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Konzeptuelle Modelle sind zur Gestaltung und Steuerung von Informationssystemen ein akzeptiertes und weit verbreitetes Instrument. Sie werden sowohl zur Gestaltung der Organisationsstruktur als auch zur Entwicklung der unterstützenden IT-Systeme verwendet. Für diesen Aufgabenbereich existiert eine hohe Nachfrage nach externer Unterstützung, da spezifische Fachkenntnisse und Erfahrungen notwendig sind. In diesem Zusammenhang werden seit Jahrzehnten Ansätze zur Wiederverwendung in Wissenschaft und Praxis diskutiert. Die Akzeptanz und Verbreitung von explizit zur Wiederverwendung konstruierten Modellen (Referenzmodelle) bleiben jedoch deutlich hinter den Erwartungen zurück. Die vorliegende Arbeit trägt zur Untersuchung möglicher Ursachen für den ausbleibenden Erfolg von Referenzmodellen bei. Der Forschung liegt die Vermutung zugrunde, dass die Potentiale von Referenzmodellen nicht zufriedenstellend ausgeschöpft werden können, weil die existierenden bzw. verwendeten Modellierungsmethoden die theoretischen Anforderungen an die Wiederverwendung von modellhaft dargestellten Lösungen zur Unternehmensgestaltung nicht erfüllen. Die vorliegende Arbeit fasst neun Einzelpublikationen zum Themenbereich Evolutionäre Referenzmodelle zu einer kumulativen Dissertation zusammen. Es werden in einem argumentativdeduktiven Verfahren konstruktivistische Theorien zur systematischen Weiterentwicklung und Wiederverwendung konzeptueller Unternehmensmodelle untersucht. Die auf dieseWeise resultierende Erweiterung der allgemeinen Modelltheorie wurde ihrerseits argumentativ-konzeptionell mit Hilfe von semiformalen Argumentationsmodellen aufbereitet. Im Ergebnis werden ein theoretisches Rahmenwerk zur evolutionären Referenzmodellierung präsentiert und 23 konzeptionelle Anforderungen definiert, die eine gezielte Methodenentwicklung für die evolutionäre Referenzmodellierung steuern sollen.

The thesis investigates propaganda in the online news coverage about the media law proposal Lex TVN, committed to the Polish parliament in 2021. The mixed methods approach applied in the research is based on a novel analytical matrix combining the Propaganda Model theory (Herman & Chomsky, 1988) and modalities of propaganda techniques (Da San Martino et al., 2020). The main findings indicate that propaganda in the coverage about the Lex TVN is a cross-platform issue; that it occured in different forms, as: sources, critical content (flak) or expressions of ideological preferences; and that it was created using various propaganda techniques. Moreover, the analysis demonstrates that propaganda was used for several reasons: to attract attention of the readers; to increase the firm’s profit and popularity; to express the stance of the media brand towards the bill Lex TVN; and to criticize the current government. The study contributes to the field of Media and Communication Studies by using the novel analytical matrix that tests the applicability of the PM in a new geopolitical context, Poland, and adds to the academically unexplored research area of news propaganda in Polish media. Several topics for further studies are suggested: the analysis of propaganda in the news coverage published by the Polish state media brand TVPInfo; an investigation of the news reception in Poland and the ability of the Polish news readers to identify news propaganda; and lastly, studying potential positive effects of news propaganda in the Polish context.

