Can social interaction skills be taught by a social agent? The role of a robotic mediator in autism therapy

Increasingly socially intelligent agents (software or robotic) are used in education, rehabilitation and therapy. This paper discusses the role of interactive, mobile robots as social mediators in the particular domain of autism therapy. This research is part of the project AURORA that studies how mobile robots can be used to teach children with autism basic interaction skills that are important in social interactions among humans. Results from a particular series of trials involving pairs of two children and a mobile robot are described. The results show that the scenario with pairs of children and a robot creates a very interesting social context which gives rise to a variety of different social and non-social interaction patterns, demonstrating the specific problems but also abilities of children with autism in social interactions. Future work will include a closer analysis of interactional structure in human-human and robot-human interaction. We outline a particular framework that we are investigating.

Measuring quality of life in aphasia: results from two scales

Background: Although aphasia affects quality of life (QoL), the impact within specific domains (e.g., psychosocial, communication) is poorly understood. Moreover, the complex and multidimensional nature of QoL renders it difficult to measure accurately using a single global scale. Aims: Using two recently developed QoL scales, the Stroke and Aphasia Quality of Life Scale-39, (SAQOL; Hilari, Byng, Lamping, & Smith, 2003a) and the American Speech Language Hearing Association’s Quality of Communication Life Scale (QCL; Paul et al., 2004), this study aimed to document the domains of QoL that were most affected for participants with aphasia compared to control participants, as well as to determine the relationship between the two scales, their sub-domains, and linguistic variables in aphasia. Methods & Procedures: The two scales were administered to a group of 19 participants with aphasia (14 male, 5 female), ages ranging from 27 to 79 years, and 19 age- and gender-matched control participants. Various types and severity of aphasia were represented in the aphasia group. The performances of aphasia and control groups were compared, and correlation analyses examined the relationship between the two scales and their sub-domains in the aphasia group only. Outcomes & Results: Compared to control participants, QoL was lower in participants with aphasia, with the communication sub-domain of SAQOL and socialisation/ activities sub-domain of QCL being the most affected areas of functioning. Between the two scales, the communication sub-domain of SAQOL correlated with the socialisation/ activities sub-domain and the QCL mean. Moreover, linguistic variables correlated strongly with psychosocial, communication and socialisation/activities sub-domains of QoL. Conclusions: Measuring QoL using the SAQOL and the QCL captures different but equally important aspects of experiences of living with aphasia. When interpreted together, they provide a holistic picture of functioning in aphasia that includes broad overviews of QoL from the SAQOL and a finer-grained analysis of communication impairments on QoL from the QCL.

Portfolio size and the reduction of dispersion: the case of the United Kingdom commercial real estate market

This paper investigates the potential benefits and limitations of equal and value-weighted diversification using as the example the UK institutional property market. To achieve this it uses the largest sample (392) of actual property returns that is currently available, over the period 1981 to 1996. To evaluate these issues two approaches are adopted; first, an analysis of the correlations within the sectors and regions and secondly simulations of property portfolios of increasing size constructed both naively and with value-weighting. Using these methods it is shown that the extent of possible risk reduction is limited because of the high positive correlations between assets in any portfolio, even when naively diversified. It is also shown that portfolios exhibit high levels of variability around the average risk, suggesting that previous work seriously understates the number of properties needed to achieve a satisfactory level of diversification. The results have implications for the development and maintenance of a property portfolio because they indicate that the achievable level of risk reduction depends upon the availability of assets, the weighting system used and the investor’s risk tolerance.

Expectation versus provision in the management and use of urban open space

This paper discusses the implications of the shifting cultural significance of public open space in urban areas. In particular, it focuses on the increasing dysfunction between people's expectations of that space and its actual provision and management. In doing so, the paper applies Lefebvre's ideas of spatiality to the evident paradigm shift from 'public' to 'private' culture, with its associated commodification of previously public space. While developing the construct of paradigm shift, the paper recognises that the former political notions inherent in the provision of public space remain in evidence. So whereas public parks were formerly seen as spaces of confrontation between the 'rationality' of public order as the 'irrationality' of individual leisure pursuits, they are now increasingly seen, particularly 'out of hours', as the domain of the dispossessed, to be defined and policed as 'dangerous'. Where once people were welcomed into public open spaces as a means of 'educating' them in good, acceptable, leisure practices, therefore, they are now increasingly excluded, but for the same ostensible reasons. Building on survey work undertaken in Reading, Berkshire, the paper illustrates how communities can become separated from 'their' space, leaving them with the overriding impression that they have been 'short-changed' in terms of both the provision and the management of urban open space. Rather than the intimacy of local space for local people, therefore, the paper argues that parks have become externalised places, increasingly responding to commercial definitions of culture and what is 'public'. Central urban open spaces are therefore increasingly becoming sites of stratification, signification of a consumer-constructed citizenship and valorisation of public life as a legitimate element of the market surface of town and city centres.

