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The wide distribution of location-acquisition technologies means that large volumes of spatio-temporal data are continuously being accumulated. Positioning systems such as GPS enable the tracking of various moving objects' trajectories, which are usually represented by a chronologically ordered sequence of observed locations. The analysis of movement patterns based on detailed positional information creates opportunities for applications that can improve business decisions and processes in a broad spectrum of industries (e.g., transportation, traffic control, or medicine). Due to the large data volumes generated in these applications, the cost-efficient storage of spatio-temporal data is desirable, especially when in-memory database systems are used to achieve interactive performance requirements.
To efficiently utilize the available DRAM capacities, modern database systems support various tuning possibilities to reduce the memory footprint (e.g., data compression) or increase performance (e.g., additional indexes structures). By considering horizontal data partitioning, we can independently apply different tuning options on a fine-grained level. However, the selection of cost and performance-balancing configurations is challenging, due to the vast number of possible setups consisting of mutually dependent individual decisions.
In this thesis, we introduce multiple approaches to improve spatio-temporal data management by automatically optimizing diverse tuning options for the application-specific access patterns and data characteristics. Our contributions are as follows:
(1) We introduce a novel approach to determine fine-grained table configurations for spatio-temporal workloads. Our linear programming (LP) approach jointly optimizes the (i) data compression, (ii) ordering, (iii) indexing, and (iv) tiering. We propose different models which address cost dependencies at different levels of accuracy to compute optimized tuning configurations for a given workload, memory budgets, and data characteristics. To yield maintainable and robust configurations, we further extend our LP-based approach to incorporate reconfiguration costs as well as optimizations for multiple potential workload scenarios.
(2) To optimize the storage layout of timestamps in columnar databases, we present a heuristic approach for the workload-driven combined selection of a data layout and compression scheme. By considering attribute decomposition strategies, we are able to apply application-specific optimizations that reduce the memory footprint and improve performance.
(3) We introduce an approach that leverages past trajectory data to improve the dispatch processes of transportation network companies. Based on location probabilities, we developed risk-averse dispatch strategies that reduce critical delays.
(4) Finally, we used the use case of a transportation network company to evaluate our database optimizations on a real-world dataset. We demonstrate that workload-driven fine-grained optimizations allow us to reduce the memory footprint (up to 71% by equal performance) or increase the performance (up to 90% by equal memory size) compared to established rule-based heuristics.
Individually, our contributions provide novel approaches to the current challenges in spatio-temporal data mining and database research. Combining them allows in-memory databases to store and process spatio-temporal data more cost-efficiently.
The present thesis looks at cultural conceptualisations in relation to DEATH in Irish English from a Cultural Linguistic perspective and puts a special focus on the diachronic development of these conceptualisations. For the study, a corpus consisting of 1,400 death notices from the Dublin-based national newspaper The Irish Times from 14 historical periods between 1859 and 2023 was compiled, resulting in a highly specialised 70,000-word corpus. First, the manual qualitative analysis of the death notices produced evidence for eight superordinate cultural conceptualisations surrounding DEATH, namely, in the order of their frequency THE DEAD ARE TO BE REMEMBERED OR REGRETTED, DEATH IS SOMETHING POSITIVE, DEATH IS REST, DEATH IS A JOURNEY, DYING IS THE BEGINNING OF ANOTHER LIFE, DEATH IS (NOT) A TABOO, DEATH IS GOD’S WILL, and DEATH IS THE END. These conceptualisations were derived from linguistic expressions in the death notices that have these conceptualisations as a cognitive basis. Second, the quantitative comparison of the individual conceptualisations detected diachronic variation, which is interconnected with historical and social developments in Ireland. The thesis, therefore, illustrates the applicability of Cultural Linguistics as an adequate method for diachronic studies interested in culturally determined developments of conceptualisations.
