Technische Universität Dortmund

Non-volatile memories (especially phase change memories, PCM) offer scalability and higher density. However, reduced write performance has limited their use as main memory. Researchers have explored using the fast write mode available in PCM to alleviate the challenges. The fast write mode offers lower write latency and energy consumption. However, the fast-written data are retained for a limited time and need to be refreshed. Prior works perform fast writes when the memory is busy and use slow writes to refresh the data during memory idle phases. Such policies do not consider the retention time requirement of a variable and repeat all the writes made during the busy phase. In this work, we suggest a retention-time-aware selection of write modes. As a case study, we use Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) and present a novel algorithm, Swift-CNN, that assesses each CNN layer’s memory access behavior and retention time requirement and suggests an appropriate PCM write mode. Our results show that Swift-CNN decreases inference and training execution time and memory energy compared to state-of-the-art techniques and achieves execution time close to the ideal (fast write-only) policy.

Exam anxiety is a wide spread phenomenon. Although a learner is knowledgeable and well prepared, s/he often fails in examinations due to severe panickiness. In particular oral examinations can be problematic as the testee is directly exposed to the examinant, answers are immediately evaluated, form a picture of the testee’s knowledge and cannot be revised later on. This paper presents the concept and realisation of an online game that prepares learners for the situation of an oral examination. The game simulates the specific situation of an oral examination where questions of the examinant refer to the answers of the testee and try to find out what the testee’s real knowledge is.

ndividuals with dyslexia have been shown to have an increased risk for developing internalizing problems. Various studies have revealed the powerful role that culture plays in determining the type of anxiety and coping strategies adopted by various groups of individuals. However, compared to the vast number of studies conducted in individualistic cultures, knowledge on collectivistic cultures with respect to this issue is still limited. This study examined anxiety and coping strategies of children with and without dyslexia in Ethiopia, where the majority of its cultural dimensions could be regarded as collectivistic. A total of 126 children with (n = 63) and without (n = 63) dyslexia, aged 8–11 (41 boys and 22 girls, in each group; and age: M = 9.43 years; SD = 1.14 and M = 9.46; SD =1.11), participated. Dyslexia was assessed using an Amharic dyslexia assessment battery, while anxiety level and coping strategy were respectively measured using the Spence Children’s Anxiety Scales (SCAS) and the Children’s Coping Questionnaire (CCQ), both translated into Amharic. Results indicated that dyslexia was associated with higher levels of anxiety (especially generalized anxiety) and lower levels of support-seeking coping strategies. We discuss these results in the light of the cultural and institutional context in Ethiopia.

High throughput RNA sequencing experiments are widely conducted and analyzed to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs). The statistical models calculated for this task are often not clear to practitioners, and analyses may not be optimally tailored to the research hypothesis. Often, interaction effects (IEs) are the mathematical equivalent of the biological research question but are not considered for different reasons. We fill this gap by explaining and presenting the potential benefit of IEs in the search for DEGs using RNA-Seq data of mice that receive different diets for different time periods. Using an IE model leads to a smaller, but likely more biologically informative set of DEGs compared to a common approach that avoids the calculation of IEs.

As new forms of public space emerge and the distinction between public and private space is increasingly blurred, the notion of hybrid space has come to light. It encompasses different kinds of public, semi-public, semi-private and private spaces. The proliferation of hybrid space across cities raises an important question as to whether they are public spaces and if so, how public are they? This paper aims to examine the publicness of privately owned public space/s (POPS). POPS are a popular mechanism to provide public spaces, however little is known about their quality. Empirical research using three case studies in Hamburg, Germany, was carried out to understand the publicness of these spaces and qualities that impact this. Through applying the OMAI model – an acronym for ownership, management, accessibility and inclusiveness – key attributes that impact the publicness of the studied POPS are revealed. The lack of private management, use of rights-of-way, inclusion of amenities, the role of public agencies, and transparency regarding ownership affect the publicness of these POPS. Based on the analysis, recommendations are provided so that POPS can functionally integrate with the broader open space network and make a positive contribution to the city overall.

