The Morphosyntactic Parser: Developing and testing a sentence processor that uses underspecified morphosyntactic features

This dissertation presents a fundamentally new approach to describe not only the architecture of the language system but also the processes behind its capability to predict, analyze and integrate linguistic input into its representation in a parsimonious way. By the example of morphosyntax, underspecified case, the use of decomposed, binary case, number and gender features to account for syncretism, will offer insights into both: Carrying over this idea to language processing raises the question whether the language system—limited in its storage capacity—makes use of similar means of representational parsimony during the processing of linguistic input. This thesis will propose a processing system that is tightly related to the aforementioned architectural assumptions of morphosyntactically underspecified lexical entries as a parsimonious way of representation. In that sense, prediction is viewed as the language system’s drive to avoid feature deviance from one incrementally available linguistic element to another subsequentially incoming one. In this way, the parser’s goal is to maintain minimal feature deviance or at best feature identity to keep processing load as low as possible. This approach allows for position-dependent hypothesis with regard to the expected processing load. To test the processor’s claims, the electrophysiological data of a series of event-related brain potential (ERP) experiments will be presented. The results suggest that with the input’s increased feature deviance the amplitude of an ERP component sensitive for prediction error increases. In comparison to that, elements that rather maintain feature identity and that do not lack or introduce additional features to the analysis do not increase processing difficulty. These results indicate that the language processing system uses the available features of morphosyntactically underspecified mental entries to build up larger constituents. The experiments showed, that this buildup process is determined by the language system’s drive to avoid feature deviance

The Munich Shoulder Questionnaire (MSQ): development and validation of an effective patient-reported tool for outcome measurement and patient safety in shoulder surgery

Background Outcome measurement in shoulder surgery is essential to evaluate the patient safety and treatment efficiency. Currently this is jeopardized by the fact that most patient-reported self-assessment instruments are not comparable. Hence, the aim was to develop a reliable self-assessment questionnaire which allows an easy follow-up of patients. The questionnaire also allows the calculation of 3 well established scoring systems, i.e. the Shoulder Pain and Disability Index (SPADI), the Constant-Murley Score (CMS), and the Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand (DASH) Score. The subjective and objective items of these three systems were condensed into a single 30-questions form and validated against the original questionnaires. Methods A representative collective of patients of our shoulder clinic was asked to fill in the newly designed self-assessment Munich Shoulder Questionnaire (MSQ). At the same time, the established questionnaires for self-assessment of CONSTANT, SPADI and DASH scores were handed out. The obtained results were compared by linear regression analysis. Results Fifty one patients completed all questionnaires. The correlation coefficients of the results were r = 0.91 for the SPADI, r = -0.93 for the DASH and r = 0.94 for the CMS scoring system, respectively. Conclusions We developed an instrument which allows a quantitative self-assessment of shoulder function. It provides compatible data sets for the three most popular shoulder function scoring systems by one single, short 30-item. This instrument can be used by shoulder surgeons to effectively monitor the outcome, safety and quality of their treatment and also compare the results to published data in the literature

Bioactive secondary metabolites with multiple activities from a fungal endophyte

In order to replace particularly biohazardous nematocides, there is a strong drive to finding natural product-based alternatives with the aim of containing nematode pests in agriculture. The metabolites produced by the fungal endophyte Fusarium oxysporum 162 when cultivated on rice media were isolated and their structures elucidated. Eleven compounds were obtained, of which six were isolated from a Fusarium spp. for the first time. The three most potent nematode-antagonistic compounds, 4-hydroxybenzoic acid, indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) and gibepyrone D had LC50 values of 104, 117 and 134 μg ml−1, respectively, after 72 h. IAA is a well-known phytohormone that plays a role in triggering plant resistance, thus suggesting a dual activity, either directly, by killing or compromising nematodes, or indirectly, by inducing defence mechanisms against pathogens (nematodes) in plants. Such compounds may serve as important leads in the development of novel, environmental friendly, nematocides

The monetary benefit of early flood warnings in Europe

Effective disaster risk management relies on science-based solutions to close the gap between prevention and preparedness measures. The consultation on the United Nations post-2015 framework for disaster risk reduction highlights the need for cross-border early warning systems to strengthen the preparedness phases of disaster risk management, in order to save lives and property and reduce the overall impact of severe events. Continental and global scale flood forecasting systems provide vital early flood warning information to national and international civil protection authorities, who can use this information to make decisions on how to prepare for upcoming floods. Here the potential monetary benefits of early flood warnings are estimated based on the forecasts of the continental-scale European Flood Awareness System (EFAS) using existing flood damage cost information and calculations of potential avoided flood damages. The benefits are of the order of 400 Euro for every 1 Euro invested. A sensitivity analysis is performed in order to test the uncertainty in the method and develop an envelope of potential monetary benefits of EFAS warnings. The results provide clear evidence that there is likely a substantial monetary benefit in this cross-border continental-scale flood early warning system. This supports the wider drive to implement early warning systems at the continental or global scale to improve our resilience to natural hazards

A competence model for environmental education

The goal of environmental education is ultimately to enable a person to strive for and to attain a more ecological way of life. In this article, we begin by distinguishing three forms of environmental knowledge and go on to predict that people\u27s attitude toward nature represents the force that drives their ecological behavioral engagement. Based on data from 1,907 students, we calibrated previously established instruments to measure ecological behavior, environmental knowledge, and attitude toward nature with Rasch-type models. Using path modeling, we corroborated our theoretically anticipated competence structure. While environmental knowledge revealed a modest behavioral effect, attitude toward nature turned out to be, as expected, the stronger determinant of behavior. Overall, we propose a competence model that has the potential to guide us into more evidence-based ways of promoting the overall ecological engagement of individuals. (DIPF/Orig.

