Literal Transcription Research Articles

Sequence-to-Sequence Models and Their Evaluation for Spoken Language Normalization of Slovenian

Sequence-to-sequence models have been applied to many challenging problems, including those in text and speech technologies. Normalization is one of them. It refers to transforming non-standard language forms into their standard counterparts. Non-standard language forms come from different written and spoken sources. This paper deals with one such source, namely speech from the less-resourced highly inflected Slovenian language. The paper explores speech corpora recently collected in public and private environments. We analyze the efficiencies of three sequence-to-sequence models for automatic normalization from literal transcriptions to standard forms. Experiments were performed using words, subwords, and characters as basic units for normalization. In the article, we demonstrate that the superiority of the approach is linked to the choice of the basic modeling unit. Statistical models prefer words, while neural network-based models prefer characters. The experimental results show that the best results are obtained with neural architectures based on characters. Long short-term memory and transformer architectures gave comparable results. We also present a novel analysis tool, which we use for in-depth error analysis of results obtained by character-based models. This analysis showed that systems with similar overall results can differ in the performance for different types of errors. Errors obtained with the transformer architecture are easier to correct in the post-editing process. This is an important insight, as creating speech corpora is a time-consuming and costly process. The analysis tool also incorporates two statistical significance tests: approximate randomization and bootstrap resampling. Both statistical tests confirm the improved results of neural network-based models compared to statistical ones.

(O-33) PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF PATIENTS WITH PENIS CANCER: REPORTS OF PATIENTS ACCOMPANIED AT THE UROLOGY ONCOLOGY OUTPATIENT CLINIC OF THE HOSPITAL DE CLINICAS DA UNICAMP

Abstract Penile cancer (PC) mainly affects lower socioeconomic groups and those with less education. Patients who develop PC often experience symptoms for months before consult a urologist. The delay of the treatment affects the severity of the prognosis. Penectomy is still the best treatment available. This study aims to understand the meaning of the experience of patients who had PC and underwent partial or total penectomy treatment. Patients were approached and invited to participate. Upon acceptance, the nature of the research, objectives and all ethical precautions were explained. All patients were seen by the same psychologist. The technique used was the open interview. We interviewed 7 patients who had and treated penile cancer with partial or total penectomy. Data were collected through recording. Data processing followed the following steps: literal transcription of the interviews; description of interviews in formal language; first reduction seeking the meaning of the reported experiences; listing of the units of meaning of each of the interviews collected. The next step was to specify what is common in the interviewees stories in relation to their lived experience. It is possible to see that CP is a debilitating experience for those who live it. QoL is affected, as is the experience of masculinity itself. It is a very uncomfortable experience, both before and after the treatment. The patient with CP lives with the symptoms for a long time before seeking a solution. It is concluded that the PC has multiple variables, and the number of reports that talk about how difficult it was to reach at the diagnosis, not only due to the patient's own denial of symptoms, but also due to the inefficient care received in countless consultations, brings the reflection on the quality of knowledge of the professionals who provide assistance to this population in relation to PC. Financing CAPES.

Hacia una crítica de los usos del archivo. El caso de un documento anónimo asociado a Arturo Jauretche entre los papeles de Perón

This paper presents a preview of an ongoing research about the correspondence in exile of Juan D. Perón. The purpose is to show that access to the original documents could be essential to approach archives from a critical methodological perspective. A personal experience in which it was inferred the authorship of an anonymous document mistakenly associated to Arturo Jauretche will be narrated, and there will be critical review regarding the uses of archives that allow literal transcriptions of documents on different platforms. If archivists decide what should be preserved and what should be dismissed, and also how to organize the material offered to the public, academic investigations do not always make a critical use of the archives that would allow a review of those previous decisions. The main materials selected for this paper are documents from the Juan Domingo Perón Papers’ collection of the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, California.

