Persuasive discourse and language planning in Ireland

Colonial language discourse typically consists of evaluations concerning the respective merits of two or more languages, and the cultures they represent. This can serve as a warrant for imposing a ‘superior’ language. Although such discourse tends to be associated with the conquest of the New World and subsequent European expansion, there is evidence that in the case of Ireland – England’s first overseas colony – an adversarial relation between English and Irish languages existed even before the Elizabethan period. Referring to English legislation, chronicles and other documents, this paper examines the norms, arguments and rhetorical strategies that were used to exert the dominance of English language in Ireland during late-medieval and early-modern times. In the latter half of the paper, the focus will shift to attempts to create, especially from the seventeenth-century onwards, a ‘pro-Irish reversal’ that used similar arguments and rhetoric to reclaim this denigrated language. Our suggestion is that these pro- and anti-colonial language discourses anticipate those that were used later on in colonial and postcolonial environments

Essential skeletons of pairs and the geometric P=W conjecture

We construct weight functions on the Berkovich analytification of a variety over a trivially-valued field of characteristic zero, and this leads to the definition of the Kontsevich-Soibelman skeletons and the essential skeletons of pairs. We prove that the weight functions determine a metric on the pluricanonical bundles which coincides with Temkin's canonical metric in the smooth case. The weight functions are defined in terms of log discrepancies, which makes the Kontsevich-Soibelman and essential skeletons computable: this allows us to relate the essential skeleton to its discretely-valued counterpart, and explicitly describe the closure of the Kontsevich-Soibelman skeletons. As a result, we employ these techniques to compute the dual boundary complexes of certain character varieties: this provides the first evidence for the geometric P=W conjecture in the compact case, and the first application of Berkovich geometry in non-abelian Hodge theory.Comment: Sections 1.6-1.7 rewritten and minor changes in Sections 6-

Identifiability for a class of symmetric tensors

We use methods of algebraic geometry to find new, effective methods for detecting the identifiability of symmetric tensors. In particular, for ternary symmetric tensors T of degree 7, we use the analysis of the Hilbert function of a finite projective set, and the Cayley-Bacharach property, to prove that, when the Kruskal's rank of a decomposition of T are maximal (a condition which holds outside a Zariski closed set of measure 0), then the tensor T is identifiable, i.e. the decomposition is unique, even if the rank lies beyond the range of application of both the Kruskal's and the reshaped Kruskal's criteria

Financial asset bubbles in banking networks

We consider a banking network represented by a system of stochastic differential equations coupled by their drift. We assume a core-periphery structure, and that the banks in the core hold a bubbly asset. The banks in the periphery have not direct access to the bubble, but can take initially advantage from its increase by investing on the banks in the core. Investments are modeled by the weight of the links, which is a function of the robustness of the banks. In this way, a preferential attachment mechanism towards the core takes place during the growth of the bubble. We then investigate how the bubble distort the shape of the network, both for finite and infinitely large systems, assuming a non vanishing impact of the core on the periphery. Due to the influence of the bubble, the banks are no longer independent, and the law of large numbers cannot be directly applied at the limit. This results in a term in the drift of the diffusions which does not average out, and that increases systemic risk at the moment of the burst. We test this feature of the model by numerical simulations.Comment: 33 pages, 6 table

ALWAYS-progressives in early American English

One of the contexts of expansion of progressive forms in Late Modern English (along with others that were later equally, or even more, successful; see e.g. Fitzmaurice 2004; Smitterberg 2005; Nesselhauf 2007) is the habitual – iterative context, in which the form co-occurs with always and other markers of iterativity or continuity such as constantly, every day, etc., and often convey expressive pragmatic values such as irritation, impatience, and the like. This context is nowadays quite common, although it stands in contrast with the “progressive” core meaning. The precise conditions for its spread and constraints on its occurrence, however, are still debated (e.g. Killie 2004, Kranich 2007, 2008), and not much has been ascertained about its distribution. It is known that American English shows a higher number of contexts in which be + Ving forms are used than British English, and that the ratio of the frequency increase of this construction is also higher in Atlantic Englishes as well as in other ‘transplanted’ varieties. The same can be said about the specific verbs that accept the construction, as these, too, seem to be in greater number in other L1 varieties than in Standard British English (see e.g. Collins 2008). Whether this has any connection with the ‘subjective’ progressive referred to in the previous paragraph, however, still remains to be ascertained. The present paper will therefore explore early American English texts spanning over the century 1810-1909 (from the Corpus Of Historical American English) for occurrences of this construction, trying to verify the hypothesis that this is one of the main loci of extension of the subjective uses of the –ing finite form in Late Modern English, and that it is therefore crucial in order to account for the present remarkable frequency of the latter in transatlantic varieties. Comparison with the 20th-century part of the COHA will also be provided and discussed.One of the contexts of expansion of progressive forms in Late Modern English (along with others that were later equally, or even more, successful; see e.g. Fitzmaurice 2004; Smitterberg 2005; Nesselhauf 2007) is the habitual – iterative context, in which the form co-occurs with always and other markers of iterativity or continuity such as constantly, every day, etc., and often convey expressive pragmatic values such as irritation, impatience, and the like. This context is nowadays quite common, although it stands in contrast with the “progressive” core meaning. The precise conditions for its spread and constraints on its occurrence, however, are still debated (e.g. Killie 2004, Kranich 2007, 2008), and not much has been ascertained about its distribution. It is known that American English shows a higher number of contexts in which be + Ving forms are used than British English, and that the ratio of the frequency increase of this construction is also higher in Atlantic Englishes as well as in other ‘transplanted’ varieties. The same can be said about the specific verbs that accept the construction, as these, too, seem to be in greater number in other L1 varieties than in Standard British English (see e.g. Collins 2008). Whether this has any connection with the ‘subjective’ progressive referred to in the previous paragraph, however, still remains to be ascertained. The present paper will therefore explore early American English texts spanning over the century 1810-1909 (from the Corpus Of Historical American English) for occurrences of this construction, trying to verify the hypothesis that this is one of the main loci of extension of the subjective uses of the –ing finite form in Late Modern English, and that it is therefore crucial in order to account for the present remarkable frequency of the latter in transatlantic varieties. Comparison with the 20th-century part of the COHA will also be provided and discussed

