On generators and generative capacity of EOL forms

Summary In this paper we study the generative capacity of EOL forms from two different points of view. On the one hand, we consider the generative capacity of special EOL forms which one could call linear like and context free like, establishing the existence of a rich variety of non-regular sub-EOL language families. On the other hand, we propose the notion of a generator L of a language family We mean by this that any synchronized EOL system generating L generates — if understood as an EOL form — all languages of . We characterize the generators of the family of regular languages, and prove that other well known language families do not have generators.Partially supported under NSE Research Council of Canada, grant No. A-7700     

Consumers' Creative Talent: Which Characteristics Qualify Consumers for Open Innovation Projects? An Exploration of Asymmetrical Effects

Virtual customer integration and open innovation are considered as appropriate means to improve the success of new product development. However, only when consumers are qualified and motivated to contribute promising ideas and relevant know‐how they are able to add value to a producer's innovation process. In this study, we explore the symmetric and asymmetric impact of various creativity components on consumers' idea generation, concept development, or prototype building abilities as well as interest in co‐creation projects. Our results show that creativity components are of different importance. While some characteristics are needed above certain thresholds to successfully accomplish a certain development task, exceeding those does not necessarily lead to better outputs. Other characteristics improve the creative output only if they exceed specific levels.     

On grammar forms with terminal context

Summary A context-free grammar form G defines a family of context-free grammars {ie397-01}(G). In this paper {ie397-02}(G) is extended to give the family of terminal context grammars {ie397-03}(G), which were introduced by Book [4]. It is shown that the families of languages defined by {ie397-04}(G) and {ie397-05}(G) are equal when G is an -free context-free grammar form. This generalizes the result of Book [4] for context-free grammars and underlines the usefulness of the notion of grammar forms in formal language theory.The work of the second author was carried out partially under a National Research Council of Canada Grant. No. A-7700 and partially under the auspices of the University of Karlsruhe     

The reality of divorce. Reply to Gordon (2005).

R. M. Gordon (2005; see record 2005-08806-011) insists in his commentary on J. S. Wallerstein and J. M. Lewis's (2004; see record 2004-17367-002) work that the impact of divorce on children is fleeting, and he proposes, without supporting evidence, that the long-lasting psychological problems displayed by children of divorce in adolescence and adulthood reflect more the preexisting psychopathology of the parents and their traumatic parenting than any consequence of the disrupted marriage and the unhappy sequelae that so regularly constitute the postdivorce family. The authors' data, based on intensive periodic clinical study of these youngsters and their parents over several decades, indicate the contrary. No research has established that divorcing parents exhibit as a class more mental illness than parents in intact families. The authors' findings speak to the unmet needs of children of divorce for psychological help with their intimate relationships when they enter adulthood. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Science and technology in the region: The output of regional science and technology, its strengths and its leading institutions

Summary We operationalize scientific output in a region by means of the number of articles (as in the SciSearch database) per year and technology output by means of the number of patent applications (as in the database of the European Patent Office) per priority year. All informetric analyses were done using the DIALOG online-system. The main research questions are the following: Which scientific and technological fields or topics are most influent within a region and which institutions or companies are mainly publishing articles or holding patents? Do the distributions of regional science and technology fields and of publishing institutions follow the well-known informetric function? Are there - as it is expected - only few fields and few institutions which dominate the region? Is there a connection between the economic power of a region and the regional publication and patent output? Examples studied in detail are seven German regions: Aachen, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Köln (Cologne), Leipzig - Halle - Dessau, München (Munich), and Stuttgart. Three different indicators were used, science and technology attraction of a region (number of scientific articles and patents), science and technology intensity (articles and patents per 1,000 inhabitants), and science and technology density (articles and patents per 1 billion EURO gross value added). Top region concerning both attraction and intensity is Munich, concerning density it is Aachen.     