We investigate the relationship between operational leanness and institutional ownership. Based on a sample of 12,291 firm‐year observations of US manufacturing firms from 1998 to 2020, we find leaner firms to attract significantly more institutional investors – both in terms of the fraction of shares held and the number of institutional investors holding shares of the firm. This finding holds in several tests addressing endogeneity concerns. Contrary to studies investigating the relationship between operational leanness and operating performance or credit ratings, our results do not provide consistent evidence that this relationship is also of a concave shape. However, we provide evidence that the relationship is stronger (i) for firms with weak corporate governance and high firm‐specific monitoring costs and (ii) for active institutions, suggesting that not only firm performance considerations but also perceived lower agency costs are important mechanisms explaining why institutional investors prefer lean manufacturing firms. Taken together, these findings contribute to our understanding of institutional investors’ preferences in general and across institution types.

Background Elite track and field sprint performances have reached a point of stability as we near the limits of human physiology, and further significant improvements may require technological intervention. Following the widely reported performance benefits of new advanced footwear technology (AFT) in road-running events, similar innovations have since been applied to sprint spikes in hope of providing similar performance enhancing benefits. However, it is not yet clear based on current evidence whether there have been subsequent improvements in sprint performance. Therefore, the aims of this study were to establish if there have been recent year-to-year improvements in the times of the annual top 100 and top 20 athletes in the men’s and women’s sprint events, and to establish if there is an association between the extensive use of AFT and potential recent improvements in sprint performances. Methods For the years 2016–19 and 2021–2022, the season best performances of the top 100 athletes in each sprint event were extracted from the World Athletics Top lists. Independent t-tests with Holm corrections were performed using the season’s best performance of the top 100 and top 20 athletes in each year to identify significant differences between years for each sprint discipline. Following the classification of shoes worn by the top 20 athletes in each event during their annual best race (AFT or non-AFT), separate linear mixed-model regressions were performed to determine the influence of AFT on performance times. Results For the top 100 and top 20 athletes, there were no significant differences year-to-year in any sprint event prior to the release of AFT (2016–2019). There were significant differences between AFT years (2021 or 2022) and pre-AFT years (2016–2019) in eight out of 10 events. These differences ranged from a 0.40% improvement (men’s 100 m) to a 1.52% improvement (women’s 400 m hurdles). In the second analysis, multiple linear mixed model regressions revealed that the use of AFT was associated with improved performance in six out of ten events, including the men’s and women’s 100 m, women’s 200 m, men’s 110 m hurdles, women’s 100 m hurdles and women’s 400 m hurdles (estimate range: −0.037 – 0.521, p = <0.001 – 0.021). Across both analyses, improvements were more pronounced in women’s sprint events than men’s sprint events. Conclusion Following a period of stability, there were significant improvements in most sprint events which may be partly explained by advances in footwear technology. These improvements appear to be mediated by event, sex and potentially level of athlete.

The optical properties of lead halide perovskite semiconductors in vicinity of the bandgap are controlled by excitons, so that investigation of their fundamental properties is of critical importance. The exciton Landé or g ‐factor g X is the key parameter, determining the exciton Zeeman spin splitting in magnetic fields. The exciton, electron, and hole carrier g ‐factors provide information on the band structure, including its anisotropy, and the parameters contributing to the electron and hole effective masses. Here, g X is measured by reflectivity in magnetic fields up to 60 T for lead halide perovskite crystals. The materials band gap energies at a liquid helium temperature vary widely across the visible spectral range from 1.520 up to 3.213 eV in hybrid organic–inorganic and fully inorganic perovskites with different cations and halogens: FA 0.9 Cs 0.1 PbI 2.8 Br 0.2 , MAPbI 3 , FAPbBr 3 , CsPbBr 3 , and MAPb(Br 0.05 Cl 0.95 ) 3 . The exciton g ‐factors are found to be nearly constant, ranging from +2.3 to +2.7. Thus, the strong dependences of the electron and hole g ‐factors on the bandgap roughly compensate each other when combining to the exciton g ‐factor. The same is true for the anisotropies of the carrier g ‐factors, resulting in a nearly isotropic exciton g ‐factor. The experimental data are compared favorably with model calculation results.

This chapter introduces readers to a form of visual multilingualism, that of linguistic landscapes. Linguistic landscapes consist of the instances of visual language use in an environment and in addition to the local majority language(s), often use of other languages is found. Which languages are found is highly relevant for multilingualism research. This chapter explains the contexts of linguistic landscapes, it also discusses different structural properties and different functions of multilingual signage. The type of signage and its purpose determine the language choices that are made, but also presentational factors such as relative font size of the languages on the signage, colour, or fonts display the language users’ assessment of the respective commercial values that can be attributed to the languages. The chapter concludes with three case studies to illustrate the theoretical and conceptual aspects addressed in this chapter, all three carried out by the authors of the textbook. First of all, we illustrate the use of English as a world language in the context of the multilingual environment of the Ruhr Valley in Germany. Second, we present a study of how language users react to the visual multilingualism in a multilingual environment in Ireland. Finally, we turn towards multilingual signage in St. Martin, an eastern Caribbean island divided into two nations.

