Es werden verschiedene Stetigkeitskonzepte, die in der statistischen Theorie und Methodik eine Rolle spielen, erläutert.

The aim of my thesis is to discuss the possible uses of the concept of autonomy in the study of conversions of Roma to Charismatic/Pentecostal Christianity. Focus on empowerment and social inclusion has been prevailing in the field, and critical reflection of questions of governance and oppression is lacking. I use the thesis by Patrick Williams (1987; 1991; 1993a), according to whom the French Gypsies who converted to Pentecostalism achieved autonomy or at least a sense of autonomy, which allowed them to downplay the role of structural factors and other people behind their actions. Through a case study from ethnographic fieldwork in a Romani Charismatic congregation in Western Bohemia I extend and refine the concept. The main theoretical innovations come from the contemporary moral philosophy, especially the theory of autonomy (of the oppressed) by Christman (2014) who defines autonomy as a reflexive affirmation of an assumed practical identity, a "life worth living". The story which missionaries in Márov, the place of my fieldwork, put forward, was that Roma converted from being pimps and drug dealers. The empirical realities and narratives about the change cast doubt on the easy account of radical change through the religion. Based on a detailed focus on conversion of one former drug addict I...

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The aim of my thesis is to discuss the possible uses of the concept of autonomy in the study of conversions of Roma to Charismatic/Pentecostal Christianity. Focus on empowerment and social inclusion has been prevailing in the field, and critical reflection of questions of governance and oppression is lacking. I use the thesis by Patrick Williams (1987; 1991; 1993a), according to whom the French Gypsies who converted to Pentecostalism achieved autonomy or at least a sense of autonomy, which allowed them to downplay the role of structural factors and other people behind their actions. Through a case study from ethnographic fieldwork in a Romani Charismatic congregation in Western Bohemia I extend and refine the concept. The main theoretical innovations come from the contemporary moral philosophy, especially the theory of autonomy (of the oppressed) by Christman (2014) who defines autonomy as a reflexive affirmation of an assumed practical identity, a "life worth living". The story which missionaries in Márov, the place of my fieldwork, put forward, was that Roma converted from being pimps and drug dealers. The empirical realities and narratives about the change cast doubt on the easy account of radical change through the religion. Based on a detailed focus on conversion of one former drug addict I...

In this paper an analysis is conducted regarding whether a higher classification accuracy of facial expressions are possible. The approach used is that the seven basic emotional states are combined into a binary classification problem. Five different machine learning algorithms are implemented: Support vector machines, Extreme learning Machine and three different Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN). The utilized CNN:S were one conventional, one based on VGG16 and transfer learning and one based on residual theory known as RESNET50. The experiment was conducted on two datasets, one small containing no contamination called JAFFE and one big containing contamination called FER2013. The highest accuracy was achieved with the CNN:s where RESNET50 had the highest classification accuracy. When comparing the classification accuracy with the state of the art accuracy an improvement of around 0.09 was achieved on the FER2013 dataset. This dataset does however include some ambiguities regarding what facial expression is shown. It would henceforth be of interest to conduct an experiment where humans classify the facial expressions in the dataset in order to achieve a benchmark.

<p> A recently developed surface grafting technique, surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP), has the ability to directly graft polymer chains with controllable chain lengths, densities and functionalities from various kinds of surfaces. This thesis has two main focuses. First is to study the use of this technique in grafting monomers with special structures and functionalities. The other is to apply this technique to the modification of reactive metal surfaces. </p> <p> Both of fluorinated polymers and polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS)-containing polymers have very interesting properties. In this thesis, for the first time, a highly fluorinated monomer, 2,2,2-trifluoroethyl methacrylate (TFEMA) and a POSS-containing monomer, POSS-MA were successfully polymerized from silicon wafers by surface-initiated ATRP. This is also the first work to use this technique to graft polymers with bulky, rigid side groups. </p> <p> To achieve very high grafting density is a big challenge for surface-initiated ATRP. We designed a novel surface-attachable difunctional initiator, 11-(2,2-bis(2bromo-2-methylpropionyloxy methyl)propionyloxy) undecyltrichlorosilane. With its help, the grafting density of PTFEMA was almost doubled, from 0.48 to 0.86chains/nm2. This is so far the most effective method to increase the grafting density. </p> <p> Unlike other kinds of materials, the surfaces of metals are active in electrochemical and acid/base reactions and this reactivity complicates A TRP reactions. With the help of triethoxysilane-based initiator and mild Fe(II)/Fe(III) catalyst system, various acrylic polymers were successfully grafted from flat nickel and copper surfaces by surface-initiated ATRP. This work provided a convenient method to prepare functional polymer coatings with very stable adhesions to the metal surfaces. The same strategy can be extended to the surface modification of a shape-memory-alloy, nitinol. </p> <p> Metal nanoparticles were also modified by this technique. Polymer shells were grafted from nickel nanoparticles surfaces. After the polymer grafting, both of the dispersibility and dispersion stability of nickel nanoparticles in appropriate solvents were greatly improved. </p> / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

