Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Contessa'

The thesis for the Master of Music degree in Opera consists of the performance of a major role in one full opera production in the first or second year. My major role in one full opera production was Contessa Almaviva performed in Le Nozze di Figaro on March 3rd and 5th 2006.
Arts, Faculty of
Music, School of
Graduate

There is a great need to reduce the use of fossil-fueled road transport. In order to encourage the use of public transport, opportunities for the application of electrical charging stations for e-bikes aboard railway vehicles were analyzed. A theoretical concept was developed for the introduction of electrical charging stations aboard railway vehicles, with Contessa - Oeresund Train Unit X31 as the subject of study. The design was based on a set of required management characteristics, which included any requirements from the vehicle owner, traveler and society (such as improved environment, public transport and health of the citizens). The study was based on the current standards, requirements and safety regulations for railway vehicles operating within the European Union. Upon completion of the study, one was able to establish that the potential exists for introducing the concept aboard the subject of study, as well as for other railway vehicles. The charging station consisted of a group of three power supplies and a sizing was performed for two such groups, to adapt as needed.The result indicates that fast charging modes have the greatest functionality for users with shorter travel time on board the train, such as commuters. At the present time, it is not possible to implement a fast charging mode as a standard feature for all e-bikes, as no standardized fast charger fits all e-bikes, independent of the manufacturer. Fast charging modes cannot be implemented for normally charged electric bicycles based on functionality, battery wear and fire risk. Furthermore, the study shows that large reductions in greenhousegas emissions can be achieved using electric bicycles in combination with communal trains, by effectively replacing car trips.
Det finns stora behov för att reducera användningen av fossildrivna vägtransporter. Med avsikt att uppmuntra kollektivtrafiken analyseras möjligheten att införa elcykelladdning ombord på järnvägsfordon i hopp om att kunna reducera koldioxidutsläppet och därmed nå Sveriges miljömål till 2045. Konceptets kartläggning utfördes på Öresundståget som studieobjekt där befintliga flexutrymmet och hjälpkraftsystem användes. En analys utfördes på olika laddstationer utifrån marknadens utbud vid tiden av studien, för att finna den som ansågs mest lämpad för konceptet. Studien baserades på de aktuella normer, krav och säkerhetsföreskrifter som gäller för järnvägsfordon inom Europeiska unionen. Dimensioneringen baserades utifrån en kravmatris inriktad på de relevanta målområdena: fordonsägare, resenär och samhälle. Syftet var att testa och verifiera konceptets resultat mot de prioriterade kraven för respektive målområde. Ett platsbesök ombord på studieobjektet har även utförts, för att få en klarare bild av hur konceptet kan tillämpas och ett kretsschema har designat i SolidWorks electrical som representerar kopplingsschemat mellan elmatningskällan och laddstationen. Efter avslutad studie fann man att applicering av elcykelladdning ombord på studieobjektet såväl som andra järnvägsfordon är fullt möjlig, utefter tillgänglig effekt och befintligt utrymme för ombordtagning av cyklar. Vidare visar studien att stora reduceringar i växthusgasutsläpp kan uppnås via användning av elcyklar i kombination med järnväg, genom att effektivt ersätta bilresor. Konceptet utformades enbart för en laddstation bestående av en grupp om tre uttag. Dock är antalet laddningsmöjligheter anpassningsbara utefter behov samt konstruktion, beroende på järnvägsfordonets trafikuppgift. Effektbehovet för laddstationen är utformad för att kunna erbjuda användare snabbladdning. Snabbladdning i jämförelse med normalladdning, uppfyller störst funktionalitet vid kortare tågresetid, med avseende på resenärens användningsbehov av en elcykel. För tillfället är detta ej möjligt att implementera som en standardiserad funktion för alla resenärer. Således ingen allmän snabbladdare passar elcyklar oberoende av tillverkare, kan inte denna typ av laddning implementeras för normalladdade elcyklar utifrån funktionalitet, batterislitage samt brandrisk. En av förmånerna med konceptet är att snabbladdning ombord på järnvägsfordon möjliggör en sammanhängande resa och skapar därmed en bättre flexibilitet för en pendlare. Däremot kan säkerheten komma att påverkas negativt vid införandet av laddstationer och för att förebygga detta finns en jordfelsbrytare kombinerad med en personskyddsbrytare som skyddar både användare och elutrustning. Faror orsakade av batteriet finns det däremot ingen möjlighet att förebygga. Ansvaret läggs på resenären genom att följa de förhållningsregler som gäller för respektive elcykelbatteri och laddare. Studien har utelämnat ekonomiska aspekter och rekommenderar även att elcykelladdning ombord bör hållas kostnadsfritt, åtminstone vid dess introduceringsfas. Dock har ett införande av framtida betalningstjänster en stor potential till att bli ekonomiskt lönsamt för tågoperatörer.

La presente ricerca fornisce l’edizione critica delle oltre quattrocento epistole inviate dalla contessa Margherita Trivulzio al figlio, il cardinal Federico Borromeo, nel corso del quindicennio 1586-1601. Lo studio di tale nucleo di missive permette non solo di gettare nuova luce sulla figura del Borromeo, approfondendo la trama delle sue relazioni familiari, ma consente soprattutto la messa a fuoco di un personaggio finora rimasto in ombra eppure meritevole di essere scoperto, quello della nobile Trivulzio. A partire dallo studio del materiale epistolografico esaminato, la presente indagine si propone infatti di ricostruire il profilo biografico, il retroterra religioso e il livello culturale della contessa – quest’ultimo indagato anche sul piano dell’analisi linguistica – offrendo al tempo stesso anche un possibile itinerario di lettura delle numerose lettere destinate al celebre fondatore della Biblioteca Ambrosiana di Milano.
This research provides the critical edition of over four hundred letters sent by the countess Margherita Trivulzio to her son, Cardinal Federico Borromeo, between 1586-1601. The study of this nucleus of letters allows one not only to shed new light on the figure of Borromeo, analysing his family relationships, but allows a particular focus on a personality, who has so far remained little known and yet worthy of being discovered: that of the noble Trivulzio. Starting from the study of the examined epistles, the following analysis aims to reconstruct the biographical profile, the religious background and the cultural importance of the countess – the latter being investigated as well in terms of linguistic analysis – while at the same time it offers a possible itinerary of reading the numerous letters addressed to the famous founder of the Ambrosian Library of Milan.

