Enhancement and suppression effects resulting from information structuring in sentences

Information structuring through the use of cleft sentences increases the processing efficiency of references to elements within the scope of focus. Furthermore, there is evidence that putting certain types of emphasis on individual words not only enhances their subsequent processing, but also protects these words from becoming suppressed in the wake of subsequent information, suggesting mechanisms of enhancement and suppression. In Experiment 1, we showed that clefted constructions facilitate the integration of subsequent sentences that make reference to elements within the scope of focus, and that they decrease the efficiency with reference to elements outside of the scope of focus. In Experiment 2, using an auditory text-change-detection paradigm, we showed that focus has similar effects on the strength of memory representations. These results add to the evidence for enhancement and suppression as mechanisms of sentence processing and clarify that the effects occur within sentences having a marked focus structure

The 2.5-5.0 micron spectra of Io: Evidence for H2S and H2O frozen in SO2

The techniques of low temperature spectroscopy are applied to identify the constituents of the ices covering the surface of Io, a satellite of Jupiter. Infrared spectra of Io in the 4000-2000 cm exp -1 region, including new observational data, are analyzed using laboratory studies of plausible surface ices

A computational approach to implicit entities and events in text and discourse

In this paper we will focus on the notion of “implicit” or lexically unexpressed linguistic elements that are nonetheless necessary for a complete semantic interpretation of a text. We refer to “entities” and “events” because the recovery of the implicit material may affect all the modules of a system for semantic processing, from the grammatically guided components to the inferential and reasoning ones. Reference to the system GETARUNS offers one possible implementation of the algorithms and procedures needed to cope with the problem and enables us to deal with all the spectrum of phenomena. The paper will address at first the following three types of “implicit” entities and events: – the grammatical ones, as suggested by a linguistic theories like LFG or similar generative theories; – the semantic ones suggested in the FrameNet project, i.e. CNI, DNI, INI; – the pragmatic ones: here we will present a theory and an implementation for the recovery of implicit entities and events of (non-) standard implicatures. In particular we will show how the use of commonsense knowledge may fruitfully contribute to find relevant implied meanings. Last Implicit Entity only touched on, though for lack of space, is the Subject of Point of View, which is computed by Semantic Informational Structure and contributes the intended entity from whose point of view a given subjective statement is expressed

Preliminary site report for the 2005 ICDP-USGS deep corehole in the Chesapeake Bay impact crater

First report for the ICDP-USGS 1.7-km-deep corehole drilled into the central part of the Chesapeake Bay impact crater during 2005

The Importance of Organic Content to Fractal Floc Properties in Estuarine Surface Waters: Insights From Video, LISST, and Pump Sampling

To better understand the nature of flocs of varying organic content in estuarine surface waters, Laser in situ Scattering and Transmissometry, video settling, and pump sampling were deployed in the York River estuary. A new in situ method was developed to simultaneously solve the floc fractal dimension (F), primary particle size (d p ), and primary particle density (ρ p ) by fitting a simple fractal model to observations of effective floc density (∆ρ) as a function of floc diameter (d f ), while ensuring that the integrated particle size distribution was consistent with measurements of bulk apparent density (ρ a ). When fractal fits were statistically justified, application of the above methods showed the bulk fraction of organic matter (f org ) to be well correlated to multiple floc properties. As f org increased, d p and ρ a also increased, while ρ p , total suspended solids (TSS), and median floc size decreased. Notably for microflocs, neither F nor ∆ρ was significantly related to either f org or TSS. This indicates that organic matter may partially displace water content within microflocs without fundamentally changing the flocs’ inorganic structure. When pooling multiple samples, a marked decrease in F was seen at the transition to macroflocs, and most strongly for high f org cases. This suggested that settling velocities \u3e_ ~1 mm/s may produce turbulent stresses that tend to tear macroflocs apart. This study also found that when the fractal theory held, ρ p had a near 1:1 correlation with the bulk dry density of filtered TSS, implying that primary particles are tightly bound aggregates of combined mineral and organic component

Cost Estimating for Decommissioning of a Plutonium Facility--Lessons Learned From The Rocky Flats Building 771 Project

The Rocky Flats Closure Site is implementing an aggressive approach in an attempt to complete Site closure by 2006. The replanning effort to meet this goal required that the life-cycle decommissioning effort for the Site and for the major individual facilities be reexamined in detail. As part of the overall effort, the cost estimate for the Building 771 decommissioning project was revised to incorporate both actual cost data from a recently-completed similar project and detailed planning for all activities. This paper provides a brief overview of the replanning process and the original estimate, and then discusses the modifications to that estimate to reflect new data, methods, and planning rigor. It provides the new work breakdown structure and discusses the reasons for the final arrangement chosen. It follows with the process used to assign scope, cost, and schedule elements within the new structure, and development of the new code of accounts. Finally, it describes the project control methodology used to track the project, and provides lessons learned on cost tracking in the decommissioning environment

Efficacy and safety of 4 weeks' treatment with combined fluticasone furoate/vilanterol in a single inhaler given once daily in COPD: a placebo-controlled randomised trial

