Mann and gender in Old English prose : a pilot study

It has long been known that OE mann was used in gender-neutral as well as gender-specific contexts. Because of the enormous volume of its attestations in Old English prose, the more precise usage patterns of mann remain, however, largely uncharted, and existing lexicographical tools provide only a basic picture. This article aims to present a preliminary study of the various uses of mann as attested in Old English prose, particularly in its surprisingly consistent use by an individual author, namely that of the ninth-century Old English Martyrology. Patterns emerging from this text are then tested against other prose material. Particular attention is paid to gender-specific usage, examples of which are shown to be exceptional for a word which largely occurs in gender-neutral contexts.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Decelerating Spread of West Nile Virus by Percolation in a Heterogeneous Urban Landscape

Vector-borne diseases are emerging and re-emerging in urban environments throughout the world, presenting an increasing challenge to human health and a major obstacle to development. Currently, more than half of the global population is concentrated in urban environments, which are highly heterogeneous in the extent, degree, and distribution of environmental modifications. Because the prevalence of vector-borne pathogens is so closely coupled to the ecologies of vector and host species, this heterogeneity has the potential to significantly alter the dynamical systems through which pathogens propagate, and also thereby affect the epidemiological patterns of disease at multiple spatial scales. One such pattern is the speed of spread. Whereas standard models hold that pathogens spread as waves with constant or increasing speed, we hypothesized that heterogeneity in urban environments would cause decelerating travelling waves in incipient epidemics. To test this hypothesis, we analysed data on the spread of West Nile virus (WNV) in New York City (NYC), the 1999 epicentre of the North American pandemic, during annual epizootics from 2000–2008. These data show evidence of deceleration in all years studied, consistent with our hypothesis. To further explain these patterns, we developed a spatial model for vector-borne disease transmission in a heterogeneous environment. An emergent property of this model is that deceleration occurs only in the vicinity of a critical point. Geostatistical analysis suggests that NYC may be on the edge of this criticality. Together, these analyses provide the first evidence for the endogenous generation of decelerating travelling waves in an emerging infectious disease. Since the reported deceleration results from the heterogeneity of the environment through which the pathogen percolates, our findings suggest that targeting control at key sites could efficiently prevent pathogen spread to remote susceptible areas or even halt epidemics

Multifrequency studies of the peculiar quasar 4C+21.35 during the 2010 flaring activity

The discovery of rapidly variable Very High Energy ( VHE; E &gt; 100 GeV). - ray emission from 4C + 21.35 ( PKS 1222+ 216) by MAGIC on 2010 June 17, triggered by the high activity detected by the Fermi Large Area Telescope ( LAT) in high energy ( HE; E &gt; 100 MeV). - rays, poses intriguing questions on the location of the. - ray emitting region in this flat spectrum radio quasar. We present multifrequency data of 4C + 21.35 collected from centimeter to VHE during 2010 to investigate the properties of this source and discuss a possible emission model. The first hint of detection at VHE was observed by MAGIC on 2010 May 3, soon after a gamma- ray flare detected by Fermi-LAT that peaked on April 29. The same emission mechanism may therefore be responsible for both the HE and VHE emission during the 2010 flaring episodes. Two optical peaks were detected on 2010 April 20 and June 30, close in time but not simultaneous with the two gamma- ray peaks, while no clear connection was observed between the X-ray and gamma- ray emission. An increasing flux density was observed in radio and mm bands from the beginning of 2009, in accordance with the increasing gamma- ray activity observed by Fermi-LAT, and peaking on 2011 January 27 in the mm regime ( 230 GHz). We model the spectral energy distributions ( SEDs) of 4C + 21.35 for the two periods of the VHE detection and a quiescent state, using a one-zone model with the emission coming from a very compact region outside the broad line region. The three SEDs can be fit with a combination of synchrotron self-Compton and external Compton emission of seed photons from a dust torus, changing only the electron distribution parameters between the epochs. The fit of the optical/UV part of the spectrum for 2010 April 29 seems to favor an inner disk radius of &lt; six gravitational radii, as one would expect from a prograde-rotating Kerr black hole.</p

