30 research outputs found
NEGF based tight-binding models for transport in magnetic heterostructures
No full textMagnetic heterostructures, where a non-magnetic material is sandwiched between two ferromagnetic metals, are of great interest both for their intrinsic physics and for device applications. Recently, the use of MgO as the non-magnetic material has led to widespread applications due to high tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) ratio which is believed to arise from a preferential orbital symmetry filtering, that the other insulators lack. It is thus crucial to capture this orbital symmetry filtering in any theoretical model, which calls for an atomistic treatment. Existing first principles models based on DFT (density functional theory) capture this effect but are resource intensive and often provide quantitatively wrong results for the TMR because they under-estimate or over-estimate the insulator band gap, which is a well known problem with DFT. The primary achievement in this thesis is to present what we believe is the first transport model for these heterostuctures using extended Hückel theory (EHT) which is a semi-empirical tight-binding model with a non-orthogonal basis - that has been successfully applied to describe the electronic structure in a variety of materials. It is computationally inexpensive with transferable parameters and gives the correct experimental band gap which should lead to tractable, versatile and accurate models. In addition, we present an independent-band tight-binding (IBTB) model with highly reduced computational complexity of the same order as that of the effective mass models. But unlike the effective mass models, it captures the orbital symmetry filtering mentioned earlier
Metadiscursive Practices: A Corpus-Based Study of Attitude Markers in Pakistani English Book Reviews
No full textBook reviews have predominantly become one of the influential writings to reflect the general attitude/stance of a writer regarding a certain text. The ability of a writer to instigate a certain image of a text in the mind of the reader through a distinctive variety of linguistic expressions has become one of the crucial topics in the domain of academic discourse. Embedded in the theory of metadiscourse, this paper follows a corpus-based approach to linguistically analyse the metadiscursive nature of attitude markers in Pakistani English book reviews as postulated by Hyland (2004) in his generated list of interactional attitude markers. This paper analyses different linguistic categories as forms of attitude markers which book reviewers employ to project their stance. The present study not only focuses on the personal mention of authors through „I‟, but also explores other modes of attitude markers through which the authors have interpreted, explained, paraphrased, or presented their personal points of view (Hyland, 2004). The data of this paper comprises of fifty randomly selected English book reviews that were extracted from highly certified Pakistani English Newspapers that are, Dawn, The News and Express Tribune. Making this study corpus-based in nature, this paper also presents a raw frequency of attitude markers used within the texts. The result of the study shows that out of 100 book reviews which make 76000 words in total, a total number of 852 words are assigned to attitude markers ranging from personal mention to adverbs and adjectives which variedly reflect the defined role of authorial stance within texts. In a nutshell, book reviews have a high potential for expanding academic discourse as writers continue to use linguistic categories to project their perspectives regarding a certain phenomenon in texts
A Corpus-Based Study of the Metaphor Silence in Lahore, I Am Coming
Full text linkThought and logic are the underlying foundations of language in use. One of the representations of language in use is poetry; a widely used literary genre throughout the world. The current study aims to identify instances of silence as a metaphorical expression in Akhtar’s (2017) Lahore, I Am Coming. The metaphorical expressions are mapped into source domain and target domain by deciphering the underlying meaning (theme) of the keyword in context (KWIC) silence. The qualitative and interpretive research design is used with Lakoff and Johnson’s (1980) Conceptual Metaphor Theory to develop the linguistic metaphor of silence at the conceptual level via thematic study. The findings of the study reveal that silence is significantly used as a metaphorical expression to express several key themes such as human relationships (love), colonialism and imperialism, and representation of females. The conceptual metaphors of silence are used to convey unified themes of loss, love, and language. Future researchers can conduct a linguistic analysis, specifically cognitive-linguistic analysis of Akhtar’s (2017) Lahore, “I Am Coming” to study the creative use of the figurative use of language
A Corpus-Based Study of the Metaphor Silence in Lahore, I Am Coming
