Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Ordinal information'

At the beginning of this work, recent studies had evidenced a tight link between serial order in verbal working memory and space processing. In a first study, we investigated the nature of this link. By discarding the possibility that it results from conceptual associations, our results favoured the idea that the representation of serial order is intrinsically of a spatial nature. This led us to hypothesize that a deficit of space processing should be accompanied by a deficit of serial order. To test this hypothesis, we investigated verbal working memory abilities in a group of brain-damaged patients with hemispatial neglect, a syndrome characterized by a deficit of spatial attention. We showed that these patients have a specific deficit for serial order, as they showed difficulties when judging the ordinal relations between memorized items, whereas they were able to judge the identity of these items. This deficit of serial order was related to hemispatial neglect severity and to posterior parietal lesions. We formulated the hypothesis that the link between serial order and space results from the overlap of brain networks subtending these cognitive processes, at the level of the posterior parietal cortex. To test this hypothesis, we used transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to temporarily disrupt this area in healthy participants, with the prediction that TMS would induce a similar bias when judging the position of a landmark on horizontal lines (spatial task), and when judging the position of an item in memorized sequences (ordinal task). In line with previous studies, TMS induced a bias in the spatial task. However, contrary to our prediction, TMS over the same area in the same participants did not induce a similar bias in the ordinal task.
Doctorat en Sciences psychologiques et de l'éducation
info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

The great interest on the origin of space-number associations has motivated recent investigation on spatial compatibility effects (e.g., the SNARC effect) induced by over-learned non-numerical sequences (e.g., letters, months). The work included in the present thesis aims to contribute to our understanding of the determinants of the spatial mapping of ordinal information, including both numbers and other general series. Firstly, the increasing evidence of the link between finger counting and number processing has been considered, in particular the specific role of handedness on this interaction and the influence of finger counting direction on number mapping in the representational space. Results showed that handedness fully predicts finger counting direction and that the directional asymmetries of finger counting are not relevant for shaping the mental representation of numbers. Secondly, the peculiarity of numbers evoking a spatially organized mental representation has been argued, showing that the oriented spatial representation is the privileged way of mentally organizing serial information, even newly acquired arbitrary sequences. Finally, a potential explanation for ordinal spatial associations has been evaluated, analyzing the role of working memory in determining the spatial compatibility effects of serial information observed with numerical and non-numerical sequences as stimuli.

This Thesis is devoted to the construction of global climate networks (CNs) built from time series -surface air temperature anomalies (SAT)- using nonlinear analysis. Several information theory measures have been used including mutual information (MI) and conditional mutual information (CMI). The ultimate goal of the study is to improve the present understanding of climatic variability by means of networks, focusing on the different spatial and time-scales of climate phenomena. An introduction to the main components of this interdisciplinary work are offered in the first three chapters. Climate variability and patterns are introduced Chapter 1, network theory in Chapter 2, and nonlinear time series analysis -especially information theoretic methodology- in Chapter 3. In Chapter 4, the statistical similarity of SAT anomalies in different regions of the world is assessed using MI. These climate networks are constructed from time series of monthly averaged SAT anomalies, and from their symbolic ordinal representation, which allows an analysis of these interdependencies on different time scales. This analysis allows identifying topological changes in the networks when using ordinal patterns (OPs) of different time intervals. Intra-seasonal (of a few months), inter-seasonal (covering a year) and inter-annual (several years) timescales are considered. The nature of the interdependencies is then explored in Chapter 5 by using SAT data from an ensemble of atmospheric general circulation model (AGCM) runs, all of them forced by the same historical sea surface temperature (SST). It is possible to separate atmospheric variability into a forced component, and another one intrinsic to the atmosphere. In this way, it is possible to obtain climate networks for both types of variability and characterize them. Furthermore, an analysis using OP allows to construct CNs for several time scales, and evaluate the connectivity of each different network. This selecting both time scale and variability type allows to obtain a further insight into the study of SAT anomalies. The connectivity of the constructed CNs allows to assess the influence of two main climate phenomena: ENSO and the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). In Chapter 6, a natural extension of the network construction methodology is implemented in order to infer the direction of the links. A directionality index (DI) is used. DI can be defined as the difference of the CMI between two time series x(t) and y(t), calculated in two ways: i) considering the information about x(t) contained in t time units in the past of y(t), and ii) considering the information about y(t) contained in t time units in the past of x(t). DI is used to quantify the direction of information flow among the series, indicating the direction of the links of the network. Two SAT datasets -one monthly-averaged and another daily-averaged- are used. The links of the obtained networks are interpreted in terms of known atmospheric tropical and extra-tropical variability phenomena. Specific and relevant geographical regions are selected, the net direction of propagation of the atmospheric patterns is analyzed, and the direction of the inferred links is tested using surrogate data. These patterns are also found to be acting on various time scales, such as synoptic atmospheric waves in the extra-tropics or longer time scale events in the tropics. The final Chapter 7 presents the main conclusions, and a discussion of future work.
El objetivo de esta tesis es la creación de redes climáticas (CN por las siglas en inglés) a partir de un conjunto global de series temporales de temperatura del aire superficial (SAT), utilizando técnicas de análisis no lineal de series temporales. Varias metodologías son aplicadas al estudio de la variabilidad climática, incluyendo la Información mutua (MI) y la información mutual condicional (CMI). El objetivo principal de esta tesis es estudiar la variabilidad climática a través del análisis de redes haciendo énfasis en los diferentes patrones espaciales y temporales del sistema climático. Una introducción a los componentes principales de este trabajo interdisciplinario se presenta en los primeros tres capítulos. La variabilidad climática y los patrones atmosféricos se introducen en el Capítulo 1, la teoría de redes en el Capítulo 2, y el análisis no lineal de series temporales, especialmente metodos en teorá de la información, en el Capítulo 3. En el Capítulo 4, la similitud estadística de las anomalías de SAT en diferentes regiones del mundo es evaluada utilizando MI. Estas redes climáticas globales son construidas a partir de series temporales de SAT promediadas a escalas de tiempo mensuales, y a partir de su representación simbólica, permitiendo un análisis de estas interdependencias en varias escalas temporales. Se identifican cambios topológicos entre las redes, como resultado de variaciones en el intervalo de construcción de losOP. Escalas intra-estacionales (unos meses), inter-estacionales (cubriendo un año) e inter-anuales (varios años), son consideradas. Se encuentra que un incremento en el espaciado de los patrones ordinales (por lo tanto, en la escala de tiempo del análisis ordinal), resulta en redes climáticas con un incremento en la conectividad en el Pacífico ecuatorial. Al contrario, el número de conexiones significativas decrece al realizar el análisis ordinal en una escala de tiempo más corta (es decir, comparando meses consecutivos). Este efecto es interpretado como una consecuencia del efecto de El Niño-Oscilación Sud (ENSO) actuando en escalas de tiempo más largas y de una mayor estocasticidad en las series temporales en escalas de tiempo más cortas. La naturaleza de las interdependencias es explorada en el Capítulo 5, utilizando datos de SAT, resultantes de un conjunto de salidas de un modelo atmosférico de circulación global (AGCM), todas forzadas por la misma temperatura de la superficie del mar (SST). Es posible separar la variabilidad atmosférica en una componente forzada y otra intrínseca a la atmósfera. De esta forma, se obtienen redes climáticas para ambos tipos de variabilidad, lo que posibilita caracterizarlas. Un análisis utilizando OP permite crear CNs para diferentes escalas temporales, y encontrar la escala de OP para la cual las diferentes redes presentan mayor conectividad. Este doble proceso de selección permitie estudiar la variabilidad de las anomalías de SAT desde un nuevo punto de vista. La conectividad de las redes climáticas así construídas permite evaluar la influencia de dos fenómenos climáticos: ENSO y la Oscilación del Atlántico Norte (NAO). Para esto, se pueden comparar las redes originales, con redes provenientes de series temporales a las que se les quitaron linealmente estos fenómenos. Un resultado clave de este análisis es que la conectividad de la red de variabilidad forzada es muy afectada por ENSO: eliminando el índice NINO3.4 (que caracteriza ENSO), se provoca una pérdida general de la conectividad en la red. El hecho de que incluso conexiones entre áreas muy alejadas del océano Pacífico ecuatorial se hayan perdido al quitar el índice, sugiere que estas regiones no están directamente conectadas sino que ambas son influenciadas por la zona dominada por ENSO, especialmente en escalas de tiempo interanuales. Por otro lado, en la red de variabilidad interna, independiente del forzado de las SST, las conexiones delMar del Labrador con el resto del mundo resultan significantemente afectadas por NAO, con un máximo en escalas intra-anuales. Aunque las conexiones no locales más fuertes resultan las forzadas por el océano, se muestra la presencia de teleconexiones asociadas con la variabilidad interna. En el Capítulo 6, una extensión natural de la metodología de construcción de redes es implementada, permitiendo inferir la dirección de las conexiones. Un índice de direccionalidad (DI), puede ser definido como la diferencia entre la CMI entre dos series temporales x(t ) e y(t ) calculada de dos formas: i) considerando la información de x(t ) contenida en τ unidades de tiempo en el pasado de y(t ) y ii) considerando la información de y(t ) contenida en τ unidades de tiempo en el pasado de x(t ). Este índice DI, se utiliza para cuantificar la dirección del flujo de información entre las series, lo que equivale a la dirección de la conexión entre los respectivos nodos de la red. Dos conjuntos de series temporales, uno promediado mensualmente y el otro promediado diariamente, son usados. Las conexiones de las redes resultantes son interpretadas en términos de fenómenos de variabilidad tropical y extratropical conocidos. Regiones específicas y relevantes son seleccionadas, la dirección neta de propagación de los patrones atmosféricos es analizada y contrastada con un test de inferencia estadística. Se encuentra que diferentes patrones de variabilidad, actúan en varias escalas de tiempo, tales como ondas sinópticas atmosféricas en los extra-trópicos o escalas de tiempo mayores en los trópicos. La dependencia de valores de DI con τ es investigada. Para la escala sinóptica (τ Ç 10 días), DI presenta una dependencia con τ, con un mínimo en los trópicos y máximos (en forma de trenes de ondas) en los extra-trópicos. Para valores mayores de τ, los links resultan ser relativamente robustos a la elección del parámetro, mostrando una conectividad alta en los trópicos y baja en los extra trópicos. El análisis demuestra la capacidad de DI de inferir la dirección neta de las interacciones climáticas, y de mejorar la compresión actual de fenómenos climáticos y de la predictabilidad climática. La red resultante está en total acuerdo con los conocimientos actuales de fenómenos climáticos, validando esta metodología para inferir, directamente de los datos, la dirección neta de las interacciones climáticas. Finalmente, el Capítulo 7, presenta las conclusiones, y una discusión de trabajo futuro.

