381 research outputs found

    Right Node Raising Requires both Ellipsis and Multidomination

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    Existing analyses of Right Node Raising (RNR) implicitly assume that all instances thereof can be subsumed under a single mechanism, whether it be movement, ellipsis, or multidomination. We challenge this assumption by showing that English RNR can be divided into (at least) two distinct subtypes, one which shows properties of ellipsis and one which shows properties of multidomination. Moreover, we also show that these two subtypes are in complementary distribution, and that neither one can be reduced to the other. The overall result is that RNR is not a single process, but rather a cover term for a family of processes with superficially identical outputs

    Harmonic sluicing: Which remnant/correlate pairs work and why

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    In this paper, I claim that two generalizations about sluicing in the recent literature are epiphenomenal, emerging from the interaction of independent properties of sluicing and answerhood. The primary focus is on the generalization in Dayal & Schwarzschild 2010, dubbed Antecedent-Correlate Harmony. The empirical pattern is shown to follow from how the semantics of Wh-phrases and correlates interact with Barker's (in press) Answer Ban generalization, where the antecedent cannot be an answer to the sluiced question. In the latter part of the paper, I shift focus from ACH to the Answer Ban and show how the Answer Ban fills a previously unnoticed gap in Romero's (1998) empirical coverage of inheritance of content effects in sluicing. The Answer Ban is, in turn, shown to follow straightforwardly from the recent semantic condition on sluicing proposed in AnderBois 2011

    Desarrollo de un prototipo web para análisis de regresión

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    171 p.El análisis de datos es un proceso que involucra la inspección, reparación, transformación, interfaz, predicción y validación de un conjunto de datos, con el objetivo de extraer información útil para la toma de decisiones. Este trabajo detalla el diseño e implementación de una herramienta web para realizar análisis de datos. La finalidad de la herramienta es poder realizar una serie de procedimientos para facilitar la tarea de análisis de datos a personas que requieren este tipo de servicio pero que no necesariamente cuentan con competencias avanzadas en lenguajes de programación estadística. La herramienta propuesta posee una serie de ventajas. La ventaja principal es que el usuario no depende de la arquitectura de computadores ni del sistema operativo específico con el que trabaja. Por el contrario, el usuario puede realizar una serie de operaciones relativas al análisis de datos a través del navegador web. El sistema ha sido cuidadosamente diseñado para proveer portabilidad, encapsulamiento, disponibilidad, correctitud, usabilidad, escalabilidad y expandible. Palabras claves: prototipo web, regresión lineal, análisis de datos

    Perinatal and sociodemographic factors at birth predicting conduct problems and violence to age 18 years: comparison of Brazilian and British birth cohorts.

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    This is the final published version. It was first published by Wiley at http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.12369BACKGROUND: Many low- and middle-income countries have high levels of violence. Research in high-income countries shows that risk factors in the perinatal period are significant precursors of conduct problems which can develop into violence. It is not known whether the same early influences are important in lower income settings with higher rates of violence. This study compared perinatal and sociodemographic risk factors between Brazil and Britain, and their role in explaining higher rates of conduct problems and violence in Brazil. METHODS: Prospective population-based birth cohort studies were conducted in Pelotas, Brazil (N = 3,618) and Avon, Britain (N = 4,103). Eleven perinatal and sociodemographic risk factors were measured in questionnaires completed by mothers during the perinatal period. Conduct problems were measured in questionnaires completed by mothers at age 11, and violence in self-report questionnaires completed by adolescents at age 18. RESULTS: Conduct problems were predicted by similar risk factors in Brazil and Britain. Female violence was predicted by several of the same risk factors in both countries. However, male violence in Brazil was associated with only one risk factor, and several risk factor associations were weaker in Brazil than in Britain for both females and males. Almost 20% of the higher risk for conduct problems in Brazil compared to Britain was explained by differential exposure to risk factors. The percentage of the cross-national difference in violence explained by early risk factors was 15% for females and 8% for males. CONCLUSIONS: A nontrivial proportion of cross-national differences in antisocial behaviour are related to perinatal and sociodemographic conditions at the start of life. However, risk factor associations are weaker in Brazil than in Britain, and influences in other developmental periods are probably of particular importance for understanding male youth violence in Brazil.The 1993 Pelotas Birth Cohort Study is currently supported by the Wellcome Trust through the programme entitled Major Awards for Latin America on Health Consequences of Population Change (Grant: 086974/Z/08/Z). The European Union, National Support Program for Centers of Excellence (PRONEX), the Brazilian National Research Council (CNPq), and the Brazilian Ministry of Health supported previous phases of the study. The UK Medical Research Council and the Wellcome Trust (Grant: 092731) and the University of Bristol provide core support for ALSPAC. Additional support for the data collected at age 18 in this paper was provided by UK Medical Research Council (Grants G0800612 and G0802736).The research for this specific article was funded by the Wellcome Trust (Grant: 089963/Z/09/Z). The authors are extremely grateful to all the families who took part in this study, the midwives for their help in recruiting them, and the whole ALSPAC team, which includes interviewers, computer and laboratory technicians, clerical workers, research scientists, volunteers, managers, receptionists and nurses. Yulia Shenderovich helped prepare the tables. The authors have declared that they have no competing or potential conflicts of interest