Esta tesis consiste en tres capítulos sobre la Teoría de concursos. Esta teoría estudia situaciones en las cuáles individuos compiten entre sí para ganar un premio. El bajo rendimiento en concursos aparece naturalmente por distintas razones, como la falta de información o el conflicto entre grupos. El objetivo de esta tesis es encontrar soluciones a este problema. El primer capítulo investiga conflictos entre dos grupos que intentan ganar un premio público y analiza como estos conflictos se ven afectados cuando los grupos son dirigidos por un organizador con la capacidad de imponer transferencias para repartir los costes del esfuerzo individual dentro del grupo. Primero describimos los niveles centralizados de esfuerzo del grupo – aquellos que los organizadores quieren obtener – y los comparamos con los esfuerzos que ocurren cuando los individuos actúan de forma no cooperativa. En el modelo, un grupo tiene bajo rendimiento cuando el esfuerzo de los individuos en un ámbito no cooperativo es inferior que el esfuerzo centralizado del grupo. De otro modo, el grupo rinde en exceso. Primero demostramos que el grupo más grande siempre tiene bajo rendimiento, mientras que el más pequeño solo si su tamaño es suficiente cercano al grupo grande. En caso contrario, rinde en exceso. En segundo lugar, caracterizamos reglas de reparto de coste que implementan los niveles centralizados de esfuerzo. Estas reglas consisten en repartir el coste de forma igualitaria. Finalmente, examinamos el juego en el que los organizadores compiten de forma estratégica determinando la regla de reparto de costes. Demostramos que la regla es la misma que en el caso de implementación para el grupo grande, mientras que es diferente para el pequeño. El segundo capítulo estudia el diseño de un concurso entre dos individuos con posibles restricciones presupuestarias cuando el organizador del concurso no está informado sobre el tamaño real de sus presupuestos y cuyo objetivo es maximizar el esfuerzo agregado. Definimos el nivel óptimo de esfuerzo como el nivel máximo lograble bajo información completa. Cuando el organizador tiene información completa el esfuerzo es máximo cuando el concurso está sesgado hacia el individuo con restricciones, en caso de que los individuos difieran en sus presupuestos. Bajo información incompleta, demostramos que el diseño previo no maximiza el esfuerzo, puesto que los individuos con restricciones mienten para conseguir un trato de favor. Demostramos que existe un mecanismo que maximiza el esfuerzo. Éste consiste en ofrecer menos premios a individuos que afirman tener restricciones, para inducir a los individuos sin restricciones a revelar su identidad. El tercer capítulo estudia situaciones donde los individuos compiten para evitar un mal, usando el modelo de concurso de lotería inversa de Fu et. al. (2014). Estudiamos una aplicación en la que un gobierno necesita establecer un vertedero en una región y quiere maximizar el conflicto entre lobbies. El gobierno decide entre dividir el vertedero en otros más pequeños o no, considerando que los lobbies ejercen presión para evitar estos males en su región. Demostramos que el conflicto se maximiza cuando el gobierno no divide el vertedero. También comparamos las propiedades del modelo de lotería inversa con el tradicional. En un contexto en el que los individuos compiten para ganar muchos premios y evitar males, demostramos que el esfuerzo agregado es mayor con la lotería tradicional (inversa) cuando hay más (menos) premios que males.
This thesis consists of three essays in Contest Theory. The theory of contests studies situations where individuals compete to win a prize. Underperformance in contests naturally arises for several reasons, like lack of information or group conflict. The aim of this thesis is to find solutions to overcome this problem. The first chapter addresses conflicts between two groups when trying to win a public prize and analyzes how these contests are affected when groups are led by an organizer with the capacity to impose transfers to share the costs of individual efforts within the group. We first describe centralized levels of group effort - those that organizers wish to attain - and compare with efforts when individuals act non-cooperatively. In the model a group underperforms when effort exerted by individuals in the non-cooperative setting is smaller than the centralized group effort. Otherwise, the group outperforms. We show that the larger group always underperforms, while the smaller one only does so if its size is sufficiently close to the larger group or otherwise outperforms. Second, we characterize cost sharing schemes that implement group centralized levels of effort. These schemes consist of sharing costs in an egalitarian way. And third, we examine the game where organizers compete strategically in setting the cost-sharing scheme of their group. We show that while the cost-sharing scheme is the same for the larger group that in the implementation case, it is different for the smaller group. The second chapter studies the design of a contest between two possible budget constrained players when the organizer of the contest is not informed about the actual size of budgets and where the objective is to maximize aggregate effort. We define the optimal effort as the maximum levels of effort achievable in a situation of complete information. When the organizer has complete information, effort is maximized when the contest is biased towards the constrained player in case they have different budgets. When the organizer has incomplete information, we show that the previous design fails to maximize aggregate effort, since unconstrained players lie about their budgets in order to ensure a favorable position in the contest. We show that there is a mechanism that implements the optimal effort. This mechanism consists of offering lower prizes to players that claim to be constrained to induce unconstrained players to report their true budget. The third chapter studies situations where individuals compete to avoid a bad, using the reverse lottery contest model introduced by Fu et al. (2014). We study an application in which a government needs to allocate a dump in a region and wants to maximize lobbying. The government decides either to divide this dump in smaller pieces or not, considering that lobbies influence the government to avoid such bads in their region. We show that lobbying is maximized when the government does not divide the dump. We also compare the properties of the reverse lottery contest with the conventional lottery contest. In a framework in which individuals compete to win many prizes and avoid many bads, we show that aggregate effort is higher using the conventional (reverse) lottery contest when there are more (less) prizes than bads.

Thesis disserts upon consumer contests and competitions. It defines their position among other sales promotion tools and studies their specifics. Describes the fundamental steps of the organization of contests as well as the legislative background. The practical part of the thesis is based on field research and aims to get an idea of consumers' attitudes to competitions. It attempts to propose an ideal model of consumer contests.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, Dept. of Economics, 2005.
Title from PDF t.p. (viewed Dec. 3, 2008). Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 66-03, Section: A, page: 1111. Chair: Michael R. Baye.

This dissertation adds to the current understanding of contests. Contests are a class of games in which players compete for a prize be expending resources. Some portion of the resources expended cannot be recuperated, even in the event of a loss. Each chapter extends standard models to incorporate realistic features such as nonprobabilistic uncertainty, budgets, dynamics, or intermediate outcomes. Chapter 1 introduces ambiguity aversion to the all-pay auction and war of attrition. Increasing ambiguity causes low types to bid lower and high types to bid higher, in the all-pay auction. In the war of attrition, ambiguity can uniformly decrease the bids. A revenue ranking for the all-pay auction, war of attrition, and standard sealed bid auctions is provided. These results are consistent with much of the experimental literature. Chapter 2 continues the discussion of ambiguity aversion. The main result is a characterization of the set of increasing equilibria in games like the all-pay auction and war of attrition. Unlike with subjective expected utility, even when beliefs are independent of type, an increasing equilibrium may not exist. Sufficient conditions are provided for such an equilibrium to exist. Chapter 3 models endogenous budgets in sequential elimination contests. Contestants depend on a strategic group of players to provide resources that will be spent in the contest. We analyze the effect of timing and spending rules on aggregate spending. When budgets are not replenished between stages, spending is higher. When unspent resources are refunded, total spending is higher than when all spending is a sunk costs. Chapter 4 introduces an all-pay auction game with an intermediate outcome between winning and losing. When bids are sufficiently different, the player with the highest bid wins a prize, and the other player receives nothing . When bids are close, the outcome is called a tie, and each player receives an intermediate prize. Ties are common in sports, political competition, and war. Equilibrium is characterized for a set of parameters where the tying region is relatively large.

