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Scientific Conference (-)

Écologie culturelle d’une petite littérature européenne

in Écocritique : nouvelles territorialités 2 (in press)

« … Eripuit servus mihi vitam » - Représentations médiatiques de la violence et de la criminalité dans les provinces occidentales de l'Empire romain

in Amodio, Mara (Ed.) The imagery of violence in Roman society (I-VI cent.). Persistence, innovations and interrelations from the Roman to the Christian Empire (in press)

Gelebte Mehrsprachigkeit am Sprachenzentrum Luxemburg: Mit studentischen Assistent:innen für Studierende. Peer-Tutorien von Studierenden für Studierende

in Fremdsprachen in Lehre und Forschung (FLF) Band 56 (in press), 56

The language centres at the universities in the Greater Region have adopted a French-German tandem module as part of a joint course that provides linguistic and cultural preparation for students ahead of ... [more ▼]

The language centres at the universities in the Greater Region have adopted a French-German tandem module as part of a joint course that provides linguistic and cultural preparation for students ahead of their upcoming mobility semester. But there are often not enough French-speaking students to complete the tandems. So as an alternative, our student assistants can now guide student pairs or trios through their tandem activities. Based on comments from students and the experience of tutors in group tandems, a practical handbook has been produced to help train tutors, while a contract between tandem partners further engages them as soon as the tandem is set up. [less ▲]

Von Objekt- und Meta-Ebenen: Analyse der Softwareanforderungen computergestützter juristischer Entscheidungen

in Recht DIGITAL – 25 Jahre IRIS, Proceedings of the International Legal Informatics Symposium (IRIS 2022) (in press)

Die Interpretation und Anwendung von Gesetzestexten auf einem konkreten Lebenssachverhalt erfordert von menschlichen Experten ein hohes Maß an Wissen, Erfahrung und die Fähigkeit zahlreiche kontextuelle ... [more ▼]

Die Interpretation und Anwendung von Gesetzestexten auf einem konkreten Lebenssachverhalt erfordert von menschlichen Experten ein hohes Maß an Wissen, Erfahrung und die Fähigkeit zahlreiche kontextuelle Überlegungen anzustellen. Die Formalisierung und Automatisierung solch eines Prozesses in einem computergestützten Verfahren muss dies entsprechend reflektieren. Ausgehend von einer Fallstudie werden in dieser Arbeit erforderliche juridische Schritte der Rechtsanwendung identifiziert und verschiedenen Objekt- und Meta-Ebenen zugeordnet. Diese Zuordnung erlaubt eine abstrakte Analyse von Softwareanforderungen, die juristische Assistenzsysteme erfüllen müssen, um bei juristischen Fallentscheidungen unterstützen zu können. [less ▲]

Fuzzing for CPS Mutation Testing

in Proceedings of the 38th IEEE/ACM International Conference on Automated Software Engineering (in press)

AML/CFT/CPF endeavors in the crypto space: from blockchain analytics to machine learning

in Proceedings of Artificial Intelligence Governance Ethics and Law (AIGEL) (in press)

Financial applications of distributed ledger technologies (DLTs) generate regulatory concerns. In the crypto sphere, pseudonymity may safeguard privacy and data protection, but lack of identifiability ... [more ▼]

Financial applications of distributed ledger technologies (DLTs) generate regulatory concerns. In the crypto sphere, pseudonymity may safeguard privacy and data protection, but lack of identifiability cripples investigation and enforcement. This challenges the fight against money laundering and the financing of terrorism and proliferation (AML/CFT/CPF). Nonetheless, forensic techniques trace transfers across blockchain ecosystems and provide intelligence to regulated entities. This working paper addresses anomaly detection in the crypto space, the role of machine learning, and the impact of disintermediation. [less ▲]

Blockchain Governance: An Overview and Prediction of Optimal Strategies Using Nash Equilibrium

in 3rd AUE International Research Conference (in press)

Blockchain governance is a subject of ongoing research and an interdisciplinary view of blockchain governance is vital to aid in further research for establishing a formal governance framework for this ... [more ▼]

Blockchain governance is a subject of ongoing research and an interdisciplinary view of blockchain governance is vital to aid in further research for establishing a formal governance framework for this nascent technology. In this paper, the position of blockchain governance within the hierarchy of Institutional governance is discussed. Blockchain governance is analyzed from the perspective of IT governance using Nash equilibrium to predict the outcome of different governance decisions. A payoff matrix for blockchain governance is created and simulation of different strategy profiles is accomplished for computation of all Nash equilibria. We also create payoff matrices for different kinds of blockchain governance, which were used to propose novel mathematical formulae usable to predict the best governance strategy that minimizes the occurrence of a hard fork as well as predicts the behavior of the majority during protocol updates. [less ▲]

Conclusion : La parole donnée à la littérature jeunesse

in Peut-on tout leur dire ? Formes de l’indicible en littérature jeunesse (in press)

Curves over finite fields and moduli spaces

in Curves over finite fields: past, present and future. (in press)

MEC-assisted Low Latency Communication for Autonomous Flight Control of 5G-Connected UAV

in MEC-assisted Low Latency Communication for Autonomous Flight Control of 5G-Connected UAV (in press)

Proliferating applications of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) impose new service requirements, leading to several challenges. One of the crucial challenges in this vein is to facilitate the autonomous ... [more ▼]

Proliferating applications of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) impose new service requirements, leading to several challenges. One of the crucial challenges in this vein is to facilitate the autonomous navigation of UAVs. Concretely, the UAV needs to individually process the visual data and subsequently plan its trajectories. Since the UAV has limited onboard storage constraints, its computational capabilities are often restricted and it may not be viable to process the data locally for trajectory planning. Alternatively, the UAV can send the visual inputs to the ground controller which, in turn, feeds back the command and control signals to the UAV for its safe navigation. However, this process may introduce some delays, which is not desirable for autonomous UAVs’ safe and reliable navigation. Thus, it is essential to devise techniques and approaches that can potentially offer low-latency solutions for planning the UAV’s flight. To this end, this paper analyzes a multi-access edge computing aided UAV and aims to minimize the latency of the task processing. More specifically, we propose an offloading strategy for a UAV by optimally designing the offloading parameter, local computational resources, and altitude of the UAV. The numerical and simulation results are presented to offer various design insights, and the benefits of the proposed strategy are also illustrated in contrast to the other baseline approaches. [less ▲]

Glwssiki ikanotita, glwssiki chrisi kai glwssikes staseis Alvanwn metanastwn prwtis kai defteris genias stin Ellada.

(in press)

Eaux polymorphes dans l’œuvre de Jean Portante. Lecture-entretien avec l’auteur

in Breaking the Waves: Water (Issues) in Contemporary Verbal and Visual Arts (in press)

The Effect of Rapport on Delegation to Virtual Agents

in Proceedings of the 23rd ACM International Conference on Intelligent Virtual Agents (IVA) (in press)

Exploring Different Receiver Structures for Radio over FSO Systems with Signal Dependent Noise

in Proceedings of Globecom 2017 (in press)

Triangular Intertwined Frequency Selective Surface

in Vasquez-Peralvo, Juan Andres; Merlano Duncan, Juan Carlos; Chatzinotas, Symeon (Eds.) et al International symposium on antennas and propagation (in press)

This paper presents a frequency selective surface design and simulation using intertwined triangular structures. It has been discovered that by using the proposed tessellated intertwined lattice, the ... [more ▼]

This paper presents a frequency selective surface design and simulation using intertwined triangular structures. It has been discovered that by using the proposed tessellated intertwined lattice, the reduction of the resonance frequency of a frequency selective surface can be improved by 22.58% compared with other triangular structures. Additionally, this structure is used as a MEFSS to improve the miniaturization of the structure and obtain a compact, angular stable band-pass filter. The simulations presented in this paper have been obtained using CST Microwave Studio. [less ▲]

DaMAT: A Data-driven Mutation Analysis Tool

in Proceedings of the 45th International Conference on Software Engineering (ICSE ’23) (in press)

We present DaMAT, a tool that implements data- driven mutation analysis. In contrast to traditional code-driven mutation analysis tools it mutates (i.e., modifies) the data ex- changed by components ... [more ▼]

We present DaMAT, a tool that implements data- driven mutation analysis. In contrast to traditional code-driven mutation analysis tools it mutates (i.e., modifies) the data ex- changed by components instead of the source of the software under test. Such an approach helps ensure that test suites appropriately exercise components interoperability — essential for safety-critical cyber-physical systems. A user-provided fault model drives the mutation process. We have successfully evalu- ated DaMAT on software controlling a microsatellite and a set of libraries used in deployed CubeSats. A demo video of DaMAT is available at https://youtu.be/s5M52xWCj84 [less ▲]

Les archevêques de Milan face aux premières expériences seigneuriales: stratégies et positionnements (milieu XIIIe-début XIVe s.)

