Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Synthèse vocale de textes arabes voyellés

Nous nous interessons a l’utilite et l’utilisabilite de la structure visuelle des textes, pour leur transposition a l’oral par des systemes de synthese de parole (TTS). Nous proposons la synoptique d’un systeme qui conduit a une representation du texte interpretable par un TTS. Nous avons partiellement realise le module specifique aux strategies d’oralisation, afin de rendre articulables la part signifiante des textes, souvent oubliee. Des specifications ont ete precisees et partiellement integrees par un partenaire industriel. Des hypotheses predictives quant a l’impact sur la memorisation/comprehension de deux strategies issues de notre modele d’oralisation par reformulation des textes ecrits pour etre lus silencieusement, ont ete formulees et testees. Ce travail a montre que des fonctions cognitives etaient perdues. Des prototypes, exploitant la notion d’image de page, ont ete imagines a travers des interfaces dans lesquelles la multimodalite a pour role de combler cette lacune.
The Dynamic Mobility of Vertebral Compression Fractures

We have observed that some osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures (VCFs) are mobile. The purpose of this report was to document the existence of dynamic fracture mobility, estimate the frequency of dynamic mobility in patients referred for vertebroplasty, define the magnitude and nature of dynamic mobility, and consider the implications of the dynamic mobility of osteoporotic VCFs. This was a prospective radiographic analysis of 41 consecutive patients with 65 VCFs who underwent vertebroplasty. Preoperative standing lateral radiographs of the fractured vertebrae were compared with supine cross‐table lateral radiographs to determine the presence or absence of dynamic mobility. Postoperative standing lateral radiographs were evaluated to document fracture mobility and assess final vertebral height restoration. Radiographs were manually digitized to calculate vertebral body morphometrics. Dynamic fracture mobility was demonstrated in 44% of patients (35% of treated vertebrae) who underwent vertebroplasty. Postoperatively, in mobile fractures, average anterior vertebral height increased 106% compared with initial fracture height (absolute increase, 8.41 ± 0.4 mm). Mean lateral vertebral area increased from 48% to 80% of normal, and kyphotic angle decreased 40%. Mobile fractures dominated at the thoracolumbar junction. Intravertebral clefts were defined and identified in every mobile fracture and were absent from every nonmobile (fixed) fracture. This radiographic series documents the previously unrecognized occurrence of dynamic fracture mobility in many osteoporotic VCFs. Fracture mobility can be substantial and clinically significant. Any intervention that claims vertebral height restoration must control for the occurrence of dynamic fracture mobility.
Strategies for implementing innovation in small and medium-sized enterprises

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore innovation strategies that managers of small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) used to implement innovation in their organizations to meet performance goals. Design/methodology/approach The participants in this multiple case study research comprised randomly selected managers from SMEs operating in Dubai, United Arab Emirates with specialist expertise in successfully implementing innovation in their organizations. Individual interviews were undertaken with participants to gain both an insight and understanding regarding which innovation strategies are best suited to improve performance goal outcomes. A further analysis of workplace internal documents, policies, procedures, SMEs’ websites, review websites and press releases afforded additional insights related to the application of innovative workplace practices which supported productivity improvements in relation to performance goal outcomes. Findings The findings of this study identified that the role of the top management in cultivating an innovative culture, the identification of ideas as the starting point for innovation and the recognition of customers as resources for the company. Practical implications Implementing the findings from this study may support job creation, economy protection in downturns and contribution to economic growth, since thriving SMEs have a positive impact on community development through the generation of the employment. Furthermore, the results of this study can help in creating an increase in improving the productivity of Dubai SMEs in Dubai’s GDP, improvement in investment opportunities; better working conditions for employees and possibilities for expanding the operations of Dubai SMEs globally. Originality/value This study is of value because its findings may contribute to local and global economic growth. Exploring successful innovation implementation strategies in SMEs can result in useful guidelines that SME managers can use to reach the performance goals of their SMEs. Since governmental policies are critical to improving business performance, the Government of Dubai may benefit from this study by addressing key success factors for SMEs through policies and regulations. This study has particular value given the lack of studies that address the issue of innovation implementation in SMEs, especially for SMEs in emerging economies.
Extending Test-Driven Development for Robust Web Services

