Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Pax Americana? Accent attitudinal evaluations in New Zealand, Australia and America

This study describes a series of evaluations of gender pairs of New Zealand English, Australian English, American English and RP-type English English voices by over 400 students in New Zealand, Australia and the U.S.A. Voices were chosen to represent the middle range of each accent, and balanced for paralinguistic features. Twenty-two personality and demographic traits were evaluated by Likert-scale questionnaires. Results indicated that the American female voice was rated most favourably on at least some traits by students of all three nationalities, followed by the American male. For most traits, Australian students generally ranked their own accents in third or fourth place, but New Zealanders put the female NZE voice in the mid-low range of all but solidarity-associated traits. All three groups disliked the NZE male. The RP voices did not receive the higher rankings in power/status variables we expected. The New Zealand evaluations downgrade their own accent vis-a`-vis the American and to some extent the RP voices. Overall, the American accent seems well on the way to equalling or even replacing RP as the prestige—or at least preferred—variety, not only in New Zealand but in Australia and some non-English-speaking nations as well. Preliminary analysis of data from Europe suggests this manifestation of linguistic hegemony as ‘Pax Americana’ seems to be prevalent over more than just the Anglophone nations.
The Hall Instability of Weakly Ionized, Radially Stratified, Rotating Disks

Cool weakly ionized gaseous rotating disks are considered by many models to be the origin of the evolution of protoplanetary clouds. Instabilities against perturbations in such disks play an important role in the theory of the formation of stars and planets. Thus, a hierarchy of successive fragmentations into smaller and smaller pieces as a part of the Kant-Laplace theory of formation of the planetary system remains valid also for contemporary cosmogony. Traditionally, axisymmetric magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) and, recently, Hall-MHD instabilities have been thoroughly studied as providers of an efficient mechanism for radial transfer of angular momentum and of radial density stratification. In the current work, the Hall instability against nonaxisymmetric perturbations in compressible rotating fluid in external magnetic field is proposed as a viable mechanism for the azimuthal fragmentation of the protoplanetary disk and, thus, perhaps initiates the road to planet formation. The Hall instability is excited due to the combined effect of the radial stratification of the disk and the Hall electric field, and its growth rate is of the order of the rotation period. This family of instabilities is introduced here for the first time in an astrophysical context.
Distribution of Basement Membrane Molecules, Laminin and Collagen Type IV, in Normal and Degenerated Cartilage Tissues

Objective: The objective of the present study was to investigate the presence and distribution of 2 basement membrane (BM) molecules, laminin and collagen type IV, in healthy and degenerative cartilage tissues. Design: Normal and degenerated tissues were obtained from goats and humans, including articular knee cartilage, the intervertebral disc, and meniscus. Normal tissue was also obtained from patella-tibial enthesis in goats. Immunohistochemical analysis was performed using anti-laminin and anti–collagen type IV antibodies. Human and goat skin were used as positive controls. The percentage of cells displaying the pericellular presence of the protein was graded semiquantitatively. Results: When present, laminin and collagen type IV were exclusively found in the pericellular matrix, and in a discrete layer on the articulating surface of normal articular cartilage. In normal articular (hyaline) cartilage in the human and goat, the proteins were found co-localized pericellularly. In contrast, in human osteoarthritic articular cartilage, collagen type IV but not laminin was found in the pericellular region. Nonpathological fibrocartilaginous tissues from the goat, including the menisci and the enthesis, were also positive for both laminin and collagen type IV pericellularly. In degenerated fibrocartilage, including intervertebral disc, as in degenerated hyaline cartilage only collagen type IV was found pericellularly around chondrocytes but with less intense staining than in non-degenerated tissue. In calcified cartilage, some cells were positive for laminin but not type IV collagen. Conclusions: We report differences in expression of the BM molecules, laminin and collagen type IV, in normal and degenerative cartilaginous tissues from adult humans and goats. In degenerative tissues laminin is depleted from the pericellular matrix before collagen type IV. The findings may inform future studies of the processes underlying cartilage degeneration and the functional roles of these 2 extracellular matrix proteins, normally associated with BM.
Learning by Observing and Pitching In to Family and Community Endeavors: An Orientation

This article formulates a way of organizing learning opportunities in which children are broadly integrated in the activities of their families and communities and learn by attentively contributing to the endeavors around them, in a multifaceted process termed “Learning by Observing and Pitching In. ” This form of informal learning appears to be especially prevalent in many Indigenous-heritage communities of the USA, Mexico, and Central America, although it is important in all communities and in some schools. It contrasts with an approach that involves adults attempting to control children's attention, motivation, and learning in Assembly-Line Instruction, which is a widespread way of organizing Western schooling. This article contrasts these two approaches and considers how families varying in experience with these two approaches (and related practices) across generations may engage in them during everyday and instructional adult-child interactions.
The Physiological Molecular Shape of Spectrin: A Compact Supercoil Resembling a Chinese Finger Trap