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A exemplo dos v?rios dom?nios discursivos, o jur?dico, tamb?m, disp?e de uma pluralidade de g?neros discursivos textuais, os quais podem, igualmente, constituir o objeto de an?lise na interface Linguagem e Direito. Entre os g?neros que circulam no dom?nio em foco, estabelecemos como objetivo geral investigar, nesta tese, o g?nero jur?dico Contesta??o, no que concerne ao fen?meno da responsabilidade enunciativa (RE). Propusemos como objetivos espec?ficos identificar, descrever, analisar e interpretar nas se??es ?Das preliminares? e ?Do m?rito?, que compreendem a defesa no plano processual e material da Contesta??o: i) a estrutura composicional e sequencial; ii) os pontos de vistas assumidos pelo locutor enunciador primeiro (L1/E1) e enunciadores segundos (e2); iii) as marcas lingu?sticas que apontam a assun??o da responsabilidade enunciativa e/ou um quadro mediativo. A escolha desse g?nero tem sua relev?ncia por ser um g?nero recorrente no processo civil e apresentar caracter?sticas pr?prias com exig?ncias previstas na legisla??o, al?m de possuir car?ter pr?tico. Optamos pela an?lise das se??es Das preliminares e Do m?rito porque nessas partes est?o o n?cleo da narra??o e exposi??o dos argumentos, o uso de discurso citado e, portanto, a entrada de outras vozes (requerente(s), doutrinadores, legisladores, juristas), possibilitando, assim, o estudo das marcas textuais reveladoras de responsabilidade enunciativa. A pesquisa seguiu a metodologia qualitativa do tipo documental, de car?ter qualitativo-interpretativista. O corpus ? constitu?do por 8 (oito) Contesta??es, produzidas por diferentes advogados, as quais foram protocoladas no 2? Juizado Especial C?vel da Zona Sul da Comarca de Natal-RN, no per?odo de 2013 a 2014. As Contesta??es analisadas relacionam-se a temas referentes ao direito do consumidor. Nossa ancoragem te?rica situa-se na abordagem da an?lise textual dos discursos (ATD), enfoque desenvolvido por Adam (2011), que objetiva analisar a produ??o co(n)textual de sentido, fundamentada na an?lise de textos concretos. Essa perspectiva tem como bases te?ricas a lingu?stica textual (LT) e a lingu?stica enunciativa (LE). No que se refere ao ponto de vista (PDV), acompanhamos os estudos de Rabatel (2008, 2008a, 2009, 2015, 2015a) e, para o quadro mediativo, seguimos Guentch?va (1994, 1996, 2011, 2014), uma vez que se constituem como no??es basilares para o tratamento da responsabilidade enunciativa. Quanto ao discurso jur?dico, focalizamos nos estudos de Rodrigues, Passeggi e Silva Neto (2014), Rodrigues (2016b, 2016c), Rodrigues e Passeggi (2016), Louren?o (2008, 2015), Pinto (2010), Gomes (2014), Tullio (2012), Palaia (2010), Cabral (2016), dentre outros. Selecionamos duas categorias de an?lise que, segundo Adam (2011), caracterizam na materialidade textual o grau de RE dos enunciados proposicionais: as modalidades, que s?o determinantes dos locutores, dos enunciadores e dos pontos de vista. Igualmente, a indica??o de quadros mediadores, atrav?s de marcas lingu?sticas que apontam a n?o assun??o da RE. A an?lise dos dados de pesquisa demonstra que na Contesta??o, enquanto g?nero discursivo textual, predomina a sequ?ncia argumentativa, visto que, al?m de ser marca protot?pica do discurso jur?dico, o produtor do texto, ao assumir a RE e utilizar-se dos PDV de outros enunciadores, influencia e estabelece a orienta??o argumentativa do texto. No que se refere ao quadro mediativo, observamos que a entrada de fontes do direito funciona como estrat?gia do que ? dito pelo locutor enunciador primeiro (L1/E1) para assinalar o desengajamento em rela??o ao conte?do proposicional do seu dizer. Nesse sentido, a Contesta??o coloca em evid?ncia dois pontos de vista distintos (autor e r?u), expondo a ades?o do r?u a um ponto de vista que se op?e ao do autor. Isso ocorreu, principalmente, nas se??es ?Da preliminares? e ?Do m?rito?, zonas textuais que apontam, por um lado, enunciadores como respons?veis pelo conte?do proposicional enunciado, por outro lado, enunciadores que n?o se engajaram no que diz respeito ao conte?do proposicional enunciado.
Various fields of discourse, including legal discourse, make use of a variety of discursive, textual genres that can become objects of analysis at the interface between Language and Law. Within these legal genres, in this thesis, our general objective is to investigate the Defense Statement, regarding Commitment. Our specific objectives are to identify, describe, analyze and interpret, the steps, ?Preliminaries? and ?Merits?, which refer to the procedural and material part of the argument of the Defense, observing: i) the composition and sequential structure; ii) the points of view held by the first speaker-enunciator (S1/E1) and second speakers (s2); iii) the linguistic marks that point to assuming Commitment and/or a mediating role. The study of this genre is relevant, as it is an essential genre in civil lawsuits, and presents distinct characteristics advising on legislative mandates, and practical requirements as well. We opt to analyze these steps because they form the nucleus of the narration and exposition of the arguments, the use of the previously mentioned discourse, and therefore, the contain other voices (plaintiffs, legal authors, legislators, jurists), enabling, thus, the study of the textual marks that evidence Commitment. The research is characterized as qualitative, bibliographic, interpretive research. The corpus is comprised of 8 (eight) Defense Statements, produced by different lawyers, which were protocoled at the 2nd Special Civil Court of the South Side in the District of Natal-RN, from 2013 to 2014. The Defenses analyzed relate to consumer rights. The theoretical framework of our study is based on the Textual Discourse Analysis (TDA), developed by Adam (2011), who analyzes the (con)textual production of meaning, through the analysis of authentic texts. This perspective is based on Textual Linguistics (TL) and Enunciative Linguistics (EL). Our perspective on Point of View (POV), is based on the studies of Rabatel (2008, 2008a, 2009, 2015, 2015a), and the framework for mediation is based on Guentch?va (1994, 1996, 2011, 2014), which forms our basic notions for examining Commitment. Regarding the legal discourse, we focus on studies by Rodrigues, Passeggi and Silva Neto (2014), Rodrigues (2016b, 2016c), Rodrigues e Passeggi (2016), Louren?o (2008, 2015), Pinto (2010), Gomes (2014), Tullio (2012), Palaia (2010), Cabral (2016), among others. We selected two categories of analysis that, according to Adam (2011), characterize the degree of the ER of the propositional enunciations, materially in the text: modalities, which are determinants of the speakers, the enunciators and the points of view. Similarly, the indication of mediator profiles, through the linguistic marks that point to not assuming Commitment. The research data analysis shows that in the Defense Statement, as a discursive textual genre, the argument sequence predominates, since, besides being a prototypical mark of legal discourse, the producer of the text, on assuming ER and using the POV of other enunciators, influences and establishes the direction of the argument in the text. Regarding the mediating profile, we observe that the use of legal sources functions as a strategy of what is said by the speaker-enunciator (S1/E1) to assign the disengagement in relation to the propositional content of his or her speech. In this sense, the Defense presents two distinct points of view (perpetrator and defendant), exposing the adherence of the defendant to a point of view that is in opposition to the perpetrator. This occurs, mainly, in the sections ?Preliminaries? and ?Merits?, textual zones that point to, on the one hand, enunciators as responsible for the propositional content enunciated, and on the other hand, enunciators that do not engage with respect to the propositional content enunciated.

