bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Using nonlinear auto-regressive with exogenous input neural network (NNARX) in blood glucose prediction
Authors: Allam Fayrouz
Published: April 2024

Background

Predicting of future blood glucose (BG) concentration is important for diabetes control. Many automatic BG monitoring or controlling systems use BG predictors. The accuracy of the prediction for long prediction time is a major factor affecting the performance of the control system. The predicted BG can be used for glycemia management in the form of early hypoglycemic/hyperglycemic alarms or adjusting insulin injections. Recent developments in continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) devices open new opportunities for glycemia management of diabetic patients. Many of those systems need prediction for long prediction horizons to avoid going through hypo or hyperglycemia.

Methods

In this article a nonlinear autoregressive exogenous input neural network (NNARX) is proposed to predict the glucose concentration for longer prediction horizons (PHs) than that was obtained previously with an established recurrent neural network (RNN). The proposed NNARX is a modified version from our previously published RNN with different initialization and building technique but has the same architecture. The modification is based on starting with building nonlinear autoregressive exogenous input model using MATLAB and train it, then close the loop to get NNARX network.

Results

The results of using the proposed NNARX indicate that the proposed NNARX is better in prediction and stability than unmodified RNN as PH becomes higher than 45 minutes.

Conclusions

Modification in RNN building extends the ability of the prediction till 100 minutes. It performs statistically significant improvements in the FIT and RMSE values for 100 minutes prediction. It also decreases root mean squared error (RMSE) for both 45 and 60 minutes of prediction.
Response of vulnerable karst forest ecosystems under different fire severities in the Northern Dinaric Karst mountains (Slovenia)
Authors: Čahojová Lucia , Jakob Aljaž , Breg Valjavec Mateja , Čarni Andraž
Published: April 2024

Background

This study deals with wildfires in marginal areas of the Mediterranean climatic and biogeographical regions (Northern Mediterranean) where fires were not common. The aim of the research was to determine the differences in floristic composition and traits at different intensities of fire damage and to analyze the changes in forest ecosystems during the wildfires that took place in the summer of 2022. The study included both the zonal forests and non-native black pine (Pinus nigra) forests. Remote sensing techniques linked to the vegetation data sampled in the field during the 2023 vegetation season, the very first season after the fires, were also used in the fire assessment.

Results

The study confirmed that satellite data analysis, orthophoto interpretation, and on-site vegetation sampling provide equivalent information on fire severity, opening up the possibility of transferring knowledge to similar post-fire sites without field sampling in the future. TWINSPAN classification analysis divided the sampled plots into clusters based on tree species prevalence and fire severity. The diagnostic species of the clusters were calculated using a fidelity measure. Ordination revealed that the first axis on the detrended correspondence analysis (DCA) correlated with wildfire severity. Ecological conditions and strategies, life forms, chorotypes, seed dispersal classes, and regeneration traits were analyzed along this gradient. We found that post-fire sites became warmer, drier, and lighter, which favored the growth of ruderal, theropytic, cosmopolitan, anemochorous and post-fire emergent species. After the fire, a “wave” of annual ruderal species was observed.

Conclusions

The results indicate that post-fire recovery can be left to natural processes without human intervention, except in the case of non-native pine stands where planting or seeding may be necessary. Otherwise, it is essential to control the possible occurrence of invasive species. Isolated adaptations of species to fire have also been observed, such as heat-stimulated germination. Such adaptations could develop in regions exposed to frequent fires and where fires act as an evolutionary factor.
High-dimensional Poincaré beams generated through cascaded metasurfaces for high-security optical encryption
Authors: Ji Jitao , Chen Chen , Sun Jiacheng , Ye Xin , Wang Zhizhang , Li Jian , Wang Junyi , Song Wange , Huang Chunyu , Qiu Kai , Zhu Shining , Li Tao
Published: April 2024

Optical encryption plays an increasingly important role in the field of information security owing to its parallel processing capability and low power consumption. Employing the ultrathin metasurfaces in optical encryption has promoted the miniaturization and multifunctionality of encryption systems. Nevertheless, with the few number of degrees of freedom (DoFs) multiplexed by single metasurface, both key space and encoding space are limited. To address this issue, we propose a high-security and large-capacity optical encryption scheme based on perfect high-dimensional Poincaré beams with expanded DoFs. By cascading two arrayed metasurfaces, more beam properties can be independently engineered, which gives rise to the extensively expanded key and encoding spaces. Our work provides a promising strategy for optical encryption with high security level and large information capacity and might facilitate the applications of Poincaré beams in optical communications and quantum information.
Experimental and numerical investigation into the local scour of bridge cofferdam with anti-scour ribs
Authors: Ran Pengxin , Wei Kai , Zhang Bike , Wang Lu , Nie Ruihua , Li Yongle
Published: April 2024

