Understanding informal networks in higher education institutions : theoretical concepts from a Russian and Norwegian perspective

This article discusses theoretical concepts with regard to informal networks in the Russian and Norwegian society and higher education institutions (HEI) in particular. Informal networks are operative in both public and private organizations criss-crossing social and job-related networks within these organizations. Formal and informal contacts between representatives of HEIs in the Barents region are often the result of years of close cooperation on student exchange, research projects and joint academic programmes. The aim of this study is to explain theoretical perspectives in relation to informal networks from a Norwegian and a Russian perspective. Understanding both perspectives is essential before describing informal networks across different HEIs in the Barents region and valuable if we seek to study the impact of informal networks on the formal decision-making process. Informal networks are perceived differently because the formal structure in which they operate is different. Analysing the formal structure is therefore suggested in order to better understand the different perspectives surrounding formal/informal networks.acceptedVersio

Progressive vowel height harmony in Proto-Kikongo and Proto-Bantu

The systematic comparison of the different types of progressive Vowel Height Harmony (pVHH) attested within the Kikongo Language Cluster (KLC) leads to the conclusion that this common Bantu process of long-distance assimilation cannot be reconstructed to Proto-Kikongo. The ‘(a)symmetric-pVHH’ and ‘back-pVHH’ patterns, the two main and structurally different kinds of pVHH within the KLC, emerged independently and relatively late within two distinct subgroups, viz. South Kikongo and North Kikongo respectively. Moreover, the ‘(a)symmetric-pVHH’ pattern further spread from a South Kikongo focal area coinciding with the heartland of the Kongo kingdom to other parts of the KLC through contact-induced dialectal diffusion. Furthermore, the historical-comparative evidence from the KLC suggests that neither symmetric nor asymmetric pVHH should be reconstructed to Proto-Bantu, the most recent common ancestor of all Bantu languages

Was Proto-Kikongo a 5 or 7-vowel language? Bantu spirantization and vowel merger in the Kikongo language cluster

This article addresses whether Proto-Kikongo (PK), the most recent common ancestor of the Kikongo Language Cluster (KLC), should be reconstructed with an inventory of 5 or 7 vowel phonemes. Based on the synchronic vowel systems of its descendants, the most economic reconstruction would be 5 vowels, as all present-day varieties within the KLC have 5 vowels or once went through a 5-vowel (5V) stage. If such were the case, the reduction of the inherited Proto-Bantu (PB) 7-vowel (7V) system to a 5V system in PK would count as a genealogically significant shared innovation setting apart the KLC as a discrete sub-group within the “West-Coastal” or “West-Western” branch of the Bantu family. Most other West-Coastal Bantu (WCB) languages have either retained the PB 7V system or extended it. However, based on Bantu spirantization (BS) patterns within the KLC, it cannot be excluded that PK actually was a 7V language. Within Bantu, BS and 7>5V reduction are known to be closely interconnected sound changes in that the vowel merger generally takes place after BS. The irregular application of BS at the stem level in several KLC varieties as well as the near-total absence of BS across morpheme boundaries suggest that PK was a 7V language. Different stems manifest irregular patterns of BS in different varieties across the KLC. These irregularities can only be accounted for if we assume that the merger of PB close (/*i/, /*u/) and near-close vowels (/*ɪ/, /*ʊ/) recurrently occurred within the KLC as an independent innovation after BS had started but before it had affected all possible targets within the language.de ce dernier ont soit conservé le système à 7V, soit développé des systèmes comptant plus de 7 phonèmes vocaliques. Cependant, la façon dont s’est déroulée la spirantisation au sein du KLC suggère qu’il se pourrait bien que le PK ait été une langue à 7V. De fait, au sein de l’ensemble bantou, il est bien connu que la spirantisation et le passage de 7 à 5 unités vocaliques constituent des évolutions phonologiques étroitement liées, la réduction du nombre de voyelles survenant généralement après le phénomène de spirantisation. Le fait que la spirantisation ne se soit produite que de façon irrégulière à l’intérieur des racines et restée exceptionnelle au niveau des frontières entre morphèmes laisse penser que le PK était une langue à 7V. En effet, ce ne sont pas les mêmes radicaux qui manifestent une spirantisation dans les diverses variétés du KLC. Ces irrégularités ne peuvent s’expliquer que si l’on admet que la neutralisation du timbre entre voyelles fermées (/*i/, /*u/) et mi-fermées (/*ɪ/, /*ʊ/) s’est produite à plusieurs reprises dans le KLC, et que ce processus de neutralisation constitue donc une innovation indépendante dans les variétés où il est attesté. On est aussi conduit à supposer que ces neutralisations se sont produites après le début du phénomène de spirantisation, mais avant que ledit phénomène n’ait affecté toutes les cibles possibles dans les langues concernées

