title: Ninde: A Grammar Sketch and Topics in Nominal Morphology

authors: Murray, Jean Christine

subjects: linguistics

abstract: Ninde: A Grammar Sketch and Topics in Nominal Morphology is a linguistic description of some of the grammatical topics of the Ninde language of Southwest Bay, Malekula, Vanuatu. The data for this project was collected over a two-year period from native speakers both in New Zealand and Vanuatu. In total, 87 files consisting of traditional stories, translated school readers, process explanations and other materials were collected, of which 32 have corresponding audio files. The description gives a brief account of Ninde phonology, nouns and nominal morphology, verbs and verbal morphology and clause structure. Ninde has three main noun classes: common nouns, personal nouns and local nouns. Ninde is a head-initial language with modifiers found postnominally. Ninde possession marking is in the process of undergoing change. Verbs consist of two main classes: transitive verbs and intransitive verbs. Further, intransitive verbs contain the subclass of stative verbs. Morphologically transitive verbs can decrease valence by reduplication. There is a set of bound preverbal subject indexes that agree with the grammatical subject in person and number. In addition to the subject index, there is an additional preverbal marker which encodes the two-way future and non-future tense distinction. There are eight aspectual markers, which encode aspectual meaning such as duration, attenuation and continuation. Like many Malekula languages, Ninde is nominative/accusative with SVO word order. The analysis for this process was carried out under the framework of language typology.

text: Ninde: A Grammar Sketch and Topics in Nominal Morphology Ninde: A Grammar Sketch and Topics in Nominal Morphology is a linguistic description of some of the grammatical topics of the Ninde language of Southwest Bay, Malekula, Vanuatu. The data for this project was collected over a two-year period from native speakers both in New Zealand and Vanuatu. In total, 87 files consisting of traditional stories, translated school readers, process explanations and other materials were collected, of which 32 have corresponding audio files. The description gives a brief account of Ninde phonology, nouns and nominal morphology, verbs and verbal morphology and clause structure. Ninde has three main noun classes: common nouns, personal nouns and local nouns. Ninde is a head-initial language with modifiers found postnominally. Ninde possession marking is in the process of undergoing change. Verbs consist of two main classes: transitive verbs and intransitive verbs. Further, intransitive verbs contain the subclass of stative verbs. Morphologically transitive verbs can decrease valence by reduplication. There is a set of bound preverbal subject indexes that agree with the grammatical subject in person and number. In addition to the subject index, there is an additional preverbal marker which encodes the two-way future and non-future tense distinction. There are eight aspectual markers, which encode aspectual meaning such as duration, attenuation and continuation. Like many Malekula languages, Ninde is nominative/accusative with SVO word order. The analysis for this process was carried out under the framework of language typology.

year: 2018

title: Effects of energy threshold and dead time on Compton camera performance

authors: Uche, Chibueze Zimuzo

subjects: Compton camera

abstract: We study the effects of energy threshold and dead time on the sensitivity and image resolution of the Compton camera. The simulation model includes the decay times, detection time jitters, energy threshold and detector dead time as well as basic detector parameters such as Doppler broadening, energy resolution and finite detector resolution. The GEANT4 toolkit was used to model the camera geometry and performance for two common nuclear medicine energies that correspond to 99mTc (140.5 keV) and ¹⁸F (511 keV) radiotracers. Results without the energy threshold and time effects show good agreement with previous studies. For 140.5 keV, the inclusion of energy threshold improved image resolution from 10.7 to 9.5 mm with a source-to-detector distance of 5 cm, while the inclusion of time effects made no further difference on resolution. The energy threshold reduced the sensitivity by 48%, and subsequent inclusion of time effects further reduced the sensitivity by 17%. At 511 keV, the application of energy threshold reduced the sensitivity by 6%, while the time effects dominated count rate losses with further reduction of 13%. However, the inclusion of the two effects had negligible impact on the resolution.

text: Effects of energy threshold and dead time on Compton camera performance We study the effects of energy threshold and dead time on the sensitivity and image resolution of the Compton camera. The simulation model includes the decay times, detection time jitters, energy threshold and detector dead time as well as basic detector parameters such as Doppler broadening, energy resolution and finite detector resolution. The GEANT4 toolkit was used to model the camera geometry and performance for two common nuclear medicine energies that correspond to 99mTc (140.5 keV) and ¹⁸F (511 keV) radiotracers. Results without the energy threshold and time effects show good agreement with previous studies. For 140.5 keV, the inclusion of energy threshold improved image resolution from 10.7 to 9.5 mm with a source-to-detector distance of 5 cm, while the inclusion of time effects made no further difference on resolution. The energy threshold reduced the sensitivity by 48%, and subsequent inclusion of time effects further reduced the sensitivity by 17%. At 511 keV, the application of energy threshold reduced the sensitivity by 6%, while the time effects dominated count rate losses with further reduction of 13%. However, the inclusion of the two effects had negligible impact on the resolution.

year: 2011

title: ‘Revolting murder at Te Aroha’ in 1881

authors: Hart, Philip

abstract: The brutal murder of Hamiona Haira, who had been mining with his two brothers and his father-in-law, shocked the new settlement. Being a member of Ngati Koi and Ngati Hako, these hapu threatened utu on the Pakeha responsible, causing both Maori and Pakeha miners to abandon their claims at Tui. Suspicion immediately fell on John Procoffy, a Finn, and evidence was quickly collected, officials being anxious to obtain a speedy conviction to avoid an innocent Pakeha being killed in revenge. Rangatira agreed to let the courts deal with the case, although some Pakeha criticized the government for being too anxious to appease Maori.
After a coroner’s inquest, which included Maori as members of the jury, returned a verdict of murder by ‘person or persons unknown’, Procoffy faced two trials. As the prosecution was handicapped by the limitations of contemporary forensic skills, its case was largely circumstantial. Although the police were certain they had their murderer, others were not convinced, and there was a reluctance to convict because of the death penalty. The final outcome was a verdict of not guilty, which, as was pointed out, should have been ‘not proven’. 
Procoffy fled the country. His acquittal was accepted by Maori leaders, and calm returned to Te Aroha.

text: ‘Revolting murder at Te Aroha’ in 1881 The brutal murder of Hamiona Haira, who had been mining with his two brothers and his father-in-law, shocked the new settlement. Being a member of Ngati Koi and Ngati Hako, these hapu threatened utu on the Pakeha responsible, causing both Maori and Pakeha miners to abandon their claims at Tui. Suspicion immediately fell on John Procoffy, a Finn, and evidence was quickly collected, officials being anxious to obtain a speedy conviction to avoid an innocent Pakeha being killed in revenge. Rangatira agreed to let the courts deal with the case, although some Pakeha criticized the government for being too anxious to appease Maori.
After a coroner’s inquest, which included Maori as members of the jury, returned a verdict of murder by ‘person or persons unknown’, Procoffy faced two trials. As the prosecution was handicapped by the limitations of contemporary forensic skills, its case was largely circumstantial. Although the police were certain they had their murderer, others were not convinced, and there was a reluctance to convict because of the death penalty. The final outcome was a verdict of not guilty, which, as was pointed out, should have been ‘not proven’. 
Procoffy fled the country. His acquittal was accepted by Maori leaders, and calm returned to Te Aroha.

year: 2016