Cofferdam is widely employed in the construction of underwater bridge foundations. Its crucial attribute lies in providing a dedicated platform for construction activities and enhancing the water resistance dimensions in structural design, consequently amplifying local scour. However, previous research on local scour has seldom investigated the effect of construction facilities on the life cycle development of local scour on foundations. This gap has led to a misunderstanding of protective strategies against local scour throughout the construction period. In this paper, a scour experiment platform was implemented with a unidirectional flume. Physical model experiments were conducted to scrutinize the protective impact of anti-scour rib structures against local scour. The experimentally determined scour depth was compared to assess the performance of the anti-scour rib protection system. Oblique photogrammetry was subsequently used to capture the morphology of the equilibrium scour pit in the experiments. The associated topographical data were imported into Fluent commercial fluid software for in-depth flow field analysis. A numerical flume model was established to examine the hydraulic characteristics under two distinct topographical conditions: a smooth riverbed during the initial stage of scour and a scoured riverbed at the equilibrium stage of scour. To further determine the protective mechanism of anti-scour rib protection, the influence of anti-scour rib protection on shear stress was investigated numerically. Analyses revealed that incorporating scour protection ribs during cofferdam construction alters the flow field characteristics, hindering the downward movement of subsurface flow beneath the structure, reducing bed shear stress, and consequently mitigating scour effects. The instantaneous protective effect of scour protection ribs strengthens as the scour topography develops. The protective effectiveness of scour protection ribs was mainly influenced by rib length, spacing, and shape.
Approach to the Neonate With Hypoglycemia
Authors: Lord Katherine , De León Diva D
Published: April 2024

After birth, healthy neonates undergo a period of altered glucose metabolism, known as “transitional hypoglycemia.” During the first 0 to 4 hours of life, the mean plasma glucose concentration decreases to 57 mg/dL, then by 72 to 96 hours of life increases to 82 mg/dL, well within the normal adult range. Recent data suggest that transitional hypoglycemia is due to persistence of the fetal beta cell's lower threshold for insulin release, resulting in a transient hyperinsulinemic state. While hypoglycemia is an expected part of the transition to postnatal life, it makes the identification of infants with persistent hypoglycemia disorders challenging. Given the risk of neurologic injury from hypoglycemia, identifying these infants is critical. Hyperinsulinism is the most common cause of persistent hypoglycemia in neonates and infants and carries a high risk of neurocognitive dysfunction given the severity of the hypoglycemia and the inability to generate ketones, a critical alternative cerebral fuel. Screening neonates at risk for persistent hypoglycemia disorders and completing evaluations prior to hospital discharge is essential to prevent delayed diagnoses and neurologic damage.
Long-term Pegvisomant Therapy of Acromegaly: Effects on Bone Density, Turnover and Microstructure Using HRpQCT
Authors: Kuker Adriana P , Agarwal Sanchita , Shane Elizabeth , Bicca Juliana , Geer Eliza B , Cremers Serge , Dworakowski Elzbieta , Cohen Adi , Nickolas Thomas L , Stein Emily M , Freda Pamela U
Published: April 2024

Context

Fracture rate is increased in patients with active acromegaly and those in remission. Abnormalities of bone microstructure are present in patients with active disease and persist despite biochemical control after surgery. Effects of treatment with the GH receptor antagonist pegvisomant on bone microstructure were unknown.

Methods

We studied 25 patients with acromegaly (15 men, 10 women). In 20, we evaluated areal bone mineral density (BMD) by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry and bone turnover markers (BTMs) longitudinally, before and during pegvisomant treatment. After long-term pegvisomant in 17, we cross-sectionally assessed volumetric BMD, microarchitecture, stiffness, and failure load of the distal radius and tibia using high-resolution peripheral quantitative computed tomography (HRpQCT) and compared these results to those of healthy controls and 2 comparison groups of nonpegvisomant-treated acromegaly patients, remission, and active disease, matched for other therapies and characteristics.

Results

In the longitudinal study, areal BMD improved at the lumbar spine but decreased at the hip in men after a median ∼7 years of pegvisomant. In the cross-sectional study, patients on a median ∼9 years of pegvisomant had significantly larger bones, lower trabecular and cortical volumetric density, and disrupted trabecular microarchitecture compared to healthy controls. Microstructure was similar in the pegvisomant and acromegaly comparison groups. BTMs were lowered, then stable over time.

Conclusion

In this, the first study to examine bone microstructure in pegvisomant-treated acromegaly, we found deficits in volumetric BMD and microarchitecture of the peripheral skeleton. BTM levels remained stable with long-term therapy. Deficits in bone quality identified by HRpQCT may play a role in the pathogenesis of fragility in treated acromegaly.
Growth, filtration and respiration characteristics of small single-osculum demosponge Halichondria panicea explants
Authors: Riisgård Hans Ulrik , Lüskow Florian , Larsen Poul S.
Published: April 2024

