Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Exploring complex vowels as phrase break correlates in a corpus of English speech with proPOSEL, a prosody and POS English lexicon

Real-world knowledge of syntax is seen as integral to the machine learning task of phrase break prediction but there is a deficiency of a priori knowledge of prosody in both rule-based and data-driven classifiers. Speech recognition has established that pauses affect vowel duration in preceding words. Based on the observation that complex vowels occur at rhythmic junctures in poetry, we run significance tests on a sample of transcribed, contemporary British English speech and find a statistically significant correlation between complex vowels and phrase breaks. The experiment depends on automatic text annotation via ProPOSEL, a prosody and part-of-speech English lexicon. Copyright © 2009 ISCA.
A Structural Model for the Housing and Credit Markets in Italy

In this paper we estimate a fully-fledged structural system for the housing market in Italy, taking into account the multi-fold link with bank lending to both households and construction firms. The model allows the house supply to vary in the short-run and the banking sector to affect the equilibrium in the housing market, through its effect on housing supply and demand. We show that house prices react mostly to standard drivers such as, disposable income and demographic pressures. Lending conditions also exert a significant impact, especially through their effects on mortgage loans, and consequently on housing demand. Allowing short-run adjustment in house supply implies a weaker response of house prices to a change in monetary policy or in banks’ deleveraging process. Finally, we find that since the mid-80s house price developments in Italy have been broadly in line with fundamentals; during the global financial crisis, the worsening in credit supply conditions dampened house price dynamics, partly offsetting the positive stimulus provided by the loosing monetary policy stance.
Modern Indian Political Thought: Text and Context

Preface Introduction I: REVISITING THE TEXTS Early Nationalist Responses: Ram Mohan Roy, Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, Dayananda Saraswati and Jotiba Phule Moderates and Extremists: Dadabhai Naoroji, M G Ranade and B G Tilak Mahatma Gandhi Rabindranath Tagore B R Ambedkar Jayaprakash Narayan Jawaharlal Nehru Muhammad Iqbal M N Roy Ram Manohar Lohia Subhas Chandra Bose V D Savarkar Pandita Ramabai II: CONTEXT AND CONTEXTUAL INFLUENCES RE-EXAMINED Nature and Processes of Indian Freedom Struggle Landmarks in Constitutional Development during British Rule: A Historical Perspective Socio-economic Dimensions of the Nationalist Movement Culmination of the British Rule and the Making of India's Constitution Conclusion Model Questions Glossary Index
Formation of Monolayers by the Coadsorption of Thiols on Gold: Variation in the Length of the Alkyl Chain

when X = Y = oH' the pure monolayers a. " *eti"d by water, but the mixed monolayers are less hydrophilic because nonpolar polymethylenecha insareexposedatt hesurface. whinX =cHr, Y = oH (n=2L,m= ll),averysharptr ansitionoccurs from a monolayer composed largely of the longer, methyl-terminated component to the shorter, hydroxyl-terminated component as the mole fraction of HS(CHz) r roH in-the adsorption solution is increased. From solutions . ontuining two thiols, adsorption of the thiol with the longer chain is preferred. Tiris preference is greater when the monolayers are adsorbed from ethanol than from isooctane' The mixed monolayers do not uit ", ideal two-dimensional solutions. T-he adsorption isotherms suggest a positive excess free energy of mixing of the two components in the monolayer. The compositions of the monolayers appear to be determined largely by thermodynamics, although in some cases there is also a kinetic contribution. The two components in the mixed monolayers do not phase-segregate into macroscopic islands (greater than a few tens of angstroms across) but are probably not randomly dispersed within the monolayer, ThL wettability of mixed, methyl-terminatea can be partially rationalized by the geometric m€an approximition, but a full description probably requires inclusion of the entropy of mixing at the monolayer-liquid interface. The hysteresis in the contact angle on these monolayers cannot be explained by theories of wetting based on macroscopic heterogeneity. Contact angles ur? -o. sensitive than optical ellipsometry or X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy to certain types of changes in the coriposition and structure of these monolayers.
A probabilistic traveling salesman problem: a survey

The Probabilistic Traveling Salesman Problem (PTSP) is a variation of the classic Traveling Salesman Problem (TSP) in which only a subset of potential nodes needs to be visited on any given instance of the problem. The number of nodes to be visited each time is a random variable. The objective is to find an a priori tour which minimizes the expected length,with the strategy of visiting the present nodes in a particular instance in the same order as they appear in the a priori tour. In this paper, we survey a number of results obtained for PTSP and we present the different approaches used for solving it.
Wearable biomonitoring monopole antennas using inkjet printed electromagnetic band gap structures