This dissertation comparatively examines musical nostalgia, particularly nostalgia for childhood, in video games and post-Romantic classical music. An introductory chapter lays out several key concepts drawn from video games—loops, gameworlds, and role-play—and suggests the correspondences these have in Romantic music and thought. The central chapters offer case studies of pieces by Robert Schumann, Brahms, Debussy, and Ravel, each along with a corresponding concept drawn from video games. Each chapter articulates ways that works by these composers provide analogies for practices in contemporary role-playing and adventure video games and, conversely, suggests that features drawn from those games might illuminate how these pieces create musical meaning out of dwelling on the past or imagining distant places. The central chapters draw video games and classical music more closely together over their course. In an analysis of Schumann’s Kinderszenen, I suggest that Schumann’s music could be conceived as offering the player a form of role-play, allowing its players and listeners to play as an imagined child and gain access to otherwise inaccessible space. Brahms’s works often dwell in the past (and are often analyzed as such), especially when that past is metaphorically conceived as childhood or the classical tradition. I suggest that we might hear Brahms’s music as preoccupied with the “unrevisitable location,” a feature of video games in which certain spaces are visitable only a fixed number of times and therefore charged with melancholy and loss. Debussy’s Children’s Corner extends role-play to an extreme degree, while at the same time suggesting distant, unreachable vistas. In particular, I borrow Jay David Bolter and Richard Grusin’s ideas on mediation and Christopher Goetz’s notion of “nostalgic travel” to suggest ways that Debussy’s music incorporates impossible distance into its sound and structure. Video games and classical music converge as much as possible in an analysis of Ravel’s Ma mère l’Oye, which I read alongside Nintendo’s open-world game The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. I suggest that Ravel’s music offers space for its players to explore similar to this video game. In particular, we might hear the music as allowing linear narrative to give way to a freer, open-ended exploration, suggesting the opening of a world. Finally, a concluding chapter examines nostalgia in video games themselves, specifically Undertale, Final Fantasy VII, and Final Fantasy VII Remake, while revisiting elements of the Romantic musical past as they have accrued in the dissertation so far. The argument in this final chapter is that of the dissertation as a whole: that the same desires for fantasy and adventure animate both traditions, and that the two provide meaningful contexts for each other, in ways that studies of the two have until now overlooked.

Ying Chen et Ook Chung sont deux auteurs québécois d'origine asiatique qui ont fait l'objet d'études comparées en raison de leur statut d'écrivain migrant et de leur appartenance à une aire culturelle commune. Bien que leurs oeuvres mettent fréquemment en scène des narrateurs-personnages marginaux et en situation d'exil, celles-ci s'inscrivent au coeur d'intérêts actuels en littérature contemporaine qui permettent de les aborder au-delà de la culture d'origine des auteurs. S'intéressant à la marginalité du narrateur autodiégétique dans Un enfant à ma porte (2009) et dans La Trilogie coréenne (2012), notre mémoire a pour objectif d'étudier l'altérité des narrateurs et de montrer de quelle façon ceux-ci se retrouvent en décalage par rapport à leur récit. L'analyse de la figure de l'étranger dans le roman de Chung et de la folle dans celui de Chen, plus particulièrement de leur prise de parole respective, conduit à montrer en quoi l'altérité des narrateurs-personnages n'est pas que culturelle. L'altérité dans ces romans témoignerait plutôt d'une posture ontologique beaucoup plus fondamentale et générale, qui se répercute à la fois sur le rôle du personnage dans le récit et sur sa fonction de narrateur. Menée en deux temps (le personnage Autre puis le narrateur Autre), notre étude permet d'établir un lien entre l'inadéquation énoncée et la compétence narrative.

One of the most innovative and original Hasidic leaders and thinkers, Rabbi Nachman of Braslav (1772 – 1810), related thirteen long, complex fables during the final four years of his life. This doctoral thesis presents an analysis of the quest for the Lost Princess in Rabbi Nachman of Braslav's "Book of Stories in Ancient Times." The image of the Lost Princess and the quest to find and rescue her, which appear in four of these stories (including the first and the last ones), are central symbols in Rabbi Nachman's thought. The most important key to an analysis of this image and theme lies in understanding the symbols and concepts of the Jewish mystical tradition (the Kabbalah), as Rabbi Nachman himself suggested. / Classsics, Near & Far East & Religious Studies / D. Litt. et Phil. (Judaica)

The MA Social Behaviour Studies in HIV and AIDS as a postgraduate degree requires students to work and conduct research independently. The purpose of the study was to gauge the perceptions, attitudes and experiences of second year students and key personnel concerning student support. A mixed methods research design was used. It was found that students and staff regarded support in a positive light, although concerns about insufficient resources were expressed. Students expressed needs for specific academic and research support. Staff tended to romanticise the reasons for students enrolling for the degree. Possible conflicting expectations of the degree and the amount and type of support offered were found between the staff and the students and also among various staff members. / Social Work / M.A. (Social Behaviour Studies in HIV-AIDS)