scholarly journals Articulatory Strategies for Place Contrasts of Unreleased Final Stops on Preceding Vowels: Evidence from Ultrasound Imaging

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Suki Yiu ◽  
Diana Archangeli ◽  
Jonathan Yip
Keyword(s):  
Ultrasound Imaging ◽  
Smoothing Spline ◽  
Mixed Effect ◽  
Linear Mixed Effect ◽  
Ultrasound Study ◽  
Effect Regression ◽  
Monosyllabic Words ◽  
Smoothing Spline Anova ◽  
Testing Case ◽  
High Vowels

This ultrasound study examines the gestural coordination involved in vowel-to-consonant sequences concerning unreleased final stops, which are more susceptible to reduction than their released counterparts. Thus, coarticulatory information on the preceding vowel is important to signal place contrasts of post-vocalic stops. The gestural coordination of vowel-consonant sequences of monosyllabic words in Cantonese represents a testing case for having preserved phonemic contrasts of six unreleased final stops in a range of vowel contexts. Preliminary results from smoothing spline ANOVA and linear mixed-effect regression show that coarticulatory patterns depend on vowel height, that is, non-high vowels are undergoing gradual coarticulation whereas high vowels are phonologising the lingual properties of the unreleased final stops on the preceding vowels.

scholarly journals Potential of community-based risk estimates for improving hospital performance measures and discharge planning

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. e001230
Author(s):  
Michael Reid ◽  
George Kephart ◽  
Pantelis Andreou ◽  
Alysia Robinson
Keyword(s):  
Discharge Planning ◽  
Care Transitions ◽  
Hospital Setting ◽  
Hospital Performance ◽  
Case Mix ◽  
Readmission Rates ◽  
Mixed Effect ◽  
Adjusted Risk ◽  
Community Risk ◽  
Effect Regression

BackgroundRisk-adjusted rates of hospital readmission are a common indicator of hospital performance. There are concerns that current risk-adjustment methods do not account for the many factors outside the hospital setting that can affect readmission rates. Not accounting for these external factors could result in hospitals being unfairly penalized when they discharge patients to communities that are less able to support care transitions and disease management. While incorporating adjustments for the myriad of social and economic factors outside of the hospital setting could improve the accuracy of readmission rates as a performance measure, doing so has limited feasibility due to the number of potential variables and the paucity of data to measure them. This paper assesses a practical approach to addressing this problem: using mixed-effect regression models to estimate case-mix adjusted risk of readmission by community of patients’ residence (community risk of readmission) as a complementary performance indicator to hospital readmission rates.MethodsUsing hospital discharge data and mixed-effect regression models with a random intercept for community, we assess if case-mix adjusted community risk of readmission can be useful as a quality indicator for community-based care. Our outcome of interest was an unplanned repeat hospitalisation. Our primary exposure was community of residence.ResultsCommunity of residence is associated with case-mix adjusted risk of unplanned repeat hospitalisation. Community risk of readmission can be estimated and mapped as indicators of the ability of communities to support both care transitions and long-term disease management.ConclusionContextualising readmission rates through a community lens has the potential to help hospitals and policymakers improve discharge planning, reduce penalties to hospitals, and most importantly, provide higher quality care to the people that they serve.

scholarly journals Lens densitometry for assessment and prediction of cataract progression after pars plana vitrectomy with C3F8-gas for retinal detachment

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (7) ◽  
pp. e0254370
Author(s):  
Philipp Schindler ◽  
Luca Mautone ◽  
Eileen Bigdon ◽  
Vasyl Druchkiv ◽  
Martin Stefan Spitzer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Retinal Detachment ◽  
Regression Model ◽  
Pars Plana Vitrectomy ◽  
Quantitative Model ◽  
Average Deviation ◽  
Mixed Effect ◽  
Lens Opacification ◽  
Effect Regression ◽  
Pars Plana ◽  
Mixed Effect Regression Model