The prospective student-athletes’ use of an online recruiting platform to seek college scholarships has become a norm. College coaches recruit prospective-student athletes often using tools like global personal contacts, on-site recruiting, and online recruiting platforms. Online recruiting platforms offer several services and vary in price. This study examines female student-athlete golfers’ use of the online recruiting platform to seek scholarships from a global perspective. Previous research suggests that prospective student-athletes prefer online recruiting platforms while college coaches often use other outlets which can lead to miscommunication and lost opportunities. The services, price, and usability of 20 sports online recruiting platforms in the United States were examined to find out what is offered to prospective-student athletes. Interviews of NCAA Division I collegiate coaches were conducted to examine the most common recruiting tools used by the coaches and their opinions of the use of online recruiting platforms.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic, progressive autoimmune disease causing inflammation of the synovium resulting in severe pain, joint disfigurement and disability as well as malaise, fatigue and a depressed immune system. Treatment consists of three broad phases; firstly, following diagnosis treatment is focussed on rapid reduction of pain and inflammation. Secondly, maintenance of quiescence is sought through medication. Finally, if disease activity remains high despite medication, escalation to anti-TNF α therapy is required to prevent permanent joint damage and disability. The primary course of treatment is prescription of disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) within 3 months of onset of symptoms. However, DMARDs can take 8-12 weeks to exhibit a noticeable benefit whereas unpleasant side effects can occur shortly after initiation. Also, DMARDs do not alleviate pain; therefore it is difficult for patients to attribute recovery to this medication. For these reasons, although it is imperative for future health and functioning to take DMARDs as prescribed, non-adherence is common at 30-50%. Non-adherence to treatment can be intentional, where a decision is made not to conform to the prescription, or unintentional which is often due to forgetting. To measure intentional non-adherence, a validated measure of adherence for rheumatoid arthritis was reduced through exploratory factor analysis from 19 items to 5 items by removing items that did not add to the explained variance of adherence. The CQR5 explained 53% of the variance in adherence and was shown to have a good fit to the data through confirmatory factor analysis. A discriminant function equation was generated that correctly identifies 88.5% of patients as high or low adherers and has high clinical utility due to the brevity for patients and unidimensionality for easy interpretation. The CQR5 was used throughout the programme of research to measure intentional non-adherence along with a separate measure of unintentional non-adherence. Four commonly used social cognition models of illness were measured in 227 RA patients to determine which had the best utility for predicting non-adherence to DMARDs. Patients were recruited to represent the three stages of illness including newly diagnosed, established on DMARD therapy and established with concurrent anti-TNF α therapy. Logistic regression analysis showed that the Self Regulatory Model best predicted intentional non-adherence as patients with perceptions of worse consequences of RA and longer disease duration were more likely to be highly adherent to DMARDs in cross-sectional analysis. In contrast, the Theory of Planned Behaviour better predicted patients who self-reported forgetting their DMARDs with patients with more confidence in being able to take their medications (Perceived Behavioural Control) being less likely to forget. 171 patients were successfully followed-up six months after baseline recruitment. The longitudinal results showed that the social cognition models differed for patients at different stages of the illness suggesting that their experience of living with rheumatoid arthritis influenced perceptions of their illness and medications. Newly diagnosed patients scored lower on factors measuring perceptions of disease chronicity and seriousness whereas patients that had escalated to anti-TNF α therapy scored higher on these factors. The newly diagnosed patients also showed more variability in the social cognition scores whereas the more established patients demonstrated stable models of illness. This supports Leventhal’s (1992) theory that illness representations will be regulated through integration of knowledge and experience of an illness. Structural equation modelling was used to establish the best predictors of intentional non-adherence at six month follow-up. In support of research in other chronic illnesses (Horne & Weinman, 2002; Niklas, Dunbar & Wild, 2010), the effect of perceptions of the consequences and chronicity of the illness on adherence are mediated by perceptions of the necessity of the medication. In addition, the impact of the emotional reaction to the illness on adherence to DMARDs is mediated by concerns about the medication. In addition, this study incorporated factors from the Theory of Planned Behaviour to explain medication adherence and found that the influence of friends and family impacts on the patient’s confidence to follow the prescription accurately which in turn as an effect on adherence to DMARDs. This large longitudinal study found that by combining factors from a number of social cognition models, it is possible to explain and predict intentional non-adherence and provides some evidence for best ways to intervene to improve adherence and prognosis. To provide a more comprehensive and clinically useful picture of non-adherence, a Cost of Illness study was carried which found that patients self-reporting low adherence to DMARDs also had significantly higher costs for this medication. This was caused by an increased incidence of Leflunamide prescribing for patients who often forget their medication and was maintained longitudinally. This association has not been previously reported in the literature and provides some evidence that non-adherence to DMARDs is having a concrete effect on the clinical management of patients. Finally, an SMS text message based reminder service designed to remind patients who self-report forgetting their medications was tested through a simulation study for the cost and likely benefit in health related quality of life using the health economic analysis of the longitudinal study and the results of a survey establishing the feasibility of implementing such a service in the rheumatology clinic. A sensitivity analysis testing the number of messages sent and the cost per message found that a reminder service for the sample of patients in this programme of research would cost between £1387.00 and £142.27 per year. This would equate to a cost per Quality Adjusted Life Year (QALY) gain of between £2889.58 and £296.40 by enabling patients to adhere more rigorously to their DMARD regimen. This programme of research is the first to test four commonly used social cognition models to predict adherence to DMARDs in a large, multi-centre longitudinal study of rheumatoid arthritis patients. Perceptions of the likely duration and consequences of the illness, as measured by the Illness Perceptions Questionnaire and the necessity of medications (measured by the Beliefs about Medications Questionnaire) along with self-efficacy (measured by the Theory of Planned Behaviour) explained 24% of the variance in intentional adherence over six months. The results show the importance of considering intentional and unintentional non-adherence separately as they appear to have different underlying mechanisms as well as patients in different phases of the illness as their experience influences their social cognition models of illness. A simple SMS based reminder service could act as a cue to action to reduce unintentional non-adherence whereas addressing issues surrounding maladaptive perceptions about the illness and the treatment could improve intentional non-adherence which has the potential to improve the prognosis and quality of life for patients as well as safe costs for the NHS.

The main purpose of this study is to focus on Korean outward foreign direct investment (FDI) in the automotive industry of the Czech and Slovak Republic, and to analyze consequences of Hyundai Motors investment for the Czech national economy. In doing so, this study is divided into the three parts. First theoretical part is concentrated on examination of current trend of FDI flows, its impact on developing and host countries, and theories and models of FDI. Second part is focused on analysis of consequences of investment policy generally. Final part is analyzing Korean, Slovak and Czech automotive industry and the impact of Hyundai Motor Company investment decision for the Czech Republic

[pt] Este trabalho emprega conceitos e ferramentas de Teoria das Categorias e Teoria de Topoi para construir um modelo matemático de problemas, reduções entre problemas, espaços e estratégias de busca heurística. Mais precisamente, uma estratégia de construção de espaços de busca é representada por um funtor de uma certa categoria de problemas para uma certa categoria de florestas. A coleção de todos estes funtores forma um topos, um modelo específico equipado com uma lógica interna própria. Esta lógica interna é usada, então, para definir estratégias de busca e heurísticas em Teoria Local dos Conjuntos. Possíveis aplicações do trabalho incluem (1) a especificação lógica e a classificação de heurísticas e meta-heurísticas usadas na prática e (2) uma versão mais abstrata e geral de resultados específicos relacionando a estrutura de problemas com métodos de resolução adequados. / [en] This work employs concepts and tools from Category Theory and Topos Theory to construct a mathematical model for problems, reductions between problems, heuristic search spaces and strategies. More precisely, a search space construction strategy is represented by a functor from a certain category of problems to a certain category of forests. The collection of all such functors forms a topos, a specific model equipped with its own internal logic. This internal logic is then used to define search satrategies and heuristics in Local Set Theory. Possible applications of this work include (1) the logical specification and classification of heuristics and metaheuristics used in pratice and (2) a more abstract and general rendering of specific results relating the structure of problems to adequate problem-solving methods.