A new challenger seeks to enter the German party system: Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW). With her new party, former Die Linke politician Sahra Wagenknecht combines a left-authoritarian profile (economically left-leaning, but culturally conservative) with anti-US, pro-Russia and anti-elitist stances. This article provides the first large-n academic study of the voter potential of this new party by using a quasi-representative sample (n = 6,000) drawn from a Voting Advice Application-like dataset that comes from a website designed to explore the Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht’s positions. The results show that congruence with foreign policy positions and anti-elitism are strong predictors of the propensity to vote for the Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht. In contrast, social/welfare and immigration policies are less predictive for assessing the party’s potential. Among the different socio-demographic groups, the Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht has a strong potential among baby boomers, the less educated and East Germans. Regarding party voters, the Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht is favoured by supporters of some minor parties like dieBasis, Freie Wähler and Die PARTEI, but also non-voters. Among the established parties, the party’s potential is high among Die Linke voters and, to a lesser extent, voters of the Social democrats (SPD) and Alternative for Germany (AfD). A potential below the average is reported for the supporters of the Liberals (FDP) and Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU) and most clearly for Green and Volt voters.
Spring Issue
(2024)
This chapter focuses on the features of Article 1's paragraph 1 of the 1951 Convention. The article primarily determines the scope of application of the Convention's ratione personae while outlining the basis of the protection of refugees. Additionally, Article 1 addresses the concerns surrounding the inclusion, cessation, and exclusion of refugees. The chapter then tackles the historical development of the article by considering the instruments used prior to the 1951 Convention. It also cites that the Constitution of the International Refugee Organization appears to contain an ambiguity as to how the refugee notion was perceived, so refugees only became the IRO Constitution's concern when they have valid objections to returning to their home country.
Article 22 1951 Convention
(2024)
This chapter covers the 1951 Convention's Article 22. It explains the provision's aim to grant refugees access to the contracting States' national educational systems. Moreover, Article 22 encompasses learning at all different levels of education in schools, universities, and other educational institutions. However, the provision does not address any issues related to the upbringing of children by their parents. The chapter mentions the relevancy of Article 22 when it comes to durable solutions for refugees in an effort to enable them to integrate into the host country's society. It also discusses the drafting history, declarations, and reservations of Article 22 and the instruments used prior to the 1951 Convention.
This chapter examines the extent of the 1951 Convention's Article 44 and the 1967 Protocol's Article IX. It starts with identifying the standard denunciation clause in Article 44 and Article IX. Multilateral treaties of unlimited duration allow States parties an unconditional right to withdraw. A denunciation releases the denouncing party from any obligation further to perform the treaty in relation to the other parties of the 1967 Protocol. The chapter clarifies that denunciation or withdrawal expresses the same legal concept since it is a procedure initiated unilaterally by a State that wants to terminate its legal engagements under a treaty.
This chapter tackles the analysis and function of Article 43 of the 1951 Convention and Article VIII of the 1967 Protocol. It explains that a multilateral treaty can be enforced when met with necessary conditions, such as the Article 24 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (VCLT). The provision also regulates the 1951 Convention's entry into force of States' ratification or accession. The chapter notes that the 1967 Protocol entered into force after Sweden deposited its instrument of accession. It elaborates on the specific details needed for the ratification or accession prior to the entry into force.
This study pushes our understanding of research reliability by reproducing and replicating claims from 110 papers in leading economic and political science journals. The analysis involves computational reproducibility checks and robustness assessments. It reveals several patterns. First, we uncover a high rate of fully computationally reproducible results (over 85%). Second, excluding minor issues like missing packages or broken pathways, we uncover coding errors for about 25% of studies, with some studies containing multiple errors. Third, we test the robustness of the results to 5,511 re-analyses. We find a robustness reproducibility of about 70%. Robustness reproducibility rates are relatively higher for re-analyses that introduce new data and lower for re-analyses that change the sample or the definition of the dependent variable. Fourth, 52% of re-analysis effect size estimates are smaller than the original published estimates and the average statistical significance of a re-analysis is 77% of the original. Lastly, we rely on six teams of researchers working independently to answer eight additional research questions on the determinants of robustness reproducibility. Most teams find a negative relationship between replicators' experience and reproducibility, while finding no relationship between reproducibility and the provision of intermediate or even raw data combined with the necessary cleaning codes.
