Language Access Research Articles

Increasing accessibility in language education – the SCALED project

This paper aims to familiarise the readers with the motivations and pedagogical principles behind the outcomes of the ‘SCALED – Supporting Content and Language Learning Across Diversity’ project and with the outcomes themselves. These include an open online course for initial teacher training and continuing professional development of language teachers, accompanied by a methodological guide and a report on good practices in inclusive language education and inclusive foreign language teacher training. The SCALED project addresses the needs of both the academic and school communities, aiding educa- tors in proactively eliminating existing and potential barriers to language learning. It incorporates empirically validated models and approaches, such as Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and the integration of indi- vidual accommodations and adjustments in learning and assessment conditions. The project seeks to advance fairness and counter discrimination and marginalization by fostering inclusive practices in teacher training and language education via enhanced accessibility. Accessible language learning environments can empower individuals with diverse needs, including special educational needs, and enable them to unleash their abilities and potential. Accessibility constitutes a leading theme that transpires in all SCALED course modules and materials, from accessible instruction and assessment, through accessible and usable digital language materials (docu- ments and multimedia) and online learning platforms to accessible and supportive language learning environ- ments (e.g. assistive technology) for learners with special educational needs resulting from dyslexia, ADHD, autism, blindness and visual impairments, and diverse cultural and language backgrounds.

Using ChatGPT to Improve Health Communication and Plain Language Writing for Students in Communication Sciences and Disorders

Purpose: This article explores the potential of using ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence–powered chatbot, as a tool to teach plain language writing to students in communication sciences and disorders (CSD). It addresses the importance of plain language writing in health care communication and identifies the challenges faced by graduate students in adopting plain language writing. Conclusions: Integrating ChatGPT into CSD education can empower students to develop effective plain language writing skills, with the potential of ultimately improving their communication skills and patient outcomes. The article highlights the potential positive impact of ChatGPT on clinical documentation and health communication, emphasizing the potential to enhance accuracy, consistency, productivity, efficiency, and language accessibility. While considering the limitations and ethical considerations of ChatGPT, the article concludes by emphasizing the need for a balanced approach that combines ChatGPT technology with human instruction to ensure responsible utilization and promote student competency in plain language writing.

Ex-post impact assessment on a large environmental disaster

Impact assessments following environmental disasters must be quick and in accessible language so that decision-makers and affected populations are aware of the main impacts and can target recovery measures. After the collapse of the Fundão dam (Minas Gerais, Brazil) in November 2015, an extensive monitoring program was implemented to understand the aquatic environmental situation and associated biodiversity status after the spill of the iron ore tailings in a large and highly populated watershed, that reached the Atlantic Ocean along the southeast Brazilian coast. A monitoring programme faced several challenges, including the large volume of data to be analysed, which difficult an objective environmental diagnosis and the communication between technical teams and decision makers. In this context, an impact matrix was proposed as a tool for assessing the environmental proxy results and summarizing the results obtained. The proposed Impact Matrix is an interaction matrix adaptation which consists of quantifying the impacts using pre-defined criteria and scores. Expert panels assessed the link between environmental measures and objectives by scoring the specific criteria. As an interaction matrix, the impact matrix is made up of two intersecting axes: the identified impact and the affected environmental compartments (whether abiotic or biotic). The final impact matrix is reached by summing up the score for the criteria on each of the identified intersections. The impact matrix is a supervised approach focused on provide relatively simple tool to apply and, when carried out periodically in parallel with a monitoring programme, it makes it possible to observe temporal trends in the evolution of the environment after the event causing the impact. The impact matrix can also serve as feedback to the monitoring programme itself, when used in an adaptive management approach.

Patient and public involvementin the development of health services: Engagement of underserved populations in a quality improvement programme for inflammatory bowel disease using a community-based participatory approach.

Involving people with lived experience is fundamental to healthcare development and delivery. This is especially true for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) services, where holistic and personalised models of care are becoming increasingly important. There is, however, a significant lack of representation of underserved and diverse groups in IBD research, and there are significant barriers to healthcare access and utilisation among minority groups in IBD. IBD centres need to be aware of these experiences to address barriers via service changes, improve interactions with local communities and promote meaningful engagement for improved health outcomes. A pragmatic community-based approach was taken to engage with leaders and members of underserved groups across 11 workshops representing Roma, Afro-Caribbean, people of African descent and the wider black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) communities, Muslim women, refugee community members, deprived areas of South Yorkshire, LGBTQ+ and deaf populations. Thematic analysis of field notes identified patterns of attention across the community groups and where improvements to services were most frequently suggested. Findings demonstrated several barriers experienced to healthcare access and utilisation, including language accessibility, staff attitudes and awareness, mental health and stigma, continuity of support, and practical factors such as ease of service use and safe spaces. These barriers acted as a lever to co-producing service changes that are responsive to the health and social care needs of these groups. Engaging with people from a range of communities is imperative for ensuring that service improvements in IBD are accessible and representative of individual needs and values. Local community leaders and members of community groups actively participated in the co-design and development of improvements to the IBDservice for a local hospital. Their contributions further informed a pilot process for quality improvement programmes in IBD centres.

