Limit Analysis of Slabs with Free Edge

The general method earlier developed by the writers for obtaining valid lower bound solutions to slabs under uniformly distributed load and supported along all edges is extended to the slabs with a free edge. Lower bound solutions with normal moment criterion are presented for six cases of orthotropically reinforced slabs, with one of the short edges being free and the other three edges being any combination of fixed and simply supported conditions. The expressions for moment field and collapse load are given for each slab. The lower bounds have been compared with the corresponding upper bound values obtained from the yield line theory with simple straight yield line modes of failure. They are also compared with Nielsen’s solutions available for two cases with isotropic reinforcement.

Sanailua, kynäilyä, intoilua ja epäilyä : Oppilaiden kirjoitustaito ja sen arvioiminen alkuopetuksessa

Objectives. In primary education the pupils form a basis for their writing skills. By assessing pupils writing skills the teacher gathers information about the development of their skills and notices possible learning disabilities. The assessment of writing skills requires both knowledge of different evaluation methods and the phonological system in Finnish language. The purpose of this study is to analyze the pupils writing skills and different assessment methods that help the teacher in writing evaluation. The pupils writing skills are viewed from spelling, composing and writing motivation s point of view. Methods. The research material consists of dictation exercises, written stories and writing motivation self-assessments of 19 pupils. Dictation exercises measured the spelling skills of pupils and they were written in the spring of the first grade and the autumn of the second grade. Dictation exercises were analyzed with two different methods: mistake analysis and word-structure analysis. Information of pupils spelling skills development was gathered by comparing their performance in autumn s dictation exercise to spring s dictation. Composing skills were measured with stories that the pupils wrote. Both the stories and the writing motivation s self-assessment were made in the autumn of the second grade. Composing skills were analyzed according to assessment criteria formed for this study. Results. The spelling skill of most of the pupils had developed from the first grade s spring to the second grade s autumn. The spelling skills of half of the pupils (N=9) had improved significantly. The composing skills of the pupils varied largely. Strongest part of the pupils composing skill was following instructions and the weakest part was the use of versatile vocabulary and clause structures. The girls outdid the boys in all segments of their composing skills. For most pupils their spelling skill reflected their composing skill: good spellers were also good story writers. The relation between writing motivation and general writing skill was not this simple: some pupils (N=5) writing motivation was much higher than what would have been expected based on their writing skills.

The Enlightenment Idea of History as a Legitimation Tool of Kemalism in Turkey

The study analyzes the effort to build political legitimacy in the Republic of Turkey by ex-ploring a group of influential texts produced by Kemalist writers. The study explores how the Kemalist regime reproduced certain long-lasting enlightenment meta-narrative in its effort to build political legitimacy. Central in this process was a hegemonic representation of history, namely the interpretation of the Anatolian Resistance Struggle of 1919 1922 as a Turkish Revolution executing the enlightenment in the Turkish nation-state. The method employed in the study is contextualizing narratological analysis. The Kemalist texts are analyzed with a repertoire of concepts originally developed in the theory of narra-tive. By bringing these concepts together with epistemological foundations of historical sciences, the study creates a theoretical frame inside of which it is possible to highlight how initially very controversial historical representations in the end manage to construct long-lasting, emotionally and intellectually convincing bases of national identity for the secular middle classes in Turkey. The two most important explanatory concepts in this sense are di-egesis and implied reader. The diegesis refers to the ability of narrative representation to create an inherently credible story-world that works as the basis of national community. The implied reader refers to the process where a certain hegemonic narrative creates a formula of identification and a position through which any individual real-world reader of a story can step inside the narrative story-world and identify oneself as one of us of the national narra-tive. The study demonstrates that the Kemalist enlightenment meta-narrative created a group of narrative accruals which enabled generations of secular middle classes to internalize Kemalist ideology. In this sense, the narrative in question has not only worked as a tool utilized by the so-called Kemalist state-elite to justify its leadership, but has been internalized by various groups in Turkey, working as their genuine world-view. It is shown in the study that secular-ism must be seen as the core ingredient of these groups national identity. The study proposes that the enlightenment narrative reproduced in the Kemalist ideology had its origin in a simi-lar totalizing cultural narrative created in and for Europe. Currently this enlightenment project is challenged in Turkey by those who are in an attempt to give religion a greater role in Turkish society. The study argues that the enduring practice of legitimizing political power through the enlightenment meta-narrative has not only become a major factor contributing to social polarization in Turkey, but has also, in contradiction to the very real potentials for crit-ical approaches inherent in the Enlightenment tradition, crucially restricted the development of critical and rational modes of thinking in the Republic of Turkey.

