Evaluating Narrative Arguments

This paper addresses the question of how to evaluate narrative arguments. I will be discussing how to evaluate narrative arguments as process as opposed to arguments as product, as with dominant accounts of argument appraisal such as informal logic. The first part of this paper will show that dominant accounts of argument evaluation are not fit for narrative arguments because they focus on the product of argument. The second part of the paper will develop an account of argument evaluation for arguments as process, that is the virtuous audience, which will combine the rhetorical understanding of audience with virtue argumentatio

QoE-Based Low-Delay Live Streaming Using Throughput Predictions

Recently, HTTP-based adaptive streaming has become the de facto standard for video streaming over the Internet. It allows clients to dynamically adapt media characteristics to network conditions in order to ensure a high quality of experience, that is, minimize playback interruptions, while maximizing video quality at a reasonable level of quality changes. In the case of live streaming, this task becomes particularly challenging due to the latency constraints. The challenge further increases if a client uses a wireless network, where the throughput is subject to considerable fluctuations. Consequently, live streams often exhibit latencies of up to 30 seconds. In the present work, we introduce an adaptation algorithm for HTTP-based live streaming called LOLYPOP (Low-Latency Prediction-Based Adaptation) that is designed to operate with a transport latency of few seconds. To reach this goal, LOLYPOP leverages TCP throughput predictions on multiple time scales, from 1 to 10 seconds, along with an estimate of the prediction error distribution. In addition to satisfying the latency constraint, the algorithm heuristically maximizes the quality of experience by maximizing the average video quality as a function of the number of skipped segments and quality transitions. In order to select an efficient prediction method, we studied the performance of several time series prediction methods in IEEE 802.11 wireless access networks. We evaluated LOLYPOP under a large set of experimental conditions limiting the transport latency to 3 seconds, against a state-of-the-art adaptation algorithm from the literature, called FESTIVE. We observed that the average video quality is by up to a factor of 3 higher than with FESTIVE. We also observed that LOLYPOP is able to reach a broader region in the quality of experience space, and thus it is better adjustable to the user profile or service provider requirements.Comment: Technical Report TKN-16-001, Telecommunication Networks Group, Technische Universitaet Berlin. This TR updated TR TKN-15-00

Feminist Alternatives to Traditional Argumentation

In this paper, I will look at the critiques that feminists have proposed to existing styles of argumentation. There are two prominent lines of feminist criticism of argumentation: the epistemic critique which argues that women were socialized to argue differently and the equity critique which asserts that argumentation is a patriarchal attempt to dominate one another, as such it is adversarial in nature. I will then discuss the alternatives feminists have proposed to traditional argumentation

Relevance of Phonological Awareness Intervention to a Jordanian EFL Classroom

Building on Tamimi and Rababah (2007), the present study is an investigation of the effectiveness of explicit phonological awareness intervention in contrast with formal classroom instruction on developing phonological awareness skills for Jordanian EFL second-graders in a governmental school. Based on some views (Adams, 1990; Yopp, 1992; Stanovich, 1994; and Chard and Dickson, 1999) a phonological training program was designed with focus on five phonological awareness skills, viz., segmentation, isolation, deletion, substitution and blending, and their respective sub-skills. On measures of Robertson and Salter's (1997) Phonological Awareness Test (PAT), the experimental group that had undergone 15 40-minute phonological awareness sessions outperformed in deletion, substitution and blending skills the control group which continued to receive formal classroom instruction based on Action Pack 2. The findings corroborate previous research conclusions favoring explicit phonological awareness interventions; thus giving less credit to formal classroom instruction. The study also calls for integrating phonological awareness interventions in Jordanian basic stages' curricula.                                                        

China Saudi Arabia relations : economic partnership or strategic alliance?

This paper focuses on the fast-consolidating energy relationship between the People’s Republic of China (PRC), which is today the world’s second largest oil importer, and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), which has established itself as the world’s top oil exporter. Due to Saudi Arabia’s dominance of the world oil market, China is increasingly focusing its attention on the Kingdom as a reliable energy partner; while Saudi Arabia sees China as an enormous potential market and strategic partner. Within this context the paper will try to answer the following question: are the growing China-Saudi relations a marriage of convenience or the beginning of a strategic alliance? The answer to this question will have broad implications not only for the Middle East but also for the broader international system in which China is set to dominate in the coming decades

Genital surgery in transgender men. turning challenges into oppurtunities.

Part 1. Historical overview Chapter 1 gives an overview of the surgical revolution at the Amsterdam University Medical Center(AUMC), location VUMC. All surgical techniques from 1989 to 2018 are evaluated and put into perspective. Part 2. Reducing urological complications and improving surgical outcomes Chapter 2 describes the effects of a colpectomy on the incidence of urethral fistulas in transgender men undergoing gGAS with urethral lengthening. Chapter 3 describes the surgical and patient reported outcomes after gGAS without urethral lengthening. The Amsterdam UMC is the first center worldwide to offer transgender men this surgical option. This surgical technique is subsequently described in detail in the form of a video article in Chapter 4. In Chapter 5 the surgical techniques and outcomes in patients who were unsatisfied with their metoidioplasty and underwent a secondary phalloplasty is described. The study was conducted in collaboration with international gender affirming surgical clinics. In Chapter 6 the surgical management and patients reported outcome measures after (partial) phalloplasty flap loss is presented. Part 3. Novel surgical technique Chapter 7 presents a novel surgical technique to lengthen the neo-urethra in collaboration with the Belgrade University Medical Center. The surgical and clinical outcomes were assessed one year postoperatively. 1