Speaking out for speakers: a guide for and analysis of robot speaker design.

Despite sound being a promising modality of communication in robotics (possessing, for example, the ability to improve people's perceptions of robots and help localize robotic systems in space), its facilitator, speakers, are a seldom-explored topic of study in robotics literature. To address this gap, we conducted three explorations into physical speaker design that identified what current robot speakers lack and potential remedies, low-level design improvements, and hardware additions. Further, we detail and explore the application of speakers on three different robotic platforms (including one industrial robot used for construction), the last evaluation of which involved an empirical study that sought to better understand the implications associated with poor-quality speakers in a mock service robotics context.

Plastic pollution on the world's coral reefs.

Coral reefs are losing the capacity to sustain their biological functions. In addition to other well-known stressors, such as climatic change and overfishing, plastic pollution is an emerging threat to coral reefs, spreading throughout reef food webs, and increasing disease transmission and structural damage to reef organisms. Although recognized as a global concern, the distribution and quantity of plastics trapped in the world's coral reefs remains uncertain.

sp. nov. (Perciformes: Labridae), a New Species of Striped Hogfish from Tahiti, with Range Extensions for Two Congeners.

A new labrid fish, sp. nov., the fifth species within the genus, is herein described from two specimens collected at a depth of 140 m from a mesophotic coral ecosystem in Tahiti, French Polynesia.

Assembly rules of coral reef fish communities along the depth gradient.

Coral reefs are home to some of the most studied ecological assemblages on the planet. However, differences in large-scale assembly rules have never been studied using empirical quantitative data stratified along the depth gradient of reefs. Consequently, little is known about the small- and regional-scale effects of depth on coral reef assemblages.

Disturbance and distribution gradients influence resource availability and feeding behaviours in corallivore fishes following a warm-water anomaly.

Understanding interactions between spatial gradients in disturbances, species distributions and species' resilience mechanisms is critical to identifying processes that mediate environmental change. On coral reefs, a global expansion of coral bleaching is likely to drive spatiotemporal pulses in resource quality for obligate coral associates. Using technical diving and statistical modelling we evaluated how depth gradients in coral distribution, coral bleaching, and competitor density interact with the quality, preference and use of coral resources by corallivore fishes immediately following a warm-water anomaly.

, a new anthiadine serranid (Teleostei, Serranidae, Anthiadinae) from Rapa Nui (Easter Island).

(Teleostei, Serranidae, Anthiadinae) is herein described from three specimens collected from a depth of 83 m in a mesophotic coral ecosystem off Hanga Piko, Rapa Nui (Easter Island), Chile. can be distinguished from its congeners in live coloration and by the following combination of characters: dorsal-fin rays X, 17; anal-fin rays III, 8; pectoral-fin rays 16 (left side of one specimen 17); vertebrae 10+16; scales relatively large, two scales above lateral-line to base of fifth dorsal spine, and 16-17 circumpeduncular scales; gill rakers 11+23; and a slender body, with greatest body depth 3.6 (3.

Two new species of (Teleostei, Serranidae, Anthiadinae) from mesophotic coral ecosystems in the tropical Central Pacific.

Two new species of perchlets are described, collected from mesophotic coral ecosystems in French Polynesia and the Republic of the Marshall Islands, in the tropical Central Pacific. was collected at a depth of 105 m in Tahiti, French Polynesia, and 120 m in Maloelap Atoll, Republic of the Marshall Islands. It was also observed in Moorea and Rangiroa (French Polynesia), and at Majuro and Erikub Atolls, Republic of the Marshall Islands.

, a new species of perchlet from a mesophotic ecosystem at Rapa Nui (Easter Island) (Teleostei, Serranidae, Anthiadinae).

A new species of the perchlet genus is herein described from a single specimen found at Rapa Nui (Easter Island) in the South Pacific. sp. n.

Outpatient continuing care after residential substance use disorder treatment in the US Veterans Health Administration: Facilitators and challenges.

Background: In the U.S. Veterans Health Administration (VHA), residential treatment programs are an important part of the continuum of care for patients with substance use disorders (SUDs).

VA residential substance use disorder treatment program providers' perceptions of facilitators and barriers to performance on pre-admission processes.

Background: In the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), residential treatment programs are an important part of the continuum of care for patients with a substance use disorder (SUD).

Predictive Validity of Outpatient Follow-up After Detoxification as a Quality Measure.

Objectives: Care coordination for substance use disorder (SUD) treatment is a persistent challenge. Timely outpatient follow-up after detoxification from alcohol and opiates is associated with improved outcomes, leading some care systems to attempt to measure and incentivize this practice. This study evaluated the predictive validity of a 7-day outpatient follow-up after detoxification quality measure used by the Veterans Health Administration (VHA).

Predictive validity of a quality measure for intensive substance use disorder treatment.

Background: Measures of substance use disorder (SUD) treatment quality are essential tools for performance improvement. The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) developed a measure of access to and engagement in intensive outpatient programs (IOPs) for SUD. However, predictive validity, or associations between this measure and treatment outcomes, has not been examined.

Predictive validity of two process-of-care quality measures for residential substance use disorder treatment.

Background: In order to monitor and ultimately improve the quality of addiction treatment, professional societies, health care systems, and addiction treatment programs must establish clinical practice standards and then operationalize these standards into reliable, valid, and feasible quality measures. Before being implemented, quality measures should undergo tests of validity, including predictive validity. Predictive validity refers to the association between process-of-care quality measures and subsequent patient outcomes.

Examining the Specification Validity of the HEDIS Quality Measures for Substance Use Disorders.

Accurate operationalization is a major challenge in developing quality measures for substance use disorder treatment. Specification validity is a term used to describe whether a quality measure is operationalized such that it captures the intended care processes and patients. This study assessed the specification validity of the 2009 Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS®) substance use disorder initiation and engagement measures by examining whether encounters assumed to include relevant treatment have corroborating evidence in the clinical progress notes.

Integrated Care Increases Treatment and Improves Outcomes of Patients With Chronic Hepatitis C Virus Infection and Psychiatric Illness or Substance Abuse.

Background & Aims: Patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection with psychiatric disorders and/or substance abuse face significant barriers to antiviral treatment. New strategies are needed to improve treatment rates and outcomes. We investigated whether an integrated care (IC) protocol, which includes multidisciplinary care coordination and patient case management, could increase the proportion of patients with chronic HCV infection who receive antiviral treatment (a combination of interferon-based and direct-acting antiviral agents) and achieve a sustained virologic response (SVR).