Global Climate Change, The Political Economy, and Development A Case Study: The Kingdom of Tonga

Globalization has created prosperity and growth for many of the countries across the globe especially in the Global North, which experience some of the greatest benefits of globalization while being the least affected by its negative impacts. Small island nation states tend to experience these negative impacts of globalization more often than the states that are fueling these trends. Globalization has many meanings, but the most agreed upon definition is the increasing interaction between people and corporations due to advances in transportation and communication technology. These advances have created a more interconnected world where trade, and culture have become international in their scope. Though it has been called an economic process globalization has grown to encompass multiple aspects of modern society (Albrow, King, 1990)

Alimentação como problema no espaço mediático:análise de editoriais da imprensa gráfica argentina, 2002-2008

En los últimos años en Argentina se ha venido debatiendo en diferentes ámbitos la matriz productiva y alimentaria, y sus principales consecuencias. El objetivo del artículo es analizar el proceso de construcción de la problemática alimentaria luego de la crisis de 2001 hasta 2008, al identificar y analizar las representaciones asociadas con ella en los discursos de la prensa gráfica desde un enfoque cualitativo. Para ello, se seleccionaron dos medios gráficos nacionales y se analizaron sus editoriales, apelando a la metodología del análisis del discurso. El propósito fue analizar esos debates en el ámbito mediático, considerado actor clave del espacio público y lugar donde se construyen temas y problemas en los que subyacen diversas representaciones sociales a partir de las cuales se disputan posicionamientos sobre la matriz alimentaria, sus consecuencias, los actores involucrados, el rol del Estado y las políticas públicas. Palabras clave: Alimentación, representaciones sociales, discursos, medios de comunicación, prensa gráfica.En los últimos años en Argentina se ha venido debatiendo en diferentes ámbitos la matriz productiva y alimentaria, y sus principales consecuencias. El objetivo del artículo es analizar el proceso de construcción de la problemática alimentaria luego de la crisis de 2001 hasta 2008, al identificar y analizar las representaciones asociadas con ella en los discursos de la prensa gráfica desde un enfoque cualitativo. Para ello, se seleccionaron dos medios gráficos nacionales y se analizaron sus editoriales, apelando a la metodología del análisis del discurso. El propósito fue analizar esos debates en el ámbito mediático, considerado actor clave del espacio público y lugar donde se construyen temas y problemas en los que subyacen diversas representaciones sociales a partir de las cuales se disputan posicionamientos sobre la matriz alimentaria, sus consecuencias, los actores involucrados, el rol del Estado y las políticas públicas.In recent years Argentina has been debating in different areas the food and productive matrix, and its main consequences. The aim of this article is to analyze the construction of the food problem as a public issue after the crisis of 2001-2008, by identifying and analyzing the representations associated with it in the graphic press. To this end, we selected two national print media and analyzed their editorials, appealing to the methodology of discourse analysis. The purpose was to analyze these debates in the media field, which is considered as a key player of the public space and a place where topics and problems are constructed. In addition we assume media as a space for diverse social representations, from which the positioning of the food matrix as an issue, its consequences, the actors involved, the role of the state and public policies are disputed.Fil: Demonte, Flavia Carolina. Universidad de Buenos Aires; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

Finding the Least Restrictive Environment for Preschoolers under the IDEA: An Analysis and Proposed Framework

Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, both school- and preschool-age children who qualify for special education services are entitled to education in the least restrictive environments appropriate to their needs. For school-age children, the presumptive least restrictive environment is the regular class where their nondisabled peers participate. By contrast, defining an analogous environment for preschool children is difficult, because public schools rarely provide preschool for children without disabilities. This Comment argues that the Act’s language, principles, purposes, and implementing regulations suggest that the settings where a preschool child’s nondisabled peers learn should be identified as that child’s presumptive least restrictive environment. Examples of such settings may include the home, community, and regular preschool. This Comment then provides an analytical framework that courts can use when determining the least restrictive environment for a preschool child

Sliding Mode Control of a Nonlinear Wave Energy Converter Model

The most accurate wave energy converter models for heaving point absorbers include nonlinearities, which increase as resonance is achieved to maximize energy capture. The efficiency of wave energy converters can be enhanced by employing a control scheme that accounts for these nonlinearities. This project proposes a sliding mode control for a heaving point absorber that includes the nonlinear effects of the Froude-Krylov force. The sliding mode controller tracks a reference velocity that matches the phase of the excitation force to ensure higher energy absorption. This control algorithm is tested in regular linear waves and is compared to a complex-conjugate control and a nonlinear variation of the complex-conjugate control. The results show that the sliding mode control successfully tracks the reference, keeps the device displacement bounded, and absorbs more energy than the other control strategies. Furthermore, the controller can accommodate disturbances and uncertainties in the dynamic model

NONLINEAR HYDRODYNAMIC MODELING AND CONTROL OF WAVE ENERGY CONVERTERS

The growing urgency to transition towards carbon-neutral energy sources has sparked significant interest in diversifying energy portfolios by incorporating renewable energies, including the untapped potential of wave energy. This dissertation sets its objectives in advancing wave energy converter (WEC) technologies by focusing on developing and validating a nonlinear modeling technique and designing control strategies to maximize energy extraction and enhance WEC efficiency. At the heart of this research is the derivation and validation of an algebraic nonlinear Froude-Krylov forces model. Building on this foundational model, a robust nonlinear sliding mode controller and a nonlinear model predictive controller are designed to optimize the performance of the WEC. These contributions address critical challenges in the wave energy community, such as the high levelized cost of energy (LCOE), the inefficiency of traditional control systems, and the operational constraints under several sea conditions. The derived nonlinear model significantly improves the accuracy of WEC modeling, promising enhanced predictive capabilities over traditional linear models, especially under large wave amplitudes and frequencies. The sliding mode and nonlinear predictive controllers demonstrated superior performance in robustness and energy optimization, respectively, suggesting significant reductions in LCOE and operational costs. These significant performance improvements demonstrate the potential of advancing WEC controllers, by driving wave energy closer to commercial viability

