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Recent work has shown that English-learning 18-month-olds can detect the relationship between discontinuous morphemes such as is and -ing in Grandma is always running (Gomez, 2002; Santelmann & Jusczyk, 1998) but only at a maximum of 3 intervening syllables. In this article we examine the tracking of discontinuous dependencies in children acquiring German. Due to freer word order, German allows for greater distances between dependent elements and a greater syntactic variety of the intervening elements than English does. The aim of this study was to investigate whether factors other than distance may influence the child’s capacity to recognize discontinuous elements. Our findings provide evidence that children’s recognition capacities are affected not only by distance but also by their ability to linguistically analyze the material intervening between the dependent elements. We speculate that this result supports the existence of processing mechanisms that reduce a discontinuous relation to a local one based on subcategorization relations.
The end of the cold war division of the Baltic Sea in 1989, and the three Baltic states’ return to independence in 1991 created new opportunities for the decision-makers of the area, as well as new possibilities for fashioning security in the region. This article will examine the security debate affecting the Baltic Sea region in the post-cold war period, and in particular, the relevance of the European Union to that debate. The following section will examine various concepts of security relevant to the Baltic region; the third section looks at the EU and the Baltic area; and the last part deals with the implications that EU membership by the Baltic Sea states may have for the security of the Baltic Sea zone.
Nowadays the term "technocracy", which means the elimination of politics by the rule of scientific reasoning, is most often used with a quite negative overtone. Technocrats are described as experts without morals, able to function in any kind of political system. Nevertheless one should remember that the technocratic idea contained from the very beginning a strong ethic element: conventional political power as an instrument of repression should be replaced by the rule of sciences as an instrument to improve human life. Although the idea of eliminating politics by "science-based" decisions of an autocratic leadership has been widely used to legitimate totalitarian rule, it is obvious, that clear technocratic reasoning and decision making do not go conform with the functioning of a totalitarian system. On the contrary, technic and technologic innovation accelerated the breakdown of totalitarianism. The complex character of modern societies calls for regulation by markets and pluralistic political systems. The evolution of our technical civilization improved the conditions for democratic selforganisation.
Team diversity
(2007)
Team diversity refers to the differences between team members on any attribute that may lead each single member of the group to perceive any other member of the group as being different from the self of this particular member. These attributes and perceptions refer to all dimensions people can differ on, such as age, gender, ethnicity, religious and functional background, personality, skills, abilities, beliefs, and attitudes.
The synthesis of galactose clusters that are linked to a steroid moiety by a peptide-like spacer unit is described. The galactose cluster is obtained by Koenigs-Knorr glycosylation of TRIS-Gly-Fmoc (2b) under Helferich conditions. Peptide and ester bonds are formed after activation of carboxylic acids as diphenylthiophene dioxide (TDO) esters. 6a is synthesized in a convergent way by coupling of (Ac4Gal)3-TRIS-Gly (3e) with cholesteryl TDO succinate (5b). Coupling of (Ac4Gal)3-TRIS-Gly hydrogen succinate (3f) with Gly-O-Chol (5d) by means of EEDQ yields 6d. Reaction of (Ac4Gal)3-TRIS-Gly-SUCC-O-TDO (3g) with 25-hydroxycholesterol leads in a linear sequence to the oxysterol derivative 6f. Selective cleavage of the acetyl groups from galactose units yields the known compound 6b and the new derivatives 6e and 6g.
A Hamiltonian system in potential form (formula in the original abstract) subject to smooth constraints on q can be viewed as a Hamiltonian system on a manifold, but numerical computations must be performed in Rn. In this paper methods which reduce "Hamiltonian differential algebraic equations" to ODEs in Euclidean space are examined. The authors study the construction of canonical parameterizations or local charts as well as methods based on the construction of ODE systems in the space in which the constraint manifold is embedded which preserve the constraint manifold as an invariant manifold. In each case, a Hamiltonian system of ordinary differential equations is produced. The stability of the constraint invariants and the behavior of the original Hamiltonian along solutions are investigated both numerically and analytically.
