<div>Comparisons provide an important tool for exploring the syntax and semantics of gradable properties. American Sign Language (ASL) appears to have several such constructions, but they have yet to receive much linguistic analysis. This study establishes basic empirical facts concerning clausal boundaries, constituency structure, compatibility with various indicators for the presence of degrees, and composition of the standard of comparison for the MORE- and BEAT-construction in ASL. Such facts are needed for any formal syntactic or semantic treatment of the constructions. Motivated by typological observations, this study proposes that a reasonable set of initial hypotheses is that the ASL MORE-construction is a comparison of degrees and that the BEAT-construction is a comparison of individuals (as both terms are defined in Kennedy 2007). Results from the tests conducted in this study are largely consistent with those analyses, but also show where there is room for further refinement. Results additionally demonstrate that both more and beat qualify as explicit rather than implicit comparatives, confirming previous work in Wilbur et al. (2018) concerning the latter. An incidental finding of this study involves the distributional patterns for</div><div>two modifiers frequently used with gradable properties, intensive aspect and Y-OO, indicating both have a semantics distinct from that of the English very even though</div><div>frequently translated between English and ASL with that modifier. Finally, this study contributes to the discussion of comparison constructions cross-linguistically by illustrating</div><div>the need to conduct cross-linguistic work that looks beyond what is considered the default comparison of the languages under investigation.</div>

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This paper concerns the subject of air superiority; what it is, and most importantly which factors that contributes to the air superiority. A number of air power theorists and researchers have since the beginning of air warfare been pointing out the importance of air superiority and what this can lead to. It is often stated that air superiority sometimes is a must for success and once achieved victory is almost guaranteed. A number of underlying factors that can lead to air superiority has been listed earlier in previous studies and theoretical frameworks, but no systematic analyzes has ever been conducted before on how air superiority is achieved and to which extent these underlying factors lead to air superiority. The purpose of this paper is to examine the factors who contributed to the achievement of air superiority in the cases of Operation Desert Storm and Operation Deliberate Force. The result shows that all of the pre-known factors appeared in both of the two cases to some extent, but it also showed other previously unknown factors which contributed to the air superiority campaign. Out of these the most important is targeting and to neutralize the enemy air defense. Further this studie shows the importance of supporting air roles like surveillance, electronic warfare and air refueling. However, none of this can be conducted without professional and skilled personnel.

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Eleni-Ioanna Malafouri, International Migration and Ethnic Relations, University of Malmö.Abstract of Master's Thesis, Submitted 22 May 2015: Who are they and why are they here? A media analysis of the negative portrayal of immigrants in the mainstream Greek press. This study is an initial attempt to investigate the negative depiction of immigrants in the mainstream Greek press of the 2000s. Our goal is to identify the dimensions of negativeimage-making and discuss the dichotomy of the ''identity'' and the ''otherness'' projected in the contemporary press. In order to accomplish that, data, collected from selected articles in a number of best-selling Greek newspapers, were scrutinised with regards to their content, style of writing, presentation as well as their readability and triggering of a wider social discourse at the time of their publication. Using a retroductive approach, to wit travelling back and forth from the general phenomenon to specific incidents, we showed that via the presentation of the negative association of the immigrants with a) criminality, b) the obscure market and c) their unworthiness to bear national symbols, the mainstream Greek press intensifies the presence of certain dichotomies. Such dichotomies, as they appeared in the text and presentation of the articles, are the “identity” versus the “otherness”, “we” versus “they”, as well as one’s race “superiority” versus the “inferiority” of the other, “locals” versus “immigrants”.

