55 research outputs found
What Money Can't Buy: The Relevance of Income Redistribution for Functioning Levels
well-being, functionings, equivalence scale, equivalent income
Factor Analysis vs Fuzzy Sets Theory: Assessing the Influence of Different Techniques on Sen's Functioning Approach.
This paper explores a couple of specific operational interpretations of Sen's approach in view of assessing the extent to which the results originated by the implementation of Sen's concepts are influenced by the choice of the specific technique. By means of a survey based on a representative sample of Belgian individuals, seven achieved functioning's are identified via each technique and subsequently confronted. To structure the information and to facilitate comparisons, standard multivariate analysis is performed, while at the same time considering in more detail the sub-group of the most deprived individuals. In this way, a substantial accordance - yet no perfect equivalence - is uncovered in the general patterns of functioning's' achievements.
Factor Analysis vs. Fuzzy Sets Theory: Assessing the Influence of Different Techniques on Sen's Functioning Approach
This paper explores a couple of specific operational interpretations of Sen's approach in view of assessing the extent to which the results originated by the implementation of Sen's concepts are influenced by the choice of the specific technique. By means of a survey based on a representative sample of Belgian individuals, seven achieved functioning's are identified via each technique and subsequently confronted. To structure the information and to facilitate comparisons, standard multivariate analysis is performed, while at the same time considering in more detail the sub-group of the most deprived individuals. In this way, a substantial accordance - yet no perfect equivalence - is uncovered in the general patterns of functionings' achievements.
What money can't buy: The relevance of income redistribution for functioning levels
This paper relates Amartya Senâs capability approach to the literature on equivalence scales. Synthetic indicators of well-being are constructed by adjusting individual incomes for differences in functionings. An exploratory comparative application to Italian and Belgian data illustrates the model while disclosing the apparent relative contributions of monetary and non-monetary factors to changes in the functioningsâ level. The results suggest that income as such cannot take us very far in evaluating achievements, on account of the effect of some non-monetary factors. Further, they hint at the inappropriateness of the assumption that any dissimilarity among individuals may be efficiently dealt with by a suitable monetary compensation
Alterazioni oftalmiche nella Leishmaniosi canina
La Leishmaniosi Canina (LC) può manifestarsi attraverso molteplici segni clinici fra i quali quelli oftalmici. I segni clinici a livello oculare spesso sono gli unici a essere presenti e quindi fondamentali per una diagnosi precoce di Leishmaniosi. Lo scopo di questa tesi è stato quello di verificare se ci sia una relazione tra positivitĂ alla Leishmaniosi e sintomatologia oculare e quali siano le manifestazioni oftalmiche piĂš comuni, valutando un gruppo di cani composto da 25 soggetti della stessa razza (Spinone Italiano) e che vivono nello stesso ambiente con uguali condizioni di allevamento. Questi animali sono stati sottoposti a visita clinica e oftalmologica, profilo ematologico e biochimico (urea, colesterolo totale, creatinina, trigliceridi, glucosio, AST, ALT, fosfatasi alcalina totale, GGT, fosforo), esame delle urine, esame citologico da campioni ottenuti dal sacco congiuntivale, elettroforesi delle siero proteine, test di immunofluorescenza (IFAT) e PCR eseguita su sangue, ago aspirato linfonodale e tampone congiuntivale, test sierologici per Erlichia canis, Rickettsia conorii e Rickettsia ricketsii ed esame coprologico per la ricerca dei parassiti intestinale. Gli esami hanno permesso di dividere gli animali in 2 gruppi: uno di positivi alla Leishmaniosi (sono stati considerati come positivi i cani con titolo di IFAT 1:80 e con positivitĂ almeno ad unâ altro dei test eseguiti) composto da 12 cani e uno di negativi composto da 13 cani. Inoltre tutti gli animali sono risultati essere negatici per E. canis, R. conorii e R. ricketsii. I dati ottenuti attraverso la visita oftalmica, suddivisi nei due gruppi positivi e negativi, sono stati analizzati tramite il test t student per evidenziare eventuali differenze significative (p<0,01), per i parametri indagati. Dallâelaborazione di questi dati è emerso che i cani positivi alla Leishmaniosi, presentano una riduzione significativa (p<0,01) della produzione lacrimale (valutazione ottenuta con lo STT) e della pressione intraoculare (IOP) e che il segno clinico piĂš frequente è la congiuntivite di grado variabile
Operationalising Senian capability approach by modelling human development
Abstract: In this paper we model sustainable human development as intended in Senâs capability approach in a system dynamic framework. Our purpose is to verify the variations over time of some achieved functionings, due to structural dynamics and to variations of the institutional setting and instrumental freedoms (IF Vortex). The model is composed of two sections. The âLeft Sideâ one points out the âdemandâ for functionings in an ideal world situation. The real world one, on the âRight Sideâ indicates the âsupplyâ of functionings that the socio-economic system is able to provide individuals with. The general model, specifically tailored for Italy, can be simulated over desired time horizons: for each time period, we carry out a comparison between ideal world and real world functionings. On the basis of their distances, the model simulates some responses of decision makers. These responses, in turn influenced by institutions and instrumental freedoms, ultimately affect the dynamics of real world functionings, i.e. of sustainable human development.Capabilities; Instrumental Freedoms; Sustainable Human Development
