27 research outputs found
Neponjatnyj jazyk Kurbskogo: novye podchody k interpretacii „anomalij“ v istoričeskich tekstach
No full textIn 2018, the author published a two-volume monograph in German entitled “Eine Syntax des ‘Novyj Margarit’ des A. M. Kurbskij. Philologisch-dependenzgrammatische Analysen zu einem kirchenslavischen Übersetzungskorpus” (“A Syntax of A. M. Kurbskij’s ‘Novyj Margarit’. A Philological and Dependency-grammatical Study of a Corpus of Church Slavonic Translations”). This article presents some results of the study in Russian and extends and complements the analysis begun in the monograph. The article focuses on the remarkable use of deverbal formations with the suffixes *-m- and *-n- having the meaning of passive necessity such as in до просвещаемы(х)/ad illuminandos ‘to those who have to be enlightened’. It is shown that the phenomenon in question, which can be observed in the Church Slavonic texts by Prince Andrei Kurbskij (1528–1583), should not be considered to be linguistically erroneous, as in the past. The fact that the use of the two formations mentioned is repeated in the same text and that examples of this phenomenon occur in different works by different authors suggests that it reflects a usage with a certain tradition. Consequently, the necessitative use of the deverbal suffixations has to be regarded as correct. In addition, a more systematic analysis makes it possible to show that a considerable number of other linguistic “anomalies” in Kurbskij’s works do not actually represent “anomalies”, or at least they are not linguistic errors of Kurbskij’s
Innate Immunity Pathways in Autoimmune Diseases
No full textThis eBook is a collection of articles from a Frontiers Research Topic. Frontiers Research Topics are very popular trademarks of the Frontiers Journals Series: they are collections of at least ten articles, all centered on a particular subject. With their unique mix of varied contributions from Original Research to Review Articles, Frontiers Research Topics unify the most influential researchers, the latest key findings and historical advances in a hot research area! Find out more on how to host your own Frontiers Research Topic or contribute to one as an author by contacting the Frontiers Editorial Office: frontiersin.org/about/contac
The mediating effect of dividend payout on the relationship between internal governance and free cash flow
No full textPurposeThis paper aims to examine the mediating effect of dividend payout on the relationship between internal governance mechanisms (board of directors and ownership structure) and the free cash flow level.Design/methodology/approachLinear regression models are used to investigate such relationships applying data from a sample of 207 non-financial firms listed on the Gulf Cooperation Council countries’ stock markets between 2009 and 2016. To test the significance of mediating effect, the author uses the Sobel test.FindingsThe author finds a partial mediation effect of dividend on the relationship between both board independence and managerial ownership and the level of free cash flow. The results confirm the major role of outside directors in corporate governance. This governance mechanism contributes to the protection of shareholders’ interests through a generous dividend policy. However, the author finds that large managerial shareholdings increase the level of free cash flow through lower dividend payouts. This result suggests that powerful managers follow their preference of retaining excess cash to their own interests.Practical implicationsThis paper offers insights to policy-makers of emerging economies interested in the development of the corporate governance. This study provides guidance for firms in the construction and implementation of their own corporate governance policies.Originality/valueThe main contribution of the present paper is to examine the dividend payout as a potential mediating variable between internal governance mechanisms and free cash flow. Moreover, it highlights the issue of efficient management of substantial funds inSharia-compliant and non-Sharia-compliant firms.</jats:sec
