The Phonological Process with Two Patterns of Simplified Chinese Characters

This paper analyzed word recognition in two patterns of Chinese characters, cross referenced with word frequency. The patterns were defined as uni-part (semantic radical/component only) and bi-part (including the phonetic radical/component and the semantic radical/component) characters. The interactions of semantic and phonological access in both patterns were inspected. It was observed that in the naming task and the pronunciation-matching task, the subject performance involving the uni-part characters showed longer RT than the bi-part characters. However, with the lexical decision and meaning-matching tasks the uni-part characters showed shorter RT than the bi-part characters. It was also observed that the frequency, which is regarded as a lexical variable, displayed a strong influence. This suggests that Chinese characters require lexical access in all tasks. This study also suggested that the phonological process is primary in visual word recognition; as there is a significant phonological effect in processing the Chinese bi-part characters, resulting in either the facilitation or inhibition of phonology due to the differing demands of the two task

The multi-path Traveling Salesman Problem with stochastic travel costs

Given a set of nodes, where each pair of nodes is connected by several paths and each path shows a stochastic travel cost with unknown distribution, the multipath Traveling Salesman Problem with stochastic travel costs aims at finding an expected minimum Hamiltonian tour connecting all nodes. Under a mild assumption on the unknown probability distribution a deterministic approximation of the stochastic problem is given. The comparison of such approximation with a Montecarlo simulation shows both the accuracy and the eciency of the deterministic approximation, with a mean percentage gap around 2% and a reduction of the computational times of two orders of magnitude

The Cagliari Airport impact on Sardinia tourism: a Logit-based analysis

In the field of air transportation management, traditionally, airlines have been the main actors in the process for deciding which new flights open in a given airport, while airports acted only as the managers of the operations. The changes in the market due to the introduction of low cost companies, with consequent reduction of the airports' fares, as well as the increment of the density of regional airports in several European countries are modifying the mutual roles of airlines and airports. The final decision on new flight to be opened, in fact, is nowadays the result of a negotiation between airlines and airports. The airports must prove the sustainability on the new routes and forecast the economic impact on their catchment area. This paper contributes to advance the current state-of-the-art along two axes. From the pure transportation literature point of view, we introduce a Logit model able to predict the passengers flow in an airport when the management introduces a change in the flight schedule. The model is also able to predict the impact of this change on the airports in the surrounding areas. The second contribution is a case study on the tourist market of the Sardinia region, where we show how to use the results of the model to deduce the economic impact of the decisions of the management of the Cagliari airport on its catchment area in terms of tourists and economic growt

A Nekhoroshev Theorem for some Infinite Dimensional Systems

We study the persistence for long times of the solutions of some infinite--dimensional discrete hamiltonian systems with {\it formal hamiltonian} \sum_{i=1}^\infty h(A_i) + V(\vp), (A,\vp)\in {\Bbb R}^{\Bbb N}\times {\Bbb T}^{\Bbb N}. V(\vp) is not needed small and the problem is perturbative being the kinetic energy unbounded. All the initial data (A_i(0), \vp_i(0)), $i\in {\Bbb N}$ in the phase--space ${\Bbb R}^{\Bbb N} \times {\Bbb T}^{\Bbb N},$ give rise to solutions with $\mod A_i(t) - A_i(0).$ close to zero for exponentially--long times provided that $A_i(0)$ is large enough for $\mod i.$ large. We need \o \partial h,\partial A_i,{\scriptstyle (A_i(0))} unbounded for $i\to+\infty$ making \vp_i a {\it fast variable}; the greater is $i,$ the faster is the angle \vp_i (avoiding the resonances). The estimates are obtained in the spirit of the averaging theory reminding the analytic part of Nekhoroshev--theorem

Le modalit\ue0 delle donazioni. Liberalit\ue0 d'uso e donazioni di modico valore

Il lavoro illustra le principali questioni applicative sottese alle liberalit\ue0 d\u2019uso e alle donazioni di modico valore. In relazione al primo istituto \ue8 stata posta particolare attenzione sulle conseguenze giuridiche derivanti dalla natura non donativa, mentre con riferimento al secondo istituto il principale aspetto che ha rappresentato oggetto di indagine \ue8 quello relativo alla specificazione del carattere di modicit\ue0, oltre al rapporto con la disciplina di cui all\u2019art. 770 comma 2

Philadelphia and Its Iraqi Refugees: Lessons from the Northeast

The U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003 produced millions of refugees, some of which were relocated to the United States. City planners need to consider refugees’ adaptation and movement within the United States and the impacts of migration on their communities. What can refugee communities can do for urban revitalization, and what can urban communities contribute to refugees’ resettlement success? These questions are answered in a case study of Iraqi refugees in Philadelphia using quantitative data from stakeholder agencies and geographic information system (GIS) data. Interviews with Philadelphia refugee resettlement stakeholders is incorporated with news reports and scholarship to paint a full picture of refugee resettlement in Philadelphia. The major finding of this study is that the Iraqi refugee community of Philadelphia is dispersed, and its neighborhood is extremely multicultural with no single ethnic character. Thus, the Iraqi refugees in Philadelphia are not provided with the full benefits of an enclave, and are also left without long-term institutional support or substantial community organizations, despite being vulnerable at many levels. Philadelphia is a Legacy City: an old, industrial city suffering from population decline. This paper proposes that investment in centralized data keeping and accountability, research, and community-building would not only serve the Iraqi refugees themselves, but their contributions to this Legacy City in need of revitalization could advance the city’s potential to re-emerge as an immigrant gateway, with manifold benefits to Philadelphia itself

The sacrifice of meaning: Leonard Cohen’s retellings of Abraham’s trial

The lyrical language of songs, poems and other literary texts by Leonard Cohen, is a space in which textual materials from the Jewish tradition are constantly rewritten by means of breaking the boundaries between Biblical evocation and autobiography. This article examines Cohen’s retellings of the narrative of Abraham and the near-sacrifice of Isaac through a path between the songs Story of Isaac (1969) and You Want It Darker (2016), with detours toward other purely literary texts of Cohen’s. The possible influence of contemporary Israeli authors on Cohen is also addressed