Linguistic politeness across Austria and Italy: Backing out of an invitation with an instant message

The study compares how native speakers of German from the area of Innsbruck (Austria) and native speakers of Italian from the area of Rome (Italy) perceive the communicative act of backing out of an invitation for dinner at the last minute, in a situation of low social distance. The purpose of the study is twofold: to shed light on the orientation of Austrian German and Italian languages/cultures in terms of linguistic politeness, and to expand empirical cross-cultural research to a less-commonly investigated speech act. Data collected by means of a discourse completion task (DCT) are triangulated with responses to an assessment question and metapragmatic comments, and analyzed following a quantitative approach. The analysis of the DCT findings shows some cross-group differences in the choice of speech act realization strategies and internal modifiers. However, the overall results reveal more similarities than differences between the two populations regarding the informants’ perception of face threat in last-minute cancellations. This seems to disprove the idea that the two groups belong to different cultural frameworks in terms of politeness orientation, at least as far as it concerns the specific speech act under investigation

Validation of a Method to Prepare Artificial Chylomicron Remnant-like Particles

1 página. Proceedings and Abstracts of the 2nd International Symposium on Chylomicrons in Disease-2 (ISCD2)Resumen póster.Peer reviewe

Evolution of E2 transition strength in deformed hafnium isotopes from new measurements on 172^{172}Hf, 174^{174}Hf, and 176^{176}Hf

The available data for E2 transition strengths in the region between neutron-deficient Hf and Pt isotopes are far from complete. More and precise data are needed to enhance the picture of structure evolution in this region and to test state-of-the-art nuclear models. In a simple model, the maximum collectivity is expected at the middle of the major shell. However, for actual nuclei, this picture may no longer be the case, and one should use a more realistic nuclear-structure model. We address this point by studying the spectroscopy of Hf. We remeasure the 2^+_1 half-lives of 172,174,176Hf, for which there is some disagreement in the literature. The main goal is to measure, for the first time, the half-lives of higher-lying states of the rotational band. The new results are compared to a theoretical calculation for absolute transition strengths. The half-lives were measured using \gamma-\gamma and conversion-electron-\gamma delayed coincidences with the fast timing method. For the determination of half-lives in the picosecond region, the generalized centroid difference method was applied. For the theoretical calculation of the spectroscopic properties, the interacting boson model is employed, whose Hamiltonian is determined based on microscopic energy-density functional calculations. The measured 2^+_1 half-lives disagree with results from earlier \gamma-\gamma fast timing measurements, but are in agreement with data from Coulomb excitation experiments and other methods. Half-lives of the 4^+_1 and 6^+_1 states were measured, as well as a lower limit for the 8^+_1 states. We show the importance of the mass-dependence of effective boson charge in the description of E2 transition rates in chains of nuclei. It encourages further studies of the microscopic origin of this mass dependence. New data on transition rates in nuclei from neighboring isotopic chains could support these studies.Comment: 16 pages, 16 figures, 7 tables; Abstract shortened due to character limi

Corn response to two fertilization rates under SW Spain conditions

12 pages, 8 tables, 15 references.Corn cv. PRISMA response (growth, plant composition, and yield) was studied in relation to two fertilizer treatments: the high rate used in irrigated fields in SW Spain (1000 kg/ha 15–15–15 fertilizer plus two applications of 400 kg urea (46%N)/ha); and the same reduced to one‐third. Plant height ( 290 cm), specific leaf area (0.018 m2/g), ear weight (210 g), kernel weight per ear (185 g), and estimated yield (16 Mg/ha) were similar with both treatments. Plant nutrient contents were similar in the leaf level, with both treatments, although the N content of stalk and kernel (at harvest) were higher (P<0.05) when the high fertilization dose was applied. DRIS indices presented N and S as the more balanced nutrients, and in general the P and Mg contents were comparatively low, and Ca and K comparatively high. Amounts of N and P removed by corn (above‐ground part) were higher than those fertilized at the lower rate. Removed K was considerably higher than the loaded amount, whichever rate of fertilization was considered. When fertilized with a comparatively low rate (for irrigated regimes in SW Spain), the natural reserves of the previously fertilized sandy loam soil used in the assay contributed to achieve a high yield with a high‐yielding corn crop.Research carried out in the framework of the contract Nº STEPCT90-0032-C (DSCN) of the CE.Peer reviewe

