Reactions to second language speech: Influences of discrete speech characteristics, rater experience, and speaker first language background

This study investigates how Mandarin and Slavic language speakers’ comprehensibility, accentedness, and fluency ratings, as assigned by experienced teacher-raters and novice raters, align with discrete linguistic measures, and raters’ accounts of influences on their scoring. In addition to examining mean ratings in relation to rater experience and speaker first language background, we correlated ratings with segmental, prosodic, and temporal measures. Introspective reports were segmented, coded, enumerated, and submitted to loglinear analysis to elucidate influences on ratings. Results showed that ratings were strongly correlated with prosodic goodness and moderately correlated with segmental errors, implying the importance of both segmentals and prosody in L2 speech ratings. Experienced teacher-raters provided lengthier reports than novice raters, producing more comments for all coded categories where an error was identified except for pausing (a dysfluency marker). This may be because novice raters observed little else about the speech or struggled to pinpoint or articulate other features

IMPLEMENTATION OF LOCAL TAX SERVICE POLICIES AT THE REGIONAL TAX AND RETRIBUTION MANAGEMENT AGENCY OFFICE OF PALANGKA RAYA CITY

Law Number 28 of 2009 concerning Regional Taxes and Regional Levies, is the basis for implementing tax collection. The authority to impose local taxes and levies collected from the public is used to pay for services provided to the community. The potential for collecting local taxes and levies as one of the components of regional original revenue (PAD) revenue. PAD is regional revenue originating from resources within the region itself, used to finance development. Therefore, the role of local taxes and levies as one of the elements of regional original income must be optimized in their collection according to the prevailing laws and regulations.The Regional Tax and Retribution Management Agency Office of Palangka Raya City is one of the agencies that manage local taxes. Basically, the tendency of the regions to create various levies that are not in accordance with the provisions of laws and regulations and that are against the public interest can be overcome by the government by supervising each regional regulation that regulates such taxes and levies. Based on the foregoing, this study aims to describe the quality of tax services at the Regional Tax and Retribution Management Agency Office of Palangka Raya City and to describe the tax service process in increasing the realization of the target achievement of Regional Taxes and Levies at the Regional Tax and Retribution Management Agency Office of Palangka Raya City.The research method used in this research is an exploratory research method with an inductive approach. The author goes to the field to look for facts where the object to be studied is located. Researchers describe the problems that occur in the field in general, accompanied by facts and data so that the description of the existing problems becomes valid and deserves a solution. Data collection methods with in-depth interviews, observation, and documentation study. Research informants are all office employees regional Tax and Retribution Management Agency for Palangka Raya City and some tax and retribution payers in Palangkaraya City. Data analysis was performed by data reduction, data presentation, and concluding.The results of research by the Regional Tax and Retribution Management Agency (BPPRD) of Palangka Raya city were formed in 2016 based on Regional Regulation (Perda) No. 11 of 2016, the Palangka Raya City BPRD Office according to the provisions manages 9 types of local taxes consisting of Hotel Tax, Restaurant Tax, Entertainment Tax, Parking Tax, Groundwater Tax, Swallow's Nest Tax, Non-Metal Mineral, and Rock Tax, Taxes Rural and Urban Land and Buildings, Fees for Land and Buildings. In providing services to taxpayers, the Office of the Regional Tax and Retribution Management Agency for the City of Palangka Raya implements tangible service standards, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy. Achievement of targets and realization averaged over 80% of the provisions for Regional Taxes and Charges

The Ups and Downs of Firing Rate Homeostasis

Torrado Pacheco et al. demonstrate that downward firing rate homeostasis occurs when cellular activity levels increase beyond baseline, but only during sleep-dense periods. In contrast, Hebbian-facilitated changes in firing rate occur independently of sleep and wake states

Hybrid Focal Stereo Networks for Pattern Analysis in Homogeneous Scenes

In this paper we address the problem of multiple camera calibration in the presence of a homogeneous scene, and without the possibility of employing calibration object based methods. The proposed solution exploits salient features present in a larger field of view, but instead of employing active vision we replace the cameras with stereo rigs featuring a long focal analysis camera, as well as a short focal registration camera. Thus, we are able to propose an accurate solution which does not require intrinsic variation models as in the case of zooming cameras. Moreover, the availability of the two views simultaneously in each rig allows for pose re-estimation between rigs as often as necessary. The algorithm has been successfully validated in an indoor setting, as well as on a difficult scene featuring a highly dense pilgrim crowd in Makkah.Comment: 13 pages, 6 figures, submitted to Machine Vision and Application

Keberhasilan Penggunaan Tiga Pengencer dalam Dua Jenis Kemasan pada Proses Pembekuan Semen Sapi Frisien Holstein

RINGKASAN Motilitas sperma (% SM) dan sperma hidup (% SH) setelah pascathawing digunakan sebagai kriteria penilaian keberhasilan penggunaan tiga macam pengencer dalam dua kemasan yang berbeda. Lima belas ejakulat dari tiga ekor sapi FH diencerkan dengan tiga macam pengencer, yaitu tris kuning telur (TKT), home made triladyl (HMT) dan androMed, yang mengandung lesitin kacang kedelai (KK), masing-masing dikemas dalam minitub 0.3 ml and straw Cassou 0.25 ml. Sampel diekuilibrasi selama empat jam pada temperatur 5oC kemudian dibekukan dalam uap nitrogen cair selama 10 menit. Hasil pascathawing menunjukkan % SM dan % SH pada pengencer KK (56,28; 74,22) lebih tinggi (P<0.05) jika dibandingkan dengan HMT (47,60; 65,93) dan TKT (48,74; 69,63). Tidak ada perbedaan kualitas pada teknik pengemasan dengan SM dan SH masing-masing 52,16; 69,4% (minitub) dan 49,59; 70,44% (Cassou). Persentase SH pada KK minitub (72,76?10,83) dan KK Cassou (75,67?8,1) menunjukkan hasil yang sama lebih baik jika dibandingkan dengan kombinasi lainnya. Persentase SM pada KK minitub (57,9?7,81) lebih tinggi jika dibandingkan dengan KK Cassou atau kombinasi lainnya

