Encapsulation and Information Structure in Parliamentary Debate. A Cross-linguistic Analysis (Catalan – Spanish – English)

Parliamentary debate (PD) as a specific genre of parliamentary discourse exhibits a hybrid nature: part oral and part written discourse. It is performed orally, but planned ahead and formal. From the point of view of lexical cohesion, encapsulation by means of abstract and unspecific nouns (e.g. fact or reason) is an indicator of the informative density and the underlying written nature of PD. With the tools provided by Discourse Analysis and Cognitive Linguistics, this paper aims at describing and characterizing cross-linguistically lexical encapsulation’s potential to define the information structure of PD. In this regard, encapsulation is analyzed in relation to the notions of topic and focus in three PDs in Catalan, Spanish and English. In order to determine the contribution of encapsulation to the information structure of PD, we describe the properties of lexical encapsulation as a referential cohesion device and analyze the various lexico-grammatical and discourse patterns in which encapsulators occur. From a cross-linguistic point of view, the results show a higher frequency of encapsulation in the debate in English. In this respect, the Scottish debate exhibits a higher cohesive and informational density than the Catalan and the Spanish ones. However, there has also been observed a homogeneous crosslinguistic behavior of encapsulation with regard to weaving the information structure of PD. In fact, the different usage patterns uncover similar general trends in the three languages. These quantitative coincidences are interpreted as genre related features. On the other hand, some patterns unveil cross-linguistic differences linked to a more speaker-dependent style aiming at guiding the addressee (persuasive function) and to the lexico-grammatical features of each language.Parliamentary debate (PD) as a specific genre of parliamentary discourse exhibits a hybrid nature: part oral and part written discourse. It is performed orally, but planned ahead and formal. From the point of view of lexical cohesion, encapsulation by means of abstract and unspecific nouns (e.g. fact or reason) is an indicator of the informative density and the underlying written nature of PD. With the tools provided by Discourse Analysis and Cognitive Linguistics, this paper aims at describing and characterizing cross-linguistically lexical encapsulation’s potential to define the information structure of PD. In this regard, encapsulation is analyzed in relation to the notions of topic and focus in three PDs in Catalan, Spanish and English. In order to determine the contribution of encapsulation to the information structure of PD, we describe the properties of lexical encapsulation as a referential cohesion device and analyze the various lexico-grammatical and discourse patterns in which encapsulators occur. From a cross-linguistic point of view, the results show a higher frequency of encapsulation in the debate in English. In this respect, the Scottish debate exhibits a higher cohesive and informational density than the Catalan and the Spanish ones. However, there has also been observed a homogeneous crosslinguistic behavior of encapsulation with regard to weaving the information structure of PD. In fact, the different usage patterns uncover similar general trends in the three languages. These quantitative coincidences are interpreted as genre related features. On the other hand, some patterns unveil cross-linguistic differences linked to a more speaker-dependent style aiming at guiding the addressee (persuasive function) and to the lexico-grammatical features of each language

Learning Koopman eigenfunctions of stochastic diffusions with optimal importance sampling and ISOKANN

The dominant eigenfunctions of the Koopman operator characterize the metastabilities and slow-timescale dynamics of stochastic diffusion processes. In the context of molecular dynamics and Markov state modeling, they allow for a description of the location and frequencies of rare transitions, which are hard to obtain by direct simulation alone. In this article, we reformulate the eigenproblem in terms of the ISOKANN framework, an iterative algorithm that learns the eigenfunctions by alternating between short burst simulations and a mixture of machine learning and classical numerics, which naturally leads to a proof of convergence. We furthermore show how the intermediate iterates can be used to reduce the sampling variance by importance sampling and optimal control (enhanced sampling), as well as to select locations for further training (adaptive sampling). We demonstrate the usage of our proposed method in experiments, increasing the approximation accuracy by several orders of magnitude