(386) Emotional Aspects of Patients After Treatment of Penile Cancer: A Qualitative Aproach With Patients Accompanied at Urology Oncology Service of a Public Hospital

Abstract Introduction The penile cancer is a rare neoplasia affecting mostly the lower income and scholarship socioeconomic levels. Patients with penile cancer live for several months, even years, with the symptoms before seeking a urologist. The delay of seeking medical assistance is mainly due to the fact of poor own recognition of having a serious disease, fear of treatment and surgery. Delayed treatment affects the severity of prognostic and quality of life of patients. For the advanced stages, penectomy is still the best available treatment. Objective This study aims to comprehend the meaning of the experience of patients with penile cancer who underwent partial or total penectomy. Methods The medical records of patients who were surgically treated due to this neoplasia were reviewed using the hospital database. After reviewing the data, the researchers contacted the patients and offered an interview with the psychologist of the Oncology Urology outpatient clinic. On the scheduled return day, patients met with the same psychologist, which applied semi-structured interviews seeking the meaning of the lived experience. After conducting the interview, the literal transcription and subsequent synthesis of what was transcribed was carried out. From the collected data, two more syntheses were made in search of the units of meaning and then analysis of the collected speeches, seeking to understand the meaning of the lived experience of each of the intervewees. The final step is to seek the shared experience of the studied phenomenom, in this case the penile cancer. After completion of the process, the syntheses were submitted to 2 independent psychologist colleagues for a better understanding of the described phenomena. Results Were interviewed 7 men who had penile cancer and underwent treatment, with total or partial penectomy. The average age of participants is 57,3 years. Of the interviewed patients, 4 are married, 2 are single but in a relationship, and 1 is divorced. All patients reported unfavorable sociocultural and socioeconomic aspects, lacking basic information on self-care and on who cared for them. The results are in a qualitative analysis. There are indications of significant themes, such as: Doubts about own masculinity and virility; Denial of pain and discomfort caused by symptoms of the penile cancer; Refusal of care; Resignation towards fate, lack of meaning in life; Sadness of having lost what makes a man normal; Ambivalence between the concern to remain a man and the concern for survival; Indiscriminate feelings, cultural precariousness; “Lack of care and waiting for the problem to go away”: characteristic culturally attributed to men. Conclusions The integrative look allows the scientific community to approach how the person feels when going through the experience and caring for the patient with a broader and more attentive look. It can be seen, even with the preliminary results, that this is an extremely painful experience that affects deep layers of human experience, and that access to information, culture and sex education could be of great help in preventing the disease. Disclosure No

English

This qualitative inquiry delved into the translation experience, adaptation strategies and benefits gained by eight students who translated one English short story each to the vernacular in the form of radio dramas. It explored how a short story can be expressed in the same way in two languages and adapted for radio for a particular audience. In-depth interviews and guided qualitative content analysis were used as methods. The student writers' experiences showed the themes of situational equivalence, updating, empathy, faithfulness, concentration, patience, creation, literal transcription, expansion, and omission. For radio drama adaptation, Davis' conventional strategies, such as characterization, enhancement, faithfulness to the story, no use of original phrasing and changing characters' images, were identified. No script provided a different ending to the story nor added new characters. Overall, the study provided new drama material for local radio station managers and fulfilling and enjoyable experiences for the writers.

Vivencias e impacto en la calidad de vida de personas con COVID persistente

ObjectiveTo explore the experiences of people with persistent COVID in the Basque Country more than a year after the start of the pandemic, in order to understand the health and social impact it has, as well as to detect possible areas for improvement in the care that these people receive in order to develop health programms to support their recovery. MethodQualitative phenomenological study. In-depth interviews will be carried out as a data collection technique until saturation of the discourse. Patients of legal age who present persistent COVID symptomatology with an evolution time of more than 12 weeks were included. Contact with the patients was made through the Basque Long COVID Collective. The interviews were carried out and recorded through the ZOOM application. After the literal transcription of the interviews, the thematic analysis will be carried out, identifying the first units of meaning and assigning codes that will later be grouped into the different categories. Results20 patients participated. A total of three main categories emerged from the analysis of the discourses: 1) affecting/impacting patients’ quality of life; 2) identifying improvements in healthcare; and 3) comforting aspects. ConclusionsThis study shows the significant impact on the quality of life suffered by these people. It is necessary to design health policies that favour a personalised, comprehensive and multidisciplinary approach to these patients.

What Distresses Sexual Well-Being Among Older Adults in Different Cultures? A Qualitative Study with Slovenian and Portuguese Older Adults

ObjectiveTo analyze the perspectives of sexual unwellness (SU) of Portuguese and Slovenian older adults was the objective of this study. A qualitative research was carried out, in which these perceptions were analyzed at a cultural level.MethodsThe sample of this study consisted of 136 older participants, between 65 and 96 years of age. Participants were of two different nationalities and lived in the community. Participants were interviewed, and all interviews were carried out through the process of literal transcription and subsequent content analysis.ResultsEight key mutually exclusive themes emerged from the interviews: unavailability of partner; traditional values; body restrictions; low self-esteem and well-being; poor social support; dissatisfaction with physical appearance; pain during sex; and difficulties meeting new people. Unavailability of partner was the most important theme (17.9%) for the studied sample and specifically among Portuguese participants. Conversely, difficulties meeting new people were the least reported theme (6.8%) for the entire sample. For Slovenians traditional values were most relevant with respect to feeling sexually unwell.ConclusionsOlder adults from two different countries reported diverse sexual experiences. Eight mutual-exclusive themes were extensively illustrated.Policy ImplicationsThese findings are evidence for cultural-adapted interventions and policy making in the context of older adults’ sexual well-being, particularly in terms of its relation with aging well.

