The Power of the KPSS-Test for Cointegration when Residuals are Fractionally Integrated

We show that the power of the KPSS-test against integration, as measured by divergence rates of the test statistic under the alternative, remains the same when residuals from an OLS-regression rather than true observations are used. This is in stark contrast to residual based tests of the null of integration in a cointegration setting, where power is drastically reduced when residuals are used. --cointegration,power,long memory,KPSS-Test

A reappraisal

The first part of this article investigates the distribution and emergence of front rounded vowels (FRV) in the Portuguese dialect spoken on the Azorean island of São Miguel in light of data taken from the Ethnolinguistic Atlas of the Azores (ALEAç). The analysis confirms previous findings about the distribution of FRV. Additionally, the ALEAç shows that this phenomenon spreads beyond the well-known contexts of stressed positions. FRV also occur in unstressed syllables and the mid-front rounded vowel [ø] alternates with its diphthongised counterparts [øj] and [øw]. This alternation calls for a reflection about the historical and articulatory background of [ø] in Portuguese dialects. The extensive use of FRV opens up further research perspectives in terms of the sociolinguistic significance of the phenomenon. The second part of this article focuses on the sociohistorical background of the emergence of FRV in Portuguese dialects. The concept of the feature pool provides a framework for the processes of feature selection in a situation of linguistic contacts such as those preceding the settlement period of the Azores and subsequent contact on the islands. A combination of three different concepts of markedness helps understand why a highly unusual feature like FRV emerged and persists until today

Sprachwissenschaftliche Darstellungsmittel für Sprachräume und Sprechergemeinschaften

In der Geschichte der Sprachwissenschaft lieferten Karten wichtige Impulse. In der deutschen Dialektologie ließen sich, wie im Projekt Georg Wenkers, seit dem 19. Jh. detailgenau Unterschiede abbilden, ohne die Einheit der (National-) Spra- chen in Frage zu stellen. Auch die weltweite Sprachenvielfalt wurde in Karten erfasst, etwa im Sprachatlas von Julius Kla- proth. Die Sprachgeographie stützte jedoch lange das Bild ei- ner sprachlich wie ethnisch einheitlichen Nation. Noch heu- te wirkt die bildhafte Vereinfachung nach, wenn etwa mehr- sprachige Räume mit Karten nur unzureichend erfasst werden können. Aktuelle multimodale Ansätze der Linguistik versu- chen mit Hilfe von Big Data, der Erforschung von ‚Linguistic Landscapes‘ oder dynamischen Karten diese Einschränkungen zu überwinden

What is “Language Making”?

This article introduces a new concept called “Language Making”. The term covers all kinds of processes in which speakers or non-speakers collectively conceptualize linguistic entities. Such processes are usually perpetual, they operate based on language ideologies and attitudes, and they bring about functional and structural norms which determine the boundaries of linguistic entities such as languages, dialects or varieties. The article discusses the significance of standardization, language policy and planning, and of stakeholders and agency for processes of Language Making. Raising the question as to why a new concept is needed in the first place, the article concludes with a demarcation of Language Making from opposite processes which may be called “un-Making” of Languages

A Probabilistic State Space Model for Joint Inference from Differential Equations and Data

Mechanistic models with differential equations are a key component of scientific applications of machine learning. Inference in such models is usually computationally demanding, because it involves repeatedly solving the differential equation. The main problem here is that the numerical solver is hard to combine with standard inference techniques. Recent work in probabilistic numerics has developed a new class of solvers for ordinary differential equations (ODEs) that phrase the solution process directly in terms of Bayesian filtering. We here show that this allows such methods to be combined very directly, with conceptual and numerical ease, with latent force models in the ODE itself. It then becomes possible to perform approximate Bayesian inference on the latent force as well as the ODE solution in a single, linear complexity pass of an extended Kalman filter / smoother - that is, at the cost of computing a single ODE solution. We demonstrate the expressiveness and performance of the algorithm by training, among others, a non-parametric SIRD model on data from the COVID-19 outbreak.Comment: 12 pages (+ 5 pages appendix), 7 figures. In: Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems (NeurIPS 2021

