REDEFINITION OF A SYNTACTIC CATEGORYIN MODERN SPANISH AS A METHOD OF FACILITATING A COMPUTER-ASSISTED TEXTUAL ANALYSIS

This thesis represents an attempt to produce machinery which will render a computer-assisted textual analysis viable for modern Spanish. To this end, it endeavours to provide a totally new definition for the categorial term article . The categories of both articles, as traditionally recognized, and those of the concomitant relative pronouns and object pronouns, are subjected to a synoptic analysis based on a consideration of the syntactic, semantic, and morphological features which all these part s of speech have in common. The first chapter defends the categorial status of the indefinite article and deals with the articles in the nounphrase. Chapter two discusses the articles in the relative clause, in terms of the grammatical information which they provide, and the grammatical function which they perform there; in the light of this, an analysis is made of the types of relative clause in Spanish, and a new clause-type is established which depends upon the article. Chapter three examines the verbphrase and explores the relationship between the articles and certain object pronouns, and attempts to justify the theoretical assimilation of these pronouns to articles. A final format of the distinctive feature matrix which has been evolving up to that point, based on the syntactico-semantic analysis, is established. Chapter four compares the morphological characteristics that are common to articles and pronouns, and reduces these to interrelated formulae. Chapter five utilize s these formulae to devise a prototype computer program based on a subcorpus of a 36,287 word text, and print-outs are provided. The data for the thesis as a whole is based on a corpus of one million words. The conclusion suggests that the article and its indicated concomitants, enjoying a high degree of frequency, may represent the key to a computer program widely applicable t o syntactic problems of modern Spanish

Climate risks for displaced populations: A scoping review

Forcibly displaced people are at the forefront of climate emergencies worldwide. This article presents a scoping review of the growing literature on climate risks for displaced populations, with the aim to synthesize current knowledge, highlight gaps, and develop a research agenda that can inform evidence-based policy interventions. The synthesis, based on 29 peer-reviewed journal articles, shows that displaced populations are disproportionately at risk to be negatively impacted by climate hazards, which is largely due to their high sensitivity, limited adaptive capacities and, in some cases, heightened exposure. The geographical scope of reviewed articles is narrowly focused on Southern Asia with a paucity of studies on climate-vulnerable refugee hosting states in Africa, Central Asia and the Middle East. Moreover, the literature heavily relies on case studies, which impedes the generalizability and comparability of findings. We argue for an inclusive and comprehensive climate risk research agenda that systematically maps the exposure of displaced populations to climate hazards, provides theory-driven research on how the social vulnerabilities of displaced populations are shaped by their sensitivities to extreme weather events and their adaptive capacities, and that applies comparative cross-country research that also includes host community populations. An inclusive climate risk research agenda that takes into account displaced populations is essential for our commitment to the leave-no-one behind global policy agenda. <br/

Climate risks for displaced populations: A scoping review

Forcibly displaced people are at the forefront of climate emergencies worldwide. This article presents a scoping review of the growing literature on climate risks for displaced populations, with the aim to synthesize current knowledge, highlight gaps, and develop a research agenda that can inform evidence-based policy interventions. The synthesis, based on 29 peer-reviewed journal articles, shows that displaced populations are disproportionately at risk to be negatively impacted by climate hazards, which is largely due to their high sensitivity, limited adaptive capacities and, in some cases, heightened exposure. The geographical scope of reviewed articles is narrowly focused on Southern Asia with a paucity of studies on climate-vulnerable refugee hosting states in Africa, Central Asia and the Middle East. Moreover, the literature heavily relies on case studies, which impedes the generalizability and comparability of findings. We argue for an inclusive and comprehensive climate risk research agenda that systematically maps the exposure of displaced populations to climate hazards, provides theory-driven research on how the social vulnerabilities of displaced populations are shaped by their sensitivities to extreme weather events and their adaptive capacities, and that applies comparative cross-country research that also includes host community populations. An inclusive climate risk research agenda that takes into account displaced populations is essential for our commitment to the leave-no-one behind global policy agenda. <br/

Metal-Acid Synergy: Hydrodeoxygenation of Anisole over Pt/Al-SBA-15

Invited for this month′s cover is the group of Karen Wilson and Adam Lee at RMIT University. The image shows platinum nanoparticles and Brønsted acid sites working cooperatively to catalyse the efficient hydrodeoxygenation of phenolic lignin residues to produce sustainable biofuels. The Full Paper itself is available at 10.1002/cssc.202000764

