Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
PREVELAR RAISING AND PHONETIC CONDITIONING: ROLE OF LABIAL AND ANTERIOR TONGUE GESTURES

This article analyzes prevelar raising of /ae/, a restructuring present in the Upper Midwestern United States, from an articulatory perspective. Labov, Ash, and Boberg raise the question as to where this phenomenon lies within the range of uniform gestures. The present article describes lingual, mandibular, and labial movements in producing raised and unraised /ae/ in order to answer the question as to why /aeg/ is elevated in the vowel space above /aek/ even when speakers are not participating in the prevelar raising. Results of a study of speakers who raise /ae/ before /g/ compared to a cohort of nonraisers reveal that in addition to a more anterior gesture for /ae/ before /g/ than before /k/, there is statistically significant lip repositioning associated with the raising gesture. The results highlight limitations of sound change descriptions when only acoustic data is available.
Applying Design Diversity to Aspects of System Architectures and Deployment Configurations to Enhance System Dependability

Design diversity has been proposed as a strategy for reducing the number of co-occurring faults in multiple redundant versions of a given application. While much research has focused on methods for enhancing the multiversion diversity of applications or estimating system dependability, relatively less work has been done to incorporate supporting system and infrastructure elements into design diversity frameworks, even though these aspects of system design can negatively impact dependability. We propose general diversity-enhancing properties that can be used to extend design diversity “downward” through layered software subsystems, operating systems, and hardware platforms, and “outward” through networks, power supplies, and other external infrastructures. We identify three key properties of diverse systems: modal diversity, geographical diversity, and ecological diversity, and develop a conceptual framework for applying these properties to all aspects of a software-based system to increase the effective independence of diverse application versions by using integrated hardware-software “channels” to reduce system-induced common failure modes.
Gender, Migration and Place of Qualification of Doctors in the UK: Perceptions of Inequality, Morale and Career Aspiration

This article draws on a large British Medical Association (BMA) survey which allows the comparison of doctors who qualified in the UK with International Medical Graduates (IMG) who qualified overseas. It does this with respect to inequality, morale and career aspiration. The paper argues that the human-capital protection of qualifications, profession and status is not sufficient to equal the experiences of migrant doctors with those of doctors who qualified in the UK. Moreover, the article provides a gendered analysis which demonstrates clear differences between women and men and shows that place of qualification intensifies the gendered experience of a medical career. Drawing on intersectional insights shows that women IMGs are the most disadvantaged despite the apparent protection of high human capital.
Toward a Comprehensive Theory of Collaboration

The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science presents two special issues in which nine research-based articles and two overviews address various theoretical and empirical perspectives on the process of collaboration and the forms of collaborative alliances. In the first overview, the articles are mapped onto six theoretical perspectives according to how they address the preconditions, process, and outcomes of collaboration. In this overview, the research findings are analyzed in terms of the following overarching issues essential to a comprehensive theory of collaboration: (a) a definition of collaboration, (b) the auspices under which a collaboration is convened and the role of the convener, (c) implications of the collaboration for environmental complexity and participants' control over the environment, and (d) the relationship between individual participants' self-interest and the collective interests of all involved in the collaborative alliance. This theoretical analysis indicates several fruitful avenues for future research.
Faculty Work: Tensions between Educational and Economic Values

Faculty are the critical labor element in the pursuit of the economic goals of the community colleges, yet they are not central to institutional decision-making. Their views and values are not consistent with the goals and actions of their colleges. Instead, these goals and actions are aligned with business and industry, directed by government and college administrators. Although there is a misalignment of faculty values and institutional actions, faculty do not comprise an oppositional culture within their colleges. This multisite qualitative study addresses the presence of tensions between educational values of faculty and the economic values of faculty work.
Portrait of a Species

Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, the first alga subject to a genome project, has been the object of numerous morphological, physiological, and genetic studies. The organism has two genetically determined mating types (plus and minus) and all stages of the simple life cycle can be evoked in culture. In the nearly 60 years since the first standard laboratory strains were isolated, numerous crosses and exchanges among laboratories have led to some confusion concerning strain genealogy. Here we use analyses of the nuclear internal transcribed spacer regions and other genetic traits to resolve these issues, correctly identify strains currently available, and analyze phylogenetic relationships with all other available similar chlamydomonad types. The presence of a 10-bp indel in ITS2 in some but not all copies of the nuclear ribosomal cistrons of an individual organism, and the changing ratios of these in crosses, provide a tool to investigate mechanisms of concerted evolution. The standard C. reinhardtii strains, plus C. smithii +, plus the new eastern North American C. reinhardtii isolates, comprise one morphological species, one biological species of high sexual intercompatibility, and essentially identical ITS sequences (except the tip of helix I of ITS2). However, variant RFLP patterns characterize strains from each geographic site.
Evaluating exposure and potential effects on honeybee brood (Apis mellifera) development using glyphosate as an example

This study aimed to develop an approach to evaluate potential effects of plant protection products on honeybee brood with colonies at realistic worst‐case exposure rates. The approach comprised 2 stages. In the first stage, honeybee colonies were exposed to a commercial formulation of glyphosate applied to flowering Phacelia tanacetifolia with glyphosate residues quantified in relevant matrices (pollen and nectar) collected by foraging bees on days 1, 2, 3, 4, and 7 postapplication and glyphosate levels in larvae were measured on days 4 and 7. Glyphosate levels in pollen were approximately 10 times higher than in nectar and glyphosate demonstrated rapid decline in both matrices. Residue data along with foraging rates and food requirements of the colony were then used to set dose rates in the effects study. In the second stage, the toxicity of technical glyphosate to developing honeybee larvae and pupae, and residues in larvae, were then determined by feeding treated sucrose directly to honeybee colonies at dose rates that reflect worst‐case exposure scenarios. There were no significant effects from glyphosate observed in brood survival, development, and mean pupal weight. Additionally, there were no biologically significant levels of adult mortality observed in any glyphosate treatment group. Significant effects were observed only in the fenoxycarb toxic reference group and included increased brood mortality and a decline in the numbers of bees and brood. Mean glyphosate residues in larvae were comparable at 4 days after spray application in the exposure study and also following dosing at a level calculated from the mean measured levels in pollen and nectar, showing the applicability and robustness of the approach for dose setting with honeybee brood studies. This study has developed a versatile and predictive approach for use in higher tier honeybee toxicity studies. It can be used to realistically quantify exposure of colonies to pesticides to allow the appropriate dose rates to be determined, based on realistic worst‐case residues in pollen and nectar and estimated intake by the colony, as shown by the residue analysis. Previous studies have used the standard methodology developed primarily to identify pesticides with insect‐growth disrupting properties of pesticide formulations, which are less reliant on identifying realistic exposure scenarios. However, this adaptation of the method can be used to determine dose–response effects of colony level exposure to pesticides with a wide range of properties. This approach would limit the number of replicated tunnel or field‐scale studies that need to be undertaken to assess effects on honeybee brood and may be of particular benefit where residues in pollen and nectar are crop‐ and/or formulation‐specific, such as systemic seed treatments and granular applications. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2014;10:463–470. © 2014 The Authors. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management Published by SETAC
Comparison of Recovery Patterns and Prognostic Indicators for Ischemic and Hemorrhagic Stroke in China: The ChinaQUEST (QUality Evaluation of Stroke Care and Treatment) Registry Study