This thesis is a postcolonial discussion about stereotype imagery of the third world, asconveyed by aid organization, and the implications of such images. Stereotyping is ahuman rights issue because it concerns inferiority and superiority, and can in the end beboiled down to a matter of equality. It is therefore an issue that needs to be up for constant review in aid organizations, who mainly claim human rights as their value base.The thesis is a single case study, looking intensely into the phenomenon of stereotypingas located within aid organizations. It looks through the lens of postcolonial theory,as it is a perspective that revolves mainly around concepts like identity, racism and stereotyping. It is constructed in two major parts, where the first part goes through the history of imperialism and the representations of ‘the Other’ it produced, and the seconddetermines through empirical observations that aid organizations do convey stereotypicimages, albeit more in terms of how they deal with the images than what they contain.The results of the empirical investigation matches well with the explanations of postcolonial theory, as the way the images are dealt with by aid organizations contributes to establish the aid receivers as ‘the Other’. Research also show that advertisement canfunction to both strengthen and alter previously established perceptions, which calls fororganizations to design ads and information material with caution. It is however also agood thing, as it is possible to begin the process of reversing stereotypes.The conclusion is that postcolonial theory can provide awareness for the origins andmechanisms of stereotyping, which is an issue any organization who claim human rightsas their value base should engage in a debate about. If we truly care about equality thisis an area of the work that needs review.

L’objectif de cette recherche est d’étudier l’incidence de la déficience visuelle sur l’estime de soi. Nous proposons une approche théorique de la théorie d’Alfred Adler « le complexe d’infériorité » afin d’étudier l’existence possible d’un complexe d’infériorité chez un malvoyant en raison de son infériorité organique. Grâce à l’approche de la psychologie interculturelle, cette recherche étudie les effets que la culture peut avoir sur l’estime de soi des malvoyants.Nous faisons l’hypothèse que la déficience visuelle a un effet négatif sur l’estime de soi, que les déficients visuels auraient un manque notable d’estime de soi, et que cela peut, parfois, se traduire par un complexe d’infériorité.Nous faisons également l’hypothèse que la variable culturelle représentée, en particulier, par les moyens qui favorisent l’autonomie et le regard de la société, joue un rôle important dans l’estime de soi des malvoyants.Les sujets de cette étude sont représentent 68 personnes malvoyantes et 112 personnes voyantes d’un âge moyen de 36 ans. L’Echelle Toulousaine de l’Estime de Soi a été utilisée pour mesurer l’estime de soi globale qui regroupe cinq domaines du soi.Les résultats révèlent un manque d’estime de soi chez les sujets malvoyants. Ils ne montrent pas de différences en ce qui concerne le sexe, ni la culture.Enfin, une approche clinique approfondie des études de cas confirme la théorie du complexe d’infériorité ; cette étude révèle, également, qu’un sentiment d’infériorité peut exister chez les malvoyants à cause de leur handicap. / The purpose of this research is to study the influence of visual impairment on the self-esteem. We propose a theoretical approach to the theory of Alfred Adler « the inferiority complex » in order to study the possible existence of an inferiority complex in the individuals with visual impairments because of their organic inferiority. In an approach to Cross-Cultural psychology, this research studies the effects which culture can have on the self-esteem of the visually impaired.Our hypothesis suggests that visual impairment has a negative effect on the self-esteem. That visually impaired would have a significant less self-esteem and that can, sometimes, to result in a inferiority complex. We also make the hypothesis that the cultural variable represented, in particular, by the means which support the autonomy and the glance of the society, plays an important role in self-esteem of the visually impaired.The subjects in this study consist of 68 visually impaired subjects and 112 subjects with normal vision (mean age = 36 years). The Toulouse Scale of Self-Esteem was used to measure the general self-esteem which gathers five fields of self-esteem.The results reveal a less self-esteem in blind subjects. They show no differences on this subject between the sexes, or between cultures. Finally, a clinical approach of clinical case study supports the theory of inferiority complex. It shows a feeling of inferiority that may exist among the visually impaired because of disability.

