bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Magnetic domain wall engineering in a nanoscale permalloy junction
Authors: Wang Junlin , Zhang Xichao , Lu Xianyang , Zhang Jason , Yan Yu , Ling Hua , Wu Jing , Zhou Yan , Xu Yongbing
Published: August 2017

Nanoscale magnetic junctions provide a useful approach to act as building blocks for magnetoresistive random access memories (MRAM), where one of the key issues is to control the magnetic domain configuration. Here, we study the domain structure and the magnetic switching in the Permalloy (Fe20Ni80) nanoscale magnetic junctions with different thicknesses by using micromagnetic simulations. It is found that both the 90-° and 45-° domain walls can be formed between the junctions and the wire arms depending on the thickness of the device. The magnetic switching fields show distinct thickness dependencies with a broad peak varying from 7 nm to 22 nm depending on the junction sizes, and the large magnetic switching fields favor the stability of the MRAM operation.
A simple hydrodynamic model of a laminar free-surface jet in horizontal or vertical flight
Authors: Haustein Herman D. , Harnik Ron S. , Rohlfs Wilko
Published: August 2017

A useable model for laminar free-surface jet evolution during flight, for both horizontal and vertical jets, is developed through joint analytical, experimental, and simulation methods. The jet’s impingement centerline velocity, recently shown to dictate stagnation zone heat transfer, encompasses the entire flow history: from pipe-flow velocity profile development to profile relaxation and jet contraction during flight. While pipe-flow is well-known, an alternative analytic solution is presented for the centerline velocity’s viscous-driven decay. Jet-contraction is subject to influences of surface tension (We), pipe-flow profile development, in-flight viscous dissipation (Re), and gravity (Nj = Re/Fr). The effects of surface tension and emergence momentum flux (jet thrust) are incorporated analytically through a global momentum balance. Though emergence momentum is related to pipe flow development, and empirically linked to nominal pipe flow-length, it can be modified to incorporate low-Re downstream dissipation as well. Jet contraction’s gravity dependence is extended beyond existing uniform-velocity theory to cases of partially and fully developed profiles. The final jet-evolution model relies on three empirical parameters and compares well to present and previous experiments and simulations. Hence, micro-jet flight experiments were conducted to fill-in gaps in the literature: jet contraction under mild gravity-effects, and intermediate Reynolds and Weber numbers (Nj = 5–8, Re = 350–520, We = 2.8–6.2). Furthermore, two-phase direct numerical simulations provided insight beyond the experimental range: Re = 200–1800, short pipes (Z = L/d · Re ≥ 0.01), variable nozzle wettability, and cases of no surface tension and/or gravity.
Relay transport of relativistic flows in extreme magnetic fields of stars
Authors: Yao W. P. , Qiao B. , Xu Z. , Zhang H. , Chang H. X. , Zhou C. T. , Zhu S. P. , Wang X. G. , He X. T.
Published: August 2017

We find that the transport of relativistic flows in extreme magnetic fields can be achieved in a relay manner by considering the quantum electromagnetic cascade process, where photons play a key role as a medium. During the transport, the flow emits particle energy into photons via quantum synchrotron radiation, and then gains particles back by magnetic pair creation, forming a “particle-photon-particle” relay. Particle-in-cell simulations demonstrate that forward transport of the flow density is realized by a self-replenishment process with photon-pair cascades, while that of the flow energy is accomplished due to a new coupling path through radiation of photons. This novel transport mechanism is closely associated with jet generation and disk accretion around the neutron star of X-Ray Binaries, offering a potential explanation for the powerful jets observed there.
Mixtures of two self- and mutually-associating liquids: Phase behavior, second virial coefficients, and entropy-enthalpy compensation in the free energy of mixing
Authors: Dudowicz Jacek , Douglas Jack F. , Freed Karl F.
Published: August 2017

The theoretical description of the phase behavior of polymers dissolved in binary mixtures of water and other miscible solvents is greatly complicated by the self- and mutual-association of the solvent molecules. As a first step in treating these complex and widely encountered solutions, we have developed an extension of Flory-Huggins theory to describe mixtures of two self- and mutually-associating fluids comprised of small molecules. Analytic expressions are derived here for basic thermodynamic properties of these fluid mixtures, including the spinodal phase boundaries, the second osmotic virial coefficients, and the enthalpy and entropy of mixing these associating solvents. Mixtures of this kind are found to exhibit characteristic closed loop phase boundaries and entropy-enthalpy compensation for the free energy of mixing in the low temperature regime where the liquid components are miscible. As discussed by Widom et al. [Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 5, 3085 (2003)], these basic miscibility trends, quite distinct from those observed in non-associating solvents, are defining phenomenological characteristics of the “hydrophobic effect.” We find that our theory of mixtures of associating fluids captures at least some of the thermodynamic features of real aqueous mixtures.
Transition path sampling of rare events by shooting from the top
Authors: Jung Hendrik , Okazaki Kei-ichi , Hummer Gerhard
Published: August 2017