Purpose Lens opacification is a common complication after pars plana vitrectomy (PPV) and knowing its progression would facilitate consulting patients. The purpose of this study was to evaluate a quantitative model for lens-status-monitoring after PPV with C3F8 gas. Our model was evaluated in rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD) patients of various age and lens densitometry (LD). Methods Data between March 2018 and March 2020 were evaluated retrospectively. LD measurements of the PentacamHR® Nucleus Staging mode (PNS) were used to quantify lens opacification over time. A mixed-effect regression model was designed, to enable LD predictions at any time postoperatively. Calculations were based on patient’s age and baseline LD as dependent variables. Six patients were randomly excluded during model development, to be used for testing its power afterwards. Results 34 patients (male 19 [55.9%], female 15 [44.1%]) matched the inclusion criteria. Average age was 58.5 years (32–77;±4.3) and average follow-up was 7.2 months (3,4–23.1;±1,8). Mean baseline LD of the treated and fellow eye before surgery were 10.9% (8.7%-14.8%;±0.8) and 10.7% (8.5%-14.1%;±0.6), respectively. Using our prediction model, LD values for the six pre-selected patients closely match the observed data with an average deviation of 1.07%. Conclusions Evaluation of age and baseline LD using a mixed-effect regression model might predict cataract progression in RRD patients treated with PPV and C3F8-gas. Such a tool could be considered during cataract surgery consultation in these patients.

scholarly journals Speakers’ rapidly-updated expectations influence prosodic realization of information structure

2017 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 51
Author(s):  
Iris Chuoying Ouyang ◽  
Sasha Spala ◽  
Elsi Kaiser
Keyword(s):  
Perspective Taking ◽  
Information Structure ◽  
Smoothing Spline ◽  
Computer Screen ◽  
Interactive Game ◽  
Knowledge State ◽  
Verbal Instructions ◽  
Production Experiment ◽  
Smoothing Spline Anova

A production experiment was conducted to investigate the role of perspective-taking in the prosodic marking of information structure. Participants played an interactive game in which they produced verbal instructions that directed an addressee to place objects in locations on the computer screen. We manipulated (i) the participants’ assumptions about the addressee’s familiarity with the objects and (ii) the addressee’s accuracy in identifying the objects. F0 measurements of the participants’ utterances were analyzed with Smoothing-spline ANOVA models. We find that speakers’ expectations about the addressee’s knowledge state influence the prosodic realization of both new and given information, and that speakers rapidly update their expectations based on the addressee’s behavior during the conversation.

scholarly journals Dietary intake and prospective changes in cardiometabolic risk factors in children and youth

2017 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-45 ◽  
Author(s):  
Solmaz Setayeshgar ◽  
John Paul Ekwaru ◽  
Katerina Maximova ◽  
Sumit R. Majumdar ◽  
Kate E. Storey ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Dietary Intake ◽  
Dietary Fat ◽  
Sodium Intake ◽  
Children And Youth ◽  
Excess Body Weight ◽  
Mixed Effect ◽  
Sensitivity Score ◽  
Effect Regression

Only few studies examined the effect of diet on prospective changes in cardiometabolic (CM) risk factors in children and youth despite its importance for understanding the role of diet early in life for cardiovascular disease in adulthood. To test the hypothesis that dietary intake is associated with prospective changes in CM risk factors, we analyzed longitudinal observations made over a period of 2 years among 448 students (aged 10–17 years) from 14 schools in Canada. We applied mixed effect regression to examine the associations of dietary intake at baseline with changes in body mass index, waist circumference (WC), systolic and diastolic blood pressure (SBP and DBP), and insulin sensitivity score between baseline and follow-up while adjusting for age, sex, and physical activity. Dietary fat at baseline was associated with increases in SBP and DBP z scores (per 10 g increase in dietary fat per day: β = 0.03; p < 0.05) and WC (β = 0.31 cm; p < 0.05) between baseline and follow-up. Every additional gram of sodium intake at baseline was associated with an increase in DBP z score of 0.04 (p < 0.05) between baseline and follow-up. Intake of sugar, vegetables and fruit, and fibre were not associated with changes in CM risk factors in a statistically significant manner. Our findings suggest that a reduction in the consumption of total dietary fat and sodium may contribute to the prevention of excess body weight and hypertension in children and youth, and their cardiometabolic sequelae later in life.

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