An important issue in human cognition concerns the origins and nature of the capacity to represent number. A great deal of research has focused on infants’ comprehension of the cardinal properties of number but another essential component of the concept of number is ordinality, which refers to the inherent “greater than” or “less than” relationships between numbers. Until recently, the development of this aspect of human numerical cognition in infancy had received little attention. while little is know. The aim of the current series of studies was to investigate whether the ability to appreciate ordinal relationships between numerical magnitudes is present in preverbal infants at an earlier age than previously reported. The current investigation thus includes a series of 6 experiments conducted with infants of 4 and 7 months of age and provides evidence for the debate about functional affordances of infants’ numerical representation, demonstrating that, under certain conditions, the ability to detect and grasp ordinal information embedded in non-numerical and numerical sequences of visual stimuli could be present early in infancy, at respectively 4 months and 7 months of age. Importantly, this study provided also evidence that account for the existence of a basic mapping of number to space the presence, showing that 7-month-old infants are able to link oriented spatial codes to representations of numerical magnitude.

Les jeux probabilistes à information incomplète, appelés jeux Bayesiens, offrent un cadre adapté au traitement de jeux à utilités cardinales sous incertitude. Ce type d'approche ne peut pas être utilisé dans des jeux ordinaux, où l'utilité capture un ordre de préférence, ni dans des situations de décision sous incertitude qualitative. Dans la première partie de cette thèse, nous proposons un modèle de jeux à information incomplète basé sur la théorie de l'utilité qualitative possibiliste: les jeux possibiliste à information incomplète, nommés PI-games. Ces jeux constituent un cadre approprié pour la représentation des jeux ordinaux sous connaissance incomplète. Nous étendons les notions fondamentales de stratégie de sécurité et d'équilibres de Nash (pur et mixte). De plus, nous montrons que tout jeu possibiliste à information incomplète peut être transformé en un jeu à information complète sous la forme normale équivalent au jeu initial, dont les stratégies de sécurité, les équilibres de Nash purs et mixtes sont en bijection dans les deux jeux. Ce résultat de représentation est une contrepartie qualitative de celui de Harsanyi sur la représentation des jeux Bayésiens par des jeux sous forme normale à information complète. Cela est plus un résultat de représentation qu'un outil de résolution. Nous montrons que décider si un équilibre de Nash pur existe dans un PI-game est un problème NP-complet et proposons un codage de programmation linéaire mixte en nombres entiers (PLNE) du problème. Nous proposons également un algorithme en temps polynomial pour trouver une stratégie de sécurité dans un PI-game et montrons qu'un équilibre mixte possibiliste peut être également calculé en temps polynomial (en fonction de la taille du jeu). Pour confirmer la faisabilité de la formulation de programmation linéaire en nombres entiers mixtes et des algorithmes en temps polynomial, nous introduisons aussi un nouveau générateur pour les PI-games basé sur le générateur de jeux sous la forme normale: GAMUT. Représenter un PI-game sous forme normale standard nécessite une expression extensive des fonctions d'utilité et de la distribution des possibilités, à savoir sur les espaces produits des actions et des types. La deuxième partie de cette thèse propose une vue moins coûteuse des PI-games, à savoir la polymatrix PI-games basée sur min, qui permet de spécifier de manière concise les PI-games avec des interactions locales, en d'autre termes, lorsque les interactions entre les joueurs sont par paires et l'utilité d'un joueur dépend de son voisinage et non de tous les autres joueurs du PI-game. Ce cadre permet, par exemple, la représentation compacte des jeux de coordination sous incertitude où la satisfaction d'un joueur est élevée si et seulement si sa stratégie est cohérente avec celles de l'ensemble de ses voisins. Dans cette thèse, nous montrons que n'importe quel PI-game à 2 joueurs peut être transformé en un jeu polymatriciel équivalent basé sur le min. Ce résultat est la contrepartie qualitative du théorème de Howson et Rosenthal reliant les jeux Bayésiens aux jeux polymatriciels. De plus, dès qu'une simple condition de cohérence des connaissances des joueurs sur le monde est satisfaite, tout polymatrix PI-game peut être transformé en temps polynomial en un jeu polymatriciel, basé sur le min, à information complète équivalent. Nous montrons que l'existence d'un équilibre de Nash pur dans un polymatrix PI-game est un problème NP-complet mais pas plus difficile que de décider si un équilibre de Nash pur existe dans un PI-game. Enfin, nous montrons que cette dernière famille de jeux peut être résolue grâce à une formulation de programmation linéaire en nombres entiers mixtes. Nous introduisons un nouveau générateur pour les polymatrix PI-games basés sur le générateur de PI-game. Les expérimentations confirment la faisabilité de cette approche
Probabilistic games with incomplete information, called Bayesian games, offer a suitable framework for games where the utility degrees are additive in essence. This approach does not apply to ordinal games where the utility degrees capture no more than a ranking, nor to situations of decision under qualitative uncertainty. In the first part of this thesis, we propose a representation framework for ordinal games under possibilistic incomplete information (PI-games). These games constitute a suitable framework for the representation of ordinal games under incomplete knowledge. We extend the fundamental notions of secure strategy, pure Nash equilibrium, and mixed Nash equilibrium to this framework. Furthermore, we show that any possibilis- tic game with incomplete information can be transformed into an equivalent normal form game with complete information. The fundamental notions such Nash equilibria (pure and mixed) and secure strategies are in bijection in both frameworks. This representation result is a qualitative counterpart of Harsanyi results about the representation of Bayesian games by normal form games under complete information. It is more of a representation result than the premise of a solving tool. We show that deciding whether a pure Nash equilibrium exists in a PI-game is a difficult task (NP-hard) and propose a Mixed Integer Linear Programming (MILP) encoding of this problem. We also propose a polynomial-time algorithm to find a secure strategy in a PI-game and show that a possibilistic mixed equilibrium can be computed in polynomial time (w.r.t., the size of the game), which contrasts with probabilistic mixed equilibrium computation in cardinal game theory. To confirm the feasibility of the MILP formulation and the polynomial-time algorithms, we introduce a novel generator for PI-games based on the well-known standard normal form game generator: GAMUT. Representing a PI-game in standard normal form requires an extensive expression of the utility functions and the possibility distribution on the product spaces of actions and types. This is the concern of the second part of this thesis where we propose a less costly view of PI-games, namely min-based polymatrix PI-games, which allows to concisely specify PI-games with local interactions, i.e., the interactions between players are pairwise and the utility of a player depends on her neighbors and not on all other players in the PI-game. This framework allows, for instance, the compact representation of coordination games under uncertainty where the satisfaction of a player is high if and only if her strategy is coherent with all of her neighbors, the game being possibly only incompletely known to the players. We show that any 2- player PI-game can be transformed into an equivalent min-based polymatrix game. This result is the qualitative counterpart of Howson and Rosenthal's theorem linking Bayesian games to polymatrix games. Furthermore, as soon as a simple condition on the coherence of the players' knowledge about the world is satisfied, any polymatrix PI-game can be transformed in polynomial time into an equivalent min-based and complete information polymatrix game. We show that the existence of a pure Nash equilibrium in a polymatrix PI-game is an NP-complete problem but no harder than deciding the existence of a pure Nash equilibrium in a PI-game. Finally, we show that the latter family of games can be solved through a MILP formulation. We introduce a novel generator for min-based polymatrix PI-games based on the PI-game generator. Experiments confirm the feasibility of this approach

