9,387 research outputs found
Easing the accessibility of Ecological Networks through in-silico approaches from open data
Get PDFEcological networks are complex systems that allow us to model the numerous interactions of each entity within an ecosystem. However, the quality and quantity of input data remain a common problem despite the possible interactions. This is mainly due to the data collection, often recorded directly by means of direct observation or, more recently, environmental DNA sampling. The intense effort, both in time and workforce, severely hinders the collection and availability of such ecological networks in the scientific literature, especially when compared with more established techniques, when focusing on specific habitats, locations, and network accessibility in open repositories. This thesis addresses these issues, seeking to facilitate and speed up the data collection process, especially for preliminary studies on a regional and urban scale, with two main topics: the simplification of food webs and the in-silico construction and analysis of potential ecological networks. At the same time, the easier accessibility of data and analysis was also the goal. Results suggest that pilot studies may be speeded up with an aprioristic taxonomic aggregation, especially when the objective is the food web architecture measured with topological indices at the node level. Metawebs built completely in-silico with open data may be a starting point to standardise and compare the performance of a real-world ecological network and point to specific biological entities whose importance can be glimpsed at the regional scale. This thesis explores the effect of taxonomical simplification and how a fully in-silico ecological network can be constructed and processed without fieldwork. The main findings of this project are that a certain degree of simplification can heavily influence the timing of topological studies of ecological networks and that an in-silico regional metaweb, acting as a potential ecological network, can summarise and be consistent with the actual state of the ecosystem. Both approaches rely on the collaboration of people and FAIR principles. New ways of facilitating and increasing the accessibility of ecological network data cannot be created out of thin air, but rely on the already established "level of openness" of the sector. Citizen science projects, global open repositories and golden open-access research are once again confirmed as impact ful resources for new models. This thesis also contributes to the open community data and enlightens the ecological network field, acting as positive feedback on the importance of open data
Using the P90/P10 Index to Measure US Inequality Trends with Current Population Survey Data: A View from Inside the Census Bureau Vaults*
Get PDFThe March Current Population Survey (CPS) is the primary data source for estimation of levels and trends in labor earnings and income inequality in the USA. Time-inconsistency problems related to top coding in theses data have led many researchers to use the ratio of the 90th and 10th percentiles of these distributions (P90/P10) rather than a more traditional summary measure of inequality. With access to public use and restricted-access internal CPS data, and bounding methods, we show that using P90/P10 does not completely obviate time-inconsistency problems, especially for household income inequality trends. Using internal data, we create consistent cell mean values for all top-coded public use values that, when used with public use data, closely track inequality trends in labor earnings and household income using internal data. But estimates of longer-term inequality trends with these corrected data based on P90/P10 differ from those based on the Gini coefficient. The choice of inequality measure matters.inequality, income, earnings, Current Population Survey, decile ratio, Gini coefficient
A network simplification approach to ease topological studies about the food-web architecture
Get PDFFood webs studies are intrinsically complex and time-consuming. Network data about trophic interaction across different large locations and ecosystems are scarce in comparison with general ecological data, especially if we consider terrestrial habitats. Here we present a complex network strategy to ease the gathering of the information by simplifying the collection of data with a taxonomic key. We test how well the topology of three different food webs retain their structure at the resolution of the nodes across distinct levels of simplification, and we estimate how community detection could be impacted by this strategy. The first level of simplification retains most of the general topological indices; betweenness and trophic levels seem to be consistent and robust even at the higher levels of simplification. This result suggests that generalisation and standardisation, as a good practice in food webs science, could benefit the community, both increasing the amount of open data available and the comparison among them, thus providing support especially for scientists that are new in this field and for exploratory analysis
Andrea Bacová
No full textAndrea Bacová focuses on research and teaching in the field of residential architecture. Her work includes systematic research on residential buildings and their urban context. She actively participates in promoting Slovak architecture and is the author of several publications and exhibitions
Viewer-, Author-, and Ownership in the Work of Andrea Zittel
Get PDFAndrea Zittel invites others to collapse the distinctions between artist, viewer, and collaborator by interacting with her usable works. This thesis explores the process of interacting with Zittel\u27s works, and how it affects viewer-, author- and ownership
The Lettere of Andrea Calmo: authorial artifices and historical reality
No full textopenNonostante l’edizione di Vittorio Rossi del 1888, la raccolta di "ingegnosi cheribizzi" e di "fantastiche fantasie" di Andrea Calmo è ancora avvolta da un certo mistero. L’autore, dissimulando la propria identità dietro alla “maschera” dell’umile pescatore veneziano, è stato in grado di offrire uno spaccato della cultura e della società nella Venezia cinquecentesca.
In particolare, è il quarto libro delle Lettere ad aver suscitato maggiore interesse tra gli studiosi ed i lettori: pubblicato nel 1566, a diversi anni di distanza dai primi tre, questo libro si distingue per il fatto che tutte le epistole sono indirizzate a delle donne immaginarie o realmente esistite.