Transition path sampling is a powerful tool in the study of rare events. Shooting trial trajectories from configurations along existing transition paths proved particularly efficient in the sampling of reactive trajectories. However, most shooting attempts tend not to result in transition paths, in particular in cases where the transition dynamics has diffusive character. To overcome the resulting efficiency problem, we developed an algorithm for “shooting from the top.” We first define a shooting range through which all paths have to pass and then shoot off trial trajectories only from within this range. For a well chosen shooting range, nearly every shot is successful, resulting in an accepted transition path. To deal with multiple mechanisms, weighted shooting ranges can be used. To cope with the problem of unsuitably placed shooting ranges, we developed an algorithm that iteratively improves the location of the shooting range. The transition path sampling procedure is illustrated for models of diffusive and Langevin dynamics. The method should be particularly useful in cases where the transition paths are long so that only relatively few shots are possible, yet reasonable order parameters are known.
Non-hydrodynamic transverse collective excitations in hard-sphere fluids
Authors: Bryk Taras , Huerta Adrian , Hordiichuk V. , Trokhymchuk A. D.
Published: August 2017

Collective excitations in hard-sphere fluids were studied in a wide range of wave numbers and packing fractions η by means of molecular dynamics simulations. We report the observation of non-hydrodynamic transverse excitations for packing fractions η≥0.395 in the shape of transverse current spectral functions. Dispersion of longitudinal excitations in the whole range of packing fractions shows a negative deviation from the linear hydrodynamic law with increasing wave numbers even for dense hard-sphere fluids where the transverse excitations were observed. These results do not support a recent proposal within the “Frenkel line” approach that the positive sound dispersion in liquids is defined by transverse excitations. We report calculations of the cutoff “Frenkel frequencies” for transverse excitations in hard-sphere fluids and discuss their consistency with the estimated dispersions of shear waves.
Phase diagram of Janus particles: The missing dimension of pressure anisotropy
Authors: Rezvantalab Hossein , Beltran-Villegas Daniel J. , Larson Ronald G.
Published: August 2017

Brownian dynamics simulations of single-patch Janus particles under sedimentation equilibrium reveal that the phases found at fixed temperature and volume fraction are extremely sensitive to small changes in lateral box dimension. We trace this sensitivity to an uncontrolled parameter, namely, the pressure component parallel to the hexagonally ordered layers formed through sedimentation. We employ a flexible-cell constant-pressure scheme to achieve explicit control over this usually overlooked parameter, enabling the estimation of phase behavior under given pressure anisotropy. Our results show an increase in the stability range of an orientationally ordered lamellar phase with lateral layer compression and suggest a novel mechanism to control solid-solid phase transitions with negligible change in system volume, thus showing prospect for design of novel structures and switchable crystals from anisotropic building blocks.
On the mechanism of charge transport in low density polyethylene
Authors: Upadhyay Avnish K. , Reddy C. C.
Published: August 2017

Polyethylene based polymeric insulators, are being increasingly used in the power industry for their inherent advantages over conventional insulation materials. Specifically, modern power cables are almost made with these materials, replacing the mass-impregnated oil-paper cable technology. However, for ultra-high dc voltage applications, the use of these polymeric cables is hindered by ununderstood charge transport and accumulation. The conventional conduction mechanisms (Pool-Frenkel, Schottky, etc.) fail to track high-field charge transport in low density polyethylene, which is semi-crystalline in nature. Until now, attention was devoted mainly to the amorphous region of the material. In this paper, authors propose a novel mechanism for conduction in low density polyethylene, which could successfully track experimental results. As an implication, a novel, substantial relationship is established for electrical conductivity that could be effectively used for understanding conduction and breakdown in polyethylene, which is vital for successful development of ultra-high voltage dc cables.
Determining the wedge angle and optical homogeneity of a glass plate by statistically analyzing the deformation in the wavefront surface
Authors: Yang Pao-Keng
Published: August 2017

By using a light-emitting diode as the probing light source and a Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor as the recorder for the wavefront surface to execute a relative measurement, we present a useful method for determining the small wedge angle and optical homogeneity of a nominally planar glass plate from the wavefront measurements. The measured wavefront surface from the light source was first calibrated to be a horizontal plane before the plate under test was inserted. The wedge angle of the plate can be determined from the inclining angle of the regression plane of the measured wavefront surface after the plate was inserted between the light source and the wavefront sensor. Despite the annoying time-dependent altitude fluctuation in measured wavefront topography, the optical homogeneity of the plate can be estimated from the increment on the average variance of the wavefront surface to its regression plane after the light passes through it by using the Bienaymé formula.
Ion-acoustic solitons do not exist in cylindrical and spherical geometries
Authors: Sheridan T. E.
Published: August 2017

