This study uses acoustic analysis to determine whether unstressed pretonic high vowels in Lezgi are deleted or devoiced. We argue that the vowel gesture is not deleted, but it is overlapped and consequently devoiced by the preceding [s] gesture. We use spectral analysis to test the increased gestural overlap hypothesis. Three results support this hypothesis and consequently the devoicing interp...

Due to climate warming and consequently due to ice and snow melting of the Arctic Ocean, the highly biologically active ocean surface area has been expanding quickly making possible longer marine biota growth seasons during polar summers. That increase the probability of the remote marine environment secondary contribution, especially secondary organic contribution, to the particle production a...

Gut bacteria play an important role in several metabolic processes and human diseases, such as obesity and its co-morbidities, like fatty liver disease, insulin resistance/diabetes and cardiovascular events. Among several factors, dietary patterns, probiotics, prebiotics, synbiotics, antimicrobials and non-dietary factors, such as stress, age, exercise and climatic conditions, can dramatically ...

First, the taxonomy has been widely used. Therefore, it should have scrutiny. Second, the taxonomy has not widely available in its original form [Panko & Halverson, 1996]. Consequently, most users refer to secondary sources. Consequently, they often equate the taxonomy with the simplified extracts used in particular experiments or field studies. Third, perhaps as a consequence, most users use o...

Humans and some animals are able to recognize themselves in a mirror. This ability has been taken as a demonstration of self-consciousness. Consequently, it has been proposed that the self-recognition in the mirror image, the mirror test, could also be used to determine the potential self-consciousness of cognitive machines. It is shown that very simple machinery is able to pass the mirror test...

Mobile learning can be characterised as a specific project within the education system. This paper explores the sustainability of mobile learning in the wider context of the sustainability of that system. Mobile devices are near-universal and their impact brings near-universal connectedness to people, data, content, and media. There are consequently subtle but pervasive transformations of jobs,...

The redox proteomics technique normally combines two-dimensional gel electrophoresis, mass spectrometry, and protein databases to analyze the cell proteome from various samples, thereby leading to the identification of specific targets of oxidative modification. Oxidative stress that occurs because of increased levels of reactive oxygen species and reactive nitrogen species can target most biom...

Multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS), where people report being exquisitely sensitive to a wide range of organic chemicals, is almost always described as being "controversial." The main source of this supposed controversy is that there has been no plausible physiological mechanism for MCS and consequently, it was difficult to interpret the puzzling reported features of this condition. As discuss...

Criminal sanctions are usually public, stable and predictable. In contrast, the practices governing the determination of the probability of detection and conviction reinforce uncertainty. We invoke psychological insights to illustrate that criminals prefer a scheme in which the size of the sentence is uncertain while the probability of detection and conviction is certain. Consequently, the choi...

This paper provides the first empirical test of the diversification of opinion theory and the group shift theory using real business data. Our data set covers management teams and single managers of US equity mutual funds. All our results clearly reject the group shift theory and support the diversification of opinion theory: extreme opinions of single team managers average out and, consequentl...