Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Phonological Complexity, Segment Rate and Speech Tempo Perception

Studies of speech tempo commonly use syllable or segment rate as a proxy measure for perceived tempo. In languages whose phonologies allow substantial syllable complexity these measures can produce figures on quite different scales; however, little is known about the correlation between syllable and segment rate measurements on the one hand and naive listeners’ tempo judgements on the other. We follow up on the findings of one relevant study on German [1], which suggest that listeners attend to both syllable and segment rates in making tempo estimates, through a weighted average of the rates in which syllable rate carries more weight. We report on an experiment in which we manipulate phonological complexity in English utterance pairs that are constant in syllable rate. Listeners decide for each pair which utterance sounds faster. Our results suggest that differences in segment rate that do not correspond to differences in syllable rate have little impact on perceived speech tempo in English.
Managing process design in a dynamic organisational context

This dissertation proposes a methodology to manage business process design in a dynamic organizational context primarily by using i* modeling framework and Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN). Agent-Oriented Conceptual Modeling (AOCM) notations such as the i* framework have gained considerable currency in the recent past. Such notations model organisational context and offer high-level social/anthropomorphic abstractions (such as goals, tasks, softgoals and dependencies) as modeling constructs. It has been argued that such notations help answer questions such as what goals exist, how key actors depend on each other and what alternatives must be considered. The technical focus of process modeling notations such as BPMN is especially suited for applications in the description, execution and simulation of business processes but is lacking in support for process redesign and improvement. These notations effectively provide a view of the responsibilities and required communications between classes of process participants, but do not provide a view of other social and intentional characteristics including the goals of participants and their inter-dependencies. We argue this gap can be minimised by using and correlating organisational models and process models in a complimentary fashion. Business processes represent the operational capabilities of an organisation. In order to ensure process continuity, the effective management of risk becomes an area of key concern. We argue there is a need for supporting risk identification with the use of higher-level organisational models and business process models. In this research we have conducted a detailed analysis of the concept that flexibility and combination of notations are required to facilitate the maintenance of the models. We have developed a methodology to support combined use of notations (i* and BPMN) for modeling business processes with a view to facilitate and support change at organisational and process models. We have also presented a methodology to integrate risks in process models through a set of intuitive metrics by extracting measures of actor criticality, and vulnerability from organisational models. This research has been validated through a detailed case study involving a major government agency and through an experiment conducted among participants from industry and academia.
Nicotinic receptor‐mediated enhancement of long‐term potentiation involves activation of metabotropic glutamate receptors and ryanodine‐sensitive calcium stores in the dentate gyrus

Little is known about the mechanisms underlying the enhancement of long‐term potentiation (LTP) by nicotine. In the present study, the mechanisms of nicotinic enhancement of LTP were investigated in the rat dentate gyrus in vitro. Acute application of nicotine enhanced LTP induction, an action requiring activation of α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs), as it was blocked by the nAChR antagonist methyl‐lycaconitine, mimicked by the acetylcholine receptor agonist choline and absent in mutant mice null for α7 nAChR. Nicotinic enhancement of LTP was both dependent on N‐methyl‐d‐aspartate receptor activation, as no LTP was induced in the presence of nicotine and an N‐methyl‐d‐aspartate receptor antagonist, and expressed post‐synaptically, as no change in paired‐pulse ratio accompanied nicotinic enhancement of LTP. The nicotinic‐enhanced component of LTP, unlike control LTP, was dependent on activation of metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs), being inhibited by the group I/II antagonist LY341495 and the mGluR5 antagonist MPEP, and also dependent on influx of Ca via L‐type Ca channels and release from ryanodine (RyR)‐sensitive intracellular stores, being prevented by nifedipine and RyR, respectively. It is suggested that nicotinic activation of the Ca‐permeable α7 nAChRs fills RyR Ca stores and release of Ca from such stores by high‐frequency stimulation via Ca‐induced Ca release and activation of mGluRs induces an additional component of LTP which summates with control LTP. Chronic application of nicotine in vivo also enhanced LTP induction in slices and was dependent on activation of mGluRs and Ca release from RyR‐sensitive intracellular stores, although acutely applied nicotine was not required for such enhanced LTP.
Frequency Ageing and Noise Evolution in a Distributed Feedback Quantum Cascade Laser Measured Over a Two-Month Period