Filter-feeding demosponges are modular organisms that consist of modules each with one water-exit osculum. Once a mature module has been formed, the weight-specific filtration and respiration rates do not change. Sponge modules only grow to a certain size and for a sponge to increase in size, new modules must be formed. However, the growth characteristics of a small single-osculum module sponge are fundamentally different from those of multi-modular sponges, and a theoretically derived volume-specific filtration rate scales as F/V=V−1/3, indicating a decrease with increasing total module volume (V, cm3). Here, we studied filtration rate (F, l h−1), respiration rate (R, ml O2 h−1), volume-specific (F/V) and weight-specific (F/W) filtration rates, and the ratios F/R and F/W along with growth rates of small single-osculum demosponge Halichondria panicea explants of various sizes exposed to various concentrations of algal cells. The following relationships were found: F/V=7.08V−0.24, F=a1W1.05, and R=a2W0.68 where W is the dry weight (mg). The F/R and F/W ratios were constant and essentially independent of W, and other data indicate exponential growth. It is concluded that the experimental data support the theoretical F/V∝V–1/3.
The retrieval of neutral and positive autobiographical memories: a pilot study
Authors: Su Xinning , Midorikawa Akira
Published: April 2024

Background Several studies have shown that the retrieval of positive memories may play a role in emotional regulation. However, it is unclear whether the effects of neutral and positive autobiographical memories differ. There is a need to confirm that genuinely neutral autobiographical memories can be retrieved without bias in response to a prompt to recall neutral memories. Methods In this pilot study, using “home” and “study” as cue words, we investigated whether participants were able to retrieve appropriate autobiographical memories when asked to recall a limited number of neutral or positive memories. Results Although participants were asked to recall neutral autobiographical memories, they tended to recall positive memories. Conclusions Our results support the concept of positive memory bias and suggest that future work should consider combining neutral and positive autobiographical memories, namely by asking participants to recall neutral–positive memories.
Ethics and health research priority setting: a narrative review
Authors: Millum Joseph
Published: April 2024

This narrative review aims to describe current practice and ongoing discussions in the academic literature regarding ethics and health research priority setting. It begins with some preliminary distinctions regarding types of research priority setting. It then gives some background on current practice with respect to formal research priority setting exercises, including summaries of The Ad Hoc Committee on Health Research method, the Child Health and Nutrition Research Initiative (CHNRI) method, the Combined Approach Matrix (CAM), the Delphi method, the Essential National Health Research (ENHR) strategy for priority setting, and the James Lind Alliance (JLA) framework. The majority of the paper reports the results of a literature review covering specifically ethical issues under the thematic headings of process criteria, substantive criteria, global justice, the obligations of specific actors, and research topics. It closes with some summary thoughts about apparent gaps and directions for future investigation.
The genome sequence of the Lunar Marbled Brown, Drymonia ruficornis (Hufnagel, 1766)
Authors: Langdon William B. V. , Morley Lucy M. ,   University of Oxford and Wytham Woods Genome Acquisition Lab,   Darwin Tree of Life Barcoding collective,   Wellcome Sanger Institute Tree of Life Management, Samples and Laboratory team,   Wellcome Sanger Institute Scientific Operations: Sequencing Operations,   Wellcome Sanger Institute Tree of Life Core Informatics team,   Tree of Life Core Informatics collective,   Darwin Tree of Life Consortium
Published: April 2024

We present a genome assembly from an individual male Drymonia ruficornis (the Lunar Marbled Brown; Arthropoda; Insecta; Lepidoptera; Notodontidae). The genome sequence is 369.6 megabases in span. Most of the assembly is scaffolded into 29 chromosomal pseudomolecules, including the Z sex chromosome. The mitochondrial genome has also been assembled and is 17.11 kilobases in length.
The genome sequence of the Dusky Sallow, Eremobia ochroleuca (Denis & Schiffermüller) 1775
Authors: Boyes Douglas , Boyes Clare ,   University of Oxford and Wytham Woods Genome Acquisition Lab,   Darwin Tree of Life Barcoding collective,   Wellcome Sanger Institute Tree of Life Management, Samples and Laboratory team,   Wellcome Sanger Institute Scientific Operations: Sequencing Operations,   Wellcome Sanger Institute Tree of Life Core Informatics team,   Tree of Life Core Informatics collective,   Darwin Tree of Life Consortium
Published: April 2024

We present a genome assembly from an individual male Eremobia ochroleuca (the Dusky Sallow; Arthropoda; Insecta; Lepidoptera; Noctuidae). The genome sequence is 625.4 megabases in span. Most of the assembly is scaffolded into 31 chromosomal pseudomolecules, including the Z sex chromosome. The mitochondrial genome has also been assembled and is 15.36 kilobases in length. Gene annotation of this assembly on Ensembl identified 18,530 protein coding genes.
The genome sequence of the lesser stag beetle, Dorcus parallelipipedus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Authors: Crowley Liam M. , Phillips Dominic ,   University of Oxford and Wytham Woods Genome Acquisition Lab,   Darwin Tree of Life Barcoding collective,   Wellcome Sanger Institute Tree of Life Management, Samples and Laboratory team,   Wellcome Sanger Institute Scientific Operations: Sequencing Operations,   Wellcome Sanger Institute Tree of Life Core Informatics team,   Tree of Life Core Informatics collective,   Darwin Tree of Life Consortium
Published: April 2024

