Type-I ion outflow from the high latitude ionosphere

The aim of this thesis is to study type-I ion outflows in the high latitude ionosphere. Type-I ion outflows are characterized by strong perpendicular electric fields, enhanced and anisotropic ion temperatures and low electron densities below 300 km, indicating small amounts of hard particle precipitation. We scanned data from the EISCAT Madrigal database over a period of 10 years (January 2000 - December 2010). We checked the colour plots of the field-aligned experiments ran with the UHF, the VHF and the ESR radars. Data from the type-I candidates have then been analyzed using a matlab program. Type-I ion outflows have been divided into two categories: non-continuous and continuous, depending on the temperature ratio profile. Continuous outflows have been detected with the ESR radar and only at high altitudes ( > 400 km) with the VHF radar. We suggest different ion heating mechanisms at different locations and altitudes. Type-I ion outflows have been detected only in the evening sector with the UHF and VHF radars, but both in the morning and evening sectors with the ESR radars, suggesting that particle precipitations may be of relevance to trigger these outflows. A third type of ion outflows has been identified showing a fast changing temperature ratio profile. When possible we checked the presence of naturally enhanced ion acoustic lines (NEIALs) during type-I ion outflows, 4 outflow events have been analyzed. We found NEIALs during 1 outflow event, suggesting that the proposed theories in the literature about the NEIAL generation mechanisms should be discussed in the future or other mechanisms are needed to fulfill the requirement of a temperature ratio less than 1

Using authentic texts for grammar exercises for a minority language

Source at http://www.ep.liu.se/index.en.asp.This paper presents an ATICALL (Authentic Text ICALL) system with automatic visual input enhancement activities for training complex inflection systems in a minority language. We have adapted the freely available VIEW system which was designed to automatically generate activities from any web content. Our system is based on finite state transducers (FST) and Constraint Grammar, originally built for other purposes. The paper describes ways of handling ambiguity in the target form in the exercises, and ways of handling the challenges for VIEW posed by authentic text, typical for a minority language: variations in orthography, and large proportion of nonnormative forms.</p

Suoidne-varra-bleahkka-mála-bihkka-senet-dielku 'hay-blood-ink-paint-tar-mustard-stain' -Should compounds be lexicalized in NLP?

Source at http://ceur-ws.org/Vol-2769/paper_49.pdf. CEUR Workshop Proceedings home page at http://ceur-ws.org/Vol-2769/.Lexicalizing compounds, in addition to treating them dynamically, is a key element in giving us idiomatic translations and detecting compound errors. We present and evaluate an e-dictionary (NDS) and a grammar checker (GramDivvun) for North Sámi. We achieve a coverage of 98% for NDSqueries and of 96% for compound error detection in GramDivvun

Changes in soil aggregation and glomalin-related soil protein content as affected by the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal species Glomus mosseae and Glomus intraradices.

Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi are key organisms of the soil/plant system, influencing soil fertility and plant nutrition, and contributing to soil aggregation and soil structure stability by the combined action of extraradical hyphae and of an insoluble, hydrophobic proteinaceous substance named glomalin-related soil protein (GRSP). Since the GRSP extraction procedures have recently revealed problems related to co-extracting substances, the relationship between GRSP and AM fungi still remains to be verified. In this work the hypothesis that GRSP concentration is positively correlated with the occurrence of AM fungi was tested by using Medicago sativa plants inoculated with different isolates of Glomus mosseae and Glomus intraradices in a microcosm experiment. Our results show that (i) mycorrhizal establishment produced an increase in GRSP concentration – compared to initial values – in contrast with non-mycorrhizal plants, which did not produce any change; (ii) aggregate stability, evaluated as mean weight diameter (MWD) of macroaggregates of 1–2 mm diameter, was significantly higher in mycorrhizal soils compared to non-mycorrhizal soil; (iii) GRSP concentration and soil aggregate stability were positively correlated with mycorrhizal root volume and weakly correlated with total root volume; (iv) MWD values of soil aggregates were positively correlated with values of total hyphal length and hyphal density of the AM fungi utilized. The different ability of AM fungal isolates to affect GRSP concentration and to form extensive and dense mycelial networks, which may directly affect soil aggregates stability by hyphal enmeshment of soil particles, suggests the possibility of selecting the most efficient isolates to be utilized for soil quality improvement and land restoration programs