In this paper, a monopole antenna with a novel nanotechnology-enabled inkjet printed electromagnetic band gap structure (EBG) is introduced for wearable biomonitoring applications with minimal “on-body” performance degradation. The proposed antenna is very thin and flexible since it can be easily fabricated with direct inkjet-printing on commercially available plastic or photo paper, potentially enabling wearable wireless sensing modules with improved communication range.
The Impact Of International Public Sector Account-ing Standard (IPSAS) On Reliability, Credibility And Integrity Of Financial Reporting In State Gov-ernment Administration In Nigeria

This study evaluated the impact of International Public Sector Accounting Standard (IPSAS) on reliability, credibility and integrity of financial reporting in State Government Administration in Nigeria. The purpose of this study is to ascertain the impact of International Public Sector Accounting Standard (IPSAS) on reliability, credibility and integrity of financial reporting in State Government administration in Nigeria. The findings of this study showed that implementation of IPSAS will improve the reliability, credibility and integrity of financial reporting in State Government administration in Nigeria. Also, it was observed that implementation of IPSAS based standards can facilitate efficient internal control and result based financial management in the public sector of Nigeria. Equally, it was found that implementation of IPSAS can enhance Federal Government’s goal to significantly deliver services more effectively and efficiently. Accountability is no doubt the hallmark for good governance, if Nigeria is to be a member of the twenty most developed nations of the world by the year 2020, political office holders, citizens and all stakeholders in the Nigerian project should embrace integrity, transparency and accountability in the management of public funds. Furthermore, we concluded that implementation of IPSAS by public sectors in Nigeria will not only impact positively on reliability, credibility and integrity of financial reporting but is expected to pave way for a uniform chart of financial reporting by the three tiers of Government in Nigeria.
CEP3 encodes a centromere protein of Saccharomyces cerevisiae

We have designed a screen to identify mutants specifically affecting kinetochore function in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The selection procedure was based on the generation of "synthetic acentric" minichromosomes. "Synthetic acentric" minichromosomes contain a centromere locus, but lack centromere activity due to combination of mutations in centromere DNA and in a chromosomal gene (CEP) encoding a putative centromere protein. Ten conditional lethal cep mutants were isolated, seven were found to be alleles of NDC10 (CEP2) encoding the 110-kD protein of yeast kinetochore. Three mutants defined a novel essential gene CEP3. The CEP3 product (Cep3p) is a 71-kD protein with a potential DNA-binding domain (binuclear Zn-cluster). At nonpermissive temperature the cep3 cells arrest with an undivided nucleus and a short mitotic spindle. At permissive temperature the cep3 cells are unable to support segregation of minichromosomes with mutations in the central part of element III of yeast centromere DNA. These minichromosomes, when isolated from cep3 cultures, fail to bind bovine microtubules in vitro. The sum of genetic, cytological and biochemical data lead us to suggest that the Cep3 protein is a DNA-binding component of yeast centromere. Molecular mass and sequence comparison confirm that Cep3p is the p64 component of centromere DNA binding complex Cbf3 (Lechner, 1994).
Globaphobia: Confronting Fears about Open Trade

For much of the post-World War II period, the increasing globalization of the U.S. economy was welcomed by policymakers and by the American people. We gained the benefits of cheaper and, in some cases, better foreign-made products, while U.S. firms gained wider access to foreign markets. The increasing economic interlinkages with the rest of the world helped promote capitalism and democracy around the globe. Indeed, we helped "win" the Cold War by trading and investing with the rest of the world, in the process demonstrating to all concerned the virtues of trade and markets. In recent years, however, a growing chorus of complaints has been lodged against globalization--which is blamed for costing American workers their jobs and lowering their wages. The authors of this book speak directly and simply to these concerns, demonstrating with easy prose and illustrations why the "globaphobes" are wrong. Globalization has not cost the United States jobs. Nor has it played any more than a small part in the disappointing trends in wages of many American workers. The challenge for all Americans is to embrace globalization and all of the benefits it brings, while adopting targeted policies to ease the very real pain of those few Americans whom globalization may harm. Globaphobia outlines a novel, yet sensible program for advancing this objective. Copublished with the Twentieth Century Fund and the Progressive Policy Institute
Book Review: No Safe Haven: Stories of Women in Prison

Incarcerated women in the United States are largely an invisible population because of their small numbers, their involvement in less violent and serious offenses, and their neglect by most criminologists. Yet all too often prison has become a dumping ground for women who lack options for self-support, or who need drug treatment, job training, or a haven from battering. This work draws on the life stories of forty women inmates at a minimum security prison in North Carolina. It explores their lives before imprisonment, enabling the reader to understand their incarceration within the context of childhood and adolescent experiences, domestic violence, alcohol and drug abuse, low education levels, and poor work histories. Lori B. Girshick relates the prisoners' views of doing time, the criminal justice system, and their own rehabilitation. She also interviews family members, friends, and social service providers to show how support networks function or fail. Girshick argues convincingly that the treatment of women in society creates circumstances that lead some of them to break the law, and she makes specific recommendations for policies that address the need for social change and for community programs designed to deter crime.
Long-Term Creep Behavior of the Intervertebral Disk: Comparison between Bioreactor Data and Numerical Results