Quantitative analysis of mannitol polymorphs: FT-Raman spectroscopy

Mannitol is a polymorphic excipient which is usually used in pharmaceutical products as the beta form, although other polymorphs (alpha and delta) are common contaminants. Binary mixtures containing beta and delta mannitol were prepared to quantify the concentration of the beta form using FT-Raman spectroscopy. Spectral regions characteristic of each form were selected and peak intensity ratios of beta peaks to delta peaks were calculated. Using these ratios, a correlation curve was established which was then validated by analysing further samples of known composition. The results indicate that levels down to 2% beta could be quantified using this novel, non-destructive approach. Potential errors associated with quantitative studies using FT-Raman spectroscopy were also researched. The principal source of variability arose from inhomogeneities on mixing of the samples; a significant reduction of these errors was observed by reducing and controlling the particle size range. The results show that FT-Raman spectroscopy can be used to rapidly and accurately quantitate polymorphic mixtures.

Characterization of Grb2-binding proteins in human platelets activated by Fc gamma RIIA cross-linking.

Glutathione-S-transferase (GST)-Grb2 fusion proteins have been used to identify the potential role of Grb2-binding proteins in platelet activation by the platelet low-affinity IgG receptor, Fc gamma RIIA. Two tyrosine phosphoproteins of 38 and 63 kD bind to the SH2 domain of Grb2 following Fc gamma RIIA stimulation of platelets. Both are located in the particulate fraction following platelet activation and are also able to bind to a GST-construct containing the SH2 and SH3 domains of phospholipase C gamma 1. p38 also forms a complex with the tyrosine kinase csk in stimulated cells and is a substrate for the kinase. The SH3 domains of Grb2 form a stable complex with SOS1 and two proteins of 75 kD and 120 kD, which undergo tyrosine phosphorylation in Fc gamma RIIA stimulated cells. The 75-kD protein is recognized by antibodies to SLP-76, which has recently been isolated from T cells and sequenced. Tyrosine phosphorylation of p38 and p63 is also observed in platelets stimulated by the tyrosine kinase-linked receptor agonist collagen and by the G protein-coupled receptor agonist thrombin, although phosphorylation of SLP-76 is only observed in collagen-stimulated platelets. p38 and p63 may provide a docking site for Grb2, thereby linking Grb2 SH3-binding proteins SOS1, SLP-76, and p120 to downstream signalling events.

A linear model of gravity wave drag for hydrostatic sheared flow over elliptical mountains

An analytical model of orographic gravity wave drag due to sheared flow past elliptical mountains is developed. The model extends the domain of applicability of the well-known Phillips model to wind profiles that vary relatively slowly in the vertical, so that they may be treated using a WKB approximation. The model illustrates how linear processes associated with wind profile shear and curvature affect the drag force exerted by the airflow on mountains, and how it is crucial to extend the WKB approximation to second order in the small perturbation parameter for these effects to be taken into account. For the simplest wind profiles, the normalized drag depends only on the Richardson number, Ri, of the flow at the surface and on the aspect ratio, γ, of the mountain. For a linear wind profile, the drag decreases as Ri decreases, and this variation is faster when the wind is across the mountain than when it is along the mountain. For a wind that rotates with height maintaining its magnitude, the drag generally increases as Ri decreases, by an amount depending on γ and on the incidence angle. The results from WKB theory are compared with exact linear results and also with results from a non-hydrostatic nonlinear numerical model, showing in general encouraging agreement, down to values of Ri of order one.

Decadal to multidecadal variability and the climate change background

Three prominent quasi-global patterns of variability and change are observed using the Met Office's sea surface temperature (SST) analysis and almost independent night marine air temperature analysis. The first is a global warming signal that is very highly correlated with global mean SST. The second is a decadal to multidecadal fluctuation with some geographical similarity to the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO). It is associated with the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO), and its Pacific-wide manifestation has been termed the Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation (IPO). We present model investigations of the relationship between the IPO and ENSO. The third mode is an interhemispheric variation on multidecadal timescales which, in view of climate model experiments, is likely to be at least partly due to natural variations in the thermohaline circulation. Observed climatic impacts of this mode also appear in model simulations. Smaller-scale, regional atmospheric phenomena also affect climate on decadal to interdecadal timescales. We concentrate on one such mode, the winter North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). This shows strong decadal to interdecadal variability and a correspondingly strong influence on surface climate variability which is largely additional to the effects of recent regional anthropogenic climate change. The winter NAO is likely influenced by both SST forcing and stratospheric variability. A full understanding of decadal changes in the NAO and European winter climate may require a detailed representation of the stratosphere that is hitherto missing in the major climate models used to study climate change.