    Chemical characterization and antioxidant potential of wild ganoderma species from Ghana

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    The chemical characterization and antioxidant potential of twelve wild strains of Ganoderma sp. from Ghana, nine (LS1-LS9) of which were found growing wild simultaneously on the same dying Delonix regia tree, were evaluated. Parameters evaluated included the nutritional value, composition in sugars, fatty acids, phenolic and other organic compounds and some vitamins and vitamin precursors. Antioxidant potential was evaluated by investigating reducing power, radical scavenging activity and lipid peroxidation inhibition using five in vitro assays. Protein, carbohydrate, fat, ash and energy contents ranged between 15.7-24.5 g/100 gdw, 73.31-81.90 g/100 g, 0.48-1.40 g/100 g, 0.68-2.12 g/100 g ash and 396.1-402.02 kcal/100 g, respectively. Fatty acids such as linoleic, oleic and palmitic acids were relatively abundant. Free sugars included rhamnose, fructose, mannitol, sucrose and trehalose. Total tocopherols, organic acids and phenolic compounds' content ranged between 741-3191 µg/100 g, 77-1003 mg/100 g and 7.6-489 µg/100 g, respectively. There were variations in the ß-glucans, ergosterol and vitamin D 2 contents. The three major minerals in decreasing order were K > P > S. Ganoderma sp. strain AM1 showed the highest antioxidant activity. This study reveals, for the first time, chemical characteristics of Ganoderma spp. which grew simultaneously on the same tree.The authors thank H.N.A. Wellington of University of Ghana for showing us the location of the LS1–9 samples and for aiding in the sample collection. The authors also thank the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Lisbon, Portugal) and FEDER under Program PT2020 for financial support to CIMO (Pest-OE/AGR/UI0690/2015) and L. Barros (SFRH/BPD/107855/2015) grant. To POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006984 (LA LSRE-LCM), funded by FEDER, through POCI-COMPETE2020 and FCT. We also thank the Nutrient and Phytochemical Analytic Shared Resource, part of the OSU Comprehensive Cancer Center (NIH P30 CA016058), where ergosterol and vitamin D2 were analyzed, the OSU Food Innovation Center for financial support, and the OSU Center for Advanced Functional Foods Research and Entrepreneurship for in-kind support. Author Contributions: Mary Obodai designed the study and participated in the manuscript writing. Deborah L. Narh. Mensah and Nii Korley Kortei conducted bibliographic research, data organization and participated in the manuscript writing. Angela Fernandes, Lillian Barros and Isabel C. F. R. Ferreira performed all the chemical analysis, the statistics and participated in the manuscript writing. Deborah L. Narh Mensah, Matilda Dzomeku, Juanita Prempeh and Richard K. Takli collected all the samples. Matthew Teegarden and Steven J. Schwartz conducted analysis on bioactive compounds and edited manuscript. Mary Obodai, Deborah L. Narh. Mensah, Nii Korley Kortei and Isabel C.F.R. Ferreira revised the manuscript writing.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

    Childhood behaviour problems predict crime and violence in late adolescence: Brazilian and British birth cohort studies.

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    PURPOSE: Most children live in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), many of which have high levels of violence. Research in high-income countries (HICs) shows that childhood behaviour problems are important precursors of crime and violence. Evidence is lacking on whether this is also true in LMICs. This study examines prevalence rates and associations between conduct problems and hyperactivity and crime and violence in Brazil and Britain. METHODS: A comparison was made of birth cohorts in Brazil and Britain, including measures of behaviour problems based on parental report at age 11, and self-reports of crime at age 18 (N = 3,618 Brazil; N = 4,103 Britain). Confounders were measured in the perinatal period and at age 11 in questionnaires completed by the mother and, in Brazil, searches of police records regarding parental crime. RESULTS: Conduct problems, hyperactivity and violent crime were more prevalent in Brazil than in Britain, but nonviolent crime was more prevalent in Britain. Sex differences in prevalence rates were larger where behaviours were less common: larger for conduct problems, hyperactivity, and violent crime in Britain, and larger for nonviolent crime in Brazil. Conduct problems and hyperactivity predicted nonviolent and violent crime similarly in both countries; the effects were partly explained by perinatal health factors and childhood family environments. CONCLUSIONS: Conduct problems and hyperactivity are similar precursors of crime and violence across different social settings. Early crime and violence prevention programmes could target these behavioural difficulties and associated risks in LMICs as well as in HICs.This is the final published version, published by Springer in Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology (http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00127-014-0976-z)