This chapter focuses on Article 46 of the 1951 Convention and Article X of the 1967 Protocol. It explains the depository of a treaty playing an essential procedural role in ensuring the smooth operation of a multilateral treaty. Article 46 enumerates the Secretary-General's function as a depositary performed by the Treaty Section of the Office of Legal Affairs in the United Nations Secretariat. Similarly, Article X confirms and details the Secretary-General's designation and role as depositary of the 1967 Protocol. The chapter mentions that the enumeration of Article X's depositary notification is exemplary instead of conclusive. It examines the depositoary notifications of declarations, signatures, and researvations under Article 46 and Article X.
This chapter covers the function of Testimonium to the 1951 Convention and Article XI of the 1967 Protocol. It looks into the relevance of the 1951 Convetion's testimonium. The testimonium primarily focuses on the Convetion's authentic languages, regulation of deposition, and certified true copies being delivered to all members of the UN and non-member States. On the other hand, Article XI contains the standard procedures for regulating the deposition of a copy of the 1967 Protocol in the Secretariat of the United Nations and foreseeing the transmission of certified copies thereof by the Secretary general. The chapter mentions how both elements are not commonly explicitly indicated in modern treaties.
This chapter looks into the 1951 Convention's Article 39 and the 1967 Protocol's Article V. In 2000, the Secretary-General identified the 1951 Convention as belonging to a core group of 25 multilateral treaties representative of the key objectives of the UN and the spirit of its Charter. Additionally, the rules found in the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (VCLT) apply to the 1951 Convention as a matter of customary international law. On the other hand, the 1967 Protocol does not amend the 1951 Convention but binds its parties to observe the substantive provisions. The chapter cites that the 1967 Protocol constitutes an independent and complete international instrument that is open not only to the States parties to the 1951 Convention.
Article 1 E 1951 Convention
(2024)
This chapter elaborates on the function of Article 1 E of the 1951 Convention, which was originally aimed at German refugees. It refers to a special group of people who qualify for refugee status but enjoy the rights of national citizens despite their lack of formal citizenship. The article's object and purpose revolve around excluding persons from refugee protection who do not need any international protection since they have the status of national citizens. Additionally, access to refugee status is excluded ipso facto because the individual may resort to effective protection similar to that of citizenship upon being admitted to the country of sojourn. The chapter explains how Article 1 E is an integral part of the balanced system of international refugee protection prescribed by the Convention.
Article 34 1951 Convention
(2024)
This chapter tackles the features and historical development of the 1951 Convention's Article 34. It explains the function of the provision, which primarily focuses on requesting Contracting States to facilitate the assimilation and naturalization of refugees. Moreover, the provision forms the legal bases for local integration and naturalization as some of the traditional durable solutions to refugeehood. The soft obligation imposed by Article 34 primarily focuses on the long-term solution by naturalization. The chapter then elaborates on the balance between local integration, naturalization, and voluntary return after it was disrupted due to the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989.
In 2022, there were 4.62 billion social media users worldwide. Social media generates a wealth of data which migration scholars have recently started to explore in pursuit of a variety of methodological and thematic research questions. Scholars use social media data to estimate migration stocks, forecast migration flows, or recruit migrants for targeted online surveys. Social media has also been used to understand how migrants get information about their planned journeys and destination countries, how they organize and mobilize online, how migration issues are politicized online, and how migrants integrate culturally into destination countries by sharing common interests. While social media data drives innovative research, it also poses severe challenges regarding data privacy, data protection, and methodological questions relating to external validity. In this chapter, I briefly introduce various strands of migration research using social media data and discuss the advantages, disadvantages, and opportunities.
During the last decades, therapeutical proteins have risen to great significance in the pharmaceutical industry. As non-human proteins that are introduced into the human body cause a distinct immune system reaction that triggers their rapid clearance, most newly approved protein pharmaceuticals are shielded by modification with synthetic polymers to significantly improve their blood circulation time. All such clinically approved protein-polymer conjugates contain polyethylene glycol (PEG) and its conjugation is denoted as PEGylation. However, many patients develop anti-PEG antibodies which cause a rapid clearance of PEGylated molecules upon repeated administration. Therefore, the search for alternative polymers that can replace PEG in therapeutic applications has become important. In addition, although the blood circulation time is significantly prolonged, the therapeutic activity of some conjugates is decreased compared to the unmodified protein. The reason is that these conjugates are formed by the traditional conjugation method that addresses the protein's lysine side chains. As proteins have many solvent exposed lysines, this results in a somewhat uncontrolled attachment of polymer chains, leading to a mixture of regioisomers, with some of them eventually affecting the therapeutic performance.
