10 research outputs found
The origins of media trust in a young democracy
Declining trust in news media has often been recognized as one of the major challenges facing modern journalism with potentially detrimental consequences for democratic processes. In this article, we examine the predictive potential of cultural-political and performance factors on public trust in news media in the context of a young democracy. Specifically, we have analyzed to what extent citizens’ populist attitudes and perceptions of journalistic roles relate to the levels of media trust using data from an online survey of Serbian respondents (N = 200). The findings showed that support for populism did not significantly predict trust in news media in general after controlling for relevant factors, most importantly political trust. However, populist attitudes were found to be related to the amount of trust citizens have in distinct types of news media –i.e., those who support populism exhibited less trust in public broadcasters than in online news outlets. The analyses also revealed that the more Serbian citizens perceived news media as being successful at performing interpretive and mobilizing roles, the more trust they placed in the media
What Can Wireless Cellular Technologies Do about the Upcoming Smart Metering Traffic?
The introduction of smart electricity meters with cellular radio interface
puts an additional load on the wireless cellular networks. Currently, these
meters are designed for low duty cycle billing and occasional system check,
which generates a low-rate sporadic traffic. As the number of distributed
energy resources increases, the household power will become more variable and
thus unpredictable from the viewpoint of the Distribution System Operator
(DSO). It is therefore expected, in the near future, to have an increased
number of Wide Area Measurement System (WAMS) devices with Phasor Measurement
Unit (PMU)-like capabilities in the distribution grid, thus allowing the
utilities to monitor the low voltage grid quality while providing information
required for tighter grid control. From a communication standpoint, the traffic
profile will change drastically towards higher data volumes and higher rates
per device. In this paper, we characterize the current traffic generated by
smart electricity meters and supplement it with the potential traffic
requirements brought by introducing enhanced Smart Meters, i.e., meters with
PMU-like capabilities. Our study shows how GSM/GPRS and LTE cellular system
performance behaves with the current and next generation smart meters traffic,
where it is clearly seen that the PMU data will seriously challenge these
wireless systems. We conclude by highlighting the possible solutions for
upgrading the cellular standards, in order to cope with the upcoming smart
metering traffic.Comment: Submitted; change: corrected location of eSM box in Fig. 1; May 22,
2015: Major revision after review; v4: revised, accepted for publicatio
Canonical Lagrangian Dynamics and General Relativity
Building towards a more covariant approach to canonical classical and quantum
gravity we outline an approach to constrained dynamics that de-emphasizes the
role of the Hamiltonian phase space and highlights the role of the Lagrangian
phase space. We identify a "Lagrangian one-form" to replace the standard
symplectic one-form, which we use to construct the canonical constraints and an
associated constraint algebra. The method is particularly useful for generally
covariant systems and systems with a degenerate canonical symplectic form, such
as Einstein Cartan gravity, to which we apply the method explicitly. We find
that one can demonstrate the closure of the constraints without gauge fixing
the Lorentz group or introducing primary constraints on the phase space
variables. Finally, using geometric quantization techniques, we briefly discuss
implications of the formalism for the quantum theory.Comment: Version published in Classical and Quantum Gravity. Significant
content and references adde
Local pig breeds: Nutritional requirements, innovative practices and local feeding resources as challenges in project TREASURE
TREASURE is a research and innovation project of European Union’s Horizon 2020 programme which is devoted to traditional genetic resources in pig production with aim to improve their potentials for enhanced use. Studying and improving management of local pig breeds in their production systems is one of the challenges in which we address their performances and nutrition with special attention on locally available feeding resources and innovative practices aiming to improved welfare. For that purpose 15 experiments on 12 breeds were designed in the project, which are hereafter shortly presented. Their concepts and main objectives with some highlights on already available results are described. © 2017, University of Zagreb. All rights reserved
Diversity across major and candidate genes in European local pig breeds
