No description available.

No description available.

This thesis examines possible contact effects in the segmental phonology in an idiolect of Swedish Romani. From data gathered from one speaker of Swedish Romani I describe the phonology on a segmental level and then compare this with the phonology of its progenitor, Proto-Northwestern Romani. The traces of interference could in almost every case be explained as features gained from contact with Swedish. When features were judged to have entered Swedish Romani from a different language, intense contact with Swedish could possible explain why these features have remained in Swedish Romani.

Using a year 2000 national racial poll conducted by the New York Times, I analyze Whites' approval of interracial marriage. I utilize the contact hypothesis, as originally formulated by Gordon Allport, to develop a conceptual model of White's attitudes toward interracial marriage. Specifically I propose and develop an additional dimension of the contact hypothesis, which accounts for the context in which interracial contacts occur. I do so by examining several specific social settings in which White respondents report experiencing contact with Blacks. The contexts examined are ordered in terms of the type of contact they likely provide, from close, personal contact to superficial and hierarchical contact. The results indicate that the type of contact engendered by a variety of contexts is an important factor in determining attitudes about interracial marriage. The contacts in most of the social settings are associated with friendship, yet a majority of the contexts are also related to approval of interracial marriage even when extraneous factors such as friendship, age, gender, income, political party, frequency of religious service attendance, and region are controlled for statistically. The findings provide support for the consideration and utilization of the context of contact as an additional dimension of the contact hypothesis.

No description available.

Experimentally determining protein structure is a hard problem, with applications in both medicine and industry. Predicting protein structure is also difficult. Predicted contacts between residues within a protein is helpful during protein structure prediction. Recent state-of-the-art models have used deep learning to improve protein contact prediction. This thesis presents a new deep learning model for protein contact prediction, TiramiProt. It is based on the Tiramisu deep learning architecture, and trained and evaluated on the same data as the PconsC4 protein contact prediction model. 228 models using different combinations of hyperparameters were trained until convergence. The final TiramiProt model performs on par with two current state-of-the-art protein contact prediction models, PconsC4 and RaptorX-Contact, across a range of different metrics. A Python package and a Singularity container for running TiramiProt are available at https://gitlab.com/nikos.t.renhuldt/TiramiProt. / Att kunna bestämma proteiners struktur har tillämpningar inom både medicin och industri. Såväl experimentell bestämning av proteinstruktur som prediktion av densamma är svårt. Predicerad kontakt mellan olika delar av ett protein underlättar prediktion av proteinstruktur. Under senare tid har djupinlärning använts för att bygga bättre modeller för kontaktprediktion. Den här uppsatsen beskriver en ny djupinlärningsmodell för prediktion av proteinkontakter, TiramiProt. Modellen bygger på djupinlärningsarkitekturen Tiramisu. TiramiProt tränas och utvärderas på samma data som kontaktprediktionsmodellen PconsC4. Totalt tränades modeller med 228 olika hyperparameterkombinationer till konvergens. Mätt över ett flertal olika parametrar presterar den färdiga TiramiProt-modellen resultat i klass med state-of-the-art-modellerna PconsC4 och RaptorX-Contact. TiramiProt finns tillgängligt som ett Python-paket samt en Singularity-container via https://gitlab.com/nikos.t.renhuldt/TiramiProt.

To aid in the design of future wearable health devices (WHDs), contact pressure between the distal forearm (wrist) and two different wrist-worn devices was investigated in this work. The first device included eight force sensors arranged in series along the length of a wristband to measure the pressure profile. The band also included a tensioner device for manually tightening the band while on a wrist. Testing was done on dummy wrists and the results were statistically significant supporting the hypothesis that areas of the wrist with lower radius of curvature will experience higher contact pressures generally and a faster rate of change in pressure as the band is tightened. The second band included a controller, actuator, and force sensors for actively controlling the contact pressure of a photoplethysmography (PPG) sensor on the wrist during user motion. A total of eight tests were performed on six human subjects to estimate previously unknown design parameters related to contact pressure control of a wrist-worn device. Participants were asked to perform several actions including tapping their finger at different rates, tossing a ball, wrist flexion and extension, and making a fist. The design parameters investigated were system stiffness, range in contact pressure caused by motion, range of motion in the radial direction required to maintain a desired pressure, arterial pulse pressure amplitude and its relation to pressure tolerance, and system response time required to maintain a constant pressure. System stiffness was observed to be greater during motion (dynamic) than during rest (static) and to increase with increasing contact pressure. The change in contact pressure caused by motion was around 18 kPa in some cases and the maximum range of motion to maintain a contact pressure was about 7 mm. The arterial pulse pressure amplitude ranged between 0.05 to 0.3 kPa. It was estimated that a maximum sensor platform speed of 30 mm/s or greater is required to maintain a constant contact pressure during large motion actions such as flexing the wrist up and down. Finally, no significant differences were observed in the PPG signal between states in which the contact pressure was controlled vs. not controlled.

This research study provides a view of the relationship between organizational leaders and relationship executives of financial institutions and their exchange partners. It does so by analyzing data on the networking efforts of 20 executive directors in qualitative interviews and 124 relationship executives in research questionnaires. Network marketing within the financial services sector is becoming increasingly important. We proposed a model that seeks to offer an explanation of Executive network marketing in financial institutions in LDCs where the market system is underdeveloped. The proposed model identified four categories being: firm characteristics, Executives’ personal contact groups, Executives’ business contact groups and issues of commitment and trust in exchange relationships. Multiple factor analysis established the regression model as significant in establishing a formal relationship between the dependent variable (network marketing) and the independent variables (firm characteristics, business contact, personal contact and commitment and trust). It was confirmed that there are differences in Executives’ level of network marketing among the different age groups. Also there were significant differences in the network marketing of the Executives with regard to their level of education. It was observed that there were significant differences in the network marketing of the Executives with respect of their fields of study. Finally it was observed that owner managers were more involved in network marketing than the professional managers and those in partnerships. Not only did the study confirm the research model, but it also revealed that, to a considerable extent, network marketing is practiced by the Executives in the financial services sector in Ghana. The study concluded that business contact networks are the most effective of the Executives’ network marketing in financial services sector in Ghana. It is therefore important that state policies are directed towards enhancing the business environment within the financial services sector. Government should desist from being a regulator and a player in the same market.

Suicidal ideation and associated behaviors are up to four times more common among jail inmates than the general community (Jenkins et al., 2005; Hayes, 1986). Research finds a variety of social, biological, and psychological factors interact to influence suicidal thoughts of incarcerated individuals (Bonner, 1992; Borrill et al., 2005). Particularly, psychological distress such as, depression and feelings of hopelessness, along with loss of social support and decreased feelings of connectedness have been linked to suicidal ideation and behaviors (Moscicki, 1997; Hawton & van Heeringen, 2009). Recently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2017) has emphasized the importance of connectedness for suicide prevention. Feelings of loneliness and isolation are of particular concern among jail inmates. These factors have been linked to disproportionate rates of suicidal ideation or participation in suicidal behavior among inmates relative to community populations (Biggam & Power, 1997, Chapman et al., 2005, Ivanoff & Jang, 1991, Jenkins et al., 2005, Palmer & Connelly, 2005; Larney et al., 2012; Liebling, 1992, Marzano et al., 2011; Suto & Arnaut, 2010). Using longitudinal data collected from newly incarcerated jail inmates, the current study examines the impact family, social support, and connectedness have on suicide risk and ideation amongst jail inmates. Study findings have potential implications for policy and practice to better identify and manage suicide risk within jail settings.

No description available.