This dissertation examines strategic learning as learning from events and experiences that have significant consequences for organisational survival in a competitive environment. The study is centred on design contest as repeat event systems that in their time bracketed generational progression, provide for an ideal setting to analyse such learning. Convergence that constrains experimentation to a few elements that define the strategic configuration of organisations is posited as a natural consequence of performance feedback. Strategic learning is seen to be manifested in the interplay of behavioural and cognitive attributes that moderate such convergence. Effective strategic learning is seen as key to distinguishing `winners' from the `also-rans' where the former counter overt convergence by striking a balance between `searching for the competitive edge' and `creating the competitive edge'. In its conceptualisation of strategic learning, study design, and selection of research sites, the study successfully navigates most of the problems that have confounded research in the relatively nascent area of strategic learning. The dissertation comprises three empirical studies. The first two are based in the quasi-experimental settings of a robotic design contest called Robot Wars where the strategic learning model emerges by an examination of convergence as consequence of performance feedback, and the factors that moderate it. The last study is based on the sequential event system of movie-sequels to provide external validity to the study. The study presents the first comprehensive examination of strategic learning in repeat event systems. It provides empirical evidence for the effect of performance feedback on convergence, and the consequences this has for future performance. Evidence for the interplay of behavioural and cognitive forces in moderating convergence for effective strategic learning, completes the strategic learning model that this dissertation delivers as a contribution to research and managerial practice.

In the Seel-Strack contest (Seel and Strack [2013]), n agents each privately observe an independent copy of a drifting Brownian motion which starts above zero. Each agent chooses when to stop the process she observes, and the winner of the contest is the agent who stops her Brownian motion at the highest value amongst the set of agents. The objective of each agent is to maximise her probability of winning the contest. We will give a new derivation of the results of Seel and Strack [2013] based on a Lagrangian approach. This approach facilitates our analysis of the variants of the Seel-Strack problem. We will consider a generalisation of the Seel-Strack contest in which the observed processes are independent copies of some time-homogeneous diffusion. We will use a change of scale to reduce this contest to a contest in which the observed processes are diffusions in natural scale. It turns out that, unlike in the Seel-Strack problem, the way of breaking ties becomes important. Moreover, we will discuss an extension of the Seel-Strack contest to one in which an agent is penalised when her strategy is suboptimal, in the sense that her chosen strategy does not win the contest, but there existed an alternative strategy which would have resulted in victory. We will see that different types of penalty have different effects. Seel and Strack [2013] studied the asymmetric 2-player contest in which the observed processes start from different constants. We will redrive their results using the Lagrangian method and then study a general asymmetric n-player contest. We will find that some results in the 2-player contest do not hold for the general n-player contest. In a symmetric 2-player contest, the Seel-Strack model assumes that the observed processes start from the same positive constant. We will extend the results to the case where the starting values of the processes are independent non-negative random variables that have the same distribution.

Attraverso questo elaborato di tesi si vuole descrivere il contesto attuale in cui si trova l'intelligenza artificiale e le fasi che hanno portato all'introduzione del "tiny machine learning" come tecnologia ampiamente utilizzata, delineando inoltre le caratteristiche e gli accorgimenti da considerare nell'implementazione di tali sistemi. Il settore del TinyML, seppur per certi versi ancora in fase di sviluppo, in questi ultimi anni ha preso sempre più piede ed acquisito seguito in tutto il mondo sia da parte di organizzazioni accademiche che aziende private, anche grazie agli sforzi compiuti a partire dal 2019 dall'associazione no profit "TinyML Foundation". La potenza di tale tecnologia consiste nel coadiuvare la rilevanza del machine learning e la versatilità del mondo IOT implementando soluzioni efficienti per una variopinta schiera di problemi all'interno di microcontrollori terminali. Sistemi di questa natura hanno la peculiarità di poter essere installati in circostanze ostili o in ambienti nei quali risorse di rete ed elettriche scarseggiano, sfruttando l’alimentazione fornita da batterie integrate; l’obiettivo che il TinyML si pone di realizzare è molto ambizioso: traslare il motore dell’intelligenza logica da strutture server cloud centralizzate all’interno di microcontrollori delle dimensioni di qualche centimetro, funzionanti a meno di 1 milliWatt di potenza.

Thesis advisor: Hideo Konishi
The majority of this work focuses on the theoretical analysis of collective action, group efficiency, and incentive mechanisms in team contests where individual outlays of heterogeneous agents are not observable. The reward allocation within the group is instead dependent on observable worker characteristics, modeled as individual abilities, as well as on the observable level of aggregate output. I study the incentives for free-riding and the group-size paradox under a very general set of intra-team allocation rules. I further derive the optimal allocation mechanism which rewards agents according to a general-logit specification based on their relative ability. I derive conditions under which a team's performance is most sensitive to the ability of its highest-skill members, while at the same time higher spread in the distribution of ability has a positive effect on group output. In the final chapter I shift attention to the problem of optimal player order choice in dynamic pairwise team battles. I show that even if player order choice is conducted endogenously and sequentially after observing the outcomes of earlier rounds, then complete randomization over remaining agents is always a subgame perfect equilibrium. The zero-sum nature of these type of contests implies that expected payoffs for each team are independent of whether the contest matching pairs are determined endogenously and sequentially or announced before the start of the game. In both cases the ex-ante payoffs are equivalent to those when an independent contest organizer randomly draws the matches
Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2020
Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
Discipline: Economics

Al giorno d'oggi la privacy degli utenti in rete è messa a rischio: siti web, applicazioni per smartphones, social networks, memorizzano dati che se assemblati possono descrivere le abitudini di un utente, le sue peculiarità, i suoi spostamenti, insomma la sua identità. L'obiettivo della mia tesi è stato quello di dimostrare quanto può essere dedotto su un utente partendo da semplici dati, quali la posizione e l'attività dello spostamento da una posizione all'altra e il tempo, raccolti nella cronologia di Google Maps. In questo lavoro è stato creato un modello attraverso l'uso di tecniche di Machine Learning per andare ad analizzare i pattern, in termini di spostamenti e di attività, che caratterizzano un utente nella sua vita quotidiana.

