and ensure generalization to the diversity of sky scenes. Finally, we present a compact model and compare performance of four popular residual architectures (ShuffleNet, MobileNetV2, Resnet-101, and Resnet-34-like) at constant computational cost.

scholarly journals Association of Ct Values from Real-Time PCR with Culture in Microbiological Clearance Samples for Shiga Toxin-Producing Escherichia coli (STEC)

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (11) ◽  
pp. 1801
Author(s):  
Michael Bording-Jorgensen ◽  
Brendon D. Parsons ◽  
Gillian A.M. Tarr ◽  
Binal Shah-Gandhi ◽  
Colin Lloyd ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Escherichia Coli ◽  
Real Time ◽  
Shiga Toxin ◽  
Real Time Pcr ◽  
Gene Detection ◽  
Culture Positivity ◽  
Hands On ◽  
Culture Independent ◽  
Chromogenic Agar ◽  
Stool Samples

Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) are associated with acute gastroenteritis worldwide, which induces a high economic burden on both healthcare and individuals. Culture-independent diagnostic tests (CIDT) in frontline microbiology laboratories have been implemented in Alberta since 2019. The objectives of this study were to determine the association between gene detection and culture positivity over time using STEC microbiological clearance samples and also to establish the frequency of specimen submission. Both stx genes’ amplification by real-time PCR was performed with DNA extracted from stool samples using the easyMAG system. Stools were inoculated onto chromogenic agar for culture. An association between gene detection and culture positivity was found to be independent of which stx gene was present. CIDT can provide rapid reporting with less hands-on time and technical expertise. However, culture is still important for surveillance and early cluster detection. In addition, stool submissions could be reduced from daily to every 3–5 days until a sample is negative by culture.

Assessing reinforcing versus aversive consequences in a real-time secondhand smoke intervention

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vincent Berardi ◽  
John Bellettiere ◽  
Benjamin Nguyen ◽  
Neil E Klepeis ◽  
Suzanne C Hughes ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Real Time ◽  
Real World ◽  
Secondhand Smoke ◽  
Relative Effectiveness ◽  
Feedback System ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Sensing Technology ◽  
Control Versus ◽  
Particle Counts ◽  
Post Hoc

Abstract Few studies have examined the relative effectiveness of reinforcing versus aversive consequences at changing behavior in real-world environments. Real-time sensing devices makes it easier to investigate such questions, offering the potential to improve both intervention outcomes and theory. This research aims to describe the development of a real-time, operant theory-based secondhand smoke (SHS) intervention and compare the efficacy of aversive versus aversive plus reinforcement contingency systems. Indoor air particle monitors were placed in the households of 253 smokers for approximately three months. Participants were assigned to a measurement-only control group (N = 129) or one of the following groups: 1.) aversive only (AO, N = 71), with aversive audio/visual consequences triggered by the detection of elevated air particle measurements, or 2.) aversive plus reinforcement (AP, N = 53), with reinforcing consequences contingent on the absence of SHS added to the AO intervention. Residualized change ANCOVA analysis compared particle concentrations over time and across groups. Post-hoc pairwise comparisons were also performed. After controlling for Baseline, Post-Baseline daily particle counts (F = 6.42, p = 0.002), % of time >15,000 counts (F = 7.72, p < 0.001), and daily particle events (F = 4.04, p = 0.02) significantly differed by study group. Nearly all control versus AO/AP pair-wise comparisons were statistically significant. No significant differences were found for AO versus AP groups. The aversive feedback system reduced SHS, but adding reinforcing consequences did not further improve outcomes. The complexity of real-world environments requires the nuances of these two contingency systems continue to be explored, with this study demonstrating that real-time sensing technology can serve as a platform for such research.

scholarly journals Gauge invariant canonical symplectic algorithms for real-time lattice strong-field quantum electrodynamics

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Qiang Chen ◽  
Jianyuan Xiao ◽  
Peifeng Fan
Keyword(s):  
Field Theory ◽  
Real Time ◽  
Quantum Electrodynamics ◽  
Symplectic Form ◽  
Strong Field ◽  
Relativistic Quantum ◽  
High Order ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Geometric Structures ◽  
Gauge Invariant

Abstract A class of high-order canonical symplectic structure-preserving geometric algorithms are developed for high-quality simulations of the quantized Dirac-Maxwell theory based strong-field quantum electrodynamics (SFQED) and relativistic quantum plasmas (RQP) phenomena. With minimal coupling, the Lagrangian density of an interacting bispinor-gauge fields theory is constructed in a conjugate real fields form. The canonical symplectic form and canonical equations of this field theory are obtained by the general Hamilton’s principle on cotangent bundle. Based on discrete exterior calculus, the gauge field components are discreted to form a cochain complex, and the bispinor components are naturally discreted on a staggered dual lattice as combinations of differential forms. With pull-back and push-forward gauge covariant derivatives, the discrete action is gauge invariant. A well-defined discrete canonical Poisson bracket generates a semi-discrete lattice canonical field theory (LCFT), which admits the canonical symplectic form, unitary property, gauge symmetry and discrete Poincaré subgroup, which are good approximations of the original continuous geometric structures. The Hamiltonian splitting method, Cayley transformation and symmetric composition technique are introduced to construct a class of high-order numerical schemes for the semi-discrete LCFT. These schemes involve two degenerate fermion flavors and are locally unconditional stable, which also preserve the geometric structures. Admitting Nielsen-Ninomiya theorem, the continuous chiral symmetry is partially broken on the lattice. As an extension, a pair of discrete chiral operators are introduced to reconstruct the lattice chirality. Equipped with statistically quantization-equivalent ensemble models of the Dirac vacuum and non-trivial plasma backgrounds, the schemes are expected to have excellent performance in secular simulations of relativistic quantum effects, where the numerical errors of conserved quantities are well bounded by very small values without coherent accumulation. The algorithms are verified in detail by numerical energy spectra. Real-time LCFT simulations are successfully implemented for the nonlinear Schwinger mechanism induced e-e+ pairs creation and vacuum Kerr effect, where the nonlinear and non-perturbative features captured by the solutions provide a complete strong-field physical picture in a very wide range, which open a new door toward high-quality simulations in SFQED and RQP fields.

Nitrogen Fixation: Fixing the Gap between Concept- & Evidence-Based Learning with Legume Biology

2019 ◽  
Vol 81 (4) ◽  
pp. 250-255
Author(s):  
Christopher P. Krieg ◽  
Rebecca A. Valls ◽  
Sarah Vatland ◽  
Jennifer Gordinier ◽  
Stephanie S. Porter ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High School Students ◽  
Student Attitudes ◽  
Environmental Science ◽  
School Students ◽  
Research Skills ◽  
Science Courses ◽  
Hands On ◽  
Course Material ◽  
Classroom Inquiry ◽  
Post Hoc

Students often struggle to connect concepts with evidence, sometimes because development of research skills has not been emphasized in their science courses. We developed a strategy and protocol to train high school students in research and experimental investigation of questions related to course material on legume biology. The richness of this subject matter allows for adaptations of our framework to address diverse areas of science, including principles in ecology, environmental science, agriculture, microbiology, and evolution. Our framework includes a hands-on classroom inquiry that investigates the symbiotic relationship between nitrogen-fixing rhizobial bacteria and legumes. This student-led, inquiry-based project employs an intellectually demanding, hands-on method of education to build critical research skills using an adaptable model and inexpensive materials. We also report positive student feedback from a post hoc survey to gauge student attitudes toward the activity and the effectiveness of this framework.

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