903 research outputs found
Spotlight on measles 2010: Increased measles transmission in Ferrara, Italy, despite high vaccination coverage, March to May 2010
We report an increase in the incidence of measles in a population with consistently high and improving immunisation coverage in Ferrara province, northern Italy. During the first six months of 2010, 19 cases were confirmed, 10 of which were hospitalised. General practitioners, paediatricians and local healthcare authorities were alerted about the outbreak and asked to notify all suspected cases. We need to further increase immunisation coverage and to maintain and implement the monitoring system
Madeleine Pelletier
Les femmes seraient-elles par «nature» des ĂȘtres «religieux» ? Nombre de dictionnaires du XIXe siĂšcle reprennent cette association prĂ©supposĂ©e pour en faire un personnage de bigoterie, raillĂ© par la littĂ©rature satirique et la caricature journalistique. Ce type de reprĂ©sentation littĂ©raire exprimerait dĂ©jĂ une forme de sĂ©paration, d\u27ordre sexuĂ©, entre le politique et le religieux. Aux hommes, reviendrait l\u27espace public et le champ du politique, aux femmes, serait rĂ©servĂ© le domaine privĂ© dans lequel se situerait le religieux pour les hĂ©ritiers de la RĂ©volution. La RĂ©publique invente donc le citoyen masculin tandis que l\u27Ăglise catholique concordataire s\u27appuie sur ses bataillons de femmes pratiquantes et de religieuses pour rĂ©sister aux laĂŻcisations. Ce modĂšle envisage plus que jamais Ă la fin du XIXe siĂšcle le fonctionnement des sociĂ©tĂ©s modernes Ă partir de la sĂ©paration du religieux et du politique, autrement dit de la sĂ©cularisation. Les sociologues français ont alors tendance Ă concevoir le religieux comme la persistance d\u27un archaĂŻsme au sein de la sociĂ©tĂ© qu\u27il est nĂ©cessaire d\u27Ă©radiquer ou de limiter aux consciences privĂ©es afin que celle-ci puisse emprunter les voies de la modernitĂ©. Au cours du siĂšcle suivant, la rĂ©flexion s\u27effectuera essentiellement Ă travers le prisme de l\u27autonomisation des deux champs du politique et du religieux, voire de la disparition progressive de ce dernier, qualifiĂ©e de «dĂ©senchantement du monde». DĂšs lors, l\u27emprisonnement du religieux dans l\u27espace privĂ© l\u27assimile Ă la «nature fĂ©minine», le rĂ©duisant Ă des attitudes «sensibles», Ă©loignĂ©e des comportements rationnels que l\u27autre nature, «masculine» cette fois, dĂ©ploierait dans sa marche vers le progrĂšs.
Une certaine historiographie contemporaine française a alors été influencée par ce modÚle d\u27analyse qui considÚre l\u27association «femmes et religions» comme une approche archaïsante. De fait, ces deux champs sont d\u27abord réduits aux «silences de l\u27histoire». Cependant, l\u27histoire religieuse va progressivement s\u27émanciper de l\u27histoire politique, accédant à l\u27autonomie et à l\u27institutionnalisation. Plus tard, l\u27histoire des femmes est enfantée par l\u27histoire sociale, un territoire marqué par une historiographie nationale et républicaine, aux relents parfois misogynes. Chacune de leur cÎté, méfiante l\u27une envers l\u27autre, l\u27histoire sociale et l\u27histoire religieuse ont ignoré ce nouveau territoire de l\u27historien(ne) construit à partir des femmes
PSS Users and Harley Davidson Riders: : The importance of consumer identity in the diffusion of sustainable consumption solutions
This is the peer-reviewed version of the following article: Catulli, M., Cook, M. and Potter, S. (2016), âProduct Service Systems Users and Harley Davidson Riders: The Importance of Consumer Identity in the Diffusion of Sustainable Consumption Solutionsâ, Journal of Industrial Ecology, which has been published in final form at 10.1111/jiec.12518. Under embargo. Embargo end date: 2 December 2018. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving. © 2016 by Yale UniversityThis paper sets out an approach to researching socio-cultural aspects of Product Service Systems (PSS) consumption in consumer markets. PSS are relevant to Industrial Ecology as they may form part of the mix of innovations that move society toward more sustainable material and energy flows. The paper uses two contrasting case studies drawing on ethnographic analysis, Harley Davidson motorcycles and Zip Car Car Club. The analysis draws on Consumer Culture Theory to explicate the socio-cultural, experiential, symbolic and ideological aspects of these case studies, focusing on product ownership. The paper shows that ownership of Harley Davidson motorcycles enables riders to identify with a brand community and to define themselves. Owners appropriate their motorcycles through customization. In contrast, Zip Car users resist the companyâs attempts to involve them in a brand community, see use of car sharing as a temporary fix and even fear contamination from shared use of cars. We conclude that iconic products such as Harley Davidson motorcycles create emotional attachment and can challenge PSS propositions. But we also suggest that somewhat standardized products may present similar difficulties. Knowing more about socio-cultural aspects of PSS may help designers overcome these difficulties.Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio
Content and Feedback Analysis of YouTube Videos: Football Clubs and Fans as Brand Communities
The use of Web 2.0 tools has been transforming the interaction between companies and their clients, especially for those that are selling emotional products. Consumers are generating and sharing contents concerning their favourite products on the web. Even if this process has been widely acknowledged, only a few studies have been specifically devoted to the analysis of both the contents and the feedback the consumers receive from other users.
This article analyzes the online presence of sport brands through contents that are generated by sport clubs (official contents) and their fans (User Generated Content, UGC) on YouTube. After a description and classification of video contents, it examines the factors that influence the performance of the videos in terms of passive (videos views) and active behaviour (any kinds of interaction with videos) among the viewers.
In order to carry out this analysis, 125 YouTube channels were considered thereby accounting for a total of 375 videos.
Results show that official contents are those preferred by the users/consumers and that if the video displays a passive/purely informative content, the chance of getting an active behaviour from the users tends to decrease.
These findings may help companies manage their online presence, creating awareness about contents and information that should be spread and shared on the web
Reduced Deadtime and Higher Rate Photon-Counting Detection using a Multiplexed Detector Array
We present a scheme for a photon-counting detection system that can be
operated at incident photon rates higher than otherwise possible by suppressing
the effects of detector deadtime. The method uses an array of N detectors and a
1-by-N optical switch with a control circuit to direct input light to live
detectors. Our calculations and models highlight the advantages of the
technique. In particular, using this scheme, a group of N detectors provides an
improvement in operation rate that can exceed the improvement that would be
obtained by a single detector with deadtime reduced by 1/N, even if it were
feasible to produce a single detector with such a large improvement in
deadtime. We model the system for continuous and pulsed light sources, both of
which are important for quantum metrology and quantum key distribution
applications.Comment: 6 figure
Hacking commercial quantum cryptography systems by tailored bright illumination
The peculiar properties of quantum mechanics allow two remote parties to
communicate a private, secret key, which is protected from eavesdropping by the
laws of physics. So-called quantum key distribution (QKD) implementations
always rely on detectors to measure the relevant quantum property of single
photons. Here we demonstrate experimentally that the detectors in two
commercially available QKD systems can be fully remote-controlled using
specially tailored bright illumination. This makes it possible to tracelessly
acquire the full secret key; we propose an eavesdropping apparatus built of
off-the-shelf components. The loophole is likely to be present in most QKD
systems using avalanche photodiodes to detect single photons. We believe that
our findings are crucial for strengthening the security of practical QKD, by
identifying and patching technological deficiencies.Comment: Revised version, rewritten for clarity. 5 pages, 5 figures. To
download the Supplementary information (which is in open access), go to the
journal web site at http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nphoton.2010.21
Dispersionless limit of the noncommutative potential KP hierarchy and solutions of the pseudodual chiral model in 2+1 dimensions
The usual dispersionless limit of the KP hierarchy does not work in the case
where the dependent variable has values in a noncommutative (e.g. matrix)
algebra. Passing over to the potential KP hierarchy, there is a corresponding
scaling limit in the noncommutative case, which turns out to be the hierarchy
of a `pseudodual chiral model' in 2+1 dimensions (`pseudodual' to a hierarchy
extending Ward's (modified) integrable chiral model). Applying the scaling
procedure to a method generating exact solutions of a matrix (potential) KP
hierarchy from solutions of a matrix linear heat hierarchy, leads to a
corresponding method that generates exact solutions of the matrix
dispersionless potential KP hierarchy, i.e. the pseudodual chiral model
hierarchy. We use this result to construct classes of exact solutions of the
su(m) pseudodual chiral model in 2+1 dimensions, including various multiple
lump configurations.Comment: 37 pages, 10 figures, 2nd version: some extensions (Fig 3, Appendix
A, additional references), 3rd version: some minor changes, additional
reference
"Oh! What a tangled web we weave": Englishness, communicative leisure, identity work and the cultural web of the English folk morris dance scene
In this paper, we consider the relationship between Englishness and the English folk morris dance scene, considering how the latter draws from and reinforces the former. Englishness is considered within the context of the cultural web; a tool more often applied to business management but linked to a sociological viewpoint here. By doing so, we draw the connections between this structured business model and the cultural identity of Englishness. Then, we use the framework of the cultural web and theories of leisure, culture and identity to understand how morris dancers see their role as dancers and âcommunicative leisureâ agents in consciously defending Englishness, English traditions and inventions, the practices and traditions of folk and morris, and the various symbolic communities they inhabit. We argue that most morris dancers in our research become and maintain their leisured identities as dancers because they are attracted to the idea of tradition â even if that tradition is invented and open to change
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