Time series analysis of precipitation chemistry data

De tijdsafhankelijke variaties in de maandelijkse gemiddelde concentraties en deposities in de periode van 1978 t/m 1984 van stoffen in regenwater, verzameld in een meetnet van twaalf stations, zijn beschreven a.d.h. van een multipele regressie model. Vooral is aandacht besteed aan de concentraties en deposities van hydronium, ammonium, nitraat en sulfaat, maar ook, doch minder grondig zijn natrium, kalium, calcium, magnesium, zink, fluoride en chloride bestudeerd. Het model blijkt voor sulfaat het best te voldoen en voor hydronium tamelijk slecht. Logaritmische transformatie leverde uitsluitend voor zink betere resultaten. Een groot deel van de tijdsafhankelijke variatie wordt verklaard uit de invloed van de neerslaghoeveelheid en het seizoen op de resultaten. Trends zijn voor de diverse stoffen berekend. Tevens is berekend welke trend met maandmonsters verzameld gedurende een vijfjaarlijkse periode bepaald kan worden met een waarschijnlijkheid van 80%.DGMH/L

Netherlands Precipitation Chemistry Network-Monitoring Results 1990

In dit rapport worden de resultaten gepresenteerd van in 1990 uitgevoerde metingen van de chemische samenstelling van de neerslag in Nederland. Dit geschiedt aan de hand van maandmonsters verkregen uit het Landelijk Meetnet Regenwatersamenstelling (LMRe), dat in 1990 uit 14 stations bestond. De meetresultaten van station Lelystad zijn niet opgenomen in dit rapport vanwege het hoge percentage uitval. Op alle stations werden monsters genomen voor analyse op hoofdcomponenten en op anorganische microcomponenten (zware metalen). Daarnaast werden op drie stations monsters genomen voor analyse op organische microcomponenten. In de hoofdcomponenten monsters werden de concentraties van hydronium (vrij zuur), natrium, kalium, calcium, magnesium, fluoride, chloride, nitraat, sulfaat, bicarbonaat en fosfaat bepaald. Voorts werd van deze monsters de geleidbaarheid en de pH bepaald. De monsters voor zware metalen werden geanalyseerd op cadmium, koper, ijzer, mangaan, nikkel, lood, vanadium en zink. Bovendien werd in de monsters van 3 stations arseen, chroom en kobalt bepaald. Het analyse spectrum van de organische microcomponenten omvatte de componenten alfa-hexachloorhexaan (alfa-HCH), gamma-hexachloorhexaan (gamma-HCH), hexachloorbenzeen (HCB), en 13 vertegenwoordigers uit de groep van de polycyclische aromatische koolwaterstoffen (PAK's). Hoofdstuk 1 bevat informatie over het LMRe. In hoofdstuk 2 worden de gebruikte berekeningswijzen beschreven. In hoofdstuk 3 wordt het in de bijlagen gepresenteerde overzicht van de resultaten toegelicht.In this report the results are presented of the measurements of the chemical composition of precipitation in the Netherlands carried out in 1990. This took place by means of the monthly samples obtained from the National Precipitation Chemistry Monitoring Network (LMRe), which consisted of 14 stations in 1990. The measurement results from the station Lelystad have not been included in this report because of the high percentage of malfunction. Samples were taken at all stations to be analysed for main components and inorganic microcomponents (heavy metals). Additionally, at three stations samples were taken to be analysed for organic microcomponents. Analysis of the main component samples determined the concentrations of hydrogen ions (free acid), sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, fluoride, chloride, nitrate, sulphate, bicarbonate and phosphate; the conductivity and the pH value of these samples were also determined. The samples for heavy metals were analysed for cadmium, copper, iron, manganese, nickel, lead, vanadium and zinc. Furthermore, arsenic, chrome and cobalt were determined in the samples from three stations. The analysis spectrum of the organic components included the components alpha-hexachlorhexane (alpha-HCH), gamma-hexachlorhexane (gamma-HCH), hexachlorbenzene (HCB), and thirteen representatives from the group of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Chapter 1 contains information about LMRe. In Chapter 2 the calculation procedures used here are described. In Chapter 3 the presentation of the results in the appendices is explained.DGM/L

