Laboratoire de Phonétique et Phonologie

In this paper it is shown that at the edges of prosodic domains, initial consonant and final vowels have more extreme (less reduced) lingual articulations, which are called articulatory strengthening. Linguopalatal contact for consonants and vowels in different prosodic positions was compared, using reiterant-speech versions of sentences with a variety of phrasings read by three speakers of American English. Four prosodic domains were considered: the phonological word, the phonological (or intermediate) phrase, the intonational phrase, and the utterance. Domain-initial consonants show more linguopalatal contact than domain-medial or domain-final consonants, at three prosodic levels. Most vowels, on the other hand, show less linguopalatal contact in domain-final syllables compared to domain-initial and domain-medial. As a result, the articulatory difference between segments is greater around a prosodic boundary, increasing the articulatory contrast between consonant and vowels, and prosodic domains are marked at both edges. Furthermore, the consonant initial strengthening is generally cumulative, i.e., the higher the prosodic domain, the more linguopalatal contact the consonant has. However, speakers differed in how many and which levels were distinguished in this way. It is suggested that this initial strengthening could provide an alternative account for previously observed supralaryngeal declination of consonants. Acoustic duration of the consonants is also affected by prosodic position, and this lengthening is cumulative like linguopalatal contact, but the two measures are only weakly correlated.

To investigate the universality of magnetic turbulence in space plasmas, we analyze seven time periods in the free solar wind under different plasma conditions. Three instruments on Cluster spacecraft operating in different frequency ranges give us the possibility to resolve spectra up to 300 Hz. We show that the spectra form a quasiuniversal spectrum following the Kolmogorov's law approximately k(-5/3) at MHD scales, a approximately k(-2.8) power law at ion scales, and an exponential approximately exp[-sqrt[k(rho)e]] at scales k(rho)e approximately [0.1,1], where rho(e) is the electron gyroradius. This is the first observation of an exponential magnetic spectrum in space plasmas that may indicate the onset of dissipation. We distinguish for the first time between the role of different spatial kinetic plasma scales and show that the electron Larmor radius plays the role of a dissipation scale in space plasma turbulence.

This paper reports on a new methodology to estimate the “cost of crime.” It is adapted from the contingent valuation method used in the environmental economics literature and is itself used to estimate the public's willingness to pay for crime control programs. In a nationally representative sample of 1,300 U.S. residents, we found that the typical household would be willing to pay between $100 and $150 per year for programs that reduced specific crimes by 10 percent in their communities. This willingness amounts, collectively, to approximately $25,000 per burglary, $70,000 per serious assault, $232,000 per armed

In this paper we provide a detailed account of the various realizations of the accentual phrase in our phonological model of French intonation (Jun & Fougeron 1995, 2000), and introduce a slight revision in tone-syllable association. In addition to the default and unmarked phrases, we examine the intonational contour of long polymorphemic words and utterances containing a sequence of several clitics. We discuss the status of additional H tones found in the marked phrases and the constraints on the distribution of these H tones.

In this article, we reexamine and extend a relationship proposed earlier between entanglement density and chain dimensions in polymer melts. The power-law equation presented in the earlier work, relating the entanglement molecular weight Me, melt chain density ρ, and the packing length p is tested with additional polymer species. Now included are additional polydienes and their hydrogenated derivatives, the isotactic forms of polypropylene and polystyrene, the essentially syndiotactic form of poly(methyl methacrylate), along with poly(tetrafluoroethylene), poly(vinylmethyl ether), various poly(methacrylates), and polymeric sulfur. We find that within experimental uncertainties, Me/ρ and p are related through an equation (Me/ρ = 218p3) that is insensitive to temperature (25°C ≤ T ≤ 380°C) and which seems to be universal for flexible Gaussian chains in the melt state. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci B: Polym Phys 37: 1023–1033, 1999

