Explaining continuous improvement

The final chapter synthesizes the arguments presented over the course of the book by suggesting that skill execution continues to be governed by conscious processes even after performers have attained a high level of expertise. It argues that skill-focused attention is necessary if experts are to eschew proceduralization and react flexibly to ‘crises’ and fine-grained changes in situational demands. In doing so, it discusses the role played by conscious control, reflection, and bodily awareness in maintaining performance proficiency. It suggests that skill maintenance and continuous improvement are underpinned by the use of both automated procedures (acknowledging that these are inherently active and flexible) and metacognitive knowledge. The chapter concludes by briefly considering how skill-focused attention needs to be applied in both training and performance contexts in order to facilitate continuous improvement.

Viewing Classical Radio Galaxies with the Upgraded GMRT and MeerKAT—A Progress Report

We present a progress report of a study of FR I and FR II radio galaxies. Several new morphological features in the radio emission are now revealed using the high (μJy) sensitivity reached in the range 550–1712 MHz, more than a factor of three, at the high (∼4″−7″) angular resolution with the upgraded Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (uGMRT) and MeerKAT. Therefore, the aim of this study is to understand if we need to revise our current classification scheme for classical radio galaxies. In order to address our goals, we have carefully constructed a sample of 14 (6 FR I, 6 FR II and 2 FR 0) radio galaxies. The uGMRT and MeerKAT images of our four target sources revealed a wealth of morphological details, e.g., filamentary structure in the emission from the lobes, misalignments, radio emission beyond the hot-spots in three sources, etc.; see Fanaroff et al. (2021). Here, we present preliminary results for two more radio galaxies from our sample using uGMRT, in the light of the local environment. Finally, we are awaiting uGMRT and MeerKAT observations of remaining sample sources. Our results show that for the radio galaxies in this study, the morphological classification scheme for the classical FR I/FR II radio galaxies still holds, even with the improved imaging capabilities of the uGMRT and MeerKAT. Furthermore, we need to be cautious when using automated procedures for classification schemes, e.g., in surveys (with poorer sensitivities and angular resolutions) because of the rich morphological details that are shown in our uGMRT and MeerKAT images.

Acoustic Identification of Sentence Accent in Speakers with Dysarthria: Cross-Population Validation and Severity Related Patterns

Dysprosody is a hallmark of dysarthria, which can affect the intelligibility and naturalness of speech. This includes sentence accent, which helps to draw listeners’ attention to important information in the message. Although some studies have investigated this feature, we currently lack properly validated automated procedures that can distinguish between subtle performance differences observed across speakers with dysarthria. This study aims for cross-population validation of a set of acoustic features that have previously been shown to correlate with sentence accent. In addition, the impact of dysarthria severity levels on sentence accent production is investigated. Two groups of adults were analysed (Dutch and English speakers). Fifty-eight participants with dysarthria and 30 healthy control participants (HCP) produced sentences with varying accent positions. All speech samples were evaluated perceptually and analysed acoustically with an algorithm that extracts ten meaningful prosodic features and allows a classification between accented and unaccented syllables based on a linear combination of these parameters. The data were statistically analysed using discriminant analysis. Within the Dutch and English dysarthric population, the algorithm correctly identified 82.8 and 91.9% of the accented target syllables, respectively, indicating that the capacity to discriminate between accented and unaccented syllables in a sentence is consistent with perceptual impressions. Moreover, different strategies for accent production across dysarthria severity levels could be demonstrated, which is an important step toward a better understanding of the nature of the deficit and the automatic classification of dysarthria severity using prosodic features.

Automation der Bestimmung von Vitamin D in Serum und Plasma

Vitamins play an important role in many processes in the human organism. The detection of insufficient supply of vitamins is therefore of particular importance to avoid significant effects for human health. An increasing number of tests is only possible with suitable automated procedures. For the determination of vitamin D3 and vitamin D2 in serum samples, three methods were automated and compared with regard to their performance. All three methods enable reliable detection of 25(OH)D2 and 25(OH)D3 in serum in the ng/ml range.