Learning Theory-Driven Tips for Designing Effective Learning Solutions for the Continuous Education of Community Pharmacists to Enhance Patient-Centered Care-A Qualitative Study.

The constant development of medical and pharmaceutical sciences and the changing roles of pharmacists highlight the importance of lifelong learning in their profession. Given the identified knowledge gaps in the literature in terms of pharmacists’ preferences for lifelong learning, the study aimed to evaluate the opinions and attitudes of community pharmacists towards lifelong learning, including their previous experiences and educational needs, in order to propose evidence-based tips for designing such solutions and interventions intended for them both in face-to-face and online forms. For this purpose, ten semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with Polish community pharmacists on the topic using a thematic guide. Subsequently, they were subjected to literal transcription and interpretative phenomenological analysis by two independent researchers using phenomenology as the qualitative approach. The identified themes covered the topic’s relevance for pharmacists’ work, practice-oriented form and content, previous learners’ experiences as a foundation for further learning, commercial initiatives’ risks, motivation sources, and barriers for participation in lifelong learning solutions so far. Based on the insights provided by the respondents, as well as scientifically proven learning theories and educational principles, ten tips were formulated for designing recipient-friendly learning solutions and interventions within the framework of postgraduate lifelong learning of pharmacists.

Different cultures and sexual unwellness in older adults: A qualitative study with older populations from Slovenia and Portugal

IntroductionOder adults have been stereotyped (1), both explicitly and implicitly, as being asexual or naturally lacking sexual desires (2).ObjectivesThe objective of this study is to analyse the perspectives of sexual unwellness (SU) of Portuguese and Slovenian older adults.MethodsA qualitative research was carried out, in which these perceptions were analysed at a cultural level. Methods: The sample of this study consisted of 136 older participants, between 65 and 96 years of age. Participants were of two different nationalities and lived in the community. Participants were interviewed, and all interviews were carried out through the process of literal transcription and subsequent content analysis.ResultsEight key mutually exclusive themes emerged from the interviews: unavailability of partner; traditional values; body restrictions; low self-esteem and well-being; poor social support; dissatisfaction with physical appearance; pain during sex; and difficulties meeting new people. Unavailability of partner was the most important theme (17.9%) for the studied sample and specifically among Portuguese participants. Conversely, difficulties meeting new people was the least reported theme (6.8%) for the entire sample. For Slovenians traditional values were most relevant with respect to feeling sexually unwell.ConclusionsOlder adults from two different countries reported diverse sexual experiences. Eight mutual-exclusive themes were extensively illustrated. 1.von Humboldt S et al. Sexual expression in old age: How older adults from different cultures express sexually? Sex Res Social Policy. 2020;1-15. 2.von Humboldt S et al. Are older adults satisfied with their sexuality? Outcomes from a cross-cultural study. Educ Gerontol. 2020;46:284-293.DisclosureNo significant relationships.

Sexual aspects of patients after treatment of penile cancer: Reports of patients accompanied at Urology Oncology service of a public hospital