in Barralis, Christine (Ed.) L’évêque face à son métier. Actes du colloque international, Metz. 15-17 novembre 2017 (in press)

Luxembourg écopostcolonial ? La nature dans les romans de la migration Mrs Haroy ou La Mémoire de la baleine de Jean Portante et Neubrasilien de Guy Helminger

in Écocritique : nouvelles territorialités (in press)

Da Melusina al melusinismo: la féerie epica, una macchina per pensare la filiazione

in Baglioni, Igor (Ed.) Atti del convegno “Di Melusine e Gorgoni. Le entità mostruose femminili dall’antichità ai nostri giorni” (2024, December)

A forza di essere isolata, essenzializzata e statualizzata, la figura di Melusina (Mélusine) ha subito un certo impoverimento, persino una paradossale sterilizzazione, nella misura in cui dovrebbe, al ... [more ▼]

A forza di essere isolata, essenzializzata e statualizzata, la figura di Melusina (Mélusine) ha subito un certo impoverimento, persino una paradossale sterilizzazione, nella misura in cui dovrebbe, al contrario, collocarsi sul versante dell’eccesso e della fertilità. Risalendo ai tre testi principali – i romanzi di Giovanni di Arras (completato nel 1393), Coudrette (scritto poco dopo il 1401) e Thüring von Ringoltingen (scritto nel 1456) – questo articolo propugna il ritorno a una Melusina storicizzata ed epica. Né mostro solitario né vice del demonio, la madre dei Lusignani si comprende attraverso i suoi discendenti fatati: è tramite i suoi prodigiosi figli che rivela, al ritmo della narrazione, la sua verità. In ogni muscolo, in ogni deformità facciale, in ogni tratto di grandezza o di follia dei suoi dieci figli, emerge la presenza di Melusina. Il personaggio chiave della storia è Goffredo dal Grande Dente (Geoffroy la Grand-Dent), il suo sesto figlio: in una discesa agli inferi che è allo stesso tempo geologica e genealogica, egli scopre i segreti di famiglia e l’origine del male. Ritornando a questo motivo, ci proponiamo di restituire la singolarità della narrazione melusiniana: quella di un’intensa interrogazione sulla filiazione, da cui dipendono le moderne riflessioni sull’individuo e sulla famiglia, sulle pulsioni di vita e sull’istinto di morte. [less ▲]

ProPILE: Probing Privacy Leakage in Large Language Models

in Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems 36 (NeurIPS 2023) (2023, December)

The rapid advancement and widespread use of large language models (LLMs) have raised significant concerns regarding the potential leakage of personally identifiable information (PII). These models are ... [more ▼]

The rapid advancement and widespread use of large language models (LLMs) have raised significant concerns regarding the potential leakage of personally identifiable information (PII). These models are often trained on vast quantities of web-collected data, which may inadvertently include sensitive personal data. This paper presents ProPILE, a novel probing tool designed to empower data subjects, or the owners of the PII, with awareness of potential PII leakage in LLM-based services. ProPILE lets data subjects formulate prompts based on their own PII to evaluate the level of privacy intrusion in LLMs. We demonstrate its application on the OPT-1.3B model trained on the publicly available Pile dataset. We show how hypothetical data subjects may assess the likelihood of their PII being included in the Pile dataset being revealed. ProPILE can also be leveraged by LLM service providers to effectively evaluate their own levels of PII leakage with more powerful prompts specifically tuned for their in-house models. This tool represents a pioneering step towards empowering the data subjects for their awareness and control over their own data on the web. [less ▲]

Education as risk factor of Mild Cognitive Impairment - the role of the gut microbiome. Presentation in symposium: Social determinants of brain health: From the search for mechanisms to recommendations to increase equity

Scientific Conference (2023, November)

SHARP Challenge 2023: Solving CAD History and pArameters Recovery from Point clouds and 3D scans. Overview, Datasets, Metrics, and Baselines.

in International Conference on Computer Vision Workshops (2023, October 03)

Recent breakthroughs in geometric Deep Learning (DL) and the availability of large Computer-Aided Design (CAD) datasets have advanced the research on learning CAD modeling processes and relating them to ... [more ▼]

Recent breakthroughs in geometric Deep Learning (DL) and the availability of large Computer-Aided Design (CAD) datasets have advanced the research on learning CAD modeling processes and relating them to real objects. In this context, 3D reverse engineering of CAD models from 3D scans is considered to be one of the most sought-after goals for the CAD industry. However, recent efforts assume multiple simplifications limiting the applications in real-world settings. The SHARP Challenge 2023 aims at pushing the research a step closer to the real-world scenario of CAD reverse engineering from 3D scans through dedicated datasets and tracks. In this paper, we define the proposed SHARP 2023 tracks, describe the provided datasets, and propose a set of baseline methods along with suitable evaluation metrics to assess the performance of the track solutions. All proposed datasets along with useful routines and the evaluation metrics are publicly available. [less ▲]

TSN timing QoS mechanisms: what did we learn over the past 10 years?

Scientific Conference (2023, September 21)

It has been more than 10 years since the inception of the Time-Sensitive Networking Task Group (TG) in IEEE802.1. Since then, TSN has become a rich toolbox of mechanisms and protocols to address Quality ... [more ▼]

It has been more than 10 years since the inception of the Time-Sensitive Networking Task Group (TG) in IEEE802.1. Since then, TSN has become a rich toolbox of mechanisms and protocols to address Quality-of-Service (QoS) requirements pertaining to timing and reliability. While IEEE 802.1CB, AS and Qci are natural choices for dependability, the designer has much more possibilities when it comes to timing QoS. The selection and configuration of a suitable TSN scheduling solution is not straightforward, as many mechanisms are available (priorities, preemption, CBS, TAS, CQF, ATS), most of them being complex to configure, and they can be used in a combined manner to meet the needs of applications comprising mixed types of traffic. In this talk, based on the academic literature and the observation of industrial practices, we review the well-understood and the emerging use-cases of the different timing QoS mechanisms and what we have learned in terms of their configuration. Ultimately, this talk aims at shedding new light on what to expect from TSN QoS mechanisms and how to introduce the least complexity needed to meet the application's timing requirements. [less ▲]

Was Luxemburgs Grundschulen richtig machen: Ein Value-Added-Vergleich im luxemburgischen Schulkontext

Poster (2023, September 18)

Kurz-Abstract (120 Wörter) Luxemburgs Bildungssystem ist geprägt von multi-kulturellen und vielsprachigen Schüler:innen und einem zweimaligen Wechsel der Instruktionssprache. Dies führt zu sehr ... [more ▼]