Silicon-on-insulator microring resonators for photonic biosensing applications

Silicon-on-insulator microring resonators have proven to be an excellent platform for label-free nanophotonic biosensors. The high index contrast of the silicon-on-insulator waveguides allows for fabrication of micrometer size sensors. Their small size combined with high sensitivity make them ideal candidates for integration in sensing arrays as a multiplexed DNA detection platform. By chemically modifying the sensor surface, the microrings can provide sequence selective DNA detection. However, the high index contrast also limits the quality of the resonances by introducing an intrinsic mode-splitting by coupling the degenerate resonator modes. This severely deteriorates the quality of the output signal. The quality of the resonances is of utmost importance to determine the performance of the microrings as a biosensor. We will suggest an integrated interferometric approach to give access to the unsplit, high-quality normal modes of the microring resonator

Moving from Data-Constrained to Data-Enabled Research: Experiences and Challenges in Collecting, Validating and Analyzing Large-Scale e-Commerce Data

Widespread e-commerce activity on the Internet has led to new opportunities to collect vast amounts of micro-level market and nonmarket data. In this paper we share our experiences in collecting, validating, storing and analyzing large Internet-based data sets in the area of online auctions, music file sharing and online retailer pricing. We demonstrate how such data can advance knowledge by facilitating sharper and more extensive tests of existing theories and by offering observational underpinnings for the development of new theories. Just as experimental economics pushed the frontiers of economic thought by enabling the testing of numerous theories of economic behavior in the environment of a controlled laboratory, we believe that observing, often over extended periods of time, real-world agents participating in market and nonmarket activity on the Internet can lead us to develop and test a variety of new theories. Internet data gathering is not controlled experimentation. We cannot randomly assign participants to treatments or determine event orderings. Internet data gathering does offer potentially large data sets with repeated observation of individual choices and action. In addition, the automated data collection holds promise for greatly reduced cost per observation. Our methods rely on technological advances in automated data collection agents. Significant challenges remain in developing appropriate sampling techniques integrating data from heterogeneous sources in a variety of formats, constructing generalizable processes and understanding legal constraints. Despite these challenges, the early evidence from those who have harvested and analyzed large amounts of e-commerce data points toward a significant leap in our ability to understand the functioning of electronic commerce.Comment: Published at http://dx.doi.org/10.1214/088342306000000231 in the Statistical Science (http://www.imstat.org/sts/) by the Institute of Mathematical Statistics (http://www.imstat.org

2014 will be the year of living nervously for all of Britain’s main political parties

Looking ahead to what 2014 holds in store for Britain’s main political parties, Eunice Goes writes that this year will test David Cameron’s leadership skills to the limit with the European parliament elections, the Scottish referendum, and potential interest rate hikes by the Bank of England looming. On the other hand, she predicts life will not be much easier for the leader of the Labour Party, Ed Miliband, whose leadership rating is abysmal. The LibDems face the difficult task of distancing themselves from the Conservatives and regaining the support they’ve lost while in government

The Leave campaign was toxic – but 43 years of embarrassed pro-Europeanism paved the way for Brexit

Yes, the Leave campaign was dishonest and some have argued criminally irresponsible; but are British pro-Europeans blameless, asks Eunice Goes. Political parties have for years avoided any discussion on the positive aspects of the EU, they rarely explained how the UK benefits from EU investment, all while the Eurosceptic press was capitalising on fictitious stories about migration and sovereignty. It is this culture of embarrassed pro-Europeanism that made the toxic, and in the end victorious Leave campaign possible