1,199 research outputs found
A Dilemma for Personal Identity
Some theories of personal identity allow persons
to lose their identities in processes of qualitative change,
i.e., to become a numerically different person by getting
new physical and/or psychological properties. I shall call
these theories strong. Weak theories, in contrast, do not
allow for such a loss of identity. In general, weak theories
put less restrictions on personal identity than strong ones. I
will argue that each type of theory faces a serious problem
Encoding information structure in Yucatec Maya : on the Interplay of prosody and syntax
The aim of this paper is to outline the means for encoding information structure in Yucatec Maya. Yucatec Maya is a tone language, displaying a three-fold opposition in the tonal realization of syllables. From the morpho-syntactic point of view, the grammar of Yucatec Maya contains morphological (topic affixes, morphological marking of out-of-focus predicates) and syntactic (designated positions) means to uniquely specify syntactic constructions for their information structure. After a descriptive overview of these phenomena, we present experimental evidence which reveals the impact of the nonavailability of prosodic alternatives on the choice of syntactic constructions in language production
Estimating Spectroscopic Redshifts by Using k Nearest Neighbors Regression I. Description of Method and Analysis
Context: In astronomy, new approaches to process and analyze the
exponentially increasing amount of data are inevitable. While classical
approaches (e.g. template fitting) are fine for objects of well-known classes,
alternative techniques have to be developed to determine those that do not fit.
Therefore a classification scheme should be based on individual properties
instead of fitting to a global model and therefore loose valuable information.
An important issue when dealing with large data sets is the outlier detection
which at the moment is often treated problem-orientated. Aims: In this paper we
present a method to statistically estimate the redshift z based on a similarity
approach. This allows us to determine redshifts in spectra in emission as well
as in absorption without using any predefined model. Additionally we show how
an estimate of the redshift based on single features is possible. As a
consequence we are e.g. able to filter objects which show multiple redshift
components. We propose to apply this general method to all similar problems in
order to identify objects where traditional approaches fail. Methods: The
redshift estimation is performed by comparing predefined regions in the spectra
and applying a k nearest neighbor regression model for every predefined
emission and absorption region, individually. Results: We estimated a redshift
for more than 50% of the analyzed 16,000 spectra of our reference and test
sample. The redshift estimate yields a precision for every individually tested
feature that is comparable with the overall precision of the redshifts of SDSS.
In 14 spectra we find a significant shift between emission and absorption or
emission and emission lines. The results show already the immense power of this
simple machine learning approach for investigating huge databases such as the
SDSS.Comment: accepted for publication in A&
The (Possible) Function of the Beatitude of the Poor in the Context of the Struggle against Poverty
The article focuses on the beatitude of the poor in the social and religious context of historical Jesus. The original version of this makarism has to be seen as a religious statement which is not meant as a program of social reform. Yet it has political and socio-ethical implications as it connects the poor with God and his kingdom. Those who are searching God have to go to the poor. A possible function of the beatitude of the poor in the struggle against poverty can be seen in the spiritual empowerment it gives to the poor themselves: Poverty is against God’s will; it is no divine punishment and does not separate from God. The poor will be liberated from suffering. Poverty has no place in the kingdom but will be eradicated
Post-focal compression as a prosodic cue for focus perception in Hindi
Focus in Hindi is prosodically marked by means of post-focal compression (PFC) and the present study examines whether PFC is a prosodic cue that is functionally used by listeners to perceive the focus. In a production study with 30 native Hindi speakers uttering six different ambiguous contrastive ellipsis structures PFC occurred after the focused indirect object, thought not after a focused direct object. These structures served as input for a forced-choice sentence-completion experiment, in which 18 listeners listened to sentence fragments of the matrix clause and were asked to decide which of the two possible objects contrasts (direct object or indirect object) would correctly complete the sentence. Results show that if PFC was absent listeners were unable to choose the intended sentence completion. If PFC was present correct sentence completion judgements increased significantly. Thus PFC is a cue for focus perception in Hindi. Based on the functional load of the pitch register in Hindi, we argue that pitch register represents a further intonational category to consider, at least for languages like Hindi
Omilk - the future of plant-based milk / a business plan exploring the market opportunity for on-demand plant-based milk with a focus on the B2b sector
Coffee shops like end-consumers source plant-based milk in one liter Tetra Pak’s. The paper's findings suggest that this does not cater to business clients' needs in a cost-efficient and sustainable way. Omilk will provide an oat milk powder and an accompanying machine, enabling the on-demand production of oat milk, reducing both costs and waste. A financial feasibility analysis for the proposed business model is conducted, and a roll-out plan is defined. Furthermore, marketing activations and a suitable founding team are outlined. Overall, the findings suggest a significant business opportunity for the on-demand plant-based milk production for business clients
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