Phonological zones in Africa Some 30 percent of the world's languages are spoken in Africa, by one current estimate (Gordon 2005). Given this linguistic richness, it is not surprising that African languages reveal robust patterns of phonology and phonetics that are much less frequent, or which barely occur, in other regions of the world. These differences are instructive for many reasons, not the least of which is the fact that they bring to light potentials for sound structure which, due to accidents of history and geography, have been more fully developed in Africa than in other continents. Just as importantly, a closer study of “variation space” across African languages shows that it is not homogeneous, as some combinations of properties tend to cluster together in genetically unrelated languages while other imaginable combinations are rare or unattested, even in single groups; crosslinguistic variation of this sort is of central interest to the study of linguistic universals and typology. A further important reason for studying phonological patterns in Africa is the light they shed upon earlier population movements and linguistic change through contact. In preparing this chapter, we initially set out to examine characteristics that are more typical of the African continent as a whole than of other broad regions of the world (a goal initially set out by Greenberg 1959, 1983). However, this goal quickly turned out to be unrealistic.

Adequate resection margins are critical to the treatment decisions and prognosis of patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). However, there are numerous controversies regarding reporting and interpretation of the status of resection margins. Fundamental issues relating to the basic definition of margin adequacy, uniform reporting standards for margins, optimal method of specimen dissection, and the role of intraoperative frozen section evaluation, all require further clarification and standardization. Future horizons for margin surveillance offer the possible use of novel methods such as "molecular margins" and contact microscopic endoscopy, However, the limitations of these approaches need to be understood. The goal of this review was to evaluate these issues to define a more rational, standardized approach for achieving resection margin adequacy for patients with HNSCC undergoing curative resection.

Squamous cell carcinoma of the hypopharynx represents a distinct clinical entity. Most patients present with significant comorbidities and advanced-stage disease. The overall survival is relatively poor because of high rates of regional and distant metastasis at presentation or early in the course of the disease. A multidisciplinary approach is crucial in the overall management of these patients to achieve the best results and maintain or improve functional results. Traditionally, operable hypopharyngeal cancer has been treated by total (occasionally partial) laryngectomy and partial or circumferential pharyngectomy, followed by reconstruction and postoperative radiotherapy in most cases. Efforts to preserve speech and swallowing function in the surgical treatment of hypopharyngeal (and laryngeal) cancer have resulted in a declining use of total laryngopharyngectomy and improved reconstructive efforts, including microvascular free tissue transfer. There are many surgical, as well as nonsurgical, options available for organ and function preservation, which report equally effective tumor control and survival. The selection of appropriate treatment is of crucial importance in the achievement of optimal results for these patients. In this article, several aspects of surgical and nonsurgical approaches in the treatment of hypopharyngeal cancer are discussed. Future studies must be carefully designed within clearly defined populations and use uniform terminology and standardized functional assessment and declare appropriate patient or disease endpoints. These studies should focus on improvement of results, without increasing patient morbidity. In this respect, technical improvements in radiotherapy such as intensity-modulated radiotherapy, advances in supportive care, and incorporation of newer systemic agents such as targeted therapy, are relevant developments.

The perceptual GRBAS scale for deviant voice quality (completed with a "I" parameter: Instability = fluctuation of voice quality over time) was tested in 5 different institutes on 943 voice patients. Each voice was evaluated separately by 2 professionals. The interrater correlation reaches 0.87 for G (grade), 0.70 for R (roughness), 0.69 for B (breathiness) and 0.65 for A/S (asthenicity/strain). Experience with the scale significantly improves the interrater agreement. The intrarater correlation (80 voices; time interval 2-6 months) is systematically slightly stronger than the interrater correlation. Further, GIRBAS/acoustical correlations were investigated on 80 pathological voices, by using the Multidimensional Voice Program (MDVP) of Kay. Principal component analysis allows reduction of 21 MDVP parameters to 5 clinically relevant aspects, with a typical acoustical measurement for each of them. The strongest correlations are found between G and Shimmer/Noise to harmonics ratio, R and Jitter, and B and Shimmer. As tremor and diplophonia are easily identified perceptually and acoustically, it seems useful to add this information respectively to AS and R. The GIRBAS scale seems to be a valuable instrument for clinical practice.

