Effects of discourse factors on the interpretation of Korean null pronouns in subject and object position

The present study investigates whether interpretation of null pronouns in Korean is best captured by a heuristics-based approach, focusing on subjecthood and syntactic parallelism, or a discourse-based coherence-relation approach, which regards pronoun resolution as a side-effect of general inferencing processes during discourse comprehension. We report two experiments where we investigated whether and how the interpretation of null pronouns in subject and object position in Korean is influenced by (i) the nature of the connective between the preceding clause and the pronoun-containing clause (kuliko “and” or waynyahamyen “because”), (ii) the presence/absence of the additive marker -to “also” in the pronoun-containing clause, and (iii) the presence/absence of the topic marker -(n)un on the subject of the preceding clause. As a whole, our results support the coherence-relation approach. We find that when a cue indicating a resemblance relation (either the connective and or the additive marker also) is present, null pronouns in both subject and object position tend to be interpreted as referring to an antecedent in a parallel syntactic position (subject and object respectively). This parallelism bias strengthens when a resemblance relation is signaled by both and and also. In contrast, when the two clauses are linked with because (indicating an explanation relation), null pronouns show no significant preference for either the subject or object antecedent. Topic-marking has no effect, possibly due to lack of context. Our study provides new evidence that both subject- and object-position null pronouns are sensitive to both syntactic and discourse-level factors

Rhetorical Variation across Research Article Abstracts in Linguistics

This study examines the communicative characteristics of the quantity-focused and the quality-focused abstracts in the fields of Linguistics. With respect to the pattern of the rhetorical structures, in the quantity-focused abstracts, the conventional moves were Purpose, Method, Product and Conclusion; and the optional moves were Introduction. On the other hand, in the quality-focused abstracts, the conventional moves consisted of Introduction and Product; and the optional moves consisted of Purpose, Method, and Conclusion. As for the verb tense usage, in the Method move, the high frequency of the past tense was identified only in the quantity-focused abstracts. In the quality-focused abstracts, there was no incidence of the Method. Moreover, in the Purpose, the higher use of the present was only identified in the quality-focused abstracts. In the quantity-focused abstracts, however, the past was more frequently used than the present. Finally, this study investigated the first-person pronoun usage in each rhetorical move. In the quantity-focused abstracts, the first-person pronouns were used the most frequently in the Method; but in the quality-focused abstracts, the first-person pronouns were used the most frequently in the Product. Overall, this study confirmed the necessity of investigating both quantity-focused and the quality-focused abstracts, and by doing so more accurate pictures of research article abstracts in the field of linguistics were suggested

Conducción entre la vena pulmonar superior izquierda, la aurícula izquierda y la fibrilación auricular bajo el estímulo del tronco cervico-vagal

