1,713 research outputs found
Lexical access and lexical diversity in first language attrition
This paper presents an investigation of lexical first language (L1) attrition, asking how a decrease in lexical accessibility manifests itself in long-term residents in a second language (L2) environment. We question the measures typically used in attrition studies (formal tasks and type?token ratios) and argue for an in-depth analysis of free spoken data, including factors such as lexical frequency and distributional measures. The study is based on controlled, elicited and free data from two populations of attriters of L1 German (L2 Dutch and English) and a control population (n = 53 in each group). Group comparisons and a Discriminant Analysis show that lexical diversity, sophistication and the distribution of items across the text in free speech are better predictors of group membership than formal tasks or elicited narratives. Extralinguistic factors, such as frequency of exposure and use or length of residence, have no predictive power for our results
Barriers in participative water Governance: A critical analysis of community development approaches
Participatory approaches within development programs involving common-pool resources are intended to revive a community’s role in managing these resources. Certainly, to ensure the successful and equitable use of such resources, community participation is essential. However, in many cases, attempts at applying a participatory approach often fail to genuinely engage all subgroups within a community due to assumptions of homogeneity and a lack of understanding of the deep socio-political divisions between people. As a result, development programs can be plagued by these pre-existing power relations, potentially resulting in tokenistic community participation and the continuation of elite capture of natural resources to the same extent or worse than before a development program has begun. This in turn can negatively impact good governance and the fair distribution of a common pool resource. This paper explores the use of participatory approaches in water projects, assessing to what degree power relationships impact water management programs. Using a qualitative approach, the paper identifies key challenges of participatory water governance through case studies from Turkey, India, and Sri Lanka, exploring: lack of social trust, elite capture of participatory processes, power heterogeneity and imbalances at the micro-level, and a lack of inclusive participation in decision-making. Based on the analysis of these case studies, this paper argues that it is essential for participatory development interventions to understand socio-political power relations within a community—an inherently complex and contested space. The so-called “exit strategy” of a community project play a key role to decide the project sustainability that grants the “community ownership” of the project. Such an understanding can bring about greater success in development interventions attempting to address water-related issues.WOS:000768070000001Scopus - Affiliation ID: 60105072Science Citation Index Expanded - Social Sciences Citation IndexQ2ArticleUluslararası işbirliği ile yapılan - EVETMarch2022YÖK - 2021-22Şuba
Possible large phase in psi(2S) -> 1-0- Decays
The strong and the electromagnetic amplitudes are analyzed on the basis of
the measurements of J/psi, psi(2S) -> 1-0- in e+e- experiments. The currently
available experimental information is revised with inclusion of the
contribution from e+e- -> gamma * -> 1-0- . The study shows that a large phase
around minus 90 degree between the strong and the electromagnetic amplitudes
could not be ruled out by the experimental data for psi(2S).Comment: 4 page
Predicting the risk of falling – efficacy of a risk assessment tool compared to nurses' judgement: a cluster-randomised controlled trial [ISRCTN37794278]
BACKGROUND: Older people living in nursing homes are at high risk of falling because of their general frailty and multiple pathologies. Prediction of falls might lead to an efficient allocation of preventive measures. Although several tools to assess the risk of falling have been developed, their impact on clinically relevant endpoints has never been investigated. The present study will evaluate the clinical efficacy and consequences of different fall risk assessment strategies. STUDY DESIGN: Cluster-randomised controlled trial with nursing home clusters randomised either to the use of a standard fall risk assessment tool alongside nurses' clinical judgement or to nurses' clinical judgement alone. Standard care of all clusters will be optimised by structured education on best evidence strategies to prevent falls and fall related injuries. 54 nursing home clusters including 1,080 residents will be recruited. Residents must be ≥ 70 years, not bedridden, and living in the nursing home for more than three months. The primary endpoint is the number of participants with at least one fall at 12 months. Secondary outcome measures are the number of falls, clinical consequences including side effects of the two risk assessment strategies. Other measures are fall related injuries, hospital admissions and consultations with a physician, and costs
Agronomic characteristics of the spring forms of the wheat landraces (einkorn, emmer, spelt, intermediate bread wheat) grown in organic farming
Organic farmers look to the possibilities of growing neglected crops, such as the spring forms of hulled wheat – einkorn, emmer and spelt – for support in developing the organic farming system. In 2008, 169 landraces from the gene bank at the Crop Research Institute in Prague were tested on certifi ed organic plots. The experiment was aimed at fi nding suitable varieties for the organic farming system. In summary, our fi ndings show that einkorn (Triticum monococcum L.) and emmer wheat [Triticum dicoccum Schrank (Schuebl)] are resistant to powdery mildew and brown rust, spelt wheat (Triticum spelta L.) is less resistant to these two diseases, and the intermediate forms of bread wheat are very sensitive to such infestation. The
varieties evaluated incline to lodging, as they have long and weak stems. Einkorn and emmer wheat have short and dense spikes and a low thousand grains weight, whereas spelt wheat has long and lax spikes. The level of the harvest index is low. Potentially useful varieties were
found during the fi eld experiment and evaluation, and our future efforts will therefore focus on improving resistance to lodging and increasing the productivity of the spike