    Keck Spectroscopy of 3<z<7 Faint Lyman Break Galaxies: The Importance of Nebular Emission in Understanding the Specific Star Formation Rate and Stellar Mass Density

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    The physical properties inferred from the SEDs of z>3 galaxies have been influential in shaping our understanding of early galaxy formation and the role galaxies may play in cosmic reionization. Of particular importance is the stellar mass density at early times which represents the integral of earlier star formation. An important puzzle arising from the measurements so far reported is that the specific star formation rates (sSFR) evolve far less rapidly than expected in most theoretical models. Yet the observations underpinning these results remain very uncertain, owing in part to the possible contamination of rest-optical broadband light from strong nebular emission lines. To quantify the contribution of nebular emission to broad-band fluxes, we investigate the SEDs of 92 spectroscopically-confirmed galaxies in the redshift range 3.8<z<5.0 chosen because the H-alpha line lies within the Spitzer/IRAC 3.6 um filter. We demonstrate that the 3.6 um flux is systematically in excess of that expected from stellar continuum, which we derive by fitting the SED with population synthesis models. No such excess is seen in a control sample at 3.1<z<3.6 in which there is no nebular contamination in the IRAC filters. From the distribution of our 3.6 um flux excesses, we derive an H-alpha equivalent width (EW) distribution. The mean rest-frame H-alpha EW we infer at 3.8<z<5.0 (270 A) indicates that nebular emission contributes at least 30% of the 3.6 um flux. Via our empirically-derived EW distribution we correct the available stellar mass densities and show that the sSFR evolves more rapidly at z>4 than previously thought, supporting up to a 5x increase between z~2 and 7. Such a trend is much closer to theoretical expectations. Given our findings, we discuss the prospects for verifying quantitatively the nebular emission line strengths prior to the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope.Comment: 16 pages, 9 figures, submitted to Ap

    Hydrological niche segregation defines forest structure and drought tolerance strategies in a seasonal Amazon forest

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    The relationship between rooting depth and above‐ground hydraulic traits can potentially define drought resistance strategies that are important in determining species distribution and coexistence in seasonal tropical forests, and understanding this is important for predicting the effects of future climate change in these ecosystems.We assessed the rooting depth of 12 dominant tree species (representing c. 42% of the forest basal area) in a seasonal Amazon forest using the stable isotope ratios (δ18O and δ2H) of water collected from tree xylem and soils from a range of depths. We took advantage of a major ENSO‐related drought in 2015/2016 that caused substantial evaporative isotope enrichment in the soil and revealed water use strategies of each species under extreme conditions. We measured the minimum dry season leaf water potential both in a normal year (2014; Ψnon‐ENSO) and in an extreme drought year (2015; ΨENSO). Furthermore, we measured xylem hydraulic traits that indicate water potential thresholds trees tolerate without risking hydraulic failure (P50 and P88).We demonstrate that coexisting trees are largely segregated along a single hydrological niche axis defined by root depth differences, access to light and tolerance of low water potential. These differences in rooting depth were strongly related to tree size; diameter at breast height (DBH) explained 72% of the variation in the δ18Oxylem. Additionally, δ18Oxylem explained 49% of the variation in P50 and 70% of P88, with shallow‐rooted species more tolerant of low water potentials, while δ18O of xylem water explained 47% and 77% of the variation of minimum Ψnon‐ENSO and ΨENSO.We propose a new formulation to estimate an effective functional rooting depth, i.e. the likely soil depth from which roots can sustain water uptake for physiological functions, using DBH as predictor of root depth at this site. Based on these estimates, we conclude that rooting depth varies systematically across the most abundant families, genera and species at the Tapajós forest, and that understorey species in particular are limited to shallow rooting depths.Our results support the theory of hydrological niche segregation and its underlying trade‐off related to drought resistance, which also affect the dominance structure of trees in this seasonal eastern Amazon forest.Synthesis. Our results support the theory of hydrological niche segregation and demonstrate its underlying trade‐off related to drought resistance (access to deep water vs. tolerance of very low water potentials). We found that the single hydrological axis defining water use traits was strongly related to tree size, and infer that periodic extreme droughts influence community composition and the dominance structure of trees in this seasonal eastern Amazon forest.Our results support the theory of hydrological niche segregation and demonstrate its underlying trade‐off related to drought resistance (access to deep water vs. tolerance of very low water potentials). We found that the single hydrological axis defining water use traits was strongly related to tree size, and infer that periodic extreme droughts influence community composition and the dominance structure of trees in this seasonal eastern Amazon forest.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/146869/1/jec13022_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/146869/2/jec13022.pd

