Deixis In Shughni: Grammatical And Semantic Considerations

Shughni is one of the best documented and described languages of the Pamirs. Linguistic research so far has focused on the verbal system of Shughni grammar but no detailed study has been done on the deictic system of the language. In this thesis I will describe grammatical and semantic aspects of the deictic system in Shughni. During the course of the project I observed natural conversations, and listened to stories and discussions, and additionally I elicited sentences or conversations in order to clarify structures or understanding of previous observations. In this thesis I describe the grammatical structures of Shughni deixis using Role and Reference grammar as theoretical framework. I describe how Shughni expresses the three basic semantic categories of deixis: person, space and time. Furthermore I present evidence that Shughni uses a deictic hierarchy and a landmark system to express location and direction. In local deixis river-flow supersedes mountain-slope, which are both superseded by the flow of the Panj River when using a global perspective

How to Explain Individual Classification Decisions

After building a classifier with modern tools of machine learning we typically have a black box at hand that is able to predict well for unseen data. Thus, we get an answer to the question what is the most likely label of a given unseen data point. However, most methods will provide no answer why the model predicted the particular label for a single instance and what features were most influential for that particular instance. The only method that is currently able to provide such explanations are decision trees. This paper proposes a procedure which (based on a set of assumptions) allows to explain the decisions of any classification method.Comment: 31 pages, 14 figure

Einflüsse einer inkompletten cerebralen Hemisphären-Ischämie und Reperfusion auf das Verhalten, die kognitiven Fähigkeiten und die Mikromorphologie des zentralen Nervensystems bei Sevofluran anästhesierten Ratten

The cognitive performance of rats that received selective hippocampal injury produced by incomplete brain ischemia and reperfusion of sevoflurane anesthetized rats was investigated by using the modified hole-board-test (OHL et al. 1998).Mit Hilfe des Hole-Board-Tests modifiziert nach OHL et al. (1998) wurden die Auswirkun-gen einer induzierten inkompletten einseitigen cerebralen Hemisphärenischämie und Reperfu-sion unter dem Einfluss des volatilen Anästhetikums Sevofluran im Vergleich zu Fentanyl-N2O an der Ratte untersucht

Twelve and a Half Years of Observations of Centaurus A with RXTE

The Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer has observed the nearest radio galaxy, Centaurus A, in 13 intervals from 1966 August to 2009 February over the 3--200 keV band. Spectra accumulated over the 13 intervals were well described with an absorbed power law and iron line. Cut-off power laws and Compton reflection from cold matter did not provide a better description. For the 2009 January observation, we set a lower limit on the cut-off energy at over 2 MeV. The power spectral density function was generated from RXTE/ASM and PCA data, as well as an XMM-Newton long look, and clear evidence for a break at 18+10-7 days (68% conf.) was seen. Given Cen A's high black hole mass and very low value of Lx/LEdd, the break was a factor of 17+/-9 times higher than the break frequency predicted by the McHardy and co-workers' relation, which was empirically derived for a sample of objects, which are radio-quiet and accreting at relatively high values of Lbol/LEdd. We have interpreted our observations in the context of a clumpy molecular torus. The variability characteristics and the broadband spectral energy distribution, when compared to Seyferts, imply that the bright hard X-ray continuum emission may originate at the base of the jet, yet from behind the absorbing line of sight material, in contrast to what is commonly observed from blazars.Comment: 56 pages, 12 figures, 4 tables, revised manuscript submitted to The Astrophysical Journa

Model-based Investigations of Acidity Sources and Sinks of a Pit Lake in Western Australia

Lake Kepwari is a rehabilitated lake in the Collie Basin lignite mining area in Western Australia. The water quality of Lake Kepwari was modeled with the pit lake hydrodynamic and water quality model PITLAKQ. Based on a hydrodynamically validated model, water quality scenarios were used to quantify the sensitivity of different acidity sources including groundwater exchange, surface runoff and erosion, providing new insights into the system. The technique of monthly aggregation of all sources and sinks of acidity, based on detailed model output, provided the basis for useful conclusions. Model results suggest a new focus of field investigations to improve modeling certainty and a follow-up, improved phase of modeling

