The bear in Eurasian plant names: Motivations and models

Ethnolinguistic studies are important for understanding an ethnic group's ideas on the world, expressed in its language. Comparing corresponding aspects of such knowledge might help clarify problems of origin for certain concepts and words, e.g. whether they form common heritage, have an independent origin, are borrowings, or calques. The current study was conducted on the material in Slavonic, Baltic, Germanic, Romance, Finno-Ugrian, Turkic and Albanian languages. The bear was chosen as being a large, dangerous animal, important in traditional culture, whose name is widely reflected in folk plant names. The phytonyms for comparison were mostly obtained from dictionaries and other publications, and supplemented with data from databases, the co-authors' field data, and archival sources (dialect and folklore materials). More than 1200 phytonym use records (combinations of a local name and a meaning) for 364 plant and fungal taxa were recorded to help find out the reasoning behind bear-nomination in various languages, as well as differences and similarities between the patterns among them. Among the most common taxa with bear-related phytonyms were Arctostaphylos uva-ursi (L.) Spreng., Heracleum sphondylium L., Acanthus mollis L., and Allium ursinum L., with Latin loan translation contributing a high proportion of the phytonyms. Some plants have many and various bear-related phytonyms, while others have only one or two bear names. Features like form and/or surface generated the richest pool of names, while such features as colour seemed to provoke rather few associations with bears. The unevenness of bear phytonyms in the chosen languages was not related to the size of the language nor the present occurence of the Brown Bear in the region. However, this may, at least to certain extent, be related to the amount of the historical ethnolinguistic research done on the selected languages

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE TYPES OF LEFT VENTRICULAR REMODELING AMONG WORKING AGE MEN WITH ISCHEMIC HEART DISEASE, LIVING IN ONE OF THE MOUNTAIN REGIONS OF AZERBAIJAN

Aim. To evaluate the rate of left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) and left ventricular (LV) geometry types in ischemic heart disease (IHD) among men of working age in one of the mountain regions of Azerbaijan.Material and methods. A representative sample of the informal working age men population living in the foothills and midlands of theRepublic ofAzerbaijan was examined. Representative sample was formed by the method of random numbers. Strictly standardized survey methods and evaluation criteria recommended by WHO for epidemiological studies were used. Echocardiography with evaluation of the heart morphological parameters was performed in all the subjects.Results. The prevalence of LVH in IHD patients was 68.8% [based on the calculation ofLV mass (LVM) and the LVM index (LVMI)]. The most reliable LVH detection was observed with calculation of three indexes LVMI, LVMI/height and LVM/height2,7. The least reliable LVH detection was observed with use only one index LVM/ height2,7. Normal LV geometry was registered in 20 (21.5%) patients with IHD,LV concentric remodeling in 18 (19.4%), concentric LVH in 23 (24.7%), and eccentric LVH in 32 (34.4%) patients.Conclusion. The results of the study show significant prevalence of both LVH and adverse types ofLV remodeling in this population. This calls for further research to study the causes of revealed epidemiological situation.</p

Digital signal processing application in nuclear spectroscopy

Digital signal processing algorithms for nuclear particle spectroscopy are described along with a digital pile-up elimination method applicable to equidistantly sampled detector signals pre-processed by a charge-sensitive preamplifier. The signal processing algorithms provided as recursive one- or multi-step procedures which can be easily programmed using modern computer programming languages. The influence of the number of bits of the sampling analogue-to-digital converter to the final signal-to-noise ratio of the spectrometer considered. Algorithms for a digital shaping-filter amplifier, for a digital pile-up elimination scheme and for ballistic deficit correction were investigated using a high purity germanium detector. The pile-up elimination method was originally developed for fission fragment spectroscopy using a Frisch-grid back-to-back double ionisation chamber and was mainly intended for pile-up elimination in case of high alpha-radioactivity of the fissile target. The developed pile-up elimination method affects only the electronic noise generated by the preamplifier. Therefore, the influence of the pile-up elimination scheme on the final resolution of the spectrometer investigated in terms of the distance between piled-up pulses. The efficiency of developed algorithms compared with other signal processing schemes published in literature

Fission Research at IRMM

Fission Research at JRC-IRMM has a longstanding tradition. The present paper is discussing recent investigations of fission fragment properties of 238 U(n,f), 234 U(n,f), prompt neutron emission in fission of 252 Cf(SF) as well as the prompt fission neutron spectrum of 235 U(n,f) and is presenting the most important results

Fission Research at IRMM

Fission Research at JRC-IRMM has a longstanding tradition. The present paper is discussing recent investigations of fission fragment properties of 238 U(n,f), 234 U(n,f), prompt neutron emission in fission of 252 Cf(SF) as well as the prompt fission neutron spectrum of 235 U(n,f) and is presenting the most important results