Global tests are in demand whenever it is of interest to draw inferential conclusions about sets of variables as a whole. The present thesis attempts to develop such tests for the case of multivariate ordinal data in possibly high-dimensional set-ups, and has primarily been motivated by research questions that arise from data collected by means of the 'International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health'. The thesis essentially comprises two parts. In the first part two tests are discussed, each of which addresses one specific problem in the classical two-group scenario. Since both are permutation tests, their validity relies on the condition that, under the null hypothesis, the joint distribution of the variables in the set to be tested is the same in both groups. Extensive simulation studies on the basis of the tests proposed suggest, however, that violations of this condition, from the purely practical viewpoint, do not automatically lead to invalid tests. Rather, two-sample permutation tests' failure appears to depend on numerous parameters, such as the proportion between group sizes, the number of variables in the set of interest and, importantly, the test statistic used. In the second part two further tests are developed which both can be used to test for association, if desired after adjustment for certain covariates, between a set of ordinally scaled covariates and an outcome variable within the range of generalized linear models. The first test rests upon explicit assumptions on the distances between the covariates' categories, and is shown to be a proper generalization of the traditional Cochran-Armitage test to higher dimensions, covariate-adjusted scenarios and generalized linear model-specific outcomes. The second test in turn parametrizes these distances and thus keeps them flexible. Based on the tests' power properties, practical recommendations are provided on when to favour one or the other, and connections with the permutation tests from the first part of the thesis are pointed out. For illustration of the methods developed, data from two studies based on the 'International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health' are analyzed. The results promise vast potential of the proposed tests in this data context and beyond.

La perspective de cette etude s'inscrit dans une approche cognitive de l'apprenti lecteur. Les processus de traitement de l'information ordinale concernent la facon dont l'enfant apprehende les regles d'ordre etablies sur le materiel linguistique. La gestion de l'ordre de succession des lettres, elements constitutifs des mots, constitue, en effet, l'une des grandes difficultes rencontrees par l'enfant dans les tout debuts de l'apprentissage de la lecture. Parallelement, notre travail consiste a etudier la competence des apprentis lecteurs dans le traitement de l'information phonologique lors de la mise en place d'une strategie de lecture alphabetique. On suppose, par ailleurs, qu'en debut d'acquisition, le role joue par les unites syllabiques dans la mise en correspondance graphophonologique s'avere determinant. Dans ce sens, nous faisons l'hypothese que les jeunes lecteurs francais utilisent un traitement syllabique, en debut d'apprentissage, dans la reconnaissance des mots ecrits et que la syllabe consonne/voyelle peut etre consideree comme une unite privilegiee de recodage phonologique. La structure cv est presentee comme une structure pouvant etre a l'origine d'une lecture paranalogie. C'est une conception mettant en jeu des unites larges, superieures au phoneme qui permettent d'apprehender dans des mots nouveaux des configurations orthophonologiques deja connues. Les formes orales pregnantes telles que la syllabe consonne/voyelle se retrouvent ainsi en tant qu'unites saillantes pour l'utilisation d'analogies entre l'oral et l'ecrit. Les processus d'utilisation des analogies sont decrits comme occupant une place essentielle en debut d'apprentissage. Les enfants mettraient en place, de facon precoce, des strategies pour inferer progressivement les regles regissant la lecture. Une lecture analogique serait possible avant que l'apprenti lecteur n'ait largement developpe ses capacites de lecture alphabetique necessitant les correspondances graphemes-phonemes.

This thesis concerns the relationship between aspects of cognitive differences and interface design in the context of visual impairment. Among a number of sources of cognitive differences studied, this work focuses on Witkin’s Cognitive Style Theory (1971). According to this theory people are more or less field-dependent. A field-independent person has good analytical and restructuring skills while the field-dependent individual has a more holistic approach and good inter-personal skills. According to several researchers, a number of design aspects such as dialogue style, user versus system guiding etc., can be designed to accommodate these differences in cognitive style. An interview study gives some support to the hypothesis that this relationship between cognitive style and design aspects also is relevant in a context of visual impairment.

Today’s turbulent business environment has made external knowledge a dominant source of information in firms’ attempt to develop and maintain a sustainable competitive advantage. Firms need to share and acquire new knowledge as they seek to develop new applications and to survive. Therefore, whether inter-firm information sharing has a direct effect on firm performance has become a central question in studies on strategic management and supply chain management. However, the empirical results remain largely divergent and inconclusive, ranging from a positive relationship to a negative relationship. This study advanced the literature by examining the mediating role of ordinary capabilities (manifested by operations capabilities) in the relationship between information sharing and firm performance. By drawing on the dynamic capabilities perspective, we propose that information sharing, as a dynamic capability, deploys and reconfigures the existing operations capabilities, which in turn lead to superior firm performance. Furthermore, we used a dimensional approach to look at how the two types of information sharing, focal manufacturer-key suppliers (MS) information sharing and focal manufacturer-key buyers (MB) information sharing, may affect both ordinary capabilities and firm performance. Moreover, this study investigated how a firm’s market orientation moderates the information sharing-operations capabilities link. We argue that market orientation positively strengthens the effects of both MS information sharing and MB information sharing on operations capabilities by driving a continuous and proactive disposition to meeting customer needs. We randomly chose as our sample manufacturing firms from the official list provided by the provincial Association of Entrepreneurs in the Ning Xia autonomous region of China. The data collection was performed over a two-month period and 154 cases were considered valid for our study. Multiple regression and bootstrapping methods were used to test our model. Most of the key hypotheses have been supported. First, operations capabilities fully mediate the relationships between both types of information sharing and performance. Moreover, the three dimensions of market orientation (i.e., market intelligence generation, dissemination, and responsiveness) positively moderate the effects of both MS and MB information sharing on operations capabilities, except for the moderating effect of market intelligence generation in the relationship between MB information sharing and operations capabilities. Several implications, both theoretical and practical, are envisaged. First, our findings, which reveal that operations capabilities fully mediate the effects of information sharing on firm performance, contribute to unpacking the black box of information sharing and performance relationship in the buyer-supplier relationship context. The study offers an alternative explanation for the inconclusive empirical results regarding the relationship between information sharing and firm performance. We propose and verify a theoretical claim suggesting that information sharing is a necessary but insufficient condition to improve firm performance, and operations capabilities that are extended, modified, changed, and/or created by using information sharing determine the firm’s market position, which in turn transforms the potential benefits of information sharing into superior firm performance. Second, our study goes one step beyond existing studies on the interactive effects of marketing capabilities and marketing orientation on firm performance. We demonstrate that it is the interactive effects of dynamic capabilities (information sharing) and market orientation on the development of ordinary capabilities (operations capabilities) that really matter to a firm’s sustained performance supremacy in the long term. The practical implication is that managers must ensure that their firms have ongoing inter-firm information sharing arrangements with their suppliers and buyers. At the same time, they should have good operations capabilities to take advantage of the shared information and transform the benefits into superior firm performance. Another practical implication is that manufacturers need a corporate culture of market orientation to maximize the positive effects of both MS and MB inter-firm information sharing on the development of operations capabilities since at the end of the day it is operations capabilities that contribute directly to the supremacy of a firm’s performance. Keywords: Information Sharing; Dynamic Capabilities; Ordinary Capabilities; Market Orientation

The use of co-ordinates as a description of land boundaries and their limitations has been investigated given recent advances in GPS measurement technology and its proliferation in the surveying and mapping industry. While the use of coordinate information is in essence a representation of reality at a given point in time, it is shown that they can be used within a well-defined framework for summary purposes. The conceptual and operational elements of a measurement-based spatial information system are developed in order to determine if it could aid in the organisation of land boundary information. The fundamental concepts of this information system are that measurements are the primary carriers of metric information. The investigation reveals that measurement-based concepts can serve as the foundation of a multi-purpose spatial information system. Increasing instrument precisions available to surveyors are providing quality measurements with decreasing uncertainties from standard daily operations. Much of this measurement information is in digital form and can provide useful additions of new information as and when they become available to the system. Control measurements are integrated into the system in the same manner as cadastral measurements. The addition of measurements increases the accuracy of the information system over time. The concept of a local controlled area and surface movement indicators are briefly covered relating to geo-movements of cadastral evidence. Some issues surrounding the historical foundations of geodetic datums are studied as they provides a basis of knowledge of where future spatial information developments may occur given current understandings and technological ability. A review of International and Australian measurement systems is presented. In this context, issues surrounding GPS traceability are explored as a means of demonstrating conformance with suitably recognised quantities of length and time. Discussion is held on the legal acceptance of measurements and reviews rules of evidence questioning the term geographical position used in Australian courts. An investigative study into rural property boundary surveys for subdivision purposes has been undertaken to provide comparative discussion on issues of changing methods and evolving technology approaches to the measurement challenges using GPS techniques.

