Tricksters are popular cultural and literary characters which appear across regions and genres in various forms. The characters Uncle Julius from The Conjure Woman collection of short stories by Charles W. Chesnutt, and the confidence man from Herman Melville's The Confidence-Man: His Masquerade are both tricksters who are based on strong cultural backgrounds: the African(- American) religious trickster, and real life con artist William Thompson, respectively. This thesis sets out to compare the tricksters in thematic and structural elements. The origins of the literary characters help shape the readers' expectations and perception of the tricksters. Melville and Chesnutt encourage the stereotypical reading of the characters while also including an alternative one in the text. The conflict of perceptions serves to introduce a number of social topics regarding slavery in The Conjure Woman and self-reliance in The Confidence-Man, both of which ultimately point to the problematic distribution of freedom in American society. The tricksters appear both as literary characters and literary devices, corresponding with the ambiguous nature of the trickster archetype.

Approved for public release; distribution in unlimited. / In this thesis, a performance analysis and improvement of a phase sampling interferometer antenna system based on the Robust Symmetrical Number System (RSNS) in the presence of noise is investigated. Previous works have shown that the RSNS-based DF technique can provide high bearing resolution with a minimum number of antenna elements. However, the previous experimental data showed significant deviation from the theoretical results expected due to imperfections, errors, and noise. Therefore, an additive Gaussian noise model of RSNS-based DF was established and simulated. Simulation results show that the presence of noise distorts the signal amplitudes used in the RSNS processor and causes degradation of the angle-ofarrival estimates. A performance analysis was undertaken by first introducing the quadrature modulation configuration into RSNS-based DF system, which provided a digital antenna approach for more flexibility in the signal processing. With a digital approach, variable resolution signal preprocessing can be employed, using a virtual channel concept. The virtual channel concept changes moduli values without changing the actual physical antenna element spacing. This attractive property allows the RSNS algorithm to be implemented into existing antenna arrays and only requires modifying the antenna signal processor. Computer simulation results showed that the proposed method can successfully improve the system performance and also mitigate the effects of noise. / Captain, Taiwan Army

No description available.