Advancing health equity through language access – a global imperative

In this article, the authors outline the universal right to health, healthcare, and language access in healthcare, with a focus on policies and practices in the European Union and the United States. The authors spotlight contrasting views on whether language access should be considered a social determinant of health or an independent factor and assert that health equity is not achievable if language barriers are not systematically addressed in healthcare organisations and in the context of the individual care plan. Drawing from personal and professional experiences, and from a well-established body of medical research, the authors underscore what happens when language access infrastructure is not present in healthcare – with impacts to access and adherence, quality of care, and patient outcomes. The authors propose a language access framework to move healthcare organisations and the communities they serve towards health equity.

Distressing Discussions in Pediatric Interpreted Medical Encounters: A Qualitative Study of Medical Interpreter Perspectives on Clinician Communication Practices

This study explores pediatric medical interpreters' perspectives on clinician communication practices in medical encounters characterized by distressing content and difficult discussions. In this interpretative phenomenological analysis, 13 Spanish-English interpreters at a midwestern pediatric hospital were purposively recruited and, in 2021-2022, completed a demographic survey and semistructured interview on communication in distressing interpreted medical encounters. Participants described clinician practices for effective cross-cultural interpreted communication. Practices align with recommendations on prebriefing, debriefing, jargon, stakeholder positioning, and teamwork. Novel findings relate to encounters with multiple parties, multilingual patients with monolingual parents, and coordination among clinicians. Findings corroborate recommendations for interpreted communication best practices, extend them to distressing pediatric encounters, and offer recommendations for clinicians using interpreting services in distressing encounters. Participants' insights are distilled into a series of clinician best practices for high-quality interpreted communication during difficult discussions and for strengthening language access services in pediatric medical settings.

Increasing in-person medical interpreter utilization in the NICU through a bundle of interventions.

In-person medical interpretation improves communication with patients who have preferred language other than English (PLOE). Multi-dimensional barriers to use of medical interpreters limit their use in the NICU. Medical teams in our NICU were not consistently using in-person medical interpreters, leading to ineffective communication with families with PLOE. Interventions included staff educational sessions and grand rounds regarding equitable language access, distribution of interpreter request cards to families, and allocation of dedicated in-person interpreters for NICU rounds. Interpreter utilization was calculated by total requests per Spanish-speaking person day in the NICU. Interpreter utilization increased five-fold during the intervention period (from 0.2 to 1.0 requests per Spanish-speaking person day). We substantially increased our unit in-person interpreter utilization through a bundle of multifaceted interventions, many of which were low-cost. NICUs should regard dedicated medical interpreters as a critical part of the care team.

Language ideologies and access in a multilingual tutoring program

ABSTRACT This study explores language ideologies within a multilingual tutoring program. We analyze the perspectives of multilingual university-students (n = 49) who were trained as tutors and paired with high school-aged multilingual learners. The program was designed to reduce educational inequalities by providing students with what we describe as language access – the opportunity to learn academic content in a student’s preferred language. This access is consistently offered to English-dominant students in U.S. schools, yet is often denied to multilingual learners. Therefore, we documented tutors’ beliefs about the purpose, successes, and challenges related to multilingual tutoring. Our results show that language ideologies played a key role in how tutoring was conceptualized and utilized, often in ways that reified monolingual orientations to education, even within a multilingually-oriented tutoring program. These results have implications for the design and implementation of multilingual tutoring, student language access, and language ideological research writ large.

Using Quality Improvement as a Mechanism for Fostering Partnerships and Promoting Equity in a Health System Change Model.

