Why is German dependency parsing more reliable than constituent parsing?

In recent years, research in parsing has extended in several new directions. One of these directions is concerned with parsing languages other than English. Treebanks have become available for many European languages, but also for Arabic, Chinese, or Japanese. However, it was shown that parsing results on these treebanks depend on the types of treebank annotations used. Another direction in parsing research is the development of dependency parsers. Dependency parsing profits from the non-hierarchical nature of dependency relations, thus lexical information can be included in the parsing process in a much more natural way. Especially machine learning based approaches are very successful (cf. e.g.). The results achieved by these dependency parsers are very competitive although comparisons are difficult because of the differences in annotation. For English, the Penn Treebank has been converted to dependencies. For this version, Nivre et al. report an accuracy rate of 86.3%, as compared to an F-score of 92.1 for Charniaks parser. The Penn Chinese Treebank is also available in a constituent and a dependency representations. The best results reported for parsing experiments with this treebank give an F-score of 81.8 for the constituent version and 79.8% accuracy for the dependency version. The general trend in comparisons between constituent and dependency parsers is that the dependency parser performs slightly worse than the constituent parser. The only exception occurs for German, where F-scores for constituent plus grammatical function parses range between 51.4 and 75.3, depending on the treebank, NEGRA or TüBa-D/Z. The dependency parser based on a converted version of Tüba-D/Z, in contrast, reached an accuracy of 83.4%, i.e. 12 percent points better than the best constituent analysis including grammatical functions

The differences in attitudes about their society between 14 year old pupils with and without an immigration background; a cross-national comparison

In this paper we analyze the attitudes of 14 year old children of first and second generation immigrants and their civic attitudes about (aspects of) the society of destination. We use data from the Civic Education Study conducted by International Educational Association (IAE) in 1999. This Civic Education Study tests civic knowledge, civic attitudes and civic participation of 14 year old students. We have five dependent variables in 11 countries: trust in government related institution positive attitudes towards immigrants, positive attitudes towards one’s nation of residence positive attitudes towards women’s rights and civic participation. 14-year pupils with an immigrant background had stronger positive attitudes towards immigrants, stronger negative attitudes towards women’s political and economic rights, stronger negative attitudes towards the nation of residence and less outspoken lower trust in government related institutions. Second generation pupils do not deviate less than first generation, neither pupils in more inclusive societies differ less.trust; immigrants; 14-year old pupils; cross-national analyses

Post, Like, Share, Submit: Visual Control and the Digital Image (13 Theses)

Deleuze’s short essay on the societies of control has, one could say, infected thought on the present. Few serious reflections on today’s media society seem immune against the plausibility and evidence of Deleuze’s deliberations, not least because they use the force of abstraction to draw theoretical concepts from empirical facts, allowing for an anticipation of future developments without getting lost in details. Deleuze argues that a society whose media and technologies provide an apparatus of seamless connectivity and global scope has irreversible effects on the way we perceive, think, and create order. At the same time, the naturalization of these effects progresses via retroaction – making us forget it has ever been different. With his text, Deleuze stands in the midst of this naturalization and neutralization process: This may be why it is inevitably a “postscript” to the societies of control – it takes the artificial position of the “post” in order to be able to look at one’s own contemporary culture from an alienating distance, as Foucault once demanded for every description of the present (1999: 91). This “post,” then, by no means signals a retrospective look at a process already completed; instead, Deleuze gives an exaggerated account of the early digitization age from an artificial retrospective standpoint, which, ironically, will also have been one “after” writing

How Has Religiosity Influenced the Restrictiveness of Marriage Immigration Policy in Serbia, Denmark, and the United States?

The following paper draws attention and investigates the impact of religion, specifically religiosity, on the development of marriage immigration policy in Serbia, Denmark, and the United States. In directly comparing between the three states, significant evidence suggests that religiosity has clearly influenced the restrictiveness of marriage immigration policy altogether. Whether indirectly or indirectly, through a defined politico-religious institution or a call to cultural religious tradition, the fact remains that religion presents a powerful force in influencing the restriction of marriage immigration policy. Whether through its concern for ethnic purity, cultural homogeneity, or sexuality, religiosity remains a powerful factor when discussing marriage migration policy that cannot be denied. The factor of religion places a heavy normative burden that calls for a constrained view of migration, suggesting that imposing restrictions on marriage immigration is the expression of a more weighted approach to the sanctity of the human condition

Modulation of neuronal network activity in the primary motor cortex

In the present study I investigated the mechanisms of modulation of neuronal network activity in rat primary motor cortex using pharmacological manipulations employing the in vitro brain slice technique. Preparation of the brain slice in sucrose-based aCSF produced slices with low viability. Introducing the neuroprotectants N-acetyl-cysteine, taurine and aminoguanidine to the preparatory method saw viability of slices increase significantly. Co-application of low dose kainic acid and carbachol consistently generated beta oscillatory activity in M1. Analyses indicated that network activity in M1 relied on the involvement of GABAA receptors. Dose-response experiments performed in M1 showed that beta activity can be modulated by benzodiazepine site ligands. Low doses of positive allosteric modulators consistently desynchronised beta oscillatory activity, a mechanism that may be driven by a1-subunit containing GABAA receptors. Higher doses increased the power of beta oscillatory activity. Whole-cell recordings in M1 uncovered three interneuronal subtypes regularly encountered in M1; Fast-spiking, regular-spiking non-Pyramidal and low threshold spiking. With the paradoxical effects of positive allosteric modulators in mind, subsequent voltage-clamp recordings in FS cells revealed a constitutively active tonic inhibitory current that could be modulated by zolpidem in two different ways. Low dose zolpidem increased the tonic inhibitory current in FS cells, consistent with the desynchronisation of network oscillatory activity seen at this concentration. High dose zolpidem decreased the inhibitory tonic current seen in FS cells, coinciding with an increase in oscillatory power. These studies indicate a fundamental role for a tonic inhibitory current in the modulation of network activity. Furthermore, desynchronisation of beta activity in M1 decreased as viability of the in vitro brain slice increased, suggesting that the extent of desynchronisation is dependent upon the pathophysiological state of the network. This indicates that low dose zolpidem could be used as a therapeutic agent specifically for the desynchronisation of pathological oscillations in oscillopathies such as Parkinson’s disease