In dieser Arbeit wird das Fraïssé-Hrushowskis Amalgamationsverfahren in Zusammenhang mit nilpotenten graduierten Lie Algebren über einem endlichen Körper untersucht. Die Prädimensionen die in der Konstruktion auftauchen sind mit dem gruppentheoretischen Begriff der Defizienz zu vergleichen, welche auf homologische Methoden zurückgeführt werden kann. Darüber hinaus wird die Magnus-Lazardsche Korrespondenz zwischen den oben genannten Lie Algebren und nilpotenten Gruppen von Primzahl-Exponenten beschrieben. Dabei werden solche Gruppen durch die Baker-Haussdorfsche Formel in den entsprechenden Algebren definierbar interpretiert. Es wird eine omega-stabile Lie Algebra von Nilpotenzklasse 2 und Morleyrang omega + omega erhalten, indem man eine unkollabierte Version der von Baudisch konstruierten "new uncountably categorical group" betrachtet. Diese wird genau analysiert. Unter anderem wird die Unabhängigkeitsrelation des Nicht-Gabelns durch die Konfiguration des freien Amalgams charakterisiert. Mittels eines induktiven Ansatzes werden die Grundlagen entwickelt, um neue Prädimensionen für Lie Algebren der Nilpotenzklassen größer als zwei zu schaffen. Dies erweist sich als wesentlich schwieriger als im Fall 2. Wir konzentrieren uns daher auf die Nilpotenzklasse 3, als Induktionsbasis des oben genannten Prozesses. In diesem Fall wird die Invariante der Defizienz auf endlich erzeugte Lie Algebren adaptiert. Erstes Hauptergebnis der Arbeit ist der Nachweis dass diese Definition zu einem vernüftigen Begriff selbst-genügender Erweiterungen von Lie Algebren führt und sehr nah einer gewünschten Prädimension im Hrushovskischen Sinn ist. Wir zeigen – als zweites Hauptergebnis – ein erstes Amalgamationslemma bezüglich selbst-genügender Einbettungen. / In this work, the so called Fraïssé-Hrushowski amalgamation is applied to nilpotent graded Lie algebras over the p-elements field with p a prime. We are mainly concerned with the uncollapsed version of the original process. The predimension used in the construction is compared with the group theoretical notion of deficiency, arising from group Homology. We also describe in detail the Magnus-Lazard correspondence, to switch between the aforementioned Lie algebras and nilpotent groups of prime exponent. In this context, the Baker-Hausdorff formula allows such groups to be definably interpreted in the corresponding algebras. Starting from the structures which led to Baudisch’ new uncountably categorical group, we obtain an omega-stable Lie algebra of nilpotency class 2, as the countable rich Fraïssé limit of a suitable class of finite Lie algebras. We study the theory of this structure in detail: we show its Morley rank is omega+omega and a complete description of non-forking independence is given, in terms of free amalgams. In a second part, we develop a new framework for the construction of deficiency-predimensions among graded Lie algebras of nilpotency class higher than 2. This turns out to be considerably harder than the previous case. The nil-3 case in particular has been extensively treated, as the starting point of an inductive procedure. In this nilpotency class, our main results concern a suitable deficiency function, which behaves for many aspects like a Hrushovski predimension. A related notion of self-sufficient extension is given. We also prove a first amalgamation lemma with respect to self-sufficient embeddings.

The aim of distributional semantics is to design computational techniques that can automatically learn the meanings of words from a body of text. The twin challenges are: how do we represent meaning, and how do we learn these representations? The current state of the art is to represent meanings as vectors - but vectors do not correspond to any traditional notion of meaning. In particular, there is no way to talk about 'truth', a crucial concept in logic and formal semantics. In this thesis, I develop a framework for distributional semantics which answers this challenge. The meaning of a word is not represented as a vector, but as a 'function', mapping entities (objects in the world) to probabilities of truth (the probability that the word is true of the entity). Such a function can be interpreted both in the machine learning sense of a classifier, and in the formal semantic sense of a truth-conditional function. This simultaneously allows both the use of machine learning techniques to exploit large datasets, and also the use of formal semantic techniques to manipulate the learnt representations. I define a probabilistic graphical model, which incorporates a probabilistic generalisation of model theory (allowing a strong connection with formal semantics), and which generates semantic dependency graphs (allowing it to be trained on a corpus). This graphical model provides a natural way to model logical inference, semantic composition, and context-dependent meanings, where Bayesian inference plays a crucial role. I demonstrate the feasibility of this approach by training a model on WikiWoods, a parsed version of the English Wikipedia, and evaluating it on three tasks. The results indicate that the model can learn information not captured by vector space models.