Development of chronic pain after a low back pain episode is associated with increased pain sensitivity, altered pain processing mechanisms and the influence of psychosocial factors. Although there is some evidence that multimodal therapy (such as behavioral or motor control therapy) may be an important therapeutic strategy, its long-term effect on pain reduction and psychosocial load is still unclear. Prospective longitudinal designs providing information about the extent of such possible long-term effects are missing. This study aims to investigate the long-term effects of a homebased uni- and multidisciplinary motor control exercise program on low back pain intensity, disability and psychosocial variables. 14 months after completion of a multicenter study comparing uni- and multidisciplinary exercise interventions, a sample of one study center (n = 154) was assessed once more. Participants filled in questionnaires regarding their low back pain symptoms (characteristic pain intensity and related disability), stress and vital exhaustion (short version of the Maastricht Vital Exhaustion Questionnaire), anxiety and depression experiences (the Hospital and Anxiety Depression Scale), and pain-related cognitions (the Fear Avoidance Beliefs Questionnaire). Repeated measures mixed ANCOVAs were calculated to determine the long-term effects of the interventions on characteristic pain intensity and disability as well as on the psychosocial variables. Fifty four percent of the sub-sample responded to the questionnaires (n = 84). Longitudinal analyses revealed a significant long-term effect of the exercise intervention on pain disability. The multidisciplinary group missed statistical significance yet showed a medium sized long-term effect. The groups did not differ in their changes of the psychosocial variables of interest. There was evidence of long-term effects of the interventions on pain-related disability, but there was no effect on the other variables of interest. This may be partially explained by participant's low comorbidities at baseline. Results are important regarding costless homebased alternatives for back pain patients and prevention tasks. Furthermore, this study closes the gap of missing long-term effect analysis in this field.
An approach to the development of fluorescent probes to follow polymerizations in situ using fluorinated cross-conjugated enediynes (Y-enynes) is reported. Different substitution patterns in the Y-enynes result in distinct solvatochromic behavior. β,β-Bis(phenylethynyl)pentafluorostyrene 7, which bears no donor substituents and only fluorine at the styrene moiety, shows no solvatochromism. Donor substituted β,β-bis(3,4,5-trimethoxyphenylethynyl) pentafluorostyrene 8 and β,β-bis(4-butyl-2,3,5,6-tetrafluorophenylethynyl)-3,4,5-trimethoxystyrene 9 exhibit solvatochromism upon change of solvent polarity. Y-enyne 8 showed the largest solvatochromic shift (94 nm bathochromic shift) upon changing solvent from cyclohexane to acetonitrile. A smaller solvatochromic response (44 nm bathochromic shift) was observed for 9. Lippert–Mataga treatment of 8 and 9 yields slopes of -10,800 and -6,400 cm -1, respectively. This corresponds to a change in dipole moment of 9.6 and 6.9 D, respectively. The solvatochromic behavior in 8 and 9 supports the formation of an intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) state. The low fluorescence quantum yields are caused by competitive double bond rotation. The fluorescence decay time of 9 decreases in methyltetrahydrofuran from 2.1 ns at 77 K to 0.11 ns at 200 K. Efficient single bond rotation in 9 was frozen at -50 °C in a configuration in which the trimethoxyphenyl ring is perpendicular to the fluorinated rings. 7–9 are photostable compounds. The X-ray structure of 7 shows it is not planar and that its conjugation is distorted. Y-enyne 7 stacks in the solid state showing coulombic, actetylene–arene, and fluorine–π interactions.
Significant seasonal variation in size at settlement has been observed in newly settled larvae of Dreissena polymorpha in Lake Constance. Diet quality, which varies temporally and spatially in freshwater habitats, has been suggested as a significant factor influencing life history and development of freshwater invertebrates. Accordingly, experiments were conducted with field-collected larvae to test the hypothesis that diet quality can determine planktonic larval growth rates, size at settlement and subsequent post-metamorphic growth rates. Larvae were fed one of two diets or starved. One diet was composed of cyanobacterial cells which are deficient in polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), and the other was a mixed diet rich in PUFAs. Freshly metamorphosed animals from the starvation treatment had a carbon content per individual 70% lower than that of larvae fed the mixed diet. This apparent exhaustion of larval internal reserves resulted in a 50% reduction of the postmetamorphic growth rates. Growth was also reduced in animals previously fed the cyanobacterial diet. Hence, low food quantity or low food quality during the larval stage of D. polymorpha lead to irreversible effects for postmetamorphic animals, and is related to inferior competitive abilities.