Research and practice show that a large number of web services are deployed with robustness problems (i.e., presenting unexpected behaviors in the presence of invalid inputs). Test-driven development, particularly suitable for web service environments, is a software development technique based on predefined test cases that are used during development to validate the desired software improvements or new functionalities. However, building representative test cases is quite difficult and developers often miss the test cases for robustness validation. This paper demonstrates how robustness testing can be integrated in the test driven development process to improve web services robustness. To demonstrate the proposed approach we have invited experienced developers to implement three different versions of the web services specified by the standard TPC-App performance benchmark, two following the standard test-driven development process and the other using the approach proposed in this paper. Results suggest that test-driven development coupled with robustness testing is a practical way to prevent the deployment of services with robustness problems.
Identification of RhoGAP22 as an Akt-Dependent Regulator of Cell Motility in Response to Insulin

ABSTRACT Insulin exerts many of its metabolic actions via the canonical phosphatidylinositide 3 kinase (PI3K)/Akt pathway, leading to phosphorylation and 14-3-3 binding of key metabolic targets. We previously identified a GTPase-activating protein (GAP) for Rac1 called RhoGAP22 as an insulin-responsive 14-3-3 binding protein. Insulin increased 14-3-3 binding to RhoGAP22 fourfold, and this effect was PI3K dependent. We identified two insulin-responsive 14-3-3 binding sites (pSer16 and pSer395) within RhoGAP22, and mutagenesis studies revealed a complex interplay between the phosphorylation at these two sites. Mutating Ser16 to alanine blocked 14-3-3 binding to RhoGAP22 in vivo, and phosphorylation at Ser16 was mediated by the kinase Akt. Overexpression of a mutant RhoGAP22 that was unable to bind 14-3-3 reduced cell motility in NIH-3T3 fibroblasts, and this effect was dependent on a functional GAP domain. Mutation of the catalytic arginine of the GAP domain of RhoGAP22 potentiated growth factor-stimulated Rac1 GTP loading. We propose that insulin and possibly growth factors such as platelet-derived growth factor may play a novel role in regulating cell migration and motility via the Akt-dependent phosphorylation of RhoGAP22, leading to modulation of Rac1 activity.
Feeling Better

People perceive spatial form and temporal frequency through touch. Although distinct somatosensory neurons represent spatial and temporal information, these neural populations are intermixed throughout the somatosensory system. Here, we show that spatial and temporal touch can be dissociated and separately enhanced via cortical pathways that are normally associated with vision and audition. In Experiments 1 and 2, we found that anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) applied over visual cortex, but not auditory cortex, enhances tactile perception of spatial orientation. In Experiments 3 and 4, we found that anodal tDCS over auditory cortex, but not visual cortex, enhances tactile perception of temporal frequency. This double dissociation reveals separate cortical pathways that selectively support spatial and temporal channels. These results bolster the emerging view that sensory areas process multiple modalities and suggest that supramodal domains may be more fundamental to cortical organization.
31P NMR Spectroscopy of Trypanosoma brucei, Trypanosoma cruzi, and Leishmania major

High resolution 31P nuclear magnetic resonance spectra at 303.6 MHz (corresponding to a1H resonance frequency of 750 MHz) have been obtained of perchloric acid extracts of Trypanosoma brucei,Trypanosoma cruzi, and Leishmania major, the causative agents of African sleeping sickness, Chagas' disease, and leishmaniasis. Essentially complete assignments have been made based on chemical shifts and by direct addition of authentic reference compounds. The results indicate the presence of high levels of short chain condensed polyphosphates: di-, tri-, tetra-, and pentapolyphosphate. 31P NMR spectra of purified T. brucei, T. cruzi, and L. majoracidocalcisomes, calcium and phosphorus storage organelles, indicate that polyphosphates are abundant in these organelles and have an average chain length of 3.11–3.39 phosphates. In the context of the recent discovery of several pyrophosphate-utilizing enzymes in trypanosomatids, the presence of these inorganic polyphosphates implies a critical role for these molecules in these parasites and a potential new route to chemotherapy.
Step by step : essays on minimalist syntax in honor of Howard Lasnik

This collection of essays presents an up-to-date overview of research in the minimalist program of linguistic theory. The book includes a new essay by Noam Chomsky as well as original contributions from other renowned linguists.Contributors : Andrew Barss, Zeljko Boskovic, Noam Chomsky, Hamida Demirdache, Hiroto Hoshi, Kyle Johnson, Roger Martin, Keiko Murasugi, Javier Ormazabal, Mamoru Saito, Daiko Takahashi, Juan Uriagereka, Myriam Uribe-Extebarria, Ewa Willim.
Determinants of Amount of Capital Raised During IPO Sale