This thesis investigates a novel method for ligating macromolecules in a site-specific manner, using enzymatic catalysis. Sortase A is used as the enzyme: It is a well-studied transpeptidase which is able to catalyze the intermolecular ligation of two peptides. This process is commonly referred to as sortase-mediated ligation (SML). SML constitutes an equilibrium reaction, which limits product yield. Two previously reported methods to overcome this major limitation were tested with polymers without using an excessive amount of one reactant.
Specific C- or N-terminal peptide sequences (recognition sequence and nucleophile) as part of the protein are required for SML. The complementary peptide was located at the polymer chain end. Grafting-to was used to avoid damaging the protein during polymerization. To be able to investigate all possible combinations (protein-recognition sequence and nucleophile-protein as well as polymer-recognition sequence and nucleophile-polymer) all necessary building blocks were synthesized. Polymerization via reversible deactivation radical polymerization (RDRP) was used to achieve a narrow molecular weight distribution of the polymers, which is required for therapeutic use.
The synthesis of the polymeric building blocks was started by synthesizing the peptide via automated solid-phase peptide synthesis (SPPS) to avoid post-polymerization attachment and to enable easy adaptation of changes in the peptide sequence. To account for the different functionalities (free N- or C-terminus) required for SML, different linker molecules between resin and peptide were used.
To facilitate purification, the chain transfer agent (CTA) for reversible addition-fragmentation chain-transfer (RAFT) polymerization was coupled to the resin-immobilized recognition sequence peptide. The acrylamide and acrylate-based monomers used in this thesis were chosen for their potential to replace PEG.
Following that, surface-initiated (SI) ATRP and RAFT polymerization were attempted, but failed. As a result, the newly developed method of xanthate-supported photo-iniferter (XPI) RAFT polymerization in solution was used successfully to obtain a library of various peptide-polymer conjugates with different chain lengths and narrow molar mass distributions.
After peptide side chain deprotection, these constructs were used first to ligate two polymers via SML, which was successful but revealed a limit in polymer chain length (max. 100 repeat units). When utilizing equimolar amounts of reactants, the use of Ni2+ ions in combination with a histidine after the recognition sequence to remove the cleaved peptide from the equilibrium maximized product formation with conversions of up to 70 %.
Finally, a model protein and a nanobody with promising properties for therapeutical use were biotechnologically modified to contain the peptide sequences required for SML. Using the model protein for C- or N-terminal SML with various polymers did not result in protein-polymer conjugates. The reason is most likely the lack of accessibility of the protein termini to the enzyme. Using the nanobody for C-terminal SML, on the other hand, was successful. However, a similar polymer chain length limit was observed as in polymer-polymer SML. Furthermore, in case of the synthesis of protein-polymer conjugates, it was more effective to shift the SML equilibrium by using an excess of polymer than by employing the Ni2+ ion strategy.
Overall, the experimental data from this work provides a good foundation for future research in this promising field; however, more research is required to fully understand the potential and limitations of using SML for protein-polymer synthesis. In future, the method explored in this dissertation could prove to be a very versatile pathway to obtain therapeutic protein-polymer conjugates that exhibit high activities and long blood circulation times.
The “HPI Future SOC Lab” is a cooperation of the Hasso Plattner Institute (HPI) and industry partners. Its mission is to enable and promote exchange and interaction between the research community and the industry partners.
The HPI Future SOC Lab provides researchers with free of charge access to a complete infrastructure of state of the art hard and software. This infrastructure includes components, which might be too expensive for an ordinary research environment, such as servers with up to 64 cores and 2 TB main memory. The offerings address researchers particularly from but not limited to the areas of computer science and business information systems. Main areas of research include cloud computing, parallelization, and In-Memory technologies.