Quality improvement (QI) processes provide a framework for systematically examining target outcomes and what changes can be made to result in improvement and ensure equity. We present a case study of how QI processes were used as a means of partnership building to enhance equity in designing materials for a Medicaid pilot program, North Carolina Integrated Care for Kids (NC InCK). The NC InCK model addresses social determinants of health by providing structured care integration across core child health and social service areas and using an alternative payment model to incentivize high quality child outcomes. During the two-year planning period prior to the NC InCK model launch, we used Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycles to conduct usability testing as a QI strategy for a component of the NC InCK model: the Shared Action Plan (SAP). We conducted usability testing with four Family Council members, nine care managers, and one physician. Participants reviewed the SAP and provided feedback via a survey. After reviewing feedback with InCK leadership and the Family Council, we implemented recommendations that led to a SAP that uses clear and accessible language, that highlights family strengths and family-identified goals, and that is distinct from other care management plans. Usability testing forced refinement of materials before NC InCK launched, created opportunities for building and enhancing community partnerships and promoted equity within the NC InCK team and Family Council by considering multiple perspectives when deciding on SAP revisions.

Evaluating the persuasiveness of messages promoting mobile mammography among uninsured women.

Mobile mammography units (MMUs) can enhance access to breast cancer screening by providing convenient, cost-effective service, particularly for uninsured and underinsured women. However, prior studies indicate that acceptability concerns about quality and privacy, among other issues, may prevent women from utilizing MMUs. The current study employs a within-participant experimental design exposing participants to messages about different MMU characteristics to determine which characteristics are most effective in persuading them to use an MMU. The study also examined how messaging interacts with participants' ethnic identity to influence outcomes. Data were collected from a diverse sample of uninsured and underinsured women as part of a formative study to promote the utilization of a mobile mammography facility in Central Texas. Results of mixed-effect linear models show that messages about equity, appointment convenience, privacy and comfort, and quality of equipment and staff were rated as more persuasive than messages about convenience of location and language accessibility. However, Hispanic women rated language accessibility higher than other participants did. The results can guide MMU organizers and promotion managers as they determine the best approach to promote mobile mammography services in different communities.

Sounding Development: Examining The Influence of Huguka Radio on Rwanda's Socio-Economic Landscape

This study examined Huguka Radio in Muhanga District in Rwanda to see how radio contributes to socio-economic development. It helped identify Huguka Radio's socio-economic benefits and problems. This research also helped the researcher graduate in Masters in Development Studies. The campaign targeted 250 Huguka Radio listeners, journalists, managers, government officials, civil society organizations (CSOs), and media advocates. Slovin's formula determined a sample size of 75 applicants using purposive or judgmental sampling and simple random sampling. Surveys and interviews were utilised to obtain data from Huguka Radio listeners, staff, government officials, civil society organisations, and media advocates. After discussing the research instruments with the supervisor, the researcher confirmed that the questions and substance were valid. To assess reliability, respondents' answers were tested again. Using percentages and frequencies, SPSS descriptive statistics analysed quantitative data. To analyse qualitative data, content analysis was performed. The poll found that 95.2% of respondents thought that radio helps Rwanda's economy, while 92.1% said Huguka Radio does. In particular, 93.3% of respondents believed Huguka Radio promotes agriculture and farming, 94.9 % human rights, and 84.7 % health. The research also revealed that Huguka Radio promotes socio-economic development through rural forums, accessible language, and community debates. Due to financial constraints, Huguka Radio struggled to promote socioeconomic development. Some respondents noted that this issue limits equipment, professional journalists to work on contract, radio journalists' consistency, and time and area to reach people, especially in rural areas where many Rwandans live. Huguka Radio should collaborate with other broadcasters and keep engaging socio-economic development partners. After this investigation, the researcher suggested other research subjects, including Financial inability of radio and socio-economic growth in Rwanda; and cooperation with government institutions.

Web-Based Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment for Traumatic Stress and Alcohol Misuse Among Survivors of Sexual Assault and Intimate Partner Violence: Usability and Acceptability Study.

