An argument/adjunct asymmetry in wh-questions

Contra previous uniform approaches for wh-phrases, the current paper argues that there is a clear asymmetry between in-situ argument and adjunct wh-phrases with respect to Intervention Effects (IEs) in Korean and Japanese. Based on the categorical (nominal vs. adverbial) dichotomy evidenced by structural case attachment tests and formation of complex wh-expressions, different base locations for wh-arguments (inside vP) and wh-adjuncts (outside vP) are suggested in these languages. Finally, I propose that IE asymmetries be attributed to the inherently different properties of argument and adjunct wh-phrases under scrambling operation

Licensing Constraint of Negative Polarity Items in English

The purpose of this paper is to investigate on NPI-licensing constraint focusing on English interrogative sentences and clarify their behavior within the formalism of HPSG. The Polarity Operator in questions and imperatives will be examined to clarify their syntactic and semantic properties. In this paper, Tonhauser (2001), most of which I basically agree to, will be modified to have a stronger power incorporating all relevant NPI-licensing phenomena into one single principle - (non)veridicality.Supported by the Grant for the Reform of University Education under the BK21 Project of SNU

Two types of speaker's ignorance over the epistemic space in Korean

The main goal of this paper is to propose a novel paradigm of the split epistemic ignorance, based on two morphologically related particles in Korean: inka in wh-indefinites vs. nka in modalized questions. Previous literature assumes the interrogative-indefinite affinity as a reflex of a semantic relationship between interrogative markers and indefinites by introducing a set of propositional alternatives (Alternative Semantics: Kratzer and Shimoyama 2002; Alonso-Ovalle 2006, a.o.). However, we challenge these claims by showing that inka and nka are distinct lexical items which are distributed in different clause types, hence, a new split for the ignorance system is called for. We propose a semantics under which inka and nka variants are relativized to the epistemic state of the speaker, M(i) (Giannakidou 1995 et seq.). In particular, we show that: (i) the common denominator of nka and inka is the fact that they both express the speaker's epistemic indeterminacy; but (ii) the crucial difference arises from a strict dichotomy between the types of alternatives that nka and inka introduce, i.e., the propositional alternatives for nka vs. the individual alternatives for inka

ANN-Based Thermal Load Prediction Approach for Advanced Controls in Building Energy Systems

The Artificial Neural Network (ANN) technology has been used in various areas. In the building industry, however, ANN is relatively less utilized due to its complexity and uncertain benefits of its application along with the costs associated with its development. This paper introduces ANN regarding its applicability and potential benefits in building operations, especially for energy savings. Thermal loads calculations are most widely used for the operation of building energy systems. An ANN model was developed to predict a large office building's cooling loads. The EnergyPlus simulation program was used to generate thermal loads data and the Python program to develop an ANN model. The initial ANN model predicted a case study building's cooling loads within the CVRMSE value of 7.3% initially, and later 6.8% after optimization, which is within the tolerance range of 3Q% recommended by the ASHRAE Guideline 14. This study showed the potential benefit of energy savings that can be achieved by utilizing the ANN model for accurately predicting the cooling loads

The Compatibility between Expressive Elements: Kinship Terms, Pronouns, and Racial Slurs in Vietnamese

The present study investigates the Compatibility Condition (CC) for multiple expressive elements in Vietnamese. We identify Vietnamese kinship terms, pronouns, and racial slurs as expressives, i.e. conventional implicature (Potts 2005), where different expressive items interact. We find that there are co-occurrences of expressives with different attitudes (e.g. weak/strong negative) and with expressive elements that have honorific and antihonorific properties. Under controlled occurrences, we examine what CC is and how it is measured. We propose the CC model and the CC index for occurrences of Vietnamese emotive-expressives and honorific-expressives. Furthermore, the CC may be intentionally flouted as a repair strategy. Finally, we show that emotion and honorific dimensions operate interdependently or autonomously and provide support for autonomy. The implication found is that interaction exists among various Vietnamese expressives, necessitating the compatibility constraint, while supporting multidimensionality (Potts 2005 et seq.), with at least two expressive dimensions

Comparing treebanks

Sionti M. Comparing treebanks. In: Chatzopoulou K, Ioannidou A, Suwon Y, eds. Proceedings of the 9th International Conference of Greek Linguistics. 2009: 596-607

Anti-tumor immunostimulatory effect of heat-killed tumor cells

AS a part of our ongoing search for a safe and efficient anti-tumor vaccine, we attempted to determine whether the molecular nature of certain tumor antigens would influence immune responses against tumor cells. As compared with freeze-thawed or formaldehyde-fixed tumor antigens, heat-denatured tumor antigens elicited profound anti-tumor immune responses and greatly inhibited the growth of live tumor cells. The heat-denatured tumor antigens induced a substantial increase in the anti-tumor CTL response in the absence of any adjuvant material. This response appears to be initiated by strong activation of the antigen-presenting cells, which may recognize heat-denatured protein antigens. Upon recognition of the heat-denatured tumor antigens, macrophages and dendritic cells were found to acutely upregulate the expression of co-stimulatory molecules such as B7.2, as well as the secretion of inflammatory cytokines such as IL-12 and TNF-α. The results of this study indicate that heat-denatured tumor extracts might elicit protective anti-tumor adaptive immune responses and also raise the possibility that a safe and efficient adjuvant-free tumor vaccine might be developed in conjunction with a dendritic cell-based tumor vaccine