ABSTRACT The penile cancer is a rare neoplasia affecting mostly the lower income and scholarship socioeconomic levels. Patients with penile cancer live for several months with the symptoms before seeking a urologist. The delay of seeking medical assistance is mainly due to the fact that own recognition of having a serious disease, fear of treatment and surgery. Delayed treatment affects the severity of prognostic and quality of life of patients. For the advanced stages, penectomy is still the best available treatment. This study aims to comprehend the meaning of the experience of patients with penile cancer who underwent partial or total penectomy. The medical records of patients who were surgically treated due to this neoplasia were reviewed in the hospital database. After reviewing the data, the researchers contacted the patients and offered the interview with the psychology group of the Oncology Urology outpatient clinic. On the scheduled return day, patients met with the psychologist, which applied semi-structured interviews seeking the meaning of the lived experience. After conducting the interview, the literal transcription and subsequent synthesis of what was transcribed was carried out. From the collected data, two more syntheses will be made in search of the units of meaning and then analysis of the collected speeches, seeking to understand the meaning of the lived experience. After completion of the process, the syntheses will be submitted to 2 independent psychologist colleagues for a better understanding of the described phenomena. Were interviewed 7 men who had penile cancer and underwent treatment, with total or partial penectomy. The average age among survey participants is 57,3 years. Of the interviewed patients, 4 are married, 2 are single but in a relationship, and 1 is divorced. All patients reported unfavorable sociocultural and socioeconomic aspects, lacking basic information on self-care and on who cared for them. The research was developed considering the ethics principles of confidentiality and privacy. This study does not offer any physical or psychological risk for the participants. Prior to the interview the “Termo de Consentimento Livre e Esclarecido (TCLE)” was provided, as well as every detail of the research. It is also explained that participation is voluntary and that the participant can leave the research at any time, without causing harm to their treatment and monitoring. The results are in a qualitative analysis. There are indications of significant themes, such as heredity, fear, faith, acceptance, care, neglect and suffering. Disclosure Work supported by industry: no.

Self-stigma Among Children Living with Atopic Dermatitis in Hong Kong: a Qualitative Study.

Stigma has been recently identified as a crucial factor associated with the psychosocial burden of those who have chronic skin diseases. The self-stigma experiences of children living with atopic dermatitis (AD) have yet to be fully investigated, and questions of how these children respond to public stigma and how AD symptoms further affect their self-stigma experiences remain unresolved. The current qualitative study aimed to (1) describe the main manifestations of self-stigma in children living with AD; (2) investigate factors that might influence their self-stigma experiences; and (3) explore the potential mechanisms underlying the impacts of AD on their psychosocial well-being from the self-stigma perspective. We performed a secondary analysis of the qualitative literal transcription data which were collected earlier by using the participatory, drawing-based qualitative interviews with 17 children aged 8-12 who were diagnosed with severe or moderate AD. The qualitative findings indicated that the visible and invisible symptoms of AD and its management exerted unique influences on self-stigma in children living with AD, which manifested in cognitive, affective, and behavioral aspects and ultimately affected their psychosocial well-being. Findings of this study allowed us to advocate for eliminating public stigma of people with skin diseases and propose recommendations for helping children living with AD relieve their self-stigma.

Uma conversa com e sobre Salete Maria da Silva

Salete Maria da Silva is, before any characterization, a woman with the soul and feet of the hinterland, who learned to make string with one of her grandmothers, and, not by chance, the lives of us women run through all her work, be it cordelística – with a strong feminist and revolutionary content –, either the academic, as a professor of the Bachelor of Gender and Diversity Studies at the Federal University of Bahia (UFBA). In her nearly 30 years dedicated to creating feminist and libertarian strings, she has published more than a hundred tracts, many of which can be read on her blog Cordelirando. She is a founding member of the Sociedade dos Cordelistas Mauditos, an important collective of poets, singers and performers founded in 2000, in Juazeiro do Norte / CE. This interview is a great conversation in which four people participate: Salete Maria, Andréa Betânia, Bruna Lucena and José Gomes, the first being the one interviewed; the next two, the interviewers; and the last, responsible for the literal transcription. We adopted conversation as a method of conducting this interview because we believe that it is "[...] a non-hierarchical summoning of different knowledge", in which "[...] knowledge is always in the plural, knowledge(s)", how Maria Luiza Süssekind and Raphael Pellegrini defend We talked on October 6, 2020, in a video call filled with stories of lives, the arts of yesterdays and ancestral now, about their disturbing presence in the cordelístico scene. Faced with the impossibility of establishing a linear conversation with Salete - which we understand as a positive point - in view of the exposition of a thought that reminds us of a palimpsest, the topics covered emerged motivated not only by our curiosity as an interviewer, but above all , by the mottos with which the interviewee presented us as she tried to retrace her personal and poetic trajectory, following a route that allowed herself to be guided by her restless and disturbing way of being in the world. When we choose to use, in the title of this interview, "with" and "about", without deciding on just one, it is less about a willingness to choose and decide, and more, much more, about a willingness to realize what is the intimacy of sharing words, attentive listening, knowledge, as well as showing this important cordelist of our here and now.