Background and Purpose— Limited data exist on the comparative recovery patterns and outcomes of patients with ischemic stroke and intracerebral hemorrhage in China. Methods— Data on baseline characteristics and outcomes of 6354 patients at 3 and 12 months poststroke are from ChinaQUEST (QUality Evaluation of Stroke Care and Treatment), a multicenter, prospective, 62-hospital registry study in China. Logistic regression was used to determine factors associated with a poor outcome defined by death/dependency (modified Rankin Scale score of 3 to 5) on follow-up. Generalized estimating equations were used to assess variations in recovery pattern by stroke type. Results— Baseline severity and rate of functional recovery in the early phase were significantly greater for intracerebral hemorrhage. However, patients with ischemic stroke were on average twice as likely to experience a good outcome (modified Rankin Scale score <3) by 12 months poststroke (OR: 1.98, CI: 1.76 to 2.24). In patients with ischemic stroke, diabetes and atrial fibrillation were strongly associated with a poor outcome at 12 months poststroke even after adjustment for confounding factors such as age, prior stroke/dependency, time to presentation, and stroke severity, whereas use of antiplatelets and lipid-lowering therapy after stroke were associated with improved outcome. For patients with intracerebral hemorrhage, low education and atrial fibrillation were associated with a poor outcome after adjustment for potential confounders and antihypertensive use was strongly associated with improved outcome. Conclusions— Patients with intracerebral hemorrhage and ischemic stroke have different recovery patterns in China. However, they share similar prognostic factors and in the use of evidence-based secondary prevention therapies to maximize chances of a good outcome.
Design Optimization and DPD Linearization of GaN-Based Unsymmetrical Doherty Power Amplifiers for 3G Multicarrier Applications

In this paper, a design optimization approach for gallium-nitride (GaN)-based Doherty power amplifiers (PAs) is proposed to enhance linearizability and maximize the power-added efficiency (PAE) for multicarrier wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA) applications. This is based on the use of an input offset line at the peaking amplifier path to compensate, at a given backoff level, for the bias and power-dependant phase variation through the carrier and peaking paths. At a 6-dB output power backoff (OPBO), measurement results of the unsymmetrical unlinearized Doherty amplifier using a four-carrier WCDMA signal achieved results of close to 50% for the PAE and about -30 dBc for the adjacent channel leakage ratio. Linearization of the designed Doherty PA using a baseband digital predistortion technique led to quasi-perfect cancellation of spectrum regrowth. At an OPBO equal to the input signal's peak-to-average power ratio, -63- and -53-dBc adjacent channel power ratios were obtained when the Doherty amplifier was driven by single- and four-carrier WCDMA signals, respectively. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this represents the best reported results for PAE and linearity for GaN-based Doherty PAs linearized over 20 MHz of instantaneous bandwidth.
Fragment-based Evaluation of Non-Uniform B-spline Surfaces on GPUs

AbstractIn this paper, we propose a fragment-based evaluation method for non-uniform B-spline surfaces using recent programmable graphics hardware (GPU). A position on a non-uniform B-spline surface is evaluated by the linear combination of both control points and B-spline basis functions. Hence the computational costs can be reduced by pre-computing a knot interval of a parameter from a knot vector. We show that efficient computation of positions and normal vectors for B-spline surfaces can be done on GPUs by applying these ideas. Our algorithm computes an exact position, a derivative and a curvature per fragment. We demonstrate that this achieves high-quality surface rendering. We also discuss about the extension to NURBS and trimmed surfaces.
Completeness and robustness properties of min-wise independent permutations

We provide several new results related to the concept of min-wise independence. Our main result is that any randomized sampling scheme for the relative intersection of sets based on testing equality of samples yields an equivalent min-wise independent family. Thus, in a certain sense, min-wise independent families are complete for this type of estimation. We also discuss the notion of robustness, a concept extending min-wise independence to allow more efficient use of it in practice. A surprising result arising from our consideration of robustness is that under a random permutation from a min-wise independent family, any element of a fixed set has an equal chance to get any rank in the image of the set, not only the minimum as required by definition.
Phenylalanine and tyrosine levels are rate-limiting factors in production of health promoting metabolites in Vitis vinifera cv. Gamay Red cell suspension