The flood event that affected Badajoz in November 1997

International audienceThe flooding episode of November 1997 in Badajoz was one of the most dramatic catastrophes in Spain: as a result, there were 21 fatalities and huge financial damages. The main purpose of this work is to assess the prevailing synoptic conditions as well as detailing the mesoscale effects by means of moisture sources and dynamic and thermodynamic instability analysis involved in the November 1997 Spanish severe weather episode. In order to achieve the above, this flood event is described in terms of moisture content evolution by means of individual particle simulation along 3-day back-trajectories. A Lagrangian model is applied in order to characterize the atmospheric particles involved in the focused case (localization, height and specific humidity) which give rise to sudden precipitation stream. Geopotential height and temperature fields were used to describe the synoptic situation. Thermodynamic indices, such as CAPE, SWEAT and KI, and dynamic parameters like potential vorticity anomaly at 330 K isentropic surface and Q vector divergence were also calculated in order to complete the analysis and to give a thorough weather frame taking into account the atmospheric instability. The results of this work suggest this flood event was due mainly to strong dynamic instability along with large amounts of moisture advected by a trough, while the thermodynamic instability played a secondary role. Finally, a new methodology based on a technique proposed by Tremblay (2005) has been developed in order to separate the precipitation into stratiform and convective components. It is evident that the event was associated with a predominant convective regime

Instability and its relation to precipitation over the Eastern Iberian Peninsula

International audienceSynoptic situations producing rainfall at four rawinsonde observatories at eastern Spain are classified as stratiform or convective depending on dynamic and thermodynamic instability indices. Two daily radiosonde and daily-accumulated precipitation data from four observatories in Eastern Spain are used: Madrid-Barajas (MB), Murcia (MU), Palma de Mallorca (PA) and Zaragoza (ZA). We calculated two thermodynamic instability indices from radiosonde data: CAPE and LI. Likewise, from ERA40 reanalysis data we have calculated the Q vector divergence over the Iberian Peninsula and Balearic Islands, as a parameter describing dynamical instability. Synoptic situations producing rainfall were classified as convective or stratiform, satisfying a criterion based on the values of dynamic and thermodynamic indices at each observatory. It is observed that the number of days with stratiform precipitation related to the total number of precipitation days follows a consistent annual pattern

Promoting stair climbing: Stair-riser banners are better than posters... sometimes

Objective: Stair-riser banners are twice as effective as posters in encouraging stair climbing in shopping centres. This study tested the effectiveness of stair-riser banners in an English train station in 2006-2007. Method: The train station had a 39-step staircase and an adjacent escalator. Baseline observations (3.5 weeks) were followed by 10.5 weeks of a banner intervention supplemented with 3 weeks of a poster intervention. Both poster and banner featured the message ‘Stair climbing burns more calories per minute than jogging. Take the stairs’. Ascending escalator and stair users (N=36,239) were coded for gender. Results: Analyses, controlling for effects of gender and pedestrian traffic volume, revealed no significant change in stair climbing between baseline (40.6%) and the banner intervention (40.9%; p=0.98). Addition of the poster increased stair climbing (44.3%; OR= 1.36, 95% CIs 1.16-1.60, p< 0.001), with the effect reduced at higher pedestrian traffic volumes. Conclusion: While stair-riser banners had no effect, the poster intervention increased stair climbing. The high pedestrian volumes as the wave of disembarking passengers seek to leave the station would have obscured the visibility of the banner for many commuters. Thus stair-riser banners appear unsuitable point-of-choice prompts in stations where pedestrian traffic volume is high

Els pronoms clítics de datiu plural en català antic. Evolució diacrònica i estat de la qüestió entre els segles XV i XVI

