C. Van der Walt

Automatic assessment of oral language proficiency and listening comprehension

This paper describes an attempt to automate the large-scale assessment of oral language proficiency and listening comprehension for fairly advanced students of English as a second language. The automatic test is implemented as a spoken dialogue system and consists of a reading as well as a repeating task. Two experiments are described in which different rating criteria were used by human judges. In the first experiment, proficiency was scored globally for each of the two test components. In the second experiment, various aspects of proficiency were evaluated for each section of the test. In both experiments, rate of speech (ROS), goodness of pronunciation (GOP) and repeat accuracy were calculated for the spoken utterances. The correlation between scores assigned by human raters and these three automatically derived measures was determined to assess their suitability as proficiency indicators. Results show that the more specific rating instructions used in the second experiment improved intra-rater agreement, but made little difference to inter-rater agreement. In addition, the more specific rating criteria resulted in a better correlation between the human and the automatic scores for the repeating task, but had almost no impact in the reading task. Overall, the results indicate that, even for the narrow range of proficiency levels observed in the test population, the automatically derived ROS and accuracy scores give a fair indication of oral proficiency.

Correlation between a new visual prostate symptom score (VPSS) and uroflowmetry parameters in men with lower urinary tract symptoms

OBJECTIVE A visual prostate symptom score (VPSS) compared with the international prostate symptom score (IPSS) for evaluation of lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) can be completed without physician assistance by a significantly larger proportion of men with limited education. We aimed to evaluate the correlation of the VPSS and IPSS with uroflowmetry parameters. METHODS Men with LUTS were requested to complete the IPSS and VPSS, consisting of pictograms to evaluate urinary frequency, nocturia, force of the stream and quality of life. The maximum (Qmax) and average urinary flow rate (Qave), voided volume (VV) and post-void residual (PVR) urine volumes were measured. Statistical analysis was performed using the Mann-Whitney and Spearmans tests. RESULTS The study included 93 men (mean age 64 years, range 33 - 85), with VV >150 ml in 66 (71%) and <150 ml in 27 (29%) subjects. In the group with VV >150 ml there were significant negative correlations between the IPSS and Qmax (r=-0.30, p=0.016), the IPSS and Qave (r=-0.29, p=0.018), the VPSS and Qmax (r=-0.38, p<0.002) and the VPSS and Qave (r=-0.37, p<0.003). The VPSS question on the subjects assessment of his urinary stream showed a significant negative correlation with the Qmax (r=-0.37, p=0.002) and Qave (r=-0.31, p=0.011), but the IPSS question on the subjects urinary stream did not correlate significantly with the Qmax or Qave. CONCLUSIONS The VPSS is equivalent to the IPSS in terms of correlation with Qmax and Qave and can therefore be used instead of the IPSS to evaluate LUTS in men with limited education.

Retroperitoneal Laparoendoscopic Single-Site Donor Nephrectomy

Abstract Introduction: Donor nephrectomy with laparoendoscopic single-site (LESS) surgery has been reported via the transperitoneal approach. The umbilicus (e-NOTES [embryological Natural Orifice Translumenal Endoscopic Surgery]) is a popular site, but leaves a nasty scar, and extraction of the kidney may be complex, risking warm ischemic renal injury. Our units have a combined experience of around 300 retroperitoneal donor nephrectomies and therefore want to offer single-site surgery to our patients. Materials and Methods (including a description of the video): We operated on two men on the right side (body mass index 32 and 33 kg/m2). We made a single 6-cm surgical incision in the right groin, below the abdominal skin crease, and developed the retroperitoneum under direct vision before using an inflation balloon behind the kidney. Using Gelport™ and bariatric/curved laparoscopic instruments, gas pressure was maintained and Gerotas fascia opened. Normal triangulation is maintained as the edges of the Ge...