1,721,472 research outputs found
Modeling narrative features in TV series: coding and clustering analysis
Full text linkTV series have gained both economic and cultural relevance. Their development over time can hardly be traced back to the simple programmatic action of creative intentionality. Instead, TV series might be studied as narrative ecosystems with emergent trends and patterns. This paper aims to boost quantitative research in the field of media studies, first considering a comparative and data-driven study of the narrative features in the US medical TV series, one of the most popular and longest-running genres on global television. Based on a corpus of more than 400 h of video, we investigate the storytelling evolution of eight audiovisual serial products by identifying three main narrative features (i.e., isotopies). The implemented schematization allows to grasp the basic components of the social interactions showing the strength of the medical genre and its ability to rebuild, in its microcosm, the essential traits of the human macrocosm where random everyday life elements (seen in the medical cases plot) mix and overlap with working and social relationships (professional plot) and personal relationships (sentimental plot). This study relies on data-driven research that combines content analysis and clustering analysis. It significantly differs from traditional studies regarding the narrative features of medical dramas and broadly the field of television studies. We proved that the three isotopies are good descriptors for the medical drama genre and identified four narrative profiles which emphasize the strong stability of these serial products. Contrary to what is often taken for granted in many interpretative studies, creative decisions rarely significantly change the general narrative aspects of the wider series
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Memories. On the westward journey of Chinese migrants from Zhejiang to Europe in the 1920s
No full textThis is the main essay in a book that resulted from a collaboration with the artists Ciaj Rocchi and Matteo Demonte, with whom the author has participated to a call for projects promoted by the University of Padua and the Royal Holloway University of London. Our project, entitled "Pearls from China", won a grant to carry out research on the early years of the Chinese migration from Zhejiang to Europe, which was started by itinerant peddlers of fake pearls who travelled to Germany, France, Spain and Italy in 1925-1926. Many of them had actually migrated from China to Japan a few years earlier, as we were able to show thanks to records found in Japanese, Chinese and European archives, as well as documentation and oral testimonies gathered among the descendants of the earliest Chinese migrants to Italy. The book is thus an innovative mixture between an academic essay, written by the author and a graphic essay, illustrated by the splendid artwork of Rocchi and Demonte. The early mobilities of Zhejiang migrants across Eurasia have been documented graphically by sourcing contemporary maps and illustrations, which have been the prime source materials for the volume's artwork
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
La gestione della performance nelle ASP: il caso dell'ASP-Centro Servizi alla Persona di Ferrara
No full textIl tema della gestione e misurazione delle performance nelle amministrazioni pubbliche è tornato recentemente alla ribalta, a seguito dell’approvazione del D.Lgs. 150/2009. Le amministrazioni pubbliche sono chiamate a predisporre “nuovi” strumenti di pianificazione, di misurazione e di controllo circa il conseguimento e rispetto dei livelli di performance dei servizi. Il rischio che l’introduzione di innovativi strumenti di misurazione e gestione dei risultati venga recepito dalle amministrazioni pubbliche in modo formalistico, generando cambiamenti solo apparenti, ma non sostanziali, è elevato nel contesto istituzionale. Al fine di evitare il verificarsi di tali situazioni è importante una implementazione consapevole e sistematica all’interno della sistema organizzativo e gestionale.
Il presente volume presenta l’esperienza maturata dal 2008 dall’ASP Centro Servizi alla Persona di Ferrara nell’introduzione di un sistema integrato di programmazione e gestione strategica. In modo particolare, ciò è stato realizzato attraverso l’adozione di diversi strumenti gestionali come il modello di autovalutazione denominato Common Assessment Framework (CAF), la Balanced scorecard (BSC), un collegato sistema di gestione per obiettivi e di incentivazione e valorizzazione delle performance del personale. L’adozione di tali strumenti e metodologie è stata condotta in ottica integrata e dinamica, dandone continuità temporale e cercando di adattarne strutture e contenuti.
I risultati conseguiti, che saranno descritti nel volume, dimostrano come alla base del successo nell’implementazione di strumenti di gestione strategica via sia un forte commitment della direzione, un ampio coinvolgimento della struttura azienda, la ricerca di una coerenza rispetto alla eterogeneità dei servizi e la modularità nello sviluppo
Cement rotary kiln: Constraints handling and optimization via model predictive control techniques
No full textIn this work an Advanced Process Control approach aimed to the control and the optimization of a cement rotary kiln is proposed. Model Predictive Control techniques have been adopted for the controller and a system architecture based on two optimization layers is proposed. A suitable design of each layer and their interaction policy allowed to improve control performances and to meet possibly variable economic goals. Simulation results show the effectiveness of the adopted control architecture and optimization problem formulation. Results of practical implementation of the proposed controller on a cement rotary kiln unit confirm the improvement of the performances in terms of energy efficiency, product quality and environmental impact when compared to the previous control system
Un secolo di cinesi a Milano
No full textSaggio inserito a titolo di postfazione nel catalogo illustrato/graphic novel che documenta la mostra "Chinamen. Un secolo di cinesi a Milano" curata da Daniele Brigadoi Cologna presso il Museo delle Culture di Milano su incarico dell'Ufficio Reti e Cooperazione Culturale del Comune di Milano, in collaborazione con gli artisti Ciaj Rocchi e Matteo Demonte, realizzatori del documentario animato omonimo, del catalogo, delle illustrazioni e delle installazioni creative della mostra. Il saggio dettaglia la metodologia e gli esiti della ricerca-azione partecipata, etnografica e d'archivio, svolta da un gruppo di studenti dell'Università degli Studi dell'Insubria e l'Università degli Studi di Milano sotto la supervisione scientifica e il coordinamento operativo di Daniele Brigadoi Cologna, finalizzata a ricostruire la storia sociale e culturale dei cinesi di Milano dagli anni Venti del Novecento fino ad oggi
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