We investigate the time evolution of one-dimensional, compressive, ion acoustic solitary waves for planar, cylindrical, and spherical geometries in a plasma of cold fluid ions and Boltzmann electrons. For cylindrical and spherical geometries, we show that inward (outward) going solitary waves cannot be localized (i.e., always have a tail) since the effect of a unipolar velocity perturbation is to shift ions inward (outward) to smaller (larger) radii, thereby increasing (decreasing) the local ion density. That is, there are no quasi-particle soliton states in the cylindrical and spherical cases. These results are confirmed and expanded using a plasma simulation for the cylindrical case. We initialize the system with an inward propagating planar soliton. We find supersonic solitary waves which increase in speed as they near the origin, while the wave amplitude increases as r−1∕2. All solitary waves develop the predicted tail, but for larger amplitudes, the tail is unstable and evolves into an acoustic wave train.
Measurement technique offers advances in semiconductor technology
Authors: Larter Raima
Published: August 2017

Varying sample temperature dramatically extends range of observation.
All-fabric-based wearable self-charging power cloth
Authors: Song Yu , Zhang Jinxin , Guo Hang , Chen Xuexian , Su Zongming , Chen Haotian , Cheng Xiaoliang , Zhang Haixia
Published: August 2017

We present an all-fabric-based self-charging power cloth (SCPC), which integrates a fabric-based single-electrode triboelectric generator (STEG) and a flexible supercapacitor. To effectively scavenge mechanical energy from the human motion, the STEG could be directly woven among the cloth, exhibiting excellent output capability. Meanwhile, taking advantage of fabric structures with a large surface-area and carbon nanotubes with high conductivity, the wearable supercapacitor exhibits high areal capacitance (16.76 mF/cm2) and stable cycling performance. With the fabric configuration and the aim of simultaneously collecting body motion energy by STEG and storing in supercapacitors, such SCPC could be easily integrated with textiles and charged to nearly 100 mV during the running motion within 6 min, showing great potential in self-powered wearable electronics and smart cloths.
Amplitude quantification in contact-resonance-based voltage-modulated force spectroscopy
Authors: Bradler Stephan , Schirmeisen André , Roling Bernhard
Published: August 2017

Voltage-modulated force spectroscopy techniques, such as electrochemical strain microscopy and piezoresponse force microscopy, are powerful tools for characterizing electromechanical properties on the nanoscale. In order to correctly interpret the results, it is important to quantify the sample motion and to distinguish it from the electrostatic excitation of the cantilever resonance. Here, we use a detailed model to describe the cantilever dynamics in contact resonance measurements, and we compare the results with experimental values. We show how to estimate model parameters from experimental values and explain how they influence the sensitivity of the cantilever with respect to the excitation. We explain the origin of different crosstalk effects and how to identify them. We further show that different contributions to the measured signal can be distinguished by analyzing the correlation between the resonance frequency and the measured amplitude. We demonstrate this technique on two representative test samples: (i) ferroelectric periodically poled lithium niobate, and (ii) the Na+-ion conducting soda-lime float glass. We extend our analysis to higher cantilever bending modes and show that non-local electrostatic excitation is strongly reduced in higher bending modes due to the nodes in the lever shape. Based on our analyses, we present practical guidelines for quantitative imaging.
Uniformity optimization and dynamic studies of plasma jet array interaction in argon
Authors: Wang Ruixue , Sun Hao , Zhu Weidong , Zhang Cheng , Zhang Shuai , Shao Tao
Published: August 2017

In this paper, the uniformity of a microsecond pulse driven argon plasma jet array is studied by optimizing experimental parameters, such as the ground electrode position d, gas flow rate, and pulse frequency. The results show that when d is less than 10 mm, there are always two plasma jets that cannot be ignited; while all jets are ignited with equal length at d = 12.5 mm. The plasma jet transition from laminar to turbulent at 6 l/min, presenting a “bead-like” structure. The jet length increases with the pulse repetition frequency and reaches a plateau at around 1.5 kHz. The ICCD images show that the plasma jets emerged preferably from the two quartz tubings located at the two ends of the linear array. The spatial-temporal resolved spectra show that the Ar emission (763.5 nm) and N2 emission (337.1 nm) at the end of the array (e.g., Jet #1) appeared earlier than that of the jet in the middle (e.g., Jet #2). On the contrary, the emission intensities of Ar in Jet #2 are higher than in Jet #1. This is due to the higher electric field and air diffusion at the plasma array boundary.
Low frequency waves in streaming quantum dusty plasmas
Authors: Rozina Ch. , Jamil M. , Khan Arroj A. , Zeba I. , Saman J.
Published: August 2017