We report on the evaluation of the frequency stability of a distributed feedback quantum cascade laser (QCL) at 8 μm that was continuously monitored over a 2-month period using a spectroscopic setup. The QCL was operated in continuous wave mode at room temperature (21.4 °C). It was driven by a home-made low-noise controller at a nominal current of ~600 mA located in the middle of its operation range. Two distinctive behaviors were observed. A monotonous frequency drift of about 1.8 GHz was observed during slightly more than the first month, followed by a stable regime in the second month where the frequency remained within a 100 MHz range. In addition, the electrical flicker noise of the QCL was regularly measured during the same period, and similarly showed two different regimes. The noise regularly decreased at a small rate of about 0.3%/day during the first month, whereas it tends to stabilize during the second month. We believe that an improvement of the QCL contacts over time is responsible for this behavior. After the initial one-month period, the QCL showed a remarkably stable behavior that is beneficial for many applications that require stable long-term operation.
0 Multi Channel-Kernel Canonical Correlation Analysis for Cross-View Person Re-Identification

Video surveillance systems are now ubiquitous in public areas such as airports, train stations or even city wide. These systems are typically implemented in the form of camera networks and cover very large areas, with limited or no overlap between different camera views. They should be able to track a person throughout the network, matching detections of the same person in different camera views, irrespectively of view and illumination changes, as well as pose and scale variations of the person. Matching person detections across a camera network is typically referred as re-identification. In this paper, we propose a solution for person re-identification that grounds on the idea of addressing the extreme variability of person appearance in different camera views through a multiplicity of representations. In particular, several color and texture features are extracted from a coarse segmentation of the person image to account for viewpoint and illumination changes. For each feature, we learn several projection
Switching of Flagellar Motility in Helicobacter pyloriby Reversible Length Variation of a Short Homopolymeric Sequence Repeat in fliP, a Gene Encoding a Basal Body Protein

ABSTRACT The genome of Helicobacter pylori contains numerous simple nucleotide repeats that have been proposed to have regulatory functions and to compensate for the conspicuous dearth of master regulatory pathways in this highly host-adapted bacterium. H. pylori strain 26695, whose genomic sequence was determined by The Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR), contains a repeat of nine cytidines in the fliP flagellar basal body gene that splits the open reading frame in two parts. In this work, we demonstrate that the 26695C9 strain with a split fliP gene as sequenced by TIGR was nonflagellated and nonmotile. In contrast, earlier isolates of strain 26695 selected by positive motility testing as well as pig-passaged derivatives of 26695 were all flagellated and highly motile. All of these motile strains had a C8 repeat and consequently a contiguous fliP reading frame. By screening approximately 50,000 colonies of 26695C9 for motility in soft agar, a motile revertant with a C8 repeat could be isolated, proving that the described switch is reversible. ThefliP genes of 20 motile clinical H. pyloriisolates from different geographic regions possessed intactfliP genes with repeats of eight cytidines or the sequence CCCCACCC in its place. Isogenic fliP mutants of a motile, C8 repeat isolate of strain 26695 were constructed by allelic exchange mutagenesis and found to be defective in flagellum biogenesis. Mutants produced only small amounts of flagellins, while the transcription of flagellin genes appeared unchanged. These results strongly suggest a unique mechanism regulating motility in H. pylori which relies on slipped-strand mispairing-mediated mutagenesis of fliP.
Gene Expression During the Development of Bacillus subtilis Bacteriophage φ29 II. Resolution of Viral-Specific Ribonucleic Acid Molecules

The ribonucleic acid (RNA) specified by bacteriophage φ29 was isolated under conditions which minimized physical and enzymatic degradation, reduced aggregation, and enriched for completed molecules. This RNA was fractionated both by sedimentation through sucrose density gradients and electrophoresis through polyacrylamide gels to measure the size and relative amount of each component. Early RNA consisted of six components of molecular weight 0.75 × 106, 0.44 × 106, 0.37 × 106, 0.25 × 106, 0.09 × 106, and 0.04 × 106, accounting for 35% of the coding capacity of φ29 deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). All of these components except the one at 0.44 × 106 were detected when infection occurred in the presence of chloramphenicol. Synthesis of the major early component (0.75 × 106) ceased shortly after the onset of viral DNA synthesis. The other species of early RNA were synthesized throughout the latent period. Three additional components, 1.75 × 106, 0.93 × 106, and 0.07 × 106, appear at late times. The two large RNAs may be polycistronic messenger RNAs corresponding to the seven viral capsid proteins.
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease as Disability: Dilemma Stories

The purpose of this work was to develop an understanding of the meaning of disability for individuals living with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in a Canadian midwestern community from an emic perspective. A focused ethnographic design was used. Fifteen individuals participated in interviews. Narrative analysis was used to examine the interview data. Data analysis revealed 65 dilemma stories consisting of two structural components: the impairment, and the justification/explanation of the impairment. Participants’ impairment might or might not have been known to others. In both situations, individuals were faced with choices of whether to explain/justify or attempt to conceal the impairment. Participants told these dilemma stories to convey the meaning of COPD as a disability invisible to others, and at times, to themselves. The information gained from this research will serve as an essential complement to the existing knowledge about this important yet often invisible chronic illness.
The preparation and survival of almost bacteria-free suspensions of Entodinium caudatum.

