A grammar of Yakkha

This grammar provides the first comprehensive grammatical description of Yakkha, a Sino-Tibetan language of the Kiranti branch. Yakkha is spoken by about 14,000 speakers in eastern Nepal, in the Sankhuwa Sabha and Dhankuta districts. The grammar is based on original fieldwork in the Yakkha community. Its primary source of data is a corpus of 13,000 clauses from narratives and naturally-occurring social interaction which the author recorded and transcribed between 2009 and 2012. Corpus analyses were complemented by targeted elicitation. The grammar is written in a functional-typological framework. It focusses on morphosyntactic and semantic issues, as these present highly complex and comparatively under-researched fields in Kiranti languages. The sequence of the chapters follows the well-established order of phonological, morphological, syntactic and discourse-structural descriptions. These are supplemented by a historical and sociolinguistic introduction as well as an analysis of the complex kinship terminology. Topics such as verbal person marking, argument structure, transitivity, complex predication, grammatical relations, clause linkage, nominalization, and the topography-based orientation system have received in-depth treatment. Wherever possible, the structures found were explained in a historical-comparative perspective in order to shed more light on how their particular properties have emerged

Influence of migrating inhibitor concentration on corrosion resistance of steel reinforcement in concrete

To increase the service life and durability of reinforced concrete structures, new technologies have been developed, such as cathodic protection, re-alkalinization, chloride extraction, and the use of corrosion inhibitors. This study evaluated the influence of cement type, concrete cover thickness, and the addition of organic migrating corrosion inhibitor (MCI) on the corrosion resistance of the embedded steel in concrete against the induced action of chloride ions. To accomplish this, corrosion tests were carried out using electrode potential techniques simultaneously with acceleration cycles of chloride attack. Four mixtures with two levels of reinforcement cover (25 and 40 mm) were subjected to 30 weekly cycles of chemical attack: a reference mixture (without inhibitor) and three others adopting concentration levels of 0.30%, 0.45%, and 0.60% of MCI in the volume of concrete. The concrete properties (compressive strength, voids, specific gravity, and water absorption by immersion and capillarity) were verified. In the corrosion tests on reinforced concrete with lower cover thickness, the mixture with 0.60% MCI addition showed the best results: corrosion potential values less negative than -200 mV, with less than 10% probability of corrosion.Para aumentar a vida útil e durabilidade das estruturas de concreto armado foram desenvolvidas novas tecnologias como a proteção catódica, re-alcalinização, extração de cloreto, e o uso de inibidores de corrosão. Este estudo avaliou a influência do tipo de cimento, espessura do cobrimento de concreto e adição de inibidor de corrosão orgânico migratório (MCI) na resistência à corrosão do aço embutido no concreto contra a ação induzida de íons cloreto. Para isso, foram realizados ensaios de corrosão utilizando técnicas de potencial de eletrodo simultaneamente com ciclos de aceleração de ataque de cloretos. Quatro misturas com dois níveis de cobertura do aço (25 e 40 mm) foram submetidas a 30 ciclos semanais de ataque químico: uma mistura de referência (sem inibidor) e outras três adotando níveis de concentração de 0,30%, 0,45% e 0,60% de MCI em volume de concreto. As propriedades do concreto (resistência à compressão, índice de vazios, massa específica e absorção de água por imersão e capilaridade) foram verificadas. Nos ensaios de corrosão em concretos armados com menor espessura de cobrimento, a mistura com adição de 0,60% de MCI apresentou os melhores resultados: valores de potencial de corrosão inferiores a -200 mV, com probabilidade de corrosão inferior a 10%

Electronic voting to encourage interactive lectures: a randomised trial

Background: Electronic Voting Systems have been used for education in a variety of disciplines. Outcomes from these studies have been mixed. Because results from these studies have been mixed, we examined whether an EVS system could enhance a lecture's effect on educational outcomes. Methods: A cohort of 127 Year 5 medical students at the University of Adelaide was stratified by gender, residency status and academic record then randomised into 2 groups of 64 and 63 students. Each group received consecutive 40-minute lectures on two clinical topics. One group received the EVS for both topics. The other group received traditional teaching only. Evaluation was undertaken with two, 15-question multiple-choice questionnaires (MCQ) assessing knowledge and problem solving and undertaken as a written paper immediately before and after the lectures and repeated online 8–12 weeks later. Standardised institutional student questionnaires were completed for each lecture and independent observers assessed student behaviour during the lectures. Lecturer's opinions were assessed by a questionnaire developed for this study. Results: Two-thirds of students randomised to EVS and 59% of students randomised to traditional lectures attended. One-half of the students in the EVS group and 41% in the traditional group completed all questionnaires. There was no difference in MCQ scores between EVS and traditional lectures (p = 0.785). The cervical cancer lectures showed higher student ranking in favour of EVS in all parameters. The breast cancer lectures showed higher ranking in favour of traditional lectures in 5 of 7 parameters (p < 0.001). The observed higher-order lecturer-students interactions were increased in the EVS lecture for one lecturer and reduced for the other. Both lecturers felt that the EVS lectures were difficult to prepare, that they were able to keep to time in the traditional lectures, that the educational value of both lecture styles was similar, and that they were neutral-to-slightly favourably disposed to continue with the EVS technology. The 2 lecturers disagreed regarding the ease of preparation of the traditional lecture, their ability to keep to time in the EVS lecture, and personal satisfaction with the EVS lecture. The lecturers felt that EVS encouraged student participation and helped identify where students were having difficulty. Conclusion: In this setting, EVS technology used in large group lectures did not offer significant advantages over the more traditional lecture format.Paul M Duggan, Edward Palmer and Peter Devit