The influence of quantum effects on the excitation of two instabilities, namely quantum dust-acoustic and quantum dust-lower-hybrid waves due to the free streaming of ion/dust particles in uniformly magnetized dusty plasmas has been investigated using a quantum hydrodynamic model. We have obtained dispersion relations under some particular conditions applied on streaming ions and two contrastreaming dust particle beams at equilibrium and have analyzed the growth rates graphically. We have shown that with the increase of both the electron number density and the streaming speed of ion there is enhancement in the instability due to the fact that the dense plasma particle system with more energetic species having a high speed results in the increase of the growth rate in the electrostatic mode. The application of this work has been pointed out for laboratory as well as for space dusty plasmas.
Temperature and field induced spin reorientation and dielectric properties in YCr0.88Fe0.12O3 single crystal
Authors: Yin L. H. , Yang J. , Tong P. , Song W. H. , Dai J. M. , Zhu X. B. , Sun Y. P.
Published: August 2017

The structural, magnetic, and dielectric properties of the YCr0.88Fe0.12O3 single crystals were studied. Detailed magnetic studies demonstrate that the crystal is antiferromagnetic with weak canted ferromagnetism and experiences three sequential magnetic transitions around TN1 ∼ 127.3 K, TN2 ∼ 115.2 K, and TSR ∼ 99.0 K. Interestingly, a temperature induced spin reorientation (SR) near TSR and magnetic field induced SR below TSR were observed. The H–T phase diagram was revealed to be quite different from both parent compounds YFeO3 and YCrO3. A dielectric relaxation around TN1 was found to be associated with electron hopping. An intrinsic magnetoelectric effect was also observed at low temperatures. These results are helpful for understanding the exotic magnetic and magnetoelectric properties in the orthochromite and orthoferrite related systems.
A cross-sectional analysis of local government health and wellbeing plans and priorities in Victoria, Australia
Authors: Alindogan Mark Anthony , Ristevski Eli , Robinson Anske
Published: August 2017

The aim of this study is to explore local health and wellbeing plans and priorities by Victorian local governments (LGs), specifically to: (1) analyse how LG priority areas are described in comparison to the State-level plan; (2) identify differences between regional and metropolitan health priorities; and (3) identify differences between LGs with high and low socioeconomic status. Content analysis of 79 LG health and wellbeing plans was undertaken. Differences in health and wellbeing priorities between LGs were examined using the t-test for two proportions. In total, 20% of the plans did not specify actions to address health priorities. One in three (34%) did not specify how evaluation will be done. Alcohol and other drugs, gambling and housing were prioritised more by metropolitan LGs, whereas disease prevention was prioritised more in regional LGs. There was no significant difference in health and wellbeing priorities of LGs with high and low socioeconomic status except for gambling. State-level health and wellbeing plans should be sensitive to differences in priorities of LGs. There is a need for local plans to commit to specific actions and evaluation. This analysis provides basis for more community-reflective, State-level planning and calls for more emphasis on identifying actions and evaluation in local level planning.
MetaCache: context-aware classification of metagenomic reads using minhashing
Authors: Müller André , Hundt Christian , Hildebrandt Andreas , Hankeln Thomas , Schmidt Bertil
Published: August 2017

Motivation

Metagenomic shotgun sequencing studies are becoming increasingly popular with prominent examples including the sequencing of human microbiomes and diverse environments. A fundamental computational problem in this context is read classification, i.e. the assignment of each read to a taxonomic label. Due to the large number of reads produced by modern high-throughput sequencing technologies and the rapidly increasing number of available reference genomes corresponding software tools suffer from either long runtimes, large memory requirements or low accuracy.

Results

We introduce MetaCache—a novel software for read classification using the big data technique minhashing. Our approach performs context-aware classification of reads by computing representative subsamples of k-mers within both, probed reads and locally constrained regions of the reference genomes. As a result, MetaCache consumes significantly less memory compared to the state-of-the-art read classifiers Kraken and CLARK while achieving highly competitive sensitivity and precision at comparable speed. For example, using NCBI RefSeq draft and completed genomes with a total length of around 140 billion bases as reference, MetaCache’s database consumes only 62 GB of memory while both Kraken and CLARK fail to construct their respective databases on a workstation with 512 GB RAM. Our experimental results further show that classification accuracy continuously improves when increasing the amount of utilized reference genome data.

Availability and implementation

MetaCache is open source software written in C ++ and can be downloaded at http://github.com/muellan/metacache.

Supplementary information

Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Electoral Systems and Citizen-Elite Ideological Congruence
Authors: Golder Matt , Ferland Benjamin
Published: August 2017

Electoral rules play an important role in determining citizen-elite ideological congruence. This is because they influence each stage of the representation process as one moves from citizen preferences to policy outcomes. Electoral rules directly affect ideological congruence due to the way they shape citizen preferences and the composition of party systems, legislatures, and governments. Electoral rules can also have an indirect effect on ideological congruence through the incentives they create for elite responsiveness and their impact on descriptive representation. In addition to reviewing the existing literature, this chapter suggests new avenues for future research. In particular, it suggests that significant gains can be made by addressing ideological congruence and responsiveness in a unified theoretical framework and by having more interaction between scholars of ideological congruence and those interested in descriptive and substantive representation.
Electoral Systems in Authoritarian States
Authors: Gandhi Jennifer , Heller Abigail L.
Published: August 2017