Publishing for the Masses : Early Modern English Witchcraft Pamphlets

This study is a pragmatic description of the evolution of the genre of English witchcraft pamphlets from the mid-sixteenth century to the end of the seventeenth century. Witchcraft pamphlets were produced for a new kind of readership semi-literate, uneducated masses and the central hypothesis of this study is that publishing for the masses entailed rethinking the ways of writing and printing texts. Analysis of the use of typographical variation and illustrations indicates how printers and publishers catered to the tastes and expectations of this new audience. Analysis of the language of witchcraft pamphlets shows how pamphlet writers took into account the new readership by transforming formal written source materials trial proceedings into more immediate ways of writing. The material for this study comes from the Corpus of Early Modern English Witchcraft Pamphlets, which has been compiled by the author. The multidisciplinary analysis incorporates both visual and linguistic aspects of the texts, with methodologies and theoretical insights adopted eclectically from historical pragmatics, genre studies, book history, corpus linguistics, systemic functional linguistics and cognitive psychology. The findings are anchored in the socio-historical context of early modern publishing, reading, literacy and witchcraft beliefs. The study shows not only how consideration of a new audience by both authors and printers influenced the development of a genre, but also the value of combining visual and linguistic features in pragmatic analyses of texts.

Improved Inverted V-Notch or Chimney Weir

This paper is devoted to the improvement of the measuring range of inverted V-notch (IVN) weir, a practical linear sharp-crested weir, designed earlier by the writers. The range of linearity of IVN can be considerably enhanced (by more than 200%) by the addition of a retangular weir of width 0.265W (W = half crest width) at a depth of 0.735d (d = altitude of IVN), above the crest of the weir, which is equivalent to providing at this depth two vertical straight lines to the IVN, resulting in a chimney-shaped profile; hence, the modified weir is named chimney weir. The design parameters of the weir, that is, the linearity range, base flow depth, and datum constant, which fixes the reference plane of the weir, are estimated by solving the nonlinear programming problem using a numerical optimization procedure. For flows through this weir above a depth of 0.22d, the discharges are proportional to the depth of flow measured above a reference plane situated at 0.08d above the weir crest for all heads in the range 0.22d <= h <= 2.43d, within a maximum percentage deviation of ±1.5 from the theoretical discharge. A significant result of the analysis is that the same linear head-discharge relationship governing the flow through the IVN is also valid for the extended chimney weir. Experiments with three different chimney weirs show excellent agreement with the theory by giving a constant average coefficient of discharge for each weir.

Social and material deprivation among youth in Finland : causes, consequences, and coping.

Background: Social and material deprivation is associated with poor health, decreased subjective well-being, and limited opportunities for personal development. To date, little is known about the lived experiences of Finnish low-income youths and the general purpose of this study is to fill this gap. Despite the extensive research on socioeconomic income disparities, only a few scholars have addressed the question of how low socioeconomic position is experienced by disadvantaged people themselves. Little is known about the everyday social processes that lead to decreased well-being of economically and socially disadvantaged citizens. Data: The study is based on the data of 65 autobiographical essays written by Finnish low-income youths aged 14-29 (M=23.51, SD=3.95). The research data were originally collected in a Finnish nationwide writing contest “Arkipäivän kokemuksia köyhyydestä” [Everyday Experiences of Poverty] between June and September of 2006. The contest was partaken by 850 Finnish writers. Methods and key concepts: Autobiographical narratives (N=65) of low-income youths were analyzed based on grounded theory methodology (GTM). The analysis was not built on specific pre-conceived categorizations; it was guided by the paradigm model and so-called “sensitizing concepts”. The concepts this study utilized were based on the research literature on socioeconomic inequalities, resilience, and coping. Socioeconomic inequalities refer to unequal distribution of resources, such as income, social status, and health, between social groups. The concept of resilience refers to an individual’s capacity to cope despite existing risk factors and conditions that are harmful to health and well-being. Coping strategies can be understood as ways by which a person tries to cope with psychological stress in a situation where internal or externals demands exceed one’s resources. The ways to cope are cognitive or behavioral efforts by which individual tries to relieve the stress and gain new resources. Lack of material and social resources is associated with increased exposure to health-related stressors during the life-course. Aims: The first aim of this study is to illustrate how youths with low socioeconomic status perceive the causes and consequences of their social and material deprivation. The second aim is to describe what kind of coping strategies youths employ to cope in their everyday life. The third aim is to build an integrative conceptual framework based on the relationships between causes, consequences, and individual coping strategies associated with deprivation. The analysis was carried out through systematic coding and orderly treatment of the data based on the grounded theory methodology. Results: Finnish low-income youths attributed the primary causes of deprivation to their family background, current socioeconomic status, sudden life changes, and contextual factors. Material and social deprivation was associated with various kinds of negative psychological, social, and material consequences. Youths used a variety of coping strategies that were identified as psychological, social, material, and functional-behavioral. Finally, a conceptual framework was formulated to link the findings together. In the discussion, the results were compared and contrasted to the existing research literature. The main references of the study were: Coping: Aldwin (2007); Lazarus & Folkman (1984); Hobfoll (1989, 2001, 2002). Deprivation: Larivaara, Isola, & Mikkonen (2007); Lister (2004); Townsend (1987); Raphael (2007). Health inequalities: Dahlgren & Whitehead (2007); Lynch. et al. (2000); Marmot & Wilkinson (2006); WHO (2008). Methods: Charmaz (2006); Flick (2009); Strauss & Corbin (1990). Resilience: Cutuli & Masten (2009); Luthar (2006).

