Data Mining for Browsing Patterns in Weblog Data by Art Neural Networks

Categorising visitors based on their interaction with a website is a key problem in Web content usage. The clickstreams generated by various users often follow distinct patterns, the knowledge of which may help in providing customised content. This paper proposes an approach to clustering weblog data, based on ART2 neural networks. Due to the characteristics of the ART2 neural network model, the proposed approach can be used for unsupervised and self-learning data mining, which makes it adaptable to dynamically changing websites

Neural dynamics of error processing in medial frontal cortex.

Contains fulltext : 56338.pdf (publisher's version ) (Closed access)Adaptive behavior requires an organism to evaluate the outcome of its actions, such that future behavior can be adjusted accordingly and the appropriate response selected. During associative learning, the time at which such evaluative information is available changes as learning progresses, from the delivery of performance feedback early in learning to the execution of the response itself during learned performance. Here, we report a learning-dependent shift in the timing of activation in the rostral cingulate zone of the anterior cingulate cortex from external error feedback to internal error detection. This pattern of activity is seen only in the anterior cingulate, not in the presupplementary motor area. The dynamics of these reciprocal changes are consistent with the claim that the rostral cingulate zone is involved in response selection on the basis of the expected outcome of an action. Specifically, these data illustrate how the anterior cingulate receives evaluative information, indicating that an action has not produced the desired result

Analyzing European Union Politics

The speed and depth with which the European Communities/ European Union has evolved is breathtaking and has radically shaped the life of the continent. Ever since the beginning of this ambitious economic and political project, scholars around the world have tried to explain the underlying logic behind it and the mechanisms of its functioning. Thus, a plethora of studies developed alongside the evolution of the EU. SENT (Network of European Studies) is an innovative and ambitious project which brought together about 100 partners from the EU member states, candidate and associated countries, and other parts of the world. It was a far reaching project aimed to overcome disciplinary and geographical- linguistic boundaries in order to assess the state of EU studies today, as well as the idea of Europe as transmitted by schools, national politicians, the media, etc. SENT’s main goal was to map European studies, in order to get a comprehensive picture of the evolution of European studies over the last decades in different disciplines and countries. This approach permitted to achieve a better understanding of the direction these studies are now taking. Five disciplines were identified where EU studies have particularly evolved: law, politics, economics, history, and social and cultural studies. The mapping of EU studies thus includes a review of the most studied issues in EU studies today, the main academic schools, the most influential journals and books published, but it also shows how local realities and national identities affect the study and teaching of Europe around the world. In addition, an important work was done in mapping and discussing teaching methodologies in relation to European studies with the aim of introducing and diffusing the most up-to-date techniques

The political challenges facing the integration of Bulgaria into the European Union

La integración de Bulgaria en la Unión Europea es un proceso voluntario y el principal objetivo de la política exterior del estado desde el comienzo de los cambios en 1989. La unificación de nada menos que 25 estados al principio del siglo XXI es una corriente sin paralelismos en la historia política del mundo. La inclusión de Bulgaria dentro de esta tendencia es una oportunidad para el estado, ya que básicamente le dotará de un lugar entre los procesos del desarrollo mundial. Bulgaria necesita participar activamente en el debate sobre el futuro de Europa. El problema es encontrar una fórmula política para la integración en la Unión Europea. Este texto pretende subrayar los principales retos políticos que enfrenta Bulgaria en este proceso de integración. La reestructuración del espacio político, el cambio de las funciones de las instituciones políticas búlgaras, así como el cambio social, son las líneas básicas sobre las que debería trabajar la elite política del estado. Las prioridades europeas no deben determinar las relaciones exteriores de Bulgaria, e incluso lo contrario, éstas deben encajar con los intereses que van hacia otras direcciones. La integración de Bulgaria en la UE debe ser un factor para el desarrollo de las relaciones de Bulgaria con otros países. Bulgaria debe seguir su propio camino para conseguir ser miembro de la UE y, para ello, hacer los "sacrificios" necesarios

Bulgarian Public Administration facing the Challenges of the Expanding European Administrative Space

This text considers the challenges in front of Bulgarian public administration in the light of the expanding European administrative space. It makes an attempt at outlining the way for changing the pattern of Bulgaria's institutional environment and the necessity of significant change in the central-local authorities balance. What about the responsibilities at national level (place of state), the behavior of local and regional authorities in the European context, strategic challenges facing the administration. The text presents the role of local and regional authorities, management capabilities in partnership, aims and priorities, problematic aspects and necessary changes.Bulgaria; administration; European administrative space; challenges

Bulgarian administration under the conditions of joining the European Administration Space (EAS)

