Empty Domains Research Articles

Relevance without existence: Experimenting on blind implicatures with empty domains

The present paper presents experimental evidence confirming that contextually mismatching scalar implicatures can be generated even when quantifiers range over empty domains. In the literature, this possibility has been interpreted as providing further evidence for a grammatical approach to scalar implicatures. The main result presented here is that scalar sentences with empty domains are judged as more infelicitous when associated with a mismatching implicature than variants with the same empty domains but associated with a non-mismatching implicature. We interpret this result as suggesting that the infelicity judgment associated with the first kind of sentence stems from the cumulative effect of the mismatching implicature and the contextual domain emptiness. Compared to previous literature on blind implicatures, our results indicate that the body of knowledge involved in relevance assignments is restricted to ignoring existential determination while still considering the properties attributed to nonexistent entities. They also show that, while not blocking implicature generation, contextual domain emptiness plays a role in speakers’ evaluation of scalar sentences, reflecting the unconscious nature of scalar implicature generation.

CFD analysis of local influences in offshore wind measurements employing a floating LiDAR system

In the present work, the CFD modeling of neutral and stable atmospheric boundary layers regarding the horizontal homogeneity condition is discussed to assess the impact of local influences in wind measurements made by a Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) remote sensor installed at an offshore site. The LiDAR will be mounted on a real floating, production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) vessel, 200 km far from the coast, and the simulations serve as preliminary study for the impact of the geometry presence, in the air flow and in the measurements taken by the LiDAR. The reproduction of the homogeneity condition is discussed and the impacts of the presence of the ship structure are quantified considering the scanning scheme of the LiDAR. Turbulence is modeled with the k-ε and k-ω models for the neutral case, and k-ε with a modification following the Monin-Obukhov Similarity Theory for the stable boundary laye. By carrying out simulations with empty and blocked (i.e., with the FPSO installed) domains, we show that the effect of the platform is local and only significant at small heights. The neutral and stable cases show similar deviations (≤ 2 %) between the velocity fields in the blocked and empty domains. The neutral case shows locally a little more impact than the stable case, and the reason for that is discussed. We also found that the LiDAR scanning scheme could attenuate the impacts of the flow distortion in comparison with direct punctual measurements.

Fictional domains

AbstractQuantifiers frequently figure in works of fiction. But occurrences of quantificational expressions within fictions seem no more inevitably to be associated with real domains than uses of names within fictions seem inevitably to be associated with existing referents. The paper outlines some philosophical puzzles resulting from this apparent lack of associated domains, puzzles that are broadly analogous to more familiar ones raised by the apparently nonreferential nature of many fictional names. The paper argues, in the light of an important disanalogy between quantifiers and names, that the quantificational puzzles are substantive, in that they cannot be resolved merely by appealing to the possibility of empty domains. It then argues that, despite the cited parallels between occurrences of quantifiers and names within fictions, promising treatments of fictional names do not always straightforwardly generalise to provide accounts of the quantificational phenomena: the quantificational puzzles are therefore not only substantive but also distinctive. The paper provides further testament to the depth and interest of the problems involving content that are generated by fiction, by identifying a very wide range of previously neglected cases, while also helping to situate within a broader context the notoriously hard philosophical challenges posed by fictional names.

Distribution of Cracks in a Chain of Atoms at Low Temperature

We consider a one-dimensional classical many-body system with interaction potential of Lennard–Jones type in the thermodynamic limit at low temperature 1/beta in (0,infty ). The ground state is a periodic lattice. We show that when the density is strictly smaller than the density of the ground state lattice, the system with N particles fills space by alternating approximately crystalline domains (clusters) with empty domains (voids) due to cracked bonds. The number of domains is of the order of Nexp (- beta e_mathrm {surf}/2) with e_mathrm {surf}>0 a surface energy. For the proof, the system is mapped to an effective model, which is a low-density lattice gas of defects. The results require conditions on the interactions between defects. We succeed in verifying these conditions for next-nearest neighbor interactions, applying recently derived uniform estimates of correlations.

A sequence of experiments and models to grasp the strange nature of light

We present a sequence of activities designed to stimulate students to reflect on the nature of light and on the different models (ray, wave, classical and quantum particles) used in teaching and learning optics. These activities are also aimed to help students in evaluating the profound meaning of the “correspondence principle” and develop their own views about some aspects of nature of science even if it is not taught explicitly. In fact, optics is a paradigmatic case where different scientific models are proposed in the University (and high school) courses. Even the oldest of these models have non empty domains of validity and both Maxwellian electromagnetism and geometrical optics are largely still used in the Physics curricula. As a consequence students are often puzzled, and think that each of these theories works in a specific domain, without any connection one with the other. Thus we investigate students’ mental models of light in different contexts and we show how they develop hybrid models in explaining different phenomena or use models inconsistently.

