American Perceptions of British Regional Dialects

Sociolinguists have discussed problematic language ideologies, such as Standard Language Ideology (Lippi-Green 1997) extensively and social perceptions of Standard English in the U.S and U.K are well documented. However, most work in this area has focused on perceptions of dialects within national contexts. This study makes a novel contribution to the study of language attitudes, investigating perceptions of British regional dialects within the U.S. A survey was created to gauge perceptions of five British regional dialects (Liverpool, Leeds, Birmingham, Newcastle, London). 49 survey participants listened to audio clips of British regional dialect speakers and then completed a mapping activity, answered perception questions, and ranked each speaker on specific qualities. Results showed that speaker region had a significant effect on perception of almost all variables at a statistically significant rate, despite unfamiliarity with all but the London dialect. Results suggest that although participants are largely unfamiliar with varieties of English in England outside of London, they assessed them by recruiting pre-existing stereotypes about vernacular dialects.

Management and outcome of cholesterol embolus identified in a diabetic retinopathy screening program

Purpose. We examined the incidence, management, and outcomes of patients known to be at high cardiovascular risk, and to assess whether specialist referral to an ophthalmic medical clinic is worthwhile. Methods. Patients in the East Birmingham area with cholesterolembolus who were identified on digital diabetic retinopathy screening over a 3-year period were referred to a specialist ophthalmic medicine clinic within Heart of England NHS Trust for management and investigation. Results. A total of 33 patients were referred for clinical management.(male:female = 22:11, mean age 72 years). A total of 28 patients were known to be receiving medication: 14 anti hypertensive therapy(42%), 19 aspirin (59%), and 21 statin (64%). A total of 18 patients had known cardiovascular disease, 10 of whom had received carotid stenting or coronary artery bypass surgery. Ten patients diagnosed with embolus required and consented to carotid Doppler studies. Six patients were confirmed with significant carotid stenosis and 2 (6%)of these patients required carotid endarterectomy surgery. Overall, 4patients died, a mortality rate of 12% over 3 years. Conclusions. Annual diabetic retinopathy screening provide sopportunistic identification of asymptomatic cholesterol emboli and provides an opportunity for review of medical management in the high-risk patient group with appropriate identification and referral for carotid stenosis surgery. A total of 11 patients were identified with sub optimal cardiovascular risk management: e.g., statin use.

Referencias sociológicas y culturales en la obra de John Osborne

La presente tesis doctoral tiene por objeto el estudio crítico-literario de la obra del escritor y dramaturgo británico John Osborne (1929-1994) en su contexto histórico-social y político. Una aproximación analítica de carácter cultural – materialista a la obra de Osborne, siguiendo para ello los estudios critico-literarios reflejados por el crítico literario Alan Sinfield en su libro Literature, Politics and Culture in Postwar Britain (2004), acerca al lector al contexto histórico-sociales y político en el que la obra de Osborne fue recibida por lectores y público en general (incluida la crítica especializada). El termino cultural-materialista fue utilizado por R. Williams en su libro Marxism and Literature, texto clave, así como la obra de Stuart Hall y del Círculo de Estudios Culturales de Birmingham que dirigió, llegando a una mejor comprensión de cómo han influido las autoridades políticas en la producción y recepción de obras literarias. El objetivo general de esta tesis es proporcionar al lector un conocimiento global de las circunstancias socio-políticas y culturales en las que se circunscriben las obras de John Osborne ofreciendo una perspectiva nueva, original e incluso sorprendente del propio autor así como sus implicaciones, para llegar a una mejor comprensión del teatro británico en la primera década del nuevo milenio. Los manuales de Historia de la Literatura Británica contemplan el año 1956 como la fecha que marca el comienzo de una nueva etapa del teatro británico del periodo de posguerra. Y la razón de esto es la puesta en escena de la obra Mirando Hacia Atrás con Ira en mayo de ese mismo año. El año 1956 es clave por la coincidencia de su estreno con el comienzo de la Crisis de Suez unas semanas más tarde. La obra de Osborne fue importante por lo que supuso para el joven y novato Royal Court Theatre, situándolo en el panorama contemporáneo del teatro subvencionado de posguerra. En torno a esta fecha Bertolt Bretch visita Gran Bretaña por primera vez, estimulando el interés y la controversia en torno al género dramático en los círculos literarios de la época...

Book review:. The most dangerous book: The battle for James Joyce's Ulysses

Birmingham, a literary historian from Harvard, tells, in much greater detail than ever before, the story of the banning of what is arguably the most important and transformative literary text ever. For it to be in our hands and read openly is for it to have changed the conditions under which reading occurs in the western world, changed definitions of obscenity, and challenged the secrecy which was the stock-in-trade of the purity-snoopers, both vigilante and state-sanctioned. Joyce’s fiction was burned, guillotined, confiscated, had printer’s plates wrecked and whole editions pulped, was smuggled across borders, carried in corsets, was extensively and ‘legally’ pirated in the US. The story of its surveillance is a gripping one, and the book a page-turner, and moreover to tell the story is to explain how literary modernism became mainstream, and not the just preserve of marginalised avant-garde bohemians.