Massive pre-prostatic nodal metastasis from localized aggressive prostate cancer removed during robotic-assisted radical prostatectomy with extended pelvic lymph node dissection: a case report with brief literature review
No full textAbstract Background During robotic-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP) for prostate cancer (PCa), few attention is given to pre-prostatic fat tissue (PPT) even during pelvic lymph node dissection (PLND). However, the rare potential involvement of PPT lymph nodes (LN) by PCa metastasis has already been reported by several authors and may influence therapeutic strategy in intermediate and high-risk patients. We present the case of a 69-year-old man who underwent RARP with extended PLND (ePLND) for aggressive PCa with massive pre-prostatic nodal metastasis, sampled during prostate biopsies. We sought to report this case for the particular preoperative images and reinforce benefits of resecting PPT during PLND for PCa.Please confirm if the author names are presented accurately and in the correct sequence (given name, middle name/initial, family name). Author 1 Given name: [Moncef] Last name [Al Barajraji].Ok Case presentation A 69-year-old man consulted our department for high serum prostate specific antigen level (57 ng/mL). He had familial history of PCa only at first degree. On digital rectal evaluation, induration of left prostatic lobe was felt. Transrectal ultrasonography showed hypoechogenic lesion in left prostatic lobe with supra-centimetric nodule in PPT. Pelvic magnetic resonance revealed two lesions in the peripheral zone with a 19-mm nodule on right paramedian side of PPT (see Fig. 1). Transrectal ultrasound-guided prostate biopsies were performed, including the nodule. On left side, 2 biopsies out 6 showed Gleason 10 prostate cancer. On right side, all biopsies showed Gleason 9 prostate cancer. The PPT nodule showed Gleason 9 prostate cancer. Prostate specific membrane antigen (PSMA) positron emission tomography computed tomography scan showed hypermetabolic expression from left prostate lesions and PPT nodule. Transperitoneal RARP with ePLND was performed including PPT. Histopathological study revealed advanced prostate cancer with lymphovascular invasion and ECE (see Fig. 2). Evaluation of ePLND material showed metastasis in on pelvic LN and 23 mm nodal metastasis in PPT (see Fig. 2). Therefore, adjuvant therapy was initiated. Please check the edit made in the article title.OPk Conclusions PPT resection is not part of routine RARP with ePLND for PCa. However, this tissue might contain LN harbouring metastasis independently from pelvic LN, indicating adjuvant therapy in case of upstaging. Considering the low morbidity of resecting PPT and its facility, it should always been resected and sent for analysis in intermediate and high-risk PCa
England Calling: A Narratological Exploration of Martin Amis’s 'London Fields'
No full textThis paper will explore connections between fictional narrative methodology and contemporary conceptions of Englishness by applying aspects of Gerald Prince’s (2005) conceptions of a ‘postcolonial narratology’ to Martin Amis’s “London Fields” (1989). Amis has commented that ‘it’s almost an act of will on my part trying not to be an English writer’. However, this paper will suggest that the novel under consideration here exhibits methodological tendencies which have their roots in a protracted engagement with problematic notions of English identity (principally, instability and disengagement) and that postcolonial approaches to narrative technique can lead to very interesting results, even when applied to the work of writers not typically identified with such constituencies. The central point of investigation will be the novel’s exhibition of metafictional tendencies. In “London Fields”, Amis narrates via an authorial surrogate, Samson Young, who purports to be the author of the text, yet becomes implicated in the events of the novel to the point where his actions, rather than his imagination, determine its outcome. It is interesting also in this connection that the novel is voiced by an ‘outsider’ to England, an American.