Expression of tumour necrosis factors during chick lens development

During development of the lens, epithelial cells at the lens equator begin a differentiation process to become secondary fibre cells. The differentiating cells elongate and migrate towards the centre of the lens where they envelop the older, central fibre cells. Differentiation into fibre cells is accompanied by the breakdown of all organelles, such as the mitochondria. All organelle degradation is completed and denucleation occurs at the border of the organelle free zone (OFZ) which contains the central, terminally differentiated, fibre cells. The differentiation pathway is not well characterised, though it is believed to have similarities to an attenuated form of apoptosis supported by the identification of apoptosis related genes, such as TNF, in the lens. This study continues the search for and characterisation of apoptosis related genes expressed during lens development, focusing on TNFs and their extended family. Reverse Transcriptase-(RT-) PCR was carried out, identifying a number of TNF and extended family member genes in the chick lens, expression studies established novel, statistically significant differential expression for TRAF2 and TRAF3. TRAF2 protein expression from western blotting, similar to RT-PCR expression was found to decline as the lens developed. TRAF2 localisation studies showed limited expression in the equatorial region but there was extensive signalling found in the developing iris, a region in the corneal-scleral boundary and some staining was also detected in the ciliary body. TRAF3 protein and RT-PCR expression were similar, with increasing expression as the lens developed. Western blotting identified two bands and subcellular fractionation confirmed different localisation for the two isoforms. Immunofluorescence identified increasing TRAF3 staining in the cortical fibre cells, this staining was found to be similar to proteins that were reported to be involved in lens fibre cell remodelling and maintenance, suggesting a possibly similar role for TRAF3. Following interest in TRAIL as a gene therapy for Posterior Capsule Opacification (PCO) its expression was examined using RT-PCR and Western blotting which showed low, similar levels of expression throughout the stages of lens development studied. Peroxidase staining showed interesting staining in the equatorial epithelial cells and those just beginning to differentiate at the transition zone. Novel nuclear staining was identified at all time points in both epithelial and fibre cells containing nuclei. Characterisation of whole lens culture was undertaken to discover the optimum culture system for the whole chick lens. Of the published research using whole chick lens culture none stated the basic morphology of the developing lens in organ culture, though each lab had their preferred methodology. The characterisation resulted in the preference of E10 chick lenses being grown with vitreous attached in medium containing glucose. Understanding the morphology of lenses in culture will be invaluable when undertaking the functional studies required to clarify the roles in the lens of the newly identified genes, specifically TRAF2 and TRAF3.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Capital and culture : an investigation into New Labour cultural policy and the European Capital of Culture 2008

This thesis is an investigation into the relationship between culture in New Labour policy and within the competition for the European Capital of Culture 2008. The study interrogates a policy paradigm which it identifies as a 'creative city/urban planning' approach to urban regeneration. It locates this approach within a wider New Labour 'Third Way' politics, in that it attempts to reconcile economic instrumentalism with a rhetorical commitment to a politics of the social. Based on elite interviews and documentary analysis, this thesis argues that this approach to urban regeneration draws on a misappropriation of the work of cultural theorist Raymond Williams. It demonstrates how this misappropriation results in an unbounded anthropological definition, whereby culture colonises all areas of economic and social life. Within this template, culture becomes a surrogate economic and social policy. This is illustrated in the case-study of Liverpool's bidding for, winning of and plans for Capital of Culture 2008. This analysis shows how culture without parameters is usurped within both a neo-liberal economic agenda, and a policy template which recasts social inequality as a personal cultural deficit. Within Liverpool's urban strategy, culture is conceived as a social and economic panacea. However, when culture comes to mean everything, it invariably means nothing. This thesis attempts to put Raymond Williams' 'vague and baggy monster' back in its theoretical cage.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Integrazione di building information modeling e realtà aumentata per migliorare l’indagine di edifici storici

