Arabic verbless sentences: is there a null VP?

Este trabajo pretende describir y analizar el fenómeno de la ausencia de verbo copulativo en tiempo presente en las oraciones sin verbo en árabe. Por regla general, se asume que, en árabe, las oraciones sin verbo contienen un verbo copulativo nulo o elidido. Este estudio rebate dicho supuesto y propone que, en consonancia con las bases de la sintaxis minimista (expresadas inicialmente en Chomsky 1993, 1995), las oraciones sin verbo revelan ausencia de V y, por lo tanto, de VP. La razón es que la estructura objeto de estudio presenta dos posibilidades para expresar el tiempo presente: una mediante la ausencia de verbo, y otra que conlleva la presencia de verbo copulativo con fl exión de tiempo. Palabras clave: oración sin verbo, verbo copulativo nulo, predicación, caso. The aim of this paper is to describe and analyze the absence of present tense verbal copula in Arabic verbless sentences. The Standard assumption is that Arabic verbless sentences contain a null or deleted copula. The present study argues contra this assumption. It proposes, building on the framework of minimalist syntax (fi rst proposed by Chomsky 1993, 1995), that there is no V and hence no VP in verbless sentences since the relevant construction has two alternatives to express the present tense interpretation: one is achieved without a verb and the other with a verb (copula) infl ected for tense

Microwave Heating of Water, Ice and Saline Solution: Molecular Dynamics Study

In order to study the heating process of water by the microwaves of 2.5-20GHz frequencies, we have performed molecular dynamics simulations by adopting a non-polarized water model that have fixed point charges on rigid-body molecules. All runs are started from the equilibrated states derived from the I$_{c}$ ice with given density and temperature. In the presence of microwaves, the molecules of liquid water exhibit rotational motion whose average phase is delayed from the microwave electric field. Microwave energy is transferred to the kinetic and inter-molecular energies of water, where one third of the absorbed microwave energy is stored as the latter energy. The water in ice phase is scarcely heated by microwaves because of the tight hydrogen-bonded network of water molecules. Addition of small amount of salt to pure water substantially increases the heating rate because of the weakening by defects in the water network due to sloshing large-size negative ions.Comment: 21 pages, 13 figure

International Activities in Small Satellites; Comparisons with U.S. Programs

Despite relatively low levels of Government funding when compared with U.S. small satellite activities, the international small satellite community has achieved a number of impressive successes. These range from the impressive imagery transmitted from the University of Surrey\u27s UoSAT-5 to the demonstrated small satellite launch system versatility and affordability of the Ariane Auxiliary Structure for Space Payloads (ASAP). Capabilities exist in a growing number of countries outside of the United States to design, fabricate, and in some cases launch small satellites into low earth orbit. Activities in India and Israel are being joined by emerging space programs in such countries as Portugal, Korea and Pakistan, where the affordability of small satellite systems provides a near-term approach for achieving a space systems capability. The international community has also developed the supporting structure to encourage and foster a new generation of space scientists who have the understanding and vision to recognize the potential applications for small satellite systems. A number of university & small business consortiums have been established in the international small satellite community as a means of providing a continuing source of trained small satellite engineers and scientists. Such programs as the University of Bremen/ORB Systems and the University of Surrey/Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. are examples of these consortiums that are actively pursuing small satellite development programs

Re-injecting Innovation into the Space Test Process

The U.S. Space industry is losing market share to the International community, both in the launch vehicle and satellite fabrication marketplaces. Although many argue that this is due to restrictive export controls, this paper presents the concept that the erosion of innovation in the U.S. Space Industry has caused this downturn in U. S. market share. As U.S. space programs have grown in scope and cost, the capacity to accept risk as part of the development process has diminished. As a result, the U.S. Space industry is experiencing erosion in innovation, the foundation of our national security and space commerce leadership for the past four decades. To restore and regain lost market share, we must develop rapid access to space for testing of new ideas and must couple these efforts to hands-on university programs in space technologies that will train future U.S. space technologists. This paper summarizes findings on an innovative approach to using dedicated pico-satellite (CubeSat) space test capabilities for low-cost and regularly scheduled component testing. Schafer Corporation and Stanford University’s Space Systems Development Laboratory (SSDL) were awarded a contract in August, 2000 by the National Reconnaissance Office / Office of Space Launch (NRO/OSL) to investigate new, evolutionary and revolutionary approaches to facilitate low-cost space testing opportunities. The contract and study are entitled Proactive Rideshare Opportunity Brokering Services (PROBS) . This paper is based on the interim findings of the PROBS study

Programme minimaliste et ses améliorations fondamentales de la théorie syntaxique: leçons à tirer accord asymétrie dans l'arabe standard