In questa sede si propone, in primo luogo, uno studio della biografia del Calmo accompagnata da un’analisi del contesto storico-culturale della Venezia cinquecentesca; in secondo luogo, invece, viene proposto un commento di alcune lettere dell’ultimo libro dell’opera calmiana, che cerchi di far luce principalmente sull’aspetto linguistico e contenutistico del testo.Despite Vittorio Rossi's 1888 edition, Andrea Calmo's collection of "ingegnosi cheribizzi" and "fantastiche fantasie" is still shrouded in a certain mystery. The author, dissimulating his own identity behind the "mask" of the humble Venetian fisherman, was able to offer a cross-section of culture and society in sixteenth-century Venice.
In particular, it is the fourth book of the Letters that has aroused greater interest among scholars and readers: published in 1566, several years after the first three, this book stands out for the fact that all the epistles are addressed to women imaginary or actually existed.
Here we propose, first of all, a study of Calmo's biography accompanied by an analysis of the historical-cultural context of sixteenth-century Venice; secondly, however, a commentary on some letters from the last book of Calmo's work is proposed, which seeks to shed light mainly on the linguistic and content aspect of the text
Currency Hedging Using the Mean-Gini Framework
No full textThe mean-Gini framework has been suggested as a robust alternative to the portfolio approach to futures hedging given its optimality under general distributional conditions. However, calculation of the Gini hedge ratio requires estimation of the underlying price distribution. We estimate minimum-Gini hedge ratios using two widely-used estimation procedures, the empirical distribution function method and the kernel method, for three emerging market and three developed market currencies. We find that these methods yield different Gini hedge ratios. These differences increase with risk aversion and are statistically significant for all developed market currencies but only one emerging market currency. In-sample analyses show that the empirical distribution function method is more effective at risk reduction than the kernel method for developed market currencies, whereas the kernel method is superior for emerging market currencies. Post-sample analyses strengthen the superiority of the empirical distribution function method for developed market and, in several cases, for emerging market currencies. Copyright Springer Science + Business Media, Inc. 2005currency hedging, Gini, kernel estimator,
Trusted Tales: Creating Authenticity in Literary Representations from Ex-Yugoslavia
No full textThis research deals with questions of authority and authenticity and how they are expressed, constructed, and appropriated within the Anglophone book market. It considers the body of literature written about ex-Yugoslavia since the 1990s Balkan conflicts by exiled writers from the region which has entered the international literary canon. Books’ routes from original publishers into English translation are discussed through practices of trust, one of the crucial social devices underpinning their exchange. Within these cross-cultural processes, the role of cultural brokers is crucial. Symbolic and cultural resources are specifically mobilised through their powerful author brands.
By exploring authenticity in the context of book publishing, I further look at how ideas and practices of community are employed and negotiated by writers and those who promote their books. My field is multi-sited and fluid, reflecting how different individual and national positions are enacted and performed through strategies ranging from unconscious dispositions to deliberate intentions. This research thus brings together ideas of the author as an authentic, representative voice together with exile as a position that grants them a new lease of relevancy in the post-socialist context.
Although ex-Yugoslav books occupy a ‘high end’ niche of the UK market, constrained by commercial as well as political, cultural, and institutional forces, in public discourse ideas of the ‘free market’ and ‘free speech’ are mobilised to produce various types of modernisation narratives. The (post)socialist production of literature is perceived as having to ‘evolve’ into a capitalist model: this would allow not only healthy competition and consumer choice but guarantee an individual writer ‘free speech’ as a basic human right. Therefore, the most general question this research raises is what kind of foreign literature gets translated into English, under what socio-cultural conditions and which politics of representation it serves within the project of world literature
Coastal dune vegetation: disturbance, recovery and spatial pattern
No full textThe ecological state of sea coasts is often critical worldwide, and in Europe most of the well conserved
coastal dune areas are to date under protection. An increasing human impact in the near future along
with global climate change could act on sand dune species changing their tolerance to stress factors.
Our results give information on the biodiversity of the Tyrrhenian coast developing near Rome. The
study underlines that human perturbation have altered the natural vegetation causing the
disappearance of the typical dune vegetation bands. The spatial pattern of the species and their
adaptive capability is attested by their ability to move back along the gradient from the water-edge
toward the inland. Plants colonize the inner patch where microclimate and soil conditions are more
favourable. The conservation of coastal areas depends on the maintenance of native species and their
ability to compete with alien species. The presence of the most important autoctonous species and
their moving ability along the gradient from the fore-dune to the inland can provide information for
restoring the perturbed dune areas. In particular, A. arenaria could have a positive effect on sand dune
stabilization. A sustainable management of the coastal areas under study should emphasized that
species recovery capacity depend mostly on the undisturbed sand deposition in the fore-dunes by the
limitation of human trampling, use of mechanical means and infrastructure development
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