We present a genome assembly from an individual male Dorcus parallelipipedus (the lesser stag beetle; Arthropoda; Insecta; Coleoptera; Lucanidae). The genome sequence is 470.9 megabases in span. Most of the assembly is scaffolded into 10 chromosomal pseudomolecules, including the X and Y sex chromosomes. The mitochondrial genome has also been assembled and is 18.19 kilobases in length.
Recent observations on the distribution of the endangered butterfly Eresia erysice erysice (Geyer, 1832) (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae)
Authors: Vila-Verde Gabriel , Delabie Jacques Hubert Charles
Published: April 2024

The Brazilian endemic butterfly Eresia erysice erysice (Geyer, 1832) (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) has been included in the Official List of Brazilian Endangered Fauna as critically endangered (CR). Until now, this rare butterfly has only been known to inhabit Atlantic Forest fragments in the “Hileia Baiana”. This paper presents updated information on occurrences of E. e. erysice. A male and a female specimens were collected in a disturbed forest fragment near the experimental fields of the Centro de Pesquisas do Cacau (CEPEC), Ilhéus, Bahia. These new findings indicate that the distribution boundary of this subspecies extends about 80 km more to the north and suggest that it is not as exclusive to forest habitats as previously thought.
An Overview of Surgical Strategies for Treating Obesity
Authors: Jędrasek Aleksandra , Barg Marta , Biały-Karbowniczek Julia , Bartela Agata , Wojtyła Klaudia
Published: April 2024

Introduction: In the last few years, obesity has become a central issue with more than 2.6 billion people worldwide being overweight or obese. While the risks associated with this condition and its rising significance are widely known, the effect of this attention on screening and treatment remains unsatisfying. This paper explores multiple treatment strategies and evaluates their effectiveness in preventing obesity-related complications.  

Review methods: We conducted our study as a literature review, with data being gathered via PubMed and Embase. 

The state of knowledge: Physical activity, behavioral therapy, and proper nutrition remain the foundation for obesity therapy. However, in many cases these approaches are insufficient. Recently, there has been a dynamic development of bariatric surgery, which in comparison to lifestyle modification, results in better long-term effects and improved quality of life. New surgery procedures, such as sleeve gastrectomy and adjustable gastric banding, have shown to be one of the most effective, but they carry a risk of complications. 

Conclusions: Growing treatment options allow doctors to choose more targeted strategies, based on the patient’s risk factors, overall health status, and compliance. Improvements in surgery, especially laparoscopic techniques have opened new possibilities for patients with morbid obesity.
La continua resignificación histórica y urbana: el Monumento a los Héroes de Bogotá
Authors: Vargas Álvarez Sebastián , Randazzo Ruiz Marcela
Published: April 2024

Este capítulo presenta una historia del Monumento a los Héroes desde dos aproximaciones diferentes pero entrelazadas. En primer lugar, se analizan las representaciones históricas y los relatos de nación proyectados por el monumento, y sus cambios a lo largo del tiempo. En segundo lugar, se aborda este monumento conmemorativo desde la perspectiva de la historia urbana, en atención a su lugar en los procesos de modernización de la ciudad, sus modificaciones, abandonos y transformaciones, así como las de su espacio circundante. Como se puede apreciar, el hilo conductor que da sentido y organiza nuestra apuesta analítica es la continua resignificación del monumento a lo largo del tiempo, sus usos, reinterpretaciones y apropiaciones.
Introducción. El para qué de la enseñanza de la filosofía
Authors: Herrera Romero Wilson
Published: April 2024

Este libro es producto de la reacción de los profesores de filosofía frente a un cambio realizado por el ICFES en las pruebas Saber 11 en el año 2012 y que afectó notablemente la enseñanza de la filosofía en los colegios. Dicho cambio consistió, básicamente, en eliminar el componente de filosofía en la prueba y en su lugar introducir en el componente de lectura crítica algunos textos de índole filosófico. Muchos docentes y directivos de colegios públicos y privados interpretaron tal cambio como una señal de que la filosofía en la educación secundaria estaba llegando a su fin.
Site Visits and Corporate Investment Efficiency
Authors: Cao Sean Shun , Gong Guojin , Kim Yongtae , Shi Hanzhong , Wang Angie
Published: April 2024

Site visits allow visitors to physically inspect productive resources and interact with on-site employees and executives face to face. We posit that, by allowing visitors to acquire investment-related information and monitor the management team, site visits offer disciplinary benefits for corporate investments. Using mandatory disclosures of site visits in China, we find that corporate investments become more responsive to growth opportunities as the intensity of site visits increases, consistent with the notion that site visits yield disciplinary benefits. We also find that the positive association between site visits and investment efficiency is more pronounced when visitors can glean more investment-related information and when they have stronger incentives and greater power to monitor managers. This positive association is also stronger among firms with more severe agency problems and higher asset tangibility. The overall evidence supports the notion that site visits serve as a unique venue for institutional investors and financial analysts to acquire valuable information and serve a monitoring function, which generates disciplinary benefits for corporate investments.