Kurz-Abstract (120 Wörter) Luxemburgs Bildungssystem ist geprägt von multi-kulturellen und vielsprachigen Schüler:innen und einem zweimaligen Wechsel der Instruktionssprache. Dies führt zu sehr unterschiedlichen Voraussetzungen für die Schullaufbahn der Schüler:innen. Das Ziel des vorliegenden SIVA-Projekts (Systematic Identification of High Value-Added in Educational Contexts) ist herauszufinden, welche pädagogischen Strategien Schulen mit hohen Value-Added (VA)-Werten für Schuleffektivität anwenden und was andere Schulen von ihnen lernen können, um diese Ungleichheiten abzubauen. Zuerst ermittelten wir 16 Schulen, die stabil hohe, mittlere oder niedrige VA-Werte aufwiesen. Danach sammelten wir Daten anhand von Fragebögen und Unterrichtsbeobachtungen über pädagogische Strategien und das Schulklima und glichen sie mit repräsentativen Schulmonitoringergebnissen ab. Wir werden das SIVA-Projekt, seine Ziele und die Datenerhebung diskutieren, die zu unserem reichhaltigen Datensatz aus sechs Perspektiven führte. Zusammenfassung (480 Wörter) In einem multi-kulturellen und vielsprachigen Land wie Luxemburg können leicht Bildungsungleichheiten entstehen. Unterschiedliche zu Hause gesprochene Sprachen, Migrationshintergründe oder der sozioökonomische Status einer Familie können zu ungleichen Erfolgschancen in der Schule werden. Gepaart mit einem Schulsystem, in dem zweimal die Instruktionssprache gewechselt wird, führt diese Vielfalt zu unterschiedlichen Voraussetzungen für das Erlernen von Mathematik und Sprachen und prägt somit die Schullaufbahn der Schüler:innen (Hadjar & Backes, 2021). Diese Gemengelage ist einerseits herausfordernd für Schüler:innen, Lehrkräfte und Schulen, zeigt aber andererseits, dass es gelingende soziale und pädagogische Praktiken geben muss, diese Herausforderungen zu meistern, da die Schulen weiterhin effektiv arbeiten. In den USA wurde Schuleffektivität häufig mit Value-Added-Werten (VA) quantifiziert, welche durch ihre Instabilität zu ungerechtfertigten Finanzierungs- und Personalentscheidungen führten (Emslander, Levy, Scherer, et al., 2022). Ziel des Projekts Systematic Identification of High Value-Added in Educational Contexts (SIVA; Emslander, Levy, & Fischbach, 2022) ist es, dieses repressiv genutzte Instrument der VA-Werte konstruktiv anzuwenden. VA ist ein statistisches Regressionsverfahren, um die Effektivität von Schulen unter Berücksichtigung unterschiedlicher Schüler:innenhintergründe gerecht zu schätzen. Wir untersuchten, (1) was hocheffektive Schulen "richtig" machen und (2) was andere Schulen von ihnen lernen können, um Ungleichheiten abzubauen. In Zusammenarbeit mit der Section Qualité Scolaire des Observatoire National de l’Enfance, de la Jeunesse et de la Qualité Scolaire, untersuchten wir die Unterschiede zwischen Schulen mit stabil hohen, mittleren oder niedrigen VA-Werten aus verschiedenen Perspektiven. Zunächst haben wir 16 Schulen ermittelt, die über zwei Jahre hinweg stabile hohe, mittlere oder niedrige VA-Werte aufwiesen. Als Zweites sammelten wir Fragebogen- und Unterrichtsbeobachtungsdaten über ihre pädagogischen Strategien, den Hintergrund der Schüler:innen und das Schulklima. Als Drittes glichen wir unsere Daten mit den Ergebnissen des luxemburgischen Schulmonitorings ÉpStan (LUCET, 2021) ab. Wir haben die Variablen auf der Grundlage von Lernmodellen ausgewählt, die sich auf Aspekte wie die Schulorganisation oder das Klassenmanagement konzentrieren (z.B. Hattie, 2008; Klieme et al., 2001). Darüber hinaus untersuchten wir die Besonderheiten des luxemburgischen Schulsystems, die in internationalen schulischen Lernmodellen nicht vertreten sind (z. B. die Einteilung in zweijährige Lernzyklen, die mehrsprachige Schulumgebung und die vielfältige Schülerschaft). Wir werden das SIVA-Projekt, seine Ziele und Besonderheiten diskutieren, die zu Daten aus 49 Klassenzimmerbeobachtungen und Fragebögen mit über 500 Zweitklässler:innen, ihren Eltern, 200 Lehrkräften sowie Schulleiter:innen und Schulaufsichtsbehörden führte. Literature Emslander, V., Levy, J., & Fischbach, A. (2022). Systematic Identification of High “Value-Added” in Educational Contexts (SIVA). https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/X3C48 Emslander, V., Levy, J., Scherer, R., & Fischbach, A. (2022). Value-added scores show limited stability over time in primary school. PLOS ONE, 17(12), e0279255. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0279255 Hadjar, A., & Backes, S. (2021). Bildungsungleichheiten am Übergang in die Sekundarschule in Luxemburg. https://doi.org/10.48746/BB2021LU-DE-21A Hattie, J. (2008). Visible Learning: A synthesis of over 800 meta-analyses relating to achievement (0 ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203887332 Klieme, E., Schümer, G., & Knoll, S. (2001). Mathematikunterricht in der Sekundarstufe I: “Aufgabenkultur” und Unterrichtsgestaltung. TIMSS - Impulse für Schule und Unterricht, 43–57. LUCET. (2021). Épreuves Standardisées (ÉpStan). https://epstan.lu [less ▲]

Load transfer of circular reinforced composite dowel connector: a comparison of existing analytical equations

in ce/papers (2023, September 12), 6(3-4), 101-106

The effectiveness of headed studs for shear transfer in the steel-concrete interface of composite columns is questionable when important load needs to be transferred. Circular reinforced composite dowel ... [more ▼]

The effectiveness of headed studs for shear transfer in the steel-concrete interface of composite columns is questionable when important load needs to be transferred. Circular reinforced composite dowel (CRCD) connectors are known for their high initial stiffness and significant load-bearing capacity. This paper presents the different types of CRCD connectors and the available analytical equations to determine their shear resistance, as well as a database of 52 experimental specimens to study their performance. The results show that the equations developed by Wang et al.2014, He et al.2016and Zhao et al.2016 provided the best performance, with 76% of the predictions falling within the error bounds of +/-15%. Further research is recommended to understand the behavior of CRCD connectors on H-shaped steel profiles and to develop analytical equations to calculate their resistance. [less ▲]

Automated Anonymization of Court Decisions: Facilitating the Publication of Court Decisions through Algorithmic Systems

in ICAIL: International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Law (Ed.) ICAIL '23: Proceedings of the Nineteenth International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Law (2023, September 07)

The practice of anonymization of court decisions has been further systematized by EU Member States’ courts, after the entry into force of the General Data Protection Regulation and its transposition into ... [more ▼]

The practice of anonymization of court decisions has been further systematized by EU Member States’ courts, after the entry into force of the General Data Protection Regulation and its transposition into national laws. Anonymization of the parties’ personal information protects their privacy during the publication of judgments, which is necessary for the scrutiny of the judiciary’s reasoning in a given case and the filing of an appeal whenever a party disagrees with the court’s reasoning and/or order. European courts have recently resorted to algorithmic approaches to automate the process of anonymization, which can bestow prompt and consistent application of anonymization rules for court administrations to comply with the applicable personal data protection legislation. These automated solutions can also encompass technical and administrative challenges, ranging from re-ιdentification risks that compromise the protection of the parties’ personal data to the lack of acceptance of the algorithmic system by court staff during their daily work routine. The present paper reviews current anonymization practices conducted through algorithmic techniques by, first, explaining the legal framework underlying the publication and anonymization of court decisions, second, examining three algorithmic solutions for the anonymization of court decisions by different EU Member States, and third, reflecting on their efficiencies and challenges for court administrations. [less ▲]

Digital History and the Politics of Digitisation

Scientific Conference (2023, September 06)

This paper will explore a key question for historians today: what are the politics of cultural heritage digitisation and its implications for historical research? And how to assess this from a global ... [more ▼]

This paper will explore a key question for historians today: what are the politics of cultural heritage digitisation and its implications for historical research? And how to assess this from a global perspective? In a research environment that increasingly privileges what is available online, the questions of why, where, and how we can access what we can access, and how it affects historical research have become ever more urgent. My talk will outline a framework through which to contextualize the politics of (digital) heritage preservation, and a model to analyze its most important political dimensions. To add some historical perspective, I will put this discussion in the broader context of the ways in which technology has shaped historical research practices and knowledge production, not just in the past two decades but in fact already since the late 19th century. [less ▲]

Value Transmission in a Multicultural and Multilingual Context: A Case Study Example of Americans and Japanese in Luxembourg

Poster (2023, September 05)

Luxembourg is a multicultural and multilingual country with three official national languages and approximately half of the population (47.1%) composed of foreigners (Statec, 2022). Although most ... [more ▼]

Luxembourg is a multicultural and multilingual country with three official national languages and approximately half of the population (47.1%) composed of foreigners (Statec, 2022). Although most foreigners in Luxembourg have European roots, the number of non-Europeans is rising, with sizeable American and Japanese communities. The US, as target country for immigration is known for its diversity. Japan is one of the most ethnically homogeneous countries in the world. The purpose of this study is to explore the acculturation experiences of Americans and Japanese in Luxembourg. We explore, if and to what extent this contrast between multicultural US and monocultural Japan adds to the complexity of adapting to a multicultural and multilingual context. We focus on the intergenerational value transmission (i.e., language, traditions) within this context. Adopting a qualitative approach, we explored in semi-structured interviews, supplemented by visual primes, different facets of daily life including language practices. Participants were 8 women (5 American, 3 Japanese, age range between 35 and 61 years, M = 48.3) in international marriages with children (on average 2) and most having lived in Luxembourg for more than 10 years. Results show the various compromises participants made regarding language (i.e., within-family language choice, school language choice, friendship groups) and traditions (i.e. local and home traditions). Although the benefits of a multilingual society were noted among all participants, challenges were also experienced. The results shed light on the difficulty of integration and transmission of values in a multicultural context. Implications and differences between Japanese and American participants will be discussed. [less ▲]

Migration and Health in Older Adults: The Cognitive and Health Profile of Lusophone Immigrants in Luxembourg in Comparison to Local Samples from Portugal

Poster (2023, September 04)

Objective: This study aimed to investigate differences in cognition, mental health, and general health among older Lusophone immigrants (>55 years old) in Luxembourg compared to a sample residing in ... [more ▼]

