Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Word Boundaries in the French Language

We tried to investigate the existence of word boundaries between noun and adjective in the French language. Some acoustical features of these boundaries — fundamental frequency, duration and intensity — were investigated. It appeared that all three parameters could be considered as possible acoustical correlates of word boundaries. A perception test indicated, with certain restrictions, that the temporal structure of the speech material was the most important cue for the detection of the word boundaries involved.
Using a constructive feedback approach to effectively reduce student plagiarism among first-year psychology students

Plagiarism challenges the efficacy of current teaching methods to encourage students’ independent learning and critical thinking. In addition, existing evidence within the School of Psychology at the University of Sydney suggests that a purely deterrent approach to reducing student plagiarism (i.e., detection software) is relatively ineffective. These findings and an emerging literature led the School to develop and implement a constructive feedback approach. In the first semester 2008 teaching staff provided first year psychology students with one of three extracts from a journal article. Over 1,300 participants were asked to read an extract and construct an appropriate paragraph in relation to a focused research question. Responses on this question focused writing module were submitted via WebCT upon which students subsequently received constructive feedback. Responses were analysed for serious breaches using plagiarism detection software and were also assessed according to writing style, referencing and (in)appropriate use of quotations. The best and worst paragraphs were then selected and posted on WebCT, fully annotated with comments. In addition to this module students were provided with examples of what constitutes plagiarism, a demonstration of the frequency of plagiarism, the ease of plagiarism detection and the penalties for plagiarism. A few weeks following this exercise, students submitted their essays for graded assessment. An analysis of these essays revealed a significant fall in the number of ‘severe’ plagiarism cases between 2007 and 2008. It is anticipated that this constructive feedback approach will have flow-on effects of enhancing student’s independent learning, improving student’s scientific writing and increasing academic honesty throughout the tertiary education community.
The Araucaria Project: An Improved Distance to the Sculptor Spiral Galaxy NGC 300 from Its Cepheid Variables

In a previous paper, we reported on the discovery of more than a hundred new Cepheid variables in the Sculptor Group spiral galaxy NGC 300 from wide-field images taken in the B and V photometric bands at ESO/La Silla. In this paper, we present additional VI data, derive improved periods and mean magnitudes for the variables, and construct period-luminosity relations in the V, I, and the reddening-independent V - I Wesenheit bands using 58 Cepheid variables with periods between 11 and 90 days. We obtain tightly defined relations, and by fitting the slopes determined for the LMC Cepheids by the OGLE II Project we obtain reddening-corrected distances to the galaxy in all bands, which show a slight offset to each other in the sense that the Wesenheit relation yields the smallest distance, whereas the I- and V-band distances are larger by 0.094 and 0.155 mag, respectively. We adopt as our best value the distance derived from the reddening-free Wesenheit magnitudes, which is 26.43 ± 0.04(random) ±0.05(systematic) mag. The distance moduli from both the V and I bands agree perfectly with the Wesenheit value if one assumes an additional reddening of E(B - V) = 0.05 mag intrinsic to NGC 300, in addition to the Galactic foreground reddening toward NGC 300 of 0.025 mag. Such a modest intrinsic reddening is supported by recent Hubble Space Telescope (HST) images of NGC 300, which show that this galaxy is relatively dustfree but also reveal that there must be some dust absorption in NGC 300. We argue that our current distance result for NGC 300 is the most accurate that has so far been obtained using Cepheid variables and that it is largely free from systematic effects due to metallicity, blending, and sample selection. It agrees very well with the recent distance determination from the tip of the red giant branch method obtained from HST data by Butler and coworkers, and it is consistent with the Cepheid distance to NGC 300 that was derived by Freedman and coworkers from CCD photometry of a smaller sample of stars.
The State of Surveying Cell Phone Numbers in the United States