Design of bespoke lightweight cement mortars containing waste expanded polystyrene by experimental statistical methods

This work assesses the reuse of waste expanded polystyrene (EPS) to obtain lightweight cement mortars. The factors and interactions which affect the properties of these mortars were studied by ad-hoc designs based on the d-optimal criterion. This method allows multiple factors to be modified simultaneously, which reduces the number of experiments compared with classical design. Four factors were studied at several levels: EPS type (two levels), EPS content (two levels), admixtures mix (three levels) and cement type (three levels). Two types of aggregate were also studied. The workability, air content, compressive strength, adhesive strength, bulk density and capillary absorption were experimentally tested. The effect of factors and interactions on the properties was modelled and analysed. The results demonstrate how the factors and synergistic interactions can be manipulated to manufacture lightweight mortars which satisfy the relevant EU standards. These mortars contain up to 60% of waste EPS, low amounts of admixtures and low clinker content CEM III. Sustainable mortars containing silica sand gave flow table spread values between 168 and 180 ± 4 mm, bulk density between 1280 and 1110 ± 100 kg/m3, and C90 between 0.279 and 0.025 ± 0.07 kg/m2·min0.5, making them suitable for masonry, plastering and rendering applications.Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation and European Union (FEDER) for project funding (BIA 2007-61170

Professional ASP.NET 2.0 security, membership, and role management

xxiv, 611 p. : ill. ; 30 cm

Yakkha complex predicates and the grammar/lexicon distinction

This presentation deals with the problem of the grammar/lexicon distinction, illustrated by example of the complex predicates (CPs) of Yakkha, an endangered Tibeto-Burman language of Nepal (currently documented as part of the author's PhD thesis). CPs have tended to receive marginal attention in grammaticography, as they occupy an intermediate position between grammar and lexicon (Schultze-Berndt 2006). The presentation will give an overview of the highly productive and multifunctional system of complex predication in Yakkha, arguing that a grammar which neglected these CPs would miss a vital component of the 'genius' of this language. A CP in Yakkha consists of at least two verbs: a lexical verb (V1) and one or more of thirty ‘function verbs’ (V2), responsible for the fine-tuning of a predicate, regarding the argument structure, temporal structure, spatial orientation or modality of an event. This description, however, simplifies the heterogenous internal structure of the CPs, as grammaticalizations and lexicalizations have equally contributed to their formation. A particular V2 may have a productive grammatical function, and also participate in non-compositional, idiomatic verb- verb combinations. For instance, the verb pipma ‘give’ is a benefactive marker and it marks events by which some participant is affected involuntarily. This semantic component is also found in lexicalizations such as yoŋdipma ‘be frightened’ (‘shake-give’). The verb tsama ‘eat’ has developed into a reflexive marker, but it also occurs in dozens of lexicalized predicates, often with typical middle semantics (actions involving the body, social interactions), e.g. intsama ‘play’ (‘revolve-eat’) or lemtsama ‘cheat’ (‘flatter-eat’). Many V2 occur in intermediate stages between lexicalization and grammaticalization. These examples serve to illustrate that due to the heterogenous structure of the CPs and the various ways in which V1 and V2 may interact, it is not a trivial question where to draw the line between grammar and lexicon. The more general lesson for language documentation that we can draw from this particular (but surely not unique) case is that pre-established concepts (like 'grammar' and 'lexicon'), as useful as they are, may have to be re-thought and further developed in order to provide a just description of a particular language

A grammar of Yakkha

This grammar provides the first comprehensive grammatical description of Yakkha, a Sino-Tibetan language of the Kiranti branch. Yakkha is spoken by about 14,000 speakers in eastern Nepal, in the Sankhuwa Sabha and Dhankuta districts. The grammar is based on original fieldwork in the Yakkha community. Its primary source of data is a corpus of 13,000 clauses from narratives and naturally-occurring social interaction which the author recorded and transcribed between 2009 and 2012. Corpus analyses were complemented by targeted elicitation. The grammar is written in a functional-typological framework. It focusses on morphosyntactic and semantic issues, as these present highly complex and comparatively under-researched fields in Kiranti languages. The sequence of the chapters follows the well-established order of phonological, morphological, syntactic and discourse-structural descriptions. These are supplemented by a historical and sociolinguistic introduction as well as an analysis of the complex kinship terminology. Topics such as verbal person marking, argument structure, transitivity, complex predication, grammatical relations, clause linkage, nominalization, and the topography-based orientation system have received in-depth treatment. Wherever possible, the structures found were explained in a historical-comparative perspective in order to shed more light on how their particular properties have emerged