Trastornos musculoesqueléticos en trabajadores de la industria automotriz: revisión de la literatura 2000 a 2016.

Los trastornos musculoesqueléticos (TME) tienen alta relación con la industria automotriz afectando a los trabajadores en quienes se puede encontrar varias patologías como Síndrome Del Túnel Del Carpo, Epicondilitis, Síndrome del Manguito Rotador, discopatía lumbar y lumbalgias, entre otros. Entre los factores de riesgo asociados a estos trastornos están los movimientos repetitivos, posturas inadecuadas, vibración, uso manual de herramientas, tareas físicas demandantes y el mal levantamiento de pesos. Todas estas patologías son causa de ausentismo laboral en todo el mundo, lo que conlleva a un aumento en el costo económico por incapacidades, ayudas diagnósticas y tratamientos. Se realizó una revisión de la literatura científica de artículos publicados del año 2000 a 2016 con relación a los trastornos musculoesqueléticos en la industria automotriz en las bases de datos de Pubmed, Ebsco Host, ScienceDirect y Embase. La evidencia encontrada sugiere que la patología lumbar es la que presenta mayor prevalencia en la industria, con 65% en la población Europea, 42% en Asia, Norteamérica en un 20% y en América Latina en un 46%. A pesar que en la industria automotriz predominan como fuerza laboral los hombres, se reportó que las mujeres eran las que tenían mayores factores de riesgo para desarrollar un TME y dentro de estos las posturas inadecuadas, movimientos repetitivos, sobrecarga laboral y levantamiento de pesos, sumado al tiempo de exposición que fue un común denominador en cada uno de los estudios analizados. Las conclusiones fueron que la prevalencia de TME en esta industria es elevada y esto amerita la implementación de programas de prevención más enfocados en este tema. Además no se encontró en la literatura la existencia de un método eficiente para análisis postural y de sobrecarga física, lo que habla de una necesidad urgente de realizar más investigaciones enfocadas en este tipo de población.

Matlab simulink modeling of photovoltaic cells for understanding shadow effect

Irradiation is the main component for producing the electricity from solar energy. When obstacles come in between the sun and the PV cell then it doesn’t get sufficient irradiance to produce enough electricity. Shadowing has a great impact on photovoltaic cell. The main fuel of PV cell is solar radiation. Using solar radiation, a photovoltaic cell produces electricity. The shadow on a PV cell decreases the output of the photovoltaic cell. It has been already shown in different papers that shadow effect decreases the output of the PV cell. There are different kinds of shadow effects which are observed, some minimize the PV cell output and some reduce the output to zero. There are different types of shadow based on their effects on the photovoltaic cell. The shadow has also effects depending on whether the PV cells are connected in series connection or in parallel connection. In series when one cell is out of order then the whole series of the PV cells will not work but in parallel connection if one cell is damaged, the others will work because they work independently. According to the output requirement the arrangement of the PV cells are made in series or parallel. Simulink modeling is made for series and parallel connection between two PV cells and the shadow effect is analyzed on one of the PV cells. Using SIMULINK, the shadowing is simulated on the two PV cells, where in one system they are in series and in another system they are in parallel. Slowly the irradiance is decreased to simulate the shadow effect. Simulation of the shadow effect gives an idea about the output of the PV cell system when system has shadow on the PV cells. Here the shadow effect on the two PV cells using series and parallel combinations are simulated and analyzed for understanding the effects on output.

Single diode model parameters analysis of photovoltaic cell

In this paper it is proposed to obtain enhanced and more efficient parameters model from generalized five parameters (single diode) model of PV cells. The paper also introduces, describes and implements a seven parameter model for photovoltaic cell (PV cell) which includes two internal parameters and five external parameters. To obtain the model the mathematical equations and an equivalent circuit consisting of a photo generated current source, a series resistor, a shunt resistor and a diode is used. The fundamental equation of PV cell is used to analyse and best fit the observation data. Especially bisection iteration method is used to obtain the expected result and to understand the deviation of changes in different parameters situation at various conditions respectively. The produced model can be used of measuring and understanding the actions of photovoltaic cells for certain changes and parameters extraction. The effect is also studied with I-V and P-V characteristics of PV cells though it is a challenge to optimize the output with real time simulation. The working procedure is also discussed and an experiment presented to get the closure and insight about the produced model and to decide upon the model validity. At the end, we observed that the result of the simulation is very close to the produced model.