Objective: The effect of cervical vagal trunk stimulation on conduction between left superior pulmonary vein and left atria and atria fibrillation have not been systematically studied. We attempted to investigate the electrical conduction between LA and LSPV in dogs with cervical vagal trunk stimulation and evaluate the possible underline substrates for local reentry and initiation and maintenance of AF. Methods:12 mongrel dogs (18-25 kg) underwent cervical vagal trunk stimulation at high-frequency (60 ms, 1-4V) to produce sinus arrest lasting >2 seconds,complete atrioventricularAV blocking or the sinus rate decreasing more than 50%. Left lateral thoracotomy was performed and the heart was exposed in a pericardial cradle. The HRA, LAA, PV-LAJ, LSPVm and LSPVd was locally stimulated (100 ms, 2-8V). ERP of HRA, LAA, PV-LAJ and within LSPV, ERP heterogeneity within LSPV and conduction between left superior pulmonary vein and left atria and atrial fibrillation inducing rate with vagal response was analyzed. Results: 1. During cervical vagal stimulation, the heart rate was reduced significantly from baseline 156±34 bpm to 75±34 bpm (p<0.05, n=12), ERP of HRA, LAA, PV-LAJ, LSPVm and LSPVd sites was shortened locally in all animals, ERP heterogeneity (COV-ERP ) was increased from baseline 3±3% to 30±13% (on average, p<0.05; n=12) and inducibility of AF was increased from baseline 49.9% to 70.9% with S1S1stimulation (100 ms, 2-8V) and from baseline 3.7% to 43.5% with S1S2 (5 ms decremented stepwise S1S2 300/200 ms, 2-8V, n=12; 2. LA and PV potentials at LA, PV-LAJ, LSPVm and LSPVd was overlapped during sinus rate and separated remarkably by stimulating at distal part of LSPV (n=9); 3. Unidirectional and bi-directional conduction(n=9), bi-directional decremented conduction (n=6), delayed conduction from LSPVp to LSPVd (n=12) and slow conduction from stimulating signal to local tissue potential (n=9) before onset of AF were recorded by pacing from both LSPV and LA. Conclusion: Our study strongly suggested that fast ectopic beating, abnormal vagal nerve activation as well as remodeling conduction between left superior pulmonary vein and left atria might are the common underline substrates for local reentry and AF initiation and maintenance. Objetivo: El efecto del estímulo del tronco nervioso cervico-vagal sobre la conducción entre la vena pulmonar superior izquierda (LSPV, siglas en inglés), la aurícula izquierda (LA, siglas en inglés) y la fibrilación auricular (AF, siglas en inglés), no se ha estudiado sistemáticamente. Se intentó investigar la conducción eléctrica entre la LA y la LSPV, con el estímulo del tronco nervioso cervico-vagal y evaluar los posibles substratos subyacentes para la reentrada local, la iniciación y el mantenimiento de la AF. Métodos: En 12 perros sin raza (18-25 kg), se estimuló el tronco cervico-vagal con alta frecuencia (60ms, 1-4V) para producir detenimiento sinusal con duración >2 s, completo bloqueo atrio-ventricular (AV) o un descenso superior a 50% en el ritmo sinusal. Se hizo una toracotomía lateral izquierda y se expuso el corazón en la malla pericárdica. Los HRA, LAA, PV-LAJ, LSPVm y LSPVd se estimularon localmente (100 ms, 2-8V). El de HRA, LAA, PV-LAJ y dentro de la LSPV, la heterogeneidad dentro de la LSPV y la conducción entre la vena pulmonar superior izquierda, la aurícula izquierda y la fibrilación auricular que induce un ritmo con respuesta vagal, también se analizaron. Resultados: 1. Durante el estímulo vago-cervical, el ritmo cardíaco se redujo significativamente desde la línea basal 156±34 bpm a 75±34bpm (p<0.05, n=12); los sitios ERP de HRA, LAA, PV-LAJ, LSPVm y LSPVd se acortaron localmente en todos los animales. La heterogeneidad (COV-ERP) aumentó desde la línea basal 3±3% A 30±13% (en promedio, p<0.05, n012) y la capacidad de ser inducida la AF aumentó desde la línea base 49.8% a 70.9% con un estímulo S1S1 (100 ms, 2-8V) y desde la línea basal 3.7% a 43.5% con S1S2 5ms reducido paso a paso S1S2 300/200ms, 2-8V, n=12. 2. Los potenciales de la LA y la PV en LA, PV-LAJ, LSPVm y LSPVd, se sobrepusieron durante el ritmo sinusal y se separaron notablemente por el estímulo en la porción distal de LSPV (n=9). 3. La conducción uni-direccional y bi-direccional (=9), la conducción disminuida (n=6), la conducción retardada de LSPVp a LSPVD (n=12) y la conducción lenta desde la señal estímulo hasta el potencial tejido local (n=9), antes del comienzo de la AF se registraron paso a paso tanto desde la LSPV como desde la LA. Conclusión: Este estudio sugirió con mucho vigor que los latidos ectópicos, la activación anormal del vago, así como la conducción remodelante entre la vena pulmonar superior izquierda y la aurícula izquierda son substratos comunes subyacentes para el reingreso local, la iniciación y el mantenimiento de la fibrilación auricular

Multiple flat bands and localized states in photonic super-Kagome lattices

We demonstrate multiple flat bands and compact localized states (CLSs) in a photonic super-Kagome lattice (SKL) that exhibits coexistence of singular and nonsingular flat bands within its unique band structure. Specifically, we find that the upper two flat bands of an SKL are singular - characterized by singularities due to band touching with their neighboring dispersive bands at the Brillouin zone center. Conversely, the lower three degenerate flat bands are nonsingular, and remain spectrally isolated from other dispersive bands. The existence of such two distinct types of flat bands is experimentally demonstrated by observing stable evolution of the CLSs with various geometrical shapes in a laser-written SKL. We also discuss the classification of the flat bands in momentum space, using band-touching singularities of the Bloch wave functions. Furthermore, we validate this classification in real space based on unit cell occupancy of the CLSs in a single SKL plaquette. These results may provide insights for the study of flatband transport, dynamics, and nontrivial topological phenomena in other relevant systems.Comment: 5 pages,4 figure