Full text linkThought and logic are the underlying foundations of language in use. One of the representations of language in use is poetry; a widely used literary genre throughout the world. The current study aims to identify instances of silence as a metaphorical expression in Akhtar’s (2017) Lahore, I Am Coming. The metaphorical expressions are mapped into source domain and target domain by deciphering the underlying meaning (theme) of the keyword in context (KWIC) silence. The qualitative and interpretive research design is used with Lakoff and Johnson’s (1980) Conceptual Metaphor Theory to develop the linguistic metaphor of silence at the conceptual level via thematic study. The findings of the study reveal that silence is significantly used as a metaphorical expression to express several key themes such as human relationships (love), colonialism and imperialism, and representation of females. The conceptual metaphors of silence are used to convey unified themes of loss, love, and language. Future researchers can conduct a linguistic analysis, specifically cognitive-linguistic analysis of Akhtar’s (2017) Lahore, “I Am Coming” to study the creative use of the figurative use of language
Biomedical Communications to semi-automatically
No full textThe Lister Hill National Center for Biomedical Communications has developed a system that incorporates OCR and automated recognition and reformatting algorithms to extract bibliographic citation data from scanned biomedical journal articles to populate the NLM’s MEDLINE ® database. The multi-engine OCR server incorporated in the system performs well in general, but fares less well with text printed in the small or italic fonts often used to print institutional affiliations. Because of poor OCR and other reasons, the resulting affiliation field frequently requires a disproportionate amount of time to manually correct and verify. In contrast, author names are usually printed in large, normal fonts that are correctly recognized by the OCR system. We describe techniques to exploit the more successful OCR conversion of author names to help find the correct affiliations from MEDLINE data
Pedagogical Implications of Corpus-based Approaches to ELT in Pakistan
Full text linkThe advent of corpora has opened new vistas for language study and restructured linguists’ and academicians’ approaches to lexicography and English language teaching (ELT). After 1980s, the use of online language corpora and computer tools garnered tremendous attention of English language teachers and academicians. Keeping in view the modern trends and needs of learners, this research focused on the practical implications of online corpora for ELT and its utility in the Pakistani context. Michigan Corpus of Academic Spoken English (MICASE) is used as a reference corpus for this research. MICASE is a collection of nearly 1.8 million words of transcribed speech (almost two hundred hours of recording). The transcribed data of MICASE includes wide range of speech events like seminars, lectures, advisory meetings and lab sessions. The study identified the utility of lexical items at syntactic level and its usage in various contexts. Furthermore, the layers of meanings and uses of lexicons through in-depth study of right and left collocates were explored in the reference corpus. The results showed that lexicons can be used as noun, verb and adjective depending upon the context of the study and right and left collocates play a significant role in understanding the meanings of lexical items in various contexts. Thus, this strategy can be fruitful for English language learners and academic discourse community who are interested in understanding the versatile uses of lexical items and their contextual meaning.Keywords: collocate, context, corpus, ELT, MICAS
Grammaticalization of Morphological Changes Manifested in Finite Single-word Lexical Verbs in Shahmukhi Punjabi
Full text linkPunjabi exhibits a rich linguistic landscape characterized by agglutinative and fusional features. This linguistic complexity has led many scholars, including Tehseen et al. (2023) and Jamshaid & Akhtar (2022), to emphasize the significance of morphological distinctions within Punjabi, surpassing even its syntactic variations. The primary objective of this study is to undertake an extensive morphological analysis of finite single-word lexical verbs in Shamukhi Punjabi. Drawing from our preliminary findings, two key hypotheses were formulated. First, we postulated that the notion of verbal finiteness plays a pivotal role in categorizing Punjabi verbs. Second, we hypothesized that morphological intricacies linked to progressive and perfective aspects, voice, gender, and number systems manifest within the domain of finite single-word lexical verbs. To achieve these research objectives, we employed a corpus of modest proportions, encompassing one hundred thousand words from Shahmukhi Punjabi. This study operates within the framework of inflectionally regular verbs, allowing us to identify recurring morphological structures within finite single-word verbs and their sub-systems. Our findings offer compelling evidence that Punjabi verbs can indeed be categorized based on finiteness, while also highlighting the diverse inflections that characterize finite single-word verbs concerning number, gender, aspect, and voice systems. This research not only holds promise for the preservation and enrichment of the Punjabi language but also contributes significantly to our understanding of the intricate linguistic structures embedded within Shahmukhi Punjabi