Introduction This paper is about one way in which prosody affects individual speech segments, with segmental phonetics showing a perhaps surprising sensitivity to higher-level linguistic structure. By prosody we mean the phrasal and tonal organisation of speech. We will show that phonetic properties of individual segments depend on their prosodic position , or position in prosodic structure. It is well known that in a monosyllabic CVC word, the initial consonant can be pronounced differently than the final consonant, the initial consonant being longer and having greater articulatory magnitude (e.g. Byrd 1994; Keating, Wright and Zhang 1999). Some interesting recent acoustic studies have extended this line of inquiry above the syllable and word level to phrasal levels. For example, at the LabPhonII conference, Pierrehumbert and Talkin (1992) presented a study in which they used acoustic measures of breathiness to show that /h/ is more consonant-like when it is phrase-initial than when it is phrase-medial (‘The phrase boundary was found to shift articulation on both sides in a more consonantal direction’, p. 116). Similarly, the Voice Onset Time (VOT) of /t/ is longer phrase-initially. This latter result was extended by Jun (1993), who compared the VOT of Korean /p h / in three positions: initial in a small phrase, initial in a word, medial in a word; VOT varied as shown in Figure 8.1. Then Dilley, Shattuck-Hufnagel and Ostendorf (1996) showed that higher phrasal levels can also differ.

Luscious cherries, sweet peaches, creamy avocados, and tropical papayas are just a few of the tasty treats that come to mind when we think of fruit. Indeed, fruit come in all shapes and sizes, from gigantic pumpkins to the tiny fruit of the duckweed Wolffia angusta, which are as small as a grain of salt. Fruit range in texture from soft and fleshy to dry and papery with each design optimized for a different seed dispersal strategy. Fleshy fruit are often sweet, brightly colored, and are generally adapted to be eaten by vertebrates, which carry the seeds to a new location before depositing them in a pile of fertilizer. In contrast, wind, water, and the force generated by the opening of the seedpod commonly distribute the seeds of dry fruit. Of course there are many exceptions, such as the spiked, barbed, dry fruit that snag a ride by adhering to the fur of passing animals. Dry fruit are classified as either dehiscent, in which the walls of the ovary open to release the seeds into the environment, or indehiscent, in which the seeds remain enclosed in the fruit and the fruit is shed from the plant. Many important crops including peas, beans, lentils, soybeans and canola have dehiscent fruit. Both crops with fleshy fruit and with dehiscent fruit are of such importance to agriculture and the human diet that fruit have been the focus of extensive research in recent years. Research on fleshy fruit has focused primarily on tomato and great progress has been made in understanding the genes that control the size and ripening of tomato fruit (for reviews see Giovannoni, 2004; Tanksley, 2004; Adams-Phillips, et al., 2004). Research on dehiscent fruit has focused on Arabidopsis thaliana, which will be the focus of this chapter (for additional reviews see Dinneny and Yanofsky, 2004; Ferrandiz, et al., 1999; Bowman et al., 1999). In this chapter, we will first discuss wild-type fruit development and then turn to the genes and hormones that are known to regulate fruit formation in Arabidopsis. Specifically, we will examine the genes that are involved in specifying the development of the different tissue types within the fruit, the genes that control the formation of axes within the fruit, and the processes that regulate fruit development after fertilization (see Table 1 for a list of genes involved in fruit development). The fruit is arguably the most complex plant organ and its development is just beginning to be understood, making fruit development a ripe field for many years to come. Table 1. Genes involved in fruit development 1.1 Wild-type Fruit Structure The fruit is defined as the mature ovary (and, in some types of fruit, additional floral tissues) that forms a specialized structure designed to protect the seeds while they develop and disperse them at maturity. The fruit develops from the gynoecium after fertilization. The gynoecium is the female reproductive structure including the ovary and is usually formed from one or more fused carpels at the center of the flower. A carpel is a single ovule bearing structural unit of the gynoecium and is thought to have originated from a modified bract or leaf (Bowman et al., 1999). The Arabidopsis gynoecium is composed of two fused carpels, each of which consists of a seedpod wall and surrounding tissues. The fusion of the carpels is congenital, meaning that the gynoecium arises as a single primordium. The Arabidopsis fruit develops from the fertilized gynoecium to form a silique, or seedpod, which dries and dehisces at maturity, releasing the seeds. The Arabidopsis fruit consists of many distinct cell types, which are derived from the gynoecium. From top to bottom there are four different regions of the gynoecium and subsequently the fruit: the stigma, style, ovary, and gynophore (Figure 1; see Figure 2 for definitions of axes in the fruit and other terms). Figure 1. Structure of the wild-type fruit. (A) Scanning electron micrograph (SEM) of a Landsberg erecta (Ler) fruit at stage 17. The fruit has been false colored to distinguish the different parts and this color code has been used throughout the review. At the ... Figure 2. Terminology. (A) Picture of a stage 17 fruit with axes labeled. (B) Cross section of a stage 17 fruit with axes labeled. The scale bar in A represents 1 mm and the scale bar in B represents 100 µm. Stigma At the top of the gynoecium, the stigma is comprised of a single layer of elongated papillar cells specialized for the germination of pollen (Figure 1B). The stigma is the first component of the transmitting tract, a set of cells that secrete a polysaccharide-rich extracellular matrix, which-forms a pathway for the growth and guidance of pollen tubes (Sessions and Zambryski, 1995; for reviews of pollen tube guidance see Lord and Russell, 2002 and Palanivelu and Preuss, 2000).