The Minimalist Program is a major line of inquiry that has been developing inside Generative Grammar since the early nineties, when it was proposed by Chomsky (1993, 1995). At the outset, Chomsky (1998: 5) presented Minimalist Program as a program, not as a theory, but today, the Minimalist Program lays out a very specific view of the basis of syntactic grammar that, when compared to other formalisms, is often taken to look very much like a theory. The prime concern of this paper, however, is to provide a comprehensive and accessible introduction to the art of the minimalist approach to show its fundamental improvements in syntactic theory. And in order to evidence the significance of these fundamental improvements, the current paper provides a minimalist analysis to account for agreement and word-order asymmetry in Standard Arabic. This fresh minimalist account meets the challenges (to the basic tenets of syntactic theory) posed by pre-minimalist analyses.El Programa Minimalista constituye una de las líneas fundamentales de investigación de la Gramática Generativa que ha evolucionado desde que fuera propuesta por Chomsky (1993, 1995). Si bien en su día, Chomsky (1998 : 5) lo presentó como programa y no como teoría, en la actualidad el Programa Minimalista representa una visión muy específica de las bases de la sintaxis que con frecuencia se interpreta como teoría cuando se la compara con otros formalismos. Este artículo tiene como objetivo proporcionar una introducción al arte del enfoque minimalista detallada y a su vez accesible, para mostrar las mejoras que ha efectuado en el campo de la teoría sintáctica. Para demostrar la importancia de dichos avances, este artículo presenta un análisis minimalista de la concordancia y de la asimetría en el árabe estándar. Este nuevo análisis proporciona respuestas a las preguntas que, en relación con los pilares de la teoría sintáctica, quedaban sin contestar en análisis previos al enfoque minimalista.Le programme minimaliste est une ligne de recherche majeure élaborée par chomsky (1993. 1995), elle s’est développée au sein de la grammaire générative depuis les années 90 . N. Chomsky présente le Pogramme minimaliste comme un programme et non une théorie; mais aujourd’hui, le Pogramme minimaliste qui jette un regard spécifique sur les fondements de la structure de la grammaire, et comparé à d’autres formalismes, est considéré comme une théorie . Néanmoins le souci primordial de cet article est de présenter une introduction compréhensive et accessible de la littérature minimaliste pour montrer ses apports fondamentaux pour la théorie syntaxique. Et pour faire ressortir la signification de ces apports le présent article présente une approche minimaliste pour rendre compte de l’accord et de l’asymétrie de l’ordre des mots en arabe standard . Cette nouvelle analyse minimaliste embrasse les défis (aux concepts cardinaux de la théorie syntaxique) rencontrés dans les analyses préminimalistes

New Technology in Space – Is the U.S. Losing Ground?

Access to Space for small R&D payloads is one of the key enablers for innovative space technology development. For a vibrant space R&D environment to exist space access needs to be available on a regular basis at a cost commensurate with R&D program budgets and with a minimum of custom interface requirements. The United States has a long heritage of developing new technologies for space applications, enabled by numerous space launches in the early 1960s. Many space experiments are launched as secondary payloads due to their relatively small mass and modest program budgets. NASA and DoD have organized processes to evaluate and select experimental payloads for space access (such as the DOD Space Test Program’s SERB). The payload interfaces are usually custom-made for each payload and are scheduled on a case-by-case basis depending on primary payload excess margins and acceptance of secondary payloads. The International space community has taken a dramatically different approach since the early 1990s with the introduction of a regularly scheduled standardized launch interface for secondary payloads – the Ariane Structure for Auxiliary Payloads (ASAP). Nearly 30 free-flyer secondary payloads have been launched from ASAP since its introduction over 10 years ago. In comparison, the US STP program has only launched an average of 1 free-flyer per year since its inception in 1965. Is this disparity in secondary payload launch rates a cause for concern for the US space R&D community? Is the US losing ground to the International space community as a leader in the introduction of new space technologies? Regularly available space access is a key factor in the rapid introduction of new space technologies. If a country such as the US is experiencing a slower rate of experimental payload launches compared to the International community, then the US may be at risk of losing its leadership role in space technology. This paper will explore the background history, supporting data and space access capabilities necessary to evaluate such a concern. The paper will propose potential approaches to improve the US capability for support of space R&D

Food security in California: a social ecological analysis of 2007 California Health Interview Survey data

Title from first page of PDF file (viewed January 10, 2011)Includes bibliographical references (p. 83-87)Food insecurity is a complex public health issue experienced by 14.6% of households in the United States. These households are unable to access sufficient, safe, nutritious food to maintain a healthy and active life. Many negative health consequences are associated with food insecurity including heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, food allergies, depression, increased stress, increased risky sexual behavior, lowered immune system, overweight, and obesity. Children experience a number of problems including impaired growth, increased behavioral problems, and decreased ability to work with other children. This study used data from the 2007 California Health Interview Survey to examine whether there is a relationship between individual, interpersonal, and environmental variables and food security after controlling for income. The relationship of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program participation to individual, interpersonal, and environmental variables was also examined. In order to address the posed research questions, crude bivariate and adjusted multivariate regressions were performed on a sample of 13,076 low-income adults (200% Federal Poverty Level) representing 44 regions of California. Results indicated significant relationships that support income as an important food security indicator; however, variables exclusively related to food security status were also identified including education level, smoking status, fruit and vegetable consumption, risk of psychological distress, body mass index, number of yearly physician visits, marital status, and cell phone ownership