Systematic reconstruction of the cellular trajectories of mammalian embryogenesis

Mammalian embryogenesis is characterized by rapid cellular proliferation and diversification. Within a few weeks, a single cell zygote gives rise to millions of cells expressing a panoply of molecular programs, including much of the diversity that will subsequently be present in adult tissues. Although intensively studied, a comprehensive delineation of the major cellular trajectories that comprise mammalian development in vivo remains elusive. Here we set out to integrate several single cell RNA-seq datasets (scRNA-seq) that collectively span mouse gastrulation and organogenesis. We define cell states at each of 19 successive stages spanning E3.5 to E13.5, heuristically connect them with their pseudo-ancestors and pseudo-descendants, and for a subset of stages, deconvolve their approximate spatial distributions. Despite being constructed through automated procedures, the resulting trajectories of mammalian embryogenesis (TOME) are largely consistent with our contemporary understanding of mammalian development. We leverage TOME to nominate transcription factors (TF) and TF motifs as key regulators of each branch point at which a new cell type emerges. Finally, to facilitate comparisons across vertebrates, we apply the same procedures to single cell datasets of zebrafish and frog embryogenesis, and nominate "cell type homologs" based on shared regulators and transcriptional states.

A New Way of Managing Drilling Required Bridging Old Divides

Drilling a well by the book has its downsides. A major downside of these plans in a PDF book format is they “do not include all the information needed to drill a well.” For those doing the work, they have the added downside of “not being formatted to match the real-time workflow.” And the plans are a one-way form of communication. “The pre-spud meeting might be the first time the driller is exposed to that well program,” said Matt Isbell, senior drilling engineering advisor for Hess who presented an alternative to that system at the 2021 IADC/SPE International Drilling Conference and Exhibition (SPE 204050). The paper coauthored by Hess, Nabors, and Halliburton described a process to replace the book with instructions and information delivered on a screen as needed while drilling. The goal was to provide a common view of the plan and the information needed to build a well for the driller and other parties working on the rig or remotely. The new digital system streamlined a process that included 20 separate documents using various templates plus multiple file-sharing sites and emails. “As the pace and complexity increases, how do we better manage this as a single system,” said Isbell. His response to the rhetorical question: “Why not just email files back and forth?” was “We believe we have reached the point where we cannot just send information back and forth in time to efficiently drill the well.” In addition to offering a step-by-step version of the plan, this resource offers a range of instructions and resources—from the well geometry and potential hazards to best practices and instructions on automated procedures. It replaces the book which was never a good problem-solving tool. “If you wanted to find out anything afterward, you had to troll though a 100-page document,” said Moray Laing, director of digital value well construction engineering for Halliburton. The paper coauthor remembers those books when he was working offshore many years ago. Halliburton helped address the technical challenge with a system it has been working on for 3 years, which is also being used by Aker, BP, and Maersk, who are working on a system for remote operating centers to manage offshore operations. Other companies, such as Schlumberger and drilling advisors Corva, are working on new ways to deliver drilling instructions which incorporate the drilling plan in the displays. What was different, and difficult, about the Hess-led effort was the collaboration to create a unified plan for the display. “The goal was a system pulling it all together, integrating a series of steps,” Laing said. He was referring to what he described as a complex well-construction plan based on Hess’ design that would be executed by Nabors. The digital well plan required Hess and Nabors to agree on how the work should be done and how that should be communicated to those building the plan. When the partners began meeting to figure out how to do that, however, they discovered some very basic differences such as differing definitions of the word “activity.”

Robust and Facile Automated Radiosynthesis of [18F]FSPG on the GE FASTlab

Purpose (S)-4-(3-18F-Fluoropropyl)-ʟ-Glutamic Acid ([18F]FSPG) is a radiolabeled non-natural amino acid that is used for positron emission tomography (PET) imaging of the glutamate/cystine antiporter, system xC-, whose expression is upregulated in many cancer types. To increase the clinical adoption of this radiotracer, reliable and facile automated procedures for [18F]FSPG production are required. Here, we report a cassette-based method to produce [18F]FSPG at high radioactivity concentrations from low amounts of starting activity. Procedures An automated synthesis and purification of [18F]FSPG was developed using the GE FASTlab. Optimization of the reaction conditions and automated manipulations were performed by measuring the isolated radiochemical yield of [18F]FSPG and by assessing radiochemical purity using radio-HPLC. Purification of [18F]FSPG was conducted by trapping and washing of the radiotracer on Oasis MCX SPE cartridges, followed by a reverse elution of [18F]FSPG in phosphate-buffered saline. Subsequently, the [18F]FSPG obtained from the optimized process was used to image an animal model of non-small cell lung cancer. Results The optimized protocol produced [18F]FSPG in 38.4 ± 2.6 % radiochemical yield and >96 % radiochemical purity with a molar activity of 11.1 ± 7.7 GBq/μmol. Small alterations, including the implementation of a reverse elution and an altered Hypercarb cartridge, led to significant improvements in radiotracer concentration from <10 MBq/ml to >100 MBq/ml. The improved radiotracer concentration allowed for the imaging of up to 20 mice, starting with just 1.5 GBq of [18F]Fluoride. Conclusions We have developed a robust and facile method for [18F]FSPG radiosynthesis in high radiotracer concentration, radiochemical yield, and radiochemical purity. This cassette-based method enabled the production of [18F]FSPG at radioactive concentrations sufficient to facilitate large-scale preclinical experiments with a single prep of starting activity. The use of a cassette-based radiosynthesis on an automated synthesis module routinely used for clinical production makes the method amenable to rapid and widespread clinical translation.

