Llibre del Consolat de Mar. Descrizione del ms. 80 della "Biblioteca Universitaria de Cagliari"

És la síntesi d’una elaborada tesi de llicenciatura en paleografia que l'autora va presentar a la Universitat de Caller i que té per objecte l’estudi d’un important manuscrit català del segle XIV ja conegut com Llibre del Consolat de Mar. El document descriu al seu intern un veritable corpus del dret consuetudinari medieval marítim, comercial i militar, vigent i reconegut en tots els ports mediterranis durant Com hom sap, es tracta d'un text de clara natura jurídica, particularment important car testimonia el naixement de la primera economia monetària de caràcter capitalista i la compromissió empresarial a la iniciàtica mercantil deis callaresos. No és per això casual que el manuscrit hagi estat trobat a Caller, la qual cosa demostra que, amb els almogàvers catalans, l’institut consular havia posat les seves arrels en els dos ports més importants de Sardenya: l'Alguer i Caller

A view of Estimation of Distribution Algorithms through the lens of Expectation-Maximization

We show that a large class of Estimation of Distribution Algorithms, including, but not limited to, Covariance Matrix Adaption, can be written as a Monte Carlo Expectation-Maximization algorithm, and as exact EM in the limit of infinite samples. Because EM sits on a rigorous statistical foundation and has been thoroughly analyzed, this connection provides a new coherent framework with which to reason about EDAs

Relationship quality affects fission decisions in wild spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi)

Fission-fusion dynamics are thought to be mainly a response to differential availability of food resources. However, social factors may also play a role. Here, we examined whether the quality of social relationships between group members affects fission decisions. During 21 months, we collected data on social interactions and fission events of 22 spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi) living in a community in the protected area of Otoch Ma'ax Yetel Kooh, Yucatan, Mexico. By entering seven indexes of social interactions into a principal component analysis, we obtained three components of relationship quality, which we labelled "compatibility," "value" and "insecurity" given the relative loadings of the indexes. Our results showed that individuals were more likely to fission into the same subgroup with community members with whom they shared higher levels of compatibility and value and lower levels of insecurity. In addition, individuals preferred to fission into the same subgroup with same-sex group members, as expected based on what is known for the species. Our findings highlight the role of social factors in fission decisions. Adjustments in subgroup size are based on multifaceted social preferences, incorporating previously unexamined aspects of relationship quality, which are independent from overall levels of affiliative interactions. © 2017 Blackwell Verlag GmbH

Watch out or relax: conspecifics affect vigilance in wild spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi)

In most animal species, predation risk is considered the main factor affecting vigilance, and an individual is expected to spend less time vigilant in larger than in smaller groups. However, vigilance patterns in primates appear to differ, with no consistency in group-size effects. As individuals in highly gregarious species such as diurnal primates face frequent threats from group members, there may be increased vigilance in larger groups to monitor conspecifics rather than or in addition to predators. We tested this hypothesis in wild spider monkeys, which live in communities but fission and fuse in subgroups of variable size and membership throughout the same day. We found no overall effect of subgroup size, as traditionally measured, on vigilance. However, a possible explanation is that vigilance may be effectively shared only with individuals in close proximity, rather than with all subgroup members. We found that a larger number of neighbours (i.e., subgroup members within 5 m) was associated with a lower proportion of time individuals spent vigilant, which is similar to findings in other studies. Another social factor that may affect individuals’ vigilance is the possibility of between-community encounters. Higher levels of vigilance can be expected in areas closer to the boundary of the home range, where between-community encounters are more likely to occur compared with non-boundary areas. We found that location in terms of boundary vs. non-boundary areas had a significant effect on the time individuals spent vigilant in the expected direction. We also found that location modulated the effect of subgroup size on vigilance: only in the boundary areas did larger subgroup sizes result in less individual vigilance time. We concluded that conspecifics affect vigilance of wild spider monkeys in multiple ways

Evaluation of anatomical and histopathological changes in target organs of cattle slaughtered in Sardinia as a result of the illegal use of growth hormones. Preliminary results

Within the bovine specie, illegal use of anabolic agents can be grouped into four categories: beta-agonists, thyrostatics, glucocorticoids, sexual steroids. These substances, further their anabolic effect, cause morphological changes in target organs which can be evidenced by anatomical and histopathological testing. Such investigations are extremely important to screen and to detect in advance groups of animals in risk-breeding

Prevalence of shiga-like toxin-producing escherichia coli in "Sarda" slaughtered sheep: direct detention of virulence genes and molecular characterization of non-0157 isolates

A study of pathogenic Escherichia coli in Sarda sheep at slaughter, on carcasses, fleeces, gut and faeces was performed. Nineteen sampling sessions were carried out from January 2009 to May 2010. Specimens were taken from local ewes and suckling lambs, and collected from industrial capacity slaughterhouses. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the role of the sheep as VTEC reservoir and to detect the prevalent serogroups over the sheep chain production. In order to make a preliminary screening of VTEC in collected samples, a simplex PCR was performed on all the specimens. Isolation of colonies were performed by immunomagnetic separation and culture onto CT-SMAC, CT-RMAC, EHLY agar. Real time PCR serotyping and virulence profile characterization by PCR were executed on isolated strains. Preliminary screening method reveals a prevalence of VTEC in sheep of 32.6% with higher level in fleeces (18.9%), indicating that these matrices might be considered as a risk for cross-contamination. Virulence profile characterization of the isolates showed a significant level of VTEC strains (22.6%) and a higher number of EPEC (53.8%). Furthermore, virulence accessory factors are widely detected, assigning an additional pathogenic capacity to the strains, and very complex virulence profiles. Serotyping assays proved that Sarda sheep carried mainly non-O157 E. coli, including O91 serogroup, the role of these pathogroup in Public Health must not be underestimated

Busia county biodiversity policy: our heritage, our strength and the basis of our development 2016 – 2023

Policy approved in 2018. Developed in collaboration with the Biodiversity for Food and Nutrition Project, Bioversity Internationa

A Closer Look at the Akan Relativiser

This paper provides an alternative viewpoint on the length and tone of the relativiser in Akan. The relativiser has been analysed as a long vowel with either a high-low tone (HL) (Saah, 2010) or a mid-low tone (McCracken, 2013). However, in this paper, we posit an underlying short vowel with a low tone (L) for therelativiser. We further show that it receives a high tone (H) from an adjacent H; making it a syllable with a contour tone at the phonetic level (i.e. â ). The contour tone then affects the length of the relativiser at the phonetic level, making it slightly longer than its original length

The African mining vision: perspectives on mineral resource development in Africa

This article argues that, after the recent boom, the African Mining Vision (AMV), upon making development central in the extractive industry, is a paradigm whose time has come. We hypothesize that the Vision is forwardlooking with a robust ideational foundation, able to seize emerging policy windows towards lasting paradigm shift for Africa’s extractive sector. The article presents a dynamic framework for analysing policy change in the extractive sector in Africa, based on the power of ideas and interests networks. While the crisis in the sector presents an opportunity, the article analyses the binding political economy constraints that African governments would have to overcome at the global, regional and country levels to implement the transformative ideas of the AMV. The article presents a matrix systematically analysing possible scenarios for implementing the Africa Mining Vision. The implementation of the AMV would likely be non-linear. Vested interests, including resistance to change and diversity of country contexts, could lead to varied outcomes in the implementation of AMV in the short and medium terms.Keywords: Africa Mining Vision, ideas, interest’s networks, extractives sector,commodity booms