Deep-sea hydrothermal-vent fauna live in a highly variable environment where oxygen levels can be very low, and carbon dioxide and sulfide can reach high concentrations (1). These conditions are harsh for most aerobic metazoans, yet copepods can be abundant at hydrothermal vents. Here we report the structure and functional properties of hemoglobin extracted from the copepod Benthoxynus spiculifer, which was found in large numbers in a paralvinellid/gastropod community collection made during a cruise to the Juan de Fuca Ridge in 1998. Although hemoglobin has been reported in some littoral copepods (2), this is the first study of the structure and functional properties of copepod hemoglobin. Hemoglobin represents about 60% of the total soluble proteins extracted from B. spiculifer, and although it imparts a red color to the copepod, it does not provide a significant storage pool of oxygen. It is a 208-kDa protein, composed of 14 globin chains--7 of 14.3 kDa and 7 of 15.2 kDa. The hemoglobin has a very high and temperature-sensitive oxygen affinity, with no cooperativity or Bohr effect. These properties are adaptive for an animal living in a low-oxygen environment in which the primary function of the hemoglobin is most likely oxygen acquisition to support aerobic respiration.
This paper presents a field study that compares natural language call routing with standard touch-tone menus. Call routing is the task of getting callers to the right place in the call center, which could be the appropriate live agent or automated service. Natural language call routing lets callers describe the reason for their call in their own words, instead of presenting them with a list of menu options to select from using the telephone touch-tone keypad. The field study was conducted in a call center of a large telecommunication service provider. Results show that with natural language call routing, more callers respond to the main routing prompt, more callers are routed to a specific destination (instead of defaulting to a general operator who may have to transfer them), and more callers are routed to the correct agent. Our survey data show that callers overwhelmingly prefer natural language call routing over standard touch-tone menus. Furthermore, natural language call routing can also deliver significant cost savings to call centers.
We describe the methods and hardware that we are using to produce a real-time demonstration of an integrated Spoken Language System. We describe algorithms that greatly reduce the computation needed to compute the N-Best sentence hypotheses. To avoid grammar coverage problems we use a fully-connected first-order statistical class grammar. The speech-search algorithm is implemented on a board with a single Intel i860 chip, which provides a factor of 5 speedup over a SUN 4 for straight C code. The board plugs directly into the VME bus of the SUN4, which controls the system and contains the natural language system and application back end.
No abstract
As part of the introduction to an experiment using the Harvard Group Scale, subjects were given one of three brief instructions before being hypnotized: (1) no mention of negative or positive aftereffects, (2) vague warning of negative aftereffects, i.e., "some mildly unpleasant experiences", plus, "most persons report their experiences to be pleasurable and interesting", (3) specific warning of negative aftereffects, i.e., "approximately one half subjects have reported mild, short-term aftereffects such as headache", etc. (no positive information). The "specifically warned" Ss showed more negative aftereffects than both of the other groups, and the "no mention" Ss showed more than the "vaguely warned" Ss. The positive suggestions in the "vaguely warned" Ss instructions may have confounded the expectation for negative effects. A follow up study used instructions varying only in the degree of expectations for negative aftereffects (no mention of positive aftereffects). The results did not show group differences in negative aftereffects as predicted, however, correlational results suggested some interesting interactions among subject variables and the type of prehypnotic instructions administered.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
customersupport@researchsolutions.com
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.