79 research outputs found
ASO Author Reflection: Lateral Pelvic Lymph Nodes in Rectal Cancer—Not All Are Created Equal
No full textHidde M. Kroon, Miranda Kusters, and Tarik Sammou
The Fate of Complex Languages: Classical Arabic and Old Norse in the Age of Globalisation
No full textI discuss the effects of globalisation on verbal inflection in two language groups, Arabic and Scandinavian. With the term ‘globalisation’ I do not only refer to most recent world history, but also to earlier expansions of empires, cultures and languages. I compare the social and cultural situation and the verbal inflection of Classical Arabic and Old Norse with those of modern Arabic and Scandinavian varieties.
The hypothesis that factors of the historical social dimension influence variables of verbal inflection is confirmed for these cases. It was found that the more second language learning takes place, the more internal dialect contact and migrations occur, and the less prestige a language has, the more transparent and economic the verbal inflection becomes. On the other hand, tight small communities with strong language traditions and few second language learners are found to be the best environment for inflectional complexities. When such small communities expand, and when the earlier ‘ethnic’ language becomes a tool for smoother communication, restructuring takes place.
In Arabic and Scandinavian this restructuring is sensitive to phonological changes, and appears to be almost ‘natural’. Other evidence from cases like Quechua and Swahili indicate that simplification is morphologically and semantically driven and needs favorable social circumstances to take place. This strongly suggests that simplification has some universal characteristics, like the tendency towards more economy and transparency, but is also dependent on language particular morphological structure
Paulina vegetation model: Current attenuation by salt marsh vegetation
No full textThe present report represents the second phase of my M.Sc. dissertation. The first phase concentrated on thorough data processing of field measurements in the Paulina Polder, see Kusters et al (2003) in Appendix A. For the present phase of my end thesis I have investigated the influence of vegetation on currents in a mudflat salt marsh ecosystem in the estuary of the Westerschelde. This has been done within the framework of the Delft Cluster research program 'ecomorphology' and is part of the project Biogeomorphology of estuaries and coasts. The main objective of this thesis is to explore and evaluate the application of Delft3D, a physically-based hydrodynamic model linked with sedimentation transport in an environment where vegetation is important, e.g. a salt marsh, against field data. Once validated this Delft3D model can be used to simulate flooding and sedimentation patterns in other tidal marshes in the estuary of the Westerschelde. In a next stage this modelling can be extended to long time geomorphologic evolution simulations. The study site is the Paulina Polder, situated in the estuary of the Westerschelde in the southwest of the Netherlands. The Paulina Polder is a typically Westerschelde mudflat-salt marsh ecosystem, characterised by an extended mudflat with rich benthic community and salt marsh vegetation that contains all gradual stages from pioneer to late successively. The extended and viable zone of pioneer vegetation mainly consists of common cord grass. The sandbanks in the middle of the Schelde protect the salt marsh from extreme hydrodynamic conditions. To study the impact of vegetation on the estuarine morphodynamics, on a scale of a salt marsh the 'Paulina vegetation model' was designed. This is a three dimensional Delft3D model with an implemented routine to include vegetation. This routine incorporates an adaptation of the vertical flow distribution, turbulence generation and dissipation based on a 1DV-model. The mudflat and salt marsh system is modelled by an almost rectangular grid using a semi diurnal tide on the open sea boundary. The vegetation input is dependant on the location of the different plant types, the vertical plant structure and the number of plants per vegetation area. An important conclusion of this study is that the designed Paulina vegetation model can be used to study the effects of vegetation on flow in an estuarine environment. To obtain the most realistic simulation results detailed information about the bathymetry and vegetation is needed. The most important conclusion from the sensitivity analysis is that because of the presence of vegetation the flow area reduces, forcing the water to be pushed to the outer layers. The area is even more reduced when the vegetation is denser and the vegetation is modelled with leafs. In the upper layers, where there is no vegetation anymore, the water can overflow the plants, the velocity as a function of time increases. To al lesser degree there is an increase in velocity in the bottom layer. The changes in flow area have considerable effects on the velocities in the water column. Another finding is that because of the vegetation and the flow resistance of the marsh the water chooses a different route, the vegetation free gully. In this research the effects of waves, wind, leafs and the bending of stems are left out of the computations. In future research these effects should be investigated. Careful thought is needed about the influence of the hydraulic roughness of the vegetation on the morphological development of the salt marsh, concerning the small flow velocities.Civil Engineering and Geoscience
Devijacije u tami. O slepim mišima, veteranima, vizionarima i filozofima
No full textThis article explores psychosis not primarily as a medical disorder but as a phenomenon that calls for understanding rather than explanation. While psychiatry and neuroscience focus on causal, biological or psychological mechanisms, such approaches fail to capture what it is like to be psychotic. Through three figures of thought – the bat, the veteran, and the visionary – I aim to develop a plural, imaginative, and philosophical understanding of madness. Drawing on Thomas Nagel’s notion of the “single point of view,” the bat symbolizes the limits of empathy and the need for narrative multiplicity. The veteran reveals the moral and social dimensions of trauma and conflict underlying psychosis. The visionary represents the blurred boundary between madness, spirituality, and insight. The final sections argue that psychosis involves “perplexity” and “hyperreflection,” concepts closely related to philosophical wonder and reflection. Madness, then, can be viewed as a proto- or hyper-philosophy: a radical questioning of meaning and reality. This article concludes that psychiatry requires not only doctors and patients but also sages – philosophers – to engage madness as a “livable deviation in the dark.
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