The impact of within country heterogeneity in vocational specificity on initial job matches and job status

Exterior, porc

Linear transformation distance for bichromatic matchings

Let $P=B\cup R$ be a set of $2n$ points in general position, where $B$ is a set of $n$ blue points and $R$ a set of $n$ red points. A \emph{$BR$-matching} is a plane geometric perfect matching on $P$ such that each edge has one red endpoint and one blue endpoint. Two $BR$-matchings are compatible if their union is also plane. The \emph{transformation graph of $BR$-matchings} contains one node for each $BR$-matching and an edge joining two such nodes if and only if the corresponding two $BR$-matchings are compatible. In SoCG 2013 it has been shown by Aloupis, Barba, Langerman, and Souvaine that this transformation graph is always connected, but its diameter remained an open question. In this paper we provide an alternative proof for the connectivity of the transformation graph and prove an upper bound of $2n$ for its diameter, which is asymptotically tight

Geodesic-Preserving Polygon Simplification

Polygons are a paramount data structure in computational geometry. While the complexity of many algorithms on simple polygons or polygons with holes depends on the size of the input polygon, the intrinsic complexity of the problems these algorithms solve is often related to the reflex vertices of the polygon. In this paper, we give an easy-to-describe linear-time method to replace an input polygon $\mathcal{P}$ by a polygon $\mathcal{P}'$ such that (1) $\mathcal{P}'$ contains $\mathcal{P}$, (2) $\mathcal{P}'$ has its reflex vertices at the same positions as $\mathcal{P}$, and (3) the number of vertices of $\mathcal{P}'$ is linear in the number of reflex vertices. Since the solutions of numerous problems on polygons (including shortest paths, geodesic hulls, separating point sets, and Voronoi diagrams) are equivalent for both $\mathcal{P}$ and $\mathcal{P}'$, our algorithm can be used as a preprocessing step for several algorithms and makes their running time dependent on the number of reflex vertices rather than on the size of $\mathcal{P}$

Sound Colour Space – A Virtual Museum

By investigating the conceptual field of sound, tone, pitch, and timbre in its relation to visual phenomena and geometrical concepts, the project Sound Colour Space – A Virtual Museumcontributes to an interdisciplinary field of research and explores its adequate modes of representation and communication. Many scientists and philosophers from antiquity to modern times have studied the relationships between sound, light and geometry. Many of their visualisations of acoustical, optical and perceptual topics speak to the eye and can be studied comparatively. These pictures are interesting because of their diagrammatic structure, in the way they combine text, images and spatial structures on a flat surface and in the way they address topological, philosophical and psychological questions. They often have an aesthetic value of their own. In addition to the development of an exemplary online publication, interactive audiovisual examples were created, which also were used for artistic projects

Challenges in Austrian educational governance revisited: re-thinking the basic structures

Dieses Papier reflektiert und ergänzt eine frühere Studie im Auftrag des Bildungsministeriums über die Verwaltung des österreichischen Schulwesens. Ausgangspunkt sind drei widersprüchliche Beobachtungen, erstens die Kluft zwischen hohen Ausgaben und schwachen Leistungen in den internationalen Testungen, zweitens die verbreitete Wahrnehmung in den politischen Diskursen, dass trotz der hohen Ausgaben zu wenig Ressourcen verfügbar wären, und drittens ein breiter Konsens über Defizite des Governance-Systems mit zu hoher Komplexität und zu wenig Verantwortung und Spielraum bei den Schulen. Es wird versucht auf Basis der Ergebnisse und Argumentationen der früheren Studie diese Widersprüche aufzuklären und Entwicklungsmöglichkeiten auszuloten.This paper provides an update and a reflection on an earlier study commissioned by the Ministry of education about the challenges posed to educational governance in Austria. It starts with three contradictory observations, first a considerable gap between high expenditure and weak results in international Assessments, second the prevailing perception in Austrian education policy discourses that despite the high expenditure resources would lack in relation to demands, and third a widespread consensus about serious deficiencies of the governance structure, being too complex and giving schools not enough responsibilities and room for manoeuvre. The paper tries to explain these contradictory issues by taking up the argument of the earlier study, and to deepen the argument by additional illustrations and analyses. A path for improvement is sketched that would need quite far reaching changes in the existing governance structures

Cloudspeakers – a mobile performance network

In this project we developed a network of cloudspeakers. These are mobile speakers connected to a raspberry pi3 equipped with a low-latency audio card. They are connected to a wifi network and run a SuperCollider-Server (scsynth). Our cloudspeaker can be addressed with the SuperCollider (sclang) in the network. For this purpose we had to create a stable and scaleable network, and we had to find solutions for problems like latency, jitter, or software management. This network can be used for artistic projects and can be combined with a webserver and the use of mobile devices

Status Attainment of Young Workers in 21 Countries: The influence of skill formation and economic coordination on the effectiveness of educational credentials and worker skills

This paper develops a status attainment model that brings in the cross-country perspective in the status attainment process. We amend the conventional model of individual status attainment by splitting educational achievement into educational credentials and measured skills and by including information on motivation for further learning. Within a two-level path-model framework social status attainment processes at the individual- and country-level are explained by analyzing mediating and moderating variables simultaneously. Overall, family background effects on educational achievement both in terms of formal attainment levels and worker skills are strong, but socio-economic outcomes are largely determined by educational certificates while skills make a difference only to a minor extent. As the direct family effect on status attainment is small, it follows that the influence of families is mainly mediated by the acquisition of educational credentials and not by worker skills. Our results further show that individual level path dependencies vary across countries. This variation is associated with differentiation in a country’s skill formation system in terms of vocational specialization and the degree of economic coordination measured via the extent of collective bargaining coordination. Vocational specialization relates to higher skills levels of young workers and higher parental effects both on worker skills and status, as well as higher effects of credentials and learning motivation on social status. Higher levels of bargaining coordination correspond to higher worker skills as well, but unlike vocational education, a higher degree of coordination is associated with lower family effects on educational outcomes and social status.In dieser Studie wird ein internationales Statuserwerbsmodell entwickelt, in dem der Erwerb und die Auswirkungen von Bildungsabschlüssen und Kompetenzen junger Erwerbstätiger im Ländervergleich modelliert werden. Insgesamt erklärt der erreichte Bildungsabschluss, der wesentlich von der sozialen Herkunft abhängt, in deutlich höherem Maße den beruflichen Status als die gemessenen Kompetenzen. Somit gilt das Leistungsprinzip bei der Allokation am Arbeitsmarkt nur in eingeschränktem Maße, wenn Mechanismen der sozialen Schließung den Zugang zu Positionen regulieren. Unterschiedliche Ergebnisse hängen systematisch, jedoch nicht sehr stark, von den institutionellen Rahmenbedingungen ab