Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effects of Four Voice Qualities and Formant Dispersion on Perception of a Female Voice

Abstract Stimuli produced by a female speaker with four different voice qualities - modal, girlish, breathy and creaky - were manipulated to have more or less formant dispersion and were rated on four scales (dominance, attractiveness, sexiness and youthfulness) by men and women. Stimuli with less formant dispersion were rated more dominant and those with more dispersed formants were rated as less dominant. Breathy voice and girlish voice were rated more attractive and sexy. Stimuli with a creaky voice were rated less attractive and sexy, as were stimuli with less formant dispersion. Girlish voices and those with greater formant dispersion were rated as more youthful; creaky voices and those with less formant dispersion were rated as less youthful. There were also gender differences in ratings of attractiveness and youthfulness. Our results suggest that women’s voice qualities can affect perceptions of their attractiveness, sexiness and youthfulness. We discuss the implications of these findings in the context of social signaling.
Innovation and Manufacturing Offshoring with Fully Endogenous Productivity Growth

This paper investigates the relationship between net offshoring patterns for innovation and manufacturing and fully endogenous productivity growth in a two-country model. The occupational choice of skill-differentiated workers into low-skilled employment in production and high-skilled employment in innova- tion determines labor market allocations, and perfect investment mobility allows firms to shift innovation and manufacturing independently between countries. These mechanisms generate a tension between access to technical knowledge and low-cost high-skilled labor in the location decision for innovation, which results in innovation and manufacturing tending to concentrate in the asset-wealthy (asset-poor) country when trade costs are high (low). The model exhibits a positive relationship between innovation costs and the concentration of industry and innovation, ensuring that a rise in knowledge diffusion between countries coincides with increases in net offshoring flows in innovation and manufacturing from the asset-wealthy country to the asset-poor country, and a faster rate of productivity growth, when the asset-wealthy country has larger shares of innovation and production.
The Treadmill Is a Better Functional Test Than the 6-Minute Walk Test in Therapeutic Trials of Patients With Peripheral Artery Disease

Patients with peripheral artery disease (PAD) have a severe functional limitation in community walking ability, peak exercise performance, and activities of daily living.1–3 The limb manifestations of PAD that are associated with reduced exercise performance not only are classic intermittent claudication but also include atypical symptoms ranging from leg discomfort during exercise to exercise limitations without any clearly referable symptoms in the lower extremity.4 Despite the diverse nature of limb symptoms during exercise, patients with PAD uniformly have a severe reduction in peak and endurance exercise performance.5,6 Thus, in this article, the term PAD-limited is used to define the exercise impairment that is well described in PAD, replacing the term claudication-limited to better characterize the diverse nature of exercise-limiting symptoms described in the disease. Response by McDermott et al p 78 The quantification of the exercise limitation in PAD and the implications for daily walking ability and community activities can be conceptualized by understanding the metabolic work required to perform a range of activities. The metabolic equivalent of task (MET) is based on a multiple of the resting metabolic rate (≈3.5 mL oxygen·min−1·kg−1) and can be used to characterize a given activity. The MET can be used to rank physical activities from very mild (walking at a slow pace is 2 METs) to intense (running at 6 mph is 10 METs). 7 Common activities such as walking on level ground at a speed >3 mph, vacuuming, shopping for groceries, and transporting packages all require 4 to 5 METs.7 Measurements of oxygen consumption can also be made to characterize both submaximal and maximal workloads and related to METs. Typically, patients with PAD have a PAD-limited peak exercise performance of ≈15 mL oxygen·min−1·kg−1 or the equivalent of 4 …
UvA-DARE ( Digital Academic Repository ) Visual Word Ambiguity