The loaded disk culture system is an intervertebral disk (IVD)-oriented bioreactor developed by the VU Medical Center (VUmc, Amsterdam, The Netherlands), which has the capacity of maintaining up to 12 IVDs in culture, for approximately 3 weeks after extraction. Using this system, eight goat IVDs were provided with the essential nutrients and submitted to compression tests without losing their biomechanical and physiological properties, for 22 days. Based on previous reports (Paul et al., 2012, 2013; Detiger et al., 2013), four of these IVDs were kept in physiological condition (control) and the other four were previously injected with chondroitinase ABC (CABC), in order to promote degenerative disk disease (DDD). The loading profile intercalated 16 h of activity loading with 8 h of loading recovery to express the standard circadian variations. The displacement behavior of these eight IVDs along the first 2 days of the experiment was numerically reproduced, using an IVD osmo-poro-hyper-viscoelastic and fiber-reinforced finite element (FE) model. The simulations were run on a custom FE solver (Castro et al., 2014). The analysis of the experimental results allowed concluding that the effect of the CABC injection was only significant in two of the four IVDs. The four control IVDs showed no signs of degeneration, as expected. In what concerns to the numerical simulations, the IVD FE model was able to reproduce the generic behavior of the two groups of goat IVDs (control and injected). However, some discrepancies were still noticed on the comparison between the injected IVDs and the numerical simulations, namely on the recovery periods. This may be justified by the complexity of the pathways for DDD, associated with the multiplicity of physiological responses to each direct or indirect stimulus. Nevertheless, one could conclude that ligaments, muscles, and IVD covering membranes could be added to the FE model, in order to improve its accuracy and properly describe the recovery periods.
Conformational Changes in the Pore of CLC-0

The Torpedo Cl− channel, CLC-0, is inhibited by clofibric acid derivatives from the intracellular side. We used the slow gate-deficient mutant CLC-0C212S to investigate the mechanism of block by the clofibric acid–derivative p-chlorophenoxy-acetic acid (CPA). CPA blocks open channels with low affinity (KD O= 45 mM at 0 mV) and shows fast dissociation (koff = 490 s−1 at −140 mV). In contrast, the blocker binds to closed channels with higher affinity and with much slower kinetics. This state-dependent block coupled with the voltage dependence of the gating transitions results in a highly voltage-dependent inhibition of macroscopic currents (KD ∼1 mM at −140 mV; KD ∼65 mM at 60 mV). The large difference in CPA affinity of the open and closed state suggests that channel opening involves more than just a local conformational rearrangement. On the other hand, in a recent work (Dutzler, R., E.B. Campbell, and R. MacKinnon. 2003. Science. 300:108–112) it was proposed that the conformational change underlying channel opening is limited to a movement of a single side chain. A prediction of this latter model is that mutations that influence CPA binding to the channel should affect the affinities for an open and closed channel in a similar manner since the general structure of the pore remains largely unchanged. To test this hypothesis we introduced point mutations in four residues (S123, T471, Y512, and K519) that lie close to the intracellular pore mouth or to the putative selectivity filter. Mutation T471S alters CPA binding exclusively to closed channels. Pronounced effects on the open channel block are observed in three other mutants, S123T, Y512A, and K519Q. Together, these results collectively suggest that the structure of the CPA binding site is different in the open and closed state. Finally, replacement of Tyr 512, a residue directly coordinating the central Cl− ion in the crystal structure, with Phe or Ala has very little effect on single channel conductance and selectivity. These observations suggest that channel opening in CLC-0 consists in more than a movement of a side chain and that other parts of the channel and of the selectivity filter are probably involved.
Information Systems and Innovation in Greek Firms - An Empirical Investigation

There has been an extensive theoretical literature during the last 20 years supporting that information and communication technologies (ICT) have a huge potential to drive significant innovations in firms' processes, products and services, which can result in big performance improvements. However, limited empirical investigation of this innovation potential of ICT has been conducted. This paper presents an empirical investigation of the impact of two widely used types of information systems (IS) (internal and e-sales ones), and also of four important 'traditional' innovation determinants (demand expectation, price and non-price competition, market concentration) for comparison purposes, on innovation in Greek firms. It has been concluded that in the 'innovation averse' Greek national context both these IS types have a strong positive impact on innovation, whilst this does not hold for any of the examined 'traditional' innovation determinants.
Market Sentiment and Macroeconomic Fluctuations Under Pegged Exchange Rates