Dative plural clitic pronouns in Old and Contemporary Catalan show an almost unparalleled situation among the Romance languages, since a form syncretic with the accusative masculine plural pronoun los is adopted, which coexisted with the reflexes of the Latin genitive &#301;llorum (lur, lurs i lus). Coromines's classic hypothesis considers that the origin of the dative plural pronoun los must be lur (or lor), which would have evolved into lurs, lus, and finally, los. However, my analysis of the data from the Corpus Informatitzat de Català Antic (CICA) shows that Coromines's hypothesis requires at least some clarification. The results of the analysis of the relative frequency of the several different variants of the dative plural pronouns lead to the conclusion that lur and los coexisted from the beginning. Thus, the dative plural pronoun los must be explained as a result of the evolution of the accusative masculine &#301;llos in the context of a multicausal process which encouraged syncretism between dative and accusative pronouns.Els pronoms clítics de datiu plural en català antic i en la llengua actual presenten una situació gairebé inèdita en la Romània, atès que s'adopta una forma sincrètica amb la de l'acusatiu masculí plural los, que convivia amb els continuadors del genitiu &#301;llorum (lur, lurs i lus). La hipòtesi clàssica de Coromines considera que l'origen del datiu plural los ha d'ésser lur (o lor), que hauria evolucionat cap a lurs, lus i, finalment, los. Tanmateix, l'anàliside les dades del Corpus Informatitzat de Català Antic (CICA) permet comprovar que la hipòtesi de Coromines ha de ser matisada, si més no. Els resultats de l'anàlisi de les freqüències de les diferents variants dels pronoms de datiu plural demostren que lur i los convivien des dels inicis. Així, el pronom de datiu plural los s'ha d'explicar com a resultat de l'evolució de l'acusatiu masculí &#301;llos en el context d'un procés policausal que va afavorir el sincretisme entre el datiu i l'acusatiu

Method of recovering municipal boundary lines in Province of Valencia (Spain) by means of historical cadastral maps