Considering Performance in the Automated and Manual Coding of Sociolinguistic Variables: Lessons From Variable (ING)

Impressionistic coding of sociolinguistic variables like English (ING), the alternation between pronunciations like talkin' and talking, has been a central part of the analytic workflow in studies of language variation and change for over a half-century. Techniques for automating the measurement and coding for a wide range of sociolinguistic data have been on the rise over recent decades but procedures for coding some features, especially those without clearly defined acoustic correlates like (ING), have lagged behind others, such as vowels and sibilants. This paper explores computational methods for automatically coding variable (ING) in speech recordings, examining the use of automatic speech recognition procedures related to forced alignment (using the Montreal Forced Aligner) as well as supervised machine learning algorithms (linear and radial support vector machines, and random forests). Considering the automated coding of pronunciation variables like (ING) raises broader questions for sociolinguistic methods, such as how much different human analysts agree in their impressionistic codes for such variables and what data might act as the “gold standard” for training and testing of automated procedures. This paper explores several of these considerations in automated, and manual, coding of sociolinguistic variables and provides baseline performance data for automated and manual coding methods. We consider multiple ways of assessing algorithms' performance, including agreement with human coders, as well as the impact on the outcome of an analysis of (ING) that includes linguistic and social factors. Our results show promise for automated coding methods but also highlight that variability in results should be expected even with careful human coded data. All data for our study come from the public Corpus of Regional African American Language and code and derivative datasets (including our hand-coded data) are available with the paper.

Quality management research trends in context of Industry 4.0: A short review

With new century we have new revolution which is Industry 4.0. That industry is helping companies to create smarter products together with services in such way that companies will reduce costs and they will increase efficiency. In that operation, human factor is crucial for the application. One of the benefits of the Industry 4.0 is the Smart factory that makes a solution. That is leading to the automated procedures. Also, it is leading to the uncomplicated setup including simple installation and sometimes very high rate of scalability. All of this features will help companies in the manufacturing process and further optimization their own processes. In the end, it will boost up their efficiency from the aspect of manufacturing. With digitalization of major industries, almost 5 million workplaces can be lost by 2020. In the same time, it will stop really fast the market demand for product which are produced using outdated technologies. Because of that, such production would be shut down because of higher costs and inefficiency in the first place.

Evaluation of 11 DNA Automated Extraction Protocols for the Detection of the 5 Mains Candida Species from Artificially Spiked Blood

The molecular detection of Candida plays an important role in the diagnosis of candidaemia, a major cause of morbidity and mortality. The sensitivity of this diagnosis is partly related to the efficiency of yeast DNA extraction. In this monocentric study, we investigated the suitability of 11 recent automated procedures for the extraction of low and high amounts of Candida DNA from spiked blood. The efficacy of the DNA extraction procedures to detect Candida spp. in blood samples ranged from 31.4% to 80.6%. The NucliSENSTM easyMAGTM procedure was the most efficient, for each species and each inoculum. It significantly outperformed the other procedures at the lower Candida inocula mimicking the clinical setting. This study highlighted a heterogeneity in DNA extraction efficacy between the five main Candida species (Candida albicans, Candida glabrata, Candida parapsilosis, Candida tropicalis and Candida krusei). Up to five automated procedures were appropriate for C. krusei DNA extraction, whereas only one method yielded an appropriate detection of low amount of C. tropicalis. In the era of the syndromic approach to bloodstream infection diagnosis, this evaluation of 11 automated DNA extraction methods for the PCR diagnosis of candidaemia, puts the choice of an appropriate method in routine diagnosis within the reach of laboratories.