Factores que influyen en la elección de la especialidad de Medicina Familiar y Comunitaria

AimTo analyze the perceptions, motives and reasons that influence the election of Family and Community Medicine (FCM) speciality, thus exploring possible proposals for change in the health system model and university training. DesignDescriptive–interpretative qualitative research from a socio-constructivist perspective. EmplacementMedical speciality training departments in the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona. Participants and context55 first year junior doctors belonging to the FCM Barcelona Ciutat ICS training department were contacted; 25 agreed to participate. They were segmented into two groups depending on if the choice of FCM had been their first option or not. Through snowball sampling 11 more junior doctors from other specialities were recruited. MethodThree focus groups were formed: (a) first choice FCM, (b) not first choice FCM and (c) other specialities. Semi-structured 2-h long interviews took place with each of the groups. Literal transcription and inductive codification with a first triangulation within each group and a second one between the three of them and thematic content analyses. ResultsThe choice of speciality is lived as an academic milestone and is thought determining professional and personally. It is a complex weave of influencing elements but some of main factors were university training, health system model, professional prospects and the social appreciation of the speciality. Analyzing the relation between these elements puts light on a phenomena we have called “the discredit of Primary Care (PC)”. ConclusionThe FCM specialty will not be attractive in a hospital-centric health and training system that does not bet on PC organizationally or economically.

ТОПОНИМИКА ЭЛЬЗАСА КАК ОБЪЕКТ ЛИНГВИСТИЧЕСКОЙ ЛИМОЛОГИИ

The article is devoted to studying the toponymic picture of the Alsace historical region from the point of view of linguistic limology. An attempt is made to define the limological approach in linguistic research and describe the peculiarities of coexistence and development of the Alsatian dialect, German and French languages in a cross-border region. The authors of the article attempt to trace the interdependence of changes in national borders and geographical names in a linguo-historical context. The article presents an analysis of the views of Russian and foreign researchers on the meaning of the term limology and investigates the process of «francisation» of toponyms which coexist on the same territory (in a cross-border region) of the Romance and Germanic languages. The novelty of the study lies in the fact that for the first time an attempt is made to answer the following questions: how does the movement of national borders affect the toponymy of the region, what linguistic transformations can be traced in geographical names, and how great is the interplay of languages and cultures in cross-border regions (for example, the historical region of Alsace). The analysis of the practical material made it possible to identify the following types of transformations of Alsace toponymic picture in the French-speaking environment: literal transcription, phonetic adaptation, alternation of suffix forms, translation. The identified types of transforming the toponymic picture of Alsace demonstrate the complexity and diversity of the cross-border region linguistic picture. In the conclusion the authors underline the change in the function of language: from a means of communication it turns into a sign of the preservation of ethnic identity.

De la Televisión a la Red. Diferencias entre el subtitulado profesional y el amateur

This work focuses on the analysis of the linguistic differences between TV and Internet subtitling, specifically YouTube subtitling (which we call "amateur "). Spatio-temporal restrictions that apply to captioning reveal the impossibility of carrying out a literal transcript of what is said, since this transcript would not allow the user to view the image and to extract meaning from content in a such a short period of time. In this paper, we analyze the linguistic consequences of those restrictions and of the differences in the way of subtitling. The main contribution of this paper is to bring to light the need to dene new criteria for subtitling in order to improve the understanding of television programs.

Accesibilidad de las mujeres sordas al sistema público sanitario del País Vasco

ObjectiveTo explore what are the perceptions and experiences of deaf women in relation to accessibility to the Basque Public Health System (Osakidetza). As a secondary objective, explore the experience of these women about gender violence. MethodA qualitative study with exploratory design is developed. The selection of the informants was carried out through intentional sampling. Deaf women were invited to participate through the Federation of Deaf People of the Basque Country. Four discussion groups were developed between October 2013 and July 2014, with duration of 90-120minutes. The discussion groups were recorded in video for their later literal transcription in which the service of interpreters of sign language of Euskadi participated. Thematic analyses carried out. ResultsThree main categories arise: 1) feelings of discrimination and limitation of the principle of autonomy; 2) barriers and facilitators in the accessibility to the health system; and 3) vulnerability of deaf women as a result of the lack of communication. ConclusionsNowadays, deaf women continue having difficulties in accessing to the health system in our context. The results of this study can be the starting point for the development of health policies and institutional protocols.