This paper studies automatic image classification by modeling soft-assignment in the popular codebook model. The codebook model describes an image as a bag of discrete visual words selected from a vocabulary, where the frequency distributions of visual words in an image allow classification. One inherent component of the codebook model is the assignment of discrete visual words to continuous image features. Despite the clear mismatch of this hard assignment with the nature of continuous features, the approach has been applied successfully for some years. In this paper we investigate four types of soft-assignment of visual words to image features. We demonstrate that explicitly modeling visual word assignment ambiguity improves classification performance compared to the hard-assignment of the traditional codebook model. The traditional codebook model is compared against our method for five well-known datasets: 15 natural scenes, Caltech-101, Caltech256, and Pascal VOC 2007/2008. We demonstrate that large codebook vocabulary sizes completely deteriorate the performance of the traditional model, whereas the proposed model performs consistently. Moreover, we show that our method profits in high-dimensional feature spaces and reaps higher benefits when increasing the number of image categories.
Serum sCD14, polymorphism of CD14(-260) and periodontal infection.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS CD14 is a co-receptor involved in the recognition of Gram-negative and positive bacteria. Infections are known to influence serum sCD14 levels, and CD14 gene promoter polymorphism (CD14 C-260T) has been reported to be associated with many infectious diseases. Our aim was to investigate whether serum sCD14 concentration is associated with periodontal infection and the CD14(-260) genotype. SUBJECTS AND METHODS The periodontal status of 56 subjects with chronic periodontitis and 28 controls was clinically examined. Serum sCD14 concentration was analyzed using ELISA and CD14(-260) genotype using polymerase chain reaction (PCR). RESULTS The mean concentration of sCD14 in serum was significantly higher in subjects with periodontitis than in control subjects (4.9 microg ml(-1)vs 3.8 microg ml(-1), P < 0.001). Serum sCD14 concentration associated significantly with the extent of advanced periodontal disease. In a regression analysis including both subject groups, the CD14(-260) genotype was a significant determinant for serum sCD14 concentration. After stratification by periodontal health status (periodontitis vs controls), the influence of the CD14(-260) genotype on serum sCD14 concentration was seen only in the control group. CONCLUSIONS Periodontal infection is associated with the serum concentration of sCD14. Moderate to severe periodontal infection overshadows the influence of the genotype on serum sCD14 concentration.
Sinus Microanatomy and Microbiota in a Rabbit Model of Rhinosinusitis

Background: Rabbits are useful for preclinical studies of sinusitis because of similar physiologic features to humans. The objective of this study is to develop a rabbit model of sinusitis that permits assessment of microanatomy and sampling for evaluating shifts in the sinus microbiota during the development of sinusitis and to test how the mucociliary clearance (MCC) defect might lead to dysbiosis and chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS). Methods: Generation of CRS was accomplished with an insertion of a sterile sponge into the left middle meatus of New Zealand white rabbits (n = 9) for 2 weeks. After sponge removal, 4 rabbits were observed for another 10 weeks and evaluated for CRS using endoscopy, microCT, visualization of the functional micro-anatomy by micro-optical coherence tomography (μOCT), and histopathological analysis of the sinus mucosa. Samples were taken from the left middle meatus and submitted for microbiome analysis. Results: CT demonstrated opacification of all left sinuses at 2 weeks in all rabbits (n = 9), which persisted in animals followed for another 12 weeks (n = 4). Histology at week 2 showed mostly neutrophils. On week 14, significant infiltration of plasma cells and lymphocytes was noted with increased submucosal glands compared to controls (p = 0.02). Functional microanatomy at 2 weeks showed diminished periciliary layer (PCL) depth (p < 0.0001) and mucus transport (p = 0.0044) compared to controls despite a thick mucus layer. By 12 weeks, the thickened mucus layer was resolved but PCL depletion persisted in addition to decreased ciliary beat frequency (CBF; p < 0.0001). The mucin fermenting microbes (Lactobacillales, Bacteroidales) dominated on week 2 and there was a significant shift to potential pathogens (e.g., Pseudomonas, Burkholderia) by week 14 compared to both controls and the acute phase (p < 0.05). Conclusion: We anticipate this reproducible model will provide a means for identifying underlying mechanisms of airway-surface liquid (ASL) depletion and fundamental changes in sinus microbial communities that contribute to the development of CRS. The rabbit model of sinusitis exhibited diminished PCL depth with delayed mucus transport and significant alterations and shift in the sinus microbiome during the development of chronic inflammation.
Media Preference and Risk Assessment: Mortality Salience and Mediating Effects of Worldview