The effects of an adverse change in market sentiment, defined as a temporary increase in the premium faced by domestic borrowers on world financial markets, are studied in an intertemporal optimizing framework with imperfect capital mobility. Firms' demands for working capital are financed by bank credit. The shock leads to a rise in domestic interest rates, capital outflows and a drop in official reserves, a reduction in bank deposits and loans, a contraction in output, and an increase in unemployment. These predictions are consistent with Argentina's economic downturn in the immediate aftermath of the Mexican peso crisis of December 1994.
The Risk-Driven Business Model: Four Questions That Will Define Your Company

The Risk-Driven Business Model: Four Questions that will Define Your Company Karan Girotra and Serguei Netessine (Boston, MA: Harvard Business Review Press, 2014) The core argument of The Risk-Driven Business Model is that risk is central to successful decision making and innovation in any business. The goal of innovation, authors Karan Girotra and Serguei Netessine argue, is to reduce risk through deliberate changes to the company's business model. Traditionally, companies have relied on product and service innovation to grow into market-dominant positions. But Girotra and Netessine maintain that a company can repeatedly innovate its business model to reduce the risks inherent in decision making and improve their market position. Business model innovation is defined as changes in what, when, who, and why decisions are made, all with an eye toward reducing information risk (generally what and when) or incentive-alignment risk (generally who and why). Information risk appears when leaders must make decisions before they have sufficient information to know which path will be the most successful. The more information that is missing, the greater the chance of making the wrong decision. In this context, the goal of business model innovation is to structure the business so as to reduce the information risk, usually by deferring the point when a decision must be made, allowing more information to be gathered. To illustrate how a business model change can reduce information risk, the authors offer the case of fashion company Benetton. Traditionally, the company had purchased undyed yarn, which it then dyed in the colors needed to make sweaters, leading to a planned number of sweaters in each color. However, the lead time on this process meant the company was guessing which colors would be popular in the coming season. When the forecast was wrong, the company had too few sweaters in the right colors and too many in the wrong ones. Benetton addressed this risk by reversing the order of operations: sweaters are now woven from undyed yarn and held until more information is available about the coming season's popular colors. Then entire sweaters are dyed in batches whose size can be based on better knowledge of what will be popular. The authors maintain that this change was driven by the desire to reduce information risk, rather than a desire to improve the production process, making it a business model innovation rather than a process innovation. Incentive-alignment risk arises from business relationships and responsibilities that are not structured in a manner that optimally motivates the parties to accomplish the objectives of the companies involved. Obvious cases of this are taught in management classes, such as when manufacturing laborers are paid by the hour rather than by the number of pieces produced. …
"um...i Don't See Any": the Function of Filled Pauses and Repairs

We investigate disfluency distribution rates within different moves from an interactive task-oriented experiment to further explore the suggestion by Bortfeld et al. [1] and Nicholson [2] that different types of disfluencies may fulfill varying functions. We focus on disfluency types within moves, or speech turns, where a speaker initiates something compared to a response to such a move. We find that filled pauses (FPs) such as um or uh fulfilled an interpersonal role for participants while repairs occurred out of difficulty.
How Demanding Should Equality of Opportunity Be, and How Much Have We Achieved?

Excerpt] This chapter proposes tests of various notions of equality of opportunity and applies them to intergenerational income data for the United States and Britain. Agreement is widespread that equality of opportunity holds in a society if the chances that individuals have to succeed depend only on their own efforts and not on extraneous circumstances that may inhibit or expand those chances. What is contentious, however, is what constitutes "effort" and "circumstances. " Most people, we think, would say that the social connections of an individual's parents would be included among circumstances: equality of opportunity is incomplete if some individuals get ahead because they have well-connected parents. This and other channels through which circumstances affect income opportunities in an intergenerational context are discussed in Section 2. Section 3 then formulates four, increasingly stringent criteria for equality of opportunity. In Section 4, we turn to an empirical implementation of these criteria to test for equality of opportunity in the United States and Britain. The results, presented in Section 5, provide only the weakest of support for equality of opportunity in the United States and no support at all in Britain. Concluding remarks are presented in Section 6.
Error Resilient Coding Based on Reversible Data Embedding Technique for H. 264/AVC Video

In this paper, a prescription-based error concealment (PEC) method is proposed. PEC relies on pre-analyses of the concealment error image (CEI) for I-frames and the optimal error concealment scheme for P-frames at encoder side. CEI is used to enhance the image quality at decoder side after error concealment (by spatial interpolation or zero motion) of the corrupted intra-coded MBs. A set of pre-selected error concealment methods is evaluated for each corrupted inter-coded MB to determine the optimal one for the decoder. Both the CEI and the scheme indices are considered as the prescriptions for decoder and transmitted along with the video bit stream based on a reversible data embedding technique. Experiments show that the proposed method is capable of achieving PSNR improvement of up to 1.48 dB, at a considerable bit-rate, when the packet loss rate is 20%