La levure Saccharomyces cerevisiae est capable d’utiliser une grande variété de sucres comme source de carbone et d’énergie. La plupart des enzymes impliquées dans l’utilisation de ces sucres sont codées par des gènes issus de familles multigéniques. C’est le cas de la famille IMA identifiée comme impliquée dans l’utilisation de l’isomaltose. Cette famille comprend cinq gènes qui codent pour quatre isomaltases partageant une forte identité de séquence (de 65% à 100 %). Dans ce travail , la diversitéfonctionnelle de la famille IMA a été étudiée, en caractérisant de façon exhaustive in vitro leurs propriétés biochimiques et enzymologiques. Ima1p et Ima2p possèdent des propriétés biochimiques identiques (pH, température, et thermostabilité) mais Ima3p se distingue par rapport à ces deux protéines bien que n’ayant que trois acides de différence avec Ima2p (thermostabilité plus faible). Ima5p quant à elle, est la protéine la plus dissemblable (température optimale plus faible et demi-vie basse dès 37°C). Les quatre isomaltases sont cependant très sensibles au Tris et aux ions Fe3+. Les quatre isoenzymes présentent une préférence pour les disaccharides liés en α-1,6 (isomaltose et palatinose), avec une cinétique de type Michaëlis-Menten et une inhibition par le substrat à une concentration élevée. Les isomaltases Imap sont cependant aussi capables d'hydrolyser les disaccharides α-1,2, α-1,3 et α-1,5 ainsi que les trisaccharides portant une liaison α-1,6, ce qui met en évidence leur ambiguïté de substrat .Nos résultats ont toutefois montré de nombreuses singularités dans cette famille de protéines. Alors que Ima1p et Ima2p présentent des propriétés très semblables, l’activité catalytique de Ima3p est globalement très faible malgré sa forte ressemblance avec Ima2p. Le variant Ima3p_R279Q retrouve des niveaux d'activité proches de ceux d’Ima2p, tandis que la substitution d’une leucine par une proline à la position 240 a permis d’augmenter de manière significative la stabilité d’Ima3p confirmant le rôle des prolines dans la thermostabilité des protéines. L’hydrolyse de l’isomaltose par Ima5p réfute lesconclusions précédemment publiées sur l'exigence d'acides aminés spécifiques pour déterminer la spécificité de α-1,6 puisque le variant IMA5-MQH ne permet pas de restaurer une activité semblable à Ima1p malgré la présence des trois résidus MQH. Nous avons également trouvé qu’Ima5p est inhibé par le maltose suivant une inhibition mixte tandis qu’Ima1p est inhibée de façon compétitive à faible concentration et de manière incompétitive à forte concentration en isomaltose / Most enzymatic systems for sugar uptake and assimilation rely on multigene families in theyeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The IMA / MAL family has been used as a model system to study themolecular mechanisms that govern evolution of duplicated genes. The five IMA multigene familymembers encode four isomaltases sharing high sequence identity from 65% to 99%, of which IMA3and IMA4 are 100% identical to encode the same isomaltase. In this work, the functional diversity ofIMA family was further explored, with exhaustive in-vitro characterization of their biochemical andenzymological properties.Ima1p and Ima2p were similar to biochemical properties; Ima3p showed some differences fromthe two proteins; amongst them, Ima5p was the most distant protein. The four isomaltases were highlysensitive to Tris and Fe3+, but were unaffected by the addition or the removal of Ca2+ despiteconservation of the calcium binding site. Besides, four isoenzymes exhibited a preference for the α-(1,6)disaccharides isomaltose and palatinose, with Michaelis-Menten kinetics and inhibition at highsubstrates concentration. They were also able to hydrolyse trisaccharides bearing an α-(1,6) linkage,but also α-(1,2), α-(1,3) and α-(1,5) disaccharides including sucrose, highlighting their substrateambiguity. While Ima1p and Ima2p presented almost identical characteristics, the results neverthelessshowed many singularities within this protein family. In particular, Ima3p presented lower activitiesthan Ima2p despite only 3 different amino acids between these two isoforms. The Ima3p_R279Qvariant recovered activity levels of Ima2p, while the Leu-to-Pro substitution at position 240significantly increased the stability of Ima3p and supported the role of prolines inthermostability.Ima5p presented the lower optimal temperature and was also extremely sensitive to temperature. Isomaltose hydrolysis by Ima5p challenged previous conclusions about the requirement of specificamino acids for determining the specificity for α-(1,6) substrates. We finally found a mixed inhibitionby maltose for Ima5p while, contrary to a previous work, Ima1p inhibition by maltose was competitiveat very low isomaltose concentrations and uncompetitive as the substrate concentration increased.The presented Ph.D’s work provided preliminary insights into determining structural factorswithin this family, exemplifying for example the role of proline residues for thermosability. Moreover,it was illustrated that a gene family encoding proteins with strong sequence similarities can lead toenzyme with notable differences in biochemical and enzymological properties.

Coincidence as the animator of the independent Czech art of the 1960s We are currently progressing to viewing coincidence as a phenomenon. While coincidence cannot be explained, it needs to be understood. It may be an important program principle of the universe, where coincidence may give life and matters a different direction, and it is undoubtedly part of all of our creative and resourceful efforts. Therefore, we treasure coincidence and in art, we even intentionally call for it frequently. Naturally, the history of art gives us many examples, where coincidence helped an artist to revive their imagination and strengthened their ability to improvise. Dealing with coincidence and activating coincidence intentionally or unintentionally have always been one of the most tantalising moments of many creative endeavours. It is interesting to observe how the role of coincidence and its impact in art, as well as in a human life intermittently diminishes only to resurface again as if in connection with measuring the powers of the acting individual and the current being. It is exciting to follow the complex movement of coincidence in the wide field of potential meanings and understanding, somewhere between Freedom, Necessity, Fate, Fortune, Higher Power or perhaps Providence, and examine the complexity of...