Recent survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV) and sexual assault (SA) are at a high risk for traumatic stress and alcohol misuse. IPV and SA survivors face barriers to services for traumatic stress and alcohol misuse and have low service utilization rates. One way to increase access to services for this population is the use of web-based screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment (SBIRT), an evidence-informed approach for early identification of traumatic stress and alcohol and drug misuse and connecting individuals to treatment. This study aims to assess the usability and acceptability of a web-based SBIRT called CHAT (Choices For Your Health After Trauma) tailored to address traumatic stress and alcohol misuse following past-year IPV, SA, or both. Phase 1 involved gathering feedback about usability and acceptability from focus groups with victim service professionals (22/52, 42%) and interviews with past-year survivors of IPV, SA, or both (13/52, 25%). Phase 2 involved gathering feedback about the acceptability of an adapted version of CHAT in an additional sample of recent survivors (17/52, 33%). Survey data on history of IPV and SA, posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms, alcohol and drug use, and service use were collected from survivors in both phases to characterize the samples. Qualitative content and thematic analyses of the interviews and focus group data were conducted using a coding template analysis comprising 6 a priori themes (usability, visual design, user engagement, content, therapeutic persuasiveness, and therapeutic alliance). Six themes emerged during the focus groups and interviews related to CHAT: usability, visual design, user engagement, content, therapeutic persuasiveness, and therapeutic alliance. Phase 1 providers and survivors viewed CHAT as acceptable, easy to understand, and helpful. Participants reported that the intervention could facilitate higher engagement in this population as the web-based modality is anonymous, easily accessible, and brief. Participants offered helpful suggestions for improving CHAT by updating images, increasing content personalization, reducing text, and making users aware that the intervention is confidential. The recommendations of phase 1 participants were incorporated into CHAT. Phase 2 survivors viewed the revised intervention and found it highly acceptable (mean 4.1 out of 5, SD 1.29). A total of 4 themes encapsulated participant's favorite aspects of CHAT: (1) content and features, (2) accessible and easy to use, (3) education, and (4) personalization. Six survivors denied disliking any aspect. The themes on recommended changes included content and features, brevity, personalization, and language access. Participants provided dissemination recommendations. Overall, CHAT was acceptable among victim service professionals and survivors. Positive reactions to CHAT show promise for future research investigating the efficacy and potential benefit of CHAT when integrated into services for people with traumatic stress and alcohol misuse after recent IPV and SA.

Navigating a climate of administrative burden: the perspectives of young adult undocumented immigrants in applying for COVID-19 disaster relief assistance for immigrants in California.

Undocumented immigrants experienced high levels of economic insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic while being excluded from government-based relief and unemployment benefits. In April 2020, California became the first state to offer financial aid to undocumented immigrants through the innovative Disaster Relief Assistance for Immigrants (DRAI) program in collaboration with several community-based organizations (CBOs). However, the process of applying for aid was marked by many implementation challenges, such as intake and language access; however, little data exists on the direct experiences of the undocumented community. This qualitative study examines the experiences of undocumented Asian and Latinx young adults living in California in applying for DRAI through framework of administrative burden. Themes distilled from participant experiences highlight how administrative burden via learning, psychological, and compliance costs shape the ways in which undocumented immigrants navigate policies and programs, such as DRAI. These experiences highlight the need for policymakers to address structural and programmatic administrative burdens in policy development; failure to do so result in detrimental impacts that outweigh financial benefits or cause communities to forgo needed resources.

Language access differentially alters functional connectivity during emotion perception across cultures.

It is often assumed that the ability to recognize the emotions of others is reflexive and automatic, driven only by observable facial muscle configurations. However, research suggests that accumulated emotion concept knowledge shapes the way people perceive the emotional meaning of others' facial muscle movements. Cultural upbringing can shape an individual's concept knowledge, such as expectations about which facial muscle configurations convey anger, disgust, or sadness. Additionally, growing evidence suggests that access to emotion category words, such as "anger," facilitates access to such emotion concept knowledge and in turn facilitates emotion perception. To investigate the impact of cultural influence and emotion concept accessibility on emotion perception, participants from two cultural groups (Chinese and White Americans) completed a functional magnetic resonance imaging scanning session to assess functional connectivity between brain regions during emotion perception. Across four blocks, participants were primed with either English emotion category words ("anger," "disgust") or control text (XXXXXX) before viewing images of White American actors posing facial muscle configurations that are stereotypical of anger and disgust in the United States. We found that when primed with "disgust" versus control text prior to seeing disgusted facial expressions, Chinese participants showed a significant decrease in functional connectivity between a region associated with semantic retrieval (the inferior frontal gyrus) and regions associated with semantic processing, visual perception, and social cognition. Priming the word "anger" did not impact functional connectivity for Chinese participants relative to control text, and priming neither "disgust" nor "anger" impacted functional connectivity for White American participants. These findings provide preliminary evidence that emotion concept accessibility differentially impacts perception based on participants' cultural background.

