Opinion dynamics with disagreement and modulated information

Opinion dynamics concerns social processes through which populations or groups of individuals agree or disagree on specific issues. As such, modelling opinion dynamics represents an important research area that has been progressively acquiring relevance in many different domains. Existing approaches have mostly represented opinions through discrete binary or continuous variables by exploring a whole panoply of cases: e.g. independence, noise, external effects, multiple issues. In most of these cases the crucial ingredient is an attractive dynamics through which similar or similar enough agents get closer. Only rarely the possibility of explicit disagreement has been taken into account (i.e., the possibility for a repulsive interaction among individuals' opinions), and mostly for discrete or 1-dimensional opinions, through the introduction of additional model parameters. Here we introduce a new model of opinion formation, which focuses on the interplay between the possibility of explicit disagreement, modulated in a self-consistent way by the existing opinions' overlaps between the interacting individuals, and the effect of external information on the system. Opinions are modelled as a vector of continuous variables related to multiple possible choices for an issue. Information can be modulated to account for promoting multiple possible choices. Numerical results show that extreme information results in segregation and has a limited effect on the population, while milder messages have better success and a cohesion effect. Additionally, the initial condition plays an important role, with the population forming one or multiple clusters based on the initial average similarity between individuals, with a transition point depending on the number of opinion choices

XTribe: a web-based social computation platform

In the last few years the Web has progressively acquired the status of an infrastructure for social computation that allows researchers to coordinate the cognitive abilities of human agents in on-line communities so to steer the collective user activity towards predefined goals. This general trend is also triggering the adoption of web-games as a very interesting laboratory to run experiments in the social sciences and whenever the contribution of human beings is crucially required for research purposes. Nowadays, while the number of on-line users has been steadily growing, there is still a need of systematization in the approach to the web as a laboratory. In this paper we present Experimental Tribe (XTribe in short), a novel general purpose web-based platform for web-gaming and social computation. Ready to use and already operational, XTribe aims at drastically reducing the effort required to develop and run web experiments. XTribe has been designed to speed up the implementation of those general aspects of web experiments that are independent of the specific experiment content. For example, XTribe takes care of user management by handling their registration and profiles and in case of multi-player games, it provides the necessary user grouping functionalities. XTribe also provides communication facilities to easily achieve both bidirectional and asynchronous communication. From a practical point of view, researchers are left with the only task of designing and implementing the game interface and logic of their experiment, on which they maintain full control. Moreover, XTribe acts as a repository of different scientific experiments, thus realizing a sort of showcase that stimulates users' curiosity, enhances their participation, and helps researchers in recruiting volunteers.Comment: 11 pages, 2 figures, 1 table, 2013 Third International Conference on Cloud and Green Computing (CGC), Sept. 30 2013-Oct. 2 2013, Karlsruhe, German

Participatory Patterns in an International Air Quality Monitoring Initiative

The issue of sustainability is at the top of the political and societal agenda, being considered of extreme importance and urgency. Human individual action impacts the environment both locally (e.g., local air/water quality, noise disturbance) and globally (e.g., climate change, resource use). Urban environments represent a crucial example, with an increasing realization that the most effective way of producing a change is involving the citizens themselves in monitoring campaigns (a citizen science bottom-up approach). This is possible by developing novel technologies and IT infrastructures enabling large citizen participation. Here, in the wider framework of one of the first such projects, we show results from an international competition where citizens were involved in mobile air pollution monitoring using low cost sensing devices, combined with a web-based game to monitor perceived levels of pollution. Measures of shift in perceptions over the course of the campaign are provided, together with insights into participatory patterns emerging from this study. Interesting effects related to inertia and to direct involvement in measurement activities rather than indirect information exposure are also highlighted, indicating that direct involvement can enhance learning and environmental awareness. In the future, this could result in better adoption of policies towards decreasing pollution.Comment: 17 pages, 6 figures, 1 supplementary fil

GENERAL ASPECTS REGARDING THE GROWTH FRESHWATER FISH IN CUBES, AN ALTERNATIVE FOR AQUACULTURE IN ROMANIA

Due to the increased consumption of fish, as an alternative to achieving healthy population nutrition, the development of European aquaculture also shows an increasing trend. At present, freshwater culture is about 42% of total European fish production. Valuable species, from an economic point of view, can be reared in intensive systems in cages on running waters or ponds, combined with less valuable species. There are also new species that are gradually becoming increasingly important for the fish industry in Europe. Freshwater aquaculture in Romania is based on rainbow trout and carp which are still predominant species, but there is significant demand for valuable fish species [11,12,16]. Â

Open infrainguinal revascularization for chronic arterial occlusions: techniques and short-time clinical results

