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Web navigation for individuals with dyslexia: An exploratory study
In this paper, we present an exploratory study of the web navigation experiences of dyslexic users. Findings indicate that dyslexics exhibit distinctive web navigation behaviour and preferences. We believe that the outcomes of this study add to our understanding of the particular needs of this web user population and have implications for the design of effective navigation structures
Supporting Interaction and Co-evolution of Users and Systems
Interactive systems supporting people activities, even those designed for a specific application domain, should be very flexible, i.e., they should be easily adaptable to specific needs of the user communities. They should even allow users to personalize the system to better fit with their evolving needs. This paper presents an original model of the interaction and coevolution processes occurring between humans and interactive systems and discusses an approach to design systems that supports such processes. The approach is based on the âartisanâs workshopâ metaphor and foresees the participatory design of an interactive system as a network of workshops customized to different user communities and connected one another by communication paths. Such paths allow end users and members
of the design team to trigger and actuate the co-evolution. The feasibility of the methodology is illustrated through a case study in the medical domain
Whatever the cost: Grain trade and the Genoese dominating minority in Sicily and Tabarka (16th-18th centuries)
This is the final version. Available from Routledge via the DOI in this record.This work analyses the activities of Genoese merchant communities in the grain trade in western Mediterranean markets. Our goal is to shed light on their ability to integrate into foreign lands, taking advantage of their privileged position within the Spanish Crown. Our analysis is focussed on two case studies, strictly connected from a theoretical point of view: Sicily and Tabarka. Both Genoese minorities living on these two islands used the port of Genoa as their commercial hub. Regarding Sicily, this study has mostly drawn information from a yet unexploited source: general average procedures drawn up in Genoa. General average (GA) was (and still is nowadays) a legal instrument used in maritime trade to share between all parties involved the expenses which can befall ships and cargoes from the time of their loading aboard until their unloading (due to accidents, jettison, etc.). These documents have been collected in an online database soon to be published as part of the ERC-funded AveTransRisk project. They offer valuable insights on shipmasters and merchants, cargo values, ports of destination, wheat prices, etc. All the sources are available on the online database resulting from the AveTransRisk project, of which we are members (http://humanities-research.exeter.ac.uk/avetransrisk). For the trade in North African wheat, we have mostly used documents related to the Genoese âcolonyâ of Tabarka, administered by the Lomellini family. These sources are kept in the Genoese archives as well as in the Archives Nationales of Paris.H2020 European Research Council (ERC
General Average and Risk Management in Medieval and Early Modern Maritime Business
This is the final version. Available on open access from Palgrave Macmillan via the DOI in this recordThe chapter "Sharing Risks, on Averages and Why They Matter" by Maria Fusaro is available in ORE at http://hdl.handle.net/10871/132151This open access book explores the history of risk management in medieval and early modern European maritime business, focusing particularly on 'General Average' â a mechanism by which extraordinary expenses regarding ship or cargo, incurred during a voyage to save the venture, are shared between all participants to protect equity. This volume traces the history of this risk management tool from its origins in the pre-Roman Mediterranean through to its use in the shipping sector today. Contributions range from the Islamic Mediterranean to the Low Countries, and taken together, provide a wide-ranging analysis of social, cultural, and political aspects of pre-modern maritime commerce in Europe.
The volume is divided into five parts. The first oneâWhy and How Risk
is Sharedâstarts with Maria Fusaroâs introduction and analytical description of the concept of General Average [GA] at large, highlighting some
of its peculiarities and importance regarding both its historical development and future policy. This is followed by essays by Ron Harris and
Giovanni Ceccarelli that, from two different perspectives, contextualise
GAâs importance within the development of medieval and early modern
risk management tools and business strategies.
The second partâOrigins and Variants of Mutual Protectionâtraces
the development of GA from Byzantium to Early Modern Italy. It starts
with Daphne Penna detailing the complex transition of GA from Roman
law to the Digest, the Byzantine collection known as the Rhodian SeaLaw and their transmission in the Basilica. The focus then shifts to Hassan
Khaliliehâs discussion of how GA rules and practices evolved in the Islamic
Mediterranean. This section ends with Andrea Addobbatiâs analysis of
how this complex genealogy was received in early modern Italy.
The third partâThe Iberian Experienceâis dedicated to the multifaceted articulation of Averages within the Hispanic world. Ana MarĂa
Rivera Medina argues for the medieval roots of maritime risk mutualisation in northern Spain, and the second essayâby Gijs Dreijerâanalyses
the transplantation of these usages in the Spanish Low Countries in the
fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The section concludes with Marta GarcĂa
GarralĂłn discussing the peculiarities of GA as practiced within the Carrera
de Indias.
The next partâThe Genoese Experienceâfocuses on the extremely
rich documentary evidence regarding GA in Genoa. It starts with
Antonio Iodiceâs discussion of local early modern normative developments. Thenâin the essay by Luisa Piccinnoâthe focus shifts to the
importance of GA data for the analysis of maritime trade passing through
the port of Genoa. Andrea Zanini completes this section discussing
the intersection between financing the maritime sector and risk-sharing
strategies in the eighteenth century.
The fifth and last partâMature Systemsâpresents three cases in which
GA was used as a tool of political economy by states with a strong
maritime sector. Jake Dyble analyses the free port of Livorno, Sabine Go
discusses developments in Amsterdam, and Lewis Wade the effects of the
Ordonnance de la Marine in the French case.European Union Horizon 202
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