Abstract The aim of the chapter is to propose a ToBI transcription system for French, F_ToBI. The system is designed in such a way as to (i) be (surface) transparent and easily learnable by researchers working in different theoretical frameworks; and to (ii) make the exchange of data more feasible. It is couched in the Autosegmental Metrical framework and follows the usual ToBI conventions. This is to facilitate research in prosodic typology in particular within Romance, for which ToBI-style systems are often used. F_ToBI is designed to transcribe distinct intonation contours that are generally accepted in the literature on French intonation and which are supported by the analysis of empirical data. While it is inspired by existing theoretical accounts of French phrasing and intonation, it does not follow one single precursor, since its primary goal is to allow for an adequate and comprehensive transcription of French prosody in a cross-dialectal perspective.

Following tradition and for the sake of convenience in contrasting French with other languages, much of the research and theory have assumed that French has a stress located on the last full syllable of every lexical word, an “accent de mot intrinsèque” (Rousselot, 1924). Lexical words are opposed to function words, such as articles and auxiliaries, which do not have a potentially stressable final syllable (Garde, 1968). In continuous speech, the “accent de mot” or word accent of a number of lexical words is often not fully realized, or not realized at all, due to modifications dictated by the larger patterns of the speech measure or phrase (a phenomenon not particular to French, Heffner, 1950:228). Only the last syllable of the last word in a group of words, lengthened and often superimposed with a fundamental frequency (Fo) rise or a Fo peak as the expression of continuation, is regularly perceived as prominent, giving rise to the so-called “accent de groupe” (Delattre, 1966:75). There is no clear cut definition of this “groupe”. A group generally constitutes a unit of meaning, a sense-group. The same sentence can be chunked into more or less units of meaning, depending on the rate of speaking and on the speaker (Grammont, 1914; Coustenoble and Armstrong, 1934; Delattre, 1966:65; Vaissière, 1974:216; Vaissière, 1989; see also Hirst & Di Cristo, 1984). Prominence can be perceived also at the beginning of the word, as a consequence of emphasis (Grammont, 1914), of the “accent intellectuel” (Marouzeau, 1934; Roudet, 1910), as a regular characteristic of professional announcers (Leon, 1971; Fonagy & Fonagy, 1976), and in certain dialects (Fouché, 1936; Carton, 1976).

International audience

This study compares the news coverage of election campaigns in three Swedish newspapers at the time of the 2002 national election and three U.S. newspapers at the time of the 2004 presidential election. The results from the content analysis show that the metaframe of politics as a strategic game was more common in the U.S. newspapers, while the metaframe of politics as issues was more common in the Swedish newspapers. U.S. articles were also more likely to use the horse-race and political strategy frames. While U.S. coverage was predominantly descriptive in focus, an interpretive journalistic style was more often dominant in the Swedish articles. The results also show that the U.S. news stories were triggered by the words and actions of the campaigns more often than the Swedish news stories.

