Street Smart or Smart Street? Theater and environmental power

In its first part the essay reflects on an ongoing transformation in the history of power relations by commenting on a short passage from Elfriede Jelinek's 2013 theater text Die Schutzbefohlenen (Charges: The suppliants). Reading Jelinek's words as a play on Martin Heidegger's essay "Die Zeit des Weltbildes" ("The Age of the World Picture") but also on his concept of the "Gestell", the essay discusses a current crisis of pictorial framing which corresponds today's reshaping of the logics of production by digital network technologies. The essay argues that one of the most significant symptoms of this development is an extensive "deterritorialization of the street" and its milieus which for historical reasons has a great impact on contemporary theater. Finally, the processes at stake are described as effects of an increasing implementation of "environmental governmentality", a term which the essay traces back to its Foucauldian roots. The second part then focusses on "Flinn Works'" 2017 performance Global Belly which engages the audience in semi-documentary scenes on the phenomenon of surrogate motherhood, for which today sperm and egg cells are transported, mixed, discharged and returned around the globe in global operations. As will be shown here, this performance deals in fact remarkably with all the three issues developed in the first part of the essay

The Long Lives of Old Lutes: The Cultural and Material History of the Veneration of Old Musical Instruments

This study examines the object biographies of musical instruments and the function of age in the cultural and material history of the lute. It follows the central question of why old instruments were valued more greatly than new ones and what measures had to be executed to adapt the objects to the ever-changing musical style. It traces the lute in its several cultural functions from the 17th to the 19th century: as a musical instrument, as a symbol, as a commodity, and as an object that had to be adapted, repaired, and altered by several generations of lute makers. This interdisciplinary approach uses a broad spectrum of sources from treatises, lute manuals, forewords in printed lute music, and depictions of lutes in literature, poetry, and visual arts to construct a narrative of the appreciation of old musical instruments. It investigates the material changes that were necessary to ensure their continued use by a profound study of more than 100 instruments in public and private collections. The different business models and prices in the trade of lutes are compared and connected to the common knowledge about old instruments and their brand characteristics among lute players. This study employs methods from musicology, organology, material culture studies, acoustics, economics, art history, technology, and digital humanities. This multivalent approach enhances the understanding of the general dynamics of commodities as status symbols, object biographies, and functional objects and connects them to the material and cultural history of objects using the lute as a case study.Die Studie untersucht die Objektbiografien von Musikinstrumenten und die Funktion des Alters für die kulturelle und materielle Geschichte von Lauteninstrumenten. Sie geht der zentralen Frage nach, warum alte Instrumente höher geschätzt wurden als neue und welche Maßnahmen ergriffen werden mussten, um die Objekte an den sich ständig verändernden Musikstil anzupassen. Sie verfolgt die Laute in ihren verschiedenen kulturellen Funktionen vom 17. bis zum 19. Jahrhundert: als Musikinstrument, als Symbol, als Gebrauchsgegenstand und als Objekt, das von mehreren Generationen von Lautenbauern angepasst, repariert und verändert werden musste. Der interdisziplinäre Ansatz nutzt ein breites Spektrum von Quellen wie Traktate, Lautenhandbücher, Vorworte in gedruckter Lautenmusik und Darstellungen von Lauten in Literatur, Poesie und bildender Kunst, um die Geschichte der Wertschätzung alter Musikinstrumente nachzuverfolgen. Anhand einer eingehenden Untersuchung von mehr als 100 Instrumenten in öffentlichen und privaten Sammlungen werden die Eingriffe untersucht, die notwendig waren, um ihre weitere Nutzung zu gewährleisten. Die unterschiedlichen Geschäftsmodelle und Preise im Handel mit Lauten werden verglichen und mit dem Wissensvorrat unter Lautenisten über alte Instrumente und deren Markencharakteristiken in Verbindung gebracht. Die Studie verwendet Methoden aus der Musikwissenschaft, der Organologie, der materiellen Kulturwissenschaft, der Akustik, der Ökonomie, der Kunstgeschichte, der Instrumentenbautechnologie und der Digital Humanities. Der multivalente Ansatz verbessert das Verständnis der allgemeinen Dynamik von Waren als Statussymbole, von Objektbiografien funktionaler Objekte und verbindet sie mit der materiellen und kulturellen Geschichte der Objekte am Beispiel der Laute