Umweltkompetenz – Modellierung, Entwicklung und Förderung. Projekt Umweltkompetenz

Traditionell liegt der Fokus in der Umweltbildung auf theoretisch abgeleiteten ökologieunspezifischen, allgemeinen Fähigkeiten, z.B. der Befähigung zu kritischem Denken. Diese fächerübergreifenden Fähigkeiten sind in der Regel verhaltensdistal und damit wenig bedeutsam für die Umwelthandlungskompetenz jedes Einzelnen. Im Zentrum unseres Forschungsprojekts steht dagegen die Entwicklung eines auf empirisch bestätigten, verhaltenswirksamen und ökologiespezifischen Fähigkeiten basierendes Strukturmodell der individuellen Umweltkompetenz sowie der Vergleich von systematisch geförderten und spontanen Entwicklungsverläufen. In diesem Artikel werden wir zunächst unser Umweltkompetenzmodell vorstellen, das wir als ein Zusammenspiel verschiedener Arten von Umweltwissen, Naturverbundenheit und von Umwelthandlungskompetenz konzeptionalisieren. Anschließend gehen wir auf unsere Forschungsfragen und das daraus abgeleitete Forschungsdesign ein, die sich auf das (1) Wirkgefüge der Umweltkompetenz, (2) dessen Entwicklungsverlauf sowie auf (3) dessen Förderung beziehen. Wir stellen die Entwicklung und Validierung eines Rasch-skalierten Messinstruments zur Erfassung von Naturverbundenheit als eine wichtige Vorarbeit dar. Schließlich diskutieren wir mögliche methodische, theoretische sowie praktische Erkenntnisgewinne: Mit unserem Umweltkompetenzmodell hoffen wir, zu einem fundierten Verständnis des Wirkgefüges der Umweltkompetenz beizutragen, und versuchen, Ansatzpunkte für eine effektivere Förderung von Umwelthandlungskompetenz aufzuzeigen. (DIPF/Autor

Multiscale Error Analysis, Correction and Predictive Uncertainty Estimation in a Flood Forecasting System

River discharge predictions often show errors that degrade the quality of forecasts. Three different methods of error correction are compared, namely, an autoregressive model with and without exogenous input (ARX and AR, respectively), and a method based on wavelet transforms. For the wavelet method, a Vector-Autoregressive model with exogenous input (VARX) is simultaneously fitted for the different levels of wavelet decomposition; after predicting the next time steps for each scale, a reconstruction formula is applied to transform the predictions in the wavelet domain back to the original time domain. The error correction methods are combined with the Hydrological Uncertainty Processor (HUP) in order to estimate the predictive conditional distribution. For three stations along the Danube catchment, and using output from the European Flood Alert System (EFAS), we demonstrate that the method based on wavelets outperforms simpler methods and uncorrected predictions with respect to mean absolute error, Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency coefficient (and its decomposed performance criteria), informativeness score, and in particular forecast reliability. The wavelet approach efficiently accounts for forecast errors with scale properties of unknown source and statistical structure.JRC.DDG.H.7-Land management and natural hazard

Behavior-based environmental attitude : development of an instrument for adolescents

Due to the omnipresent attitude–behavior gap, conservation psychologists have ceased to believe that attitudes are traceable from people's behavioral records. In contrast to this conventional wisdom and to the current state of the art in attitude measurement, we developed a behavior-based attitude scale for adolescents, which is based on people's recall of their past behavior. Using a cross-sectional survey of 928 students, we found that people's environmental attitude can be reliably derived from self-reported conservation behaviors by employing Rasch-type models. Our new attitude measure substantially overlaps with two previously established, conventional environmental attitude scales. Technically, behavior-based environmental attitude represents as much an attitude measure as it does a measure for people's goal-directed conservation behavior

The Munich Shoulder Questionnaire (MSQ): development and validation of an effective patient-reported tool for outcome measurement and patient safety in shoulder surgery

Abstract Background Outcome measurement in shoulder surgery is essential to evaluate the patient safety and treatment efficiency. Currently this is jeopardized by the fact that most patient-reported self-assessment instruments are not comparable. Hence, the aim was to develop a reliable self-assessment questionnaire which allows an easy follow-up of patients. The questionnaire also allows the calculation of 3 well established scoring systems, i.e. the Shoulder Pain and Disability Index (SPADI), the Constant-Murley Score (CMS), and the Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand (DASH) Score. The subjective and objective items of these three systems were condensed into a single 30-questions form and validated against the original questionnaires. Methods A representative collective of patients of our shoulder clinic was asked to fill in the newly designed self-assessment Munich Shoulder Questionnaire (MSQ). At the same time, the established questionnaires for self-assessment of CONSTANT, SPADI and DASH scores were handed out. The obtained results were compared by linear regression analysis. Results Fifty one patients completed all questionnaires. The correlation coefficients of the results were r = 0.91 for the SPADI, r = -0.93 for the DASH and r = 0.94 for the CMS scoring system, respectively. Conclusions We developed an instrument which allows a quantitative self-assessment of shoulder function. It provides compatible data sets for the three most popular shoulder function scoring systems by one single, short 30-item. This instrument can be used by shoulder surgeons to effectively monitor the outcome, safety and quality of their treatment and also compare the results to published data in the literature.</p