The primary, secondary, and tertiary structures of spectrin are reasonably well defined, but the structural basis for the known dramatic molecular shape change, whereby the molecular length can increase three-fold, is not understood. In this study, we combine previously reported biochemical and high-resolution crystallographic data with structural mass spectroscopy and electron microscopic data to derive a detailed, experimentally-supported quaternary structure of the spectrin heterotetramer. In addition to explaining spectrin’s physiological resting length of ~55-65 nm, our model provides a mechanism by which spectrin is able to undergo a seamless three-fold extension while remaining a linear filament, an experimentally observed property. According to the proposed model, spectrin’s quaternary structure and mechanism of extension is similar to a Chinese Finger Trap: at shorter molecular lengths spectrin is a hollow cylinder that extends by increasing the pitch of each spectrin repeat, which decreases the internal diameter. We validated our model with electron microscopy, which demonstrated that, as predicted, spectrin is hollow at its biological resting length of ~55-65 nm. The model is further supported by zero-length chemical crosslink data indicative of an approximately 90 degree bend between adjacent spectrin repeats. The domain-domain interactions in our model are entirely consistent with those present in the prototypical linear antiparallel heterotetramer as well as recently reported inter-strand chemical crosslinks. The model is consistent with all known physical properties of spectrin, and upon full extension our Chinese Finger Trap Model reduces to the ~180-200 nm molecular model currently in common use.
Critical assessment of combination therapy development.

Although antihypertensive treatment has been found to reduce cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, hypertensive patients are still at a significantly increased risk compared with normotensive controls. One of the reasons is that blood pressure control is often suboptimal. In fact, less than 40% of patients reach the target set by the treating physician. The development of wisely chosen fixed combinations could be one means, among others, to improve blood pressure control without compromising tolerability. The prescription, in a single pill, of two antihypertensive agents has the potential advantage of improving compliance by reducing the number of pills that need to be taken per day. There should be a pharmacological rationale, with the two agents having different and complementary modes of actions to reduce blood pressure: for example, a vascular selective calcium antagonist lowers total peripheral resistance and a beta-blocker lowers heart rate and, thus, cardiac output. These drugs can also mutually neutralise some of each others' side-effects, such as the initial heart rate increases which may occur with dihydropyridine calcium antagonists, and the rise in peripheral resistance elicited by some beta-blockers. The creation of a fixed-dose combination for effective and safe treatment of hypertension requires a complex programme of development. An example is the formulation of a combination tablet of felodipine and metoprolol in which extended-release techniques were applied to ensure that blood pressure control was maintained throughout the 24-h dosing interval. Evaluation included pharmacokinetic studies of the formulation, interaction studies and clinical trials of crossover and parallel-group designs to establish the 24-h efficacy and safety of the product. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Lexical Substitution for the Medical Domain

In this paper we examine the lexical substitution task for the medical domain. We adapt the current best system from the open domain, which trains a single classifier for all instances using delexicalized features. We show significant improvements over a strong baseline coming from a distributional thesaurus (DT). Whereas in the open domain system, features derived from WordNet show only slight improvements, we show that its counterpart for the medical domain (UMLS) shows a significant additional benefit when used for feature generation.
State-wise Dynamics of the Double Burden of Malnutrition among 15–49 Year-old Women in India: How Much Does the Scenario Change Considering Asian Population-specific BMI Cut-off Values?

This article assesses the gravity of the “double burden of malnutrition” across 21 states of India, through a comparative analysis of traditional and Asian population-specific BMI categorizations for overweight and obesity. This study analyzes data on ever-married women (15–49 years) from the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-2, 1998–1999; NFHS-3, 2005–2006). Findings depict that Indian women tilt toward high BMI resulting in a co-existence of under- and overweight populations, which portray a regional pattern. With Asian population-specific cut-offs, 11 states can be classified as “double burden states”; however, following traditional categorization, only 4 states face such dual pressure.
Repurchase loyalty: The role of involvement and satisfaction

Most studies of satisfaction and loyalty focus on the brand level of decision making. Involvement, on the other hand, is mainly defined and measured on the product category level. This study explores this gap by investigating the role of product category involvement and satisfaction in the formation of repurchase loyalty toward a product category. The study proposes alternative models that suggest that involvement may be an antecedent, a motivational mediator as well as a moderator, between satisfaction and repurchase loyalty. Secondly, it discusses the relative importance of satisfaction in forming involvement and loyalty by introducing social norms and perceived control (opportunity) as alternative antecedents. Involvement proved to be a complete mediator between satisfaction and repurchase loyalty, and a partial mediator between social norm/perceived control and loyalty. Involvement as a moderator was not supported. Social norms showed nearly the same ability as individual satisfaction in explaining variance in product category involvement. However, perceived control had a significant direct influence on repurchase loyalty, but the relationship between perceived control and involvement was not significant. Implications of these findings for satisfaction–loyalty development and research are explored. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
[Physical quality of life and social support in patients on the waiting list and after a lung transplantation].