Gamma Efficiency Simulations towards Coincidence Measurements for Fusion Cross Sections

With the experimental station STELLA (STELlar LAboratory) we will measure fusion cross sections of astrophysical relevance making use of the coincident detection of charged particles and gamma rays for background reduction. For the measurement of gamma rays from the de-excitation of fusion products a compact array of 36 UK FATIMA LaBr3 detectors is designed based on efficiency studies with Geant4. The photo peak efficiency in the region of interest compares to other gamma detection systems used in this field. The features of the internal decay of 138La is used in a background study to obtain an online calibration of the gamma detectors. Background data are fit to the Monte Carlo model of the self activity assuming crude exponential behavior of external background. Accuracy in the region of interest is of the order of some keV in this first study

Band-theoretical prediction of magnetic anisotropy in uranium monochalcogenides

Magnetic anisotropy of uranium monochalcogenides, US, USe and UTe, is studied by means of fully-relativistic spin-polarized band structure calculations within the local spin-density approximation. It is found that the size of the magnetic anisotropy is fairly large (about 10 meV/unit formula), which is comparable with experiment. This strong anisotropy is discussed in view of a pseudo-gap formation, of which crucial ingredients are the exchange splitting of U 5f states and their hybridization with chalcogen p states (f-p hybridization). An anomalous trend in the anisotropy is found in the series (US>>USe<UTe) and interpreted in terms of competition between localization of the U 5f states and the f-p hybridization. It is the spin-orbit interaction on the chalcogen p states that plays an essential role in enlarging the strength of the f-p hybridization in UTe, leading to an anomalous systematic trend in the magnetic anisotropy.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure

In-beam fast-timing measurements in 103,105,107Cd

Fast-timing measurements were performed recently in the region of the medium-mass 103,105,107Cd isotopes, produced in fusion evaporation reactions. Emitted gamma-rays were detected by eight HPGe and five LaBr3:Ce detectors working in coincidence. Results on new and re-evaluated half-lives are discussed within a systematic of transition rates. The $7/2_1^+$ states in 103,105,107Cd are interpreted as arising from a single-particle excitation. The half-life analysis of the $11/2_1^-$ states in 103,105,107Cd shows no change in the single-particle transition strength as a function of the neutron number

High-precision excited state lifetime measurements in rare earth nuclei using LaBr3(Ce) detectors

To study how collective nuclear structure evolves towards mid-shell and test next-generation LaBr3(Ce) scintillation detectors, measurements of the lifetimes of 2+ 1 states in 168Hf and 174W were conducted at the Wright Nuclear Structure Laboratory. Prel

Fast-timing measurements in the ground-state band of 114Pd

Using a hybrid Gammasphere array coupled to 25 LaBr3(Ce) detectors, the lifetimes of the first three levels of the yrast band in 114Pd, populated via 252Cf decay, have been measured. The measured lifetimes are τ2+ = 103(10) ps, τ4+ = 22(13) ps, and τ6+ 10 ps for the 2+ 1 , 4+ 1 , and 6+ 1 levels, respectively. Palladium-114 was predicted to be the most deformed isotope of its isotopic chain, and spectroscopic studies have suggested it might also be a candidate nucleus for low-spin stable triaxiality. From the lifetimes measured in this work, reduced transition probabilities B(E2; J → J − 2) are calculated and compared with interacting boson model, projected shell model, and collective model calculations from the literature. The experimental ratio RB(E2) = B(E2; 4+ 1 → 2+ 1 )/B(E2; 2+ 1 → 0+ 1 ) = 0.80(42) is measured for the first time in 114Pd and compared with the known values RB(E2) in the palladium isotopic chain: the systematics suggest that, for N = 68, a transition from γ -unstable to a more rigid γ -deformed nuclear shape occurs.This work was financially supported by the Science and Technology Facility Council (STFC) Grants No. ST/L005840/1, No. ST/L005743/1, and No. ST/G000751/1. This work has also been partially supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Nuclear Physics under Contract No. DE-AC02-06CH11357 (ANL). E.R.G. would like to acknowledge the STFC for funding via his Ph.D. studentship. D.J.H. acknowledges the National Science Foundation, Grant No. PHY-1502092. E.A.S. and O.Y. would like to acknowledge the project DFNI-E02/6