Arvoja näkyvissä : Kaunokirjallisuuden etiikka Ludwig Wittgensteinin filosofian valossa

The goal of this dissertation was to study whether it is possible and meaningful to apply Ludwig Wittgenstein s distinction between saying (Sagen) and showing (Zeigen) to ethically oriented literary criticism. The following questions were used as the primary guidelines: 1. Is it possible, in the context of literary criticism, to put in practice Wittgenstein s ethical conceptions, which are quite theoretical and metaphysical by nature? 2. If so, what practical literary devices do authors use if they want to demonstrate their ethical values within the frame of a fictional work? 3. Does philosophy offer useful ethical consepts that open us new and interesting readings in fiction? The philosophical background of Wittgenstein s distinction is clarified in chapter I. This clarification is based on his main works, Tractatus logico-philosophicus and Philosophishe Untersuchungen, the published correspondence between Wittgenstein and Paul Engelmann, and selected Wittgenstein research and papers. Analyzing ethics and it s expression in Georg Trakl s poetry further elucidates Wittgenstein s concept of showing. The concept that a literary work is an act of an author was used as a starting point. The presumption was that analyzing this act of an author will reveal how ethical values can be demonstrated in literature. Categorizing an author s act at different levels of literary expression provides the structure of this study. In chapters IV - XIII literary devices useful for demonstrating ethics are examined and explained using examples from the works of Joseph Conrad, Charles Dickens, Nikolay Leskov, Ludwig Uhland, Eino Leino, Pentti Haanpää and Maria Jotuni. The concepts and views of researchers and writers such as Mihail Bahtin, Peter Juhl, E. D. Hirsch, Peter Lamarque and Stein Haugom Olsen are used. The concepts outlined in previous chapters are then applied in three case studies: Aeschylus s Oresteia trilogy, J-L. Runeberg s poem Sven Dufva and Sofi Oksanen s novel Puhdistus (Purge). On the whole, Wittgenstein s idea that ethical values can be demonstrated (shown) by means of literature is revealed as a fruitful point of departure for a more exact ethical reading, offering a new perspective on literary works.

Building and Using Existing Hunspell Dictionaries and TEX Hyphenators as Finite-State Automata

There are numerous formats for writing spellcheckers for open-source systems and there are many descriptions for languages written in these formats. Similarly, for word hyphenation by computer there are TEX rules for many languages. In this paper we demonstrate a method for converting these spell-checking lexicons and hyphenation rule sets into finite-state automata, and present a new finite-state based system for writer’s tools used in current open-source software such as Firefox, OpenOffice.org and enchant via the spell-checking library voikko.

Online Handwritten Kannada Word Recognizer with Unrestricted Vocabulary

In this paper, we propose a novel heuristic approach to segment recognizable symbols from online Kannada word data and perform recognition of the entire word. Two different estimates of first derivative are extracted from the preprocessed stroke groups and used as features for classification. Estimate 2 proved better resulting in 88% accuracy, which is 3% more than that achieved with estimate 1. Classification is performed by statistical dynamic space warping (SDSW) classifier which uses X, Y co-ordinates and their first derivatives as features. Classifier is trained with data from 40 writers. 295 classes are handled covering Kannada aksharas, with Kannada numerals, Indo-Arabic numerals, punctuations and other special symbols like $ and #. Classification accuracies obtained are 88% at the akshara level and 80% at the word level, which shows the scope for further improvement in segmentation algorithm

