A polarity-based strategy for ranking social media reviews

TheOpinionMining methods are widely used to analyse and classify the choices, preferences and behaviours of consumers through the opinions gathered on the Web. On social media like TripAdvisor such opinions are usually expressed with a score and a short text. This paper proposes a strategy for ranking reviews using a scale based jointly on the rating and on the text of the reviews

Conjoint Analysis based methodologies for the ex-ante evaluation of regulatory impact

The activity of evaluation of Public Intervention, or Regulation activity, is actually considered from public administration as a strategic element of political and administrative action. This gives rise to the development of several methods for the ex-ante evaluation of the effects of normative regulations, both on citizens and enterprise activities and on organization and operation of Public Administrations. However, the proposed methodologies not taking into account the complexity and the multidimensionality of the phenomenon, often offer a partial and qualitative point of view. Here we propose several statistical methods based on the classical Conjoint Analysis model. Our aim is to measure and evaluate the sustainability and the expected benefits of regulation respect to different designed alternatives. Mainly, we propose to apply a strategy that - integrating the Conjoint Analysis with graphical factorial representations - allows getting several purposes such as to synthesize individual judgments and to underline the different evaluation preference structures expressed by several groups of judges. The developed methodologies will be applied on real data

Perceived climate change risk and global green activism among young people

In recent years, the increasing number of natural disasters has raised concerns about the sustainability of our planet’s future. As young people comprise the generation that will suffer from the negative effects of climate change, they have become involved in a new climate activism that is also gaining interest in the public debate thanks to the Fridays for Future (FFF) movement. This paper analyses the results of a survey of 1,138 young people in a southern Italian region to explore their perceptions of the extent of environmental problems and their participation in protests of green movements such as the FFF. The statistical analyses perform an ordinal classification tree using an original impurity measure considering both the ordinal nature of the response variable and the heterogeneity of its ordered categories. The results show that respondents are concerned about the threat of climate change and participate in the FFF to claim their right to a healthier planet and encourage people to adopt environmentally friendly practices in their lifestyles. Young people feel they are global citizens, connected through the Internet and social media, and show greater sensitivity to the planet’s environmental problems, so they are willing to take effective action to demand sustainable policies from decision-makers. When planning public policies that will affect future generations, it is important for policymakers to know the demands and opinions of key stakeholders, especially young people, in order to plan the most appropriate measures, such as climate change mitigation

Analysis of Increasing Flash Flood Frequency in the Densely Urbanized Coastline of the Campi Flegrei Volcanic Area, Italy

Climate change is affecting the frequency and severity of extreme meteorological and geo-hydrological events hitting the coastal zone of the Campi Flegrei volcanic district (southern Italy), which is prone to a wide spectrum of natural hazards, including volcanism, earthquakes, ground deformation, flash floods, landslides, and coastal erosion. This study documents the trend of flash floods affecting the town of Pozzuoli, located along the coastline of the Campi Flegrei volcanic area, during the 1970–2014 time period. An archive research together with the collection of data published on news websites and social media allowed understanding of the triggering and evolution mechanisms of flash floods in the area, as well as the most recurrent damages. Rainfall data collected by the rain gauge located within the Pozzuoli watershed were also analyzed. Results of this study show an increased frequency of flash flood events occurred in the study area. The variation in flash flood frequency is likely not related to urbanization changes, as no increase of the urban area occurred after the year 2000. The observed increase of flash flood events in recent years (2000–2014) can be reasonably ascribed to variations in the rainfall regime. Our research provides a contribution for the understanding of flash flood processes in the study area as well as relevant information for hazard and risk assessment

A mixed-frequency approach for exchange rates predictions

Selecting an appropriate statistical model to forecast exchange rates is still today a relevant issue for policymakers and central bankers. The so-called Meese and Rogoff puzzle assesses that exchange rate fluctuations are unpredictable. In the literature, a lot of studies tried to solve the puzzle finding both alternative predictors (e.g., interest rates, price levels) and statistical models based on temporal aggregation. In this paper, we propose an approach based on mixed frequency models to overcome the lack of information caused by temporal aggregation. We show the effectiveness of our approach with an application to CAD/USD exchange rate predictions.

An integrated approach for rock slope failure monitoring: The case study of Coroglio tuff cliff (Naples, Italy) - Preliminary results

The paper re ports the i mple mentation of an integrate d syste m ai me d at the real-ti me monitoring of a series of physical parame ters controlling the r ock slope stability. The system has bee n installe d on the Cor oglio tuff cliff, loc ate d in the highly ur banize d coastal area of Naples (Italy) at the bor der of the acti ve volcanic cal der a of Campi Flegrei. Preliminar y results obtai ne d during the first ye ar of data ac quisition and monitoring acti vi ty (Dece mber 2014 – January 2016) are also discussed on the basis of statistical models. (3) (PDF) An integrated approach for rock slope failure monitoring: the case study of Coroglio tuff cliff (Naples, Italy) – preliminary results. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/299340773_An_integrated_approach_for_rock_slope_failure_monitoring_the_case_study_of_Coroglio_tuff_cliff_Naples_Italy_-_preliminary_results [accessed Feb 27 2020].Published242-2471IT. Reti di monitoraggio e sorveglianzaN/A or not JC