By the late 1970s, household telephone coverage grew to exceed 90 percent in the United States, and by the mid-1980s telephone surveying of the general public had become commonplace. Nevertheless, 20 years later, the ability of researchers to reach representative samples of the U.S. public via landline (wired) telephone surveys and gather reliable data is being seriously challenged for many reasons, especially those related to cell phones and the growth of the “cell phone only” population. However, at present there exists no widely accepted set of Cell Phone Surveying “best practices” for U.S. survey researchers to follow. Despite what some appear to believe, surveying persons reached on cell phone numbers in the United States currently is a very complex undertaking if one wants to do it “right,” i.e. to do it legally, ethically, and in ways that optimally allocate one's finite resources to gather the highest quality data, and to analyze and interpret those data accurately. This final “wrap-up” article in the special issue provides a review of the empirical articles in the issue with a focus on their practical implications for the decisions that researchers need to make regarding sampling, coverage, nonresponse, measurement, and weighting in surveys that include interviews with persons reached on cell phones. The article also highlights the practical implications of a number of legal, ethical, and other issues that relate to surveys in the United States that include cell phone numbers. Surveying the U.S. cell phone population is possible, if at a higher cost than surveying their landline counterparts, and if with less precision than currently can be done surveying the landline population. The next five years should see a considerable growth in the methodological and statistical know-how that the survey community uses to plan, implement, and interpret cell phone surveys. There is a great deal that still must be learned.
The Attraction Effect in Information Visualization

The attraction effect is a well-studied cognitive bias in decision making research, where one's choice between two alternatives is influenced by the presence of an irrelevant (dominated) third alternative. We examine whether this cognitive bias, so far only tested with three alternatives and simple presentation formats such as numerical tables, text and pictures, also appears in visualizations. Since visualizations can be used to support decision making - e.g., when choosing a house to buy or an employee to hire - a systematic bias could have important implications. In a first crowdsource experiment, we indeed partially replicated the attraction effect with three alternatives presented as a numerical table, and observed similar effects when they were presented as a scatterplot. In a second experiment, we investigated if the effect extends to larger sets of alternatives, where the number of alternatives is too large for numerical tables to be practical. Our findings indicate that the bias persists for larger sets of alternatives presented as scatterplots. We discuss implications for future research on how to further study and possibly alleviate the attraction effect.
Tumour suppressor Fus1 provides a molecular link between inflammatory response and mitochondrial homeostasis

Fus1, encoded by a 3p21.3 tumour suppressor gene, is down‐regulated, mutated or lost in the majority of inflammatory thoracic malignancies. The mitochondrial localization of Fus1 stimulated us to investigate how Fus1 modulates inflammatory response and mitochondrial function in a mouse model of asbestos‐induced peritoneal inflammation. Asbestos treatment resulted in a decreased Fus1 expression in wild‐type (WT) peritoneal immune cells, suggesting that asbestos exposure may compromise the Fus1‐mediated inflammatory response. Untreated Fus1−/− mice had an ∼eight‐fold higher proportion of peritoneal granulocytes than Fus1+/+ mice, pointing at ongoing chronic inflammation. Fus1−/− mice exhibited a perturbed inflammatory response to asbestos, reflected in decreased immune organ weight and peritoneal fluid protein concentration, along with an increased proportion of peritoneal macrophages. Fus1−/− immune cells showed augmented asbestos‐induced activation of key inflammatory, anti‐oxidant and genotoxic stress response proteins ERK1/2, NFκB, SOD2, γH2AX, etc. Moreover, Fus1−/− mice demonstrated altered dynamics of pro‐ and anti‐inflammatory cytokine expression, such as IFNγ, TNFα, IL‐1A, IL‐1B and IL‐10. ‘Late’ response cytokine Ccl5 was persistently under‐expressed in Fus1−/− immune cells at both basal and asbestos‐activated states. We observed an asbestos‐related difference in the size of CD3+ CD4− CD8− DN T cell subset that was expanded four‐fold in Fus1−/− mice. Finally, we demonstrated Fus1‐dependent basal and asbestos‐induced changes in major mitochondrial parameters (ROS production, mitochondrial potential and UCP2 expression) in Fus1−/− immune cells and in Fus1‐depleted cancer cells, thus supporting our hypothesis that Fus1 establishes its immune‐ and tumour‐suppressive activities via regulation of mitochondrial homeostasis. Copyright © 2012 Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Formalising Service-Oriented Design