Land demarcation is a fundamental requirement when determining to what extent property owners and public administrations can apply their rights. Just as international boundaries must be clearly marked so that there can be no doubt as to which jurisdiction is to be applied, municipal boundaries must be clearly defined in order to avoid disputes between local administrations. In Spain the Geographical Institute carried out the demarcation of all municipal boundaries at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries, defined their limits on cadastral maps and represented them on the 1:50,000 scale National Topographical Map. At the present time, more than a hundred years after this survey, in many cases parts of the original municipal limits have been lost for one reason or another, both on the maps and on the ground itself, and it has now become necessary to take steps to recover them. This paper defines a method of using the municipal councils own historical information to trace original boundary lines. The work included both a study and a series of tests carried out in different municipal areas in the Province of Valencia, Spain. The original reports and field notebooks of the Geographical Institute were used as the basic material of the study, supported by cadastral maps from different periods, as well as historical and contemporary orthophotos to help locate possible boundary markers. GPS techniques were employed to look for, survey and reinstate boundary marker positions.This work has been partially supported by the research project 'The Land Registry as the basic tool for organising spatial information; INSPIRE Directive, spatial data and metadata (II)', DER2011-23321 from the Spanish Government.Femenía Ribera, C.; Benítez Aguado, E.; Mora Navarro, JG.; Martínez Llario, JC. (2014). Method of recovering municipal boundary lines in Province of Valencia (Spain) by means of historical cadastral maps. Survey Review. 46(337):255-266. https://doi.org/10.1179/1752270613Y.0000000081S25526646337Aguña Martín J. 2000.Deslindes de fincas. El topógrafo como técnico indispensable de la determinaci�n de la propiedad. La topografía aplicada a la problemática inmobiliaria.Topografía Aplicada. XVI Cursos de Verano de Laredo. Universidad de Cantabria.Alcázar Molina M. 2003.Catastro Inmobiliario. Centro de Ingeniería Económica (INECO) Editorial Universidad Politécnica de Valencia ref. 2003–2176.Berné Valero J.L and Femenia-Ribera C., C., 2000.Catstro de rústica. Editorial Universidad Politécnica de Valencia ref. 2000–4185, 386.Berné Valero J.L, Femenia-Ribera C, Aznar Bellver J. 2004.Catastro y Valoración Catastral. Editorial Universidad Politécnica de Valencia ref. 2004–532.Berné Valero J.L, Femenia-Ribera C, Benitez-Aguado E. 2008.Catastro en España. Editorial Universidad Politécnica de Valencia ref. 2008–413, 550.Blais, H. (2011). An intra-imperial conflict: the mapping of the border between Algeria and Tunisia, 1881–1914. Journal of Historical Geography, 37(2), 178-190. doi:10.1016/j.jhg.2010.11.006Brumec, M., & Koleša, J. (2011). Land cadastral representation adjustment when making land survey plan. Geodetski vestnik, 55(02), 284-291. doi:10.15292/geodetski-vestnik.2011.02.284-291Capdevila i Subirana J. 2009a.Historia del deslinde de la frontera hispano-francesa. Del tratado de los Pirineos (1659) a los tratados de Bayona (1856-1868). Instituto Geográfico Nacional-Centro Nacional de Información Geográfica, 184.Capdevila i Subirana J. 2009b. Qui va dibuixar la ratlla? Treballs de la Comisión Mixta de Límites (1853–1868).Congrés El Fet Fronterer. Fronteres, relacions, intercanvis.Institut d’Estudis Empordanesos, Figueres.Casey, E. S. (2011). Border versus Boundary at La Frontera. Environment and Planning D: Society and Space, 29(3), 384-398. doi:10.1068/d0410Collier, P. (2009). International Boundary Surveys and Demarcation in the Late 19thand Early 20thCenturies. Survey Review, 41(311), 2-13. doi:10.1179/003962608x325457Cruz Sánchez F. 2010.Líneas límite en la Comunidad Valenciana. Colegio Oficial de Ingenieros Técnicos en Topografía. Valencia.Cruz Sánchez F. 2011.Determinación de líneas límites, Primeras Jornadas de Arquitectura e Ingeniería Civil y Cartográfica de la Comunidad Valenciana. Valencia.Donaldson, J. W. (2008). Pillars and perspective: demarcation of the Belgian Congo–Northern Rhodesia boundary. Journal of Historical Geography, 34(3), 471-493. doi:10.1016/j.jhg.2007.11.005Donaldson, J. W. (2008). Politics and scale in boundary-making: the work of boundary commissions. Journal of Historical Geography, 34(3), 393-396. doi:10.1016/j.jhg.2008.02.001Femenia-Ribera C. 2006. La topografía y la cartografía en los deslindes y servidumbres en España,Biblio 3W: Revista bibliográfica de Geografía y Ciencias Sociales, 10, pp. 100–110, Aviailable at: [accessed 10 July 2013].Femenia-Ribera C. 2009.La Cartografía y su Legislación Territorial. Editorial Universidad Politécnica de Valencia ref. 2009-505, 272.Femenia-Ribera C, Mora-Navarro G, Benitez-Aguado E, Garrido Villén N. 2013. A study and analysis of ways of representing the boundary between adjacent municipal areas as used in different types of maps in Valencia wetland.Scripta Nova.Revista electrónica de geografía y ciencias sociales, to be published.Fernández Pareja M.T and García-Patos Herreros P.J. 2012. International Border Agreements: Spanish-Portuguese Model.X Congreso TopCart 2012: Congreso IberoAmericano de Geomática y Ciencias de la Tierra, Madrid.Forman, G. (2006). Law and the historical geography of the Galilee: Israel’s litigatory advantages during the special operation of land settlement. Journal of Historical Geography, 32(4), 796-817. doi:10.1016/j.jhg.2005.09.004Garrido-Villén, N., Antón-Merino, A., Berné Valero, J. L., & Femenia Ribera, C. (2013). Land surveyors as expert witnesses in real estate litigation matters in Spain. geodetski vestnik, 57(01), 066-084. doi:10.15292/geodetski-vestnik.2013.01.066-084García Cepeda F. 2009.Doctoral Thesis: Optimización de la metodología para la definición, actualización, mantenimiento y aprovechamiento de las líneas límite jurisdiccionales.Departamento de Ingeniería Topográfica y Cartográfica. Universidad Politécnica de Madrid.García Lario J.M and Pérez Casas J.M. 2010.Delimitaciones Territoriales, Centro Nacional de Información Geográfica, Curso Básico sobre el Sistema Cartográfico Nacional. Valencia.Grimalt Servera P. 2001.El Deslinde entre Particulares. Editorial Aranzadi.Kim, M.