In the literature on contests, punishments have received much less attention than prizes. One possible reason is that punishing the bottom player(s) in a contest where all contestants are not allowed to quit, while effective in increasing contestants' total effort, often violates individual rationality constraints. But what will happen in an open contest where all potential contestants can choose whether or not to participate? In chapter 1, we study a model of this type and allow the contest designer to punish the bottom participant according to their performances. We conclude that punishment is often not desirable (optimal punishment is zero) when the contest designer wants to maximize the expected total effort, while punishment is often desirable (optimal punishment is strictly positive) when the contest designer wants to maximize the expected highest individual effort. In the literature on imperfectly discriminating contests, researchers normally assume that the contest designer has a certain level of accuracy in choosing the winner, which can be represented by the discriminatory power r in the Power Contest Success Function (the Power CSF, proposed by Tullock in 1980). With symmetric contestants, it is well known that increasing accuracy (r) always increases total effort when the pure-strategy equilibrium exists. In chapter 2, we look at the cases where the contestants are heterogeneous in ability. We construct an equilibrium set on r > 0, where a unique pure-strategy equilibrium exists for any r below a critical value and a mixed-strategy equilibrium exists for any r above this critical value. We find that if the contestants are sufficiently different in ability, there always exists an optimal accuracy level for the contest designer. Additionally, as we increase the difference in their abilities, the optimal accuracy level decreases. The above conclusions provide an explanation to many phenomena in the real world and may give guidance in some applications. In chapter 3, we propose the Power Contest Defeat Function (the Power CDF)which eliminates one player out at a time over successive rounds. We show that the Power CDF has the same good qualities as the Power Contest Success Function (the Power CSF) and is more realistic in some cases. We look at both the Power CSF mechanism (selecting winners in sequence) and the Power CDF mechanism (selecting losers in sequence) and show that punishments increase expected total e¤orts signi cantly. More interestingly, we also find that when the contestants' effort levels are different, the Power CDF mechanism is more accurate in finding the correct winner (the one who makes the greatest effort) and the Power CSF mechanism is more accurate in finding the correct loser (the one who makes the smallest effort).

Thesis: Ph. D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Economics, 2017.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 177-184).
This thesis consists of three chapters broadly in industrial organization, with a focus on contests and auctions, and game theory. Chapter 1 develops a new model of multistage R&D procurement contests, in which firms conduct research over a number of stages to develop an innovative product and then supply it to a procurer. I show that the primitives of this model-the cost of research, the distributions of project values and delivery costs, and the share of the profits captured by the firms-are non parametrically identified given data on R&D expenditures and procurement contract amounts. I then develop a tractable estimation procedure and apply it to data from the Small Business Innovation Research program in the Department of Defense. I find that within a particular contests, there is low variation in the values of the proposed projects, which are drawn early in the process, but considerably larger variation in the delivery costs, which are drawn later. The DOD provides high-powered incentives, sharing about 75% of the surplus with the firms. I then suggest simple design changes to improve social surplus but find that many of these socially beneficial design changes would in fact reduce DOD profits. Chapter 2, which is joint with James Roberts and Andrew Sweeting, studies the benefits of regulating entry into procurement auctions, relative to standard auctions in which bidders are allowed to enter and bid freely. Specifically, we study the relationship between auction outcomes and the precision of information bidders have about their costs before entering the bidding stage of the contest. We show that the relative performance of a standard auction with free entry and an "entry rights auction," which restricts participation in the bidding phase, depends non monotonically on the information precision. We finally estimate the model on a dataset of auctions for bridge-building contracts let by the Oklahoma and Texas Departments of Transportation. Entry is estimated to be moderately selective, and the counterfactual implication is that an entry rights auction would significantly increase social efficiency and reduce procurement costs. Chapter 3, which is joint with Lucas Manuelli and Ludwig Straub, proposes a model of "signal distortion" in a game with imperfect public monitoring. We construct a framework in which each player has the chance to distort the true public signal, and each player is uncertain about the distortion technologies available to his opponent. Continuation payoffs are dependent on the distorted signal. Our main result is that when players evaluate strategies according to their worst case guarantees-i.e., are ambiguity-averse over certain distributions in the environment-players behave as if the continuation payoffs that incentivize them in the stage game are perfectly aligned with their opponents'. We then provide two examples showing counterintuitive implications of this result: (i) signal structures that allow players to identify deviators can be harmful in enforcing a strategy profile, and (ii) the presence of signal distortion can help sustain cooperation when it is impossible in standard settings. We then extend our equilibrium concept to a repeated game, show that it is a natural generalization of strongly symmetric equilibria, and then prove an anti-folk theorem that payoffs are in general bounded away from efficiency.
by Vivek Bhattacharya.
1. An Empirical Model of R&D Procurement Contests -- 2. Regulating Bidder Participation in Auctions -- 3. Imperfect Public Monitoring with a Fear of Signal Distortion.
Ph. D.

Come possiamo rappresentare concetti complessi nel Semantic Web? In questo lavoro viene analizzata l'applicabilità di congetture e contesti, sfruttando il nuovo framework RDF 1.1. Conjector, il progetto su cui si basa questa dissertazione, sfrutta delle librerie JavaScript selezionate, per la gestione di grafi RDF, per valutare come i contesti possano essere applicati e gestiti da una applicazione moderna.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, Dept. of Economics, 2005.
Title from PDF t.p. (viewed Dec. 8, 2008). Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 66-05, Section: A, page: 1898. Chair: Eric B. Rasmusen.

In a multi-stage contest known as a two-player race, players display two fundamental behaviors: (1) The laggard will make a last stand in order to avoid the cost of losing; and (2) the player who is ahead will defend his lead if it is threatened. Last stand behavior, in particular, contrasts with previous research where the underdog simply gives up. The distinctive results are achieved by introducing losing penalties and discounting into the racing environment. This framework permits the momentum effect, typically ascribed to the winner of early stages, to be more thoroughly examined. I study the likelihood that the underdog will catch up. I find that neck-and-neck races are common when the losing penalty is large relative to the winning prize, while landslide victories occur when the prize is relatively large. Closed-form solutions are given for the case where players have a common winning prize and losing penalty. Chapter 2 then experimentally examines the prediction of last stand behavior in a multi-battle contest with a winning prize and losing penalty, as well as the contrasting prediction of surrendering in the corresponding contest with no penalty. We find varied evidence in support of these hypotheses in the aggregated data, but more conclusive evidence when scrutinizing individual player behavior. Players tend to adopt one of several strategies. We develop a taxonomy to classify player types and study how the different strategies interact. The last stand and surrendering behaviors have implications for winning margins and the likelihood of an upset, which we investigate. Behaviorally, players are typically more aggressive when they reach a state in the contest by winning rather than by losing. The third and final chapter is a distinct departure from the study of multi-battle contests. Using comprehensive census data for Cornwall County, England, I create a panel dataset that spans six censuses (1841--1891)—possibly the largest panel dataset for Victorian England at present. I present the methodology for linking individuals and families across these censuses. This methodology incorporates recent advances in census linking (including the use of machine learning) and introduces new methods for tracking migration and changes in household composition. I achieve a forward matching rate of 43%. The additional inclusion of marriage and death records could allow for well over 60% of the population to be accounted for from one census to the next. Using this new panel, I investigate the frequency with which sons pursue the same occupations that they observed their fathers doing while growing up. For sons that did not follow in their father's footsteps, I identify some correlates that may have contributed to the change.