Use of Surrogate Modeling for Preliminary Aircraft Landing Gear Design

Early-stage aircraft design involves exploring a wide range of input parameters while simultaneously considering their effects and associated uncertainties. In this study, surrogate modeling techniques are applied to the preliminary design of aircraft landing gear. Specifically, Gaussian Processes (GPs) are utilized for regression, interpolation, optimization, and uncertainty quantification. The focus centers on modeling the nonlinear damping function of a simple landing gear mathematical model, incorporating fixed and uncertain parameters such as aircraft mass, unsprung mass, and static pressure. By levering GPs a prediction is made on the time response of various outputs, such as the tire forces onto the ground. By setting a design objective as minimizing the reaction factor (normalized ground load) the peak force experienced by the aircraft can be minimized by tailoring parameters related to the landing gear design, such as the stiffness or damping characteristics. Additionally, trends and relationships between these accelerations and the model inputs are explored. Information extracted from these relationships can be used to drive factors and the overall behavior of the landing gear system, which in turn can help engineers make important design decisions. The presented results are preliminary but serve as valuable guidance as to how critical design decisions can be made early in the design cycle. Furthermore, this research contributes to the development of robust surrogate models that aid engineers in making informed choices during the early stages of aircraft design

Selective ring-opening of furfuryl alcohol to 1,5-pentanediol over Pt/aluminosilicates

Biomass-derived diols are key chemical building blocks for the sustainable chemical manufacturing of textiles and plastics, however their synthesis by a selective, scalable process from holocellulose is challenging. Furfuryl alcohol (FALC) is a potential precursor to 1,5-pentanediol (1,5-PeD) through acid-catalysed hydrogenolysis, and hence the impact of oxide support acidity on this reaction over Pt nanoparticles was investigated under batch and continuous flow in toluene. Platinum dispersed over weakly acidic fumed silica and mesoporous SBA-15 supports was almost inactive towards furfuryl alcohol at 150 °C and 10 bar H2 and promoted decarbonylation and hydrodeoxygenation of FALC to furan and methyltetrahydrofuran, respectively. The introduction of Al3+ into silica supports, to form either an amorphous silica-aluminate (ASA) or mesoporous Al-SBA-15, selectively activated the cyclic ether bond at the C2–O position, increasing the specific activity for FALC conversion in continuous flow from 20 mmol gPt−1 h−1 (Pt/SBA-15) to 295 mmol gPt−1 h−1 (Pt/ASA), and 1,5-PeD selectivity from ∼25% (Pt/SBA-15) to 65% (Pt/ASA). This synergy between metal and acid sites resulted in a \u3e25-fold enhancement in 1,5-PeD productivity, reaching 186 mmol gPt−1 h−1 for Pt/ASA, and was maintained for 7 h time-on-stream with negligible deactivation or metal leaching. A moderately acidic Pt/γ-Al2O3 catalyst exhibited reactivity intermediate between that of the Pt/silica and Pt/aluminosilicate catalysts. The yield of 1,5-PeD was directly proportional to the support acid site loading, indicating a common reaction mechanism. These findings demonstrate the striking promotion of metal catalysed hydrogenation that can be achieved through judicious support selection, and its translation from batch to flow with similar reaction kinetics

Load Spectrum Determination for Early-Stage Aircraft Design

In early-stage aircraft design, accurate load predictions are crucial for optimizing performance and mass. This paper presents a methodology for determining load spectra using Gaussian Process (GP) surrogate modeling, focusing on landing gear dynamics. In this study, uncertainties in design parameters and their impact on dynamic loads during landing are addressed. By employing a simplified landing gear model and dimension reduction techniques, the GP model predicts dynamic response of the landing gear under various conditions. The results highlight the importance of subsystem optimization to reduce peak loads and improve design robustness. This approach enables more informed decision-making in the preliminary design phase, avoids unnecessary conservatism in structural design. The findings demonstrate that incorporating uncertainty with respect to aircraft design choices can lead to realistic distributions of aircraft load ranges through the incorporation of subsystem optimization

Hydrodeoxygenation of anisole over Pt/Al‐SBA‐15: metal‐acid synergy

Invited for this month′s cover is the group of Karen Wilson and Adam Lee at RMIT University. The image shows platinum nanoparticles and Brønsted acid sites working cooperatively to catalyse the efficient hydrodeoxygenation of phenolic lignin residues to produce sustainable biofuels. The Full Paper itself is available at 10.1002/cssc.202000764