Čimbenici motivacije i uspjeha poduzetnika: nalazi iz zemlje u razvoju

This paper is focused on the study of motivational and success factors of entrepreneurs in Serbia with respect to the basic methodological approach developed by Chu (using principal component factor analysis with varimax rotation). The objective of the research was to analyse the motives of entrepreneurs starting their own business and to determine factors that affect the success of SMEs. The empirical research was conducted according to 11 motivational items of entrepreneurs to establish their own business and 17 items affecting entrepreneurs’ success. Four motivational factors are obtained in this research (greater business achievement, independence, intrinsic factor and job security), as well as seven factors affecting entrepreneurs’ success (position in society, interpersonal skills, approval and support, competitive product/ service, leadership skills, always to be informed and business reputation). Based on these results and their comparison with the empirical findings in other countries, it may be concluded that motivational factors of entrepreneurs are generic in developing countries. The results showed that there was a lack of motives concerned with sustainable development of enterprise in a long run. On the other hand, there is a variety of different success factors affecting entrepreneurs, which primarily depend on the current situation in the local environment.Ovaj rad je usmjeren na proučavanje motivacije i čimbenika uspjeha poduzetnika u Srbiji u odnosu na osnovni metodološki pristup razvijen od strane Chu (koristeći analizu glavnih komponenata sa varimax rotacijom čimbenika). Cilj istraživanja bio je analizirati motive poduzetnika za pokretanje vlastitog poslovanja i odrediti čimbenike koji utječu na uspješnost malih i srednjih poduzeća. Istraživanje je provedeno prema 11 motivacijskih stavki poduzetnika za uspostavljanje vlastitog biznisa i 17 stavki koje utječu na uspjeh poduzetnika. Četiri motivacijska čimbenika su dobivena u ovom istraživanju (veći poslovni uspjeh, neovisnost, unutarnji faktor i sigurnost radnog mjesta), kao i sedam čimbenika koji utječu na poduzetnički uspjeh (pozicija u društvu, interpersonalne vještine, odobrenje i podrška, konkurentni proizvod/usluga, vještine vodstva, uvijek biti obaviješten i poslovni ugled). Na temelju tih rezultata i njihove usporedbe s empirijskim nalazima u drugim zemljama, može se zaključiti da su motivacijski čimbenici poduzetnika generički u zemljama u razvoju. Rezultati su pokazali da postoji nedostatak motiva koje se bave održivim razvojem poduzeća u dugom periodu. S druge strane, postoji niz različitih čimbenika koji utječu na uspjeh poduzetnika, koji prvenstveno ovise o trenutnoj situaciji u lokalnoj sredini

Modulation of neuronal network activity in the primary motor cortex

In the present study I investigated the mechanisms of modulation of neuronal network activity in rat primary motor cortex using pharmacological manipulations employing the in vitro brain slice technique. Preparation of the brain slice in sucrose-based aCSF produced slices with low viability. Introducing the neuroprotectants N-acetyl-cysteine, taurine and aminoguanidine to the preparatory method saw viability of slices increase significantly. Co-application of low dose kainic acid and carbachol consistently generated beta oscillatory activity in M1. Analyses indicated that network activity in M1 relied on the involvement of GABAA receptors. Dose-response experiments performed in M1 showed that beta activity can be modulated by benzodiazepine site ligands. Low doses of positive allosteric modulators consistently desynchronised beta oscillatory activity, a mechanism that may be driven by a1-subunit containing GABAA receptors. Higher doses increased the power of beta oscillatory activity. Whole-cell recordings in M1 uncovered three interneuronal subtypes regularly encountered in M1; Fast-spiking, regular-spiking non-Pyramidal and low threshold spiking. With the paradoxical effects of positive allosteric modulators in mind, subsequent voltage-clamp recordings in FS cells revealed a constitutively active tonic inhibitory current that could be modulated by zolpidem in two different ways. Low dose zolpidem increased the tonic inhibitory current in FS cells, consistent with the desynchronisation of network oscillatory activity seen at this concentration. High dose zolpidem decreased the inhibitory tonic current seen in FS cells, coinciding with an increase in oscillatory power. These studies indicate a fundamental role for a tonic inhibitory current in the modulation of network activity. Furthermore, desynchronisation of beta activity in M1 decreased as viability of the in vitro brain slice increased, suggesting that the extent of desynchronisation is dependent upon the pathophysiological state of the network. This indicates that low dose zolpidem could be used as a therapeutic agent specifically for the desynchronisation of pathological oscillations in oscillopathies such as Parkinson’s disease.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo