Learning local substitutable context-free languages from positive examples in polynomial time and data by reduction

International audienceTo study more formally the approach by reduction initiated by ReGLiS, we propose a formal characterization of the grammars in reduced normal form (RNF) which can be learned by this approach. A modification of the core of ReGLiS is then proposed to ensure returning RNF grammars in polynomial time. This enables us to show that local substitutable languages represented by RNF context-free grammars are identifiable in polynomial time and thick data (IPTtD) from positive examples

Learning local substitutable context-free languages from positive examples in polynomial time and data by reduction

International audienceTo study more formally the approach by reduction initiated by ReGLiS, we propose a formal characterization of the grammars in reduced normal form (RNF) which can be learned by this approach. A modification of the core of ReGLiS is then proposed to ensure returning RNF grammars in polynomial time. This enables us to show that local substitutable languages represented by RNF context-free grammars are identifiable in polynomial time and thick data (IPTtD) from positive examples

Making viability sustainable

Conventionally, the neoclassical economic discourse is used to interpret sustainability. Sustainability is regarded as an economic problem and sustainability policies focus on maintaining various forms of capital. This approach is conceptually inadequate and it is unable to recognise or correct systemic non‐sustainability that perpetuates unsustainable behaviour.This thesis challenges the epistemological authority of neoclassical economics as being an appropriate policy framework for creating effective sustainability policy.The extent, significance and persistence of sustainability issues suggest thatremediation is beyond the capacity of conventional policy approaches. The newunderstandings of complexity and uncertainty make new conceptual andmethodological demands on policy makers. The dominance and intransigence ofthe neoclassical economic episteme means that changes towards sustainability aremore than simple reform processes; conceptual and cognitive change is needed.This thesis suggests that economics needs to be, and can be, reconceptualised and reframed within a sustainability‐informed ontology that includes economic, social, cultural and ecological layers. It describes a Viability Analysis framework that accommodates pluralist, multidimensional viability constructs. It proposes a sustainability‐informed system of national accounts in which economic activity is recalibrated with qualitative data within a reconceptualised sustainability‐informed taxonomy of categories. The sustainability‐informed system of national accounts provides policy makers and businesses with information that can be used to steer economic activity towards sustainability paths. Using an opt‐in approach, businesses can qualify for lower tax rates by demonstrating their movement towards sustainability. By framing economics within a sustainability‐informed ontology and accounting narrative, a symbiosis between economics and sustainability is possible so that sustainable behaviour can be economically viable, and economic viability can be sustainable

Organizational performance: a study of China's large construction state owned enterprises

China's construction state-owned enterprises (SOEs) remain tormented by impotent long-term competitiveness and lack of knowledge about how to adapt to the market economy environment. This study investigates the interaction between firms' external environment, internal resources and competences, and organisational performance. By combining industrial/organisational theory and the resource-based view, this research explores the relations between large construction SOEs and their organisational performance under evolving environmental factors. The study uses structural equations modelling of questionnaire survey data to analyse the inter-relationships of the external environment and organisations' resources and competences. Internal resources and competences are important in determining SOEs' organisational performance

Construir el diálogo científico en la Matemática: la búsqueda del equilibrio entre símbolos y palabras en artículos de investigación sobre Teoría de Juegos

Maestría en Inglés con Orientación en Lingüística AplicadaMost scientific communication is conducted in English, which may be a difficult task and a source of obstacles for researchers whose primary language is not English (Bitchenera & Basturkmen, 2006; Borlogan, 2009; Duff, 2010; Matsuda & Matsuda, 2010). As a matter of concern for language scholars, this situation requires at least two actions: (1) the development of research focused on the problems faced by researchers when writing in a foreign language, and (2) the design and implementation of pedagogical and didactic programmes or services aimed at providing researchers with the tools to enhance their linguistic and rhetorical skills. In both cases, the ultimate objective of these lines of action is to help researchers integrate into and interact with their knowledge communities in an independent, active and successful way. Considering those needs and the emerging interest in English as a lingua franca or as an international language, many scholars have devoted to studying the features of writing and language use across the world and across disciplines (Hyland, 2004; Matsuda & Matsuda, 2010; Mercado, 2010). However, few have explored the case of Mathematics (Lemke, 2002; Morgan, 2008; O’Halloran, 2005; Schleppegrell, 2007), and even fewer have investigated the discourse of scientific research articles (SRA) in this discipline (Graves & Moghadassi, 2013, 2014). In view of this situation, investigation of the discourse of science in the field of Mathematics (Game Theory - GT) as used in the Institute of Applied Mathematics (IMASL), at the National University of San Luis (UNSL), becomes both an answer to local researchers’ needs and an attempt to contribute to current research in writing, evaluative discourse and use of English as an international language for the communication of science. Thus, the main objective of this work is to conduct a comparative description between unpublished GT SRAs written in English by IMASL researchers and published GT SRAs written in English by international authors, in terms of linguistic features used to build authorship and authorial stance. The exploration of the genre is made from the perspective of the system of Appraisal (Hood, 2010; Martin & White, 2005; White, 2000), with the aid of Corpus Linguistics (CL) tools (Cheng, 2012; Meyer, 2002; Tognini-Bonelli, 2001). The results of this research are expected to be useful for the enhancement of knowledge of language professionals devoted to the teaching of writing as well as translation, proofreading, editing and reviewing services. A further goal is to lay the foundations for the production of didactic material which can potentially be incorporated into writing courses or professional writing, translation, reviewing and proofreading training programmes.Fil: Lucero Arrua, Graciela Beatriz. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Lenguas; Argentina

