Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The acquisition of English pitch accents by Mandarin Chinese speakers as affected by boundary tones

This study investigates how Mandarin Chinese (MC) speakers learn English pitch accents under the influence of L1 prosody system. Based on Speech Learning Model (SLM), it is hypothesized that MC speakers will produce H* better than L* since MC speakers tend to associate stressed syllables with higher pitch. Another hypothesis is that MC speakers will produce pitch accents better in the sentence-final position due to tonal crowding effects and interrogative intonation features of MC. To test these hypotheses, 5 native English speakers and 12 MC speakers are invited to produce English declaratives and interrogatives so that different pitch accents can be elicited. A non-word pair of DAga and daGA only differing in stress position is embedded in sentence-medial and final positions. ToBI labeling shows how well MC speakers learn H* and L* respectively. Further statistical analyses of acoustic measures of pitch range and F0 change slope were conducted to triangulate the phonological data. The results show that MC speakers produce pitch accents as predicted. The study extends SLM in that learners encounter more difficulties in similar intonational categories as predicted.
Toward Spoken Human–Computer Tutorial Dialogues

Oral discourse is the primary form of human–human communication, hence, computer interfaces that communicate via unstructured spoken dialogues will presumably provide a more efficient, meaningful, and naturalistic interaction experience. Within the context of learning environments, there are theoretical positions supporting a speech facilitation hypothesis that predicts that spoken tutorial dialogues will increase learning more than typed dialogues. We evaluated this hypothesis in an experiment where 24 participants learned computer literacy via a spoken and a typed conversation with AutoTutor, an intelligent tutoring system with conversational dialogues. The results indicated that (a) enhanced content coverage was achieved in the spoken condition; (b) learning gains for both modalities were on par and greater than a no-instruction control; (c) although speech recognition errors were unrelated to learning gains, they were linked to participants' evaluations of the tutor; (d) participants adjusted their conversational styles when speaking compared to typing; (e) semantic and statistical natural language understanding approaches to comprehending learners' responses were more resilient to speech recognition errors than syntactic and symbolic-based approaches; and (f) simulated speech recognition errors had differential impacts on the fidelity of different semantic algorithms. We discuss the impact of our findings on the speech facilitation hypothesis and on human–computer interfaces that support spoken dialogues.
Sperm nuclear halos can transform into normal chromosomes after injection into oocytes

Mouse sperm nuclei extracted with an ionic detergent and 2 M NaCl retain their overall morphology, but upon subsequent reduction of the protamine disulfides they lose all elements of chromatin structure except the organization of DNA into loop that are anchored to the nuclear matrix. These DNA loops appear as a halo surrounding the nuclear matrix, and nuclei extracted in this manner are, therefore, called nuclear halos. Here, we report that sperm nuclear halos injected into oocytes can form pronuclei, then transform into chromosomes with normal morphology. This suggests that sperm nuclear halos retain all the information necessary for normal chromosomal organization, and that micromanipulation of these extracted sperm nuclei can be accomplished without major DNA damage. Mol. Reprod. Dev. 62: 416–420, 2002. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Validation of an ultrasensitive digital droplet PCR assay for HIV-2 plasma RNA quantification

Low or undetectable plasma viral load (VL) using current qPCR assays is common for HIV‐2 patients. Digital PCR is an emerging technology enabling more precision and reproducibility than qPCR at low DNA/RNA copy numbers. Available data related to digital droplet PCR (ddPCR, Bio‐Rad) underscore issues linked to the threshold definition of positivity, coupled to the specificity of low copy results [ 1 ].
Multi-Stage Dual Priority Regulator for Photovoltaic Systems

This paper investigates the design and application of an array shedding voltage regulator for use in photovoltaic systems with two separate loads of different priority. The Multi-Stage Dual Priority Regulator (MSDPR) charges two separate battery systems for high and low priority loads. This controller switches the array modules from the main battery to the auxiliary battery as the main battery nears full charge, thus utilizing the PV panels to the maximum without jeopardizing the reliability of the critical load.
Feasibility of Adding Enhanced Pedometer Feedback to Nutritional Counseling for Weight Loss