ii Acknowledgments . v Vita . vi List of Tables . viii List of Figures . ix Chapter 1: Introduction.1 Chapter 2: Concepts and Literature Review.4 Chapter 3: Methods . 16 Chapter 4: Results . 20 Chapter 5: Discussion.34 References.40 Appendix A: Descriptions of Indices . 43 Appendix B: Descriptions of Dependent Variables . 44 Appendix C: Correlation Tables . 45
Frequency of Vitamin D deficiency in pregnant diabetics at Baskent University Hospital, Istanbul

Objective: To find out the frequency of vitamin D deficiency and its relation with glucose parameters and the incidence of gestational diabetes (GDM). Methodology: Gestational diabetes was diagnosed with 75 gram oral glucose tolerance test. Forty-four pregnant women diagnosed with GDM and 78 non-GDM pregnant women were enrolled as case and control group, respectively in this descriptive study. Vitamin D status was classified as deficiency at ≤20 ng/ml for serum 25(OH)D concentrations. Results: The mean ages were 33.4±5.2 (18-44) years and 29.7±4.1 (21-39) years, mean BMI was 30.6±5.9 kg/m² (19.5-46.1) and 25.9±4.4 kg/m2 (16.5-38) in case and control groups, respectively. The frequency of GDM was found 9.38%. The mean serum vitamin D levels in GDM group were significantly lower than in non-GDM subjects (p=0.07). A total of 56.8% of GDM patients were compared with 35.8% of control group which had Vitamin D deficiency and the difference was significant (p= 0.02). There was no significant association between vitamin D levels and fasting glucose, insulin and HbA1c. Vitamin D levels were inversely correlated with clothing style, parathyroid hormone levels, dental problems and muscle cramps. Conclusions: The association of maternal Vitamin D status with the markers of glucose metabolism in pregnancy needs prospective studies.
Investigating attentional bias and the effects of subjective craving in male regular cannabis-users, utilising a dot-probe task

Cannabis is a widely used illegal substance with various potential health risks, such as memory impairments and psychosis. Furthermore, previous research has implicated that repeated drug-use is associated with attentional biases for drug-related stimuli. These attentional biases are related to, and influenced by, individual differences in subjective craving. This study investigated 40 male cannabis-users and 40 male non-users, aged 18-24. Participants completed a dot-probe task to assess attentional biases for cannabis-related words. Cannabis-users also completed Heishman et al.’s (2009) Short-Form Marijuana Craving Questionnaire, to assess craving levels and analyse any interactions with dot-probe reaction times. Study 1 aimed to determine whether cannabis-users elicited attentional biases for cannabis-related words. Study 2 examined whether craving had any effect on attentional bias. Results indicated that cannabis-users, compared to non-users and regardless of craving level, showed significant attentional bias for cannabis-related words. Although craving level did not significantly influence attentional bias, this may have resulted from using a small, uneven sample. Findings support previous theories of addiction, where salient stimuli grab users’ attention without equal distribution. Attentional bias and subjective craving are huge factors in repeated drug-use. Consequently, cessation techniques could be adapted to help avoid prevalent environmental cues and aid cognitive avoidance strategies.
Antiretroviral Related adverse drug reactions among HIV-1 infected children on first line regimen at Tikur Anbesa Specialized Hospital , Addis Ababa-Ethiopia