Acquiring and Harnessing Verb Knowledge for Multilingual Natural Language Processing

Advances in representation learning have enabled natural language processing models to derive non-negligible linguistic information directly from text corpora in an unsupervised fashion. However, this signal is underused in downstream tasks, where they tend to fall back on superficial cues and heuristics to solve the problem at hand. Further progress relies on identifying and filling the gaps in linguistic knowledge captured in their parameters. The objective of this thesis is to address these challenges focusing on the issues of resource scarcity, interpretability, and lexical knowledge injection, with an emphasis on the category of verbs. To this end, I propose a novel paradigm for efficient acquisition of lexical knowledge leveraging native speakers’ intuitions about verb meaning to support development and downstream performance of NLP models across languages. First, I investigate the potential of acquiring semantic verb classes from non-experts through manual clustering. This subsequently informs the development of a two-phase semantic dataset creation methodology, which combines semantic clustering with fine-grained semantic similarity judgments collected through spatial arrangements of lexical stimuli. The method is tested on English and then applied to a typologically diverse sample of languages to produce the first large-scale multilingual verb dataset of this kind. I demonstrate its utility as a diagnostic tool by carrying out a comprehensive evaluation of state-of-the-art NLP models, probing representation quality across languages and domains of verb meaning, and shedding light on their deficiencies. Subsequently, I directly address these shortcomings by injecting lexical knowledge into large pretrained language models. I demonstrate that external manually curated information about verbs’ lexical properties can support data-driven models in tasks where accurate verb processing is key. Moreover, I examine the potential of extending these benefits from resource-rich to resource-poor languages through translation-based transfer. The results emphasise the usefulness of human-generated lexical knowledge in supporting NLP models and suggest that time-efficient construction of lexicons similar to those developed in this work, especially in under-resourced languages, can play an important role in boosting their linguistic capacity.ESRC Doctoral Fellowship [ES/J500033/1], ERC Consolidator Grant LEXICAL [648909

Skills substitution and trust: a new conception of attitude towards AI in a-HRM

Attitude towards new technologies depends on different factors. In case of AI (artificial intelligence), workers may perceive their own skills as easily substitutable and look at their job as likely to be replaced. This perception may have negative impact on their acceptance towards implementation of intelligent machines and automation, if there wouldn’t be a well based trust on the improvements brought by these technologies. Unfolding from such considerations, we have collected data from a diversified sample of 183 workers and requested a bootstrapped estimate from 5,000 samples. As a result, we propose a mediated process between skills substitution and perceived overall job replacement, moderated by trust, which leads to attitude towards AI in a-HRM (automated human resources management). Surprisingly for high substitution perceptions, workers manifested more positive attitude towards AI. This provided big room of discussion and great enrichments in current literature; plus considerable practical implication in understanding workers behaviors face automation investments in companies.A atitude em relação às novas tecnologias depende de diferentes fatores. No caso da IA (inteligência artificial), os trabalhadores podem perceber as próprias competências como facilmente substituíveis e perceber a instabilidade do seu trabalho. Essa perceção pode ter um impacto negativo na aceitação da implementação de máquinas inteligentes e de investimentos em automação, se não houvesse uma confiança bem fundamentada nas melhorias trazidas por essas tecnologias. Começando de tais considerações, coletamos dados de uma amostra diversificada de 183 trabalhadores e solicitamos uma bootstrapped estimate de 5.000 amostras. Como resultado, propomos um modelo mediado entre a substituição de competências e a perceção geral da substituição do trabalho, moderada pela confiança, o que leva a atitude face as IA em a-HRM (automated human resources management). Surpreendentemente, para perceções de alta substituição, os trabalhadores manifestaram uma atitude mais positiva em relação as IA. Isso proporcionou grande espaço de discussão e grandes enriquecimentos na literatura atual, mais implicações práticas fundamentais na compreensão dos comportamentos dos trabalhadores em frente aos investimentos em automação nas empresas

Labour market and skills in the Western Balkans

This book presents research into the role of the labour force skills in underpinning future economic growth in the Western Balkans. It sets out the most recent thinking on the relation between skills and the labour market and between education systems and skill formation. This book, written by members of the LSEE Research Network on Social Cohesion in collaboration with the Foundation for the Advancement of Economics in Belgrade has been conceived in response to a growing need for policy recommendations related to labour markets and skills mismatch in the region

Energy Biased Technical Change: A CGE Analysis

This paper studies energy bias in technical change. For this purpose, we develop a computable general equilibrium model that builds on endogenous growth models. The model explicitly captures links between energy, the rate and direction of technical change, and the economy. We derive the equilibrium determinants of biased technical change and show the importance of feedback in technical change, substitution possibilities between final goods, and general-equilibrium effects for the equilibrium bias. If the feedback effect is strong, or the substitution elasticity large, or both, our model tends to a corner solution in which only technologies are developed that are appropriate for production of non-energy intensive goods.Computable general-equilibrium models, Endogenous technical change, Energy, Environment