Background Intensive interventions targeting diet and physical activity are effective for weight reduction but are costly. Tailored, computer-generated, step-count feedback may provide an intensive and affordable way to increase the physical activity of people at high risk for cardiovascular disease. Objective The objective was to test the feasibility of adding tailored, computer-generated, step-count feedback to a face-to-face nutritional counseling weight loss intervention. Methods We recruited 12 participants, 4 from each of three Department of Veterans Affairs medical centers. There were 11 male participants and 1 female participant. Each had a body mass index of 30 or greater and at least one of the following cardiovascular disease risk factors: diabetes, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, obesity, or coronary artery disease. Participants attended one-on-one counseling sessions with a registered dietitian for four sessions over three weeks. At the initial session, each participant received an enhanced pedometer to record time-stamped, step-count data. Participants wore the device daily throughout the intervention. At the three follow-up sessions, the dietitian uploaded the computer data, reviewed a Web-based graphical display of step-count feedback, and helped set new walking goals. Results All 12 participants completed the program (100% attendance). Initial mean weight was 255 lbs (SD = 49 lbs), and weight loss was just over 4 lbs (n = 12, paired t test, P = .004). Mean daily step counts during the first week averaged 6019 steps per day, increasing to an average of 7358 per day after the third week (average increase of 1339 steps per day, or 0.6 miles, or 12 minutes of walking, n = 10, paired t test, P = .04). Conclusions Enhanced pedometer feedback in conjunction with nutritional counseling is feasible and results in significant weight loss and increased walking among individuals at high risk for cardiovascular disease.
Description of the novel HLA‐DPB1*137:01 allele found in an Italian subject

In this report, we describe the identification and sequencing of a novel HLA‐DPB1 allele, found in an Italian haematological patient. This allele is identical to DPB1*17:01 except for a single nucleotide substitution (GAC→GAG) at position 57, which changes the encoded amino acid from Asp to Glu.
Positively Selected Sites at HCMV gB Furin Processing Region and Their Effects in Cleavage Efficiency

Human cytomegalovirus is a ubiquitous infectious agent that affects mainly immunosuppressed, fetuses, and newborns. The virus has several polymorphic regions, in particular in the envelope glycoproteins. The UL55 gene encodes the glycoprotein B that has a variable region, containing a furin cleavage site and according to the variability different genotypes are characterized. Here we investigated variability and existence of selective pressure on the UL55 variable region containing the furin cleavage site in 213 clinical sequences from patients worldwide. We showed the occurrence of positive selective pressure on gB codons 461 and 462, near the furin cleavage site. Cleavage analysis of synthesized peptides demonstrated that most mutations confer better cleavage by furin, suggesting that evolution is acting in order to increase the efficiency cleavage and supporting the hypothesis that gB processing is important in the host. We also demonstrated that peptides containing sequences, that characterize genotypes gB2 and 3, are differentially cleaved by furin. Our data demonstrate for the first time that variability in the cleavage site is related to degree of gB processing by furin.
Maternal Psychological Distress, Prenatal Cortisol, and Fetal Weight

Objective: The objective of this study was to examine the effects of maternal psychological distress on estimated fetal weight during midgestation and explore the maternal hypothalamic–pituitary axis and sympathoadrenal dysregulation as potential risk factors for these effects. Methods: Fetal ultrasound biometry measurements and maternal sociodemographic characteristics, emotional distress symptoms, and first morning urine samples were collected during a clinical ultrasound examination for a cross-sectional sample of 98 women who were between 16 and 29 weeks pregnant. Fetal weight was estimated from ultrasound biometry measurements; maternal emotional distress was assessed using the daily hassles (stress), Center for Epidemiologic Studies–Depression (depression), and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (anxiety) scales; and urine samples were assayed for cortisol and norepinephrine levels. Results: Correlation analyses revealed that both maternal psychological (daily hassles, depression, and anxiety) and biochemical (cortisol and norepinephrine) variables were negatively related to fetal biometry measurements and estimated fetal weight. A structural equation model further revealed that when the independent variance of maternal sociodemographic, psychological distress, and biochemistry measures were accounted for, prenatal cortisol was the only significant predictor of fetal weight. Conclusions: Women exhibiting psychological distress during pregnancy exhibit elevated cortisol levels during midgestation that are in turn related to lower fetal weight. CRH = corticotropin-releasing hormone; HPA = hypothalamic–pituitary axis; IGFBP1 = insulin-like growth factor binding protein 1; eFW = estimated fetal weight; BPD = biparietal diameter; AC = abdominal circumference; FL = femur length; HC = head circumference; SES = socioeconomic status; SEM = structural equation model; CFI = comparative fit index; RMSEA = root mean square error of approximation.
Always on Duty? The positive and Negative effects of using Mobile Social Networking Tools for Work

The high penetration rate of mobile internet access makes the social networking tools ubiquitous. Through social networking tools, people now can easily contact others for social purpose as well as for work purpose. As a result, mobile social networking tools are now blurring the boundary between work and family domains and creating a new work-life relationship. Using social networking tools for work provides a lot of benefits as well as some negative effects. In the paper, we develop two empirical studies to examine both the positive effects and negative effects of using social networking tools for work. Our finding indicates that using social networking tools increases group effectiveness, which results in improvement of group identity. Nevertheless, using social networking tools for work also blurs the boundary of work-life, which may raise the work load and work-home conflict. We concluded that both academics and practice should pay attention to and minimize the negative impact of increased work overload and work-home conflict induced by using social networking tools for work. Our research results also provide suggestion for future research.
Illness representations and matching labels with symptoms.