Transfer Learning for Speech Recognition on a Budget

End-to-end training of automated speech recognition (ASR) systems requires massive data and compute resources. We explore transfer learning based on model adaptation as an approach for training ASR models under constrained GPU memory, throughput and training data. We conduct several systematic experiments adapting a Wav2Letter convolutional neural network originally trained for English ASR to the German language. We show that this technique allows faster training on consumer-grade resources while requiring less training data in order to achieve the same accuracy, thereby lowering the cost of training ASR models in other languages. Model introspection revealed that small adaptations to the network's weights were sufficient for good performance, especially for inner layers.Comment: Accepted for 2nd ACL Workshop on Representation Learning for NL

Characterization of Water Dissociation on α\alpha-Al2_{2}O3_{3}(11ˉ02)(1\bar{1}02): Theory and Experiment

The interaction of water with $\alpha$-alumina (i.e. $\alpha$-Al$_{2}$O$_{3}$ surfaces is important in a variety of applications and a useful model for the interaction of water with environmentally abundant aluminosilicate phases. Despite its significance, studies of water interaction with $\alpha$-Al$_{2}$O$_{3}$ surfaces other than the $(0001)$ are extremely limited. Here we characterize the interaction of water (D$_{2}$O) with a well defined $\alpha$-Al$_{2}$O$_{3}$$(1\bar{1}02)$ surface in UHV both experimentally, using temperature programmed desorption and surface-specific vibrational spectroscopy, and theoretically, using periodic-slab density functional theory calculations. This combined approach makes it possible to demonstrate that water adsorption occurs only at a single well defined surface site (the so-called 1-4 configuration) and that at this site the barrier between the molecularly and dissociatively adsorbed forms is very low: 0.06 eV. A subset of OD stretch vibrations are parallel to this dissociation coordinate, and thus would be expected to be shifted to low frequencies relative to an uncoupled harmonic oscillator. To quantify this effect we solve the vibrational Schr\"odinger equation along the dissociation coordinate and find fundamental frequencies red-shifted by more than 1,500 cm$^{\text{-1}}$. Within the context of this model, at moderate temperatures, we further find that some fraction of surface deuterons are likely delocalized: dissociatively and molecularly absorbed states are no longer distinguishable.Comment: Paper: 22 pages, 9 figures , ESI: 6 pages, 1 figur

Method for automated structuring of product data and its applications

Product structures represent the data backbone for through-life management of complex systems. Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) Systems are used to maintain product structures and track product changes. However, in maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) product composition often is unknown when MRO service providers are not the original manufacturers. Thus, MRO processes start with an exhaustive product diagnosis to identify elements to be maintained or replaced. Existing 3D scanning and data post processing methods have to be improved to acquire structured product data. This paper presents a method for automated derivation of product structures from 3D assembly models

A task-based connectome study

This article was supported by the German Research Foundation (DFG) and the Open Access Publication Fund of Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.The functional connectome is organized into several separable intrinsic connectivity networks (ICNs) that are thought to be the building blocks of the mind. However, it is currently not well understood how these networks are engaged by emotionally salient information, and how such engagement fits into emotion theories. The current study assessed how ICNs respond during the processing of angry and fearful faces in a large sample (N = 843) and examined how connectivity changes relate to the ICNs. All ICNs were modulated by emotional faces and showed functional interactions, a finding which is in line with the “theory of constructed emotions” that assumes that basic emotion do not arise from separable ICNs but from their interplay. We further identified a set of brain regions whose connectivity changes during the tasks suggest a special role as “affective hubs” in the brain. While hubs were located in all ICNs, we observed high selectivity for the amygdala within the subcortical network, a finding which also fits into “primary emotion” theory. The topology of hubs corresponded closely to a set of brain regions that has been implicated in anxiety disorders, pointing towards a clinical relevance of the present findings. The present data are the most comprehensive mapping of connectome-wide changes in functionally connectivity evoked by an affective processing task thus far and support two competing views on how emotions are represented in the brain, suggesting that the connectome paradigm might help with unifying the two ideas.Peer Reviewe

Simulation and Application of a Piezo-Driven System Enabling Vibration-Assisted Micro Milling

The ongoing miniaturization of components and the functionalization of surfaces necessitates the improvement of micro machining processes and to increase their efficiency. One method to increase the machining efficiency is reducing the process forces and tool wear, which is achieved by the implementation of vibration-assisted cutting in conventional machining processes. In vibration-assisted cutting, the conventional cutting movement is superimposed by a vibration with defined frequency. By using vibration-assisted cutting technologies, besides increased efficiency, a wider range of materials can be machined. In this paper, vibration-assisted cutting is transferred to micro machining. For this purpose, the design, simulation and application of an easy to integrate system that enables vibration-assisted cutting for micro machining processes is described. The setup was tested using a micro milling process. Two orientations between feed direction and vibration direction were investigated. Frequencies up to 15 kHz were examined, the machined material was brass (CuZn39Pb2). The effect of the superimposed vibration was analysed on the basis of process force, surface roughness, burr formation and slot bottom and was compared with the process results of micro milling without vibration-assistance. A decrease in process forces of up to 63 % was observed during vibration-assisted micro milling

