The most controversial topics in Wikipedia: A multilingual and geographical analysis

We present, visualize and analyse the similarities and differences between the controversial topics related to "edit wars" identified in 10 different language versions of Wikipedia. After a brief review of the related work we describe the methods developed to locate, measure, and categorize the controversial topics in the different languages. Visualizations of the degree of overlap between the top 100 lists of most controversial articles in different languages and the content related to geographical locations will be presented. We discuss what the presented analysis and visualizations can tell us about the multicultural aspects of Wikipedia and practices of peer-production. Our results indicate that Wikipedia is more than just an encyclopaedia; it is also a window into convergent and divergent social-spatial priorities, interests and preferences.Comment: This is a draft of a book chapter to be published in 2014 by Scarecrow Press. Please cite as: Yasseri T., Spoerri A., Graham M., and Kert\'esz J., The most controversial topics in Wikipedia: A multilingual and geographical analysis. In: Fichman P., Hara N., editors, Global Wikipedia:International and cross-cultural issues in online collaboration. Scarecrow Press (2014

Uniting the opposition in the run-up to electoral revolution: lessons from Serbia 1990-2000

'Dieser Beitrag widmet sich denjenigen Elementen, die dazu dienen, politische Parteien angesichts von durch autoritäre Regime gesteuerten Unterdrückungsmaßnahmen zu vereinen. Er untersucht die Faktoren, die zur Kooperation prodemokratischer Kräfte beitragen oder diese behindern. Dazu dienen die vergleichende Analyse sowie die Gegenüberstellung erfolgreicher wie erfolgloser Ansätze, die eine solche Koalition im post-kommunistischen Serbien hervorbrachten. Die Autorin sieht dabei die Wechselwirkung von sieben Hauptfaktoren als besonders wichtig an: einen geschärften Sinn von der Notwendigkeit des Wandels; die Wahrnehmung eines kritischen Moments; öffentliche Unterstützung für die Einheit (der Opposition); Druck und Unterstützung durch die Zivilgesellschaft; Unterstützung durch die internationale Gemeinschaft; eine klare, interne Hierarchie sowie die Erfahrungen der Vergangenheit.' (Autorenreferat

Serbia’s parties on the mend? That state of intra-party democracy in before and after regime change

Has the onset of democracy in Serbia facilitated the democratization of the country’s main political parties? By most accounts, the answer is no. Robert Michels’ ‘iron law of oligarchy’ thus appears all too relevant in a Serbian context. This paper seeks to understand whether and to what extent this remains the case in a post-Milosevic context. Have Serbia’s political parties evolved organizationally since the early 1990s? Are parties’ organizational structures uniformly undemocratic or do differences exist with respect to different parties? To answer these questions this paper relies on domestic media coverage, interview with party members, as well as party statutes.Est-ce que l'apparition de la démocratie en Serbie a facilité la démocratisation des principaux partis politiques du pays? Selon la plupart des constats, la réponse est non. La «loi d'airain de l'oligarchie» de Robert Michels apparaît donc tout aussi pertinente dans un contexte serbe. Cet article cherche à comprendre si et dans quelle mesure cela reste le cas dans un contexte post-Milosevic. Est-ce que les partis politiques de Serbie ont évolué sur le plan organisationnel depuis le début des années 1990? Les structures organisationnelles des partis sont-elles antidémocratiques de manière uniforme ou bien existe-t-il des différences en fonction des partis? Pour répondre à ces questions, cet article s'appuie sur les médias locaux, des entretiens réalisés avec des membres de partis politiques, ainsi que les statuts de ces mêmes partis

A Swiss paradox? Higher income inequality of municipalities is associated with lower mortality in Switzerland.