Adapting a Transdisciplinary Approach to Regional Development in the Case of Facilitating Planning of Energy Systems
No full textIn this paper, we aim to facilitate regional development through collaborative meta-governance processes, involving municipalities, energy companies and more actors. The case in point involves increased electrification through the development of local energy systems in a sub-region comprising 15 municipalities and 21 grid owners and is an exemplary case where a transdisciplinary engineering approach is not only suitable but the only path forward. The complex problem landscape comprises interdependencies across different roles, such as politicians, civil servants, and engineers at energy companies, where autonomous entities act independently. We employ a design science research approach to create artefacts to support the meta-governance mechanisms needed to accelerate social change processes. One artefact is a system dynamics simulation model to analyze scenarios considering the electrification of vehicles and implementing large wind and solar energy units to enable the establishment of new industries. We provide brief overviews of how three artefacts assist in visualizing 1) roles, 2) structures, and 3) scenarios to the decision-makers, to facilitate various transdisciplinary decision-making processes in regional development. In the discussion, we synthesize our learnings into a model to support mitigating powerlessness in this complex multi-stakeholder context. Finally, we lay out future research to further contribute to the social change and regional development we believe is necessary.CC BY-NC 4.0Corresponding Author, Email: [email protected]</p
PCB congener 126-induced ultrastructural alterations in the rat liver: a stereological study
No full textHepatocyte cytoplasmic alterations were morphometrically determined in male and female Sprague-Dawley rats fed PCB congener 126 (3,3',4,4',5-pentachlorobiphenyl) in concentrations of 0.1, 1.0, 10, 100 ppb or corn oil in diets for 13 weeks. A dose-dependent increase (P < 0.05) in the volume fraction of smooth endoplasmic reticulum (SER) and mitochondria was measured in the hepatocytes of the females. However, these cells of the male rats contained a significantly greater baseline volume fraction of SER compared to that in the females. Statistical differences were not detected in the volume fractions of rough endoplasmic reticulum, peroxisomes or lipid droplets of the hepatocytes in either the males or females. We conclude the increase in mitochondrial volume was a necessary cellular adaptation to meet the heightened energy demands by the SER to produce the necessary enzymes to detoxify the PCB. Morphometric analysis rather than a descriptive methodology allowed for a more accurate determination of the liver pathology induced by PCB 126. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.PT: J; CR: AHLBORG UG, 1994, CHEMOSPHERE, V28, P1049 BANDIERA S, 1982, CHEM-BIOL INTERACT, V39, P259 CHU I, 1994, FUND APPL TOXICOL, V22, P457 CLARKE DW, 1984, CAN J PHYSIOL PHARM, V62, P1253 DEVITO MJ, 1993, FUND APPL TOXICOL, V20, P125 GHADIALLY FN, 1988, ULTRASTRUCT PATHOL, V2, P767 GILLETTE DM, 1987, FUND APPL TOXICOL, V8, P4 GILROY C, 1998, TOXICOLOGY, V127, P179 HANSELL MM, 1974, TOXICOL APPL PHARM, V28, P418 HARRIS C, 1984, ARCH ENVIRON CON TOX, V13, P715 HONG CS, 1992, ECOTOX ENVIRON SAFE, V23, P118 KANNAN N, 1989, ARCH ENVIRON CON TOX, V18, P850 KASZA L, 1978, J ENVIRON PATHOL TOX, V1, P241 KIMBROUGH RD, 1972, ARCH ENVIRON HEALTH, V25, P354 LEECE B, 1985, J TOXICOL ENV HEALTH, V16, P379 LIN FS, 1979, ARCH ENV CONTAM TOXI, V88, P321 MACLELLAN K, 1994, HISTOL HISTOPATHOL, V9, P453 MACLELLAN K, 1994, HISTOL HISTOPATHOL, V9, P461 MACLELLAN K, 1994, J SUBMICR CYTOL PATH, V26, P279 MARTUCCI CP, 1993, PHARMACOL THERAPEUT, V57, P237 OKEY AB, 1990, PHARMACOL THERAPEUT, V45, P241 PARKINSON A, 1980, CHEM-BIOL INTERACT, V30, P217 PATTERSON DG, 1994, ENVIRON HEALTH PERSP, V102, P195 PENG J, 1997, TOXICOLOGY, V120, P171 POLAND A, 1977, MOL PHARMACOL, V13, P924 SAFE S, 1990, CRIT REV TOXICOL, V21, P51 SAFE SH, 1994, CRIT REV TOXICOL, V24, P87 SATO T, 1968, J ELECTRON MICROSC, V17, P158 SCHECTER A, 1984, BANBURY REPORT, V18, P177 SHAPIRO BH, 1995, INT J BIOCHEM CELL B, V27, P9 SINGH A, 1981, PATHOLOGY, V13, P487 SINGH A, 1996, ULTRASTRUCT PATHOL, V20, P275 SINGH A, 1997, ULTRASTRUCT PATHOL, V21, P143 SMITH LM, 1990, CHEMOSPHERE, V21, P1063 TANABE S, 1987, ENVIRON POLLUT, V47, P147 TEHSEEN WM, 1992, B ENVIRON CONTAM TOX, V48, P101 VANBIRGELEN APJM, 1994, TOXICOL APPL PHARM, V127, P209 VOS JG, 1972, TOXICOL APPL PHARM, V23, P563 WASSERMANN D, 1979, TOXICOL EUR RES, V1, P159 WEIBEL ER, 1969, J CELL BIOL, V42, P68 WEISS L, 1988, CELL TISSUE BIOL TXB, P1; NR: 41; TC: 4; J9: TOXICOLOGY; PG: 9; GA: 240XASource type: Electronic(1