Catedra de chirurgie generală semiologie nr. 3, Universitatea de Stat de Medicină și Farmacie „Nicolae Testemiţanu”, Spitalul Clinic Municipal nr.1, Chişinău, Republica Moldova, Al XIII-lea Congres al Asociației Chirurgilor „Nicolae Anestiadi” și al III-lea Congres al Societății de Endoscopie, Chirurgie miniminvazivă și Ultrasonografie ”V.M.Guțu” din Republica MoldovaIntroducere: În pofida implementării active a tehnicilor endovasculare intervențiile arteriale deschise adresate leziunilor ocluzive cronice infrainghinale își păstrează utilitatea, reprezentând uneori chiar unica opțiune de revascularizare a extremității ischemizate. Scopul studiului a fost evidențierea ratei de aplicare în practica cotidiană a diverselor tehnici chirurgicale deschise de revascularizare în caz de ocluzii arteriale cronice infrainghinale și evaluarea rezultatelor clinice precoce ale acestora. Material și metode: Datele medicale referitoare la un grup constituit din 190 de pacienți revascularizați pentru leziuni aterosclerotice infrainghinale în cadrul Clinicii Chirurgie Generală – Semiologie nr.3, IMSP SCM nr.1 (Chișinău), au fost extrase din registrul electronic și supuse analizei retrospective. Rezultate: Vârsta medie a bolnavilor – 67,3±9,8 ani; bărbați – 83,2%. Repartizarea observațiilor conform gradului de ischemie (clasificarea Fontaine): IIB – 59 (31%), III – 52 (27,3%) și IV – 79 (41,5%). Ultrasonografia duplex/TC-angiografia au pus în evidență localizarea preponderentă a leziunilor ocluzive la nivelul arterei femurale (50%). Sediul ocluziei în 10,5% cazuri a fost artera femurală comună, iar în alte 10% – axul distal (trunchiul tibio-peronier, aa.tibiale). Revascularizarea s-a realizat prin: bypass femuropopliteu (46,4%), -infrapopliteu (13,3%) sau -distal (6,3%); endarterectomie cu angioplastie (18,4%); angioplastie cu petic (10,8%); arterializarea sistemului venos (2,5%) sau protezare arterială (1,9%). Rata amputațiilor secundare realizate în termen precoce (30 zile) de la revascularizare – 3,7%. Concluzii: La momentul adresării pacientului leziunile arteriale cronice ocluzive infrainghinale frecvent au caracter extins. Intervențiile deschise cu utilizarea întregului arsenal de tehnici de revascularizare oferă rezultate precoce acceptabile, în special la pacienții fără comorbidități critice.Introduction: Despite the active implementation of endovascular techniques, open arterial reconstructions for infrainguinal chronic occlusive arterial lesions (ICOAL) retain their usefulness, sometimes representing the sole option for revascularization and salvage of the affected extremity. Aim of study was to evaluate the rate of use in routine clinical practice of various open surgical techniques for revascularization in case of ICOAL and to assess their short-term clinical results. Material and methods: Medical data related to a group of 190 patients revascularized for ICOAL at the Department of General Surgery-Semiotics nr.3, Municipal Clinical Hospital no.1 (Chisinau), were extracted from the electronic registry and subjected to retrospective analysis. Results: The mean age of patients – 67.3±9.8 years; males – 83.2%. Distribution of cases according to the grade of ischemia (Fontaine classification): IIB – 59 (31%), III – 52 (27.3%) and IV – 79 (41.5%). Duplex ultrasound/CT-angiography revealed the predominant localization of ICOAL at the level of femoral artery (50%). The occlusion site in 10.5% cases was the common femoral artery, while in another 10% – the leg arteries (tibioperoneal trunk, tibial arteries). Revascularization was achieved by: femoro-popliteal (46.4%), -infrapopliteal (13.3%) or -distal (6.3%) bypasses; endarterectomy with angioplasty (18.4%); patch angioplasty (10.8%); venous arterialization (2.5%) or graft interposition (1.9%). The rate of secondary amputation within 30 days after revascularization was 3.7%. Conclusion: At the moment of patient presentation ICOAL frequently have extensive character. Open surgical procedures with utilization of all spectrum of techniques of revascularization provide acceptable short-term results, especially in patients without critical comorbidities

TRACEABILITY AND FOOD LABELING CONSIDERATIONS

This article presents the current traceability and labeling of foods and how this can be improved with WEB and Cloud Computing applications. The paper label contains details on the traceability and labeling elements applied to products, traceability and labeling elements that are listed under EU and Consumer Guidance on Food (EU) and ways to make this information simpler understandable for end-users and for the competent authorities there is a transparent method of verifying all the information necessary to track and verify the activity of all factors involved in the production, distribution and sale of food product

CONSIDERATIONS ON ENERGETIC CROPS POTENTIAL

In order to breathe fresh and clean air, nature and terrestrial atmosphere should be preserved and protected. Carbon emissions represent one of the main enemies of air quality. Recently, carbon emissions have surpassed all the predictions because the excessive industrialization, becoming the determining factor for global warming. A viable alternative to carbon emissions reduction is the utilization of energy sources that can diminish the noxious substances emissions up to zero. This can be done by using the power of wind, sun, water, energy plants, etc. Among the energetic potential plants, the biomass is obtained- a form of renewable energy which final product is biofuel

INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS FOR VERTICAL TRANSPORTATION OF GRAIN SEEDS AND TECHNICAL PLANTS

In order to provide a technical and material basis which allows the best possible preparation of grain seeds and technical plants before being processed, consumed or stored, at the level of the European norms in the field, including compliance with the ecological requirements, a technical equipment is needed to respond all these requirements. The paper presents a belt elevator, with buckets, which is an integral part of the technological flows in silos, seed conditioning plants, FNCs, beer factories, oil factories and is intended for the vertical transportation of granular and powdery products, hence an effective and efficient solution in this field