Lo studio, oggetto della presente tesi, si propone di affrontare e approfondire le tecniche di rilevamento impiegate nell'ambito di contesti idraulici per la valutazione del dislivello fra punti, allo scopo di consentire il regolare deflusso delle acque. Il primo capitolo si apre introducendo la geodesia, per poi definire le varie tipologie di superfici e sistemi di riferimento, a cui le quote ottenute nella misurazione dei dislivelli si riferiscono. Il secondo capitolo descrive le tecniche impiegate nella misurazione dei dislivelli, soffermandosi sulla livellazione geometrica “dal mezzo”di alta precisione e su quella trigonometrica, impiegata principalmente per rilievi di precisione, come quello idraulico preso in esame, soprattutto per l’attraversamento di aree impraticabili quali corsi fluviali o piccoli bracci di mare. Il terzo capitolo descrive la strumentazione impiegata per eseguire le tecniche definite nel capitolo precedente, soffermandoci su quella impiegata nel caso-studio. Il quarto capitolo analizza il caso-studio da me effettuato, il cui obiettivo riguarda il collegamento altimetrico tra le due sommità delle aste idrometriche, installate rispettivamente presso Molo Vecchio e il torrente Acquanegra per il controllo del livello del lago di Monate (Provincia di Varese).

In increasingly large and complex companies there is the need to better organize and track production activities, trying to monitor both environments and workers in real time. In an age that is in continuous development, changes take place rapidly, the objects that are used daily are always more intelligent and consequently also the way of man to interact with technologies both at home and in the workplace changes. Technological innovation, linked to the new Industry 4.0 concepts, has an impact on the entire world of work, including physical spaces. The new requirement of the worker is that of being able to have technologies that ensure mobility, rapid and stable connectivity to promote greater efficiency. Digital technologies such as cloud, mobile, the Internet of Things, Big Data Management and Artificial Intelligence support business activities every day. The companies that will succeed in the future will be those that will succeed in achieving a balance between productivity, inclusion and a personal approach that takes into account a new way of working. A strength that will certainly characterize the new workplaces will be the ability to provide employees with pre-configured and cloud-ready devices that allow them to design creative, productive and safer work spaces. The purpose of the work was to design and go on to define a device that can interconnect work environments with employees and vehicles present, monitor and track goods.

This thesis presents four studies on a variety of lottery contests. A contest is a game in which players incur irreversible expenditure of costly resources to win some valuable reward. The contest success function, which maps the resource investments into corresponding success probabilities, is the mathematical representation of the selection mechanism in a contest. This thesis focuses on lottery contests where chance plays a crucial role in determining the outcome. The first chapter, called “That’s the ticket: Explicit lottery randomisation and learning in Tullock contests” looks at how mere difference in representation can affect behaviour in an experimental lottery contest. A simple lottery contest with a single winner prize is implemented using two different frameworks one more abstract, following convention in majority of existing literature in this field, and one more operational, closely resembling the familiar institution of a lottery. Behaviour in the operational framework is closer to the theoretical prediction and reflects quicker adjustment towards best-responses. The findings have been replicated in two university locations in two continents. The second chapter, “A combinatorial multi-winner contest with package-designer preferences” provides a general framework for modelling a special type of contest that has been discretely studied in the existing literature. This is a highly stylized model of a multi-winner contest characterized by a group lottery contest among overlapping groups with perfect substitution of effort within a group. Best-responses are characterized for any connected network, and equilibrium properties have been discussed for certain types of networks. The third chapter, titled “Equivalent multi-winner contests: An experiment”, shows the strategic redundancy of three multi-winner contest mechanisms and proves outcome equivalence through laboratory implementation. This chapter also argues that such lottery-based multi-winner mechanisms generate similar contest investment as in a single-winner contest for suitable parameter values. The fourth chapter, “In-group and out-group motives in group conflicts: An experimental study”, employs a novel design to distinguish between different group-related attitudes in an inter-group conflict. Depending on the treatment, financial as well psychological consequences for in-group or out-group members are removed by matching current experimental subjects with the pre-recorded decisions made by previously participating subjects. This has been crossed with minimal identity conditions. No significant evidence of group bias is found. Observed behaviour shows higher support for conformity with others in decision-making. Overall, the findings from the three experiments indicate that decision-making patterns in lottery contests are largely unaffected by strategy-preserving procedural variations, but are responsive to representational differences.

L’intelligenza artificiale costituisce un ramo dell’informatica che permette di programmare e progettare sistemi in grado di dotare le macchine di caratteristiche considerate tipicamente umane. L’internet delle cose rappresenta una rete di oggetti fisici in grado di connettersi e scambiare dati con altri dispositivi tramite internet. Nonostante L’internet delle cose e l’intelligenza artificiale rappresentino due concetti diversi, riescono ad integrarsi per creare nuove soluzioni con un elevato potenziale. L’utilizzo combinato di queste due tecnologie permette di aumentare il valore di entrambe le soluzioni, in quanto permette il conseguimento di dati e modelli predittivi. In questo elaborato di tesi l’obiettivo è stato quello di analizzare l’evoluzione dell’intelligenza artificiale e dell’innovazione tecnologica nella vita quotidiana. Nello specifico, l’intelligenza artificiale applicata all’internet delle cose ha preso piede nella gestione di grandi realtà come le smart city o smart mobility o nelle piccole realtà come le smart home, mettendo in rete una grande quantità di dati privati. Tuttavia, esistono ancora delle problematiche. Infatti, ad oggi non è stato ancora raggiunto il livello di sicurezza tale da poter utilizzare queste tecnologie in applicazioni più critiche. La sfida più grande nel mondo del lavoro sarà comprendere e saper sfruttare le potenzialità che il nuovo paradigma nell’utilizzo dell’intelligenza artificiale andrà a suggerire.

Quello della gamification, ossia dell'uso di elementi di game design fuori dal loro contesto originale, è senza dubbio uno dei topic più in voga in ambito informatico e non solo. Esempi di questo fenomeno si possono trovare in ogni ambito, da piattaforme per l'apprendimento, a sistemi per la navigazione stradale fino a, per citare un contesto fuori dal nostro ambito, campagne pubblicitarie di portata molto vasta. Lo sviluppo di applicazioni gamificate può trovare nuovi orizzonti e nuove prospettive attraverso l'integrazione con concetti di intelligenza artificiale e machine learning, per ottenere vari risultati, come piattaforme per l'e-learning in grado di adattarsi all'utente fino a robot interattivi, oppure si possono utilizzare tecniche di gamification per permettere la creazione di modelli di intelligenza artificiale da parte di persone senza troppe conoscenze in materia. L'obiettivo finale di questo volume di tesi è quello di esporre, attraverso qualche esempio, i vari modi in cui gamification ed intelligenza artificiale possono interfacciarsi ed esplicitare alcuni punti critici dello stato della ricerca in materia.