This article draws balanced attention of Academicians, Researchers, Service Providers, Program Managers, and Policy Makers together with all the other broader arrays of stakeholders of Pediatrics and Child Health, within Ethiopia and around the globe, towards concerted pursuance of Quality Child Survival, Development, and Wellbeing Strategic Redirections agenda. To this effect, through a systematic review discourse, the article does concisely discuss the background contexts of Child Health and Child Survival Movement, value additions of the global Child Survival endeavoring, inherent limitations of the conventional Child Survival movement, moral grounding of the Quality Child Survival, Development, and Wellbeing Strategic Redirections, anticipated comparative benefits, and proposed essential considerations. The review had focused on and drawn from the set of selectively pertinent published and unpublished resource materials. By spotlighting and thus stimulating the necessary level of dialogue around the theme among all the ranges of key players and stakeholders, this piece of work attempts to complement further reinvigorating of the Child Health, Development, and Wellbeing policy, program and service development dynamics, particularly, in settings similar with that of the contemporary Ethiopia. Presumably plausible pathways of pursuance are highlighted.
Correcting for the bias due to expression specificity improves the estimation of constrained evolution of expression between mouse and human

Motivation: Comparative analyses of gene expression data from different species have become an important component of the study of molecular evolution. Thus methods are needed to estimate evolutionary distances between expression profiles, as well as a neutral reference to estimate selective pressure. Divergence between expression profiles of homologous genes is often calculated with Pearson's or Euclidean distance. Neutral divergence is usually inferred from randomized data. Despite being widely used, neither of these two steps has been well studied. Here, we analyze these methods formally and on real data, highlight their limitations and propose improvements. Results: It has been demonstrated that Pearson's distance, in contrast to Euclidean distance, leads to underestimation of the expression similarity between homologous genes with a conserved uniform pattern of expression. Here, we first extend this study to genes with conserved, but specific pattern of expression. Surprisingly, we find that both Pearson's and Euclidean distances used as a measure of expression similarity between genes depend on the expression specificity of those genes. We also show that the Euclidean distance depends strongly on data normalization. Next, we show that the randomization procedure that is widely used to estimate the rate of neutral evolution is biased when broadly expressed genes are abundant in the data. To overcome this problem, we propose a novel randomization procedure that is unbiased with respect to expression profiles present in the datasets. Applying our method to the mouse and human gene expression data suggests significant gene expression conservation between these species. Contact: marc.robinson-rechavi@unil.ch; sven.bergmann@unil.ch Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Sketching Clothoid Splines Using Shortest Paths

Clothoid splines are gaining popularity as a curve representation due to their intrinsically pleasing curvature, which varies piecewise linearly over arc length. However, constructing them from hand‐drawn strokes remains difficult. Building on recent results, we describe a novel algorithm for approximating a sketched stroke with a fair (i.e., visually pleasing) clothoid spline. Fairness depends on proper segmentation of the stroke into curve primitives — lines, arcs, and clothoids. Our main idea is to cast the segmentation as a shortest path problem on a carefully constructed weighted graph. The nodes in our graph correspond to a vastly overcomplete set of curve primitives that are fit to every subsegment of the sketch, and edges correspond to transitions of a specified degree of continuity between curve primitives. The shortest path in the graph corresponds to a desirable segmentation of the input curve. Once the segmentation is found, the primitives are fit to the curve using non‐linear constrained optimization. We demonstrate that the curves produced by our method have good curvature profiles, while staying close to the user sketch.
Dynamic Interactions and Mutual Synchronization of Sinoatrial Node Pacemaker Cells A Mathematical Model