People's Perceptions Toward Bias and Related Concepts in Large Language Models: A Systematic Review

Large language models (LLMs) have brought breakthroughs in tasks including translation, summarization, information retrieval, and language generation, gaining growing interest in the CHI community. Meanwhile, the literature shows researchers' controversial perceptions about the efficacy, ethics, and intellectual abilities of LLMs. However, we do not know how lay people perceive LLMs that are pervasive in everyday tools, specifically regarding their experience with LLMs around bias, stereotypes, social norms, or safety. In this study, we conducted a systematic review to understand what empirical insights papers have gathered about people's perceptions toward LLMs. From a total of 231 retrieved papers, we full-text reviewed 15 papers that recruited human evaluators to assess their experiences with LLMs. We report different biases and related concepts investigated by these studies, four broader LLM application areas, the evaluators' perceptions toward LLMs' performances including advantages, biases, and conflicting perceptions, factors influencing these perceptions, and concerns about LLM applications

Development and evaluation of gellan gum/silk fibroin/chondroitin sulfate ternary injectable hydrogel for cartilage tissue engineering

Hydrogel is in the spotlight as a useful biomaterial in the field of drug delivery and tissue engineering due to its similar biological properties to a native extracellular matrix (ECM). Herein, we proposed a ternary hydrogel of gellan gum (GG), silk fibroin (SF), and chondroitin sulfate (CS) as a biomaterial for cartilage tissue engineering. The hydrogels were fabricated with a facile combination of the physical and chemical crosslinking method. The purpose of this study was to find the proper content of SF and GG for the ternary matrix and confirm the applicability of the hydrogel in vitro and in vivo. The chemical and mechanical properties were measured to confirm the suitability of the hydrogel for cartilage tissue engineering. The biocompatibility of the hydrogels was investigated by analyzing the cell morphology, adhesion, proliferation, migration, and growth of articular chondrocytes-laden hydrogels. The results showed that the higher proportion of GG enhanced the mechanical properties of the hydrogel but the groups with over 0.75% of GG exhibited gelling temperatures over 40 °C, which was a harsh condition for cell encapsulation. The 0.3% GG/3.7% SF/CS and 0.5% GG/3.5% SF/CS hydrogels were chosen for the in vitro study. The cells that were encapsulated in the hydrogels did not show any abnormalities and exhibited low cytotoxicity. The biochemical properties and gene expression of the encapsulated cells exhibited positive cell growth and expression of cartilage-specific ECM and genes in the 0.5% GG/3.5% SF/CS hydrogel. Overall, the study of the GG/SF/CS ternary hydrogel with an appropriate content showed that the combination of GG, SF, and CS can synergistically promote articular cartilage defect repair and has considerable potential for application as a biomaterial in cartilage tissue engineering.This research was supported by the International Research and Development Program of the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning (NRF-2017K1A3A7A03089427) and by the bilateral cooperation Program of the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning (NRF-2019K2A9A1A06098563)

Down-regulation of Fra a 1.02 in strawberry fruits causes transcriptomic and metabolic changes compatible with an altered defense response

The strawberry Fra a 1 proteins belong to the class 10 Pathogenesis-Related (PR-10) superfamily. In strawberry, a large number of members have been identified, but only a limited number is expressed in the fruits. In this organ, Fra a 1.01 and Fra a 1.02 are the most abundant Fra proteins in the green and red fruits, respectively, however, their function remains unknown. To know the function of Fra a 1.02 we have generated transgenic lines that silence this gene, and performed metabolomics, RNA-Seq, and hormonal assays. Previous studies associated Fra a 1.02 to strawberry fruit color, but the analysis of anthocyanins in the ripe fruits showed no diminution in their content in the silenced lines. Gene ontology (GO) analysis of the genes differentially expressed indicated that oxidation/reduction was the most represented biological process. Redox state was not apparently altered since no changes were found in ascorbic acid and glutathione (GSH) reduced/oxidized ratio, but GSH content was reduced in the silenced fruits. In addition, a number of glutathione-S-transferases (GST) were down-regulated as result of Fra a 1.02-silencing. Another highly represented GO category was transport which included a number of ABC and MATE transporters. Among the regulatory genes differentially expressed WRKY33.1 and WRKY33.2 were down-regulated, which had previously been assigned a role in strawberry plant defense. A reduced expression of the VQ23 gene and a diminished content of the hormones JA, SA, and IAA were also found. These data might indicate that Fra a 1.02 participates in the defense against pathogens in the ripe strawberry fruits