This paper was accepted by Suraj Srinivasan, accounting.

Supplemental Material: The data files are available at https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2022.00302 .
Allocating Inventory Risk in Retail Supply Chains: Risk Aversion, Information Asymmetry, and Outside Opportunity
Authors: Hou Chengfan , Lu Mengshi
Published: April 2024

Problem definition: Recent global crises have caused unprecedented economic uncertainty and intensified retailers’ concerns over inventory risks. Mitigating inventory risks and incentivizing retailer orders is critical to managing retail supply chains and restoring their norms after severe impacts. We study the allocation of inventory risk using contracts in a retail supply chain with a risk-neutral manufacturer and a risk-averse retailer. We consider two factors that affect the effectiveness of contracting: (1) asymmetric risk aversion information—retailers’ attitudes are typically diverse and unknown to the manufacturer, and (2) uncertain outside opportunity—retailers typically face a volatile external business environment. Methodology/results: With a game-theoretic model that captures the interaction among risk aversion, information asymmetry, and outside opportunity, we derive the contracting equilibrium under two widely adopted risk allocation schemes—push (i.e., the retailer bears the inventory risk) and pull (i.e., the manufacturer bears the inventory risk) contracts. Contrary to the conventional wisdom that pull contracts are more effective in risk mitigation, we show that push contracts may induce larger expected order quantities and achieve the highest supply chain efficiency due to the interaction of asymmetric risk aversion information and risky outside opportunities. We also find that the manufacturer may obtain higher profits with push contracts when both the heterogeneity in the retailer’s risk attitude and the risk of the outside opportunity are sufficiently high. In addition, when the risk of the outside opportunity is in a medium range, the push contract allows the manufacturer to fully eliminate the information rent and achieve the supply chain’s first-best outcomes. We further evaluate the effects of product profitability and demand uncertainty and generalize the retailer’s risk measure to any coherent risk measure. Managerial implications: Our analysis highlights the importance of modeling asymmetric risk aversion information and risky outside opportunities in analyzing supply chain contracting. When considering these practical factors, allocating more inventory risks to a risk-averse retailer may be better than a risk-neutral manufacturer. Our results provide novel insights into the selection of proper contract types for managing inventory risks in retail supply chains.

Supplemental Material: The online appendix is available at https://doi.org/10.1287/msom.2022.0624 .
Internal Disagreement and Disruptive Technologies
Authors: Gans Joshua S.
Published: April 2024

This paper models the adoption by established firms of internally disruptive technologies in that different parts of an organization stand to lose or gain from adoption. When agents disagree with a decision, they impose costs on the firm. The paper shows that any resistance to change that this yields is often accompanied by others who are aggrieved should change not occur. Thus, the firm likely cannot avoid disagreement costs regardless of whether they adopt the technology or not. In some cases, depending on their ability to impose costs, such firms may be more likely to adopt technologies due to internal disagreement.
Linguistic Disfluencies in Korean-English Bilingual Children in the Narrative Generation and Retell Task
Authors: Chung Haeun , Kang Hyewon , Yim Dongsun , Sim Hyun Sub
Published: April 2024

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to examine the frequency and types of linguistic disfluencies that are produced by typically developing bilingual Korean-English (KE) speaking children and to investigate whether their disfluent speech is mediated by language produced and/or language exposure duration.Methods: Nineteen bilingual KE speaking children (12 boys, 7 girls) and twenty-one monolingual Korean speaking children (8 boys, 13 girls) aged 6-9 participated in this study. Narratives were elicited using story generation and retell tasks in each language. The frequency and types of linguistic disfluencies (fillers, repetitions, revisions, and pauses) were analyzed.Results: The bilingual group showed a significantly higher rate of total disfluency, fillers, and repetitions than the monolingual group. There was no significant difference in the rates of disfluency between narrative task types. In terms of the language produced, the bilingual group produced more revisions and more disfluencies in Korean than in English during the story generation task. In the retell task, there was a significant difference in the total disfluency rate, fillers, and revisions depending on the language the child was speaking. A significant negative correlation between English language exposure duration and the total disfluency rate was found.Conclusion: Bilingual KE speaking children showed higher disfluency rates than monolingual peers in story generation and retell tasks. Results showed that the disfluency can be influenced by the grammatical structure of the language being spoken and the levels of language experience. Results suggest the exposure duration to second language, language proficiency, and morphological distinctions between two languages need to be considered for assessment and intervention.
Parental Linguistic Input to Children Who are Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing during Parent-Child Interaction: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Authors: Lee Dayea , Lee Youngmee
Published: April 2024