Objective: This study aimed to investigate differences in cognition, mental health, and general health among older Lusophone immigrants (>55 years old) in Luxembourg compared to a sample residing in Portugal. Methods: Data from immigrants (N=83, mean age=62.08, SD=6.511, 72.84% women) were sourced from the MEDITAGING study, funded by the Luxembourg National Research Fund (FNR)-Project Reference 15240063. Portuguese data were collected by the GABT (N=55, mean age=68.18, SD = 5.869, 74.55% women) and PREDICTOR projects (N=83, mean age=67.86, SD=5.24, 83.13% women). The outcomes were the Body Mass Index and the score on the Mini-Mental State Examination, the Trail Making Test (TMT), the 5-Item Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-5), and the Geriatric Anxiety Scale (GAI). Results: The findings revealed significant differences between the immigrant and reference samples in TMT time A (p = .018), TMT time B (p = .004), TMT B-A (p = .03 0), GAI (p < .001), and GDS (p = .001), with immigrants performing higher than their peers in all these measures. A Linear regression analysis indicated that having hypertension (p = .026), being unmarried (p = .008), and having fewer years of formal education (p = .003) are associated with higher scores in TMT Time A, while having less formal education (p > .001) is related to higher scores in Time B. Conclusion: The findings suggest that Lusophone immigrants residing in Luxembourg have worse affective and cognitive outcomes compared to their peers living in Portugal. However, further exploration of the influence of health and sociodemographic factors is necessary. [less ▲]

Children’s agentic behaviour in literacy practices in crèches in Luxembourg

Scientific Conference (2023, September 01)

Agentic behaviour of young children has been researched in relation to language policies and language learning (Schwartz et al., 2021) but not in literacy practices. The present paper examines children’s ... [more ▼]

Agentic behaviour of young children has been researched in relation to language policies and language learning (Schwartz et al., 2021) but not in literacy practices. The present paper examines children’s participation in multilingual literacy activities in two crèches in Luxembourg and their agentic behaviour. A previous study has shown that three-year-olds displayed language-based agency and interpretively reproduced translanguaging practices (Kirsch & Mortini, 2021). According to language socialization theories, children actively participate in culture-specific events and appropriate norms, values, and interaction patterns, which they reproduce (Corsaro, 2005; 2018). These interpretive reproductions testify to children’s agentic behaviour. The data of the present qualitative longitudinal study include thick descriptions and video recordings of literacy activities. All interactions were analyzed with conversation analysis (Seedhouse, 2007). To examine, children’s agentic behaviour, we compared their interactions in planned literacy activities to those with peers. Prior to the data collection, the educators and the parents gave informed consent. During the data collection, we maintained the children’s assent by ensuring that they felt comfortable and only observed them in naturally occurring situations with educators. The findings reveal three types of agentic behaviour: children replicated strategies, creatively reproduced interaction practices and literacy practices, and opened up new spaces for developing literacies in home languages. The study has implications for educators as it shows them the ways in which children make meaning of their literacy activities. It is a reminder of the importance of being a good role model, a careful observer and listener, and a reflective practitioner. [less ▲]

Self-Determination Theory Applied To Museum Website Experiences: Fulfill Visitor Needs, Increase Motivation, and Promote Engagement

in European Conference in Cognitive Ergonomics (ECCE ’23) (2023, September)

The rise of online experiences in the domain of cultural heritage offers new forms of interaction that are no longer limited by the physical presence of museums. However, sustaining online visitors’ ... [more ▼]

The rise of online experiences in the domain of cultural heritage offers new forms of interaction that are no longer limited by the physical presence of museums. However, sustaining online visitors’ engagement is challenging, and museum professionals seek to understand how to increase motivation. We conducted a user study (N = 32) of three museum websites to investigate users’ intrinsic motivations to engage with the sites through observation, questionnaires, and semi-structured interviews. Building on self- determination theory, we identified design characteristics that meet users’ psychological needs, such as autonomy, competence, and relatedness, and increase their intrinsic motivation to interact with the interface. Our results show that this could consequently lead to higher user engagement. We contribute new empirical insights into the intrinsic motivation mechanisms of museum website visitors, which have relevant implications for the design of museum websites to improve user engagement. [less ▲]

Pour une approche hydrocritique du genre épique : Les Lusiades de Camões comme méta-épopée de l’eau

in Roelens, Nathalie; Erchadi, Armand; MacLeod (Eds.) et al Water and Sea in Word and Image / L'Eau et la mer dans les textes et les images (2023, August 31)

Researching children’s participation and agency in Luxembourg

Scientific Conference (2023, August 30)

This paper presents the concepts of participation and child agency. According to the United Nations Human rights, children have the right to express their views, and their voices should be considered ... [more ▼]

This paper presents the concepts of participation and child agency. According to the United Nations Human rights, children have the right to express their views, and their voices should be considered. This means for early childhood education (ECE), that children should be perceived as agents who actively participate in the daily life of the institution. Participation contributes to the development of children’s self-esteem, well-being, and self-efficacy (Correia et al., 2019). It is closely tied to agency which is the performative capacity to act with some autonomy and take position in relation to others (Almér, 2017). The theoretical frameworks draw on socio-cultural theories (Vygotsky, 1978) and theories of language socialization (Corsaro, 2018). Several qualitative longitudinal studies have researched participation and children’s agentic behaviour in ECE institutions in Luxembourg. Data is collected after informed consent has been obtained from the participants, but the researchers maintained the children’s assent by ensuring that they felt comfortable during the observations. Our teams investigated children’s participation in language and literacy activities. Mortini (2021) conceptualized language-based agency on a continuum from “participatory” to “controlling”. Children at the participatory end used their entire semiotic repertoire to engage in activities while those at the “controlling end” changed their learning activities. Based on Corsaro (2005) we found that children enacted their agency by creatively reproducing strategies as well as languaging and literacy practices (Kirsch & Mortini, 2021). Given that children’s participation is closely related to their personal development, it is important that educators perceive children as actors in ECE institutions. [less ▲]

Seeing the Connection: A Systematic Review of Meta-Analyses on the Link Between Teacher-Student Relationships and Student Outcomes

Scientific Conference (2023, August 25)

Theoretical background School climate is a key construct with great potential to impact student outcomes. The construct is multidimensional and includes, for instance, academic, community, safety, and ... [more ▼]