The use of co-ordinates as a description of land boundaries and their limitations has been investigated given recent advances in GPS measurement technology and its proliferation in the surveying and mapping industry. While the use of coordinate information is in essence a representation of reality at a given point in time, it is shown that they can be used within a well-defined framework for summary purposes. The conceptual and operational elements of a measurement-based spatial information system are developed in order to determine if it could aid in the organisation of land boundary information. The fundamental concepts of this information system are that measurements are the primary carriers of metric information. The investigation reveals that measurement-based concepts can serve as the foundation of a multi-purpose spatial information system. Increasing instrument precisions available to surveyors are providing quality measurements with decreasing uncertainties from standard daily operations. Much of this measurement information is in digital form and can provide useful additions of new information as and when they become available to the system. Control measurements are integrated into the system in the same manner as cadastral measurements. The addition of measurements increases the accuracy of the information system over time. The concept of a local controlled area and surface movement indicators are briefly covered relating to geo-movements of cadastral evidence. Some issues surrounding the historical foundations of geodetic datums are studied as they provides a basis of knowledge of where future spatial information developments may occur given current understandings and technological ability. A review of International and Australian measurement systems is presented. In this context, issues surrounding GPS traceability are explored as a means of demonstrating conformance with suitably recognised quantities of length and time. Discussion is held on the legal acceptance of measurements and reviews rules of evidence questioning the term geographical position used in Australian courts. An investigative study into rural property boundary surveys for subdivision purposes has been undertaken to provide comparative discussion on issues of changing methods and evolving technology approaches to the measurement challenges using GPS techniques.

The use of co-ordinates as a description of land boundaries and their limitations has been investigated given recent advances in GPS measurement technology and its proliferation in the surveying and mapping industry. While the use of coordinate information is in essence a representation of reality at a given point in time, it is shown that they can be used within a well-defined framework for summary purposes. The conceptual and operational elements of a measurement-based spatial information system are developed in order to determine if it could aid in the organisation of land boundary information. The fundamental concepts of this information system are that measurements are the primary carriers of metric information. The investigation reveals that measurement-based concepts can serve as the foundation of a multi-purpose spatial information system. Increasing instrument precisions available to surveyors are providing quality measurements with decreasing uncertainties from standard daily operations. Much of this measurement information is in digital form and can provide useful additions of new information as and when they become available to the system. Control measurements are integrated into the system in the same manner as cadastral measurements. The addition of measurements increases the accuracy of the information system over time.

Swedish buildings account for a large part of Sweden's greenhouse gas emissions, which is why the construction industry within the framework of the concrete initiative has produced a Roadmap for Climate Neutral Concrete. The climate neutral targets meant that Sweden will have net carbon emissions of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere by 2045. In order to achieve the national environmental goals, it is important to reduce the climate impact from concrete construction. Today, the concrete industry is facing a major challenge in minimizing the consumption of concrete, while at the same time the need for new buildings is increasing as a result of the increase in land populations.Concrete lifecycle analysis shows that 90 percent of carbon dioxide emissions come from the manufacturing process of cement clinker that is included in the cement binder. For this reason, the concrete industry has researched and developed various alternatives that contribute to reducing the environmental impact caused by concrete by reducing carbon dioxide emissions.The purpose of this thesis is to evaluate the environmental impact of different types of concrete and to investigate two factors that contribute to reducing carbon dioxide emissions in the atmosphere. The factors being investigated are choice of optimized concrete recipe by reducing proportion of cement and choice of concrete composition by replacing cement with alternative binders.A survey study was conducted to analyze the environmental impact of different types of concrete with different amounts of cement, water percentage and exposure class. In addition, a comparison study between ordinary concrete and climate-enhanced concrete was performed to analyze the climate impact of climate-enhanced concrete with different improvement steps compared to ordinary concrete. To carry out this study, a study of ordinary concrete has been carried out with documents (concrete quantity, strength class and water cement figures) from a reference project obtained by Specialfastigheter, and then replaced with climate-enhanced concrete in various improvement steps.The results show that concrete with lower cement volume and higher water cement numbers give a marked reduction in the building's climate impact. By reducing the amount of cement in the concrete, the proportion of cement clinkers included in the cement binder is lowered, which in turn reduces the climate impact. In addition, a comparison study also shows that the building's climate impact can be reduced between 10, 25 and 52 percent through the use of climate-enhanced charm. This is because climate-enhanced concrete is being replaced by some cement with alternative binders.The conclusion is that this study provides greater opportunity for the construction industry to gain additional knowledge and a better understanding of how environmental impact can be reduced by choosing the right type of concrete. Choosing concrete with lower strength, higher water cement ratio and higher proportion of alternative binders contributes to lower climate impact from concrete.
Svenska byggnader står till svars för en stor del av Sveriges utsläpp av växthusgaser, därför har byggbranschen inom ramen för betonginitiativet tagit fram Färdplan för Klimatneutral betong. Klimatneutralmålen innebär att Sverige ska uppnå nettonollutsläpp av koldioxid i atmosfär år 2045. För att kunna nå de nationella miljömålen är det viktigt att sänka klimatpåverkan från betongkonstruktion. Idag befinner sig betongbranschen inför stor utmaning att minimera konsumtion av betong, samtidigt som behovet av nybebyggelse ökar till följd av att jordbefolkningen ökar.Betonglivscykelanalys visar att 90 procent av koldioxidutsläpp kommer från tillverkningsprocess av cementklinker som ingår i bindemedlet cement. Av denna anledning har betongbranschen undersökt och utvecklat olika alternativ som bidrar till minskning av miljöpåverkan orsakad av betong genom att reducera koldioxidutsläpp.Syftet med detta examensarbete är att utvärdera miljöpåverkan från olika betongssorter samt att undersöka två faktorer som bidrar till minskning av koldioxidutsläpp i atmosfären. De faktorer som ska undersökas är val av optimerat betongsrecept och alternativa bindemedel. Det optimerade betongrecept sker genom minskning av andel av cement och val av betongsammansättning där cement ersätts med alternativa bindemedel.En undersökningsstudie utfördes för att analysera miljöpåverkan av olika betongssorter med olika cementsmängd, vattencementtal och exponeringsklass. Dessutom utfördes en jämförelsestudie mellan vanlig betong och klimatförbättrad betong för att analysera klimatpåverkan av klimatförbättrad betong med olika förbättringssteg jämfört med vanlig betong. För att genomföra denna studie har olika betongsmängder, hållfasthetsklass och vattencementtal undersökas. Betonginformation hämtas från ett referensprojekt erhållna av Specialfastigheter för att sedan ersättas med klimatförbättrad betong i olika förbättringssteg.Resultaten visar att betong med lägre cementmängd och högre vattencementtal ger uppmärksammade minskning av byggnadens klimatpåverkan. Genom att minska cementmängden i betongen sänks andelen av cementklinker som ingår i bindemedlet cement, vilket i sin minskar klimatpåverkan. Dessutom visar även jämförelsestudien att byggnadens klimatpåverkan kan minskas mellan 10, 25 och 52 procent genom användning av klimatförbättrad betog. Detta beror på att klimatförbättrad betong ersätter en del av cement med alternativa bindemedel.Slutsatsen är att denna studie ger större möjlighet för byggbranschen att få ytterligare kunskap samt bättre förståelse om hur miljöpåverkning kan minskas genom att välja rätt betongtyp. Att välja betong med lägre hållfasthet, högre vattencementtal och högre andel av alternativa bindemedel bidrar till lägre klimatpåverkan från betong.