SUMMARY: Suspensions of Entodinium caudatum containing less than one viable bacterium per ten protozoa were prepared by aerobic incubation of the protozoa with penicillin, streptomycin, dihydrostreptomycin and neomycin in the presence of autoclaved rumen fluid and rice starch grains. Unfortunately these almost axenic Entodinia could be maintained alive for only 3-4 days. Replacement of the rice starch grains in the medium used for bacterial removal by soluble starch produced almost bacteria-free protozoa which were devoid of food storage materials and died more rapidly than usual. The life of these protozoa was prolonged by adding any of the following: rice starch grains, soluble starch, maltose, glucose and some other sugars.
Visual search for schematic emotional faces risks perceptual confound

Several studies have used a visual search task to demonstrate that schematic negative-face targets are found faster and/or more efficiently than positive ones, with these findings taken as evidence that negative emotional expression is capable of guiding attentional allocation in visual search. A common hypothesis is that these effects should be disrupted by face inversion; however, this has not been consistently demonstrated, and raises the possibility of a perceptual confound. One candidate confound is the feature of “closure” (see Wolfe & Horowitz, 2004) caused by the down-turned mouth adjacent to edge of the face. This was investigated in the present series of experiments. In Experiment 1, the speed advantage for upright negative faces was replicated. In Experiment 2, the effect was not disrupted with inversion, and an efficiency advantage emerged, suggesting that perceptual features could be causing the advantage. In Experiment 3, speed and efficiency effects were seen when this perceptual characteristic remained but face features were scrambled. Taken together, these findings suggest that visual search using schematic faces containing a curved-line mouth feature cannot provide a valid test of guided search by negative facial emotion unless this confound is controlled.
An Analysis of the Factors Affecting Online Purchasing Behavior of Pakistani Consumers

The research reported in this thesis was on “An Analysis of the Factors Affecting Online Purchasing Behavior of Pakistani Consumers”. Despite the abundance of literature on buying behavior of online consumers, very little of it focuses on developing countries. The purpose of this research was to investigate the factors impacting the online purchasing patterns of consumers in the Pakistani market. The variables included in the proposed framework were perceived advantages, perceived risks, hedonic motivations, website design and lastly, psychological factors that included trust and security factors. The primary data was gathered by floating hundred questionnaires to online shoppers using convenience sampling. The secondary data was collected by consultation of published research papers, consumer reports, libraries and various internet sources. SPSS software was applied to analyze data for reliability and correlation. The results were then interpreted by usual principles of statistics. The findings indicated that perceived advantages, perceived risks and psychological factors were the significant variables. Perceived advantages and psychological factors had a positive impact on the consumer attitudes and buying behavior; however, perceived risks had a negative impact on consumer buying behavior. Website design and hedonic motivation were found out to be the insignificant variables. Psychological factors had the highest correlation with online shopping behavior, hence it was concluded that trust towards online vendors and security issues are the most important in determining online purchasing patterns of Pakistani consumers. Owing to rising inflation in Pakistan, people often resort to earningasy money through cybercrimes. Since fake e-stores, cybercrimes and scam websites are very common in Pakistan, people hesitate to shop online. Lack of accountability and the presence of con artists and vultures in the cyber world have resulted in unpleasant experiences of online Pakistani shoppers. Hence, e-tailors need toimprove the trust deficit in order to enhance purchase intention of current and potential consumers. The paper provides marketers with insights into how knowledge about the factors influencing purchasing patterns of online consumers can be incorporated into marketing strategies. The study suggests that in order to enhance the consumer purchase intentions, Pakistan’s online stores should build strategies to better address reliability and trustworthiness issues instead of merely focusing on website design, aesthetics and content factors.
Cutaneous Malignant Melanomas in 57 Cats: Identification of (Amelanotic) Signet-ring and Balloon Cell Types and Verification of Their Origin by Immunohistochemistry, Electron Microscopy, and In Situ Hybridization