Dynamic interactions and mutual entrainment of coupled sinoatrial pacemaker cells with different intrinsic frequencies were investigated using a computerized mathematical model. Transmembrane potentials were simulated using equations of individual membrane currents based on voltage clamp data for the sinoatrial node. The intrinsic frequency of a given cell was altered by applying bias hyperpolarizing current, or by changing the amount of slow inward current. Cells were coupled through simple ohmic resistances to form linear arrays of two or more cells. Simulations closely reproduced previous experimental work showing that the mutual interactions between pacemakers are mediated electrotonically and show phase dependence. Results from the present simulations provide an explanation for the ionic basis of these phasedependent interactions. In addition, it is demonstrated that the mutual entrainment of coupled pacemakers can lead to their coordinated behavior (synchronization). Two pacemaker cells can synchronize at simple harmonic (i.e., 1:1, 2:1, etc.) or more complex ratios (3:2, 5:3, etc.), depending on the differences in intrinsic frequencies and the degree of electrical coupling between cells. Simulations using larger numbers of linearly connected cells yielded various patterns of pacemaker activity including 2:1 sinoatrial block and complex dysrhythmic activity. The overall results may be used to predict higher order interactions of thousands of cells comprising the sinus node. Under such a scheme, synchronization occurs not by the conducted influence of a dominant pacemaker cell, but by the mutual “democratic” interaction of individual pacemaker cells.
The role of prior knowledge in international franchise partner recruitment

Purpose – To investigate the role of prior knowledge in the international franchise partner recruitment process and to evaluate how cultural distance influences the role of prior knowledge in this process.Design/methodology/approach – A single embedded case study of an international hotel firm was the focus of the enquiry. Interviews, observations and document analysis were used as the data collection techniques.Findings – Findings reveal that prior knowledge of the franchisor enables the franchisor to coordinate more efficiently with prospective partners. However, the case study firm experienced a great deal of cultural distance in different country markets. The greater the cultural distance, the more challenges the firm has to face in terms of upgrading and adapting its prior knowledge to local needs.Research limitations/implications – The findings are based on a hotel franchise chain, and may not be generalisable to other firms or industry sectors, although the literature on international management do.
Revenue Gap Analysis between Own Source Revenue Estimates (OSRE) and Actual Own Source Revenue Collection (AOSRC): A Case of Local Government Authorities (LGAs) in Tanzania

The empirical study was conducted in financial year 2016/2017 in four LGAs namely, Bahi DC, Kongwa DC, Manyoni DC and Dodoma MC in Tanzania mainland to analyze revenue gap between Own Source Revenue Estimates (OSRE) and Actual Own Source Revenue Collection (AOSRC) for five financial years from 2011/2012 to 2015/2016. However, Dodoma Municipal Council availed data set from the financial year 2012/2013 to 2016/2017 due to missing data of 2011/2012 financial year in the database. In most of the financial years investigated, the empirical study revealed that actual own source revenue collections were less than the own source revenue estimates due to unrealistic data of own source revenue estimates, narrow base of own revenue sources and unstable of available own revenue sources including produce cess, business licence fee, service levy, market dues, slaughter fee, livestock fee, bus stand fee, land tax, fish cess, mining fee, forest cess, auction fee, car parking fee, fines and penalties among others. Hence, the empirical study suggested that LGAs have to carry out frequent surveys to identify potential own revenue sources so as to come up with realistic data for own source revenue estimates. Moreover, LGAs have to broaden the base of their own revenue sources by identifying new own revenue sources as well as stabilizing the available own revenue sources with the aim of bridging the gap between the own source revenue estimates and actual own source revenue collection for local government revenue enhancement so as quality social services can be delivered to the Tanzanian community.
The Role of International Financial Reporting Standards in Accounting Quality: Evidence from the European Union

Previous studies on the effect of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) on accounting quality often have difficulties to control for confounding factors on accounting quality. As a result, the observed changes in accounting quality could not be attributed mainly to IFRS. We use a unique research setting to address this issue by comparing the accounting quality of publicly listed companies in 15 member states of the European Union (EU) before and after the full adoption of IFRS in 2005. We use five indicators as proxies for accounting quality. We find that the majority of accounting quality indicators improved after IFRS adoption in the EU. That is, there is less of managing earnings toward a target, a lower magnitude of absolute discretionary accruals, and higher accruals quality. But our results also show that firms engage in more earnings smoothing and recognize large losses in a less timely manner in post-IFRS periods. In addition, we examine the effects of institutional variables on financial reporting quality. Our contribution to the literature is that we show the improved accounting quality is attributable to IFRS, rather than changes in managerial incentives, institutional features of capital markets, and general business environment, etc.