Implementazione in ELPI, un linguaggio logico con vincoli di ordine superiore, dell'algoritmo di type inference di Haskell. ELPI è un'estensione con vincoli di lambda Prolog. Utilizzando lambda Prolog risulta impossibile implementare la type inference di Haskell. Si è reso dunque necessario l'utilizzo di ELPI, più espressivo (non nel senso di Turing completezza) di lambda Prolog. La presente trattazione ha una duplice finalità. La prima consiste nel dimostrare che le estensioni a lambda Prolog presenti in ELPI permettono di risolvere problemi non risolvibili in lambda Prolog. La seconda, non ancora implementata ma lasciata agli sviluppi futuri, prevede di fare del mio lavoro uno strumento di prova per testare, implementare e studiare nuove estensioni al meccanismo delle type class di Haskell. Infatti, essendo ELPI un linguaggio di più alto livello e più semplice (grazie alle features del linguaggio) rispetto ad Haskell, aggiungere estensioni al meccanismo base delle type class dovrebbe risultare banale (in confronto alla complessità di eseguire tale operazione in Haskell).

Ces dernières années, les systèmes de fusion d'informations se sont démocratisés. De tels systèmes nécessitent, aujourd'hui, une coopération avec des experts humains qui possèdent des connaissances pertinentes sur les problèmes traités. Cette connaissance s'exprime, dans la majorité des cas, sous la forme de situations de référence fournies par les experts. En échange, ils sont demandeurs d'informations explicitant le mécanisme de fusion. Ces travaux de thèse s'appuient sur la notion de dépendance entre informations pour proposer des fonctionnalités explicatives aux utilisateurs. Dans ce contexte, deux applications ont été traitées. Une application industrielle a été menée avec Schneider Electric concernant l'évaluation de la qualité de pièces en matériaux composites. L'opérateur de fusion des attributs extraits de l'image 3D de la pièce est l'intégrale de Choquet. Une nouvelle méthode d'identification de ces paramètres (poids et interactions) a été développée à partir de la notion d'entropie relative. Une application du domaine culturel menée en collaboration avec « la Cité de l'image en mouvement » porte sur la présélection de films d'animation. Le système de fusion développé combine des évaluations de nature symbolique ordinale portant sur 4 critères (scénario, esthétique,. . . ) par l’intermédiaire d'un opérateur de type moyenne généralisée. Deux plates-formes logicielles et matérielles ont été mises en place et validées lors de campagnes d’expérimentation chez les partenaires
Information fusion systems have been widely used in many applications these last years in order to improve decision-making. Some applications are quite complex and require a cooperation between both the information fusion system and human experts who may have important and relevant knowledge on these applications. During the cooperation proposed in this thesis, experts provides reference situations while the system gives them information about the fusion mechanisms through dependencies between the information fusion system's inputs. This cooperation has been applied successfully on two applications. The first industrial application, in collaboration with Schneider Electric, concerns the quality evaluation of composite material parts based on 3D-tomographic images. The Choquet Integral is used as the fusion operator taking as inputs several attributes extracted from the 3D-tomographic images. The Choquet Integral parameters have been identified by a new supervised method based on relative entropy that quantifies automatically the dependencies between attributes. The second cultural application, in collaboration with “la Cité de l'image en mouvement”, concerns the selection of animated films. The proposed fusion system combines ordinal symbolic evaluations on four criteria (Scenario, Aesthetic,. . . ) using a generalized mean operator, Two platforms, including software and hardware parts, have been implemented and validated during several experimentation campaigns with the two partners

L’obiettivo del lavoro di Tesi è stato analizzare i flussi informativi e i flussi produttivi interni all’azienda in ottica Lean Production con lo scopo di ottimizzare i tempi di lavorazione e i costi relativi. L’analisi si è focalizzata in particolar modo nella gestione dell’attività di progettazione delle protezioni che viene caratterizzata, anche se a livello amministrativo, da sprechi e perdite di tempo che influiscono poi sul costo finale del prodotto. Si è determinata l’efficienza di ogni singolo operatore dell’Ufficio Tecnico in modo tale da individuare la loro disponibilità, le loro prestazioni e la qualità, fattori determinanti per calcolare il parametro OEE. Lo strumento iniziale per il calcolo dell’OEE è stato il Diagramma di Gantt delle attività di progettazione svolte dagli operatori in un determinato intervallo di tempo, attraverso il quale è stato possibile individuare il numero di ore effettive di progettazione. Sono stati proposti interventi migliorativi con lo scopo di migliorare l’efficienza e la produttività in futuro.

In questa tesi studio in che modi si possono distribuire i sistemi e i processi che quei sistemi eseguono. La nozione centrale per raggiungere l'obiettivo è che, quando un sistema è distribuito, una sua osservazione "da lontano" richiede uno scambio d'informazioni con le diverse parti del sistema. Questo approccio si caratterizza per il fatto che la "sincronizzazione" (o "handshaking") è il modo fondamentale di interazione. I formalismi impiegati sono presi dalla teoria delle reti di Petri. I sistemi elementari e i sistemi di condizioni ed eventi in quella teoria costituiscono le specificazioni di sistemi. Le reti causali e gli insiemi parzialmente ordinati permettono di modellare processi. In questi modelli, lo stato dell'arte offre una nozione di sottoprocesso, cui si può associare una struttura che porta l'informazione su come distribuire il processo. Formalmente, questa struttura è un reticolo ortomodulare. Nella tesi mostro che gli elementi minimali non banali di quel reticolo (sottoprocessi minimali) possono essere ordinati in modo da formare un'astrazione del processo dato. La natura di questa nozione di sottoprocesso consente di mostrare che l'astrazione rappresenta le componenti del processo, cioè le parti che possono operare indipendentemente. Il comportamento dei sistemi elementari e dei sistemi di condizioni e eventi è modellato per mezzo di sistemi di transizioni etichettate. Nella tesi si applica un'interpretazione delle regioni elementari come proprietà localmente osservabili del sistema, motivata dalla sintesi di reti elementari. Secondo questa interpretazione, le regioni elementari offrono una specificazione adeguata dell'infrastruttura su cui si può distribuire un sistema. Era già noto che l'insieme delle regioni di un sistema elementare o di condizioni ed eventi forma un insieme ortomodulare, da cui si può ricavare un sistema di transizioni etichettate canonico, che contiene tutte le regioni dell'insieme ortomodulare dato. Stabilire se il sistema canonico ha più regioni di quelle specificate è un problema aperto. Il sistema canonico è il più "grande" che si può ottenere dall'insieme ortomodulare, nel senso che ogni altro sistema conforme alla specificazione è un suo sottosistema. D'altra parte, non tutti i sottosistemi hanno la stessa struttura regionale. Definisco una condizione sufficiente per avere l'isomorfismo. Il risultato si ottiene dotando di un'opportuna struttura l'insieme degli eventi, o delle etichette, del sistema canonico, così da riflettere la concorrenza. Un insieme ortomodulare si dice stabile quando è isomorfo all'insieme delle regioni del sistema di transizioni canonico derivato. Erano già note condizioni sotto le quali il primo insieme si immerge nel secondo. Si congettura che tutti gli insiemi parzialmente ordinati ottenuti come insiemi di regioni di sistemi elementari (insiemi regionali) sono stabili. Nella tesi si dà una nuova condizione necessaria perché un insieme ortomodulare sia regionale, e si mostra che in quel caso l'immersione è forte. Non tutte le immersioni sono forti, ma tutti gli isomorfismi sono immersioni forti. Dal risultato segue che l'immersione mappa regioni minimali su regioni minimali.
This work studies systems, and the processes they execute, in the way they can be distributed. To this aim, the central notion is that when a system is distributed, a remote observation requires an exchange of information from the different locations of the system. This approach is characterised by the fact that handshaking is the basic mode of interaction. The chosen formalisms are taken in the framework Petri net theory. Elemen- tary net systems, and condition/event net systems provide specifications for the systems. Causal nets and partially ordered sets allow for modelling processes. With these last formalisations, the state of the art provides a notion of subpro- cesses that can be structured so as to carry information on how a process can be distributed. This structure is formalised as an orthomodular lattice. This work shows that the minimal non trivial elements of this lattice, the minimal subprocesses, can be ordered so as to provide an abstraction of the process. The nature of this notion of subprocess permits to show that this abstraction depicts the localities of the process, parts of the process which can run independently from each other. The behaviour of elementary, and condition/event net systems, is modelled with labelled transition systems. This work adheres to an interpretation of the set of elementary regions, as the one of locally observable properties of the sys- tem, motivated by elementary net synthesis. According to this interpretation, elementary regions represent a suitable specification of the available infrastruc- ture on which to distribute a system. The state of the art shows that the set of regions of an elementary, or condition/event system, forms an orthomodular poset, and a way to retrieve a canonical labelled transition system such that all regions of the orthomodular poset are also regions of it. The question of whether this canonical transition system has more regions than the specified ones is an open problem. The canonical transition system is the largest one can obtain from an orthomodular poset, in the sense that systems complying with the specification, can be found as subsystems of it. However, not all its subsystems display the same regional structure. This work presents a sufficient condition for this to happen. This is achieved by providing a structure to the set of events, or labels, of the canonical system, which reflects concurrency. An orthomodular poset is called stable when it is isomorphic to the set of regions of its canonical transition system. The state of the art shows that when the first poset is of a given class, it embeds in the second. It is conjectured that all posets that arise as the set of elementary regions of an elementary system, regional posets, are stable. This work provides a condition necessary for an orthomodular poset to be regional, and shows that when it holds, the embedding is strong. Not every embedding is strong, but all isomorphisms are, in particular, strong embeddings. This result implies that the embedding maps minimal regions to minimal regions.