BACKGROUND The present study was carried out to assess quality of life, level of depression and perceived social support of patients on the waiting list and after a lung transplantation. METHODS 19 patients on the waiting list for lung transplantation and 20 patients 5 - 47 months after transplantation were enrolled in the study. Quality of life was measured by the SF-36 Health Survey, the level of depression with Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and the perceived social support with the questionnaire for social support (F-SOZU). RESULTS Significant differences were observed in indicators regarding physical functioning, role-physical, vitality, health perception and social functioning. Both groups showed equal levels of depression and their number of perceived support persons. The perceived support correlates negatively with the level of depression. Transplanted women reported significant more burdensome relationships when compared to transplanted men. CONCLUSION The effects of lung transplantation are shown best in all indexes of SF-36 associated with physical functioning. In both groups social support is positively correlated with the quality of life and negatively correlated with the level of depression. Perceived positive relationships reduces the risk of psychological disturbance. However, the results may also point to a different coping pattern for patients with a low level of depression.
Risky Choice Framing: Task Versions and a Comparison of Prospect Theory and Fuzzy- Trace Theory

Framing effects are said to indicate irrationality in decision making because they illustrate that linguistically different descriptions of equivalent options lead to inconsistent choices. A review of the literature on the effects of adding, or subtracting, implicated complements of the sure option shows that this leads to a classic framing effect, a reversal of the classic effect, or no framing effect. Thus, the assumption of equivalence of formulations is not justified. In addition we provide a test of two major, but opposing theories on framing, prospect theory and fuzzy-trace theory. Based on an online study we investigated the effects of subtracting complements of the risky option. The results are more consistent with fuzzy-trace theory than with prospect theory. The consequences of these findings for the application of formal models like prospect theory, and for rationality, are discussed. Copyright # 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Developing Argumentation Strategies in Electronic Dialogs: Is Modeling Effective?

The study presented here examines how interacting with a more capable interlocutor influences use of argumentation strategies in electronic discourse. To address this question, 54 young adolescents participating in an intervention centered on electronic peer dialogs were randomly assigned to either an experimental or control condition. In both conditions, pairs who held the same position on a social issue engaged in a series of electronic dialogs with pairs who held an opposing position. In the experimental condition, in some dialogs, unbeknownst to them (because dialog took place electronically), the opponent was a more capable (“expert”) adult. Dialogs in the control condition were only with peers. Argumentation strategies of the experimental group who argued with the “expert” showed immediate strategy improvements in their subsequent peer dialogs, improvement absent in the control group (Cohen's d = 1.12). In particular, the experimental group showed greater use of counterargument in general and advanced forms of counterargument (undermining) that challenges the deeper premises or reasoning on which an argument is based. Implications with respect to mechanisms of change in the development of argumentation skills are considered.
The Perceptions and Practices of Pediatricians: Tobacco Intervention

Objectives. To investigate pediatrician self-reported intervention practices related to tobacco use and cessation. We queried about practices with three groups 1) children/adolescents who do not smoke; 2) children/adolescents who smoke; and 3) parents, and the relationship of counseling practices with the personal and professional practice-related factors of pediatricians. Design. Mailed anonymous survey regarding their self-reported tobacco use prevention and cessation intervention practices. Population. Random sample of 350 pediatricians in one state. Results. A response rate of 75% was achieved. Pediatricians reported the greatest counseling practice in encouraging children/adolescents to not start smoking, followed by counseling adolescents who smoke. The lowest practice score was for intervening with parents who smoke. The age, gender, site of practice (eg, HMO, solo practice), and subspecialty status of the pediatricians were not related to practice. Pediatricians who reported at least some community involvement in local tobacco control efforts reported significantly higher levels of smoking cessation counseling with both children and adolescents and with parents who smoke. Pediatricians who reported previous training in counseling about tobacco issues also reported significantly higher levels of counseling of both adolescent smokers and parents who smoke but not of children and adolescents who do not smoke. Higher role perception, believing that smoking cessation counseling provided by pediatricians can be effective, and self-efficacy, were predictive of intervention with all three groups. The perceived barriers scale was not related to intervention with any group. Conclusions. Pediatricians are missing opportunities to help their patients to stop smoking and to prevent smoking initiation. Pediatricians are intervening least frequently with parents who smoke. Practices should be tailored to the specific target group.
Changing ecological constraints of practice alters coordination of dynamic interceptive actions