Attualmente il tema della sostenibilità è uno dei più trattati e discussi a livello globale. Si può affermare lo stesso anche per la tecnologia blockchain, maggiormente conosciuta per le sue applicazioni nelle criptovalute. L’obiettivo di questo studio è quello di sensibilizzare sull’importanza della sostenibilità, e, allo stesso tempo, di far comprendere le enormi potenzialità delle applicazioni blockchain nel contesto della sostenibilità. Inizialmente, verranno introdotti il concetto di sostenibilità e di sviluppo sostenibile e saranno quindi introdotti i 17 SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals). In seguito, verrà illustrata la tecnologia blockchain attraverso una breve introduzione che evidenzia caratteristiche, limiti e svantaggi, seguita dalla spiegazione del funzionamento e dei singoli componenti che ne fanno parte. Infine, saranno elencate le principali applicazioni della blockchain legate alla sostenibilità, in particolare quelle presenti nelle supply chain e quelle relative alla salvaguardia dell’ambiente.

Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka hur nationer använder nationsmarknadsföring och narrativitet för att förmedla en särskild bild genom att nyttja Eurovision Song Contest som kommunikationsplattform. Undersökningen görs via en semiotisk analys som granskar utvalda visuella delar från tre nationer som agerat värd för evenemanget mellan åren 2009–2018. Resultatet av analysen visar på att nationerna följer olika narrativa spår som lyfter särskilda saker. I diskussionsavsnittet tas två olika hypoteser upp angående värdländernas nationsmarknadsföringar. Den ena är den kulturella hypotesen, alltså att värdlandets kulturella bakgrund präglar nationsmarknadsföringen. Den andra är den strategiska hypotesen som syftar till att värdlandet strategiskt väljer att använda särskilda narrativ utifrån exempelvis sin politiska situation. Diskussionen poängterar dock att andra faktorer kan ha inverkan på nationsmarknadsföringen, såsom huruvida nationen tidigare varit värdland i evenemanget.

Marvelous Realism is a continuous source of debate in the world of research. Restricted to latino-american literature for ones, open to all literatures for others, this style suffers from a lack of unanimity. This is the reason why I have chosen to begin my thesis with a panoramic view of this style and identify its founders. Subsequently, I will try to establish the distinctions between Magic and Marvelous Realism through the thesis of Charles Scheel and Ook Chung.
Those precisions made, I shall analyse the presence of Marvelous Realism in Ferron's Contes with the stylistic and/or structural traits of Mary-Ellen Ross, Charles Scheel, Cecilia Ponte and Irlemar Chiampi among others.
The second part of my thesis is composed of short stories that will enlightened, by the events, or by the narration, certain aspects of Marvelous Realism.

Die Überprüfung von Übersetzungen gilt als wichtige Phase für alle Textsorten, vor allem in Kontexten, wo das translatorische Ergebnis hochwertig sein muss, wie in der Europäischen Union. Es ist aber schwierig, wie bei der Übersetzung, diese Phase eindeutig zu regeln, da sie von vielen Faktoren, wie z. B. von der verfügbaren Zeit, von der technischen Schwierigkeit des Texts und von der Textsorte, abhängt. Die vorliegende Masterarbeit ist aus der Notwendigkeit heraus entstanden, die im Rahmen der Praktika bei Amplexor s.à.r.l. und bei der Generaldirektion für Übersetzung erlernte Theorie und Praxis zu beschreiben und zu analysieren. Es geht um die Anwendung der terminologischen und translatorischen Theorie und der Theorie im Rahmen der Überprüfung von Übersetzungen anhand der praktischen Überprüfung von zwei bestimmten Dokumenten, d. h. die von der Generaldirektion Wachstum veröffentlichen Mitteilungen und Notifizierungen. Das Ziel der Masterarbeit ist die Vorstellung einer theoretischen Basis in einem bestimmten, d. h. europäischen Kontext, die zur Überprüfung von technischen und legislativen Texten dienen soll, und die Beschreibung von praktischen Beispielen, die die Überprüfung von bestimmten Aspekten der Übersetzung ins Italienische rechtfertigen. Die vorliegende Masterarbeit zieht die Bedeutung der Überprüfung und ihre Klassifikation, das Prinzip der Mehrsprachigkeit in der Europäischen Union, die sprachlichen Merkmale von Rechtstexten, die verschiedenen Vorschläge zur Überprüfung und die Hilfsmittel zur Überprüfung in Betracht. Die konkreten Beispiele helfen bei der Anwendung der oben genannten Aspekte.

Il seguente lavoro di tesi, vuole mostrare come la grande mole di dati, defi- nita Big Data, generata dai numerosi dispositivi tecnologici creati negli ultimi anni (Smartphone, dispositivi IoT, etc.) e dalle varie web application (social network, servizi di messagistica, servizi di posta elettronica, etc.), possa essere sfruttata per ottenere informazioni relative alla vita privata degli utenti. Infat- ti, nonostante nella letteratura siano presenti una lunga serie di lavori su come utilizzare questi dati in modo efficiente, al fine di creare applicazioni in grado di fornire servizi innovativi basati sulle preferenze dei singoli utenti (applica- zioni context-aware), l’ambito relativo al rapporto tra le operazioni di raccolta e analisi delle informazioni e la privacy degli singoli utenti resta largamente inesplorato. Inizialmente introdurremo i principali concetti che ci saranno utili per com- prendere al meglio l’argomento trattato, per poi mostrare il modo in cui, avendo a disposizione una raccolta di dati, sia possibile risalire a un’ampia serie di informazioni di varia natura relative ai singoli utenti considerati. Descriveremo dunque il processo di creazione di un framework ideato con l’obiettivo di inferire varie informazioni sulla base di una serie di dataset relativi ad un gruppo di persone, che hanno acconsetito al trattamento dei propri dati personali per lo scopo di questo progetto. Infine, presenteremo e analizzeremo i risultati ottenuti al variare di una serie di parametri.

Il documento analizza diversi software di DDBMS; nello specifico sono prese in esame le seguenti tecnologie: MySQL Replication, Galera Cluster, MongoDB Shard, MongoDB Replication Set e MySQL Cluster. Per ogni tecnologia sono stati individuati i punti di forza attraverso benchmark e test su un’infrastruttura molto simile a quelle utilizzate dalle aziende in ambienti di produzione. Non è emerso un software migliore di altri sotto tutti i punti di vista, ognuno di loro è risultato specializzato per un tipo di applicazione diversa.

