Present and Future of the Chinese Labour Market

ISSN: 2039-1439 a stampa ISSN: 2039-1447 on lin

Cybernetics, Fuzziness and Scientific Revolutions

Settimo Termini ​pioneered along with Aldo de Luca the concept of fuzziness measures in the sixties. Today he is a Full Professor of Theoretical Computer Science at the University of Palermo and an affiliated researcher at the European Center for Soft Computing, Mieres (Asturias), Spain. He has directed from 2002 to 2009 the Istituto di Cibernetica "Eduardo Caianiello" of CNR (National Research Council) in Italy. Among his scientific interests, the introduction and formal development of the theory of (entropy) measures of fuzziness; an analysis in innovative terms of the notion of vague predicate as it appears and is used in Information Sciences, Cybernetics and AI. Recently he has been interested also in the connections between scientific research and economic development and the conceptual foundations of Fuzzy Sets and Soft Computing. He is Fellow of the International Fuzzy Systems Association and of the Accademia Nazionale di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti of Palermo. In 2015 he will be 70, and we want to celebrate his birthday with the Soft Computing community with this interview where he discusses history of Cybernetics. The interview was conducted in Italian and translated by the authors

Southern Italian teenagers: The older they get, the unfit they become with girls worse than boys: A cohort epidemiological study: The adolescents surveillance system for the obesity prevention project (ASSO)

Italy comprises a high proportion of people who never exercised. Low physical activity levels in adolescents is a risk factor for several disorders. The aim of this cohort epidemiological study was to compare physical fitness profiles between boys and girls with regard to age and gender and to identify health and fitness-related markers that contribute to the make-up of Southern Italian teenagers. Eight hundred eleven teenagers were assessed for anthropometric measurements and completed the 5 ASSO-fitness tests battery. Data were analyzed with a 2-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) for repeated measures to compare the effect of both age and gender on the fitness components. The boys' anthropometric measurements were superior than the girls as expected [weight, height, body mass index (BMI), and waist circumference]; the overall BMI was found in the normality range. The overall teenagers' fitness markers were found to be quite poor with the boys outperforming the girls in all fitness tests. The weak cardiorespiratory performance of the female teenagers was remarkable. The under 16 years old (-16 yrs) girls outperformed the over 16 years old (+16yrs) girls. There were less significant differences when comparing (-16) and (+16) yrs old mixed-gender groups. There were no correlations between the (-16) and (+16) yrs when both genders were considered. The trend analysis showed the younger teenagers might be ''catching up'' the older ones in both contexts. Gender significantly influenced all variables. Although age did not influence cardiorespiratory fitness, the older the teenagers the worse their health and fitness markers become with the older girls worse than their younger peers. 1 2017 the Author(s).Funding/support: The Adolescents and Surveillance System for the Obesity prevention (ASSO)Project (code GR-2008-1140742, CUP I85J10000500001), funded by the Italian Ministry of Health.Scopu

Preliminary test to characterize the soundscape of the Plaza Mayor in Madrid

This paper is a first step of a research about the analysis of the richness of the existing sounds in the Plaza Mayor, due to the old and traditional shops and bars under its porticoes together with the huge daily affluence of people. In this paper we study the sound preferences of the salesmen and bar tenders at those traditional shops. These sound preferences include particular sounds, time of occurrence and date of specific annoying and pleasant sounds perceived at the square and the shops surrounding it. To carry out this study, several noise level measurements and socio-acoustic surveys were held. We will also try to correlate sound preferences and annoyance with noise levels of specific events existing at this particular square

Invasions des corridors fluviaux du Sud-Ouest par des espèces végétales exotiques

L'étude de 245 sites répartis le long de huit rivières du Sud-Ouest de la France, depuis leur source jusqu'à leur embouchure, a permis d'identifier 420 espèces végétales exotiques au sein du corridor riverain, la rivière la plus colonisée étant l'Adour. Ces plantes présentent une vaste palette d'attributs biogéographiques, historiques, morphologiques, biologiques et écologiques. Dans leur grande majorité, elles ne sont pas particulièrement spécialisées vis-à-vis des conditions riveraines. La structure du corridor, le fonctionnement hydrologique, le degré d'anthropisation et le climat contrôlent l'arrivée et le maintien des espèces exotiques dans les zones riveraines des rivières. Etudié sur 32 sites de l'Adour, le pourcentage en espèces exotiques (par rapport à la richesse totale en espèces) n'est pas constant d'une station à l'autre. Il évolue selon les gradients environnementaux qui participent à la sectorisation fonctionnelle du fleuve. Ce pourcentage en exotiques reflète la sensibilité des systèmes riverains aux invasions et peut être utilisé comme un marqueur du dysfonctionnement de ces systèmes

Chromatographic Properties of Different Methyl—Phenyl (1:1) Substituted Silicone Stationary Phases for Open-Tubular Gas Chromatography

The influence of different configurations of silicones having 50% methyl and 50% phenyl substitution on chromatographic properties, such as polarity and thermal stability, has been systematically investigated. Polysiloxanes composed of dimethyl and diphenyl units show very low levels of column bleed at temperatures up to 370°C, while polymers having methyl—phenyl substitution show severe bleeding at this temperature. The polarity of the latter polymers, as reflected by Kováts indices, is higher than for the polymers composed by dimethyl—diphenyl unit

A meta-analysis of the validity of FFQ targeted to adolescents

Objective: The present work is aimed at meta-analysing validity studies of FFQ for adolescents, to investigate their overall accuracy and variables that can affect it negatively. Design: A meta-analysis of sixteen original articles was performed within the ASSO Project (Adolescents and Surveillance System in the Obesity prevention). Setting: The articles assessed the validity of FFQ for adolescents, compared with food records or 24 h recalls, with regard to energy and nutrient intakes. Subjects: Pearson’s or Spearman’s correlation coefficients, means/standard deviations, kappa agreement, percentiles and mean differences/limits of agreement (Bland–Altman method) were extracted. Pooled estimates were calculated and heterogeneity tested for correlation coefficients and means/standard deviations. A subgroup analysis assessed variables influencing FFQ accuracy. Results: An overall fair/high correlation between FFQ and reference method was found; a good agreement, measured through the intake mean comparison for all nutrients except sugar, carotene and K, was observed. Kappa values showed fair/moderate agreement; an overall good ability to rank adolescents according to energy and nutrient intakes was evidenced by data of percentiles; absolute validity was not confirmed by mean differences/limits of agreement. Interviewer administration mode, consumption interval of the previous year/6 months and high number of food items are major contributors to heterogeneity and thus can reduce FFQ accuracy. Conclusions: The meta-analysis shows that FFQ are accurate tools for collecting data and could be used for ranking adolescents in terms of energy and nutrient intakes. It suggests how the design and the validation of a new FFQ should be addressed