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Clear speech is a vocal style used when a speaker wishes to im-prove comprehension, usually due to the presence of externalnoise, less-than-optimal listening conditions, or when they aresimply instructed to speak clearly. Clear speech has many dis-tinguishing features, including increased duration, pitch, andamplitude, as well as the exaggeration of articulatory move-ment. We use game theory to model the phenomenon of clearspeech, and make predictions of how it changes under differ-ent circumstances. We view the behaviours of speakers andhearers when communicating as optimal strategies in commu-nication games. When comprehension becomes more difficult,the optimal strategies of the games shift so that speakers exertmore energy to improve the likelihood of accurate communica-tion. We discuss how our models correspond to experimentalobservations and see what predictions are made for future ex-periments.

Metal–organic–inorganic polyacid complexes, as a class of innovative materials combining the properties of metal–organic compounds and inorganic polyacids, have shown great potential and prospects in environmental protection in recent years, especially in the field of photocatalytic degradation of dye wastewater. With their unique structures, good stability and efficient catalytic properties, these complexes have become a hot spot for researchers. In this study, we synthesized a series of metal–organic–inorganic polyacid complexes with novel structures and excellent properties. In this study, rare earth chloride, tetraisopropyl ethylene diphosphate and phosphotungstic acid were used as raw materials. A series of metal–organic–inorganic polyoxometalate complex catalysts with novel structure and excellent properties were synthesized by heating and stirring in a water and acetonitrile mixture. In order to comprehensively analyse the structures and properties of these new catalysts, we employed various characterisation tools, including single crystal X-ray diffraction (SCXRD) to accurately determine the crystal structures of the complexes and reveal their atomic level arrangements; Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) to confirm the presence of functional groups and the vibrational modes of the chemical bonding; thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) to evaluate the catalysts' thermal stabilities; powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) to verify the phase purity and crystallinity of the catalysts; ultraviolet-visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (UV-vis DRS) to reveal the light-absorption properties of the catalysts; and terahertz (THz) spectroscopy, which provides a unique perspective to understand the electromagnetic response of the catalysts at specific frequencies. Further, we also investigated the photocatalytic degradation performance of the complexes of this system as catalysts in water-soluble dye (methylene blue). Under UV irradiation, all the 11 samples prepared showed similar and efficient photocatalytic activity for the degradation of MB, with degradation efficiencies of 98.48–99.78% within 65 min. The great potential of this system catalyst in dye wastewater treatment was fully demonstrated. Finally, in order to reveal the photocatalytic degradation mechanism, we systematically explored the role of each active species in the photocatalytic degradation process by adding different types of active substance scavengers into the reaction system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Semihydrogenation is a crucial industrial process. Noble metals such as Pd have been extensively studied in semihydrogenation reactions, owing to their unique catalytic activity toward hydrogen activation. However, the overhydrogenation of alkenes to alkanes often happens due to the rather strong adsorption of alkenes on Pd active phases. Herein, we demonstrate that the incorporation of Pd active phases as single‐atom sites in perovskite lattices such as SrTiO3 can greatly alternate the electronic structure and coordination environment of Pd active phases to facilitate the desorption of alkenes rather than further hydrogenation. Furthermore, the incorporated Pd sites can be well stabilized without sintering by a strong host–guest interaction with SrTiO3 during the activation of H species in hydrogenation reactions. As a result, the Pd incorporated SrTiO3 (Pd‐SrTiO3) exhibits an excellent time‐independent selectivity (>99.9 %) and robust durability for the photocatalytic semihydrogenation of phenylacetylene to styrene. This strategy based on incorporation of active phases in perovskite lattices will have broad implications in the development of high‐performance photocatalysts for selective hydrogenation reactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this methodology, a nanomagnetic copper catalyst prepared via the immobilization of CuCl2 on the surface of Fe3O4@SiO2-APA-Amide/Imid ligand and its structure identified by several spectroscopic techniques including XRD, FT-IR, VSM, SEM, TEM, ICP-OES, TGA, EDX and elemental mapping analysis. This Fe3O4@SiO2-APA-Amide/Imid-CuCl2 nanomaterial can catalyze the preparation of 1,2,3-triazole derivatives through reactions of alkyne derivatives with NaN3 and aryl halides under ecofriendly conditions. It is noteworthy that the 1,2,3-triazole products were obtained with high yields when 2-phenylthiirane