The aim of this work was to analyse the distribution of causal and candidate mutations associated to relevant productive traits in twenty local European pig breeds. Also, the potential of the SNP panel employed for elucidating the genetic structure and relationships among breeds was evaluated. Most relevant genes and mutations associated with pig morphological, productive, meat quality, reproductive and disease resistance traits were prioritized and analyzed in a maximum of 47 blood samples from each of the breeds (Alentejana, Apulo-Calabrese, Basque, Bísara, Majorcan Black, Black Slavonian (Crna slavonska), Casertana, Cinta Senese, Gascon, Iberian, Krškopolje (Krškopoljski), Lithuanian indigenous wattle, Lithuanian White Old Type, Mora Romagnola, Moravka, Nero Siciliano, Sarda, Schwäbisch-Hällisches Schwein (Swabian Hall pig), Swallow-Bellied Mangalitsa and Turopolje). We successfully analyzed allelic variation in 39 polymorphisms, located in 33 candidate genes. Results provide relevant information regarding genetic diversity and segregation of SNPs associated to production and quality traits. Coat color and morphological trait-genes that show low level of segregation, and fixed SNPs may be useful for traceability. On the other hand, we detected SNPs which may be useful for association studies as well as breeding programs. For instance, we observed predominance of alleles that might be unfavorable for disease resistance and boar taint in most breeds and segregation of many alleles involved in meat quality, fatness and growth traits. Overall, these findings provide a detailed catalogue of segregating candidate SNPs in 20 European local pig breeds that may be useful for traceability purposes, for association studies and for breeding schemes. Population genetic analyses based on these candidate genes are able to uncover some clues regarding the hidden genetic substructure of these populations, as the extreme genetic closeness between Iberian and Alentejana breeds and an uneven admixture of the breeds studied. The results are in agreement with available knowledge regarding breed history and management, although largest panels of neutral markers should be employed to get a deeper understanding of the population's structure and relationships
Small-Signal Analysis of the Microgrid Secondary Control Considering a Communication Time Delay
Local pig breeds: Nutritional requirements, innovative practices and local feeding resources as challenges in project TREASURE
TREASURE is a research and innovation project of European Union’s Horizon 2020 programme which is devoted to traditional genetic resources in pig production with aim to improve their potentials for enhanced use. Studying and improving management of local pig breeds in their production systems is one of the challenges in which we address their performances and nutrition with special attention on locally available feeding resources and innovative practices aiming to improved welfare. For that purpose 15 experiments on 12 breeds were designed in the project, which are hereafter shortly presented. Their concepts and main objectives with some highlights on already available results are described
Gut microbiota analyses for sustainable European local porcine breeds: a TREASURE pilot study
The study of gut microbiota and its effects on hosts has emerged as an essential component of host homeostasis
and global efficiency. Besides host’s influence on gut microbiota, major quantitative and qualitative changes may
occur in the composition of the intestinal microbiota due to the influence of diet and other environmental factors.
In accordance with the TREASURE project global aim of enhancing sustainability of production systems for local
pig breeds, the objective of our task was to conduct a pilot characterisation of intestinal microbiota in order to test
its usefulness to characterize several local European pig populations and their production systems. This approach
has been applied to populations belonging to the following European traditional breeds: Gascon (France), Iberian
(Spain), Krskopolje (Slovenia), Mangalitsa (Serbia), Moravka (Serbia) and Turopolje (Croatia). For each breed,
faecal samples have been collected along different experiments performed in the TREASURE project targeting
the comprehension of a particular traditional production system (e.g. open-air farming), management practice,
or the comparison of breeds. In all experiments, the metagenomics technique employed is the re-sequencing of
the bacterial 16S in an Illumina MiSeq system. Overall, the results have shown that the gut microbiota analysis is
a promising approach for the characterisation of these local breeds, by allowing a deeper understanding of their
production systems and potentially allowing the development of new certification approaches. Preliminary results
will be summarized in this communication. Funded by European Union’s H2020 RIA program (Grant agreement
no. 634476)