Environmental stresses such as high light intensity and temperature cause induction of the shikimate pathway, aromatic amino acids (AAA) pathways, and of pathways downstream from AAAs. The induction leads to production of specialized metabolites that protect the cells from oxidative damage. The regulation of the diverse AAA derived pathways is still not well understood. To gain insight on that regulation, we increased AAA production in red grape Vitis vinifera cv. Gamay Red cell suspension, without inducing external stress on the cells, and characterized the metabolic effect of this induction. Increased AAA production was achieved by expressing a feedback-insensitive bacterial form of 3-deoxy- D-arabino-heptulosonate 7-phosphate synthase enzyme (AroG*) of the shikimate pathway under a constitutive promoter. The presence of AroG* protein led to elevated levels of primary metabolites in the shikimate and AAA pathways including phenylalanine and tyrosine, and to a dramatic increase in phenylpropanoids. The AroG* transformed lines accumulated up to 20 and 150 fold higher levels of resveratrol and dihydroquercetin, respectively. Quercetin, formed from dihydroquercetin, and resveratrol, are health promoting metabolites that are induced due to environmental stresses. Testing the expression level of key genes along the stilbenoids, benzenoids, and phenylpropanoid pathways showed that transcription was not affected by AroG*. This suggests that concentrations of AAAs, and of phenylalanine in particular, are rate-limiting in production of these metabolites. In contrast, increased phenylalanine production did not lead to elevated concentrations of anthocyanins, even though they are also phenylpropanoid metabolites. This suggests a control mechanism of this pathway that is independent of AAA concentration. Interestingly, total anthocyanin concentrations were slightly lower in AroG* cells, and the relative frequencies of the different anthocyanins changed as well.
An Electromagnetic MEMS Energy Harvester Array with Multiple Vibration Modes

This paper reports the design, micromachining and characterization of an array of electromagnetic energy harvesters (EHs) with multiple frequency peaks. The authors present the combination of three multi-modal spring-mass structures so as to realize at least nine resonant peaks within a single microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) chip. It is assembled with permanent magnet to show an electromagnetic-based energy harvesting capability. This is the first demonstration of multi-frequency MEMS EH existing with more than three resonant peaks within a limited frequency range of 189 to 662 Hz. It provides a more effective approach to harvest energy from the vibration sources of multiple frequency peaks.
Is exposure to sick or dead poultry associated with flulike illness?: a population-based study from a rural area in Vietnam with outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza.

BACKGROUND The verified human cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza in Vietnam may represent only a selection of the most severely ill patients. The study objective was to analyze the association between flulike illness, defined as cough and fever, and exposure to sick or dead poultry. METHODS A population-based study was performed from April 1 to June 30, 2004, in FilaBavi, a rural Vietnamese demographic surveillance site with confirmed outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza among poultry. We included 45 478 randomly selected (cluster sampling) inhabitants. Household representatives were asked screening questions about exposure to poultry and flulike illness during the preceding months; individuals with a history of disease and/or exposure were interviewed in person. RESULTS A total of 8149 individuals (17.9%) reported flulike illness, 38,373 persons (84.4%) lived in households keeping poultry, and 11,755 (25.9%) resided in households reporting sick or dead poultry. A dose-response relationship between poultry exposure and flulike illness was noted: poultry in the household (odds ratio, 1.04; 95% confidence interval, 0.96-1.12), sick or dead poultry in the household but with no direct contact (odds ratio, 1.14; 95% confidence interval, 1.06-1.23), and direct contact with sick poultry (odds ratio, 1.73; 95% confidence interval, 1.58-1.89). The flulike illness attributed to direct contact with sick or dead poultry was estimated to be 650 to 750 cases. CONCLUSIONS Our epidemiological data are consistent with transmission of mild, highly pathogenic avian influenza to humans and suggest that transmission could be more common than anticipated, though close contact seems required. Further microbiological studies are needed to validate these findings.
Two is better than one: The effects of strategic cooperation on intra- and inter-brain connectivity by fNIRS