Three studies are reported that show that health-relevant information (e.g., blood pressure [BP] or symptoms) initiates an active cognitive search process that results in the construction of an illness representation. Study 1 showed that informing subjects that their BP was elevated affected two attributes of illness representation: identity (label and symptoms), and time line or expected chronology of the health threat. Subjects given a high-BP reading reported symptoms commonly associated with high BP, especially if they attributed the high-BP reading to stress. Study 2 showed that the active search process uses causal information (a third attribute of representations) to give meaning to symptoms. Specifically, subjects used environmental cues to interpret whether familiar, unfamiliar, and ambiguous symptoms were due to illness or to stress. In Study 3 we showed that the constructive process, initiated by a high-BP reading, is directed by prior beliefs about the time line for developing high BP and by the presence of external cues about the stressfulness of the subject's daily life. Subjects who believed BP was labile and that they were under high daily stress or who believed BP was stable and that they were under low daily stress reported more symptoms. The significance of these findings for understanding how people process diagnostic labels and symptom information involved in the construction of illness representations is discussed.
Imports, exports and total factor productivity in Korea

This study investigates the relationship between trade and economic growth in Korea during 1980–2003. We find Granger causality from imports to Total Factor Productivity (TFP) growth, and the absence of any causal relation between exports and TFP. We then, empirically examine the impact of various trade variables on TFP growth. Our results indicate that imports have a significant positive effect on TFP growth, but exports do not. Furthermore, our results suggest that the positive impact of imports stems not only from competitive pressures arising from the imports of consumer goods but also from technological transfers embodied in imports of capital goods and imports from developed countries. Most of our empirical results still hold when we replace TFP growth with Gross Domestic Profit (GDP) growth as the dependent variable.
The Exploratory Study of Constructing the Scale for Service Convenience in Mobile APP: The Case of Chain Hotel in Taiwan

In the future, Hotel of M-Commerce Service will be an important management trend and automobile application. Because of the increase in wireless cable speed and the fast development of automobile application, people can use diverse wireless equipment and automobile application to trade and exchange products, services, information and knowledge by M-Commerce Service. Previous research in M-service mainly established on the base of E-service. However, mobile network has different features and function with traditional network and consumers will estimate the service convenience depending on the environment and the setting. Therefore, this research combines the concept of automobile application APP with service convenience and use focused interview as the research method. For the focused interview, we invited 8 people, including APP technology experts, field directors and executives of chain hotel and scholars in related research field, to fully exchange opinions and perspectives on "The process of inserting APP application to chain hotel". After the discussion, a verbatim record was compiled from the outcome of the interview. For the service project mentioned in the verbatim record, we classify the items as the base of constructing the scale according to "before check-in ", "during the stay ", and "after the stay". Furthermore, the important factors of developing APP application are provided for related enterprises.
Registering Preprocedure Volumetric Images With Intraprocedure 3-D Ultrasound Using an Ultrasound Imaging Model

For many image-guided interventions there exists a need to compute the registration between preprocedure image(s) and the physical space of the intervention. Real-time intraprocedure imaging such as ultrasound (US) can be used to image the region of interest directly and provide valuable anatomical information for computing this registration. Unfortunately, real-time US images often have poor signal-to-noise ratio and suffer from imaging artefacts. Therefore, registration using US images can be challenging and significant preprocessing is often required to make the registrations robust. In this paper we present a novel technique for computing the image-to-physical registration for minimally invasive cardiac interventions using 3-D US. Our technique uses knowledge of the physics of the US imaging process to reduce the amount of preprocessing required on the 3-D US images. To account for the fact that clinical US images normally undergo significant image processing before being exported from the US machine our optimization scheme allows the parameters of the US imaging model to vary. We validated our technique by computing rigid registrations for 12 cardiac US/magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) datasets acquired from six volunteers and two patients. The technique had mean registration errors of 2.1-4.4 mm, and 75% capture ranges of 5-30 mm. We also demonstrate how the same approach can be used for respiratory motion correction: on 15 datasets acquired from five volunteers the registration errors due to respiratory motion were reduced by 45%-92%.
Automated External Defibrillation in the Occupational Setting

ACOEM supports ongoing efforts to enhance emergency response to medical emergencies in the occupational environment. The development of training and use of AEDs is a reasonable and appropriate aspect of such programs for managing sudden cardiac arrest, an important cause of morbidity and mortality among working age adults. The implementation of such an AED program, which should be a component of a more general worksite emergency response plan, requires clearly defined medical direction and medical control.
An Improved Method for Production of Recombinant Human Glutamic Acid Decarboxylase 65 for Use in Phytopharmaceutical Assessment