Foreword

Rhesis. International Journal of Linguistics, Philology and Literature (ISSN 2037-4569): Linguistics and Philology, 4.1 (2013)Rhesis. International Journal of Linguistics, Philology and Literature (ISSN 2037-4569): Linguistics and Philology, 4.1 (2013

PROTECTIVE TREATMENTS IN FABRIC CONSERVATION

The study aims to prevent environmental induced deterioration of cellulose fabrics, linked to the presence of water and oxidizing agents. Protective formulations were developed for the conservation of cellulose fabrics, using sustainable products and application techniques. The treatments studied in this thesis conferred the desired properties to the fabrics and also fit with the Cultural Heritage conservation requirements. This means that, when applied on the object, the polymers did not cause any visible color variation and were chemically stable in time, so they maintained the original fabrics appearance and prolonged the lifetime of the object. First, the development of a hydrophobic coating based on polycarbonate diol polyurethane combined with aminosiloxane was successfully tested. Then, a multifunction coating have been developed, aiming at protecting the fabrics, not only from water linked deterioration phenomena, but also from oxidation Both studies were based onto ecofriendly materials and processes. Both dip- and spray-coating were proposed, since they are easy to apply and low cost application methods. The polymers penetrated in the core of the fabrics so to confer hydrophobicity and antioxidant properties to the bulk and not only to the surface of the fabrics. This single fibers coating was also beneficial to mainlined the high vapor permeability of the fabrics. The properties of the treated fabric were studied with several techniques: lowered wettability and water protection (contact angle, roll-off angle, moisture absorption, water vapor permeability), unchanged surface morphology (SEM, SEM-EDX), chemical characterization (ATR-FTIR, DLS, NMR), unchanged mechanical properties (stress-strain curves, Peirce Cantilever Test), efficient antioxidant properties (Radical Scavenging activity tests, ATR-FTIR analyses of oxidation peaks), and unchanged color (colorimeter). Moreover, coated fabrics were exposed to extreme peroxidative (concentrated H2O2) and UV light damage conditions using an ad hoc protocol for simulating decades of atmospheric ageing. Chemical changes on the cotton surface and potential oxidation and preventive mechanisms were studied using ATR-FTIR spectroscopy. Mechanical properties and color changes were evaluated after exposing samples to oxidation. Concluding, this study displays innovative treatments for the protection of cellulosic fabrics, respecting the original characteristics of Cultural Heritage objects, which should be maintained unaltered in time to preserve their cultural and historical value

The Forward Smile in Local–Stochastic Volatility Models

We introduce an asymptotic expansion for forward start options in a multi-factor local-stochastic volatility model. We derive explicit approximation formulas for the so-called forward implied volatility which can be useful to price complex path-dependent options, as cliquets. The expansion involves only polynomials and can be computed without the need for numerical procedures or special functions. Recent results on the exploding behaviour of the forward smile in the Heston model are confirmed and generalized to a wider class of local-stochastic volatility models. We illustrate the effectiveness of the technique through some numerical tests. Mathematica codes are freely available on the authors' website

Efficacy of Two Common Methods of Application of Residual Insecticide for Controlling the Asian Tiger Mosquito, Aedes albopictus (Skuse), in Urban Areas

After its first introduction in the 1980's the Asian tiger mosquito, Aedes albopictus (Skuse), has spread throughout Southern Europe. Ae. albopictus is considered an epidemiologically important vector for the transmission of many viral pathogens such as the yellow fever virus, dengue fever and Chikungunya fever, as well as several filarial nematodes such as Dirofilaria immitis or D. repens. It is therefore crucial to develop measures to reduce the risks of disease transmission by controlling the vector populations. The aim of the study was to compare the efficacy of two application techniques (mist vs. stretcher sprayer) and two insecticides (Etox based on the nonester pyrethroid Etofenprox vs. Microsin based on the pyrethroid type II Cypermetrin) in controlling adult tiger mosquito populations in highly populated areas. To test the effect of the two treatments pre- and post-treatment human landing rate counts were conducted for two years. After one day from the treatment we observed a 100% population decrease in mosquito abundance with both application methods and both insecticides. However, seven and 14 days after the application the stretcher sprayer showed larger population reductions than the mist sprayer. No effect of insecticide type after one day and 14 days was found, while Etox caused slightly higher population reduction than Microsin after seven days. Emergency measures to locally reduce the vector populations should adopt adulticide treatments using stretcher sprayers. However, more research is still needed to evaluate the potential negative effects of adulticide applications on non-target organisms

Targeting viral entry as a strategy for broad-spectrum antivirals

The process of entry into a host cell is a key step in the life cycle of most viruses. In recent years, there has been a significant increase in our understanding of the routes and mechanisms of entry for a number of these viruses. This has led to the development of novel broad-spectrum antiviral approaches that target host cell proteins and pathways, in addition to strategies focused on individual viruses or virus families. Here we consider a number of these approaches and their broad-spectrum potential