This technical report presents results of research projects executed in 2019. Selected projects have presented their results on April 9th and November 12th 2019 at the Future SOC Lab Day events.
This thesis explores word order variability in verb-final languages. Verb-final languages have a reputation for a high amount of word order variability. However, that reputation amounts to an urban myth due to a lack of systematic investigation. This thesis provides such a systematic investigation by presenting original data from several verb-final languages with a focus on four Uralic ones: Estonian, Udmurt, Meadow Mari, and South Sámi. As with every urban myth, there is a kernel of truth in that many unrelated verb-final languages share a particular kind of word order variability, A-scrambling, in which the fronted elements do not receive a special information-structural role, such as topic or contrastive focus. That word order variability goes hand in hand with placing focussed phrases further to the right in the position directly in front of the verb. Variations on this pattern are exemplified by Uyghur, Standard Dargwa, Eastern Armenian, and three of the Uralic languages, Estonian, Udmurt, and Meadow Mari. So far for the kernel of truth, but the fourth Uralic language, South Sámi, is comparably rigid and does not feature this particular kind of word order variability. Further such comparably rigid, non-scrambling verb-final languages are Dutch, Afrikaans, Amharic, and Korean. In contrast to scrambling languages, non-scrambling languages feature obligatory subject movement, causing word order rigidity next to other typical EPP effects.
The EPP is a defining feature of South Sámi clause structure in general. South Sámi exhibits a one-of-a-kind alternation between SOV and SAuxOV order that is captured by the assumption of the EPP and obligatory movement of auxiliaries but not lexical verbs. Other languages that allow for SAuxOV order either lack an alternation because the auxiliary is obligatorily present (Macro-Sudan SAuxOVX languages), or feature an alternation between SVO and SAuxOV (Kru languages; V2 with underlying OV as a fringe case). In the SVO–SAuxOV languages, both auxiliaries and lexical verbs move. Hence, South Sámi shows that the textbook difference between the VO languages English and French, whether verb movement is restricted to auxiliaries, also extends to OV languages. SAuxOV languages are an outlier among OV languages in general but are united by the presence of the EPP.
Word order variability is not restricted to the preverbal field in verb-final languages, as most of them feature postverbal elements (PVE). PVE challenge the notion of verb-finality in a language. Strictly verb-final languages without any clause-internal PVE are rare. This thesis charts the first structural and descriptive typology of PVE. Verb-final languages vary in the categories they allow as PVE. Allowing for non-oblique PVE is a pivotal threshold: when non-oblique PVE are allowed, PVE can be used for information-structural effects. Many areally and genetically unrelated languages only allow for given PVE but differ in whether the PVE are contrastive. In those languages, verb-finality is not at stake since verb-medial orders are marked. In contrast, the Uralic languages Estonian and Udmurt allow for any PVE, including information focus. Verb-medial orders can be used in the same contexts as verb-final orders without semantic and pragmatic differences. As such, verb placement is subject to actual free variation. The underlying verb-finality of Estonian and Udmurt can only be inferred from a range of diagnostics indicating optional verb movement in both languages. In general, it is not possible to account for PVE with a uniform analysis: rightwards merge, leftward verb movement, and rightwards phrasal movement are required to capture the cross- and intralinguistic variation.
Knowing that a language is verb-final does not allow one to draw conclusions about word order variability in that language. There are patterns of homogeneity, such as the word order variability driven by directly preverbal focus and the givenness of postverbal elements, but those are not brought about by verb-finality alone. Preverbal word order variability is restricted by the more abstract property of obligatory subject movement, whereas the determinant of postverbal word order variability has to be determined in the future.
Among the different meanings carried by numerical information, cardinality is fundamental for survival and for the development of basic as well as of higher numerical skills. Importantly, the human brain inherits from evolution a predisposition to map cardinality onto space, as revealed by the presence of spatial-numerical associations (SNAs) in humans and animals. Here, the mapping of cardinal information onto physical space is addressed as a hallmark signature characterizing numerical cognition.
According to traditional approaches, cognition is defined as complex forms of internal information processing, taking place in the brain (cognitive processor). On the contrary, embodied cognition approaches define cognition as functionally linked to perception and action, in the continuous interaction between a biological body and its physical and sociocultural environment.