ANALISIS SEMIOTIKA PESAN DAKWAH DALAM PUISI “SAJADAH PANJANG” KARYA TAUFIQ ISMAIL

The literary works of Taufiq Ismail, an Indonesian cleric and writer, embed Islamic values within his creations, including the poem "Sajadah Panjang." This poem, characterized by its beautiful yet accessible language, possesses a magical allure that captivates readers and listeners alike, inviting them to experience reverence in connecting life with the divine. Adapted into lyrics and sung by Bimbo and Noah, the poem further enhances its solemnity and popularity among the public. This research aims to uncover the message of Islamic propagation contained within Taufiq Ismail's poem "Sajadah Panjang." Employing a qualitative descriptive approach and the semiotic analysis method of Michael Rifatterre's model, the researcher examines discontinuities in expression, heuristic and hermeneutic readings, matrix searches, models, variants, and determines the hypogram text as the genesis of the poem's creation. The research findings reveal the propagation message encompassing two main issues: the outward and inward aspects of worship, and belief in Allah SWT. This poem serves as a reminder of life's meaning, bridging existence with the greatness of the Divine and our obligations to Him

(022) Utility of Artificial Intelligence in Patient Educational Materials for Men’s Sexual Health

Abstract Introduction ChatGPT is an artificial intelligence (AI) platform with expanding uses across society, including the solicitation of medical advice by patients. Traditionally, men’s health patients obtained educational information through the Urology Care Foundation (UCF) or institutional websites. Today, men are increasingly turning to social media and AI given improving technology and prevalent stigma surrounding sexual health issues. Previous studies have demonstrated the ability of ChatGPT to perform certain physician tasks, but studies of its patient-facing use are limited. Most online health educational information far exceeds the recommended American sixth grade reading level, as defined by the NIH and AMA. Hence, existing resources are largely inaccessible to large swaths of the population. In this study, we questioned whether AI holds may help improve the provision of health educational information for the public. Objective To conduct the first analysis of ChatGPT-created information regarding men’s sexual health conditions and provide statistical comparison with resources produced by UCF. Methods Frequently asked patient questions regarding erectile dysfunction, premature ejaculation, low testosterone, sperm retrieval, penile augmentation, and male infertility were compiled from the American Urological Association. Questions included definition of the condition, etiology, diagnostics, treatment, prognosis, and common patient concerns. Responses from UCF and ChatGPT were compared using the following validated readability formulas: Flesch Reading Ease, Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level, Gunning-Fog Index, Simple Measure of Gobbledygook, Coleman-Liau Index, and Automated Readability Index. Descriptive analysis of word count, sentence length, syllable count, and word complexity was also performed. Furthermore, adjusted ChatGPT (ChatGPT-a) responses were generated by prompting the language model with the command “Explain it to me like I am in sixth grade.” Finally, all responses were further graded by two independent reviewers for accuracy and comprehensiveness. Statistical comparisons were made using Welch’s unpaired t-test. Results Readability scores are presented in Table 1. UCF was significantly more readable than ChatGPT for all six sexual medicine topics across all scoring metrics (all p<0.001). FKGL was 8.87 for UCF versus 14.83 for ChatGPT. ChatGPT responses were longer (278.3 versus 222.9 words) and included more complex words (28.1% versus 14.3%). When prompted with a command for more accessible language (ChatGPT-a), responses approached the readability of UCF across all metrics, including an average Flesch Reading Ease of 54.8 and FKGL of 9.6. UCF and ChatGPT had equal quality and accuracy on qualitative analysis. Conclusions Men’s health information provided by ChatGPT is less accessible when compared to UCF, although both platforms exceed the recommended sixth grade level. Given its sensitive nature, sexual medicine information is increasingly sought out online. Our findings indicate that AI can simplify online information to accommodate an individual user’s health literacy, but improvement in the current platform is needed. Future iterations of ChatGPT may be adapted towards the provision of medical information and trained on evidence-based literature, hence improving both readability and quality. As AI grows, providers must study this new platform to better understand and assist their patients. Disclosure No.

“Whatever journey you want to take, I’ll support you through”: a mixed methods evaluation of a peer worker program in the hospital emergency department