Theoretical background School climate is a key construct with great potential to impact student outcomes. The construct is multidimensional and includes, for instance, academic, community, safety, and institutional environment aspects (Wang & Degol, 2016). While the dimensions may vary, researchers widely agree that teacher-student relationships play a vital role in establishing a positive school climate (Wang et al., 2020). Their role can be explained by Bronfenbrenner's (1979) bioecological theory identifying the driver of human development as the interaction with the persons in our closest (proximal) environment. Thus, in a school setting, emotional warmth and closeness or conflict and dependence in teacher-student relationships should also be associated with positive/negative student outcomes. Several meta-analyses uncovered significant associations between teacher-student relationships and school engagement, good peer relationships, executive functioning, well-being, and reductions in aggressive or disruptive behaviors (Endedijk et al., 2021; Nurmi, 2012; Roorda et al., 2011; Vandenbroucke et al., 2018). However, these meta-analyses differed in their methods and substantive findings. Moreover, the extant literature is ambiguous about which moderators (e.g., age) influence these relationships. Furthermore, the reporting and quality of meta-analyses in this field vary considerably, which can compromise the reliability and validity of their findings. Aims Given these research gaps, we systematically searched and reviewed the meta-analytic literature (Cooper & Koenka, 2012) to provide an overview of correlations between teacher-student relationships and student outcomes. In doing so, we examined three research questions: 1. To what extent are academic, behavioral, socio-emotional, motivational, and cognitive student outcomes associated with teacher-student relationships in the meta-analytic literature? 2. Which moderators influence these associations? 3. What is the methodological quality of the included meta-analyses? Methodology After preregistration, a systematic literature search was conducted. During several screening rounds, we identified 24 appropriate meta-analyses that included approximately meta-analytic 130 effect sizes for over one million students. From these meta-analyses, we extracted effect sizes on the association between teacher-student relationships and academic, behavioral, socio-emotional, motivational, and general cognitive student characteristics. We summarized the results for research questions 1 and 2 and developed a narrative overview. For research question 3, we assessed the quality of the meta-analyses using the AMSTAR-2 scale (adapted to correlational studies in psychology and education research; Shea et al., 2017). Findings and their significance Looking at the teacher-student relationship aspect of school climate, a variety of outcome variables were analyzed. The strongest associations were shown for negative teacher-student relationships with student behavior problems (r = .35 bis .57; Nurmi, 2012). Positive teacher-student relationships showed the strongest association with school involvement (r = .26 bis .34; Roorda et al., 2011), prosocial, externalizing, and internalizing behaviors (r = .25; Endedijk et al., 2021), and learning motivation combined with student involvement (r = .23; Wang et al., 2020). Age and grade level were the most frequently examined moderators, with partially contradicting findings. Gender differences, on the other hand, were found less frequently. At the same time, an informant effect was frequently examined, that is, whether and in what ways teachers, student peers, or the students themselves rated the teacher-student relationship. For research question 3, we discuss differences in reporting and the quality range of meta-analyses. With this preregistered systematic review of meta-analyses, we summarize the research landscape on correlates of the teacher-student relationship aspect of school climate. Following our findings and the bioecological theory, teachers should be made aware of the impact of teacher-student relationships and how they could contribute to a positive school climate via relationship building. Some interventions to improve these important relationships have already been meta-analytically studied with promising results (Kincade et al., 2020). Next, we need experiments to causally confirm positive teacher-student relationships as an effective strategy for improving academic, behavioral, socio-emotional, motivational, and cognitive student outcomes and school climate at large. Finally, future research should structure the broad range of conceptualizations of teacher-student relationships and review the variety of theories to explain their impact on student outcomes. References Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The ecology of human development: Experiments by nature and design. Harvard university press. Cooper, H., & Koenka, A. C. (2012). The overview of reviews: Unique challenges and opportunities when research syntheses are the principal elements of new integrative scholarship. American Psychologist, 67(6), 446–462. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0027119 Endedijk, H. M., Breeman, L. D., van Lissa, C. J., Hendrickx, M. M. H. G., den Boer, L., & Mainhard, T. (2021). The Teacher’s Invisible Hand: A Meta-Analysis of the Relevance of Teacher–Student Relationship Quality for Peer Relationships and the Contribution of Student Behavior. Review of Educational Research, 003465432110514. https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543211051428 Kincade, L., Cook, C., & Goerdt, A. (2020). Meta-Analysis and Common Practice Elements of Universal Approaches to Improving Student-Teacher Relationships. Review of Educational Research, 90(5), 710–748. https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654320946836 Nurmi, J.-E. (2012). Students’ characteristics and teacher–child relationships in instruction: A meta-analysis. Educational Research Review, 7(3), 177–197. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2012.03.001 Roorda, D. L., Koomen, H. M. Y., Spilt, J. L., & Oort, F. J. (2011). The Influence of Affective Teacher–Student Relationships on Students’ School Engagement and Achievement: A Meta-Analytic Approach. Review of Educational Research, 81(4), 493–529. https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654311421793 Shea, B. J., Reeves, B. C., Wells, G., Thuku, M., Hamel, C., Moran, J., Moher, D., Tugwell, P., Welch, V., Kristjansson, E., & Henry, D. A. (2017). AMSTAR 2: A critical appraisal tool for systematic reviews that include randomised or non-randomised studies of healthcare interventions, or both. BMJ, j4008. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.j4008 Vandenbroucke, L., Spilt, J., Verschueren, K., Piccinin, C., & Baeyens, D. (2018). The Classroom as a Developmental Context for Cognitive Development: A Meta-Analysis on the Importance of Teacher–Student Interactions for Children’s Executive Functions. Review of Educational Research, 88(1), 125–164. https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654317743200 Wang, M.-T., & Degol, J. L. (2016). School Climate: A Review of the Construct, Measurement, and Impact on Student Outcomes. Educational Psychology Review, 28(2), 315–352. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-015-9319-1 Wang, M.-T., L. Degol, J., Amemiya, J., Parr, A., & Guo, J. (2020). Classroom climate and children’s academic and psychological wellbeing: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Developmental Review, 57, 100912. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dr.2020.100912 [less ▲]

Decolonising EMI lecturer training

Scientific Conference (2023, August 25)

In this talk I will argue for the decolonisation of EMI lecturer training. Often it is applied linguists and English language practitioners who are called upon to design and deliver such training. However ... [more ▼]

In this talk I will argue for the decolonisation of EMI lecturer training. Often it is applied linguists and English language practitioners who are called upon to design and deliver such training. However, the findings of my worldwide EMI lecturer training survey (Deroey, 2023) indicate that the multifaceted nature of such training means it should ideally involve collaborations with educationalists, EMI experts, disciplinary content experts (see also Macaro & Aizawa, 2022) and policy makers. My survey of 25 published EMI training initiatives in 18 countries shows common components to be not only language but also pedagogy, communication and EMI awareness. Recurring challenges include contextualisation, incentivisation and lecturer confidence. The reports also reveal that few EMI lecturers have received prior teacher training and that some are resistant to or have a limited understanding of EMI. Given the various needs of EMI lecturers and the resulting multifaceted nature of most EMI lecturer training programmes, it appears to make sense to position these as part of continuous professional development (Jiménez-Muñoz, 2020) involving a collaboration -or at least dialogue- between language professionals, educationalists, EMI experts, and stakeholders such as lecturers, students and policy makers. Decolonising EMI lecturer training through interdisciplinary collaboration as well as input by stakeholders arguably has several advantages. First, the cross-fertilisation of disciplinary expertise and experience could enhance such training (Galloway & Rose, 2022) and raise its status. Second, these collaborations could create a greater awareness of the challenges and affordances of EMI. Finally, such joint endeavours could open up new interdisciplinary research avenues into EMI that may in turn lead to a greater uptake of its findings. References Deroey, K. L. B. (2023). English medium instruction lecturer training programmes: content, delivery, ways forward. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 62, 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeap.2023.101223 Galloway, N., & Rose, H. (2022). Cross-fertilisation, not bifurcation, of EMI and EAP. ELT Journal, 76(4), 538-546. Jiménez-Muñoz, A. (2020). Shortcomings in the professional training of EMI lecturers: skills-based frameworks as a way forward. In D. González-Álvarez & E. Rama-Martínez (Eds.), Languages and the internationalisation of Higher Education (pp. 120-139). Cambridge Scholars Publishing. Macaro, E., & Aizawa, I. (2022). Who owns English medium instruction? Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 1-14. 1 https://doi.org/0.1080/01434632.2022.2136187 [less ▲]

Archiving the Web during unforeseen events (terrorist attacks, war...)

Scientific Conference (2023, August 24)

Web content and social networks are highly ephemeral and claim for fast reactions in case of disruptive events, in order to preserve them. As demonstrated with the Yugoslavian wars, national domains can ... [more ▼]

Web content and social networks are highly ephemeral and claim for fast reactions in case of disruptive events, in order to preserve them. As demonstrated with the Yugoslavian wars, national domains can disappear (Ben-David, 2016). Web archiving and the practice of collecting and preserving born digital content have been widely adopted by national libraries in Europe (in France, Great Britain, Luxembourg, Denmark and many other countries) since the 2000s (Brügger, 2018). These collections can take many forms, including annual crawls of a country's entire webosphere, as well as special collections created for specific foreseen events such as elections, or unforeseen events like terrorist attacks, natural disasters or sanitary crisis (i.e., the terrorist attacks in Paris in 2015-16, the COVID-19 crisis, etc.). Additionally, other stakeholders are involved in preserving digital traces, such as Documenting the Now for the Black Lives Matter movement and the Sucho initiative, launched at the very beginning of the Ukrainian war and that aims to save the online cultural heritage of Ukraine. This presentation will firs examine the processes and challenges involved in creating "live archives" (Rhodes, 2013; Rollasson & Reed, 2015) during times of tensions, disruption, attacks, and war. It will explore the unique features of these collections, relying on various case studies, such as the Paris Terrorist Attacks collection at the BnF (Bibliothèque nationale de France) and Ina (French Audio-visual institute) (Schafer et al. 2017), the approach of Documenting the Now (http://www.docnow.io) and Sucho (Saving Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Online, https://www.sucho.org), and international collaborations during the COVID-19 crisis (thanks to the International Internet Preservation Consortium, https://archive- it.org/collections/13529). The presentation will then examine the implications of these collections for researchers (and notably for historians), including issues of representativeness, scope, temporalities, noise and gaps, context, and metadata. [less ▲]

The Impact of Multilingualism on Children’s Reading/Writing Skills and Scholastic Performance

Scientific Conference (2023, August 23)

While research on multilingualism has shown both, positive (e.g. inhibition; Coderre et al., 2013), and negative (e.g. vocabulary; Bialystok et al., 2008) effects on cognition and language proficiency ... [more ▼]