Šiame darbe pristatomas PLA formalizmo metodas, skirtas aprašyti ir imituoti hibridines sistemas, kurių tolydiniai komponentai aprašomi pirmos eilės diferencialinėmis lygtimis. Pasinaudojus PLA formalizmu suformuluosime Kvantuotų būsenų sistemos modelį (QSS). QSS modelis yra integravimu pagrįstas metodas, skirtas spręsti pirmos eilės diferencialines lygtis. Šis modelis buvo suformuluotas DEVS formalizmo aplinkoje, kuris yra giminingas PLA formalizmui. Hibridinės sistemos pavyzdžiu pasirinktas farmakokinetinis modelis. Farmakokinetika yra farmakologijos mokslo šaka, tyrinėjant vartojamų vaistų pasisavinimą ir absorbciją žmogaus kūne. Farmakokinetiniame modelyje vaistų pasiskirstymas aprašomas pirmos eilės diferencialines lygtimis. Tam, kad būtų galima aprašyti šį modelį QSS pagalba, buvo reikalinga patobulinti QSS modelį. Rezultate gautas pakeistas QSS modelis. Naudojant pakeistą QSS modelį buvo sudarytas farmakokinetinis modelis ir atliktas vaistų koncentracijos kitimo imitavimas paciento kūne, kai pacientas reguliuoja vaistų suleidimą.
This paper presents the method of using Piece Linear Aggregates formalism (PLA) for specification and simulation of hybrid systems, when continuous components are described in ordinary differential equations (ODEs). PLA is used to create Quantized State System (QSS) model. QSS is integration based method, created for ODE solving. Since QSS method first was introduced for use in Discreet Event Systems (DEVS) formalism, we adapted it for PLA formalism, which is fundamentally consanguineous to DEVS formalism. Pharmacokinetics model is used as example of hybrid system. Pharmacokinetics is a branch of pharmacology which describes administered drug absorption and distribution in human body. In pharmacokinetics drug distribution is described using ODE. In order to use drug injection in pharmacokinetics model, we have to modify standard QSS model and add some specific capabilities. In the result: modified QSS method was obtained and used for pharmacokinetic model specification. Simulation of morphine concentration in plasma was performed using real pharmacokinetics data to test Patient-Controlled Analgesia method effectiveness.

Tese de Doutoramento em Ciências Sociais na especialidade de Ciências da Comunicação
A satisfação do direito do público à informação, de que os jornalistas estão incumbidos, é suscetível de conflituar com direitos de personalidade. A presente dissertação aborda as diversas dimensões desta problemática, no sentido de compreender de que forma pode ser assegurada a compatibilização entre as duas esferas. A investigação, que cruzou a reflexão teórica com o exame de casos concretos de abordagens jornalísticas, incluiu uma análise comparativa de normas inscritas em códigos deontológicos e de ética e a realização de entrevistas a jornalistas profissionais. A principal conclusão é que a autorregulação, não a lei, constitui a sede mais adequada para garantir que o exercício do direito à informação sacrifica direitos de personalidade apenas em situações de manifesto interesse público. Nesse sentido, preconiza-se o fortalecimento de instrumentos neste domínio. É recomendado o desenvolvimento de estudos sobre o tratamento jornalístico de acontecimentos envolvendo cidadãos comuns, para aprofundar o conhecimento da questão.
Satisfying the right of the public to information, which journalists are responsible for, is likely to conflict with personality rights. This dissertation examines the various dimensions of this problem, in order to understand how compatibility between the two spheres can be ensured. The investigation, which crossed the theoretic reflection with the examination of specific cases of journalistic approaches, includes a comparative analysis of standards inscribed in codes of ethics and interviews to professional journalists. The main conclusion is that self-regulation, not law, is the appropriate place to ensure that the exercise of the right to information only sacrifices personal rights in situations of manifest public interest. In this sense, it is recommended the strengthening of instruments in this field. It is recommended the development of studies on the journalistic treatment of events involving ordinary citizens to deepen the knowledge of the matter.

L’ordine europeo di indagine penale, introdotto dalla direttiva 2014/41/UE, è uno strumento di cooperazione giudiziaria nel settore delle prove divenuto imprescindibile a fronte della crescente dimensione transnazionale assunta dalla criminalità, quale conseguenza dell’evaporazione dei confini geografici nello Spazio di libertà, sicurezza e giustizia dell’Unione europea. La direttiva sovranazionale, recepita nell’ordinamento italiano attraverso il d.lgs. n. 108 del 2017, ha dato vita a un istituto avente natura ibrida, animato dal principio del reciproco riconoscimento, che conserva, al contempo, alcuni tratti tipici della mutua assistenza giudiziaria tradizionale, nel tentativo di coniugare l’efficienza investigativa e la tutela delle garanzie fondamentali. Sullo sfondo di un contesto caratterizzato dall’assenza di armonizzazione tra le regole processuali e probatorie nazionali, il meccanismo di acquisizione della prova all’estero ruota attorno al principio di proporzionalità, che prende forma nel giudizio di bilanciamento, da condursi in concreto tenendo conto delle peculiarità del caso, tra le esigenze connesse all’accertamento del reato e il sacrificio imposto ai diritti delle persone a vario titolo coinvolte nelle procedure di emissione ed esecuzione dell’ordine. La presente tesi di dottorato intende fornire un’analisi a trecentosessanta gradi dell’ordine europeo d’indagine, prendendo le mosse dalla disciplina normativa, con l’obiettivo di mettere in luce le principali problematiche emerse nelle sue prime esperienze applicative e individuare soluzioni in grado di accorciare le distanze che separano teoria e prassi. A tal fine, ampio spazio è dedicato alla ricostruzione delle prime pronunce giurisprudenziali rese sul tema dalla Corte di giustizia e dalla Corte di cassazione, che rivelano complessivamente la tendenza a prediligere le istanze di efficienza investigativa a scapito dei diritti della difesa, per poi esporre, in chiave critica, alcuni casi pratici selezionati presso le Procura della Repubblica di Milano e di Monza
The European criminal investigation order, introduced by Directive 2014/41/EU, is an instrument of judicial cooperation in the field of evidence, which has become necessary, given the growing transnational dimension of crime as a result of the sublimation of geographical boundaries in the European Union's Area of Freedom, Security and Justice. The supranational directive, implemented by Italian Legislative Decree no. 108 of 2017, has given rise to a construct of hybrid nature, inspired by the principle of mutual recognition, which maintains, at the same time, certain features typical of traditional mutual legal assistance, in an attempt to combine investigative efficiency and protection of fundamental guarantees. In an underlying backdrop still characterized by the absence of harmonization of national procedural and evidentiary rules, the mechanism for adducing evidence in a foreign country revolves around the principle of proportionality, which in turn takes shape in the context of a balancing judgement - to be conducted in the actual case and taking into consideration the specificities of such case - between the needs related to the detection of crime and the sacrifices imposed on the rights of the persons involved, for various reasons, in the procedures aimed at issuing and executing the relevant order. This doctoral thesis intends to provide a comprehensive analysis of the European Investigation Order, beginning with its legal framework, for the purposes of highlighting the main problems that have emerged in its early-stage enforcement and of identifying solutions capable of shorten the gap between theory and practice. To this end, a large space is firstly dedicated to the analysis of the early case-law rendered by the Court of Justice and by the Italian Court of Cassation on this theme, which reveals the overall tendency to prefer purposes of investigatory efficiency to the detriment of defense rights; secondly, this thesis critically evaluates some practical cases selected at the Public Prosecutor's Office of Milan and Monza.