Molecular Simulation Study on the Influence of the Scratching Velocity on Nanoscopic Contact Processes

The influence of the scratching velocity on mechanical and thermal properties of a nanoscopic contact process was studied by molecular dynamics simulations. Simulations with different scratching velocities were conducted in dry and lubricated systems. The contact process consisted of a lateral scratching of a spherical indenter on a planar substrate. All molecular interactions were described by the Lennard-Jones truncated and shifted potential. The forces on the indenter, the coefficient of friction and the work done by the indenter as well as the power applied on the indenter were sampled. Furthermore, an analysis of thermal properties was conducted: The change of the energy of the substrate, the indenter and the fluid was evaluated and the local temperature field was determined. The forces, the coefficient of friction and the work done by the indenter show practically no influence of the scratching velocity. The work done by the indenter was found to be the same for all velocities. As a consequence, the power supplied to the system depends linearly on the scratching velocity, which affects the temperature of the contact zone. As expected, the presence of a lubricant reduces the temperature of the substrate in the vicinity of the contact

Raumbezogene Identitäten verstehen und nutzen – Eine Chance für zukunftsorientierte Regionen

The ‘Zukunftsdiskurs’ (future discourse) "Understanding and using place identities - an opportunity for future-oriented regions" (short title “Zukunftsdiskurs Place Identities”) has taken up and continued the debate on the foundations, goals and characteristics of regional identities. In workshops, actors in spatial planning and development, as well as scientists, discussed the topics of regionalization, regional development, place identities and attachments to 'Heimat' (homeland). The aim was to identify innovative approaches for regional development by considering place identities and developing practical implementation guidelines. The 'Zukunftsdiskurs' thus addressed the following objectives, • to point out identity-generating characteristics and their further development as an important prerequisite for the profiling of regions, • to use the knowledge of these potentials for regional change processes and • to make the debates about identity, 'Heimat' and participation more objective. Regionalization as a process of cooperative regional formation is not a foregone conclusion. However, if regional identity is discussed and made manageable for planning practice, regional development can take targeted action to shape regions in a future-oriented manner. The identification with one's region, the willingness to participate in planning processes and the understanding of joint and progressive territorial development are essential effects that the 'Zukunftsdiskurs' supports.Der Zukunftsdiskurs „Raumbezogene Identitäten verstehen und nutzen – eine Chance für zukunftsorientierte Regionen“ (Kurztitel „Zukunftsdiskurs Raumbezogene Identitäten“) hat die Auseinandersetzung zu Grundlagen, Zielen und Ausprägungen regionaler Identitäten aufgegriffen und weitergeführt. In mehreren Foren diskutierten Akteure/-innen der räumlichen Planung und Entwicklung sowie Wissenschaftlerinnen und Wissenschaftler die Themen Regionalisierung, Regionalentwicklung, räumliche Identitäten und Heimatbezüge. Ziel war es, innovative Ansätze für die Berücksichtigung raumbezogener Identitäten bei der Entwicklung von Regionen zu erheben und praktische Umsetzungshinweise zu erarbeiten. Im Zukunftsdiskurs ging es also darum, • identitätsstiftende Merkmale und deren Weiterentwicklung als wichtige Voraussetzung für eine Profilierung von Regionen aufzuzeigen, • das Wissen um diese Potenziale für regionale Veränderungsprozesse zu nutzen und • die Debatten um Identität, Heimat und Teilhabe zu versachlichen. Regionalisierung als Prozess kooperativer Regionsbildung ist kein Selbstläufer. Erfasst und diskutiert man jedoch regionale Identität und macht sie für die Planungspraxis handhabbar, kann Regionalentwicklung hier gezielt ansetzen, um Regionen zukunftsorientiert zu gestalten. Die Identifikation mit der eigenen Region, die Bereitschaft, sich an Planungsprozessen zu beteiligen und das Verständnis von gemeinschaftlicher und progressiver Raumentwicklung sind wesentliche Effekte, die der Zukunftsdiskurs unterstützt.Niedersächsisches Ministerium für Wissenschaft und Kultur/gefördert aus Mitteln des Niedersächsischen Vorab/ZN3413/E