PIH57 KNOWLEDEGES AND EXPERIENCES OF PREGNANT WOMEN ON PRENATAL CARE PROGRAMS OF A SUBSIDIZED HEALTH CARE COMPANY FROM THE CARIBBEAN REGION OF COLOMBIA: A QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS

Prenatal care programs have been conceived to reduce maternal and perinatal mortality risk. However, some pregnant women arrive late or do not attend the program, thus, health risks associated with pregnancy increases considerably. The objective of this study was to know pregnant women perceptions about a prenatal care program that include two components: health services and educational advice. A randomized sample of 33 women was chosen. Inclusion criteria considered women between 30 and 32 gestation weeks of pregnancy and living in the urban area. Data was collected using the focus group technique. For the analysis, we used the following protocol: Literal transcription of oral speech, information coding and integration, and data triangulation. Qualitative analysis with textual data was conducted with Quanteda package in R statistical software. Important differences were found by geographic zones. In the city, pregnant women associate the program mainly with health services, while women living in town area associate the program with the educational component. Also, in the city the first contact with the program was by the prenatal care appointment, while in town was through the educational agents from the health care company. The program is valued in special form by women with high risk pregnancy and first-time mothers like a mechanism to guarantee their wellbeing and the baby’s. On the other hand, women that planned their pregnancy, began early prenatal check-ups than those who did not planned it. In the design of prenatal care programs sociocultural differences of communities to which they target as well as the perceptions, realities, and motivations of pregnant women must be considered. This would allow having better results in maternal and perinatal health and public health as a result of a more comprehensive intervention.

La producción gramatical en el discurso narrativo de alumnado con Trastorno Específico del Lenguaje (TEL)

The aim of this research was to determine and compare the performance in the syntactic production and the ungrammaticality among pupils with Specific Language Impairment (SLI) and two groups of pupils with typical language development. The sample was composed of a total of 84 children divided into three groups. A SLI group with 34 children, between 5.98 and 11.53 years old; a group of chronological control 33 children, between 5.73 and 10.74 years old; and a group of linguistic control with 17 children, between 4.64 and 5.60 years. The procedure used for the elicitation of stories was to retell the story Frog, where are you? After a literal transcription and segmented the corpus into sentences, we proceeded to determine those that constitute ungrammatical sentences and those that have grammatical errors. The results showed that there was no difference among the three groups in the production of simple sentences. However, in the production of complex syntax, there were no significant differences between the linguistic control and SLI, but there was a big difference between these two groups and the chronological control group. In relation to the production of ungrammatical sentences and grammatical errors, it was shown a similar behavior between SLI and linguistic control groups, although they were worse than the chronological controls. The conclusions indicate that the pupils with TEL present a very significant delay in their morphosyntax, with serious limitations in the syntactic processing abilities.

¿Qué necesidades de información de salud tienen la ciudadanía y los profesionales? Resultados de un estudio cualitativo

IntroductionIn 2016, the users of a Results Centre were asked directly about their health information needs. Three objectives were set: to define the groups interested in receiving the information generated, to determine the contents of the information to be included in the different products, and to identify the formats and channels most suitable for each of the stakeholders. Material and methodsSemi-structured personal interviews and focus groups were organised to find out the interests of the users. Personal interviews and on-line consensus dynamics were also performed to determine the interests of the different health professionals, and those of professionals in communication. An analysis of content and discourse was done through the literal transcription of the focus groups and interviews held, as well as the open responses of the consensus dynamics. ResultsTwo major interest groups were defined: that of professionals and of the users, with the former sub-divided into different groups according to their professional profile. The main contents of health information to include in the products generated differed for each interest group, as well as the most suitable formats and channels in each case. DiscussionThe information needs of professionals were oriented to the improvement of their professional practice. The importance of working on the dissemination of the information already generated, was also shown. The users stated that they only need information directly related to their health status, and identified their referring doctor as the person in charge of having this information and transmitting it.

Machine learning techniques for semantic analysis of dysarthric speech: An experimental study

We present an experimental comparison of seven state-of-the-art machine learning algorithms for the task of semantic analysis of spoken input, with a special emphasis on applications for dysarthric speech. Dysarthria is a motor speech disorder, which is characterized by poor articulation of phonemes. In order to cater for these non-canonical phoneme realizations, we employed an unsupervised learning approach to estimate the acoustic models for speech recognition, which does not require a literal transcription of the training data. Even for the subsequent task of semantic analysis, only weak supervision is employed, whereby the training utterance is accompanied by a semantic label only, rather than a literal transcription. Results on two databases, one of them containing dysarthric speech, are presented showing that Markov logic networks and conditional random fields substantially outperform other machine learning approaches. Markov logic networks have proved to be especially robust to recognition errors, which are caused by imprecise articulation in dysarthric speech.