While research on multilingualism has shown both, positive (e.g. inhibition; Coderre et al., 2013), and negative (e.g. vocabulary; Bialystok et al., 2008) effects on cognition and language proficiency, its influence on scholastic achievement appears to be largely negative (Hoffmann et al., 2018; Martini et al., 2021). Children in Luxembourg are educated in a multilingual educational system. In Kindergarten, the main teaching language is Luxembourgish. This switches to German for literacy acquisition in elementary school, with French taught as a second language. Despite its small size, Luxembourg is also highly multi-cultural, boasting 170 nationalities (The Government of the Grand Dutchy of Luxembourg, 2023). Thus, many of the children in the school system do not speak the language(s) of instruction at home. Data from the Luxembourgish national school monitoring program reveals significant differences in German reading comprehension in grade 3 depending on the language spoken at home. Because Luxembourgish is linguistically close to German, Luxembourgish-speaking children generally perform better than children who do not speak Luxembourgish at home (Hoffmann et al., 2018; Martini et al., 2021). Furthermore, the language-based differences in children’s scholastic performance complicate the diagnostic process of children with potential learning disorders, such as dyslexia and/or dyscalculia. In Luxembourg, the language in which children are screened and diagnosed for potential learning disorders is usually identical to the main language of instruction at school, which at time of diagnosis (typically grade 3) is German. It is therefore difficult to distinguish poor performance based on potential difficulties with reading/writing or mathematics from poor performance based on low language proficiency in the test language. Furthermore, the diagnostic tools currently employed in Luxembourg are developed in countries with primarily one language of instruction, challenging the validity of the diagnostic process in a multilingual population (Ugen et al., 2021). We have thus developed a comprehensive reading/writing test battery adapted to the Luxembourgish educational curriculum and multilingual environment. Children’s potential language proficiency differences in the test language (German) are taken into account using simplified instructions with reduced language load, multiple examples, varying degrees of difficulty of the test materials, as well as the construction of distinct language-group norms, depending on the language(s) spoken at home. This helps avoid over-diagnosis of reading and writing disorders in children who do not speak the language(s) of instruction at home and underdiagnosis of children who do. The developed test battery assesses children’s performance in key domains relevant for reading and writing comprising phonological skills, (non)word and text reading (fluency and accuracy), reading comprehension, writing, and vocabulary. Furthermore, we link children’s performance in the newly developed test battery to their performance in the Luxembourgish national school monitoring program. Methodology, Methods, Research Instruments or Sources Used We have tested 214 children during the pre-test phase of the project (February – June 2022; age 8 – 12; M = 9.59; SD = 0.68; 95 girls) and will test approximately 735 children during the validation and norming phase (February – June 2023). All children attend grade 3 in public primary schools in Luxembourg. The distribution of classes participating in the project covers all 15 regions of the country, resulting in a representative sample of the Luxembourgish school population. Children complete the 9 sub-tests of the novel reading/writing test battery, which includes precursor skills: Rapid Automatized Naming (RAN), non-word phoneme segmentation, non-word phoneme deletion; reading skills: word and non-word reading, text reading and comprehension; writing skills: gap dictation and text dictation; as well as a receptive vocabulary task. The vocabulary and writing skills are assessed in a group setting (all children complete the tasks together in the classroom), the precursor and reading skills are assessed individually in a quiet room in the school. The total testing time (group test + individual tests) does not exceed 90 minutes per child. All tests are conducted by trained test administrators following a standardised procedure. The pre-test data were analysed per sub-test using Repeated Measures Analysis of Variance with language group as the between-subject factor and results of the sub-test (per category where applicable) as the within subject factor. Significant main effects of language group were explored using post-hoc pairwise-comparisons (Bonferroni corrected t-tests). Four language groups were created based on the frequencies of the reported language(s) spoken at home: Luxembourgish/German monolingual, Luxembourgish/German bilingual, Romance language (e.g., French, Portuguese, Spanish) mono- and bilingual, Other language (e.g., English, Slavic) mono- and bilingual. The results of each sub-test of the novel reading/writing test battery were also correlated with children’s performance on German listening and reading comprehension in the Luxembourgish national school monitoring programme (Bonferroni corrected Pearson correlations). Conclusions, Expected Outcomes or Findings The results of the pre-test phase show that children, who speak Luxembourgish or German at home outperform children who speak a Romance or Other language at home. Particularly, significant differences between language groups were observed for: word reading accuracy (F(3,190) = 4.94, p = .003); word reading fluency (F(3,190) = 4.59, p = .004); text reading accuracy (F(3,190) = 8.73, p < .001); text reading fluency (F(3,190) = 11.50, p < .001); text comprehension (F(3,190) = 12.45, p < .001); gap dictation (F(3,180) = 10.52, p < .001); text dictation (F(3,180) = 18.22, p < .001). The significant main effects of language highlight the need for separate language group norms for screening and diagnostic purposes. The lack of main effects of language for non-word phoneme deletion, non-word phoneme segmentation, and non-word reading indicate that the sub-tests using non-words were successfully constructed to account for language proficiency effects. Significant Pearson correlations between the school monitoring results of German listening (.28 < |𝜌| < .59) and German reading comprehension (.24 < |𝜌| < .65) and the majority of the newly developed sub-tests of the reading/writing test battery were also observed. These correlations provide a measure of construct validity, illustrating the significant link between children’s scholastic performance and performance in the novel reading/writing test battery. We expect to replicate these initial findings with a larger sample of children during the validation and norming phase of the project and supplement our data analyses with more detailed results highlighting the distribution of scores per sub-test based on language spoken at home and its effect on scholastic performance as assessed by the Luxembourgish national school monitoring program. References Bialystok, E., Craik, F., & Luk, G. (2008). Cognitive Control and Lexical Access in Younger and Older Bilinguals. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning Memory and Cognition, 34(4), 859–873. https://doi.org/10.1037/0278-7393.34.4.859 Coderre, E. L., van Heuven, W. J. B., & Conklin, K. (2013). The timing and magnitude of Stroop interference and facilitation in monolinguals and bilinguals. Bilingualism, 16(2), 420–441. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1366728912000405 Hoffmann, D., Hornung, C., Gamo, S., Esch, P., Keller, U., & Fischbach, A. (2018). Schulische Kompetenzen von Erstklässlern und ihre Entwicklung nach zwei Jahren. In T. Lentz, I. Baumann, & A. Küpper (Eds.), Nationaler Bildungsbericht (pp. 84–96). University of Luxembourg & SCRIPT. Martini, S., Schiltz, C., Fischbach, A., & Ugen, S. (2021). Identifying Math and Reading Difficulties of multilingual children: Effects of different cut-offs and reference group. In M. Herzog, A. Fritz-Stratmann, & E. Gürsoy (Eds.), Diversity Dimensions in Mathematics and Language Learning (pp. 200–228). De Gruyter Mouton. The Government of the Grand Dutchy of Luxembourg. (2023, January) Society and culture – Population Demographics. https://luxembourg.public.lu/en/society-and-culture/population/demographics.html Ugen, S., Schiltz, C., Fischbach, A., & Pit-ten Cate, I. M. (2021). Lernstörungen im multilingualen Kontext. Diagnose und Hilfestellungen. Melusina Press. https://doi.org/10.26298/bg5s-ng46 [less ▲]

Early Childhood Education and Care in Luxembourg and Language: Performance Closing the Gap between different Language Backgrounds?

Scientific Conference (2023, August 21)

Achievement gaps between students of different family backgrounds have been found in many countries (e.g. Stanat & Christensen, 2006). They are not only based on socioeconomic status or immigration ... [more ▼]