What drives depression in empty nose syndrome? A Sinonasal Outcome Test-25 subdomain analysis.

Empty nose syndrome (ENS) is a debilitating disorder characterised by paradoxical nasal obstruction after excessive surgical excision of nasal tissues. ENS negatively impacts the quality of life (QOL) and psychological status of patients. This study aimed to determine the associations among disease-specific QOL impairments and the severity of anxiety and depression before and after surgery in ENS patients. A total of 68 ENS patients were prospectively recruited and underwent submucosal Medpor implantation. QOL impairments and the severity of anxiety and depression were evaluated using the Sinonasal Outcome Test-25 (SNOT-25), Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II), and Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) 1 day before and 6 months after surgery. The BDI-II and BAI scores were significantly associated with the total score and ear/facial symptoms, psychological dysfunction, sleep dysfunction, and empty nose symptoms domains of the SNOT-25. Surgery improved disease-specific and psychological symptoms. Post-operative changes in the BDI-II score were correlated with changes in the total score and sleep dysfunction and empty nose symptoms domains of the SNOT-25. A SNOT-25 total score of greater than 60, sleep dysfunction domain score of greater than 18, and empty nose symptoms domain score of greater than 14 were good predictors of moderate-to-severe depression. ENS symptoms are associated with psychological burden and could be good predictors of moderate-to-severe depression. Targeted symptom improvement could reduce the psychological burden.

Speaking Names and Empty Domains. Effi Briest and the ‘Awful Being’.

This essay traces the depiction of the ideal bridegroom in fairy tales, eighteenth- and nineteenthcentury novels and memoirs, and its effect on Effi’s sense of identity and marriage to Innstetten. There follows a brief analysis of Innstetten’s own identity crisis. The conclusion considers the function of empty domains in the portrayal of social roles and constraints, and their effect on text and reader.

Modified cell-linked list method using dynamic mesh for discrete element method

Discrete element method (DEM) is one of the most important particle-based simulation methods widely applied in various fields. However, further large-scale engineering applications by DEM are still limited due to the deficiency of computing capability of computers. In the simulations of engineering problems, uneven distribution of particles is a common phenomenon with high-concentration and empty particulate domains, which will occupy extra memory for mesh in no-particle domain by using the conventional cell-linked list method for contact detection. For better utilization of memory, the conventional method is modified to perform large-scale simulations with uneven distribution of particles by using dynamic mesh in this study, and the modified method is called the dynamic mesh cell-linked list (DMCL) method. To verify the applicability of the DMCL method, the simulations of particles transported by a screw conveyor and a belt conveyor are done. The simulation results indicate that using the DMCL method can extraordinarily reduce the memory usage and is comparably efficient compared with the conventional method. The DMCL method can be used in both spherical and non-spherical particulate systems, and is also applicable to other particle-based simulations

Post-Processing Partitions to Identify Domains of Modularity Optimization.

We introduce the Convex Hull of Admissible Modularity Partitions (CHAMP) algorithm to prune and prioritize different network community structures identified across multiple runs of possibly various computational heuristics. Given a set of partitions, CHAMP identifies the domain of modularity optimization for each partition—i.e., the parameter-space domain where it has the largest modularity relative to the input set—discarding partitions with empty domains to obtain the subset of partitions that are “admissible” candidate community structures that remain potentially optimal over indicated parameter domains. Importantly, CHAMP can be used for multi-dimensional parameter spaces, such as those for multilayer networks where one includes a resolution parameter and interlayer coupling. Using the results from CHAMP, a user can more appropriately select robust community structures by observing the sizes of domains of optimization and the pairwise comparisons between partitions in the admissible subset. We demonstrate the utility of CHAMP with several example networks. In these examples, CHAMP focuses attention onto pruned subsets of admissible partitions that are 20-to-1785 times smaller than the sets of unique partitions obtained by community detection heuristics that were input into CHAMP.