Background: Fluticasone furoate/vilanterol (FF/VI) is a novel once-daily (OD) inhaled corticosteroid/long-acting beta(2) agonist combination in development for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma. Trial design: A multicentre, randomised, double-blind, parallel-group, placebo-controlled study. Methods: Participants were patients with moderate-to-severe COPD treated with placebo or FF/VI 400/25 mu g OD for 4 weeks. Study objectives were to assess the safety and efficacy of FF/VI 400/25 mg OD administered for 4 weeks via a novel dry powder inhaler. Co-primary end points were change from baseline in weighted mean (wm) heart rate 0-4 h postdose at day 28 and the incidence of adverse events (AEs). Secondary end points included change from baseline in trough forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) (23-24 h postdose; day 29) and wm FEV1 (0-4 h postdose; day 28). Patients were randomised to receive FF/VI 400/25 mg or placebo in a 2: 1 ratio; all patients and investigators were blinded to active or placebo treatment. Results: 60 patients (mean age 64 years) were randomised (FF/VI: n=40; placebo: n=20), and all contributed data to the analysis. Mean screening post-bronchodilator FEV1 per cent predicted was comparable between groups (FF/VI: 58.5%; placebo: 60.1%). The wm heart rate 0-4 h postdose was similar between groups (difference: 0.6 beats per minute; 95% CI -3.9 to 5.1). More on-treatment AEs were reported in the FF/VI group (68%) compared with the placebo group (50%). The most common drug-related AEs in the FF/VI group were oral candidiasis (8%) and dysphonia (5%). There were no clinically relevant effects on laboratory values, including glucose and potassium, or on vital signs or ECGs/Holters. The FF/VI group had statistically greater improvements compared with placebo in trough FEV1 (mean difference 183 ml) and 0-4 h postdose wm FEV1 (mean difference 236 ml). Conclusion: FF/VI has a good safety and tolerability profile and improves lung function compared with placebo in patients with COPD. Trial registration number: clinical trials. gov-NCT00731822

Explaining Evidence Denial as Motivated Pragmatically Rational Epistemic Irrationality

This paper introduces a model for evidence denial that explains this behavior as a manifestation of rationality and it is based on the contention that social values (measurable as utilities) often underwrite these sorts of responses. Moreover, it is contended that the value associated with group membership in particular can override epistemic reason when the expected utility of a belief or belief system is great. However, it is also true that it appears to be the case that it is still possible for such unreasonable believers to reverse this sort of dogmatism and to change their beliefs in a way that is epistemically rational. The conjecture made here is that we should expect this to happen only when the expected utility of the beliefs in question dips below a threshold where the utility value of continued dogmatism and the associated group membership is no longer sufficient to motivate defusing the counter-evidence that tells against such epistemically irrational beliefs

Orbital dynamics of Cygnus X-3

Orbital-phased-resolved infrared spectra of Cygnus X-3 in outburst and quiescence, including tomographic analysis, are presented. We confirm the phasing of broad HeII and NV lines in quiescence, such that maximum blue shift corresponds to the X-ray minimum at phase = 0.00 +/- 0.04. In outburst, double-peaked HeI structures show a similar phasing with two significant differences: (a) although varying in relative strength, there is continuous line emission in blue and red peaks around the orbit, and (b) an absorption component, ~1/4 of an orbit out of phase with the emission features, is discerned. Doppler tomograms of the double-peaked profiles are consistent with a disk-wind geometry, rotating at velocities of 1000 km/s. Regrettably, the tomography algorithm will produce a similar ring structure from alternative line sources if contaminated by overlying P Cygni profiles. This is certainly the case in the strong 2.0587 micron HeI line, leading to an ambiguous solution for the nature of double-peaked emission. The absorption feature, detected 1/4 of an orbit out of phase with the emission features, is consistent with an origin in the He star wind and yields for the first time a plausible radial velocity curve for the system. We directly derive the mass function of the system, 0.027 M_sun. If we assume a neutron star accretor and adopt a high orbital inclination, i > 60 degrees, we obtain a mass range for the He star of 5 M_sun < M_WR < 11 M_sun. Alternatively if the compact object is a black hole, we estimate M_BH < 10 M_sun. We discuss the implications of these masses for the nature and size of the binary system.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ main journa

Electronic and traditional savings accounts in colombia: A spatial agglomeration model

The purpose of this article is to apply a multivariate spatial statistics technique: cluster analysis or spatial agglomeration, in order to classify departments into groups based on behavior in the number of active, inactive electronic savings accounts and savings traditional active accounts, with database available as of September 2017 in the bank of Colombia. The selection of this type of accounts was due to the fact that the financial product with the highest penetration in the Colombian population in September 2017, continued to be the savings account; 73.5% of the population had this financial product. However, this percentage is far from the target of 84% proposed in the National Development Plan. The findings show that the departments where electronic accounts are most used are Cauca, Bogotá, Meta, Casanare, Arauca, Vichada, Huila, Amazonas, Guainía, Vaupés, Caldas, Chocó, Sucre, La Guajira, César, Norte de Santander, however, the levels of penetration of this type of product are very low yet in the Colombian territory