Objectives: Parental linguistic input has long been shown to predict children’s later language ability. This study aimed to characterize the quantity and quality of parental linguistic input of children who are deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) through systematic literature and meta-analysis.Methods: One thousand seven hundred sixty-one articles from 2001 to February 2022 investigating parental linguistic input in children with DHH were identified via database searches. Nine articles were identified that met the PICOS (Participants, Intervention, Comparison, Outcomes, and Study design) criteria. A systematic review and metaanalysis of the literature were conducted. We used mixed effects models to estimate the overall mean effect size metric to address each research question.Results: As a result of the systematic literature review, the selected articles had a low risk of bias. In a considerable number of the presented meta-analytic articles, mothers and children aged 24-36 months participated. We did detect significant differences in the number of total words, the number of different words, and the proportion of the high-level facilitative language techniques from the parents’ utterances between the DHH and the typical hearing (TH) groups. On the other hand, there was not a significant difference in the number of total utterances between the two groups.Conclusion: This meta-analysis reports on different patterns of parental linguistic input between children with DHH and children with TH. We conclude with a discussion of the findings and consideration of the implications for research.
Assessing the Phonological Abilities of Jordanian Arabic-speaking Children with Phonological Disorders
Authors: Huneety Anas al , Al-omari Moh’d Ahmad Khaled , Mashaqba Bassil , Abu Guba Mohammed Nour
Published: April 2024

Objectives: This study investigated the validity of four language measures, i.e., phonological mean length of utterance (PMLU), the proportion of whole-word proximity (PWP), the proportion of whole-word correctness (PWC), and percentage of correct consonants, in assessing phonological development in Jordanian Arabic (JA) speaking children with phonological disorders in comparison with typically developing (TD) children.Methods: The study involved 88 monolingual JA-speaking children within the age range of 5 to 6 years, with 44 children diagnosed with phonological disorders and 44 TD children. Each group was further categorized into two age groups, namely 5;0-5;6 and 5,7-6,0. Data were gathered by observing the interactions between the children and their caregivers or parents using age-appropriate toys. A minimum of 100 utterances were collected from each participant.Results: The study found that TD children performed better than the children with phonological disorders on all measures, indicating delayed phonological performance in the phonological disorders group. Positive correlations between the measures were also observed, indicating their ability to provide significant information about children’s phonological abilities. Specific speech sound errors and substitution patterns exhibited by children with phonological disorders were identified, highlighting the motor control and articulatory challenges experienced by this group. Age was found to be a significant factor in the development of TD children, while children with phonological disorders showed similar scores across different age groups.Conclusion: These findings support the usage of the four measures for understanding phonological development in children with phonological disorders, accurately diagnosing them and tracking their progress.
Initial Stop Acquisition in Typically Developing Children Aged 1- to 2-Year-Olds
Authors: Kwon Jiyoon , Ha Seunghee , Yoon Tae-jin
Published: April 2024

Objectives: This study investigated the articulatory characteristics of initial stops in the speech of 1-2-year-old children.Methods: A total of 35 typically developing children aged 1-2 years participated in the study. The participants performed a naming task using nine monosyllabic words containing initial stops. The accuracy of consonants in the initial stops, as well as errors in articulation position and voicing features were analyzed among children in the late 1-year-old and early 2-year-old age groups. Consonant accuracy, articulation position and voicing error ratios were compared between the two age groups. Additionally, the study investigated patterns of voicing errors observed in each age group in detail.Results: Findings revealed that the articulatory characteristics of initial stops were prominent in voicing errors observed in both age groups. Consonant accuracy was significantly higher in the early 2-year-old group compared to the late 1-year-old group. The most prevalent error observed in both late 1-year-old and early 2-year-old children was voicing errors. Examining the patterns of voicing errors, it was found that late 1-year-olds exhibited all possible error patterns in voicing features, while early 2-year-olds showed a reduction or disappearance of some voicing error patterns, excluding errors related to aspiration.Conclusion: This study investigated the articulatory characteristics of initial stops in the speech production of children in the late age of 1 and the early age of 2, presenting information on the acquisition process of initial stops. Error patterns in voicing features were commonly observed in the younger age group before the late age of 2.
Lexical Retrieval Performance in Patients with Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus and Parkinson’s Disease
Authors: Kim So-Hee , Park Ki-Su , Kang Kyunghun , Yoon Janghyeok , Ha Ji-Wan
Published: April 2024

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate lexical retrieval performance in patients with similar patterns but different central nervous system degenerative diseases, specifically normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH) and Parkinson’s disease (PD).Methods: A lexical retrieval task was performed on 14 patients with NPH, 14 patients with PD, and 14 healthy elderly subjects (HE) to compare their correct response scores, reaction times, and error types, and the Korean-Boston naming test (K-BNT) was additionally performed to determine the validity of the lexical retrieval task.Results: First, there was no significant difference in scores between the three groups on the K-BNT. Second, the scores of the NPH and PD groups were significantly lower than the HE group on the lexical retrieval task. Third, only the NPH group was significantly slower than the HE group in the reaction time on the lexical retrieval task. Fourth, the error type analysis showed that the NPH group made significantly more semantic and nonword errors and the PD group made significantly more semantic errors than the HE group. Fifth, the correlation analysis showed a significant static correlation between K-BNT and the lexical retrieval task scores with a correlation coefficient of .721.Conclusion: We suggest that the lexical retrieval task may be useful in the screening and differential diagnosis of patients with NPH and PD.
Effects of Semi-occluded Vocal Tract Exercises with Different Vibration Sources and Duration on Healthy Adults’ Voice
Authors: Jo Hyun-A , Lee Seung Jin
Published: April 2024