was used instead of aryl halides. In this research, one-pot three-component reactions were successfully performed in water, and the corresponding triazole products were obtained with high to excellent yields. After the end of the reaction, the Fe3O4@SiO2-APA-Amide/Imid-CuCl2 catalyst was recovered by magnetic separation and reused for 8 runs with a constant efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Hospitalized hypertensive patients rely on blood pressure medication, yet there is limited research on the sole use of amlodipine, despite its proven efficacy in protecting target organs and reducing mortality. This study aims to identify key indicators influencing the efficacy of amlodipine, thereby enhancing treatment outcomes. Patients and Methods: In this multicenter retrospective study, 870 hospitalized patients with primary hypertension exclusively received amlodipine for the first 5 days after admission, and their medical records contained comprehensive blood pressure records. They were categorized into success (n=479) and failure (n=391) groups based on average blood pressure control efficacy. Predictive models were constructed using six machine learning algorithms. Evaluation metrics encompassed the area under the curve (AUC), accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV). SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) analysis assessed feature contributions to efficacy. Results: All six machine learning models demonstrated superior predictive performance. Following variable reduction, the model predicting amlodipine efficacy was reconstructed using these algorithms, with the light gradient boosting machine (LightGBM) model achieving the highest overall performance (AUC = 0.803). Notably, amlodipine showed enhanced efficacy in patients with low platelet distribution width (PDW) values, as well as high hematocrit (HCT) and thrombin time (TT) values. Conclusion: This study utilized machine learning to predict amlodipine's effectiveness in hypertension treatment, pinpointing key factors: HCT, PDW, and TT levels. Lower PDW, along with higher HCT and TT, correlated with enhanced treatment outcomes. This facilitates personalized treatment, particularly for hospitalized hypertensive patients undergoing amlodipine monotherapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we developed an on-call-tutor system to facilitate peer-help activities. The system was implemented in a face-to-face heterogeneous classroom with 119 students from different departments who were not familiar with each other. Students learned Geographic Information System (GIS) in a computer classroom in two groups: students, who learned without our on-call-tutor system, were in a control group whereas those, who learned with our on-call-tutor system, were in an experimental group. When students had any difficulties during the learning process (e.g., to use GIS), they could request help face-to-face (the control group) or through the system (the experimental group). When students requested help via the system, it selected one student from a pool of those who perceived himself/herself to have excellent learning progress and then assigned him/her as a tutor to a student in need (tutee). We carried out this study to explore whether our on-call-tutor system is useful to facilitate peer-help activities and to enhance student learning performance. To this end, based on the theoretical framework of this study, we designed an experiment in which learning performance and behavior of students in the two groups were explored and compared. We also analyzed student social network and investigated whether it can be extended with the support of the on-call-tutor system. Finally, factors that influence making a friend with an unfamiliar classmate and relationship among these factors were explored. For the data analysis, we gathered student logs to send messages, to help peers, and their practice time. We also collected students' responses to a questionnaire survey about their attitudes towards using our on-call-tutor system. In addition, student learning performance was measured and interviews with students were carried out. Our results showed that, compared to students in the control group, those in the experimental group had more peer-help activities and better learning performance. Results also showed that students built their social network in which they interacted with each other and obtained/provided social support and useful knowledge for learning purpose. In addition, we found that usefulness of our system for learning was the main factor that influenced students' willingness to build friendship in the social network with familiar/unfamiliar classmates and then communicate with them. Based on our results, we suggest employing the on-call-tutor system in a heterogeneously grouped classroom in order to facilitate peer-help activities, especially when students learn difficult subjects like computer software and are not acquainted with one another. Our system is useful for students in requesting help and finding a tutor in case when they need assistance or some further learning information. With the assistance of our system, students can build the social network among classmates and communicate with each other in order to find/provide learning assistance and social support. As a result, student peer-help activities can be facilitated and learning performance enhanced.