Abstract The pharmacological activity of neuroactive phytochemicals on recombinant human glutamic acid decarboxylase 65 (hGAD65) was investigated. GAD catalyzes the conversion of glutamic acid to γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA), which acts as an important inhibitory neurotransmitter in the central nervous system (CNS). We describe an improved method in which recombinant hGAD65 was expressed at high levels using a maltose binding protein (MBP) fusion system. The expression and purification process was superior to the commonly used glutathioneS. -transferase (GST) fusion partner. The in vitro. system developed here detected both enzyme inhibition and stimulation, under varying pyridoxal-5′-phosphate (PLP) concentrations. The known GAD inhibitor, 3-mercaptopropionic acid, was tested as a positive control and had an IC50 = 12.3 μ M. Phytochemicals were tested (10 μ g/mL) for their effects on in vitro. hGAD65 activity. Minor inhibition was seen with the ethanol extract of Panax quinquefolius. L. (ginsenosides) (23%), betulinic acid (27%), and valerenic acid (20%). An increase in hGAD65 activity by approximately 20% was observed with bilobalide and asiaticoside. As a result, these small changes in GAD activity may have physiologic implications. The possibility that phytochemicals influence GABAergic neurotransmission in vivo. and the mechanisms by which it may occur is discussed.
BARRIERS TO KNOWLEDGE SHARING IN GLOBAL TEAMS – THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVE

Organizing work in teams has become the modus operandi in multinational organizations and team-based structures are becoming a regular occurrence in every day operation of the organization. The purpose of this study is to run an extensive literature review of knowledge sharing barriers in global teams. It is assumed that global teams are able to integrate specialized and globally dispersed capabilities, to understand local needs and demands and leverage cultural diversity. These multi-cultural teams also face a host of problems, and to better understand the challenges and benefits of team work for global organizations, it is vital to learn what are the potential barriers in knowledge sharing. This paper is one of the series concerning knowledge sharing barriers. Companies increasingly rely on global teams to foster growth and innovation, yet too often these teams are assembled without a clear process to ensure success. Global teams represent a high stake commitment, so it is imperative that these teams have a proven framework to promote optimal functioning. Firms need to pay attention to potential barriers to knowledge sharing, in order for global teams to succeed. The relevance of the barriers to knowledge sharing has been identified and they are as such: absorptive capacity, relationship between members of different teams, time, common framework, the excessive value attributed to experts, lack of recognition, distance, time zone and cultural differences.
Mammalian chromosomes contain cis‐acting elements that control replication timing, mitotic condensation, and stability of entire chromosomes

Recent studies indicate that mammalian chromosomes contain discrete cis‐acting loci that control replication timing, mitotic condensation, and stability of entire chromosomes. Disruption of the large non‐coding RNA gene ASAR6 results in late replication, an under‐condensed appearance during mitosis, and structural instability of human chromosome 6. Similarly, disruption of the mouse Xist gene in adult somatic cells results in a late replication and instability phenotype on the X chromosome. ASAR6 shares many characteristics with Xist, including random mono‐allelic expression and asynchronous replication timing. Additional “chromosome engineering” studies indicate that certain chromosome rearrangements affecting many different chromosomes display this abnormal replication and instability phenotype. These observations suggest that all mammalian chromosomes contain “inactivation/stability centers” that control proper replication, condensation, and stability of individual chromosomes. Therefore, mammalian chromosomes contain four types of cis‐acting elements, origins, telomeres, centromeres, and “inactivation/stability centers”, all functioning to ensure proper replication, condensation, segregation, and stability of individual chromosomes.
LnaB: a Legionella pneumophila activator of NF‐κB

Legionella pneumophila possesses a large arsenal of type IV translocated substrates. Over 100 such proteins have been identified, but the functions of most are unknown. Previous studies have demonstrated that L. pneumophila activates NF‐κB, a master transcriptional regulator of the mammalian innate immune response. Activation of NF‐κB is dependent on the Legionella Icm/Dot type IV protein translocation system, consistent with the possibility that translocated bacterial proteins contribute to this response. To test this hypothesis, an expression library of 159 known and putative translocated substrates was created to evaluate whether ectopic production of a single L. pneumophila protein could activate NF‐κB in mammalian cells. Expression of two of these proteins, LnaB (LegionellaNF‐κB activator B) and LegK1, resulted in ∼150‐fold induction of NF‐κB activity in HEK293T cells, levels similar to the strong induction that occurs with ectopic expression of the known activator Nod1. LnaB is a substrate of the Icm/Dot system, and in the absence of this protein, a partial reduction of NF‐κB activation in host cells occurs after challenge by post‐exponential phase bacteria. These data indicate that LnaB is an Icm/Dot substrate that contributes to NF‐κB activation during L. pneumophila infection in host cells.