Achievement gaps between students of different family backgrounds have been found in many countries (e.g. Stanat & Christensen, 2006). They are not only based on socioeconomic status or immigration background, but also on home language: If children do not speak the language of instruction at home, they are often disadvantaged in school and perform worse in school performance tests than students speaking the instruction language at home (e.g. Van Staden et al., 2016). Low SES increases the risk that children with an L2 instruction language are disadvantaged (Cummins, 2018). With rising numbers of global migration (Edmond, 2020), these disparities in educational systems can be expected to become more distinct in the future. Luxembourg is a trilingual country with an already highly diverse student population in terms of nationality and language background, with 67 % of elementary school students not speaking the first instruction language Luxembourgish at home (MENJE & SCRIPT, 2022). It is therefore a prime example to study these educational challenges ahead of time. In addition to the “super-diversity” of Luxembourg, students of different language backgrounds have to deal with a highly demanding language curriculum at school, in which the instruction language switches first from Luxembourgish to German and then to French in secondary education. In consequence, many students face challenges in acquiring language and literacy skills (e.g. Hornung et al., 2021) – leading to distinct gaps between students of different language backgrounds. One possible way to decrease such disparities might be an early and extensive participation in early childhood education and care (ECEC). Participation in ECEC, that is “any regulated arrangement that provides education and care to children from birth to compulsory primary school age” (European Commission, n.d.), has been shown to have positive effects on language development and other cognitive abilities. These effects differ between age groups. For young children from age 0 to 3, a Norwegian study found that scaling up early ECEC improved early language skills at the age of seven (Drange & Havnes, 2015). However, a review also indicated research on this age group was scarcer and produced more varied findings (Melhuish et al., 2015). For children between the ages 3 and 6, effects on language and other cognitive skills were more consistently positive (Melhuish et al., 2015). In children with differing home language backgrounds, this association was stronger than in those who spoke the majority language at home (Ansari et al., 2021). This study aims to investigate if these findings hold in the multilingual and diverse school context of Luxembourg and to analyze the effects of ECEC attendance on language performance, differentiated by the student’s home language background and the particular type of ECEC (non-formal daycare vs formal early education). Based on the presented literature, we hypothesize that (1) participation in ECEC, formal and nonformal, is associated with higher listening comprehension in Luxembourgish (i.e. the first instruction language) in grade 1, that (2) the associations are moderated by the children home language background where greater associations are expected for children who do not speak the instruction language at home and that (3) participation in formal ECEC explains more variance than participation in nonformal ECEC. Methodology, Methods, Research Instruments or Sources Used To answer our research questions, we draw on a large-scale dataset of n = 5.952 first graders from the Luxemburg school monitoring programme ÉpStan (Épreuves Standardisées) in 2021. The ÉpStan includes questionnaires and written competence tests in key school areas that are implemented every year for all Luxembourgish students in grades 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9. Its aim is a.o. to objectively assess the long-term performance of the Luxembourgish school system. For our study, we focus on Luxembourg listening comprehension in grade 1, which is assessed with different text formats, such as dialogues, short stories or radio broadcasts presented on CDs. The test is measuring different sub-skills, defined by the national curriculum, such as understanding one’s interlocutor, locating, understanding and interpreting information, and applying listening strategies (recognition of noises and voices). Information on ECEC participation is assessed retrospectively in parent questionnaires for crèches (non-formal ECEC targeted at 0-4 year olds) and for précoce (formal ECEC, targeted at 3 year olds). Home language background is assessed by self-report in the student questionnaire and categorised into five groups: a) Luxembourgish, b) French, c) Portuguese, d) bilingual Luxembourgish / French and e) bilingual Luxembourgish / Portuguese. After checking whether the prerequisites for the analyses are met, we calculate a multivariate regression model with the two ECEC types as binary predictors and other family background variables as control for hypothesis (1). For hypothesis (2), we test whether home language background moderates the association between ECEC and language performance by adding interaction terms of home language group with each ECEC type to our regression model. For hypothesis (3), we compare the incremental variance explained by each ECEC type. Conclusions, Expected Outcomes or Findings We expect our outcomes to show that attendance in both ECEC types have positive associations with Luxembourgish listening comprehension in first grade, in line with many findings on the topic. Additionally, attendance in formal ECEC is expected to explain more variance in Luxembourgish listening comprehension than attendance in nonformal ECEC as Luxembourgish is the main instruction language in formal ECEC. In nonformal ECEC institutions, language policies are usually less rigid and more plurilingual. We also expect significant moderations of this effect by home language background: We do not expect a strong effect of both formal and nonformal ECEC on listening comprehension for children who speak only Luxembourgish at home, as they are expected to have developed these skills at home. Children who do not speak Luxembourgish at home are, on the other hand, expected to benefit more from ECEC attendance. This would then indicate that more time spent in ECEC institutions fostered their basic skills in the instruction language and helped gain better listening performance. Being competent in the instruction language is essential for further learning. Without the language skills, children are unable to connect to the school’s input (Schleppegrell, 2001). All in all, the findings might help to understand the effects of two different ECEC types in Luxembourg for children of different language backgrounds – indicating for whom ECEC attendance should be explicitly encouraged. It might also give us valuable hints towards characteristics of ECEC that are especially helpful to further language skills and thus, later school performance. Implications on possible policy decisions with the goal of closing achievement gaps and furthering educational equality will be discussed. References Ansari, A., Pianta, R. C., Whittaker, J. E., Vitiello, V., & Ruzek, E. (2021). Enrollment in public-prekindergarten and school readiness skills at kindergarten entry: Differential associations by home language, income, and program characteristics. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 54, 60–71. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2020.07.011 Cummins, J. (2018). Urban Multilingualism and Educational Achievement: Identifying and Implementing Evidence-Based Strategies for School Improvement. In P. Van Avermaet, S. Slembrouck, K. Van Gorp, S. Sierens, & K. Maryns (Eds.), The Multilingual Edge of Education (p. 67–90). Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-54856-6_4 Drange, N., & Havnes, T. (2015). Child Care Before Age Two and the Development of Language and Numeracy: Evidence from a Lottery. Discussion Papers. Statistics Norway. Research Department., 808. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2582539 Edmond, C. (2020, January 10). Global migration, by the numbers. World Economic Forum. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/01/iom-global-migration-report-international-migrants-2020/ European Commission. (n.d.). Early childhood education and care initiatives. Retrieved 23rd May 2022, from https://education.ec.europa.eu/node/1702 Hornung, C., Wollschläger, R., Keller, U., Esch, P., Muller, C., & Fischbach, A. (2021). Neue längsschnittliche Befunde aus dem nationalen Bildungsmonitoring ÉpStan in der 1. und 3. Klasse. Negativer Trend in der Kompetenzentwicklung und kein Erfolg bei Klassenwiederholungen. In LUCET & SCRIPT (Eds.), Nationaler Bildungsbericht Luxemburg 2021 (p. 44–55). LUCET & SCRIPT. Melhuish, E., Ereky-Stevens, K., Petrogiannis, K., Ariescu, A., Penderi, E., Rentzou, K., Tawell, A., Leseman, P., & Broekhuisen, M. (2015). A review of research on the effects of early childhood education and care (ECEC) on child development [Technical Report.]. MENJE & SCRIPT. (2022). Education system in Luxembourg. Key Figures. edustat.lu Schleppegrell, M. J. (2001). Linguistic Features of the Language of Schooling. Linguistics and Education, 12(4), 431–459. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0898-5898(01)00073-0 Stanat, P., & Christensen, G. (2006). Where Immigrant Students Succeed—A Comparative Review of Performance and Engagement in PISA 2003. https://www.oecd.org/education/school/programmeforinternationalstudentassessmentpisa/whereimmigrantstudentssucceed-acomparativereviewofperformanceandengagementinpisa2003.htm Van Staden, S., Bosker, R., & Bergbauer, A. (2016). Differences in achievement between home language and language of learning in South Africa: Evidence from prePIRLS 2011. South African Journal of Childhood Education, 6(1), 10. https://doi.org/10.4102/sajce.v6i1.441 [less ▲]

Towards a peer-to-peer residential short-term load forecasting with federated learning

in Proceedings of the 2023 IEEE Belgrade PowerTech (2023, August 09)

The inclusion of intermittent and renewable energy sources has increased the importance of demand forecasting in the power systems. Smart meters play a critical role in modern load forecasting due to the ... [more ▼]

The inclusion of intermittent and renewable energy sources has increased the importance of demand forecasting in the power systems. Smart meters play a critical role in modern load forecasting due to the high granularity of the measurement data. Federated Learning can enable accurate residential load forecasting in a distributed manner. In this regard, to compensate for the variability of households, clustering them in groups with similar patterns can lead to more accurate forecasts. Usually, clustering requires a central server that has access to the entire dataset, which collides with the decentralized nature of federated learning. In order to complement federated learning, this study proposes a decentralized Peer-to-Peer strategy that employs agent-based modeling. We evaluate it in comparison to a typical centralized k-means clustering. To create clusters, we compare Euclidian and Dynamic time warping distances. We employ these clusters to build short-term load forecasting models using federated learning. Our results reveal the possibility of using Peer-to-Peer clustering along with simple Euclidean distances and Federated Learning to obtain highly performant load forecasting models in a fully decentralized setting. [less ▲]

Vulnerability and the subjective future imaginaries of young refugees living in reception centres in Luxembourg

Scientific Conference (2023, August 02)

Vulnerability is a term often discussed in relation to the movement and settlement of refugees. In policies and practices of reception, vulnerability is used as a tool to direct services and aid toward ... [more ▼]

Vulnerability is a term often discussed in relation to the movement and settlement of refugees. In policies and practices of reception, vulnerability is used as a tool to direct services and aid toward ‘vulnerable refugees’ but also to justify increasingly hostile migration policies toward those who are not deemed ‘vulnerable enough’. Yet, as a concept a systematic definition of vulnerability is missing and multiple understandings are often implicitly employed in scientific literature and policies. Thus, the objective of the current study was to explore how vulnerability, articulated as an embedded, multi-layered and dynamic analytical concept, may aid our understanding of the lived experiences of a group of potentially ‘vulnerable’ migrants, based on contextual conditions. Specifically, the talk will examine how conditions of structural, situational and experiential vulnerability may affect the subjective future imaginaries of young adults (18-30) who obtained refugee status in Luxembourg but still live in ‘temporary’ reception centres. Data were drawn from 15 in-depth semi-structured interviews conducted in the context of the H2020 project MIMY and were analysed by means of qualitative content analysis. The results suggest that limited future educational and employment opportunities promote the structural vulnerability of this group, yet different levels of awareness and types of reactions to these limitations emerged. Moreover, episodes of discrimination, even if sporadic, can create conditions of situational vulnerability which strongly affected their future imaginaries. Finally, looking at the future some participants reported conditions of experiential vulnerability accompanied by feelings of uncertainty and difficulties in picturing their future. In conclusion, despite subjective differences in experiences and reactions, the precarious and disadvantageous position young refugees hold in the country, combined with their isolation in reception centres, promoted the vulnerability of this group and did have an impact on their outlook, plans, and ability to achieve their goals in the future. [less ▲]