The literature on the choice and effects of electoral rules in autocracies tends to focus on the dictator’s preferences. However, it is important to recognize that even the most powerful autocrats choose rules under constraints. The constraints may come in the form of opposition actors who threaten the regime or the dictator’s own limited information or knowledge about how the rules work and the distribution of preferences among the electorate. The uncertainty over voter preferences is a particularly acute problem for autocracies where coercion and manipulation are rampant, and the expression of sincere preferences through media and electoral polls is limited. These tactics enable autocrats to win elections but may condition the effects of electoral rules, making the choice of rules difficult. The end result may be that the problem of electoral choice is more difficult for autocrats even if they face fewer formal institutional constraints than their democratic counterparts.
Economic Performance and Political Trust
Authors: van der Meer Tom W.G.
Published: August 2017

The relationships among objective macroeconomic outcomes, subjective evaluations, and political trust are widely studied. Yet, these relationships are not as straightforward as they might seem. This chapter first provides an overview of the main theoretical propositions in the literature as well as their critiques. Next, the chapter analyzes empirical analyses of the relationship between economic performance and political trust. While subjective evaluations of the economy are consistently related to political trust across the globe, the effect of objective macroeconomic performance depends on theoretical and methodological specifications. Objective performance indicators determine political trust in longitudinal rather than in cross-sectional analyses, suggesting that citizens’ historical rather than cross-national comparison of the state of their economy lies at the basis of this effect.
The Causes and Consequences of Increased Female Education and Labor Force Participation in Developing Countries
Authors: Heath Rachel , Jayachandran Seema
Published: August 2017

Two important recent trends in most developing countries are the rise in female labor force participation and the closing of gender gaps in school enrollment. This article begins by exploring the causes of the increases in female education, which include greater job availability and policy interventions that have promoted girls’ education. The article then explores the causes of increased female employment, which include a sectoral shift from “brawn-based” industries to services, as well as policies that have increased girls’ education. The article also discusses the effects of these increases in female education and labor supply, particularly for the well-being of women.
Painting
Authors: Pattison George
Published: August 2017

In the wake of the Romantic movement, Christian theologians gave renewed attention to the arts, including painting, which entered one of its most turbulent phases in the nineteenth century. The chapter examines the revalorization of the Middle Ages as the epitome of a Christian culture; symbolism, especially as represented in the English painter G. F. Watts; and the emergence of French modernism as a secularizing tendency. Constructively, the chapter demonstrates that the nineteenth century can still provide a significant resource for reflection on theology and painting. Critically, it finds nineteenth-century theology was unprepared for the dramatic convulsions of the early twentieth century that would transform the landscape of modern art.
Education and Its Institutions
Authors: Purvis Zachary
Published: August 2017

For theological education, the nineteenth century was one of the most creative and tumultuous periods in the history of Christian thought. Patterns of both deconfessionalization and theological renewal, changes in Church–state relations, the rise of the modern research university in Berlin, and new fields like religious studies all contributed to the displacement of theology as the ‘queen of the sciences’ in the wake of the Enlightenment, the French Revolution, and the Napoleonic era. This chapter examines some of the major developments, including the institutionalization of Protestant theology in the modern research university, key issues confronting Catholic scholarship, and the inception of the seminary in North America. Finally, it discusses the challenges modern academic theology faced in its increasing appeal to the political community of the modern nation-state and the academic community of science, rather than Christianity’s historic creeds, confessions, and traditions of ecclesiastical authority.
The Novel
Authors: Tate Andrew
Published: August 2017

The nineteenth-century novel in English is frequently defined by a theological shape. Fiction was sometimes regarded with suspicion by Christian readers, particularly those shaped by the legacies of the Puritan tradition. Yet alternative understandings of the pervasive influence of evangelical culture emphasize a more complex relationship with the novel, even after the advent of the ‘Higher’ biblical criticism. The chapter builds on Callum Brown’s analysis of what he names the ‘salvation economy’: a matrix of evangelical sermons, hymnody, and popular narrative shaped British culture in the nineteenth century. Conversion, fundamental in evangelicalism, is also a frequent trope in popular fiction. The chapter examines the animating presence of Christian thought in novels by, for example, Charles Dickens, Mary Ward, Emma Jane Worboise, and the Brontë sisters. The chapter gives particular focus to George Eliot whose fiction challenges assumptions regarding the apparent binaries of faith and scepticism and sacred and profane.
War
Authors: Johnson James Turner
Published: August 2017

The ‘long’ nineteenth century was a time of contradictions in Christian thinking on war. Loss of the just war idea, transformed into a theory of the ‘law of nations’, opened the door to more extreme Christian perspectives: abolition of war versus support for war to achieve moral reform. During the Napoleonic wars, English evangelical Christians labelled those wars divine punishment for England’s immorality but did not oppose the struggle against Napoleon, while Kant’s essay ‘Eternal Peace’ defined peace in terms of opposition to all war. The Quakers and the Mennonites and Brethren embraced a specifically Christian rejection of war. By mid-century a newly assertive and militant evangelical Christianity countered this, supporting use of military force to serve Christian ideals. By century’s end prominent Christian thinking had returned to the ideal of abolishing war, but this time through international agreements and organizations. This chapter follows Christian thought through these contradictory phases.
Three-Way Systems do not Exist
Authors: Müller Gereon , Thomas Daniela
Published: August 2017