There is no doubt that a resource crucial for the continued growth and survival of a company is capital. As a company’s investment scale increases, the need for additional capital becomes paramount. One way by which a company raises capital is through initial public offerings (IPOs). However, the amount of capital raised in the IPO market varies among companies. It is on this note that this study aimed to examine the factors that affect the amount of capital a company can raise during an IPO activity. To achieve the aim of this study, data was collected from pre-IPO prospectuses of the sampled IPOs. The study made particular reference to the signalling, upper echelons and resource dependence theories to identify the pre-IPO characteristics that could influence the amount of capital a company can raise in the IPO market. The results from this study provide valuable information that could help issuers to identify appropriate mechanisms that would signal the company’s quality and influence the value of the company. The results also provide hints to prospective investors on the managerial characteristics and company-specific characteristics to be considered when making investment decisions. The implication is that IPO issuers should pay attention to such criteria when making IPO decisions in order to maximize the value from the offerings. The results would also be important to several interested groups when a company undertakes an IPO decision.
Dynamic Analysis of a Si/SiGe-Based Impact Ionization Avalanche Transit Time Photodiode With an Ultrahigh Gain-Bandwidth Product

We investigate the dynamic performance of a Si/SiGe-based impact ionization avalanche transit time photodiode (PD) fabricated on a standard Si substrate that operates at the 830-nm wavelength. The bandwidth-enhancement effect under negative-photoconductance (NPC) operation can greatly relax the internal transit time as well as the tradeoff between the gain and bandwidth performance that characterizes the traditional avalanche PD. Our modeling and measurement results show that the extracted internal resonant frequency increases significantly with the reverse leakage current. By choosing the proper bias voltage in the NPC region, we can simultaneously achieve a wide 3-dB bandwidth (30 GHz), ultrahigh gain-bandwidth product (690 GHz) with a 53.2% external efficiency at unit gain, and clear eye opening at 10 Gb/s.
Public Choice: The Economic Analysis of Public Law

Law students, served a standard helping of textbook or case method analysis, could be forgiven for thinking that the "law" consists mainly of common law rather than legislation, and that cases, not statutes, are the central repository of legal knowledge. Even those who study legislation often end up with a court-centred view of law. For while legislators enact laws, it is the judiciary which actually interprets, and in some respects, enforces them. Such a view is essentially inaccurate. Australia, like most other advanced western democracies, is an administrative state, shaped by explicitly adopted policies, incorporated in legislation and implemented by a large array of large regulatory agencies. l The economy, the health and safety of the public and the work force, the environment, and a multiplicity of other social goals are all regulated (with varying degrees of success) by this means. As a result, as Rubin observes: policy formation has displaced the incremental operation of the common law as our primary means of social regulation, and regulatory agencies have displaced the common law courts as the primary means by which that regulation is effectuated.2 It follows that those who study public law need to understand not only the law itself and the processes of governmental decision-making, but also their political underpinnings. As McAuslan has pointed out, there is a close and continuing connection between political process and public law: we cannot hope to understand the real world of public law without at the same time understanding something of the real world of politics and government, how decisions are made, what influences are brought to bear on decision-makers, how process affects policy and policy process, how public law and political process are in many respects two sides of the same coin.3 This article examines an economic perspective, a new political economy, that has done much to develop understanding of political decision-making and its implications for law. This perspective, known as "public choice" theory, has had a major impact in North America,4 and is becoming increasingly influential in the United Kingdom.s However, as yet, it has received very little attention from lawyers in Australia and even less legal scholarship appears to
Development of microsatellite loci for Cyclocarya paliurus (Juglandaceae), a monotypic species in subtropical China

Premise of the study: Microsatellite loci were developed for a monotypic species endemic to subtropical China, Cyclocarya paliurus, to help infer the evolutionary histories of ancient monotypic genera in subtropical China. Methods and Results: Using the Fast Isolation by AFLP of Sequences Containing repeats (FIASCO) protocol, 28 primer sets were identified in two wild populations. All loci were polymorphic, with the number of alleles per locus ranging from two to eight. The expected and observed heterozygosities ranged from 0.153 to 0.802 and from 0 to 0.750, respectively. The transferability of the 28 primer pairs was tested on Juglans regia, Pterocarya stenoptera, and Platycarya strobilacea. Twenty-one (75.0%), 22 (78.6%), and 15 (53.6%) markers were successfully amplified in J. regia, P. stenoptera, and P. strobilacea, respectively. Conclusions: These loci will be useful for in-depth analysis of genetic diversity and phylogeographical variation throughout the distribution range of C. paliurus.
Risk assessment of events of interest for the brazilian agricultural sector based on a psycometric model for ordinal preferences.