A study into the accuracy of using meteorological wind data to estimate turbine generation output

Meteorological (met) station data is used as the basis for a number of influential studies into the impacts of the variability of renewable resources. Real turbine output data is not often easy to acquire, whereas meteorological wind data, supplied at a standardised height of 10 m, is widely available. This data can be extrapolated to a standard turbine height using the wind profile power law and used to simulate the hypothetical power output of a turbine. Utilising a number of met sites in such a manner can develop a model of future wind generation output. However, the accuracy of this extrapolation is strongly dependent on the choice of the wind shear exponent alpha. This paper investigates the accuracy of the simulated generation output compared to reality using a wind farm in North Rhins, Scotland and a nearby met station in West Freugh. The results show that while a single annual average value for alpha may be selected to accurately represent the long term energy generation from a simulated wind farm, there are significant differences between simulation and reality on an hourly power generation basis, with implications for understanding the impact of variability of renewables on short timescales, particularly system balancing and the way that conventional generation may be asked to respond to a high level of variable renewable generation on the grid in the future.

Genetic relatedness and phenotypic characteristics of Treponema associated with human periodontal tissues and ruminant foot disease

Treponema have been implicated recently in the pathogenesis of digital dermatitis (DID) and contagious ovine digital dermatitis (CODD) that are infectious diseases of bovine and ovine foot tissues, respectively. Previous analyses of treponemal 16S rDNA sequences, PCR-amplified directly from DID or CODD lesions, have suggested relatedness of animal Treponema to some human oral Treponema species isolated from periodontal tissues. In this study a range of adhesion and virulence-related properties of three animal Treponema isolates have been compared with representative human oral strains of Treponema denticola and Treponema vincentii. In adhesion assays using biotinylated treponemal cells, T denticola cells bound in consistently higher numbers to fibronectin, laminin, collagen type 1, gelatin, keratin and lactoferrin than did T. vincentii or animal Treponema isolates. However, animal DID strains adhered to fibrinogen at equivalent or greater levels than T denticola. All Treponema strains bound to the amino-terminal heparin l/fibrin I domain of fibronectin. 16S rDNA sequence analyses placed ovine strain UB1090 and bovine strain UB1467 within a cluster that was phylogenetically related to T vincentii, while ovine strain UB1466 appeared more closely related to T denticola. These observations correlated with phenotypic properties. Thus, T denticola ATCC 35405, GM-1, and Treponema UB1466 had similar outer-membrane protein profiles, produced chymotrypsin-like protease (CTLP), trypsin-like protease and high levels of proline iminopeptidase, and co-aggregated with human oral bacteria Porphyromonas gingivalis and Streptococcus crista. Conversely, T vincentii ATCC 35580, D2A-2, and animal strains UB1090 and UB1467 did not express CTLP or trypsin-like protease and did not co-aggregate with P. gingivalis or S. crista. Taken collectively, these results suggest that human oral-related Treponema have broad host specificity and that similar control or preventive strategies might be developed for human and animal Treponema-associated infections.

Fingerprints of changes in annual and seasonal precipitation from CMIP5 models over land and ocean

By comparing annual and seasonal changes in precipitation over land and ocean since 1950 simulated by the CMIP5 (Coupled Model Intercomparison Project, phase 5) climate models in which natural and anthropogenic forcings have been included, we find that clear global-scale and regional-scale changes due to human influence are expected to have occurred over both land and ocean. These include moistening over northern high latitude land and ocean throughout all seasons and over the northern subtropical oceans during boreal winter. However we show that this signal of human influence is less distinct when considered over the relatively small area of land for which there are adequate observations to make assessments of multi-decadal scale trends. These results imply that extensive and significant changes in precipitation over the land and ocean may have already happened, even though, inadequacies in observations in some parts of the world make it difficult to identify conclusively such a human fingerprint on the global water cycle. In some regions and seasons, due to aliasing of different kinds of variability as a result of sub sampling by the sparse and changing observational coverage, observed trends appear to have been increased, underscoring the difficulties of interpreting the apparent magnitude of observed changes in precipitation.

