2,755 research outputs found
Entity Recognition at First Sight: Improving NER with Eye Movement Information
Previous research shows that eye-tracking data contains information about the
lexical and syntactic properties of text, which can be used to improve natural
language processing models. In this work, we leverage eye movement features
from three corpora with recorded gaze information to augment a state-of-the-art
neural model for named entity recognition (NER) with gaze embeddings. These
corpora were manually annotated with named entity labels. Moreover, we show how
gaze features, generalized on word type level, eliminate the need for recorded
eye-tracking data at test time. The gaze-augmented models for NER using
token-level and type-level features outperform the baselines. We present the
benefits of eye-tracking features by evaluating the NER models on both
individual datasets as well as in cross-domain settings.Comment: Accepted at NAACL-HLT 201
Characteristics of Foreign R&D Strategies of Swiss Firms: Implications for Policy
The aim of the paper is, firstly, to identify a number of strategies Swiss firms pursue by performing foreign R&D, expecting that firms, in many instances, are driven by a combination of several motives (mixed strategies). Secondly, we ask whether foreign and domestic R&D are substitutes or complements. Thirdly, we draw some policy conclusions based on results for direct and indirect home-country effects of foreign R&D. By applying cluster analysis, we identified four specific patterns of motives of foreign R&D. In a second step, we investigated whether these clusters effectively may be interpreted as specific types of R&D strategies. To this end, the clusters were characterised in terms of a large number of variables, which, according to the OLI paradigm of FDI, determine foreign R&D. We found that the patterns of the four clusters systematically differ with respect to these theory-related variables. Some clusters represent, in terms of motives, broad-based mixed strategies, whereas others are strongly focused. It turns out that foreign R&D strategies that primarily aim at exploiting capabilities of the domestic headquarters dominate, whereas cost-reducing strategies are of very minor importance. In case of the other two strategies knowledge sourcing is a constituent element, in the first one, knowledge sourcing is at the core, in the second case it is an important element in the frame of a broad-based strategy. The relative importance of the four strategies implies that, on balance, foreign and domestic R&D are complements. Notwithstanding this positive result, it is sensible to take policy actions supporting the economy to capitalise even more on outward FDI in R&D. Policy basically should aim at securing the attractiveness of Switzerland as a location for R&D-intensive headquarters of firms performing foreign R&D, and at enhancing knowledge spillovers from headquarter companies to other domestic firms. The five categories of measures we recommend are part of a framework-oriented policy design rather than of a more interventionist concept.Internationalisation of R&D; Motives of foreign R&D; Foreign R&D strategies; Knowledge spillovers; Home-country effects of outward FDI in R&D
The traces of anisotropic dark energy in light of Planck
We study a dark energy model with non-zero anisotropic stress, either linked
to the dark energy density or to the dark matter density. We compute
approximate solutions that allow to characterise the behaviour of the dark
energy model and to assess the stability of the perturbations. We also
determine the current limits on such an anisotropic stress from the cosmic
microwave background data by the Planck satellite, and derive the corresponding
constraints on the modified growth parameters like the growth index, the
effective Newton's constant and the gravitational slip.Comment: 29 pages, 10 figures; matches version accepted for publication in
JCA
Early dark energy from zero-point quantum fluctuations
We examine a cosmological model with a dark energy density of the form
, where is the component that
accelerates the Hubble expansion at late times and is an extra
contribution proportional to . This form of follows from
the recent proposal that the contribution of zero-point fluctuations of quantum
fields to the total energy density should be computed by subtracting the
Minkowski-space result from that computed in the FRW space-time. We discuss
theoretical arguments that support this subtraction. By definition, this
eliminates the quartic divergence in the vacuum energy density responsible for
the cosmological constant problem. We show that the remaining quadratic
divergence can be reabsorbed into a redefinition of Newton's constant only
under the assumption that the energy-momentum tensor of vacuum fluctuations is
conserved in isolation. However, in the presence of an ultra-light scalar field
with , as typical of some dark energy models, the gravity
effective action depends both on the gravitational field and on the field.
In this case general covariance only requires the conservation of the total
energy-momentum tensor, including both the classical term and
the vacuum expectation value of T_{\mu\nu}. If there is an exchange of energy
between these two terms, there are potentially observable consequences. We
construct an explicit model with an interaction between and
and we show that the total dark energy density
always remains a finite fraction of the
critical density at any time, providing a specific model of early dark energy.
We discuss the implication of this result for the coincidence problem and we
estimate the model parameters by means of a full likelihood analysis using
current CMB, SNe Ia and BAO data.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures; v3: improved discussion, references adde
Determinants of International Activities: Are SMEs Different?
In this paper we econometrically investigate the factors determining the choice of a specific internationalisation strategy. We distinguish four strategies, ranging from "serving foreign markets through exports onlyâ up to "exporting and locating abroad several business functions such as distribution, production and R & Dâ. These strategies are evaluated against the reference category "domestic sales onlyâ (multinomial logit model). The analysis, to a large extent, confirms Dunning's well-known OLI paradigm. O-advantages turn out to be the main drivers of internationalisation, irrespective of firm size and internationalisation strategy. However, the knowledge-base on which O-advantages of smaller firms rests is more narrow than that of large companies. Whereas the former rely, in relative terms, primarily on capabilities related to incremental innovations, the latter draw to a higher extent on assets enabling them to be competitive in terms of far-reaching innovations. L-advantages (wages, regulatory framework, etc.) primarily are relevant in case of small firms; but even for this size class, O-advantages are dominan
Reconsidering the risk assessment concept: <br>Standardizing the impact description as a building block for vulnerability assessment
Risk assessments for natural hazards are becoming more widely used and accepted. Using an extended definition of risk, it becomes obvious that performant procedures for vulnerability assessments are vital for the success of the risk concept. However, there are large gaps in knowledge about vulnerability. To alleviate the situation, a conceptual extension of the scope of existing and new models is suggested. The basis of the suggested concept is a stadardization of the output of hazard assessments. This is achieved by defining states of the target objects that depend on the impact and at the same time affect the object's performance characteristics. The possible state variables can be related to a limited set of impact descriptors termed generic impact description interface. The concept suggests that both hazard and vulnerability assessment models are developed according to the specification of this interface, thus facilitating modularized risk assessments. Potential problems related to the application of the concept include acceptance issues and the lacking accuracy of transformation of outputs of existing models. Potential applications and simple examples for adapting existing models are briefly discussed
Theoretical Priors On Modified Growth Parametrisations
Next generation surveys will observe the large-scale structure of the
Universe with unprecedented accuracy. This will enable us to test the
relationships between matter over-densities, the curvature perturbation and the
Newtonian potential. Any large-distance modification of gravity or exotic
nature of dark energy modifies these relationships as compared to those
predicted in the standard smooth dark energy model based on General Relativity.
In linear theory of structure growth such modifications are often parameterised
by virtue of two functions of space and time that enter the relation of the
curvature perturbation to, first, the matter over-density, and second, the
Newtonian potential. We investigate the predictions for these functions in
Brans-Dicke theory, clustering dark energy models and interacting dark energy
models. We find that each theory has a distinct path in the parameter space of
modified growth. Understanding these theoretical priors on the
parameterisations of modified growth is essential to reveal the nature of
cosmic acceleration with the help of upcoming observations of structure
formations.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figure
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