Lexicon-free, novel segmentation of online handwritten indic words

Research in the field of recognizing unlimited vocabulary, online handwritten Indic words is still in its infancy. Most of the focus so far has been in the area of isolated character recognition. In the context of lexicon-free recognition of words, one of the primary issues to be addressed is that of segmentation. As a preliminary attempt, this paper proposes a novel script-independent, lexicon-free method for segmenting online handwritten words to their constituent symbols. Feedback strategies, inspired from neuroscience studies, are proposed for improving the segmentation. The segmentation strategy has been tested on an exhaustive set of 10000 Tamil words collected from a large number of writers. The results show that better segmentation improves the overall recognition performance of the handwriting system.

Retórica y música barroca : una posible hermenéutica

Resumen: Este trabajo considera algunos conceptos retóricos expuestos por los teóricos de la musica poetica y por otras fuentes, útiles para la formación de intérpretes dedicados a los repertorios de los siglos XVII y XVIII.

Unamuno y América, una intensa relación

Resumen: Miguel de Unamuno tenía gran interés por y hacia los temas de América, sobre todo de la América hispánica. El objetivo de este artículo es refl exionar sobre la recepción y la acogida que dio a la literatura hispanoamericana coetánea, sobre cómo se aproximó a la obra de los escritores americanos, especialmente los argentinos. A través de un análisis crítico, se profundizará en esta relación considerando que América estuvo presente en su refl exión y su preocupación. Asimismo, se tratarán brevemente las colaboraciones literarias del escritor vasco en La Nación y otras revistas americanas para demostrar su interés respecto a la temática.

Las imágenes del Islam y de los musulmanes en la corona de Castilla : construcciones discursivas cristianas (ss. XII-XV)

Resumen: El trabajo que presentamos a continuación tiene como objetivo abordar distintos aspectos sobre la construcción de las imágenes y de las prácticas discursivas que se proyectaron sobre el Islam y los musulmanes en la Castilla medieval. En este sentido, daremos cuenta del contexto mediterráneo y peninsular en la tensión Cristianismo-Islam, así como también de algunas medidas que desde la Iglesia romana se proyectaban sobre los moros. Recogeremos los antecedentes de las polémicas antiislámicas para luego adentrarnos en el universo castellano y ejemplificar estas disputas con algunos escritores cristianos para analizar sus posturas respecto del Islam y la veracidad de su religión.

O conceito de realeza de Temístio e Amiano Marcelino : o caso do imperador Valentiniano I

Abstract: In the context of Late Antiquity, we observe the ideals of Royalty of two authors who shared the political events between the governments of Constantius II to Theodosius (337-395 AD), namely: the philosopher Themistius (317-388 AD) with his political speeches; and the military Ammianus Marcellinus (325 / 330-395 AD) with his work Res Gestae. During our study, we will seek to observe the characteristics of each author, and converge their life experiences to meet the convergent and divergent points of its concepts around the Imperial responsibilities. In the meantime, we emphasize the interactions between Romans and barbarians, very noticeable at that time; and how this process of interaction of cultures has influenced the thinking of the late-ancient writers studied here. Observing how a philosopher and a military developed such ideals in relation to the ruler: Valentinian I (364-375 AD), for that we made a more specific analysis of VI Speech of Themistius - the Brotherly Love or About humanity - and the XVI - XXX Books of Ammianus Marcellinus. Thus, in a time of great cultural socio-political effervescence, two non-Christian writers have written their work, in order to re-member your audience the importance of the virtues and both based on examples from the classical tradition.

Relatos, fragmentos, experiencias : la mirada de un testigo. Entrevista a Monseñor Eugenio Guasta sobre el diálogo entre Literatura y Teología

Resumen: La presente entrevista a Eugenio Guasta pertenece al proyecto de reconstrucción de la historia del diálogo entre literatura y teología en la Argentina, emprendido por el Seminario Interdisciplinario Permanente Literatura, Estética y Teología de la Facultad de Teología (UCA). En la misma línea de las entrevistas ya realizadas a Lucio Gera y Juan Carlos Scannone (cf. Teología 99 y 102), también ésta busca recoger la trama viva del interés de la teología por la literatura. El caso del actual entrevistado se distingue de los casos anteriores en el hecho de que se trata de un sacerdote y formador que proviene del ámbito literario y que mantiene una explícita vinculación con los escritores y académicos argentinos que signaron la cultura literaria de la segunda mitad del siglo XX.