This paper uses the Law of Categorical Judgments to rank events of importance for the Brazilian agricultural sector as well as the level of public policies carried out by the government to miligate their effects, according to the perceptions of 502 sector specialist. Statistical results point to infrastructure and logistics as the most important factors with lowest level of public policies in place.
Grid anywhere: an extensible desktop grid computing middleware (Grid Anywhere: Um middleware extensível para grades computacionais desktop)

This PhD thesis presents investigations, models and implementations of a computational grid middleware named Grid Anywhere. This platform aims at allowing the build of computational grid systems, which enable the increa se of the number of participants as consumers and resource providers. In order to do th is, new solutions are presented to manage security policies, load applications, host o bjects, execute remote methods, develop application and alternative transport of SO AP messages in a flexible way (using the interactive digital television system and inser ting one SOAP message inside another document of this same protocol). As applications of this middleware, two different architectures of computational grids were created. The first one enables an environment to share resources that are used as infrastructure to provide platform as a service (PaaS) in a cloud computing system. The goal of the secon d architecture is to increase the computational power of desktop computational grid s ystems using digital television receivers (set-top box) as resource providers, wher e the distribution of objects and SOAP messages occurs via broadcasting. The models w ere validated by means of real tests using the respective implementations, which s howed that the platform is functional. Such implementations provide software p oducts that help the innovation and development of computational grid applications a d also others types of distributed systems.
Three Steps Forward, Two Steps Backward: The Status of Women's Integration into Public Management.

long way to go before they will reach parity. T oday, as in the past, women must convince men that their demands for governmental action are legitimate before their desires are transformed into policies, programs, and services. This is because men hold the vast majority of decision-making positions in government. In legislative chambers and top-level career posts, women's voices are still mostly heard indirectly through the mouths of their husbands, fathers, brothers, and sons. When Abigail Adams reminded her husband to "remember the ladies" as a new nation was being founded, he responded in jest to her. The thought of treating women as full-fledged citizens was considered frivolous. Two hundred years later, women's political status has improved, but women remain largely dependent on the goodwill of the men around them. This is true in policy implementation and program management as well as in the political arena.
Chirp UWB system with software defined receiver for industrial mobile ranging and autonomous control

In this paper, a chirp UWB scheme deployed for both ranging and communication is proposed. Its target application is for industrial mobile ranging and autonomous control that require very high reliability. To construct both ranging and communication circuit hardware, the SDR technique is employed as a receiver platform for this chirp UWB system. Since the chirp modulation scheme is very simple and presents a very stable communication medium, it promises that the proposed system has the high performance and robustness necessary for industrial applications.
A 3-D FDTD scheme for the computation of HPM propagation in atmosphere

Focus on the simulation of the dynamics of high power microwave (HPM) ionization of air at atmosphere, we analyze the physical mechanism in the formation of plasma. The magnetohydrodynamic formulations, formed by Maxwell equations coupled with simple fluid description, are applied to describe the ionization procedure. Then, we present a three dimensional (3-D) finite-difference time domain (FDTD) scheme to deal with such problems, of which the computational procedure is discussed in detail. At last, numerical experiments are provided, and some parameters about plasma are analyzed. The theory also predicts the pulse breakdown threshold accurately.
Comparison of corneal endothelial changes following phacoemulsification with transversal and torsional phacoemulsification machines.

AIM To compare and evaluate the phacoemulsification parameters and postoperative endothelial cell changes of two different phacoemulsification machines, each with different modes, but also to assess the relationship between postoperative endothelial cell loss and the phacoemulsification parameters, as well as the other factors in both groups. METHODS This prospective observational study was comprised of consecutive eligible cataract patients operated with phacoemulsification technique performed by the same surgeon using either a WHITESTAR Signature Ellips FX (transversal, group 1) or Infiniti OZil IP (torsional, group 2) machine. RESULTS The study included 86 patients. Baseline characteristics in the groups were similar. The median nuclear sclerosis grade was 3 (2-4) in the first group and 2 (2-4) in the second group (P=0.265). Both groups had similar phacoemulsification needle times (group 1: 60.63±36 s; group 2: 55.98±30 s; P=0.789). The percentage of endothelial cell loss 30d after surgery ranged from 3% to 15% with a median of 7% in group 1, and from 2% to 13% with a median of 6% in group 2; however, there was no statistically significant difference between the groups (P=0.407). Hexagonality (P=0.794) and the coefficient of variation (CV; P=0.142) did not differ significantly between the groups before and 30d after surgery. A significant positive correlation was found between the endothelial cell loss and nuclear sclerosis grade (group 1: P<0.001; group 2: P<0.001) and between the endothelial cell loss and average phacoemulsification power (group 1: P=0.007; group 2: P=0.008). CONCLUSION Both of these machines were efficient, with similar endothelial cell loss. This endothelial cell loss was related to the increased nuclear sclerosis grade and increased phacoemulsification power.