This thesis presents an empirical investigation of individual and team contests using both lab experiments and field data. The thesis is comprised of five chap- ters. Chapter 1 introduces the overarching theme of this thesis and the common methodological tool, which is a novel real effort task used in the lab experiments. Chapter 2 discusses this real effort task in more detail and shows its usefulness in studying behavioural responses to incentives by presenting a series of experiments, including individual production with piece-rate incentives, team production, gift exchange, and tournament, using the task. All of the results are closely in line with theoretical predictions and, where applicable, the stylised facts from experiments using purely induced values. Chapter 3 experimentally examines the role of interpersonal comparisons in an individual contest. The experiment follows Gill and Prowse (2012) and is designed to investigate the source of disappointment aversion, that is, whether it is purely an asocial concept, akin to loss aversion, or fuelled by interpersonal comparisons. The new evidence however rejects predictions of the disappointment aversion model, both when interpersonal comparisons are possible and when they are not. Chapter 4 empirically examines strategic behaviour of contestants in a dynamic “best-of-three” team contest. I find evidence of “strategic neutrality” in both field data from high-stakes professional squash team tournaments and lab data from an experiment: the outcomes of previous battles do not affect the current battle. The lab data however reveal that the neutrality prediction does not perfectly hold at the level of individual efforts. Chapter 5 concludes the thesis by summarising all findings in previous chapters, discussing the limitations, and pointing to directions for future research.

Il presente elaborato descrive tre dimensioni quali lo stile d'attaccamento (Bowlby, 1969, 1973, 1980; Ainsworth e coll., 1978), la competenza emotiva (Frijda, 1990; Goleman, 1996, 1998; Grazzani Gavazzi, 2004) e la resilienza (Cyrulnik, 2002), analizzata partendo da un excursus storico del concetto di trauma, dalle prime teorie psicoanalitiche fino a giungere alla categoria diagnostica del DPTS disturbo post traumatico da stress. Viene quindi riportata una ricerca condotta in Sri Lanka su un campione di 70 bambine tra gli 8 e i 10 anni, che hanno avuto esperienza dello tsunami che ha colpito il sud est asiatico nel dicembre 2004. Lo studio ha previsto l'utilizzo del SAT (Separation Anxiety Test) (Attili, 2001) per individuare gli stili di attaccamento dei bambini; il disegno a tema, analizzato attraverso la griglia interpretativa ideata da Bombi e Pinto (1993, 2000) per individuare il grado di competenza emotiva e il test della memoria a breve termine della figura complessa di Rey (1967), volto ad indagare le capacità attentive, di concentrazione e di memoria a breve termine dei bambini. Le variabili prese in considerazione sono state quindi analizzate sia singolarmente sia in relazione tra loro.
This work describes three dimensions: the attachment style (Bowlby, 1969, 1973, 1980; Ainsworth e coll., 1978), the emotional competence (Frijda, 1990; Goleman, 1996, 1998; Grazzani Gavazzi, 2004) and the resilience (Cyrulnik, 2002), analyzed through the history of the trauma's concept, since the first psychoanalytic theory until the category of PTSD Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Therefore, it is described a research in Sri Lanka about a sample of 70 female children between 8 and 10 years old, who had experience of Tsunami of December 2004 in the South East Asia. The research included the use of SAT (Separation Anxiety Test) (Attili, 2001) to find out the attachment styles of the children; the thematic painting, analyzed through the interpretative grate of Bombi e Pinto (1993, 2000) to analyze the grade of emotional competence and the Test of short-term memory of Complex Figure of Rey (1967), to describe the capability of attention, concentration and short-term memory of the children. The variables had been analyzed individually and in relation one to one.

La ricerca indaga le dinamiche socio - economiche in atto in rapporto con le trasformazioni territoriali e valuta in quale misura la pianificazione territoriale ed urbanistica sia in grado di soddisfare le attuali esigenze nella gestione del territorio, urbanizzato e non. La riflessione parte dalla necessità di capire come un territorio possa conservare vitalità nel momento in cui si ritrova all’interno di un sistema di dinamiche che non si rivolge più ad ambiti di riferimento vicini (fino ad una decina d’anni fa la competitività veniva misurata, generalmente, tra regioni contermini, al massimo con riferimento ai trend nazionali), ma che necessita di confrontarsi per lo meno con le realtà regionali europee, se non, per certi versi, con la scala mondiale, globale appunto. La generalità della tematica ha imposto, di conseguenza, l’individuazione di un case book al quale riferirsi così da approfondirla attraverso una conoscenza diretta di un preciso ambito territoriale. È stato scelto, quale esemplificazione, il territorio della regione Veneto, con particolare riferimento all’area centrale. La ragione di tale scelta è da individuarsi, oltre che in motivi meramente strumentali, nel fatto che il Veneto, tra le regioni italiane, tuttora si configura come un territorio soggetto a forti trasformazioni indotte dalle dinamiche socio - economiche. Infatti da un primo periodo veneto, legato alla costruzione dell’armatura territoriale articolata su una molteplicità di poli diffusi sul territorio, si è passati al Secondo Veneto, quello della diffusione produttiva, dei capannoni, della marmellata urbanistica, del consumo del suolo. L’epoca attuale risponde poi ad un Terzo Veneto, un periodo forse di transizione verso un nuovo assetto. Il punto di partenza è stato dunque quello della delimitazione dell’area di riferimento, attraverso il riconoscimento di quei caratteri territoriali che la contraddistinguono da altre aree all’interno della regione stessa e su scala europea. Dopo una prima descrizione in chiave descrittiva e storico - evolutiva rivolta alla comprensione dei fenomeni in atto (diffuso e frammentazione insediativa tra i principali) si è passati ad una lettura quantitativa che consentisse, da un lato, di comprendere meglio alcuni caratteri della Regione e, dall’altro, di confrontarla con la scala globale, che si è scelto essere per la realtà considerata quella dell’Unione Europea. Le problematiche, i punti di forza e di debolezza emersi hanno consentito di formulare alcune ipotesi volte al miglioramento del territorio dell’area centrale veneta attraverso un processo che individuasse, non solo gli attori interessati alla trasformazione, ma anche gli strumenti maggiormente idonei per la realizzazione degli stessi. Sono emerse così le caratteristiche che potrebbe assumere il Quarto Veneto, il Veneto che verrà. I temi trattati spaziano dall’individuazione dei metodi di governance che, tramite il processo di visioning, siano in grado di individuare le priorità, di definire l’intensità d’uso, la vocazione dei luoghi e chi siano gli operatori interessati, all’integrazione tra i valori della storia e della cultura territoriale con i nuovi modi del fare (nuove tecnologie), fino all’individuazione di strumenti di coesione economica, sociale e territoriale per scongiurare quei rischi di disgregazione insiti nella globalizzazione. La ricerca si è dunque concretizzata attraverso un approccio euristico alla problematica delle trasformazioni territoriali, in cui il tema della scala di riferimento (locale - globale), ha consentito di valutare esperienze, tecniche e progetti volti al raggiungimento di livelli di sviluppo territoriale ed urbano sostenibili.