-A. (2009). The Imaginary Line: A History of the United States and Mexican Boundary Survey, 1848-1857. Hispanic American Historical Review, 89(1), 196-197. doi:10.1215/00182168-2008-077Mañero García A. 2012a.Plan Nacional de Referenciación Geográfica Municipal, Centro Nacional de Información Geográfica. Curso Básico sobre el Sistema Cartográfico Nacional. Valencia.Mañero García A., Piña García F., García Lario J.M and Pérez Casas J.M. 2012b. Actualización de las delimitaciones territoriales en Cantabria,X Congreso TopCart 2012: Congreso IberoAmericano de Geomática y Ciencias de la Tierra.Madrid.Martínez RiveraF., Díez Díaz J., Buitrago M., Olaya G., Ladino A., Duarte E and Mafla E. 2006.Guía para el Deslinde y Amojonamiento, Entidades Territoriales de la República de Colombia. Departamento Nacional de Estadística-DANE, Instituto Geográfico Agustín Codazzi, Colombia, 32.Massó M, Torres M and Jiménez MM. 2011. La recuperació dels límits municipals històrics, Conveni DGAP-ICC (2005-2011,Revista Catalana de Geografia. Revista digital de geografía, cartografía i ciències de la Terra,43, vol. XVI. Available at: [accessed 15 January 2013].Moya Rodríguez M and García-Rodrigo Martín A.M. 2002.Catastro, Valoración y Tributación Inmobiliaria Rústica, Editorial Artemedia Comunicación S.L., p. 454.Piña García F. 2009.Doctoral Thesis: Los Límites Administrativos, el Dominio Público y la zonificación del espacio en la Ordenación del Territorio y el Urbanismo, Análisis y evaluación posicional en Cantabria. Departamento de Ingeniería Geográfica y Técnicas de Expresión Gráfica, Universidad de Cantabria.Pirti, A., Arslan, N., Deveci, B., Aydin, O., Erkaya, H., & Hosbas, R. G. (2009). Real-Time Kinematic GPS for Cadastral Surveying. Survey Review, 41(314), 339-351. doi:10.1179/003962609x451582Pro Ruíz J. 1992.Estado, geometría y propiedad: Los orígenes del Catastro en España: 1715-1941. Centro de Gestión Catastral y Cooperación Tributaria, Ministerio de Economía y Hacienda, p. 419.Pro Ruíz J. 1999.El Catastro desde el punto de vista histórico. XV° Curso de Especialización: Cartografía Catastral Informatizada y Cartografía a grandes escalas.Reguera Rodríguez A.T. 2007. La lucha postal por el territorio.Scripta Nova. Revista electrónica de geografía y ciencias sociales, 237, XI. Aviailable at: [accessed 10 July 2013].Tucci, M., & Giordano, A. (2011). Positional accuracy, positional uncertainty, and feature change detection in historical maps: Results of an experiment. Computers, Environment and Urban Systems, 35(6), 452-463. doi:10.1016/j.compenvurbsys.2011.05.004Urteaga L, Nadal F, Muro JI. 2003. Imperialismo y cartografía: La organización de la Comisión Española del Estado Mayor en Marruecos (1881–1882).Scripta Nova. Revista electrónica de geografía y ciencias sociales, 142, VII. Available at: [accessed 10 July 2013].Urteaga L. 2006. 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COMPARATIVE PRODUCER COSTS OF GAP AND GHP STANDARDS: CAN THE PLAYING FIELD BE MADE LEVEL?

A number of microbial contamination incidents have continued to raise questions regarding the safety of the U.S. food supply with calls for improved food safety control initiatives and standards by both the private and public sectors. As a reaction to these incidents, there have been increased efforts to enhance food safety by the government and industry groups. Increasingly, process standards are being specified that recommend or prescribe Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) standards for production, Good Handling Practices (GHP) standards for handling products, and Good Management Practices (GMP) for responsibilities in overseeing production and handling operations. A primary concern is the potential that the costs associated with implementing food safety related standards will prohibit small producers and handlers from taking part in certain market segments, such as supplying the supermarkets that sell most of the production in developed and more advanced developing countries. Previous study results are presented that suggest economies of scale effects for larger farm size operations leading to lower per-unit compliance cost. This analysis utilized specialty crop representative farm stochastic simulation models that were designed to analyze the impacts of current and changing market conditions and government policies on a number of key operating variables (KOV). The results of the analysis provide an initial indication that the cost associated with compliance to regulatory standards does have an effect on the profitability of individual enterprises.Food safety, citrus, fresh produce, and regulatory costs, Agricultural and Food Policy, Consumer/Household Economics, Demand and Price Analysis, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty, Health Economics and Policy, Q12,