The background of this study derives from the fact that the auditing sector is characterized by excessive workload, psychological ill-health and high staff turnover. Prior research emphasizes the effects on chartered accountants, auditing quality and organizational consequences. The purpose of this study is therefore to examine junior auditor’s individual well-being, hence the research question: What is the relationship between workload, role conflict and role ambiguity together with psychological well-being of junior auditors? Cooper and Marshalls theory of occupational sources of stress is the basis for this study and the research model originates from Jones, Norman and Wier. A survey was sent to 201 junior auditors in Stockholm working within Big Four, furthermore, to answer the research question at hand, hypothesis testing is applied. Results of this study shows that work overload is the most prominent of the examined variables, but psychological ill-health could possibly derive from other non-studied factors. Conclusively, the study shows that junior auditors neither experience role conflict or role ambiguity, and therefore, solely workload has a negative effect on occupational stress and psychological illhealth. Further researchers should conduct a qualitative study in order to gain greater understanding of the individuals, but also to examine whether other variables can affect junior auditors. / Bakgrunden till denna studie är att revisionsbranschen präglas av hög arbetsbelastning, psykisk ohälsa och personalomsättning, där tidigare forskning lagt stor vikt vid att undersöka auktoriserade revisorer, revisionskvalitén och organisatoriska konsekvenser. Syftet med denna studie är därmed att lägga fokus på juniora revisorers individuella välbefinnande, och således blir forskningsfrågan: Hur ser sambandet ut mellan arbetsbelastning, rollkonflikt samt rolltvetydighet och juniora revisorers psykologiska välbefinnande? Teorin som ligger till grund för detta arbete är Cooper och Marshalls teori om källor till arbetsrelaterad stress, och forskningsmodellen som används i denna studie är en modifiering av Jones, Norman och Wiers. En enkät skickades ut till 201 juniora revisorer inom Big Four och 60 svar erhölls, för att kunna besvara forskningsfrågan tillämpades hypotesprövningar. Resultatet visar att arbetsbelastning är den mest betydande av de undersökta variablerna, dock kan försämrat psykologiskt välbefinnande även föranledas av andra faktorer som inte undersöks i denna studie. Slutsatsen är därmed att juniora revisorer varken upplever rollkonflikt eller rolltvetydighet, och studie har således funnit att endast arbetsbelastning påverkar den arbetsrelaterade stressen och det psykologiska välbefinnandet negativt. Förslag till vidare forskning är att utföra kvalitativa studier för att uppnå en djupare förståelse av individen, men även studera andra faktorer som kan påverka de juniora revisorerna.

A anotação geográfica de documentos consiste na adoção de metadados para a identificação de nomes de locais e a posição de suas ocorrências no texto. Esta informação é útil, por exemplo, para mecanismos de busca. A partir dos topônimos mencionados no texto é possível identificar o contexto espacial em que o assunto do texto está inserido, o que permite agrupar documentos que se refiram a um mesmo contexto, atribuindo ao documento um escopo geográfico. Esta Dissertação de Mestrado apresenta um novo método, batizado de Geofier, para determinação do escopo geográfico de documentos. A novidade apresentada pelo Geofier é a possibilidade da identificação do escopo geográfico de um documento por meio de classificadores de aprendizagem de máquina treinados sem o uso de um gazetteer e sem premissas quanto à língua dos textos analisados. A Wikipédia foi utilizada como fonte de um conjunto de documentos anotados geograficamente para o treinamento de uma hierarquia de Classificadores Naive Bayes e Support Vector Machines (SVMs). Uma comparação de desempenho entre o Geofier e uma reimplementação do sistema Web-a-Where foi realizada em relação à determinação do escopo geográfico dos textos da Wikipédia. A hierarquia do Geofier foi treinada e avaliada de duas formas: usando topônimos do mesmo gazetteer que o Web-a-Where e usando n-gramas extraídos dos documentos de treinamento. Como resultado, o Geofier manteve desempenho superior ao obtido pela reimplementação do Web-a-Where. / Automatic text geotagging is the process by which mentions of place names and their positions in text are identified as metadata, allowing this information to be used by specialized applications, like Search Engines. It is possible to identify the geographic scope of a document by analysing the toponyms it mentions and then group documents by their geographic context, effectively adding a geographic scope to the documents. This dissertation presents a new method to identify the geographic scope of text, named Geofier. The novelty in Geofier is that it uses machine learning text classifiers, trained without the need of a gazetteer and without making assumptions regarding the language in which the documents are written. Wikipedia was used as the source for a geotagged text dataset in order to train a hierarchy of Naive Bayes and Support Vector Machine (SVM) classifiers. The Geofier hierarchy was then trained and evaluated, first using toponyms from the same gazetteer as Web-a-Where and then using n-grams extracted from the training samples as attributes. Geofier performed significantly better when compared to a Web-a-Where implementation.