Mind the Future Gap: Introducing the FOD Framework for Future-Oriented Design

There are many uncertainties and ambiguities in the design of future-oriented artifacts. Societal and environmental developments are unclear; technologies not ready; target users not accessible. Nevertheless, designing future-oriented artifacts provides opportunities to either create radical innovations that present a competitive advantage, or to engage with relevant stakeholders in a speculative way. This paper provides a framework for developing, discussing, and evaluating future-oriented artifacts, which was developed based on literature and conceptual theorizing. It consists of a process model and a morphological box, outlining eight categories of relevance along with several options to choose from. Subsequently, we applied the framework to an existing future design project to illustrate its applicability. The framework spans the space of possible design and evaluation approaches and, hence, provides a guiding schema for researchers and practitioners to discuss the potentials and implications of design concepts for future-oriented artifacts

Designing the Future With the “Delphi Design Sprint”: Introducing a Novel Method for Design Science Research

This paper introduces a novel innovation method that focuses on the development of future-oriented artifacts. The “Delphi Design Sprint” combines two existing methods—the Delphi method and Design Sprints. The development of the method follows an action research approach and was tested and validated in a university-led design project involving a panel of 20 international experts. This paper introduces the method and describes exemplary results of the project’s outcome

A Framework of Design Method Corroboration

Practitioners design artifacts of different kinds. Researchers and practitioners both create methods for designing such artifacts. The question arises whether those methods are actually valid and useful. In this conceptual paper, we argue that there is a need for “method corroboration”—the deliberate and reflected use and possible validation of a design method. We present a literature review of method corroboration in the IS and more specifically in the DSR literature. The findings are summarized as a conceptual model outlining eight strategies of method use, which are then condensed into a 2-by-2 framework of method corroboration. The results of this paper present insight into the current state of method corroboration in the DSR field and provide guidance for working with design methods in research and practice

Cortisol levels and sleep patterns in infants with orofacial clefts undergoing surgery

Traumatic events during early infancy might damage infants' psychobiological functioning, such as sleep and cortisol secretion. Infants born with orofacial clefts (OFCs) undergo functional, anatomical, and aesthetic surgery. The aim of the present study was to determine whether infants with OFC and undergoing OFC surgery show deteriorated sleep and cortisol secretion compared with healthy controls and with their presurgery status.; A total of 27 infants with OFC (mean age: 22 weeks) and 30 healthy controls (mean age: 23 weeks) took part in the study. For infants with OFC, sleep actigraphy was performed and saliva cortisol was analyzed 5 days before, during, and 5 days after surgery. For controls, sleep and saliva cortisol were assessed similarly, except for the period taken up with surgery.; Compared with healthy controls, infants with OFC undergoing OFC surgery did not differ in sleep and cortisol secretion. Their sleep and cortisol secretion did deteriorate during the perisurgical period but recovered 5 days postsurgery.; In infants with OFC undergoing corrective surgery, the pattern of results for sleep and cortisol suggests that OFC surgery does not seem to constitute a traumatic event with long-term consequences

The Reawakening of the Sleeping X-ray Pulsar XTE J1946+274

We report on a series of outbursts of the high mass X-ray binary XTE 11946+274 in 2010/2011 as observed with INTEGRAL, RXTE, and Swift. We discuss possible mechanisms resulting in the extraordinary outburst behavior of this source. The X-ray spectra can be described by standard phenomenological models, enhanced by an absorption feature of unknown origin at about 10 keV and a narrow iron K alpha fluorescence line at 6.4keV, which are variable in flux and pulse phase. We find possible evidence for the presence of a cyclotron resonance scattering feature at about 25 keV at the 93% level. The presence of a strong cyclotron line at 35 keV seen in data from the source's 1998 outburst and confirmed by a reanalysis of these data can be excluded. This result indicates that the cyclotron line feature in XTE 11946+274 is variable between individual outbursts