BackgroundPeople who are unhoused, use substances (drugs and/or alcohol), and who have mental health conditions experience barriers to care access and are frequently confronted with discrimination and stigma in health care settings. The role of Peer Workers in addressing these gaps in a hospital-based context is not well characterized. The aim of this evaluation was to 1) outline the role of Peer Workers in the care of a marginalized populations in the emergency department; 2) characterize the impact of Peer Workers on patient care, and 3) to describe how being employed as a Peer Worker impacts the Peer.MethodsThrough a concurrent mixed methods evaluation, we explore the role of Peer Workers in the care of marginalized populations in the emergency department at two urban hospitals in Toronto, Ontario Canada. We describe the demographic characteristics of patients (n = 555) and the type of supports provided to patients collected through a survey between February and June 2022. Semi-structured, in-depth interviews were completed with Peer Workers (n = 7). Interviews were thematically analyzed using a deductive approach, complemented by an inductive approach to allow new themes to emerge from the data.ResultsSupport provided to patients primarily consisted of friendly conversations (91.4%), discharge planning (59.6%), tactics to help the patient navigate their emotions/mental wellbeing (57.8%) and sharing their lived experience (50.1%). In over one third (38.9%) of all patient interactions, Peer Workers shared new information about the patient with the health care team (e.g., obtaining patient identification). Five major themes emerged from our interviews with Peer Workers which include: (1) Establishing empathy and building trust between the patient and their care team through self-disclosure; (2) Facilitating a person-centered approach to patient care through trauma-informed listening and accessible language; (3) Support for patient preferences on harm reduction; (4) Peer worker role facilitating self-acceptance and self-defined recovery; and (5) Importance of supports and resources to help Peer Workers navigate the emotional intensity of the emergency department.ConclusionsThe findings add to the literature on Peer Worker programs and how such interventions are designed to best meet the needs of marginalized populations.

Locked out, but not disconnected: multilingual community engagement in Australia

ABSTRACT At the onset of COVID-19, many Local Government Areas (LGAs) indicated they were struggling to communicate effectively with multilingual migrant communities. Communities were isolated from vital LGA support due to factors including the digital divide, barriers to language access, and top-down communication strategies. The pandemic also provided insights into the ways migrant communities mitigate hardship by engaging in placemaking and place-shaping, using existing networks and resources to provide vital support during crisis, which requires significant invisible labour. In this article, we present three case studies from a larger community-based project which began in early 2020 with an LGA in Western Australia. We use case narratives to illustrate and analyse three common actions migrant women used to engage their communities prior to, and during, COVID-19 recovery. These simple, yet profound actions, which include visiting communities, acknowledging challenges, and identifying opportunities further evidence the ways community leaders facilitate culturally sustaining placemaking, even during crisis; they underscore the intense emotional, cultural, and linguistic labour required to enact support in contexts where resources are inaccessible or misaligned with community stories. We argue it is only in partnership with communities that LGAs can learn to address some of the long-standing issues COVID-19 highlights.

Exploring pregnant individuals’ counseling needs regarding urgent imaging to rule out pulmonary embolism

BackgroundComputed tomography pulmonary angiogram and lung scintigraphy with ventilation/perfusion scan are needed to diagnose pulmonary embolism (PE) in pregnancy. Their associated ionizing radiation doses are considered safe in pregnancy. A standardized patient information tool may improve patient counseling and reduce testing hesitancy. ObjectivesIn this context, we sought to address 1) what patients want to know before undergoing these tests and 2) how they want the information to be provided to them. MethodsWe used a qualitative descriptive methodology. We recruited pregnant participants at the McGill University Health Center in Montreal, Canada. Structured interviews explored information needs about PE and diagnostic imaging for PE. The interview transcripts’ themes were analyzed with a hybrid deductive and inductive approach. ResultsOf 21 individuals approached, 20 consented to participate. Four had been previously investigated for PE. Participants requested information about the risks associated with PE and radiation and their effects on maternal and fetal health. They preferred for radiation doses to be presented in comparison with known radiation thresholds for fetal harm. They suggested that a written tool should be developed using an accessible language. Participants also indicated that the tool would be integrated into their decision-making process, emphasizing a lower risk tolerance for their fetus than for themselves. ConclusionThis single-center group of pregnant patients wished to be informed about the risks of PE and radiation associated with imaging. A written tool could help put information into context and facilitate decision making. These new insights may be used to inform counseling.

Streamlining Temporal Formal Verification over Columnar Databases

Recent findings demonstrate how database technology enhances the computation of formal verification tasks expressible in linear time logic for finite traces (LTLf). Human-readable declarative languages also help the common practitioner to express temporal constraints in a straightforward and accessible language. Notwithstanding the former, this technology is in its infancy, and therefore, few optimization algorithms are known for dealing with massive amounts of information audited from real systems. We, therefore, present four novel algorithms subsuming entire LTLf expressions while outperforming previous state-of-the-art implementations on top of KnoBAB, thus postulating the need for the corresponding, leading to the formulation of novel xtLTLf-derived algebraic operators.