171,363 research outputs found
The importance of electoral rule: Evidence from Italy
No full textWe employ bootstrap methods (Efron (1979)) to test the eect of an important electoral reform implemented in Italy from 1993 to 2001, that moved the system for electing the Par- liament from purely proportional to plurality rule (for 75% of the seats). We do not nd any eect on either the number of parties or the stability of governments (the two main objectives of the reform) that remained unchanged at their pre-reform level.Electoral system; Plurality rule; Duverger's law; Bootstrap.
Lo spazio tra il leader e il popolo. La mediazione politica nella democrazia post-moderna
No full textPersonalizzazione e disintermediazione sono i fenomeni, fra loro intrecciati, che maggiormente spiegano la trasformazione della politica nella fase recente. Il direttismo suggerisce, peraltro, percorsi diversi per rilanciare la democrazia, che tuttavia sfidano il suo carattere rappresentativo e, secondo alcuni, la democrazia tout court. Da un lato, l’ascesa degli “uomini forti”: leader di partito e di governo, che, spingendo sul legame diretto con il popolo, accelerano il processo di presidenzializzazione della politica. Dall’altro lato, il revival della democrazia diretta, certificato dal ricorso, sempre più frequente, al referendum. Sullo sfondo, la crisi dei mediatori: dei partiti e, più in generale, di qualsiasi corpo intermedio. Degli stessi media: sempre più centrali quale mezzo per veicolare il messaggio del leader e dei cittadini, tendono però a scomparire come attori inter-medi – tra emittente e destinatario, tra rappresentanti e rappresentati. In questo scenario, modelli apparentemente antagonisti di disintermediazione convivono e, spesso, si ritrovano all’interno dello stesso progetto politico. La stessa democrazia diretta sembra associarsi al ruolo di super-mediatori. I leader, dal canto loro, si appellano al popolo, anche attraverso l’utilizzo (plebiscitario) del referendum. La politica post-moderna, così, sembra destinata a convivere con spinte contrastanti, che, se portate all’estremo, conducono addirittura oltre il perimetro della democrazia (rappresentativa)
Botanical Awareness and Adolescent Maturation in Siri Pettersen’s Odin’s Child
No full textThis article supports the thesis that (eco)fantasy novels written for young adult people are nowadays crucial to give the next generation an ecological expertise to face environmental challenges. It is therefore important to consider what perceptions of nature are actually conveyed through the reading of these literary works, thus involving a pure dissemination of knowledge about flora. The novel Odin’s Child (Odinsbarn, 2013) by Siri Pettersen is considered here, giving voice to arboreal and botanical perspectives and basing the analysis on phytocriticism and the recent developments in ecocriticism. Odin’s Child supports the belief that a deep knowledge about botanical elements can be shared through the practice of embodiment and through an active interaction with the plant world, especially at a young age; for this reason, the importance of liminality and the role of contemporary literature in the human maturation process are underlined here. Plants play multiple sustainable roles in our life and for the survival of the planet: they are sources of medical treatments, and absorbers of carbon dioxide and other air pollutants (Jones and MacLeod 2022). Yet, it is only recently that scholars from the humanities have started analysing the role of plants in fiction, inaugurating the so-called ‘plant-turn’. The aim of this study is to highlight the importance of plants and botanical knowledge in young people’s understanding of and engagement with the natural world via young adult literature. This article’s approach will underscore the pedagogical value of ecofantasy as a suitable genre in creating empathy and a positive attunement towards flora in young readers. The central part of this paper, informed by the work of John C. Ryan (2018) and his phytocritical method, provides an analysis of the botanical elements of the econovel Odin’s Child, with an emphasis on its affective potential. A final reflection will involve new materialistic visions – such as the concepts of hybridisation (Curry 2013) and transcorporeality (Alaimo 2010) – in considering the liminal space of human/non-human and the girl/woman maturation process through which the novel develops
Polimerização de proteínas do soro de leite por transglutaminase e propriedades físicas de iogurte elaborado após tratamento enzimático
No full textDissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro de Ciências Agrárias. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciência dos Alimentos.The aim of this study was to assess the optimal conditions for transglutaminase cross-linking of whey proteins from reconstituted Concentrated whey solutions, in regards to heat treatment effects on transglutaminase kinetics and protein polymerization effects on gel Temperature. The effects of this enzymatic assay on physical properties of yogurt were also determined. The polymerization of whey proteins by the effect of transglutaminase activities was determined by the consistency index obtained from rheological measurements in reconstituted concentrated whey solutions (50 %pv-1) at different temperature-time treatments and Enzyme concentrations. The effects of heat treatment on whey proteins flow behavior before the reaction were determined by using the Power Law Model. The gelation temperature and turbidity of whey solutions were Examined after treatment for 4#24 h at different pH values (6.0; 7.0; 8.0). Furthermore, the physical properties yogurt treated with transglutaminase (0.5 Ug-1 protein) were studied. It was determined that the reaction between â-lactoglobulin, á- lactalbumin and transglutaminase was improved when carried out at 36 °C for 4 hours, at the optimum enzyme concentration of 50 Ug-1. The samples submitted to this treatment showed a pseudoplastic behavior and had a higher consistency index. Heat treatment of solutions at 85, 90 e 95 °C prior to enzyme addiction seemed to improve the reaction; the consistency index was higher (p<0.05) on solutions submitted to this procedure. After the enzyme activity, the gelation temperatures of whey solutions were lower than in control samples. This reduction was intensified by increasing the time of reaction. The production of yogurt with previous enzymatic treatment of milk and whey conferred less syneresis and higher gel firmness in texture analysis. These results proof that transglutaminase could be applied in order to compensate for the changes on physical properties on yoghurt caused by the addition of milk whey
A systematic approach to multiphysics extensions of finite-element-based micromagnetic simulations: Nmag
No full textExtensions of the basic micromagnetic model that include effects such as spin-current interaction, diffusion of thermal energy or anisotropic magnetoresistance are often studied by performing simulations that use case-specific ad-hoc extensions of widely used software packages such as OOMMF or Magpar. We present the novel software framework 'Nmag' that handles specifications of micromagnetic systems at a sufficiently abstract level to enable users with little programming experience to automatically translate a description of a large class of dynamical multifield equations plus a description of the system's geometry into a working simulation. Conceptually, this is a step towards a higher-level abstract notation for classical multifield mutliphysics simulations, similar to the change from assembly language to a higher level human-and-machine-readable formula notation for mathematical terms (FORTRAN) half a century ago. We demonstrate the capability of this approach through two examples, showing 1) a reduced dimensionality model coupling two copies of the micromagnetic sector and 2) the computation of a spatial current density distribution for anisotropic magnetoresistance (AMR). For cross-wise validation purposes, we also show how Nmag compares to the OOMMF and Magpar packages on a selected micromagnetic toy system. We furthermore, briefly discuss the limiations of our framework and related conceptual questions
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