Cette thèse se concentre sur deux groupes bien particuliers de propositions subordonnées dont, à l'heure actuelle, les définitions sont loin de faire consensus parmi les linguistes : les propositions interrogatives et exclamatives indirectes. L’étude syntaxique et textométrique effectuée dans le cadre de cette recherche part d'un vaste ensemble d’interrogatives et d’exclamatives indirectes, prélevées de manière exhaustive au sein d'un corpus de 68 pièces du théâtre français moderne s’étalant de 1775 à 1914. Les résultats de cette recherche, largement facilitée par les apports d’outils technologiques nouveaux et variés sont présentés dans ce travail. Les deux piliers substantiels de ces structures sont étudiés de manière circonstanciée : il s’agit des verbes et des outils qui les introduisent. Afin de mener à bien cette recherche, une banque de données, appelée Theatre68 a été constituée. Elle regroupe l'ensemble des attestations des séquences interrogatives (appelées SIC) et exclamatives complexes (appelées SEC) du corpus étudié. Cette banque est accessible sur le CD-Rom qui accompagne la thèse. Des cas d’ambiguïté syntaxique (relatives sans antécédent/interrogatives indirectes) et d’ambivalence sémantique (interrogative /exclamative) sont étudiés et commentés. Enfin, l’étude s’élargit vers des constructions particulières qui peuvent servir de supports aux structures exclamatives vu leur force expressive et le degré de figement qu’elles semblent avoir atteint. / This thesis concentrates on two particular groups of subordinate clauses: the indirect interrogative and exclamative clauses, the definitions of which, at the moment, are far from reaching a consensus among the linguists. The syntactic and textometrical study conducted for this thesis is based on a vast set of indirect interrogative and exclamative clauses, extracted from a collection of 68 theatrical plays of the modern French theater, from 1775 to 1914. The results of this research have been greatly facilitated by the contribution of new and varied technological tools (in particular the Lexico5 software). Both substantial pillars of these structures are thoroughly examined, mainly taking into account the introductive verbs and the linking words. To bring this research to a successful conclusion, a data bank, called Theatre68, was constituted. It includes all the examples of indirect interrogative and exclamative clauses and it is available on the CD-ROM attached to this thesis. Cases of syntactic ambiguity (relative/interrogative clauses) and semantic ambivalence (interrogative /exclamatory) are studied and commented upon. The study spreads upon particular constructions which can be used as supports to the exclamative structures considering their expressivity and the semi-fixed form which they seem to have reached.

Diese Dissertation umfasst vier Manuskripte zum Thema Risikokommunikation und medizinischen Entscheidungen. Das erste Manuskript diskutiert Unterschiede, Gemeinsamkeiten und die Anwendbarkeit von drei zentralen Ansätzen, die helfen sollen, bessere Entscheidungen zu treffen (Nudging, Social Marketing, Empowerment). Das zweite Manuskript präsentiert Ergebnisse einer Medienanalyse zur Evaluation von Zeitungs- und Internetberichten in Deutschland und Spanien über die HPV-Impfung. Basierend auf vordefinierten Standards für transparente, vollständige und korrekte Risikokommunikation, deckt die Medienanalyse Schwächen in der Berichterstattung auf. Das dritte Manuskript untersucht wie Laien relative Risikoreduktionen bzw. –erhöhungen, ein Standardformt in der Medizin, verstehen. Beide Formate führen Laien und Experten in die Irre und führen zur Überschätzung der tatsächlichen Effekte. Ein diskutierter Ausweg ist die zusätzliche Kommunikation der Basisrate. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass das Verständnis von relativen Risikoreduktionen (-erhöhungen) mit Basisrate von dem Präsentationsformat (Prozent- vs. Häufigkeitsformat) und der individuellen Fähigkeit im Zahlenverständnis abhängt. Teilnehmer mit geringem Zahlenverständnis profitierten von der Darstellung in Häufigkeiten; Teilnehmer mit hohem Zahlenverständnis zeigen ein besseres Verständnis unabhängig des Formats. Dennoch—selbst mit Basisrate—missverstehen viele Teilnehmer die Risikoinformation. Das vierte Manuskript untersucht wie Teilnehmer Behandlungen unter Unsicherheit auswählen. Ein Einwand gegen die Kommunikation von Unsicherheit ist die Behauptung, dass Menschen Unsicherheit in Gewinnsituationen vermeiden, in Verlustsituationen dagegen suchen. Die Ergebnisse dieser Studie in Bezug auf die Auswahl von medizinischen Behandlungen konnten diese Annahmen nicht bestätigen. Darüber hinaus wählte die Mehrheit der Teilnehmer die gleiche Behandlung, wenngleich sich die zugrundeliegende Auswahlstrategie unterschied. / This dissertation comprises four manuscripts focusing on health risk communication and medical decision making. The first manuscript discusses differences, commonalities, and the applicability of three major approaches to help patients make better decisions: nudging, social marketing, and empowerment. The second manuscript presents results of an evaluation of media coverage about the HPV vaccine of newspaper and Internet reports in Germany and Spain. Based on predefined standards for transparent, complete, and correct risk communication, the analysis revealed substantial shortcomings in how the media informed the public. The third manuscript centers on a standard format to communicate treatment benefits and harms: relative risk reductions and increases. Such formats have been found to misinform and mislead patients and health professionals. One suggestion is to always include information about baseline risk to reduce misunderstandings. Results show that even when baseline risk was communicated, it depended on the presentation format (percentage vs. frequency) and people’s numeracy skills whether they correctly interpreted the risk reduction (or increase). Low numerates benefited from a frequency format, whereas high numerates performed better independent of the format. Yet, a substantial proportion of participants still misunderstood the meaning of a relative risk reduction (or increase). The fourth manuscript investigated how laypeople choose between medical treatments when ambiguity is present. One objection against communicating ambiguity is the claim that laypeople are ambiguity averse in the domain of gains and ambiguity seeking in the domain of losses. Results did not find supporting evidence for this claim in medical treatment choice. Moreover, most participants selected the same treatment option, independent of numeracy. However, the underlying choice strategies varied between individuals.