It has long been surmised that income inequality within a society negatively affects public health. However, more recent studies suggest there is no association, especially when analyzing small areas. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of income inequality on mortality in Switzerland using the Gini index on municipality level. The study population included all individuals >30 years at the 2000 Swiss census (N = 4,689,545) living in 2,740 municipalities with 35.5 million person-years of follow-up and 456,211 deaths over follow-up. Cox proportional hazard regression models were adjusted for age, gender, marital status, nationality, urbanization, and language region. Results were reported as hazard ratios (HR) with 95 % confidence intervals. The mean Gini index across all municipalities was 0.377 (standard deviation 0.062, range 0.202-0.785). Larger cities, high-income municipalities and tourist areas had higher Gini indices. Higher income inequality was consistently associated with lower mortality risk, except for death from external causes. Adjusting for sex, marital status, nationality, urbanization and language region only slightly attenuated effects. In fully adjusted models, hazards of all-cause mortality by increasing Gini index quintile were HR = 0.99 (0.98-1.00), HR = 0.98 (0.97-0.99), HR = 0.95 (0.94-0.96), HR = 0.91 (0.90-0.92) compared to the lowest quintile. The relationship of income inequality with mortality in Switzerland is contradictory to what has been found in other developed high-income countries. Our results challenge current beliefs about the effect of income inequality on mortality on small area level. Further investigation is required to expose the underlying relationship between income inequality and population health

Serbia’s parties on the mend? That state of intra-party democracy in before and after regime change

Has the onset of democracy in Serbia facilitated the democratization of the country’s main political parties? By most accounts, the answer is no. Robert Michels’ ‘iron law of oligarchy’ thus appears all too relevant in a Serbian context. This paper seeks to understand whether and to what extent this remains the case in a post-Milosevic context. Have Serbia’s political parties evolved organizationally since the early 1990s? Are parties’ organizational structures uniformly undemocratic or do differences exist with respect to different parties? To answer these questions this paper relies on domestic media coverage, interview with party members, as well as party statutes.Est-ce que l'apparition de la démocratie en Serbie a facilité la démocratisation des principaux partis politiques du pays? Selon la plupart des constats, la réponse est non. La «loi d'airain de l'oligarchie» de Robert Michels apparaît donc tout aussi pertinente dans un contexte serbe. Cet article cherche à comprendre si et dans quelle mesure cela reste le cas dans un contexte post-Milosevic. Est-ce que les partis politiques de Serbie ont évolué sur le plan organisationnel depuis le début des années 1990? Les structures organisationnelles des partis sont-elles antidémocratiques de manière uniforme ou bien existe-t-il des différences en fonction des partis? Pour répondre à ces questions, cet article s'appuie sur les médias locaux, des entretiens réalisés avec des membres de partis politiques, ainsi que les statuts de ces mêmes partis

Jazz der 1960er-Jahre in der Schweiz: Vorboten eines Aufbruchs

Geradlinigkeit in der Entwicklung des Jazz finden wir nur in populären Übersichtsdarstellungen - die Wirklichkeit ist komplizierter, viel weniger zielgerichtet und meist auch widersprüchlich. Das trifft ganz besonders auf die 50er- und 60er-Jahre des 20. Jahrhunderts zu. Wir können diese Zeit nur verstehen, wenn wir zunächst genau hinschauen und erst dann verallgemeinern. Mit vier Momentaufnahmen versuche ich, erste Ansätze zu einer kritischen Betrachtung zu liefern

Residence Near Power Lines and Mortality From Neurodegenerative Diseases: Longitudinal Study of the Swiss Population

The relation between residential magnetic field exposure from power lines and mortality from neurodegenerative conditions was analyzed among 4.7 million persons of the Swiss National Cohort (linking mortality and census data), covering the period 2000-2005. Cox proportional hazard models were used to analyze the relation of living in the proximity of 220-380 kV power lines and the risk of death from neurodegenerative diseases, with adjustment for a range of potential confounders. Overall, the adjusted hazard ratio for Alzheimer's disease in persons living within 50 m of a 220-380 kV power line was 1.24 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.80, 1.92) compared with persons who lived at a distance of 600 m or more. There was a dose-response relation with respect to years of residence in the immediate vicinity of power lines and Alzheimer's disease: Persons living at least 5 years within 50 m had an adjusted hazard ratio of 1.51 (95% CI: 0.91, 2.51), increasing to 1.78 (95% CI: 1.07, 2.96) with at least 10 years and to 2.00 (95% CI: 1.21, 3.33) with at least 15 years. The pattern was similar for senile dementia. There was little evidence for an increased risk of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, or multiple sclerosi

InfoCrystal, a visual tool for information retrieval

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 1995.Includes bibliographical references (p. 227-232).by Anselm Spoerri.Ph.D