Post-fabrication modification of electrospun nanofiber mats with polymer coating for membrane distillation applications

Post-treatment of electrospun nanofibers is a versatile and scalable approach for the fabrication of membranes with controlled pore size, porosity, and morphology. In this study, we demonstrate a novel solution-based approach for the fabrication of membrane distillation (MD) membranes with adjustable pore size and performance through non-solvent induced phase separation of a polymeric solution over an electrospun fiber mat. Poly(vinylidene fluoride-hexafluoropropylene) (PVDF-HFP) was dissolved in a blend of acetone and dimethylacetamide and used to produce a highly porous electrospun fiber mat with an average pore diameter of ~1.2µm. Surface coating of the PVDF-HFP nanofibers with polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) through phase separation enabled control of the membrane pore size by filling the empty domains between the fibers. The coated fiber mats were characterized for their surface hydrophobicity, porosity, and structure. The PVDF polymeric coating layer integrated within the electrospun mat decreased the average pore diameter to <0.6µm without compromising the surface hydrophobicity. By controlling the depth of the PVDF coating layer within the substrate, we were able to fabricate robust membranes with near complete salt rejection (>99.9%) and a water flux of 30Lm−2h−1 in direct contact MD experiments with 40°C temperature difference between the feed and permeate solutions. This coating procedure is compatible with current roll-to-roll membrane fabrication processes, making it a viable approach for large-scale fabrication of electrospun membranes with exceptional performance for MD applications.

Constraints on Cosmology and Gravity from the Dynamics of Voids.

The Universe is mostly composed of large and relatively empty domains known as cosmic voids, whereas its matter content is predominantly distributed along their boundaries. The remaining material inside them, either dark or luminous matter, is attracted to these boundaries and causes voids to expand faster and to grow emptier over time. Using the distribution of galaxies centered on voids identified in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and adopting minimal assumptions on the statistical motion of these galaxies, we constrain the average matter content Ω_{m}=0.281±0.031 in the Universe today, as well as the linear growth rate of structure f/b=0.417±0.089 at median redshift z[over ¯]=0.57, where b is the galaxy bias (68%C.L.). These values originate from a percent-level measurement of the anisotropic distortion in the void-galaxy cross-correlation function, ϵ=1.003±0.012, and are robust to consistency tests with bootstraps of the data and simulated mock catalogs within an additional systematic uncertainty of half that size. They surpass (and are complementary to) existing constraints by unlocking cosmological information on smaller scales through an accurate model of nonlinear clustering and dynamics in void environments. As such, our analysis furnishes a powerful probe of deviations from Einstein's general relativity in the low-density regime which has largely remained untested so far. We find no evidence for such deviations in the data at hand.

Back to Aristotle!

There were already confusions in the Middle Ages with the reading of Aristotle on negative terms, and removing these confusions shows that the four traditional Syllogistic forms of statement can be readily generalised not only to handle polyadic relations (for long a source of difficulty), but even other, more measured quantifiers than just ‘all’, ‘some’, and ‘no’. But these historic confusions merely supplement the main confusions, which arose in more modern times, regarding the logic of singular statements. These main confusions originate in the inability of the mainline modern tradition to supply the ‘logically proper names’ which alone have the right to replace individual variables; an inability which has resulted in the widespread, but erroneous replacement of individual variables with ordinary proper names, i.e. names for contingent beings, in many if not most contemporary logic texts. The paper includes the exhibition and grammatical characterisation of the logically proper names that are required instead, specifying just how they differ syntactically from ordinary proper names. It also shows how ontologically significant is the distinction, since not only do logically proper names refer to necessarily existent objects (showing there are no ‘empty domains’ for Classical Logic to fail to apply to), but also thereby central features of Realism become considerably clarified.

Microcapsules from starch granules

A preparation of microcapsules from granular potato starch by its prolonged (up to 48 h) soaking in water is proposed. The effects of temperature and size of granules is studied. Such treatment removes the amorphous part of the granule interior, forming empty domains inside granules. Material evacuated from the granules was identified as amylopectin together with amylose. The application of such pre-treated granules for microencapsulation of various fragrant compounds (angelicalactone, diacetyl, dibenzyl ether, 2,6-lutidine and myrcene) from their vapours and from their liquid state is described. Depending on pre-treatment of starch and the microencapsulation method applied, the amount of trapped guest molecules is up to 30 wt%.

Microcapsules from starch granules

A preparation of microcapsules from granular potato starch by its prolonged (up to 48 h) soaking in water is proposed. The effects of temperature and size of granules is studied. Such treatment removes the amorphous part of the granule interior, forming empty domains inside granules. Material evacuated from the granules was identified as amylopectin together with amylose. The application of such pre-treated granules for microencapsulation of various fragrant compounds (angelicalactone, diacetyl, dibenzyl ether, 2,6-lutidine and myrcene) from their vapours and from their liquid state is described. Depending on pre-treatment of starch and the microencapsulation method applied, the amount of trapped guest molecules is up to 30 wt%.

