Search results for "behaviour"
showing 10 items of 1406 documents
Optimal power flow for technically feasible energy management systems in islanded microgrids
2016
This paper presents a combined optimal energy and power flow management for islanded microgrids. The highest control level in this case will provide a feasible and optimized operating point around the economic optimum. In order to account for both unbalanced and balanced loads, the optimal power flow is carried out using a Glow-worm Swarm Optimizer. The control level is organized into two different sub-levels, the highest of which accounts for minimum cost operation and the lowest one solving the optimal power flow and devising the set points of inverter interfaced generation units and rotating machines with a minimum power loss. A test has been carried out for 6 bus islanded microgrids to …
The Function of Plastic Reproductive Behaviour in Drosophila melanogaster
2022
Phenotypic plasticity is a widespread phenomenon across the tree of life, with far reaching consequences for ecological and evolutionary processes. In species facing strong sexual selection and marked variation in the socio-sexual context in which they reproduce, adaptive plasticity in reproductive behaviour is expected to evolve. In this thesis, we aimed to contribute to this area of evolutionary biology research using the model organism Drosophila melanogaster. The results of this thesis offer a twist to the steadily growing literature of ageing via sensory perception by showing that socio-sexual cues so far documented to accelerate ageing mostly bear fitness benefits in ecologically rele…
Behavioural profile of drug users attending public drug-treatment centres in Sicily: the role of social context
2007
<p><strong>Objective</strong>: Investigations of injecting drug users (IDUs) have suggested that the social context may influence high-risk behaviours in this population. The aim of this study was to describe knowledge, attitudes and behaviours of IDUs attending public drug-treatment centres in our area.</p><p><strong>Study design and methods</strong>: A cross-sectional survey was conducted between July 2002 and February 2004, enrolling 607 drug users attending four public drug-treatment centres in the Palermo area. Two of them were located inside the urban area, whereas the other two were in rural districts near the city. All participants answered …
Early alterations of the behavioural structure of mice affected by Duchenne muscular dystrophy and tested in open-field
2020
Present study has been carried out to assess whether early alterations of the behavioural structure may be detected in mice affected by Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). To this purpose, both quantitative and T-pattern analysis (TPA) were used to analyse the behaviour of two groups of male, two months old mice, 18 MDX and 18 normal as control, tested in an open-field apparatus. T-pattern analysis is a multivariate technique able to reveal hidden structural features of behaviour and, in particular, its temporal characteristics. As to quantitative analyses, mean durations evidenced a significant increase of Walking, Modified Climbing and Rearing and a significant reduction of Immobile-Sniffi…
Les déterminants des compétences sociales des élèves de cycle III
2016
Les différences de réussite à l’école primaire traditionnellement étudiées par les chercheurs en éducation peuvent être analysées à la lumière des compétences et plus particulièrement des compétences sociales. Champ théorique encore en construction, les compétences sociales deviennent tout de même un « incontournable » pour les acteurs du système éducatif et pour la recherche en sciences de l’éducation. Par une approche pluridisciplinaire, cet article propose d’étudier quels sont les déterminants des compétences sociales à l’aide d’indicateurs sociodémographiques et scolaires largement empruntés dans les modèles d’explication des différences de réussite, auxquels sont associées des mesures …
Determinants affecting consumers' attention to fish eco-labels in purchase decisions: a cross-country study
2022
PurposeThe purpose of this study was to investigate the role of consumer altruism and other socio-cultural factors in predicting how much attention consumers pay to seafood eco-labels.Design/methodology/approachThe empirical investigation was carried out by administering an online questionnaire to a sample of Italian and Spanish people from December 2019 to April 2020. After carrying out the principal component analysis procedure, the work made use of an ordinal logistic regression.FindingsBoth Italian and Spanish consumers with an altruistic attitude, who feel that food produced in a sustainable way can protect the environment and workers, appear more likely to take an eco-label into accou…
Climate Change: An Educational Proposal Integrating the Physical and Social Sciences
2014
Abstract The scientific community has been debating climate change for at least twenty years. The EU has recommended a set of innovative reforms to science teaching, incorporating environmental issues in the scientific curriculum, answering the need for making school a place of civic education. This paper focuses on the presentation of materials designed to foster both deep understanding of the basic concepts involved in climate change as well as critical thinking for addressing some cognitive and emotional barriers that have been proved to hinder individual behavioural reactions.
La relación con los animales: un nuevo ámbito de la intervención socioeducativa
2014
This article analyses the educational approaches towards the animal-human relationship which have been developed during the last 20 years. The article establishes a chain of states in that relationship and presents the reasons why those states are consecutive or, occasionally, simultaneous. Next, the different European profiles of social educators are reviewed to see which of these are more open towards educational action with animals, something which could be considered a new field for educators if they have adequate professional training. A series of European (and some American) websites are analysed in order to determine their approach towards the human-animal relationship. Although most…
Decreased intersubject synchrony in dynamic valence ratings of sad movie contents in dysphoric individuals
2021
Emotional reactions to movies are typically similar between people. However, depressive symptoms decrease synchrony in brain responses. Less is known about the effect of depressive symptoms on intersubject synchrony in conscious stimulus-related processing. In this study, we presented amusing, sad and fearful movie clips to dysphoric individuals (those with elevated depressive symptoms) and control participants to dynamically rate the clips’ valences (positive vs. negative). We analysed both the valence ratings’ mean values and intersubject correlation (ISC). We used electrodermal activity (EDA) to complement the measurement in a separate session. There were no group differences in either t…
Developing preschoolers' social skills through cross-cultural physical education intervention
2013
The purpose of this study was to investigate the changes in children's social skills after their participation in a physical education programme named ESPEC (‘Early Steps’ Physical Education Curriculum). The evaluators of the children's social skills were the trained educators who implemented the curriculum as well as parents of the participating children. This study was conducted in three European countries and was part of a European transnational project. The participants were 286 preschoolers from Cyprus, Greece and Italy. Twelve educators and 286 parents completed the ‘Social Behaviour Instrument’ (SBI) before and after the implementation of the ESPEC. This four months’ physical educati…