Prince is intrigued by the possibility that a postcolonial narrative discourse might emerge ‘free of any narratorial introduction, mediation, or patronage.’ He also points to the significance of narratological features such as hybridity, migrancy, otherness, fragmentation, diversity and power relations. Amis’s novel exhibits all of these features, and takes the ambition of authorial invisibility to a paradoxical extreme. Voices, characters, reliability and even actantial events are brusquely ‘disowned’ by the author, resulting in a textual instability and uncertainty which, it will be demonstrated through close textual analysis, is intimately linked to England’s postcolonial condition
Analyticity of solutions to thermo‐elastic‐plastic flow problem with microtemperatures
No full textIn this paper, we study some qualitative and numerical properties of new equations including the coupled effects of thermal elastic-plastic theory with microtemperatures. We establish the necessary and sufficient conditions to guarantee that the model dissipates energy. The one-dimensional case, which corresponds to isotropic hardening problem, is chosen in order to present some qualitative and numerical properties. With the help of the semigroup theory of linear operators, we prove the well-posedness of the one-dimensional problem corresponding to plastic flow. Then, we show that the associated C0−semigroup is not analytical in general, except for a special case. The exponential stability of the solutions is kept in all cases. Finally, a numerical tool, based on the finite element method, is developed to validate the proposed model and to show its capability. Particular attention is paid to the consideration of the elastoplastic behavior in the development of this tool.Part of this work was done when the first author visited the laboratory LEM3 of ENSAM of Metz as invited Professor
A new approach to the enigmatic language of Kurbskij and its seeming “anomalies”
No full textIn 2018, the author published a two-volume monograph in German entitled “Eine Syntax
des ‘Novyj Margarit’ des A. M. Kurbskij. Philologisch-dependenzgrammatische Analysen zu
einem kirchenslavischen Übersetzungskorpus” (“A Syntax of A. M. Kurbskij’s ‘Novyj Margarit’.
A Philological and Dependency-grammatical Study of a Corpus of Church Slavonic Translations”).
This article presents some results of the study in Russian and extends and complements
the analysis begun in the monograph. The article focuses on the remarkable use of deverbal
formations with the suffixes *‑m‑ and *‑n‑ having the meaning of passive necessity such as in до просвещаемы(х)/ad illuminandos ‘to those who have to be enlightened’. It is shown that
the phenomenon in question, which can be observed in the Church Slavonic texts by Prince
Andrei Kurbskij (1528–1583), should not be considered to be linguistically erroneous, as in
the past. The fact that the use of the two formations mentioned is repeated in the same text and
that examples of this phenomenon occur in different works by different authors suggests that
it reflects a usage with a certain tradition. Consequently, the necessitative use of the deverbal
suffixations has to be regarded as correct. In addition, a more systematic analysis makes it possible
to show that a considerable number of other linguistic “anomalies” in Kurbskij’s works do
not actually represent “anomalies”, or at least they are not linguistic errors of Kurbskij’s
Physico-chemical characteristics and antimicrobial studies of silver doped hydroxyapatite
No full textDigital front end for base-station RF
No full textThe digital front-end (DFE) is the most critical stage in a wireless base-station. The DFE along with the analog to digital converter (ADC) is responsible for bridging the analog RF and IF processing on one side and the digital baseband processing on the other side. The most important reason for replacing analog with digital signal processing is the ability to softly reconfigure the channels in the base station RF in real time, thus allowing for the implementation of various signal conditioning, compensation and mitigation channel non-linear responses. Once tested, these algorithms can be implemented on a proprietary CMOS vector processor and commercial FPGA hardware platforms. In this thesis, we attempt to minimize the design efforts and lower the cost involved in the usage of analog electronics by using sophisticated digital signal processing (DSP) for restoring and enhancing the quality of the wireless channels. This thesis presents a versatile Digital Front-End architecture, which has been simulated using MATLAB/Simulink. The architecture includes the design of robust Digital Up-Conversion (DUC) blocks in the transmit downlink and Digital Down-Conversion (DDC) blocks present in the receiver uplink paths in a wireless base station RF. Crest factor reduction (CFR) schemes help reduce the Peak to Average Power Ratio (PAPR)of the signal entering the base-station and have been implemented widely for code division multiple access (CDMA) and Long Term Evolution (LTE) systems, this is important because if the signal with the high PAPR