Service-Oriented Computing (SOC) is an emerging paradigm for developing software systems that employ services. Presently there is already much research effort in the areas of service discovery and orchestration, business process modelling, and the semantic web. While these are all important aspects for moving towards the pervasive adoption of SOC, most existing work assumes the existence of black box services, with little attention given to how such services might be developed in a systematic manner. Furthermore, a precise description of what constitutes a service-oriented system is yet to be formally defined, and the overall impact of service-orientation on the software design process is not well understood. Therefore, this work presents a formal model covering design artefacts in service-oriented systems and their structural and behavioural properties. The model promotes a better understanding of service-oriented design concepts, and in particular, enables the definition of software metrics in an unambiguous, formal manner. Defining such a model and metrics is an initial step towards deriving a comprehensive service-oriented software design methodology.
Aneuploidy in Human Spermatozoa

We reviewed the frequency and distribution of disomy in spermatozoa obtained by multicolor-FISH analysis on decondensed sperm nuclei in (a) healthy men, (b) fathers of aneuploid offspring of paternal origin and (c) individuals with Klinefelter syndrome and XYY males. In series of healthy men, disomy per autosome is approximately 0.1% but may range from 0.03 (chromosome 8) to 0.47 (chromosome 22). The great majority of authors find that chromosome 21 (0.18%) and the sex chromosomes (0.27%) have significantly elevated frequencies of disomy although these findings are not universal. The total disomy in FISH studies is 2.26% and the estimated aneuploidy (2× disomy) is 4.5%, more than double that seen in sperm karyotypes (1.8%). Increased disomy levels of low orders of magnitude have been reported in spermatozoa of some normal men (stable variants) and in men who have fathered children with Down, Turner and Klinefelter syndromes. These findings suggest that men with a moderately elevated aneuploidy rate may be at a higher risk of fathering paternally derived aneuploid pregnancies. Among lifestyle factors, smoking, alcohol and caffeine have been studied extensively but the compounding effects of the 3 are difficult to separate because they are common lifestyle behaviors. Increases in sex chromosome abnormalities, some autosomal disomies, and in the number of diploid spermatozoa are general features in 47,XXY and 47,XYY males. Aneuploidy of the sex chromosomes is more frequent than aneuploidy of any of the autosomes not only in normal control individuals, but also in patients with sex chromosome abnormalities and fathers of paternally derived Klinefelter, Turner and Down syndromes.
Seasoned Equity Offerings, Market Timing, and the Corporate Lifecycle

Both a firm's market-timing opportunities and its corporate lifecycle stage exert statistically and economically significant influences on the probability that it conducts a seasoned equity offering (SEO), with the lifecycle effect empirically stronger. Neither effect adequately explains SEO decisions because a near-majority of issuers are not growth firms and the vast majority of firms with high M/B ratios and high recent and poor future stock returns fail to issue stock. Since without the offer proceeds 62.6% of issuers would run out of cash (81.1% would have subnormal cash balances) the year after the SEO, a near-term cash need is the primary SEO motive, with market-timing opportunities and lifecycle stage exerting only ancillary influences.
Associations between adiponectin and two different cancers: breast and colon.

OBJECTIVES Breast and colon cancer are neoplasms well known to be related to obesity. Adiponectin, a protein that increases in obesity, seems to be involved in the relationship but clinical data are limited. METHODS In this study, we therefore evaluated the serum adiponectin levels in 87 breast and 27 colon cancer patients and assessed the relation with BMI, menopausal status, receptor status and stage of disease. RESULTS Serum adiponectin levels were lower in cancer cases (8583 ± 2095 ng/ml for breast cancer, 9513 ± 2276 for colon cancer) than in controls (13905 ± 3263). CONCLUSION A low serum adiponectin level may be associated with both breast and colon cancer, and that this association is not statistically significant for either receptor or menopausal status in breast cancer groups.
Sequential activation of alpha-actin genes during avian cardiogenesis: vascular smooth muscle alpha-actin gene transcripts mark the onset of cardiomyocyte differentiation