Problemas de classificação ordinal podem ser encontrados nas mais diversasáreas, tais como sistemas de recomendação de produtos, sistemas inteligentesde saúde e reconhecimento de imagem. Estes problemas têm como objectivoaprender a classificar uma determinada instância (e.g. um filme) numa escalaordinal (e.g. bom, médio, mau).Uma forma de melhorar o desempenho de problemas de aprendizagem supervisionada(como é o caso da classificação ordinal) é usando métodos de ensemble,onde vários modelos são combinados para tomar melhores decisões. Embora existamdiversos métodos de ensemble desenvolvidos para problemas declassificação nominal, ranking e regressão, a classificação ordinal nãotem recebido a mesma atenção.O objectivo desta dissertação é, assim, introduzir novos métodos de ensemblepara dados ordinais. Para isso, em primeiro lugar é apresentado um novo algoritmo declassificação baseado em árvores de decisão e no método de replicação dosdados, cujos resultados revelam que este pode ser vantajoso em relação a outrosclassificadores não ordinais. Depois as ideias principais deste classificadorsão aproveitadas para melhorar ensembles cujos modelos gerados possuem semelhançascom árvores de decisão (i.e. AdaBoost.M1 com Decision Stumps e Random Forests).
Ordinal classification problems can be found in various areas, such as productrecommendation systems, intelligent health systems and image recognition. Thisproblems have the goal of learning how to classify certain instances (e.g a movie)in an ordinal scale (e.g. good, average, bad).The performance of supervised learned problems (such as ordinal classification)can be improved by using ensemble methods, where various models are combinedto perform better decisions. While there are various ensemble methods fornominal classification, ranking and regression, ordinal classification hasnot received the same level of attention.The goal of this dissertation is, therefore, to introduce novel ensemblemethods for the classification of ordinal data. To do this, first a new ordinalclassification algorithm based on decision trees and the data replication methodis presented, whose results show that this classifier might performbetter than other non-ordinal classifiers. Then, the main ideas of thismethod are exploited to try and improve ensembles whose modelsshare similarities with decision trees (i.e. AdaBoost.M1 with Decision Stumps andRandom Forests).

Problemas de classificação ordinal podem ser encontrados nas mais diversasáreas, tais como sistemas de recomendação de produtos, sistemas inteligentesde saúde e reconhecimento de imagem. Estes problemas têm como objectivoaprender a classificar uma determinada instância (e.g. um filme) numa escalaordinal (e.g. bom, médio, mau).Uma forma de melhorar o desempenho de problemas de aprendizagem supervisionada(como é o caso da classificação ordinal) é usando métodos de ensemble,onde vários modelos são combinados para tomar melhores decisões. Embora existamdiversos métodos de ensemble desenvolvidos para problemas declassificação nominal, ranking e regressão, a classificação ordinal nãotem recebido a mesma atenção.O objectivo desta dissertação é, assim, introduzir novos métodos de ensemblepara dados ordinais. Para isso, em primeiro lugar é apresentado um novo algoritmo declassificação baseado em árvores de decisão e no método de replicação dosdados, cujos resultados revelam que este pode ser vantajoso em relação a outrosclassificadores não ordinais. Depois as ideias principais deste classificadorsão aproveitadas para melhorar ensembles cujos modelos gerados possuem semelhançascom árvores de decisão (i.e. AdaBoost.M1 com Decision Stumps e Random Forests).
Ordinal classification problems can be found in various areas, such as productrecommendation systems, intelligent health systems and image recognition. Thisproblems have the goal of learning how to classify certain instances (e.g a movie)in an ordinal scale (e.g. good, average, bad).The performance of supervised learned problems (such as ordinal classification)can be improved by using ensemble methods, where various models are combinedto perform better decisions. While there are various ensemble methods fornominal classification, ranking and regression, ordinal classification hasnot received the same level of attention.The goal of this dissertation is, therefore, to introduce novel ensemblemethods for the classification of ordinal data. To do this, first a new ordinalclassification algorithm based on decision trees and the data replication methodis presented, whose results show that this classifier might performbetter than other non-ordinal classifiers. Then, the main ideas of thismethod are exploited to try and improve ensembles whose modelsshare similarities with decision trees (i.e. AdaBoost.M1 with Decision Stumps andRandom Forests).

Der technologische Fortschritt ermöglicht es heute, die moleculare Konfiguration einzelner Zellen oder ganzer Gewebeproben zu untersuchen. Solche in großen Mengen produzierten hochdimensionalen Omics-Daten aus der Molekularbiologie lassen sich zu immer niedrigeren Kosten erzeugen und werden so immer häufiger auch in klinischen Fragestellungen eingesetzt. Personalisierte Diagnose oder auch die Vorhersage eines Behandlungserfolges auf der Basis solcher Hochdurchsatzdaten stellen eine moderne Anwendung von Techniken aus dem maschinellen Lernen dar. In der Praxis werden klinische Parameter, wie etwa der Gesundheitszustand oder die Nebenwirkungen einer Therapie, häufig auf einer ordinalen Skala erhoben (beispielsweise gut, normal, schlecht). Es ist verbreitet, Klassifikationsproblme mit ordinal skaliertem Endpunkt wie generelle Mehrklassenproblme zu behandeln und somit die Information, die in der Ordnung zwischen den Klassen enthalten ist, zu ignorieren. Allerdings kann das Vernachlässigen dieser Information zu einer verminderten Klassifikationsgüte führen oder sogar eine ungünstige ungeordnete Klassifikation erzeugen. Klassische Ansätze, einen ordinal skalierten Endpunkt direkt zu modellieren, wie beispielsweise mit einem kumulativen Linkmodell, lassen sich typischerweise nicht auf hochdimensionale Daten anwenden. Wir präsentieren in dieser Arbeit hierarchical twoing (hi2) als einen Algorithmus für die Klassifikation hochdimensionler Daten in ordinal Skalierte Kategorien. hi2 nutzt die Mächtigkeit der sehr gut verstandenen binären Klassifikation, um auch in ordinale Kategorien zu klassifizieren. Eine Opensource-Implementierung von hi2 ist online verfügbar. In einer Vergleichsstudie zur Klassifikation von echten wie von simulierten Daten mit ordinalem Endpunkt produzieren etablierte Methoden, die speziell für geordnete Kategorien entworfen wurden, nicht generell bessere Ergebnisse als state-of-the-art nicht-ordinale Klassifikatoren. Die Fähigkeit eines Algorithmus, mit hochdimensionalen Daten umzugehen, dominiert die Klassifikationsleisting. Wir zeigen, dass unser Algorithmus hi2 konsistent gute Ergebnisse erzielt und in vielen Fällen besser abschneidet als die anderen Methoden.

La presente tesi è uno studio dell’ordine sintattico in paleoslavo e si compone di un’Introduzione, di due parti (I e II) e delle Conclusioni. Nell’Introduzione verrà discusso il concetto di paleoslavo e il più ambiguo concetto di canone paleoslavo, evidenziandone la convenzionalità e valutandone l’opportunità di applicazione a studi che esulino dal campo grafico-fonetico e/o morfologico; verrà quindi presentato il corpus utilizzato (Codex Marianus, Codex Zographensis, Codex Assemani, Savvina Kniga, Codex Suprasliensis, Psalterium Sinaiticum, Fogli di Kiev) e verrà discusso il rapporto tra paleoslavo e greco. La Prima parte è dedicata allo studio dell’ordine sintattico del paleoslavo: dopo aver illustrato alcuni aspetti di non-configurazionalità del paleoslavo, si tenterà di evidenziare il ruolo che la struttura dell’informazione gioca nell’organizzazione lineare di frammenti di testo. Verranno inoltre analizzate le cosiddette ‘particelle enclitiche’ (že, bo, li): mentre že e bo sono dei connettori testuali (collegano, quindi, il segmento testuale in cui appaiono a un segmento precedente) e occupano la seconda posizione anche in un presenza di elemento topicalizzato, li, nella sua funzione di elemento interrogativo, segue l’elemento su cui verte la domanda, che risulta essere focalizzato, e che può a sua volta essere preceduto da un elemento topicalizzato. La Seconda parte consiste in un’analisi quantitativa e qualitativa dei pronomi al dativo e all’accusativo nei diversi documenti del corpus. In particolare, verranno evidenziate le significative differenze tra l’utilizzo di forme brevi (tradizionalmente considerate enclitiche, ad es. mi) e forme lunghe (tradizionalmente considerate toniche, ad es. mъně) nei documenti glagolitici e nei documenti cirillici e il differente posizionamento delle forme brevi nei due gruppi, che risulterà essere strettamente legato ai fattori pragmatici esaminati nella prima parte. Un ultimo capitolo sarà dedicato alle Conclusioni, dove verranno sintetizzati i punti salienti emersi nelle pagine precedenti.

Dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Geospatial Technologies.
This research maps the urban quality of life (QoL) in Alfama, Lisbon (Portugal) through objective and subjective measures. A survey of 69 respondents and locations of social services were gathered signifying the subjective and objective QoL respectively in the physical, economic, and social domain. The relationship between the two measures is examined using correlation analysis. It was determined that the association between them is weak and not significant, which could have been caused by the geographic scale and the sample size chosen. These two factors also affected the spatial autocorrelation check implemented to the 15 subjective indicators using the Moran’s I test. The results of this spatial autocorrelation check were the basis of the type of spatial prediction method used for each indicator. Out of 15, only 3 indicators were spatially autocorrelated. These 3 indicators were interpolated using Ordinary Kriging (OK). The rest is interpolated using the voronoi polygon. The 15 prediction maps were used to create the overall subjective QoL with the utilization of the Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) method called Weighted Sum. With all indicators grouped together, four maps are produced namely, physical, social, economic, and the overall QoL. Both physical and economic domains showed comparatively a below average QoL while the social domain with an average to above average result. The overall, which is the weighted sum of these three domains, generated a below average to an average assessment.

Depuis quelques années, Internet est devenu un média incontournable pour la diffusion de ressources multilingues. Cependant, les différences linguistiques constituent souvent un obstacle majeur aux échanges de documents scientifiques, culturels, pédagogiques et commerciaux. En plus de cette diversité linguistique, on constate le développement croissant de bases de données et de collections composées de différents types de documents textuels ou multimédias, ce qui complexifie également le processus de repérage documentaire. En général, on considère l’image comme « libre » au point de vue linguistique. Toutefois, l’indexation en vocabulaire contrôlé ou libre (non contrôlé) confère à l’image un statut linguistique au même titre que tout document textuel, ce qui peut avoir une incidence sur le repérage. Le but de notre recherche est de vérifier l’existence de différences entre les caractéristiques de deux approches d’indexation pour les images ordinaires représentant des objets de la vie quotidienne, en vocabulaire contrôlé et en vocabulaire libre, et entre les résultats obtenus au moment de leur repérage. Cette étude suppose que les deux approches d’indexation présentent des caractéristiques communes, mais également des différences pouvant influencer le repérage de l’image. Cette recherche permet de vérifier si l’une ou l’autre de ces approches d’indexation surclasse l’autre, en termes d’efficacité, d’efficience et de satisfaction du chercheur d’images, en contexte de repérage multilingue. Afin d’atteindre le but fixé par cette recherche, deux objectifs spécifiques sont définis : identifier les caractéristiques de chacune des deux approches d’indexation de l’image ordinaire représentant des objets de la vie quotidienne pouvant influencer le repérage, en contexte multilingue et exposer les différences sur le plan de l’efficacité, de l’efficience et de la satisfaction du chercheur d’images à repérer des images ordinaires représentant des objets de la vie quotidienne indexées à l’aide d’approches offrant des caractéristiques variées, en contexte multilingue. Trois modes de collecte des données sont employés : l’analyse des termes utilisés pour l’indexation des images, la simulation du repérage d’un ensemble d’images indexées selon chacune des formes d’indexation à l’étude réalisée auprès de soixante répondants, et le questionnaire administré aux participants pendant et après la simulation du repérage. Quatre mesures sont définies pour cette recherche : l’efficacité du repérage d’images, mesurée par le taux de succès du repérage calculé à l’aide du nombre d’images repérées; l’efficience temporelle, mesurée par le temps, en secondes, utilisé par image repérée; l’efficience humaine, mesurée par l’effort humain, en nombre de requêtes formulées par image repérée et la satisfaction du chercheur d’images, mesurée par son autoévaluation suite à chaque tâche de repérage effectuée. Cette recherche montre que sur le plan de l’indexation de l’image ordinaire représentant des objets de la vie quotidienne, les approches d’indexation étudiées diffèrent fondamentalement l’une de l’autre, sur le plan terminologique, perceptuel et structurel. En outre, l’analyse des caractéristiques des deux approches d’indexation révèle que si la langue d’indexation est modifiée, les caractéristiques varient peu au sein d’une même approche d’indexation. Finalement, cette recherche souligne que les deux approches d’indexation à l’étude offrent une performance de repérage des images ordinaires représentant des objets de la vie quotidienne différente sur le plan de l’efficacité, de l’efficience et de la satisfaction du chercheur d’images, selon l’approche et la langue utilisées pour l’indexation.
During the last few years, the Internet has become an indispensable medium for the dissemination of multilingual resources. However, language differences are often a major obstacle to the exchange of scientific, cultural, educational and commercial documents. Besides this linguistic diversity, many databases and collections now contain documents in various formats that can also adversely affect their retrieval process. In general, images are considered to be language-independent resources. Nevertheless, the image indexing process using either a controlled or uncontrolled vocabulary gives the image a linguistic status similar to any other textual document and thus leads to the same difficulties in their retrieval. The goal of our research is to first identify the differences between the indexing approaches using a controlled and an uncontrolled vocabulary for ordinary images of everyday-life objects and to then differentiate between the results obtained at the time of image retrieval. This study supposes that the two indexing approaches show not only common characteristics, but also differences that can influence image retrieval. Thus, this research makes it possible to indicate if one of these indexing approaches surpasses the other in terms of effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction of the image searcher in a multilingual retrieval context. For this study, two specific objectives are defined: to identify the characteristics of each approach used for ordinary image indexing of everyday-life objects that can effect image retrieval in a multilingual context; and to explore the differences between the two indexing approaches in terms of their effectiveness, their efficiency, and the satisfaction of the image searcher when trying to retrieve ordinary images of everyday-life objects indexed according to either approach in a multilingual retrieval context. Three methods of data collection are used: an analysis of the image indexing terms, a simulation of the retrieval of a set of images indexed according to each of the two indexing approaches conducted with sixty respondents, and a questionnaire submitted to the participants during and after the retrieval simulation. Four measures are defined in this research: the effectiveness of image retrieval measured by the success rate calculated in terms of the number of retrieved images; time efficiency measured by the average time, in seconds, used to retrieve an image; human efficiency measured in terms of the human effort represented per average number of queries necessary to retrieve an image; and the satisfaction of the image searcher measured by the self-evaluation of the participant of the retrieval process after each completed task. This research shows that in terms of ordinary image indexing representing everyday-life objects, the two approaches investigated are fundamentally distinct on the terminological, perceptual, and structural perspective. Additionally, the analysis of the characteristics of the two indexing approaches reveals that if the indexing language differs, the characteristics vary little within the same indexing approach. Finally, this research underlines that the two indexing approaches of ordinary images representing everyday-life objects have a retrieval performance that is different in terms of its effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction of the image searcher according to the approach and the language used for indexing.

Dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Geospatial Technologies
The study of Quality of Life (Qol) has been conducted on various scales throughout the years with focus on assessing overall quality of living amongst citizens. The main focus in these studies have been on economic factors, with the purpose of creating a Quality of Life Index (QLI).When it comes down to narrowing the focus to the environment and factors like Urban Green Spaces (UGS) and air quality the topic gets more focused on pointing out how each alternative meets this certain criteria. With the benefits of UGS and a healthy environment in focus a new Environmental Quality of Life Index (EQLI) will be proposed by incorporating Multi Criteria Analysis (MCA) and Geographical Information Systems (GIS). Working with MCA on complex environmental problems and incorporating it with GIS is a challenging but rewarding task, and has proven to be an efficient approach among environmental scientists. Background information on three MCA methods will be shown: Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), Regime Analysis and PROMETHEE. A survey based on a previous study conducted on the status of UGS within European cities was sent to 18 municipalities in the study area. The survey consists of evaluating the current status of UGS as well as planning and management of UGS with in municipalities for the purpose of getting criteria material for the selected MCA method. The current situation of UGS is assessed with use of GIS software and change detection is done on a 10 year period using NDVI index for comparison purposes to one of the criteria in the MCA. To add to the criteria, interpolation of nitrogen dioxide levels was performed with ordinary kriging and the results transformed into indicator values. The final outcome is an EQLI map with indicators of environmentally attractive municipalities with ranking based on predefinedMCA criteria using PROMETHEE I pairwise comparison and PROMETHEE II complete ranking of alternatives. The proposed methodology is applied to Lisbon’s Metropolitan Area, Portugal.