Modeling the emergence of a new language: Naming Game with hybridization

In recent times, the research field of language dynamics has focused on the investigation of language evolution, dividing the work in three evolutive steps, according to the level of complexity: lexicon, categories and grammar. The Naming Game is a simple model capable of accounting for the emergence of a lexicon, intended as the set of words through which objects are named. We introduce a stochastic modification of the Naming Game model with the aim of characterizing the emergence of a new language as the result of the interaction of agents. We fix the initial phase by splitting the population in two sets speaking either language A or B. Whenever the result of the interaction of two individuals results in an agent able to speak both A and B, we introduce a finite probability that this state turns into a new idiom C, so to mimic a sort of hybridization process. We study the system in the space of parameters defining the interaction, and show that the proposed model displays a rich variety of behaviours, despite the simple mean field topology of interactions.Comment: 12 pages, 10 figures, presented at IWSOS 2013 Palma de Mallorca, the final publication will be available at LNCS http://www.springer.com/lnc

Space-weighted seismic attenuation mapping of the aseismic source of Campi Flegrei 1983-84 unrest

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

An Assessment of Gelatinous Zooplankton and Impacts on Planktonic Community Structure in Barnegat Bay, New Jersey

Local populations of gelatinous zooplankton are experiencing increases in response to changes in coastal ecosystems due to anthropogenic forces. The abundance of the Atlantic sea nettle (Chrysaora quinquecirrha) has dramatically increased in Barnegat Bay, NJ. Lift net sampling was used to determine the density and distribution of sea nettle and ctenophore {Mnemiopsis leidyi) populations, while zooplankton tows were used to compare relationships between their abundance to that of other zooplankton species. Lift net results showed substantial spatial and temporal variability in density and distribution of ctenophores and sea nettles, with these patterns being inversely proportional. Chrysaora quinquecirrha was more abundant in north Barnegat Bay while Mnemiopsis leidyi was more abundant in the south. Zooplankton tow results showed similar trends on spatial and temporal scales. Chrysaora quinquecirrha was collected in southern sample sites, suggesting the expansion of sea nettles in Barnegat Bay. Correlation analysis for the abundance of Mnemiopsis leidyi against other zooplankton suggests predation upon copepods, fish eggs, larval fish, crab and shrimp larvae and is indicative of potential top-down structuring forces in the pelagic community. Correlation analysis between C. quinquecirrha and M. leidyi suggests predation upon the ctenophore species by the scyphozoan

Generic features of the fluctuation dissipation relation in coarsening systems

The integrated response function in phase-ordering systems with scalar, vector, conserved and non conserved order parameter is studied at various space dimensionalities. Assuming scaling of the aging contribution $\chi_{ag} (t,t_w)= t_w ^{-a_\chi} \hat \chi (t/t_w)$ we obtain, by numerical simulations and analytical arguments, the phenomenological formula describing the dimensionality dependence of $a_\chi$ in all cases considered. The primary result is that $a_\chi$ vanishes continuously as $d$ approaches the lower critical dimensionality $d_L$. This implies that i) the existence of a non trivial fluctuation dissipation relation and ii) the failure of the connection between statics and dynamics are generic features of phase ordering at $d_L$.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figure

Professional development: teacher as learner for differentiated instruction

This action research study sought to investigate a sample of urban Catholic school teachers\u27 perceptions of how an exploration of differentiated instruction through embedded professional development changed their traditional one-size-fits-all pedagogical practices to a model that addressed students diverse academic needs. Research studies provide evidence that a one-size-fits-all recipe of instruction continually fails to build students’ capacity to learn. Interviews are the primary source to elicit teachers\u27 perceptions of changed pedagogical practices. In conjunction with classroom observations, a focus group formed to better understand the rationale for the principles of differentiated instruction, make sense of the practice, and determine if new knowledge changed participants\u27 thinking and behavior about teaching and learning. Findings indicated that research, workshops, reflection, deeper conversations, personal mastery, and shared visions within embedded professional development transformed the culture of instruction. Further, in an attempt to explore the many dimensions of differentiated instruction guided by my actions as the school leader, participants freed themselves from habits of isolation, created the foundation for a learning community, and built professional and personal efficacy

Alternative Food Networks and Food Provisioning as a Gendered Act

Alternative food networks (AFNs) are exemplified by organic, Fair Trade and local foods, and promote forms of food provisioning that are ‘corrective’ to conventional agriculture and food (agrifood) systems. Despite enthusiasm for AFNs, scholars have increasingly interrogated whether inequalities are perpetuated by AFN’s. Reproductions of gender inequality in AFNs, particularly at the level of consumption, has often been left empirically unexamined, however. This is problematic given that women continue to be predominately responsible for food provisioning in the U.S., and that this responsibility can lead to negative physical, psychological and social outcomes. Using quantitative methods and data from the 2012 Ohio Survey of Food, Agriculture, and Environmental Issues, this paper examines the extent to which gender inequality in the division of labor is reproduced in AFNs by focusing on the potential persistence of gender inequality in food provisioning among AFN participants. Finding suggest that among AFN participants, particularly those utilizing local food systems, women, compared to men, remain predominately responsible for food provisioning, spend more time in food provisioning, and engage in more food provisioning from scratch. This research confirms that food provisioning remains a gendered act amongst AFN participants, calling attention to the persistence of gender inequality in AFNs. The paper concludes by suggesting that AFN’s are positioned as a place to create change, albeit small scale, in the gendered division of household labor in the U.S., and provides some practical suggestions for how this might occur