This chapter argues that argument encoding systems that seem to involve three syntactic core cases (nominative/absolutive, ergative, accusative) are actually common ergative or accusative systems syntactically, with overt case markers for each of the two cases that disappear in intransitive contexts. Based on evidence from Kham, Djapu, Nez Perce, Upriver Halkomelem, and Dyirbal, it shows that a purely morphological approach to differential marking in terms of scale-driven optimization via harmonic alignment and local conjunction (based on Aissen (2003)) can derive these systems straightforwardly if a transitivity scale is postulated in addition to the standard definiteness, animacy, and person scales (Hale (1972), Silverstein (1976)). Since apparent three-way systems usually also involve differential marking sensitive to Hale/Silverstein scales, a conservative extension to (in)transitivity suggests itself. The final parts shows that the new morphological approach is either directly supported by, or at least compatible with, the available syntactic evidence.
On the Morphosyntactic Reflexes of Information Structure in the Ergative Patterning of Inuit Language
Authors: Johns Alana , Kucerova Ivona
Published: August 2017

This chapter argues – closely following the insights of Berge (2011) – that the ergative clause structure of the Inuit language is conditioned by information structure properties, more precisely by its topic comment properties. It articulates a formal model where the morphosyntactic properties result from this information structure trigger. Furthermore it shows that not only does the model correctly account for the split case and agreement properties of the Inuit language, but also other relevant properties discussed in the literature, i.e., scope properties of objects and aspect. It is also argued that objects in this language are introduced through an applicative head (Basilico 2012), after which they either topicalize or get assigned oblique case.
Deconstructing Iranian Ergativity
Authors: Haig Geoffrey
Published: August 2017

This chapter provides an overview of the alignment splits found in most Iranian languages, focussing on their historical emergence, and their currently attested variability. Following Haig (2008), the origins of ergativity in Iranian are linked to pre-existing, non-canonical subject constructions typically involving Benefactives, External Possessors, and Experiencers, which then extended to clauses with participial predicates expressing agentive semantics. The current variation found in the ergative-like constructions is illustrated through three case-studies of dialectal microvariation: Kurdish, Balochi, and Taleshi. It is argued that the variation in the ergative constructions of the modern languages should be viewed as resulting from the interplay of partially independent changes working through distinct sub-systems, in particular case-marking, agreement, and pronominal clitic systems, rather than in terms of monolithic shifts from one alignment type to another. From this perspective, ergativity is merely a taxonomic label for a particular constellation of case and agreement features, with no more theoretical significance than any of the other attested constellations.
Intransitivity and the Development of Ergative Alignment
Authors: Aldridge Edith
Published: August 2017

This chapter surveys pathways that have been proposed for how ergative alignment develops diachronically in an accusative language. The most common source cited for ergative alignment is a clausal nominalization. This is because the v (or n) in the nominalization has the same case-licensing featural composition as transitive v in an ergative language: 1) the external argument in the specifier is assigned inherent (typically genitive) case; and 2) there is no structural licensing capability for an object. After reanalysis, the external argument continues to receive inherent case, and the object values nominative case with T, resulting in an ergative pattern in transitive clauses. Other proposed sources are also typically intransitive constructions lacking accusative objects and in which the external argument is assigned inherent case or is packaged as a PP, for example possessive constructions and passives
Ergativity and Language Change in Austronesian Languages
Authors: Kikusawa Ritsuko
Published: August 2017

The focus of this chapter is change that takes place in the case-alignment patterns found in pronominal systems in Austronesian languages. Three sets of changes that resulted in a shift from an ergative to a different alignment system are described, namely, a case from an ergative to an inverse system that was probably triggered by a word order change; one from an ergative to an accusative system as a result of a merger of two pronominal sets; and an ergative to accusative change as a result of change in the distribution of morphological forms. For each, the mechanisms by which the changes took place and their preconditions are described. Since the methodology for morphosyntactic comparison and reconstruction is not yet well established, how the changes described here relate to the general principles of comparative (historical) linguistics is also explained.
A Comparative Study of the Acquisition of Nominative and Ergative Alignment in European and Mayan Languages
Authors: Pye Clifton , Pfeiler Barbara
Published: August 2017

