Vowel duration in stressed position in central & northern varieties of standard Italian

We report the results of a pilot study investigating the effect of 2 regional accents on stressed vowel duration according to word-position and syllable type in Central v. Northern accents of Standard Italian. While there is overall convergence, we also find significant regional differences in some contexts, i.e. closed syllables, and antepenultimate position. We then consider the implications of our results for the phonological description and phonetic investigation of Italian

GI Jive: US Soldiers\u27 Writings and Post-World War II America

This work is a comprehensive study of American soldiers‘ writings during World War II as they related to personal and national postwar aims. The paper uses military and domestic publications along with a selection of memoirs and diaries published during and immediately after the war to create an overview of soldiers\u27 ideological and material desires of postwar America

Use patterns of formal and informal public space in east Austin, Texas

Austin, Texas has a history of spatial segregation that still shapes the city’s landscape. Highway I-35 forms both a physical and psychological barrier between the west, predominately white part of the city, and the predominately Hispanic and African American east side. Quality public amenity and services are disproportionately lacking in the east side of the city because of this history, creating unequal access to public spaces for eastside residents. This report explores how remnant urban land or public rights-of-way can be used informally by Austin’s east side residents to supplement public amenity and provide the social platform necessary for healthy communities. Four sites were used in this study, two formal parks and two informal spaces, to comparatively examine the use dynamics and elements of physical design of east side spaces. The two formal parks are Rosewood Neighborhood Park and Givens District park, both located east of I-35, and the two informal spaces are a vacant, privately owned lot and a neighborhood street, Richardine Avenue. The two informal spaces supported greater social activity during most hours of the day and evening. They are both small, unprogrammed spaces that provide their users with visibility, use flexibility, and close proximity to both housing and corridors of activity to foster spontaneous social interactions. The two parks supported more physical activity and had greater capacity but were less consistently occupied than their informal counterparts. The informal spaces served both residents directly surrounding the area and those passing through. To create a more equitable solution for public space infusion in east Austin, planners should consider creating more small-scale spaces with the flexibility of programming to be adapted to better meet the social and recreational needs of residents directly adjacent to the space.Community and Regional Plannin

Klipsun Magazine, 1990, Volume 23, Issue 01 - January

https://cedar.wwu.edu/klipsun_magazine/1107/thumbnail.jp

Antimicrobial stewardship practices in Virginia

The Society of Healthcare Epidemiology of America, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the President\u27s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology recognize the need to combat antimicrobial resistance through the promotion of antimicrobial stewardship programs. Health care facilities in Virginia were surveyed using a 23-item survey focused on facility characteristics and antimicrobial stewardship strategies. Antimicrobial stewardship activities were highly variable and many are missing key personnel and resources

Development of a floating tidal energy system suitable for use in shallow water

A proposal is made for the use of a traditional streamwaterwheel suspended between two floating catamaranNPL series demi-hulls as means of generating electricalpower. Two prototype devices, of lengths 1.6m and 4.5m,have been developed, constructed and tested. It was foundthat the concept is sound although greater investment isrequired with regards to the materials and bothhydrodynamic and aerodynamic design of the waterwheelto ensure an economically viable system. The workpresented concentrates on practical aspects associated withdesign, construction and trial testing in Southampton waterof the 4.5m prototype. The relatively low cost, ease ofdeployment, and the fact that conventional boat mooringsystems are effective, combine to make this an attractivealternative energy solution for remote communities

Designing metal hemispheres on silicon ultrathin film solar cells for plasmonic light trapping

We systematically investigate the design of two-dimensional silver (Ag) hemisphere arrays on crystalline silicon (c-Si) ultrathin film solar cells for plasmonic light trapping. The absorption in ultrathin films is governed by the excitation of Fabry-Perot TEMm modes.We demonstrate that metal hemispheres can enhance absorption in the films by (1) coupling light to c-Si film waveguide modes and (2) exciting localized surface plasmon resonances (LSPRs). We show that hemisphere arrays allow light to couple to fundamental TEm and TMm waveguide modes in c-Si film as well as higher-order versions of these modes. The near-field light concentration of LSPRs also may increase absorption in the c-Si film, though these resonances are associated with significant parasitic absorption in the metal. We illustrate how Ag plasmonic hemispheres may be utilized for light trapping with 22% enhancement in short-circuit current density compared with that of a bare 100 nm thick c-Si ultrathin film solar cell. © 2014 Optical Society of America

Early invasive prenatal diagnosis in HBsAg-positive women

From 1982 to 1989, pregnant women in two large city hospitals in The Netherlands had serum samples screened for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg). Infants of mothers found to be HBsAg-positive received hepatitis B immune globulin immediately after birth and hepatitis B vaccine in the first year of life. Blood samples of infants were regularly tested for HBsAg and antibodies directed against HBsAg. A retrospective analysis of the pregnancy outcome in HBsAg-positive women who had invasive tests for prenatal diagnosis was carried out to determine whether amniocentesis and chorionic villus sampling (CVS) are risk factors for the intrauterine transmission of the hepatitis B virus. Amniocentesis was carried out in 17 HBsAg-positive women and CVS in one case. Only two women were HBsAg- and HBeAg-positive. Prenatal diagnosis led to the termination of pregnancy for fetal chromosome abnormality in three cases. The remaining 15 pregnancies were uneventful; all infants were negative for HBsAg and developed an active immune response to the vaccine. These data suggest that amniocentesis in HBsAg-positive women constitutes a low risk for the intrauterine transmission of the hepatitis B virus, but definite conclusions in HBeAg-positive women cannot be drawn