Lattice dynamics in VO2 near the metal-insulator transition

We present a comprehensive experimental study of the lattice dynamics in the vicinity of the metal-insulator transition in VO₂ by means of combined use of Raman spectroscopy and ultrasonic microscopy. Single crystalline samples of high quality particularly allow quite a complete determination of all Raman modes in the insulating phase at the Γ-point and the observation of an optical soft mode. In addition, the elastic behavior has been successfully investigated by measuring the propagation velocity of ultrasonic surface waves microscopically excited in various crystal directions. Our study reveals a striking coincidence of strong lattice softening attributable to certain acoustic branches and the occurrence of the optical soft mode, which precedes the metal-insulator transition over more than 100 K on approaching the critical temperature.     

Mapping of continuous floristic gradients in grasslands using hyperspectral imagery

Transitions between plant species assemblages are often continuous with the form of the transition dependent on the ‘slope’ of environmental gradients and on the style of self-organization in vegetation. Image segmentation can present misleading or even erroneous results if applied to continuous spatial changes in vegetation. Even methods that allow for multiple-class memberships of pixels presuppose the existence of ideal types of species assemblages that constitute mixtures—an assumption that does not fit the case of continua where any section of a gradient is as ‘pure’ as any other section like in modulations of grassland species composition.Thus, we attempted to spatially model floristic gradients in Bavarian meadows by extrapolating axes of an unconstrained ordination of species data. The models were based on high-resolution hyperspectral airborne imagery. We further modelled the distribution of plant functional response types (Ellenberg indicator values) and the cover values of selected species. The models were made with partial least squares (PLS) regression analyses. The realistic utility of the regression models was evaluated by full leave-one-out cross-validation.The modelled floristic gradients showed a considerable agreement with ground-based observations of floristic gradients (R²=0.71 and 0.66 for the first two axes of ordination). Apart from mapping the most important continuous floristic differences, we mapped gradients in the appearance of plant functional response groups as represented by averaged Ellenberg indicator values for soil pH (R²=0.76), water supply (R²=0.66) and nutrient supply (R²=0.75), while models for the cover of single species were weak.Compared to many other vegetation attributes, plant species composition is difficult to detect with remote sensing techniques. This is partly caused by a lack of compatibility between methods of vegetation ecology and remote sensing. We believe that the present study has the potential to increase compatibility as neither spectral nor vegetation information gets lost by a classifying step.     

Performing Aboriginality: Desiring Pre-contact Aboriginality in Victoria, 1886–1901

This paper re-investigates notions of performed Aboriginality in relation to photographs made at Lake Tyers Mission Station, Victoria, Australia, and argues that Nicholas Caire's photographs reveal complex Aboriginal subjectivities. The photographs, made originally in 1886 and distributed to tourists, were later reproduced and circulated in book format in 1897. The first presentation of the photographs, whilst focusing on historical Aboriginality, contains traces of cross-cultural hybridity. However, the later presentation of the work reinforces historical and traditional material culture over cross-cultural dialogue. This paper argues that the desire to find historical notions of Aboriginality on mission stations in Victoria was not just due to the establishment of hierarchical racial theories in the latter part of the nineteenth century (generating the idea that Aborigines could not change and adapt to notions of ‘civilisation’) and doubts about the success of mission stations, but also because there was an interest in Aborigines who had experienced little assimilation from more remote parts of the continent of Australia. This curiosity in pre-contact Aboriginality fuelled tourism in Victoria to accessible mission stations such as Lake Tyers.     

Vibrant Photography: Photographs,actants and political ecology

Jane Bennett’s thesis in Vibrant Matter argues that we need to find ways to acknowledge and engage with the agency of all factors that create ecologies and environments, including non-human actants. This essay argues that Richard Misrach and Kate Orff’s project Petrochemical America signals some important strategies that are useful for developing visual political ecologies and understanding non-human actants, including the non-living. Although some of the images are typical scenes of environmental devastation, human and social links are made to foster the understanding that we are looking at an image of ecology rather than nature ravaged. In addition to the titles of images, captions and overall contextualization of the project, Kate Orff’s team SCAPE produce a series of diagrams called Throughlines that situate the subject of petrochemical creation and its impact in the Mississippi River corridor. The cumulative impact of Misrach’s photographic approach, combined with the effective and systematic linking of his images to other forms of relevant information by Kate Orff, produces an understanding of environment as not only inextricably linked to human activity and habitation, but which also contains differing agencies constituting a broader ecology.