Die vorliegende Dissertation besteht aus zwei Teilen, deren gemeinsames Thema in der Frage besteht, wie mächtig Zufall als Berechnungsressource ist. Im ersten Teil beschäftigen wir uns mit zufälligen Strukturen, die -- mit hoher Wahrscheinlichkeit -- Eigenschaften haben können, die von Computeralgorithmen genutzt werden können. In zwei konkreten Fällen geben wir bis dahin unbekannte deterministische Konstruktionen solcher Strukturen: Wir derandomisieren eine randomisierte Reduktion von Alekhnovich und Razborov, indem wir bestimmte unbalancierte bipartite Expandergraphen konstruieren, und wir geben eine Reduktion von einem Problem über bipartite Graphen auf das Problem, den minmax-Wert in Dreipersonenspielen zu berechnen. Im zweiten Teil untersuchen wir die Ausdrucksstärke verschiedener Logiken, wenn sie durch zufällige Relationssymbole angereichert werden. Unser Ziel ist es, Techniken aus der deskriptiven Komplexitätstheorie für die Untersuchung randomisierter Komplexitätsklassen nutzbar zu machen, und tatsächlich können wir zeigen, dass unsere randomisierten Logiken randomisierte Komlexitätsklassen einfangen, die in der Komplexitätstheorie untersucht werden. Unter Benutzung starker Ergebnisse über die Logik erster Stufe und die Berechnungsstärke von Schaltkreisen beschränkter Tiefe geben wir sowohl positive als auch negative Derandomisierungsergebnisse für unsere Logiken. Auf der negativen Seite zeigen wir, dass randomisierte erststufige Logik gegenüber normaler erststufiger Logik an Ausdrucksstärke gewinnt, sogar auf Strukturen mit einer eingebauten Additionsrelation. Außerdem ist sie nicht auf geordneten Strukturen in monadischer zweitstufiger Logik enthalten, und auch nicht in infinitärer Zähllogik auf beliebigen Strukturen. Auf der positiven Seite zeigen wir, dass randomisierte erststufige Logik auf Strukturen mit einem unären Vokabular derandomisiert werden kann und auf additiven Strukturen in monadischer Logik zweiter Stufe enthalten ist. / This thesis is comprised of two main parts whose common theme is the question of how powerful randomness as a computational resource is. In the first part we deal with random structures which possess -- with high probability -- properties than can be exploited by computer algorithms. We then give two new deterministic constructions for such structures: We derandomise a randomised reduction due to Alekhnovich and Razborov by constructing certain unbalanced bipartite expander graphs, and we give a reduction from a problem concerning bipartite graphs to the problem of computing the minmax-value in three-player games. In the second part we study the expressive power of various logics when they are enriched by random relation symbols. Our goal is to bridge techniques from descriptive complexity with the study of randomised complexity classes, and indeed we show that our randomised logics do capture complexity classes under study in complexity theory. Using strong results on the expressive power of first-order logic and the computational power of bounded-depth circuits, we give both positive and negative derandomisation results for our logics. On the negative side, we show that randomised first-order logic gains expressive power over standard first-order logic even on structures with a built-in addition relation. Furthermore, it is not contained in monadic second-order logic on ordered structures, nor in infinitary counting logic on arbitrary structures. On the positive side, we show that randomised first-order logic can be derandomised on structures with a unary vocabulary and is contained in monadic second-order logic on additive structures.