A mechanism for Atlantic multidecadal variability in the Kiel Climate Model

Atlantic Multidecadal Variability (AMV) is investigated in a millennial control simulation with the Kiel Climate Model (KCM), a coupled atmosphere–ocean–sea ice model. An oscillatory mode with approximately 60 years period and characteristics similar to observations is identified with the aid of three-dimensional temperature and salinity joint empirical orthogonal function analysis. The mode explains 30 % of variability on centennial and shorter timescales in the upper 2,000 m of the North Atlantic. It is associated with changes in the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) of ±1–2 Sv and Atlantic Sea Surface Temperature (SST) of ±0.2 °C. AMV in KCM results from an out-of-phase interaction between horizontal and vertical ocean circulation, coupled through Irminger Sea convection. Wintertime convection in this region is mainly controlled by salinity anomalies transported by the Subpolar Gyre (SPG). Increased (decreased) dense water formation in this region leads to a stronger (weaker) AMOC after 15 years, and this in turn leads to a weaker (stronger) SPG after another 15 years. The key role of salinity variations in the subpolar North Atlantic for AMV is confirmed in a 1,000 year long simulation with salinity restored to model climatology: No low frequency variations in convection are simulated, and the 60 year mode of variability is absent.

An integrated view of data quality in Earth observation

Data quality is a difficult notion to define precisely, and different communities have different views and understandings of the subject. This causes confusion, a lack of harmonization of data across communities and omission of vital quality information. For some existing data infrastructures, data quality standards cannot address the problem adequately and cannot fulfil all user needs or cover all concepts of data quality. In this study, we discuss some philosophical issues on data quality. We identify actual user needs on data quality, review existing standards and specifications on data quality, and propose an integrated model for data quality in the field of Earth observation (EO). We also propose a practical mechanism for applying the integrated quality information model to a large number of datasets through metadata inheritance. While our data quality management approach is in the domain of EO, we believe that the ideas and methodologies for data quality management can be applied to wider domains and disciplines to facilitate quality-enabled scientific research.

Stratosphere‐troposphere coupling and annular mode variability in chemistry‐climate models

The internal variability and coupling between the stratosphere and troposphere in CCMVal‐2 chemistry‐climate models are evaluated through analysis of the annular mode patterns of variability. Computation of the annular modes in long data sets with secular trends requires refinement of the standard definition of the annular mode, and a more robust procedure that allows for slowly varying trends is established and verified. The spatial and temporal structure of the models’ annular modes is then compared with that of reanalyses. As a whole, the models capture the key features of observed intraseasonal variability, including the sharp vertical gradients in structure between stratosphere and troposphere, the asymmetries in the seasonal cycle between the Northern and Southern hemispheres, and the coupling between the polar stratospheric vortices and tropospheric midlatitude jets. It is also found that the annular mode variability changes little in time throughout simulations of the 21st century. There are, however, both common biases and significant differences in performance in the models. In the troposphere, the annular mode in models is generally too persistent, particularly in the Southern Hemisphere summer, a bias similar to that found in CMIP3 coupled climate models. In the stratosphere, the periods of peak variance and coupling with the troposphere are delayed by about a month in both hemispheres. The relationship between increased variability of the stratosphere and increased persistence in the troposphere suggests that some tropospheric biases may be related to stratospheric biases and that a well‐simulated stratosphere can improve simulation of tropospheric intraseasonal variability.

A global picture of the seasonal persistence of stratospheric ozone anomalies

Interannual anomalies in vertical profiles of stratospheric ozone, in both equatorial and extratropical regions, have been shown to exhibit a strong seasonal persistence, namely, extended temporal autocorrelations during certain times of the calendar year. Here we investigate the relationship between this seasonal persistence of equatorial and extratropical ozone anomalies using the SAGE‐corrected SBUV data set, which provides a long‐term ozone profile time series. For the regions of the stratosphere where ozone is under purely dynamical or purely photochemical control, the seasonal persistence of equatorial and extratropical ozone anomalies arises from distinct mechanisms but preserves an anticorrelation between tropical and extratropical anomalies established during the winter period. In the 16–10 hPa layer, where ozone is controlled by both dynamical and photochemical processes, equatorial ozone anomalies exhibit a completely different behavior compared to ozone anomalies above and below in terms of variability, seasonal persistence, and especially the relationship between equatorial and extratropical ozone. Cross‐latitude‐time correlations show that for the 16–10 hPa layer, Northern Hemisphere (NH) extratropical ozone anomalies show the same variability as equatorial ozone anomalies but lagged by 3–6 months. High correlation coefficients are observed during the time frame of seasonal persistence of ozone anomalies, which is June– December for equatorial ozone and shifts by approximately 3–6 months when going from the equatorial region to NH extratropics. Thus in the transition zone between dynamical and photochemical control, equatorial ozone anomalies established in boreal summer/autumn are mirrored by NH extratropical ozone anomalies with a time lag similar to transport time scales. Equatorial ozone anomalies established in boreal winter/spring are likewise correlated with ozone anomalies in the Southern Hemisphere extratropics with a time lag comparable to transport time scales, similar to what is seen in the NH. However, the correlations between equatorial and SH extratropical ozone in the 10–16 hPa layer are weak.