Exploring patterns of betaâdiversity to test the consistency of biogeographical boundaries: A case study across forest plant communities of Italy
Aim To date, despite their great potential biogeographical regionalization models have been mostly developed on descriptive and empirical bases. This paper aims at applying the beta-diversity framework on a statistically representative data set to analytically test the consistency of the biogeographical regionalization of Italian forests. Location Italy. Taxon Vascular plants. Methods Forest plant communities were surveyed in 804 plots made in a statistically representative sample of forest communities made by 201 sites of Italian forests across the three biogeographical regions of the country: Alpine, Continental, and Mediterranean. We conducted an ordination analysis and an analysis of beta-diversity, decomposing it into its turnover and nestedness components. Results Our results provide only partial support to the consistency of the biogeographical regionalization of Italy. While the differences in forest plant communities support the distinction between the Alpine and the other two regions, differences between Continental and Mediterranean regions had lower statistical support. Pairwise beta-diversity and its turnover component are higher between- than within-biogeographical regions. This suggests that different regional species pools contribute to assembly of local communities and that spatial distance between-regions has a stronger effect than that within-regions. Main conclusions Our findings confirm a biogeographical structure of the species pools that is captured by the biogeographical regionalization. However, nonsignificant differences between the Mediterranean and Continental biogeographical regions suggest that this biogeographical regionalization is not consistent for forest plant communities. Our results demonstrate that an analytical evaluation of species composition differences among regions using beta-diversity analysis is a promising approach for testing the consistency of biogeographical regionalization models. This approach is recommended to provide support to the biogeographical regionalization used in some environmental conservation polices adopted by EU
Operationalising Senian capability approach by modelling human development
Abstract: In this paper we model sustainable human development as intended in
Senâs capability approach in a system dynamic framework. Our purpose is to
verify the variations over time of some achieved functionings, due to structural
dynamics and to variations of the institutional setting and instrumental freedoms
(IF Vortex).
The model is composed of two sections. The âLeft Sideâ one points out the
âdemandâ for functionings in an ideal world situation. The real world one, on the
âRight Sideâ indicates the âsupplyâ of functionings that the socio-economic
system is able to provide individuals with.
The general model, specifically tailored for Italy, can be simulated over desired
time horizons: for each time period, we carry out a comparison between ideal
world and real world functionings. On the basis of their distances, the model
simulates some responses of decision makers. These responses, in turn
influenced by institutions and instrumental freedoms, ultimately affect the
dynamics of real world functionings, i.e. of sustainable human development
ďťżAMS-VegBank: a new database of vegetation plots for the Italian territory
The importance of collection, storage and exchange of georeferenced vegetation plot-based data has significantly grown in the recent decades, because of the new potentialities offered by ecoinformatics. In this article we introduce the Alma
Mater Studiorum â University of Bologna vegetation database (AMS-VegBank; GIVD code EU-IT-021) compiling 17,505 georeferenced vegetation-plot observations within a time span of 90 years. This database includes 337,799 occurrence data of vascular plant species, belonging to many different habitat types. The historical relevance of the presented database is highlighted by the presence of some of the most ancient vegetation-plot observations in Europe (years 1930â1938). The geographic coverage of the database is mostly for Italian territory but it includes also data from other countries. The thematic focuses represented in the database are various, such as small Mediterranean islands, the Dolomite Mountains and the Italian National Parks. The large amount of historical plots available for the country not previously included in existing databases, combined with the constant action to improve the georeferencing of existing data and the addition of new data, highlight the uniqueness of this database. AMS-VegBank represents thus an important tool for studying plant biodiversity within the context of continental and global vegetation plot databases
Operationalising Senian capability approach by modelling human development
Abstract: In this paper we model sustainable human development as intended in
Senâs capability approach in a system dynamic framework. Our purpose is to
verify the variations over time of some achieved functionings, due to structural
dynamics and to variations of the institutional setting and instrumental freedoms
(IF Vortex).
The model is composed of two sections. The âLeft Sideâ one points out the
âdemandâ for functionings in an ideal world situation. The real world one, on the
âRight Sideâ indicates the âsupplyâ of functionings that the socio-economic
system is able to provide individuals with.
The general model, specifically tailored for Italy, can be simulated over desired
time horizons: for each time period, we carry out a comparison between ideal
world and real world functionings. On the basis of their distances, the model
simulates some responses of decision makers. These responses, in turn
influenced by institutions and instrumental freedoms, ultimately affect the
dynamics of real world functionings, i.e. of sustainable human development
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