Embracing the principles of the embodied cognition perspective, I conducted four novel studies designed to unveil how SNAs originate, develop, and adapt, depending on characteristics of the organism, the context, and their interaction. I structured my doctoral thesis in three levels. At the grounded level (Study 1), I unfold the biological foundations underlying the tendency to map cardinal information across space; at the embodied level (Study 2), I reveal the impact of atypical motor development on the construction of SNAs; at the situated level (Study 3), I document the joint influence of visuospatial attention and task properties on SNAs. Furthermore, I experimentally investigate the presence of associations between physical and numerical distance, another numerical property fundamental for the development of efficient mathematical minds (Study 4).
In Study 1, I present the Brain’s Asymmetric Frequency Tuning hypothesis that relies on hemispheric asymmetries for processing spatial frequencies, a low-level visual feature that the (in)vertebrate brain extracts from any visual scene to create a coherent percept of the world. Computational analyses of the power spectra of the original stimuli used to document the presence of SNAs in human newborns and animals, support the brain’s asymmetric frequency tuning as a theoretical account and as an evolutionarily inherited mechanism scaffolding the universal and innate tendency to represent cardinality across horizontal space.
In Study 2, I explore SNAs in children with rare genetic neuromuscular diseases: spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) and Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). SMA children never accomplish independent motoric exploration of their environment; in contrast, DMD children do explore but later lose this ability. The different SNAs reported by the two groups support the critical role of early sensorimotor experiences in the spatial representation of cardinality.
In Study 3, I directly compare the effects of overt attentional orientation during explicit and implicit processing of numerical magnitude. First, the different effects of attentional orienting based on the type of assessment support different mechanisms underlying SNAs during explicit and implicit assessment of numerical magnitude. Secondly, the impact of vertical shifts of attention on the processing of numerical distance sheds light on the correspondence between numerical distance and peri-personal distance.
In Study 4, I document the presence of different SNAs, driven by numerical magnitude and numerical distance, by employing different response mappings (left vs. right and near vs. distant).
In the field of numerical cognition, the four studies included in the present thesis contribute to unveiling how the characteristics of the organism and the environment influence the emergence, the development, and the flexibility of our attitude to represent cardinal information across space, thus supporting the predictions of the embodied cognition approach. Furthermore, they inform a taxonomy of body-centred factors (biological properties of the brain and sensorimotor system) modulating the spatial representation of cardinality throughout the course of life, at the grounded, embodied, and situated levels.
If the awareness for different variables influencing SNAs over the course of life is important, it is equally important to consider the organism as a whole in its sensorimotor interaction with the world. Inspired by my doctoral research, here I propose a holistic perspective that considers the role of evolution, embodiment, and environment in the association of cardinal information with directional space. The new perspective advances the current approaches to SNAs, both at the conceptual and at the methodological levels.
Unveiling how the mental representation of cardinality emerges, develops, and adapts is necessary to shape efficient mathematical minds and achieve economic productivity, technological progress, and a higher quality of life.
Despite the high hopes associated with public sector digitalization, especially in times of crisis, it does not yet hold up to its potential. Both the negotiation and implementation of digitalization policy presents a challenge for all levels of government, requiring extensive coordination efforts. In general, there are conflicting views if more centralized or decentralized policy processes are more effective for coordination—a tension further exacerbated in the context of digitalization policy within multilevel systems, where the imperative of standardization collides with decentralization forces inherent in federalism.
Based on the analysis of expert interviews (n = 29), this chapter examines how digitalization policy in the context of the German federal intergovernmental relations context is located and negotiated, and how this relates to local policy implementation. Focusing on the decentralized German tax administration as a case study, the analysis reveals a shift from a conflicted to a multi-layered policy process, underpinned by a mechanism of “concentration without centralization.” Strategic and operational competencies are bundled in an institutionalized and legally regulated network for digitalization to achieve necessary standardization of digital infrastructure. Furthermore, the research emphasizes the influence of intergovernmental relations on local implementation and the associated challenges and opportunities.