A multidimensional analysis of the Spanish reportative epistemic evidential dizque

This paper investigates the syntactic and semantic properties of American Spanish dizque (lit. ‘it is said’). We claim that the not-at-issue meaning of this evidential is reportativity, while it also contributes epistemic modal semantics ranging from doubt/negative attitude, weak possibility to almost complete lack of commitment. This semantics can be derived from ways of updating the common ground and origo ground, and from the fact that evidentials may target evidence strength. We examine the types of speech report dizque introduces, and describe its syntactic behavior in terms of co-occurrence restrictions, scope, and Main Clause Phenomena. Evidential dizque follows patterns ascribable to both Speech Act operators and propositional modifiers. We analyze the semantic contribution of dizque along three tiers of meaning: a) speaker commitment to p, b) contribution to either Speech Act or Propositional level, and c) trustworthiness of the evidence, emerging from the ways dizque expresses presentational force, serving to update either only the origo ground or both the common ground and the origo groundThis work was supported by the Research Project from the Spanish MINECO, FF12017-87140.C4-4-

Evidentials dizque and que in Spanish : Grammaticalization, parameters and the (fine) structure of Comp

In this paper we study one type of Spanish que (the equivalent to the complementizer “that”) that can be shown to belong into the crosslinguistically restricted list of evidentials. In particular, we will claim that it encodes the (most basic) marks of nonfirst- hand or indirect (reported) evidence. Our point of departure is certain (apparently) independent clauses of Spanish headed by an overt complementizer (que). Some tests will be presented that support the idea that that one type of que introducing a well specified subset of root sentences shares most of the properties that have been claimed to characterize reportative evidentials in languages such as Quechua (Faller 2002, 2006). As for the properties of reportative que, it will be further shown that it does not encode any features related to epistemic modality (reliability or (im)probability) and we will propose that it is better analyzed as an illocutionary operator, affecting the illocutionary force (in line with Faller 2002 among others) and not as an epistemic modal (Izvorsky 1997 among others). In order to determine the nature of this reportative element and its origin, we contrast it with an old Spanish form, dizque, which exists nowadays in certain modern American varieties. This particle also has the properties of an evidential but behaves as an epistemic modal. In the last sections, we will propose that both evidential particles (que and dizque) are the result of a process of grammaticalization (i.e. ‘upward reanalysis’, or categorial change, of functional material, in the sense of Roberts and Roussou 2003) of the complex structure headed by a communication verb, dicen que “they say that”. We will tentatively describe such process and introduce a hypothesis as to the nature and role of the parameter involved in the claimed reanalysi

Force and finiteness in the Spanish complementizer system

The goal of this paper is to show that the structure of CP in Spanish is more complex than it appears to be in most descriptive approaches. In particular, we analyze five types of constructions, which are quite extended in all dialects of Spanish but which have remained almost unaddressed in grammatical studies. These data clearly reveal a complex structure for Spanish CP both in root and embedded clauses: They involve sentences with more than one instance of a complementizer heading the clause, sentences where a wh-element (interrogative or exclamative) can be preceded or followed by the complementizer que ‘that’, and matrix sentences (obligatorily) introduced by an explicit Comp, among other cases. Our point of departure will be the studies on the so called “sentence left periphery” (Rizzi 1997) containing an upper limit, ForceP and a lower limit, FinP. Our claim will be that in Spanish there are two instances of que: que1 and que2 which are respectively generated in the upper and in the lower part of the sentence periphery. In addition, we will provide data suggesting that there might even be a third instance of que, a kind of “reinforcement” of Force. In this sense Spanish resembles some languages which are very different from the typological point of view.The research behind this paper has been financed by the Spanish DGI (MEC) through a grant to the Project BFF2003-06053

A paradigmatic case of haemolysis and pseudohyperkalemia in blood gas analysis

A 51-year old male patient was admitted to the hospital with acute dyspnea and history of chronic asthma. Venous blood was drawn into a 3.0 mL heparinized syringe and delivered to the laboratory for blood gas analysis (GEM Premier 4000, Instrumentation Laboratory), which revealed high potassium value (5.2 mmol/L; reference range on whole blood, 3.5-4.5 mmol/L). This result was unexpected, so that a second venous blood sample was immediately drawn by direct venipuncture into a 3.5 mL lithium-heparin blood tube, and delivered to the laboratory for repeating potassium testing on Cobas 8000 (Roche Diagnostics). The analysis revealed normal plasma potassium (4.6 mmol/L; reference range in plasma, 3.5-5.0 mmol/L) and haemolysis index (5; 0.05 g/L). Due to suspicion of spurious haemolysis, heparinized blood was transferred from syringe into a plastic tube and centrifuged. Potassium and haemolysis index were then measured in this heparinized plasma, confirming high haemolysis index (50; 0.5 g/L) and pseudohyperkalemia (5.5 mmol/L). Investigation of this case revealed that spurious haemolysis was attributable to syringe delivery in direct ice contact for ~15 min. This case emphasizes the importance of avoiding sample transportation in ice and the need of developing point of care analysers equipped with interference indices assessment