En situation de perception audiovisuelle de la parole (i.e., lorsque deux interlocuteurs communiquent face à face) et lorsque le signal acoustique est bruité, l‟intelligibilité des sons produits par un locuteur est augmentée lorsque son visage en mouvement est visible. L‟objectif des travaux présentés ici est de déterminer si cette capacité à « lire sur les lèvres » nous est utile seulement pour augmenter l‟intelligibilité de certains sons de parole (i.e., niveau de traitement pré-lexical) ou également pour accéder au sens des mots (i.e., niveau de traitement lexical). Chez l‟adulte, nos résultats indiquent que l‟information visuelle participe à l‟activation des représentations lexicales en présence d‟une information auditive bruitée (Etude 1 et 2). Voir le geste articulatoire correspondant à la première syllabe d‟un mot constitue une information suffisante pour contacter les représentations lexicales, en l‟absence de toute information auditive (Etude 3 et 4). Les résultats obtenus chez l‟enfant suggèrent néanmoins que jusque l‟âge de 10 ans, l‟information visuelle serait uniquement décodée à un niveau pré-lexical (Etude 5). Mots-clés : parole visuelle et audiovisuelle, reconnaissance de mots parlés, accès au lexique. / Seeing the facial gestures of a speaker enhances phonemic identification in noise. The goal of this research was to assess whether this visual information can activate lexical representations. We investigated this question in adults (Experiment 1 to 4) and in children (Experiment 5). First, our results provide evidence indicating that visual information on consonant (Experiment 1) and vowel identity (Experiment 2) contributes to lexical activation processes during word recognition, when the auditory information is deteriorated by noise. Then, we also demonstrated that the mere presentation of the first two phonemes – i.e., the articulatory gestures of the initial syllable– is enough visual information to activate lexical representations and initiate the word recognition process (Experiment 3 and 4). However, our data suggest that visual speech mostly contributes in pre-lexical phonological -rather than lexical- processing in children till the age of 10 (Experiment 5). Key words : speech, visual and audiovisual speech, spoken word recognition, lexical access.

In humour studies research, there have been few attempts to elucidate why black humour was such a prevalent, powerful force in late twentieth century culture and why it continues to make a profound impression in the new millennium. As Dana Polan (1991) laments: ???Rarely have there been attempts to offer material, historically specific explanations of particular manifestations of the comic???.1 This thesis offers an interdisciplinary analysis of black humour in the late twentieth century. I contend that the experience of black humour emerges from the intricacies of human beliefs and behaviours surrounding death and through the diverse rituals that shape experiences of loss. I suggest that black humour is an attempt to articulate the tension between the haunting absence and disturbing presence of death in contemporary society. Chapter 1 of this thesis offers an historical and etymological perspective on black humour. In Chapter 2, I argue that the increasing privatisation and medicalisation of death, along with the overt mediatisation of death, creates a problematic juxtaposition. I contend that these unique social conditions created, and continue to foster, an ideal environment for the creation and proliferation of black humour. In Chapters 3 and 4, I examine the structures and functions of black humour through three key theories of humour: incongruity, catharsis and superiority. Chapter 5 looks at ways in which the experience of black humour creates resolutions and forces dissonances for people entwined with loss. In this final chapter, I also consider how black humour may help people make meaning from issues surrounding death. Throughout this theoretical discussion, I interweave the analysis of a range of scenes from contemporary black comic texts (i.e. plays, screenplays and television scripts). On the whole, this thesis works towards a more complex, specific understanding of the phenomenon of black humour within a social context.

In humour studies research, there have been few attempts to elucidate why black humour was such a prevalent, powerful force in late twentieth century culture and why it continues to make a profound impression in the new millennium. As Dana Polan (1991) laments: ???Rarely have there been attempts to offer material, historically specific explanations of particular manifestations of the comic???.1 This thesis offers an interdisciplinary analysis of black humour in the late twentieth century. I contend that the experience of black humour emerges from the intricacies of human beliefs and behaviours surrounding death and through the diverse rituals that shape experiences of loss. I suggest that black humour is an attempt to articulate the tension between the haunting absence and disturbing presence of death in contemporary society. Chapter 1 of this thesis offers an historical and etymological perspective on black humour. In Chapter 2, I argue that the increasing privatisation and medicalisation of death, along with the overt mediatisation of death, creates a problematic juxtaposition. I contend that these unique social conditions created, and continue to foster, an ideal environment for the creation and proliferation of black humour. In Chapters 3 and 4, I examine the structures and functions of black humour through three key theories of humour: incongruity, catharsis and superiority. Chapter 5 looks at ways in which the experience of black humour creates resolutions and forces dissonances for people entwined with loss. In this final chapter, I also consider how black humour may help people make meaning from issues surrounding death. Throughout this theoretical discussion, I interweave the analysis of a range of scenes from contemporary black comic texts (i.e. plays, screenplays and television scripts). On the whole, this thesis works towards a more complex, specific understanding of the phenomenon of black humour within a social context.