Ratio of Hadronic Decay Rates of J\psi and \psi(2S) and the \rho\pi Puzzle
The so-called \rho\pi puzzle of J\psi and \psi(2S) decays is examined using
the experimental data available to date. Two different approaches were taken to
estimate the ratio of J\psi and \psi(2S) hadronic decay rates. While one of the
estimates could not yield the exact ratio of \psi(2S) to J\psi inclusive
hadronic decay rates, the other, based on a computation of the inclusive ggg
decay rate for
\psi(2S) (J\psi) by subtracting other decay rates from the total decay rate,
differs by two standard deviations from the naive prediction of perturbative
QCD, even though its central value is nearly twice as large as what was naively
expected. A comparison between this ratio, upon making corrections for specific
exclusive two-body decay modes, and the corresponding experimental data
confirms the puzzles in
J\psi and \psi(2S) decays. We find from our analysis that the exclusively
reconstructed hadronic decays of the \psi(2S) account for only a small fraction
of its total decays, and a ratio exceeding the above estimate should be
expected to occur for a considerable number of the remaining decay channels. We
also show that the recent new results from the BES experiment provide crucial
tests of various theoretical models proposed to explain the puzzle.Comment: 8 pages, no figure, 4 table
Hadroproduction and Polarization of Charmonium
In the limit of heavy quark mass, the production cross section and
polarization of quarkonia can be calculated in perturbative QCD. We study the
-averaged production of charmonium states in collisions at
fixed target energies. The data on the relative production rates of \jp and
is found to disagree with leading twist QCD. The polarization of the
\jp indicates that the discrepancy is not due to poorly known parton
distributions nor to the size of higher order effects (-factors). Rather,
the disagreement suggests important higher twist corrections, as has been
surmised earlier from the nuclear target -dependence of the production cross
section.Comment: 19 page
Observation of classically `forbidden' electromagnetic wave propagation and implications for neutrino detection
Ongoing experimental efforts in Antarctica seek to detect ultra-high energy
neutrinos by measurement of radio-frequency (RF) Askaryan radiation generated
by the collision of a neutrino with an ice molecule. An array of RF antennas,
deployed either in-ice or in-air, is used to infer the properties of the
neutrino. To evaluate their experimental sensitivity, such experiments require
a refractive index model for ray tracing radio-wave trajectories from a
putative in-ice neutrino interaction point to the receiving antennas; this
gives the degree of signal absorption or ray bending from source to receiver.
The gradient in the density profile over the upper 200 meters of Antarctic ice,
coupled with Fermat's least-time principle, implies ray "bending" and the
existence of "forbidden" zones for predominantly horizontal signal propagation
at shallow depths. After re-deriving the formulas describing such shadowing, we
report on experimental results that, somewhat unexpectedly, demonstrate the
existence of electromagnetic wave transport modes from nominally shadowed
regions. The fact that this shadow-signal propagation is observed both at South
Pole and the Ross Ice Shelf in Antarctica suggests that the effect may be a
generic property of polar ice, with potentially important implications for
experiments seeking to detect neutrinos.Comment: 33 pages, 14 figures, accepted for publication in JCA
The TNFR1 antagonist Atrosimab reduces neuronal loss, glial activation and memory deficits in an acute mouse model of neurodegeneration
Abstract Tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) and its key role in modulating immune responses has been widely recognized as a therapeutic target for inflammatory and neurodegenerative diseases. Even though inhibition of TNF-α is beneficial for the treatment of certain inflammatory diseases, total neutralization of TNF-α largely failed in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases. TNF-α exerts distinct functions depending on interaction with its two TNF receptors, whereby TNF receptor 1 (TNFR1) is associated with neuroinflammation and apoptosis and TNF receptor 2 (TNFR2) with neuroprotection and immune regulation. Here, we investigated the effect of administering the TNFR1-specific antagonist Atrosimab, as strategy to block TNFR1 signaling while maintaining TNFR2 signaling unaltered, in an acute mouse model for neurodegeneration. In this model, a NMDA-induced lesion that mimics various hallmarks of neurodegenerative diseases, such as memory loss and cell death, was created in the nucleus basalis magnocellularis and Atrosimab or control protein was administered centrally. We showed that Atrosimab attenuated cognitive impairments and reduced neuroinflammation and neuronal cell death. Our results demonstrate that Atrosimab is effective in ameliorating disease symptoms in an acute neurodegenerative mouse model. Altogether, our study indicates that Atrosimab may be a promising candidate for the development of a therapeutic strategy for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases
A Phenomenological Analysis of Gluon Mass Effects in Inclusive Radiative Decays of the and $\Upsilon
The shapes of the inclusive photon spectra in the processes \Jp \to \gamma
X and \Up \to \gamma X have been analysed using all available experimental
data.
Relativistic, higher order QCD and gluon mass corrections were taken into
account in the fitted functions. Only on including the gluon mass corrections,
were consistent and acceptable fits obtained. Values of
GeV and GeV were found for the
effective gluon masses (corresponding to Born level diagrams) for the \Jp and
\Up respectively. The width ratios \Gamma(V \to {\rm hadrons})/\Gamma(V \to
\gamma+ {\rm hadrons}) V=\Jp, \Up were used to determine and . Values consistent with the current world
average were obtained only when gluon mass correction factors,
calculated using the fitted values of the effective gluon mass, were applied. A
gluon mass GeV, as suggested with these results, is consistent with
previous analytical theoretical calculations and independent phenomenological
estimates, as well as with a recent, more accurate, lattice calculation of the
gluon propagator in the infra-red region.Comment: 50 pages, 11 figures, 15 table
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