This chapter compares the acquisition of nominative clitic and agreement markers in French and Spanish with the acquisition of person marking in the Mayan languages Wastek, Yukatek, Ch’ol and K’iche’. Whereas Spanish has a full nominative agreement paradigm on verbs, French relies upon pronominal clitics to mark person. Mayan languages use ergative and absolutive person markers. The acquisition data provide independent evidence for the clitic or agreement nature of the ergative and absolutive morphemes. Children acquired the ergative morphemes differently in the four Mayan languages indicating that the ergative morphemes are linguistically distinct. Only the Yukatek children’s production of the absolutive markers was similar to children’s production of agreement in Spanish. The results indicate that only absolutive agreement in Yukatek can be identified with nominative agreement in Spanish. A simple dichotomy between clitic and agreement does not explain the different production profiles of Mayan children.
Ergativity in Basque
Authors: Berro Ane , Etxepare Ricardo
Published: August 2017

This chapter provides an overview of ergative case and agreement in Basque by concentrating on their morphological and syntactic distribution as well as on their interaction with other aspects of verbal and nominal inflection, such as plurality, person morphology or Tense. This chapter carefully examines the event configurations in which ergative case and agreement are licensed in Basque by extending the discussion beyond the domain of verbal predicates to include non-verbal ones (nominal or adjectival). The most influential hypotheses concerning the status of ergative case and agreement in Basque are critically reviewed and their connection to more general approaches to ergativity is underlined. The chapter offers a synthetic view of the most relevant theoretical and descriptive contributions realized in the area of Basque ergativity during the last decennia.
Ergativity in Nakh–Daghestanian
Authors: Forker Diana
Published: August 2017

This chapter presents an analysis of ergativity and more general alignment in the Nakh-Daghestanian (or East Caucasian) language family. The surveyed constructions are gender and person agreement on verbs, case marking, valency changing operations, imperatives, reflexive and reciprocal constructions, conjunction reduction, complement control and the lexicon. In accordance with previous studies on this topic, I show that the evidence for ergativity is mainly to be found in the morphology. The syntactic alignment shows tendencies towards accusativity or neutral, but clearly no indications for ergative subjects. This is in line with researchers such as Kibrik who describes Nakh-Daghestanian languages as dominated by (semantic) roles.
Ergativity in Neo-Aramaic
Authors: Khan Geoffrey
Published: August 2017

Ergativity is found in dialects of Neo-Aramaic that are spoken in regions where there has been extensive contact with Iranian languages, especially Kurdish, over many generations. All such Neo-Aramaic dialects are split ergative, with ergativity found only in verbs with the perfective stem or resultative participles, and the marking of ergativity is by cross-referencing on the verb. The constructions include a type that conforms to split-S morphological ergativity and an assortment of hybrid variations in which there are differing degrees of levelling with the nominative—accusative morphosyntax of imperfective stem verbal forms. These hybrid systems exhibit the alignment of argument cross-referencing but not the morphological markedness of cases characteristic of nominative—accusative systems, morphological markedness of cases based on transitive properties of dynamicity and punctuality rather than argument structure and various degrees of reduction of the distribution of the unmarked absolutive marking of the object in transitive clauses.
Ergativity in Africa
Authors: Konig Christa
Published: August 2017

Perhaps the most striking feature with regard to ergativity in Africa is its absence. Africa has long been seen as a continent without ergativity. Today a number of languages are being mentioned in the literature as having ergative features, even if only one language can be said to have a full-fledged ergative case system, namely Shilluk. Ergativity in Africa is closely related to marked nominative, where split systems are the norm. Ergativity is areally restricted to Eastern Africa, and runs genetically predominantly through the West Nilotic family of Nilo-Saharan. Ergativity is related to an odd OVA/SV word order pattern. There are different attempts that have been made to explain the emergence of ergativity from an historical perspective. The question whether marked nominative was first and ergativity second or the other way round is discussed controversially in the literature.
Interaction of Ergativity and Information Structure in Jaminjung (Australia)
Authors: Schultze-Berndt Eva
Published: August 2017

This chapter presents a survey of ergativity in Jaminjung, a Mindi language of northern Australia. Jaminjung is morphologically ergative but displays nominative-accusative traits in several syntactic constructions. It also exhibits differential (“optional”) agent marking since in most environments, ergative case may be present or absent, depending on multiple factors. These include factors which are known to trigger splits in split ergative systems – animacy, degree of impingement on the patient, and aspect – but also information structure: the presence of ergative marking strongly correlates with focus. A further interesting phenomenon is the occasional use of the ablative case as an alternative to the ergative case in marking agents, also related to information structure, verb class and animacy. Taking a construction-based perspective, it is argued that agent marking in Jaminjung is neither purely lexically nor purely structurally determined, but can be accounted for by a number of violable constraints, without strict ranking.
Split Ergativity in Syntax and at Morphological Spellout
Authors: Woolford Ellen
Published: August 2017

