Identifying harmonic attributes from online partial discharge data

Partial discharge (PD) monitoring is a key method of tracking fault progression and degradation of insulation systems. Recent research discovered that the harmonic regime experienced by the plant also affects the PD pattern, questioning the conclusions about equipment health drawn from PD data. This paper presents the design and creation of an online system for harmonic circumstance monitoring of distribution cables, using only PD data. Based on machine learning techniques, the system can assess the prevalence of the 5th and 7th harmonic orders over the monitoring period. This information is key for asset managers to draw correct conclusions about the remaining life of polymeric cable insulation, and prevent overestimation of the degradation trend

Interpreting Agreement

This dissertation is an investigation of the formal status of agreement morphology and its relationship to null arguments. Rejecting Chomsky’s (2000, 2001) claim that valuedness is the formal correlate of interpretability, it is suggested that a more elegant account of the data follows if φ-features of verbal affixes are taken to be valued in the lexicon. Interpretability is argued to be determined in the syntax, according to whether the affix is in a position to receive a Ө-role or not and as such the proposal diverges from that of Pesetsky and Torrego (2005a, 2005b), who also argue for the separation of interpretability and valuedness, but consider both to be lexical properties of a given category. Positing the existence of verbal affixes with valued interpretable φ-features is uncontroversial and this is the analysis adopted for environments such as the participial clause in Finnish, object and complementiser agreement in Modem Standard Arabic and a range of contexts in Modem Irish in which 'pronominal agreement' and full NP or free pronominal arguments are in strictly complementary distribution. It is shown that valued uninterruptible features, while not present in the lexicon according to the Chomskyan model, are necessarily created in the course of the derivation, leading to the conclusion that the computational component must contain an operation for deleting such features under identity with matching identical features of a nominal category. Since this should be no less able to apply to lexically valued uninterpretable features, there is no principled reason to suppose that such features do not exist and this is the analysis adopted for constructions such as certain Finnish adjunct clauses and SVO structures in Modem Standard Arabic, in which agreement and overt arguments co-occur. An important consequence of allowing the interpretability of φ-features to be determined in the syntax is the possibility that the same affix could be interpretable in one environment and uninterruptible in another, exhibiting different syntactic behaviour accordingly, and this is argued to be the case for Finnish possessor agreement and finite verb agreement in Modem Standard Arabic, obviating the need to posit a lexical split as other analyses (e.g. Fassi Fehri, 1993, Toivonen, 2000) have had to. Optional arguments are accounted for by recourse to the idea of a null pronominal with interpretable unvalued-features which probes an agreement head with uninterpretable valued φ-features, a natural consequence of the dissolution of the biconditional relationship between interpretability and valuedness and a direct analogue in Minimalist terms of the category pro of Chomsky (1982) and Rizzi (1986)

Evaluation of the Long-Lasting Insecticidal Net Interceptor LN: Laboratory and Experimental Hut Studies against Anopheline and Culicine Mosquitoes in Northeastern Tanzania

Long lasting insecticidal nets (LN) are a primary method of malaria prevention. Before new types of LN are approved they need to meet quality and efficacy standards set by the WHO Pesticide Evaluation Scheme. The process of evaluation has three phases. In Phase I the candidate LN must meet threshold bioassay criteria after 20 standardized washes. In Phase II washed and unwashed LNs are evaluated in experimental huts against wild, free flying anopheline mosquitoes. In Phase III the LN are distributed to households in malaria endemic areas, sampled over three years of use and tested for continuing insecticidal efficacy. Interceptor® LN (BASF Corporation, Germany) is made of polyester netting coated with a wash resistant formulation of alpha-cypermethrin. Interceptor LN was subjected to bioassay evaluation and then to experimental hut trial against pyrethroid-susceptible Anopheles gambiae and An. funestus and resistant Culex quinquefasciatus. Mosquito mortality, blood feeding inhibition and personal protection were compared between untreated nets, conventional alpha-cypermethrin treated nets (CTN) washed 20 times and LNs washed 0, 20 and 30 times. In Phase I Interceptor LN demonstrated superior wash resistance and efficacy to the CTN. In the Phase II hut trial the LN killed 92% of female An. gambiae when unwashed and 76% when washed 20 times; the CTN washed 20 times killed 44%. The LN out-performed the CTN in personal protection and blood-feeding inhibition. The trend for An. funestus was similar to An. gambiae for all outcomes. Few pyrethroid-resistant Cx. quinquefasciatus were killed and yet the level of personal protection (75-90%) against Culex was similar to that of susceptible An. gambiae (76-80%) even after 20 washes. This protection is relevant because Cx. quinquefasciatus is a vector of lymphatic filariasis in East Africa. After 20 washes and 60 nights’ use the LN retained 27% of its initial insecticide dose. Interceptor LN meets the approval criteria set by WHO and is recommended for use in disease control against East African vectors of malaria and filariasis. Some constraints associated with the phase II evaluation criteria, in particular the washing procedure, are critically reviewed