In an era of advanced diagnostics, metastasis to cervical lymph nodes from an occult primary tumor is a rare clinical entity and accounts for approximately 3% of head and neck malignancies. Histologically, two thirds of cases are squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs), with other tissue types less common in the neck. With modern imaging and tissue examinations, a primary tumor initially undetected on physical examination is revealed in >50% of patients and the site of the index primary can be predicted with a high level of probability. In the present review, the range and limitations of diagnostic procedures are summarized and the optimal diagnostic workup is proposed. Initial preferred diagnostic procedures are a fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) and imaging. This allows directed surgical biopsy (such as tonsillectomy), based on the preliminary findings, and prevents misinterpretation of postsurgical images. When no primary lesion is suggested after imaging and panendoscopy, and for patients without a history of smoking and alcohol abuse, molecular profiling of an FNAB sample for human papillomavirus (HPV) and/or Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is important.

Portland, Oregon, is well known for its relatively unique urban growth boundary (UGB), a very tight form of zoning designed to control sprawl. The UGB has recently been criticized for raising housing prices. From a theoretical perspective, the UGB will put upward pressure on land and thus housing prices, but the magnitude of this effect is uncertain. Increasing density should substitute for higher land prices, partially offsetting any reduction in the supply of housing. In addition, at any given moment, speculative factors influence housing price levels in bull markets such as the one Portland has been experiencing. This article presents an econometric analysis assessing these conflicting effects. We find the UGB has created upward pressure on housing prices, but the effect is relatively small in magnitude.

Abstract The bouba/kiki effect—the association of the nonce word bouba with a round shape and kiki with a spiky shape—is a type of correspondence between speech sounds and visual properties with potentially deep implications for the evolution of spoken language. However, there is debate over the robustness of the effect across cultures and the influence of orthography. We report an online experiment that tested the bouba/kiki effect across speakers of 25 languages representing nine language families and 10 writing systems. Overall, we found strong evidence for the effect across languages, with bouba eliciting more congruent responses than kiki. Participants who spoke languages with Roman scripts were only marginally more likely to show the effect, and analysis of the orthographic shape of the words in different scripts showed that the effect was no stronger for scripts that use rounder forms for bouba and spikier forms for kiki. These results confirm that the bouba/kiki phenomenon is rooted in crossmodal correspondence between aspects of the voice and visual shape, largely independent of orthography. They provide the strongest demonstration to date that the bouba/kiki effect is robust across cultures and writing systems. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Voice modulation: from origin and mechanism to social impact (Part II)’.

Miltefosine (hexadecylphosphocholine [HePC]) is the first orally active antileishmanial drug. Transient HePC treatment of Leishmania donovani promastigotes at 10 microM significantly reduced the phosphatidylcholine content and enhanced the phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) content in parasite membranes, suggesting a partial inactivation of PE-N-methyltransferase. Phospholipase D activity did not seem to be affected by HePC. In addition, the enhancement of the lysophosphatidylcholine content could be ascribed to phospholipase A2 activation. Moreover, transient HePC treatment had no effect on the fatty acid alkyl chain length or the fatty acid unsaturation rate. Concerning sterols, we found a strong reduction of the C24 alkylated sterol content, and the enhancement of the cholesterol content could be the result of the HePC condensation effect with sterols. Because some of the effects observed after transient HePC treatment were different from those previously observed in HePC-resistant parasites, it could be hypothesized that continuous in vitro drug pressure induces the mechanisms of regulation in Leishmania lipid metabolism.

Abstract Let (𝒳, d , μ ) be a space of homogeneous type in the sense of Coifman and Weiss. Assuming that μ satisfies certain estimates from below and there exists a suitable Calderón reproducing formula in L 2 (𝒳), the authors establish a Lusin‐area characterization for the atomic Hardy spaces H p at (𝒳) of Coifman and Weiss for p ∈ ( p 0 , 1], where p 0 = n /( n + ε 1 ) depends on the “dimension” n of 𝒳 and the “regularity” ε 1 of the Calderón reproducing formula. Using this characterization, the authors further obtain a Littlewood–Paley g * λ ‐function characterization for H p (𝒳) when λ > n + 2 n / p and the boundedness of Calderón–Zygmund operators on H p (𝒳). The results apply, for instance, to Ahlfors n ‐regular metric measure spaces, Lie groups of polynomial volume growth and boundaries of some unbounded model domains of polynomial type in ℂ N . (© 2006 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)