Cutancous malignant melanomas in cats, both melanotic and amelanotic, were diagnosed in 57 of 1,530 skin tumors during the period 1991-1995. All melanomas occurred in domestic shorthaircats of ages 3-19 years ($X = 11.5 years). Postmortem examination was performed on 16 cats. All had metastases in the regional lymph node and several organ systems. The average time of survival after surgical removal of the tumor was 4.5 months. Histologically, five types of melanomas could be distinguished: epithelioid, spindle, mixed, signet-ring, and balloon cell. Whereas all epithelioid, spindle, and mixed epithelioid/spindle cell types showed pigmentation, signet-ring and balloon cell types were often amelanotic. Immunohistochemical examination of the melanomas revealed a positive staining for S-100, vimentin, and neuron-specific enolase. The melanomas were negative for muscle cell markers, except in some of the signet-ring cell melanomas; 13 of 21 tumors showed a weak positive staining for polyclonal desmin. Electron microscopic examination of signet-ring cell melanomas revealed an abundance of intermediate filaments, whereas in some of these tumors a few cells with melanosomes were found. Nonisotopic in situ hybridization for mRNA encoding for tyrosinase verified the melanocytic origin of the amelanotic signet-ring and balloon cell melanomas.
Ambassador networks and place branding

Purpose – The use of brand ambassadors is a quite recent phenomenon, even in the business world. This paper aims to explore the employment of ambassador networks as a place marketing and place development tool. This is done by identifying various kinds of networks, understanding how networks are governed, and pinning down the motivations and expectations of network members.Design/methodology/approach – The study used interviews and a survey to collect empirical material. The research process employed an approach with many inductive elements, deemed appropriate given that research into the topic is scant.Findings – The study identified four main dimensions of networks and, on this basis, we outline a typology with four main categories of networks. One major finding is that ambassador networks are seen not only as a communication channel, but also as a development resource. That means they are seen as enhancing the general competitiveness of the place involved. The networks are also seen as a resource for m.
A Variation in the Morphology of the Inferior Alveolar Nerve with Potential Clinical Significance

An inferior alveolar nerve with multiple roots is a rare variation encountered during dissection of cadavers. We present one such variation found in the right infratemporal fossa of an adult male cadaver. The nerve had three roots, one each from the posterior division of the mandibular nerve, auriculotemporal nerve and lingual nerve. The second part of the maxillary artery was encircled by the roots originating from the posterior division of the mandibular nerve and auriculotemporal nerve. This close topographical relationship may contribute to the etiology of nerve compression syndrome. Thus, knowledge of such variations may prove useful in diagnosis and treatment of that syndrome and may be relevant to several operations involving the infratemporal region.
Interaction of some traditional plant extracts with uterine oestrogen or progestin receptors

Previous work has demonstrated that stem bark extracts of Combretodendron macrocarpum (Barringtoniaceae), Cola nitida (Sterculiaceae), Afrormosia laxiﬂora and Pterocarpus erinaceus (Fabaceae) blocked the oestrus cycle of female rats through antigonadotropic activity. Moreover, a study of the plant substances responsible for these effects revealed the presence of phyto‐anti‐oestrogens in these plant extracts. In order to explain the mechanism by which these substances exert their antifertility actions, the interaction of the plant extract with oestrogen and progesterone receptors was studied. All crude extracts exerted inhibition of (3H)‐oestradiol or (3H)‐Organon binding to their respective receptors but their relative afﬁnities were much lower than those of oestradiol or progesterone. Respective efﬁciencies of plant extracts in competing for the oestrogen receptor were as follows: A. laxiﬂora > P. erinaceus > C. macrocarpum > C. nitida. The efﬁciency order of competition for the progestin receptor was different to that of oestrogen. The most potent competitor was C. macrocarpum extract, followed by P. erinaceus, C. nitida and A. laxiﬂora. Moreover, the interaction between oestradiol and plant extracts with the oestrogen receptor was determined to be competitive only for C. macrocarpum and A. laxiﬂora, whereas all compounds produced a competitive inhibition on the progestin receptor binding. These results suggest that the plant extract binding site was the same site as for the steroid. These results suggest also that crude plant extracts may interfere with natural oestrogen and/or progestagen in vivo by binding to steroid receptors. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Laser-Induced Plasma Spectroscopy of Hydrogen Balmer Series in Laboratory Air

Stark-broadened emission profiles for the hydrogen alpha and beta Balmer series lines in plasma are measured to characterize electron density and temperature. Plasma is generated using a typical laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) arrangement that employs a focused Q-switched neodymium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet (Nd : YAG) laser, operating at the fundamental wavelength of 1064 nm. The temporal evolution of the hydrogen Balmer series lines is explored using LIBS. Spectra from the plasma are measured following laser-induced optical breakdown in laboratory air. The electron density is primarily inferred from the Stark-broadened experimental data collected at various time delays. Due to the presence of nitrogen and oxygen in air, the hydrogen alpha and beta lines become clearly discernible from background radiation for time delays of 0.4 and 1.4 μs, respectively.