The expression of cytoplasmic beta-actin and cardiac, skeletal, and smooth muscle alpha-actins during early avian cardiogenesis was analyzed by in situ hybridization with mRNA-specific single-stranded DNA probes. The cytoplasmic beta-actin gene was ubiquitously expressed in the early chicken embryo. In contrast, the alpha-actin genes were sequentially activated in avian cardiac tissue during the early stages of heart tube formation. The accumulation of large quantities of smooth muscle alpha-actin transcripts in epimyocardial cells preceded the expression of the sarcomeric alpha-actin genes. The accumulation of skeletal alpha-actin mRNAs in the developing heart lagged behind that of cardiac alpha-actin by several embryonic stages. At Hamburger- Hamilton stage 12, the smooth muscle alpha-actin gene was selectively down-regulated in the heart such that only the conus, which subsequently participates in the formation of the vascular trunks, continued to express this gene. This modulation in smooth muscle alpha- actin gene expression correlated with the beginning of coexpression of sarcomeric alpha-actin transcripts in the epimyocardium and the onset of circulation in the embryo. The specific expression of the vascular smooth muscle alpha-actin gene marks the onset of differentiation of cardiac cells and represents the first demonstration of coexpression of both smooth muscle and striated alpha-actin genes within myogenic cells.
In Vivo IL-10 Production Reactivates Chronic Pulmonary Tuberculosis in C57BL/6 Mice1

The production of immunosuppressive cytokines, such as IL-10 and TGF-β, has been documented in individuals diagnosed with active tuberculosis. In addition, IL-10 production is increased within the lungs of mice that have chronic mycobacterial infection. Therefore, we hypothesized that the down-regulatory properties of IL-10 might contribute to the reactivation of chronic Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection in mice. To determine the influence of IL-10 on the course of infection, transgenic mice producing increased amounts of IL-10 under the control of the IL-2 promotor were infected with M. tuberculosis via the respiratory route. Mice that overexpressed IL-10 showed no increase in susceptibility during the early stages of infection, but during the chronic phase of the infection showed evidence of reactivation tuberculosis with a highly significant increase in bacterial numbers within the lungs. Reactivation was associated with the formation of macrophage-dominated lesions, decreased mRNA production for TNF and IL-12p40, and a decrease in Ag-specific IFN-γ secretion. These data support the hypothesis that IL-10 plays a pivotal role during the chronic/latent stage of pulmonary tuberculosis, with increased production playing a potentially central role in promoting reactivation tuberculosis.
English as a second language in the mainstream : teaching, learning, and identity

Introduction PART 1: AUSTRALIA1. ESL in Australisn schools: from the margins to the mainstreamChris Davison 2. Current policies, programs and practices in school ESLChris Davison 3. Integrating language and content: unresolved issuesChris Davison and Alan Williams 4. Identity and Ideology: the problem of defining and defending ESL-nessChris Davison PART 2: CANADA5. ESL in British ColumbiaMary Ashworth 6. The second language as a medium of learningBernard Mohan 7. Knowledge framework and classroom actionGloria Tang 8. Implementation of the Vancouver School Board's ESL initiativesMargaret Early and Hugh Hooper PART 3: ENGLAND9. England: ESL in the early daysConstant Leung and Charlotte Franson 10. Mainstreaming: ESL as a diffused curriculum concernConstant Leung and Charlotte Franson 11.Evaluation of content-language learning in the mainstream classroomConstant Leung 12. Curriculum identity and professional development: system-wide questionsConstant Leung and Charlotte Franson Conclusion
Who Is More Important for Early Adolescents' Developmental Choices?