CogPonder: Towards a Computational Framework of General Cognitive Control

Poster (2023, August)

Current computational models of cognitive control exhibit notable limitations. In machine learning, artificial agents are now capable of performing complex tasks but often ignore critical constraints such ... [more ▼]

Current computational models of cognitive control exhibit notable limitations. In machine learning, artificial agents are now capable of performing complex tasks but often ignore critical constraints such as resource limitations and how long it takes for the agent to make decisions and act. Conversely, cognitive control models in psychology are limited in their ability to tackle complex tasks (e.g., play video games) or generalize across a battery of simple cognitive tests. Here we introduce CogPonder, a flexible, differentiable, cognitive control framework that is inspired by the Test-Operate-Test-Exit (TOTE) architecture in psychology and the PonderNet framework in machine learning. CogPonder functionally decouples the act of control from the controlled processes by introducing a controller that acts as a wrapper around any end-to-end deep learning model and decides when to terminate processing and output a response, thus producing both a response and response time. Our experiments show that CogPonder effectively learns from data to generate behavior that closely resembles human responses and response times in two classic cognitive tasks. This work demonstrates the value of this new computational framework and offers promising new research prospects for both psychological and computer sciences. [less ▲]

Decoding Hypnotic Experience from Raw EEG Data using a Multi-Output Auto-Encoder

Poster (2023, August)

In this study, we propose a novel approach for quantifying brain-to-brain coupling during a hypnosis induction. Our approach uses a multi-output sequence-to-sequence deep neural network applied to raw EEG ... [more ▼]

In this study, we propose a novel approach for quantifying brain-to-brain coupling during a hypnosis induction. Our approach uses a multi-output sequence-to-sequence deep neural network applied to raw EEG data recorded from 51 participants using 59 electrodes. Specifically, we use a long short-term memory (LSTM) encoder to extract an embedding, which is then utilized for two downstream heads: one head to predict the hypnotist's brain activity, and the other head to classify the level of hypnotic depth. We found that removing the head that predicted the hypnotist's brain activity substantially decreased the accuracy of the classification head, indicating that this head plays a critical role in achieving better classification performance. These results highlight the importance of shared representations in shaping social interactions. Ultimately, this work can help us better understand the dynamics of verbal communication. [less ▲]

Graph neural networks for investigating complex diseases: A case study on Parkinson's Disease

Poster (2023, July 25)

Omics data analysis is a critical component in the study of complex diseases, but the high dimension and heterogeneity of the data often pose challenges that are difficult to address by classical ... [more ▼]

Omics data analysis is a critical component in the study of complex diseases, but the high dimension and heterogeneity of the data often pose challenges that are difficult to address by classical statistical and machine learning methods. Recently, structured data analyses using graph neural networks (GNNs) have emerged as a promising complementary approach, particularly for investigating the relational information between samples. However, it is still unclear which strategies for designing and optimizing GNNs are most effective when working with real-world data from complex disorders, such as Parkinson's disease (PD). Our study addresses this gap by examining the application of various GNN models, including Graph Convolutional Network, ChebyNet, and Graph Attention Network, to identify and interpret discriminative patterns between PD patients and controls using omics data. The developed pipeline integrates Lasso penalty-based feature selection, similarity graph construction, and final modeling for sample classification. Through an end-to-end model building and evaluation process, we assess the practical utility of the pipeline on independent PD omics datasets. Overall, our analyses highlight some of the benefits and challenges of using graph structure data for machine learning analysis of disease-related omics data and provide directions for further research. [less ▲]

CUI'23: Proceedings of the 5th Conference on Conversational User Interfaces 2023

in Are you sure you want to order that? On Appropriateness of Voice-only Proactive Feedback Strategies (2023, July 20)

Conversational agents (CAs) that deliver proactive interventions can benefit users by reducing their cognitive workload and improving performance. However, little is known regarding how such interventions ... [more ▼]

Conversational agents (CAs) that deliver proactive interventions can benefit users by reducing their cognitive workload and improving performance. However, little is known regarding how such interventions would impact perception of CA’s appropriateness in voice-only, decision-making tasks. We conducted a within-subjects experiment (N=30) to evaluate the effect of CA’s feedback delivery strategy at three levels (no feedback, unsolicited, and solicited feedback) in an interactive food ordering scenario. We discovered that unsolicited feedback was perceived to be more appropriate than solicited feedback. Our results provide preliminary insights regarding the impact of proactive feedback on CA perception in decision-making tasks. [less ▲]

Trauma, Resonances, and Transformations: Gaming as Heuristic Mode for Doing History

Scientific Conference (2023, July 19)

Consensual Resilient Control: (Don’t let the hackers spill your coffee) - Demo Poster

Poster (2023, July 13)

Towards User Empowerment: Bridging the Gap in Health Misinformation Protection on Social Networks

Scientific Conference (2023, July 11)

Health misinformation in social networks requires immediate attention due to its severe consequences, as exemplified by the COVID-19 pandemic response on social media. However, the existing solutions ... [more ▼]

Health misinformation in social networks requires immediate attention due to its severe consequences, as exemplified by the COVID-19 pandemic response on social media. However, the existing solutions designed to combat misinformation generally overlook the unique characteristics of health misinformation domain. Through a review of relevant literature and a critical analysis of current anti-misinformation solutions, we have identified significant user-side issues that undermine the effectiveness of existing approaches in addressing health misinformation. To tackle these issues, we put forth several strategies to empower users in combating health misinformation. Our research contributes to understanding the challenges associated with health misinformation correction on social networks. [less ▲]

Evaluation of PTP Security Controls on gPTP

in 28th IEEE International Symposium on Computers and Communications (ISCC 2023), Tunis, July 2023 (2023, July 09)

In recent years, the scientific community has been focusing on deterministic Ethernet, which has helped drive the adoption of Time-Sensitive Networking (TSN) standards. Precision Time Protocol (PTP ... [more ▼]

In recent years, the scientific community has been focusing on deterministic Ethernet, which has helped drive the adoption of Time-Sensitive Networking (TSN) standards. Precision Time Protocol (PTP), specified in IEEE1588, is a TSN standard that enables network devices to be synchronized with a degree of precision that is noticeably higher than other Ethernet synchronization protocols. Generic Precision Time Protocol (gPTP), a profile of PTP, is designed to have low latency and jitter, which makes it suitable for industrial applications. However, like PTP, gPTP does not have any built-in security measures. In this work, we assess the efficacy of additional security mechanisms that were suggested for inclusion in IEEE 1588 (PTP) 2019. The analysis consists of implementing these security mechanisms on a physical gPTP-capable testbed and evaluating them on several high-risk attacks against gPTP. [less ▲]

The phenomenology of ‘vulnerable’ refugees: subjective experiences at the intersection between the individual and the structural

Scientific Conference (2023, July 05)

The notion of vulnerability permeates current public discourses, political debates and policy instruments around migration and international protection. In this context, vulnerability can be seen as ... [more ▼]

The notion of vulnerability permeates current public discourses, political debates and policy instruments around migration and international protection. In this context, vulnerability can be seen as another policy category part of the ‘migration apparatus’, which is often treated as a trait of an individual or group based on physical or innate characteristics (such as disability) or situations encountered in the country of origin or transit (such as experiences of violence) (Flegar, 2018). On one hand, some scholars have criticised such individualization of vulnerability, calling attention to the socio-political structures of inequality and exclusion which produce conditions of structural vulnerability (Brown et al., 2017). On the other hand, others criticised the reifying and normalizing effect of the vulnerability label, calling attention to the heterogeneous experiences and the agentic power of the individuals within the labelled group (Clark, 2007). The current paper proposes to contribute to this debate by exploring how the individual and the structural meet in the subjective experiences of young migrants, who may be categorized as vulnerable. Drawing from 15 semi-structured interviews with young adults who received refugee status but still lived in temporary reception centres in Luxembourg, conducted in the framework of the H2020 project MIMY, this study aims to reflexively engage with the vulnerability category by capturing their subjective understandings and experiences. The results of the thematic analysis illustrate the different ways in which our participants interpret, emotionally process, and negotiate the tension and ambivalence between structural inequalities, contingent challenges, and personal goals in building their lives in Luxembourg. [less ▲]