The effects of auditory contrast tuning upon speech intelligibility

We have previously identified neurons tuned to spectral contrast of wideband sounds in auditory cortex of awake marmoset monkeys. Because additive noise alters the spectral contrast of speech, contrast-tuned neurons, if present in human auditory cortex, may aid in extracting speech from noise. Given that this cortical function may be underdeveloped in individuals with sensorineural hearing loss, incorporating biologically-inspired algorithms into external signal processing devices could provide speech enhancement benefits to cochlear implantees. In this study we first constructed a computational signal processing algorithm to mimic auditory cortex contrast tuning. We then manipulated the shape of contrast channels and evaluated the intelligibility of reconstructed noisy speech using a metric to predict cochlear implant user perception. Candidate speech enhancement strategies were then tested in cochlear implantees with a hearing-in-noise test. Accentuation of intermediate contrast values or all contrast values improved computed intelligibility. Cochlear implant subjects showed significant improvement in noisy speech intelligibility with a contrast shaping procedure

Understanding Oncology Nurses Grief: A Qualitative Metasynthesis

Professionals, such as nurses, that provide care may experience a negative impact on both their personal and professional lives due to grief. Grief is the emotional response of a person who has invested emotionally in someone or something and then loses that person or thing. Variations in intensity and duration of grief may occur as oncology nurses care for patients for extended periods of time, sometimes from diagnosis to death. The experience of this extended relationship makes oncology nurses particularly susceptible. This study seeks to examine oncology nurses’ grief through a qualitative meta-analysis. The many terms associated with the concept of nurses’ grief were analyzed with the goal of obtaining a more comprehensive understanding of these terms as well as presentation of what was found to be the most suitable concept and a supporting definition.2016-0

The Nature of Online Charter Schools: Evolution and Emerging Concerns

Online charter schools are unique among K-12 online learning options for students. They are full-time, public schools that combine online learning with traditional and home schooling practices. They are often chartered by a state agency, supported in full or in part with state funds and most often managed by a private educational management company. Some extol the virtues of these schools as being able to reach unique student populations at a fraction of the cost borne by traditional public school education. Others are concerned over the lack of evidence supporting the effectiveness of these schools and the problems encountered by young learners who are separated from their teachers due to the online nature of learning in this environment. The goal of this literature review is to: (a) provide a definition of online charter schools; (b) describe their evolution and current status; (c) describe their operations; and, (d) to reveal emerging concerns, including governance, funding and effectiveness. Finally, the authors conclude that there are three significant gaps found in the literature concerning online charter schools and provide recommendations for further research

The Dynamic Duo: Collaboration Between Writing Centers and Academic Libraries

As academic libraries move toward the model of the information commons – a place where users can expect support in finding, interpreting, creating, and communicating information – it increasingly makes sense for university writing centers to have a more prominent presence within the library. But collaboration between libraries and writing centers promises more than just “one-stop shopping” for students as they write their papers. Working together can also provide both libraries and writing centers new opportunities to promote their services to students and faculty. In order for such collaborations to move forward, libraries and writing centers need to acknowledge the similarities and differences in the work they do with students, specifically in such areas of concern as: student research, plagiarism and citation issues especially with regard to international students or English Language Learners. During our session, participants will have the opportunity to hear about the panel’s experiences, learn about the many connections between writing centers and libraries, discover ways that libraries can collaborate with writing centers and address the pitfalls and considerations associated with these partnerships

Statistical Power of Alternative Structural Models for Comparative Effectiveness Research: Advantages of Modeling Unreliability

The advantages of modeling the unreliability of outcomes when evaluating the comparative effectiveness of health interventions is illustrated. Adding an action-research intervention component to a regular summer job program for youth was expected to help in preventing risk behaviors. A series of simple two-group alternative structural equation models are compared to test the effect of the intervention on one key attitudinal outcome in terms of model fit and statistical power with Monte Carlo simulations. Some models presuming parameters equal across the intervention and comparison groups were under- powered to detect the intervention effect, yet modeling the unreliability of the outcome measure increased their statistical power and helped in the detection of the hypothesized effect. Comparative Effectiveness Research (CER) could benefit from flexible multi- group alternative structural models organized in decision trees, and modeling unreliability of measures can be of tremendous help for both the fit of statistical models to the data and their statistical power

Tuning extreme anisotropic thermal expansion in 1D coordination polymers through metal selection and solid solutions†

CITATION: Van Wyk, L. M., Loots, L. & Barbour, L. J. 2021. Tuning extreme anisotropic thermal expansion in 1D coordination polymers through metal selection and solid solutions†. Chemical Science 57(6):4 pages. doi.org/10.1039/D1CC01717AThe original publication is available at: rsc.orgThe thermal expansion behaviour of a series of 1D coordination polymers has been investigated. Variation of the metal centre allows tuning of the thermal expansion behaviour from colossal positive volumetric to extreme anomalous thermal expansion. Preparation of solid solutions increased the magnitude of the anomalous thermal expansion further, producing two species displaying supercolossal anisotropic thermal expansion (ZnCoCPHTαY2 = −712 MK−1, αY3 = 1632 MK−1 and ZnCdCPHTαY2 = −711 MK−1, αY3 = 1216 MK−1).Publisher’s versio

Benchmark Acetylene Binding Affinity and Separation through Induced Fit in a Flexible Hybrid Ultramicroporous Material

Structural changes at the active site of an enzyme induced by binding to a substrate molecule can result in enhanced activity in biological systems. Herein, we report that the new hybrid ultramicroporous material sql-SIFSIX-bpe-Zn exhibits an induced fit binding mechanism when exposed to acetylene, C₂H₂. The resulting phase change affords exceptionally strong C₂H₂ binding that in turn enables highly selective C₂H₂/C₂H₄ and C₂H₂/CO₂ separation demonstrated by dynamic breakthrough experiments. sql-SIFSIX-bpe-Zn was observed to exhibit at least four phases: as-synthesised (α); activated (β); and C₂H₂ induced phases (β' and γ). sql-SIFSIX-bpe-Zn-β exhibited strong affinity for C₂H₂ at ambient conditions as demonstrated by benchmark isosteric heat of adsorption (Qst ) of 67.5 kJ mol⁻¹ validated through in situ pressure gradient differential scanning calorimetry (PG-DSC). Further, in situ characterisation and DFT calculations provide insight into the mechanism of the C₂H₂ induced fit transformation, binding positions and the nature of host-guest and guest-guest interactions

The 18O ecohydrology of a grassland ecosystem - predictions and observations

This research has been supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (grant no. SCHN 557/9-1), the Agence Nationale de la Recherche (grant no. ANR-13-BS06-0005), and the European Commission (grant no. SOLCA 338264). This work was supported by the German Research Foundation (DFG) and the Technical University of Munich (TUM) in the framework of the Open Access Publishing Program.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Protocol for the development of a tool (INSPECT-SR) to identify problematic randomised controlled trials in systematic reviews of health interventions

This research is funded by the NIHR Research for Patient Benefit programme (NIHR203568). The views expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NIHR or the Department of Health and Social Care.Peer reviewe