Inter-brain synchronization during joint actions is a core question in social neuroscience, and the differential contribution of intra- and inter-brain functional connectivity has yet to be clarified along with the role of psychological variables such as perceived self-efficacy. The cognitive performance and the neural activation underlying the execution of joint actions were recorded by functional Near-Infrared imaging during a synchronicity game. An 8-channel array of optodes was positioned over the frontal and prefrontal regions. During the task, the dyads received reinforcing feedback that was experimentally manipulated to induce adoption of common strategies. Intra- and inter-brain connectivity indices were computed along with an inter-brain/intra-brain connectivity index (ConIndex). Finally, correlation analyses were run to assess the relationship between behavioral and physiological levels. The results showed that the external feedback could modulate participant responses in both behavioral and neural components. After the reinforcing manipulation, there were faster response times and increased inter-brain connectivity, and ConIndex emerged primarily over the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Additionally, the presence of significant correlations between response times and inter-brain connectivity revealed that only the “two-players connection” may guarantee an efficient performance. The present study provides a significant contribution to the identification of intra- and inter-brain functional connectivity when social reinforcement is provided.
General Error Bounds in Heuristic Search Algorithms for Stochastic Shortest Path Problems

We consider recently-derived error bounds that can be used to bound the quality of solutions found by heuristic search algorithms for stochastic shortest path problems. In their original form, the bounds can only be used for problems with positive action costs. We show how to generalize the bounds so that they can be used in solving any stochastic shortest path problem, regardless of cost structure. In addition, we introduce a simple new heuristic search algorithm that performs as well or better than previous algorithms for this class of problems, while being easier to implement and analyze.
Modern Organizations: Organization Studies in the Postmodern World

Theoretical Contrasts and International Contexts Organizations and the Modernization of the World Why and Where did Bureaucracy Triumph? Contingencies, Markets and Hierarchies Ecologies, Institutions and Power in the Analysis of Organizations French Bread, Italian Fashions and Asian Enterprise The Embeddedness of Organizational Diversities Organizational Diversities and Rationalities Modernist and Postmodernist Organization Postmodern Skill Formation and Postmodern Capital Formation?
Distinct Functional Interactions between Actin Isoforms and Nonsarcomeric Myosins

Despite their near sequence identity, actin isoforms cannot completely replace each other in vivo and show marked differences in their tissue-specific and subcellular localization. Little is known about isoform-specific differences in their interactions with myosin motors and other actin-binding proteins. Mammalian cytoplasmic β- and γ-actin interact with nonsarcomeric conventional myosins such as the members of the nonmuscle myosin-2 family and myosin-7A. These interactions support a wide range of cellular processes including cytokinesis, maintenance of cell polarity, cell adhesion, migration, and mechano-electrical transduction. To elucidate differences in the ability of isoactins to bind and stimulate the enzymatic activity of individual myosin isoforms, we characterized the interactions of human skeletal muscle α-actin, cytoplasmic β-actin, and cytoplasmic γ-actin with human myosin-7A and nonmuscle myosins-2A, -2B and -2C1. In the case of nonmuscle myosins-2A and -2B, the interaction with either cytoplasmic actin isoform results in 4-fold greater stimulation of myosin ATPase activity than was observed in the presence of α-skeletal muscle actin. Nonmuscle myosin-2C1 is most potently activated by β-actin and myosin-7A by γ-actin. Our results indicate that β- and γ-actin isoforms contribute to the modulation of nonmuscle myosin-2 and myosin-7A activity and thereby to the spatial and temporal regulation of cytoskeletal dynamics. FRET-based analyses show efficient copolymerization abilities for the actin isoforms in vitro. Experiments with hybrid actin filaments show that the extent of actomyosin coupling efficiency can be regulated by the isoform composition of actin filaments.