Netherlands Precipitation Chemistry Network-Monitoring Results 1989

In dit rapport worden de resultaten gepresenteerd van in 1989 uitgevoerde metingen van de chemische samenstelling van de neerslag in Nederland. Dit geschiedt aan de hand van maandmonsters verkregen uit het Landelijk Meetnet Regenwatersamenstelling (LMRe), dat in 1989 uit 14 stations bestond. Op alle stations werden monsters genomen voor analyse op hoofdcomponenten en op anorganische microcomponenten (zware metalen). Daarnaast werden op drie stations monsters genomen voor analyse op organische microcomponenten. In de hoofdcomponenten monsters werden de concentraties van hydronium (vrij zuur), natrium, kalium, calcium, magnesium, fluoride, chloride, nitraat, sulfaat, bicarbonaat en fosfaat bepaald. Voorts werd van deze monsters de geleidbaarheid en de pH bepaald. De rapportage van de analyse op radioactiviteit wordt met ingang van dit rapport gestopt. De monsters voor zware metalen werden geanalyseerd op cadmium, koper, ijzer, mangaan, nikkel, lood, vanadium en zink. Bovendien werd in de monsters van 3 stations arseen, chroom en kobalt bepaald. Het analyse spectrum van de organische microcomponenten omvatte de componenten alfa-hexachloorhexaan (alfa-HCH), gamma-hexachloorhexaan (gamma-HCH), hexachloorbenzeen (HCB), en 13 vertegenwoordigers uit de groep van de polycyclische aromatische koolwaterstoffen (PAK's). Hoofdstuk 1 bevat informatie over het LMRe. In hoofdstuk 2 worden de gebruikte berekeningswijzen beschreven. In hoofdstuk 3 wordt het in de bijlagen gepresenteerde overzicht van de resultaten toegelicht.In this report the results are presented of measurements of the chemical composition of precipitation in the Netherlands in 1989, using monthly samples from the 14 stations of the National Precipitation Chemistry Monitoring Network (LMRe). Samples were taken at all stations to be analysed for main components and inorganic microcomponents (heavy metals). Additionally, at three stations samples were taken to be analysed for organic microcomponents. Analysis of the main component samples determined the concentrations of hydrogen ions (free acid), sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, fluoride, chloride, nitrate, sulphate, bicarbonate and phosphate ; the conductivity and the pH value of these samples were also determined. Reporting of the results of analysis for radioactivity ceases with this report. The samples for heavy metals were analysed for cadmium, copper, iron, manganese, nickel, lead, vanadium and zinc. Furthermore, arsenic, chrome and cobalt were determined in the samples from three stations. The analysis spectrum of the organic components included the components alpha-hexachlorhexane (alpha-HCH), gamma-hexachlorhexane (gamma-HCH), hexachlorbenzene (HCB), and thirteen representatives from the group of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Chapter 1 provides information about the LMRe. Chapter 2 describes the calculation methods applied. In Chapter 3 the extensive presentation of the results in the Annexes is explained.DGM/L

Chemical composition of precipitation over The Netherlands. Annual report 1985

Resultaten van de chemische analyse van de neerslag boven Nederland in 1985 worden gegeven aan de hand van maandmonsters verkregen uit het Landelijk Meetnet Regenwatersamenstelling. Dit bestond in 1985 uit 21 stations. In 1985 werden op alle stations hoofdcomponenten en anorganische micro-componenten gemeten. Op drie stations werden organische micro-componenten gemeten. Een algemeen overzicht van de meetresultaten wordt in tabellen en isolijnenkaartjes weergegeven. De procedures voor monstername van de hoofdcomponenten en de methoden voor de analyse van monsters op hoofdcomponenten zijn beschreven. Ook de resultaten zelf en bewerkte resultaten zijn in het rapport separaat opgenomen. Voor anorganische micro-componenten is hetzelfde gedaan. Ook de resultaten van deze metingen zijn separaat opgenomen in het rapport. De procedures voor monstername en analyse van de organische micro-componenten, als ook de resultaten van de metingen zijn in het rapport opgenomen. Metingen van natuurlijke isotopen in maandmonsters en de resultaten van de metingen zijn gepresenteerd.DGMH/L