Effective-Range Expansion of the Neutron-Deuteron Scattering Studied by a Quark-Model Nonlocal Gaussian Potential

The S-wave effective range parameters of the neutron-deuteron (nd) scattering are derived in the Faddeev formalism, using a nonlocal Gaussian potential based on the quark-model baryon-baryon interaction fss2. The spin-doublet low-energy eigenphase shift is sufficiently attractive to reproduce predictions by the AV18 plus Urbana three-nucleon force, yielding the observed value of the doublet scattering length and the correct differential cross sections below the deuteron breakup threshold. This conclusion is consistent with the previous result for the triton binding energy, which is nearly reproduced by fss2 without reinforcing it with the three-nucleon force.Comment: 21 pages, 6 figures and 6 tables, submitted to Prog. Theor. Phy

Impact of Metals on Secondary Metabolites Production and Plant Morphology in Vetiver Grass (Chrysopogon zizanioides)

The impact of selected metals on the production of phenolic compounds was investigated in a pot trial experiment. One-month old vetiver grass (Chrysopogon zizanioides) seedlings were exposed to different concentrations (0, 10, 50, 100, and 500 ppm) of As, Cr, Cu, Fe, Ni, Pb and Zn. All the plants except for those treated with As tolerated up to 500 ppm as they did not show any signs of stress such as wilting or necrosis. A significant decrease (>35 %) in the length of the plants treated with As, compared to the control, was observed at 50 ppm which further decreased with increasing As concentration. A serious case of phytotoxicity was observed at 500 ppm As as the plant could not survive. Total soluble phenolics content in vetiver plants increased with increasing concentration of metals in the growth medium. The amount of the cell wall-bound phenolics (2.01 to 5.84 mg GAE g–1 DW) was higher than the total soluble phenolics (1.13 to 2.14 mg GAE g–1 dry weight DW) and both increased with increasing metal concentrations. Morphological changes associated with metal-induced stress were also examined with a scanning electron microscope which revealed thickened cell walls, loss of cell shape, reduction of intercellular space and the closure of stomata in leaves of metal-exposed plants.Keywords: Vetiver grass, toxic metals, phytotoxicity, phenolic compounds, morphological change

Terahertz nano-spectroscopy with resonant scattering probes

We propose and demonstrate tunable resonant scattering probes for terahertz (THz) near-field microscopy, using sharp indium tips fabricated to the tine of a quartz tuning fork. We find the antenna resonance of the indium tips can be tuned by altering the tip length, which we support with numerical models. We also demonstrate the indium tips can provide nanoscale field confinement at the tip apex, with spatial resolution better than 100 nm

Algorithmic decidability of Engel's property for automaton groups

We consider decidability problems associated with Engel's identity ($[\cdots[[x,y],y],\dots,y]=1$ for a long enough commutator sequence) in groups generated by an automaton. We give a partial algorithm that decides, given $x,y$, whether an Engel identity is satisfied. It succeeds, importantly, in proving that Grigorchuk's $2$-group is not Engel. We consider next the problem of recognizing Engel elements, namely elements $y$ such that the map $x\mapsto[x,y]$ attracts to $\{1\}$. Although this problem seems intractable in general, we prove that it is decidable for Grigorchuk's group: Engel elements are precisely those of order at most $2$. Our computations were implemented using the package FR within the computer algebra system GAP

Guidance on the use of MRI for treatment planning in radiotherapy clinical trials

The aim of this article is to propose meaningful guidance covering the technical and safety issues involved when designing or conducting radiotherapy clinical trials that use MRI for treatment planning. The complexity of imaging requirements will depend on the trial aims, design and MRI methods used.The use of MRI within the RT pathway is becoming more prevalent and clinically appropriate as access to MRI increases, treatment planning systems become more versatile and potential indications for MRI-planning in RT are documented. Novel MRI-planning opportunities are often initiated and validated within clinical trials.The guidance in this document is intended to assist researchers designing RT clinical trials involving MRI, so that they may provide sufficient information about the appropriate methods to be used for image acquisition, post-processing and quality assurance such that participating sites complete MRI to consistent standards. It has been produced in collaboration with the National Radiotherapy Trials Quality Assurance Group (RTTQA).As the use of MRI in RT is developed, it is highly recommended for researchers writing clinical trial protocols to include imaging guidance as part of their clinical trial documentation covering the trial-specific requirements for MRI procedures. Many of the considerations and recommendations in this guidance may well apply to MR-guided treatment machines, where clinical trials will be crucial. Similarly, many of these recommendations will apply to the general use of MRI in RT, outside of clinical trials.This document contains a large number of recommendations, not all of which will be relevant to any particular trial. Designers of RT clinical trials must therefore take this into account. They must also use their own judgement as to the appropriate compromise between accessibility of the trial and its technical rigour