Objectives: This study aimed to explore the impact of semi-occluded vocal tract exercises (SOVTE) with varied vibration sources and durations on the vocal performance of healthy adults. In addition, we sought to confirm the safety of voiced high-frequency oscillation (VHFO) intervention and provide basic data for performances in relation to straw phonation (SP).Methods: The study included 34 healthy adults with no vocal impairments, comprising 8 males and 26 females. The mean age of the participants was 23.00±2.06 years. To assess vocal characteristics during VHFO and SP, voice samples were recorded at three specific time points: prior to performing SOVTE (M0), after 1 minute of exercise (M1), and after 3 minutes of exercise (M3). Cepstral, perturbation, electroglottographic analyses were conducted on the recorded samples of vowel and sentences. Psychometric evaluation was conducted using questionnaires to gauge the self-reported severity of voice and vocal fatigue.Results: No statistically significant differences were observed in the average number of performances or duration per phonation between the two methods. When compared to baseline, CPPV significantly increased after 1 minute and 3 minutes of performance and Acoustic Psychometric Severity Index of Dysphonia decreased after 3 minutes of performance in VHFO. Both methods exhibited no significant differences in terms of psychometric and electroglottographic measurements.Conclusion: Results objectively confirmed the safety of VHFO intervention. This study is clinically significant as it lays the groundwork for future development of optimal treatment regimens and therapeutic programs for voice disorder patients, using foundational data on VHFO.
Effects of Lexical Priming on Priming Type and Presence of Distractors in Persons with Mild Cognitive Impairment
Authors: Song Ji Su , Sung Jee Eun
Published: April 2024

Objectives: The purpose of the study is to examine if the lexical priming effect is valid in persons with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). In addition, this study attempted to examine the correlation between working memory and sentence production ability for MCI and healthy adults (HA).Methods: Fifteen individuals with MCI and sixteen HA described action pictures in sentences following lexical (agent or theme) primes. Priming effect was analyzed in terms of priming type and presence of distractor.Results: 1) Persons with MCI did show significantly lower proportion of passive sentences compared to HA. Overall, the proportion of passives were significantly higher in the theme primed condition versus the agent primed condition. 2) The difference in the presence of distractor stimuli in the agent primed condition was significantly larger than in the theme primed condition. 3) It was observed that the better the working memory ability of MCI participants, the higher the production of active sentences when compared with passive sentences in the theme primed condition.Conclusion: Persons with MCI used word-driven information as a strategy of sentence production like HA did. In addition, MCI participants showed difficulty in production of complex structures such as passive sentences. In previous research, most of the studies examined the priming effect through structural priming tasks for HA and aphasia patients. The results of this study also showed the effect of lexical priming in persons with MCI, and the finding of lower production of passive sentences in persons with MCI compared to HA emphasized the linguistic deficits that may appear in individuals with MCI.
Factors associated with the quality of dying and death and missed nursing care
Authors: Gahramani Shahin , Mahmoudi Mokhtar , Nouri  , Valiee Sina
Published: April 2024

Background:

Patients in intensive care units need full nursing care due to the high mortality rate. However, some aspects of nursing care can be forgotten.

Aims:

To investigate the quality of death and dying and its association with aspects of missed nursing care, alongside the overall perception of nurses in intensive care units about factors associated with missed nursing care.

Methods:

This cross-sectional study used a census sampling method of 105 nurses working in intensive care units. In order to collect data, the Quality of Dying and Death Questionnaire (QODD), missed nursing care (MISSCARE survey) and factors associated with missed nursing care questionnaire were used. Data analysis was performed by using SPSS 16.

Findings:

The quality of death and dying, as perceived by nurses, was found to be lower than the average (Range score: 0 to 100). The range of missed nursing care was average (Range of score: 24 to 96) and the most noticeable reason for this missed nursing care was the shortage of nursing staff.

Conclusion:

Managers should ensure that nurses provide complete nursing care for terminally ill patients in intensive care units and eliminate factors that lead to aspects of nursing care being missed, such as staffing levels, material resources and communication between staff members.
Multi-polarized Reconfigurable Antenna with Ground Plane Slot and Capacitance Feeding for UAV-to-everything Communications
Authors: Ahn Seong-Hyeop , Choi Yu-Seong , Elhefnawy Mohamed , Lee Wang-Sang
Published: April 2024