Realization of robust boundary modes and non-contractible loop states in photonic Kagome lattices

Corbino-geometry has well-known applications in physics, as in the design of graphene heterostructures for detecting fractional quantum Hall states or superconducting waveguides for illustrating circuit quantum electrodynamics. Here, we propose and demonstrate a photonic Kagome lattice in the Corbino-geometry that leads to direct observation of non-contractible loop states protected by real-space topology. Such states represent the "missing" flat-band eigenmodes, manifested as one-dimensional loops winding around a torus, or lines infinitely extending to the entire flat-band lattice. In finite (truncated) Kagome lattices, however, line states cannot preserve as they are no longer the eigenmodes, in sharp contrast to the case of Lieb lattices. Using a continuous-wave laser writing technique, we experimentally establish finite Kagome lattices with desired cutting edges, as well as in the Corbino-geometry to eliminate edge effects. We thereby observe, for the first time to our knowledge, the robust boundary modes exhibiting self-healing properties, and the localized modes along toroidal direction as a direct manifestation of the non-contractible loop states

Safety and Immunogenicity of a New Trivalent Inactivated Split-virus Influenza Vaccine in Healthy Korean Children: A Randomized, Double-blinded, Active-controlled, Phase III Study

We report results of a randomized, double-blinded, active-controlled, phase III study conducted to evaluate the immunogenicity and safety of a new trivalent inactivated split-virus influenza vaccine (GC501) manufactured by the Green Cross Corporation in Korea. A total of 283 healthy children aged 6 months to < 18 yr were randomized to receive either GC501 or control. Of the GC501 recipients, seroconversion occurred in 48.5% for A/H1N1, 67.7% for A/H3N2 and 52% for influenza B. The proportion of subjects who had post-vaccination hemagglutination-inhibition titers of 1:40 or greater was 90.7% for A/H1N1, 86.8% for A/H3N2 and 82.4% for influenza B in the GC501 recipients. No serious adverse events related to vaccination, or withdrawals because of adverse events were reported. The majority of solicited adverse events were mild in intensity. GC501 vaccine has good tolerability and favorable immunogenicity in children aged 6 months to < 18 yr. The addition of one more brand of influenza vaccine may allow for better global accessibility of vaccine for epidemics or future pandemics

Identifying a low-risk group for parametrial involvement in microscopic Stage IB1 cervical cancer using criteria from ongoing studies and a new MRI criterion

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited.Abstract Background There are currently three ongoing studies on less radical surgery in cervical cancer: ConCerv, GOG-278, and SHAPE. The aim of this study was to evaluate the performance of the criteria used in ongoing studies retrospectively and suggest a new, simplified criterion in microscopic Stage IB1 cervical cancer. Methods A retrospective analysis was performed in 125 Stage IB1 cervical cancer patients who had no clinically visible lesions and were allotted based on microscopic findings after conization. All patients had magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) after conization and underwent type C2 radical hysterectomy. We suggested an MRI criterion for less radical surgery candidates as patients who had no demonstrable lesions on MRI. The rates of parametrial involvement (PMI) were estimated for patients that satisfied the inclusion criteria for ongoing studies and the MRI criterion. Results The rate of pathologic PMI was 5.6% (7/125) in the study population. ConCerv and GOG-278 identified 11 (8.8%) and 14 (11.2%) patients, respectively, as less radical surgery candidates, and there were no false negative cases. SHAPE and MRI criteria identified 78 (62.4%) and 74 (59.2%) patients, respectively, as less radical surgery candidates; 67 patients were identified as less radical surgery candidates by both sets of criteria. Of these 67 patients, only one had pathologic PMI with tumor emboli. Conclusions This study suggests that the criteria used in three ongoing studies and a new, simplified criterion using MRI can identify candidates for less radical surgery with acceptable false negativity in microscopic Stage IB1 disease