Evidências empíricas contábeis não só destacam o papel do controller nas empresas, como também salientam situações organizacionais que criam tensões como conflito e ambiguidade de função. Nesse contexto, esta pesquisa tem como objetivo identificar com que intensidade o conflito e ambiguidade de função percebida pelos controllers brasileiros incidem sobre a satisfação no trabalho. A amostra foi composta por 114 controllers das maiores empresas do Brasil segundo a base de dados da revista M&M. A coleta dos dados foi viabilizada por meio de questionário online. O instrumento utilizado para a mensuração das variáveis conflito e ambiguidade de função foi o desenvolvido por Rizzo et al (1970), e, para satisfação no trabalho, foi utilizado Job Satisfaction Index apresentado no trabalho de Tarrant (2008). Para a análise dos dados, foi utilizada a técnica de modelagem de equações estruturais (SEM-PLS) bem como estatísticas descritivas. Não foram rejeitadas as duas hipóteses de estudo, demonstrando, com base em evidências estatísticas, que o conflito e a ambiguidade de função são percebidos pelos controllers brasileiros e, de fato, incidem negativamente sobre a satisfação no trabalho. Ademais, a amostra sustenta que o conflito de função afeta menos a satisfação no trabalho do que a ambiguidade. Além disso, os dados suportam que a falta de clareza sobre os objetivos e responsabilidades do controller acarretam em maiores níveis de ambiguidade de função e que o conflito percebido, aumentava em situações nas quais o executivo tinha que ignorar ou deixar de considerar uma regra ou política organizacional a fim de desempenhar alguma das suas funções. Finalmente, foi constatado que, apesar dos controllers perceberem esses dois tipos de tensão, em geral, eles se sentem satisfeitos com sua atual situação de trabalho. Uma das situações que menos contribuiu para a satisfação no trabalho dos controllers brasileiros foi a remuneração. / Empirical accounting evidences not only highlight the role of the controller in the companies, but also emphasize organizational situations that create stresses like role conflict and role ambiguity. In this context, this research aims to identify in what extent the role conflict and role ambiguity, perceived by Brazilian controllers, have an affect on job satisfaction. The sample comprised 114 controllers of the largest companies in Brazil, obtained from M&M magazine database. Data collection was conducted through a online questionnaire. The instrument used to measure the variables role conflict and role ambiguity was developed by Rizzo et al (1970), and to job satisfaction, was used the Job Satisfaction Index presented on Tarrant\'s (2008) work. We used the technique of structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) as well as descriptive statistics for data analysis. The two study hypotheses were not rejected, demonstrating, based on statistical evidence, that role conflict and role ambiguity, perceived by Brazilian controllers, surely affect negatively on job satisfaction. Moreover, the sample sustains that the role conflict function affects less job satisfaction than role ambiguity. Furthermore, the data supports that the lack of clarity about the controller\'s goals and responsibilities, lead to higher levels of role ambiguity, and the perceived conflict increased in situations where the executive had to ignore or fail to consider a rule or organizational policy in order to perform any of its functions. Finally, it was found that despite the controllers realize these two types of stress, in general, they feel satisfied with their current employment situation. One of the situations that less contributed to the Brazilian controllers\' job satisfaction was the remuneration.