Clustering of the critical branching process on the plane

Let be a Poisson random field in R d . Attimet= 0 a critical branching Wiener process is startingfrom eachP 2. It turns out that after a time the particles will be located in dense, small clusters and between these clusters empty domains are located.

Inclusion complexes of starches with hydrocarbons

Starch formed inclusion complexes with aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons. The amount of included hydrocarbons depended on the starch variety. Waxy maize starch was superior for this purpose as it included over 7% of hydrocarbons. Tapioca, maize and potato starches included gradually lesser amount of hydrocarbons. Oven-dried starches performed better than air-dried ones. Aromatic hydrocarbons complexed more readily. Polarity is, perhaps, the most essential factor governing the complexation. Less polar hydrocarbons were complexed more readily. The FT-IR spectra taken in the Kubelka–Munk mode and CLBM studies (the hedgehog effect) revealed that complexing hydrocarbons expelled part of the amorphous content of starch granules to form internal empty domains. In such domains, hydrocarbons were held with involvement of local van der Waals and dispersion forces of d-glucose units rather than by formation of helical complexes with amylose and amylopectin.

Polymer nanocapsules

Hollow polymer particles with dimensions in the submicrometer region possess great potential for encapsulation of large quantities of and large sized guest molecules into their empty core domains. Conventional molecular chemistry requires costly synthetic procedures and only in special cases allows such particles to be prepared with exact control over their size and morphology. Therefore various self-assembly and templating approaches have been developed which will be briefly introduced in this article.

The nuclear receptor ligand-binding domain: structure and function

In the past few years our understanding of nuclear receptor action has dramatically improved as a result of the elucidation of the crystal structures of the empty (apo) ligand-binding domains of the nuclear receptor and of complexes formed by the nuclear receptor's ligand-binding domain bound to agonists and antagonists. Furthermore, the concomitant identification and functional analysis of co-regulators (transcriptional intermediary factors [TIFs], comprising co-activators and co-repressors) previously predicted from squelching studies, have deepened this understanding. Recent data have provided the structural basis for the specific recognition of ligands and the molecular mechanisms of agonism and antagonism, enabling us to gain a comprehensive view of the early steps of nuclear receptor action.

Steroid receptors at the nexus of transcriptional regulation.

During the past few years, our understanding of nuclear receptor action has dramatically improved as a result of the identification and functional analysis of co-regulators such as factors involved in chromatin remodeling, transcription intermediary factors (co-repressors and co-activators), and direct interactions with the basal transcriptional machinery. Furthermore, the elucidation of the crystal structures of the empty ligand-binding domains of the nuclear receptor and of complexes formed by the nuclear receptor's ligand-binding domain bound to agonists and antagonists has contributed significantly to our understanding of the early events of nuclear receptor action. However, the picture of hormone- and hormone receptor-mediated mechanisms of gene regulation remain incomplete and extremely complicated when one also considers the "nontraditional" interactions of hormone-activated nuclear receptors, for example, interactions between the activated steroid receptors and components of the chromatin/nuclear matrix; and finally the nongenomic effects that steroid hormones can exhibit with other signaling pathways. In this prospectus on steroid receptors, we discuss the implications of various steroid hormone and nuclear receptor interactions and potential future directions of investigation. J. Cell. Biochem. Suppls. 30/31:185-193, 1998. © 1999 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Orthopedia, a novel homeobox-containing gene expressed in the developing CNS of both mouse and drosophila

A novel homeobox-containing gene has been identified. Its name, Orthopedia (Otp), exemplifies the homology shared by both the rthodenticle and Antennapedia homeodomains. Otp is highly conserved in evolution. In mouse, Otp is expressed only in restricted domains of the developing forebrain, hindbrain, and spinal cord. In Drosophila, otp first appears at gastrulation in the ectodermal proctodeum and later in the hindgut, anal plate, and along the CNS. Here, we compare the Otp-, Distal-less homeobox 1-(Dix1-), Orthodenticle homolog 1- (Otxl-), Otx2-, and Empty spiracles homolog 2-expressing domains. Our results indicate that Otp is expressed along the CNS both in mouse and Drosophila; Otp could specify regional identities in the development of the forebrain and spinal cord; transcription of Otp and Dlx1 takes place in alternating hypothalamic regions reminiscent of a segment-like pattern; and the structural and functional conservation could correspond to a conserved function maintained in evolution.