    Hydrological niche segregation defines forest structure and drought tolerance strategies in a seasonal Amazon forest

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    The relationship between rooting depth and above‐ground hydraulic traits can potentially define drought resistance strategies that are important in determining species distribution and coexistence in seasonal tropical forests, and understanding this is important for predicting the effects of future climate change in these ecosystems.We assessed the rooting depth of 12 dominant tree species (representing c. 42% of the forest basal area) in a seasonal Amazon forest using the stable isotope ratios (δ18O and δ2H) of water collected from tree xylem and soils from a range of depths. We took advantage of a major ENSO‐related drought in 2015/2016 that caused substantial evaporative isotope enrichment in the soil and revealed water use strategies of each species under extreme conditions. We measured the minimum dry season leaf water potential both in a normal year (2014; Ψnon‐ENSO) and in an extreme drought year (2015; ΨENSO). Furthermore, we measured xylem hydraulic traits that indicate water potential thresholds trees tolerate without risking hydraulic failure (P50 and P88).We demonstrate that coexisting trees are largely segregated along a single hydrological niche axis defined by root depth differences, access to light and tolerance of low water potential. These differences in rooting depth were strongly related to tree size; diameter at breast height (DBH) explained 72% of the variation in the δ18Oxylem. Additionally, δ18Oxylem explained 49% of the variation in P50 and 70% of P88, with shallow‐rooted species more tolerant of low water potentials, while δ18O of xylem water explained 47% and 77% of the variation of minimum Ψnon‐ENSO and ΨENSO.We propose a new formulation to estimate an effective functional rooting depth, i.e. the likely soil depth from which roots can sustain water uptake for physiological functions, using DBH as predictor of root depth at this site. Based on these estimates, we conclude that rooting depth varies systematically across the most abundant families, genera and species at the Tapajós forest, and that understorey species in particular are limited to shallow rooting depths.Our results support the theory of hydrological niche segregation and its underlying trade‐off related to drought resistance, which also affect the dominance structure of trees in this seasonal eastern Amazon forest.Synthesis. Our results support the theory of hydrological niche segregation and demonstrate its underlying trade‐off related to drought resistance (access to deep water vs. tolerance of very low water potentials). We found that the single hydrological axis defining water use traits was strongly related to tree size, and infer that periodic extreme droughts influence community composition and the dominance structure of trees in this seasonal eastern Amazon forest.Our results support the theory of hydrological niche segregation and demonstrate its underlying trade‐off related to drought resistance (access to deep water vs. tolerance of very low water potentials). We found that the single hydrological axis defining water use traits was strongly related to tree size, and infer that periodic extreme droughts influence community composition and the dominance structure of trees in this seasonal eastern Amazon forest.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/146869/1/jec13022_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/146869/2/jec13022.pd

    Modeling of Soil Water Distribution in a Small Mid-Latitude Watershed on the British Isle for Short Term Landslide and Flood Risk Assessment

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    The R-TopModel hydrological model coupled with two landslide and flood probability distribution models was applied to simulate the daily hydrological conditions of a small catchment in the Midlands of the British Isles, throughout 2017. Originally, the methodology was applied to a risk area in the tropical region. In this work, the application was extended to mid-latitude watersheds. The hydrographic basin around the Carsington Water dam (located in the Midlands of the Great Britain) is chosen because it presents risks. The model Nash-Sutcliffe Efficiency for the upstream discharge from the Carsington Water dam reached 50% with a correlation coefficient of the order of 70%, an acceptable value considering the seasonal effects of the dam on evapotranspiration and higher soil permeability. Modeling the distribution of soil moisture and excess surface water allowed obtaining the spatial distribution of the maximum conditional probability of landslides and floods in the Carsington Water catchment. These probability maps obtained are consistent with long-term susceptibility maps for Great Britai
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