Abstract This study examined whether early adolescents identified parents or peers as sources of intimacy and influence for developmental choices having both long-and short-term consequences. Short-term choices were adolescents' daily lifestyle preferences for clothing, music, and hairstyles that are important for peer identification, whereas, long-term choices were preferences having more distant consequences in the lives of early adolescents consisting of success in school, sexual involvement, and substance use. A sample of 135 adolescents was surveyed in seventh-grade classrooms about whether parents or peers were sources of influence and intimate relationships. Results provided some evidence that peers (friends) tended to have somewhat greater influence on the broadest array of developmental choices and on short-term (or lifestyle) developmental choices. However, parents tended to have stronger overall influence over adolescents' choices having longer-term developmental consequences. Moreover, early adolescents desired to spend more time with parents than peers and reported intimate relationships of similar quality with both parents and peers. Despite these general patterns, when specific short-term (or lifestyle) and specific long-term issues were examined separately, a disparate pattern of parent and peer influences was identified, which was the predominant pattern found in this study.
Low plasma volume following pregnancy complicated by pre‐eclampsia predisposes for hypertensive disease in a next pregnancy

Objective A large number of women with a history of pre‐eclampsia/HELLP have a low plasma volume at least six months postpartum. The objective of this study was to determine whether a low plasma volume in formerly pre‐eclamptic women and HELLP patients is associated with an increased risk for recurrent hypertensive complications in a next pregnancy.
Prevalence and Correlates of Alcohol Use in a Survey of Rural Elementary School Students: The New Hampshire Study

Alcohol use by 1190 fourth, fifth and sixth grade students was assessed in a survey of four rural New Hampshire school districts. Half the students surveyed (596) drank, but not regularly; 5 percent (59) were regular drinkers, and an additional 2 percent (19) were regular drinkers and had been drunk at least once. Reported alcohol use increased with both grade and age, and males drank more than females. The child's attitude towards drinking, perceived family attitudes towards drinking, the number of drinking friends, and self-perceived wrongdoing by the child were four factors strongly related to alcohol use. Increased alcohol use was also associated with experimental and current use of cigarettes, marijuana, and smokeless tobacco.
Bayesian inference for ordinal-response state space mixed models with stochastic volatility

We propose a state space mixed model with stochastic volatility for ordinal-valued time series where the inverse link function is assumed to be a normal cumulative distribution function. We also consider two semiparametric extensions of this new class of parametric models; the inverse link function as well as the distribution of the state space disturbances are modeled flexibly, using a Dirichlet process prior. For parameter estimation, we design efficient Markov Chain Monte Carlo algorithms while we conduct model comparison. We illustrate the proposed methods with a simulation study and a real data set on stock market contagion.
The significance of educational dialogues between primary school children

[About the book]: Educational Dialogues provides a clear, accessible and well-illustrated case for the importance of dialogue and its significance for learning and teaching. The contributors characterise the nature of productive dialogues, to specify the conditions and pedagogic contexts within which such dialogues can most effectively be resourced and promoted. Drawing upon a broad range of theoretical perspectives, this collection examines: theoretical frameworks for understanding teaching and learning dialogues; teacher-student and student-student interaction in the curricular contexts of mathematics, literacy, science, ICT and philosophy; the social contexts supporting productive dialogues; implications for pedagogic design and classroom practice. Bringing together contributions from a wide range of internationally renowned researchers, this book will form essential reading for all those concerned with the use of dialogue in educational contexts.
Social Mobility in Scotland since the Middle of the Twentieth Century

Extensive mobility between class of origin and class of destination has been a characteristic feature of societies in Europe and North America since the middle of the twentieth century. Most mobility has been upward, and most of that has been explicable by occupational change – by the rise in the proportion of the labour force which works in service-class jobs and the decline in the proportion in manual jobs. This pattern may now be changing, because parents of younger cohorts (people born since the 1960s) have themselves benefited from upward mobility and so there is less scope for further up ward movement by their off spring. The paper uses a large new data source for Scotland to investigate these topics. It finds that there is still a great deal of mobility, and that, although upward mobility still predominates, its amount is lower in younger cohorts than in older. Nevertheless, relative mobility has not changed as upward mobility has declined, just as in earlier studies it was found not to have changed as upward mobility rose. These patterns are similar for men and women.