Abstract The ecological constraints of practice have a significant effect on the acquisition of functional information–movement couplings and learners need to converge on information-specifying perceptual variables. Consequently, the prolonged and widespread use of ball projection machines for the practice of interceptive actions may lack theoretical foundation because they afford information-specifying variables that are not present in competition. The timing and coordination of the forward defensive stroke in cricket batting were examined in experienced batters under two typical practice task constraints: batting against a representative “real” bowler and a representative bowling machine (mean delivery velocity 26.76 m·s−1 under both conditions). Significant adaptation of coordination and timing was observed under the different practice task constraints. For example, initiation of the backswing was later against a bowler and downswing was faster with a different ratio of backswing–downswing when batting against the bowling machine (47%–53%) compared with the bowler (54%–46%). Peak bat height differed under the two constraints (bowling machine: mean 1.56 m, s=19.89; bowler: 1.72 m, s=10.36 m). Mean length of front foot stride was shorter against the bowling machine (0.55 m, s=0.07 m) than the bowler (0.59 m, s=0.06 m). The correlation between initiation of backswing and front foot movement was much higher against the bowler (r = 0.88) than the bowling machine (r=0.65).
Eficácia de sistemas de informação e percepção de mudança organizacional: um estudo de caso

This paper is based on a case study involving 64 users of a Hospital Information System implanted in a large hospital in the City of Recife, Brazil. It is originated from the idea that the introduction of an information system should be regarded as an organizational change process, since it has a great potential of interfering with various aspects of the organization. The proposed hypothesis is that an information system tends to be considered efficacious when it is perceived as an element that contributes to the fulfilling of institutional objectives. In this study, was observed a positive correlation of 0.5011 between the degree of effectiveness attributed to the information system and the level of improvement in the quality of patient care perceived from the point of view of a group of users that works more directly with the pacients at the administrative tasks. The results suggest that the relationship between the variables may occur according to the degree that the proposed objectives, those formally declared, are congruent with the organizational objectives, those effectively sought by the personnel within the organization, and denominated by Perrow as operational objectives.
Effects of dietary nitrogen level and ileal antibiotic administration on digestion and passage rates in beef heifers. I. High-concentrate diets.

Four beef heifers (211 kg) fitted with ruminal, duodenal and ileal cannulae (T-type), were fed a high-concentrate diet with a low (L) or high (H) level of N (1.71 and 2.18%, respectively), and received daily doses of either saline (S) or an antibiotic (A) mixture (2 g neomycin sulfate and .25 g bacitracin) into the terminal ileum in a 4 X 4 Latin-square experiment. Added N increased ruminal NH3-N concentration and tended to increase efficiency of microbial growth and to decrease ruminal disappearance of organic matter, starch and protein. Administration of antibiotics into the ileum reduced nucleic acid content of feces (P less than .05), tended to reduce digestion of organic matter and starch in the hindgut and total tract and increased ileal pH (P less than .05). Ileal administration of antibiotics increased ruminal escape of feed N by 26 and 42% with the low and high N diets, respectively, and increased ruminal passage rate of particulates. Ruminal N digestion was inversely related to ruminal particulate passage rate (r = -.49; P less than .06). Ruminal liquid passage rate was inversely related to rate of fluid passage through the hindgut and was reduced by ileal administration of antibiotics with the low N diet, but increased by antibiotics with the high N diet. Results indicate that administration of antibiotics into the terminal ileum alters digestive function earlier in the digestive tract including ruminal passage rates and digestion of N in the rumen. Responses were partially modulated by dietary N level.
An improved support vector machines model in medical data analysis

The support vector machine (SVM) technique is an emerging classification scheme that has been successfully employed in solving many classification problems. However, three main traits: features selection, dimension reduction and parameters selection, essentially influence the classification performance of SVM models. Therefore, this study developed an improved support vector machine (IMSVM) model using factor analysis (FA), kernel sliced inverse regression (KSIR) and honey-bee mating optimisation with genetic algorithms (HBMOG) to deal with feature selection, dimension reduction, and parameter selection issues, respectively, for SVM models. Then, the statlog heart dataset from the Center for Machine Learning and Intelligent Systems at the University of California, Irvine (UCI) was used to demonstrate the performance of the IMSVM model. Experimental results revealed that the IMSVM model can provide more accurate classification results than the results obtained by classification models in previous literature. Thus, the proposed model is a promising alternative for analysing medical data.