In this chapter, readers learn about different manifestations of language which have emerged as the result of multilingualism and language contact. Since we cannot capture the entire complex picture of worldwide language use and contact, we focus on some mainly English-based examples. Readers are introduced to the notions of English as a Native language, English as a Second Language, and English as a Foreign Language, pidgins and creoles, and hybrid/mixed languages. We further discuss contexts of English as a Lingua Franca usage and, what we argue are related concepts, English for Specific Purposes and Grassroots Englishes. We argue that the different concepts should not be viewed as clearly delimitable from one another but that their conceptual boundaries can be fuzzy. After discussing the most important differences and similarities between these concepts, we elucidate why these do not seem linguistic in nature but the product of the complex interactions of historical, political, social, and demographic factors. We, therefore, suggest to better view linguistic contact phenomena, such as the ones introduced, as parts of a multilingual Complex Dynamic System of languages and their dialects/varieties.

In this chapter, readers are introduced to the development and current state of affairs of multilingual music and what linguistic research has contributed to understanding this particular domain of multilingual language use. We follow a broad definition of multilingual music. We discuss both songs which feature two or more languages and songs which employ different varieties or dialects of a specific language. The latter type shows the multilingual identity and linguistic background of the artist through the use of, for example, contact-induced phonological or grammatical features. On the basis of a number of earlier studies and our own examples, we examine several reasons for artists to either mix or switch languages in one song, or to sing in a language, variety, or dialect which is not their own. Finally, readers are presented with song analyses which illustrate the reasons for multilingual language use in music identified in the present chapter as well as some of the processes and mechanisms of multilingual language use discussed in ► Chap. 4.

This chapter is divided into two main parts. In the first part, readers are introduced to the development and emergence of multilingualism from a historical perspective. We cover mobility trajectories that have led to population and language contact which, ultimately, have resulted in multilingual communities. A special focus is set on language contact in the context of different types of colonisation. In the second part, commonly shared myths about multilingualism are introduced. We explain how these myths might have come into being, which parts could be true, but why they are (mostly) incorrect or at least inaccurate.

This chapter explores the role of internet sites and social media as sites of multilingual practices. After a brief introduction to the history of online media, the chapter discusses the role and the impact of user-generated content on multilingual practices involving majority and minority languages. It is further considered whether online sources are useful resources for the study of multilingualism. The discussion is supplemented by two case studies using new media sources for studying multilingual practices. One case study presents multilingual practices in YouTube comments. The second case study provides a sample analysis of multilingual language use on Instagram accounts of celebrities.

This chapter introduces readers to the diversity of languages worldwide. It provides readers with an introduction to general issues relating to the phenomenon of multilingualism and relates them to linguistic diversity and language contact. After outlining the structure and topics of the book, we introduce key terms in existing classifications of bilingual, trilingual, multilingual, and polyglot speakers.

In this chapter, we discuss the contexts in which the offer of multilingual education is enabled, encouraged, or prevented. We start with defining and distinguishing monolingual approaches to education from multilingual ones and learn about the potential effects of monolingual mainstream education on multilingual speakers. We then turn to discussing advantages and disadvantages of weak multilingual versus strong multilingual approaches, offer examples of their use and effects, and present two popular multilingual teaching methods through which they could be implemented, namely Content and Language Integrated Learning and translanguaging. Finally, we turn to languages in higher education and see that the multilingual tendency that had developed in education in recent years is strongly impacted by the use of monolingual English approaches.

The aim of this chapter is two-fold. First, we outline two research methods that make use of existing multilingual data for their analysis. Here, we start with an introduction to the use of online and social media data and suggest possible research projects that can be carried out on them. Then, we sketch the use of, and approaches to, corpus data and introduce some key corpus resources for corpus linguistic projects. Second, we show how data—be they collected through our own fieldwork or taken from existing sources—can be prepared in spreadsheets so that they can concomitantly be used for linguistic analysis. We introduce the corpus concordance tool AntConc for data analysis and approaches to how to (statistically) analyse different data types to receive useful and reliable insights into the realities of language use.