In a split ergative case pattern, not all subjects that could be marked with ergative case are. A language with a split ergative case pattern is called a split ergative language, but linguists disagree as to what other properties qualify a language as split ergative: an ergative case pattern in combination with a nominative-accusative agreement pattern, or an ergative case and agreement pattern in a language where no syntactic rules make reference to ergative case, or a language with two classes of verbs, only one of which takes an ergative subject. This chapter illustrates the well-known types of ergative splits involving person and aspect, and a range of less well-known types involving stage versus individual level predicates, proximate versus obviate subjects, and different social contexts. Most ergative splits appear to be present in syntax, with the clear exception of person splits which are argued to be purely morphological.
Phenomenology of Light
Authors: Pentcheva Bissera V.
Published: August 2017

Focusing on the glitter of gold in a fourteenth-century Byzantine cross—today inserted in the famous reliquary of Cardinal Bessarion, Venice, Gallerie dell’Accademia—this chapter uncovers the important role phenomenology plays in the study of the spiritual operations of medieval art. The analysis draws on the inscriptions written on the cross in order to explore how gold’s sparkle functions as a vision of Paradise nourished by the Byzantine liturgy. This renewed engagement with the ephemerality of coruscation challenges the current neo-materialist turn in the humanities invested in semiotics, and argues by contrast that medieval matter is a medium of the spirit, whose descent and in-dwelling unfolds as a sensually saturated event and experience. Glitter, this chapter contends, enacts an optical manifestation—temporal and kinaesthetic—of divine ‘nearness’.
The Arabic Novel and History
Authors: Allen Roger
Published: August 2017

This chapter examines the relationship between the Arabic novel and history within the context of the Arabic-speaking world, and in particular the process of producing a literary history of the novel genre written in Arabic. It first considers the early development of the novel genre in Arabic as part of a cultural movement that gained impetus in the nineteenth century, with particular emphasis on the interplay of two cultural forces: the importation of Western ideas (including literary genres) and the role of the premodern Arab-Islamic cultural heritage in each subregion. It then discusses examples of narrative from the premodern heritage of Arabic literature before turning to the history of the Arabic novel. The chapter also presents examples of the Arabic historical novel, one of which is Sālim Ḥimmīsh’s Al-‘Allāma (2001, The Polymath).
Egypt since 1960
Authors: Abdel-Messih Marie-Thérèse
Published: August 2017

This chapter examines the development of the novel in Egypt since 1960, with particular emphasis on the processes undergone by fiction writing in a period of rapid transformations. It first considers how Egypt’s defeat in the Six Day War against Israel in 1967 raised more inquiries into national history and promoted a new outlook on local and global relations, leading to increasing innovation in novelistic form. It then explores works by various authors who sought to rewrite the past, to narrate the nation in a counter-discourse that emphasizes the right to sovereignty, to represent the marginalized masses and the Nubian Diaspora, and to shape an alternative modernity. It also discusses Egyptian novels by writers using Arabic in Diaspora who challenged established constructs that have excluded those living in the periphery, along with those who represented ephemeral subjectivities.
Iraq
Authors: Bahoora Haytham
Published: August 2017

This chapter examines the development of the novel in Iraq. It first considers the beginnings of prose narrative in Iraq, using the intermingling of the short story and the novel, particularly in the first half of the twentieth century, as a framework for reassessing the formal qualities of the Arabic novel. It then turns to romantic and historical novels published in the 1920s, as well as novels dealing with social issues like poverty and the condition of peasants in the countryside. It discusses the narrative emergence of the bourgeois intellectual’s self-awareness and interiority in Iraqi fiction, especially the novella; works that continued the expression of a critical social realism in the Iraqi novelistic tradition and the appearance of modernist aesthetics; and narratives that addressed dictatorship and war in Iraq. The chapter concludes with an overview of the novel genre in Iraq after 2003.
Kuwait
Authors: Tijani Olatunbosun Ishaq
Published: August 2017

This chapter discusses the development of the novelistic tradition in Kuwait. It first provides an overview of the beginnings of modern Kuwaiti literature, focusing on the efflorescence of the short story and the rise and maturation of the novel genre. It then considers Kuwaiti novels that depicted the events and effects of the Iraq-Kuwait War of 1990–1991, led by Walīd al-Rujayb’s Ṭalqa fī ṣadr al-shamāl (1992, A Shot in the Chest of the North). It also examines works that tackled the social conditions of Kuwaiti society in pre-oil and post-oil times, gender inequality, and other social justice issues such as immigration, poverty, and the Bidūn question. Finally, it charts the emergence of the historical and the philosophical novel, along with science fiction, as subgenres of the Kuwaiti novel.
Qatar
Authors: Saleem Mohammad Mostafa
Published: August 2017

This chapter discusses the beginnings of the novelistic tradition in Qatar, as well as the achievements of the Qatari novel during 1993–2015. It begins with an overview of the conditions that set the stage for the emergence of modern Arabic literature in the societies of the Arabian Gulf, including Qatar. Three major influences on the development of modern literature in Qatar are identified: oil, journalism, and education, especially of women. The chapter discusses the pioneers of the Qatari novel and considers novels that focused on the intellectual in situations of personal-political crisis. Finally, it examines two major trends in Qatari literature: the emergence of the historical novel and works by Qatari women authors.