This paper describes an experimental system to support investigation of historical buildings using Building Information Modeling (BIM) and Augmented Reality (AR). The system requires the use of an off-line software to build the BIM representation and defines a method to integrate diagnostic data into BIM. The system offers access to such information during site investigation using AR glasses supported by marker and marker-less technologies. The main innovation is the possibility to contextualize through AR not only existing BIM properties but also results from non-invasive tools. User evaluations show how the use of the system may enhance the perception of engineers during the investigation process.Questa pubblicazione descrive un sistema sperimentale per supportare l’indagine di edifici storici utilizzando Building Information Modeling (BIM) e Realtà Aumentata (AR). Il sistema richiede l’utilizzo di software off-line per realizzare la rappresentazione BIM e definisce un metodo per integrare dati diagnostici in BIM. Il sistema offre accesso a tali dati durante l’indagine del sito usando occhiali AR supportati dalle tecnologie marker e marker-less. L’innovazione principale del sistema è la possibilità di contestualizzare attraverso AR non solo le proprietà BIM esistenti ma anche dati da strumenti non-invasivi. Valutazioni utente mostrano come l’utilizzo del sistema possa migliorare la percezione degli ingegneri durante il processo di indagine

Mii *eai leat gal vuollánan -- Vi *ha neimen ikke gitt opp: En hybrid grammatikkontroll for å rette kongruensfeil

Machine learning is the dominating paradigm in natural language processing nowadays. It requires vast amounts of manually annotated or synthetically generated text data. In the GiellaLT infrastructure, on the other hand, we have worked with rule-based methods, where the linguistis have full control over the development the tools. In this article we uncover the myth of machine learning being cheaper than a rule-based approach by showing how much work there is behind data generation, either via corpus annotation or creating tools that automatically mark-up the corpus. Earlier we have shown that the correction of grammatical errors, in particular compound errors, benefit from hybrid methods. Agreement errors, on the other other hand, are to a higher degree dependent on the larger grammatical context. Our experiments show that machine learning methods for this error type, even when supplemented by rule-based methods generating massive data, can not compete with the state-of-the-art rule-based approach.Maskinlæringsteknikker der lingvistisk ekspertise ikke brukes dominerer språkteknologi nå til dags. Dette krever at man merker opp en stor datamengde manuelt på forhånd. I GiellaLT-infrastrukturen har man der- imot jobbet med regelbaserte metoder der lingvisten har kontroll over hvordan verktøyene fungerer. Det er ikke bare tekniske årsaker for metodevalget. Kunnskapsøkning om samisk grammatikk, kvalitetssikring og kontrollerbarhet (verktøyene gjør det de skal gjøre også ifølge menneskelige standard) ligger bak preferansen om å jobbe regelbasert. I denne artikkelen vil vi forsøke å avdekke myten om at maskinlæring blir billigere enn regelbaserte metoder. Likevel tror vi at maskinlæringsmetoder kan være nyttige der vi ønsker større dekning av feilretting. Vi viser at maskinlæringsmodeller som har tilgang til små datameng- der (i dette tilfelle for små språk) er avhengig av gode regelbaserte verktøy som erstatning for manuell oppmerking

Adrenal suppression in patients taking inhaled glucocorticoids is highly prevalent and management can be guided by morning cortisol

Context Up to 3% of US and UK populations are prescribed glucocorticoids (GC). Suppression of the hypothalamo–pituitary–adrenal axis with the potential risk of adrenal crisis is a recognized complication of therapy. The 250 μg short Synacthen stimulation test (SST) is the most commonly used dynamic assessment to diagnose adrenal insufficiency. There are challenges to the use of the SST in routine clinical practice, including both the staff and time constraints and a significant recent increase in Synacthen cost. Methods We performed a retrospective analysis to determine the prevalence of adrenal suppression due to prescribed GCs and the utility of a morning serum cortisol for rapid assessment of adrenal reserve in the routine clinical setting. Results In total, 2773 patients underwent 3603 SSTs in a large secondary/tertiary centre between 2008 and 2013 and 17.9% (n=496) failed the SST. Of 404 patients taking oral, topical, intranasal or inhaled GC therapy for non-endocrine conditions, 33.2% (n=134) had a subnormal SST response. In patients taking inhaled GCs without additional GC therapy, 20.5% (34/166) failed an SST and suppression of adrenal function increased in a dose-dependent fashion. Using receiver operating characteristic curve analysis in patients currently taking inhaled GCs, a basal cortisol ≥348 nmol/l provided 100% specificity for passing the SST; a cortisol value <34 nmol/l had 100% sensitivity for SST failure. Using these cut-offs, 50% (n=83) of SSTs performed on patients prescribed inhaled GCs were unnecessary. Conclusion Adrenal suppression due to GC treatment, particularly inhaled GCs, is common. A basal serum cortisol concentration has utility in helping determine which patients should undergo dynamic assessment of adrenal function