is allowed to pass through the power amplifier(PA) it will result in the amplifier operating in its nonlinear region creating non-linear distortions in amplitude and phase, and the only other way to avoid this is to back off the signal to the linear region of the amplifier thus reducing its efficiency. The selection and design of the DUC and DDC filters has been compared and optimized to match to the spectral mask requirements mentioned in the 3GPP standards. Crest factor reduction has also been studied in detail and a computationally efficient algorithm for meeting the desired PAPR in accordance with the 3GPP standards will be presented. By using the CFR algorithm, the PAPR of the LTE signal was reduced from 10.8 dB to 7 dB and from 10.5 dB to 8 dB for a WCDMA signal. Finally, we implement Digital Predistortion (DPD) which is a method by which one first stimulates a non-linear power amplifier (PA) with baseband samples and then observes the result of that stimulus at its output. Without this process we will need to use a power amplifier with a higher input power rating which needs to be backed off to operate in its linear region thus reducing the efficiency of the PA used and increasing its cost. The process involves the use of a digital predistorter which creates an expanding nonlinearity which when used in cascade with the PA nullifies the compressing nonlinear characteristics of the PA thus enabling its use in its linear region up to its saturating point. A Look-Up Table (LUT) type Adaptive Digital Pre-Distortion (ADPD) is presented; here we developed an algorithm where the output signal of the PA is used as a reference signal. This reference signal is then used to update the coefficients of the LUT, so that the non-linear responses of the PA will not the affect the amplified signals. In addition, we investigated methods such as the nonlinear auto-regressive moving average (NARMA) and the memory polynomial models. In the latter, the predistorter parameters are calculated from the output signal obtained from the PA through the adaptive functions obtained using the memory polynomial. From these parameters, the predistorted signal is reconstructed and fed to the input of the PA. By using the DPD algorithm the nonlinear distortions of the PA came down by 60 dB when a WCDMA signal was used and by around 40 dB when LTE signal was used. As the PA is the heart of the base-station RF, we show that the main function of the DFE is to ensure a PA linearized output with a high efficiency.M.S.Includes bibliographical referencesby Deepak Gop
Development of 4H-SiC high voltage unipolar power switching devices:
No full text4H-SiC is a promising material for switching high power and high temperature device applications. The superior properties of SiC, such as wider band-gap and higher value of critical electric field allow significant reduction in device on-resistance compared to Si power devices of similar voltage ratings. In addition the excellent thermal conductivity of SiC alleviates the device cooling requirements and allows design of smaller and more efficient systems. Several advantages of the unipolar power switches over the bipolar switches make them desirable for fast switching applications. Voltage-controlled normally-off devices are particularly attractive for practical applications because of simpler gate-drive circuitry. The advantages of the vertical JFET device being free of the problems related to oxide reliability, as compared to the MOSFET, recognize it as an excellent candidate for high power, high temperature switching applications.
Device designs for normally-off and normally-on unipolar switches with blocking voltages from 400V to 11kV are proposed, based on a pure vertical trenched and implanted structure. Two different junction termination structures (junction termination extension and guard rings) are designed and successfully implemented. A fabrication process is designed to achieve a simple and reliable self-aligned fabrication process. The fabrication challenges are discussed and ways to improve the process are identified. Three different devices were designed and fabricated.
The world’s first normally-off 4H-SiC TIVJFET with a blocking voltage of 11kV was demonstrated, showing low specific on-resistance of 124mOhm.cm2.
Normally-off and normally-on 4H-SiC High Frequency TIVJFETs with blocking voltages up to 400V were demonstrated. 3.3A-397V normally-off capability was achieved for a single die, corresponding to a high power of 1310 W/die. This corresponds to a class B operation RF power of 164W for a single die. Cut-off frequency fT= 0.9 to 1.5 GHz was reached.
In the 1200V class devices a normally-on 4H-SiC TIVJFET with guard ring termination and substantially simplified processing was also demonstrated. The highest blocking voltage achieved was 1562V with a specific on-resistance of 2.8mOhm.cm2 at VDS=0.5V and VGS=2.5V and a current gain of 1495. The lowest specific on resistance achieved was 2.2mOhm.cm2 at VDS=0.5V and VGS=2.5V with a current gain of 1454 and a blocking voltage of 1232V.Ph.D.Includes bibliographical references (p. 131-133)by Petre Alexandro