Contemporary state administration is continuously challenged by the fast-changing national and international conditions. In modern states, administration on all levels of governance is continuously in the process of elaboration and adaptation to the changes that surround it. State administration does not exist for itself. It exists to serve the state and the society. Bulgaria's EU membership sets new higher standards for development to Bulgarian administrative system. In this context a priority task is building adequate administrative capacity both for realizing the set of reforms and effective maintaining of EU policies, and bettering the governance capacity of Community funding and securing a higher quality of administrative activity. Developing administrative capacity is an important requirement not only for the European administrative space membership, it is also a necessary condition for observing the principles of "good state governance" formulated in the White Book of the European Commission. Bulgaria aims at taking full-scale advantages from its membership in order to better its social-economic and societal development. In this context, the requirements involved as Community member face Bulgarian administrative system to ever bigger challenges. Therefore, the betterment of institutional and administrative capacity is of paramount significance for realizing the set of reforms and effective application of EU policies.European Administration Space; Bulgarian administration

Reforms in the Bulgarian Public Administration

The analysis provided herewith presents the state of the administration on central, regional and local level and its preparedness to work in the context of EU membership. The analysis depicts the basic tendencies, challenges and prospects in the modernisation of the state administration for the period between 2007 and 2013. The paper focus is oriented to transparency and integrity of the state administration including anticorruption policy, different forms of publicprivate partnerships and professionalization of the civil service.Transparency and Public Integrity,Anticorruption Policy,Professionalisation of the Civil Service

PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION IN THE BALKANS from Weberian Bureaucracy to New Public Management

The current volume reproduces papers presented in the Workshop which was organized in Athens, in February 2010 by the European Public Law Organization (EPLO) and the Faculty of Public Administration – National School of Political Studies and Public Administration (NSPSPA), Bucharest. The workshop entitled “Public Administration in the Balkans – from Weberian bureaucracy to New Public Management” has aimed to reveal relevant aspects on the developments of national public administrations in some Balkan states related to the traditional or actual models of the administrative organization. The organizers have proposed to approach theoretical and practical aspects focusing on Weberian bureaucracy and New Public Management (NPM). In this context, the general framework of debates was based both on specificity of public administration in the Balkan states and the European integration process, particularly the enlargement of the European Administrative Space to the Balkan area. As shown by a profound analysis in the papers, the characteristics of the public administrations are moreover diverse and get closer to the developments of the public administrations in Europe, such as the Mediterranean ones (Greece, Cyprus etc.) or those of the states in transition (Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, Serbia etc.). The interactions with different intensities between Weberianism and New Public Management emphasise, generally, the characteristics of “a new Weberian state” (NWS) for the Balkan states (Pollitt and Bouckaert, 2004, Meneguzzo et al, 2010), revealing a higher NPM impact (Cyprus, Greece, Croatia etc.) or a lower one (Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia etc.). NWS represents a metaphor describing a model that co-opts the passive elements of NPM, but on a Weberian foundation (Pollitt and Bouckaert, 2004, Brown, 1978). The fact that the Balkan states belong more or less explicit to NWS triggers their position in post-NPM era, thus the state remaining an important actor, able to facilitate the public-private dialogue and to sustain the processes for enhancing the effectiveness of public services and administration. The public administration reforms in the Balkan states have targeted one or several European models of national administrations. Even if the concepts on reform comprise visible differences, the tradition, geo-political specificity, human and material resources have determined similarities and common characteristics, which could be emphasized in the development and actual status of administration in the Balkan states. At the same time, the administrative reforms have already introduced elements that enable the administrations in the Balkan states to get closer to the features of “public governance”. Herewith we refer mainly to participating in decision-making, introducing the elements of “neo-corporatism” governance etc. The capacity of adaptation and openness represent a valuable feature of the Balkan administrations, most of them holding systemic connections of low intensity, thus being far away from what we call “strong administration”, found especially in the European developed states. Recent studies support the above ideas, referring to “main drivers of public administration modernization”, placing most Balkan states in the “very low” or “medium” area (Demmke et al., 2006). When referring to open government or ethics, the same studies place the Balkan states under the heading “very high influence”. Based on the above assertions, the papers emphasize concrete issues that could be synthesized in some large categories: - Balkan public administrations between tradition and modernity; - National experiences on the impact of the administrative reforms in Balkan states; - Myth or reality in considering “a Balkan model of public administration”; - Administrative convergence and dynamics as support of the evolution towards a certain model; - Assessing relevant case studies on enforcing NPM in local governance. It is also worth to mention that the approach of the participants in the workshop has been marked by the institutional innovations and trends in European governance, the debates concerning the model and characteristics of the European administration etc. The workshop was organized within the framework of Jean Monnet project “South-Eastern European developments on the administrative convergence and enlargement of the European Administrative Space in Balkan states” with the financial support of the European Community