This paper proposes a polarized reconfigurable antenna for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) with flexible UAV-to-Everything (U2X) communications through a reduction of polarization loss. It operates at 2.45 GHz and consists of a square patch antenna, a capacitance feed, a ground surface slot, and a reconfigurable feeding network. The reconfigurable feeding network has dual polarization (linear, circular) depending on the configuration of the feeding network. The dual linear polarization reconfigurable feeding network configuration consists of a single-pole double-throw (SPDT) switch, a 50-ohm microstrip line, and a low-temperature co-fired ceramic (LTCC) 90-degree hybrid coupler. This was added to the circuit to form a double circular polarization reconfigurable feeding network. The proposed antenna has a miniaturized size (0.389λo×0.389λo×0.005λo), and is lightweight (12.2 g), making it suitable for low-height flight. Furthermore, it has maximum gains of 6.6 dBi and 7.2 dBi, in addition to an efficiency of 82%, and a 10 dB bandwidth of 4.5% (2.38-2.49 GHz). Therefore, the proposed antenna covers all UAV control links, video, and telemetry frequency bands (2.38-2.485 GHz).
Regionalsprachliche Grenzen im Hörerurteil
Authors: Gropp Milena
Published: April 2024

This study deals with the perception of areal language structures by linguistic laypersons and is thus to be located in the field of perceptual dialectology. The central object of perceptual linguistic studies are listeners’ judgments, understood in the broadest sense as linguistic knowledge-based comments about language, speakers, or linguistic phenomena. Although per­ceputal dialectology has increasingly become a main topic in German linguistics in recent years, the spatial distribution areas of modern German regional languages are known in very few cases. The area under investigation in this study is the East Franconian-North Bavarian transi­tional area around the city of Nuremburg. Linguistically, this is a mixed area with elements of the East Franconian and the North Bavarian dialects. In the public perception, however, this area is usually perceived as belonging to (East) Franconian, which is reinforced by its political affiliation with the administrative district of Middle Franconia.

By means of a perception test and a mental map task, the language border between East Franconian and North Baviarian is scrutinized from the perspective of linguistic laypersons. The results of both tests show that the two neighboring regional language systems are con­ceputalized as distinct entities and are perceptually distinct even in the supraregionally orientated, near-standard ways of speech. The results also prove that perceptual tests are a reliable method for exploring regional language borders from the listeners’ point of view and allow valid statements about the dynamics of regional language areas.
Welfare attitudes in Korean society: effects of cohort and social exclusion
Authors: Choi Seunghoon
Published: April 2024

Public awareness of social welfare policies, along with their increasing political influence, has led to growing interest in welfare attitudes. However, there has been insufficient consideration of the effects of different cohorts and social exclusion groups on attitudes to welfare in Korean society, as well as the dynamics of these effects. This article specifically examines changes in attitudes to welfare in South Korea with a focus on cohort and social exclusion perspectives. First, the study found that recent attitudes towards redistribution highlight generational perspectives on intergenerational conflict rather than a focus on social exclusion. Second, cohorts associated with democratisation and the information age displayed reluctance towards tax increases but held favourable views regarding redistributive policies and universal welfare. Third, socially excluded groups tended to favour selective welfare and tax increases. Finally, the current elderly generation, represented by the War-industrialisation cohort, exhibited relatively negative attitudes towards the welfare system compared to subsequent generations. These findings underscore the necessity for expanding government policies to enhance welfare understanding and experiences among the post-war generation and socially excluded groups. Additionally, it is crucial to address generational distributional justice and to broaden discussions on solidarity.
Performing parenthood through digital communication technologies at school: the case of WhatsApp parents’ groups in Chile
Authors: Moyano Dávila Camila , Tabilo Prieto Ismael
Published: April 2024

Literature on parenthood has highlighted that parenting has become more intensive over the years. Using data from interviews with 36 parents and teachers of Chilean schoolchildren, we explore how parenting is performed in parents’ WhatsApp groups. This research is conducted from the approach of science and technology studies, as it allows us to focus on how everything/everyone has the potential to have the agency to affect and be affected by others. In our results we show that parenting within WhatsApp is performed by monitoring their children’s school agenda, comparing and competing with the performances of others, and portraying themselves as attentive parents. Through these comparisons, families engage in a form of lateral surveillance, contributing to the intensification of parenting. We discuss how this digital platform operates in an ambivalent manner, enabling caregiving to be exhibited as a manifestation of presence and availability, and as restlessness, intensity and demand.
Disruptions in care among disabled people and older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic: evidence from Ontario, Canada
Authors: Lai Poland
Published: April 2024

This article seeks to advance our understanding of the care experiences of people living with the effects of disability, ageing and other social locations during the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing on key informant interviews (n = 8) and results from an anonymous online survey (n = 36), this article provides evidence of how people with disabilities and older adults in Ontario, Canada, experienced disruptions in different types of care in their multiple caring relationships. The results describe why they were not able to access the care that they needed during a period when activities began to resume and how their caring relationships had been disrupted. The impact of disruption on people with disabilities, older adults and others in their care relationships was exacerbated by barriers rooted in ableism, ageism and other forms of exclusion. This study demonstrates the importance of addressing unmet care needs by moving beyond the dichotomy of ‘carer’ and ‘cared for’.