Language Making of Creoles in multilingual postcolonial societies

This article investigates Language Making processes in multilingual postcolonial societies where Creole languages are spoken. It raises the question whether or not Language Making in these settings differs from other contexts given the historical preconditions and social, economic, or political inequalities which persist after the colonial period. The paper discusses the potentials of Language Making to support or impede efforts of decolonization. With the help of examples from several Creole-speaking societies, it shows different approaches to conceptualizing Creole languages as linguistic entities with the creation or emergence of norms, different naming strategies or through language policy and planning. It examines the potential contribution of different agents of Language Making and illustrates cases in which Language Making is countered or languages are un-made. As a conclusion, the article shows that the concept of Language Making may need further expansion or nuancing in order to avoid a “Northern” or “Western” bias

Looking left or looking right?

The perception of political messages may not only be shaped by textual information, but also by its visual appearance. An online experiment investigated how newspaper articles’ layout style and text slant affect the perception of a newspapers’ political orientation on the left-right axis. The layout versions were based on a prior analysis of correlations between design and political direction of quality newspapers. Results suggest the existence of political layout effects: a conservative layout style led to the source of a left-wing slanted text being estimated more right-wing, especially for left-wing-oriented participants. However, it had no effect when it was combined congruently with a right-wing slanted text. A progressive layout style had only an effect for participants with more knowledge on quality newspapers, leading them to locate the source more left-wing

Entwicklung von Methoden zur schnellen 3D Messung der T1- und T2- Relaxationszeiten in-vivo mit Steady-State Bildgebung bei 3 Tesla

Die Magnetresonanztomographie (MRT) ist ein bildgebendes Verfahren, das sich in den letzten 20 Jahren zu einer Standardmethode der modernen Radiologie entwickelt hat. Die quantitative Messung der Relaxationszeiten ist allerdings in der klinischen Routine nicht etabliert, was zum Teil an der langen Messzeit und Komplexität existierender Techniken liegt. Das Ziel dieser Arbeit war die Entwicklung von 3D Messmethoden, die eine B1-korrigierte Messung der T1- und T2-Relaxationszeiten in weniger als 15 Minuten bei hinreichender Auflösung ermöglichen. Für die Messung der Relaxationszeiten wurden dazu die sogenannten Variable Flip Angles (VFA) Methoden verwendet. Alle implementierten Methoden wurden an einem Relaxationszeiten-Phantom getestet. Für die B1-Korrektur wurde eine Bloch-Siegert FLASH-Sequenz implementiert, die die Messung des B1-Feldes in klinisch akzeptablen Zeiten erlaubt. Um mit den VFA-Methoden ein Intervall von T1- und T2-Zeiten messen zu können wurde eine Monte-Carlo Simulation implementiert, mit der drei Flipwinkel für die T1- und T2-Messung optimiert wurden. Die Ursachen für Abweichungen vom Steady-State Signal beider VFA-Sequenzen wurden durch eine numerische Simulation der Bloch-Gleichungen quantifiziert und schließlich mit geeigneten Methoden bei der Messung direkt kompensiert. Durch Entwicklung einer radialen TPI-Trajektorie konnte die Messzeit zusätzlich verringert werden. Mit diesen Methoden konnten B1-korrigierte 3D T1- und T2-Karten vom Kopf eines Probanden in 11 Minuten akquiriert werden. Im Vergleich zu den Goldstandard Methoden konnte die Messzeit erheblich verringert werden bei gleichzeitig - für eine in-vivo Messung - guten relativen Fehlern. So betrug der relative Fehler der T1-Messung von weißer Hirnsubstanz ca. 5%. Die entwickelten Methoden erlauben eine schnelle und präzise Messung der Relaxationszeiten, was nicht nur für neurologische-, sondern auch für andere Modalitäten wie Herz-, oder abdominelle Bildgebung interessant wäre, falls geeignete Methoden zur Bewegungskorrektur angewendet werden